"Minidiscs packaged with "digital" USB connection devices that were not, in fact, digital connecters, but digital to analogue converters, ensuring that any transfer to or from the minidisc was via analogue, even though both machines have digital. Not to mention the prevention/removal of digital output jacks from consumer minidisc recorders to begin with, despite them already being SCMS compliant...). "
Now, wait a minute. I own a minidisc recorder (portable), and in my search for a machine to use at work as well as at the gym, I took the time to make sure that the unit I was buying was a direct digital transfer device. Yes, they sell most of their devices with the analog converter (which, from what I've heard, is actually quite good - since you get rid of the interference inside the computer case), but you can find ones with the digital interface.
The interface I have is here: http://www.minidisco.com/minispecs/xitelmdportdg2. html
I do agree, however, the lack of digital output on a minidisc player (of any kind) is extremely absurd. I've not been able to find a decent, reasonably priced deck even that has the outputs (read: less than 250$).
Plus, I do own an amplifier (for the home theater) and I must say, it's definitely a hell of a piece of equipment.
Sony's one of those companies that is so big that certain parts can make MAJOR screw ups, but that doesn't mean everything they have is crap. In fact, I would say the good much outweighs the bad, in terms of their build quality and sound/sight quality.
Maybe they could tag it like they do/did with audio?
"Now in Stereo (where Available)".. or "Surround Sound (tm)" etc. I think that would make at least the average joes ask "what's this hd thingy?"
Re:I STILL don't see the point of HDTV (yet)
on
I STILL Want My HDTV
·
· Score: 1
AMEN!
I recently wanted to upgrade my television set (27") since I was into watching DVD's, and was sick of the composite-grainy crapola signal.
So, I looked at the widescreen TV's. Too expensive.
I looked at normal Projection TV's. Nah, still too expensive.
I glanced at the Sony Wega monitors. Sweet, but still too expensive.
What did I end up with? I bought a friend's 27" JVC that has S-Video inputs. Was it worth 100$? You bet your ass. Would I have liked a bigger/better TV? Possibly, but I just don't have that kind of spank to throw around.
I would consider a HDTV if they were more comparable to plain old NTSC tv's, but they're not. In some cases, they're getting closer, but for now, S-Video and 27" is just fine for me.
Of course, that still doesn't make the "copy" of said CD legal. In the technical sense, anyways.
I would very much doubt (not that I've looked into it...) that you could send money to an artist alone, since (as it's been said before) most artists are considered work for hire, and their work doesn't truly belong to them (from a contract standpoint). So if you're not paying everyone and their brother for your honest-to-goodness copy of that CD, then it's still illegal.
That's my viewpoint, anyways. Doesn't mean we can't change it.
I had a 99/4A with a cassette drive, speech synth, and about 10 games/carts...
One of which, I fondly remember, was "Tunnels of Doom". A simple RPG-Dungeon type game, that you first inserted the cartridge, then "loaded" from tape (or disk, for those of you lucky enough to have the huge expansion box... lucky sh*ts indeed!) for about 5 minutes, then played the game....
Such nostalga.
Of course, the 2nd machine I owned was a CoCo3. I have a friend who programmed a crude but useful sampler on it in assembly (used about 1k for code, and 12 or 14 8k blocks for sample data) that sampled the 1 bit DAC of the tape port.
"I and many others get addicted to games with serious side-effects - joint problems, fatigue, eye problems, social problems, moral issues, not to mention the cost."
Try telling that to your local drug dealer when you think his drugs are "too expensive". He/She'll tell you to go pound sand...
Someone's paying the high prices, and until that someone stops, you get to pay them too.
I would think since you still have an IP address on that box (since there are multiple cards in the box etc) that the possibility of it being hacked is much higher than just having a seperate firewall box....
I would think if you're doing raid0+1 (stripe sets mirrored), then the mirror would take over - just make sure you have seperate controllers (don't want one to totally fry and kill data on both sets)...
Also, if the database is huge (and the company values their data), I'm sure they're doing at least nightly incrementals (with weekly full, possibly?) -- Sure, you lose a days' work, but the mirror sets should keep you running without loss.
Besides, a fire would take out a raid5 set just as easily as a raid0+1 set...
You beat me to my thought.... 1gig connection is definitely less than the 528MB/s he's looking to attain... I hadn't thought of the underlying processes tho.
If this person truly needs that much bandwidth, I'd say it'd probably be best to have a cluster of machines to do the work, although that's just from a speed issue. His database would have to be able to scale to a cluster at that point.
Or I wait by your mailbox and retrieve it from your mail.
Yea, not the best 2 scenarios... I think the first step should be to improve the vote's chance of getting counted. I don't think there is any realistic way that you can have people vote from home at this point in time.....
I could probably answer this myself, but how exactly does the SMC Barricade detect if the broadband network is "down"? (I'm assuming you mention this particular solution because you own and use one...)
I know most times when my Cable modem fritzes (kinda like yesterday during the unSuper Bowl) the modem will either not respond with a DHCP renewal, or give me a "fake" bridging address (192.168.100.11 seems to be the key). Also, the current router I use (bbiagent floppy router) doesn't necessarily lose the address as soon as the cable modem loses connection, so there's no real testing going on in my current firewall....
Let's assume (from memory) that a basic, run of the mill generic 5400rpm drive will do about 8MB/Sec write (based on my experience with my linux boxes)...
8x60=480MB, so 1GB/2 mins. So, a few minutes (judging on what you meant by a few minutes) would easily transfer a few gigs. Especially since the box would be doing nothing but transferring data (not an all purpose box like my server). Also, using 10$/disc more expensive 7200RPM drives, and you'll see write speeds closer to 20MB/sec.
You almost bring up a point that I've always wondered about -- why not use 4mm tapes for video recording? If you have a 4mm dds4 tape that can hold 20gb, why wouldn't that be enough for... let's see, 6-8 hours on a tape? (I'm figuring right now on NTSC standard, because no one I know has an HD... not that we don't want one...)
Is there any benefit to using a card that can actually do 3d accelleration to be a second monitor device? I've toyed with using an old S3 card and it seems to work pretty well, but I can't see buying an accellerated card if I'm not going to use the power behind it....
But not for the reason that they want to market more channels (well, not directly...)
It's just the fact that your average joe just doesn't care. Why would the cable company care if your average joe will pay more for more crappy channels?
Money is key, but only because the average joes of the world really don't care.
Has anyone else taken a few good looks at a vehicle like this and wondered about safety?
I currently have 2 different cars (a 1995 Z28 and a 1978 Cougar) and I worry about SUVs, Trucks etc in my Z28 regularly (not so much with the Cougar, the land shark that it is.) Obviously, my 2 cars definitely don't qualify for the emissions or fuel economy award (not by a long stretch), but I would worry about being in this car, in rush hour traffic, and someone barreling over me with a vehicle bigger than mine (anything bigger than a small motorcycle, anyways.)
They (corbin motors) do have some safety items listed (as far as what's used in the car to make it safer in an accident), but there's no crash data. I'd for one like to see that, but in all honesty, I could see paying about 8-10k for one. A price tag of 15,000USD is a little steep; I would probably go for a used civic or something along those lines for better gas milage, but more safety (at least in the thought that bigger may be better, compared to some cars on the road...)
Well, my thought on this (I guess this is why I'm not a thief) is that if I heard my modem all of a sudden start dialing numbers, I'd yank the cable outta the modem as quick as you can say "busted".
Of course, most people who get "shady" equipment, in my experience, sell it without trying to use it for their own gain.
Although this goes well beyond what should be discussed on/. and has practically no significance at all, I have to say that 'Heavily Modified' bothers me when it comes to computers like this.
I always find it a bit sad. Like the original creators didn't do a good job. If you spend that much money, why buy a computer that you don't agree with?
And if you (apparently) plan to sell it, it's pretty silly. Almost no-one will agree your mods are so kewl. By now they are out-dated, start to fail (believe me, I had a Packard Bell and the one mod caused me a major headache) and it's practically impossible to bring the ccomputer back to it's original condition.
When a computer like this is modified it usually means that it was just a rich kids toy. Not someone that bought it because they loved the computer. For the true lover, there's nothing but the original.
****snip
I know some of you will think I'm karma whoring (maybe I am:) --> but, there are people that don't understand quite why someone would go to great lengths to try to improve on a known good design to make it better. My whole point with the above comment was to enlighten those of you who don't "get" it when it comes to modifying your computer, your car, or any other thing in life; we're all just trying to make the stuff we have better.
I chose to get into the MiniDisc arena about a year ago. If I was asked to do it all again, I would, but there are a few things to note:
Bad: Takes 1:1 to transfer a song to MD (Sony has some new MD recorder out in Japan that will record from USB at 4x for "non-MDLP" recordings, but it has restrictions (DRM)), and the many media problem.
Good: Compared to a solid-state solution, MiniDiscs are around 2$ a piece. I'd compare that to about 160mb or so of ram (since my mp3's are almost all VBR with a high ceiling of 320), so cost is less. In addition, I've not had mine skip yet (even when running at a modest pace).
So, I'd love to have a fast transferring solid state player, but I don't want to have to pay > 50$ for 10 albums (I can leave an album on one minidisc if I get sick of it, and use it in my home mini-system to sleep to....)
Now that I have that out of my system, I must say -- I was always under the understanding that the Palm IR couldn't control the items from a distance because of the weaker IR. The palms don't need a really strong IR interface -- let's face it, the original design was just to beam applications/business cards, and mebby hotsync with a laptop (which is the coolest use, IMHO).
I know that OmniRemote sells an IR device for the Palm, and I believe it uses it's own batteries (save on yours!)
I've actually had that happen on an NEC 21 inch (older) monitor. Our support staff (vendor) would not exchange the monitor, even though it was clear as day -- smack in the middle of the screen, what looked like one pixel out.
(note -- these were the 75lb+ NEC's, in case you were wondering. I hate those things.)
Slashdot Mirror
"Minidiscs packaged with "digital" USB connection devices that were not, in fact, digital connecters, but digital to analogue converters, ensuring that any transfer to or from the minidisc was via analogue, even though both machines have digital. Not to mention the prevention/removal of digital output jacks from consumer minidisc recorders to begin with, despite them already being SCMS compliant...). "
. html
Now, wait a minute. I own a minidisc recorder (portable), and in my search for a machine to use at work as well as at the gym, I took the time to make sure that the unit I was buying was a direct digital transfer device. Yes, they sell most of their devices with the analog converter (which, from what I've heard, is actually quite good - since you get rid of the interference inside the computer case), but you can find ones with the digital interface.
The interface I have is here: http://www.minidisco.com/minispecs/xitelmdportdg2
I do agree, however, the lack of digital output on a minidisc player (of any kind) is extremely absurd. I've not been able to find a decent, reasonably priced deck even that has the outputs (read: less than 250$).
Plus, I do own an amplifier (for the home theater) and I must say, it's definitely a hell of a piece of equipment.
Sony's one of those companies that is so big that certain parts can make MAJOR screw ups, but that doesn't mean everything they have is crap. In fact, I would say the good much outweighs the bad, in terms of their build quality and sound/sight quality.
my 2 cents...
Maybe they could tag it like they do/did with audio?
"Now in Stereo (where Available)".. or "Surround Sound (tm)" etc. I think that would make at least the average joes ask "what's this hd thingy?"
AMEN!
I recently wanted to upgrade my television set (27") since I was into watching DVD's, and was sick of the composite-grainy crapola signal.
So, I looked at the widescreen TV's. Too expensive.
I looked at normal Projection TV's. Nah, still too expensive.
I glanced at the Sony Wega monitors. Sweet, but still too expensive.
What did I end up with? I bought a friend's 27" JVC that has S-Video inputs. Was it worth 100$? You bet your ass. Would I have liked a bigger/better TV? Possibly, but I just don't have that kind of spank to throw around.
I would consider a HDTV if they were more comparable to plain old NTSC tv's, but they're not. In some cases, they're getting closer, but for now, S-Video and 27" is just fine for me.
Maybe you could subscribe, and for more money, get "free" karma points....
Push trolls down that much farther.
Of course, that still doesn't make the "copy" of said CD legal. In the technical sense, anyways.
I would very much doubt (not that I've looked into it...) that you could send money to an artist alone, since (as it's been said before) most artists are considered work for hire, and their work doesn't truly belong to them (from a contract standpoint). So if you're not paying everyone and their brother for your honest-to-goodness copy of that CD, then it's still illegal.
That's my viewpoint, anyways. Doesn't mean we can't change it.
I had a 99/4A with a cassette drive, speech synth, and about 10 games/carts...
One of which, I fondly remember, was "Tunnels of Doom". A simple RPG-Dungeon type game, that you first inserted the cartridge, then "loaded" from tape (or disk, for those of you lucky enough to have the huge expansion box... lucky sh*ts indeed!) for about 5 minutes, then played the game....
Such nostalga.
Of course, the 2nd machine I owned was a CoCo3. I have a friend who programmed a crude but useful sampler on it in assembly (used about 1k for code, and 12 or 14 8k blocks for sample data) that sampled the 1 bit DAC of the tape port.
He rocked on that stuff...
"I and many others get addicted to games with serious side-effects - joint problems, fatigue, eye problems, social problems, moral issues, not to mention the cost."
Try telling that to your local drug dealer when you think his drugs are "too expensive". He/She'll tell you to go pound sand...
Someone's paying the high prices, and until that someone stops, you get to pay them too.
but in order to mount a remote drive, you have to use a user process... am I right?
You cannot run user processes on this machine. Not even root. Besides, the disks are inaccessable.... where would you get the "mount" command from?
Strike me down if I'm wrong....
I would think since you still have an IP address on that box (since there are multiple cards in the box etc) that the possibility of it being hacked is much higher than just having a seperate firewall box....
I could be speaking outta my butt tho.
I would think if you're doing raid0+1 (stripe sets mirrored), then the mirror would take over - just make sure you have seperate controllers (don't want one to totally fry and kill data on both sets)...
Also, if the database is huge (and the company values their data), I'm sure they're doing at least nightly incrementals (with weekly full, possibly?) -- Sure, you lose a days' work, but the mirror sets should keep you running without loss.
Besides, a fire would take out a raid5 set just as easily as a raid0+1 set...
You beat me to my thought.... 1gig connection is definitely less than the 528MB/s he's looking to attain... I hadn't thought of the underlying processes tho.
If this person truly needs that much bandwidth, I'd say it'd probably be best to have a cluster of machines to do the work, although that's just from a speed issue. His database would have to be able to scale to a cluster at that point.
I punch you and steal your doohickey.
Or I wait by your mailbox and retrieve it from your mail.
Yea, not the best 2 scenarios... I think the first step should be to improve the vote's chance of getting counted. I don't think there is any realistic way that you can have people vote from home at this point in time.....
I could probably answer this myself, but how exactly does the SMC Barricade detect if the broadband network is "down"? (I'm assuming you mention this particular solution because you own and use one...)
I know most times when my Cable modem fritzes (kinda like yesterday during the unSuper Bowl) the modem will either not respond with a DHCP renewal, or give me a "fake" bridging address (192.168.100.11 seems to be the key). Also, the current router I use (bbiagent floppy router) doesn't necessarily lose the address as soon as the cable modem loses connection, so there's no real testing going on in my current firewall....
Thanks!
Ok, I'll bite.
Let's assume (from memory) that a basic, run of the mill generic 5400rpm drive will do about 8MB/Sec write (based on my experience with my linux boxes)...
8x60=480MB, so 1GB/2 mins. So, a few minutes (judging on what you meant by a few minutes) would easily transfer a few gigs. Especially since the box would be doing nothing but transferring data (not an all purpose box like my server). Also, using 10$/disc more expensive 7200RPM drives, and you'll see write speeds closer to 20MB/sec.
You almost bring up a point that I've always wondered about -- why not use 4mm tapes for video recording? If you have a 4mm dds4 tape that can hold 20gb, why wouldn't that be enough for ... let's see, 6-8 hours on a tape? (I'm figuring right now on NTSC standard, because no one I know has an HD... not that we don't want one...)
Is there any benefit to using a card that can actually do 3d accelleration to be a second monitor device? I've toyed with using an old S3 card and it seems to work pretty well, but I can't see buying an accellerated card if I'm not going to use the power behind it....
I've come to the same conclusion.
But not for the reason that they want to market more channels (well, not directly...)
It's just the fact that your average joe just doesn't care. Why would the cable company care if your average joe will pay more for more crappy channels?
Money is key, but only because the average joes of the world really don't care.
But like yourself, I do.
That was good.. I really needed that laugh this morning!
Has anyone else taken a few good looks at a vehicle like this and wondered about safety?
I currently have 2 different cars (a 1995 Z28 and a 1978 Cougar) and I worry about SUVs, Trucks etc in my Z28 regularly (not so much with the Cougar, the land shark that it is.) Obviously, my 2 cars definitely don't qualify for the emissions or fuel economy award (not by a long stretch), but I would worry about being in this car, in rush hour traffic, and someone barreling over me with a vehicle bigger than mine (anything bigger than a small motorcycle, anyways.)
They (corbin motors) do have some safety items listed (as far as what's used in the car to make it safer in an accident), but there's no crash data. I'd for one like to see that, but in all honesty, I could see paying about 8-10k for one. A price tag of 15,000USD is a little steep; I would probably go for a used civic or something along those lines for better gas milage, but more safety (at least in the thought that bigger may be better, compared to some cars on the road...)
Any thoughts?
So let's take this one step further -- I've thought of doing this -- what are some good places to hide the equipment?
Well, my thought on this (I guess this is why I'm not a thief) is that if I heard my modem all of a sudden start dialing numbers, I'd yank the cable outta the modem as quick as you can say "busted".
Of course, most people who get "shady" equipment, in my experience, sell it without trying to use it for their own gain.
Although this goes well beyond what should be discussed on /. and has practically no significance at all, I have to say that 'Heavily Modified' bothers me when it comes to computers like this.
:) --> but, there are people that don't understand quite why someone would go to great lengths to try to improve on a known good design to make it better. My whole point with the above comment was to enlighten those of you who don't "get" it when it comes to modifying your computer, your car, or any other thing in life; we're all just trying to make the stuff we have better.
I always find it a bit sad. Like the original creators didn't do a good job. If you spend that much money, why buy a computer that you don't agree with?
And if you (apparently) plan to sell it, it's pretty silly. Almost no-one will agree your mods are so kewl. By now they are out-dated, start to fail (believe me, I had a Packard Bell and the one mod caused me a major headache) and it's practically impossible to bring the ccomputer back to it's original condition.
When a computer like this is modified it usually means that it was just a rich kids toy. Not someone that bought it because they loved the computer. For the true lover, there's nothing but the original.
****snip
I know some of you will think I'm karma whoring (maybe I am
:) Live long and modify!
I chose to get into the MiniDisc arena about a year ago. If I was asked to do it all again, I would, but there are a few things to note:
Bad: Takes 1:1 to transfer a song to MD (Sony has some new MD recorder out in Japan that will record from USB at 4x for "non-MDLP" recordings, but it has restrictions (DRM)), and the many media problem.
Good: Compared to a solid-state solution, MiniDiscs are around 2$ a piece. I'd compare that to about 160mb or so of ram (since my mp3's are almost all VBR with a high ceiling of 320), so cost is less. In addition, I've not had mine skip yet (even when running at a modest pace).
So, I'd love to have a fast transferring solid state player, but I don't want to have to pay > 50$ for 10 albums (I can leave an album on one minidisc if I get sick of it, and use it in my home mini-system to sleep to....)
I haven't done any real research on this, but..
WHAT???
Now that I have that out of my system, I must say -- I was always under the understanding that the Palm IR couldn't control the items from a distance because of the weaker IR. The palms don't need a really strong IR interface -- let's face it, the original design was just to beam applications/business cards, and mebby hotsync with a laptop (which is the coolest use, IMHO).
I know that OmniRemote sells an IR device for the Palm, and I believe it uses it's own batteries (save on yours!)
I've actually had that happen on an NEC 21 inch (older) monitor. Our support staff (vendor) would not exchange the monitor, even though it was clear as day -- smack in the middle of the screen, what looked like one pixel out.
(note -- these were the 75lb+ NEC's, in case you were wondering. I hate those things.)