According to an article on Slashdot Dell has decided to jump into the stereo market by making an MP3 box that feeds data from your computer to an RCA equipped Stereo for $199. (I always wanted an external soundcard). It seems that the computer industry has decided to make a buck of Metallica's misfortune. Will this help to Legitimize MP3's by breaking down the difference between them and cassette tapes which can be freely copied and traded (abeit illegally). Mabye they'll stop overreacting when it becomes apparent that they would have to begin impounding walkmen.
I wonder how much time in jail I'd get for my old Beatles tapes;)
Apple has had it's fair share of Easter Eggs. The classic "free software" one was that on the old demo versions of HyperCard you could go to the info location and type "magic" and voila, the whole program would be provided to you for free. The other alternate one was that the stickies program apparently includes not only the ever popular "secret about box" (type that in a notepad and drag it to the desktop while holding down cmd-h I beleive and you get a realtime 3d flag) but an asteroids style game.
By far the most bizzare has to be the fact that on old macs one key combination caused the startup chime to be followed by the theme from Legend of Zelda.
In essence these are the artistic flourishes of programmers. Bach and other musicians used to insert their names into music or provide counterpoints like the "endlessly rising Cannon." Even microchip designers have begun to hide trademarks and images at the micro level on their chips. (waldo is on one of the pentiums.)
To get rid of these even in open source software might be to deny the fun of programming itself. In some cases as in the Snowboarding game from Final Fantasy the egg can overcome the software itself.
P.S. with regards to Fallout 2 they also included the BB gun which was a holdover from Wasteland. In the original game there wwere 2 BBguns. One red ryder and one standard. There was only 1 red ryder gun and it was, incidentally, the most powerful weapon in the game. Pointless, impossible to find but then that's the point.
I agree with the potential benefits for interpreting and understanding dolphin language. The problem is that if this becomes a "relied upon" technology like VLF antenna's that already exist or microwave transmitters we might soon see the underwater "flooded" with noise pollution. In China they are already coming to grips with this in that excess noise pollution has effectively "blinded" the Baji Dolphin that survives almost entirely by echolocation. Too quick of an embrace and we could end up messing with the Beluga Whales and literally "talking them to death." This isn't meant to be an anti-progress rant just a call for sane use. Porn is not more important than whales. The sailors can stick with magazines if they have to. Incidentally U.S. Submarine sailors already receive 30 words each month (at least) in e-mails from Home. As I understand it the sub surfaces and "downloads" burst traffic including personal messages relayed via the sub command centers. My guess is this is intended to be a support to the VLF emergency circuts that allow for underwater transmission in time of emergency. -------------------------------------------------- A toast to e-mail free whales exerywhere. -------------------------------------------------- PolarBearC
Slashdot Mirror
According to an article on Slashdot Dell has decided to jump into
;)
the stereo market by making an MP3 box that feeds data from your computer
to an RCA equipped Stereo for $199. (I always wanted an external
soundcard).
It seems that the computer industry has decided to make a buck of
Metallica's misfortune. Will this help to Legitimize MP3's by breaking
down the difference between them and cassette tapes which can be freely
copied and traded (abeit illegally). Mabye they'll stop overreacting when
it becomes apparent that they would have to begin impounding walkmen.
I wonder how much time in jail I'd get for my old Beatles tapes
Apple has had it's fair share of Easter Eggs. The classic "free software" one was that on the old demo versions of HyperCard you could go to the info location and type "magic" and voila, the whole program would be provided to you for free. The other alternate one was that the stickies program apparently includes not only the ever popular "secret about box" (type that in a notepad and drag it to the desktop while holding down cmd-h I beleive and you get a realtime 3d flag) but an asteroids style game.
By far the most bizzare has to be the fact that on old macs one key combination caused the startup chime to be followed by the theme from Legend of Zelda.
In essence these are the artistic flourishes of programmers. Bach and other musicians used to insert their names into music or provide counterpoints like the "endlessly rising Cannon." Even microchip designers have begun to hide trademarks and images at the micro level on their chips. (waldo is on one of the pentiums.)
To get rid of these even in open source software might be to deny the fun of programming itself. In some cases as in the Snowboarding game from Final Fantasy the egg can overcome the software itself.
P.S. with regards to Fallout 2 they also included the BB gun which was a holdover from Wasteland. In the original game there wwere 2 BBguns. One red ryder and one standard. There was only 1 red ryder gun and it was, incidentally, the most powerful weapon in the game. Pointless, impossible to find but then that's the point.
PolarBear
I agree with the potential benefits for interpreting and understanding dolphin language. The problem is that if this becomes a "relied upon" technology like VLF antenna's that already exist or microwave transmitters we might soon see the underwater "flooded" with noise pollution. In China they are already coming to grips with this in that excess noise pollution has effectively "blinded" the Baji Dolphin that survives almost entirely by echolocation. Too quick of an embrace and we could end up messing with the Beluga Whales and literally "talking them to death." This isn't meant to be an anti-progress rant just a call for sane use. Porn is not more important than whales. The sailors can stick with magazines if they have to. Incidentally U.S. Submarine sailors already receive 30 words each month (at least) in e-mails from Home. As I understand it the sub surfaces and "downloads" burst traffic including personal messages relayed via the sub command centers. My guess is this is intended to be a support to the VLF emergency circuts that allow for underwater transmission in time of emergency. -------------------------------------------------- A toast to e-mail free whales exerywhere. -------------------------------------------------- PolarBearC