James Hare

Member since: Sep 8th, 2006

James Hare's Latest Comments

Blog Activity

Blog	# of Comments
Joystiq	2 Comments
TUAW.com	1 Comment
Engadget	2 Comments
Download Squad	2 Comments
Engadget HD	1 Comment
Joystiq Playstation	1 Comment

Recent Comments:

Password management that doesn't suck - Ask DLS (Download Squad)

Jan 4th 2007 1:37PM Well, Mac OS X has Keychain built in; however, it seems you want to be hobbled by Windows. I guess that's your choice.

5 PSP predictions for 2007 (Joystiq Playstation)

Jan 2nd 2007 9:09PM My prediction (and I'm a PSP owner) is that the PSP will die a graceless death in 2007. Honestly, I'm half and half with my PSP. From a standpoint as a gaming device for UMD games, I've got to say it's a complete wash. The games are fragile as hell--I've already broken two of the discs and there really isn't a way to fix that. The games I've gotten have either been classic arcade discs (which I've actually liked) or games that didn't translate well (I cannot, for the life of me, understand why Sony decided to make the PSP so poorly suited for first person shooters--possibly the most popular game format, and it just DOES NOT WORK on the PSP).

On the other hand, it's an incredibly device when you consider all the things you can do with it that Sony would rather you didn't. The PSP is the only system I can play Final Fantasy 7 on. My XBOX can't even do that--I've tried and can't figure out how to get the PS1 emulator for the XBOX to run it. Pimpstreamer is without a doubt one of the coolest apps I've ever played with--my entire library of videos is available to me wherever I've got a good enough wireless connection. PSPVNC comes in handy when I want to check on my computer from far away. Not only that, but I can emulate the SNES, NES, SMS, Genesis, TG16, Capcom System 1 and 2, Commodore 64, and too many others to name. That in and of itself is pretty darn cool.

But the problem with all those great features of the PSP is that none of them add to Sony's bottom line. Coupled with the devoted hacker community the PSP has developed, and you've got another XBOX/Dreamcast on your hands. It's a great device for consumers, but the security on the machine is so ridiculously compromised that Sony can't really ever get a hold on it. They can't force firmware upgrades, and programs like DevHook make the problem of game incompatibility go away.

Sony can't fix it by tweaks. A hard drive would probably make it worse. The death of UMD as anything other than a game format makes it even less profitable for Sony.

I LOVE my PSP. I just don't see what my PSP does for Sony. There isn't a "killer app" that's going to make me rush out and buy a game for my PSP. I'm happy with it as an emulation device. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only person who feels that way. With all that working against the PSP, I just can't see how Sony can keep trying to support it. They'll have their hands full salvaging the PS3.

January 2007: Month of Apple Bugs (Download Squad)

Dec 22nd 2006 1:56PM I wouldn't say the Mac doesn't have bugs, and I'm sure no Mac user would; however, I'm skeptical of this. A bug in this case is what, in what? Are they going to find major security flaws in the Apple operating system? Software supplied by Apple? Or just Mac software? There's a big universe that really as to be defined for it to make any any sense.

Universal Music looking to extract royalties on every iPod sold? (Engadget)

Nov 29th 2006 2:19PM I, for one, plan to pirate all Universal artists from now on. If the CEO of a company is going to accuse me of theft for owning a portable music player, I'm more than happy to oblige him.

On top of that, I'll just avoid buying audio players if this kind of thing is allowed to stand. I can think of quite a few homemade DAPs you can make, and at least those won't be helping Universal music extort money. Can you imagine what would have happened had Sony been forced to pay a fee for each Walkman sold? I seem to remember home taping was nothing but theft too--me, I just stopped listening the first time they cried wolf.

If online music sales aren't worth anything, why fight with Apple over the terms? If online music sales ARE worth something, what's the deal with calling all iPod owners thieves? Shit, I've bought music off of iTunes--and if iTunes didn't exist I would have continued to download it for free. Given the current DRM situation with CDs (even though Sony got slapped on the wrist, I don't think they're the only one who thought rootkits would be cool) I don't want to risk any problems, so I'm forced to acquire music by different means if its not available through iTunes.

At least now I'll know if it's a Universal artist it's time to fire up BitTorrent.

Note to artists--you can now sell your music through iTunes without a record label. Those creeps aren't in it for you or for music--they're in it for money. Get out now! You'll make more money, be happier, not get screwed over by assholes, and you'll have real control over your music. Sure, you won't get advances--but you also won't get screwed out of 95% of the sales of your music.

I just can't wait until the major record companies have all destroyed themselves with their hubris and arrogance.

Alpine's iDA-X001 iPod / media receiver forthcoming (Engadget)

Nov 29th 2006 12:43PM I've used an Alpine unit with my iPod since the KC-420i first came out--this looks like the first REAL enhancement they've made. Last year it was "faster speed scrolling" and now it looks like cover art will be supported.
That head unit's interesting looking. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing.
I do know I like it.

Engadget HD giveaways: win a Samsung HL-S5679W DLP with LED backlight (Engadget HD)

Nov 21st 2006 3:13PM I'll rock out with my Xbox 360 and my Nintendo Wii, watching nothing but "SmashmyPS3" videos.
Afterwards, I'll accept my nobel peace prize. I mean, making a contribution like that truly deserves recognition.

Xbox 360 Fall Update tomorrow, 85+ tweaks included (Joystiq)

Oct 30th 2006 1:08PM Looks like I'm gonna be converting videos all night...

PS3 to download album art when ripping CDs (Joystiq)

Oct 21st 2006 9:33AM Here's one for you--album art or not, the PS3 will NEVER play playsforsure content. It's actually kind of nice being able to play music from online services on my Xbox 360. The PS3 will only ever do Sony purchased music. That means if you want to be able to take your music from your PS3 on the road, you've got to buy a Sony player, and you've only got access to what Sony Connect lets you buy. It won't play FairPlay songs either--Apple's not about to cut off their golden goose by selling it to Sony.

So what you've got is a cheap blu-ray player that will play pretty much the same games that the Xbox 360 does. I think there were what, 3 exclusive titles on the LAUNCH LIST? OOOH!! I could play oblivion again!! OOOH!! MADDEN! Oh wait. I already have both of those. I don't have to wait another month to wait outside of a freezing ass store to buy an overpriced console that won't connect to my computer, has a bullshit online service, and will leave me at least $500 poorer (almost $600 if I get a game and second controller).

Oh, and on Sony's "we'll replace your controller" comment. If the battery in my Xbox 360 controller changes, I can put it in the charger. Failing that, I can put double A batteries in it. No matter what happens, I'll never be left in a situation where I'm waiting for a corporation halfway across the planet to return a controller to me. Four to six hours charging is much better than four to six weeks.

The Little Things: anti-aliased fonts help Mac OS X shine (TUAW.com)

Sep 8th 2006 9:08AM Windows does offer anti-aliasing via a feature called "ClearType." This feature is not enabled by default, but will be in Vista. With the additional ClearType PowerToy you can adjust the hinting and subpixel smoothing, which is not available with a Mac. I love my Mac, but my Windows machine at work does not suffer from "Ugly Text" because I've enabled the features Microsoft is nice enough to provide.
Oh, and btw--having played with Vista RC1 last night, the operating system battle should finally be on more even terms. Microsoft has much to learn from OSX, but they've finally done a few things that Apple could learn from.