Hi. I do agree that the site by Robin Whittle makes extraordinarily good reading.
If you'd like to listen to some sample files, I've put together what I hope is a fair test page, with MS Audio 4.0, Real Audio G2, MP3 (Fraunhofer and Microsoft) and Twin-VQ as found in the MPEG4 reference software. (Yes, it compiles!) For now, the files are at 20kbit/s and 8kbit/s.
The thing that torques my nuts is that only English words are being victimized. In Spanish, for example, even the most obscene words are domain names. The internet is not English specific, so why should obscene English domains be picked on?
One may use a copyrighted meta tag in their site if the site is non-comercial or a parady. Intellectual property law permits the use of such items under what is known as the "Fair Use Doctrine." The Fair Use Doctrine is a priviledge to someone other than the owner of copyrighted material to use the material without the owner's consent. Whether a use is a permited fair use is a complex mix of factors, including the purpose and character of the use, especially whether or not it is commercial, the nature of the copyrighted work, the proportion that was taken, and the economic impact of the taking. 17 USCA 107. The use of a meta tag in a personal page would probably be held by the courts to be a fair use. The judicial ruling cited in this case involves a commercial site using another commercial party's meta tag. As long as your not motivated to make money off the meta tag, you should be OK.
For years, teachers have been fighting for smaller class sizes, more money for programs that allow a creative outlet for students, and a curriculum with enough flexibility to allow students to progress at their own rate of learning.
Year after year these improvements have been proposed, and year after year they have been voted down, shouted down, dismissed and denied. Too expensive. This country revolves around the almighty buck, and nobody wants their taxes to go up, just so a bunch of snot-nosed kids can have a computer lab and a school radio station.
Perhaps it's time to re-examine their position. Perhaps it's time to funnel some of the money we spend on Ethan Allen furniture and dried mushrooms into the millions of young people who wake up every day filled with rage and despair because they are forced to go to a place where they have NO input, NO control, and NO rights.
I'm not talking about the public at large, I'm talking about YOU. Do you have a hundred dollars left over this month? Were you planning on writing a check to the local high school's computer program so that they could buy a new piece of software, or the drama club so that they could maybe buy a new script? I didn't think so.
If there is any single good that can and should come from the Littleton shootings, the McCarthy-esque backlash, and the new sense of community that we are all experiencing as the internet bonds together, it should be this: Take responsibility for ONE thing.
Donate some software. Volunteer to take an afternoon off and lecture the art class about 3-D animation techniques. Pay 70 bucks a month for 50 MB of web space and offer it to the local high school students who want to set up web pages.
The blame-fest has been fun and all, and it may even have been necessary, but it's real easy to sit on your behind and write furious mailings to Slashdot about what's wrong with the high school system, then get up out of your chair, order a pizza, watch some Red Dwarf re-runs.
I'm sorry, but that's lazy, and that's cowardly, and that's what got us into this mess in the first place. So what are you going to do about it?
Don't flame me!! I'm a big-time Linux user. But I downloaded the beta Jukebox for Windows NT. My NT machine is a 300Mhz w/ 64 Mb RAM. Winamp plays on it like a charm. Opens quickly, plays without a hitch, NO serious resources used. RM Jukebox on the other hand took about 20 seconds to open, then wanted me to re-register my.mp3 extensions. The song then begins to play while skipping every few seconds. All this in addition to the glitches, skips and slow system while I'm typing this comment. Maybe the final product will be smoother and better AND include an equalizer. Like I said -- Linux port? Who cares! I'll stick with X11Amp. Much better sound, even better than WinAmp in NT.
M$ wants to maximize their profit- so get as many users to upgrade to 98 by spreading fud about 95's compliance, but then release a patch for 95 at the last minute so you won't be liable for y2k lawsuits later on. Pretty sleezy, but on the bright side, M$ is doing lots of worse things.
>>Agree in advance with your entire group of a list of games you can play on that day that look good. Instead of TFC, choose something like Ages of Empires. And instead of conquest mode, choose a nice, peaceful ending goal like building a wonder. Then agree in advance to set up your game so you are all allies and work together. There's a lot of networked games out there that don't look like doom. Practice on some of them a weekend before you try this.
I think that a game with norman parameters would be fine, but agree in advance that the only permissable combat will be with priests. No blood, no guts, but still the competitive aspect will be shown.
>>for bonus points, no one should wear trenchcoats or all black. Tell them its just a fashion statement for when you go outdoor or to school, but that even the most extreme geeks are just normal kids with an extra dose of creativity. Pile on the bullshit.
There is one problem with your plan, most of us are out of high school. One of the group's requirements is that members, and people who attend must be 18 or older, OR the legal ward of someone else in attendance who is 18 or older. We don't want to get sued if Jr. drops mom && dad's computer on the way up the stairs. We've got members up to 40 years old. Most of us are between 20 && 35.
On Sunday, when my network gaming group (the WPNGG) had our last meeting I brought up to the group the possibility of inviting a local politician or two ot see us game and possibly get a better understand of what video gaming is all about.
I was rapidly shot down by people who feared that the person(s) whom we invite might take one aspect of the gaming out of context, one of them said words to the effect of "Yeah, and if they see us playing Team Fortress Classic as soon as they see us trying to take out the president, it'll be all over."
I think that civillians just don't get what we do, and don't get what we are.
Maybe because they're not capable of doing so, maybe because they just don't care, maybe both. Over the years I have developed a sort of contempt for people like that. The "I can't program my VCR!" people, HEY RTFM AND LEARN! These people who expect machines to do what they want instead of what they instruct it to do.
"Why won't this stupid machine print?" Um, because you have to TELL IT TO PRINT! See under the FILE menu? That little thing that says "PRINT", yeah do that!
I'll believe it when I believe it. When I see some benchmarks on non-sample, commercially-available hardware, using an operating system that ISN'T vaporware, then I'll start paying attention. This is beyond FUD -- it's AGFUD. (AG meaning "Axe Grinding")
Why the hell do people fucking worship this series? It's a movie- a good movie, but not the meaning of life. For shit's sake- anakin skywalker sleeping bags getting sold out in a few hours? Absurd.
Re:What the market'll bear...ARRGGGHHH!!
on
Star Wars Toy Mania
·
· Score: 1
Posted by The Incredible Mr. Limpett:
I had BOTH of those!!!! Oh well, I guess I enjoyed them to the fullest and that's what they were for... Also had the big millenium falcon, the big Boba Fett that shot a grappling hook with line...now that I think about it, I had a lot of those toys. Jeez, I coulda been rolling in it by now ---- "Wars, conflict, it's all business. One murder makes a villain. Millions a hero. Numbers sanctify."
Re:No *way*, open them up and start playing :)
on
Star Wars Toy Mania
·
· Score: 1
Posted by The Incredible Mr. Limpett:
I usually buy 2 of something I want to "collect", put one away safely and rip open the other one to play with. woo hoo!
---- "Wars, conflict, it's all business. One murder makes a villain. Millions a hero. Numbers sanctify."
OK.. I understand your point completely until you label him a jock. He is one person....not all "jocks" are jerk! No one seems to understand that. I don't feel that anyone should be treated like that, but for everyone to blame the jocks....that is just not right!!! I can't believe the media is giving the killers an excuse.
Not since M$ bought them! Hotmail has been slowly migrating to NT. Which means frequent headaches. I used there service for a while before the take over and rarely had problems but slowly but surely things have been going down hill. Problems include: not being able to access the site (period), frequent "We're sorry you caught use during maintence" (read: "Our system crashed") messages, a tone of messages about Netscape 4.5 not supporting cookies, frames, and the like (yes! I enabled cookies). Well anyways I gave up on them and went to Yahoo! mail.
Some Reason Why Kids Kill
on
Why Kids Kill
·
· Score: 1
Posted by Krag:
To Matt Nalty - a Columbine High student and non-jock - that was on Sally Jesse Raphael-
Here's the deal:
You guys are the sane ones. I was really bummed when SJR put you on the defensive about your appearance - and one response was "it's comfortable" - don't let them force you into that corner.
In reality, and for good cause, whether you are fully conscious of it or not, you appear as you do (partly) because it makes THEM UNcomfortable.
Your native instinct is to reject corporate yuppie culture - and I'm so glad you're doing it. It is my cause in life. The same shallow, stupid jocks that sneered at me in high school are out there right now, 25 years later, still sneering, still clueless. (And I still dress wierd, and love to goof on them.)
Unfortunately, they run society. (Better to say: The corporations are running society, and the jocks are just mindless cannon fodder).
Offered the choice between a "Broncos" shirt and a "Rancid" shirt, anyone with half a brain avoids the corporate football and takes the struggling small entrepruneur. It's not about "getting attention-" as in "please pay attention to me" - its about getting attention as in: "Wake up you stupid L.L.Bean yuppie!"
SJR's packaged bullshit didn't even scratch the surface. Kids (and adults with a clue) are ALL smoldering, enraged at the stupid way white-trash consumerism is spoiling Colorado, the rest of the country, and the rest of the world.
Okay, number one, most of the people who read this will not heed a bit of it for one reason. I'm a (GASP) adult. I'm 30 years old now, and on my way to my 7th mill. In high school I was a geeky little runt with a brain and a big mouth. Now I'm a big geek with a brain and an even bigger mouth. Wanna know the main difference between then and now? simple. No football teams, no cheerleaders, and i finally learned how to talk to beautiful women without tripping over my tongue.See, the rules change my future colleagues, and you are much better suited for these rule changes than that 200 lb jock with an IQ equivalent to his waist size. You are going thru hell now. You will go thru hell until the end of this PC BS. But you will get thru it. I am hoping and praying you get thru it. Because comps have taken over a large part of our lives, and they will keep taking on more, and I would rather have you, the girl with the flat chest and thick glasses reading "enders game" and understanding it, or you, the guy who gets a strange look because you are 15 and buying books in the local college bookstore, being a friend of mine and/ or working for me than any jock, student government flunkie, or Mr. popularity contest winner anytime. YOU are real people. they aren't. And as long as you are still real, I want you as my friends or working with me. Thank you in advance for getting thru the hell of high school. You will make it.
you gave a good summary of the seminar/lecture/panel...
i went with some friends b/c i saw a poster that said "linus torvalds to speak today, pauley ballroom, 1pm"... and we got to listen to a bunch of other people before him;) but i like that linus, unlike g4Ý3Z or mr inventor/vp, made useful points.. about society. i did not mind at all that technology wasn't covered. my was the nokia guy with overhead presentation longwinded! i fell asleep. i am a polisci major anyway.
This is my first post, so it'll be short and sweet... Let's assume that MS does get broken up into three pieces. Who's to say that they'd all go right back into the OS business? Wouldn't it be smart to take something like the Office suite and run? There's still a lot of money in that.
This is a great book. I too wanted 'more', and a CD version with music, but will settle for a new edition if all it does is make it more likely to find in a bookstore.
At the risk of sounding real dumb, I'd like to take an flying leap at a one-sentence summary: Intelligence is the ability to improve on your own instructions.
Slashdot Mirror
Hi. I do agree that the site by Robin Whittle makes extraordinarily good reading.
If you'd like to listen to some sample files, I've put together what I hope is a fair test page, with MS Audio 4.0, Real Audio G2, MP3 (Fraunhofer and Microsoft) and Twin-VQ as found in the MPEG4 reference software. (Yes, it compiles!) For now, the files are at 20kbit/s and 8kbit/s.
http://www.billabong-media.com/compression
My hope, as a record producer and musician, is that my comparisons are fair.
Posted by hanser:
The thing that torques my nuts is that only English words are being victimized. In Spanish, for example, even the most obscene words are domain names. The internet is not English specific, so why should obscene English domains be picked on?
Posted by Morpheus2000:
One may use a copyrighted meta tag in their site if the site is non-comercial or a parady. Intellectual property law permits the use of such items under what is known as the "Fair Use Doctrine." The Fair Use Doctrine is a priviledge to someone other than the owner of copyrighted material to use the material without the owner's consent. Whether a use is a permited fair use is a complex mix of factors, including the purpose and character of the use, especially whether or not it is commercial, the nature of the copyrighted work, the proportion that was taken, and the economic impact of the taking. 17 USCA 107. The use of a meta tag in a personal page would probably be held by the courts to be a fair use. The judicial ruling cited in this case involves a commercial site using another commercial party's meta tag. As long as your not motivated to make money off the meta tag, you should be OK.
Posted by notamos:
For years, teachers have been fighting for smaller class sizes, more money for programs that allow a creative outlet for students, and a curriculum with enough flexibility to allow students to progress at their own rate of learning.
Year after year these improvements have been proposed, and year after year they have been voted down, shouted down, dismissed and denied. Too expensive. This country revolves around the almighty buck, and nobody wants their taxes to go up, just so a bunch of snot-nosed kids can have a computer lab and a school radio station.
Perhaps it's time to re-examine their position. Perhaps it's time to funnel some of the money we spend on Ethan Allen furniture and dried mushrooms into the millions of young people who wake up every day filled with rage and despair because they are forced to go to a place where they have NO input, NO control, and NO rights.
I'm not talking about the public at large, I'm talking about YOU. Do you have a hundred dollars left over this month? Were you planning on writing a check to the local high school's computer program so that they could buy a new piece of software, or the drama club so that they could maybe buy a new script? I didn't think so.
If there is any single good that can and should come from the Littleton shootings, the McCarthy-esque backlash, and the new sense of community that we are all experiencing as the internet bonds together, it should be this: Take responsibility for ONE thing.
Donate some software. Volunteer to take an afternoon off and lecture the art class about 3-D animation techniques. Pay 70 bucks a month for 50 MB of web space and offer it to the local high school students who want to set up web pages.
The blame-fest has been fun and all, and it may even have been necessary, but it's real easy to sit on your behind and write furious mailings to Slashdot about what's wrong with the high school system, then get up out of your chair, order a pizza, watch some Red Dwarf re-runs.
I'm sorry, but that's lazy, and that's cowardly, and that's what got us into this mess in the first place. So what are you going to do about it?
Posted by Raging Klingon:
.mp3 extensions. The song then begins to play while skipping every few seconds. All this in addition to the glitches, skips and slow system while I'm typing this comment. Maybe the final product will be smoother and better AND include an equalizer. Like I said -- Linux port? Who cares! I'll stick with X11Amp. Much better sound, even better than WinAmp in NT.
Don't flame me!! I'm a big-time Linux user. But I downloaded the beta Jukebox for Windows NT. My NT machine is a 300Mhz w/ 64 Mb RAM. Winamp plays on it like a charm. Opens quickly, plays without a hitch, NO serious resources used. RM Jukebox on the other hand took about 20 seconds to open, then wanted me to re-register my
Posted by stodge:
I didnt see the price (wasnt paying attention!) but CAN$225??? I dont think so. Pay $225 for an event on a free OS? No way matey. Pass!!!!
Posted by Brute:
I keep hearing about people who are "different".
Who isn't? I've never met a "same" person yet.
Posted by The Mongolian Barbecue:
M$ wants to maximize their profit- so get as many users to upgrade to 98 by spreading fud about 95's compliance, but then release a patch for 95 at the last minute so you won't be liable for y2k lawsuits later on. Pretty sleezy, but on the bright side, M$ is doing lots of worse things.
Posted by Lord Kano-The Gangster Of Love:
>>Agree in advance with your entire group of a list of games you can play on that day that look good. Instead of TFC, choose something like Ages of Empires. And instead of conquest mode, choose a nice, peaceful ending goal like building a wonder. Then agree in advance to set up your game so you are all allies and work together. There's a lot of networked games out there that don't look like doom. Practice on some of them a weekend before you try this.
I think that a game with norman parameters would be fine, but agree in advance that the only permissable combat will be with priests. No blood, no guts, but still the competitive aspect will be shown.
>>for bonus points, no one should wear trenchcoats or all black. Tell them its just a fashion statement for when you go outdoor or to school, but that even the most extreme geeks are just normal kids with an extra dose of creativity. Pile on the bullshit.
There is one problem with your plan, most of us are out of high school. One of the group's requirements is that members, and people who attend must be 18 or older, OR the legal ward of someone else in attendance who is 18 or older. We don't want to get sued if Jr. drops mom && dad's computer on the way up the stairs. We've got members up to 40 years old. Most of us are between 20 && 35.
LK
Posted by Lord Kano-The Gangster Of Love:
On Sunday, when my network gaming group (the WPNGG) had our last meeting I brought up to the group the possibility of inviting a local politician or two ot see us game and possibly get a better understand of what video gaming is all about.
I was rapidly shot down by people who feared that the person(s) whom we invite might take one aspect of the gaming out of context, one of them said words to the effect of "Yeah, and if they see us playing Team Fortress Classic as soon as they see us trying to take out the president, it'll be all over."
I think that civillians just don't get what we do, and don't get what we are.
Maybe because they're not capable of doing so, maybe because they just don't care, maybe both. Over the years I have developed a sort of contempt for people like that. The "I can't program my VCR!" people, HEY RTFM AND LEARN! These people who expect machines to do what they want instead of what they instruct it to do.
"Why won't this stupid machine print?" Um, because you have to TELL IT TO PRINT! See under the FILE menu? That little thing that says "PRINT", yeah do that!
Sorry about the rant, but you know...
LK
Posted by Phantom of the Operating Syste:
:P
And htm extensions? This is a really weird plot. Dunno if I'd trust LSL at all
-phantom.
Posted by hr4:
:)
also looks funny on redhat.com when they have three debian freshmeat entries in a row
Posted by Perkolater:
I'll believe it when I believe it. When I see some benchmarks on non-sample, commercially-available hardware, using an operating system that ISN'T vaporware, then I'll start paying attention. This is beyond FUD -- it's AGFUD. (AG meaning "Axe Grinding")
Posted by The Mongolian Barbecue:
Why the hell do people fucking worship this series? It's a movie- a good movie, but not the meaning of life. For shit's sake- anakin skywalker sleeping bags getting sold out in a few hours? Absurd.
Posted by The Incredible Mr. Limpett:
I had BOTH of those!!!!
Oh well, I guess I enjoyed them to the fullest and that's what they were for...
Also had the big millenium falcon, the big Boba Fett that shot a grappling hook with line...now that I think about it, I had a lot of those toys. Jeez, I coulda been rolling in it by now
----
"Wars, conflict, it's all business. One murder makes a
villain. Millions a hero. Numbers sanctify."
Posted by The Incredible Mr. Limpett:
I usually buy 2 of something I want to "collect", put one away safely and rip open the other one to play with. woo hoo!
----
"Wars, conflict, it's all business. One murder makes a
villain. Millions a hero. Numbers sanctify."
Posted by ju:
OK.. I understand your point completely until you label him a jock. He is one person....not all "jocks" are jerk! No one seems to understand that. I don't feel that anyone should be treated like that, but for everyone to blame the jocks....that is just not right!!!
I can't believe the media is giving the killers an excuse.
FreeBSD users include Hotmail
Not since M$ bought them! Hotmail has been slowly migrating to NT. Which means frequent headaches. I used there service for a while before the take over and rarely had problems but slowly but surely things have been going down hill. Problems include: not being able to access the site (period), frequent "We're sorry you caught use during maintence" (read: "Our system crashed") messages, a tone of messages about Netscape 4.5 not supporting cookies, frames, and the like (yes! I enabled cookies). Well anyways I gave up on them and went to Yahoo! mail.
Posted by stodge:
so?
Posted by Krag:
To Matt Nalty - a Columbine High student and non-jock - that was on Sally Jesse Raphael-
Here's the deal:
You guys are the sane ones. I was really bummed when SJR put you on
the defensive about your appearance - and one response was "it's
comfortable" - don't let them force you into that corner.
In reality, and for good cause, whether you are fully conscious of it
or not, you
appear as you do (partly) because it makes THEM UNcomfortable.
Your native instinct is to reject corporate yuppie culture - and I'm so
glad you're doing it. It is my cause in life. The same shallow, stupid
jocks that sneered at me in high school are out there right now, 25
years later, still sneering, still clueless.
(And I still dress wierd, and love to goof on them.)
Unfortunately, they run society. (Better to say: The corporations are
running society, and the jocks are just mindless cannon fodder).
Offered the choice between a "Broncos" shirt and a "Rancid" shirt,
anyone with half a brain avoids the corporate football and takes the
struggling small entrepruneur. It's not about "getting attention-" as in
"please pay attention to me" - its about getting attention as in: "Wake
up you stupid L.L.Bean yuppie!"
SJR's packaged bullshit didn't even scratch the surface. Kids (and
adults with a clue) are ALL smoldering, enraged at the stupid way
white-trash consumerism is spoiling Colorado, the rest of the country,
and the rest of the world.
It's enough to make ANYONE want to kill.
Check out my webspace:
http://www.dimensional.com/~randl/tfamly.htm
http://www.dimensional.com/~randl/tcorps.htm
http://www.dimensional.com/~randl/nra.htm
http://www.dimensional.com/~randl/pbib.htm
Posted by MGX d50:
Okay, number one, most of the people who read this will not heed a bit of it for one reason. I'm a (GASP) adult. I'm 30 years old now, and on my way to my 7th mill. In high school I was a geeky little runt with a brain and a big mouth. Now I'm a big geek with a brain and an even bigger mouth. Wanna know the main difference between then and now? simple. No football teams, no cheerleaders, and i finally learned how to talk to beautiful women without tripping over my tongue.See, the rules change my future colleagues, and you are much better suited for these rule changes than that 200 lb jock with an IQ equivalent to his waist size. You are going thru hell now. You will go thru hell until the end of this PC BS. But you will get thru it. I am hoping and praying you get thru it. Because comps have taken over a large part of our lives, and they will keep taking on more, and I would rather have you, the girl with the flat chest and thick glasses reading "enders game" and understanding it, or you, the guy who gets a strange look because you are 15 and buying books in the local college bookstore, being a friend of mine and/ or working for me than any jock, student government flunkie, or Mr. popularity contest winner anytime. YOU are real people. they aren't. And as long as you are still real, I want you as my friends or working with me. Thank you in advance for getting thru the hell of high school. You will make it.
Posted by k150:
;) but i like that linus, unlike g4Ý3Z or mr inventor/vp, made useful points.. about society. i did not mind at all that technology wasn't covered. my was the nokia guy with overhead presentation longwinded! i fell asleep. i am a polisci major anyway.
you gave a good summary of the seminar/lecture/panel...
i went with some friends b/c i saw a poster that said "linus torvalds to speak today, pauley ballroom, 1pm"... and we got to listen to a bunch of other people before him
k
Posted by My_Favorite_Anonymous_Coward:
I hesitate to use my User name... but I'll bet any money with you (okay up to 50 bucks) it will NOT break Titanic's 600m record (domestic.)
How many Geeks' repeat can make up those Minnesota house wives' contribution?
CY
Posted by sirtwist:
This is my first post, so it'll be short and sweet... Let's assume that MS does get broken up into three pieces. Who's to say that they'd all go right back into the OS business? Wouldn't it be smart to take something like the Office suite and run? There's still a lot of money in that.
Posted by MarkAbe:
This is a great book. I too wanted 'more', and a CD version with music, but will settle for a new edition if all it does is make it more likely to find in a bookstore.
At the risk of sounding real dumb, I'd like to take an flying leap at a one-sentence summary:
Intelligence is the ability to improve on your own instructions.