Re: Hackers build movie player for Xbox

[neo_sapien]

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-935180.html

The software allows modified Xbox consoles to play videos in the VCD format, commonly used for bootleg movie discs, and versions 3.x and 4.x of DivX, a controversial compression format used to swap videos over the Internet.

<cough>corporate apologist</cough>, ignorant and the journalist obviously doesn't have his facts straight.

Does anyone else find this article to be abrasive, insulting, and generally as far away from the top of the fence as can be? Suddenly software developers are known as hackers? The journalist even fails to discriminate between DivX 3.x and 4.x. DivX 4, of course, is legal. DivX 3 is another story altogether. An uninformed reader might take that to think that DivX 4 is illegal, which would suck.

[diji1]

hi there, ahem ...

neo_sapien : Does anyone else find this article to be abrasive, insulting, and generally as far away from the top of the fence as can be?

er, no. what part did u find insulting or abrasive ? the phrases "grey market" and "commonly used for bootleg movie discs, and versions 3.x and 4.x of DivX, a controversial compression format" are admttedly fairly colourful but not untrue.

neo_sapien : Suddenly software developers are known as hackers?

yep, they are writing programs to circumvent "security measures" ( articles word, not mine ) of the console - fits my definition of hacker pretty well.

neo_sapien : The journalist even fails to discriminate between DivX 3.x and 4.x. DivX 4, of course, is legal. DivX 3 is another story altogether.

huh ! well, he mentioned them seperately by name and (s)he refers to them as "controversial". divx is legal. divx 3.11;-) is legal for personal use ... about the worst thing there is that they didn't mention divx5.

so i think this post is over reacting a little.

[rantanplan]

Waht do you think, will it be possible to play 5.02 DivX movies. Then I'll buy a XBox!! :-)))))))))

[hyperspaced]

well, I wouldn't be surprised if future dvd players are capable to play avi files encoded even in SBC. think how many people have dvd movies encoded in sbc !! Millions of cd's !!

I don't think a companies would leave all those people unsatisfied ;-)
The same story with MP3... All DVD players support MP3 playback nowadays !

Well, we should be discussing WHEN they will be arriving and about the required format...

[theReal]

Thank god for Taiwan!!! :D

Without those guys we'd all have to buy expensive DVD players, region-locked, not capable of playing mp3 and SVCD...