The best part of the summons in FFIX was that, at some point in the game, you were offered a Faustian bargain in the form of an equippable item that would guarantee that your summons were always the full-length, full-damage type.
The implication being that read errors can be generated and then recovered from without generating an audible 'skip'.
I didn't know about players performing interpolation on missed reads; I guess my old, crappy CD player was handling failure much more strictly. However, SEMW already pointed out that missed reads can be counted digitally. As for errors with enough 'wrong' bits (that is, bits that the laser 'thinks' it can read, but really can't) to get past ECC, these are incredibly rare, but again, they can be counted digitally; in this case, you'd read the CD and save the (digital) output of the CD reader to a hard drive, then apply the stupid pen, then do the same thing again, and compare the difference.
Will a series of interpolated bits sound as good as accurately read bits?
You've put the cart before the horse. First, someone has to show that the pen causes a reduction in interpolation (i.e., increases the chance of a successful read).
CDs aren't just shiny little vinyls. They have data encoded digitally rather in an analog format. One disadvantage is that there is only a finite set of values that can be encoded at any point. The corresponding advantage is that there is no subjectivity about what the encoding is supposed to represent. While the encoding of sound of a vinyl can be distorted by heat, or vibrations, or what-have-you, a piece of data on a CD either Can Be Read or Can't Be Read. If it Can Be Read, the reader sees exactly what was written on the disc. If it Can't Be Read, the reader has no idea what is written. It doesn't get a 'distorted' or 'warped' version, or an 'off-key' version, or anything else. It gets nothing. This is the part where you can hear the songs skipping, with audible (to anyone, not just 'audiophiles' with 'golden ears') clicks.
The point is, the little pens don't do crap. Even if the physics of it worked as they claimed (something about redirecting reflected lasers, or blocking ambient light, or god-knows-what), the *best* that it could do would be to cause a failed disc read to become a successful disc read.* It can't cause a successful disc read to become a 'better' disc read, because a successful disc read is perfect. There's nothing for the pen to *do*.
*This could be easily verified, if it were true. Play 50 CDs on your stereo, recording the number of times each one skips. Now do the stupid pen thing. Listen to them all again. The fact that the manufacturer isn't willing to spend a few man-days of work to produce a result which gives them a scientific basis for selling a green pen for $20 should speak volumes.
I was born in 1982. Around 1987, my father decided to get out of management and go back to doing software. For about a year, he had no job, and I spent every day terrified that we would lose our house.
As it turns out, my parents had planned and budgeted the entire thing. My dad figured he'd need a year to learn C++ well enough (having not done any programming in several years) to be a architect-level engineer, and so my parents saved enough money for us to live decently well for about 18 months with no income before my father quit his management gig. Thanks for not making me worry about money, guys.
Not that it applies in this situation, but 'one guy on the ground' can be quite a danger to anyone. There was a video making the rounds a while back of a man who had a heart attack after a struggle with police in the parking lot of a White Castle. Even after he was wrestled to the ground, clubbed in the legs, and tasered repeatedly, he was still a threat. He stood back up multiple times, lashing out constantly, and at one point managed to flatten one of the 13(!) cops with a punch to the jaw.
Of course, he was on PCP, and weighed about 380 pounds...
Right, it makes a lot of sense to completely change the office layout and destroy our typical workflow so that employees can look at porn on company time. I'll be sure to get that proposal to upper management by tomorrow.
A few years back, a former boss of mine died in a helicopter crash. The story ran on slashdot, because the passenger he was carrying was a Linux kernel hacker. There were a plethora of homophobic posts about how he was a 'faggot' and so forth - because he referred to his 'partner' on his website, which hadn't been taken offline at the time. As it turns out, his partner was a woman, but that didn't stop the trolls. Not that I support homophobic trolls, but in this case they weren't even directed at a homosexual; just using the gender-neutral term 'partner' was enough to make him a target. It doesn't surprise me at all that you get angry responses.
For what it's worth, I know someone whose superb credentials and decades of experience could get them a job at any of the oil companies, and he chooses to work for BP, because he believes that they are the most forward-thinking in terms of research and investments (even though said research might someday make his job obsolete) and have the best business practices in foreign countries (making sure that oil fields bring some jobs to the local economy, for instance, instead of importing workers and then armed guards to prevent a disaffected local populace from burning down the facility).
Michael is visiting his father, George, who has been arrested for SEC violations. George is eager to explain to Michael why he chose his wife, an alcoholic layabout, to be the new CEO of his company, instead of his hardworking son. George Sr.:They cannot charge a husband and wife for the same crime! Michael: That's not true. George Sr.: Really? Michael: Yep. George Sr.: I got the worst fucking attorneys.
To be perfectly honest, the keyboard on those old Model 100s is nearly unbeatable. They just don't build 'em like they used to - my MacBook has chiclets!
So actually, the problem is that they do build them like they used to.
and after you write something as mindshatteringly awesome as Cryptonomicon, you can get away with a lot... which apparently includes traveling backwards in time to write a novel about 'the metaverse'.
Slashdot Mirror
The best part of the summons in FFIX was that, at some point in the game, you were offered a Faustian bargain in the form of an equippable item that would guarantee that your summons were always the full-length, full-damage type.
The implication being that read errors can be generated and then recovered from without generating an audible 'skip'.
I didn't know about players performing interpolation on missed reads; I guess my old, crappy CD player was handling failure much more strictly. However, SEMW already pointed out that missed reads can be counted digitally. As for errors with enough 'wrong' bits (that is, bits that the laser 'thinks' it can read, but really can't) to get past ECC, these are incredibly rare, but again, they can be counted digitally; in this case, you'd read the CD and save the (digital) output of the CD reader to a hard drive, then apply the stupid pen, then do the same thing again, and compare the difference.
Will a series of interpolated bits sound as good as accurately read bits?
You've put the cart before the horse. First, someone has to show that the pen causes a reduction in interpolation (i.e., increases the chance of a successful read).
So find one of them, and offer to split a million dollars with him for one day's work.
CDs aren't just shiny little vinyls. They have data encoded digitally rather in an analog format. One disadvantage is that there is only a finite set of values that can be encoded at any point. The corresponding advantage is that there is no subjectivity about what the encoding is supposed to represent. While the encoding of sound of a vinyl can be distorted by heat, or vibrations, or what-have-you, a piece of data on a CD either Can Be Read or Can't Be Read. If it Can Be Read, the reader sees exactly what was written on the disc. If it Can't Be Read, the reader has no idea what is written. It doesn't get a 'distorted' or 'warped' version, or an 'off-key' version, or anything else. It gets nothing. This is the part where you can hear the songs skipping, with audible (to anyone, not just 'audiophiles' with 'golden ears') clicks.
The point is, the little pens don't do crap. Even if the physics of it worked as they claimed (something about redirecting reflected lasers, or blocking ambient light, or god-knows-what), the *best* that it could do would be to cause a failed disc read to become a successful disc read.* It can't cause a successful disc read to become a 'better' disc read, because a successful disc read is perfect. There's nothing for the pen to *do*.
*This could be easily verified, if it were true. Play 50 CDs on your stereo, recording the number of times each one skips. Now do the stupid pen thing. Listen to them all again. The fact that the manufacturer isn't willing to spend a few man-days of work to produce a result which gives them a scientific basis for selling a green pen for $20 should speak volumes.
I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. The 'thanks' in my post was intended to be sarcasm.
Look's like it's not just Americans who can't be bothered to learn geography.
I was born in 1982. Around 1987, my father decided to get out of management and go back to doing software. For about a year, he had no job, and I spent every day terrified that we would lose our house.
As it turns out, my parents had planned and budgeted the entire thing. My dad figured he'd need a year to learn C++ well enough (having not done any programming in several years) to be a architect-level engineer, and so my parents saved enough money for us to live decently well for about 18 months with no income before my father quit his management gig. Thanks for not making me worry about money, guys.
Not that it applies in this situation, but 'one guy on the ground' can be quite a danger to anyone. There was a video making the rounds a while back of a man who had a heart attack after a struggle with police in the parking lot of a White Castle. Even after he was wrestled to the ground, clubbed in the legs, and tasered repeatedly, he was still a threat. He stood back up multiple times, lashing out constantly, and at one point managed to flatten one of the 13(!) cops with a punch to the jaw.
Of course, he was on PCP, and weighed about 380 pounds...
Right, it makes a lot of sense to completely change the office layout and destroy our typical workflow so that employees can look at porn on company time. I'll be sure to get that proposal to upper management by tomorrow.
Can't speak for the GP, but I'd have to say yes - the office where I work is a bullpen layout.
I think you mean 'distributors'.
A few years back, a former boss of mine died in a helicopter crash. The story ran on slashdot, because the passenger he was carrying was a Linux kernel hacker. There were a plethora of homophobic posts about how he was a 'faggot' and so forth - because he referred to his 'partner' on his website, which hadn't been taken offline at the time. As it turns out, his partner was a woman, but that didn't stop the trolls. Not that I support homophobic trolls, but in this case they weren't even directed at a homosexual; just using the gender-neutral term 'partner' was enough to make him a target. It doesn't surprise me at all that you get angry responses.
You never have to forget ANYTHING, EVER AGAIN.
As long as you remember the timestamp.
For what it's worth, I know someone whose superb credentials and decades of experience could get them a job at any of the oil companies, and he chooses to work for BP, because he believes that they are the most forward-thinking in terms of research and investments (even though said research might someday make his job obsolete) and have the best business practices in foreign countries (making sure that oil fields bring some jobs to the local economy, for instance, instead of importing workers and then armed guards to prevent a disaffected local populace from burning down the facility).
Also, the man in the middle of the see-saw is such a lightweight, you could swear he was made of straw.
From the pilot episode:
Michael is visiting his father, George, who has been arrested for SEC violations. George is eager to explain to Michael why he chose his wife, an alcoholic layabout, to be the new CEO of his company, instead of his hardworking son.
George Sr.:They cannot charge a husband and wife for the same crime!
Michael: That's not true.
George Sr.: Really?
Michael: Yep.
George Sr.: I got the worst fucking attorneys.
http://independentsources.com/2006/07/12/worst-com pany-urls/ mentions expertsexchange.com, among other similarly ill-named sites.
And a few years ago, Trader Joe's "Two Buck Chuck" won a 'double-gold' medal at a California wine fair during a double-blind test.
If by years, you mean weeks.
To be perfectly honest, the keyboard on those old Model 100s is nearly unbeatable. They just don't build 'em like they used to - my MacBook has chiclets!
So actually, the problem is that they do build them like they used to.
"You are bidding on the laptop I am using to create this auction..."
and after you write something as mindshatteringly awesome as Cryptonomicon, you can get away with a lot ... which apparently includes traveling backwards in time to write a novel about 'the metaverse'.
+4, Interesting? I could see either -1, Troll or +532, Brilliant Satire, but Interesting?
It's ok, you win anyway. After all, I just found out that Captain Planet was based on a novella by Jules Verne.
the baseball bat in Wii Sports, the remote is terribly inaccurate and loses track of where it actually is
What are you talking about? The baseball bat in Wii Sports tracks incredibly well.
Buy used eigenvectors on eBay!