I think the best example of Intel's extreme to dedication to screwing the consumer was when they released the early 486s (25/33) in two versions. According to Intel the DX had a math co-processor and the SX did not. Eventually it came out that they were exactly the same chip except the SX versions had the math co-processor disabled by Intel. Of course, to purchase the DX version you had to pay a premium over the SX...
One of my favorite review sites is The Filthy Critic. Go look through the archives and find the reviews that got one or two fingers, they are the best reads; I know everyone here would enjoy his Mission to Mars review from a while back:)
If I don't want someone to be watching me vote online I would simply ask them to leave the room and then use another low-tech privacy method called a "door".
His post clearly wasn't apoligizing for mp3 theft. Before you post a flame maybe you should attempt to understand what the original poster was trying to say.
The lengths people go to justify a flame never ceases to amaze me.:P
The majority of people, who learn everything they know about "hackers" from a few paragraphs of a likely somewhat inaccurate news story, do not earn the right to tell computer literate people the correct way to speak in their area of expertise.
If that is how it should be then it might as well be argued that doctors should have to change their speech so it matches what the majority think doctors should say (after watching a few episodes of ER of course).
For some reason a large amount of people on Usenet enter their reply-to e-mail as my e-mail address. This is extremely annoying; I receive around 20 e-mails a day responding to various posts, some thanking me for posting something I didn't post and some flaming me for an article I obviously didn't write. It's gotten to the point where I created a generic reply that I send in reply to this mail.
People should either use a non-valid e-mail address or simply don't enter one. If you are using a valid e-mail address all that does is push the spam on someone else.
What ripper did you use? And what bitrate did you rip at? There is essentially no difference between a WAV (or CD audio) and a 256kbps mp3. Use the Fraunhofer Codec 1.263 at 256kbps and THEN tell me your findings:P
(not that those that think MP3s are CD quality would ever notice though)
Use a good ripper and a 256kbps sampling rate and there is no way you can tell the difference from a CD. The problem is that most people rip mp3s at 96 or 128 with RealJukebox or some crap like that...
It turns out everyone has to have a Social Security number (if they want a job). I know every job I've ever worked at I have to fill out a bunch of forms, no SS, no job. It is illegal for the company to hire you if you don't have a Social Security number (or a green card) because everyone has to pay into the Social Security fund and it prevents people who aren't citizens (illegal immigrants) from working (unless the business wants to get shut down:P). If you want to work for companies that don't report their employees income then by all means don't use a Social Security number!
Wouldn't be suprised if Voltaire said something like that, but Diderot definetly said the quote I attributed to him...he believed that all monarchs and priests must be destroyed...
The line must be drawn somewhere and there's no one better to do it than Slashdot. After all, if Slashdot, the most vehement supporter of free speech on the net, doesn't stand up to them how could you expect anyone else to?
I have read a few of the posts that lament the commercialization of space, but really what did you expect? Last time I checked the economies of the Western world were based on a Capitalist economy which essentially means that coporations can do whatever they want.
Anyone who has some noble idea of space as a neutral ground for international cooperation needs to take a reality check. Not only will the space of the future be dominated by corporations, but it will most likely be necessary to have a significant military presence in space.
You obviously haven't watched a movie in DivX since you are comparing it to ASF which is pure shit. It looks almost as good as a DVD, about on par with VHS I'd say...
First of all, since the misinformation has already begun to spread, the Divx codec is not related IN ANY WAY to those stupid rental discs.
Secondly, I've seen full length movies compressed into 660 megs with the Divx codec and they look nearly as good as DVDs, very impressive; looks like VCDs are on their way out (as if they were ever really in...)
"If they're only supplying dummy files with authentic-looking names, then the people downloading the files aren't breaking the law. "
Not really true: If you buy something that you think is cocaine, but actually turns out to be baking powder you are still guilty of purchasing drugs in the eyes of the law. The same for selling fake drugs.
It's true, I actually saw a story about it on CNN, some people actually associate $3 with $3.99, my guess is they are lacking basic math skills:) The most insidious of all is the gas stations they tack on an extra 9/10s of a cent, e.g. $1.799/gallon with the last nine so small you can't really even see it:D
I enjoyed the 5+ billion people comment since the entire world population is approximately 6 billion. English will win this war. In fact, it's already won. Americans learn no other language, nearly every European and Japanese person must learn English. It turns out that if you combine the economies of Europe, Japan, and the US you have nearly all of the worlds economic power. English is the most widely spoken of all languages. Instead of just making up numbers I'll use facts. English is spoken by an estimated 1/3 of the worlds population (according to the 1999 New York Times Almanac), about 2 billion people. What language do you suggest? French? Spoken by a very impressive 90 million people:P. Chinese is the only one that even comes close with about 1.2 billion (although there are different dialects), but I think we can safely say that hell will freeze over before Americans will start speaking Chinese (not to mention their writing system sucks). With the exception of the third world countries nearly the entire world already speaks English and when their economies expand they will adapt and learn English as well, it's only a matter of time.
Slashdot Mirror
I think the best example of Intel's extreme to dedication to screwing the consumer was when they released the early 486s (25/33) in two versions. According to Intel the DX had a math co-processor and the SX did not. Eventually it came out that they were exactly the same chip except the SX versions had the math co-processor disabled by Intel. Of course, to purchase the DX version you had to pay a premium over the SX...
Somewhat on the topic of bashing hollywood...
:)
One of my favorite review sites is The Filthy Critic. Go look through the archives and find the reviews that got one or two fingers, they are the best reads; I know everyone here would enjoy his Mission to Mars review from a while back
Of course they could just set up FTP on all the computers and do the same thing...this really isn't THAT big a deal...
If I don't want someone to be watching me vote online I would simply ask them to leave the room and then use another low-tech privacy method called a "door".
I agree with you, but remember that the assignment operator goes from right to left not left to right!
His post clearly wasn't apoligizing for mp3 theft. Before you post a flame maybe you should attempt to understand what the original poster was trying to say. The lengths people go to justify a flame never ceases to amaze me. :P
""The NSA can only monitor stuff outside the US."" Uh, ever heard of ECHELON?!?
Not only is my handwriting nearly illegible but I can type much much faster than I can write...
The majority of people, who learn everything they know about "hackers" from a few paragraphs of a likely somewhat inaccurate news story, do not earn the right to tell computer literate people the correct way to speak in their area of expertise.
If that is how it should be then it might as well be argued that doctors should have to change their speech so it matches what the majority think doctors should say (after watching a few episodes of ER of course).
For some reason a large amount of people on Usenet enter their reply-to e-mail as my e-mail address. This is extremely annoying; I receive around 20 e-mails a day responding to various posts, some thanking me for posting something I didn't post and some flaming me for an article I obviously didn't write. It's gotten to the point where I created a generic reply that I send in reply to this mail.
People should either use a non-valid e-mail address or simply don't enter one. If you are using a valid e-mail address all that does is push the spam on someone else.
What ripper did you use? And what bitrate did you rip at? There is essentially no difference between a WAV (or CD audio) and a 256kbps mp3. Use the Fraunhofer Codec 1.263 at 256kbps and THEN tell me your findings :P
(not that those that think MP3s are CD quality would ever notice though)
Use a good ripper and a 256kbps sampling rate and there is no way you can tell the difference from a CD. The problem is that most people rip mp3s at 96 or 128 with RealJukebox or some crap like that...
It turns out everyone has to have a Social Security number (if they want a job). I know every job I've ever worked at I have to fill out a bunch of forms, no SS, no job. It is illegal for the company to hire you if you don't have a Social Security number (or a green card) because everyone has to pay into the Social Security fund and it prevents people who aren't citizens (illegal immigrants) from working (unless the business wants to get shut down :P). If you want to work for companies that don't report their employees income then by all means don't use a Social Security number!
Wouldn't be suprised if Voltaire said something like that, but Diderot definetly said the quote I attributed to him...he believed that all monarchs and priests must be destroyed...
The line must be drawn somewhere and there's no one better to do it than Slashdot. After all, if Slashdot, the most vehement supporter of free speech on the net, doesn't stand up to them how could you expect anyone else to?
I have read a few of the posts that lament the commercialization of space, but really what did you expect? Last time I checked the economies of the Western world were based on a Capitalist economy which essentially means that coporations can do whatever they want.
Anyone who has some noble idea of space as a neutral ground for international cooperation needs to take a reality check. Not only will the space of the future be dominated by corporations, but it will most likely be necessary to have a significant military presence in space.
Anyone stupid enough to open up a VBS attachment certainly deserves whatever they get...
You obviously haven't watched a movie in DivX since you are comparing it to ASF which is pure shit. It looks almost as good as a DVD, about on par with VHS I'd say...
First of all, since the misinformation has already begun to spread, the Divx codec is not related IN ANY WAY to those stupid rental discs.
Secondly, I've seen full length movies compressed into 660 megs with the Divx codec and they look nearly as good as DVDs, very impressive; looks like VCDs are on their way out (as if they were ever really in...)
"If they're only supplying dummy files with authentic-looking names, then the people downloading the files aren't breaking the law. "
Not really true: If you buy something that you think is cocaine, but actually turns out to be baking powder you are still guilty of purchasing drugs in the eyes of the law. The same for selling fake drugs.
Damn, that took a long time to read, but I think we can all agree it was time well spent...
It's true, I actually saw a story about it on CNN, some people actually associate $3 with $3.99, my guess is they are lacking basic math skills :) The most insidious of all is the gas stations they tack on an extra 9/10s of a cent, e.g. $1.799/gallon with the last nine so small you can't really even see it :D
That doesn't really make sense because $4.00 turns into $4.27 with tax...
Well, I didn't make it up, that's what the Almanac says....
I enjoyed the 5+ billion people comment since the entire world population is approximately 6 billion. English will win this war. In fact, it's already won. Americans learn no other language, nearly every European and Japanese person must learn English. It turns out that if you combine the economies of Europe, Japan, and the US you have nearly all of the worlds economic power. English is the most widely spoken of all languages. Instead of just making up numbers I'll use facts. English is spoken by an estimated 1/3 of the worlds population (according to the 1999 New York Times Almanac), about 2 billion people. What language do you suggest? French? Spoken by a very impressive 90 million people :P. Chinese is the only one that even comes close with about 1.2 billion (although there are different dialects), but I think we can safely say that hell will freeze over before Americans will start speaking Chinese (not to mention their writing system sucks). With the exception of the third world countries nearly the entire world already speaks English and when their economies expand they will adapt and learn English as well, it's only a matter of time.