Slashdot Mirror
Ripping Vinyl Via Your Scanner?
An anonymous reader writes "This site describes a method of extracting audio off of scanned images of vinyl records. Kazaa vinyl swapping is on it's way!" While this method creates exceptionally noisy samples, you can definitely hear the underlying music.
I take it back. I don't think it's a cool hack, I think it's a cool hoax. WHBT.
Pretty funny write-up, actually, but I'll believe he actually did it when I see the code.
-- Alastair
I am releasing no code because it is both sucky and useless (you see, I don't really think swapping scans of old records across p2p networks will become common practice any time soon).
More like he'd rather get his practical joke on slashdot, and if he supplied the code, it'd be a lot easier to prove it's fake.
Let's apply Occam's Razor.
Those music samples could have been generated by software that reads stitched together images of scanned vinyl records.
Or they could be just regular samples of music taken off a record/cd/tape and run through a static-izer for effect.
Which is simpler?
Let's see the code, please...
"And like that
It's latin for "thus". It's placed in brackets after quoting something that sounds wrong or odd to indicate that it really is like that in the original you're quoting (otherwise you might think it's a typo or misprint on the quoter's part). Simple errors are usually fixed instead of being marked with [sic], it's used if something is just bizarre and impossible to correct (like when Dan Quayle says something completely non-sensical) or when you're quoting a published work (fixing typos when quoting a published work is okay, but fixing its grammar is generally a bad idea).
10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10
Generally, people deride something like "sic" as "elitist" when they don't want to admit they didn't know what it meant, either (or when they don't want to admit they didn't catch the mistake themselves).
The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach
Whoever modded this up needs to use some common sense. A record groove that's precise to under 5 nanometers? Sorry, that right there should tell you that this is lacking somewhere. Perhaps some people don't understand that the needle on your record will NOT, no mater how good it is, pick up vibrations caused by a few nanometers of change because that is literally just a handful of atoms!
Now, where the analysis is wrong is a tougher question for me. I'm guessing, however, that it has something to do with the fact that the author assumes that the info isn't encoded on a logarithmic scale. You do, after all, have to have a very special amp to use a phonograph.
b.c
Well, the purpose of language is to communicate. So, yes, it's possible that an over-fixation on grammar could lead to a blockage of communication. But it's just as possible -- and I would say, even more likely -- that everyone striking out on their own and establishing their own "new rules" will lead to linguistic fragmentation and the death of communication. Look at it this way: Try picking up an early but still Modern English text -- something written back before printing presses and dictionaries. Try to read it. Pick up a New York Times article from, say, 100 years ago. Try to read it.
Which of those, do you think, would be more readily comprehensible? And don't you think it might have something to do with the standardized spelling and grammar employed in the Times?
As someone scientifically trained, I am simply aware that non-standard usages can be deadly to communication and the progress of the field.
Finally, I'd like to comment on
Actually, no. Usage of "[sic]" and other correction of grammar does not imply that there is a correct way of speaking. These do imply there is some sort of "correct" way of writing
The Mongrel Dogs Who Teach