
takao
Mar 7, 06:17 PM
It's entirely possible to turn a brand around of course, as VW demonstrated with �koda, it's only 15 years ago that �koda was still the punchline to almost every joke.
if any car company has shown to have any knowledge about badge engineering/branding it's VW AG
skoda is the obvious recent example of the last 15 years
but compare it to what they did to Audi since 1980 ?
the best way to describe pre 80ties audi ? the famous morris marina quote from Top Gear:
"I'll guarantee that nothing exciting, vibrant, dynamic, new, creative, hopeful or beneficial in any way to humanity has ever been done, thought of or driven to in that drab, dreary, entirely beige, wilfully awful pile of misery."
believe it or not back in the 70ties Opel actually had a trendy, sporty and young reputation/image not unlike Audi has today
in fact i have some old magazines around from the early 70ties and its hilarious to read if you compare the raving reviews Opel got in the past with todays "not as bad as other cars but still cheaper than a VW" reviews
Doesn't say much really does it. ;)
I think you highlight the real issue in the rest of your post. But it doesn't just affect Opel. And that is perhaps GM's biggest problem of all.
it's not exactly GM alone:
yes VW are really bland looking too, but opposed to many GM vehicles if you take the badge away you would be still able recognize that the vehicle is a VW ... with some of the new Opels i'm not so sure (Chevrolet at least got that hideous split grill),
Ford actually isn't any better. their latest fiesta very much looks like a 8 year old peugeot from the front. hardly surprising their sales havent quite lived up to the last models sales afaik
It's not really streamlining when you have something like 6 suv/off-roaders in your range a'la Nissan is it? ;)
true but looking at nissan i would say they are streamlining themselves out of the european market ;)
yes they are selling the GT-R in europe and launching their own luxury brand Infiniti... for what ? to follow the "success story of 20 years Lexus europe"
so they will be selling luxury cars , fake offroaders, a single halo car without any interesting cheaper car to buy ? seriously the new micra is bringing the bland back to the brand .. at least the old micra was a hit with young women
i really like nissan and some of their last decade stuff but i feel they are going back to their 90ties role in europe. and remembering my grandfathers old nissan ... please don't go there
(it could be worse: like mitsubishi dropping the EVO)
Not if the Spark is anything to go by. Fortunately as the i10 proves, being Korean isn't the problem. ;)
at least hyundai finally realised that those names they were putting on their models weren't the brightest idea in 95% of all cases
regarding testing/timing the cars on the N�rburgring: knowing that Audi, BMW and Mercedes have an gentlements agreement not to publish their timed laps i think it's quite a hollow victory for some brands to publish theirs
the argument for that silent agreement ? they don't want "a horsepower arms race"... look how well that has turned out
if any car company has shown to have any knowledge about badge engineering/branding it's VW AG
skoda is the obvious recent example of the last 15 years
but compare it to what they did to Audi since 1980 ?
the best way to describe pre 80ties audi ? the famous morris marina quote from Top Gear:
"I'll guarantee that nothing exciting, vibrant, dynamic, new, creative, hopeful or beneficial in any way to humanity has ever been done, thought of or driven to in that drab, dreary, entirely beige, wilfully awful pile of misery."
believe it or not back in the 70ties Opel actually had a trendy, sporty and young reputation/image not unlike Audi has today
in fact i have some old magazines around from the early 70ties and its hilarious to read if you compare the raving reviews Opel got in the past with todays "not as bad as other cars but still cheaper than a VW" reviews
Doesn't say much really does it. ;)
I think you highlight the real issue in the rest of your post. But it doesn't just affect Opel. And that is perhaps GM's biggest problem of all.
it's not exactly GM alone:
yes VW are really bland looking too, but opposed to many GM vehicles if you take the badge away you would be still able recognize that the vehicle is a VW ... with some of the new Opels i'm not so sure (Chevrolet at least got that hideous split grill),
Ford actually isn't any better. their latest fiesta very much looks like a 8 year old peugeot from the front. hardly surprising their sales havent quite lived up to the last models sales afaik
It's not really streamlining when you have something like 6 suv/off-roaders in your range a'la Nissan is it? ;)
true but looking at nissan i would say they are streamlining themselves out of the european market ;)
yes they are selling the GT-R in europe and launching their own luxury brand Infiniti... for what ? to follow the "success story of 20 years Lexus europe"
so they will be selling luxury cars , fake offroaders, a single halo car without any interesting cheaper car to buy ? seriously the new micra is bringing the bland back to the brand .. at least the old micra was a hit with young women
i really like nissan and some of their last decade stuff but i feel they are going back to their 90ties role in europe. and remembering my grandfathers old nissan ... please don't go there
(it could be worse: like mitsubishi dropping the EVO)
Not if the Spark is anything to go by. Fortunately as the i10 proves, being Korean isn't the problem. ;)
at least hyundai finally realised that those names they were putting on their models weren't the brightest idea in 95% of all cases
regarding testing/timing the cars on the N�rburgring: knowing that Audi, BMW and Mercedes have an gentlements agreement not to publish their timed laps i think it's quite a hollow victory for some brands to publish theirs
the argument for that silent agreement ? they don't want "a horsepower arms race"... look how well that has turned out
Blue Velvet
Mar 22, 12:23 PM
lol no, look at my previous post.
Wasn't sure, so had to ask. :)
It's such a weird notion, that people can choose their sexual orientation. But then, I don't believe that's what many really believe when they say it... instead, I get the vibe that what they mean to say is 'why can't you just closet yourself and act straight?'.
Wasn't sure, so had to ask. :)
It's such a weird notion, that people can choose their sexual orientation. But then, I don't believe that's what many really believe when they say it... instead, I get the vibe that what they mean to say is 'why can't you just closet yourself and act straight?'.

Swarmlord
Nov 16, 11:04 AM
yup, and my webpages will load in the blink of an eye... definitely worth whatever apple will charge. ;)
seriously though, how hard is it to get a program to multi-thread? (if thats the right term; being a complete programming novice, i've no idea)
It depends on what the program does. Some programs don't lend themselves to multi-threading at all and others practically require it. It can be quite a chore to go back and multi-thread an existing program.
I would be happy if existing programs couldn't hog all the resources of the OS whether they were multi-threaded or not. Windows is the worst offender by far, but OS X has allowed an ill behaved application to dominate my computer now and then also.
seriously though, how hard is it to get a program to multi-thread? (if thats the right term; being a complete programming novice, i've no idea)
It depends on what the program does. Some programs don't lend themselves to multi-threading at all and others practically require it. It can be quite a chore to go back and multi-thread an existing program.
I would be happy if existing programs couldn't hog all the resources of the OS whether they were multi-threaded or not. Windows is the worst offender by far, but OS X has allowed an ill behaved application to dominate my computer now and then also.
Yakuza
Nov 24, 08:53 AM
Crystal Head Vodka for turkey day.
Mando
Dude!! that's freakin' awsome! :D
Mando
Dude!! that's freakin' awsome! :D
britishempire
Aug 7, 05:10 AM
Blah. I hate that "Vista 2.0" banner. It's like, saying that Leopard is comparable with Windows.
Also, you can bet that whatever MS release as "Vista 2.0" will be pretty shoddy compared to Leopard.
Mind you, Vista is looking like Tiger 0.6 or something, so maybe they're poking fun at MS for ripping off so much of their stuff.
"Leopard - The final nail in Vista's coffin"
Also, you can bet that whatever MS release as "Vista 2.0" will be pretty shoddy compared to Leopard.
Mind you, Vista is looking like Tiger 0.6 or something, so maybe they're poking fun at MS for ripping off so much of their stuff.
"Leopard - The final nail in Vista's coffin"
lordonuthin
Mar 4, 10:40 PM
congrats to SciFrog for 5 million points for MacRumors!
Ditto!
I see some new folks putting up some points, designed, DistortedLoop, and MAcProCPO is back at it again, thanks for the effort to those and other newbies!
I had a problem with the MacPro after I upgraded to a 3 SSD raid for booting ... I forgot to set the machine to NOT go to sleep, DUH! I could not figure out why it was timing out of folding every so often with the remote Linux boards that I'm ssh'd into from the Mac. NOW that I have that figured out my points will pick up again. It was still impressive just running the 6 GPU's and 2 win clients at about 50k per day!
Ditto!
I see some new folks putting up some points, designed, DistortedLoop, and MAcProCPO is back at it again, thanks for the effort to those and other newbies!
I had a problem with the MacPro after I upgraded to a 3 SSD raid for booting ... I forgot to set the machine to NOT go to sleep, DUH! I could not figure out why it was timing out of folding every so often with the remote Linux boards that I'm ssh'd into from the Mac. NOW that I have that figured out my points will pick up again. It was still impressive just running the 6 GPU's and 2 win clients at about 50k per day!
ozreth
Feb 25, 11:31 PM
http://i884.photobucket.com/albums/ac50/tadziodlu/IMG_1442.jpg
What are those headphones?
What are those headphones?
Cougarcat
Apr 12, 08:42 PM
Also the guy who took a nice iMovie and made it unusable. I hope he doesn't fsck up FCP. Even iMovie had background rendering until he stripped it out.
From what I understand that was Steve Job's doing. The guy made a separate simple movie app, and Jobs liked it so much he decided to make it the new iMovie.
From what I understand that was Steve Job's doing. The guy made a separate simple movie app, and Jobs liked it so much he decided to make it the new iMovie.
pointandclick
Mar 1, 10:03 PM
Yep all of them are hard drives, i have 2TB in each one and then a RAID-0 with 2x2TB.
How are they connected? I've never bothered with external drives. NAS is where it's at. ;) I don't even like to think about trying to transfer terabytes of data over usb. Plus being able to use the storage from multiple machines without having to plug/unplug.
Just rebuilt mine with 3x2tb in raidz.
How are they connected? I've never bothered with external drives. NAS is where it's at. ;) I don't even like to think about trying to transfer terabytes of data over usb. Plus being able to use the storage from multiple machines without having to plug/unplug.
Just rebuilt mine with 3x2tb in raidz.
Caris
Feb 20, 03:36 PM
Mila Kunis.
barkmonster
Apr 27, 06:26 AM
Yes Amazon jump on the "it's generic" bandwagon. :rolleyes:
Please lets just keep this thread about the response and not "But how is it generic. . ." "Apple didn't create App. . ." "Well Amazon is right it's generic. . ."
I don't think it's generic that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. I'm moving on.
In general, "Applications" are what Apple run on their Mac OS platform "Apps" are what they run on their iOS platform, a cut down version of Mac OS X with a cut down but related and familiar name.
Other operating systems (mobile based included) refer to software as "Programs". This has gone back as far as the days of DOS and Atari/Amiga.
Apple have so much prior use of both the term Application to refer to software and App as the shortened term for iOS that Amazon are just picking a fight because Apple offer their own alternative to the Kindle and they don't like the competition.
Please lets just keep this thread about the response and not "But how is it generic. . ." "Apple didn't create App. . ." "Well Amazon is right it's generic. . ."
I don't think it's generic that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. I'm moving on.
In general, "Applications" are what Apple run on their Mac OS platform "Apps" are what they run on their iOS platform, a cut down version of Mac OS X with a cut down but related and familiar name.
Other operating systems (mobile based included) refer to software as "Programs". This has gone back as far as the days of DOS and Atari/Amiga.
Apple have so much prior use of both the term Application to refer to software and App as the shortened term for iOS that Amazon are just picking a fight because Apple offer their own alternative to the Kindle and they don't like the competition.
NebulaClash
Sep 14, 12:44 PM
For me, the antenna issue was WORSE than people had reported.
I don't see how. I saw it being reported on the national evening newscasts and on the front pages of newspapers. How much more reporting could there possibly have been?
I don't see how. I saw it being reported on the national evening newscasts and on the front pages of newspapers. How much more reporting could there possibly have been?
benjs
Apr 12, 10:16 PM
If I buy Aperture 3, 4, and 5 on the app store I'll have spent $240.
Didn't it used to be $300 for 1 version? What did the upgrades cost? I feel like I'll be way past 5 before I break even.
Yeah, our editing machines aren't even allowed to be on the internet.
Hopefully there's a way around this.
I thought I heard him say that it was 'shipping' in June, in addition to the App Store. Can anyone else verify this?
Didn't it used to be $300 for 1 version? What did the upgrades cost? I feel like I'll be way past 5 before I break even.
Yeah, our editing machines aren't even allowed to be on the internet.
Hopefully there's a way around this.
I thought I heard him say that it was 'shipping' in June, in addition to the App Store. Can anyone else verify this?
poppe
Sep 1, 01:48 PM
I think all those that want a 23" iMac that is chinless better hope for a Merom. I think conroe would be to hot, or does conroe run pretty cool?
Heck regardless if we get a chinles iMac and it runs pretty hot we'll get forums like this (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=229182)
Heck regardless if we get a chinles iMac and it runs pretty hot we'll get forums like this (http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=229182)
Perrumpo
Nov 26, 05:39 PM
Picked up a 23" Samsung 1080p display from Best Buy for $139. Loving it!
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c383/agt144/IMGP6687.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c383/agt144/IMGP6683.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c383/agt144/IMGP6687.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c383/agt144/IMGP6683.jpg
xterm
Jul 14, 09:21 AM
As purely a data storage format, obviously Blu-ray has the potential to store more data than HD DVD.
However, as someone who has been following the whole BD vs. HD DVD consumer video format war, and as someone who has bought an HD DVD player (and, until recently, had a BD video player on order), at this (albeit early) stage of the game, HD DVD is the superior video format.
HD DVD has 30gb dual layer discs available (almost all the latest video releases on HD DVD are 30gb dual layer.) There are many more titles available for HD DVD right now (probably because it's been out longer and the discs themselves are easier to manufacture.) HD DVD uses a more efficient codec (Microsoft's VC-1, which is akin to H.264, in that it's much much more efficient than MPEG-2.) HD DVD titles have either Dolby Digital Plus (a higher bit-rate multichannel audio codec) and Dolby TruHD (a lossless multichannel audio codec).
BD only has 25gb single layer discs available now. Apparently the 50gb dual layer discs are hard to manufacture and the yields are not ready for prime time. No BD retail video discs are above 25gb single layer. No timetable for 50gb discs has been announced. The video is MPEG-2, meaning it takes up more space on the disc. And, the most recent BD releases all suffer from more MPEG artifacts than any HD DVD releases. BD audio is either standard Dolby Digital or space consuming uncompressed PCM audio (which sucks up even more disc space, leaving even less for video.)
The current Samsung BD player actually has the same (Broadcom) chip that the current Toshiba HD DVD player has in terms of outputing video... and it only outputs 1080i. The Samsung player tacks on another (Faroudja) chip to deinterlace it, so it outputs 1080p (so BD can say "we output 1080p!"), except, that chip apparently stinks and makes the picture somewhat soft. In reality, any HDTV worth its salt can easily deinterlace 1080i signals, so the whole "we output 1080p" is a false advantage anyway. Both BD and HD DVD discs store the video as 1080p, by the way.
So, what you have, on the video front, BD has a smaller capacity disk with less efficient video and audio codecs (that look and sound worse). And it is TWICE the price ($500 vs. $1000). And has less titles. And is late.
If you read any reports on BD video quality vs. HD DVD video quality on boards like AVSforum.com, HD DVD beats BD hands down.
Who knows how this video format war will shake out, but Blu-ray is way behind right now.
-Terry
Good post, sums up the current situation very nicely.
Given that dual layer 50GB blu-ray discs cant even be produced yet, i think the 200GB claim is complete vaporware.
I hope HD-DVD wins this war soon, as it is out of the gates first, and thus far a far superior format. If Blu-Ray were to give up now, i dont think many people would be sad. One format is better for everyone.
However, as someone who has been following the whole BD vs. HD DVD consumer video format war, and as someone who has bought an HD DVD player (and, until recently, had a BD video player on order), at this (albeit early) stage of the game, HD DVD is the superior video format.
HD DVD has 30gb dual layer discs available (almost all the latest video releases on HD DVD are 30gb dual layer.) There are many more titles available for HD DVD right now (probably because it's been out longer and the discs themselves are easier to manufacture.) HD DVD uses a more efficient codec (Microsoft's VC-1, which is akin to H.264, in that it's much much more efficient than MPEG-2.) HD DVD titles have either Dolby Digital Plus (a higher bit-rate multichannel audio codec) and Dolby TruHD (a lossless multichannel audio codec).
BD only has 25gb single layer discs available now. Apparently the 50gb dual layer discs are hard to manufacture and the yields are not ready for prime time. No BD retail video discs are above 25gb single layer. No timetable for 50gb discs has been announced. The video is MPEG-2, meaning it takes up more space on the disc. And, the most recent BD releases all suffer from more MPEG artifacts than any HD DVD releases. BD audio is either standard Dolby Digital or space consuming uncompressed PCM audio (which sucks up even more disc space, leaving even less for video.)
The current Samsung BD player actually has the same (Broadcom) chip that the current Toshiba HD DVD player has in terms of outputing video... and it only outputs 1080i. The Samsung player tacks on another (Faroudja) chip to deinterlace it, so it outputs 1080p (so BD can say "we output 1080p!"), except, that chip apparently stinks and makes the picture somewhat soft. In reality, any HDTV worth its salt can easily deinterlace 1080i signals, so the whole "we output 1080p" is a false advantage anyway. Both BD and HD DVD discs store the video as 1080p, by the way.
So, what you have, on the video front, BD has a smaller capacity disk with less efficient video and audio codecs (that look and sound worse). And it is TWICE the price ($500 vs. $1000). And has less titles. And is late.
If you read any reports on BD video quality vs. HD DVD video quality on boards like AVSforum.com, HD DVD beats BD hands down.
Who knows how this video format war will shake out, but Blu-ray is way behind right now.
-Terry
Good post, sums up the current situation very nicely.
Given that dual layer 50GB blu-ray discs cant even be produced yet, i think the 200GB claim is complete vaporware.
I hope HD-DVD wins this war soon, as it is out of the gates first, and thus far a far superior format. If Blu-Ray were to give up now, i dont think many people would be sad. One format is better for everyone.
ChazUK
Apr 26, 11:00 PM
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.3.3; en-gb; Nexus S Build/GRI40) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)
It's already been done.
OpenOffice
Nice try. How about a commercial, for-profit app?
Good luck with your search.
WordPerfect Office X5?
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/gb/en/Product/1207676528492#tabview=tab0
It's already been done.
OpenOffice
Nice try. How about a commercial, for-profit app?
Good luck with your search.
WordPerfect Office X5?
http://www.corel.com/servlet/Satellite/gb/en/Product/1207676528492#tabview=tab0
FreeState
Mar 23, 03:00 PM
The App has been pulled because it is not in compliance with developer guidelines.
http://www.cultofmac.com/apple-pulls-gay-cure-app-over-dev-guidelines/87815
Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said Wednesday:
�We removed the Exodus International app from the App Store because it violates our developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people.�
http://www.cultofmac.com/apple-pulls-gay-cure-app-over-dev-guidelines/87815
Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said Wednesday:
�We removed the Exodus International app from the App Store because it violates our developer guidelines by being offensive to large groups of people.�
twoodcc
Mar 30, 08:26 PM
I know, bigadv sure make a difference! :D
I think Apple won't announce a new Mac Pro until the developer's conference in June :( but hopefully that means new goodies like usb 3 and sata 3 as well as an inside redesign for 2.5 inch ssd's :) imagine 4 ssd slots as well as 4 3.5 inch drive slots!! woo hoo, just a dream though.
I will wait until I can catch my Mac right after a new wu starts for 10.6.3, just in case...
The GTX 480 is very tempting especially at the same price point as the GTX295. I have one open PCIe slot... but I will wait until I hear more about it. I'm also waiting for Linux gpu3, but that could be a very long time :(
yeah bigadv is great, as long as you have no errors, and a fast machine!
yeah, you are probably right about the mac pro release date. it's too bad though. there are so many people wanting an updated mac pro, and will probably buy a pc instead. and i don't blame them really. it might be a good while before i buy another mac pro. it's hard to justify the price.
you can always run the -oneunit flag and then after it finishes, update.
i don't know, the GTX 480 even at $500 is pretty high. i think i'll wait on that. do you have a double wide slot?
I think Apple won't announce a new Mac Pro until the developer's conference in June :( but hopefully that means new goodies like usb 3 and sata 3 as well as an inside redesign for 2.5 inch ssd's :) imagine 4 ssd slots as well as 4 3.5 inch drive slots!! woo hoo, just a dream though.
I will wait until I can catch my Mac right after a new wu starts for 10.6.3, just in case...
The GTX 480 is very tempting especially at the same price point as the GTX295. I have one open PCIe slot... but I will wait until I hear more about it. I'm also waiting for Linux gpu3, but that could be a very long time :(
yeah bigadv is great, as long as you have no errors, and a fast machine!
yeah, you are probably right about the mac pro release date. it's too bad though. there are so many people wanting an updated mac pro, and will probably buy a pc instead. and i don't blame them really. it might be a good while before i buy another mac pro. it's hard to justify the price.
you can always run the -oneunit flag and then after it finishes, update.
i don't know, the GTX 480 even at $500 is pretty high. i think i'll wait on that. do you have a double wide slot?
The.316
Nov 27, 08:41 AM
It was my annual Black Friday "Buy a ton of video games" day today. Most of them on sale quite a lot, so it worked out nicely. I got 6 really awesome games for just over $100....
How is Hot Pursuit? Is it open world?
SHIFT was a terrible game.
Ugh, I agree.
How is Hot Pursuit? Is it open world?
SHIFT was a terrible game.
Ugh, I agree.
kntgsp
Sep 14, 11:13 AM
Interesting. Instead of jailbreaking, know what I do? I copy my files onto my iOS devices as a backup. No problem. I have several GB of data on both my iPod touch and my iPad.
I have yet to find a single Windows or Linux computer at work that will allow me to simply drag and drop some files onto the device as if it were a mounted drive like any other USB stick or Android/Symbian phone.
It's why the girlfriend has the iPhone4 and I am using Android at the moment (which I am growing to detest for lack of decent VNC options)
I have yet to find a single Windows or Linux computer at work that will allow me to simply drag and drop some files onto the device as if it were a mounted drive like any other USB stick or Android/Symbian phone.
It's why the girlfriend has the iPhone4 and I am using Android at the moment (which I am growing to detest for lack of decent VNC options)
pumpkinwhite
Mar 25, 05:12 PM
So why does iPad 2 output movies in 720p if it can output the game with 1080p native resolution? I thought it could output 1080p only when mirroring it's own screen (which is actually upscaled from '768p').
If apps can output 1080p, I am sure video playback apps will be released which can output 1080p movies in native resolution. Of course, I am not sure if the iPad will be able to play such content. I recently tried to play a 720p movie in the VLC app on the iPad 2 and it couldn't play it. Perhaps the bit rate was too high for it to handle.
If apps can output 1080p, I am sure video playback apps will be released which can output 1080p movies in native resolution. Of course, I am not sure if the iPad will be able to play such content. I recently tried to play a 720p movie in the VLC app on the iPad 2 and it couldn't play it. Perhaps the bit rate was too high for it to handle.
quadgirl
Sep 1, 01:29 PM
Talking about the iMac chin, isn't it time for a new-look iMac? I couldn't imagine a 23" wide chin :eek:
damienvfx
Sep 1, 02:08 PM
This is pure speculation here, but remember a month back when there was talk of a cinema display with a built in camera? What if those rumors started from someone who saw the new iMac and didn't even know that it was so much more than just an update to the cinema displays?
Well, this is my first guess before a release, so we'll see how it pans out.:rolleyes:
Still waiting for a Merom MBP. Leaving for Australia at the end of September, I'd love to be able to bring it with me.
Well, this is my first guess before a release, so we'll see how it pans out.:rolleyes:
Still waiting for a Merom MBP. Leaving for Australia at the end of September, I'd love to be able to bring it with me.
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