Saturday, April 29, 2000

More Linux Adventures -- 8:42 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

If everything goes according to plan (ha ha!), I'm going to be dusting my Linux box and installing a fresh copy of Red Hat 6.2 early next week. I have downloaded the new NVIDIA drivers, the XFree86 4.0 RPMs, and the Linux Quake III Arena demo. Hopefully I'll be able to report back on how good these drivers are by the middle of next week. Who knows? Maybe I can convince Hyperion to send me a review copy of their Linux port of Shogo when it comes out. Stay tuned . . .

History Today -- 11:02 am CST, Update by The Master

• 1429: Joan of Arc enters the city of Orleans after the victory over the English in battle.
• 1861: Maryland votes against Secession from the Union.
• 1862: New Orleans falls to the Union army.
• 1945: Dachau concentration camp is liberated by the American Army. In addition, Adolph Hitler marries Eva Braun and designates Admiral Karl Doenitz as his successor.
• 1983: Harold Washington sworn in as first black Mayor of Chicago.
• 1992: Rioting ensues in LA after a jury acquits 4 LA Police Officers of most charges in relation to the Rodney King beating.

Carmack: Give Me 64 Bits! -- 10:03 am CST, Update by A.T. Hun

Just when 3dfx finally catches up with the rest of the world and provides 32 bit rendering, id's John Carmack updates his .plan saying what we REALLY need is 64 bits. His arguments are compelling (and yes, I did follow his train of thought . . . mostly). As usual the update is lengthy and very deep. Prepare for your brain to hurt :)

The Master comments: The only argument I have AGAINST this one is how in heck are video card manufacturers going to keep framerates up with a doubling of required data transfer rates? I hope Intel can get AGP 4x SOLID real soon-that's the only way I can think to allow this improvement to fly.

A.T. Hun comments: Well, fillrates are now getting to the point of being completely ridiculous. The GeForce 2 GTS can do almost 60 fps in Q3A at 1600x1200x16. The main problem to be solved right now is the memory bandwidth bottleneck. Once some faster memory becomes available and economically viable, I think 64 bit rendering could become a reality. I would say that we will see it on a video card within two years, especially if Carmack pushes it as "the next big thing" like he championed OpenGL.

Friday, April 28, 2000

Gov't Asks Judge to Break Up Microsoft -- 10:40 pm CST, Update by J.t.Qbe

Unless you've had your head in the sand all evening (ok, I just found out about it myself), you've heard the news everyone has been expecting all week: the U.S. Department of Justice and 17 of the 19 states which successfully sued Microsoft have asked Judge Jackson to break Microsoft into two. Lots of people never thought it would go this far, but now the media are seriously discussing the implications of a breakup. Yep, it's very possible that this could be the verdict and yep, it'd take a long, long time to implement.

Would it be best? I wonder. Some fear that breaking up Microsoft would simply create that many new monopolies and would be more harmful than leaving Microsoft alone. Yet leaving Microsoft to carry on business as usual isn't good either. The people I hear howling loudest about a possible breakup are those who stand to lose money. I have no sympathy for that. Microsoft broke the law to foist off its own software on the world and close down other companies with better software. It deserves what it gets, and those who didn't sell when they saw Microsoft making a mockery of the antitrust trial deserve what they get too. I want good software, not to line the pockets of those who sell junk. It shouldn't be all about making piles of cash, but putting out a quality product. That's why I'm not going to pay another cent to Microsoft for its software. I can get far better software for free or cheap, and support those who want to make an honest living from it.

As always, these are my opinions and they do not necessarily reflect the views of The Haus' staff. But they might.

A.T. Hun comments: If I had any inclination that the government could figure things out better than anyone else I'd be all for a break-up. Unforunately they don't have a stellar record when it comes to breaking up monopolies.

Bill G. can also spare us the crap about a break-up stifling innovation. I suppose he would know since M$ has been stifling innovation for some time. The sad fact is that it is all about "making piles of cash," no matter who gets crushed along the way.

MP3.com Found Liable -- 2:45 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

According to this ZDNet story, MP3.com violated copyright law. What I don't understand is that the heart of this issue is "My.MP3.com" which allows people to access their MP3s from any computer. In order to use the service, users must already legitimately own the music they are storing. This case looks ripe for appeal. I would like to have the Supreme Court hear it before the RIAA makes it illegal for me to listen to my own CD collection. Thanks sCary for the link.

News flash to RIAA: if you would lower the prices on CDs to something reasonable, piracy would have no reason to exist. As long as you continue to gouge consumers for $16 for a CD that has two good songs and the rest filler crap, there will be piracy. Neither I nor the rest of The Haus staff condone piracy, but, dear RIAA, you have created this situation with your own greed. You have no one to blame but yourselves.

It's kind of like Microsoft complaining about piracy of their software while Bill and the boys enjoy their multi-million (Ed: billion) dollar stock options. I hope both groups make so much money that they choke to death on it.

More on NVIDIA 5.16 Drivers -- 2:31 pm CST, Update by A.T. Hun

There was an update to the story on the NVIDIA 5.16 Detonator drivers that were leaked yesterday. Although they don't seem to help out too much in the speed department, several people are reporting that stability has been greatly improved, especially on ALi chipsets.

History today -- 8:31 am CST, Update by The Master

• 1789: Mutiny on the Bounty-Captain Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift when mutineers seize the Bounty.
• 1952: The war with Japan officially ends with a treaty signed by the US and 47 other countries.

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