Here in the UK we can get Digital TV over the airwaves, by satellite or over Cable, and ALL of them have terrible picture quality
Pardon me, but I do believe they are thinking more along the lines of what is going to be in the market place when HDTV becomes more popular. I have an HD, and I definitely could make some perfect copies of movies with the right equipment.
But laying that aside for a moment, I have digital cable from timewarner, and the quality of the picture varies from channel to channel. HBO's looks much sharper than it's analog counterpart. Occasionally there are MPEG artifacts, but for the most part it is wonderful!
The KVM switch we use is hooked up to a companion product from the same company, which converts the video signal to a very decent VNC server. I can connect to this VNC server, and using keyboard shortcuts, see exactly what is on the screen for any of the servers in the farm. I can even reboot a server, and watch it go through POST, etc, even stop it and interact with the BIOS menu... all because of how VNC is setup.
Check out StarTech KVM products. I think you can use that VNC box with other companies' KVM's also...
Actually, Hex was first invented by Piet Hein [ctaz.com], who is perhaps better known for the Soma cube. Nash claims to've invented the game independently, but somehow I just find that hard to believe.
Me too! It's like two people from two completely different parts of the world claiming to have theorized natural selection at the same time.
Well, I hate those Sony XBR's, but I have an HD so I'm spoiled. Anyway:
We have come to realise, in every high motion scene, how much digital sucks. Words on screen have no bandwidth to display sharply, flying bodies are turned into blocky messes and gradual swaths of colour are graduated in the ugliest fashion. Blacks aren't black.
The quality of a digital channel depends entirely on the channel that's broadcasting the content and how they handle it. ESPN2 in digital sucks most of the time. However, bigger-name channels like HBO look great in digital. Maybe they get more bandwidth. Maybe they know what they are doing when it comes to processing the signal before sending it. Maybe both.
Digital cable doesn't suck, but some digital cable channels do suck.
If you are in a developed country, and you are constantly having problems with mosquitos, cockroaches, and rats around your workspace, simply MOVE YOUR FUCKING COMPUTER INDOORS!
If it doesn't do so out of the box, then that's not relevent. The vast majority of people are not capable of, or interested in, XUL configuration.
Those people should be using Netscape 6.x, then, where out of the box, it looks like Netscape 4.x, which I don't recall being a problem for anyone to use due to the way it looks.
Drag a file to the CD-RW drive, and Windows copies it to a cache behind the scenes. Right click on the CD-RW drive, and tell it to burn the disc. If it's in RW mode, you don't even have to do that much, treat it as a floppy. If you're putting music files on it, you can burn it as a music CD just as easily. Or load up a playlist in media player, and select "copy to cd" to create a music CD.
So you'd rather just the victims run around blind?
Re:Media Addiction is really just Entertainment
on
Borrowing ROMs
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· Score: 2
Well of course they would not, but the government is supposed to view us as citizens. Over the last few years the US government has started to refer to us as "consumers" however, which implies that to some extent the government has transitioned into a media company.
Where do they refer to us as consumers of government-created and sold products? A reference please. Also, what government-created products are they creating and selling which makes them a media company?
I certainly hope this is true, as I'd love for the government to start making money instead of stealing* it from its citizens every April. However, I really doubt it.
It is as if the government exists to provide the legal clout to protect the market for media industry.
First realize that not every bill recommended by people like Sen. Hollings actually get passed. Some things like DMCA can still be ruled unconstitutional if tested in the courts. New lawmakers can be voted in place to get things back in the favor of consumers. There are some lawmakers already in Congress that are doing these things and fighting for our rights (sure, not enough).
I agree that SOME lawmakers have been bought by media companies, but not all, by far.
So it is not fair to split them apart as you have.
Split them apart?
The government was never mentioned in the original post to which I was reponding. The person stated that media companies are looking at us like consumers instead of citizens. DUH, as well they should. We are consumers of media company products. We are not citizens of MediaLand®.
A current example of this thinking in US government is the aptly named Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act
You neglected to mention that this is a BILL, and it has not passed, it is not a law yet. It could easily be killed before that happens. Many bills come before congress and do not become law.
The only way for an individual to escape is to be a producer instead of a consumer.
Escape what? If you mean, escape the restrictions of the media companies, then no, I already proposed another route -- civil disobedience.
Re:Media Addiction is really just Entertainment
on
Borrowing ROMs
·
· Score: 1
You're entitled to your opinions, of course, but I really like the movie, I love the books, I love the film score, I love the de Meij pieces inspired by the books, etc. These are all items that I can buy for my personal use and entertainment. I am not willing to give these up for some stupid boycott that will not have the desired effect.
However, I am able to currently work with these items in an unrestricted way, albeit with some questionably legal pieces of software (esp. in the case of DeCSS).
Re:Media Addiction is really just Entertainment
on
Borrowing ROMs
·
· Score: 2
Interesting point. Would you be willing really be willing to purchase a movie under that system? Take, for instance, Lord of the Rings (which you mentioned in your post as appreciating). Adding a modest 4% profit to its cost, we come up with $113 million. Plus an extra few bucks for the media it comes on.
You're not understanding things properly.
For $113 million I would expect to receive everything created for the movie, any left over props, all film, etc, and to retain the right to distribute the movie worldwide, FOR A PROFIT, as well as make derivative works, FOR A PROFIT, rent the movie, FOR A PROFIT, etc.
Notice a theme?
However, when I buy a CD at the store, or a DVD, it is NOT REASONABLE for those companies to put restrictions on how I use that item, as long as it's for personal, not commercial, use. This means I can let my friends borrow it, I can make a copy for my car, or for all CD players in my house, or rip it to my computer (medium-shifting). If it's a broadcast, I can time-shift it or medium-shift it, for my personal use.
These are things that are being taken away (or at least they are TRYING to take them away).
Media Addiction is really just Entertainment
on
Borrowing ROMs
·
· Score: 2
Which brings me to the main point of this post. The various media industries view us not as citizens, but consumers.
Ummm. The "media industries" are not countries, so why would they ever view you as "citizens" instead of "consumers"?
The solution? Stop being a consumer!
So how about this. Cast off your media addiction and go do stuff that shows the various entertainment industries that they and their product are not needed/wanted. Find other hobbies/activities that don't support the monopolistic organizations. Maybe pushing the idea too far here, but maybe take up a sport!
This is the lamest argument I've seen in a long time. Let's think it through a bit...
We're not pissed off because the RIAA/MPAA is selling these items to us. We WANT these things. They provide ENTERTAINMENT. (Just like sports provide entertainment.)
We're pissed off because they are trying to sell us things we want, without giving us full control over those things after we've purchased them.
However, your idea to abstain from everything is not reasonable. The punishment doesn't fit the crime. In other words, you'll never get enough people to join a boycott like this, because the shit the MPAA/RIAA are pulling is not egregious enough to most people for this boycott to make a dent.
Another way of thinking about it is: I love Lord of the Rings way more than I hate the RIAA's actions.
I think a more successful course of action is to practice civil disobedience, whenever possible. In this case, we're not necessarily trying to change any laws (although that would be nice), we are primarily interested in making it more obvious to the RIAA/MPAA that things have changed.
Share MP3's of your albums with your friends. Crack encryption on products you've purchased, for the purpose of being able to use them without any restrictions. Crack encryption that will be used to limit the usefulness of HDTV or other digital broadcast signals that you've purchased and receive in your home. Break macrovision's and other companies' attempts to prevent you from ripping CD/DVD's to your hard drive. Create programs that make it easy to move television shows from your PVR to your computer, and vice versa. Avoid hardware that uses proprietary media formats whenever possible.
These are actions which could conceivably work to decimate the MPAA/RIAA's old-school business models that no longer apply in the digital world, and yet give me no moral pause (as sharing my MP3's with the entire world does).
These are things that don't require EVERYONE to do something in order for them to work -- only one anonymous person is needed to write a decryption program and post it on the internet, for example.
The MPAA/RIAA will eventually be forced to revise their business model, or die. If they want to survive, they will become digital-friendly. Sell unencumbered digital bundles of music or movies for far less than you're trying to sell physical products. They cost less to produce and distribute, after all.
If you make it easier for people to buy than to steal, you'll make money hand over fist.
Civil disobedience is the key. I'm just stating the obvious.
How about a webcam that is aimed at a black backdrop, with an incense burner hidden just out of frame, below. You light some incense, turn the webcam on, every time you take a picture you get a random black and white image. Do some fancy pixel crunching to generate a number.
Re:The creator are sexists
on
Social Robot?
·
· Score: 2
How can they imply a machine as female when it does not even reproduce?
If a woman has cervical cancer and can no longer reproduce, is she no longer a female? Or if she loses her breasts to cancer, how about then?
You are female if you act like a female.
My dictionary lists this as one definition of female: "Characteristic of or appropriate to this sex; feminine."
And why shouldn't males be able to develop a female robot? Guys stare at females all the time, they ought to know what they look like enough to make a female robot.
By your logic, we should not have male gynecologists either.
Slashdot Mirror
I know that I'd glady pay another $20 for an official Phantom Menace DVD that had the bright yellow "New and improved! No Jar Jar!"
Ironically, George Lucas is not a member of the DGA...
Well since this discussion is specific to something happening in America, who cares what rights you don't have in Europe?
Here in the UK we can get Digital TV over the airwaves, by satellite or over Cable, and ALL of them have terrible picture quality
Pardon me, but I do believe they are thinking more along the lines of what is going to be in the market place when HDTV becomes more popular. I have an HD, and I definitely could make some perfect copies of movies with the right equipment.
But laying that aside for a moment, I have digital cable from timewarner, and the quality of the picture varies from channel to channel. HBO's looks much sharper than it's analog counterpart. Occasionally there are MPEG artifacts, but for the most part it is wonderful!
The thing looks more like a yo-yo. Clearly god's way of telling us the universe continuously expands and then contracts... clearly.
The difference being we can definitely expect Java 3 to make it to platforms besides Windows.
The KVM switch we use is hooked up to a companion product from the same company, which converts the video signal to a very decent VNC server. I can connect to this VNC server, and using keyboard shortcuts, see exactly what is on the screen for any of the servers in the farm. I can even reboot a server, and watch it go through POST, etc, even stop it and interact with the BIOS menu... all because of how VNC is setup.
Check out StarTech KVM products. I think you can use that VNC box with other companies' KVM's also...
Actually, Hex was first invented by Piet Hein [ctaz.com], who is perhaps better known for the Soma cube. Nash claims to've invented the game independently, but somehow I just find that hard to believe.
Me too! It's like two people from two completely different parts of the world claiming to have theorized natural selection at the same time.
Preposterous!
Well, I hate those Sony XBR's, but I have an HD so I'm spoiled. Anyway:
We have come to realise, in every high motion scene, how much digital sucks. Words on screen have no bandwidth to display sharply, flying bodies are turned into blocky messes and gradual swaths of colour are graduated in the ugliest fashion. Blacks aren't black.
The quality of a digital channel depends entirely on the channel that's broadcasting the content and how they handle it. ESPN2 in digital sucks most of the time. However, bigger-name channels like HBO look great in digital. Maybe they get more bandwidth. Maybe they know what they are doing when it comes to processing the signal before sending it. Maybe both.
Digital cable doesn't suck, but some digital cable channels do suck.
If you are in a developed country, and you are constantly having problems with mosquitos, cockroaches, and rats around your workspace, simply MOVE YOUR FUCKING COMPUTER INDOORS!
If it doesn't do so out of the box, then that's not relevent. The vast majority of people are not capable of, or interested in, XUL configuration.
Those people should be using Netscape 6.x, then, where out of the box, it looks like Netscape 4.x, which I don't recall being a problem for anyone to use due to the way it looks.
The point is, using XUL, this application can be made to look and behave just exactly like any other Windows application.
Drag a file to the CD-RW drive, and Windows copies it to a cache behind the scenes. Right click on the CD-RW drive, and tell it to burn the disc. If it's in RW mode, you don't even have to do that much, treat it as a floppy. If you're putting music files on it, you can burn it as a music CD just as easily. Or load up a playlist in media player, and select "copy to cd" to create a music CD.
Windows XP might suck, but it sure is nice. yeah.
You can reasonably carry a floppy disk in your wallet and pull it out when you need it without fear of destroying it.
Yes.
If by wallet, you mean purse.
So you'd rather just the victims run around blind?
Well of course they would not, but the government is supposed to view us as citizens. Over the last few years the US government has started to refer to us as "consumers" however, which implies that to some extent the government has transitioned into a media company.
Where do they refer to us as consumers of government-created and sold products? A reference please. Also, what government-created products are they creating and selling which makes them a media company?
I certainly hope this is true, as I'd love for the government to start making money instead of stealing* it from its citizens every April. However, I really doubt it.
It is as if the government exists to provide the legal clout to protect the market for media industry.
First realize that not every bill recommended by people like Sen. Hollings actually get passed. Some things like DMCA can still be ruled unconstitutional if tested in the courts. New lawmakers can be voted in place to get things back in the favor of consumers. There are some lawmakers already in Congress that are doing these things and fighting for our rights (sure, not enough).
I agree that SOME lawmakers have been bought by media companies, but not all, by far.
So it is not fair to split them apart as you have.
Split them apart?
The government was never mentioned in the original post to which I was reponding. The person stated that media companies are looking at us like consumers instead of citizens. DUH, as well they should. We are consumers of media company products. We are not citizens of MediaLand®.
A current example of this thinking in US government is the aptly named Consumer Broadband and Digital Television Promotion Act
You neglected to mention that this is a BILL, and it has not passed, it is not a law yet. It could easily be killed before that happens. Many bills come before congress and do not become law.
The only way for an individual to escape is to be a producer instead of a consumer.
Escape what? If you mean, escape the restrictions of the media companies, then no, I already proposed another route -- civil disobedience.
You're entitled to your opinions, of course, but I really like the movie, I love the books, I love the film score, I love the de Meij pieces inspired by the books, etc. These are all items that I can buy for my personal use and entertainment. I am not willing to give these up for some stupid boycott that will not have the desired effect.
However, I am able to currently work with these items in an unrestricted way, albeit with some questionably legal pieces of software (esp. in the case of DeCSS).
Interesting point. Would you be willing really be willing to purchase a movie under that system? Take, for instance, Lord of the Rings (which you mentioned in your post as appreciating). Adding a modest 4% profit to its cost, we come up with $113 million. Plus an extra few bucks for the media it comes on.
You're not understanding things properly.
For $113 million I would expect to receive everything created for the movie, any left over props, all film, etc, and to retain the right to distribute the movie worldwide, FOR A PROFIT, as well as make derivative works, FOR A PROFIT, rent the movie, FOR A PROFIT, etc.
Notice a theme?
However, when I buy a CD at the store, or a DVD, it is NOT REASONABLE for those companies to put restrictions on how I use that item, as long as it's for personal, not commercial, use. This means I can let my friends borrow it, I can make a copy for my car, or for all CD players in my house, or rip it to my computer (medium-shifting). If it's a broadcast, I can time-shift it or medium-shift it, for my personal use.
These are things that are being taken away (or at least they are TRYING to take them away).
Brings new meaning to the words "Cold War."
I'm only halfway kidding.
Which brings me to the main point of this post. The various media industries view us not as citizens, but consumers.
Ummm. The "media industries" are not countries, so why would they ever view you as "citizens" instead of "consumers"?
The solution? Stop being a consumer!
So how about this. Cast off your media addiction and go do stuff that shows the various entertainment industries that they and their product are not needed/wanted. Find other hobbies/activities that don't support the monopolistic organizations. Maybe pushing the idea too far here, but maybe take up a sport!
This is the lamest argument I've seen in a long time. Let's think it through a bit...
We're not pissed off because the RIAA/MPAA is selling these items to us. We WANT these things. They provide ENTERTAINMENT. (Just like sports provide entertainment.)
We're pissed off because they are trying to sell us things we want, without giving us full control over those things after we've purchased them.
However, your idea to abstain from everything is not reasonable. The punishment doesn't fit the crime. In other words, you'll never get enough people to join a boycott like this, because the shit the MPAA/RIAA are pulling is not egregious enough to most people for this boycott to make a dent.
Another way of thinking about it is: I love Lord of the Rings way more than I hate the RIAA's actions.
I think a more successful course of action is to practice civil disobedience, whenever possible. In this case, we're not necessarily trying to change any laws (although that would be nice), we are primarily interested in making it more obvious to the RIAA/MPAA that things have changed.
Share MP3's of your albums with your friends. Crack encryption on products you've purchased, for the purpose of being able to use them without any restrictions. Crack encryption that will be used to limit the usefulness of HDTV or other digital broadcast signals that you've purchased and receive in your home. Break macrovision's and other companies' attempts to prevent you from ripping CD/DVD's to your hard drive. Create programs that make it easy to move television shows from your PVR to your computer, and vice versa. Avoid hardware that uses proprietary media formats whenever possible.
These are actions which could conceivably work to decimate the MPAA/RIAA's old-school business models that no longer apply in the digital world, and yet give me no moral pause (as sharing my MP3's with the entire world does).
These are things that don't require EVERYONE to do something in order for them to work -- only one anonymous person is needed to write a decryption program and post it on the internet, for example.
The MPAA/RIAA will eventually be forced to revise their business model, or die. If they want to survive, they will become digital-friendly. Sell unencumbered digital bundles of music or movies for far less than you're trying to sell physical products. They cost less to produce and distribute, after all.
If you make it easier for people to buy than to steal, you'll make money hand over fist.
Civil disobedience is the key. I'm just stating the obvious.
what would be the best way to start on a project like this, say 3d enigine, from a beginners level?
...
Step 1: Read all of John Carmack's writings.
Step 2:
Step 3: Create your own 3D game engine!
When speakers have the ability to playback all those frequencies clearly the ear can easily hear the difference between analogue/44.1kHz/MP3.
A well encoded MP3 cuts out only the frequencies that the majority of humans can't hear.
while you're watching the DJ, I'll be horning in on your girl...
How about a webcam that is aimed at a black backdrop, with an incense burner hidden just out of frame, below. You light some incense, turn the webcam on, every time you take a picture you get a random black and white image. Do some fancy pixel crunching to generate a number.
...but posted by the same author, 19 minutes apart?
How can they imply a machine as female when it does not even reproduce?
If a woman has cervical cancer and can no longer reproduce, is she no longer a female? Or if she loses her breasts to cancer, how about then?
You are female if you act like a female.
My dictionary lists this as one definition of female: "Characteristic of or appropriate to this sex; feminine."
And why shouldn't males be able to develop a female robot? Guys stare at females all the time, they ought to know what they look like enough to make a female robot.
By your logic, we should not have male gynecologists either.
Yeah....