Imagine you are a virus. Now tell me how exactly are you going to spread using the stuff found in your home directory.
Mass mail. Just like SirCam. It takes files out of the home directory and sends them to everybody on your address book and in your web cache, both of which reside in (a subdirectory of) your home directory.
Or, if the system is locked down tight enough, then immediately unleash the payload on all the precious files in the home directory: system("rm -rf ~/*");
The only su or su-like thing that comes with NT 4 is 'su' in the POSIX subsystem, from which it is impossible to make Win32 calls. Is it possible to change the effective Win32 user and run a Win32 application as that user? Does Cygwin help?
Imagine requiring internet access to get a phone or electric service!
So go down to your local public library and hop on one of the Web terminals. Think of it this way: If you're getting phone service hooked up, how do you call the phone company?
One company owns the exclusive American rights, another the European, another the South African, and another the Australian. All those countries want region coding so that they can get their geographic monopolies.
What you people have to realize is that movies and music ARE NOT PART OF YOUR INALIENABLE RIGHTS. Companies can charge WHATEVER THEY WANT for their products.
My concern is that in the future, Goliath will own every possible melody (there are fewer than a trillion by one count, or fewer than a million by another), and no independent music will be created because Goliath will sue David: "We own every possible melody; therefore, we own the song you just wrote. Pay us $100,000 for each song on your album."
The exclusive privilege of creating derivative works must be weakened.
My brother who is living in a different state records a show on a channel I do not receive and sends (either on VHS tape or digitally) it to me.
You could always set up your own cable system with one subscriber and license the satellite feed from the station.
My brother who lives in the same city (with the same TV channels) as me tapes a show I was too busy to see and drops it off at my house so I can view it later.
Under the Betamax decision, if you subscribe, you should set your VCR or DVR to tape it.
My brother who lives with me tapes a show I missed so I can watch it when I get home.
As long as nothing leaves a household, timeshifting counts as fair use in the United States.
Because the studios want you to see the movie in a theater before you can get it on DVD, theaters aren't digital with respect to video, and it takes time and money to make more prints.
If Microsoft wants to get the maker of "Lindows" for infringing on the WINDOWS® trademark, the maker of "Lindows" can change the name to the Spanish word "Lindos" (meaning "pretty ones") which carries connotations of both Windows and DOS.
Is [creating a Linux kernel module] a GPL violation?
No. Linus has allowed binary-only modules into the kernel provided they communicate with the kernel using well-defined APIs. For instance, the vmware package includes a binary-only kernel module.
If Apple can't make BASH the MacOS X command line shell (apparently they asked, RMS said no, that would be a violation)
48khz is enough to reproduce 24khz audio signals, IF the phase of each frequency is known
I'm aware that sampling discards the sine component of tones at exactly the Nyquist frequency.
Otherwise you could have a 24khz sine wave that is coincidentally sampled only on the 0 amplitude points which would make it be recorded as silence.
Correct, but it can reproduce 23.9 kHz tones perfectly (phase and all), requiring only a convolution with (a windowed version of) the sinc function.
A superior system would be delta sigma modulation (google it for additional information) which uses 1 bit encoding with typically something like a 2.8mhz sampling rate for a frequency responce range approaching 100khz.
In other words, a 1-bit linear sampling rate with a noise-shaped dither pattern.
As to the proper number of bit for PCM, the big problem is that we hear volume logrithmically but currently digital audio records linearly.
I understand this, and recent lossy audio codecs such as MP3 and Ogg take this into account when constructing quantization tables. Heck, even the mu-law encoding used on telephone lines is floating-point (i.e. approximately logarithmic).
but for very quite things (like quiet passages in classical music), the extra bits come in handy very quickly.
Even if we get into a whisper-quiet passage played at 30 to 35 dB SPL, and 16-bit linear PCM begins to use only the region around +/- 127, the ear still can't hear the quantization noise because it's 1. below 0 dB SPL and 2. most likely shifted up into the 16-22 kHz range, where the ear often can't reliably hear even 30 dB SPL, with the noise-shaped dither patterns commonly used in modern CD mastering.
The extra bits are also very handy for DSP type tasks
You're not supposed to do DSP on music you don't own rights to; you're supposed to listen to it.
You must have a h*ck of a time around children. I admit that I lack knowledge in this field, and that's why I'm asking somebody who knows it better than I do.
64-bit architectures have been all around us for over a decade
But what concrete advantages do architectures with 64-bit integer registers provide over non-x86 architectures with 32-bit integer registers, apart from the fields I already mentioned (multigigabyte databases and finance)?
Spoken like somone who has no idea what they are talking about.
I admit you're correct about that. Where is 64 bit integer math used other than in databases and in financial calculations (which must represent integer numbers of cents)?
Don't knock 64 bit integer math.
As soon as I know where it's used, I won't knock it.
And more importantly they have more registers to work with so your not constantly having to juggle. Intel and AMD pull some overly smart tricks... X86 really is crap as an arch
I agree, but for practical applications such as web browsing, listening to music, 2D gaming, etc., what advantage does a 64-bit arch have over 32-bit RISC archs like ARM, PowerPC, and MIPS, each of which has many more usable registers than x86?
How are those 64-bit? The FPUs in PCs are already 64-bit, and I can't think of anything that typically needs a > 4 GB flat memory space except big databases.
I am willing to pay extra for pass-through since most of my USB devices aren't bandwidth-heavy, it would help with clutter, and it would not force me to get another hub. Why don't manufacturers include this in their products?
I assume that USB pass-through would require each device to contain a hub. The USB standard recognizes only five hubs deep on a chain (but it's not a Windows-specific limitation). Dedicated "hub" devices increase the branching factor of USB.
Y'know what? It occurred to me that the real reason they push the sample rate to 96Khz it removes the need for low pass filters to prevent aliasing. Less circuitry == cheaper to produce.
Sounds like the "oversampling" from the early CD days. If they can do a high-order sinc filter in DSP to go from 44 kHz to 88 kHz or 96 kHz, then they can use a lower-order filter on the analog side and still produce quality sound.
I'm tired of these lousy sounding CD's. People only think they sound good because 99% of them have never heard music reproduced at a higher quality
Your beef should not be with the format, but with the mixing and mastering. Many pop CDs that seem to lack punch sound that way because they're mixed for radio play, and FM radio has a poor dynamic range, so naturally you lose the kick in the kick drum.
Fact: The human ear can't hear more than 20 kHz (due to the low-pass characteristic of inner ear fluid, and by the Nyquist-Shannon sampling rate theorem, 44 kHz sampling can adequately reproduce any signal from DC to 20 kHz. The ear also can't hear more than 20 bits in practice, as 20 bits give a 120 dB dynamic range, and THX specifies a 75 dB SPL for a -30 dB signal (that is, 105 dB for a rail to rail signal).
48/24 (Dolby Digital sampling rate) is more than enough. Or are you shopping for music for your dog?
but the problem is that people have keyboards, mice... dropouts when using your USB game controller.
I can understand problems when using a USB storage or scanner device, but joysticks? Uncompressed 44/16 stereo sound takes less than 1.5 Mbps, or 12% of USB 1's 12 Mbps capacity (think at least 6x CD-ROM). A USB HID (keyboard, mouse, joypad) should take even less. What, a 256-bit packet 60 times a second?
Having the QWERTY, and thus the horizontal layout, prevents the calculator from being used on many college placement exams, and college exams themselves.
Watch a Dvorak Simplified Keyboard hack appear on ticalc.org.
Slashdot Mirror
Dang, now that I think about it, how did the first compiler get compiled?
The first Fortran and Cobol compilers were written in assembly language. The first assembler was written in binary.
Imagine you are a virus. Now tell me how exactly are you going to spread using the stuff found in your home directory.
Mass mail. Just like SirCam. It takes files out of the home directory and sends them to everybody on your address book and in your web cache, both of which reside in (a subdirectory of) your home directory.
Or, if the system is locked down tight enough, then immediately unleash the payload on all the precious files in the home directory: system("rm -rf ~/*");
Virus writers are terrorists.
"Unlike acts of terrorism, acts of sabotage do not have a primary objective of causing casualties". They're not terrorists but mere saboteurs.
There is such a thing as su on NT
The only su or su-like thing that comes with NT 4 is 'su' in the POSIX subsystem, from which it is impossible to make Win32 calls. Is it possible to change the effective Win32 user and run a Win32 application as that user? Does Cygwin help?
Mono is an implementaion of C# that is it. .NET is a platform and an archetecture.
Not so fast. Mono will implement the runtime, using a JIT compiler on some platforms (e.g. ix86) and an interpreter on others. They're working on the class library.
Imagine requiring internet access to get a phone or electric service!
So go down to your local public library and hop on one of the Web terminals. Think of it this way: If you're getting phone service hooked up, how do you call the phone company?
Sounds like the vaporware phenomenon has extended to virii.
1. It's 'viruses'. ESR says so.
2. Concept Virus is also the name of the virus commonly known as Nimda.
What's the point having another Next-ish, Linux based OS if you can have OS X on your desktop?
Price. It's possible to build an x86-based PC for cheaper than $800 (the lowest price of a new Macintosh computer).
that doesn't apply to Buffy.
One company owns the exclusive American rights, another the European, another the South African, and another the Australian. All those countries want region coding so that they can get their geographic monopolies.
What you people have to realize is that movies and music ARE NOT PART OF YOUR INALIENABLE RIGHTS. Companies can charge WHATEVER THEY WANT for their products.
My concern is that in the future, Goliath will own every possible melody (there are fewer than a trillion by one count, or fewer than a million by another), and no independent music will be created because Goliath will sue David: "We own every possible melody; therefore, we own the song you just wrote. Pay us $100,000 for each song on your album."
The exclusive privilege of creating derivative works must be weakened.
My brother who is living in a different state records a show on a channel I do not receive and sends (either on VHS tape or digitally) it to me.
You could always set up your own cable system with one subscriber and license the satellite feed from the station.
My brother who lives in the same city (with the same TV channels) as me tapes a show I was too busy to see and drops it off at my house so I can view it later.
Under the Betamax decision, if you subscribe, you should set your VCR or DVR to tape it.
My brother who lives with me tapes a show I missed so I can watch it when I get home.
As long as nothing leaves a household, timeshifting counts as fair use in the United States.
</IANAL>Why not a global simultaneous release?
Because the studios want you to see the movie in a theater before you can get it on DVD, theaters aren't digital with respect to video, and it takes time and money to make more prints.
Well, by that reasoning: closed-source programs don't incorporate GPL'd shared libraries (like libc), they just talk to it.
For one thing, libc is Lesser GPL'd. For another, the Linux kernel is under a license similar to that of Guile: GPL with specific exceptions.
If Microsoft wants to get the maker of "Lindows" for infringing on the WINDOWS® trademark, the maker of "Lindows" can change the name to the Spanish word "Lindos" (meaning "pretty ones") which carries connotations of both Windows and DOS.
Is [creating a Linux kernel module] a GPL violation?
No. Linus has allowed binary-only modules into the kernel provided they communicate with the kernel using well-defined APIs. For instance, the vmware package includes a binary-only kernel module.
If Apple can't make BASH the MacOS X command line shell (apparently they asked, RMS said no, that would be a violation)
I don't see how it would be a violation under the "mere aggregation" clause of the GPL.
48khz is enough to reproduce 24khz audio signals, IF the phase of each frequency is known
I'm aware that sampling discards the sine component of tones at exactly the Nyquist frequency.
Otherwise you could have a 24khz sine wave that is coincidentally sampled only on the 0 amplitude points which would make it be recorded as silence.
Correct, but it can reproduce 23.9 kHz tones perfectly (phase and all), requiring only a convolution with (a windowed version of) the sinc function.
A superior system would be delta sigma modulation (google it for additional information) which uses 1 bit encoding with typically something like a 2.8mhz sampling rate for a frequency responce range approaching 100khz.
In other words, a 1-bit linear sampling rate with a noise-shaped dither pattern.
As to the proper number of bit for PCM, the big problem is that we hear volume logrithmically but currently digital audio records linearly.
I understand this, and recent lossy audio codecs such as MP3 and Ogg take this into account when constructing quantization tables. Heck, even the mu-law encoding used on telephone lines is floating-point (i.e. approximately logarithmic).
but for very quite things (like quiet passages in classical music), the extra bits come in handy very quickly.
Even if we get into a whisper-quiet passage played at 30 to 35 dB SPL, and 16-bit linear PCM begins to use only the region around +/- 127, the ear still can't hear the quantization noise because it's 1. below 0 dB SPL and 2. most likely shifted up into the 16-22 kHz range, where the ear often can't reliably hear even 30 dB SPL, with the noise-shaped dither patterns commonly used in modern CD mastering.
The extra bits are also very handy for DSP type tasks
You're not supposed to do DSP on music you don't own rights to; you're supposed to listen to it.
Ah, but again your ignorance irritates me.
You must have a h*ck of a time around children. I admit that I lack knowledge in this field, and that's why I'm asking somebody who knows it better than I do.
MIPS is a 64-bit RISC architecture
The MIPS architecture taught in a popular computer architecture textbook is still 32-bit.
64-bit architectures have been all around us for over a decade
But what concrete advantages do architectures with 64-bit integer registers provide over non-x86 architectures with 32-bit integer registers, apart from the fields I already mentioned (multigigabyte databases and finance)?
Spoken like somone who has no idea what they are talking about.
I admit you're correct about that. Where is 64 bit integer math used other than in databases and in financial calculations (which must represent integer numbers of cents)?
Don't knock 64 bit integer math.
As soon as I know where it's used, I won't knock it.
And more importantly they have more registers to work with so your not constantly having to juggle. Intel and AMD pull some overly smart tricks ... X86 really is crap as an arch
I agree, but for practical applications such as web browsing, listening to music, 2D gaming, etc., what advantage does a 64-bit arch have over 32-bit RISC archs like ARM, PowerPC, and MIPS, each of which has many more usable registers than x86?
Hmmm sorta.... More like UtraSparc or Alpha
How are those 64-bit? The FPUs in PCs are already 64-bit, and I can't think of anything that typically needs a > 4 GB flat memory space except big databases.
I am willing to pay extra for pass-through since most of my USB devices aren't bandwidth-heavy, it would help with clutter, and it would not force me to get another hub. Why don't manufacturers include this in their products?
I assume that USB pass-through would require each device to contain a hub. The USB standard recognizes only five hubs deep on a chain (but it's not a Windows-specific limitation). Dedicated "hub" devices increase the branching factor of USB.
Y'know what? It occurred to me that the real reason they push the sample rate to 96Khz it removes the need for low pass filters to prevent aliasing. Less circuitry == cheaper to produce.
Sounds like the "oversampling" from the early CD days. If they can do a high-order sinc filter in DSP to go from 44 kHz to 88 kHz or 96 kHz, then they can use a lower-order filter on the analog side and still produce quality sound.
I'm tired of these lousy sounding CD's. People only think they sound good because 99% of them have never heard music reproduced at a higher quality
Your beef should not be with the format, but with the mixing and mastering. Many pop CDs that seem to lack punch sound that way because they're mixed for radio play, and FM radio has a poor dynamic range, so naturally you lose the kick in the kick drum.
2" analog tape at 30 IPS. Digital audio blows.
Myth.
Fact: The human ear can't hear more than 20 kHz (due to the low-pass characteristic of inner ear fluid, and by the Nyquist-Shannon sampling rate theorem, 44 kHz sampling can adequately reproduce any signal from DC to 20 kHz. The ear also can't hear more than 20 bits in practice, as 20 bits give a 120 dB dynamic range, and THX specifies a 75 dB SPL for a -30 dB signal (that is, 105 dB for a rail to rail signal).
48/24 (Dolby Digital sampling rate) is more than enough. Or are you shopping for music for your dog?
but the problem is that people have keyboards, mice ... dropouts when using your USB game controller.
I can understand problems when using a USB storage or scanner device, but joysticks? Uncompressed 44/16 stereo sound takes less than 1.5 Mbps, or 12% of USB 1's 12 Mbps capacity (think at least 6x CD-ROM). A USB HID (keyboard, mouse, joypad) should take even less. What, a 256-bit packet 60 times a second?
Having the QWERTY, and thus the horizontal layout, prevents the calculator from being used on many college placement exams, and college exams themselves.
Watch a Dvorak Simplified Keyboard hack appear on ticalc.org.