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Does anyone else have a nagging feeling that Nintendo is doomed in the next console cycle? The Wii U didn't grab the same attention that the original Wii did, and Nintendo is being attacked on two fronts--the hardcore market with the PS3 and Xbox 360, and casual gaming with the iPhone. Nintendo always had handheld sales to fall back on, but sales of the 3DS have been underwhelming, forcing an early price drop. It seems like Nintendo backed itself into a corner with the Wii, tying the company too intimately with the casual gaming market, whose gamers are fickle and prone to jump onto the next big thing, which turned out to be the iPhone.
Yes, yes, I realize people have been declaring Nintendo to be doomed since the Nintendo 64, but just because they survived previous eras doesn't mean they will survive the next one. Nintendo's stock price jumped [bloomberg.com] after a rumor that Pokemon was coming to the iPhone, which turned out to be untrue. It just seems more than ever that it makes little sense for Nintendo not to become a software developer, since that is what they are most famous for in spite of their trend-setting controllers. Yet despite the novelty of the Wii remote, I still prefer the Dual Shock.
I love Nintendo's classics, but their refusal to embrace online play on the same level of their competitors as well as their reliance on nostalgia titles is frustrating. Sadly, I haven't turned on my Wii in so long that I can't even remember the last time. I think the last game I played on it was was Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, an old PC-Engine game, and only because it's Wii-exclusive.
Yet despite the novelty of the Wii remote, I still prefer the Dual Shock.
Which quite ironically, is pretty much just a snes pad with one extra l/r button with a knee jerk reaction to the n64's analog stick.
Personally I find the gamecube controller to be the most ergonomic of all controllers presently released that are typical gaming controllers. I admit it takes a bit of getting used to but as adament of a snes fan as I am it does just feel more comfortable once you are used to the layout.
Which quite ironically, is pretty much just a snes pad with one extra l/r button with a knee jerk reaction to the n64's analog stick.
Interestingly enough, the PS controllers look like that because before Sony released the PSX, they were working with Nintendo to create a CD-ROM addon for the SNES (much like the Sega CD for the Genesis) [wikipedia.org]. Near the end of the project's completion, Nintendo decided to abandon the idea, when infuriated the president of Sony. Not too long afterwards, Sony came out with the PlayStation to rival Nintendo.
The reason they abandoned it was because after looking at the fine print all game related profits where the media used was a cd would be going to sony... the profit from games was nintendo's bread and butter income.
Microsoft and Sony need to keep in mind I've spent a lot of money on media for the older systems; compatibility makes me buy, lack of it makes me look at the other system. So of course I have an original PS3, which is highly compatible with the PS2. I eventually bought a 360, but it was literally years after release (and I'm still pissed it won't run Mechassault... and I *still* have an original XBox hooked up so I can play those games.)
If they don't care about the money I've invested already... then I don'
Just in case you missed it with the howling of "hardcore gamers" and fanboys, the Wii thoroughly flogged them.
The Wii's sales began to significantly drop several years ago. Last May, sales were down 38% year-over-year and fell to record lows in Japan. Before you claim that its due to lifespan, the PS2 is still selling like hotcakes. 3DS sales rose 260% after the price drop but were still less than the DS's sales in the comparable time period a year prior (which shows you just how much of a flop the 3DS was
You apparently haven't looked at hotcake sales for the past decade. You can't move hotcakes. You say you've got some hotcakes for sale, and people are like, "I want ice cream cake!" And then you have to explain that you mean pancakes. But now they just want ice cream cake, or frosted cake, and all you have is syrup-drenched flapjacks.
It's a sad life being a hotcake salesman, let me tell you.
All joking aside, citing current PS2 sales is hardly relevant, since the PS3 doesn't have the same kind of record: Nintendo's current generation has beaten the pants of the current generations of Microsoft and Sony, and the Wii U's reception has been similar to that of the Wii months before its release.
Pretty much, it's impossible to say how well the Wii U is going to sell, and I definitely wouldn't short Nintendo's stock quite yet. They're scrappy, scrappy fighters with a rabid fanbase that has absorbed what was left of Sega's rabid fanbase. That's a lot of rabid.
What do you have against the Genesis or the Saturn
or do you have a problem with Sonic.... wannna fight
Mouth rabidly foaming
a rabid fanbase that has absorbed what was left of Sega's rabid fanbase. That's a lot of rabid.
I dont know, most of Sega's fanbase was absorbed by microsoft i think. The original xbox had a shitload of games derived from saturn/dreamcast classics, built by those same teams. I know that the dreamcast (in 2002, after its demise), was my gateway drug into the world of xbox gaming, well after i got a gamecube.
And i think that save for the die-hard zelda fanboys, nintendo has managed to alienate a good portion of its traditional fanbase with the Wii, a huge portion of the wii's succes is down to its appea
The Wii's sales began to significantly drop several years ago. Last May, sales were down 38% year-over-year and fell to record lows in Japan.
Nice attempt to frame the argument.
But the Wii has sold a lot more consoles then Sony and Microsoft. Also remember that Sony had to significantly redesign it's console to stop it haemorrhaging money and Microsoft has also redesigned it's console as well as various versions (Arcade, Elite).
Wii, 1 production model: 90 million sold.
Xbox360, 4 production models: 66 million sold.
PS3, 2 production models: 55 million sold.
Telling me that sales of the Wii has dropped is simply saying they aren't selling as phenomenally well as they were when it was released, the same thing happened with the Xbox360. This simply indicates it's reached it's saturation point, not an indication of product failure. A slow down in sales after 5 years is normal. The PS3 on the other hand did not experience the majority of its sales after it's redesign.
So yeah it sold mo
The problem is I don't think it's as simple as simple sales rates anymore, with this gen introducing services and other content too, the number of units shifted is a pretty pointless measure of success for a company and acts as little more than a number for fanboys to have a little circle jerk over.
There's a pretty fair argument that the additional profit from games (higher price point, higher attach rate) for the other two consoles, as well as the income from downloadable game addons, downloadable movies, music, avatars, and all that cruft, and profits from addons (Move/Kinect) as well as service subscriptions themselves (i.e. XBox Live) that Sony and Microsoft have probably actually made more profit than Nintendo despite the lower units sold for Microsoft and Sony's consoles.
The units sold only matters if you can monetise those units, and Nintendo has out and out failed to do so. Microsoft and Sony have in contrast had solid, and fairly succesful plans.
I don't even like Sony in the slightest, so it pains me somewhat to offer somewhat of a defence for them, but the fact is whilst Nintendo had the potential to be far and away the winner in terms of profits this console round due to their large install base, they completely failed to take advantage of that, and that, coupled with the early failure of the 3DS (even if it's picking up now) is why Nintendo has struggled financially, the Yen is certainly going to be part the problem, but not to the extent they're claiming. I like Microsoft a bit more, but recognise they still have a long way to go in terms of ethics in some areas.
It takes more than just shipping a succesful console to have a profitable games console division or business, you need to be able to shift games, and nowadays, many other types of content and subscriptions with it to boot.
I'd like to see Nintendo thrive, because IMO they're the most ethical of the console manufacturers, and so deserve to based on that, but time and time again they throw their growth away. This is fundamentally the difference between them, and say, Apple over the last few years, Nintendo has all the good will that Apple has (or at least had) and the strong massively loyal fanbase to boot, but whilst Apple has had a handful of failures too, Apple has been far more consistent in it's successes, whilst Nintendo has been painfully inconsistent. They need to maintain the kind of momentum they had when they released the Wii, but instead they keep letting it slip away time and time again. Because I do like Nintendo and think that from a moral point of view they deserve to do well, because they are fairly ethical, it genuinely does pain me to see them keep doing this. It's what I imagine having a daughter, who dates the odd brilliant guy with a phd, and high paying job, that really thinks the world of them, only to keep dumping them for countless douchebags in between must be like- you still love them, but it isn't going to stop you shaking your head in despair and having a go at them when they're being so fucking stupid.
I'd like to see Nintendo thrive, because IMO they're the most ethical of the console manufacturers
Ethical including discriminating against startups and home-based family businesses? (source) [warioworld.com] How is a new video game development company supposed to become established in the video game industry in the first place? At least Microsoft has Xbox Live Indie Games, whose barrier to entry isn't any higher than, say, iOS development.
Ethical including discriminating against startups and home-based family businesses? (source) How is a new video game development company supposed to become established in the video game industry in the first place? At least Microsoft has Xbox Live Indie Games, whose barrier to entry isn't any higher than, say, iOS development.
Newsflash - if you want to sell a game on Xbox360 or PS3, you have to agree to terms very similar to that! (Wii SDK is cheaper at $5000 or so, while PS3 and Xbox360 is over $10,000, ea
3DS isn't being sold for a loss, despite Nintendo's claims. BoM is $10 higher than original DSPhat. Not coincidentally 3DS is being sold for exactly $10 more than the original DSPhat. Nintendo was hoping to achieve Apple margins on their hardware, but they're just not good enough to do that. The 3DS is rather ugly, requires a "circlepad" peripheral that makes it look even worse, has terrible battery life, a difficult to use parallax screen, and lacks much of the functionality or power of modern devices.
"Does anyone else have a nagging feeling that Nintendo is doomed in the next console cycle?"
Problem with nintendo is game quality. They used to be 'must have' but beginning with the cube they put out real stinkers like Starfox adventures and assault. Totally ruined one of their KEY franchises by listening to stupid miyamoto over the starfox developer (you can google it). Metroid prime 3 was nothing to write home about and Twilight princess and Skyward sword can't keep up with other action games like God of war, devil may cry.
Nintendo's game development culture is stagnating under the reigns of developers who don't really get gaming and are doing 'the same old thing'. I knew nintendo lost it once I saw what they did to starfox and definitely when twilight princess was released with huge quality problems all over the map.
Nintendo isn't learning from other games that have 'done it better' and they desperately need to do it. They used to be a 'gamers' game company now they are just stuck in doing the same things they've always done.
Nintendo sadly is not intelligent enough as a company, they keep making dumb ass mistakes. The 64 with the cartridges, the lack of games and stupid 1.5GB mini-discs instead of DVD's (making porting more costly/hard for 3rd party game companies), then the lack of hardware power with the Wii which ensured no easy way to run multi-platform games. (pure idiocy).
As far as I'm concerned Nintendo is run by idiots at this point, and the Wii was a one hit home-run which will not be repeated again if they don't fucking hardware power + software support up. The Wii suffered again from lack of software that core gamers want, that's not a good thing to have as a game company.
At this point Nintendo should seriously think about multi-platforming it's games instead of trying to lock them down and make money on hardware. Gaming audiences now game on multi-platforms and the end is nigh for locked in hardware if you want to squeeze as much money as possible out of your software. Just look at all the big software companies - always releasing games on as many platforms as possible. Nintendo can't just keep it's software on it's own machines and hope to compete it needs software developer on the inside that makes games for other platforms because it's leaving money on the table for competitors.
Twilight princess and Skyward sword can't keep up with other action games like God of war, devil may cry.
Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword aren't action games, they are puzzle games with some fighting thrown in. And at that, they are amazing. You don't like them, which isn't the same as them not being good, as you should know.
You there, pimple faced 360 fan in the corner.
Yes, you with your ADHD and twitchy thumbs.
http://www.metacritic.com/game/wii/the-legend-of-zelda-twilight-princess [metacritic.com]
http://www.metacritic.com/game/wii/the-legend-of-zelda-skyward-sword [metacritic.com]
These are adventure games, not heave heavy hardcore action games.
Take them for what they are, and they're easily best in their class.
Sadly, I haven't turned on my Wii in so long that I can't even remember the last time.
Ditto. I bought my Wii a week or so after launch and had a blast playing with it for about 6 months or so, then it just got boring. Looking back on it, I think it was just the novelty of the controls that kept me interested in it even for that short amount of time. Outside of a handful of Wii exclusives (Zelda, Mario Galaxy) there was really nothing to pique my interest and keep it piqued...
Such a shame...I grew up on the NES, SNES, and original Gameboy, but they've really slipped a lot since the N64 day
Does anyone else have a nagging feeling that Nintendo is doomed in the next console cycle? The Wii U didn't grab the same attention that the original Wii did...
Haha. I remember just before the original Wii came out. The "attention" it garnered was "what's wrong with its name?" and everyone predicted it would bomb. I expect to be saying that same sentence a couple years after the Wii U comes out with very little modification.
Somehow I don't see either Apple, Sony nor Microsoft really threatening the core audience of Nintendo, it's still the console I'd buy for a kid where Super Mario Galaxy is an age-appropriate game. Backed themselves into a corner? I'd say the Wii was a huge unnatural success in markets Nintendo would never usually reach, hell it still has a lead of 30 million units sold on both the PS3 and XBox360 (95 vs 60 vs 65). If I'm trying to think age brackets I'd guess 30 vs 60 vs 60 would be more what I'm thinking. I don't think they'll make another monster hit like that, the controller was something extremely unique and innovative in 2006 to get people off their chairs and into action but with Kinect and motion analyzing cameras that market is pretty saturated and you can't expect them to pull off something like that in each generation.
Does anyone else have a nagging feeling that Nintendo is doomed in the next console cycle?
Out of all three console manufacturers, Nintendo is in the least peril. First from the Billions the Wii made, next from the strategy Nintendo is following.
Nintendo understands that consoles are casual. They always were and will continue to be for casual gamers. The most casual console of the last three generations ended up being the victors.
I love Nintendo's classics, but their refusal to embrace online play on the same level of their competitors as well as their reliance on nostalgia titles is frustrating.
This is the opposite of most peoples experience with Nintendo. Most console owners dont want to play online competitively, they play for 4 maybe 5 hours per week so they simply want a machine that starts quickly and is easy to use as well as having games which are simple and fun to play.
Of all the console manufacturers, the one I'd be worried about is Sony. Sony cant afford another loss leader like the PS3, in five years the PS3 hasn't become profitable, let alone made it into the black. It took 3 years for them to stop selling the each unit at a loss. However this is not the problem. Nintendo has shown that consoles are casual, yet I doubt Sony has learned this, they still seem intent on chasing a more dedicated gamer which simply doesn't exist in sufficient numbers on the console. A PS4 with the financials of the PS3 will probably sink the entire PlayStation division given the utter failures of the Playstation Phone, Playstation Portable and PS Vita.
Microsoft will probably release an overpowered casual console, remaining decidedly indecisive but openly willing to chase the casual dollars. If MS is good at anything it's following the leader.
As for the Wii U, yep, it may be evolutionary rather then revolutionary but at least Nintendo is trying new things. It probably wont be the smashing success that the Wii was but unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo can afford for the Wii U to be lacklustre although I highly doubt it will be. It probably wont sell like the Wii did, but it will still do well.
Does anyone else have a nagging feeling that Nintendo is doomed in the next console cycle?
No, because Nintendo has received cynicism every new console generation since the N64, and last I checked the Wii mopped the floor with the Xbox and PS3 for about 4 straight years, and followed it up by annihilating the PSP in sales with their DS.
And if I recall correctly, this was the Wii which was panned prior to its release for its bad graphics, stupid name, and awkward controllers, which turned out to be some of the reasons that everyone loved the thing.
So no, any speculation about how Nintendo is dying will be unconvincing until the numbers are actually out.
Does anyone else have a nagging feeling that Nintendo is doomed in the next console cycle? The Wii U didn't grab the same attention that the original Wii did, and Nintendo is being attacked on two fronts--the hardcore market with the PS3 and Xbox 360, and casual gaming with the iPhone. Nintendo always had handheld sales to fall back on, but sales of the 3DS have been underwhelming, forcing an early price drop. It seems like Nintendo backed itself into a corner with the Wii, tying the company too intimately with the casual gaming market, whose gamers are fickle and prone to jump onto the next big thing, which turned out to be the iPhone.
Er, someone already corrected you about the 3DS comment, but I feel the urge to point out that the WIiU's graphics look amazing [youtube.com].
Here's the nightmare scenario for Microsoft and Sony, and why both of them tried to retrofit motion controls into their console:
The big joke of the last 3 generations is that Nintendo has put together under-performing hardware. You simply can't run the same amount of processing power on a Wii, Gamecube, etc as you could with comparable consoles. What they do have this generation is something the other two cannot compete with them over -- motion controls.
Now, the problem facing Sony and Microsoft is that Nintendo can now afford to put out a console with good graphics capability and keep the console very affordable. As any PC gamer knows, game graphics aren't getting any better. A sub $100 card [tomshardware.com] is enough to run video games at a very respectable resolution and quality. You can bump up the AA, the filtering, the resolution by buying a bigger card, but all things considered, we've hit a plateau. What's more, the games aren't even using these advanced cards to their fullest -- and they can't. It's just too expensive to make games with these ultra quality graphics.
The WiiU will be able to play PC ported games. It will be able to feature match Microsoft and Sony, AND has features they cannot match -- high quality, 3rd generation Motion Controls and an integrated tablet for a second viewport and touch screen gaming.
So here's the question that the next generation is going to have to answer -- if the WiiU can play the same games as the PS3 / PS4 / XBox 360 / XBox Next, and can play the WiiU exclusive games... Why in the world would you ever buy the more expensive PS4/XBox Next?
I've had similar thoughts about the Wii U. Brings them to relative hardware parity with the current Sony and MS boxen. Will beat their rivals next-gen systems to market by at least a couple of years. May not move a zillion units, but should be profitable and keep Nintendo in the game.
Sony and Microsoft have bigger problems to contend with, too. For starters, developing a next-gen console that can blow the Wii U away will likely cost $5-$10 billion a piece. That's a ton of cash to sink into a very crowded space where success is certainly not assured.
Beyond the hardware there's an even bigger chicken and egg problem Sony and MS would face with a new platform. Developing games that fully exploit such a monster will tax the resources of all but the very largest developers. Will developers be willing to invest ungodly sums developing new games for bleeding edge platforms that - at least initially - will sport miniscule userbases? We're talking sinking maybe $100 million into building a single title that you can only sell to - at most - a couple million users (at least for a year or two). I just don't see how you can get the economics to work for a new console anytime in the near future. And without a library of games, why spend $300 or whatever on a new console? Hardcore gamers alone just can't support a platform by themselves - not with development costs reaching into the stratosphere - so you have to bring a bunch of casual gamers onboard fairly quickly. I just don't see that happening.
Especially not with Apple muscling its way into the gaming business with the iPhone, iPad and - soon, it would appear - their own TV. Yeah, I'm sure their devices won't have anywhere near the hardware specs of the PS4 or whatever, but it's hard to compete with a platform that's dead simple to use and where the games sell for $5 or less and you can play them anywhere you want. And if Apple has any luck as a "console" in the living room, you can bet Google will be right behind them with Android. How do you compete with free?
I wouldn't be surprised to see hardcore gaming migrate back to the PC. And if you do start to see that happening, it's game over for the consoles.
the WIiU's graphics look amazing [youtube.com].
You haven't seen a PC game in the last 5 years, I take it? Those graphics look pretty average, and I'm very confident the PS4 and next Xbox will be vastly better.
PC Game graphics have mostly plateaued *due* to the 360 and PS3; almost everything has to have a console version these days so there's little to no incentive to make the PC version look any better than the consoles can manage.
You only have to look at some of the PC games that *have* gone the extra mile (Witcher 2, Crysis 2 DX11, Deus Ex HR, etc) to see how much better gaming graphics can be when they're not limited by 7 year old console hardware.
> The big joke of the last 3 generations is that Nintendo has put together under-performing hardware
You're overlooking the 400-ton elephant wearing a pink tutu standing over in the corner -- 1080i60. As much as we'd like for it to be true, native 1080pAnything is far from universal. You'd be horrified if you saw the architectural mess inside most mass-market sub-$400 LCD TV controller ASICs -- it makes the parallelport-semi-SCSI-kludged-to-USB trainwreck that evolved with scanners look downright elegant by comparison.
The raw panels themselves can do 24p, 30p, and 60p without drama, but the brain-damaged controllers driving them were value-engineered to just kludge anything besides 720p60 the same way they always have -- they bob it (ie, they treat 1920x1080 16:9 interlaced video as 1920x540 16:9 progressive video, then resample it to 1366x768).
When presented with 1080p24, instead of just natively showing it at 24fps, they stupidly apply 3:2 pulldown to emulate 1080i60 and pass it to the same braindamaged controller. I've seen cheap LCD TVs that somehow managed to end up with weave artifacts out of 1080p30 source. And today's Walmart crap is the semi-high-end from 5 years ago.
Put another way, it's going to be at least another 10 years before you can confidently throw out 1080p60 video and expect butter-smooth artifact-free rendering on the TVs in most living rooms. With current TVs out "in the wild", modes like 1080p24 and 1080p30, let alone 1080p60, are too inconsistently-implemented to risk depending on... and true 1080i60 looks like crap on anything besides a 240hz set that uses oversampling to emulate interlace fade. So we get the least common denominator -- 1080p30 pretending to be 1080i60, that 10-20% of TVs still manage to screw up and butcher.
Of course, 720p60 works well on just about everything. Unfortunately, 720p60 isn't sexy enough for the marketing department. So instead of getting judder-free butter-smooth 1280x720 60fps video without glitches, and with enough filtering to be almost indistinguishable from real-life, we end up with 1080i60 video that looks like crap.
That's the sad truth. 720p60 isn't good enough for the marketing department, 1080i60 rendered AS 1080i60 looks like crap on most TVs. 1080p60 is a fantasy in 94% of the homes in America, 1080p24 is badly-implemented in at least a quarter of the TVs out there, and 5-10% somehow manage to even screw up 1080p30 encoded as fake 1080i60.
Oh... just to add... in case anybody is wondering why interlacing is a NEW problem, it's because old videogames and home computers tricked TVs into scanning EVERY field as if it were an "odd" field, instead of scanning odd fields, then even fields. That's why they had black scanline artifacts between every other row of pixels. In effect, they tricked CRT TVs into pseudo-progressive 60fps mode by scanning the same field over and over again & leaving the even field's scanlines dark, instead of alternating between the odd and even fields (refreshing each 30 times per second).
There's a bigger problem lurking with "true" HD video -- 50 & 60 fps isn't fast enough to climb out of the "Uncanny Valley". It turns out, the white papers written back in the 80s and 90s were biased by the physical behavior of film and CRT displays, and made lots of assumptions that fall apart when you're talking about an inherently progressive display like a LCD, and source video that's basically rendered to digital film of infinite sensitivity one frame of infinitely-short duration at a time. It turns out, motion blur encodes a hell of a lot of extra visual information into each frame that naive attempts to apply Nyquist to synthetic video content fail to appreciate.
The PC videocard industry and gaming industry started to become painfully aware of the problem about 10 years ago, and they're still working on it. The current band-aid is to simulate motion-blur... but motion blur itself becomes visually-tedious after a while.
Between glasses-free 3D and refresh rates fast enough to make motion-blur unnecessary, there's still plenty of room for future advancement in videogame and TV technology. We have a long, long way to go before you'll be able to dress up a monitor like a fake window & feel like you're looking outside at a real scene... made longer by the fact that the advancements needed to take videogames to this level go WAY beyond what mass-market consumers are likely to care about, much less demand, for TV-watching purposes. This means the quantum leap that occurred over the past 10 years is more of a fluke than anything, and isn't likely to be sustainable in the long run.
At some point, the cost burden is going to shift from mass-market consumers subsidizing the technology through billions of general TV sales back to mere millions of high-end gamers driving the market for outrageously expensive (compared to what you'd pay for even an *expensive* TV at Wal Mart) cutting-edge hardware. Think: the gigantic cost leap seen today when you go from 1920x1080 to any higher res (like 2560x1920), but even worse.
"Yes, yes, I realize people have been declaring Nintendo to be doomed since the Nintendo 64, but just because they survived previous eras doesn't mean they will survive the next one."
Considering Nintendo's LONG history, dating back to 1889, I don't think you're anywhere close to reality. History tends to repeat itself and Nintendo has yet to prove that wrong.
Simple reasons for why PCs can't compete with consoles (and I am a firm PC gamer):
Price - The cost of manufacturing the mainboards of all three of the consoles is somewhere around 150-250 USD, thus they only need a power supply and a DVD drive to function beyond that. A PC requires a motherboard, CPU, video card, and independent memory not to mention a hard drive. All of that even at the cheapest level is around 200 USD and still lacks an OS.
OS - Consoles run a scaled down consistent OS that usually shuts
Price is true, and the scaled down OS is true for the first couple years after the consoles release (after which the increasing power of modern PCs overwhelms the benefits of a leaner OS).
But development costs? The advantage is clearly with the PC. Sure, it might be cheaper to target one platform, but you have to pay Microsoft or Sony for the privilege of being on their console. There's a reason why many AAA PC games are still $50, while AAA console games are uniformly $60. And for indie games. the market on Steam is absolutely booming, so I don't know where you got this notion that AAA titles are the only ones that can make it on PC.
Price yes, but OS is hardly insurmountable, there are several utilities that will do that for you. Plus, consoles today are essentially just stripped down and optimized computers, it's been quite a while since a console really differed by that much from a computer. I mean hell you could even load Linux on a PS3 early on.
As for development costs, the PC market is huge compared with the console market. There's plenty of money in PC gaming if they wouldn't go to such lengths to piss off PC gamers.
The top 4 selling games for the Xbox 360 outsold all but 1 PC title ever. Wii sold 7 titles more than any PC title ever. PS2 sold 1 and PS3 has sold none more than any PC title ever. (For Reference the best selling PC game of All-time I could find was Sims 3 at 16M copies [wikipedia.org]) I'm being fair here but the market seems to have spoken that just in current consoles they have PC sales beat hand down. PC gaming is really a mixture of AAA game houses like Blizzard, EA, and Ubisoft and much smaller start-ups. It has few middle-sized designers producing for it because they can't afford to invest without a substantial guarantee of return. Consoles offer that. It's why I point out development cost, when you're getting down to indie games where you need less than 25-50 people to develop one of reasonable quality PCs really shine, but they have a huge gap in size and that's where consoles are bread and butter winners because a good ship for a Wii game is a million units while a good ship for a PC game is 100,000. It's a different set of logistics all together.
As for pricing, 60 bucks is being squeezed out of console players because the distribution system is controlled by a handful of players. Since department stores and discount stores are largely out of it (barring Wal-Mart) gamers get their games in physical locations from less than 3-4 outlets in a given location. They've monopolized the system and have justified the increase in price for profit. PC games are even more limited physically but tend to have a greater expanse online and with the intro of Steam and other competing systems it keeps the price in check.
As for the main point: Unified architecture means a designer has a target. If a game runs smoothly on a PC with ultra-high-end equipment that's wonderful, how does it play on a 4 year old rig with an AMD Dual-core Athlon II and a x800 video card? They don't have to prepare for multiple dynamics within a video card or CPU or even operating system variances. They simply have to write a game that will be using a PowerPC chip and an ATI or Nvidia custom video chip with a certain amount of Ram. It's the real advantage consoles have and its why every time they fiddle around with a power upgrade option it causes an uproar because usually it's expensive and it means leaving a relatively large portion of users behind. Think of the Sega CD or 32X. They were both perfect examples of upgrading the existing system with new technology and ultimately both failed because they were held back by older architecture and price. The speed we're seeing now though shouldn't be an issue to offer backwards compatibility through emulation for everything though so the need to be "upgradable" is really a limited concept.
This comes back to the age old argument - one generalised device (a PC for example) which is capable of many things vs several smaller/cheaper appliances.
When I was growing up, we preferred the generalised device. It was a one off hit to the wallet, but the games cost the same as the consoles - and it could be used as a word processor/spreadsheet. Overall that worked out as being cheaper.
Now PCs are getting so cheap - a crappy Acer laptop good enough to do word processor/spreadsheets is almost as cheap as a
Don't advertise features that you may later remove completely
While I was not one of the ones who missed the OtherOS feature, for some it was a huge deal. I would hope the uproar over losing this option will teach Sony not to include and make light of large feature sets that they wind up removing later, after the fact. Regardless of what that feature may or may not be, I don't think it is cool to remove stuff that originally came with the system. I don't think anyone wants to see features disappear from a piece of hardware they own just because they want to stay up to date with the latest firmware/updates, and that doesn't just go for PS4 either.
Don't advertise features that you may later remove completely
That's a crucial point! It'd be like telling a girl "I was considering buying you a 5 kt diamond but I decided to buy you a 3 kt diamond instead and buy myself a computer w/the leftovers." Sometimes the backstory can ruin the deal.
No, it's more like buying a girl a 4 kt diamond ring then later replacing it with a 3kt diamond if she wants you to clean the dishes and explaining it to her that this is because some other woman down the street only has a 3 kt diamond ring.
Care a lot more about your own network infrastructure and security, and a bit less about the console control and security.
PS3 is open cracked despite all your efforts, and the stolen information (credit cards, for God's sake!) and downtime from the PSN will be a stain (not to mention all the money this costed!) on your image for a long time.
Too late, it doesn't matter if the PS4 literally was required to live* I wouldn't buy it because I was one that does miss the OtherOS feature and did pay a premium ($750ish) to get a console (my first since the sega megadrive (genesis for some) with the feature.
Sony have burned some customers forever - I'll never be back and even try avoid them in other enterprises (seen many sony pictures lately?)
* feature pending removal.
There's that, but there's also the poor packaging in terms of informing buyers that this unit isn't a full PS3, it's missing otheros or the ability to play PS2 games or whatever. I genuinely feel for people who bought a unit with the otheros feature only to have that taken. But, the removal of features without any markings on the box to indicate the lack of functionality is pretty disgusting IMHO.
Not being backwards compatible with PS2 games is why I didn't upgrade. Glad I didn't in the end considering the PSN mess.
I don't know the first thing about the underlying OS (nor do I care, it's a console - that's the point of them!). But the key for them keeping their PS2 customers and turning them into PS3 customers should really have been having a PS2 emulator (or even native PS2) on the PS3.
Sony released audio CDs that put rootkits on consumer's PCs, without informing them. After being sued for this, they did it again. They also failed their due diligence on security, causing their entire client base to have private data stolen. Combine this with their habit of selling features and then subsequently removing those very features, and I don't understand why *anybody* buys products form Sony.
I will never trust Sony again.
I think PS4 will need to be a total "reinvention" of the device - first thing they need to do is look at all the people who didn't buy PS3s and figure out how to appeal to them. Anybody who did buy a PS3 (myself included) is likely pissed off enough with them to avoid the PS4 at any price. I don't care to think about the hours I sunk into "OtherOS" getting it setup and working, or the hours I have spent waiting 10+ minutes for an "update" that's blocking me from accessing the features I've already bought,
I want backwards compatiblity as much as you, but the unfortunate reality of computing is that you can't quickly translate code that was custom-written for 1 architecture into another architecture. Console game developers do an awful lot of fine-tuning to achieve the performance you see, and much of it relies on the specific design of the chip being used in the previous system.
To whit, even emulating the N64 (16 years old) takes a reasonably beefy modern machine!
Simply put, the easiest way to emulate the pr
UltraHLE simulated the N64 hardware by looking for specific known functions for graphics rendering and stuff and patching them to call directly to vaguely compatible x86 versions of those functions.
I would add to that restore PS2 compatibility.
If they stick to a Cell design, they could almost certainly do it. If they deviate (seems likely, IBM and Toshiba are pretty well out of the game, though a process shrunk Cell 2 may still provide some boost, but even that design is already years old) that's going to be nearly impossible. Cross-arch emulation around the same generation is nearly impossible to do right.
Never release another console for $599. How can posters here forget the real problem the PS3 had, especially at launch?
Agreed. This was the biggest reason I didn't get a PS3 until almost 4 years into it's launch. I simply couldn't justify paying that much. Especially after they dropped the backward compatible model and removed the other OS feature. Waited til I saw the slim version for close to $200 before taking the plunge.
Also, with the exception of Final Fantasy, every game I wanted to play was on the PC in higher resolution and the ability to mod. To be honest, even Final Fantasy might not be enough to get me to purchas
Given the current global economy I think $250-$350 at launch is realistic.
People could get away with $600 sale prices because:
a) really low yields on bleeding edge tech made widespread distribution nearly impossible
b) lax regulations on credit laws pumped a bunch of cash in to western markets (and households)
Now we're paying the price for those boom years, die fab tech has come a long ways in the last 6 years (the last 6 years represent nearly 20% of the entire lifespan of the moder
Security should be a key consideration, don't have a crappy back end that gets hacked.
Include a way to hook up a keyboard and mouse, out of the box.
You mean like two USB ports located conveniently on the front?
Preferably, a wireless set of USB ports (just some black box with two ports). They could sell a $50 "lapdesk" for the kb/mouse to sit on and feel proud of themselves, too...
Sony should remember it is there to provide customers with what they want and are willing to pay for, rather than there to wage war on them.
Sony Corp. (SNE)â(TM)s Kazuo Hirai said the PlayStation 3 console will have a 10-year lifespan, suggesting the 5-year-old video-game player wonâ(TM)t be replaced soon.
How is it that Kaz Hirai says that Sony will be supporting the PS3 as a ten year device but they only allowed the consumers to purchase one year warranties when the system launched? If they truly believed that people would be playing the PS3 for another ten years they why is there no warranty that covers at least ten years of use? If I purchase a game system that is going to be supported with ten years of software then why is SONY not confident that the hardware will hold up for ten years and they'll only give out a warranty that covers one or two years at most?
Of course the reason why is obvious. Launch models are not built to last. The differences between launch models and slim models are numerous. I purchased five launch PS3s, the hardware backwards compatible models, and they all died within three years. The cost of replacing just one out of warranty PS3? Over $200 per unit through Sony customer support. When Sony is not even confident in the ten year life expectancy of a launch product it was rather aggravating when I read from the president that they saw the consoles as "ten year" products.
And honestly the hardware failures that I had with launch PS3s were basically pleasant experiences compared to the constant nightmares I had with 360 units suffering the RROD. MS sent me two refurbished launch 360s and those both red ringed within a week. It was another few weeks before people started to realize that something was very wrong with 360 hardware.
If MS and SONY are building these devices for 7-10 year cycles then allow us to purchase warranties to cover the devices during those years. Or at least lower the price of a repair. I cannot possibly see how it is respectful to a consumer to demand $200 to fix a defective unit on top of the $500-$600 that it cost at retail to initially purchase the device.
You're buying a piece of consumer electronics. It's not ruggedized military hardware, despite what the commercials might lead you to believe. It doesn't even have a real metal case, for goodness sake.
2 years is generous for bleeding edge technology. You can't even get a 10 year factory warranty from asian car makers. Just buy a 10 year warranty through a third party. The cost of a 10 year warranty for a $600 console would probably cost you $400.
If you wanted a launch PS3 with 10-year durable
Furthermore, I think it's absolutely incredible that people could buy these miniature supercomputers (they're still on par with a 2010 PC computer) and expect them to run flawlessly for a decade. I mean, sure, electronics technology has come a long ways in the last 20 years, but you're talking about a device that is going to pump literally half a million cubic feet of air (10 years * 80cfm) through it, dust and all, and function guaranteed , without service for a decade. That's mind blowing.
Sure, s
You can buy ten years of warranty on a PS3 (at least in the USA, can't speak for others). The first year comes free with the purchase of the console. The second year has a variable cost depending on when you buy it and you don't need to purchase it until you are concerned about the life of the console or the console actually breaks. If you purchase it before it breaks, the cost is exactly the same as the current console cost minus the current trade in value. This is often about $100. If you wait until
1) Allow all discs to play on ps4 - at least ps2+ps3. People don't want to spend a ton of money on a new console & invalidate all their past purchases which are still quite playable, or jack around with changing out consoles all the time. It's a hassle to unplug/replug for most people.
2) Quit removing features because of your paranoia - the OtherOS debacle should have gotten some people fired. Either leave it in there or never put it in there.
3) Fix your fuggin security for reals. From what I've heard from my friends who work at Sony, they've just patched up a few weak spots that were vulnerable but their overall model is totally lacking. It's prevented me from re-upping subscription to a few games (like Vanguard) just because I don't want to trust them with their CC info.
More of a general sony point but still.
4) Allow for more mods / customization. I briefly used ps3 as HTPC but it's so limited in the formats it supports, ways of mounting to media etc it's just more of a hassle than its worth. I ended up going with xbmc on a PC.
5) Motion control is the future. Get better at it. The ps3 move is questionable; crappy titles, camera is a hassle in non-optimal light situations etc. For instance, Fight Night: Lights Out is a really good game, but it's totally ruined by subpar headtracking even in optimal light situations.
A few minor points;
- USB controllers should charge from pretty much any USB power source. My ps3 controllers are super picky for some reason.
- Use standardized friggin power button. It's incredibly ridiculous that you have to push the PS button on a controller to power the unit on, or push the button in the front. Used to drive me crazy when I drove it with harmony remote
Give it up. I don't love you any more. I don't think I ever did. Every time I tried to love you, you shat on me and expected me to love it. Sony, you are not Apple. Only Apple has the ability to do that. I hope there is no PS4. There doesn't need to be one. And I predict if/when there is, people will not be lining up to get them. They will atttempt to create their artificial shortages to pump up the demand, but they'll find people just aren't interested enough.
Sony, you are not Apple. Only Apple has the ability to do that.
A guy in a bar told me the PS4 controller will be a shiny scroll wheel.
Oh, I'm sure the next generation or so of the AppleTV will eat the lunch of Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft...combined! Apple has a game plan, you can count on that. Soon their all powerful ring (app store) for the iOS platform will rule them all!
You seriously didn't think Apple got over the whole Pippin loss did you?
3. Embrace Linux - if some person makes their generations Tetris, Myst/HyperCard, bird game - the PR glow is a net positive - give the game away with every unit shipped/sold game and be nice to the team/person who used your product to show it to the world. Support them.
I think they would have to do something like make a >$100m donation to the FSF and put >$10b in some sort of FSF approved escrow before that strategy will get them anywhere. If they announced Linux support on the PS4 I would imagine that any positive noises would be drowned out by a million people crying out something along the lines of "fool me once
If they try this, I hope that the first journalist who is in the presence of a Sony representative making any claims about
Makes you wonder why that mass email never made it into court during the class action lawsuit.
Loose bits sink chips.


text:
The FIA's announcement that double points will be awarded at the final race of the 2014 season and at subsequent finales has sparked a strong response from onlookers.
The new rule comes in direct response to Sebastian Vettel's continued dominance of the sport, which saw him win the 2013 title with four races left and just two years prior he won with five races to go.
German publication Bild described the new rule as 'strange', while Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport branded it 'crazy'.
Alan Baldwin, the correspondent for Reuters, spoke of 'the dismay and anger on social media', while another prominent F1 tweeter, former driver Taki Inoue, compared the rule to 'something like a Nintendo Mario game'.
"No mushroom?" the Japanese added.
According to the press release following the FIA meeting in Paris, the new rule changes were 'immediately applicable' because of the 'mandate' given to recently re-elected President Jean Todt.
The statement added: "Double drivers' and constructors' points will be awarded at the final race of the Formula One season in order to maximise focus on the championship until the end of the campaign."
Daily Mail correspondent Jonathan McEvoy claimed the doubles points rule 'undermined the sport with a gimmick that should have been filed away with sprinklers and reversed grids in the file of batty ideas'.
Under the system of double points at the final race, Felipe Massa would have been champion in 2008 while Fernando Alonso would have beaten Sebastian Vettel to the title in 2012.
"Why should a single race be worth more?" Brazilian correspondent Rafael Lopes wrote in Globo.
"It's a very artificial way to keep the championship alive until the last grand prix.
"Why should an average driver with an unreliable car have the same chance just because of the scoring system?
"And that's not to mention that Abu Dhabi, to date, has hosted almost no good races on a pretty boring track."
Surprisingly, Red Bull were the only team to vote against the idea with the rule of majority working against them, and on Tuesday driver Sebastian Vettel told Sport Bild the idea was 'nonsense'.
"Imagine there is suddenly double points in the last Bundesliga match," he said.
"This is nonsense, and punishes those who have worked hard for the rest of the season.
"I like the old traditions of Formula One and don't understand this new rule," Vettel concluded.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
CLEMMONS | James Robert Walters, 78, of Clemmons, passed away Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012, at Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem.
A funeral will be at 3 p.m. Wednesday at Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church by the Rev. Karen Roberts. Burial will follow in the church cemetery.
The family will receive friends from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. prior to the service at the church.
James was born Feb. 12, 1934, in Surry County to Luther Walters and Myrtle McCann Walters. He was a member of Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church. He was a retired employee of First National Bank after 19 years of service and also of Commercial Farmers Bank as vice president for eight years. He served in the United States Army and also volunteered with numerous organizations including Consumer Credit Counseling, Winston-Salem Junior Achievement, Boy Scouts of America, Lions Club, Arcadia Senior Citizens, Methodist Men, March of Dimes and Forsyth Medical Center. He was preceded in death by his parents and nine brothers and sisters.
Surviving are his wife of 59 years, Lois Wall Walters; his sons, Robert Walters (Dana) and Jeff Walters (Tina), all of Lexington; daughters Beth Kight (Toney) of Clemmons and Judy Strickland (Ed) of Douglasville, Ga.; brother Corbit Walters of Elkin; grandchildren Benjamin Strickland (Michelle), Erin Strickland, Sloan and Sawyer Walters, Ali Carter (David), Jonathan Kight (Jessica) and Stephen Kight (Symantha); great-grandchildren Jonathon , Lauren, Claudia and Sam; and great-great-grandson Braxton.
In lieu of flowers, the family would like memorials directed to Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church, 1082 Community Road, Lexington NC 27295 or Crisis Ministry of Davidson County, 107 E. First Ave., Lexington, NC 27292.
Davidson Funeral Home, Hickory Tree Chapel is assisting the family.
Online condolences may be made at www.davidsonfuneralhome.net.
James Walters
CLEMMONS | James Robert Walters, 78, of Clemmons, passed away Saturday, Dec. 29, 2012, at Forsyth Medical Center in Winston-Salem.


text:
Infragistics has announced a new release of its NetAdvantage for .NET 2009 Volume 1 toolset. NetAdvantage for .NET provides user interface (UI) controls for rapidly building high-fidelity, full-featured UIs for ASP.NET, WPF, Windows Forms and Silverlight.
ASP.NET support includes ASP.NET AJAX controls for building Web 2.0 Rich Internet Applications (RIAs). Other tools supporting ASP.NET include:
- The WebDataGrid Column Moving feature lets users reorder columns to customize views. The new lightweight WebDropDown can be used as an editor for the WebDataGrid.
- New controls include WebDataTree, WebDataMenu, and WebProgressBar that have advanced functionality such as drag-and-drop capabilities, drop down menus, CSS support, and one-setting global styling.
- Enhancements in the Application Styling Framework enable the styling of controls and centralized management of CSS styles easier than ever.
NetAdvantage's WPF components support end-to-end development scenarios from the simplest applications to the most sophisticated. In the 2009 Volume 1 release, Infragistics has enhanced functionality in the xamDataGrid and xamDataPresenter Grid View while improving performance leading to WPF controls that are flexible, robust and highly-configurable.
In addition to enhancing the Windows Forms WinGrid to make seamless interfacing with Microsoft Excel easier, Infragistics has added depth to several controls including WinCombo, WinListView, and WinSchedule, and has introduced WinPanel to the toolset.
With the release of Infragistics CTP controls for Silverlight, developers can take Line of Business applications to the next level with advanced technology now by combining next-generation Silverlight 3 capabilities with familiar UI patterns. Several CTP controls including the xamWebGrid, xamWebTree, xamWebOutlookBar are available free now.


text: Version 2.1.17 of the LiteSpeed Web Server has been released. This is a general bug fix update. * Improvement: added header "X-Forwarded-Proto: https" header to SSL proxied connections. * Fixed file upload disconnects over a SSL connection. * Fixed rewrite engine problem when a non-existing HTTP header were referenced in rule.


text:
I think that this could be a good tutorial(s): Development of mobile apps using HTML5 + CSS3 + Javascript.
HTML5 seems to be a hot topic almost everywhere. I could imagine the cover, "Develop iOS apps using Linux and HTML5!". I believe that this could be quite appealing for several (new) readers.
I'm a little biased here (I'm an iPhone owner), but you can focus on Android if you think is better. The good part is that the apps should work in both platforms (if I am right) and you don't need to care about markets or approvals by some evil company in Cupertino...
What do you think? A good idea?


text:
Lent is now about half-way gone. It is a good time to reflect on our Lenten journey this far. So, how is it going for you? I think, too, this Third Sunday of Lent is a good time to re-hack, especially if you are discouraged by any failures you may have experienced along the way. Remember, our Lenten objective is to be more conformed to Christ. Without a doubt, the first realization we need in order to achieve our goal is that we need help, divine assistance, also called grace. Any discouragement you might be experiencing is not coming from a good place. Opening ourselves to the mercy the Father has shown us in His only Begotten Son, Christ our Lord, is the best experience we can have.
How can you do this? Go to confession. Stop the hemming and hawing, stop the rationalizations, acknowledge your need for reconciliation by undertaking a thorough examination of your life since your last confession, even if it took place many years ago. I also think it a helpful reminder that, in addition to acting in persona Christi, the priest acts on behalf of the Church. So, the reconciliation that occurs in the sacrament of penance is cruciform, having both a vertical and a horizontal dimension. Like the graces we receive in communion, reconciliation is not something we keep to ourselves, but something we practice in our lives. After all, part of our baptismal vocation as God's priestly people is to help reconcile the world. As a wise priest told with me yesterday, a bit in tongue in cheek after I shared with him my choice to give up alcohol (excepting communion) during Lent, truly being reconciled with an enemy is worth many glasses of scotch!
Blogito ergo sum! Actually, as N.T. Wright averred, "'Amor, ergo sum:' I am loved, therefore I am." Among other things, I am a Roman Catholic deacon. This is a public cyberspace in which I seek to foster Christian discipleship in the late modern milieu in the diakonia of koinonia and in the recognition that "the Eucharist is the only place of resistance to annihilation of the human subject."
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Lent about half-way through
2 comments:
Mercy...reconcilation...grace. Certainly these are at the forefront during the Lenten season, but are they not also part of the daily life of the Catholic?ReplyDelete
They are, absolutely. I am a strong proponent of Lent as a time of refocusing, which means only doing things, or not doing things, that bear fruit beyond this holy season.ReplyDelete
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text:
Good afternoon
Last night I installed tPots. I have been playing TOC-Moula for about four years. Each time I click on any of the Pod age linking books and the Minkata and Jalak linking books the dowload starts but then after the bars disappear the ages do not appear and the game freezes. I am using Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate edition. What can I do to fix this?


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I've just moved my site WP Theme Daily over to a new domain name (previously it was Res WP Themes). I think the site looks pretty good but I would welcome any suggestions you guys might have to make it any better. Additionally, are there any features you would like to see added?
I should probably explain what the site is about! It's about WordPress themes, particularly finding the best ones and showcasing them in collections.
Thanks guys,


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the cops could have avoided all that trouble
Yes, by not shooting people or threatening witnesses at gunpoint.
the cops could have avoided all that trouble
Yes, by not shooting people or threatening witnesses at gunpoint.
But then why would anyone bother to become a cop?
the cops could have avoided all that trouble
Yes, by not shooting people or threatening witnesses at gunpoint.
But then why would anyone bother to become a cop?
There're still plenty of drug dealers to shake down and prostitutes to extort free sex from.
the cops could have avoided all that trouble
Yes, by not shooting people or threatening witnesses at gunpoint.
But then why would anyone bother to become a cop?
There're still plenty of drug dealers to shake down and prostitutes to extort free sex from.
Or vice versa.
But then why would anyone bother to become a cop?
You've put your finger on the source of the inevitable problem. Given the job, you're guaranteed to get this kind of person showing up at least occasionally; just like you get BOfH sysadmins, Wall Street attracts get-rich-quick schemers, the lawsuits attract ambulance-chasers.
The critical question isn't whether these things happen; they will. The critical question is how they organization responds. What will happen to these police, and the department that they work for? Will they be fired and never allowed to work in law enforcement again? Will there be a review of the attitudes of the police department to see if there are other systematic violations of rights, or a failure to provide adequate training or incentives to uphold the law (rather than abuse it for personal gain)? Or will they be given a slap on the wrist, and business continue as usual?
If there are consequences, then it won't be as attractive to this kind of person; or, this kind of person will control themselves because they know there will be consequences. If there aren't consequences, you're going to attract a whole lot more of this kind of person.
The real trick is to post everything directly to "The Cloud".
True. And the easiest way to do it is to use Qik [qik.com]. You can even set that up for the vids to land directly onto YouTube.
The real trick is to post everything directly to "The Cloud".
This is what happened at the Democratic Convention protests in Chicago in 1968.
Chicago was a machine-run city and the police were able to keep pictures of their misdeeds out of the newspapers by seizing and/or smashing the photographers' cameras. In preparation for the convention (and the pre-announced protests) the machine's unions had prevented the stringing of video cabling to likely protest sites.
But this was the first serious deployment of the "minicam" by the three networks' news operations. It was a massive shoulder-mounted camera, feeding a backpack full of electronics and batteries, radio-linked to a truck full of equipment within a block or two that relayed it to the studio. But it worked. And Chicago was a main switching/mixing/studio center for all three networks' transcontinental feeds.
So the police, with orders to keep things out of the media, did their standard smash-the-camera number (like they did when the local newsies got ouf-of-line and tried to report on them). And when the police batons smashed a camera lens the image, from the lens' viewpoint, was already out of the camera and into living rooms nationwide.
With the improvements in video camera technology - first the personal portable video camera, then the inclusion of cameras and video-record functionaltiy in most modern cellphones - the bulk of the population has been in a position to play Chicago News Cameraman. "Who watches the watchmen?" can now be answered "All of us!" Since the Rodney King incident the police have been hunting for ways to suppress this coverage. And this bunch seems to have settled on the pre-minicam Chicago Police approach. In this case the camara man managed to extract and protect the "film". But the real solution is the same as it was in '68: Real time upload to external archive and/or live publication. You hit it dead-on.
Fortunately the pieces of that are now available as stock products (minor assembly required). Smartphone plus applet for live streaming to archive and/or social-network/video publication. The readers' letters attached to TFA name at least two such applets: QIK (and QIK Plus) and Ustream.
Is the US trying a new way of social reinsertion by giving policemen jobs to prisoners with clear psychopath behavior ?
I'm fairly certain this gent has a 42USC1983 claim against all of the individual officers involved, and I *certainly* hope he's taking advice on that point.
Officers like this need to be made examples of. If not by judges, then by citizens.
Theft, destruction of private property, destruction of evidence, assault, and I'm probably missing a few.
It's OK because it's the police, so you have nothing to fear, citizen, unless . . . you have something to hide.
Does anyone know of an iphone or android app that automatically uploads video to a remote server while it is being taken? Therefore things like smashing a phone would be useless, as it would already be publicly available.
Yes, http://qik.com/ [qik.com] Qik supports android and iPhone.. it worked well on my 3g and works fine on my android.
Yet another example of a government agent stomping on the Constitution. What type of country has this become? One where the government can track, monitor, record, and harass citizens, yet citizens can't even record a public event without being treated as terrorists. Just disgusting.
Now they should sue and we can all pay for it with an ever increasing tax burden.
...and cops wonder why we hate them?
...and cops wonder why we hate them?
They know.
They just don't care.
...and cops wonder why we hate them?
The criticism and complaints against these officers is completely justified... they should face charges at a formal hearing for this... but a blanket statement about "we hate cops" makes you look silly and juvenile. Government... federal, state, and local... has become far too powerful. But they're not yet the Nazis you and other perpetually outraged Slashdotters make them out to be.
I guess we should wait until they are the Nazis, huh?
When these incidents happen, how often do the pigs face real punishment? That doesn't mean desk duty, or leave with pay. I mean life in prison, the kind of thing the rest of us would do for blatantly murdering someone then trying to cover it up by assaulting and threatening witnesses.
The whole system is corrupt and needs to be flushed.
The HTC EVO is a Sprint phone, it doesn't use SIM cards.
Also, video isn't stored on the SIM card.
Maybe he means the memory card?
Removing the memory card requires removing the battery first on an HTC EVO. It's somewhat unlikely he did that discreetly.
Depends on how smashed up the phone was - after a good police trampling I wouldn't be surprised if the battery was already missing and the sd card slot was bent...
Fucking pigs.
If there's enough of the phone to recover images, then the cops have made their situation worse. It looks like that's the case, but it's from an SD card, not a SIM card - given how Sprint's phones work.
Another point - how about apps that instantly stream to an offsite location? The cops would still be thwarted, and still have to pay.
Hopefully the cops end up paying tons of cash to replace the phones, along with whatever criminal penalties come from their actions.
Another point - how about apps that instantly stream to an offsite location? The cops would still be thwarted, and still have to pay.
That's how the Camden police thugs got caught.
Record it online, not on your phone. Although I suppose it won't be long before cops carry cell jammers as a regular thing.
I thought this too. Looking into it though, how do we actually do it? The only way I can think of that's convenient on a Symbian phone is stickam, then viewing it on a computer already running somewhere... which isn't great. You want the whole thing to be as quick as pressing one button
Qik does this quite well.
http://qik.com/ [qik.com]
What we need is a Federal law with two components:
1. Establish that it's perfectly legal to film the police doing their job in a public place.
2. Make it a crime, punishable with serious jail time, for a police officer to intimidate a photographer, confiscate their camera, or return the camera without the images.
This law should have no exception for "accidents" like phones being smashed or evidence being lost --- any more than we tolerate "accidents" involving children being lost or killed. Police should know that the minute they confiscate a private individual's camera they are putting their careers and their freedom in the balance should anything go wrong.
Of course none of this would be workable; if Congress actually passed any kind of law it would almost certainly protect the police and not the citizenry; and half of Slashdot would probably object to this being a Federal law rather than a state law or would propose that we adopt a technological/market solution instead.
It's not illegal to film them, so you don't need a law explicitly making it legal. What you need is for these thugs to be charged with assault and more.
It's not illegal to film them,
It is in at least the states of Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland. [gizmodo.com]
It is in at least the states of Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland.
It's legal to film and record police in Maryland. The case mentioned in your link went to the Maryland Circuit Court for Harford County and was ruled [scribd.com] not a violation of the law. "A law enforcement officer has no reasonable expectation of privacy in encounters with citizens in public places"
There's nothing that should be specific to police officers. Any public servant is accountable to the public for their actions, and has no claim of privacy from the public eye. This needs to be cast in stone, no matter which role the servant is in.
It should be a crime, punishable with jail time, for an officer to intimidate anyone who is not committing a crime.
Law enforcement should defer to the citizen, not the other way around. An officer should not use their power to impede a citizen without damn good reason, and they should beg the pardon of the citizen if they are mistaken.
I've never understood why law enforcement officials are given special deferment when they say accidentally kill someone. I would expect the opposite. I would expect that i
...can be found here [liveleak.com]. Rather chilling.
Since I was born in this country I have never seen so much lawlessness by financial institutions, politicians and law enforcement.
If this continues the USA will break up. If the USA becomes politically unstable we could see civil war.
There are already indications of this as state legislatures ignore their constituents and yield to the criminals in Washington.
We have states desperate to save the currency Washington is destroying, by declaring new issues of monetary and economic rules in their own states.
Meanwhile you have Federal powers trying to make it illegal to put anything other than Federal Reserve notes and arresting anyone who dares try.
A confrontation is coming between those who have looted and stole everything in this country and those who have been stolen from.
Be sure you pick the correct side when the crap hits the fan, because it is going to get very very ugly.
Q: How many IBM CPU's does it take to execute a job? A: Four; three to hold it down, and one to rip its head off.


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Avenue 32 Fashion Unleashed Dogs and Accessories | Pictures
Avenue32 Enlists Four-Legged Friends For Adorable Accessories Shoot
Avenue32 Enlists Four-Legged Friends For Adorable Accessories Shoot
Some of Spring's coolest accessories have gone to the dogs — and in the very best way — in Avenue32's latest editorial, Fashion Unleashed.
Like the adorable pomeranian in the Tous ads that came before them, these dogs look like expert models. Avenue32 tasked five dogs with sitting, sniffing, and moving around sunglasses, scarves, handbags, and one pair of cage heels from a variety of talented designers and brands. Phillip Lim's 31 Second Clutch makes an appearance alongside a curious British Bulldog named Papillon, and a Bedlington Terrier named Wilfred gets a shot of color with a silk scarf.
A look at all the dogs and their accessories, here in the gallery.
Photo courtesy of Avenue32.


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"Generations Meet" is the theme of the 1812 event to be held in the backyard of the historical society museum Friday evening.
Saturday and Friday from 7-9 p.m., we welcome a few re-enactors portraying militia
volunteers in the War of 1812. Stories will be told around the campfire by Earl Bayer from Cincinnati, Ohio, who reminisces about his journey with George Rogers Clark to take Vincennes during the Revolutionary War, and laments about America's involvement in yet another war. Doris Riley will conduct a candlelight tour of the
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Sandy Gas Update
Christie orders rationing, lifts supply restrictions; Cuomo suspends distribution requirements
NEW YORK -- As countless stories of gasoline lines, shortages and other fuel supply issues fill the media in the aftermath of "Superstorm" Sandy's devastating strike on the Eastern Seaboard, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Michel Bloomberg have taken action to address the situation as a key part of the recovery effort.
In the state of New Jersey, Governor Christie took action to prevent a fuel shortage and ease the problem of extended wait times and lines at gas stations by signing an executive order declaring a limited state of energy emergency with regard to the supply of motor fuel and implementing "odd-even" rationing for gasoline purchases based on license plate numbers in 12 New Jersey counties-- Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Middlesex, Morris, Monmouth, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, Union and Warren--beginning at noon on Nov. 3; 14 of the 23 stations on the New Jersey Turnpike and Garden State Parkway are located in these counties.
"As New Jerseyans continue the long process of recovering from Hurricane Sandy, it's imperative that our families have secure, reliable access to essential supplies like fuel. Right now, the impact of the storm, particularly the continuance of widespread power outages, has created the disorderly sale of gasoline--including long lines, out of operation stations and stations facing shortages. This system will ease the strain on those gas stations still operating, while we work to bring more online for the public to access fuel, in a manner that is fair, easy to understand, and less stressful," said Christie.
"The orderly and reliable sale of gas to our residents is essential to maintaining a steady and reliable source of power for both transportation and the maintenance of essential services at home. With the challenges we face in the storm's aftermath, we will be vigilant in enforcing this odd-even system, as we ease the stresses on the system," said Attorney General Jeffery S. Chiesa. "Those who choose to disregard this order will be prosecuted to the fullest extent permitted under the Governor's state of emergency authority."
The sales provision will remain in effect for as long as the Governor's limited declared state of energy emergency is in effect in those 12 counties.
Christie also signed an executive order to suspend restrictions in state law that place limitations on the source of fuel particular and branded fuel retailers are allowed to sell. The action will ease access to fuel supplies for retailers, allowing more stations to be brought online and easing the strain on those already in operation.
The order permits wholesale or retail dealers of gasoline to broaden their supply network, so long as appropriate written notice is provided at stations as to the source of the fuel, if it is not from their previously approved source. For 10 days, these restrictions will be lifted. The order does not permit wholesale or retail vendors to substitute any grade of gasoline for a higher or lower grade.
"Securing safe, timely and reliable access to fuel for our residents is critically important right now," said Christie. "I will continue to exercise every reasonable power of the governorship to ease the long waits experienced in impacted parts of our state by increasing supply, restoring power to stations, and otherwise accelerating efforts to bring as many gas stations back online as quickly as possible."
And Christie said that the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) has launched a phone and email hotline--(609) 858-6900 and [email protected]--to receive reports of problems from New Jersey gas station operators, providing a single point of contact to collect up-to-date information on station problems. The hotline is for owners and operators to self-report service problems such as power outages, fuel shortages, road access issues or other issues at their station to help officials respond more effectively to their issues. It is not able to handle the call volume from members of the general public.
"Right now, we know there is a problem with access to gas in many parts of our state as a result of impact of Hurricane Sandy, but we don't have complete information on the nature of those issues or where they are occurring," said Christie. "If a station isn't getting gas to people, we need to know, so we can direct the right resources to where they are needed. This hotline will allow us to collect this critical information on gas station issues--whether it is a supply problem, a power outage, or an issue of access due to flooding or downed trees--and help speed up our recovery efforts, period."
In the state of New York on Saturday, Governor Cuomo announced that more than eight million gallons of gasoline and other petroleum products are on hand and more than 28 million gallons are being delivered to operating New York terminals. In addition, millions of gallons have arrived in New York Harbor for delivery to terminals.
While there remains a fuel shortage throughout the region as a result of Sandy, actions to address the issue are being executed as planned, leading to more terminals being opened to barge deliveries and more petroleum products being transported throughout the metropolitan area.
"The shortage of gasoline in the New York-metro area has caused major inconveniences for our residents, and the state must take every action possible to address this issue," Cuomo said. "Although there is much work to be done, I have directed the state to temporarily suspend gasoline distribution-related requirements so gasoline and other fuels can be transported throughout the region and New Yorkers can return to life as normal as quickly as possible."
The governor has also implemented a series of actions designed to increase fuel supplies in the hurricane-affected areas. He signed an executive order to allow distributors and transporters to bring gasoline, diesel, and kerosene into the state of New York without having to meet the usual registration requirements. By law, transporters and distributors must be registered with the State Department of Taxation & Finance. The order temporarily suspended those registration requirements.
Also, he signed an executive order to temporarily ease restrictions on vapor pressure requirements for gasoline and waive the ultra-low-sulfur diesel requirement for home-heating oil.
At the governor's direction, the state has also obtained a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on vapor recovery requirements so gasoline can be transported from petroleum terminals without power to gas stations in hurricane-affected areas.
In New York City on Friday, Mayor Bloomberg said, "National Guard units are providing motorists and people needing fuel for generators with free gasoline at four armories in our city, and also at the armory in Freeport on Long Island. There is a 10-gallon limit per vehicle."
He added, "The Buckeye pipeline, the interstate gasoline transmission line serving New York City, [on Friday] pushed 100,000 barrels of fuel into our city--the first major influx since before Sandy struck. The supply is continuing to flow, I'm happy to say, and will begin finding its way to retailers.
"One of the big problems we've had is that while gasoline is a fuel, you can't get it out of the ground and into your car unless there's another kind of fuel that's called electricity to drive the pumps. And as electricity comes back, the pumps start working and you'll have more options to find gasoline.
"As I have cautioned, it may take a few days before you see the real effects of this additional supply at your neighborhood service station. But there should be considerably less congestion on our roads from here on out.
"And once again like everything else, there's lots of different people that were involved in getting the refineries going again, the pipeline going again, the harbor, Coast Guard played a big part, [Homeland Security] Secretary [Janet] Napolitano was helpful in getting the Jones Act suspended so we have some more ships on their way with gasoline. And I'm optimistic that in a couple of days the shortage will disappear and relatively quickly--but it just does take time to get the fuel from where it starts to where we need it."


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|Casper Miller
Stories about Ohio's people, places, and events inspired by the Manuscripts Collections of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library and Museums.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Casper Miller: Sandusky County Ohio Civil War Soldier
3 comments:
- Pat'sBooks said...
Nan, this looks as if it might be one of the men in the Anthony a Young group picture
- February 23, 2014 at 1:51 PM
- Pat'sBooks said...
A couple weeks ago, I came across a picture of this civil water veteteran, Casper Miller, right here on Ohio's Yesterdays.
As you can see it gives the names of this man's wife, Mary Diehl.
I then went to www.familysearch.com and looked for anyone with last name Miller and these parents.
I found a death certificate for a Louise Miller Baker, (informant Peter Baker).
As soon as I saw the Baker name in Old Fort I looked at my tree and found that the date of birth on this death certificate matches the date of birth of a Louise Miller who married Peter Baker, son of Christina Mathie and Peter Baker, according to information I received from a Gessner cousin in Fremont. If I have it right, my cousin's grandmother Christina Baker Gessner's brother Peter married the daughter of the man pictured above.
To make it all even stranger, the woman who gave the photo to Nan Card lives very close to me.
I originally focused on the article because the photo of this soldier looked to me as if it could be one of the men in a group photo I have of Anthony Young and other civil war soldiers. I can't post it here, but Young and Miller were both in the 72nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry but in different companies.
Thank you Nan Card, you never know where a hint may lead, and the web gets ever more tangled!
- February 27, 2014 at 7:52 PM
- Nan Card said...
Hello Pat: Wow! How amazing that you were able to note similarities and identify Casper Miller in the photo you have that includes Anthony Young! Great detective work!
Mrs. Lisles and her granddaughters made a special stop at the Hayes Presidential Center to donate the large photograph of Casper Miller in uniform. Her friend had given it to her many years before. She felt it should be placed at an institution where it could be preserved and accessible to the public. I was pleased to receive it and make it available on "Ohio's Yesterdays."
- March 1, 2014 at 5:58 AM


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Los Angeles, CA, October 19, 2009 -- The British Academy of Film and Television Arts/Los Angeles (BAFTA/LA) has announced that Amy Adams, Benicio del Toro, Minnie Driver, Ewan McGregor and Dev Patel will be among the presenters at the 18th Annual BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards on Thursday, November 5, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel.
As previously announced, Kirk Douglas will be honored with the Britannia Award for Worldwide Contribution to Filmed Entertainment; Robert De Niro is receiving the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film; Colin Firth with the BAFTA/LA Humanitarian Award; Emily Blunt with the Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year, and Danny Boyle with the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing.
Golden Globe and BAFTA nominated actor and writer Stephen Fry will serve as Master of Ceremonies.
BAFTA/LA's outreach programs benefit members and other professionals working within the entertainment industry, as well as the Los Angeles community at large. BAFTA/LA provides exclusive access to screenings, Q&A's with talent and filmmakers, conversations with leading UK-based film and television executives, and the Heritage Archive, featuring broadcast-quality interviews with distinguished British members of the film and television industries. Educational outreach for students and the Los Angeles community includes an after-school screening program for inner-city youth at the Helen Keller Park Recreation Center, and a recent partnership with FilmAid to mentor young filmmakers. Additional programs include seminars in association with local universities and festivals, scholarships for post-graduate programs, and recognizing professional and student talent with awards at film festivals throughout the U.S.
Maintaining a long tradition of recognizing the finest filmmaking and television talent, BAFTA/LA hosts a series of social networking events, including the Annual BAFTA/LA Britannia Awards, the BAFTA Film Awards Brunch, the Annual Garden Party, the BAFTA/LA Comedy Awards, and the Awards Season Film and Television Tea Parties in January and September. BAFTA/LA is affiliated with BAFTA in London, and members vote annually for the prestigious BAFTA Film Awards. BAFTA/LA also presents its annual Britannia Awards every November, where it has honored such luminaries as Denzel Washington, Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Anthony Hopkins, Helen Mirren, Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Caine, and Martin Scorsese with the Stanley Kubrick Britannia Award for Excellence in Film.
For more information on BAFTA/LA, visit baftala


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London 2012: Deliveries to London & Other Olympic Areas
The Detailed Edition
It is an exciting time for the United Kingdom as the Olympics comes to our shores. However, the influx of people competing and supporting these events will mean delays across London and beyond.
The Olympic torch arrives in London on 16 July and the Olympic Park will close on 14 September. During this time, people expecting deliveries on the Olympic Road Network will be affected. We are working closely with our carriers to get all parcels delivered where possible. However, there are some areas and postcodes where services will be reduced.
Please bear in mind that despite a break of around three weeks between the end of the Olympics and the start of the Paralympics, delays and reduced services will continue.
Security & Additional Charges within the Olympic Road Network
Where possible, we will be sending your goods by Royal Mail. These deliveries may be delayed, however there are no additional charges. Some parcels are too large/heavy for delivery by Royal Mail. If this is the case, we will use Yodel for courier deliveries.
If you are an existing or prospective trade customer and you are concerned about delivery, please contact our Trade Sales team on 01763 264288 or 264289. Alternatively, you can email email@example.com.
UPS is the only courier to be granted rights to deliver parcels within the Olympic Road Network. All courier deliveries, including pallet deliveries, will be passed from our couriers to UPS for security checking and delivery. This incurs a significant extra fee for delivery which we will be forced to pass onto you, the customer.
The postcodes affected have been marked as RED and YELLOW.
- RED: Definite surcharge + delays
- YELLOW: No surcharge, but delays highly likely
A complete list of the postcodes affected by the delivery restrictions can be downloaded from the link below:
Download the Olympic postcodes
Transport for London (TfL) have created a detailed, day-by-day plan of the roads that will be affected by the Olympics and Paralympics. Please visit their site for detailed information.
Delivery Options within the Olympic Road Network
We have been working closely with our carriers to ensure we can deliver wherever possible. When we receive an order from a zone affected by the closures, we will cross reference it against the current status for deliveries supplied by our couriers.
YELLOW ZONES: We will dispatch the goods immediately. However, your parcel may be delayed in transit.
RED ZONES: We will contact you by phone and/or email with the FIVE OPTIONS listed below:
- Choose an alternative delivery address outside of the restricted zone
We will need to ensure that your alternative address is also suitable for delivery.
- Pay an additional charge for delivery by UPS within the restricted zone
For standard courier deliveries (Yodel), the charge will be £25 per parcel.
This charge consists of a £5 surcharge for passing to UPS and a £20 security charge.
Pallet delivery charges will be £105 per pallet.
This charge consists of a £45 surcharge for passing to UPS and a £60 security charge.
There is no charge for Royal Mail deliveries (parcels weighing up to 15Kg).
- Hold the order and dispatch when restrictions for your postcode are raised
Depending on the status of your postcode restrictions and the size/weight of your parcel, we may be able to dispatch your goods by Royal Mail and from the 1st of August onwards by an alternative courier. You will receive an email as soon as the order is dispatched. However, if your postcode has frequent security lockdowns, we may hold your parcel up until the 14th September, when the Olympics comes to an end.
- Suggest a collection from our warehouse
If your delivery is urgent, you may collect it from our warehouse in North Hertfordshire between 8:30am and 5:00pm by appointment only.
- Cancel the order
Due to the mandatory additional costs, you may decide to cancel your order for a full refund.
Please call 0845 313 3352 at least one working day before you intend to collect.
Our address:
Barmans Ltd
Saxon Way
For a complete list of postcodes affected, please Download the Olympic postcodes.


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|PBA alum Ryan Morgan '02, right, founder of Arrow Consulting & Design, chats with Jeff Hood, a PBA computer science major. Morgan was a guest speaker during a computer science class last spring.
DotNetNuke (DNN) users including web developers, web designers, administrators and industry experts from across the country and abroad will meet at Palm Beach Atlantic University's main campus Friday and Saturday for DNNCon.
DNNCon is a national conference to enhance one's knowledge of DNN, one of the world's largest content management system platforms for Microsoft.Net. A content management system, or CMS, is a web application in which users can add, edit and manage a website.
A day of intense hands-on DNN training will take place Friday and requires a fee to register. Saturday is DNNCon's main event, in which the conference will offer sessions, from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., is free and open to the public, with more than 200 people expected to attend. Participants will learn about the content management system, social marketing, and more, and will receive lunch as well as the opportunity to network with other technologists.
PBA offers a bachelor of science degree in computer science in the School of Arts and Sciences. According to Dr. Ken Pembamoto, associate professor of computer science, having the conference on campus will provide a great opportunity for PBA's future computer programmers.
"By volunteering at the conference, computer science students will be able to learn new technologies as well as network and make connections for employment after graduation," he said.
In fact, it was 2002 PBA graduate Ryan Morgan that connected the University with the well-known industry conference.
Morgan is the founder of Arrow Consulting & Design, a company providing software consulting, user experience and design and Internet marketing, located in downtown West Palm Beach. As a regular speaker at DNN events including, "Day of DotNetNuke" and at DNN User Groups around the country, he said he thought PBA would be the perfect venue for DNNCon. Through his involvement with the Orlando DNN User Group, contact with DNN Corp and connecting with other user groups via social media, he got the green light to present the idea to his alma mater.
"I reached out to (Dr. Pembamoto) to ask him if he thought PBA would be interested in providing the location for this year's conference," he said.
Seminars will take place in PBA buildings including Gregory Hall, Lassiter Hall and the Warren Library.
"DNNCon is a good opportunity to give PBA's computer science program exposure," Morgan said.
Organizers will be donating funds from the conference to A Place of Hope, a Palm Beach charity that provides both emergency and long-term family-style foster care to children and families in need of help.
To register, visit www.dnncon.com/register.
Follow DNNCon on Twitter: https://twitter.com/DNNSummit


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SPF 5000 Returns to the Pill
Friday, 10 p.m., Great Scott, 1222 Commonwealth Ave., Allston. 21+. Cover: $5. 617-566-9014, www.greatscottboston.com
The deal: Boston-based party band SPF 5000 returns to perform for their second appearance at The Pill, the popular Brit-pop & indie dance party that has been going since 1997. SPF 5000 has lately been performing shows in New York, where its label, Knight Time Records, is based. SPF 5000 is a "futuristic funk band," said singer Amy Douglas, who notes the band will be debuting their newest single, "Hit the Ground Running," at The Pill, with more singles to come in early 2014.
Additional performers: DJ Ken, DJ Michael V, both resident DJs.
Three songs you'll hear: "Make Love to Me," "Hit the Ground Running," and "Nicky Digital," by SPF 5000.
The crowd: A high-energy crowd who wants to let go . . . of attire, that is. "I would love to see at least one naked person," said Douglas.
The tip: Douglas suggests partiers wear loose clothing and good footwear. Anyone, male or female, who comes in wearing a tiara will be rewarded with a special prize. According to Douglas, anyone wearing a hula skirt and a tiara will be showered with up to $10 of SPF 5000's hard-earned money.
Vanessa FernandesVanessa Fernandes can be reached at email@example.com