I have read on a few forums/commentboards/etc on reaction to this story.
Many people who do work/claim to work/used to work for GeekSquad seem to be claiming on those venues that pirated software is basically part of working for GeekSquad, that they are not given the tools they need by management.
Some are even saying that they were encouraged by managers to use pirated software in place of buying it.
Obviously this is hearsay, but.... I think when an actual investigation is done, we're going to see a lot more than just one company in on this.
Ableton is awesome software. It's the way to go with digital DJing.
The problem with digital, is there's just something soulless about it. It's great software that requires as much or more skill than "physical" DJing, but there's just something missing from it... Part of being a good DJ is having a good stage presence, and being behind a laptop kinda ruins that.
Okay.
If you want to be a "top40" club dj, you don't need to really have many skills anymore. Just the ability to use some crappy software and knowlege of the latest 40 tracks. Most top40 clubs nowadays just have mp3 and "auto beatmatch" stuff turned on. What you do also really need is to know someone who's on the "inside". Also, you've gotta have a thick skin, because you're not gonna get much respect in "real" DJ circles
(This next part is on being an electronic dance music DJ, I have no experience really with hiphop)
If you want to be a REAL DJ, you will need to learn most of the tricks of the trade. Trust me, unless you're in podunk town, there's 1000s of DJs that are better than you who are more likely going to get gigs. For example, in Minneapolis, it seems like there's more DJs than clubgoers! So, to impress folks, you need to be good. You need to be almost PERFECT at beatmatching. Then, you generally have to pick a style of music at first and go with it exclusively. It's hard to learn how to mix many different styles of music as a noob. Generally, House or Trance is going to be your best bet in terms of learning, you can always switch to a new genre once you have the basics down. Now, realistically, when you start out, you're going to need to know vinyl. Because to be honest, your first gigs are probably gonna be 30 minutes to an hour at house parties as the guest of the DJ "in charge". Therefore, you can only really count on having vinyl turntables present. Also, learning vinyl first helps you learn it the "right way" first so moving to CDs later will be rather easy. The other way around really doesn't work so well.
So, you're going to need to have a large budget. Generally, a record goes for about $8-13. This typically includes the original track and 1-3 remixes. Yes, DJing vinyl is EXPENSIVE, you'll need to have at least 30-50 records to play as playing the same 10 over and over again will be to your disadvantage.Once you have a good record bag going, get involved in the local music scene! The only way to get gigs is to know people. A helpful tool in getting gigs is to record demo CDs. This is an extremely cheap and effective method of getting your name out. Producing a good demo is outside of the scope of this discussion really, but if it's crappy and not produced well, it will reflect on you. If you don't have a good sound workstation, try to make friends with someone that has some quality audio recording and mastering gear so they can help you put a polished demo together. Anyways, burn some CDRs and slap your name and phone number/e-mail on the demo CDs and hand them out at other folks' gigs.
Learning to DJ is a long process. To be honest with you, it takes at least a year of practice to become proficient and comfortable. Practice is the KEY here. DJ isn't something you LEARN per se, it's something you practice, like a sport, or riding a bike, etc. People can TEACH you the concepts of beatmatching and harmonic matching and whatever, but really, you'll figure it out yourself eventually with practice. Go out to clubs and be a "trainspotter", watch what the DJ is doing and try to listen to the music and take mental notes on what they do. Just don't expect to pick it up right away.
Finally, good luck. A lot of people get into DJing and invest a load of cash and get frustrated and quit. Just keep plugging away at it.
The great thing about iTunes was it priced songs as the public really feels songs should be priced.
Now that prices will go up, piracy will once again rise. And they'll blame it on the p2p networks and ask for more DRM and copyright control legislation, when in fact it will be their own greed that will be ruining their business.
These technologies sap battery like leeches. Unless you're connecting with a data cable though your cellular telephone, the real usefullness of these services lies in laptops, where larger batteries counteract the drain from the wireless connections. A lot of "devices" made for PDAs come with batteries onboard that do stretch your surfing time. But if it's a card, I doubt it would last long.
CDPD is one of the slowest wireless data technologies still in use. It's only 19.2kbps (max speed, you really only get 9600 and that only if you're lucky and in the middle of a cornfield next to a cell tower) and is overpriced for what you get. GSM/GPRS is a more viable option at 60kbps, or sprint's new 3G "PCS vision" service. (70kbps at the moment, has potetial for 1mbps+)
The communicator has many other tricks up its sleeve too I guess. It's too bad my brother in law isn't awake right now, (sweden is +6hrs from eastern time) he could tell you all about the communicator and the car itself, and clear up all of this FUD. (He did a lot of work on it for volvo)
My brother in law worked on some of the components of this car. It doesn't "run" anything. Nor does it even use 98. It uses windows CE to run a few of the non critical subsystems of the car. It's actually a great concept. Everyone needs to chill on the "jump down whoever's throat is mentioned using any microsoft product" bandwagon. This site is actually starting to sound a lot like middle school. Boo to MSNBC for misreporting and setting off the microsoft alarms.
OBD and the codes aforementioned are different. OBD (on-board diagnostics) is a very limited system that only gives certain diagnostic information about the car. The codes in question here are ones about more detailed systems, and are basically the "dumps" of all of what the computer processes, not just if a fault code is stored. This way if your computer doesn't sense something is wrong to store a fault code, the dealerships can still figure out exactly what is going on with the engine and what settings the computer has the engine running at. Most car manufacturers have extra computer systems attached to cars nowadays that arent linked to the OBD system. The bill Senator Wellstone is proposing basically makes it so any information that a dealer can extract from the computers must also be shared with the 3rd party mechanics. This goes far above and beyond OBD. I personally think it's a good step. It seems to me like the dealers want to hide information from the customers and then claim the problems are not covered under warranty.
The real reason why nobody will adopt this format
on
Dataplay Ready to Launch
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
"Blank discs costing $5 to $12, and the first music players, for $300 to $370, will hit stores at the end of May."
The costs are too high. Unless you give away the players, there is no way people are gonna drop money for a new device.
Finally theres a reporter who can make sense of this whole witch hunt. There has been a select few good reports from various sources, but most of the mainstream media has been anti video game bullcrap. It's good to see that the big news organizations are getting a clue.
Use that gravitational pull like a slingshot when you first play, because its impossible to thrust away... Kinda like what astronauts really have to do...
How about answering the questions? You always try to meld the truth to you're little ideal world, in where you are the 1337357 h4x0r ever. How about actually thinking how stupid you are to everyone else but the people that are fooled by your facade of being an "expert" on computer security? Why is it whenever you personally respond to some issue that has to do with your malicious intents, you say everyone else is wrong and you are right? You immediately flip the issue to the accuser! How about just going back to the script kiddie life you used to live (and still do at times)?
Wow. These benches are awesome looking, but as I sit here in awe, I wonder, how much are they gonna cost? AMD has always been known for its great pricing, but now with this new chip, will they stray from their roots? I want to build a system soon, but if the processor is too expensive, it won't be an option for it. Let's hope AMD keeps it reasonable, even with its intel-crushing speed.
But wouldnt doing this make your US citizenship invalid? Hmm.. Dont sign up unless you dont want the perks of voting here, etc. I think it's a good idea, but its not gonna fly with US citizens...
Slashdot Mirror
don't know any :(
just think it would be great to get in on this - an unprecedented opportunity to shape the nation, technology-wise.
Anyone got an inside line on how one "washington outsider" could end up finding a job in the new CTO's office?
I have read on a few forums/commentboards/etc on reaction to this story.
Many people who do work/claim to work/used to work for GeekSquad seem to be claiming on those venues that pirated software is basically part of working for GeekSquad, that they are not given the tools they need by management.
Some are even saying that they were encouraged by managers to use pirated software in place of buying it.
Obviously this is hearsay, but.... I think when an actual investigation is done, we're going to see a lot more than just one company in on this.
Ableton is awesome software. It's the way to go with digital DJing. The problem with digital, is there's just something soulless about it. It's great software that requires as much or more skill than "physical" DJing, but there's just something missing from it... Part of being a good DJ is having a good stage presence, and being behind a laptop kinda ruins that.
Sorry about the no paragraphs, I forgot to turn HTML off :\
Okay. If you want to be a "top40" club dj, you don't need to really have many skills anymore. Just the ability to use some crappy software and knowlege of the latest 40 tracks. Most top40 clubs nowadays just have mp3 and "auto beatmatch" stuff turned on. What you do also really need is to know someone who's on the "inside". Also, you've gotta have a thick skin, because you're not gonna get much respect in "real" DJ circles (This next part is on being an electronic dance music DJ, I have no experience really with hiphop) If you want to be a REAL DJ, you will need to learn most of the tricks of the trade. Trust me, unless you're in podunk town, there's 1000s of DJs that are better than you who are more likely going to get gigs. For example, in Minneapolis, it seems like there's more DJs than clubgoers! So, to impress folks, you need to be good. You need to be almost PERFECT at beatmatching. Then, you generally have to pick a style of music at first and go with it exclusively. It's hard to learn how to mix many different styles of music as a noob. Generally, House or Trance is going to be your best bet in terms of learning, you can always switch to a new genre once you have the basics down. Now, realistically, when you start out, you're going to need to know vinyl. Because to be honest, your first gigs are probably gonna be 30 minutes to an hour at house parties as the guest of the DJ "in charge". Therefore, you can only really count on having vinyl turntables present. Also, learning vinyl first helps you learn it the "right way" first so moving to CDs later will be rather easy. The other way around really doesn't work so well. So, you're going to need to have a large budget. Generally, a record goes for about $8-13. This typically includes the original track and 1-3 remixes. Yes, DJing vinyl is EXPENSIVE, you'll need to have at least 30-50 records to play as playing the same 10 over and over again will be to your disadvantage.Once you have a good record bag going, get involved in the local music scene! The only way to get gigs is to know people. A helpful tool in getting gigs is to record demo CDs. This is an extremely cheap and effective method of getting your name out. Producing a good demo is outside of the scope of this discussion really, but if it's crappy and not produced well, it will reflect on you. If you don't have a good sound workstation, try to make friends with someone that has some quality audio recording and mastering gear so they can help you put a polished demo together. Anyways, burn some CDRs and slap your name and phone number/e-mail on the demo CDs and hand them out at other folks' gigs. Learning to DJ is a long process. To be honest with you, it takes at least a year of practice to become proficient and comfortable. Practice is the KEY here. DJ isn't something you LEARN per se, it's something you practice, like a sport, or riding a bike, etc. People can TEACH you the concepts of beatmatching and harmonic matching and whatever, but really, you'll figure it out yourself eventually with practice. Go out to clubs and be a "trainspotter", watch what the DJ is doing and try to listen to the music and take mental notes on what they do. Just don't expect to pick it up right away. Finally, good luck. A lot of people get into DJing and invest a load of cash and get frustrated and quit. Just keep plugging away at it.
The great thing about iTunes was it priced songs as the public really feels songs should be priced.
Now that prices will go up, piracy will once again rise. And they'll blame it on the p2p networks and ask for more DRM and copyright control legislation, when in fact it will be their own greed that will be ruining their business.
When will the greedy record companies learn?
Can't TinyURL just put a filter on input requiring a URL to be in the form of http://stuff.tld/stuff/stuff?
Inductive power has been around for a while, mostly in electric toothbrushes.
It's not "wireless" as the devices have to be pretty much touching the pad.
For things like mp3 players and cellphones, it's really useless unless you're completely lazy or hate charging wires with a passion.
No chance of brain cancer here, really.
These technologies sap battery like leeches. Unless you're connecting with a data cable though your cellular telephone, the real usefullness of these services lies in laptops, where larger batteries counteract the drain from the wireless connections. A lot of "devices" made for PDAs come with batteries onboard that do stretch your surfing time. But if it's a card, I doubt it would last long.
CDPD is one of the slowest wireless data technologies still in use. It's only 19.2kbps (max speed, you really only get 9600 and that only if you're lucky and in the middle of a cornfield next to a cell tower) and is overpriced for what you get. GSM/GPRS is a more viable option at 60kbps, or sprint's new 3G "PCS vision" service. (70kbps at the moment, has potetial for 1mbps+)
The communicator has many other tricks up its sleeve too I guess. It's too bad my brother in law isn't awake right now, (sweden is +6hrs from eastern time) he could tell you all about the communicator and the car itself, and clear up all of this FUD. (He did a lot of work on it for volvo)
My brother in law worked on some of the components of this car. It doesn't "run" anything. Nor does it even use 98. It uses windows CE to run a few of the non critical subsystems of the car. It's actually a great concept. Everyone needs to chill on the "jump down whoever's throat is mentioned using any microsoft product" bandwagon. This site is actually starting to sound a lot like middle school. Boo to MSNBC for misreporting and setting off the microsoft alarms.
OBD and the codes aforementioned are different. OBD (on-board diagnostics) is a very limited system that only gives certain diagnostic information about the car. The codes in question here are ones about more detailed systems, and are basically the "dumps" of all of what the computer processes, not just if a fault code is stored. This way if your computer doesn't sense something is wrong to store a fault code, the dealerships can still figure out exactly what is going on with the engine and what settings the computer has the engine running at. Most car manufacturers have extra computer systems attached to cars nowadays that arent linked to the OBD system. The bill Senator Wellstone is proposing basically makes it so any information that a dealer can extract from the computers must also be shared with the 3rd party mechanics. This goes far above and beyond OBD. I personally think it's a good step. It seems to me like the dealers want to hide information from the customers and then claim the problems are not covered under warranty.
The costs are too high. Unless you give away the players, there is no way people are gonna drop money for a new device.
The blank price is too high as well.
Finally theres a reporter who can make sense of this whole witch hunt. There has been a select few good reports from various sources, but most of the mainstream media has been anti video game bullcrap. It's good to see that the big news organizations are getting a clue.
Small, efficient, fast car. Great for the geek on the run. Pricey for a used car, but definately worth it. Im hoping to get one very soon.
Any of the ones that went to the moon....
Use that gravitational pull like a slingshot when you first play, because its impossible to thrust away... Kinda like what astronauts really have to do...
How about answering the questions? You always try to meld the truth to you're little ideal world, in where you are the 1337357 h4x0r ever. How about actually thinking how stupid you are to everyone else but the people that are fooled by your facade of being an "expert" on computer security? Why is it whenever you personally respond to some issue that has to do with your malicious intents, you say everyone else is wrong and you are right? You immediately flip the issue to the accuser! How about just going back to the script kiddie life you used to live (and still do at times)?
Ffor people wondering why if his name is Linus that we pronounce it LINN-ucks, its because he pronounces his name LINN-us. There ya go :P
My english teacher met her husband on a MUD. I guess it worked out.....
Wow. These benches are awesome looking, but as I sit here in awe, I wonder, how much are they gonna cost? AMD has always been known for its great pricing, but now with this new chip, will they stray from their roots? I want to build a system soon, but if the processor is too expensive, it won't be an option for it. Let's hope AMD keeps it reasonable, even with its intel-crushing speed.
.
But wouldnt doing this make your US citizenship invalid? Hmm.. Dont sign up unless you dont want the perks of voting here, etc. I think it's a good idea, but its not gonna fly with US citizens...