Yup, I could really care less about the games. I hope they get XBMC on it. I will then buy it for use as a great media player and excellent Blu-ray player. If this turns into a piracy only hack then forget it.
I think a better solution, that nobody in law enforcement would like, would be to put cameras on police officers and also allow the public to photograph them. That way in a court of law you have evidence that can provide context to any side videos in play.
That assumes the video doesn't mysteriously go missing or the camera doesn't mysteriously malfunction during crucial moments. Both have happened before.
The police can argue context and the benefit of the doubt can be given. However, some video is quite clear that police brutality does happen.
I don't understand why they are so upset with the "analog hole". It's far quicker and easier to simply rip the DVD than to try to record an analog signal in real-time. You're right, if they think their copy protection will keep people from ripping DVD's or BR disks, then they are truly ignorant. Once one person rips it, the video will be shared on the net quite easily. However, capturing and converting the analog signal is a PITA.
I disagree it was the kid's fault. The cop was responding to a "disturbance call without starting his lights and sirens" and he "sped around a short curve". So he was speeding to the call without putting on the safety devices that allow him to break normal traffic laws. He caused the accident by driving carelessly on a dangerous road. A 1 day suspension for what is basically reckless endangerment is laughable.
You're right, if you want advanced features then you have to include a microcontroller. Although I have used the LM3914 with a CD4538 per line to do peak level indication. If you want to only do peak level indication for the upper few lines then this would be easy enough. However, doing more than a few lines and doing other stuff you mentioned then of course a microcontroller would be easier.
Point is there are many ways to do this simple project, and it is beyond what should be showcased by MIT and here on slashdot. How about doing something a little more interesting like audio spectrum by having the micro also do FFT? If you cram all these features into the project then perhaps I would make it slashdot worthy. But as is it is far from it.
LM3914 can handle 10 LED's per chip and can be cascaded for more. Add an amp for signal conditioning on the front end, and then hookup lots of LED's per line if you use a transistor to drive a bank of LED's.
They need a micro because their display is too complex for the job. But, make the display simple and you can make the whole design simple. Yet, since this is MIT's it has to be complex for some reason.
The 360 and Win7 combo isn't as feature rich as XBMC on an original Xbox. The only benefit I can see is that the 360 can support HD content whereas the original Xbox's hardware cannot.
XBMC, an old Xbox, and a NAS with Samaba or SMB and you have a great media setup. I have ripped all my children's DVD's and put them on the NAS for playing directly from XBMC. It boots fast and it's easy to use.
XBMC also does Internet streaming from Youtube. There is even a Hulu plugin that worked for a while until Hulu broke the functionality. For a little while my wife was able to steam some of her favorite shows off of Hulu directly to the TV. The user interface is easy for her to use as well.
The original poster is correct, XBMC is years ahead of what is coming out now. I have been using it for the past 6 years. It has practically every obscure codec out there so you can play practically everything.
I would be willing to pay $5-$10 (includes shipping) for a replacement disk. I send them the original scratched disk and they send me a replacement. They can even send it back in a generic box.
Are they merely asking for the infringement to stop, are they threatening to take you court and asking for an out-of-court settlement, are they asking for the identity of the person with the IP address?
If it's the first option then it's easy, find the person who might be infringing and deal with it. Perhaps even block the Limewire service on your network. Setup guidelines for accepted computer usage within your organization. Then ignore the letter unless it demands some form of communication back to them, or threatens legal action if something isn't done about it. If it does ask for a response or you get a second letter, then refer to legal advice on how to deal with it.
The other two scenarios may require legal opinions and official responses.
There are antijamming measures in good wireless systems. Typically the negatives of a wireless system are cost and limited expandability. I got my system here:
And don't have it hooked up to a monitoring service. Instead it calls up to 3 numbers to alert them of a problem. Overall it cost me about $500 for a medium sized home, but I don't have a monthly bill either. I like my setup a lot. However, some other random things to consider: - I found out that if you have more than 3 false alarms in a month then the police (NY) will charge you per incident afterward. - Without a monitoring service there is no insurance discount. - It's generally not the most foolproof. - The unit in the link can communicate with X10 devices so you can do some fancy stuff like flashing the house lights when the alarm goes off. I also have the X10 lights controlled to an inexpensive X10 mini-timer that turns the lights on and off during the day to simulate someone being home. - The unit above is a PITA to setup and can be a little quirky.
I use the system for a couple reasons... at home it gives me a peace of mind that I didn't leave a door open accidentally (like the garage), and I will be alerted of an intruder. While traveling the system will alert me of a possible intruder. I then have a friend go to my house a little while later to re-secure the home. I don't want them confronting an intruder, simply re-locking the door or replacing a broken window. A friend once gave me some good advice... an intruder will get into your house if they really want to. Simply have your most important stuff with you or better secured (i.e., documents in a bank) and then get replacement cost insurance for the rest.
Bill Gates was shown a demo of XMBC and asked how Microsoft could engage the community. Why don't they come out and support it on the 360? I might consider buying one if it did.
You forgot that you also have to pay Paypal a fee to receive the money. Receiving and getting of funds to and from Paypal are two separate fees. It may be free to transfer funds to a bank account from Paypal, but there is no way I am going to give them my banking information. Therefore to get a check from them they will charge $1.50.
Color Kinetics (now owned by Philips) has a patent entitled "Multicolored LED lighting method and apparatus" (6,016,038). It's such a trivial invention which should have prior art. Yet they used it against Super Vision International and it was upheld in court.
I have seen similar jokes about Diebold stealing the election in favor of a Republican. Another one was "The Onion" doing a video news piece on Diebold releasing the results of the 2008 election in favor of McCain.
Although this is quite funny, I find it disturbing that my party seems to always be the crux of this type of joke. I am not complaining about it though. I think it is more of a sad commentary, and perhaps a wake up call, to the state of the Republican party.
Please show me a device that puts out 300 lumens / watt at any significant amount of power. And make sure these are driven steady state also (none of this pulse power crap). Cree Xlamp is one of the most efficient high powered LED's out there and it's around 100-133 lm/W. Many people in the lighting industry think that 250 lm/W might be the theoretical limit of LED's, and it will take 5-10 more years to get there.
Slashdot Mirror
I was going to reply directly with the parent, but your reply is priceless.
Yup, I could really care less about the games. I hope they get XBMC on it. I will then buy it for use as a great media player and excellent Blu-ray player. If this turns into a piracy only hack then forget it.
I think a better solution, that nobody in law enforcement would like, would be to put cameras on police officers and also allow the public to photograph them. That way in a court of law you have evidence that can provide context to any side videos in play.
That assumes the video doesn't mysteriously go missing or the camera doesn't mysteriously malfunction during crucial moments. Both have happened before.
The police can argue context and the benefit of the doubt can be given. However, some video is quite clear that police brutality does happen.
I don't understand why they are so upset with the "analog hole". It's far quicker and easier to simply rip the DVD than to try to record an analog signal in real-time. You're right, if they think their copy protection will keep people from ripping DVD's or BR disks, then they are truly ignorant. Once one person rips it, the video will be shared on the net quite easily. However, capturing and converting the analog signal is a PITA.
Which do you fear more:
Spider
OR
Flower
I disagree it was the kid's fault. The cop was responding to a "disturbance call without starting his lights and sirens" and he "sped around a short curve". So he was speeding to the call without putting on the safety devices that allow him to break normal traffic laws. He caused the accident by driving carelessly on a dangerous road. A 1 day suspension for what is basically reckless endangerment is laughable.
He also said, "this is the way I have been waking up for the last 4 years."
Reminded me of the quote from Triumph, "you will die alone."
You're right, if you want advanced features then you have to include a microcontroller. Although I have used the LM3914 with a CD4538 per line to do peak level indication. If you want to only do peak level indication for the upper few lines then this would be easy enough. However, doing more than a few lines and doing other stuff you mentioned then of course a microcontroller would be easier.
Point is there are many ways to do this simple project, and it is beyond what should be showcased by MIT and here on slashdot. How about doing something a little more interesting like audio spectrum by having the micro also do FFT? If you cram all these features into the project then perhaps I would make it slashdot worthy. But as is it is far from it.
LM3914 can handle 10 LED's per chip and can be cascaded for more. Add an amp for signal conditioning on the front end, and then hookup lots of LED's per line if you use a transistor to drive a bank of LED's.
They need a micro because their display is too complex for the job. But, make the display simple and you can make the whole design simple. Yet, since this is MIT's it has to be complex for some reason.
The 360 and Win7 combo isn't as feature rich as XBMC on an original Xbox. The only benefit I can see is that the 360 can support HD content whereas the original Xbox's hardware cannot.
XBMC, an old Xbox, and a NAS with Samaba or SMB and you have a great media setup. I have ripped all my children's DVD's and put them on the NAS for playing directly from XBMC. It boots fast and it's easy to use.
XBMC also does Internet streaming from Youtube. There is even a Hulu plugin that worked for a while until Hulu broke the functionality. For a little while my wife was able to steam some of her favorite shows off of Hulu directly to the TV. The user interface is easy for her to use as well.
The original poster is correct, XBMC is years ahead of what is coming out now. I have been using it for the past 6 years. It has practically every obscure codec out there so you can play practically everything.
There are some who call me, "Tim".
I would be willing to pay $5-$10 (includes shipping) for a replacement disk. I send them the original scratched disk and they send me a replacement. They can even send it back in a generic box.
Google reports that google.com is malware!
It should be fixed by the time most people read this.
There is an even easier fix... MS should just install foam pads. See here:
http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EEyyyZFZAuDOQEAioX.php
There is also do-it-yourself guides on xbox-scene, but it involves voiding the warranty by opening the box.
Are they merely asking for the infringement to stop, are they threatening to take you court and asking for an out-of-court settlement, are they asking for the identity of the person with the IP address?
If it's the first option then it's easy, find the person who might be infringing and deal with it. Perhaps even block the Limewire service on your network. Setup guidelines for accepted computer usage within your organization. Then ignore the letter unless it demands some form of communication back to them, or threatens legal action if something isn't done about it. If it does ask for a response or you get a second letter, then refer to legal advice on how to deal with it.
The other two scenarios may require legal opinions and official responses.
Agreed. Best method for our government to loose (or some would consider: waste) $100K, IMO.
There are antijamming measures in good wireless systems. Typically the negatives of a wireless system are cost and limited expandability. I got my system here:
http://www.homesecuritystore.com/ezStore123/DTProductZoom.asp?productID=1164
And don't have it hooked up to a monitoring service. Instead it calls up to 3 numbers to alert them of a problem. Overall it cost me about $500 for a medium sized home, but I don't have a monthly bill either. I like my setup a lot. However, some other random things to consider:
- I found out that if you have more than 3 false alarms in a month then the police (NY) will charge you per incident afterward.
- Without a monitoring service there is no insurance discount.
- It's generally not the most foolproof.
- The unit in the link can communicate with X10 devices so you can do some fancy stuff like flashing the house lights when the alarm goes off. I also have the X10 lights controlled to an inexpensive X10 mini-timer that turns the lights on and off during the day to simulate someone being home.
- The unit above is a PITA to setup and can be a little quirky.
I use the system for a couple reasons... at home it gives me a peace of mind that I didn't leave a door open accidentally (like the garage), and I will be alerted of an intruder. While traveling the system will alert me of a possible intruder. I then have a friend go to my house a little while later to re-secure the home. I don't want them confronting an intruder, simply re-locking the door or replacing a broken window. A friend once gave me some good advice...
an intruder will get into your house if they really want to. Simply have your most important stuff with you or better secured (i.e., documents in a bank) and then get replacement cost insurance for the rest.
I wouldn't tell them to get stuffed. However, you could try what this guy does...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv8hoQYeVl0
One of his last ones he was stopped there for like 7 minutes until they let him go.
The first one is good too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6uw7506xMw&feature=related
Bill Gates was shown a demo of XMBC and asked how Microsoft could engage the community. Why don't they come out and support it on the 360? I might consider buying one if it did.
So they got to keep your money for 16 months and collect the interest on it for their mistake? Sounds like they won to me.
You forgot that you also have to pay Paypal a fee to receive the money. Receiving and getting of funds to and from Paypal are two separate fees. It may be free to transfer funds to a bank account from Paypal, but there is no way I am going to give them my banking information. Therefore to get a check from them they will charge $1.50.
Color Kinetics (now owned by Philips) has a patent entitled "Multicolored LED lighting method and apparatus" (6,016,038). It's such a trivial invention which should have prior art. Yet they used it against Super Vision International and it was upheld in court.
I hope this student got a license.
Actually, entertaining your cat with a laser pointer is patented (no joke) so they had to find something else to play with.
I have seen similar jokes about Diebold stealing the election in favor of a Republican. Another one was "The Onion" doing a video news piece on Diebold releasing the results of the 2008 election in favor of McCain.
Although this is quite funny, I find it disturbing that my party seems to always be the crux of this type of joke. I am not complaining about it though. I think it is more of a sad commentary, and perhaps a wake up call, to the state of the Republican party.
Please show me a device that puts out 300 lumens / watt at any significant amount of power. And make sure these are driven steady state also (none of this pulse power crap). Cree Xlamp is one of the most efficient high powered LED's out there and it's around 100-133 lm/W. Many people in the lighting industry think that 250 lm/W might be the theoretical limit of LED's, and it will take 5-10 more years to get there.