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  1. Re:DVD's still a little life left in them on The Future of Digital Video? · · Score: 1

    Yes, especially annoying seeing as they sold MD Data drives for PC's at one point. IIRC, they were quite slow though.

    Maybe they need to update the format. MDVD anyone?

  2. Re:DVD's still a little life left in them on The Future of Digital Video? · · Score: 1

    MiniDisc was not designed to replace CD, it was designed to replace tape and, in portable situations, DAT. It has done very well in Japan and is quite popular in Europe, but is now being overtaken by MP3 in the "home compilation" arena.

    Still popular in broadcast though.

  3. Re:UK voters perspective on Could E-Voting Cure Voter Apathy? · · Score: 1

    I think your point regarding spoiling the paper is very important. Whilst a lot of people don't care to vote, there are a large number of us who wish to register that we do not find any of the candidates satisfactory.

    A space on the ballot paper is needed for this and the sooner it is included the better.

    As a 21yr old who works in Polling Stations and as a Counting Assistant, I see the types of people who regularly turn out and vote. Not many are under the age of 30, and the young people who do vote simply vote for "whoever my dad tells me to" I think e-voting will engage the younger voters, forcing the politicians to pay more attention to that demographic.

  4. Re:Add phone service on Building a Town-Wide LAN? · · Score: 1

    Really? Just ask Apple :-)

  5. Re:They're already cooperating on It's Official: News Corp to Buy DirecTV · · Score: 1

    Sky != Fox in the UK

    Sky is both a platform provider in the form of the direct to home Sky Digital satellite service and a content provider with channels such as Sky News and Sky Sports which it both carries and resells to cable and digital terrerstrial services also operating here.

    Sky in the UK also has it's own PVR developed by Pace called Sky+ which is much more restrictive than TiVo and more tightly integrated into it's own proprietary EPG and conditional access system. It will be interesting to see if a Sky+ type service (DirecTV+) replaces the DirecTiVo currently sold in the US.

  6. In the UK... on Stations Can't Play Crippled Music Disks · · Score: 2, Informative

    First off I haven't heard of any problems at our station so far...

    However, we're quite flexible in how we can populate our playout system, Dalet in our case. We can use good old analog from a regular CD player, rip directly from CD or get them off a digital distribution system that runs in the UK called Fastrax.

    Fastrax involves each station getting a machine and an ADSL line with the client software. The machine connects to Fastrax and allows you to download tracks that the record companies have chosen to distribute

  7. Re:RIP iMac on R.I.P. Original iMac: 1998-2003 · · Score: 1

    It's ok, just don't ask for mayo :-)

  8. Re:This seems odd... on Live Vorbis Streams Over 802.11b From SXSW.com · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well you get OS X Server installed on the XServe when you buy it.

    You also get QuickTime Streaming Server:
    "You can serve standard MP3 files using Icecast-compatible protocols over http. Build a playlist of MP3 files and serve them to MP3 clients such as iTunes, SoundJam, WinAmp, or QuickTime Player for a simulated live experience."

    So that takes care of Icecast streaming.

    Then they could also use the free QuickTime Broadcaster in the clubs for a full GUI experience. They'd also then be able to use the XServe Remote Monitoring application to check on the server whilst in the club.

    If these guys wanted to go Open Source, wonder why they didn't use x86 and take advantage of hardware cost savings too.

  9. Memo to self... on Advice You Would Give to Your 12 Year-Old Self? · · Score: 1

    Get yourself a decent haircut
    Shag that bird when you are 15
    Go out more
    Take that job you get offered when you are 17

  10. Re:Tubes already crowded on London to Introduce Traffic Congestion Charge · · Score: 1

    What? You mean there's no link between al-Qaeda and the IRA? :-)

  11. Re:Sky+ = TiVo-UK on TiVo switches off UK sales · · Score: 1

    Guess I recalled incorrectly (GIRI) :-)

  12. Re:Sky+ = TiVo-UK on TiVo switches off UK sales · · Score: 2, Informative

    Sky+ is most definitely NOT TiVo. Sky Subscriber Services handle the UK billing and technical support for TiVo subscribers in the UK on behalf of TiVo Inc.

    British Sky Broadcasting market their own PVR called Sky+ which uses their own software developed from the codebase of the regular Sky Digibox (which is based on WinCE IIRC). Sky Subscriber Services handle the billing and technical support of this device as well, alongside a regular Sky TV subscription.

  13. Re:How about Canada? on TiVo switches off UK sales · · Score: 1
    The digital satelite, cable and DSL providers have video on demand which reduces the need for PVRs.


    Sky (Sat), NTL and Telewest (Cable) do not offer "video on demand"

  14. Re:They have the data... on Card Makers Say UK Citizens Want Biometric ID Cards · · Score: 1
    The initial reasoning behind this ID card plan was to make it *easier* for the government to check up on it's citizens.

    I think they'll actually use this to gain a critical mass acceptance of the idea. They'll lever the UK's worries over illegal immigration in order to introduce the system...

    Currently (and trust me, I know this first hand) it takes up a fair amount of Civil Servant time to collect and collate all this data

    ...and this is one of the main reasons they'll cite.

    "It currently takes our Immigration Service far too long to collate and share the information contained in the three main databases, so to reduce illegal immigration and help in the *war on terrorism* we're going to create a big new database and put you all on it. We will then be able to identify and track *dangerous* individuals more easily..."

    Joy :-)

  15. They have the data... on Card Makers Say UK Citizens Want Biometric ID Cards · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What puzzles me is the fact that people think that we have "private" lives and that the Government doesn't know anything about us. They think that by having an ID card, suddenly we'll all be on some huge database and that this is "wrong".

    Well wake up people, you're already on a huge Government database. Look at some of the information they've got on you:

    • Photograph (Driving License, Passport)
    • Earnings and employer (Tax)
    • Address (Electoral Register)
    • Who lives in your house (Census)
    • Unencrypted online communications (ISP)
    • What car you drive (DVLA)
    • DOB, marital status (Registry Office)

    Identity theft is becoming a problem in the UK, surely a national ID card scheme with biometric data contained within it will help protect your identity?

  16. Re:We have to ask... (apple?) on HP Unveils Its Digital Media Receiver · · Score: 3, Informative

    Ooops, wrong again! iPod also supports WAV and AIFF.

    Also: "Upgradable firmware enables support for future audio formats"

  17. Re:Sonic Boom on TiVo and Rendezvous · · Score: 2

    The file permissions are already set up so that by default, only your Public folder in your Users directory is shared. To get access to all your files, mount drives etc. you have to authenticate.

    Easy to set up too. Just log in, click System Preferences, click Sharing and tick Personal File Sharing.

    Simple :-)

  18. Re:pay someone to do it on Do You Homebrew? · · Score: 2

    I think they called it an "acquired" taste :-)

    I do like Guinness BTW!

  19. Re:Sun's next slogan on Clothes Make the Network · · Score: 1

    A great excuse for cross dressing :-)

  20. Re:Perhaps I'm missing something... on Sony Introduces Passage · · Score: 4, Informative

    A better example would be Sky in the UK. You cannot view encrypted Sky DTH satellite broadcasts unless you buy a specific Sky branded receiver. This limits the viewer to a range of "approved" boxes which differ very little in basic specification.

    In Europe, viewers can purchase a generic DVB-S decoder with the features they want and then plug in the required encryption module (similar to a PCMCIA card) for the encryption standard that their chosen provider uses.

    The UK situation will hopefully change next year as the European Union is forcing all broadcasters to move to the modular system, which will mean that Sky will have to release an encryption module for those generic boxes.

  21. Name fight lives on on The Apple Name Game · · Score: 4, Informative

    I seem to remember Apple has been through a name fight before...

  22. Re:XPC? on Review of the New Shuttle XPC Chassis · · Score: 1

    MSF is French and stands for Médecins Sans Frontières.

    Go to MSF.org for more information.

  23. Re:Ummm... maybe they can learn from... on Boosting Battery Life For RISC Processors · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As an old Acorn user who switched to Mac back in 1998, I can safely point you to this fact without appearing anti or pro Apple/IBM/ARM.

    "ARM Company Milestones: ARM History - 1985 - Acorn Computer Group develops the world's first commercial RISC processor"

  24. Re:RDF. on Apple Won't Be At Macworld Boston · · Score: 1

    I heard Mac OS X allows you to create RDF's from any application.

    Oh wait... :-)

  25. Re:It never was an internet company... on The Sinking Ship that is AOL · · Score: 1

    Telewest don't cut you off after 2 hours, but you obviously have to be in a serviceable location.