I'm surprised this never made it onto Slashdot. It happened a day or two ago, and whoever did it was even nice enough to post some Linkin Park MP3s (oh, the irony...MP3s on the RIAA's own web site). Mirror here. Fark thread here.
If it runs at 2.17 GHz, then why the hell are they marketing it as 2.7 GHz? Being an EE, I am well aware of the fact that different architectures -- like IA32 vs AMD -- have different per-clock-cycle performance aspects. Yes, I also know that the customer just sees numbers and thinks 'gee, P4s are running at 2.7 GHz now while Athlons are at 2.17 GHz. P4s must be better then.' But I don't see it as ethical to get around this assumed ignorance by telling what amounts to an outright lie. AMD should instead win customers from Intel by convincing people that their processors are better even at lower clock speeds (which they are, really). If people started to think that AMDs were better at lower clock speeds, AMD's popularity would explode.
I am not being an AMD basher here. I have always been an AMD user, and continue to be one to this day. And contrary to popular belief, there are plenty of computer stores out there that label 2700+ systems as 2700 MHz. Even then, AMD knows damn well that most users think 2700+ means 2700 MHz, and that they don't realize that the s/MHz/+/; is just AMD's way of obscuring the misleading marketing. Fact is, the stores and AMD *are* marketing the systems as 2700 MHz, which they are not.
Wait, companies don't offer that protection even if my media fails?
M$ does, but they charge so much for it that I suspect you're actually just paying them for another license. I own a legal copy of VC++ 6.0 Standard Edition, and when I needed the CD replaced, M$ wanted $30 plus s/h. If you consider that I only plunked down $40 for my first copy ($100 shelf price - $50 M$ rebate - $10 gift certificate Staples had given me), why don't I just buy another copy off the shelf?
Will there be WP export? Having seen the SDK for WordPerfect, it seems like you could just use the 'write WordPerfect format' DLL they include to make it relatively easy to have this.
It was already taken out when the file was stripped of the things that you don't hear when it is a raw PCM file
Then try encoding (or crossencoding) a file a couple hundred times with a script. You will hear horrendous artifacting, which if it gets bad enough can drown out parts of the music. And you're saying there is no quality lost?
Vanilla Coke tastes...funny at best, and downright bad at worst. Vanilla flavor has plenty of good uses, but it doesn't go well at all with what is in a soft drink. MD makes a much better gaming fuel anyway because of its higher caffeination.
Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if the MPAA/RIAA facists change the law they wrote to label anyone they believe has misuesd their copyrights as an enemy combatant.
They have already hinted at P2P users being terrorists, have they not? Also, don't forget that while they want to be able to hax0r you, they are intentionally placing themselves behind an exemption to the hacking==terrorism talk that has been going on in the legislature. In other words, they can do anything to you that they want, but if you use countermeasures, you are a terrorist.
How long until we can work out what the DNA sequence for a Dragon should be I wonder?
If you consider that we already have what is by far the world's largest Beowulf Cluster (tm) working on this problem -- every living organism in the world -- perhaps not so long.
Today I just spent 3 1/2 hours updating security patches on a group of machines in an office for office 2000.
If you don't like constantly having to patch MS Office, then don't use it. There are plenty of alternatives, including WordPerfect Office Suite, which is what I use.
Plus, do you really want the spammers of the future to have aquired skills like fashionning weapons out of toothbrushes or how to take advantage of a dropped soap in the showers? You'd just make 'em angrier...although maybe the spam about penis enlargement would go away
The best form of justice would be for them to be cellmates with someone to which they had sold one of the penis enlargement kits. Let them really feel the consequences of spamming.
1. Thou shalt have no entertainment before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any device by which thou mighst render my copyright protection ineffective.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of Britney Spears in vain, for I will not hold him guiltless who disrespects her.
4. Honor Hilary Rosen and Jack Valenti, that thy days of entertaining thyself might be long and pleasurable.
5. Thou shalt not download MP3s.
6. Thou shalt pay inflated prices for thine CDs.
7. Thou shalt pay unto me a tax for the blank media which thou acquirest, compensating me for heathen pirates.
8. Thou shalst allow me to search thine computer at my fancy, to ensure that you are virgin from illicitude.
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's MP3 collection, lest ye be tempted to download MP3s from him.
10. Thou shalt not seek out alternatives to me, for I am the one true RIAA.
Of course, no article on this topic can go without a mandatory quote from Jack Valenti, who points out: 'It is not legal to make a copy of a DVD now. Everything people are doing legally today, they'll be able to do legally tomorrow'."
I just noticed a subtle thing in what Jack Valenti said that can make a pretty big difference, and knowing him, may well have been intentional:
You'll notice that instead of saying "they'll be able to do tomorrow", he says "they'll be able to do legally tomorrow." What he is saying is that what is legal today will be legal tomorrow; what he is not saying is that what is legal and doable today will be doable tomorrow. Saying that one will be able to "legally do" something does not necessarily imply that the same act will actually be doable, just that it won't be illegal to do.
If this money were actually distributed to all affected copyright holders
But here lies another problem: How do you determine what an "affected copyright holder" is? And how do you determine to what degree a particular copyright holder is affected?
To be a bit more accurate, it's the HALT instruction and not the NOP instruction that does this. NOP tells the CPU to 'do nothing and proceed to the next clock cycle' (note that the CPU remains fully on for this) while HALT tells the CPU to 'shut down, but be ready to spring back into action when you receive an interrupt'. HALT powers parts of the CPU down, NOP doesn't. This is where the cooling effect comes from.
The studio wants to control the spread of the movie to maximize profit.
Then why are so many DVDs region coded that are not of current movies? I've seen old, old movies on DVDs with region coding. Heck, I've even seen seasons of TV shows on DVDs that were region coded. The region coding of these DVDs instantly defeats the argument you present (which is the one the MPAA gives); if the studios were motivated by what they *say* they are motivated by, these DVDs would not be region coded.
Oh and just one more cent to add to the pile, do people REALLY need a 2.53 Ghz system on a truckload of RDRAM and a GeForce Ti 4600 for office apps, playing The Sims, and Internet browsing?
Rumor has it that the next release of M$ Office will have minimum requirements that are close to this.
... why don't they just join EFNET/IRCNET/WHATEVERNET?
Because large networks are often enough of a pain in the ass to get on to that it detracts from the experience. First, you need to find a server that will let you connect, then you need to make sure it isn't full, then you deal with the lag/netsplits/etc. that come with any large network. Small networks have none of these problems, and are actually much more suitable to host chat for things like web sites. I just moved a large channel (#fark) off of Dalnet for this exact reason.
Dell still pays Microsoft because they're required to--the way I understand it, whether or not they have Windows on a computer they sell, they have to pay for a copy of windows for that computer, and thus, so does the consumer. Otherwise, M$ won't let them sell any computers with Windows on them. It doesn't really work to bash Dell for this--they're nearly as much a victim as we are.
So if the customer is paying for a Windows license, why the hell aren't they getting a copy of Windows? This just reeks of being illegal. It's theft. The customer's money is being taken and they are not being given a thing in return. So I see M$ is immune to theft and consumer protection laws now. They're already immune to anti-monopoly laws.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm surprised this never made it onto Slashdot. It happened a day or two ago, and whoever did it was even nice enough to post some Linkin Park MP3s (oh, the irony...MP3s on the RIAA's own web site). Mirror here. Fark thread here.
and will work at 2.17GHz
If it runs at 2.17 GHz, then why the hell are they marketing it as 2.7 GHz? Being an EE, I am well aware of the fact that different architectures -- like IA32 vs AMD -- have different per-clock-cycle performance aspects. Yes, I also know that the customer just sees numbers and thinks 'gee, P4s are running at 2.7 GHz now while Athlons are at 2.17 GHz. P4s must be better then.' But I don't see it as ethical to get around this assumed ignorance by telling what amounts to an outright lie. AMD should instead win customers from Intel by convincing people that their processors are better even at lower clock speeds (which they are, really). If people started to think that AMDs were better at lower clock speeds, AMD's popularity would explode.
I am not being an AMD basher here. I have always been an AMD user, and continue to be one to this day. And contrary to popular belief, there are plenty of computer stores out there that label 2700+ systems as 2700 MHz. Even then, AMD knows damn well that most users think 2700+ means 2700 MHz, and that they don't realize that the s/MHz/+/; is just AMD's way of obscuring the misleading marketing. Fact is, the stores and AMD *are* marketing the systems as 2700 MHz, which they are not.
Wait, companies don't offer that protection even if my media fails?
M$ does, but they charge so much for it that I suspect you're actually just paying them for another license. I own a legal copy of VC++ 6.0 Standard Edition, and when I needed the CD replaced, M$ wanted $30 plus s/h. If you consider that I only plunked down $40 for my first copy ($100 shelf price - $50 M$ rebate - $10 gift certificate Staples had given me), why don't I just buy another copy off the shelf?
Will there be WP export? Having seen the SDK for WordPerfect, it seems like you could just use the 'write WordPerfect format' DLL they include to make it relatively easy to have this.
We must not forget "Export to PDF".
There is a way you can create PDFs from *any* program, and with all free software too:
Adobe's free PostScript printer driver to output to PS
Then GhostScript and GhostView to quickly convert the PS to PDF format.
It was already taken out when the file was stripped of the things that you don't hear when it is a raw PCM file
Then try encoding (or crossencoding) a file a couple hundred times with a script. You will hear horrendous artifacting, which if it gets bad enough can drown out parts of the music. And you're saying there is no quality lost?
Vanilla Coke tastes...funny at best, and downright bad at worst. Vanilla flavor has plenty of good uses, but it doesn't go well at all with what is in a soft drink. MD makes a much better gaming fuel anyway because of its higher caffeination.
Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if the MPAA/RIAA facists change the law they wrote to label anyone they believe has misuesd their copyrights as an enemy combatant.
They have already hinted at P2P users being terrorists, have they not? Also, don't forget that while they want to be able to hax0r you, they are intentionally placing themselves behind an exemption to the hacking==terrorism talk that has been going on in the legislature. In other words, they can do anything to you that they want, but if you use countermeasures, you are a terrorist.
How long until we can work out what the DNA sequence for a Dragon should be I wonder?
If you consider that we already have what is by far the world's largest Beowulf Cluster (tm) working on this problem -- every living organism in the world -- perhaps not so long.
Today I just spent 3 1/2 hours updating security patches on a group of machines in an office for office 2000.
If you don't like constantly having to patch MS Office, then don't use it. There are plenty of alternatives, including WordPerfect Office Suite, which is what I use.
Plus, do you really want the spammers of the future to have aquired skills like fashionning weapons out of toothbrushes or how to take advantage of a dropped soap in the showers? You'd just make 'em angrier...although maybe the spam about penis enlargement would go away
The best form of justice would be for them to be cellmates with someone to which they had sold one of the penis enlargement kits. Let them really feel the consequences of spamming.
From the episode where they travel to Africa and meet Dr. Jane Bushwell:
*picture of Dr. Bushwell with handfuls of diamonds*
"Everybody wants diamonds! Diamonds! Diamonds!"
The Ten Commandments of the RIAA:
1. Thou shalt have no entertainment before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any device by which thou mighst render my copyright protection ineffective.
3. Thou shalt not take the name of Britney Spears in vain, for I will not hold him guiltless who disrespects her.
4. Honor Hilary Rosen and Jack Valenti, that thy days of entertaining thyself might be long and pleasurable.
5. Thou shalt not download MP3s.
6. Thou shalt pay inflated prices for thine CDs.
7. Thou shalt pay unto me a tax for the blank media which thou acquirest, compensating me for heathen pirates.
8. Thou shalst allow me to search thine computer at my fancy, to ensure that you are virgin from illicitude.
9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's MP3 collection, lest ye be tempted to download MP3s from him.
10. Thou shalt not seek out alternatives to me, for I am the one true RIAA.
As long as you can draw the line between the game and life, you're fine, IMO.
Excuse me? What was that you said?!? *pulls out nailgun*
Of course, no article on this topic can go without a mandatory quote from Jack Valenti, who points out: 'It is not legal to make a copy of a DVD now. Everything people are doing legally today, they'll be able to do legally tomorrow'."
I just noticed a subtle thing in what Jack Valenti said that can make a pretty big difference, and knowing him, may well have been intentional:
You'll notice that instead of saying "they'll be able to do tomorrow", he says "they'll be able to do legally tomorrow." What he is saying is that what is legal today will be legal tomorrow; what he is not saying is that what is legal and doable today will be doable tomorrow. Saying that one will be able to "legally do" something does not necessarily imply that the same act will actually be doable, just that it won't be illegal to do.
If this money were actually distributed to all affected copyright holders
But here lies another problem: How do you determine what an "affected copyright holder" is? And how do you determine to what degree a particular copyright holder is affected?
maybe NT 4.0 didn't do the NOP cpu idling trick
To be a bit more accurate, it's the HALT instruction and not the NOP instruction that does this. NOP tells the CPU to 'do nothing and proceed to the next clock cycle' (note that the CPU remains fully on for this) while HALT tells the CPU to 'shut down, but be ready to spring back into action when you receive an interrupt'. HALT powers parts of the CPU down, NOP doesn't. This is where the cooling effect comes from.
I think we should be able to launch denial of service attacks against clients of spam senders
If the **AA can do it to people who are doing possibly illegal things to them, why can't spam recipients do the same thing to spammer?
The studio wants to control the spread of the movie to maximize profit.
Then why are so many DVDs region coded that are not of current movies? I've seen old, old movies on DVDs with region coding. Heck, I've even seen seasons of TV shows on DVDs that were region coded. The region coding of these DVDs instantly defeats the argument you present (which is the one the MPAA gives); if the studios were motivated by what they *say* they are motivated by, these DVDs would not be region coded.
In typical /bot style you contiue [sic] to show your ignorance on all things "M$"
/botbasher style you continue to show your ignorance on all things "humorous" or "satirical."
And in typical
Oh and just one more cent to add to the pile, do people REALLY need a 2.53 Ghz system on a truckload of RDRAM and a GeForce Ti 4600 for office apps, playing The Sims, and Internet browsing?
Rumor has it that the next release of M$ Office will have minimum requirements that are close to this.
... why don't they just join EFNET/IRCNET/WHATEVERNET?
Because large networks are often enough of a pain in the ass to get on to that it detracts from the experience. First, you need to find a server that will let you connect, then you need to make sure it isn't full, then you deal with the lag/netsplits/etc. that come with any large network. Small networks have none of these problems, and are actually much more suitable to host chat for things like web sites. I just moved a large channel (#fark) off of Dalnet for this exact reason.
Princeton admissions dean who used applicant information to hack into a Yale Web site.
If hacking is now considered terrorism, why isn't the government all over this one?
Games of skill for cash are legal everywhere
That doesn't mean that betting on them is legal.
Dell still pays Microsoft because they're required to--the way I understand it, whether or not they have Windows on a computer they sell, they have to pay for a copy of windows for that computer, and thus, so does the consumer. Otherwise, M$ won't let them sell any computers with Windows on them. It doesn't really work to bash Dell for this--they're nearly as much a victim as we are.
So if the customer is paying for a Windows license, why the hell aren't they getting a copy of Windows? This just reeks of being illegal. It's theft. The customer's money is being taken and they are not being given a thing in return. So I see M$ is immune to theft and consumer protection laws now. They're already immune to anti-monopoly laws.