This certainly doesn't assume that safety is a given. First, if you don't trust your employees that have access to missions critical systems/networks, you've got serious problems that a virus scanner isn't gonna fix.
The system I explained makes this very easy. The first way is to simply bury the connections for your mission critical network behind locked boxes. And if you're using a cabinet for the box, this is already done for you. Not to mention that many of the locations with similar set ups already have a strict "no laptops" policy. Another easy way to keep ppl from connecting to the network is to use non-standard connectors. This makes it so only the computer side of the connection has to be hidden.
The other way of securing the network (I know you'ld like to suggest they are sticking control systems in their lobby) is to require MAC authentication. I've even seen systems that use a rolling MAC address based on a standard time.
I know that similar posts have been made, but I don't think this can be expressed enough!!!
You shouldn't need AV software in the systems you describe. These should not require direct access to an untrusted network...there is no reason why someone should be installing their own software on the system...and the systems should be designed as such (no direct access...a locked cabinet is a good idea here, and secondary/tertiary networks for workstation access to data)...if you really must have mission critical systems open to viruses, and you are using standard peecee hardware, you could always try an Antivirus PCI Card.
I guess this might be another advantage of using Linux for mission critical apps...chances are the employees don't have access to software...
Go to your local courthouse and tell me how intrusive airport security is...You have many options to keep this from happening. The first I can think of is to travel another way...train, bus, car, etc.
And if that's not an option, consider leaving your notebook at home...maybe take a Palm Pilot (these go through X-Rays with no problem and security has seen these enough to know how to check one...I've even had them ask me to turn it on and show it to them if they are concerned about breaking it).
But, if it's a business trip and you must take it with you...you will know when something happens/might happen to it. If you suspect something, you should simply check your notebook at the other end of the X-Ray machine (there's always a table close to security for collecting your things). Then, after you have confirmed a problem, is when you should ask for some sort of voucher/note/etc...
As for being intrusive, this isn't covered in the 4th amendment this is a special situation...an airport is a private (not open to the general public) place.
Well, that might explain it. But I personally don't think an on campus network counts. First thing is, I don't know of many ppl that get a newspaper in their dorm:) Second, you should only be there for ~4 years (6 for a masters). This is not a long term solution. The chances are that there are probably multiple T-1s in use at the college and you are only getting 100Mbit in the school network. I'ld also be interested in finding out if you get 100Mbit across campus, or only 10Mbit. Chances are that 100Mbit only works for his floor/building. Granted, that's nice...you can play network games, share files, etc over the network, but it's hardly the whole internet:)
Plus, as you say, that's shared...and if it's in a dorm, it's heavily shared...100 rooms on a 1.5Mbit T-1 is going to quickly saturate the line...I'ld be impressed if you were getting a sustained 128k at night under those conditions.
I'ld really like to know how you are getting 100Mbit at such a low price. I know you don't have an OC-3 for that price. Are you sure that's not 512k? The speed of your LAN doesn't count. It's the speed from your provider. For 99% of the sites out there, you can only get 1.5Mbit (and that's perfect conditions).
At least here, all of our major newspapers are online. All of their articles are online and all of the classifieds are online. The only things you don't get are coupons, comics and "fillers" (like the political cartoons). But you can get most those in other places. The other advantage of online news is you get the exact amount of coverage you want for what you want, and in many cases quicker than even the 24/7 TV networks can get it.
For TV...I'ld give it a few years and we'll probably be getting all of our TV over a broadband connection. For those that don't know, there are already services that deliver pre-recorded international television (Japan, India, UK, etc) over the internet. All of the major US TV shows (i.e. Enterprise) are already being posted to usenet the same day they are shown.
You can also get phone service online. And for many with Cell Phone service, they have already dropped their land line.
I think there are quite a few things that you can give up to keep a broadband connection if you think about it.
I've been seeing alot of ppl complaining that this is "playing god"...
First off, carp have a tendency to kill off eveything in their eco-system (they use up all of the oxygen and they eat all of the vegitation) so endangered species are feeling the "pinch".
Second, these are most likely the offspring of bait!!!
Yes, fishing has caused this problem. They're just trying to put things back the way they were.
Most definitely the RIAA. The porn industry is mostly run by the maffia, so if you lose all your money, consider yourself lucky.
Oh, and where exactly do you get this kind of information? I'ld really like to know...
It might seem glamourous to think this, but it's simply not true. The industry runs off of money and profit just like any other industry. The larger magazines/sites/filmmakers can afford to get better models and can also afford to treat their models/photographers/employees better. In actuality, the porn industry co-exists with hollywood/mainstream media...they use similar distribution channels and similar business models.
The real "geek" sport on TV is "Junkyard Wars". That is far more of an intellectual and competitive exercise than putting wheels on a metal box.
I whole-heartedly agree. Not to mention the fact that at least 3 of the members from each team have to be pretty good at alot of things...in all actuality, the win/lose variable is generally how good their "expert" is. They have to build everything from drag racers and hovercrafts to catapults. Those guys on BattleBots don't even have to make their own machine. Anyone remember the kid that bought a complete BattleBot on E-Bay?
BattleBots does not belong on TLC... they already tried it...it was called Robotica!!! But, what we should really be getting behind are the shows like Junkyard Wars.
As I'm sure others will point out, these were generally nothing more than glorified remote controlled cars. The truly inovative bots were few and far between, and most of them were either designed as a "wedge" or a "flipper".
I'm not saying that shows like this shouldn't exist or even that it doesn't take know-how to build them, it's just that most of the ideas have been done over-and-over again...anyhow, I'ld call 5 years a pretty good run for most any show...I mean how much longer can you really go until there's nothing new being done. I actually think we're there now, we just didn't realize it till now.
You might get something as a Saturday Morning show on one of the networks, but I wouldn't count on it.
Here's a question...why can't the contests continue without a TV Show? I mean, anything that I'ld actually term as a sport should be able to survive without prime-time television coverage. And if it honestly holds such a large "geek" audience, then companies like IBM, Dell, and Apple should be scrambling to sponsor events and bots...
On a side note, I personally enjoyed the shows, but like most ppl thought it was out of place on CC.
I run a $80 HP 610CL on my Linux print server. Here's how I figure it...
The printer cost = ~$80... Bought from Wal-Mart Blank Cartridge = ~25 (Black) or ~$35 (color) Universal Ink Jet Refill Kit = $20 (Black/Color) (3 refills)... Bought from Wal-Mart or CompUSA or Custom Ink Jet Refill Kit = ~$30 (Both Black & Color) (~30 refills each)... Bought at a computer show
Now, you could buy a $200 printer, but I doubt you would be as likely to do your own refills.
Cartridges can only be refilled up to 3 times. (don't buy "recycled cartridges") So, you are saving roughly $30 for every 3 refills...If you are using the Custom Kit, it's more like $60 per 3 refills...
And figuring for $30, you are paying back the cost of the printer in cartridges after only 3 cartridges.
Here's the other thing...printer technology is always getting better...the printer you buy today at $80 is probably going to be replaced by another with more features (higher resolution, faster, etc) 6 months from now.
With an $80 printer, you can really throw it away when it breaks. With the $200 printer, you feel like you have to fix it.
Sorry about that, some of you have pointed out that I used the same translation for both. It should have read...
BabelFish: "RealAudio Surround, the fire-new Windows Media 9 beta" WorldLingo: (using Computer, Data Processing as the subject) "RealAudio Surround, improved with low bit rates Windows Media 9 beta"
The WorldLingo Translation seems to be better than babelfish because of the option to do content specific translation...
Compare the different translations of the same text...
BabelFish: "RealAudio Surround, the fire-new Windows Media 9 beta" WorldLingo: (using Computer, Data Processing as the subject) "RealAudio Surround, the fire-new Windows Media 9 beta"
"Participating stores will be clearly identified to the public."
Translation: Warning sign...
This has always been the way things happen. ATMs take your photograph, stores take drivers license numbers, and some even try to take your SSN...I've seen this happen alot with student IDs (maybe unknowingly) that use your SSN.
There's always cash....However, I can't see how this is designed to help the rightful owner...if someone steals a checkbook, they can always go to a "non-participating location"...
Your phone/power/cable/water company isn't making you give them a fingerprint. I personally don't know of many ppl that still use a check...most ppl that I know are using "Check Cards".
recording audio tapes off of the C= 64's datasette:)
I think it was like 2-bit (no pun intended) audio. You could hear the music there as well, but you couldn't do anything like rock...it would just become noise. But, "spoken word" recordings were ok. I remembered having a disc that contained "historical recordings" (JFK, Nixon, etc). If you didn't expect too much, it was actually kind of fun:)
But my question is, how does this guy ever expect us to belive that these recordings were done in the method decribed if he won't release the code...
If the car has bucket seats, it'ld be nearly impossible...and if they are using a 5-point harness instead of an over-the-shoulder seat belt (I think these should be in every vehicle's front seat), you CAN'T look out of the rear window.
You'd do the exact same thing that every trucker and RVer does
Only if you have wide mirrors like Truckers and RVers...I don't know of many vehicles that could be considered a "car" that are equiped with wide mirrors...
I don't know of many "solar cars" that don't at least have a small battery attached...or you couldn't run the car on a cloudy day...can we say "Stop and go driving":)
Are you talking about installing this "intead of" your rear view mirror?
If you replace the mirror, how will you handle a malfunction on the interstate, in rush-hour traffic??? What happens if a connection goes out, or the screen just up and dies? (LCDs just "die" more often than CRTs) You'ld want to run it off of the car battery to insure constant power, and to do this you'ld probably need to use a B&W LCD...Color is just too power-hungry and the high resolution requirement puts a huge draw on the power as well.
It sounds like a neat idea at first, but I don't think I want my safety riding on an LCD and a cheap camera...
I think a blind-spot camera could be good, but not as a replacement for the rear view mirror...I doubt it would pass most state inspections anyhow.
What about modifing a Marine Radar...it's more information than you'ld usually have, and if it suddenly stops working, you won't DIE.
The best things to come of this will be things like a coat that would notify you when threatening weather was approaching or a jacket that could monitor a pacemaker that could monitor your heart rate.
Or how about a bulletproof vest for police that sent an emergency signal to the dispatcher if a seal is broken (shot fired). Maybe even tennis shoes for kids that could help authorities locate the child if they were lost/kidnapped.
I was discussing this very subject today. It's pertty much agreed that the biggest problem is the cost of the drive itself, followed by the cost of media.
My guess it that the price point for wide purchase of DVD Writers is $179...why $179? Well, this suggests that the $199 point would have already been reached...but most think "That's just $200"...no one want's to pay $200 for a drive....And $189 would have also been broken...but some won't buy there...and when you get to $179, you already have 3 choices under $200 and this suggest a good selection. And at the $179 price point, this suggests that there is likely to be a $169 drive in the near future...and you're no longer talking ~$200, but ~$150.
For some, media cost is a problem, but it's likely to go down as soon as ppl start buying burners.
The real problem is, lack of cheap drive manufacturers...you know, the Lite-Ons and the Pacific Digitals (Mostly repackaged Mitsumis).
This has already claimed one of VT's suppliers, when VT failed to make payments, the supplier folded. This may also affect TotalEMS, a manufacturing company that was a supplier for VisionTek, and is owned by the "owners" of VisionTek, as TotalEMS was picked up in bankruptcy proceedings to begin with.
And considering the size of the company, this very well may cause problems with more companies.
The other thing is...
The company doing rebates has stopped honoring them because of non payment.
On a side note, they also mention that they were informed that all content on Hard OCP is copyrighted...
Anyhow, I own a GF3 TI200 VisionTek card...I just had to replace the fan on it last week (not spinning)...I called their tech support # (800) and was on hold for over 3 hours until I decided there must be something going on...I figured it involved their move, but I musta been wrong:)... I ended up buying a Blue Orb:)
Anyhow, VisionTek made some good cards...all of the cards they made were Reference cards (except the extremely new Xtasy Everything). So, VisionTek cards should work well into the future.
I will first say that I used to use BladeENC for all of my MP3 encoding. And somewhere (about a year ago) I realized that LAME was advancing beyond BladeENC in terms of quality.
I also agree with his interpertation of MP3 and how the owners of the format have made it harder on developers as it became more widely accepted. I also agree that Ogg Vorbis is a better format than MP3. Vorbis is actually becomming very popular as a sound format for MPEG4-based video codecs (DIVX/XVID/etc). The main reason for this (besides the fact of higher quality and smaller size) is that OGG supports multiple channels (read AC3).
I would certainly be interested in seeing a new encoder by this author for the Ogg Vorbis format. I know that he mentions that:
Now, four years later, I feel more like eventually starting some new hobby project which lies closer to my area of knowledge and interest.
Of course, this is only a hope...I realise that directly before this he says:
My skills are in designing and building elegant and flexible systems for handling complex tasks in an optimal way, not dealing with FFTs, compression technologies or scientific models for subjective perception of audio.
Hopefully, BladeENC is merely a beginning for him. I think that, while he might not have the extensive background required for writing an encoder, that may very well be the one thing that sets his project apart from an encoder like LAME.
Really? Well, my intention was to point out the use of a RAM Drive. And since RAM is very cheap now (under $100 for 512M of Mid-Range DDR) and since some modern motherboards will take over 2GB of RAM, it's not too hard to figure this one out...
However I actually like the Amiga's RAM drive the most...besides the RAD Drive (a RAM Drive that survives reboot and can even be booted from)...the Amiga's RAM drive dynamically allocated the required ammount of RAM to the drive...never too little...never too much...SO it just made sense to keep the RAM Drive mounted because if you weren't using it, it wasn't taking barely anything.
Should we start naming the things that we can do with a 1GB RAM Drive?
- Downloads don't fragment the Hard Drive - You can burn ISOs directly from RAM - You can put your entire OS on your RAM Drive - Use it for log files and caches - The uses are endless
Consider the cost of 1GB of RAM (~$200) and think of it as investing in a drive that is faster than any drive even under development...not even SCSI RAID can come close to the speed that you'll see from a RAM drive...
Kewl, it's $149, but you're getting what is pretty much "SID Surround" (Can I TM that now):)
Plus it says you get a free SID chip with every purchase...
Are they actually making the new chips or just buying up old stock? I see the cards have a C= logo on them...so they're probably old stock. From reading that, it seems that you are only getting a card that can take 4 SID chips...not a card with 4 SID chips...and that's why they are giving a "Free SID Chip with every card"...
I wonder how difficult it would be for ppl to start making new SID chips...it sounds like there might be a market for em...
Slashdot Mirror
This certainly doesn't assume that safety is a given. First, if you don't trust your employees that have access to missions critical systems/networks, you've got serious problems that a virus scanner isn't gonna fix.
The system I explained makes this very easy. The first way is to simply bury the connections for your mission critical network behind locked boxes. And if you're using a cabinet for the box, this is already done for you. Not to mention that many of the locations with similar set ups already have a strict "no laptops" policy. Another easy way to keep ppl from connecting to the network is to use non-standard connectors. This makes it so only the computer side of the connection has to be hidden.
The other way of securing the network (I know you'ld like to suggest they are sticking control systems in their lobby) is to require MAC authentication. I've even seen systems that use a rolling MAC address based on a standard time.
I know that similar posts have been made, but I don't think this can be expressed enough!!!
You shouldn't need AV software in the systems you describe. These should not require direct access to an untrusted network...there is no reason why someone should be installing their own software on the system...and the systems should be designed as such (no direct access...a locked cabinet is a good idea here, and secondary/tertiary networks for workstation access to data)...if you really must have mission critical systems open to viruses, and you are using standard peecee hardware, you could always try an Antivirus PCI Card.
I guess this might be another advantage of using Linux for mission critical apps...chances are the employees don't have access to software...
Go to your local courthouse and tell me how intrusive airport security is...You have many options to keep this from happening. The first I can think of is to travel another way...train, bus, car, etc.
And if that's not an option, consider leaving your notebook at home...maybe take a Palm Pilot (these go through X-Rays with no problem and security has seen these enough to know how to check one...I've even had them ask me to turn it on and show it to them if they are concerned about breaking it).
But, if it's a business trip and you must take it with you...you will know when something happens/might happen to it. If you suspect something, you should simply check your notebook at the other end of the X-Ray machine (there's always a table close to security for collecting your things). Then, after you have confirmed a problem, is when you should ask for some sort of voucher/note/etc...
As for being intrusive, this isn't covered in the 4th amendment this is a special situation...an airport is a private (not open to the general public) place.
Well, that might explain it. But I personally don't think an on campus network counts. First thing is, I don't know of many ppl that get a newspaper in their dorm :) Second, you should only be there for ~4 years (6 for a masters). This is not a long term solution. The chances are that there are probably multiple T-1s in use at the college and you are only getting 100Mbit in the school network. I'ld also be interested in finding out if you get 100Mbit across campus, or only 10Mbit. Chances are that 100Mbit only works for his floor/building. Granted, that's nice...you can play network games, share files, etc over the network, but it's hardly the whole internet :)
Plus, as you say, that's shared...and if it's in a dorm, it's heavily shared...100 rooms on a 1.5Mbit T-1 is going to quickly saturate the line...I'ld be impressed if you were getting a sustained 128k at night under those conditions.
I'ld really like to know how you are getting 100Mbit at such a low price. I know you don't have an OC-3 for that price. Are you sure that's not 512k? The speed of your LAN doesn't count. It's the speed from your provider. For 99% of the sites out there, you can only get 1.5Mbit (and that's perfect conditions).
At least here, all of our major newspapers are online. All of their articles are online and all of the classifieds are online. The only things you don't get are coupons, comics and "fillers" (like the political cartoons). But you can get most those in other places. The other advantage of online news is you get the exact amount of coverage you want for what you want, and in many cases quicker than even the 24/7 TV networks can get it.
For TV...I'ld give it a few years and we'll probably be getting all of our TV over a broadband connection. For those that don't know, there are already services that deliver pre-recorded international television (Japan, India, UK, etc) over the internet. All of the major US TV shows (i.e. Enterprise) are already being posted to usenet the same day they are shown.
You can also get phone service online. And for many with Cell Phone service, they have already dropped their land line.
I think there are quite a few things that you can give up to keep a broadband connection if you think about it.
I've been seeing alot of ppl complaining that this is "playing god"...
First off, carp have a tendency to kill off eveything in their eco-system (they use up all of the oxygen and they eat all of the vegitation) so endangered species are feeling the "pinch".
Second, these are most likely the offspring of bait!!!
Yes, fishing has caused this problem. They're just trying to put things back the way they were.
Most definitely the RIAA. The porn industry is mostly run by the maffia, so if you lose all your money, consider yourself lucky.
Oh, and where exactly do you get this kind of information? I'ld really like to know...
It might seem glamourous to think this, but it's simply not true. The industry runs off of money and profit just like any other industry. The larger magazines/sites/filmmakers can afford to get better models and can also afford to treat their models/photographers/employees better. In actuality, the porn industry co-exists with hollywood/mainstream media...they use similar distribution channels and similar business models.
If you look at the history of Playboy Enterprises, Larry Flynt Publications (Hustler)...who might I add runs his own Linux-based weblog, and General Media Communications, Inc. (Penthouse). You will find that they are all owned and operated by corporations/individuals and follow the letter of the law...they have to, because they are watched closely by special interest groups.
And at least in the instance of Hustler, their website is running off of Linux.
The real "geek" sport on TV is "Junkyard Wars". That is far more of an intellectual and competitive exercise than putting wheels on a metal box.
I whole-heartedly agree. Not to mention the fact that at least 3 of the members from each team have to be pretty good at alot of things...in all actuality, the win/lose variable is generally how good their "expert" is. They have to build everything from drag racers and hovercrafts to catapults. Those guys on BattleBots don't even have to make their own machine. Anyone remember the kid that bought a complete BattleBot on E-Bay?
BattleBots does not belong on TLC ... they already tried it...it was called Robotica!!! But, what we should really be getting behind are the shows like Junkyard Wars.
As I'm sure others will point out, these were generally nothing more than glorified remote controlled cars. The truly inovative bots were few and far between, and most of them were either designed as a "wedge" or a "flipper".
I'm not saying that shows like this shouldn't exist or even that it doesn't take know-how to build them, it's just that most of the ideas have been done over-and-over again...anyhow, I'ld call 5 years a pretty good run for most any show...I mean how much longer can you really go until there's nothing new being done. I actually think we're there now, we just didn't realize it till now.
You might get something as a Saturday Morning show on one of the networks, but I wouldn't count on it.
Here's a question...why can't the contests continue without a TV Show? I mean, anything that I'ld actually term as a sport should be able to survive without prime-time television coverage. And if it honestly holds such a large "geek" audience, then companies like IBM, Dell, and Apple should be scrambling to sponsor events and bots...
On a side note, I personally enjoyed the shows, but like most ppl thought it was out of place on CC.
I run a $80 HP 610CL on my Linux print server. Here's how I figure it...
... Bought from Wal-Mart ... Bought from Wal-Mart or CompUSA ... Bought at a computer show
The printer cost = ~$80
Blank Cartridge = ~25 (Black) or ~$35 (color)
Universal Ink Jet Refill Kit = $20 (Black/Color) (3 refills)
or
Custom Ink Jet Refill Kit = ~$30 (Both Black & Color) (~30 refills each)
Now, you could buy a $200 printer, but I doubt you would be as likely to do your own refills.
Cartridges can only be refilled up to 3 times. (don't buy "recycled cartridges") So, you are saving roughly $30 for every 3 refills...If you are using the Custom Kit, it's more like $60 per 3 refills...
And figuring for $30, you are paying back the cost of the printer in cartridges after only 3 cartridges.
Here's the other thing...printer technology is always getting better...the printer you buy today at $80 is probably going to be replaced by another with more features (higher resolution, faster, etc) 6 months from now.
With an $80 printer, you can really throw it away when it breaks. With the $200 printer, you feel like you have to fix it.
Sorry about that, some of you have pointed out that I used the same translation for both.
It should have read...
BabelFish: "RealAudio Surround, the fire-new Windows Media 9 beta"
WorldLingo: (using Computer, Data Processing as the subject) "RealAudio Surround, improved with low bit rates Windows Media 9 beta"
The WorldLingo Translation seems to be better than babelfish because of the option to do content specific translation...
Compare the different translations of the same text...
BabelFish: "RealAudio Surround, the fire-new Windows Media 9 beta"
WorldLingo: (using Computer, Data Processing as the subject) "RealAudio Surround, the fire-new Windows Media 9 beta"
You can also do your own translation here.
"Participating stores will be clearly identified to the public."
Translation: Warning sign...
This has always been the way things happen. ATMs take your photograph, stores take drivers license numbers, and some even try to take your SSN...I've seen this happen alot with student IDs (maybe unknowingly) that use your SSN.
There's always cash....However, I can't see how this is designed to help the rightful owner...if someone steals a checkbook, they can always go to a "non-participating location"...
Your phone/power/cable/water company isn't making you give them a fingerprint. I personally don't know of many ppl that still use a check...most ppl that I know are using "Check Cards".
recording audio tapes off of the C= 64's datasette :)
:)
I think it was like 2-bit (no pun intended) audio. You could hear the music there as well, but you couldn't do anything like rock...it would just become noise. But, "spoken word" recordings were ok. I remembered having a disc that contained "historical recordings" (JFK, Nixon, etc). If you didn't expect too much, it was actually kind of fun
But my question is, how does this guy ever expect us to belive that these recordings were done in the method decribed if he won't release the code...
If the car has bucket seats, it'ld be nearly impossible...and if they are using a 5-point harness instead of an over-the-shoulder seat belt (I think these should be in every vehicle's front seat), you CAN'T look out of the rear window.
You'd do the exact same thing that every trucker and RVer does
Only if you have wide mirrors like Truckers and RVers...I don't know of many vehicles that could be considered a "car" that are equiped with wide mirrors...
SOLAR car, hence no battery
:)
I don't know of many "solar cars" that don't at least have a small battery attached...or you couldn't run the car on a cloudy day...can we say "Stop and go driving"
Are you talking about installing this "intead of" your rear view mirror?
...it's more information than you'ld usually have, and if it suddenly stops working, you won't DIE.
If you replace the mirror, how will you handle a malfunction on the interstate, in rush-hour traffic??? What happens if a connection goes out, or the screen just up and dies? (LCDs just "die" more often than CRTs) You'ld want to run it off of the car battery to insure constant power, and to do this you'ld probably need to use a B&W LCD...Color is just too power-hungry and the high resolution requirement puts a huge draw on the power as well.
It sounds like a neat idea at first, but I don't think I want my safety riding on an LCD and a cheap camera...
I think a blind-spot camera could be good, but not as a replacement for the rear view mirror...I doubt it would pass most state inspections anyhow.
What about modifing a Marine Radar
The best things to come of this will be things like a coat that would notify you when threatening weather was approaching or a jacket that could monitor a pacemaker that could monitor your heart rate.
Or how about a bulletproof vest for police that sent an emergency signal to the dispatcher if a seal is broken (shot fired). Maybe even tennis shoes for kids that could help authorities locate the child if they were lost/kidnapped.
I was discussing this very subject today. It's pertty much agreed that the biggest problem is the cost of the drive itself, followed by the cost of media.
My guess it that the price point for wide purchase of DVD Writers is $179...why $179? Well, this suggests that the $199 point would have already been reached...but most think "That's just $200"...no one want's to pay $200 for a drive....And $189 would have also been broken...but some won't buy there...and when you get to $179, you already have 3 choices under $200 and this suggest a good selection. And at the $179 price point, this suggests that there is likely to be a $169 drive in the near future...and you're no longer talking ~$200, but ~$150.
For some, media cost is a problem, but it's likely to go down as soon as ppl start buying burners.
The real problem is, lack of cheap drive manufacturers...you know, the Lite-Ons and the Pacific Digitals (Mostly repackaged Mitsumis).
nV News has a story about this too...
...
...
:) ... I ended up buying a Blue Orb :)
What they mention is that
This has already claimed one of VT's suppliers, when VT failed to make payments, the supplier folded. This may also affect TotalEMS, a manufacturing company that was a supplier for VisionTek, and is owned by the "owners" of VisionTek, as TotalEMS was picked up in bankruptcy proceedings to begin with.
And considering the size of the company, this very well may cause problems with more companies.
The other thing is
The company doing rebates has stopped honoring them because of non payment.
On a side note, they also mention that they were informed that all content on Hard OCP is copyrighted...
Anyhow, I own a GF3 TI200 VisionTek card...I just had to replace the fan on it last week (not spinning)...I called their tech support # (800) and was on hold for over 3 hours until I decided there must be something going on...I figured it involved their move, but I musta been wrong
Anyhow, VisionTek made some good cards...all of the cards they made were Reference cards (except the extremely new Xtasy Everything). So, VisionTek cards should work well into the future.
I will first say that I used to use BladeENC for all of my MP3 encoding. And somewhere (about a year ago) I realized that LAME was advancing beyond BladeENC in terms of quality.
I also agree with his interpertation of MP3 and how the owners of the format have made it harder on developers as it became more widely accepted. I also agree that Ogg Vorbis is a better format than MP3. Vorbis is actually becomming very popular as a sound format for MPEG4-based video codecs (DIVX/XVID/etc). The main reason for this (besides the fact of higher quality and smaller size) is that OGG supports multiple channels (read AC3).
I would certainly be interested in seeing a new encoder by this author for the Ogg Vorbis format. I know that he mentions that:
Now, four years later, I feel more like eventually starting some new hobby project which lies closer to my area of knowledge and interest.
Of course, this is only a hope...I realise that directly before this he says:
My skills are in designing and building elegant and flexible systems for handling complex tasks in an optimal way, not dealing with FFTs, compression technologies or scientific models for subjective perception of audio.
Hopefully, BladeENC is merely a beginning for him. I think that, while he might not have the extensive background required for writing an encoder, that may very well be the one thing that sets his project apart from an encoder like LAME.
Really? Well, my intention was to point out the use of a RAM Drive. And since RAM is very cheap now (under $100 for 512M of Mid-Range DDR) and since some modern motherboards will take over 2GB of RAM, it's not too hard to figure this one out...
However I actually like the Amiga's RAM drive the most...besides the RAD Drive (a RAM Drive that survives reboot and can even be booted from)...the Amiga's RAM drive dynamically allocated the required ammount of RAM to the drive...never too little...never too much...SO it just made sense to keep the RAM Drive mounted because if you weren't using it, it wasn't taking barely anything.
Should we start naming the things that we can do with a 1GB RAM Drive?
- Downloads don't fragment the Hard Drive
- You can burn ISOs directly from RAM
- You can put your entire OS on your RAM Drive
- Use it for log files and caches
- The uses are endless
Consider the cost of 1GB of RAM (~$200) and think of it as investing in a drive that is faster than any drive even under development...not even SCSI RAID can come close to the speed that you'll see from a RAM drive...
Kewl, it's $149, but you're getting what is pretty much "SID Surround" (Can I TM that now) :)
Plus it says you get a free SID chip with every purchase...
Are they actually making the new chips or just buying up old stock? I see the cards have a C= logo on them...so they're probably old stock. From reading that, it seems that you are only getting a card that can take 4 SID chips...not a card with 4 SID chips...and that's why they are giving a "Free SID Chip with every card"...
I wonder how difficult it would be for ppl to start making new SID chips...it sounds like there might be a market for em...