...with Warners today, all you have to do is contrast this money-grubbing douche with the likes of Ted Templeman, Lenny Waronker, and Mo Ostin. These were guys who staged and kept alive a renaissance at Warners for over thirty years. They signed amazing people like Hendrix, Zappa, Little Feat, the Doobies, and that's just for starters. Ostin in particular was so loved that artists actually wrote songs for him.
But this moron...the only thing he's interested in--forgive me for the cliché--is money for nothing.
If you were talking about iPhone OS, you might have a rational argument, and would have earned your moderation.
But I thought we were talking about an operating system for a general-purpose computer. Contrasting Mac OS X with any post- W2K Microsoft OS:
- I've never had to enter an 'activation' key to install it. - I've never had to worry if it's going to turn on me and accuse me of using a 'counterfeit' version of it. - I've never had to call Apple and ask, "Pretty please, is it okay to have my computer back?"
I think you're a little bit confused as to "Super-Lockdown-Incorporated" really is.
- 22-26 minutes maximum playing time per side. - Rumble. Especially when it came pressed into the record. - Scratches. A click or pop was forever. Often with the very first playing. - Warpage. This was especially a problem after 1969-1972, when records became thinner. (Thank you RCA, for that "Dynaflex" nonsense.) - Playing a phonograph record was a fiddly business. Extracting the record from its jacket and inner bag without getting fingerprints all over it (which could lead to more clicks and rumble). Cleaning the record surface with a brush before playing. You took all those precautions because you didn't want to make things worse, but it was rather like pissing in the wind, as the saying goes. No matter how great your cartridge was or how light your tracking force, your records would inevitably wear, especially your favorites.
Obviously, I'm not in the demographic that wants vinyl today. I was never a DJ (not in the context of a dance club, anyway), and I have no nostalgia, false or otherwise, to bring me back to the medium.
But I can't help but wonder if the problems that plague CDs today parallel the problems that vinyl in its heyday had. Everything I mentioned above were the reasons I was so quick to embrace CDs. (And if you've ever heard Ry Cooder's "Bop 'Til You Drop" or Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms," you know exactly how wonderful CDs could sound.) But, it was a reaction, and I'm wondering if things like DRM and the "loudness wars" are the reaction people who are migrating to vinyl are having.
...and came to the conclusion that I was dealing with a couple of cranks in Mssrs. Manjoo and Dvorak (not that the latter comes as any surprise).
Manjoo's piece attempted to 'prove' that Windows 7 was a better operating system based on one feature (Taskbar/Aero Views vs. Exposé) and provided a rather subjective critiqué even for that. I'd have liked to have learned more from him about why Windows 7 supposedly beats out Snow Leopard. Nonetheless, his first paragraph (with regards to crapware and the like) tells me what I've always known about the Windows experience: The more things change, the more they unfortunately remain the same.
As for Dvorak's piece, "cheap Microsoft vodka" paints a funny picture, but droning on about how he never gets any more press kits from Microsoft (is it really any wonder, knowing Dvorak?) doesn't tell me anything about Windows 7.
That's a shame, because my fiancée and I have really enjoyed Hulu, as it's allowed us to watch our favorite shows (those that Hulu carries, anyway) on our own schedules, and with short commercial breaks, and no banner ads across the lower quarter or third of the screen. It's proven to be kind of an ideal version of television. (We've never had on-demand or DVR, just expanded basic cable, so take that with as many grains of salt as you wish.)
Speaking for myself, the continual, intrusive advertising that plagues television today has done much to drive me away from it, but Hulu has succeeded in bringing me back. I really don't mind that much when the ads are at most a minute long (sometimes as short as 10-15 seconds), and only one at a time.
Meanwhile, we're taking a wait-and-see approach to what happens next. There's no telling what Hulu will charge, but if it's reasonable (define that how you will) and serves to, say, buy CBS's participation, it could still be a worthy thing.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet, but Mac OS X has an application called "Keychain Access." Keychains store private keys, certificates, and arbitrary notes securely. I use one to store my passwords to all my e-mail and web accounts. They're encrypted using Triple DES.
Not only that, but it can generate passwords for you. Tell it how many characters you want, and whether the password should be memorable (comprised of dictionary words and a short string of numbers), letters and numbers, numbers only, something called "FIPS-181 compliant," or random. You can choose from the ones it generates from a pop-up menu, and if you don't like any of them, it can generate some more. Whatever password you choose, there's a gauge that tells you how strong it is.
I have to use it occasionally to look up a password to an infrequently visited web page. Entering my user password (that is, the one for my account on my computer) will unlock any one that is stored on the keychain.
Is it easy to use? Kind of, sort of; it takes a few seconds and more than a few mouse clicks to retrieve a password. Safari (perhaps Firefox as well, but I don't know) can be configured to remember your login information for a given page, and though it stores this information in the login keychain, the problem with Safari's implementation is that it works for some pages and not others, and doesn't require you to provide your user password--not exactly the most secure arrangement.
No one's ever compromised this scheme, as far as I know. Yet. Meanwhile, it works pretty well for me.
New London County State's Attorney Michael Regan: "I have no regrets. Things took a course that was unplanned," Regan said. "For some reason, this case caught the media's attention."
Understand that I was standing on the pedals (as opposed to sitting in a chair with my feet on them); this is the way ours had been marketed, as a stairstepping machine, to be used. The mechanism was bottoming out with a thud on each step, providing almost no resistance at all, regardless of the adjustment (provided by a small black knob). As a stairstepping machine, it was entirely inadequate, especially for someone like me weighing 129 kg. But as an under-the-desk solution, without one's full weight upon it, it might work better.
My sister-in-law-to-be bought one of these things on a home shopping channel a year or so ago. Or more accurately, one of those mechanisms. From what I can see in photographs shown in another web page, it looks quite similar.
Hers hadn't been marketed as an under-the-desk exercise solution, but instead came with a handlebar support one gripped while standing on the pedals. In that capacity, I found it ridiculous. The piston mechanism under each pedal readily collapsed under my weight, though they might indeed be better suited for this application.
As for the computer interface, I suspect it's built on top of the same mechanism that, in our case, drove a simple mechanical digital counter.
Certainly not, but I don't think you've understood my point. Of course Apple has set in motion a great thing: the re-invention of an industry whose practices and ethics have always been suspect. But is what I said, at face value, not true?
"Information that is not hidden and can easily be removed..."
That's beside the point. Amazon doesn't do it. While this was to be expected in files containing DRM, why can't Apple now do the same?
"Wasn't Apple the first of the two to offer DRM free tracks?"
Yes, as you and another poster pointed out. That, however, was yesterday. Yes, I admit I'm a fanboy, and as such, I want to see Apple always on the leading edge.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. For some others, I guess it's easier to negatively moderate than to reply.
...but for now, I'm not terribly impressed. Apple:
- still has only EMI (and the independents) at this new rate (compared to Amazon, which also has Universal) - still embeds buyer information inside the files - is still more expensive (ten cents, granted, but still...), and - chose to react rather than innovate
It's the fourth bullet point that dismays me the most.
She's only programmed to be very nice But shes as cold as ice Whenever I get too near She tells me that she likes me very much But when I try to touch She makes it all too clear.
She is the latest in technology Almost mythology But she has a heart stone She has an IQ of 1001 She has a jumpsuit on And she's also a telephone.
"But NBC intends to transform the service into a model similar to iTunes by the middle of 2008 -- that is, consumers will pay NBC directly to download episodes of the shows. "We did this to eliminate the middleman," said Jeff Gaspin, the president of NBC's digital division."
What this sanctimonious prick would never admit is that he and his ilk are the middlemen. If Apple accomplished anything, it concealed them behind the façade of iTMS' superior user experience, one that will outlast and outperform anything these morons devise.
"Anytime there's a story that's not story-worthy, or obviously false politcal propaganda, they use the kdawson account to publish it, thus saving their own reputation."
So you're saying Slashdot has its very own Alan Smithee, of sorts?
Slashdot Mirror
...with Warners today, all you have to do is contrast this money-grubbing douche with the likes of Ted Templeman, Lenny Waronker, and Mo Ostin. These were guys who staged and kept alive a renaissance at Warners for over thirty years. They signed amazing people like Hendrix, Zappa, Little Feat, the Doobies, and that's just for starters. Ostin in particular was so loved that artists actually wrote songs for him.
But this moron...the only thing he's interested in--forgive me for the cliché--is money for nothing.
If you were talking about iPhone OS, you might have a rational argument, and would have earned your moderation.
But I thought we were talking about an operating system for a general-purpose computer. Contrasting Mac OS X with any post- W2K Microsoft OS:
- I've never had to enter an 'activation' key to install it.
- I've never had to worry if it's going to turn on me and accuse me of using a 'counterfeit' version of it.
- I've never had to call Apple and ask, "Pretty please, is it okay to have my computer back?"
I think you're a little bit confused as to "Super-Lockdown-Incorporated" really is.
Microsoft is seeking patents for controlling a computer by simply flexing a muscle.
Microsoft has been controlling computers for years by flexing its muscles.
- 22-26 minutes maximum playing time per side.
- Rumble. Especially when it came pressed into the record.
- Scratches. A click or pop was forever. Often with the very first playing.
- Warpage. This was especially a problem after 1969-1972, when records became thinner. (Thank you RCA, for that "Dynaflex" nonsense.)
- Playing a phonograph record was a fiddly business. Extracting the record from its jacket and inner bag without getting fingerprints all over it (which could lead to more clicks and rumble). Cleaning the record surface with a brush before playing. You took all those precautions because you didn't want to make things worse, but it was rather like pissing in the wind, as the saying goes. No matter how great your cartridge was or how light your tracking force, your records would inevitably wear, especially your favorites.
Obviously, I'm not in the demographic that wants vinyl today. I was never a DJ (not in the context of a dance club, anyway), and I have no nostalgia, false or otherwise, to bring me back to the medium.
But I can't help but wonder if the problems that plague CDs today parallel the problems that vinyl in its heyday had. Everything I mentioned above were the reasons I was so quick to embrace CDs. (And if you've ever heard Ry Cooder's "Bop 'Til You Drop" or Dire Straits' "Brothers In Arms," you know exactly how wonderful CDs could sound.) But, it was a reaction, and I'm wondering if things like DRM and the "loudness wars" are the reaction people who are migrating to vinyl are having.
Is it possible to BSOD food?
The article includes a video on how to cyanosear and cyanorender duck, doesn't it?
(blink)
Never mind.
Needless to say I learned to backup more freaklently
The evolution of the English language is a fascinating thing.
...and came to the conclusion that I was dealing with a couple of cranks in Mssrs. Manjoo and Dvorak (not that the latter comes as any surprise).
Manjoo's piece attempted to 'prove' that Windows 7 was a better operating system based on one feature (Taskbar/Aero Views vs. Exposé) and provided a rather subjective critiqué even for that. I'd have liked to have learned more from him about why Windows 7 supposedly beats out Snow Leopard. Nonetheless, his first paragraph (with regards to crapware and the like) tells me what I've always known about the Windows experience: The more things change, the more they unfortunately remain the same.
As for Dvorak's piece, "cheap Microsoft vodka" paints a funny picture, but droning on about how he never gets any more press kits from Microsoft (is it really any wonder, knowing Dvorak?) doesn't tell me anything about Windows 7.
...just wasn't profitable enough.
That's a shame, because my fiancée and I have really enjoyed Hulu, as it's allowed us to watch our favorite shows (those that Hulu carries, anyway) on our own schedules, and with short commercial breaks, and no banner ads across the lower quarter or third of the screen. It's proven to be kind of an ideal version of television. (We've never had on-demand or DVR, just expanded basic cable, so take that with as many grains of salt as you wish.)
Speaking for myself, the continual, intrusive advertising that plagues television today has done much to drive me away from it, but Hulu has succeeded in bringing me back. I really don't mind that much when the ads are at most a minute long (sometimes as short as 10-15 seconds), and only one at a time.
Meanwhile, we're taking a wait-and-see approach to what happens next. There's no telling what Hulu will charge, but if it's reasonable (define that how you will) and serves to, say, buy CBS's participation, it could still be a worthy thing.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet, but Mac OS X has an application called "Keychain Access." Keychains store private keys, certificates, and arbitrary notes securely. I use one to store my passwords to all my e-mail and web accounts. They're encrypted using Triple DES.
Not only that, but it can generate passwords for you. Tell it how many characters you want, and whether the password should be memorable (comprised of dictionary words and a short string of numbers), letters and numbers, numbers only, something called "FIPS-181 compliant," or random. You can choose from the ones it generates from a pop-up menu, and if you don't like any of them, it can generate some more. Whatever password you choose, there's a gauge that tells you how strong it is.
I have to use it occasionally to look up a password to an infrequently visited web page. Entering my user password (that is, the one for my account on my computer) will unlock any one that is stored on the keychain.
Is it easy to use? Kind of, sort of; it takes a few seconds and more than a few mouse clicks to retrieve a password. Safari (perhaps Firefox as well, but I don't know) can be configured to remember your login information for a given page, and though it stores this information in the login keychain, the problem with Safari's implementation is that it works for some pages and not others, and doesn't require you to provide your user password--not exactly the most secure arrangement.
No one's ever compromised this scheme, as far as I know. Yet. Meanwhile, it works pretty well for me.
There is no spoon.
The sheer hubris of this announcement made me wonder: When did M. Night Shyamalan start making computers?
New London County State's Attorney Michael Regan: "I have no regrets. Things took a course that was unplanned," Regan said. "For some reason, this case caught the media's attention."
Translation: "I didn't have a case after all."
46 of 50.
Slashdot: Where no good deed goes unpunished (or at the very least, uncriticized).
Shh! Microsoft's marketing might think that idea's just dandy.
"Am I missing something, or are you?"
You are, though I may not have been clear.
Understand that I was standing on the pedals (as opposed to sitting in a chair with my feet on them); this is the way ours had been marketed, as a stairstepping machine, to be used. The mechanism was bottoming out with a thud on each step, providing almost no resistance at all, regardless of the adjustment (provided by a small black knob). As a stairstepping machine, it was entirely inadequate, especially for someone like me weighing 129 kg. But as an under-the-desk solution, without one's full weight upon it, it might work better.
My sister-in-law-to-be bought one of these things on a home shopping channel a year or so ago. Or more accurately, one of those mechanisms. From what I can see in photographs shown in another web page, it looks quite similar.
Hers hadn't been marketed as an under-the-desk exercise solution, but instead came with a handlebar support one gripped while standing on the pedals. In that capacity, I found it ridiculous. The piston mechanism under each pedal readily collapsed under my weight, though they might indeed be better suited for this application.
As for the computer interface, I suspect it's built on top of the same mechanism that, in our case, drove a simple mechanical digital counter.
...when Macromedia and Adobe were in litigation over Photoshop's user interface. Can Macromedia have it, now that Adobe no longer wants it?
Oh, wait...
"Here's a 2 dollar coupon that expires the day we get around to mailing it out and is only good at a single retailer in northern alaska."
On top of all that, the guy behind the counter is probably a vampire.
"Maybe I'm a bit naive..."
Certainly not, but I don't think you've understood my point. Of course Apple has set in motion a great thing: the re-invention of an industry whose practices and ethics have always been suspect. But is what I said, at face value, not true?
"Information that is not hidden and can easily be removed..."
That's beside the point. Amazon doesn't do it. While this was to be expected in files containing DRM, why can't Apple now do the same?
"Wasn't Apple the first of the two to offer DRM free tracks?"
Yes, as you and another poster pointed out. That, however, was yesterday. Yes, I admit I'm a fanboy, and as such, I want to see Apple always on the leading edge.
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. For some others, I guess it's easier to negatively moderate than to reply.
...but for now, I'm not terribly impressed. Apple:
- still has only EMI (and the independents) at this new rate (compared to Amazon, which also has Universal)
- still embeds buyer information inside the files
- is still more expensive (ten cents, granted, but still...), and
- chose to react rather than innovate
It's the fourth bullet point that dismays me the most.
But shes as cold as ice
Whenever I get too near
She tells me that she likes me very much
But when I try to touch
She makes it all too clear.
She is the latest in technology
Almost mythology
But she has a heart stone
She has an IQ of 1001
She has a jumpsuit on
And she's also a telephone.
"Hybrid we consider to be a Band-Aid approach to solid state."
Coming from a company that has positioned itself as the rice boys of computer hardware, that remark sounds rather appropriate.
"But NBC intends to transform the service into a model similar to iTunes by the middle of 2008 -- that is, consumers will pay NBC directly to download episodes of the shows. "We did this to eliminate the middleman," said Jeff Gaspin, the president of NBC's digital division."
What this sanctimonious prick would never admit is that he and his ilk are the middlemen. If Apple accomplished anything, it concealed them behind the façade of iTMS' superior user experience, one that will outlast and outperform anything these morons devise.
"Anytime there's a story that's not story-worthy, or obviously false politcal propaganda, they use the kdawson account to publish it, thus saving their own reputation."
So you're saying Slashdot has its very own Alan Smithee, of sorts?