I can't comment on the specifics since I didn't bother reading the article.:)
However, yes, it probably doesn't focus - just extra crap to engineer and manufacturer only to have break cause it's a rough-and-tumble phone.
And yeah, no one's using this to shoot the cover of Vogue. However, I stand by my assertation that "5MP" is pure marketing. On the flip side, though, they either had to increase the amount of memory, increase the amount of JPEG compression on the files or decrease the advertised number you can store in phone memory! The curse of needlessly large images.
PS: you're asking for somewhat of a weird camera. I think it would be hard to market a P&S that has a prime lens on it.
I wish the camera manufacturers would just make a "cheap" DSLR. They could stick the standard 50mm f/1.8 lens on it, all the other stuff you ask for. Of course, the 50mm acts like an 80mm lens. It's the absolute cheapest to produce, though.
I agree with your 2-3mp assertation. I used to use a Canon Powershop A40 (2MP) and found the 1600x1200 images quite acceptible in terms of size. 1600x1200 is big enough to make a 3.5x5 or 4x6 print, if you so desire. Plus, at that size, it will keep file sizes down.
I'd say the whole goddamn camera phone is going to suck.
The tendancy: ALL camera phones are going to suck. Digicams will suck less. DSLR's will suck just a little. Expensive DSLR's will suck a tiny bit. DSLR's with expensive optics won't hardly suck at all.
What's the point of making a big ass 5MP file when the optics AND the sensor (size) sucks? Planning on blowing that up to 8x10 and framing it? No one does that with point-n-shoot pictures (or, I hope not). People are FAR less inclined to print digital pictures, much less ones from their phones. Therefore, 5MP is simply a marketing thing.
Yes, I am a camera snob. That doesn't change the fact that a cheap camera phone with cheap glass and a tiny sensor is going to make crappy images with chromatic abborations, sensor noise, etc.
Go to www.bhphotovideo.com some time and check out the Canon or Nikon lenses. You can quite easily drop the equivalent of the cost of several laptops into ONE lens. Not a camera - a LENS. The reason: cheap lenses are inexpensive. Good lenses are expensive. There is no current way around that - only compromises.
I did this for my brother, when he bought a new computer. I even told him about blocking cookies and he mentioned, awhile back, that he now just blocks all cookies except when he goes to the bank web site or is buying something. Doesn't seem to bother him too much - especially after I explained "that's how they track you!":)
Ha! You assume people know what version of IE they are using. They most likely do not. If they are the average "joe sixpack" user then they MIGHT know they're using Internet Explorer. Most likely they just know which icon to click on. Assuming they don't use AOL or something similar.
Who really compares version numbers of competing products, anyway? Is the 2000 version better than version 9? What about the Millenium Edition vs....well, lets not get into any dirty talk.
BTW: not to deride the average clueless user. My parents and relatives are all at or below what the "average slashdot nerd" would consider "joe sixpack" status. They do NOT know what version of IE they're using. They do not care. They just want everything to work, not be broken and not to get so many damn pop ups and to not get any viruses (trojans, worms, etc).
Occasionally, in a fit of desperation, they're willing to overcome their fear of trying something new and then I'll install Mozilla (not Firefox), AVG or something that's free (as in beer) along those lines.
PS: What's with the damn Firefox push? I don't think it's any better than Mozilla and frankly, I don't think it's as full featured - and I used it for several days a few weeks ago. I hate that there's no password manager, in particular. By god if you want to store my passwords and then burp them up per a web page's request, please do something basic to verify my ID.
Does anyone happen to know if a ceramic lens would be "more" or "better" suited to ultraviolet photography as opposed to a glass one? I know that around, oh, 315nm UV won't penetrate the glass. UV photos supposedly look "fogged" when trying to shoot at or below 315nm with conventional glass-based optics. At that point a UV photographer must invest in hideously expensive crystal-based optics.
I think you (royal you) would have to find some software which did that. I specifically didn't use wget because I didn't feel like I had time to go through and manually fix all the links.
Yeah, but looking at their source it looked like they were using full or hard links ( as opposed to ) to their images. Does wget re-write those? I didn't think it did.
Well, it's a just a mirror and I clearly stated it was a PDF which I think Slashdot's denizens don't like for some reason. So I figure I'm safe and if not, oh well.
It's not like the article points directly to a 245KB PDF right off've my web server.:P
BTW: I fixed it so both links work, so no more 404 off've the "bad" initial link.
Since this site will probably get slashdotted...I went ahead and made a quick PDF mirror of the article.
I don't normally make mirrors so if someone has a better method (somehow using wget?) lemme know.
PS: this is off've my 1.5Mb/768Kb DSL line, so don't expect any miracles.
Google's DRM broken by Spiderzilla
on
Breaking Google's DRM
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
http://spiderzilla.mozdev.org/
To reproduce:
- Install the Spiderzilla XPI. I installed with Moz v0.7.3 on WinXP.
- Visit google. I searched for "Mastering Digital Photography". The top result is a book.
- Fire up Spiderzilla (Tools -> Download this site)
- Use the defaults. I did.
- Go into whatever you named your project, then go into the "print.google.com" folder. The big images are what you're looking for.
- Use some OCR or something.:P
Note: I actually like Google. I don't think they're evil, nor do I think they're bad/wrong/stupid.
Well, maybe a little stupid - on this particular project. As many others have pointed out, google delivered content to your (my) screen. At that point, it's exceedingly difficult to prevent me from taking that content and running with it. Surely they expected this to happen and simply did the best they could to prevent it? I can't image they assumed their restrictive measures would defeat misuse attempts by anyone other than the most casual user of this service.
Actually, most modern Dell laptops use one or two screws (externally accessable) to attach a drive bay to the laptop. Just like a Thinkpad (which I own), they're easy to swap out. I've got a crappy P4 Toshiba laptop next to me and it looks like it also has an one screw drive removal deal.
I have, however, seen VERY old Pentium-based IBM laptops where the drive was absolutely buried in the system. This is a stupid design and would be cause for me not to purchase a similar system.
When I read this Ask Slashdot I was confused: all the laptops I've ever deal with, except the aforementioned ancient one, the laptop HD's are one of the few ultra simple things to replace/remove, along with the RAM, battery and CD/DVD drive.
BTW: If the submitter of this Ask Slashdot has an IBM Thinkpad from recent years, be aware: IBM has instructions on their web site for replacing damn near everything in a laptop, including the motherboard. I'm not a laptop technician but I did replace the mobo in my T20 earlier this year and while it was quite nerve racking it was a successful operation. This is why I will probably always buy IBM laptops.
Since no on really answered it... I believe it stands for "Ministry of Transportation". As in, "MOT test".
The UKMOT page explains what the MOT test is: "The MOT is effectively the examination of a motor vehicle's safety-related systems components to ensure that they have not worn to an excessive level which would otherwise render the vehicle unsafe for use on the road."
As an American, I wouldn't have guessed "Ministry of Transportation" as we don't have Ministries here.
BTW, I searched via google w/o the quotes: "What does MOT mean?" The first result was what I got my info from.
While I'm getting into the reply game kind of late, I'd like to point out that I took an old Compaq laptop and turned it into a Linux-based wireless AP running the NoCat software.
It's now functioning as a Personal Telco Project node, one of over a hundred in the Portland metro area.
I've had the node running for over 160 days now without a reboot. I know some hardcore and knowledgable wireless enthusiasts turn their noses up at setups like mine because they think it's unstable but I'm here to say it's not. That being said, the node is not super high-use. YMMV.
My first real thought, however, due to the distributor was, "gross."
Immediately following that, though, I thought of a Simpsons episode, then a Futurama episode:
Homer: Uh, yeah. I need something that will keep me awake, alert, and reckless all night long. Clerk: Well, Congress is racing back to Washington to outlaw these. [puts a bottle of pills on the counter] Homer: [takes bottle] Sold! [downs most of the pills on the spot] Clerk: Hey, you can't take that many pep pills at once. Homer: No problem, I'll balance it out with a bottle of sleeping pills. [takes another generous helping of pills] -- "Maximum Homerdrive"
Fry: I'm never going to get used to the 31st century. [He points to his breakfast.] Caffinated bacon? Baconated grapefruit? Admiral Crunch? -- "The Series Has Landed"
Check out what I've got on my flash drive: http://exocet.ca/phpwiki/BradsTools
It's not a lot of drivers and such. More oriented to useful utils that can come in handy in a pinch. It's stuff that I tend to use fairly frequently and don't like to be without.
BTW... Since this is a Senate bill and not a House bill, how did the Wyden staffer respond?
Or, did you simply say "Hey there's this Senate bill, the INDUCE act, ya might of heard of it. Well it's a bad idea and don't dare think about creating a House version of it."
Not to point out the painfully obvious but, "RTFA". The prof notes she can NOT be sure everyone voted - it's on the honour system. So, unless you're a hideously ethical person that's also painfully stupid, you will either follow the requirement in good faith or smile and lie.
As a former student and now as a tax-payer and registered Libertarian, I think you're half-way:
The idiot kids with "fast" mouths, yes, they need...well, they need some punishment. I think it's horribly unpopular to suggest physical punishment, but it works well because it's very, very basic. Heinlein believed in it, at any rate.:)
However, idiot kids with "fast" fists also need a dose of physical punishment, IMO. We theoretically live in a civilized society, we can't have kids, who are phenominally stupid between the ages of 0 through about 25. Some take longer to come up to an acceptable standard of common sense/"smarts".
The only people I want catching/stopping law-breakers is cops (or possibly a citizen's arrest - RARE) and the only people I want handing out punishments are judges and juries.
BTW: law-enforcement and punishment begin at home. Parents, strictly control your children in a way that would make Saddam blush! Don't let them get away with any crap! They will thank you for it sometime in their 20's, when they are old enough to be sufficiently irritated by (other) screaming snot-nosed brats.
Hey, it's NYC, why would anyone freak out about seeing weird chemicals and smelling weird smells in some apartment?:P
Actually, it doesn't smell TOO bad when making it. Tell your landlord you're being patriotic by sticking it to the money-grubbing oil barrons in the middle east and stopping your activities would be very UNpatriotic.:)
Slashdot Mirror
I can't comment on the specifics since I didn't bother reading the article. :)
However, yes, it probably doesn't focus - just extra crap to engineer and manufacturer only to have break cause it's a rough-and-tumble phone.
And yeah, no one's using this to shoot the cover of Vogue. However, I stand by my assertation that "5MP" is pure marketing. On the flip side, though, they either had to increase the amount of memory, increase the amount of JPEG compression on the files or decrease the advertised number you can store in phone memory! The curse of needlessly large images.
PS: you're asking for somewhat of a weird camera. I think it would be hard to market a P&S that has a prime lens on it.
I wish the camera manufacturers would just make a "cheap" DSLR. They could stick the standard 50mm f/1.8 lens on it, all the other stuff you ask for. Of course, the 50mm acts like an 80mm lens. It's the absolute cheapest to produce, though.
I agree with your 2-3mp assertation. I used to use a Canon Powershop A40 (2MP) and found the 1600x1200 images quite acceptible in terms of size. 1600x1200 is big enough to make a 3.5x5 or 4x6 print, if you so desire. Plus, at that size, it will keep file sizes down.
I'd say the whole goddamn camera phone is going to suck.
The tendancy: ALL camera phones are going to suck. Digicams will suck less. DSLR's will suck just a little. Expensive DSLR's will suck a tiny bit. DSLR's with expensive optics won't hardly suck at all.
What's the point of making a big ass 5MP file when the optics AND the sensor (size) sucks? Planning on blowing that up to 8x10 and framing it? No one does that with point-n-shoot pictures (or, I hope not). People are FAR less inclined to print digital pictures, much less ones from their phones. Therefore, 5MP is simply a marketing thing.
Yes, I am a camera snob. That doesn't change the fact that a cheap camera phone with cheap glass and a tiny sensor is going to make crappy images with chromatic abborations, sensor noise, etc.
Go to www.bhphotovideo.com some time and check out the Canon or Nikon lenses. You can quite easily drop the equivalent of the cost of several laptops into ONE lens. Not a camera - a LENS. The reason: cheap lenses are inexpensive. Good lenses are expensive. There is no current way around that - only compromises.
I did this for my brother, when he bought a new computer. I even told him about blocking cookies and he mentioned, awhile back, that he now just blocks all cookies except when he goes to the bank web site or is buying something. Doesn't seem to bother him too much - especially after I explained "that's how they track you!" :)
Ha! You assume people know what version of IE they are using. They most likely do not. If they are the average "joe sixpack" user then they MIGHT know they're using Internet Explorer. Most likely they just know which icon to click on. Assuming they don't use AOL or something similar.
...well, lets not get into any dirty talk.
Who really compares version numbers of competing products, anyway? Is the 2000 version better than version 9? What about the Millenium Edition vs.
BTW: not to deride the average clueless user. My parents and relatives are all at or below what the "average slashdot nerd" would consider "joe sixpack" status. They do NOT know what version of IE they're using. They do not care. They just want everything to work, not be broken and not to get so many damn pop ups and to not get any viruses (trojans, worms, etc).
Occasionally, in a fit of desperation, they're willing to overcome their fear of trying something new and then I'll install Mozilla (not Firefox), AVG or something that's free (as in beer) along those lines.
PS: What's with the damn Firefox push? I don't think it's any better than Mozilla and frankly, I don't think it's as full featured - and I used it for several days a few weeks ago. I hate that there's no password manager, in particular. By god if you want to store my passwords and then burp them up per a web page's request, please do something basic to verify my ID.
BTW, I found a fairly good way to do quick mirrors of single pages with graphics:
httrack -%F "Mirrored [from host %s [file %s [at %s]]]" -w
http://www.doot.org/monkies.html -%e0
-* +*.css +*.js -ad.doubleclick.net/* +*.gif +*.jpg +*.png +*.tif +*.bmp +*.swf
Does anyone happen to know if a ceramic lens would be "more" or "better" suited to ultraviolet photography as opposed to a glass one? I know that around, oh, 315nm UV won't penetrate the glass. UV photos supposedly look "fogged" when trying to shoot at or below 315nm with conventional glass-based optics. At that point a UV photographer must invest in hideously expensive crystal-based optics.
I do a tiny bit of UV photography, BTW.
I think you (royal you) would have to find some software which did that. I specifically didn't use wget because I didn't feel like I had time to go through and manually fix all the links.
Yeah, but looking at their source it looked like they were using full or hard links ( as opposed to ) to their images. Does wget re-write those? I didn't think it did.
Well, it's a just a mirror and I clearly stated it was a PDF which I think Slashdot's denizens don't like for some reason. So I figure I'm safe and if not, oh well.
:P
It's not like the article points directly to a 245KB PDF right off've my web server.
BTW: I fixed it so both links work, so no more 404 off've the "bad" initial link.
Haha yeah, I thought about that. The public humiliation is enough to keep me from doing it again, rest assured. :P
It's here. Sorry for the bad link, should have checked it in the preview.
Since this site will probably get slashdotted ...I went ahead and made a quick PDF mirror of the article.
I don't normally make mirrors so if someone has a better method (somehow using wget?) lemme know.
PS: this is off've my 1.5Mb/768Kb DSL line, so don't expect any miracles.
http://spiderzilla.mozdev.org/
:P
To reproduce:
- Install the Spiderzilla XPI. I installed with Moz v0.7.3 on WinXP.
- Visit google. I searched for "Mastering Digital Photography". The top result is a book.
- Fire up Spiderzilla (Tools -> Download this site)
- Use the defaults. I did.
- Go into whatever you named your project, then go into the "print.google.com" folder. The big images are what you're looking for.
- Use some OCR or something.
Note: I actually like Google. I don't think they're evil, nor do I think they're bad/wrong/stupid.
Well, maybe a little stupid - on this particular project. As many others have pointed out, google delivered content to your (my) screen. At that point, it's exceedingly difficult to prevent me from taking that content and running with it. Surely they expected this to happen and simply did the best they could to prevent it? I can't image they assumed their restrictive measures would defeat misuse attempts by anyone other than the most casual user of this service.
Actually, most modern Dell laptops use one or two screws (externally accessable) to attach a drive bay to the laptop. Just like a Thinkpad (which I own), they're easy to swap out. I've got a crappy P4 Toshiba laptop next to me and it looks like it also has an one screw drive removal deal.
I have, however, seen VERY old Pentium-based IBM laptops where the drive was absolutely buried in the system. This is a stupid design and would be cause for me not to purchase a similar system.
When I read this Ask Slashdot I was confused: all the laptops I've ever deal with, except the aforementioned ancient one, the laptop HD's are one of the few ultra simple things to replace/remove, along with the RAM, battery and CD/DVD drive.
BTW: If the submitter of this Ask Slashdot has an IBM Thinkpad from recent years, be aware: IBM has instructions on their web site for replacing damn near everything in a laptop, including the motherboard. I'm not a laptop technician but I did replace the mobo in my T20 earlier this year and while it was quite nerve racking it was a successful operation. This is why I will probably always buy IBM laptops.
Since no on really answered it... I believe it stands for "Ministry of Transportation". As in, "MOT test".
The UKMOT page explains what the MOT test is: "The MOT is effectively the examination of a motor vehicle's safety-related systems components to ensure that they have not worn to an excessive level which would otherwise render the vehicle unsafe for use on the road."
As an American, I wouldn't have guessed "Ministry of Transportation" as we don't have Ministries here.
BTW, I searched via google w/o the quotes: "What does MOT mean?" The first result was what I got my info from.
While I'm getting into the reply game kind of late, I'd like to point out that I took an old Compaq laptop and turned it into a Linux-based wireless AP running the NoCat software.
It's now functioning as a Personal Telco Project node, one of over a hundred in the Portland metro area.
I've had the node running for over 160 days now without a reboot. I know some hardcore and knowledgable wireless enthusiasts turn their noses up at setups like mine because they think it's unstable but I'm here to say it's not. That being said, the node is not super high-use. YMMV.
http://wiki.personaltelco.net/index.cgi/Node172
My first real thought, however, due to the distributor was, "gross."
Immediately following that, though, I thought of a Simpsons episode, then a Futurama episode:
Homer: Uh, yeah. I need something that will keep me awake, alert, and reckless all night long.
Clerk: Well, Congress is racing back to Washington to outlaw these. [puts a bottle of pills on the counter]
Homer: [takes bottle] Sold!
[downs most of the pills on the spot]
Clerk: Hey, you can't take that many pep pills at once.
Homer: No problem, I'll balance it out with a bottle of sleeping pills. [takes another generous helping of pills]
-- "Maximum Homerdrive"
Fry: I'm never going to get used to the 31st century. [He points to his breakfast.] Caffinated bacon? Baconated grapefruit? Admiral Crunch?
-- "The Series Has Landed"
Check out what I've got on my flash drive: http://exocet.ca/phpwiki/BradsTools
It's not a lot of drivers and such. More oriented to useful utils that can come in handy in a pinch. It's stuff that I tend to use fairly frequently and don't like to be without.
What a dope I am. I was thinking about my House Rep, Blumenauer. Thanks for pointing it out. :)
BTW... Since this is a Senate bill and not a House bill, how did the Wyden staffer respond?
Or, did you simply say "Hey there's this Senate bill, the INDUCE act, ya might of heard of it. Well it's a bad idea and don't dare think about creating a House version of it."
I can tell you what *might* happen:
:P
If it explodes, your property value will go down.
Not to point out the painfully obvious but, "RTFA". The prof notes she can NOT be sure everyone voted - it's on the honour system. So, unless you're a hideously ethical person that's also painfully stupid, you will either follow the requirement in good faith or smile and lie.
As a former student and now as a tax-payer and registered Libertarian, I think you're half-way:
...well, they need some punishment. I think it's horribly unpopular to suggest physical punishment, but it works well because it's very, very basic. Heinlein believed in it, at any rate. :)
:P
The idiot kids with "fast" mouths, yes, they need
However, idiot kids with "fast" fists also need a dose of physical punishment, IMO. We theoretically live in a civilized society, we can't have kids, who are phenominally stupid between the ages of 0 through about 25. Some take longer to come up to an acceptable standard of common sense/"smarts".
The only people I want catching/stopping law-breakers is cops (or possibly a citizen's arrest - RARE) and the only people I want handing out punishments are judges and juries.
BTW: law-enforcement and punishment begin at home. Parents, strictly control your children in a way that would make Saddam blush! Don't let them get away with any crap! They will thank you for it sometime in their 20's, when they are old enough to be sufficiently irritated by (other) screaming snot-nosed brats.
PS: no, I don't have kids.
Hey, it's NYC, why would anyone freak out about seeing weird chemicals and smelling weird smells in some apartment? :P
:)
Actually, it doesn't smell TOO bad when making it. Tell your landlord you're being patriotic by sticking it to the money-grubbing oil barrons in the middle east and stopping your activities would be very UNpatriotic.