Somebody needs to explain the difference between lossless compression and lossy compression, since nganju seems to be under the impression that all compression is lossy.
Lossless compression does not discard any data; when you decompress the data, you get back exactly the bits you compressed. The trick here is to represent common values with short bit strings, so you can represent the same data in less space.
Lossy data compression discards data that (theoretically) won't be noticed. The theory is that people tend not to notice the missing data, because the human brain is very good at interpolation. If you don't trust this theory, then you should avoid lossy compression. But not lossless compression.
It does sound like the same thing, at least to most people. But a lot of computer people reserve the word "emulation" for "hardware emulation". The "Wine Is Not an Emulator" acronym emphasizes this. Though its main purpose might be to use one of those recursive puns some geeks are excessively fond of.
This sort of thing happens a lot. Experts define a word in a way that makes sense to them. ("Modem", short for "Modulator-Demodulator": a device for translating from analog to digital and back.) Then non-experts come into possession of a word and use it in a completely contradictory way that makes sense to them. ("DSL Modem": an all digital device used as a DSL endpoint.) The experts protest for a while at the corruption in jargon, but eventually give in. It'll take longer this time, though, because we'll have "Is Not an Emulator" to remind the nit-pickers.
Being "brutally honest and intelligent" is (a) highly inappropriate for a satirist and (b) not designed to make you popular with the people who hand out awards!
Yeah, an irritating bit of semantic sloppiness. But "alternate API implementation" takes too long to say. Besides, the difference is too subtle for most people. We're probably going to have to live with this one.
I seem to remember reading something about barrantry (the practice of maliciously filing frivolous lawsuits) being an offence/legitimate grounds for civil action in the USA.
Sure. The trick is to prove that the lawsuit is malicious.
No, the 6502 is alive and well, and the Z80 survives in its original form. But nobody bothers trying to put them in general-purpose computer systems any more -- they're just too limited. So they're sold for embedded applications, where they manage to do quite well.
The 6502 was considered too limited even when it was in most cheap desktop computers. During the short period where Apple had a big share of office computing, the applications that made the Apple II successful didn't run on the machine's 6502 processor, they ran on a Z80 add-on card.
Did I mention that it's fast? Check out google suggest, realize that there's a round trip to the server going on in the background, and you'll get the picture.
A more interesting example is Google Maps. Open a map. Then resize the window or scroll the map. The result is a faster, more user-friendly response than you'll see in any any Java app.
Browser apps that work in the browser itself will always be better than those that work via plugins. That's why Google and others are rebelling against XForms. The idea is right, but without browser support, you have to use a plugin. And, for all the reason's you've just mentioned (and more), forms based on plugins will never fly.
Sure. You just need a lawyer to come up with a legal theory that they're doing something wrong. But you better be prepared for the costs of a lengthy legal battle, as I'm sure iDownload is.
A cease and desist letter doesn't mean much if you're in the right.
Every time we talk about lawsuits and C&D letters, somebody trots out this naive civics-class bullshit. It's not a matter of being in the right. It's a matter of proving you're in the right. There isn't some magically Equity Fairy who makes bad lawsuits go away. At the very least, you have to show up in court to argue that the lawsuit is bullshit. And then there's always a chance that the initial decision will be, "Well, it might be bullshit, but I need more evidence before I can decide."
Plus there's always the chance that iDownload has discovered some obscure bit of legislation or precedent that gives them the upper hand legally. You think the people who write laws and court decisions always have the same view of "fair" as you do?
New Yorker cartoon, showing lawyer talking to client. "Sir, you have a very good case. But before we can proceed, we have to settle one small issue: exactly how much justice can you afford?"
If this outrages you, well, it should. Best way to express this is by contributing to any anti-spyware defenese funds that get organized.
Most consumers don't live and breath computers. If they have to take a laptop out of their briefcase and wait for it to boot or dehibernate, it's no big deal. Geeks may seek borg-style computers, but that's not a big enough market for a commercial device.
When you talked about "connecting to the inverter" I assumed you meant that all the inverters were part of a single power supply system -- which is the case at HE.
"Manipulates" is a tinfoil hat word. Everybody sees a big sophisticated conspiracy where simple ineptness is far more likely. We're talking a noname web news site, not another Joseph Goebbels.
This one was even posted by an AC, and still it shows up on the home page. Where is that mod option??
Except that it is an interesting story, and exactly the kind of thing I log onto Slashdot to read. Just submitted and posted with a lot of sloppiness -- and that is definitely getting out of hand.
If anything, TiVo needs to figure out a way to get 2 tuner support into its regular line of DVRs. People who've never used a DirecTiVo don't understand just how powerful that second tuner really is. Not only that, it's a feature that can be easily sold to customers without even seeing it in action.
I agree, but not for the reasons you cite. The fact is that most people just don't grasp the fact that a VCR or a PVR has its own tuner. It's an obvious fact to any gadget-geek like you or me, but try to explain it to anybody else and their eyes glaze over. (If you don't believe me, grab a couple of ordinary people and ask them to explain how a VCR can record when the TV isn't turned on. Assuming they even know that it can.) So people are recording a show, they want to watch something else while the show is recording, but Tivo won't let them change they channel, and they can't understand why.
So don't say, "There's two tuners!" That's just more technonoise.
Why weren't two tuners to begin with? The same reason early Tivos had so much flaky hardware. They cut every corner they could, trying to get the price down. They decided to sacrifice usability and reliability in order to get a price people would pay. Alas, they didn't succeed in that either.
Slashdot Mirror
Lossless compression does not discard any data; when you decompress the data, you get back exactly the bits you compressed. The trick here is to represent common values with short bit strings, so you can represent the same data in less space.
Lossy data compression discards data that (theoretically) won't be noticed. The theory is that people tend not to notice the missing data, because the human brain is very good at interpolation. If you don't trust this theory, then you should avoid lossy compression. But not lossless compression.
Wikipedia, as usual, has a lot of good material.
This sort of thing happens a lot. Experts define a word in a way that makes sense to them. ("Modem", short for "Modulator-Demodulator": a device for translating from analog to digital and back.) Then non-experts come into possession of a word and use it in a completely contradictory way that makes sense to them. ("DSL Modem": an all digital device used as a DSL endpoint.) The experts protest for a while at the corruption in jargon, but eventually give in. It'll take longer this time, though, because we'll have "Is Not an Emulator" to remind the nit-pickers.
I should have said "TV satirist".
Being "brutally honest and intelligent" is (a) highly inappropriate for a satirist and (b) not designed to make you popular with the people who hand out awards!
Yeah, an irritating bit of semantic sloppiness. But "alternate API implementation" takes too long to say. Besides, the difference is too subtle for most people. We're probably going to have to live with this one.
Wrong reference.
The 6502 was considered too limited even when it was in most cheap desktop computers. During the short period where Apple had a big share of office computing, the applications that made the Apple II successful didn't run on the machine's 6502 processor, they ran on a Z80 add-on card.
Browser apps that work in the browser itself will always be better than those that work via plugins. That's why Google and others are rebelling against XForms. The idea is right, but without browser support, you have to use a plugin. And, for all the reason's you've just mentioned (and more), forms based on plugins will never fly.
That means nothing.
Sure. You just need a lawyer to come up with a legal theory that they're doing something wrong. But you better be prepared for the costs of a lengthy legal battle, as I'm sure iDownload is.
Plus there's always the chance that iDownload has discovered some obscure bit of legislation or precedent that gives them the upper hand legally. You think the people who write laws and court decisions always have the same view of "fair" as you do?
New Yorker cartoon, showing lawyer talking to client. "Sir, you have a very good case. But before we can proceed, we have to settle one small issue: exactly how much justice can you afford?"
If this outrages you, well, it should. Best way to express this is by contributing to any anti-spyware defenese funds that get organized.
I couldn't read the article!
So it sounds like a jet engine when you turn it on? I begin to lose interest...
Most consumers don't live and breath computers. If they have to take a laptop out of their briefcase and wait for it to boot or dehibernate, it's no big deal. Geeks may seek borg-style computers, but that's not a big enough market for a commercial device.
When you talked about "connecting to the inverter" I assumed you meant that all the inverters were part of a single power supply system -- which is the case at HE.
"Manipulates" is a tinfoil hat word. Everybody sees a big sophisticated conspiracy where simple ineptness is far more likely. We're talking a noname web news site, not another Joseph Goebbels.
I'm getting senile. Don't make fun of me, or I'll sue you!
You can't review a book on Slashdot unless you summarize each chapter in mind-numbing detail!
So don't say, "There's two tuners!" That's just more technonoise.
Why weren't two tuners to begin with? The same reason early Tivos had so much flaky hardware. They cut every corner they could, trying to get the price down. They decided to sacrifice usability and reliability in order to get a price people would pay. Alas, they didn't succeed in that either.