Now that everyone and their dog (in North America anyway) has a cable modem or DSL line it is increasingly easier to transfer 256K MP3s - which are near CD quality.
Everyone and their dog? I live on Long Island, one of the most affluent areas of the country, and ADSL was not even available where I live until this past Christmas, and Cable Modem is still not available (thanks, crapola Cablevision). I have yet to meet anybody who even knows anybody with ADSL or C.M. Definitely not as widespread as you claim.
And as for 256K mp3, isn't the object of MP3 small files? I gave up on mp3 a while ago for songs I really like. I had all of Blizzard of Ozz, all of Dark Side Of The Moon, and I just got sick of the crappy sound. these were encoded at 192. I could tell the difference. I realized the value of MP3 is not in keeping the music for posterity, it's in giving you the ability to listen to a song for a week or a month, and then if you still like it, and it's worth buying, you buy it. At least that's the way I look at it. So I went and bought those two discs and breathed a sigh of relief when I heard them. As long as CDs outperform MP3 to my sensitive eardrums, they will have a customer in me. But I'm not going to shell out my hard-earned dough for crapola, fad songs that I listen to once.
I think what the music industry should do is release 56k encoded mp3s of entire albums so people can listen before buying. If they like it enough, they'll buy it. If not, then not. Plus, you don't need a cable modem for a 56k, 22khz, mono mp3. Of course, fat chance they'll ever do anything like this.
MP3 is not the solution for the world's problems, but I don't think it's dead. Though anybody who thinks it's the last stop on this train is headed in the wrong direction.
Yeah, accuracy counts. But precision counts more. The computer doesn't care if you call the variable "charachter" or "character" or "karacktor." So if he named a variable "charachter," and kept referring to it as "charachter," it would be fine.
And this is not NASA software we're dealing with, this is more along the lines of a "friendly letter." I'm sure Taco is careful in proportion to the importance of whatever he is working on.
Every so often, usually in response to a rather long post, someone (or someones) adds a "proofread things before you post!!!!1111" or "characters, not charachters!!!1111" tag to Mr. Malda's generally nicely worded article.
I don't remember where (maybe the faq), but Rob has said that he's a programmer, not a writer. I mean, come on; all the thousands of lines of code it takes to run a joint like Slashdot and you're going to fault him for some silly spelling mistakes? Have you ever noticed that the mistakes are generally always the same ones? For example, "to" and "too" are often switched, and the "charac(h)ter" example already mentioned. This probably means that this is how he thinks the word is spelt, in which case the mistake would not be detected upon rereading.
The emphasis on spelling is completely overdone in our society. We have all these spelling bees which really serve no purpose. The national spelling bee is broadcast on ESPN to give the kids a sense of importance, but honestly, spelling is one of the more useless talents a person can have.
Spelling is, of course, important. Proper spelling is necessary in major publications, such as the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times in order for them to be taken seriously. But such publications have armies of editors who proofread articles for a living, and are trained to pick up typographical, spelling, and grammatical errors. Would you suggest Rob employ such a person? What a waste that would be.
There was a guy in my eleventh grade English class who had atrocious spelling. I can't recall any illustrative examples right now, but I remember that it was pretty terrible. The teacher told us repeatedly that spelling had nothing to do with writing ability, and that some of the best writing she had ever seen was riddled with egregious ($5 please) spelling errors. I, being of the old "if-you-can't-spell-you-can't-write" school of thought, scoffed at her claims. But as the year progressed and I read more of Steve (the bad speller)'s writing, I began to see that she was correct. Despite the errors, his was some of the most beautiful writing I had ever seen. The Educational Testing Service agreed, awarding him a 5 (out of 5) on the English Language and Composition AP Exam.
And though it's true that spell- and grammar-checkers are available (if not ubiquitous [$5]), who actually writes up their Slashdot comments in Word (or whatever word-processor you prefer), spell-checks them, then cuts-and-pastes them into the Comment box? ANYBODY?
If you do, sir/madam, you are almost as anal as the guy I met freshman year who refused to make web pages because they didn't look "exactly" the way he wanted, and instead included links to.pdfs that looked "exactly" the way he wanted.
So in short what I am trying to say is lay off the spelling issue. If it bothers you that much, maybe just email Rob a version sans-errors that he can repost if he wants. I don't really know. I usually pride myself on correct spelling (not to say I don't make frequent mistakes) but I rarely come down on anyone else for their spelling ability (or lack thereof). It's rather petty and doesn't affect the quality of the content. Would you rather Rob stop to examine every "to" or continue writing splendid content? Hmm?
Right.
Number of errors in this post: _____ Ha!
PS - regarding the moderation, if a post is marked with a -1, how can people see the replies to it if their threshold is +1? Just wondering. I keep mine at -1.
Is it Motorola or IBM? I always thought it was Motorola, but anytime I see PowerPC used, there's always a disclaimer about "PowerPC is a registered trademark of International Business Machines" (look at the bottom of LinuxPPC's home page, for example).
Does Motorola just manufacture the chip that IBM designs?
I never hear anything about Motorola. With the speed of the G3/G4, and with AltiVec too, I would think more people would be talking about them... but I never hear anything. I remember seeing ads for their "DigitalDNA" a couple of months ago, but that's about it.
``During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet.''
The Internet, originally called ARPANET, dates to 1969, when the Defense Department began funding the project. Gore, then 21, was still eight years away from joining Congress.
Gore aides say their boss has a rightful claim, having promoted the Internet and government funding for the project while in Congress.
I figured he would say something like "Oh, I really meant..." but instead his aides are saying he really did invent the internet. No, not in those words, but they said he "has a rightful claim."
He plainly said, "I took the initiative in creating the internet," implying that he had something to do with the creation of the internet. "Promoting" and getting "government funding" for the project are so far removed from creating the internet that his aides' assertion that he is correct is an insult to the American people.
I like Gore much more than Dole or Bush, but to come out with an in-your-face lie like this is simply unacceptable. The fact that he stuck with his claim instead of apologizing is really a blow against him.
Plus, I don't see how any of his "promotion" or "government funding" had anything to do with the internet at all. The internet caught on because of Tim Berners-Lee's wonderful world wide web.
Truly politics at its worst. I guess next year will be a lesser-of-two-evils campaign for me.
When will MS release their own Linux Distro?
on
MS Office for Linux
·
· Score: 1
I agree that Office for linux will probably make it a more appealing option for businesses, but then again, they will be pushing out tons of competitors. Just like they managed to kill WordPerfect... for the Mac. But that was due also in part to deals between MS and Apple. As long as MS doesn't sign any deals with RedHat, or whatever Linux they'll be supporting, it will be fine. But who would buy office? Yeah, I guess businesses, but not me... then again, I'm not very Linuxy myself, I use Word on my Mac. As far as Linux is concerned, all I know how to use is Netscape.
But back to the original question... why doesn't MS release its own Linux distro? Sure, the existing Linux committee would hate it 110%, but those same business guys would love it. Oh right... open source... nevermind.
Why noy MPEG? Because Quicktime is available for Mac and Windows, which is pretty much the vast majority of desktop users. Also some pressuring by Mr. Jobs obviously played no small role. If you follow this link, you can see that Apple sent its boys over to help digitize the trailer. Who could the MPEG send? If Apple is going to put this work in, it should get some of the credit, right?
Anyway, whatddya think they cut this movie on, Windows boxes? Probably just repaying the favor to Apple for making such splendid computers.
"George Lucas wanted to create the highest quality Internet viewing experience for our new trailer, so we turned to QuickTime because it sets the standard for Internet video quality," said Ward. "Our collaboration with Apple is enabling us to push Internet video to its limits, capturing the experience of Episode I for Star Wars fans everywhere." "Where can you view the new Star Wars trailer? Not on Real Networks' Real Player. Not on Microsoft's Media Player. It's only available on Apple's QuickTime," said Steve Jobs, Apple's interim CEO. "When you care about quality, there is only one digital media platform capable of delivering today, and that's QuickTime."
Well my crappy little PM 7300/180, with that same 604 and zero ram -- well, ok, 32M, but these days that's zero -- runs the 480 fine. You don't need a G3. Of course if you try to run it with other things open it runs like mung. Solution? Quit the other programs for the 2:30 that you watch the trailer... simple.
As for people who are getting horrible frame rates while playing the 480 trailer, it's because the Sorenson codec is an incredibly processor-intensive compressor, and requires G3 or Pentium II to play back well. My poor little PPC-604 isn't even fast enough to handle the big trailer...
The server at geodesic.res.cmu.edu downloaded at 600 kbps; if my crappy computer doesn't work, try that one.
...didn't really want to use my computer today anyway...
Maybe not the trailer, but of course the movie
on
Star Wars Trailer #2
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· Score: 1
Unless this movie ends up burning money on stupid crap, like Waterworld (which cost $400 Million, I think), Lucas will have nothing to worry about. Even if it costs $400M, he'll most likely come out way ahead.
Think about it, all the kids who thought Star Wars was so awesome in the 70s are now the Bill Gateses of the world. With that kind of money in the customer base, the movie will make millions in merchandising alone.
Also, I doubt anybody wants to shut down the sites mirroring the trailer. I mean, it's free advertising.
Maybe now we will get a Spaceballs sequel... haha!
I never understood why everybody liked the King's Quest series. I though the lot of them were horrible games with dumb plots that only got put out because they were made by the owner's wife. Of course sales speak differently... but I still think they were crap. The Quests for Glory, on the other hand, were very cool. Police quest was kind of neat, but totally fake as far as police procedure goes. QFG 1 thru 4, now there was a series. I used the same character for all 4 games... that was a neat feature. Lost that disk, but still planning on getting QFG 5.
And if they have to reorganize everything, why cut the most sucessful division? That's the part that I don't get. Yeah, RPGs might be losing ground, but wasn't Diablo the #1 game last year (or before)? that's not exactly Quake.
Slashdot Mirror
Everyone and their dog? I live on Long Island, one of the most affluent areas of the country, and ADSL was not even available where I live until this past Christmas, and Cable Modem is still not available (thanks, crapola Cablevision). I have yet to meet anybody who even knows anybody with ADSL or C.M. Definitely not as widespread as you claim.
And as for 256K mp3, isn't the object of MP3 small files? I gave up on mp3 a while ago for songs I really like. I had all of Blizzard of Ozz, all of Dark Side Of The Moon, and I just got sick of the crappy sound. these were encoded at 192. I could tell the difference. I realized the value of MP3 is not in keeping the music for posterity, it's in giving you the ability to listen to a song for a week or a month, and then if you still like it, and it's worth buying, you buy it. At least that's the way I look at it. So I went and bought those two discs and breathed a sigh of relief when I heard them. As long as CDs outperform MP3 to my sensitive eardrums, they will have a customer in me. But I'm not going to shell out my hard-earned dough for crapola, fad songs that I listen to once.
I think what the music industry should do is release 56k encoded mp3s of entire albums so people can listen before buying. If they like it enough, they'll buy it. If not, then not. Plus, you don't need a cable modem for a 56k, 22khz, mono mp3. Of course, fat chance they'll ever do anything like this.
MP3 is not the solution for the world's problems, but I don't think it's dead. Though anybody who thinks it's the last stop on this train is headed in the wrong direction.
-Begin Evan's Dumb Signature.....
And this is not NASA software we're dealing with, this is more along the lines of a "friendly letter." I'm sure Taco is careful in proportion to the importance of whatever he is working on.
-Begin Evan's Dumb Signature.....
I don't remember where (maybe the faq), but Rob has said that he's a programmer, not a writer. I mean, come on; all the thousands of lines of code it takes to run a joint like Slashdot and you're going to fault him for some silly spelling mistakes? Have you ever noticed that the mistakes are generally always the same ones? For example, "to" and "too" are often switched, and the "charac(h)ter" example already mentioned. This probably means that this is how he thinks the word is spelt, in which case the mistake would not be detected upon rereading.
The emphasis on spelling is completely overdone in our society. We have all these spelling bees which really serve no purpose. The national spelling bee is broadcast on ESPN to give the kids a sense of importance, but honestly, spelling is one of the more useless talents a person can have.
Spelling is, of course, important. Proper spelling is necessary in major publications, such as the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times in order for them to be taken seriously. But such publications have armies of editors who proofread articles for a living, and are trained to pick up typographical, spelling, and grammatical errors. Would you suggest Rob employ such a person? What a waste that would be.
There was a guy in my eleventh grade English class who had atrocious spelling. I can't recall any illustrative examples right now, but I remember that it was pretty terrible. The teacher told us repeatedly that spelling had nothing to do with writing ability, and that some of the best writing she had ever seen was riddled with egregious ($5 please) spelling errors. I, being of the old "if-you-can't-spell-you-can't-write" school of thought, scoffed at her claims. But as the year progressed and I read more of Steve (the bad speller)'s writing, I began to see that she was correct. Despite the errors, his was some of the most beautiful writing I had ever seen. The Educational Testing Service agreed, awarding him a 5 (out of 5) on the English Language and Composition AP Exam.
And though it's true that spell- and grammar-checkers are available (if not ubiquitous [$5]), who actually writes up their Slashdot comments in Word (or whatever word-processor you prefer), spell-checks them, then cuts-and-pastes them into the Comment box? ANYBODY?
If you do, sir/madam, you are almost as anal as the guy I met freshman year who refused to make web pages because they didn't look "exactly" the way he wanted, and instead included links to
So in short what I am trying to say is lay off the spelling issue. If it bothers you that much, maybe just email Rob a version sans-errors that he can repost if he wants. I don't really know. I usually pride myself on correct spelling (not to say I don't make frequent mistakes) but I rarely come down on anyone else for their spelling ability (or lack thereof). It's rather petty and doesn't affect the quality of the content. Would you rather Rob stop to examine every "to" or continue writing splendid content? Hmm?
Right.
Number of errors in this post: _____
Ha!
PS - regarding the moderation, if a post is marked with a -1, how can people see the replies to it if their threshold is +1? Just wondering. I keep mine at -1.
-Begin Evan's Dumb Signature.....
Is it Motorola or IBM? I always thought it was Motorola, but anytime I see PowerPC used, there's always a disclaimer about "PowerPC is a registered trademark of International Business Machines" (look at the bottom of LinuxPPC's home page, for example).
Does Motorola just manufacture the chip that IBM designs?
I never hear anything about Motorola. With the speed of the G3/G4, and with AltiVec too, I would think more people would be talking about them... but I never hear anything. I remember seeing ads for their "DigitalDNA" a couple of months ago, but that's about it.
Why don't we ever hear anything from them?
``During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative in creating the Internet.''
The Internet, originally called ARPANET, dates to 1969, when the Defense Department began funding the project. Gore, then 21, was still eight years away from joining Congress.
Gore aides say their boss has a rightful claim, having promoted the Internet and government funding for the project while in Congress.
I figured he would say something like "Oh, I really meant..." but instead his aides are saying he really did invent the internet. No, not in those words, but they said he "has a rightful claim."
He plainly said, "I took the initiative in creating the internet," implying that he had something to do with the creation of the internet. "Promoting" and getting "government funding" for the project are so far removed from creating the internet that his aides' assertion that he is correct is an insult to the American people.
I like Gore much more than Dole or Bush, but to come out with an in-your-face lie like this is simply unacceptable. The fact that he stuck with his claim instead of apologizing is really a blow against him.
Plus, I don't see how any of his "promotion" or "government funding" had anything to do with the internet at all. The internet caught on because of Tim Berners-Lee's wonderful world wide web.
Truly politics at its worst. I guess next year will be a lesser-of-two-evils campaign for me.
I agree that Office for linux will probably make it a more appealing option for businesses, but then again, they will be pushing out tons of competitors. Just like they managed to kill WordPerfect ... for the Mac. But that was due also in part to deals between MS and Apple. As long as MS doesn't sign any deals with RedHat, or whatever Linux they'll be supporting, it will be fine. But who would buy office? Yeah, I guess businesses, but not me... then again, I'm not very Linuxy myself, I use Word on my Mac. As far as Linux is concerned, all I know how to use is Netscape.
But back to the original question... why doesn't MS release its own Linux distro? Sure, the existing Linux committee would hate it 110%, but those same business guys would love it. Oh right... open source... nevermind.
Why noy MPEG? Because Quicktime is available for Mac and Windows, which is pretty much the vast majority of desktop users. Also some pressuring by Mr. Jobs obviously played no small role. If you follow this link, you can see that Apple sent its boys over to help digitize the trailer. Who could the MPEG send? If Apple is going to put this work in, it should get some of the credit, right?
Anyway, whatddya think they cut this movie on, Windows boxes? Probably just repaying the favor to Apple for making such splendid computers.
Heh heh heh...
http://www.starwars.com/e pisode-i/news/1999/10/apple.html
"George Lucas wanted to create the highest quality Internet viewing experience for our new trailer, so we turned to QuickTime because it sets the standard for Internet video quality," said Ward. "Our collaboration with Apple is enabling us to push Internet video to its limits, capturing the experience of Episode I for Star Wars fans everywhere."
"Where can you view the new Star Wars trailer? Not on Real Networks' Real Player. Not on Microsoft's Media Player. It's only available on Apple's QuickTime," said Steve Jobs, Apple's interim CEO. "When you care about quality, there is only one digital media platform capable of delivering today, and that's QuickTime."
Well my crappy little PM 7300/180, with that same 604 and zero ram -- well, ok, 32M, but these days that's zero -- runs the 480 fine. You don't need a G3. Of course if you try to run it with other things open it runs like mung. Solution? Quit the other programs for the 2:30 that you watch the trailer... simple.
As for people who are getting horrible frame rates while playing the 480 trailer, it's because the Sorenson codec is an incredibly processor-intensive compressor, and requires G3 or Pentium II to play back well. My poor little PPC-604 isn't even fast enough to handle the big trailer...
Sorry, no mpegs.
choates1-bp-140.dartmouth.edu
or 129.170.46.140
The server at geodesic.res.cmu.edu
downloaded at 600 kbps; if my crappy computer doesn't work, try that one.
...didn't really want to use my computer today anyway...
Unless this movie ends up burning money on stupid crap, like Waterworld (which cost $400 Million, I think), Lucas will have nothing to worry about. Even if it costs $400M, he'll most likely come out way ahead.
Think about it, all the kids who thought Star Wars was so awesome in the 70s are now the Bill Gateses of the world. With that kind of money in the customer base, the movie will make millions in merchandising alone.
Also, I doubt anybody wants to shut down the sites mirroring the trailer. I mean, it's free advertising.
Maybe now we will get a Spaceballs sequel... haha!
That's cruel, I downloaded it and it's just the first trailer. Better looking, but still the first trailer.
I never understood why everybody liked the King's Quest series. I though the lot of them were horrible games with dumb plots that only got put out because they were made by the owner's wife. Of course sales speak differently... but I still think they were crap. The Quests for Glory, on the other hand, were very cool. Police quest was kind of neat, but totally fake as far as police procedure goes. QFG 1 thru 4, now there was a series. I used the same character for all 4 games... that was a neat feature. Lost that disk, but still planning on getting QFG 5.
And if they have to reorganize everything, why cut the most sucessful division? That's the part that I don't get. Yeah, RPGs might be losing ground, but wasn't Diablo the #1 game last year (or before)? that's not exactly Quake.