And I even made a comment on the last/. article that asked the question of "Time to Purchase a DVD-R?". My goal here is just to back up the comments that have already been posted by others. 1.) The 104 is the SAME as the A04 (EXCEPT for the fact that one uses general purpose disks and the other uses disks for authoring, respectively). 2.) I did some research before I bought my drive, and more DVD drives support -R than +R. Granted some drives may still read +R disks, but it's not advertised, so I consider that unnofficial. 3.) For those bitching about "harddrives are cheaper/use tape backups", stop being asses. I wanted the portability of DVD for a reason, and so did the people who are buying these drives. 4.) That last point being said, those that have bought the -R drives en mass have proved that it's the format they want, and that will drive the market. Kinda like the VHS/BetaMAX wars...
Don't give them a reason to get near you in the first place! Take a bath every day--it's a great excuse to get away from your computer for a while (and I promise that a little soap won't hurt you). That, and why not take a minute to clean up all the soda cans and pizza boxes lying around your desk/room/office. Unless you work outside, live in a dorm, or some other run-down dwelling, I don't see why you would need to repel anything in the first place. If you are attracting rodents, maybe you need to get a little better with the personal hygiene.
I think this is just a matter of DJ's catching up to what current technology has to offer. I laugh every time I hear about this type of story, where a traditional DJ, or even radio station, starts adopting MP3 or some other digital format for their source of music. I don't mean to toot my own horn here, but when I became Chief Engineer, and later General Manager of WGHR in Marietta, the first thing I did was set up a massive file server, and a new computer in the DJ booth. That allowed people to use digital music as a supplement to the supply of CD's and vinyl already in the studio. Since then, almost all of the DJ's have turned to using MP3's, since they're available in one place, and much easier to organize than shelves of CD's. There's still a personal preference available to use the "old" style of spinning tracks, but now it's much easier for the beginners to just throw some tracks into Winamp--something they already know how to do at home.
I thought I was the only one who didn't get the whole.NET thing. Since that hype machine started up last year, I heard so many things from other programmers (who love MS products) talking about VB.NET and other.NET applications. I repeatedly asked them, what's the difference between the old environment and the new one, or simply what good is it all. Never have I recieved a clear answer of what it is, how it works, or what good it is. I'm not saying anything bad (or even good) about the whole.NET thing, I'm just saying that I've never heard a compelling argument from anyone who seems to fully understand it all. I think that right there proves that the idea didn't catch on.
Re:It's All Thanks to Slashdot Polls...
on
RIAA to Sue You Now
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Oh yeah, I forgot to add...
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/
It's All Thanks to Slashdot Polls...
on
RIAA to Sue You Now
·
· Score: 4, Funny
"Of course, you'll need to be a big fish with lots of illegal music to get their attention."
Leave it to someone to post a question like this after I've already made the decision to buy the technology in question. Although I won't get my Pioneer DVR-104 until later this week, I've already done my homework on the subject. I wanted a DVD-storage solution to backup lots and lots of TV shows that I have gathered/recorded over the past few months. Realizing that my 20GB+ of DivX videos was going to take a LOT of CD-R's, I decided that 4.7GB of storage per disc was the way to archive. That, and my set-top JVC player understands the DVD-R and DVD-RW if I want to make my own video disks (and yes, I meant to say -R and -RW, not +R/+RW, and I don't want to get into that discussion--I've already read up on that flame war).
Anyway, the Pioneer drive is supposedly the top of the line, consumer version of the A04 (for general use DVD-R disks)--and it also burns CD-R's at 8x, so you get a 2-in-1 drive if you don't already have a CD-R burner. I also looked at the prices of the media, which have drastically dropped in price, down to about $2 a disk. Now, is this all worth it? I don't know--if enough ppl ask, I may post a review with this comment after I get my drive this week. In the meantime, I will say that I ordered my drive for $275 using PriceWatch.com as my guide. I remember getting my SCSI Yamaha 4x CD-R burner for almost $400, and spending $2-3 for the media, which was only about 3-4 years ago. I know I've been an early adopter, but I think DVD is the way to go for a lot of people--just give it some thought as to whether it's for you or not.
I'm going to skip reading most of the comments and post my $0.02, even though I'm sure it may be similiar to a lot of other people's thoughts. It all boils down to the professor most of the time. For the most part, I agree that if exact (ie, correctly formatted and working) code is required, you HAVE to be sitting at a computer and have a chance to compile, find errors, and fix your code. However, I had a lot of professors that were more concerned about the form and function as described by pseudo-code.
Honestly, I have found that paper code makes you more prepared for the real business world. ie, If you are working as a programmer, and you are discussing specs with a client, there may be times where you need to think quickly about a problem from the programming perspective. This usually (for me at least) gives me a minute to jot down some code that pops into my head--without regard to whether or not it will actually work the first time. If you depend too heavily on using a computer to make sure that code works, you may not be able to trust in yourself. I kinda equate it to the argument that reliance on calculators makes you forget basic math when you're in a pinch. If you do a little on paper now and then, you keep it fresh in your mind--check it on your computer/calculator later.
I'm just waiting for the usual/. story at the end of the year where the RIAA comes up with their mysterious numbers and bitch about piracy reducing sales, blah, blah, blah. But I wonder if the RIAA will actually bring 9-11 into the equation, factoring that most of the nation was too shaken up to worry about buying the latest CD's for the last few months of 2001. I'm curious because almost everyone has been using 9-11 as an excuse for everything lately (bad sales, security, etc) but I think most of the/. population understands that issue already, so I'll leave it at that.
I've had the pleasure of working with (and purchasing) several Mackie mixers over the years. I have yet to be let down by the scattered bits of humor that the writers leave in the books. Granted, there's usually a need read up on new features, but most of the time it's worth reading the whole manual to get some of the jokes. I've also read some Crown Broadcast manuals for some of their high-end amplifiers, and saw a few interesting bits as well.
Right now it doesn't seem to mean a lot to employers if you're certified or not. All they want is experience. I also just graduated with a BS in Comp Sci, have 5 years of internship experience with a real business, and I have yet to get even a single interview set up. My currently employer even has me on a temporary basis until they can decide to start hiring again for full-time positions.
Back to the topic, I don't think the certification is that important, or at least not as much as it was in years past. I remember there was a demand for it, mainly since the experienced workers were employed, and the ones seeking jobs were a bit too green. Now the experienced people are the ones in the job market, and the focus is on years of real work, not the number of certificates saying you think you know how things are supposed to work. And since there's no way to know when certification will be a hiring point again, there's no reason to spend time and money to get certified for technology that may be dead by that time.
If it's already a classic in one form, why try to remake it? Making it more "accessible" is just anther way of saying "dumbing down". If the remainder of the Western audience doesn't understand the film (in either the subbed or dubbed version) then why the hell would you bother? The movie is a classic for so many reasons on it's own (artistic style, notoriety, story base, etc). I'm probably just pulling a bit out of my ass there, but my point is, if it's already good leave it alone.
Leave it to Slashdot to review a product I just bought two days ago. Anyway, I want to do my own review on the card, just to let others know of the problems I encountered.
First off, I used to have an original All-In-Wonder card about 5 years ago, and it's still alive and well in my linux server. I loved that card, but 3D sucked until I added a 3dfx card. I ran those for a while, then the GeForce series came out, and I jumped on the ASUS 6600 Deluxe with the TV features. (ATI had me hooked on TV on my computer, so I couldn't live without it.) Well, 2 years later, my ASUS card begins to fail and I started looking at a new card--it came down to the Radeon 8500 or the 7500 AIW cards. Since I don't have a DV camera or any other type device, I figured I'd save the $200 and get the 7500 (after consulting a friend who also recently purchased the card).
I had some problems with the install, mainly with getting the remote and the TV display to work properly. The driver and software installs were actually quite painless (AMD 1.2 GHz, Win2k, just for reference). It turns out that the program for the remote is buried in the application directory, and the shortcut in all the software is wrong. After fixing that, the control worked fine. As for TV, I had no picture, but had sound. It turns out that when you have the TV composite out connected to a VCR, it makes the TV out the primary display, and your monitor is a cloned desktop. Make sure you switch that before you get upset like me that you have no TV display.
Let me say that if you have a TiVo, don't bother getting this card. If you also have a higher end graphics card and do a lot of gaming, don't get this card. However, if you have a GeForce 256 or older card, want decent TV record/playback, and do moderate gaming (with nice effects) then this card is for you. I have had no problems running my 3D games like I did on my GeForce 256 (the 7500 AIW runs like a GeForce 2 MX, so it's adequate for most games). The Guide Plus software (only for windows) allows you to download local channel guides, and set the TV to either watch or record automatically. But as someone else said already, it's dumb and doesn't gather watching habits or anything--not bad though if you just want to record something without being there. I'm still having some problems with recording video (audio and video get out of sync) but I think that's because of the settings I'm using for compression (you can use MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI, ATI VCR, or WMF). ATI is aware of the "10 second sync" issue with AVI recording, and are "working to resolve the problem".
In all, I really do like the card, especially the time-shift feature and the remote. I've bordered on saying that I love the card, but the recording issues are the only thing that holds me back.
Does anyone know if there is currently any legitimate, ie. agreed upon by real law-makers, law or legislation anywhere that says radio stations must pay for internet broadcasts? If so, where would that information be found, and does anyone think that such a law could be effectively policed, given the vast number of radio stations across the US alone?
My intent was to submit early and let people set their VCR's (or TiVo's) to catch it. You had pretty much the same info as me, even after the bits that were cut.
I usually don't rant on/. but I'm pissed. I posted this same goddam story, several weeks ago, and it didn't get accepted. What the fuck does this particular posting have that mine didn't? Why can't the admins of/. give a damn reason why an article is rejected? I even included some bits about Tenchi and Cowboy Bebop (aimed at Taco's tastes in anime, as well as my own). No dice.
The only request my wife-to-be has made, is that I don't name any of the kids after operating systems (or their mascots). Although I'm sure she'd agree with some of the prenup suggestions that have been added to this thread...
I'm one of 5 student members on the final Tech Fee committee at my university (SPSU). One of the problems we've run into isn't the lack of good ideas, but the lack of faculty/staff on the lower committees that shoot down some good ideas before we on the upper committee get to vote on them. Granted, I've seen some frivolous proposals for stuff that we really don't need, and I would vote them down in order to get more long-term projects funded that will benefit more students. For example, it took us 2 meetings just to decide whether or not to fund a 3D printer for rapid prototyping in the MET dept. It was a large ticket item, but it would make things so much easier for the students to make a quick prototype instead of the time-consuming milling of a real part.
The biggest ideas that I see coming up this year are requests for wireless access in student common areas, and increased funding for lab staff (so we can keep the brand new labs open longer). Hopefully this year we'll see the students submit more proposals, as the most we commonly see are requests from faculty and staff. (We divide the available funds into thirds, for IT, Academics, and Students--and the students section always comes up short with proposals.)
...some things just don't seem to ever change.
From Linus's first Linux post:
"This is a program for hackers by a hacker. I've enjouyed doing it, and somebody might enjoy looking at it and even modifying it for
their own needs."
Slashdot Mirror
Chew: "I designed your eyes."
Roy: "Chew, if only you could see what I've seen with your eyes."
And I even made a comment on the last /. article that asked the question of "Time to Purchase a DVD-R?". My goal here is just to back up the comments that have already been posted by others.
1.) The 104 is the SAME as the A04 (EXCEPT for the fact that one uses general purpose disks and the other uses disks for authoring, respectively).
2.) I did some research before I bought my drive, and more DVD drives support -R than +R. Granted some drives may still read +R disks, but it's not advertised, so I consider that unnofficial.
3.) For those bitching about "harddrives are cheaper/use tape backups", stop being asses. I wanted the portability of DVD for a reason, and so did the people who are buying these drives.
4.) That last point being said, those that have bought the -R drives en mass have proved that it's the format they want, and that will drive the market. Kinda like the VHS/BetaMAX wars...
"The dreamcast will then probe for ways to connect to the outside world."
Sega Dreamcast..."It's Thinking"
Don't give them a reason to get near you in the first place! Take a bath every day--it's a great excuse to get away from your computer for a while (and I promise that a little soap won't hurt you). That, and why not take a minute to clean up all the soda cans and pizza boxes lying around your desk/room/office. Unless you work outside, live in a dorm, or some other run-down dwelling, I don't see why you would need to repel anything in the first place. If you are attracting rodents, maybe you need to get a little better with the personal hygiene.
I think this is just a matter of DJ's catching up to what current technology has to offer. I laugh every time I hear about this type of story, where a traditional DJ, or even radio station, starts adopting MP3 or some other digital format for their source of music. I don't mean to toot my own horn here, but when I became Chief Engineer, and later General Manager of WGHR in Marietta, the first thing I did was set up a massive file server, and a new computer in the DJ booth. That allowed people to use digital music as a supplement to the supply of CD's and vinyl already in the studio. Since then, almost all of the DJ's have turned to using MP3's, since they're available in one place, and much easier to organize than shelves of CD's. There's still a personal preference available to use the "old" style of spinning tracks, but now it's much easier for the beginners to just throw some tracks into Winamp--something they already know how to do at home.
Oh sure, operation "banana-rama" will be a big success...
I thought I was the only one who didn't get the whole .NET thing. Since that hype machine started up last year, I heard so many things from other programmers (who love MS products) talking about VB.NET and other .NET applications. I repeatedly asked them, what's the difference between the old environment and the new one, or simply what good is it all. Never have I recieved a clear answer of what it is, how it works, or what good it is. I'm not saying anything bad (or even good) about the whole .NET thing, I'm just saying that I've never heard a compelling argument from anyone who seems to fully understand it all. I think that right there proves that the idea didn't catch on.
Oh yeah, I forgot to add...
http://www.boycott-riaa.com/
"Of course, you'll need to be a big fish with lots of illegal music to get their attention."
Gee, I dunno where the RIAA would get any ideas about how much disk space that we use to store our MP3's.
Note to RIAA: "If you're using these numbers to do anything important, you're insane."
Leave it to someone to post a question like this after I've already made the decision to buy the technology in question. Although I won't get my Pioneer DVR-104 until later this week, I've already done my homework on the subject. I wanted a DVD-storage solution to backup lots and lots of TV shows that I have gathered/recorded over the past few months. Realizing that my 20GB+ of DivX videos was going to take a LOT of CD-R's, I decided that 4.7GB of storage per disc was the way to archive. That, and my set-top JVC player understands the DVD-R and DVD-RW if I want to make my own video disks (and yes, I meant to say -R and -RW, not +R/+RW, and I don't want to get into that discussion--I've already read up on that flame war).
Anyway, the Pioneer drive is supposedly the top of the line, consumer version of the A04 (for general use DVD-R disks)--and it also burns CD-R's at 8x, so you get a 2-in-1 drive if you don't already have a CD-R burner. I also looked at the prices of the media, which have drastically dropped in price, down to about $2 a disk. Now, is this all worth it? I don't know--if enough ppl ask, I may post a review with this comment after I get my drive this week. In the meantime, I will say that I ordered my drive for $275 using PriceWatch.com as my guide. I remember getting my SCSI Yamaha 4x CD-R burner for almost $400, and spending $2-3 for the media, which was only about 3-4 years ago. I know I've been an early adopter, but I think DVD is the way to go for a lot of people--just give it some thought as to whether it's for you or not.
I'm going to skip reading most of the comments and post my $0.02, even though I'm sure it may be similiar to a lot of other people's thoughts.
It all boils down to the professor most of the time. For the most part, I agree that if exact (ie, correctly formatted and working) code is required, you HAVE to be sitting at a computer and have a chance to compile, find errors, and fix your code. However, I had a lot of professors that were more concerned about the form and function as described by pseudo-code.
Honestly, I have found that paper code makes you more prepared for the real business world. ie, If you are working as a programmer, and you are discussing specs with a client, there may be times where you need to think quickly about a problem from the programming perspective. This usually (for me at least) gives me a minute to jot down some code that pops into my head--without regard to whether or not it will actually work the first time. If you depend too heavily on using a computer to make sure that code works, you may not be able to trust in yourself. I kinda equate it to the argument that reliance on calculators makes you forget basic math when you're in a pinch. If you do a little on paper now and then, you keep it fresh in your mind--check it on your computer/calculator later.
I'm just waiting for the usual /. story at the end of the year where the RIAA comes up with their mysterious numbers and bitch about piracy reducing sales, blah, blah, blah. But I wonder if the RIAA will actually bring 9-11 into the equation, factoring that most of the nation was too shaken up to worry about buying the latest CD's for the last few months of 2001. I'm curious because almost everyone has been using 9-11 as an excuse for everything lately (bad sales, security, etc) but I think most of the /. population understands that issue already, so I'll leave it at that.
from the marco!-...-polo! department?
"Would you like to play a game?" We'll see how things go from there.
I've had the pleasure of working with (and purchasing) several Mackie mixers over the years. I have yet to be let down by the scattered bits of humor that the writers leave in the books. Granted, there's usually a need read up on new features, but most of the time it's worth reading the whole manual to get some of the jokes. I've also read some Crown Broadcast manuals for some of their high-end amplifiers, and saw a few interesting bits as well.
Actually, that was Tyler Durden talking to the lady on the plane in "Fight Club"...but yeah, same point.
Right now it doesn't seem to mean a lot to employers if you're certified or not. All they want is experience. I also just graduated with a BS in Comp Sci, have 5 years of internship experience with a real business, and I have yet to get even a single interview set up. My currently employer even has me on a temporary basis until they can decide to start hiring again for full-time positions.
Back to the topic, I don't think the certification is that important, or at least not as much as it was in years past. I remember there was a demand for it, mainly since the experienced workers were employed, and the ones seeking jobs were a bit too green. Now the experienced people are the ones in the job market, and the focus is on years of real work, not the number of certificates saying you think you know how things are supposed to work. And since there's no way to know when certification will be a hiring point again, there's no reason to spend time and money to get certified for technology that may be dead by that time.
If it's already a classic in one form, why try to remake it? Making it more "accessible" is just anther way of saying "dumbing down". If the remainder of the Western audience doesn't understand the film (in either the subbed or dubbed version) then why the hell would you bother? The movie is a classic for so many reasons on it's own (artistic style, notoriety, story base, etc). I'm probably just pulling a bit out of my ass there, but my point is, if it's already good leave it alone.
Leave it to Slashdot to review a product I just bought two days ago. Anyway, I want to do my own review on the card, just to let others know of the problems I encountered.
First off, I used to have an original All-In-Wonder card about 5 years ago, and it's still alive and well in my linux server. I loved that card, but 3D sucked until I added a 3dfx card. I ran those for a while, then the GeForce series came out, and I jumped on the ASUS 6600 Deluxe with the TV features. (ATI had me hooked on TV on my computer, so I couldn't live without it.) Well, 2 years later, my ASUS card begins to fail and I started looking at a new card--it came down to the Radeon 8500 or the 7500 AIW cards. Since I don't have a DV camera or any other type device, I figured I'd save the $200 and get the 7500 (after consulting a friend who also recently purchased the card).
I had some problems with the install, mainly with getting the remote and the TV display to work properly. The driver and software installs were actually quite painless (AMD 1.2 GHz, Win2k, just for reference). It turns out that the program for the remote is buried in the application directory, and the shortcut in all the software is wrong. After fixing that, the control worked fine. As for TV, I had no picture, but had sound. It turns out that when you have the TV composite out connected to a VCR, it makes the TV out the primary display, and your monitor is a cloned desktop. Make sure you switch that before you get upset like me that you have no TV display.
Let me say that if you have a TiVo, don't bother getting this card. If you also have a higher end graphics card and do a lot of gaming, don't get this card. However, if you have a GeForce 256 or older card, want decent TV record/playback, and do moderate gaming (with nice effects) then this card is for you. I have had no problems running my 3D games like I did on my GeForce 256 (the 7500 AIW runs like a GeForce 2 MX, so it's adequate for most games). The Guide Plus software (only for windows) allows you to download local channel guides, and set the TV to either watch or record automatically. But as someone else said already, it's dumb and doesn't gather watching habits or anything--not bad though if you just want to record something without being there. I'm still having some problems with recording video (audio and video get out of sync) but I think that's because of the settings I'm using for compression (you can use MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI, ATI VCR, or WMF). ATI is aware of the "10 second sync" issue with AVI recording, and are "working to resolve the problem".
In all, I really do like the card, especially the time-shift feature and the remote. I've bordered on saying that I love the card, but the recording issues are the only thing that holds me back.
Does anyone know if there is currently any legitimate, ie. agreed upon by real law-makers, law or legislation anywhere that says radio stations must pay for internet broadcasts? If so, where would that information be found, and does anyone think that such a law could be effectively policed, given the vast number of radio stations across the US alone?
My intent was to submit early and let people set their VCR's (or TiVo's) to catch it. You had pretty much the same info as me, even after the bits that were cut.
I usually don't rant on /. but I'm pissed. I posted this same goddam story, several weeks ago, and it didn't get accepted. What the fuck does this particular posting have that mine didn't? Why can't the admins of /. give a damn reason why an article is rejected? I even included some bits about Tenchi and Cowboy Bebop (aimed at Taco's tastes in anime, as well as my own). No dice.
/me ends rant.
Congratulations and good luck!
The only request my wife-to-be has made, is that I don't name any of the kids after operating systems (or their mascots). Although I'm sure she'd agree with some of the prenup suggestions that have been added to this thread...
I'm one of 5 student members on the final Tech Fee committee at my university (SPSU). One of the problems we've run into isn't the lack of good ideas, but the lack of faculty/staff on the lower committees that shoot down some good ideas before we on the upper committee get to vote on them. Granted, I've seen some frivolous proposals for stuff that we really don't need, and I would vote them down in order to get more long-term projects funded that will benefit more students. For example, it took us 2 meetings just to decide whether or not to fund a 3D printer for rapid prototyping in the MET dept. It was a large ticket item, but it would make things so much easier for the students to make a quick prototype instead of the time-consuming milling of a real part.
The biggest ideas that I see coming up this year are requests for wireless access in student common areas, and increased funding for lab staff (so we can keep the brand new labs open longer). Hopefully this year we'll see the students submit more proposals, as the most we commonly see are requests from faculty and staff. (We divide the available funds into thirds, for IT, Academics, and Students--and the students section always comes up short with proposals.)
...some things just don't seem to ever change.
From Linus's first Linux post:
"This is a program for hackers by a hacker. I've enjouyed doing it, and somebody might enjoy looking at it and even modifying it for
their own needs."