For most of the junk being pushed into the market a simple 128kps MP3 recorded off any TV music clip show is plenty good enough. There never needs to be a CD involved in the process at all.
Not that I care, I stopped buying music CDs about 9 months ago. Haven't even downloaded a MP3 from MP3.com since "We Must Destroy X10" was released. Hmm... might go do that now.
Re:development tools hassle
on
WAP Bashing
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· Score: 2
Nokia had a free WAP development kit available yonks ago when I cared. And you can get the Palm ROMs from any Palm using freely downloadable apps without having to post off the form.
Re:WAP and no net access
on
WAP Bashing
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· Score: 2
I've had great success checking e-mail with my Nokia 8810 and TRGpro. I recommend the Eudora e-mail client.
The only annoyance is the IR connection, which basically means you have to do the send and check on a desk. Bring on a Bluetooth solution for my TRGpro (I already have the Bluetooth kit for my Ericsson T28).
Re:I *only* use WAP for sports scores
on
WAP Bashing
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· Score: 2
You don't need WAP for that. There are plenty of SMS-based services that will send out scores. Set and forget.
This is in fact the main problem for WAP -- almost everything it does can be done almost as well by something else. Something else that most people who care already have, like SMS (or in the case of road tolls, radio tags and/or bar codes).
My mobile phone has an MP3 add-on and I use that all the time (every weekday lunch time plus whenever I'm on a bus).
Maybe, but I still think the R2D2 from the Light Side Mindstorms kit is the coolest R2D2 model available, anywhere. It's functional and abstract at the same time.
I should put mine back together, bung in some batteries and put it infront of my torch on flash mode.
I've got a Logitech cordless wheel mouse and an Ericsson Bluetooth headset and the two do fight. Depending on how far apart each pair of devices are, and whether or not the signals actually cross in the air, typically when I start talking on the headset the mouse stops working.
Of course, this problem would go away if Logitech produced a Bluetooth cordless mouse and/or keyboard solution.
I'd been umm-ing and ahh-ing over a scanner for months, so the day after (local time) I just went out and got one plus a book about frequencies. I've been learning how to use the thing. I may not be able to send, but in this sort of event I could at least help move crowds to needed areas.
I did some HAM radio stuff in high school, but never got a licence because of the morse code requirement. I think that's been dropped now. Perhaps I should have another look.
I'm in Australia and "ABC News Radio" has been broadcasting news of the events solidly for at least 3 hours now (more likely 15). All the TV stations also have non-stop news (I have my portable TV with me too). At home I have pay-tv, so I have a further four or five news feeds flowing in there (though I'm at work at the moment).
Consumers hate "Digital Rights Management" and won't buy it. PC sales will stagnate even more.
This effect can not be overstated. Increasingly controllers of content are producing products that are less and less what the consumer wants. People are begining to back off of purchase of media and associated devices because it's becoming "too hard" to enjoy. (Have you tried to hook up a DVD player to a TV through a VCR?)
However, I'm a big fan of the secondary market, so for me -- as long as the law stays away from secondhand products -- this new draconian consumers-as-cash-cows law does in fact promote activities I'm "for". Why buy a new, overpriced, PC when hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of perfectly capable PCs are, weekly, going to auction? These unwanted laws (a strange concept in itself) will only hasten the demise of the unsustainable business models that the RIAA and MPAA cling to.
There's an early scene in Soylent Green where people purchase small coloured boxes only to dispose of them once they get home -- it keeps the economy going. While I'm sure the respective heads of the aformentioned organisations cream their pants while watching that, I doubt the rest of the population is going to let things get much closer to that point than they already are.
Hey, I bought a Sega Mega CD II *new* from a local department store just under a month ago. I also bought a Mega Drive II to match. I believe they each have a 68000 in them, and that's 16 bit (at least externally). Old CPUs fade away much slower than you think.
That's it. Enjoying new music purchased from retail stores is now officially "too hard". My new music experiences are now limited to MP3.com and secondhand music stores.
Buying a nice CD at the local music place, possibly listening to it at home (I currently use a Sega Mega CD as a CD player), or listening to it at work (I just bung the CD in a CDROM drive and expect it to start playing), or maybe listening to it on the go (I have an MP3 player that plugs into the bottom of my Ericsson T28) should not be a battle between me and the music companies. If you want to lock down your music, fine, just don't expect me to bother trying to play it. Thus, don't expect me to buy it.
I have a TRGpro. I have a PalmPix, folding keyboard, Gamepad, 128MB CF card, CF Modem, clip-on voice recorder and leather belt pouch for it. I will not be upgrading to a new device -- it does everything I need from a PDA (which is mostly mobile e-mail, plus a bit of digital camera and game stuff). If I get another device it will be because this one breaks. If I upgrade because I can't get an exact replacement it will be to the current Handera device because it still supports the PalmIII connection that most of my accessories use. More likely I would pickup a cheap IIIc from a pawnbrokers.
For a while now the "Next Big Thing" has offered little or nothing I find desirable. Quite frankly, most people who would use a PDA would do fine with a IIIe or V (or an old WinCE unit if they're that way inclined).
I don't need my PDA to be able to play movies and my mobile phone has the MP3 attachment (which makes more sense 'cause mobiles are all about audio).
"This offer does not include rights to the name, ranking or image of the bot, therefore it cannot be entered into any future BattleBots competitions"
So apparently after you "buy" it you've got to throw it into a black hole incase anyone dares to look at it? You also can't tell anyone what it is in any meaningful way 'cause you can't mention it's old name. Are you allowed to reverse engineer it, or is it protected by the DCMA?
I think there have been plenty of examples where an unexpected outage has lead to loss of service with no legal recourse -- perhaps that's what Paetec needs in this instance.
(The most annoying thing is that the judge who made the decision probably doesn't even have an e-mail account.)
I visit those two logs regularly. I'm always/still on the lookout for interestingstuff, but it's getting fewer and further between -- and it's all becoming shockwave animations, rather than interesting hardware projects.
And what's happened to the/. quickies -- they used to be good for the odd odd thing.
I bought, directly from a musical artist, a CD-r of his latest work. He produced it himself, from writing the music, to editing, to compilation, to burning the CD. HE isn't worried by CD-r discs.
I've bought a few CDs from MP3.com. They're burnt on demand. Artists that place work on MP3.com are not going to see any real income without this "publish on demand" technology. I doubt THEY'RE worried by CD-r discs.
It's only the mainstream music labels (and the artists that have swallowed their line) that are worried about CD-r discs. The real artists are actually big fans.
I burn off files from my PC ever so often in a sort of pipeline: Internet -- My Documents -- Slow big USB hard drive -- CDr. and I've used the smaller CDs for the last eight volumes.
Re:Why subscribe to software in the future...
on
Windows in 2020
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· Score: 2
I have one word in reply to your one word "games" -- and that's "retro". The Sega Mega Drive and Super Nintendo are coming back in a big way. People are even starting to release new games for old platforms. I can walk into any pawnbrokers and buy a game for my SNES or MD that I have never played before. Or you can try Amazon's "Rare and used" section. Or eBay. And the games are cheaper and more fun than most current titles.
Games are not the reason to upgrade that they once were.
Cute, but I don't think he meant "they're all in Europe", I think he meant "that's all".
And people think I'm picky when I can't answer a question like "How long is 250k?".
Why subscribe to software in the future...
on
Windows in 2020
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· Score: 4, Troll
...when the stuff available now already does more than anyone needs?
All you have to do is keep a "Pentium or better" running and you'll be able to load software on it to do everything that 90% of the population will ever need. Heck, some people are still going fine with C64s, Amigas and for all I know, Atari STs. I had an old 19MHz XT with 1 MB of EMS RAM that did pretty well.
I believe that the glut of existing, functioning, equipment will have more of an influence on the future than homoganisation of the available platforms.
I have a bunch of random e-mail addresses linked-to off a period on my home page. If any bot finds it, it gains 2,500 fake addresses. I update it every so often. It was generated by SpamBait. Everyone should do one. I don't have the link to the orignal program, but here's another.
Slashdot Mirror
Not that I care, I stopped buying music CDs about 9 months ago. Haven't even downloaded a MP3 from MP3.com since "We Must Destroy X10" was released. Hmm... might go do that now.
Nokia had a free WAP development kit available yonks ago when I cared. And you can get the Palm ROMs from any Palm using freely downloadable apps without having to post off the form.
The only annoyance is the IR connection, which basically means you have to do the send and check on a desk. Bring on a Bluetooth solution for my TRGpro (I already have the Bluetooth kit for my Ericsson T28).
http://slashdot.org/palm/
This is in fact the main problem for WAP -- almost everything it does can be done almost as well by something else. Something else that most people who care already have, like SMS (or in the case of road tolls, radio tags and/or bar codes).
My mobile phone has an MP3 add-on and I use that all the time (every weekday lunch time plus whenever I'm on a bus).
I should put mine back together, bung in some batteries and put it infront of my torch on flash mode.
Of course, this problem would go away if Logitech produced a Bluetooth cordless mouse and/or keyboard solution.
I did some HAM radio stuff in high school, but never got a licence because of the morse code requirement. I think that's been dropped now. Perhaps I should have another look.
BTW: What about CB?
I'm in Australia and "ABC News Radio" has been broadcasting news of the events solidly for at least 3 hours now (more likely 15). All the TV stations also have non-stop news (I have my portable TV with me too). At home I have pay-tv, so I have a further four or five news feeds flowing in there (though I'm at work at the moment).
For crying out loud, don't stream media -- turn on a radio.
However, I'm a big fan of the secondary market, so for me -- as long as the law stays away from secondhand products -- this new draconian consumers-as-cash-cows law does in fact promote activities I'm "for". Why buy a new, overpriced, PC when hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of perfectly capable PCs are, weekly, going to auction? These unwanted laws (a strange concept in itself) will only hasten the demise of the unsustainable business models that the RIAA and MPAA cling to.
There's an early scene in Soylent Green where people purchase small coloured boxes only to dispose of them once they get home -- it keeps the economy going. While I'm sure the respective heads of the aformentioned organisations cream their pants while watching that, I doubt the rest of the population is going to let things get much closer to that point than they already are.
Hey, I bought a Sega Mega CD II *new* from a local department store just under a month ago. I also bought a Mega Drive II to match. I believe they each have a 68000 in them, and that's 16 bit (at least externally). Old CPUs fade away much slower than you think.
This page should give you a good set of info and links.
Buying a nice CD at the local music place, possibly listening to it at home (I currently use a Sega Mega CD as a CD player), or listening to it at work (I just bung the CD in a CDROM drive and expect it to start playing), or maybe listening to it on the go (I have an MP3 player that plugs into the bottom of my Ericsson T28) should not be a battle between me and the music companies. If you want to lock down your music, fine, just don't expect me to bother trying to play it. Thus, don't expect me to buy it.
For a while now the "Next Big Thing" has offered little or nothing I find desirable. Quite frankly, most people who would use a PDA would do fine with a IIIe or V (or an old WinCE unit if they're that way inclined).
I don't need my PDA to be able to play movies and my mobile phone has the MP3 attachment (which makes more sense 'cause mobiles are all about audio).
(The most annoying thing is that the judge who made the decision probably doesn't even have an e-mail account.)
And what's happened to the /. quickies -- they used to be good for the odd odd thing.
Have you got three dollars fifty?
I've bought a few CDs from MP3.com. They're burnt on demand. Artists that place work on MP3.com are not going to see any real income without this "publish on demand" technology. I doubt THEY'RE worried by CD-r discs.
It's only the mainstream music labels (and the artists that have swallowed their line) that are worried about CD-r discs. The real artists are actually big fans.
I burn off files from my PC ever so often in a sort of pipeline: Internet -- My Documents -- Slow big USB hard drive -- CDr. and I've used the smaller CDs for the last eight volumes.
Games are not the reason to upgrade that they once were.
And people think I'm picky when I can't answer a question like "How long is 250k?".
All you have to do is keep a "Pentium or better" running and you'll be able to load software on it to do everything that 90% of the population will ever need. Heck, some people are still going fine with C64s, Amigas and for all I know, Atari STs. I had an old 19MHz XT with 1 MB of EMS RAM that did pretty well.
I believe that the glut of existing, functioning, equipment will have more of an influence on the future than homoganisation of the available platforms.
I have a bunch of random e-mail addresses linked-to off a period on my home page. If any bot finds it, it gains 2,500 fake addresses. I update it every so often. It was generated by SpamBait. Everyone should do one. I don't have the link to the orignal program, but here's another.