And you think your average news paper editor will be happy with your medium resolution pictures? Lower resolution is nice for viewing on screen, but in print, you need much higher resolution
Not necessarily. I can see your point for the cover of a magazine, where the halftone resolution goes above 150 lpi, but you mentioned newspaper, a publication that uses a medium with much lower resolution (namely newsprint). A cheap 1.3 megapixel camera captures more than enough information to put a photo on a newspaper.
On-site, the photographer selects which pictures to send to the paper, which to store and which to delete.
Of course, a solution is to burn all images to CD-R. A single CD can hold 700 good-quality images of 1 MB each, and if a photographer resists the temptation to press the "review saved images" button, she can just pull the card out of the camera, stick it in the laptop's card reader, burn the images to a CD, and send them off to the editors. Adding features to the system that allow only the laptop's card reader (not a camera) to delete pictures from the card would help.
The site I just got finished creating was using PNG files until we discovered that some of our users still have NS 4.08. It doesn't understang PNG, so we are back to GIFs.
The site I just got finished creating was using JPEG files until we discovered that some of our users still have old Mosaic. It doesn't understang [sic] JPEG, so we are back to GIFs.
The site I just got finished creating was using GIF files until we discovered that some of our users still have Lynx. It doesn't understang [sic] GIF, so we are back to ASCII art.
How much money are you paying Unisys to be able to support those few users who can't be bothered to fetch a more recent version of Netscape that's an order of magnitude less likely to crash when fed perfectly valid CSS?
Building an 8-Track player from scratch is a slightly trickier proposition.
The Lear 8-track format is just 6.4mm magnetic tape with eight evenly spaced tracks recorded in one direction at 95mm/s. There are still lots of reel-to-reel recorders that can read this format; just look in any recording studio with an analog reel-to-reel tape deck.
decibells are a relative scale, it doesnt mean naything unless you say what its relative to
When engineers use "dB" as a sound loudness unit, they most often refer to the ratio of the audio source's power to the quietest sound that a person with good hearing can hear. An increase of 6 dB corresponds to a doubling of amplitude; 9 dB corresponds to a doubling of subjective loudness. For example, 20 dB is about 4.7 times louder than the quietest perceptible sound and about twice as quiet as the noise floor in the typical quiet 30 dB room.
Should have followed the OS/2 model
on
MS DOS: A Eulogy
·
· Score: 2
Which would have turned it into Windows, surely?
Yes, the GUI would have turned into Windows. Microsoft should have followed through with the OS/2 plan (a powerful OS with task and memory management, support for networking, a CLI interface, and a GUI on top that could be shut off to save resources). Thus, workstations would run "Windows 2000" on top of "DOS 2000" (like the other guys run "XFree86 4.1 with KDE 2.2" on top of "Linux 2.4"), and servers could shut the Windows for more performance.
Did Sony call the PlayStation 2's operating system "OS2" by analogy with PS/2 -> OS/2 ?
Let's say that once you get to the coveted 25 Karma you gain the privilege of being able to purchase certificates from Slashdot
NO NO NO! It's surprisingly easy to whore a troll account to 25 Karma, and your nick has no connection to a Real World Identity that can be thrown in jail for violating the terms of a CA agreement, which for code signing include "do not sign malicious code".
Half the time I try to download an application/plugin I get the message 'this code was not signed'. This happens so often that the average user will simply click 'run anyway'.
Exception: Java technology. Applet viewers do not open the dialog at all but simply throw an exception whenever an unsigned applet tries to access the local filesystem or any host other than the host that served the applet; the only way to let users upload a file through an applet is to sign the applet with a code signing certificate, and I don't think OpenPGP (GNUPG, etc.) counts.
The code might be doing nasty stuff without you ever knowing it.
A contract between the CA and the developer effectively prevents that from happing, because if too many users complain to the CA, the developer loses the cert.
If you use GnuPG [gnupg.org] (GPG) - you can create your own circle of trust.
Yes, but does the Java platform's code signing mechanism recognize OpenPGP style certs? Java applets cannot access the local hard drive or any host other than the server they were served from without being signed, and they pop up a scary (to AOLers) FUD-box if the cert used to sign the applet wasn't signed by VeriSign (the most significant root CA now that VeriSign owns Thawte).
I'm no crypto expert, but my guess is that they would want to minimize the risk of an individual acquiring a certificate in a bogus name, creating a virus or something and then signing the virus code with the cert - thus making it appear more valid
In other words, you claim Thawte has restricted granting code signing certificates to avoid another debacle like this where Verisign granted a certificate to "Microsoft Corporation".
500 EEs, who know about as much about software as I do about circuit design.
Most digital design nowadays is done in a programming language such as Verilog and compiled into netlists. Given that Verilog code can easily be interpreted on a computer, there isn't much difference between a computer program and a circuit description for describing a computation; EEs can easily adapt.
Of the upcoming machines left in the console wars (Playstation 2, XBox, and GameCube), GameCube appears to be the "least hackable",
The Game Boy Advance, on the other hand, is the most hackable. All you need is GCC and a $50 cable, and you can connect your PC (running Linux or Windows) to a GBA through the parallel port and send short programs to the GBA's 256 KB of RAM. You can even program flash cartridges through the cable if you develop a larger program that you have tested on an emulator such as VisualBoy Advance.
I really am not all that impressed with the Gamecube either, but it looks like it may be better then the X-box because of the franchises they have.
Here, Nintendo may be stepping on its own toes, as the name "Pikmin" is confusingly similar to the name of Nintendo's rooster sports[1] simulation "Pokemon".
What compelling reason would I want to spend 300 dollars on what is pretty much a PC customized to play games when I can buy a 1-2 GHz computer for 200 more?
One Xbox can split-screen four players for $600 ($300 plus the price of a sufficiently large TV set), as opposed for $2000 for four PCs.
like the GBA....can ANYONE see ANYTHING on this thing?
A Pelican cover-light helps greatly and costs what? 10 USD?
Still, I think Nintendo has made some mistakes with the Gamecube because it decided to go with the proprietary disc.
DVDs are also proprietary discs under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and foreign counterparts. Rumor has it that the "proprietary discs" are physically DVDs but formatted a different way (i.e. not udf).
On a side note, why do we need to many freakin buttons on a game controller now when the Atari only had one and NES only needed two?
Can you give me a control map with only six keys (Up, Down, Left, Right, B, and A) that would let me excel at Descent or any other first-person shooter?
My ideal console would minimize the button mashing and maxmise the fun.
But weren't the 8-bit sports games (especially wrestling and TnF) mostly just button mashing?
[1] "Rooster sports" is a euphemism for cockfighting.
Remember, however, a cartridge means instantly playing -- no load screens
Not necessarily. You could have compressed data, which takes time (that feels like "loading") to decompress. You could have coprocessors that cannot read the cartridge but instead interact over a slow bus with the CPU; this caused the 1-second loading pauses on Super NES games whenever a game changed the background music. However, given the speed of the disc drive (130 ms access time, transfer rates equivalent to at least a 15x CD) (source), most of the loading will occur before the game begins, behind legal screens that they have to put up anyway; in-game loading shouldn't take more than 2 seconds (like FFVII room-change) if developers write their disc code carefully. Did Half-Life's loading really bother you?
File Edit View Bookmarks Help | http://slashdot.org All on one line.
Then write such a theme.
And please scrap the crap with the honking big "M" icon so the bar doesn't have to be so thick.
There already are several themes like this. Including them in the default install would make the download size too big for those who do not have the resources to move their families to areas that offer high-speed Internet access.
Is "mozilla sux0rz; ie r00lz" a good bug report?
on
Mozilla Bug Week
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· Score: 1
"The customer is always right" means "the customer is *always* right" because the customer is telling you what they think of the good or service.
Are you saying that if the customer thinks "mozilla sux0rz; ie r00lz" is a good bug report, then "mozilla sux0rz; ie r00lz" is a good bug report?
provide a really simple one-field form, submit, and then say "thanks" and ask more questions.
But if you already know exactly what questions you're going to ask, why not just ask them on the Bugzilla Helper?
problem: "it blue screens" and what should it have done? "it should not blue screen"
If Bugzilla Helper b*tches about empty fields, would you mind filling in "Steps to Reproduce" telling exactly how to make Mozilla bluescreen?
Implement them myself? perhaps, but I'm a smart guy and if other people don't see the wisdom of my suggestions then there's a too strong a likelihood that my changes would make it in anyway, so I don't want to waste my time.
Just make a chrome that has such a checkbox linked to a JS pref, and make a new bug with your diffs.
So, an entertainment center designed to sit at your living room and function as a combained DVD/CD/MP3 player, TiVo, internet set-top box and play-station is a great idea.
And you're endorsing a proprietary platform (i.e. Sony PlayStation (TM) (R) (C) (patented)) for the gaming part? Why not a more open platform like Famicom whose patents have expired?
anyone know if there are going to be any copywrite issues with these things?
Copywrite refers to writing and editing text. An example of a "copywrite issue" would be the fact that Sony's MemoryStick.org web site is full of Engrish on the front page.
On the other hand, copyright is a monopoly that the government grants to creators of original works of authorship and that said creators have twisted into a way to screw their customers.
Young man,
there's no need to feel down
Because your plane
back home can't get off the ground
I said young man,
Get comfy in your new town
There's no need to be unhappy.
Young man,
There's no place you can go
I said young man,
Until you cough up some dough
You will stay here
until you've served all your time
For your insignificant crime.
It's fun to stay in the U S of A,
Because of that old grand D M C A
For cracking DVD's,
Or an e-book or three,
You'll get jailed for eterniteeeee...
It's fun to stay in the U S of A
Because of that old grand D M C A
For proving to the world
That our encryption's a toy
You'll get jailed with all the boyyyyyyys...
"MemoryStick Information for Developers" was renewed.
The design was renewed, and it kept in mind so that it might become legible.
The contents are also substantial increasingly after this.
I'm not familiar with the software that Sony wanted removed. Sony seems to think that that some software was copied or modified Sony product, and the site owner doesn't contradict this. If that's true, than any DMCA issues are secondary.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act contained more than the Section 1201 anti-circumvention provisions. In this case, DMCA added a clear method called "takedown notice" for copyright owners to make ISPs remove infringing material. First step: cease-and-desist the webmaster. Second step: send a takedown notice to the whole chain of ISPs all the way up to the backbone. Third step: If the webmaster doesn't file a counterclaim, take him or her to court.
Authoring a creative work automatically generates copyright protection for whatever the hell the current limits are
There are no de facto limits, as nothing in the Constitution prevents Congress from repeatedly retroactively extending the de jure "limited times" (Read More...) except perhaps the "ex post facto" restriction against restoring copyright in already expired works.
F*** the late Sonny Bono because he introduced that bill. F*** Cher because she supported it.
Slashdot Mirror
And you think your average news paper editor will be happy with your medium resolution pictures? Lower resolution is nice for viewing on screen, but in print, you need much higher resolution
Not necessarily. I can see your point for the cover of a magazine, where the halftone resolution goes above 150 lpi, but you mentioned newspaper, a publication that uses a medium with much lower resolution (namely newsprint). A cheap 1.3 megapixel camera captures more than enough information to put a photo on a newspaper.
On-site, the photographer selects which pictures to send to the paper, which to store and which to delete.
Of course, a solution is to burn all images to CD-R. A single CD can hold 700 good-quality images of 1 MB each, and if a photographer resists the temptation to press the "review saved images" button, she can just pull the card out of the camera, stick it in the laptop's card reader, burn the images to a CD, and send them off to the editors. Adding features to the system that allow only the laptop's card reader (not a camera) to delete pictures from the card would help.
The site I just got finished creating was using PNG files until we discovered that some of our users still have NS 4.08. It doesn't understang PNG, so we are back to GIFs.
The site I just got finished creating was using JPEG files until we discovered that some of our users still have old Mosaic. It doesn't understang [sic] JPEG, so we are back to GIFs.
The site I just got finished creating was using GIF files until we discovered that some of our users still have Lynx. It doesn't understang [sic] GIF, so we are back to ASCII art.
How much money are you paying Unisys to be able to support those few users who can't be bothered to fetch a more recent version of Netscape that's an order of magnitude less likely to crash when fed perfectly valid CSS?
Building an 8-Track player from scratch is a slightly trickier proposition.
The Lear 8-track format is just 6.4mm magnetic tape with eight evenly spaced tracks recorded in one direction at 95mm/s. There are still lots of reel-to-reel recorders that can read this format; just look in any recording studio with an analog reel-to-reel tape deck.
See also 8 Track Heaven
decibells are a relative scale, it doesnt mean naything unless you say what its relative to
When engineers use "dB" as a sound loudness unit, they most often refer to the ratio of the audio source's power to the quietest sound that a person with good hearing can hear. An increase of 6 dB corresponds to a doubling of amplitude; 9 dB corresponds to a doubling of subjective loudness. For example, 20 dB is about 4.7 times louder than the quietest perceptible sound and about twice as quiet as the noise floor in the typical quiet 30 dB room.
Which would have turned it into Windows, surely?
Yes, the GUI would have turned into Windows. Microsoft should have followed through with the OS/2 plan (a powerful OS with task and memory management, support for networking, a CLI interface, and a GUI on top that could be shut off to save resources). Thus, workstations would run "Windows 2000" on top of "DOS 2000" (like the other guys run "XFree86 4.1 with KDE 2.2" on top of "Linux 2.4"), and servers could shut the Windows for more performance.
Did Sony call the PlayStation 2's operating system "OS2" by analogy with PS/2 -> OS/2 ?
Let's say that once you get to the coveted 25 Karma you gain the privilege of being able to purchase certificates from Slashdot
NO NO NO! It's surprisingly easy to whore a troll account to 25 Karma, and your nick has no connection to a Real World Identity that can be thrown in jail for violating the terms of a CA agreement, which for code signing include "do not sign malicious code".
Half the time I try to download an application/plugin I get the message 'this code was not signed'. This happens so often that the average user will simply click 'run anyway'.
Exception: Java technology. Applet viewers do not open the dialog at all but simply throw an exception whenever an unsigned applet tries to access the local filesystem or any host other than the host that served the applet; the only way to let users upload a file through an applet is to sign the applet with a code signing certificate, and I don't think OpenPGP (GNUPG, etc.) counts.
The code might be doing nasty stuff without you ever knowing it.
A contract between the CA and the developer effectively prevents that from happing, because if too many users complain to the CA, the developer loses the cert.
If you use GnuPG [gnupg.org] (GPG) - you can create your own circle of trust.
Yes, but does the Java platform's code signing mechanism recognize OpenPGP style certs? Java applets cannot access the local hard drive or any host other than the server they were served from without being signed, and they pop up a scary (to AOLers) FUD-box if the cert used to sign the applet wasn't signed by VeriSign (the most significant root CA now that VeriSign owns Thawte).
I'm no crypto expert, but my guess is that they would want to minimize the risk of an individual acquiring a certificate in a bogus name, creating a virus or something and then signing the virus code with the cert - thus making it appear more valid
In other words, you claim Thawte has restricted granting code signing certificates to avoid another debacle like this where Verisign granted a certificate to "Microsoft Corporation".
What fucking year is it?
A.D. 2001. (No "war was beginning" jokes please.)
Am i expected to have a spare machine just for looking at retro websites?
No. Just un-maximize your browser. In fact, I generally browse in a 720x480 window when I'm not using Mozilla tabs.
500 EEs, who know about as much about software as I do about circuit design.
Most digital design nowadays is done in a programming language such as Verilog and compiled into netlists. Given that Verilog code can easily be interpreted on a computer, there isn't much difference between a computer program and a circuit description for describing a computation; EEs can easily adapt.
DeCSS in Verilog, useful for building your own DVD decoderOf the upcoming machines left in the console wars (Playstation 2, XBox, and GameCube), GameCube appears to be the "least hackable",
The Game Boy Advance, on the other hand, is the most hackable. All you need is GCC and a $50 cable, and you can connect your PC (running Linux or Windows) to a GBA through the parallel port and send short programs to the GBA's 256 KB of RAM. You can even program flash cartridges through the cable if you develop a larger program that you have tested on an emulator such as VisualBoy Advance.
I really am not all that impressed with the Gamecube either, but it looks like it may be better then the X-box because of the franchises they have.
Here, Nintendo may be stepping on its own toes, as the name "Pikmin" is confusingly similar to the name of Nintendo's rooster sports[1] simulation "Pokemon".
What compelling reason would I want to spend 300 dollars on what is pretty much a PC customized to play games when I can buy a 1-2 GHz computer for 200 more?
One Xbox can split-screen four players for $600 ($300 plus the price of a sufficiently large TV set), as opposed for $2000 for four PCs.
like the GBA....can ANYONE see ANYTHING on this thing?
A Pelican cover-light helps greatly and costs what? 10 USD?
Still, I think Nintendo has made some mistakes with the Gamecube because it decided to go with the proprietary disc.
DVDs are also proprietary discs under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and foreign counterparts. Rumor has it that the "proprietary discs" are physically DVDs but formatted a different way (i.e. not udf).
On a side note, why do we need to many freakin buttons on a game controller now when the Atari only had one and NES only needed two?
Can you give me a control map with only six keys (Up, Down, Left, Right, B, and A) that would let me excel at Descent or any other first-person shooter?
My ideal console would minimize the button mashing and maxmise the fun.
But weren't the 8-bit sports games (especially wrestling and TnF) mostly just button mashing?
[1] "Rooster sports" is a euphemism for cockfighting.
Remember, however, a cartridge means instantly playing -- no load screens
Not necessarily. You could have compressed data, which takes time (that feels like "loading") to decompress. You could have coprocessors that cannot read the cartridge but instead interact over a slow bus with the CPU; this caused the 1-second loading pauses on Super NES games whenever a game changed the background music. However, given the speed of the disc drive (130 ms access time, transfer rates equivalent to at least a 15x CD) (source), most of the loading will occur before the game begins, behind legal screens that they have to put up anyway; in-game loading shouldn't take more than 2 seconds (like FFVII room-change) if developers write their disc code carefully. Did Half-Life's loading really bother you?
File Edit View Bookmarks Help | http://slashdot.org All on one line.
Then write such a theme.
And please scrap the crap with the honking big "M" icon so the bar doesn't have to be so thick.
There already are several themes like this. Including them in the default install would make the download size too big for those who do not have the resources to move their families to areas that offer high-speed Internet access.
"The customer is always right" means "the customer is *always* right" because the customer is telling you what they think of the good or service.
Are you saying that if the customer thinks "mozilla sux0rz; ie r00lz" is a good bug report, then "mozilla sux0rz; ie r00lz" is a good bug report?
provide a really simple one-field form, submit, and then say "thanks" and ask more questions.
But if you already know exactly what questions you're going to ask, why not just ask them on the Bugzilla Helper?
problem: "it blue screens" and what should it have done? "it should not blue screen"
If Bugzilla Helper b*tches about empty fields, would you mind filling in "Steps to Reproduce" telling exactly how to make Mozilla bluescreen?
Implement them myself? perhaps, but I'm a smart guy and if other people don't see the wisdom of my suggestions then there's a too strong a likelihood that my changes would make it in anyway, so I don't want to waste my time.
Just make a chrome that has such a checkbox linked to a JS pref, and make a new bug with your diffs.
For example, the PINO
they're missing either a CCHIO or a BEE
and they have funny Engrish. This is dangerously close to being an exact quote: All our concept are belong to GNU
So the venerable DEC rises from the ashes?
If they were calling this a DEC S ound S ystem, and they later announced a DVD upgrade, would they be sued?
So, an entertainment center designed to sit at your living room and function as a combained DVD/CD/MP3 player, TiVo, internet set-top box and play-station is a great idea.
And you're endorsing a proprietary platform (i.e. Sony PlayStation (TM) (R) (C) (patented)) for the gaming part? Why not a more open platform like Famicom whose patents have expired?
anyone know if there are going to be any copywrite issues with these things?
Copywrite refers to writing and editing text. An example of a "copywrite issue" would be the fact that Sony's MemoryStick.org web site is full of Engrish on the front page.
On the other hand, copyright is a monopoly that the government grants to creators of original works of authorship and that said creators have twisted into a way to screw their customers.
This song is not based on "YCMA".
Young man,
there's no need to feel down
Because your plane
back home can't get off the ground
I said young man,
Get comfy in your new town
There's no need to be unhappy.
Young man,
There's no place you can go
I said young man,
Until you cough up some dough
You will stay here
until you've served all your time
For your insignificant crime.
It's fun to stay in the U S of A,
Because of that old grand D M C A
For cracking DVD's,
Or an e-book or three,
You'll get jailed for eterniteeeee...
It's fun to stay in the U S of A
Because of that old grand D M C A
For proving to the world
That our encryption's a toy
You'll get jailed with all the boyyyyyyys...
--
read the Sony provided memorystick.org
MemoryStick.org is written in Engrish:
I'm not familiar with the software that Sony wanted removed. Sony seems to think that that some software was copied or modified Sony product, and the site owner doesn't contradict this. If that's true, than any DMCA issues are secondary.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act contained more than the Section 1201 anti-circumvention provisions. In this case, DMCA added a clear method called "takedown notice" for copyright owners to make ISPs remove infringing material. First step: cease-and-desist the webmaster. Second step: send a takedown notice to the whole chain of ISPs all the way up to the backbone. Third step: If the webmaster doesn't file a counterclaim, take him or her to court.
Authoring a creative work automatically generates copyright protection for whatever the hell the current limits are
There are no de facto limits, as nothing in the Constitution prevents Congress from repeatedly retroactively extending the de jure "limited times" (Read More...) except perhaps the "ex post facto" restriction against restoring copyright in already expired works.
F*** the late Sonny Bono because he introduced that bill. F*** Cher because she supported it.