Thank you. If I had the mod points, I'd credit that post as a fine example of what Insightful was meant to be at slashdot.
As to why you are still here... perhaps because you still seek the same community that you started with, and have not found an alternative forum that both offers what you fell slashdot used to provide, and one that does not have former/. members promoting it as the anti-slashdot.
I wish you luck in finding it, or in waiting out the cycle wherein some other site becomes the next big forum, and slashdot returns to its former modesty.
Re:Interesting legal question re:Supreme Court rul
on
P2P and TV
·
· Score: 1
"So if BitTorrent isn't promoting that they can be used to spread copyright material..."
BitTorrent does not share liability for improper use of a tool, just because they make the tool.
"Can John Rogers be sued for his obvious "tongue-in-cheek" admonishment of people who downloaded copyrighted material?"
No, because tongue-in-cheek or not, it is at least a token attempt to discourage copyright infringement.
"In a nutshell, if Software Company X releases a P2P software program and does all it should to discourage the distribution of "illegal" material, can Joe User get sued for posting in a blog, in a news story, etc that it can still be used for that goal?"
Joe User can still be considered liable for his own actions. Its like the legal difference between saying I think there is a crackhouse in my neighborhood, and telling you to go to a specific address to buy crack.
Re:Maybe they killed it for a good reason
on
P2P and TV
·
· Score: 1
"What kind of "global conspiracy" happily identifies itself to the first stranger that picks up one of its sekret phones?"
One article compared the premise of GF to the phenomenon of Flash Mobs and other IRL meetups. I have not read the books, but its likely that they are relying on the concept that the easiest place to hide something is often in plain sight.
Considering that many former Star Trek actors try to build on thier credentials after leaving the show, I think its a bit of a compliment that she is better remembered for her recent works.
Now I can look forward even more to playing Half Life 2. (I got a late start on the original version).
Also, thanks for reminding me of that crush I had on Ensign Ro.
A lot of those downloaded TV shows come from an HDTV source. So even after compression to mpeg-4 they retain better quality than a similar NTSC signal. And because they start at a higher resolution, they look better with fullscreen playback on most computer monitors.
I have not noticed the problems you describe, as I've rarely seen artifacts in the signal as shown on my widescreen (but still SD) TV.
The only problem I've noticed recently was on the broadcast of "SuperVolcano" where some of the night scenes were so dark I could barely make out the action. And I think
Granted, DirecTV is not the same resolution as HD (my DTivo saves at 480x480), and I don't know what resolution Comcast is sending/changing standard TV into; but I think DTV went out of thier way in the first place to make sure thier digital signal looked better than NTSC specifically to compete with broadcast and cable providers. I did have artifact and color issues with the digital cable on Adelphia, which prompted my move to DTV.
So, I'd cautiously argue that it is your provider. I think the cable providers can do better, but they seem to be more interested in getting as many channels as possible down the pipe, instead of providing a minimum quality of signal for those channels.
You make the same common mistake people made with "Chicago", "Cairo", and "Memphis". You assume that the project name is meant to lead to the release of only one product or service on the Windows platform.
While the dream is to release some all-encompassing product that becomes the next killer app, the reality at MS has been to spin off technologies where they can during the development process. Both to make the eventual release easier to swallow, and to get all the buzzwords and marketing concepts out there first to support end-user adoption.
No matter what is eventually released from the Longhorn project; MS has already started to sell as "WinFS", "Avalon", and now "Indigo".
I think you are talking about the Compaq IPaq
(Models PA-1 and PA-2) Personal Audio Players?
There actually were a couple of other players like it in the Asian markets when it came out, but you are correct that it was a pretty good design.
The only problems I had with mine was the limitations on capacity for the MMC cards it used (at the time), and that you had to use Musicmatch or Windows Media player to transfer files to it (over an unusually slow USB connection). And the headphone design hurt my ears.
I'll have to dig it out now, and play a few tunes on it in her "honor".//Former HP/Agilent temp.
Unless you want to claim that *all* Black people, regardless of external factors, would be better at the 100 metre dash that members of any other ethnic group, at any time.
To say that a few people (who happen to be Black) have leveraged their natural ability with extensive practice and training to become prominent within thier chosen field would be closer to the truth.
I know just as many Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and Asians who have quite a talent for sitting on thier collective butts; but its not something I'd claim that any race has a particular aptitude for.
To the parent poster, I'll bet they did show up at the *next show*, just perhaps not the show you personally went to next.
I wouldn't be surprised to find quite a market for "spokespeople-for-hire" to stock at show booths both to have a few more attractive people representing your company, and to give a greater impression of size for your business. Since most companies cannot afford to send their best engineers out of town for a whole week to gladhand the public; when 95 percent of the questions that get asked can be replied to from the sales brochures.
And from experience, booth babes increase sales (or at least sale opportunities) as well as relieve boredom. I have a friend I tend to follow around trade show floors just for that reason, while he goes ga-ga over a pretty girl, I check whether thier presence is a cover for a lack of specific information on the companies products, or a teaser to get you in close enough to deliver the regular marketing pitch.
G4 is a network aimed at the video game (console and PC) markets. They were merged with TechTV to take advantage of the greater audience availability that channel had gained.
TSS is an acronym for The ScreenSavers. An end-user oriented Tech News, commentary, tips, call-in and variety show that was the flagship program for the defunct network.
We cared because back in the day, while TSS did reflect much of the Windows-centric viewpoint of much of the computer industry, they were also a positive and active source of news and information about OSS, Linux, Windows Alternatives, Windows Security and functional issues; and keeping an open mind about users choices in use (and abuse) of technology.
The Techtv properties and licences were bought out by COMCAST to be merged with their G4 gaming network. Both networks were to become one digital cable channel after the merger.
Around the same time, the international broadcast rights expired for TechTV, and for whatever reasons G4 did not renew them.
As G4TechTV emerged with a new game-oriented focus, some cable affiliates either dropped the network from thier lineup, or moved it into a different category than previously held.
So, those are some reasons you may not be seeing the channel in your local cable or sattelite market.
MacGyver
Yay. A childrens show. Knightrider without the car.
Actually, I'd say it was much better than that. MacGyver at least tried to make the characters more interesting than the vehicles.
Seven Days (??)
Never seen it.
Think MacGyver with a Time Machine. The catch (show gimmick) is that the hero can only go back that far (7 days) to prevent some disaster or other bad thing from happening.
IIRC, it was actually fairly good in the first season.
Slashdot Mirror
Thank you. If I had the mod points, I'd credit
/. members promoting it as the anti-slashdot.
that post as a fine example of what Insightful
was meant to be at slashdot.
As to why you are still here... perhaps because
you still seek the same community that you started with, and have not found an alternative
forum that both offers what you fell slashdot
used to provide, and one that does not have
former
I wish you luck in finding it, or in waiting out
the cycle wherein some other site becomes the next big forum, and slashdot returns to its former modesty.
"So if BitTorrent isn't promoting that they can be used to spread copyright material..."
BitTorrent does not share liability for improper use of a tool, just because they make the tool.
"Can John Rogers be sued for his obvious "tongue-in-cheek" admonishment of people who downloaded copyrighted material?"
No, because tongue-in-cheek or not, it is at least a token attempt to discourage copyright infringement.
"In a nutshell, if Software Company X releases a P2P software program and does all it should to discourage the distribution of "illegal" material, can Joe User get sued for posting in a blog, in a news story, etc that it can still be used for that goal?"
Joe User can still be considered liable for his own actions. Its like the legal difference
between saying I think there is a crackhouse in my neighborhood, and telling you to go to
a specific address to buy crack.
"What kind of "global conspiracy" happily identifies itself to the first stranger that picks up one of its sekret phones?"
One article compared the premise of GF to the
phenomenon of Flash Mobs and other IRL meetups.
I have not read the books, but its likely that they are relying on the concept that the easiest
place to hide something is often in plain sight.
Considering that many former Star Trek actors try to build on thier credentials
after leaving the show, I think its a bit of a compliment that she is better
remembered for her recent works.
Now I can look forward even more to playing Half Life 2.
(I got a late start on the original version).
Also, thanks for reminding me of that crush I had on Ensign Ro.
Gnomedex was started as an offshoot from the
http://www.lockergnome.com/ web site created
by Chris Pirillo.
IIRC, it was originally started as an attempt to draw interest in technology industries to Iowa and the midwest.
http://www.gnomedex.com/history.phtml
A lot of those downloaded TV shows come from an HDTV source.
So even after compression to mpeg-4 they retain better quality
than a similar NTSC signal. And because they start at a
higher resolution, they look better with fullscreen
playback on most computer monitors.
Digital quality on my DirecTV setup is very good.
I have not noticed the problems you describe, as I've rarely seen artifacts
in the signal as shown on my widescreen (but still SD) TV.
The only problem I've noticed recently was on the broadcast of "SuperVolcano"
where some of the night scenes were so dark I could barely make out the action.
And I think
Granted, DirecTV is not the same resolution as HD (my DTivo saves at 480x480),
and I don't know what resolution Comcast is sending/changing standard TV into;
but I think DTV went out of thier way in the first place to make sure thier
digital signal looked better than NTSC specifically to compete with broadcast
and cable providers. I did have artifact and color issues with the digital
cable on Adelphia, which prompted my move to DTV.
So, I'd cautiously argue that it is your provider. I think the cable
providers can do better, but they seem to be more interested in getting
as many channels as possible down the pipe, instead of providing a
minimum quality of signal for those channels.
Its funny if you're the type that finds
humor in that sort of thing.
Some people like having a little break in
multitasking and continuity.
It's just coincidence; some MS reps have been talking about
them targeting an "end of March" release for the Service Pack
since January.
It will be interesting to see if they can keep up with the
rest of the timeline they had projected from that period.
Longhorn has already made it out the door.
You make the same common mistake people made with "Chicago", "Cairo", and "Memphis".
You assume that the project name is meant to
lead to the release of only one product or
service on the Windows platform.
While the dream is to release some all-encompassing product that becomes the next
killer app, the reality at MS has been to spin
off technologies where they can during the
development process. Both to make the eventual
release easier to swallow, and to get all the
buzzwords and marketing concepts out there first
to support end-user adoption.
No matter what is eventually released from the Longhorn project; MS has already started to
sell as "WinFS", "Avalon", and now "Indigo".
It is perhaps ironic then, that part of Ms. Fiorina's Keynote at CES 2005
was a teaser on some of the ideas being worked on in HP Research.
I guess we'll have to wait until the 2008 - 2010 trade shows to see if
they've come up with any innovations from the current level of R&D.
I think you are talking about the Compaq IPaq
//Former HP/Agilent temp.
(Models PA-1 and PA-2) Personal Audio Players?
There actually were a couple of other players
like it in the Asian markets when it came out,
but you are correct that it was a pretty good design.
The only problems I had with mine was the limitations on capacity for the MMC cards it
used (at the time), and that you had to use
Musicmatch or Windows Media player to transfer
files to it (over an unusually slow USB connection). And the headphone design hurt my
ears.
I'll have to dig it out now, and play a few tunes on it in her "honor".
Life imitates anime?
Wake me up when I can get my own interceptors.
The question is, will the OpenCable Moxi beat
the OpenCable Tivo to market?
No, they paid 300 Mil to get access to the cable markets that TechTV had worked their way into.
Wrong... you fell for the logical trap.
Unless you want to claim that *all* Black people, regardless of external factors, would be better
at the 100 metre dash that members of any other ethnic group, at any time.
To say that a few people (who happen to be Black) have leveraged their natural ability with
extensive practice and training to become prominent within thier chosen field would be
closer to the truth.
I know just as many Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and Asians who have quite a talent for sitting
on thier collective butts; but its not something I'd claim that any race has a particular
aptitude for.
To the parent poster, I'll bet they did show up at the *next show*,
just perhaps not the show you personally went to next.
I wouldn't be surprised to find quite a market for "spokespeople-for-hire"
to stock at show booths both to have a few more attractive people
representing your company, and to give a greater impression of size
for your business. Since most companies cannot afford to send their
best engineers out of town for a whole week to gladhand the public;
when 95 percent of the questions that get asked can be replied to
from the sales brochures.
And from experience, booth babes increase sales (or at least sale opportunities)
as well as relieve boredom. I have a friend I tend to follow around trade show
floors just for that reason, while he goes ga-ga over a pretty girl, I check
whether thier presence is a cover for a lack of specific information on the
companies products, or a teaser to get you in close enough to deliver the
regular marketing pitch.
"I have not been keeping up with the show, or the hosts, but I last heard that Martin Sargent, the last of the original TechTV crew, was fired. "
TechTV alumni that can still be seen on G4TechTV.
(off the top of my head)
Kevin Rose
Sarah Lane
Morgan Webb
Chi-Lan Lieu (Yes, she came over from TechTV as
a Fresh Gear segment producer).
Brendan Moran
Adam Sessler
PPS (credited to and paraphrased from a poster from the G4TechTV forums):
You don't have to like seeing a slow-motion train
wreck to still be fascinated at watching it occur.
You didn't watch enough. That was probably one
of the theme episodes they occasionally did even
when it was on TechTV.
X-Play is one of the few things that seems to
have improved (with opinions and critisism intact) since the merger.
G4 is a network aimed at the video game (console and PC) markets.
They were merged with TechTV to take advantage of the greater audience
availability that channel had gained.
TSS is an acronym for The ScreenSavers. An end-user oriented Tech News,
commentary, tips, call-in and variety show that was the flagship program
for the defunct network.
We cared because back in the day, while TSS did reflect much of the Windows-centric
viewpoint of much of the computer industry, they were also a positive and active source
of news and information about OSS, Linux, Windows Alternatives, Windows Security and
functional issues; and keeping an open mind about users choices in use (and abuse)
of technology.
It didn't go off the air.
Short version:
The Techtv properties and licences were bought
out by COMCAST to be merged with their G4 gaming
network. Both networks were to become one
digital cable channel after the merger.
Around the same time, the international broadcast rights expired for TechTV, and
for whatever reasons G4 did not renew them.
As G4TechTV emerged with a new game-oriented
focus, some cable affiliates either dropped the
network from thier lineup, or moved it into a
different category than previously held.
So, those are some reasons you may not be seeing
the channel in your local cable or sattelite
market.
both .com and .net are scams IIRC.
.org; or are they
Another question is, does the MPAA know those
sites are not affiliated with
going to get shutdown as a cascade effect?
MacGyver
Yay. A childrens show. Knightrider without the car.
Actually, I'd say it was much better than that.
MacGyver at least tried to make the characters
more interesting than the vehicles.
Seven Days (??)
Never seen it.
Think MacGyver with a Time Machine.
The catch (show gimmick) is that the hero can
only go back that far (7 days) to prevent
some disaster or other bad thing from happening.
IIRC, it was actually fairly good in the first season.
Correction, VirtualDub is a video capture and
editing tool. It is not for ripping DVDs, respectively or otherwise.
The reason virtualdub is probably in the top
ten right now is because a new version of
the experimental branch was just released.