Home Cookin': The Electric CD Acid Test

XenonOfArcticus writes "In the spirit if the Blair Witch Project: In 1993, Chris (Hanson), Dave (Kessner), Bob (Maple), Eric Schultz, Chris Hurtt, Earl Miles, and a few other malcontents found themselves in the possession of a microwave oven, a video camera, some worthless CD-ROMs, and a (then state-of-the-art) Video Toaster editing system. This recently-discovered footage is the actual result. " The mind boggles - the video is in QuickTime 4 format. Update: chrisd writes "I have mirrored the Home Cooking movie here." Update: 10/22 11:02 by H :Us e the mirror above, as, the Slashdot effect totally slaughtered the poor guy's ISP in the original story.

Comments

Re:Microwaving CDs just looks soooo cool!

[Trepidity]

Hmm, this is the only really on-topic post I see in response to this article, yet somebody's moderated it down from a 1 that some moderator gave it back to a 0. However, an off-topic article complaining that somebody's movie viewer can't view this format movie gets rated up to +2.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:slashdot effect makes people forfeit homepages?

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree. See, I really wanted to see this little movie. I know its stupid, but its cool at the same time. So I've come back days later, and still can't get there. How hard would it be for /. to put up a little movie file. I mean come on. Stop being such jerks. /. hasn't done a whole lot of good lately. Its just been...hey....lookie over there...then the site goes down...everyone laughes a little...hehe..they've been ./ed...hehe....and you do it to another one. Give the little guys a break. There have been quite a few things that I have been afraid to post, because I know that they couldn't handle the ./ effect.

Re:Quicktime 4, Red Hat 6, and Wine 990815

[Stephen VanDahm]

If this helps, I tried running it as a standalone application. I don't enough about Linux and Wine and stuff to know if Quicktime 4 uses any weird API's, but it does have a non-traditional GUI and frequently crashes in Windows.

Take care,

Steve

Whatever happened to quickies, anyway?

[Pascal Q. Porcupine]

Did CmdrTaco just run out of cool titles for quickie stories? He doesn't seem to make quickie collections anymore. I miss quickie-dumps. You get more silly content per day that way. :)
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.

Re:Whatever happened to quickies, anyway?

[Pascal Q. Porcupine]

Now, I like good karma just as much as anyone else, but come on, Score 5: Insightful? Jeeze, could you please use your moderator points on something more useful?
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.

Re:Whatever happened to quickies, anyway?

[edhall]

Now, I like good karma just as much as anyone else, but come on, Score 5: Insightful? Jeeze, could you please use your moderator points on something more useful?

Those weren't moderation points. Those were votes.

-Ed

Re:Whatever happened to quickies, anyway?

[ralphclark]

Ok - you want quickies? I just ran across this HILARIOUS site today (not for anyone in President Clinton's family...or anyone easily offended).

Visit and play the following games on-line (without any Java crap either):

The Fabulous Streisand Nose Game

Play "Dolls" In The White House with President Clinton

President Clinton's Fly Tells All

And much much more...

Consciousness is not what it thinks it is
Thought exists only as an abstraction

Here it is

[MostlyHarmless]

Chrisd mentioned above that he posted a mirror of this project. Some people predict these things too well :-)

some cool experiments

[RoLlEr_CoAsTeR]

I realize that this is slightly whacky, and the person who's page this is will probably growl at me, but, one of the slashdotters (can't remember his name/nick) has a page, here (or linked to from here, I believe) that should prove interesting.. in the field of microwaves an other such pyro-manageable items. and to whoever's site this is, many thanks and kudos!!

Re:some cool experiments

[banfield]

The gaming magazine PC Accelerator used to run a monthly section on things do to/with extra CDs. Of course the did the microwave one, but the waffle iron & belt sander yielded truly impressive results.


Banfield

Pavlov's Dog vs. Schrodinger's Cat

Re:some cool experiments

[PooF]

Correct link: Here

Aaron "PooF" Matthews
E-mail: aaron@fish.pathcom.com
To mail me remove "fish."
ICQ: 11391152
Quote: "Success is the greatest revenge"

Re:View in Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

Considering that the higher percentage of digital media is created on a Mac, shouldn't the veiwer have a Mac on hand to look at web content?
Sounds silly doesn't it?
Not every one that reads /. runs Linux exclusively Judging by the stories submitted, and the posts, there are a fair deal of Be (YAY!), Win, Mac, Amiga, Sun, BSD, etc users that also read /.
What about them? Are they less of "Nerds" than the "Linux-Jihad"? Should they also be excluded?

Now on Slashmirror

[Anonymous Coward]

ftp://128.253.254.56/homecookin.mov

Re:View in Linux

[Lord of the Files]

No one intended to suggest that this isn't a problem for people other than linux users. The point was it's a pain when /. links to content which cannot be viewed except on particular platforms. The people who commented about it seem to be linux users, so they refered to linux, as they have no way to know if this is a problem on any other particular platform.

It's gone! Can someone mirror it?

[Charlatan]

Not Found

The requested URL /video/homecookin.htm was not found on this server.


Apache/1.3.3 Server at www.free-ip.com Port 80

Bad CD's go bye-bye

[blahtree]

I used to work for a small-ish company where we would burn cd's for a tutorial. Well, the cd burner we had really sucked, so it would eat a lot of cd's. Early technology. Anyways, one of the guys at work found this idea on the internet, so we took a couple up into the lunch room and turned off the lights. Pop, in they went, until things went crackle.

Out they came, and man do they look cool! Great coasters. Whenever anyone comes over and sees my "art" they are always enthralled! "Wow! Cool! How did you do that???" Great way to score chicks : )

I just don't understand

[Anonymous Coward]

"I just don't understand Doctor, how could I have gotten cancer?"

I sure hope its worth it...

[Anonymous Coward]

12 megs is quite a bit... better be worth it... gotta wait till managerment leaves before i can download it :(

View in Linux

[debrain]

Off topic yet highly relevent point:

How do I view this thing in Linux?
Not to harass the matter, but I am quite curious as to the state of Quicktime support for Linux . . .

Re:View in Linux

[noom]

Considering that such a high percentage of us (relative to most web sites anyway) run Linux, I think the management should avoid posting links to videos using the new (Sorensen?) Quicktime 4.0 codec.

Perhaps a boycott is in order?

Re:View in Linux

[Lord of the Files]

As far as I can tell from Apple's page there isn't any and they don't care.

It's really frustrating when /. links to stuff that can't be viewed under linux. Is there any easy way to convert a Quicktime movie to something like RealPlayer that we at least kind of sort of support? If so I can post the converted version.

Re:View in Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

12 Megbytes is out of my league, but I *think* xanim will let you view this type of file. You might want to be certain before you download it though.

Re:View in Linux

[Tarnar]

"Every operating system has it's advantages and disadvantages. Quicktime is a pretty open standard, available on the vast majority of computer systems. If yours is not one of them, then that is your limitation. "

OK, this is a load of baloney. Quicktime 3/4 are available ONLY on Win9x/Mac. This is NOT a vast majority by a longshot. Quicktime 3 however, are largely all available for Linux.

The only group at fault here is Apple, for hanging onto the Sorenson codec like it was more valuable then gold. When, honestly, it isn't. If Quicktime hopes to defeat MPEG (or replace it) then the least they should do is cross onto as many platforms as MPEG does.

Now, besides this, your point is completely valid. There is no One True OS. It would just be nice to see Apple have more of a commitment to Open Source and Open Standards, especially with projects like Darwin. By not releasing the codecs, even in a binary form, they ruin their own reputation in the market they hope to penetrate with their new Open stuff.

I still think this should be posted on /. though. And anyone who feels like making an MPEG out of this is more then welcome =)

Re:View in Linux

[Tarnar]

God dammit. That should say "Quicktime versions less then 3 however.."

Forgot that the Shift-. button wouldn't show up with the HTML formatting around here, even with Plain Text mode on.

Re:View in Linux

[Daniel]

Excuse me, but Windows and MacOS *do* constitute a majority of systems.

Unfortunately.

Daniel

Re:View in Linux

[tialaramex]

Here's the deal with Sorenson, and why it IS fair to whine at Apple, and perhaps even whoever made this video available...

XAnim's author has always made NDA deals with codec technology owners to create DECODERS for their formats on Linux.
The existence of these decoders promotes the format, makes it easier to justify using it, and COSTS NOTHING

But with Sorenson, Apple _REFUSED_ to permit a deal of this sort. They feel that Sorenson is SO GREAT that people will throw away their SGI, their E450 and their Linux Alpha machine, and buy a PowerMac just so they can watch video.
What's even MORE stupid IMHO is that there are people out there who PAID Apple good money to create videos which Apple WILL NOT LICENSE for use by non-Mac/ non-Windows users.

That's right -- someone paid money (probably as part of some other software) to MASSIVELY REDUCE THEIR AUDIENCE
If that's not stupid I don't know what is.

Re:View in Linux

[Tarnar]

Majority of systems maybe, majority of desktops for sure. Majority of servers, no, but that's not the issue.

The issue is that out of all the OS'es out there, Windows, Be, Linux, Solaris, IRIX, MacOS, whatever, more then just Windows and MacOS are used. So why does Quicktime claim to be a crossplatform standard when it's neither crossplatform that much, nor is it an open standard?

Re:View in Linux

[mr_burns]

1) Quicktime isn't a codec. Sorensen is a codec used in Quicktime. Learn more about digital media; you WILL be dealing with it in the future.

2) There are various Unix's already playing Quicktime content (Be does, and I know neXt did, I also wouldn't be surprised if IRIX has a player available too). I don't think that a port to linux would be a great ordeal. Especially since Apple is developing QT for their own BSD variant.

3) Apple, MS, and Real are in a fight to get the most client support. With the emergence of Linux as a Consumer OS will come serious Quicktime support. People don't watch movies on servers, they watch them on worstations. When Linux becomes a large consumer market, then you'll probably see Apple support QT for Linux.

In short. Don't bitch about lack of application support for Linux. Do something about it. Either code it yourself, or grow the installed consumer base so that developing consumer apps for it won't feel like a waste of time to software companies.

Re:View in Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

xanim cannot use the Sorenson codec. It requiers accel.

Re:View in Linux

[innerFire]

Quicktime is a pretty open standard

And what exactly is that supposed to mean? :P

I don't see any Quicktime source code, specs, or third-party (non-Apple) reimplementations. Apple has been pretty tight-lipped about QT, in fact. It is not 'pretty open', or open at all.

A boycott of Quicktime (and proprietary software in general) is most definitely in order.

Re:View in Linux

[Butt]

When Linux naysayers claim "But Linux doesn't do X!" the usual slashdot response is like "Well hey dude, you can get involved and make it happen! That's the beauty of Linux!"

Calling for a boycott of sites which make use of functionality Linux doesn't have (and source licensing for the technology is *not* particularly relevant here) is a pretty good way of reinforcing the "Linux is totally open as long as you think like we do" mentality, which is reasonably prevalent IMHO.

My $0.02

Danny

Re:View in Linux

[LazLong]

Why avoid links to videos using QT 4.0????? _I_ have access to both a windows box and VMware....Platform facism is wrong no matter who is its subject....

Re:View in Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

FYI, Apple has a full time employee, Kevyn, who provides support to PPC Linux kernel developers. And don't forget that they funded the porting of OSFMach3 to powermacs and the porting of linux to OSFMACH3, that is, MkLinux. Apple is not as closed as many seem to think they are. They had a whole engineering team working on MkLinux and they've worked with the Open Software Foundation for years. What more do you people want from Apple? They've ever open sourced their next major OS! HELLO?!!

Re:View in Linux

[Pathwalker]

I've converted it to mpeg at various bitrates. As soon as I hear back from the person who runs the slashdotted site, (assuming they give me permission to do so) I'll put the mpeg files on a server and post the URL on slashdot.

(I've got the fire extingusher all ready for the poor little server when the wave of people hit it)

Re:View in Linux

[Stephen VanDahm]

I am under the impression that they've only opened parts of their next OS. For instance, I seriously doubt they've opened their GUI, and that's probably the most useful thing they could do. Furthermore, I doubt you'll be able to download an ISO file of the installation CD. Free speech is great, but sometimes free beer is just as important.

You have hardware companies who have nothing to lose from open source software, and you have software companies like Microsoft who have little to gain from open source software. Apple's position as both a hardware and a software maker is the source of their ambivalence.

gotta go...wish I could write more.

Take care,

Steve

Re:View in Linux

[Lord of the Files]

It looks like xanim can't handle this version of Quicktime.

Re:View in Linux

[Lally Singh]

Actually true linuxers would have converted
it to another, more linux-friendly format by now.

--
Insanity Takes Its Toll. Please Have Exact Change

Re:View in Linux

[rebrane]

now if you dont mind, ill go back to my Indigo2 running IRIX 6.5.5 and view that bitchin quicktime movie...

AC IS CORNERED AS A TROLL

--neil

Re:View in Linux

[GeorgeH]

Actually, Slashdot is specifically targeted towards Linux. You'll notice Microsoft stories have a picture of Bill Gates looking like a Borg. I don't think he really looks like that. Similarly, Linux items are met with enthusiasm. Why do you think that is?

As for forcing others to conform, you're either forcing others to conform to you, or conforming to others. I perfer to use my best judgement, and let the world adjust around me. If there isn't xyz app for my OS choice, I'm going to let the developers know that I'm not using their product because I can't. If enough people are as thick headed as me, apps get ported. The other option is to be just another sheep in the herd (but not the HURD ).

My concession is that I agree that links shouldn't not be posted simply because they don't work on a certain platform, but I believe the jist of most of the posts I read (which were higher scored) is that Apple should port the codec, rather than not post that here.

--

Re:View in Linux

[Stephen VanDahm]

I wrote Apple a complaint about their lack of Linux support a while back and they sent me a stupid, form-generated "yeah whatever" reply. I think that Linux competes with OS X or something. At any rate, they are pretty ambivilant (sp) about it.

If you want to see some antics that don't require Quicktime 4.0 click here. The site was created by a former employee of SGI who had way too much time on his hands.

Take care,

Steve

Re:View in Linux

[alexhmit01]

If Linux is not adequate for your needs, then you should consider another (or additional) operating system. This is a web site for "News for Nerds," and people can post what they thing is appropriate for this forum.

This attitude that "Linux rules! I can't do X on Linux, so X sucks" is completely rediculous. If Linux is not adequate for your needs, then that is your issue not ours.

Every operating system has it's advantages and disadvantages. Quicktime is a pretty open standard, available on the vast majority of computer systems. If yours is not one of them, then that is your limitation.

Alternatively, do what those of us that want to run *nix apps that are available for Linux and Windows apps do, run NT and Linux. Either run Linux in VMWare, or set up a second box. There are a plethora of Xservers for NT, some commercial, some freeware. That way, you can run all applications.

You could run a VMWare session with Win95/98/NT, which would give your more application options. However, please don't extrapolate that because you use Linux and that many others use Linux that everyone here can only use Linux.

An operating system is a tool, it runs applications. If your operating system lacks applications that you want to run, it is time to come up with an alternative plan of action.

I'm certain that one day, Linux will have loads of applications, be as easy to use as Windows, and reliably, and the applications will run as reliably as Win32 apps (meaning, not very well), in the mean time, realize the Unix has been used for 30 years, and X for 15 years, but neither was designed as a desktop system. It's great that we have one, but it lacks full desktop support. Accept the limitations, don't force other to conform.

Linux (at least on my School's AFS system) has lots of great commercial engineering tools, because it is Unix-like enough to run them. I can't get them for NT. However, for streaming video, mainstream environments are where it is at.

If you want to do everything, get multiple systems. If you wish to do everything easily, pipe them into the same machine. If not, keep your issues to yourself, and don't demand that amusing links not be shown here because you choose to limit your options.

Alex

Re:View in Linux

[kyhwana]

>It's really frustrating when /. links to stuff that can't be viewed under linux. Is there any easy way to convert a Quicktime movie to something like RealPlayer that we at least kind of sort of support?

Your right, it's also really annoying.. Im not sure if there is a way to convert it unless you pay for Quicktime Pro (which you can't use anyway) So you'd probably have to ask around, it'd be nice if whoever posted this (Hemos in this case.. You should know better damnit!) could point out links to a converted version, or convert it themselves..

Re:View in Linux

[Anonymous Coward]

yes, an immediate boycott is in order because they used quicktime 4.

if its not supported by linux we must immediately whine and cry like little bitches, demand a boycott and bemoan the fact that our little open source folly can't view it.

and we all know that if it isnt open source..wait, if it isnt open source AND SUPPORTED BY LINUX, that it sucks and should be banished.

perhaps all you whining linux tards should spend some collective coding energy and develop your own open source answer to quicktime...call it GNUtime!

now if you dont mind, ill go back to my Indigo2 running IRIX 6.5.5 and view that bitchin quicktime movie...

Re:View in Linux

[sjames]

This attitude that "Linux rules! I can't do X on Linux, so X sucks" is completely rediculous.

I agree that that's not a reasonable attitude.

However, there's a reason that nobody posts web pages in EBCDIC or baudot, interoperability in an INTERnet environment. I don't post EBCDIC pages and tell you that you should quit complaining and run OS/370 etc., etc.

For the entire history of computing, we have had the standard of the day alongside real standards. Vast amounts of money and time have been wasted converting the former into the latter, or buying otherwise unneeded things to support the former. Until people quit falling into the marketeer's trap and stick with open standards, this will continue.

Certainly, I don't advocate a 'technology freeze', but I do advocate insisting on OPEN standards. If nobody buys into proprietary (API, data structure, file format etc.) 'standards', all standards will be opened (or disappear).

Re:View in Linux

[quasipunk guy]

Why are you watching movies on a server?

Re:View in Linux

[Tarnar]

*ahem* I'm not. Read my post, I say '..but that's NOT the issue.' In other words: We have the majority of servers, but for this, it really doesn't mean jack. OK?

Re:View in Linux

[arielb]

It doesn't run on BeOS either.

Re:View in Linux

[Trepidity]

Since the majority of us do not use Linux to read Slashdot (according to the logs of /.'s webserver), I don't see the problem. Those of us who don't run Linux don't get upset when we can't run some new software program that Slashdot announces, so those of you who use Linux can show us the same courtesy by not objecting to things others may wish to see.

If there's another, better, format available, then sure. But if there's no other format, posting the Quicktime 4 link is better than posting no link at all, just as posting info about a Linux-only program is worse than posting a link to a highly ported program, but is better than posting no link at all.

Re:View in Linux

[Lord of the Files]

I know it's in bad taste to reply to myself, but I just tried it an xanim in fact can not handle it. It complains about the header being compressed in a proprietary way.

Re:View in Linux

[Pascal Q. Porcupine]

Although I agree with you in general, I have issue with your statement that Quicktime is widely available on many platforms. QT4 is only available, AFAIK, on Windows and MacOS. Yes, a variety of the older QT Codecs are available on quite a few systems (including Linux), but so far I've seen no intention from Apple to support anything but MacOS and Windows on this. Hopefully they'll change their mind, but in the meantime, our only choices are Wine (dunno if QT4 can be supported by this, though) and, as you pointed out, VMWare. However, the problem with VMWare is that you still need a copy of Windows. Part of what many Linux geeks (such as myself) are trying to do, for better or worse, is not have to have a copy of any OS that we don't want just for a few things we don't need. It's a personal choice. I don't try to inflict it on others, though of course others don't have exactly the same views as me...

But yeah, I agree, just because something isn't in Linux doesn't mean it sucks. However, to claim that QT4 is available on the vast majority of systems... well, on installed personal computers, maybe, but two OSes each on one platform certainly does NOT constitute the majority of the several hundred OSes and platforms out there. What if you don't even have an x86 box? What if you have a BeBox or an Alpha, or something StrongARM based, or an RS/6000, or a SPARC? Not everyone has a Mac or a Windows-capable box, after all.
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.

Ok...ya

[oburi]

It's so do people take time to come up with these things or does it come in a flash?

Re:Ok...ya

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, I have an OC3 at work so it takes a few seconds to get it :P

yeeesh!

[jafac]

Why don't we all comment on how funny this would be if it weren't slashdotted?

(btw - I'd also like to add a "me too" for Quicktime-Linux support. You'd think Linux would be higher on the agenda than *cough* Windows)
(no, I mean *barf* Windows).

"The number of suckers born each minute doubles every 18 months."

Microwaving CDs just looks soooo cool!

[Anonymous Coward]

You can actually see concentric rings of electricity and sparks dancing across the CD; sometimes in regular manner; sometimes rippling round and round. And different colored CDRs produce slightly different effects.

Note: the show's over after 1-2 seconds. After that the plastic will start to burn and smoke (toxic!) so microwave for no more than 2 seconds. Also, I set the cd on top of a small glass so the CD is no where near any of the walls inside the oven. All this, of course, is at your own risk if you choose to do this. No problems have resulted for me, though.

Re:Microwaving CDs just looks soooo cool!

[BigWorm]

You're not kidding about that smell! (gasp!)

Re:Microwaving CDs just looks soooo cool!

[Imperator]

No problems have resulted for me, though.

I haven't had any problems either, except that one of the fish in the tank next to the trash has three eyes.

is it just me ...

[trance]

Is it just me or is this whole blair witch thing just getting on your nerves. Now i say the movie, and yes it was a decent flick, but come on people, it was decent because it was original. Now everyone and their brother (Scooby Doo, MTV, etc.) has a Blair Witch parady.. and i can't be the only annoyed one here. Thanks for listening to my rant..

Re:is it just me ...

[Anonymous Coward]

It's got nothing to do with the blair witch... the "found footage" just relates to the fact that they put the file up on the 'net after sitting for 6 years.

Re:is it just me ...

[Anonymous Coward]

that is just the way this country is. gorge till ya puke. it's the same reason radio stations abuse songs and then drop them. strange how everyone complains about it, but then everyone asks for it, too.

Re:is it just me ...

[Imperator]

This happened years before the JonKatz Witch Project was released. If they did this 'in the spirit of' BWP, I'd like to hire them to take care of my stock. :)

Mirror List

[Slash Mirror]

http://athena.student.umd.edu/HomeCook in.mov

ftp://128.253.254.56/homecookin.mov

http://dibona.com/slashmir

SlashMirror: Where to put files for fellow /.'ers

Re:Mirror List

[Gaccm]

i used athena student one, and when it finished downloading it said the movie was unplayable i tried different programs (including quicktime) but none worked. over an hour to download doh
I AM NOT AS I CRAZY AS I THINK I AM! or am i??? -GODriel

Re:Mirror List

[niteq]

if anyone on a fast(...*more* than cable) line could icq this to me or a private ftp or something i can mirror it overnight...the servers up now are way too slashdotted.

icq: 21261895

SIGH

[Anonymous Coward]

12 meg download AND booting into windoze for that?

Re:I mirrored it for everyone.

[chrisd]

Note to self, mirroring big files is different from mirroring little teeny ones. Oh well. I think we hit the roof on the interface. My machine is not really loaded at all at 2.0 but I think all the traffic is movie. Ah well.

Chris
--
Grant Chair, Linux Int.
VP, SVLUG

rename it

[gad_zuki!]

This article should be subtitled:

or the the future of all those Ricky Martin CDs

Re:Safety Precaution

[Luke B. Bishop]

GOOD CALL! Oh, and don't nuke WinNT CD's either, they crash your microwave (forget the link...). If I had any moderator points this one would be going up...

Much better.

[chrisd]

Duh, had to increase the client and server numbers for Apache. My bad. Should be much better now.

(In case you cared)

Chris DiBona
--
Grant Chair, Linux Int.
VP, SVLUG

Re:Whoa! Great idea!

[cheese63]

actually, the thinness of the cd causes it to slip between the bars of the dishwasher, but makes it an excellent shower-mate. showering with my cd's has been my standard practice for testing for at least a year

I've been doing this forever

[sklib]

I've been doing this with my AOL cds since they started sending out pointless plastic as opposed to actually usable floppies. It makes a nice fractal pattern, I guess I can scan some when I get home and post the pics somewhere.

More to come

[mr_burns]

What with iMac DV and all, I think we're in for a whole lot more stuff like this. And DV is a whole lot better quality than a regular camcorder (component video vs crappy (s)vhs). So sit back...because everybody's movies will be taking up the bandwidth.

Sorenson Codec

[wowbagger]

Perhaps it is time to unleash the mighty power of the /. effect upon Apple: Why doesn't everybody who has bitched about not having Sorenson support under Xanim e-mail Apple, and ask them nicely to allow Sorenson to allow Mr. Podlipec to make a codec plug-in for Xanim. Since Apple is claiming to support Open Source, lets give them a chance to walk the walk, and not just talk the talk.

Re:Sorenson Codec

[wmshub]

Good idea!...I just went to the Apple web page. After wading through about a dozen links off of "Contact Us", I *STILL* couldn't find an email address that was remotely applicable. Anybody know who we should complain to?

(Usually I complain to the site that has the .mov file and ask for a Real version...but in this case, the site is /., and I think the point has been made).

Re:Sorenson Codec

[Stephen VanDahm]

I e-mailed Apple when the James Bond trailer came out. I very politely told them that I wanted to use Quicktime 4.0 but couldn't because I did most of my Internet stuff in Linux. I actually got a reply less than 24 hours later, but it didn't say anything other than that someone had received and read my comment.

I don't think Apple is such a big Open Source fan. Open Source benefits hardware makers, because the more stuff that runs on their stuff the better. Apple is a hardware company so you'd think this would be good for them.

But Apple is also a software company, and MacOS and OS X are a big part of their business model. In this area, Open Source is a threat. Linux, FreeBSD, and the like theaten the revenue derived from sale of their proprietary operating systems.

I think that Apple is in a situation where it doesn't know what to do. If they support Linux (as they have with mkLinux) they make Mac hardware more attractive, but at the same time they risk losing market share and (perhaps more importantly) mindshare.

Those are my thoughts.

Take care,

Steve

Re:Sorenson Codec

[Anonymous Coward]

They are not just claiming it, they are DOING it and HAVE been doing it for a while. See the other AC post in Re: View in Linux

Re:Sorenson Codec

[keytoe]

Apple doesn't own the Sorensen codecs at all. In fact, I recall them paying out the nose to have them included in QT4... If you want the codecs, you've gotta talk to the Sorensen folk directly.

Re:Sorenson Codec

[ralphclark]

I heard from Podlipec that it's useless to talk to Sorenson because in fact Apple and Microsoft have them in their pocket. There's some sort of exclusive licencing deal that means they *can't* release the codec details to open source authors. You have to address Apple, it's the only way.

Consciousness is not what it thinks it is
Thought exists only as an abstraction

Re:Sorenson Codec

[ralphclark]

Everyone who is interested in this issue should contact D Gartner, who organizes lobbying efforts in favour of open protocols and the like. I've already spoken to her about the Sorenson codec and she has agreed to look into it. If she gets a few more letters about it maybe it'll get prioritized.

Consciousness is not what it thinks it is
Thought exists only as an abstraction

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[account_deleted]

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The Link

[BAKup]

Here's the link Microwaving CD's UF style

--Ben

Sig Error #666 -- The Devil made me do it.

Re: Not the issue

[MikeBabcock]

I think the issue should not be that "it's not available on Linux, so it sucks", but rather, "it's not the only format, why do people only use it?" After all, high bandwidth realvideo is a pretty good codec, and Intel's multiple bandwidth video codecs are very nice as well. It would be nice, IMHO, to see better QT support on Linux, but I wouldn't say the moderators were wrong to post this article.

- Michael T. Babcock <homepage>

Re:im scared

[Anonymous Coward]

I didn't see the video, but i tried a cd... i put it on a cup cause i didn't want it melting all over the mic. I put it shiny side down... quite the show. Stinky tho... No, nothing blew up. :P

Xanim and Sorenson Codec

[ddstreet]

I emailed Apple and Sorenson about working with Mark Podlipec (Xanim's creator) and below is the email I got back.

If we all email them maybe they will get a clue.
For reference, Xanim's home page (and mirrors)
http://xanim.va.pubnix.com/home.html
http://smurfland.cit.buffalo.edu/xanim/home.html
http://xanim.resnet.gatech.edu/home.html


Hello,

You're receiving this note because you asked for QuickTime for Linux, QuickTime for UNIX, or QuickTime for Amiga.

QuickTime is available for Mac OS http://www.apple.com/macos, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT 4. The next platform to be supported will be Mac OS X http://www.apple.com/macosx (including Mac OS X Server), which is Mach/BSD-based.

If you're interested in QuickTime for platforms other than Mac or Windows, contact your platform vendor and let them know that you would like them to license QuickTime from Apple.

If you're interested in QuickTime as it relates to servers, be sure to check out the standards-based Darwin streaming server project http://publicsource.apple.com (which works with any standards-based streaming media client).

Thank you,

--
Charles Wiltgen
QuickTime Technology Manager
Worldwide Developer Relations Apple Computer, Inc. "Don't compromise. Use QuickTime."
http://www.apple.com/quicktime
http://www.QuickTimeFAQ.org

QuickTime 4: The first standards-based architecture for networked media.
Recognized as the industry standard for Macintosh and Windows since 1991.

Re:Xanim and Sorenson Codec

[ralphclark]

Yeah - I emailed Apple about it too, right after the first Phantom Menace trailer came out on QuickTime 4.

The bastards didn't even bother to reply. But then I'm mailing from a UK address, so what do *I* matter?

Fuckers.

Consciousness is not what it thinks it is
Thought exists only as an abstraction

Learned this from the gov't

[FroBugg]

I learned this a few years back when me and some of my friends were interning over at NOAA, a gov't organization.

One of my friends was doing data backup onto CD-R's, and it was his boss who told him to microwave the ones that got screwed up.

I always found it amusing to see us bunch of high school guys huddled around the microwave in a government building lunch room with the lights out and an occasional crackle of electricity.


Just in case anyone was wondering, yes, this is your tax dollars at work.

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MPEG version

[Pathwalker]

Ok - I have permission to mirror and convert it.

You can get the original quick time version, as well as mpeg versions at varying bit rates from http://house.ofdoom.com/~hungerf 3/video/index.rxml

I'm sitting here with a stopwatch, and a fire extinguisher to see how long this server stands up.
(pentium 120, 96 megs of ram, FreeBSD, Roxen, on a tci-met cable modem)

Re:will it break?

[AndyL]

Perhaps this is a stupid question. But I'm going to ask it anyway. Wouldn't it have been wiser to inquire about possible side-effects before puting your CD in the microwave?

Re:Whoa! Great idea!

[freejack]

Next time I have trouble reading a CD, I'll just stick it in the microwave. If not very much of the metal layer flaked off, I'll know it's a problem with the drive. To test the drive, I'll put it in the dishwasher. This a great, practical idea! Thanks!

Your post marks the first time in in almost ten years online where I have spit Dr. Pepper onto my keyboard *and* had it dribble out my nose upon reading a post.

Thanks.

Delicious

[Craig Davison]

Good one.

Quicktime 4, Red Hat 6, and Wine 990815

[Stephen VanDahm]

"but in the meantime, our only choices are Wine (dunno if QT4 can be supported by this, though)"

I have Quicktime 4.0 installed on a FAT32 partition that I use with Windows 95 OEM2. I tried many times to run Quicktime with Wine version 990815 and Red Hat 6.0. Quicktime always crashed before it finished loading. That's just my experience.

Take care,

Steve

Re:Quicktime 4, Red Hat 6, and Wine 990815

[Pascal Q. Porcupine]

Would you happen to be able to give more information though? I mean, does it crash because it can't register itself as a plugin, or because it's trying to do some low-level stuff that Wine can't handle, or what? (I'm too lazy to download it for myself. :)
---
"'Is not a quine' is not a quine" is a quine.

G2's done and posted for those with slower modems

[danwatt]

I have converted this video into 3 Real G2 videos: 56k/s (1.6mb) 70k/s (2.8mb) 128k/s (5.2mb) They are available here: ftp://24.29.236.226 and are in the root dir. 10 max connections allowed, 7k/s max each. Sorry... I would of uploaded this to Slash Mirror, but it wont let me upload in the uploads directory

MPEG mirror

[Pathwalker]

I'm putting MPEG versions up at http://house.ofdoom.com/~hungerf 3/video/index.rxml.

Console ...

[cdlu]

Could someone put the movie through to aalib so I can watch it at the console?

(j/k :) )

Foot, Mouth, Insert.

[Anonymous Coward]

Why don't you people even finish reading the comments before you spout off about something that isn't even there? He said Apple refused to allow xanim to license the Sorenson codec so it obviously does not have it.

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[account_deleted]

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Microwave Oven Ball Lightning

[TheSync]

We have video of microwave over ball lightning on an episode of the /etc show titled "Fun with High Voltage Electrical Discharges" (RealVideo format ;) You can read more about doing it yourself at here, look down on the page for the collection of microwave oven ball lightning recipes.

It's scary stuff the first time you try it!

Ill mirror in G2

[danwatt]

Im not a linux user, so i dont know if this will help you, but i know it will help those of you with slower modems. As soon as the download is done, i will post several G2 versions (varying bandwiths). Please email me for the address: danwatt@bigfoot.com (im on a cable modem, and the ISP does not like bandwith hogging).

Fuck Linux. What about Quicktime in NT

[xQx]

Apple don't claim it will work in Linux, but the do claim it is developed for Windowz. But check out what happens to their wonderful program when you install SP5.

Quicktime Discuss Forum

I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for apple to port something to linux if it doesn't even work on Windoze. Nothing personal against quicktime.. just .. THEY SUCK :)

Re:Fuck Linux. What about Quicktime in NT

[Sehnsucht]

QT4 works fine under NT4 Wks/SP5 where I work..
All the speed/quality enhancement stuff on..

PII/300, 128MB SDRAM, G200, Yamaha XG50 or somesuch.. for what it matters :)

Re:im scared

[meldroc]

Nuking CDs is too cool. Take a CD, set it on a glass in the middle of the microwave (to prevent it from arcing to the walls), and cook for 3 seconds. You get a cool electric light show, and a CD etched with fractalish patterns. Oh, if you leave the microwave on too long, you get this nasty burned plastic smell that won't go away, so 3 seconds is plenty. As far as safety goes, the only thing I can say is my microwave still works.

G2's now on SlashMirror

[Slash Mirror]

uploading works fine for me . . .

128k / 5.03MB ftp://128.253.254.56/homecookin-128k.rm

70k / 2.75MB ftp://128.253.254.56/homecookin-70k.rm

56k / 1.58MB ftp://128.253.254.56/homecookin-56k.rm

SlashMirror: Where to put files for fellow /.'ers

Go to Slash Mirror

[danwatt]

Seems that the /. effect has hit my FTP server.... I did not know my cable modem could do 160kbps upload.. Only get 40 in the past. I think my ISP is mad. Go to slash mirror

Updated Mirror List (mov+mpg+rm)

[Slash Mirror]

MOV (11.3MB):
ftp://128.253.254.56/homecookin.mov
http://athena.student.umd.edu/HomeCook in.mov
http://house.ofdoom.com/~hun gerf3/video/HomeCookin.mov

low quality MPG (7.23MB):
ftp://128.253.254.56/homecookin-low.mpg
http://house.ofdoom.com/ ~hungerf3/video/HomeCookin-low.mpg

RM:
128k / 5MB ftp://128.253.254.56/homecookin-128k.rm
70k / 1.6MB ftp://128.253.254.56/homecookin-70k.rm
56k / 2.8MB ftp://128.253.254.56/homecookin-56k.rm

SlashMirror: Where to put files for fellow /.'ers

Re: From the horse's mouth

[/dev/kev]

I emailed the great CmdrTaco about this just earlier this week.

Here's the email I sent:

Subject: quickies?

Hi,

Whatever happened to the quickies batches? We haven't seen any in over a month! :( I used to laugh my ass off to most of the stuff in there, and found them to be hands down better (in terms of content density) than most other posts...

Please bring back the quickies! You need to dust off that vaccuum!! :)

And this is his somewhat amusing reply:

I'm sorry! I've been busy!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I can almost hear the pain in that scream...

Anyway, considering all the other cool things he's been doing with Slashdot, I for one have forgiven him. :) I also imagine that it takes longer for him to compose quickies, because he'd have to cut and paste urls from like 20 regular stories into one...

Re:is it just me ... This was from '93, you putz.

[Anonymous Coward]

Sorry, I don't see the connection, and anyway, this thing was done 6 years ago (on an Amiga, of course), so lppppbbt!

And I liked the Scooby Doo Project, too.

video toaster

[mistabobdobalina]

video toaster rock(ed/s)!!!!!!!!! 93, there wasnt anything as cool. we ran our school tv station using it

Re:video toaster

[finse]

Video toaster indeed kicked some serious arse. we used a video toaster in my high school tv studio also. come to think of it, didnt they do most of the effects in babylon 5 with a video toaster?

I mirrored it for everyone.

[chrisd]

I figured it'll be slashdotted anyhow, so I stuck it up on my website Here

Chris DiBona
--
Grant Chair, Linux Int.
VP, SVLUG

Re:I mirrored it for everyone.

[Lord of the Files]

I've also mirrored it here. I don't know how much bandwidth you have, but another mirror never hurts.

Way off topic

[T3kno]

but this is what I get when I try to d/l Quicktime 4 from Snapple:

Can't locate /www/cgi/cgi-lib.pl in @INC (@INC contains: /usr/local/lib/perl5/sun4-solaris/5.00404 /usr/local/lib/perl5 /usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl/sun4-solaris /usr/local/lib/perl5/site_perl .) at /cgi/nph-qt4reg.pl line 86.

very cool but...

[cinchel]

what was the honey for?

Re:very cool but...

[Ether]

"garnish the cd to taste"

CD Testing

[Batwing]

Well, I don't know about you guys but I have been using this method to test the duribility of CD's for quite a while. in my experience there are 2 really good tests that can be used to determine the quality of a brand of CD's without burning them. First is the Light test, where you hold up to a light sorce and see how much light filters through. second is the Nuke test where you put the CD (it's best to wait until you do a bad burn because this is destructive) in the microwave for 10 sec. when you are done watching the pretty lights take it out and see how much of the CD is flacked. if the a lot of metal layer is flaking off then it is a poor quality CD. if not then it is a good CD.

Travis

Re:CD Testing

[Accipiter]

10 SECONDS? Good God, when are you gonna patch the hole in your roof?

Sit and watch a clock for 10 seconds. Your microwave would have exploded somewhere around 7.

-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?

Re:CD Testing

[quasipunk guy]

Ummmmmmmm

I've done a CD for 30.

CD's don't have that much metal in em...

Dorm Room Decorations

[Crutcher]

We have been known to fri a few CDs of the AOL variety around here, they make cool wall deco. Never hooked up a video cammera before.

-Crutcher

Quick Review

[Ether]

Should'a been a quickie: also not worth 12 Meg... It would've been impressive in '93, but it really isn't worth a whole news item. It's a slighly grating cooking show parody based upon microwaving CDs. It's a good demonstration of the "microwave CD" principle, if you haven't done it yourself... I highly recommend it (microwaving cd). There's 15 seconds worth of actual-interesting-stuff (the CDs and the pickle). The rest can be safely skipped over with mute on (assuming you have access to a machine with the player)... otherwise don't cry any tears about missing *this* one. -ether

put it on slashmirror

[Slash Mirror]

that's what it's here for

SlashMirror: Where to put files for fellow /.'ers

Re:put it on slashmirror

[danwatt]

I will do that.... One of the things you have to love about WIn98 and multimedia apps. Real Encoder/Producer does not like Soreneson, so I had to export to uncompressed AVI. I came close to the AVI 2GB limit, and i have crashed 3 times when compressing. I will have it mirrored ASAP

bastards. Stole my idea :)

[xQx]

Check out:
The CD Nuking Project Homepage

That was my idea :)

[yeah, I know it is a very common thing to microwave CDs; and this comment carries a lot of light hearted sarcasm in it so please don't waste all our time flaming it]

Shouldn't be "frustrating" (Was Re:View in Linux)

[Cattywampus]

I'm relatively new to Slashdot (I've only been reading it for about a year now), but I can't help but wonder when it was that Slashdot became a Linux news site, as opposed to generally interesting news. And why I happened to miss that particular announcement from the Geek Compound that's developed Slashdot.

Originally, Slashdot started out as a small site in which Rob Malda posted his opinions on things that interested him, and grew from there. It shows; on Slashdot, you might find news about BeOS, or quantum physics. Biology, archaeology, or information theory. That's why I keep coming back to it.

You don't see everyone else around here who doesn't run a Linux or BSD system posting flamey bits because they can't run the new window manager on their MacOS or Windows system. So many Linux people like to talk about the "Mac jihad", but I think that in general these days the Linux userbase has become even more zealous than the Mac jihad. Which is kind of sad, really, and something I'd attribute to Linux' recent spike in public popularity.

Anyway, trying to keep this on topic: I really don't think anyone should complain or say "Shame on [Hemos|CmdrTaco|Space Ghost]" for posting something that doesn't jive with your Linux-only interest. That's really not very intelligent behavior.

You're all geeks, supposedly, and part of that means finding creative solutions to problems. So stop flaming and find yourself a solution, whatever it might be.

- Cattywampus, who forsake the ability to moderate this to instead add his opinion into the entropy pool.

Re:Microwaves are fun.

[Anonymous Coward]

Your tax dollars at work, ladies & gentlemen..

If I find you in the lunchroom @ work f-ing up the microwave, I'll give ya 3 guesses to what's going in next.

HOWTO - microwave cd's

[Anonymous Coward]

Damn, some people need it all spelled out for them. This is so '91..

Microwaves are for wimps. Real men use Tesla coils

[iapetus]

Coincidentally, Backbytes in Computing has been talking about microwaving CDs recently, and posted a link to some pictures of the Tesla coil version of the CD-microwaving trick.

Looks far more spectacular...

lowest common denominator

[Anonymous Coward]

sureley it would not be too dificult to post it in a format that we all can view. or even in more than on format, format conversion is not that dificult.

Microwaves are fun.

[bartyboy]

I was bored one year in college, so every day at lunch a friend and I would put in something into the microwave and watch the results. It started the day when he forgot to bring a plate for his canned ravioli. I told him to open the can and nuke the entire thing. He did, and it didn't go in flames. We then started microwaving coke cans, forks, various other containers, cds, money, and anything we could get our hands on. We always made sure to set the timer for at least 30 seconds, and step away from the microwave in case it caught fire or the door blew off. All these experiments made resulted in one real life application: if you have a can of frozen juice, remove the metal lid, nuke it until thawed, and it will never spark. Bart

Re:Microwaves are fun. especialy with EGGS!

[JohnnyGTO]

Now if u want a reeeeeal BIG BANG try a few raw (not for long) eggs. Do stand back because 1. the door usually opens violently and 2. nuked egg really stinks.

slashdot effect makes people forfeit homepages?

[mathboy]

[ Try not to moderate this as off topic too quickly: this is relevant to almost ALL stories, but I officially wont be "on topic" until " the self-agrandizing slashdot effect" story rears its head again, which I dont blame the /. kids for avoiding. Its hardly "NEWS". If this DOESN'T belong here, please let me know where to post it. ]

Is there a point to following stories that have even the slightest INKLING of being interesting or having some file to download on the other end, and dont point at CNN.com? People throw up mirrors and they go down, and then the original goes down.

Ya maybe it will all be available in 3-5 days, but who surfs /. 3-5 days later?

Perhaps its time to start mirroring your quarry, /. boys. You have bandwidth and alot of the news you cull points to other sites with cool ideas and no bandwidth. Seeing as you are actually making money off all this, perhaps a little bandwidth fund to mirror stuff yourself would be a good idea. Run this by Andover execs and see if they'll pony up the bw for stuff thats not on the BBC news net or what not that can otherwise handle it.

A well tuned squid would be a good way to mirror things without risking updates on the target site being missed. Some sort of PHP or Perl script could be a psuedo-proxy gateway to turn regular url requests into accesses via the Squid to a target site. Or whatever; billions of other ways to do it.

I feel sorry for people featured on /. You just gotta hope the coverage can cover the losses of whoever's network it is they're on getting hosed. This might be quite difficult for people who just have a cool project on the net thats not ready to collect $ as a commercial entity for free advertising with /. I wonder how many people have LOST their homepages because of /. effect?

Mathboy.

another mirror

[spiffy_guy]

I mirrored it myself just a second ago on my server UW SCSI so the bandwidth is the limitor. Hope 2 T1s don't fill =-) http://150.252.106.80/homecookin.mov

Dishwasher as computer equipment

[ElecCham]

Hey, a dishwasher is the perfect thing to clean out those old keyboards! Five things to remember, though:

1. Don't use soap.
2. Do wash it by itself; crusty spaghetti-sauce bits aren't good for it.
3. Don't try this if you live somewhere with really really hard water.
4. Do remember to use a "warm" setting instead of "hot" (this includes turning off "heated dry").
5. Let it dry for a few days!

In all seriousness, though, this was just the trick to recover my old Amiga keyboard after someone dropped a baked potato with butter and sour cream into it... yeccch.

Whoa! Great idea!

[Imperator]

Next time I have trouble reading a CD, I'll just stick it in the microwave. If not very much of the metal layer flaked off, I'll know it's a problem with the drive. To test the drive, I'll put it in the dishwasher. This a great, practical idea! Thanks!

(sarcasm-impaired: try the microwave testing on your gonads)

Safety Precaution

[MostlyHarmless]

No, I'm not going to caution everyone about the dangers of microwaving metal objects. Instead, I wish to talk about the much greater risk of Microsoft CDs (insert scary music as needed). You must take heed of my message and make haste to surround your CDs with protective deletium lest these infernal products jump out and smite thee on thy noggin, causing you to lose control of yourseff and install Microsoft Windows 2000 Beta, Microsoft Office 2000, and Internet Explorer 5 (overwriting your Linux partition in the process). The resulting quantum explosion caused by having these three rip^H^H^Hproducts on the same machine at the same time may cause a quantum explosion that will take out much more than your microwave. Beware!

Damn, It's gone

[majere]

Anyone got a mirror of this? I got it up to where it says "Compact Disc Surprise" after the adolf hitler part. now it looks like it's been removed, golly, wonder why?