I have 4 games consoles - PS3, Wii, DS and PSP - I just never use the last three.
Can I have them then? I mean if you're not using them any way...
At the very least, could I have the wii? I've been wanting to try the homebrew channel for some time now the only thing keeping me back is the inflated prices of a wii and concerns over bricking it if I didn't do something right the first time. With a free (or severely discounted) wii that wouldn't be as much of a concern.
Funny hacktivism story by Bruce Sterling: Maneki Neko [tqft.net]
I have been searching years for that story ever since I foolishly lost my copy of The Magazine of Fantasy Science Fiction, I first read it in and was unable to recall the name of it. I'd almost begun to think I imagined it! Thank you for choosing to include that as a part of your signature!
Crime needs three things: motive, means, opportunity.
Motive, no big deal, being a heterosexual male is enough.
Errr...no, no it isn't. Being in possession of a penis and attracted to women does not make anyone a potential rapist or provide motivation for being one. I simply don't understand this strange correlation you seem to be making here.
$10/month to watch 720p TV instead of $100/month to watch 720p TV.
This is not a fair comparison unless you add the cost of your internet connection to the $10/month side of the ledger. Once you do that you will realize you're essentially paying twice for the same product...
Like smack down multinationals when they get out of line.
Because that's working so well under our current form of government. Thank God there are no misbehaving multinationals doing things like polluting our waters, serving us spoiled and germ-ridden food, extorting private citizens via lawsuits and by way of cartels, no offshoring or union-busting... Say where did you say you lived again?
Hey, asshole, we know who posted your shit from the bar above the post, so drop the fucking pseudo-signature, okay? If you want a sig on posts, use the sig option, don;t put your useless ego-stroke shit in the reading area.
I know you were going for funny, but the fact is that there are plenty of men who'd love to have the ability to have some form of contraception that doesn't 1) reduce sensation to the point of meaninglessness and 2) rely on the integrity of women seeking to win the baby lottery.
It isn't the woman who has to risk the next twenty or more years of their financial lives if a pregnancy takes place.
No, that would be ACCESS who own the BeOS code base and who have already blessed the Haiku developers with permission to distribute the BeBook and other assorted documentation. The BeOS code is safe. The Haiku clean room implementation will make it easier to modernize the base for R2 once full BeOS compatibility is reached.
...all this great looking (and supposedly wonderfully performing) ARM powered vaporware products that either never shows up outside China or retail for ridiculously high prices and so locked in with WinCE nobody wants it?
Either put up or shut up already! Personally I'd rather they put up than shut up, but either way enough already!
All of these claims are creative excuses proposed by freelance advertising agents, a.k.a. fanboys; they are wrong, and they are repeated ad nauseam, and most people who read this site are fed up with them.
They also take all of the risk, and do all of the work. If the suit is not successful, they lose. If they are successful, the participants get a token compensation, and - more importantly - the entity that was sued is punished, giving them an incentive to stop the behaviour that landed them in court in the first place.
It's called the cost of doing business son, and most corporations gladly pay this "tax" while gleefully pocketing their illegal profits. Once the spotlight is gone, the corporation goes back to doing the same stuff it did before, while taking steps to hide it more carefully. End result? A couple of lawyers get paid, a few CEOs shift around from one company to another, some congress critters get their payoffs adjusted a bit and you and I continue to get screwed just as we always have been.
If you want to talk punishment, call me when there's a working corporate death penalty and we'll talk about whether or not that works as a deterrent. Might even see some real change once that happens!;)
Otherwise, yeah I'd love to get the kind of sweet deals these companies get--I'd gladly pay a few million here and there so long as I got to keep a few billion there and here. I might even be able to write it off on taxes, as a...wait for it...business expense! Heh...
[disclaimer, I've worked 15 years in climate research, acquiring hard data].
You mean you're one of those lying liars, right? So why should we believe anything you say...?
Unfortunately at this point of time claiming to be a scientist is not an appeal to authority. That's what this whole discussion is all about--not whether or not man-made (influenced?) climate change exists, not if you're educated on the subject, but whether or not lay people will accept your results as being unbiased and worthy of import. The question is whether or not science as a whole is now perceived to be worthless by the average person, man on the street.
Hint: The answer is yes. To the average person science is now just another avenue for politics and hence breaks down along party lines. It has become dogma. Noise.
By self-identifying as a scientist you are not stating you are knowledgeable about the subject and thus worth listening to, your opinion backed by research "proving" it to be true. All you've done is declare yourself a politician. A liar.
There are a couple problems with writing, recording, and self-publishing your own album:
How do you promote it? The major labels have a lock on MTV, FM radio, and XM radio, the traditional ways to discover popular music.
I'm karma-whoring with this post, but the question must be asked--what does MTV have to do with music?
They haven't played music videos this decade so far as I can tell. They may have had some input once, but that time is long since past. No one turns on MTV expecting to hear music any more. You'd have more luck finding new music via podcast or from one of the few internet radio stations still able to afford the MAFIAA's highway robbery.
How do you distribute it to people who don't have high-speed Internet access? The major labels have a lock on Walmart* and Best Buy, and some genres (such as country music) would appear to be more popular among people who live in areas where dial-up is the fastest (miles from the closest DSLAM, and no cable TV available).
If you're self-published, then you have to work the podcast circuit, the myspace music scene, sell what you can at shows along with t-shirts, etc. Its more difficult and you may never get to live like an RIAA star, but at least you know what you make is yours and your fans like your music, not your publicist.;)
Besides, those guys who live like that on the RIAA's dime are really just living on fool's gold--all the money they're spending is a loan at incredible interest that they only hope they can pay off before their contract is up. Many of those artists end up heavily in debt to the MAFIAA and for every star you know who makes it, there are bunches of whom die penniless. There's a reason why the Rolling Stones go on tour every so many years you know... The money doesn't last and there's no pension so its off to the studio and onwards for another "good bye" tour...
How do you plan to avoid or defend copyright lawsuits in case part of your song happens to coincidentally match the hook of a song that was played on the radio? Compare Bright Tunes Music v. Harrisongs Music.
You don't. You couldn't afford the lawsuit any way--the only ones who get anything out of a lawsuit like that are the lawyers. Besides, nine times out of ten its impossible to know if you've unknowingly recreated a hook or not until someone shows it to you. Read Spider Robinson's Melancholy Elephants. Say what you will about the man's politics (I happen to disagree with him on several things) but the man is a flipping prophet when it comes to the issue of copyright law and art. It's only a matter of time before people start blowing their brains out over this kind of stuff.
I like how you have to reach all the way back to DOS and 1996 to find examples of how good Microsoft was. The key word here is: WAS. Since those days (and even that is arguable considering some of the dirty tricks they were known to have pulled to get to the top of those categories) all Microsoft has done is get in the way of others' progress.
Microsoft had its day. Now it needs to get the #### off the road and let the thru traffic through that they've been holding back for the last decade or so...
Slashdot covered the benefits of using url-shorteners to reduce bandwidth waste only last March! Everyone is so eager to prove how sophisticated they are and toss hate on an admittedly stupid fad (twitter) that they're prepared to pretend there are absolutely no benefits to using the types of services talked about in the article. I thought this was supposed to be a geek site, not some silly MMORPG where the only thing that counts is how high your comments get rated?
There's a reason why people use url-shorteners, and that reason is because they have a benefit to their use! Many of the more savvy tech sites have begun using them internally to save that 'as much as 75MBit/sec of bandwidth' mentioned in the Slashdot headline. If there is a group getting together to ensure this usage can continue to live on even after the death of the individual services, so much the better! This should be seen as good news...
Instead you half-wits decided to forsake any semblance of geek cred you may have had to whine about Twitter... stuff like this and I wonder why I even come here any more!
And that should do it. After a fair bit of disk-churning, you should have a Matroska file containing all of the elements from the original DVD title.
Some emphasis added. Also, although I recognize this would be considered anecdotal evidence I've in the past encountered MKVs engineered to work this way, with title screens, commentary, multiple audio streams, etc so I do know they exist and that it is possible to do so. While the article is intended for people who want lossless quality, I'm sure it is possible to adjust parameters when encoding to bring about the file sizes you want without ending up with junk. I've seen anime (yes I know anime is different, but still it worked so the files were) encoded to be a mere forty megabytes in file size while retaining their high definition quality.
So, yeah there's some work involved in it, but it is possible.
Also if you need a player and don't want to just use a PC hooked up to your TV with XBMC then you could always try popcorn hour, or some of the machines listed here. You might have to research for awhile but you should be doing that any way, right?
That is both fascinating and interesting but also total bullshit as a process. I don't want to have to hack DVDs. Maybe if handbrake had an option for it, but I've had very poor luck with MKVs made by handbrake anyway.
The point is parent said it wasn't possible to make a backup of his DVDs with menus, commentaries and etc, and I've just pointed him to a method by where it is indeed possible to do so. Could the process be made easier? No doubt, but that isn't the scope of this discussion--the discussion centers on the fact it can be done if he wants to do it so badly.
Personally I think parent was just being contrarian, since everyone else was posting about how they preferred to rip their DVDs to avoid the silly menu delays and animations so just to be contrary parent posted lamenting that he loved the DVD menuing and animations... But there is a way to do it and now parent knows how. If you think it should be easier, perhaps you could post an HOWTO making it easier?
One of the reasons I haven't bothered to try and rip my DVD collection is that no format will *preserve* those menus (and all the content they provide access to), save for a straight ISO rip, which has the problem of immense size.
I believe it is possible to do exactly this with Matroska, as described here.
Slashdot Mirror
Can I have them then? I mean if you're not using them any way...
At the very least, could I have the wii? I've been wanting to try the homebrew channel for some time now the only thing keeping me back is the inflated prices of a wii and concerns over bricking it if I didn't do something right the first time. With a free (or severely discounted) wii that wouldn't be as much of a concern.
--bornagainpenguin
I have been searching years for that story ever since I foolishly lost my copy of The Magazine of Fantasy Science Fiction, I first read it in and was unable to recall the name of it. I'd almost begun to think I imagined it! Thank you for choosing to include that as a part of your signature!
--bornagainpenguin
Errr...no, no it isn't. Being in possession of a penis and attracted to women does not make anyone a potential rapist or provide motivation for being one. I simply don't understand this strange correlation you seem to be making here.
--bornagainpenguin
$10/month to watch 720p TV instead of $100/month to watch 720p TV.
This is not a fair comparison unless you add the cost of your internet connection to the $10/month side of the ledger. Once you do that you will realize you're essentially paying twice for the same product...
--bornagainpenguin
Hey don't blame me I voted for Kodos!
--bornagainpenguin
Because that's working so well under our current form of government. Thank God there are no misbehaving multinationals doing things like polluting our waters, serving us spoiled and germ-ridden food, extorting private citizens via lawsuits and by way of cartels, no offshoring or union-busting... Say where did you say you lived again?
--bornagainpenguin
Huh???
--bornagainpenguin
See RenderMorphics for details.
--bornagainpenguin
I know you were going for funny, but the fact is that there are plenty of men who'd love to have the ability to have some form of contraception that doesn't 1) reduce sensation to the point of meaninglessness and 2) rely on the integrity of women seeking to win the baby lottery.
It isn't the woman who has to risk the next twenty or more years of their financial lives if a pregnancy takes place.
--bornagainpenguin
No, that would be ACCESS who own the BeOS code base and who have already blessed the Haiku developers with permission to distribute the BeBook and other assorted documentation. The BeOS code is safe. The Haiku clean room implementation will make it easier to modernize the base for R2 once full BeOS compatibility is reached.
--bornagainpenguin
...all this great looking (and supposedly wonderfully performing) ARM powered vaporware products that either never shows up outside China or retail for ridiculously high prices and so locked in with WinCE nobody wants it?
Either put up or shut up already! Personally I'd rather they put up than shut up, but either way enough already!
--bornagainpenguin
You mean they're Mac F.A.G.s? ^_~
--bornagainpenguin
Really? Ill give you fifty US for it, if you find it that useless...
--bornagainpenguin
We're all serfs any way.
--bornagainpenguin
>>However, I can't imagine any company would get away with not paying staff for months.
Talk to the guys who worked for Be...
--bornagainpenguin
/signed
It's called the cost of doing business son, and most corporations gladly pay this "tax" while gleefully pocketing their illegal profits. Once the spotlight is gone, the corporation goes back to doing the same stuff it did before, while taking steps to hide it more carefully. End result? A couple of lawyers get paid, a few CEOs shift around from one company to another, some congress critters get their payoffs adjusted a bit and you and I continue to get screwed just as we always have been.
If you want to talk punishment, call me when there's a working corporate death penalty and we'll talk about whether or not that works as a deterrent. Might even see some real change once that happens! ;)
Otherwise, yeah I'd love to get the kind of sweet deals these companies get--I'd gladly pay a few million here and there so long as I got to keep a few billion there and here. I might even be able to write it off on taxes, as a...wait for it...business expense! Heh...
--bornagainpenguin
[disclaimer, I've worked 15 years in climate research, acquiring hard data].
You mean you're one of those lying liars, right? So why should we believe anything you say...?
Unfortunately at this point of time claiming to be a scientist is not an appeal to authority. That's what this whole discussion is all about--not whether or not man-made (influenced?) climate change exists, not if you're educated on the subject, but whether or not lay people will accept your results as being unbiased and worthy of import. The question is whether or not science as a whole is now perceived to be worthless by the average person, man on the street.
Hint: The answer is yes. To the average person science is now just another avenue for politics and hence breaks down along party lines. It has become dogma. Noise.
By self-identifying as a scientist you are not stating you are knowledgeable about the subject and thus worth listening to, your opinion backed by research "proving" it to be true. All you've done is declare yourself a politician. A liar.
--bornagainpenguin
Crap your pants? There really isn't much else you or anyone else can do about the situation.
--bornagainpenguin
There are a couple problems with writing, recording, and self-publishing your own album:
I'm karma-whoring with this post, but the question must be asked--what does MTV have to do with music?
They haven't played music videos this decade so far as I can tell. They may have had some input once, but that time is long since past. No one turns on MTV expecting to hear music any more. You'd have more luck finding new music via podcast or from one of the few internet radio stations still able to afford the MAFIAA's highway robbery.
If you're self-published, then you have to work the podcast circuit, the myspace music scene, sell what you can at shows along with t-shirts, etc. Its more difficult and you may never get to live like an RIAA star, but at least you know what you make is yours and your fans like your music, not your publicist. ;)
Besides, those guys who live like that on the RIAA's dime are really just living on fool's gold--all the money they're spending is a loan at incredible interest that they only hope they can pay off before their contract is up. Many of those artists end up heavily in debt to the MAFIAA and for every star you know who makes it, there are bunches of whom die penniless. There's a reason why the Rolling Stones go on tour every so many years you know... The money doesn't last and there's no pension so its off to the studio and onwards for another "good bye" tour...
You don't. You couldn't afford the lawsuit any way--the only ones who get anything out of a lawsuit like that are the lawyers. Besides, nine times out of ten its impossible to know if you've unknowingly recreated a hook or not until someone shows it to you. Read Spider Robinson's Melancholy Elephants. Say what you will about the man's politics (I happen to disagree with him on several things) but the man is a flipping prophet when it comes to the issue of copyright law and art. It's only a matter of time before people start blowing their brains out over this kind of stuff.
--bornagainpenguin
I like how you have to reach all the way back to DOS and 1996 to find examples of how good Microsoft was. The key word here is: WAS. Since those days (and even that is arguable considering some of the dirty tricks they were known to have pulled to get to the top of those categories) all Microsoft has done is get in the way of others' progress.
Microsoft had its day. Now it needs to get the #### off the road and let the thru traffic through that they've been holding back for the last decade or so...
--bornagainpenguin
Slashdot covered the benefits of using url-shorteners to reduce bandwidth waste only last March! Everyone is so eager to prove how sophisticated they are and toss hate on an admittedly stupid fad (twitter) that they're prepared to pretend there are absolutely no benefits to using the types of services talked about in the article. I thought this was supposed to be a geek site, not some silly MMORPG where the only thing that counts is how high your comments get rated?
Remember this?
There's a reason why people use url-shorteners, and that reason is because they have a benefit to their use! Many of the more savvy tech sites have begun using them internally to save that 'as much as 75MBit/sec of bandwidth' mentioned in the Slashdot headline. If there is a group getting together to ensure this usage can continue to live on even after the death of the individual services, so much the better! This should be seen as good news...
Instead you half-wits decided to forsake any semblance of geek cred you may have had to whine about Twitter... stuff like this and I wonder why I even come here any more!
--bornagainpenguin
And that should do it. After a fair bit of disk-churning, you should have a Matroska file containing all of the elements from the original DVD title.
Some emphasis added. Also, although I recognize this would be considered anecdotal evidence I've in the past encountered MKVs engineered to work this way, with title screens, commentary, multiple audio streams, etc so I do know they exist and that it is possible to do so. While the article is intended for people who want lossless quality, I'm sure it is possible to adjust parameters when encoding to bring about the file sizes you want without ending up with junk. I've seen anime (yes I know anime is different, but still it worked so the files were) encoded to be a mere forty megabytes in file size while retaining their high definition quality.
So, yeah there's some work involved in it, but it is possible.
Also if you need a player and don't want to just use a PC hooked up to your TV with XBMC then you could always try popcorn hour, or some of the machines listed here. You might have to research for awhile but you should be doing that any way, right?
--bornagainpenguin
The point is parent said it wasn't possible to make a backup of his DVDs with menus, commentaries and etc, and I've just pointed him to a method by where it is indeed possible to do so. Could the process be made easier? No doubt, but that isn't the scope of this discussion--the discussion centers on the fact it can be done if he wants to do it so badly.
Personally I think parent was just being contrarian, since everyone else was posting about how they preferred to rip their DVDs to avoid the silly menu delays and animations so just to be contrary parent posted lamenting that he loved the DVD menuing and animations... But there is a way to do it and now parent knows how. If you think it should be easier, perhaps you could post an HOWTO making it easier?
--bornagainpenguin
I believe it is possible to do exactly this with Matroska, as described here.
--bornagainpenguin