The simple answer is that while TV's have a 4:3 aspect ratio, PC monitors have a 5:4 aspect ratio. That's why DVD's always seem just a little stretched. Some decoder cards actually letterbox the display to retain the approximate ratio of actual TV screens, which inevitably results in scaling artifacts unless you're cranking it out at 1080i resolution.
Anyways.. 1280x1024, in addition to offering memory-aligned scanlines as stated in every other comment, provides perfectly square pixels, which comes in pretty handy for graphics work.
Since the senators and ministers are so damn stupid, why not just hide "human proxies"; anti-geniuses that view and rate every web page fetched through the Lan. Set up some sort of load-balanced instant messaging system on the gateway that forwards each http request in a round-robin fashion to each of the losers' stations, where they browse the sites and images and either approve or deny the request depending on the requester's filter setting.
The fun thing would be to set the filter at its most strict level, then fire up testosterone-souring images of voluntary self-castration and whatnot.. then laugh as the reviewer's horrified shrieks resound within the library walls. Oh the cruelty! =)
Well I don't know moose about app development kits (I personally don't have much faith in all this distributed computing layered application design crap - Client/Server forever!). But I do know a bit about game development, although (don't lynch me!) it's mostly Windows/Dos stuff. here goes nothing :
I'd have to consider Tetris a classic. Even with the cheesy OPL2 music it still keeps the old fscks and the teen geeks coming back every lunchhour for a little brain tease. And of course it's one of the few good games you can squeeze into 256 bytes of x86 assembler =)
I've also gone the pseudocode way often in times of mental numbness. For me it's a good way to get a cleaner gaze at the task at hand, and although I'd often say I understand code better than I do people (less ambiguity I guess), it's still an invaluable tool to be able to synthesize, quantize, and simplify problems without being bound to any specific language. A programmer isn't just anyone who knows C++ or VB (ick). A programmer is someone who can turn a problem into a project, and a project into a solution.
I'm curious if the concept of micropayments has ever seriously and thoughtfully grazed the minds of the RIAA execs. If there were a safe and efficient method of paying a small "moderative" fee for each song downloaded (obviously not a buck each.. maybe something like 10-25 cents, maybe prorated by playing time), I would personally jump right in. I still purchase the occasional CD when I come across an artist I really like, but when it comes to singles, or hard-to-find imports, I give Napster a spin. Even if that UK Import unreleased Prodigy track cost me 25 cents, I'd be more than happy to add it to my tab. They have to keep it cheap, because obviously we're not getting any physical medium and the file itself might get deleted or corrupted. Paying another 25c for the single deleted tune is no big deal.. but having to pay another 15-20$ for a new CD because the old one is scratched, I just don't see myself doing that.
So the essence of this post is amusingly simple : Napster's installed user base is impressive, why try to crush it when the RIAA could instead cash in on it, in a reasonable fashion. Of course the RIAA can hardly be described as "reasonable", a cartel isn't a cartel without having a financial reason to be (think price fixing), but if they'd just stick their heads on right, they'd quit throwing cash down the lawyers' trousers and start thinking constructively instead.
Napster may suck but the network is non-negligible
on
Two-Faced Napster?
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· Score: 1
I'll agree with all of you that Napster's client is pure idiot-friendly crap. I'll agree with you that its transfer reliability is worthless. I'll even agree with you that the company should suffer for letting down their users. But there is one thing we can't ignore : Napster's become so popular, so huge, that the installed user base is simply something we can't easily get rid of. Gnutella and Freenet may be better designed from day-one, but they simply don't have the massive horde of users to make them successful (yet). And with all the attention Napster is getting, thinks aren't looking too bright for its contenders.
Didn't anybody else notice RDRAM in the specs ? I thought Rambus was the Micro$oft of Ram. Wouldn't some sort of striped addressing scheme be both cheaper and more scalable ? Think Ram-based Raid-0.
These people just don't learn. They were met with vigourous resistance last year when they were striving to charge 2.50 per CD-R!! The legislative board snapped them down to 5.2 cents which is much more easily swallowed. There's no way in hell I'm going to pay an extra 25$ in taxes on every 50-disc spindle that costs me only 45 already. All this napster/mp3 thing going on in the states has gone to the canadian industry's heads (if they have any).
The classic outcome of this, is that the smart (read : the hungry) will simply purchase their cd's elsewhere and smuggle them in here. Heck, if a bunch of indians can sell contraband cigarettes at 2-3$ a pack, what's holding someone from selling contraband CD-R spindles ? Will the canadian RIAA start doing spot-checks in stores to ensure that the cd's have been properly taxed ? Yeah right!
I wouldn't get alarmed by this. Having been a canadian resident for 7564 days, I've seen how the RCMP work. They're really in it just for show. This is probably just the same as their phreaker crackdown a bunch of years ago. They just slap a few kids on the wrists, make a big scene out of it, and try to scare the rest of the wanna-be's away from similar activity.
They were also known to track down pirate BBS'es (oh the nostalgia!) and just come knocking on your door on a sunny day. They wouldn't even come inside. They'd just stand there and tell you they think you're running a warez board, and run off to the nearest Dunkin Donuts. They knew it would scare the 16 yr old l33+ w4r3z d00dz shitless and they'd format, wipe, and demagnetize every single disk that same afternoon. The funny thing is that it worked most of the time (at least from what I had heard back then). My guess is that this "illegal music" crackdown is just the same. They just expose a few small-timers, make a big show and stick their heads on CBC News (which is mostly owned by the government btw), and convince 9 people out of 10 that [drugs|mp3|sex] is bad.
Why do they do this ? I really don't know, maybe because dragging someone in court costs a nasty sum to an already suffering economy.. or maybe because they want to keep our image of a "nice, pleasant country". This is just speculation though. We all know government usually works in the most anti-logical ways, if only to fuck with our heads.
I'm a PC whore. I've touched Macs twice in my life, and it gave me goosebumps. Nevertheless I can acknowledge that Macs are top quality systems designed for reliability and ease of use, and that's a big plus for all these "Hi I'm Bob and this is my first web page" idiots that have somehow learned to reproduce like rats. Apple is dedicated to selling only tried and tested hardware, and their reputation of quality is strong enough to warrant the higher purchase prices comparatively with PC's.
Now with this nice little Stevey Jobsey plot twist, everybody's quick to jump on the trigger and label him as an obsessive compulsive transexual nutcase. Well some of that is probably true, but think about it just a minute : ATI's Radeon is brand spanking new, hasn't even hit the shelves here in Canada yet. It is my personal guess that maybe Apple isn't so sure about shipping with Radeon boards yet, simply because the product is not yet mature enough to live up to Apple's reputation. I'm guessing they were still unsure about shipping Radeon so early, and alleging that ATI played an important suit-licking card too quickly is what tipped the scales in favor of reliability, hence the older, proven ATI Rage 128. ATI isn't losing a market-threatening wad of cash here, let's face it : it's Apple. They make less cash selling whole systems than ATI makes selling only video cards in the same fiscal quarter.
The real motor behind this brisk decision is probably just good old fashioned Apple P.R. Anyone who's worked on phone support would understand the difference between an ignorant on a PC, and an ignorant on a Mac. The PC guy will yell at you in frustration, whereas the Mac guy will be more calm and listening. They listen to phone techs, they listen to their Mac dealer, they listen to Steve Jobs as if he were a god, because he gives out the image that his company "Cares" for their customers more than the others. That illusion is what keeps Apple safe from the rabid competition that's hemorraging everyone else.
You stepped right over the solution without noticing it. Just make a CGI that will stream the MP3 directly to the player. Just make a normal playlist that points to your CGI (probably with a parameter for the desired soundfile). The playlist will be passed on to the mp3 player, which will then HTTP open the CGI, where you can start feeding the music data requested. Piece of cake.
I just don't get it with these megacorporations. Why is everybody suing the makers of software, when it is the users that do "illegal" things ?
Suing Freenet's creator might be a way to threaten its future, but it's hardly logical when compared with other types of lawsuits. While we're at it, why not sue makers of baseball bats because their products _can_ be used to violently kill people ? Same difference.
Freenet and Napster weren't created to facilitate piracy, they were created to facilitate file distribution, just like CD-writers, zip drives, heck even modems themselves. Sue Panasonic because they make cd-writers.. sue them again for making walkmans that can play cd-r's..
All this lawsuit crap isn't helping anybody, not even the money whores behind them. It's just giving an extremely bad image to the RIAA/MPAA/whomever, they're spitting on their sources of income. Stupid megacorporations.
Corel's flagship product used to be CorelDraw from day one, and with reason because it kicked every other app's ass. But now with their focus set on Linux, they betrayed their own corporate image.
What kind of business sets aside a long-standing successful product line in favor of an operating system that's still in its infancy and not at all ready to enslave the masses ? The answer is simple : a Michael Cowpland business. He's the only CEO crazy enough to gamble with such high stakes. Is he an idiot for doing so ? Maybe at first glance, but if you take a peek into his history you'll find out how this kind of radical decision making is what led him to staggering success time and time again. He's a corporate gambler; he wins some, he loses some, but he definitely knows how to play the game.
I'm no business strategist or whatever they call those spin doctors these days, but Corel without Cowpland is absolute nonsense. We should be looking up to him for his devotion and bravery. He's not your run-of-the-mill suit-sucking idiot like many of you seem to think.
Mailing lists are kludgy. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to set up a news server instead ? or Slashcode even:) Then you don't need to bother with the damned mailing lists at all, your readers will grab the news on their own. You'd just need to maintain user accounts for everyone (or make it anonymous and shoot yourself in both feet).
Amen to that! You did the right thing to move out, something I'm anxiously waiting for (money doesn't exactly grow on trees, especially not in Quebec). It's also quite orgasmic to count down all the extra cash they're yanking from my pay checks. I'm currently in a damn-well paying job compared to most goofs my age.. but I'd probably have more cash in my pockets if I were making half the salary in the states. Tax after tax after tax, I have about 40% left of my brute income. And they still complain about the deficit. I'm getting out of this drowning province while I can.
Look up Dodgy in the dictionary and you'll see "Provincial Government" in the second definition.
The damn bilingualism law is mindless to begin with. They don't force businesses to offer both Visa -and- Mastercard, they let the businesses decide. French and English should be the same, if you don't want to serve french (or english) people, just don't advertise in their language. Who gives a flying crap about protecting the language.. that's up to those crazy europeans. Personally I think that any Quebecer above the age of 12 who can't speak/understand english is severely restricting him/herself in an english-dominated country. If you want to get somewhere in life (especially business), you learn english, no matter what your mother tongue is. If you want to be a sleazy little dope who likes to pick up dumb chicks with a phoney accent, then you can stick with french for all I care.
I'm living in Quebec and about a month from starting up Yet.Another.Useless.Portal. What I'm curious about is what kind of idiot would go and stool a site for being english-only ? (I know, a french idiot.. ha.. ha..) I really don't plan on writing in two languages because quite simply, if you're ever slightly computer literate, you'll know enough english to get along. French people who use french computer terms should be shot.
Back to the subject though, what if the business operating the site resides in Quebec, but the server itself is colocated in Ontario for example ? What if only the admin lives in quebec ? How the hell can they prove any of this anyway ? Do they plan on shipping a bunch of mounties to my apartment to check that the box is actually in my living room ?
They also state in the article that they only enforce bilingualism for businesses and not personal sites. Where do they cut the line between a personal site and a commercial one ? Slashdot doesn't sell anything, would it fall under personal or commercial ? Well they have banners advertising commercial products so does that make Slashdot a commercial venture to the government's eyes ? A taxable venture at least.
Yet another stupid move from the one-legged french nazi prime minister. I can't wait to move out of this crazy country-wannabe.
Slashdot Mirror
The simple answer is that while TV's have a 4:3 aspect ratio, PC monitors have a 5:4 aspect ratio. That's why DVD's always seem just a little stretched. Some decoder cards actually letterbox the display to retain the approximate ratio of actual TV screens, which inevitably results in scaling artifacts unless you're cranking it out at 1080i resolution.
Anyways.. 1280x1024, in addition to offering memory-aligned scanlines as stated in every other comment, provides perfectly square pixels, which comes in pretty handy for graphics work.
Since the senators and ministers are so damn stupid, why not just hide "human proxies"; anti-geniuses that view and rate every web page fetched through the Lan. Set up some sort of load-balanced instant messaging system on the gateway that forwards each http request in a round-robin fashion to each of the losers' stations, where they browse the sites and images and either approve or deny the request depending on the requester's filter setting.
The fun thing would be to set the filter at its most strict level, then fire up testosterone-souring images of voluntary self-castration and whatnot.. then laugh as the reviewer's horrified shrieks resound within the library walls. Oh the cruelty! =)
Well I don't know moose about app development kits (I personally don't have much faith in all this distributed computing layered application design crap - Client/Server forever!). But I do know a bit about game development, although (don't lynch me!) it's mostly Windows/Dos stuff. here goes nothing :
Gamedev.net
Game programming resources (huge link list)
CDX DirectX wrapper
Well.. it's a good start for newbies, or when you're just too tired to code a weighted anti-aliased Bresenham's algo. =)
87 million hosts with which to unleash DDoS'es upon our beloved ethical enemies. (heyhey! doubleclick.com =)
Put up a frameset with a slashdot banner and load the article underneath it, that way for each hit ABCnews gets, so will Slashdot.. double income =)
I'd have to consider Tetris a classic. Even with the cheesy OPL2 music it still keeps the old fscks and the teen geeks coming back every lunchhour for a little brain tease. And of course it's one of the few good games you can squeeze into 256 bytes of x86 assembler =)
I've also gone the pseudocode way often in times of mental numbness. For me it's a good way to get a cleaner gaze at the task at hand, and although I'd often say I understand code better than I do people (less ambiguity I guess), it's still an invaluable tool to be able to synthesize, quantize, and simplify problems without being bound to any specific language. A programmer isn't just anyone who knows C++ or VB (ick). A programmer is someone who can turn a problem into a project, and a project into a solution.
I'm curious if the concept of micropayments has ever seriously and thoughtfully grazed the minds of the RIAA execs. If there were a safe and efficient method of paying a small "moderative" fee for each song downloaded (obviously not a buck each.. maybe something like 10-25 cents, maybe prorated by playing time), I would personally jump right in. I still purchase the occasional CD when I come across an artist I really like, but when it comes to singles, or hard-to-find imports, I give Napster a spin. Even if that UK Import unreleased Prodigy track cost me 25 cents, I'd be more than happy to add it to my tab. They have to keep it cheap, because obviously we're not getting any physical medium and the file itself might get deleted or corrupted. Paying another 25c for the single deleted tune is no big deal.. but having to pay another 15-20$ for a new CD because the old one is scratched, I just don't see myself doing that.
So the essence of this post is amusingly simple : Napster's installed user base is impressive, why try to crush it when the RIAA could instead cash in on it, in a reasonable fashion. Of course the RIAA can hardly be described as "reasonable", a cartel isn't a cartel without having a financial reason to be (think price fixing), but if they'd just stick their heads on right, they'd quit throwing cash down the lawyers' trousers and start thinking constructively instead.
I'll agree with all of you that Napster's client is pure idiot-friendly crap. I'll agree with you that its transfer reliability is worthless. I'll even agree with you that the company should suffer for letting down their users. But there is one thing we can't ignore : Napster's become so popular, so huge, that the installed user base is simply something we can't easily get rid of. Gnutella and Freenet may be better designed from day-one, but they simply don't have the massive horde of users to make them successful (yet). And with all the attention Napster is getting, thinks aren't looking too bright for its contenders.
none.. they both don't give a hoots about Katz
Didn't anybody else notice RDRAM in the specs ? I thought Rambus was the Micro$oft of Ram. Wouldn't some sort of striped addressing scheme be both cheaper and more scalable ? Think Ram-based Raid-0.
These people just don't learn. They were met with vigourous resistance last year when they were striving to charge 2.50 per CD-R!! The legislative board snapped them down to 5.2 cents which is much more easily swallowed. There's no way in hell I'm going to pay an extra 25$ in taxes on every 50-disc spindle that costs me only 45 already. All this napster/mp3 thing going on in the states has gone to the canadian industry's heads (if they have any).
The classic outcome of this, is that the smart (read : the hungry) will simply purchase their cd's elsewhere and smuggle them in here. Heck, if a bunch of indians can sell contraband cigarettes at 2-3$ a pack, what's holding someone from selling contraband CD-R spindles ? Will the canadian RIAA start doing spot-checks in stores to ensure that the cd's have been properly taxed ? Yeah right!
I wouldn't get alarmed by this. Having been a canadian resident for 7564 days, I've seen how the RCMP work. They're really in it just for show. This is probably just the same as their phreaker crackdown a bunch of years ago. They just slap a few kids on the wrists, make a big scene out of it, and try to scare the rest of the wanna-be's away from similar activity.
They were also known to track down pirate BBS'es (oh the nostalgia!) and just come knocking on your door on a sunny day. They wouldn't even come inside. They'd just stand there and tell you they think you're running a warez board, and run off to the nearest Dunkin Donuts. They knew it would scare the 16 yr old l33+ w4r3z d00dz shitless and they'd format, wipe, and demagnetize every single disk that same afternoon. The funny thing is that it worked most of the time (at least from what I had heard back then). My guess is that this "illegal music" crackdown is just the same. They just expose a few small-timers, make a big show and stick their heads on CBC News (which is mostly owned by the government btw), and convince 9 people out of 10 that [drugs|mp3|sex] is bad.
Why do they do this ? I really don't know, maybe because dragging someone in court costs a nasty sum to an already suffering economy.. or maybe because they want to keep our image of a "nice, pleasant country". This is just speculation though. We all know government usually works in the most anti-logical ways, if only to fuck with our heads.
I'm a PC whore. I've touched Macs twice in my life, and it gave me goosebumps. Nevertheless I can acknowledge that Macs are top quality systems designed for reliability and ease of use, and that's a big plus for all these "Hi I'm Bob and this is my first web page" idiots that have somehow learned to reproduce like rats. Apple is dedicated to selling only tried and tested hardware, and their reputation of quality is strong enough to warrant the higher purchase prices comparatively with PC's.
Now with this nice little Stevey Jobsey plot twist, everybody's quick to jump on the trigger and label him as an obsessive compulsive transexual nutcase. Well some of that is probably true, but think about it just a minute : ATI's Radeon is brand spanking new, hasn't even hit the shelves here in Canada yet. It is my personal guess that maybe Apple isn't so sure about shipping with Radeon boards yet, simply because the product is not yet mature enough to live up to Apple's reputation. I'm guessing they were still unsure about shipping Radeon so early, and alleging that ATI played an important suit-licking card too quickly is what tipped the scales in favor of reliability, hence the older, proven ATI Rage 128. ATI isn't losing a market-threatening wad of cash here, let's face it : it's Apple. They make less cash selling whole systems than ATI makes selling only video cards in the same fiscal quarter.
The real motor behind this brisk decision is probably just good old fashioned Apple P.R. Anyone who's worked on phone support would understand the difference between an ignorant on a PC, and an ignorant on a Mac. The PC guy will yell at you in frustration, whereas the Mac guy will be more calm and listening. They listen to phone techs, they listen to their Mac dealer, they listen to Steve Jobs as if he were a god, because he gives out the image that his company "Cares" for their customers more than the others. That illusion is what keeps Apple safe from the rabid competition that's hemorraging everyone else.
Quick answer : just look at MP3.Com and see how they did it.. a CGI that spits out M3U (or is it PLS) playlists.
Oh please. Watch your language! Never pronounce the name of the cursed one.
Well then I want to sue the USA for influencing their people into hating Canada.
Yay Canada.
You stepped right over the solution without noticing it. Just make a CGI that will stream the MP3 directly to the player. Just make a normal playlist that points to your CGI (probably with a parameter for the desired soundfile). The playlist will be passed on to the mp3 player, which will then HTTP open the CGI, where you can start feeding the music data requested. Piece of cake.
I just don't get it with these megacorporations. Why is everybody suing the makers of software, when it is the users that do "illegal" things ?
Suing Freenet's creator might be a way to threaten its future, but it's hardly logical when compared with other types of lawsuits. While we're at it, why not sue makers of baseball bats because their products _can_ be used to violently kill people ? Same difference.
Freenet and Napster weren't created to facilitate piracy, they were created to facilitate file distribution, just like CD-writers, zip drives, heck even modems themselves. Sue Panasonic because they make cd-writers.. sue them again for making walkmans that can play cd-r's..
All this lawsuit crap isn't helping anybody, not even the money whores behind them. It's just giving an extremely bad image to the RIAA/MPAA/whomever, they're spitting on their sources of income. Stupid megacorporations.
Am I the only one who immediately noticed that the initial letters for "Works Only On Ford" make WOOF ?
"Microsoft WOOF : The Wrench that bites!"
Corel's flagship product used to be CorelDraw from day one, and with reason because it kicked every other app's ass. But now with their focus set on Linux, they betrayed their own corporate image.
What kind of business sets aside a long-standing successful product line in favor of an operating system that's still in its infancy and not at all ready to enslave the masses ? The answer is simple : a Michael Cowpland business. He's the only CEO crazy enough to gamble with such high stakes. Is he an idiot for doing so ? Maybe at first glance, but if you take a peek into his history you'll find out how this kind of radical decision making is what led him to staggering success time and time again. He's a corporate gambler; he wins some, he loses some, but he definitely knows how to play the game.
I'm no business strategist or whatever they call those spin doctors these days, but Corel without Cowpland is absolute nonsense. We should be looking up to him for his devotion and bravery. He's not your run-of-the-mill suit-sucking idiot like many of you seem to think.
Mailing lists are kludgy. Wouldn't it be more appropriate to set up a news server instead ? or Slashcode even :) Then you don't need to bother with the damned mailing lists at all, your readers will grab the news on their own. You'd just need to maintain user accounts for everyone (or make it anonymous and shoot yourself in both feet).
Amen to that! You did the right thing to move out, something I'm anxiously waiting for (money doesn't exactly grow on trees, especially not in Quebec). It's also quite orgasmic to count down all the extra cash they're yanking from my pay checks. I'm currently in a damn-well paying job compared to most goofs my age.. but I'd probably have more cash in my pockets if I were making half the salary in the states. Tax after tax after tax, I have about 40% left of my brute income. And they still complain about the deficit. I'm getting out of this drowning province while I can.
Look up Dodgy in the dictionary and you'll see "Provincial Government" in the second definition.
The damn bilingualism law is mindless to begin with. They don't force businesses to offer both Visa -and- Mastercard, they let the businesses decide. French and English should be the same, if you don't want to serve french (or english) people, just don't advertise in their language. Who gives a flying crap about protecting the language.. that's up to those crazy europeans. Personally I think that any Quebecer above the age of 12 who can't speak/understand english is severely restricting him/herself in an english-dominated country. If you want to get somewhere in life (especially business), you learn english, no matter what your mother tongue is. If you want to be a sleazy little dope who likes to pick up dumb chicks with a phoney accent, then you can stick with french for all I care.
(Man, now that's anti-patriotism =)
I'm living in Quebec and about a month from starting up Yet.Another.Useless.Portal. What I'm curious about is what kind of idiot would go and stool a site for being english-only ? (I know, a french idiot.. ha.. ha..) I really don't plan on writing in two languages because quite simply, if you're ever slightly computer literate, you'll know enough english to get along. French people who use french computer terms should be shot.
Back to the subject though, what if the business operating the site resides in Quebec, but the server itself is colocated in Ontario for example ? What if only the admin lives in quebec ? How the hell can they prove any of this anyway ? Do they plan on shipping a bunch of mounties to my apartment to check that the box is actually in my living room ?
They also state in the article that they only enforce bilingualism for businesses and not personal sites. Where do they cut the line between a personal site and a commercial one ? Slashdot doesn't sell anything, would it fall under personal or commercial ? Well they have banners advertising commercial products so does that make Slashdot a commercial venture to the government's eyes ? A taxable venture at least.
Yet another stupid move from the one-legged french nazi prime minister. I can't wait to move out of this crazy country-wannabe.