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Comment Bit of background on the TeleText standard (Score 2) 160

by fiddlesticks (#41758041) Attached to: BBC Turns Off CEEFAX Service After 38 Years

This [Teletext/Cx, branded as CeeFax for consumers - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletext%5D is (one of the many) the standard that my department (BBC R&D) helped invent - http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/rdreport_1975_12.shtml

I was a baby then but nowadays we still used the standard to test the next-gen DTV aerial signal 25 years on http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/whp/whp-pdf-files/WHP160.pdf)

I was part of the team that moved the 'red button' services across to use same page numbers (with an extra digit prepended for content not available on analogue TV) - my former workmate Andrew wrote about this here http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/pressred/2009/05/assigningpagenumbers.shtml

Cx was always great for speedy updating, but the client (journalist) software was clunky. It did help the BBC learn the importance of writing concise summaries for textual viewing many years ago (which was very helpful when the Web came along)

It was always *digital* but TX-d on analogue circuits. I'll miss it, but the info there is still available, and guess what? Life moves on. > 98% of UK people have digital TV now and the switchover went well. Still free at point of reception, still advert-free.

Comment Re:It's Time, not Money (Score 1) 1137

by fiddlesticks (#27870055) Attached to: Your Commuting Costs By Car Vs. Train?

"I've made it a point the last couple times I've moved to make sure I have good access to transit options."

I take your points (time behind a wheel wasted, etc) - but is what I quoted you on such a revelation?

I like in the UK ("London, England") and don't drive. I have never moved somewhere without looking at 'good access to (public transport) options"

Is it really so rare in the US for people to consider how they'd get to work, or play, or their friends, by public transport that you consider it noting that recently you have been doing so?

When I've been to LA or NYC there have always been good, all night, cheap public transport options available. Is this not the case outside the E/W coasts?

Confused of London
Image

The Ouroborus 67

Posted by samzenpus from the stop-eating dept.
If I could do this I'd never leave the house.
Linux Business

Pushing Linux Adoption Through Gaming 269

Posted by Soulskill from the year-of-games-on-the-linuxtop dept.
An article on CNet questions the viability of using games as part of a strategy to increase Linux adoption. It points out a blog post by Andrew Min which suggests: "... Linux companies also need to start paying attention to the open source gaming community. Why? It's lacking. However, gamers can get excited about free games. They just have to be up to par with commercial games. The problem is, commercial companies pay hundreds of employees to build a game for several years, while many competing gaming projects only last several years before the developer moves on. It's time for open source developers to start getting paid for their jobs. Who better to pay them than the companies that benefit most?"
Games

The State of Piracy and DRM In PC Gaming 387

Posted by Soulskill from the some-of-the-people-some-of-the-time dept.
VideoGamer sat down with Randy Stude, president of the PC Gaming Alliance, to talk about the state of piracy and DRM in today's gaming industry. He suggests that many game studios have themselves to blame for leaks and pre-launch piracy by not integrating their protection measures earlier in the development process. He mentions that some companies, such as Blizzard and Valve, have worked out anti-piracy schemes that generate much less of a backlash than occurred for Spore . Stude also has harsh words for companies who decline to create PC versions of their games, LucasArts in particular, saying, "LucasArts hasn't made a good PC game in a long time. That's my opinion. ... It's ridiculous to say that there's not enough audience for that game ... and that it falls into this enthusiast extreme category when ported over to the PC. That's an uneducated response." Finally, Stude discusses what the PCGA would like to see out of Vista and the next version of Windows.
Patents

New Patent Suit Threatens Bluetooth Standard 61

Posted by Zonk from the we-need-those-teeth-for-talking dept.
Aditi.Tuteja writes "A U.S. research institute has sued Nokia, Samsung Electronics and Matsushita-owned Panasonic for violating a patent on Bluetooth technology, potentially putting the free wireless standard at risk. The Washington Research Foundation, which markets technology from the University of Washington, is seeking damages from the three mobile-phone makers for using a radio frequency receiver technology without paying royalties. From the article: 'According to the lawsuit, Bluetooth-based computers, cell phones and headsets made by the companies have violated four patents for research done in the mid-1990s by Edwin Suominen when he was a student at the University of Washington. All four patents are now licensed by the Washington Research Foundation. The foundation's lead counsel on the case, Steven Lisa, said the court filing followed two years of informal attempts to resolve the issue with the major players in the industry.'"

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