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Slashback: Revolutionism, Media, Oregon
Sounds and pictures from the same box -- impossible! An anonymous reader writes "The HP Digital Media Receiver ( discussed here before) is available for sale at CompUSA and online. The wired version is $199, and the wireless one is $299.
I've been using it for a little while, and I really like it so far. It took a while for the PC software to start serving, but now its fine. It found all my playlists and digital photos on the first pass, and the network setup worked properly too. I'd like to see higher-resolution photos, but it's a pretty cool way to show the pictures to my less-techie friends.
Also, I installed the PC software on both of my home PCs, and the Receiver automatically finds the music on both! It did have a bunch of duplicates (which made it easy for me to go prune out all my dual mp3s), but it was pretty cool. You can't edit a playlist at the TV set, which is a bit of a bummer, but I use WinAmp on my PC anyway, and that worked fine. I like the interface on the TV a lot (although it's a little dull after a while), and it sorted most of my media properly. Some of my MP3s ended up in weird places, but I guess that's from the ID3 tags?
One other thing - I am pretty sure I read somewhere that the Receiver runs Linux. Did anyone else see this too? The only other thing about it I didn't really like was the lack of a reset button. There is a power button, but it didn't reset the device when I pushed it, so I had to unplug it once.
Anyhow, I'm sure there are going to be a ton more products like this one out there soon, but I definitely prefer this to the Prismiq and the Audiotron. It's a much more intuitive box, although a front-panel LCD would be a really nice add!"
Since the general welfare means you, too. Cooper Stevenson writes "Thanks to all of those who called, wrote, and emailed their Legislators in Oregon, House Bill 2892 will get a hearing as covered by the Oregonian:
'A new bill would make Oregon the first state to take a formal stance against the hefty fees and technological limitations of software produced by large corporations such as Microsoft.''A House committee is scheduled to consider a proposal that promotes "open-source" software, which doesn't charge recurring fees and enables customers to alter the software code, making it more compatible with other programs.'
Global neural links sought. Controlio writes "With the first truly televised war underway, for the first time we have media members armed with sat trucks chasing the folks with the automatic weapons around. Several fixed cameras are mounted around Baghdad, and members of the media from all around the world are sending reports from the field using sat uplinks and video phones. So the question is, those of you with access to a Big Dish, have you found any wild feeds yet? I live in Michigan (U.S.), and have only been able to pinpoint local media backhauls (like Fox's news backhaul to their local affiliates), but nothing from abroad. Anyone out there have any sat and channel information for either the Baghdad cams, foreign news agencies, or best of all, the news feeds from the front line?"
This question is a good followup to a recent question posted as an Ask Slashdot seeking unbiased news about the current war.
I remember people used to say, when I would demonstrate my C-64 to them, that you would never be able to watch tv-quality video on the computer. Now when I play tv-quality video on my computer, I'm upset about how inferior it is, running in it's tiny little postage stamp frame and or all big and blocky.
Course, we'll never be able to play HDTV on a computer.
Here's a wild feed if anyone's interested.
You had me at "dicks fuck assholes".
Revolution OS now available on media that the Revolution OS isn't supposed to be able to play...
What's this, a free software music video? this is going to be one of dumbest, geekiest things ever created. I can't wait to watch it.
I highly recommend BroadQ's software. It uses a Sony Playstation to play MP3's DivX's etc over a home network. Its a work in progress but it rocks! BroadQ.co
...Won't stop me from buying it.
I'm all for Open standards, and I have all of my music encoded as ogg on my machine, but I have to say that I'm disappointed with the sound quality of it.
You can debate it all you like, but I've found that Ogg produces some sound artifacts that MP3 doesn't, that are more irritating to my big ol' ears.
I currently have no clever signature witicism to add here.
HP sent me a FREE copy.
I got several calls from various marketing/survey types (must have clicked on a box on their website one day expressing interest in Linux) and after asking a few questions said they'd be sending me information. Imagine my surprise when the package contained a DVD of Revolution OS.
Sorry to say I haven't watched it yet (kids thought it over-the-top geeky and refused access to the DVD player).
They left out that it is for state agencies, not for private companies. The bill is here: House Bill 2892. There have been other slash stories on it as well. And a nice Google Search can get tons of info.
This is a good bill.
Oregon also has some Bad Bills like SB742 which would create terrorists of peace protestors, give them life in prison, and require local law enforcement to monitor "questionable" organizations. Hmm. A nice Google search can net you more opinions on SB742. It is disturbing!
Ogle and xine will play unencrypted DVDs if you are missing libdvdcss. In fact, xine has libdvdread and libdvdnav (and liba52?) in the main build now, so xine is all you need if you're playing libre discs.
There aren't many region free and CSS free discs in the US, but The Man Who Fell to Earth (VALIS) is one.
Revolution OS has been available from Netflix as a single disc since at least Christmas. My parents & sister watched it while visiting & learned more in 86 minutes about the open source movement than I could have told them in three hours.
My mother had to quit a job teaching Windows apps because they crashed so much she was embarrased. She consults on medical billing stuff running on MUMPS & VAXen (i.e. stable), so she was happy to learn that an alternative to Microsoft has some real momentum.
Close, but not quite enough... I want a similar box with a DVD (ROM) drive in it, so one can walk up and play physical DVDs in it, too. I was all set to buy a GoVideo D2730, but SonicBlue decided to go bankrupt and sell off the product lines instead of releasing them.
Yeah, I know, I DO plan to build a HTPC, but I'd like to have a box available in the $200-300 range that the wife and children can use as simply as a DVD player. I can take care of the media server behind the sceens myself. I'm not going to build a $1000 HTPC for each TV in the house...
Ideally, the box would do 100bT (the HP box says it's 10), and I'd like it to run an OS that I get source for, so I can customize it. Oh, and a pony, I'd like a pony.
Seriously though, I'd love to have the proverbial Linux set-top box, with maybe a 5 1/4 bay to accept a DVD drive (that could cost extra, I don't care that much.) The important bits are that it be AV-style casing, be in the $200-300 range, and have flawless, standard NTSC output. Doesn't need to be HDTV yet. Just composite and s-video, maybe component would be nice. Needs an IR input for remote as well. I'm actually willing to put up with the endless software upgrade cycle and small glitches that represent an immature or beta software base. I can upgrade/try other progs as needed.
Anyone know of such a boxen that meets my criteria?
More important than Ogg support IMHO how HP decided not to implement the ZeroConf (apple's rendevous) stanered into this device. For consumers to realyl pick up on this, it needs to be plug and play - the ONLY way that will happen is if you don't have to set up anything.. Rendevous lets that happen. The new Tivo option will preform much better than this do to it's rendevous integration with computers.
*sigh*... maybe in a firmware rev?
I would like more information about this. States have tons of custom and commercial software packages they use for everything from tracking DUI offenders to registering kids in school districts. And those products more likely than not use things like databases and middleware things that are mostly OS-specific.
Forget about Windows and Office for a sec and think about the costs related to moving all that to an "open" platform. Especially today, when most states are flat broke and pulling money away from programs like education and welfare.
Does anyone have any real, specific information as to how Oregon plans to deal with this, outside of the all too familiar "oh, another blow to m$" static I keep hearing?
It seems to me that these are mostly empty gestures. What they should be doing is introducing alternative operating systems and applications selectively, where it makes sense and they represent the best tool for the job at hand. In this scenario, the "you must use [insert software]" is nothing more than an imposition made by the very people who know absolutely nothing about these things (the legislators) to the detriment of the people who will actually burden this (the MIS staffs at the state agencies). And ultimately, to the detriment of the taxpayers as well.
It's a bad Dilbert cartoon - at a massive scale.
Ahem...ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please...
I now present, for your listening enjoyment, The Free Software Song!!!
Wow, two free hours of RMS insisting that "it's correctly termed GNU/Linux -- here, read this 85 point manifesto."
It's a nice chunk of change they've picked up, though. Looking at their rates, that's $10,000 each from IBM and HP, and probably $500 each from the others. I wonder if they really got that much out of them or if they offered a discount to get the ball rolling.
What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
I worked at EDD in sacramento. and i think gnu would be great there. in california 90% of the real work is done by tn3270 this can easily be done in linux. the major needs are. email, word processor, spreadsheet and presentations for the managers. the main road block would be exchange most big corporations love that program and i don't think that there is a real alternative to it. but I'm sure that that could be worked out.
Star office
X3279 or something like that
Mozilla for a web browser.
although i would set the managers up with Apples. the less they have to thing the better off you are, as a former it person for them i should know.
I find that INCREDIBLY hard to believe. Not only has my experience been very positive (and I've got really good ears, and equipment to match), but the double-blind tests conducted have said the same.
Are you sure the problem isn't just that you don't like hearing the high-frequencies, or maybe you're just so accustomed to MP3 that you don't like hearing music without the artifacts?
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