But iTunes has it's shortcomings......
- iPod-only support
- AAC format which has very limited industry support"
Wrong and wrong. Check your facts before you post.
iTunes supports, at the very least, one non-iPod player: the Nomad. I've used one just to test this, because I'd heard rumors, and it indeed works.
If you don't like AAC, don't use it. Nobody holds a gun to your head and forces you to only listen to/rip to AAC. iTunes handles MP3 quite well.
iTMS != iTunes. Get that straight from the start. One's a music player/library cataloger/cd burner. The other is an online store. The store only allows AAC downloads. However, at the cost of possible quality loss, you can re-rip those AACs to MP3, or OGG, or whatever.
As the battery life lasts from 6-10 hours [depending on how many songs you skip], you cannot listen to more than 200 [3 minute, average] songs before recharging, and thus re-synching. This total amount should weigh in at about 250MB, which is a fraction of the amount of songs you can store in a 5GB iPod.
Another way that Apple has reduced the ass-pain threshold is through the incorporation of iTunes 'Smart Playlists'. SP's perform a type of rule-based shuffle to your songs, depending on the values you've set in the playlist.
For example, my main playlist, named "4GB of stuff not played in the last week, ranked by rating", auto-synchs up to 4GB of MP3s onto the iPod each time I recharge the device. Furthermore, as the playlist name implies, the songs are added to the list [and thus the iPod] based on when it was played last and my rating. In this way, I keep a very fresh playlist that contains a good mix of both songs I really like and songs that I might not have given a good listen. Songs have to be rated at 3 stars or more to get on the iPod. If I/might/ want to hear something, I'll rate it at least 3 stars. If it sucks I'll drop it down to 1 star. Favorite songs get 4 or 5 stars, and the 'order by rating' in the SP skews the list to hold more high-rated songs than low-rated songs.
So far I've owned my iPod for about a year, and it's the one gadget I've bought that I use every single day.
The Alpha Multia currently runs dust, while sitting in a closet. It might run WinNT, but I don't feel like beating it to make it work.
It's cheaper for Apple to have a limited product line with only a few customizeable options. Less options means less parts on hand, and less parts left over after a product line matures.
> Hell, I'd buy one except that in Australia, it costs me at > least $2,500 to get the Mac-equivalent of my $1,200 > home-built rig. Not to mention all of the PC games and > stuff. But I digress.
I'm interested in this point.
Would you mind listing the specs for the desireable Mac, including bottom-line price, and then listing the part-by-part prices [in AUD] for a totally-new home-built PC equivalent?
Be sure to include prices for/everything/, including small things like cpu fan, keyboard, mouse, speakers, and monitor, if the comparable Mac includes one. Also include the price of the OS, and maybe an estimate of the cost of your time for putting the whole PC together and testing it for a few hours.
I'm just wondering if there is a significant price increase for Macs in.au, and I'd like to see hard facts listed.
[BTW, I'm not poking at you; I own 3 Macs.. and 2 PCs.. and an Alpha.. and so on.;) ]
FYI: don't remove your.xinitrc file. Just hash [#] out the other windowmanagers, and/or ensure that 'exec quartz-wm' is set before all other windowmanagers. Example:
More FUD from PPA, who's still bitter that she was unable to properly run OSX on her old iBook [check her old posts, kids]. Where are my Moderation points when I need them?
PPA, to counter your babbling:
" I, for one, couldn't care less about what Apple is trafficating with the press badges and who's going to get the scoop of what's cooking in Cupertino. For some time, I just gave up on the rumors of what's happening on the platform. It's not that I don't like the Mac. I own an entry level iBook. " -We can safely ignore this part, as it is irrelevant.
"But I'm getting tired for lake of interesting software (games)" -WarCraft 3? Neverwinter Nights? Return to Wolfenstein? UT? Q3? D2? I wonder which games PPA is into. M$ Flight Sim?
"slow overpriced systems" -More baseless FUD. PPA equates MHZ rating with the racing stripes on riced-out Hondas. It sure makes 'em go FASTER!
"inability to deliver when new stuff is announced" -Say what? "Announced" by whom, an Apple 'rumor' site, or Apple Corporation?
"Last time I visited an Apple store, I almost ran away: I am scared of hospitals and was almost terrify about the look of their clinical displays." -I suppose having psychoses is a legitimate reason for hating Apple, but it doesn't lend credence to your technical statements.
"The fact that Apple is secretive...." -Apple is secretive because they must be. They have a tiny fraction of a huge industry, and oftentimes their only way to success is to do something/first/, or to do something in a novel way.
"no third party accessories were available for the [iPod]" -This is true, for PPA's stated reasons, but moot. Third-party accessories quickly came to market, as it doesn't take/that/ long to fabricate injection-molded neoprene sleeves.
"somewhat killing the inventive side of addon shops" -Wildly incorrect statement, but has nothing to do with the main topic. Besides, third parties have just as much right to existence as Apple Corporation --that is, none. Those who can adapt will. Those who can't will die.
"If the g5 was out" -If the G5 was out, Blizzard would release the Diablo2 1.10 patch and Hell would also freeze over. Again, PPA displays her love of racing stripes and tinfoil spoilers. There is no real need for the G5; the G4 demolishes AMD and Intel chips that run at twice the G4's clockrate in some tests, and conversely the G4 is demolished by the same chips in other tests. What matters is code optimization and the actual real-world uses of the chips.
"Imagine if Apple had as much market share as Microsoft..." -Yes, and I'm sure that if PPAcorp had as much market share as Microsoft, she'd be just as ruthless as Microsoft, except all our devices would be Palladium-encoded to force us to watch anime 24/7.
"The only trouble is that [Jaguar] won't work well on system that were bought last quarter." -Here, PPA based her research on rumors gotten from those EVAL REWMOR SITEZ, and meant to point out how the iBooks won't run Jaguar at all. Sadly, she doesn't understand that "recommended" doesn't mean "unsupported."
"Insanitely great marketing folks!" -I'm not quite sure about this one. Maybe the Babelfish translator didn't work out.
"I happily run Linux on my 2001 iBook." -And here we finally have it, Pinkpineapple's true credentials: she's definitely an OS X expert, because she runs LUNIX!
PPA: I'm really proud of you for being a girl. That's a fine... genetic acheivement. However, when you pose as knowing what you're talking about, but you're really full of shit, you should be sure to understand that someone's going to knock you down.
It saddens me greatly to see these huge ads on Slashdot comments pages now. I've been here for a long time, and this is something I've never expected. I am extremely disappointed in Rob and Jeff's handling of the content-vs-revenue problem, and I can only assume that they are mishandling it because they truly wish for Slashdot to fail.
More info on Dean Kamen
on
What is 'IT'?
·
· Score: 2
Here's a bio page for Mr. Kamen. He's got a few patents over on the IBM Patent Server, starting in 1975 and going to the present, mainly for medical devices. You can find more stuff by running a quick Google search.
I agree wholeheartedly with Taco's sentiments. Spammers should be imprisoned, if not executed. Yes, execution would be a perfect solution! If you kill someone, they won't do it again!
You see, you can't hold the incompetent sysadmins responsible for not securing their systems. You have to consider their feelings. Maybe they were having a bad day or just forgot to disable telnet! It's not their fault that they were inadequate and incompetent, and for this reason, we must manipulate the laws so that they fully protect the people.
I think we truly need to cede more of our rights to the government. You have to understand that most people aren't as smart as those that run the government. Governmental agencies know more than the common person, so we must give them the ultimate power to enforce the law. We can't allow the individual to control his or her own destiny, because he or she might forget to run proper security procedures.
Furthermore, I think that execution should be the punishment for all crimes! With all the little hidden laws we have, we'll be the savior of the planet, just based on the rapidly decreasing population. I can envision not less than twenty more government agencies that could spring up just to handle the weapons-manufacturing, stormtrooper training, jackboot production, and body disposal. Sure, the odds of you getting shot for jaywalking are greatly increased, but think about the jobs we could create! We could employ millions of starving children in Africa.
Frankly, I'm tired of being responsible for my own actions. I prefer to rely on the crutch of ancient bloated beauraucracies!
I'm fully aware of history, and I'm fully aware of how governmental intervention destroys industry.
Where are these factory towns now? Gone. Why? Because eventually people came to their senses and went to work elsewhere.
I agree with you: let's take all this away. No federal sanctions on minimum wage and maximum hours. What would happen?
I have worthwhile skills; I'd go work for the companies that realized the foolishness of overworking their employees, and valued their employees enough to properly compensate them.
However, governmental sanctions on industry are never trumpeted by those of us who are competent. It is always the incompetent, the lazy, and the ignorant who plead and beg for someone to do something for them. These are the people so unwilling to change for their own good that they will willingly trade their freedoms to a slick-haired politician who will create monstrous governmental beauraucracies in the name of "the common good". These are also the ignorant worker drones who will swallow the gruel from the company cafeterias, who will live in the mining shacks, who will buy the drab uniforms, all because they are too lazy and too resistant to change to get up and do something to better their own situations.
New guidelines must be set for how much IT workers can be forced to work without sleep.
This is absolute garbage. The government is not your mother. It is not the government's responsibility to tell you when to go to bed. What next, a Federal Ass-wiping Committee?
The fact is, kids, if you don't like what you're doing, and if you don't like how your current employer is treating you, do something radical: QUIT!
That's right! Quit your job!
You can quit your crappy job and maybe even get a new one! Look at your legs -- there's no chains! Nobody is forcing you to work those hours. Don't like your schedule? Quit!
Now sure, you've got those bills to pay, but do you really NEED a Mercedes? Rather, think about it this way: is your Ikea furniture worth dying at 40? Is your snazzy condo worth a heart attack?
Sell your junk, quit your job, and go find an occupation that won't kill you.
And for those of you that don't, that continue to work 80 hours a week for $75K a year, please stop your whining.
Those of us who are trying to enjoy our brief little lives are really tired of your bitching.
When will people learn that the government is NOT their friend?
I tend to get extremely suspicious about legislation made 'to help the people'. You're all going to have to realize that legislation is only passed because someone, somewhere, is going to gain either money or power, and probably both. It is not the government's inherent responsibility to ensure that people don't do dumb things, such as purchasing computers without checking a vendor's references. So, logically, what is the point of this legislation? By definition, someone will be making money off of it, so who could that be? I'll bet that if you follow the paper trail of backers and sponsors for this bill, you'll find the ones who stand to profit by it.
Remember, "Those who would trade freedom for security deserve neither."
Slashdot Mirror
There is something wrong with your Powerbook.
% time open iTunes.app/
0.160u 0.170s 0:00.78 42.3% 0+0k 37+2io 0pf+0w
time open iCal.app/
0.140u 0.120s 0:01.16 22.4% 0+0k 13+2io 0pf+0w
time open Mail.app/
0.210u 0.070s 0:00.93 30.1% 0+0k 0+3io 0pf+0w
And this is on a Powermac G4/500.
For those of you concerned about the TypeKey account required to download MT3.0, why not use this handy Dodgeit email account?
You forgot Apple.
If you have to worry about having to respawn while being around your SO, you might look for another SO.
Or at least wear a safety helmet on dates.
In OSX's Terminal [or iTerm, even better], which you should have open and running at all times, use 'bc'.
In Windows, how about hitting Meta, r, c-a-l-c, enter? Or setting up shortcut keys so that ctrl-alt-c brings up calc?
A meatspace calc is nice when you're away from the computer. Otherwise you have to take your hands off the keyboard in order to use it.
But iTunes has it's shortcomings...... - iPod-only support - AAC format which has very limited industry support"
Wrong and wrong. Check your facts before you post.
iTunes supports, at the very least, one non-iPod player: the Nomad. I've used one just to test this, because I'd heard rumors, and it indeed works.
If you don't like AAC, don't use it. Nobody holds a gun to your head and forces you to only listen to/rip to AAC. iTunes handles MP3 quite well.
iTMS != iTunes. Get that straight from the start. One's a music player/library cataloger/cd burner. The other is an online store. The store only allows AAC downloads. However, at the cost of possible quality loss, you can re-rip those AACs to MP3, or OGG, or whatever.
Music rotation is a non-issue with the iPod.
/might/ want to hear something, I'll rate it at least 3 stars. If it sucks I'll drop it down to 1 star. Favorite songs get 4 or 5 stars, and the 'order by rating' in the SP skews the list to hold more high-rated songs than low-rated songs.
As the battery life lasts from 6-10 hours [depending on how many songs you skip], you cannot listen to more than 200 [3 minute, average] songs before recharging, and thus re-synching. This total amount should weigh in at about 250MB, which is a fraction of the amount of songs you can store in a 5GB iPod.
Another way that Apple has reduced the ass-pain threshold is through the incorporation of iTunes 'Smart Playlists'. SP's perform a type of rule-based shuffle to your songs, depending on the values you've set in the playlist.
For example, my main playlist, named "4GB of stuff not played in the last week, ranked by rating", auto-synchs up to 4GB of MP3s onto the iPod each time I recharge the device. Furthermore, as the playlist name implies, the songs are added to the list [and thus the iPod] based on when it was played last and my rating. In this way, I keep a very fresh playlist that contains a good mix of both songs I really like and songs that I might not have given a good listen. Songs have to be rated at 3 stars or more to get on the iPod. If I
So far I've owned my iPod for about a year, and it's the one gadget I've bought that I use every single day.
The Alpha Multia currently runs dust, while sitting in a closet. It might run WinNT, but I don't feel like beating it to make it work.
It's cheaper for Apple to have a limited product line with only a few customizeable options. Less options means less parts on hand, and less parts left over after a product line matures.
> Hell, I'd buy one except that in Australia, it costs me at
/everything/, including small things like cpu fan, keyboard, mouse, speakers, and monitor, if the comparable Mac includes one. Also include the price of the OS, and maybe an estimate of the cost of your time for putting the whole PC together and testing it for a few hours.
.au, and I'd like to see hard facts listed.
.. and 2 PCs.. and an Alpha.. and so on. ;) ]
> least $2,500 to get the Mac-equivalent of my $1,200
> home-built rig. Not to mention all of the PC games and
> stuff. But I digress.
I'm interested in this point.
Would you mind listing the specs for the desireable Mac, including bottom-line price, and then listing the part-by-part prices [in AUD] for a totally-new home-built PC equivalent?
Be sure to include prices for
I'm just wondering if there is a significant price increase for Macs in
[BTW, I'm not poking at you; I own 3 Macs
FYI: don't remove your .xinitrc file. Just hash [#] out the other windowmanagers, and/or ensure that 'exec quartz-wm' is set before all other windowmanagers. Example:
u sr/X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/.Xresourcesr /X11R6/lib/X11/xinit/.Xmodmap
#!/bin/sh
userresources=$HOME/.Xres ources
usermodmap=$HOME/.Xmodmap
sysresources=/
sysmodmap=/us
<snip>
# twm &
autocutsel &
#/sw/bin/oroborus &
exec quartz-wm
More FUD from PPA, who's still bitter that she was unable to properly run OSX on her old iBook [check her old posts, kids]. Where are my Moderation points when I need them?
...." /first/, or to do something in a novel way.
/that/ long to fabricate injection-molded neoprene sleeves.
..."
... genetic acheivement. However, when you pose as knowing what you're talking about, but you're really full of shit, you should be sure to understand that someone's going to knock you down.
PPA, to counter your babbling:
" I, for one, couldn't care less about what Apple is trafficating with the press badges and who's going to get the scoop of what's cooking in Cupertino. For some time, I just gave up on the rumors of what's happening on the platform. It's not that I don't like the Mac. I own an entry level iBook. "
-We can safely ignore this part, as it is irrelevant.
"But I'm getting tired for lake of interesting software (games)"
-WarCraft 3? Neverwinter Nights? Return to Wolfenstein? UT? Q3? D2? I wonder which games PPA is into. M$ Flight Sim?
"slow overpriced systems"
-More baseless FUD. PPA equates MHZ rating with the racing stripes on riced-out Hondas. It sure makes 'em go FASTER!
"inability to deliver when new stuff is announced"
-Say what? "Announced" by whom, an Apple 'rumor' site, or Apple Corporation?
"Last time I visited an Apple store, I almost ran away: I am scared of hospitals and was almost terrify about the look of their clinical displays."
-I suppose having psychoses is a legitimate reason for hating Apple, but it doesn't lend credence to your technical statements.
"The fact that Apple is secretive
-Apple is secretive because they must be. They have a tiny fraction of a huge industry, and oftentimes their only way to success is to do something
"no third party accessories were available for the [iPod]"
-This is true, for PPA's stated reasons, but moot. Third-party accessories quickly came to market, as it doesn't take
"somewhat killing the inventive side of addon shops"
-Wildly incorrect statement, but has nothing to do with the main topic. Besides, third parties have just as much right to existence as Apple Corporation --that is, none. Those who can adapt will. Those who can't will die.
"If the g5 was out"
-If the G5 was out, Blizzard would release the Diablo2 1.10 patch and Hell would also freeze over. Again, PPA displays her love of racing stripes and tinfoil spoilers. There is no real need for the G5; the G4 demolishes AMD and Intel chips that run at twice the G4's clockrate in some tests, and conversely the G4 is demolished by the same chips in other tests. What matters is code optimization and the actual real-world uses of the chips.
"Imagine if Apple had as much market share as Microsoft
-Yes, and I'm sure that if PPAcorp had as much market share as Microsoft, she'd be just as ruthless as Microsoft, except all our devices would be Palladium-encoded to force us to watch anime 24/7.
"The only trouble is that [Jaguar] won't work well on system that were bought last quarter."
-Here, PPA based her research on rumors gotten from those EVAL REWMOR SITEZ, and meant to point out how the iBooks won't run Jaguar at all. Sadly, she doesn't understand that "recommended" doesn't mean "unsupported."
"Insanitely great marketing folks!"
-I'm not quite sure about this one. Maybe the Babelfish translator didn't work out.
"I happily run Linux on my 2001 iBook."
-And here we finally have it, Pinkpineapple's true credentials: she's definitely an OS X expert, because she runs LUNIX!
PPA: I'm really proud of you for being a girl. That's a fine
http://www.physics.isu.edu/radinf/oklo.htm
Interesting article regarding the Oklo natural nuclear reactors.
It saddens me greatly to see these huge ads on Slashdot comments pages now. I've been here for a long time, and this is something I've never expected. I am extremely disappointed in Rob and Jeff's handling of the content-vs-revenue problem, and I can only assume that they are mishandling it because they truly wish for Slashdot to fail.
I agree wholeheartedly. If /. had Metafilter-like text-ads, I'd buy 1000. I think a /lot/ of people would buy text ads.
This swipe-card idea is called SecureID. Check out t ;this article</a> and the manufacturer's page: <a href="http://www.rsasecurity.com">RSA</>.
Basically, with these little keyfobs, you telnet into a server, type in your pin, then type in the number on the keyfob.
Here's a bio page for Mr. Kamen. He's got a few patents over on the IBM Patent Server, starting in 1975 and going to the present, mainly for medical devices. You can find more stuff by running a quick Google search.
You see, you can't hold the incompetent sysadmins responsible for not securing their systems. You have to consider their feelings. Maybe they were having a bad day or just forgot to disable telnet! It's not their fault that they were inadequate and incompetent, and for this reason, we must manipulate the laws so that they fully protect the people.
I think we truly need to cede more of our rights to the government. You have to understand that most people aren't as smart as those that run the government. Governmental agencies know more than the common person, so we must give them the ultimate power to enforce the law. We can't allow the individual to control his or her own destiny, because he or she might forget to run proper security procedures.
Furthermore, I think that execution should be the punishment for all crimes! With all the little hidden laws we have, we'll be the savior of the planet, just based on the rapidly decreasing population. I can envision not less than twenty more government agencies that could spring up just to handle the weapons-manufacturing, stormtrooper training, jackboot production, and body disposal. Sure, the odds of you getting shot for jaywalking are greatly increased, but think about the jobs we could create! We could employ millions of starving children in Africa.
Frankly, I'm tired of being responsible for my own actions. I prefer to rely on the crutch of ancient bloated beauraucracies!
Where are these factory towns now? Gone. Why? Because eventually people came to their senses and went to work elsewhere.
I agree with you: let's take all this away. No federal sanctions on minimum wage and maximum hours. What would happen?
I have worthwhile skills; I'd go work for the companies that realized the foolishness of overworking their employees, and valued their employees enough to properly compensate them.
However, governmental sanctions on industry are never trumpeted by those of us who are competent. It is always the incompetent, the lazy, and the ignorant who plead and beg for someone to do something for them. These are the people so unwilling to change for their own good that they will willingly trade their freedoms to a slick-haired politician who will create monstrous governmental beauraucracies in the name of "the common good". These are also the ignorant worker drones who will swallow the gruel from the company cafeterias, who will live in the mining shacks, who will buy the drab uniforms, all because they are too lazy and too resistant to change to get up and do something to better their own situations.
This is absolute garbage. The government is not your mother. It is not the government's responsibility to tell you when to go to bed. What next, a Federal Ass-wiping Committee?
The fact is, kids, if you don't like what you're doing, and if you don't like how your current employer is treating you, do something radical: QUIT!
That's right! Quit your job!
You can quit your crappy job and maybe even get a new one! Look at your legs -- there's no chains! Nobody is forcing you to work those hours. Don't like your schedule? Quit!
Now sure, you've got those bills to pay, but do you really NEED a Mercedes? Rather, think about it this way: is your Ikea furniture worth dying at 40? Is your snazzy condo worth a heart attack?
Sell your junk, quit your job, and go find an occupation that won't kill you.
And for those of you that don't, that continue to work 80 hours a week for $75K a year, please stop your whining.
Those of us who are trying to enjoy our brief little lives are really tired of your bitching.
I tend to get extremely suspicious about legislation made 'to help the people'. You're all going to have to realize that legislation is only passed because someone, somewhere, is going to gain either money or power, and probably both. It is not the government's inherent responsibility to ensure that people don't do dumb things, such as purchasing computers without checking a vendor's references. So, logically, what is the point of this legislation? By definition, someone will be making money off of it, so who could that be? I'll bet that if you follow the paper trail of backers and sponsors for this bill, you'll find the ones who stand to profit by it.
Remember, "Those who would trade freedom for security deserve neither."