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  1. Re:Oh please on The Incredible Shrinking Recording Studio · · Score: 1

    I'd imagine drums are way too loud, sharp and fast to benefit from that...imagine dave lombardo or danney carey going insane in a tiled bathroom...*rubs ears*
    maybe you can get some kind of threshold trigger for your drum mics that will record for 30-100ms after the "crack" of the desired sound, but then cut off to kill out the echoes?

  2. GNU/Linux isn't faster than Darwin, just Aqua on Xen High-Performance x86 Virtualization Released · · Score: 1

    I'm using GNU/Linux most of the time on my iBook because:
    1) it's faster


    KDE/Gnome/&c. is definitely more responsive than Aqua (I wouldn't say "faster", since the UI doesn't really do tasks, it just needs to be snappy and low-latency), and while the monolithic vs. microkernel should make LinuxPPC sans GUI a little faster than Darwin, I've heard here and there (can't back up, sorry) that Darwin has the edge on commandline linuxPPC, probably due to the tight hardware integration Apple can exercise.
    Interesting thing i realized while reading this article, all the "robust" (commercially marketed) Unices except BSD/OS seem to run on hardware-software packages (Solaris, IRIX, HP-UX, AIX)...does this mean Apple is going to join the Old Boy's Club?

  3. Re:flying body jewelry is soo much cooler though : on Living Life in Fast-Forward · · Score: 1

    Yes yes, i should have labeled it OT, but come on, just laugh and move on, i'm certainly not damaging the clear, high s/n environment of slashdot :P

  4. Re:Oh please on The Incredible Shrinking Recording Studio · · Score: 1

    Yes, I do agree that quaility of output is all that matters. Hell, my dad makes pretty good recordings with an SM57, a korg X5, and a fostex analog multitracker, no standalone computers at all.

    Bathrooms are cool, Guitar World had a small article about home recording about 10 years ago, they recommended the bathroom too - the hard tiles are the exact opposite acoustics of an insulated studio, but because of the confined space you end up with a really bright, clear sound if you mic right. Still, I stand by my statement that a studio (just the physical room, not the hardware, software, wetware, or anything else) and a really good mic is a neccessity if want to make a really polished final product...unless you don't want the "perfect" studio sound, then you go wherever fits.

  5. Oh please on The Incredible Shrinking Recording Studio · · Score: 1

    But I can do true 'professional music' (what is that anyway?) with my tiBook and Indigo2 here in my living room, and you personally wouldn't even know the difference, as a music consumer, whether it was recorded at Powerplant or what.

    Bullshit. If anything, cheap pro gear makes the recording issue that much worse - if you record in your living room with a U87, it's going to sound for sure like you recorded it in your living room, with every little acoustic problem magnified (unless you have sound foam and floating walls in your living room). I'm calling "professinal music" anything that's recorded in a purpose-built studio and processed using "real" (read expensive) audio equipment and software - not placing any judgement on the music itself, just the quality of production.
    I was way too general before - anything beyond the actual recording can be done great on a laptop - a TiBook with an 828 or an 896 would be a kickass porta-recorder/mixer/effects processor/etc etc etc on the cheap (well, excluding mics), and will most definitely deliver professional-quality results, but you need to be putting in good sounds to begin with. And to get really good sound, unless you want a specific effect, there's no place like a studio. Yes, I'm marketing that statment as a concrete fact; if you really think a living room is a better recording environment, I'd like to hear the argument. granted, I'm not a completely typical consumer; most of my family and friends are musicians, and I still play around a little with recording and processing so i have some ear for it, but i suspect even joe 6pack could tell the difference between a garage recording and a studio recording if all the rest of the equipment were the same.

    ps. for sheer quality, NOTHING beats 2-inch reel-to-reel with a really good mic and tube amp, especially for really subtle stuff like vocals and piano.

  6. Re:As a professional audio developer ... on The Incredible Shrinking Recording Studio · · Score: 1

    The whole "pro studio" machine is well and truly facing the same reality that "computer rooms" once faced from the PC onslaught.

    Funny, I hear a lot of major business still keep the "computer room" around for REAL computing tasks, and use desktops for the day-to-day mundane work. As other people here have already pointed out, Real Studios are neccessary for making true "professional quality" music; but the *entry* barrier is coming down and coming down fast. Really, could you record, edit, mix, and postprod a Big-Studio-Quality CD with your TiBook and a couple of mics?

  7. Re:One of the only reasons I ever boot into Win XP on The Incredible Shrinking Recording Studio · · Score: 1

    Yeah, and you just look sooo cool up in the booth diddling the keys on your glowing toilet-seat iBook while the lights dance behind you...c'mon man, the turntables aren't there just for sound ya know :P

  8. Mics are always pricey though on The Incredible Shrinking Recording Studio · · Score: 1

    I did a little sound work with some bands in high school, the one thing i learned was that mics, in terms of size/price, are hands-down the most expensive items in the studio. makes sense, anyway - you can get ok results with shitty gear and a great mic, but the best studio and hardware in the world ain't gonna help if you're using a cheap 57 or something (not that 57s are bad, those things can take some ABUSE...).

  9. Seriously, why do I want Linux AND OS X? on Xen High-Performance x86 Virtualization Released · · Score: 1

    Really, besides moral arguments about "freedom", why on earth would we want to migrate users en masse, or even at all, from OS X to linux? I used LinuxPPC/YDL for ages on my 6400, and I don't buy the arguments about linuxPPC being a more stable or more mature OS than X - sure, the UI and other high-level stuff might be a little rougher around the edges, but Darwin, IMHO, is already better than LinuxPPC in every arena, usability, robustness, hardware support, ease of configuration, etc etc etc (then again, I'd also say BSD is better than Linux...*hnads over the saltshaker*).
    Software? Seems pretty much every OSS package that was ready for linuxPPC has an OS X port, even more so with the X11 release...really, X is already a better deskop *nix than linux, and I don't think I, at least, will ever be convinced otherwise.

  10. flying body jewelry is soo much cooler though :D on Living Life in Fast-Forward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    once upon a time, i was doing some summer work with a 600-MHz NMR, complete with liquid-helium-cooled superconducting supermagnet - the Red Line (don't cross with anything magnetic unless you don't want to be holding it anymore) was at least 5m away from the instrument. I have several bits of metal in my head, but since I'm smart and buy quality body jewelry, it's all nonmagnetic stainless steel...but this other kid who was working with me, OTOH, went the el-cheapo route and got his at Hot Topic; apparently they don't use non-magnetic ally in their jewelry. So he's walking by the NMR and crosses the line when I hear a loud metallic PING followed immediately by a louder scream...the poor guy had a 16 gauge barbell pulled clean through the hole in his earlobe, fly across the room, and get firmly stuck to the side of the NMR. At least he didn't have a ring in, so it just tore the hole open a little...

  11. I was doing this in 1997... on Living Life in Fast-Forward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...freshman year, I'd record lectures and sleep through class (yes, I can learn just fine that way thanks), friday afternoon when I had no class I'd dump the tapes to my drive and use Peak to cut the running time by about half. Took a while to actually process (200mhz 603ev!), but by Saturday morning I could roll over, put my headphones on, and catch up a week in about 2 hours. hungover no less!

  12. Re:Ahh, splitting hairs :P on Diamandis Predicts X-Prize Winner Within One Year · · Score: 1

    Or a horribly beautiful flaming contrail across several states, if your shielding gives early enough...

  13. Never had Aqua hang hard, huh? on The Guy Responsible For Ctrl-Alt-Del · · Score: 1

    Happens to me every so often; kernel panics happen too, but much less often (last one was about 3 months ago). Aqua hanging is a real bitch - if you can ssh in and kill loginwindow, everything's great and dandy, but if you can't, it's time for a hard reboot.

  14. Ahh, splitting hairs :P on Diamandis Predicts X-Prize Winner Within One Year · · Score: 1

    Yes yes yes, you're absolutely right, altitude and velocity are totally different - I was rolling them into one, assuming orbit at the specified altitude; I probably should have said >Shuttle orbit. My point still stands though, the X-Prize is a great first step, but it cuts out the real bear of spaceflight, at least assuming you don't want to make planetfall as a small, smoking cinder...

  15. Am not needink power grid... on Electricity Apocalypse Soon? · · Score: 1

    When havink nuclear UPS.

  16. I honestly don't see the use of the X-Prize though on Diamandis Predicts X-Prize Winner Within One Year · · Score: 1, Interesting

    The X-Prize is an incredibly good idea, the perfect way to spur innovation and experimentation, but at the end of the day, I see ti as mostly a wash...I can't find the blurb on the X-Prize page, but IIRC they say they chose 62mi because it's accepted as being in space, but doesn't require any "exotic and expensive" heat shielding for reentry. Now, suborbital barnstorming is rad as hell, and a very neccessary step to orbit and beyond - but if we really want to commoditize true spaceflight, we're going to to need to be able to reenter as well as blast off. Maybe a Y-Prize for the fist private team to successfully deorbit and land from >Shuttle altitudes?

  17. Photoshop Mac maybe on Adobe Releases Updated Creative Suite · · Score: 1

    it's color acuity precise

    On a Mac with properly set up and calibrated ColorSync yeah, but I have yet to meet a graphic designer who's had any real luck with color management on Win (if they dont' know about ColorSync, I show them mine...gets them every time.)

  18. Yes, it does.. on Build Your Own Segway · · Score: 1

    The commercial one has a lot of safety features, redundancy and fool-proofing. Mine has none whatsoever...With a scooter like this, if it stops working for any reason (software crash, hardware failure, low battery) you will fall, hard, and probably on your face. Imagine zipping along at 10 MPH, and suddenly the platform you're standing on stops dead. Oh, and there's a T-bar in front of you to trip you up if you start to run.

    Ingenuous, but from the sounds of it, I'll pass...

  19. I really think IBM likes Open Source... on IBM Adds SCO Counterclaim Charging Copyright Infringement · · Score: 1

    Their legal team is no doubt easily capable of containing the "viral" nature of the GPL, and it would do them worlds of good to be able to reliably open-source things that they need development on more than profit from, with the assurance that they could always use the advances that would come from that move. I'm really pretty convinced Big Blue has really seen the advantages of OSS in the coroporate environs and this is their stand to secure it.

  20. Linux sorta Scales, but the hardware doesn't... on Linux Kernel Benchmarking: 2.4 vs. 2.6-test · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd love to see Linux being the best OS for multiple CPU scaling.

    You do need a scalable OS to suport lots of processors, of course, but you also need hardware that scales too (clustering doesn't count). Example - SGI is using Linux with NUMAflex on the Altixes to cluster 64-processor system images, but that kind of hardware isn't commodity in any way, and isn't going to be anytime soon.
    Anyway, Linux doesn't scale THAT well...as of 9/2000, SGI was using IRIX for a 1024-processor single-system-image supercomputer; I've heard they can go to 2048 now, but I don't have anything to back that up. Dunno about Solaris, but I imagine it's pretty scalable as well.

  21. Fluorine, not fluoride. on Is There An OS On My Hard Drive? · · Score: 1

    Fluorine gas is nasty, nasty, nasty stuff - it reacts with pretty much everything except stainless steel, teflon, and platinum. Fluoride salts are pretty nasty in high doses, but nowhere near as toxic or reactive as fluorine; I haven't found any research that shows 1ppm long-term exposure causes any problems, though.

  22. Amen on Ward Hunt Ice Shelf Breaks In Two · · Score: 1

    Couldn't have put it better myself - in fact, when I get stuck in a argument with a hardcore environmentalist, I just point out that the ultimate eco-friendly act would be a mass suicide of the human race, and challenge them to explain why not. "ummm...because we wouldn't be around to enjoy the new, clean, happy earth?"

  23. No demand really on New BTX Form Factor Announced At IDF · · Score: 1

    For the super-custom stuff you're talking about. Sure, it would be perfectly possible - but the parts would be so low-volume that the cost would be astronomical, probably far more than just buying an off-the-shelf laptop.
    Anyway, any standard laptop form factor nowadays would be rather thin and not overly wide, certainly nothing you could fit a trackball and full-size keyboard in without a hacksaw and some bondo.

  24. Classic has Sleep (and Win Standby bites!) on New BTX Form Factor Announced At IDF · · Score: 2, Informative

    Yeah, but windows standby sucks, at least on 9x - probably more than half the time I've had to reboot 9x boxes on standby. And you have to do Start -> Shut Down -> Standby, instead of just tapping a button as you get up to leave. X does it right; fast, stable, and easy. BTW, Classic has supported Sleep since the first PPCs came out. Works OK, at least better than Win..

  25. Bah, there's enough computer there on Video Screen in Thin Air · · Score: 1

    Well, the Enterprise has more than enough computing power - there's three 12-deck high faster-than-light optical computer banks (of course it's pure sci-fi); the holodeck is also noted as being "computationally intensive". Wonder if it can handle Doom MMMMCCLXIII?