If you're just a casual listener who has the music on as background noise, no.
If you sit and listen to the music, as in concentrate on the performance, the soundstage and take in all that is presented, then yes, it can be.
The key is, the entry to high quality phono playback is much higher than for equivalent CD playback. A high quality CD player may be obtained for $1000. A high quality LP playback system is liable to cost you 5 - 10x that...
I'm sorry those who believe their ears and not hype are labeled "whacko."
Many LPs DO sound better than their CD counterparts. Not all LPs sound better than all CDs; it depends on the material and the care taken in making the CD master.
It also depends on your reproduction system. Almost all CDs will sound better than LPs on a $600 receiver w/free speakers stereo, but on a good system with high quality components, a good phono stage and revealing speakers, the difference is rather obvious even to non-audiophiles.
Then again I'm one of those nuts who thinks DVDs have too many artifacts, so I guess I'm hopelessly Luddite in my thinking.
Meanwhile I'll enjoy my LPs and the much better soundstage many of them throw than the equivalent CDs.
If I'm unemployed and it doesn't look like I will be reemployed anytime soon, all the goodies go - DSL, HBO, etc.
If it doesn't look bad, one of the last things to go is DSL. I love the speed, Qwest has actually been rather reliable for me, and I get the functionality of a second phone line for pretty much the same cost of one + an ISP.
Yeah, the MSN transition sucks royally, but I also realize almost everyone with broadband access is going to be stuck with either AOL, Earthlink or MSN as their ISP...:-(
The point is, it sounds like the box will do it automatically, without any interaction from the user, and this is something VCRs do not do; even those with "commercial skip" require you to press a button every time an ad comes up...
If you want to change ISPs, you have to cancel your DSL service and re-order it, because they have to reprovision things at the CO.
So, you lose DSL service for at least a few weeks, get put to the back of the provisioning line (so if your CO is short on DSLAM connections, you lose), and of course they have far fewer connections available for third party ISPs, so the wait may be even longer.
In short it's "sure, you can change ISPs, but don't expect to have service back for six months or more..."
Qwest will only sell you DSL if you answer their "What OS are you running" question with Windows or MacOS.
Thus, in the Qwest statement "eligible" means Windows customers, who already have the MSN-imposed mail programs for free on their systems.
As far as Qwest is concerned, the only other customers are Mac owners, and a solution for them will be imposed shortly.
So, for Linux folks like me, the option may be to use my Mac for email access or to spend twice as much per month for Qwest's Business DSL service, which will stay qwest.net (Qwest only sold their "home accounts" to MSN...)
If I have to change to a Microsoft Product to use MSN/email with my DSL account, I unfortunately will likely have to drop back to a 44K or so dialup and go back to eskimo.com as my ISP...
What the RTLinux patent covers is basically the idea of using a small real-time OS core which runs Linux as one of its real-time tasks. The system further makes sure the Linux task cannot block interrupts or otherwise cause the real-time OS to lose preemptability.
Depending on how RTLinux implements things, they may not be making any kernel changes at all so there may not be changes that they need to release the source for (and, in fact, if you read the press release, FSF mentions no such thing.)
Rather what FSF has a problem with is that if you purchase RTLinux, they impose additional license restrictions on the copy of Linux that is run by RTLinux, something that is not allowed by the GPL.
(e.g. you can't create a distribution of Linux that has a more restrictive license than Linux itself comes with.)
The surprising part about the patent is that this is exactly how "real time" versions of Windows NT work; a real time OS runs a copy of WinNT as a thread of the RTOS, assuring that real-time sensitive operations are handled by the RTOS.
Regardless, the issue at hand is the more restrictive license on the copy of Linux included with RTLinux, not kernel changes that may be made to the copy of Linux running within RTLinux...
There are many people, myself included, who don't want federal money going for this type of research.
Fund it privately? Great. Get the pharmaceutical companies in on it. Not everything needs to or should involve federal funds. He didn't make it illegal, he just said the federal govenerment isn't paying for it.
If this decision sends money and researchers overseas because they somehow believe a goverment must fund all research into anything, tough, don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out of the country...
Plugger just calls xanim, which can't do Sorensen
on
Quicktime In Linux
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· Score: 1
In short, plugger just provides an easy way for a plugin to call an outside program to do its thing; however, you still need a program that plugger can call, and by default it calls xanim to display QuickTime.
Unfortunately, almost all QuickTime 3, 4 and 5 content is encoded using one of the Sorensen codecs, which xanim does not support because Sorensen doesn't release source...
As others have pointed out, most every video editing package on the market, even those that run on Windows, use QuickTime as their base technology. QuickTime is very much alive and healthy, for that matter.
OtoH, RealAudio is, for all intents and purposes, slowly sinking into the sunset, between the fact that equivalent bit rate files sound better in Windows Media format than the RealAudio versions do and MS's "forcing" content providers to use WM in association with XP.
Fun activity - go to a major streamer like WarpRadio and try to find a station streaming in RealAudio as opposed to Windows Media; good luck - they're few and far between...
On the other hand, equivalent bit rate QuickTime files usually look better than the equivalent Windows Media files or Real files, so there's a plus...
Yeah, as long as you don't need QT 3 support...
on
Quicktime In Linux
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· Score: 1
Xanim doesn't support any of the proprietary codecs that make up the majority of QT 4 and 5, and almost no one uses the versions of QT that Xanim can parse anymore. This is largely because of the Sorensen codecs, which Sorensen will allow an open source version of...
Louisville, CO is a reasonably large town just outside of Boulder, CO in (what at least was) one of the hottest places in the country for SW engineers.
Until about a month ago, I could not get DSL, and even today am lucky I have service and only do due to a combination of luck and unaware service techs (when Qwest changed to DMT DSL that got me past one tech hurdle, but I've still got bridge taps on my line and am 18,500' from the CO, so technically I should have failed prequalification, but it works, and that's all I care about...)
The local cable company, AT&T Broadband, does not offer cable modem service and when asked said they have no plans to ever offer it as it would require a rather large head-end and infrastructure upgrade that, frankly, they are not interested in doing. For reference, I dropped my cable TV service over a year ago due to their inability to even deliver a clear television picture, let alone internet service.
The only other solution, since the first of the year or so, has been Sprint's wireless Broadband service, which, if you read the reviews at DSL Reports, often falls to a speed less than that of a 56K modem if the service is oversubscribed.
Add the recent death of Rhythms and the apparent coming death of both Covad and Excite@Home, and the opportunities for broadband access are actually decreasing...
Yeah, it's SO much better to do NOTHING...
on
Triana Mothballed
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· Score: 1
Is it better to only be able to watch CNN broadcast the countdown until a missile hits its target?
These arguments against missile defense are like saying bullet-proof vests are stupid because the wearer could still get shot in the face.
If a missle defense system worked even.00001% of the time, guess what, it's still better than what we have now, which is nothing...
Because it was a stupid idea in the first place?
on
Triana Mothballed
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· Score: 1
Really - It was Al Gore's "legacy" project, especially the idea of having a full-time live photo of the Earth available on the net. Ick.
If you want that, grab a weather satellite photo...
That having been said, it has not been killed, but rather reshuffled in the launch order...
In what way is 6.1 "better" than 4.x?!?!
on
Netscape 6.1
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· Score: 1
I downloaded 6.1 for Linux last night, and on complex pages it takes literally 2X as long to load the page as 4.78 does.
That's not what I consider "better."
Why don't I run Mozilla? SSL, Shockwave, these ring a bell with anyone?
Rather I believe it's copyrighted.
Adobe owns the copyright on PostScript and is free to change it as they like, but that doesn't stop anyone from buying a copy of the latest PS Manual and implementing to that spec, which, as far as I know, is how GS (and other PS clones available in various printers) came to be...
I get really tired of the arguments that the Free Software movement by definition means that all data has to be freely available, whether it be programs, audio or video data. Those mean nasty copyright holders have no right to protect their own product, after all it's just bits, and bits should be free, right?
Please. IBM is completely right on this one; they are simply developing a way for copyright holders to protect their products. "Fair use" says you may make a copy, it doesn't mandate that there must be a quick/easy way to make that copy. For example, you can still make analog copies of protected products, just not digital ones.
If you really want to get upset about something, get upset about the new Macrovision method of "protecting" audio CDs by intentionally damaging the music content...
I currently get the MSDN newsletter (no MSDN subscription), but have a new email address and wanted to change the address it's sent to. Guess what - I can't without signing up for Passport.
I guess I will just have to go without when mail to that address starts bouncing...
Don't reply streaming mp3; the majority of streaming content is either RA or WMP format, and since we will never see a WM player for Linux, we're already locked out of ~60% of the streaming audio on the net. Rip out RealPlayer and you're probably down to roughly 10%...:-(
JVC consumer VCRs have TBCs on their OUTPUTs, not their INPUTs, so of course they will respond to Macrovision. What you need is a TBC between the DVD player and the VCR.
Unfortunately, this only defeats the original "AGC" Macrovision; TBCs can do nothing to defeat "colorstripe" Macrovision nor two or three other even higher layers of Macrovision built into the chips integrated into DVD players...
Slashdot Mirror
This depends on what music means to you.
If you're just a casual listener who has the music on as background noise, no.
If you sit and listen to the music, as in concentrate on the performance, the soundstage and take in all that is presented, then yes, it can be.
The key is, the entry to high quality phono playback is much higher than for equivalent CD playback. A high quality CD player may be obtained for $1000. A high quality LP playback system is liable to cost you 5 - 10x that...
I'm sorry those who believe their ears and not hype are labeled "whacko."
Many LPs DO sound better than their CD counterparts. Not all LPs sound better than all CDs; it depends on the material and the care taken in making the CD master.
It also depends on your reproduction system. Almost all CDs will sound better than LPs on a $600 receiver w/free speakers stereo, but on a good system with high quality components, a good phono stage and revealing speakers, the difference is rather obvious even to non-audiophiles.
Then again I'm one of those nuts who thinks DVDs have too many artifacts, so I guess I'm hopelessly Luddite in my thinking.
Meanwhile I'll enjoy my LPs and the much better soundstage many of them throw than the equivalent CDs.
If it doesn't look bad, one of the last things to go is DSL. I love the speed, Qwest has actually been rather reliable for me, and I get the functionality of a second phone line for pretty much the same cost of one + an ISP.
Yeah, the MSN transition sucks royally, but I also realize almost everyone with broadband access is going to be stuck with either AOL, Earthlink or MSN as their ISP... :-(
The 12B is still the "required" calculator used at many, many business/accounting organizations...
I'm glad I have mine, even if the Malaysian 12B's keyboard feels nothing like the excellent keys on my nearly 20 year old US-made 15C and 16C...
The point is, it sounds like the box will do it automatically, without any interaction from the user, and this is something VCRs do not do; even those with "commercial skip" require you to press a button every time an ad comes up...
Apple did invent FireWire, though...
Here's the dirty little secret, though.
If you want to change ISPs, you have to cancel your DSL service and re-order it, because they have to reprovision things at the CO.
So, you lose DSL service for at least a few weeks, get put to the back of the provisioning line (so if your CO is short on DSLAM connections, you lose), and of course they have far fewer connections available for third party ISPs, so the wait may be even longer.
In short it's "sure, you can change ISPs, but don't expect to have service back for six months or more..."
Qwest will only sell you DSL if you answer their "What OS are you running" question with Windows or MacOS.
Thus, in the Qwest statement "eligible" means Windows customers, who already have the MSN-imposed mail programs for free on their systems.
As far as Qwest is concerned, the only other customers are Mac owners, and a solution for them will be imposed shortly.
So, for Linux folks like me, the option may be to use my Mac for email access or to spend twice as much per month for Qwest's Business DSL service, which will stay qwest.net (Qwest only sold their "home accounts" to MSN...)
I have Qwest as my DSL provider and use Linux.
If I have to change to a Microsoft Product to use MSN/email with my DSL account, I unfortunately will likely have to drop back to a 44K or so dialup and go back to eskimo.com as my ISP...
Depending on how RTLinux implements things, they may not be making any kernel changes at all so there may not be changes that they need to release the source for (and, in fact, if you read the press release, FSF mentions no such thing.)
Rather what FSF has a problem with is that if you purchase RTLinux, they impose additional license restrictions on the copy of Linux that is run by RTLinux, something that is not allowed by the GPL.
(e.g. you can't create a distribution of Linux that has a more restrictive license than Linux itself comes with.)
The surprising part about the patent is that this is exactly how "real time" versions of Windows NT work; a real time OS runs a copy of WinNT as a thread of the RTOS, assuring that real-time sensitive operations are handled by the RTOS.
Regardless, the issue at hand is the more restrictive license on the copy of Linux included with RTLinux, not kernel changes that may be made to the copy of Linux running within RTLinux...
There are many people, myself included, who don't want federal money going for this type of research.
Fund it privately? Great. Get the pharmaceutical companies in on it. Not everything needs to or should involve federal funds. He didn't make it illegal, he just said the federal govenerment isn't paying for it. If this decision sends money and researchers overseas because they somehow believe a goverment must fund all research into anything, tough, don't let the door hit you in the butt on the way out of the country...
In short, plugger just provides an easy way for a plugin to call an outside program to do its thing; however, you still need a program that plugger can call, and by default it calls xanim to display QuickTime.
Unfortunately, almost all QuickTime 3, 4 and 5 content is encoded using one of the Sorensen codecs, which xanim does not support because Sorensen doesn't release source...
As others have pointed out, most every video editing package on the market, even those that run on Windows, use QuickTime as their base technology. QuickTime is very much alive and healthy, for that matter.
OtoH, RealAudio is, for all intents and purposes, slowly sinking into the sunset, between the fact that equivalent bit rate files sound better in Windows Media format than the RealAudio versions do and MS's "forcing" content providers to use WM in association with XP.
Fun activity - go to a major streamer like WarpRadio and try to find a station streaming in RealAudio as opposed to Windows Media; good luck - they're few and far between...
On the other hand, equivalent bit rate QuickTime files usually look better than the equivalent Windows Media files or Real files, so there's a plus...
Xanim doesn't support any of the proprietary codecs that make up the majority of QT 4 and 5, and almost no one uses the versions of QT that Xanim can parse anymore. This is largely because of the Sorensen codecs, which Sorensen will allow an open source version of...
Louisville, CO is a reasonably large town just outside of Boulder, CO in (what at least was) one of the hottest places in the country for SW engineers.
Until about a month ago, I could not get DSL, and even today am lucky I have service and only do due to a combination of luck and unaware service techs (when Qwest changed to DMT DSL that got me past one tech hurdle, but I've still got bridge taps on my line and am 18,500' from the CO, so technically I should have failed prequalification, but it works, and that's all I care about...)
The local cable company, AT&T Broadband, does not offer cable modem service and when asked said they have no plans to ever offer it as it would require a rather large head-end and infrastructure upgrade that, frankly, they are not interested in doing. For reference, I dropped my cable TV service over a year ago due to their inability to even deliver a clear television picture, let alone internet service.
The only other solution, since the first of the year or so, has been Sprint's wireless Broadband service, which, if you read the reviews at DSL Reports, often falls to a speed less than that of a 56K modem if the service is oversubscribed.
Add the recent death of Rhythms and the apparent coming death of both Covad and Excite@Home, and the opportunities for broadband access are actually decreasing...
Is it better to only be able to watch CNN broadcast the countdown until a missile hits its target? These arguments against missile defense are like saying bullet-proof vests are stupid because the wearer could still get shot in the face. If a missle defense system worked even .00001% of the time, guess what, it's still better than what we have now, which is nothing...
Really - It was Al Gore's "legacy" project, especially the idea of having a full-time live photo of the Earth available on the net. Ick. If you want that, grab a weather satellite photo... That having been said, it has not been killed, but rather reshuffled in the launch order...
I downloaded 6.1 for Linux last night, and on complex pages it takes literally 2X as long to load the page as 4.78 does. That's not what I consider "better." Why don't I run Mozilla? SSL, Shockwave, these ring a bell with anyone?
Rather I believe it's copyrighted. Adobe owns the copyright on PostScript and is free to change it as they like, but that doesn't stop anyone from buying a copy of the latest PS Manual and implementing to that spec, which, as far as I know, is how GS (and other PS clones available in various printers) came to be...
I get really tired of the arguments that the Free Software movement by definition means that all data has to be freely available, whether it be programs, audio or video data. Those mean nasty copyright holders have no right to protect their own product, after all it's just bits, and bits should be free, right?
Please. IBM is completely right on this one; they are simply developing a way for copyright holders to protect their products. "Fair use" says you may make a copy, it doesn't mandate that there must be a quick/easy way to make that copy. For example, you can still make analog copies of protected products, just not digital ones.
If you really want to get upset about something, get upset about the new Macrovision method of "protecting" audio CDs by intentionally damaging the music content...
I agree - a DOS attack more effective than being /.'ed?!?!
I currently get the MSDN newsletter (no MSDN subscription), but have a new email address and wanted to change the address it's sent to. Guess what - I can't without signing up for Passport.
I guess I will just have to go without when mail to that address starts bouncing...
Don't reply streaming mp3; the majority of streaming content is either RA or WMP format, and since we will never see a WM player for Linux, we're already locked out of ~60% of the streaming audio on the net. Rip out RealPlayer and you're probably down to roughly 10%... :-(
JVC consumer VCRs have TBCs on their OUTPUTs, not their INPUTs, so of course they will respond to Macrovision. What you need is a TBC between the DVD player and the VCR. Unfortunately, this only defeats the original "AGC" Macrovision; TBCs can do nothing to defeat "colorstripe" Macrovision nor two or three other even higher layers of Macrovision built into the chips integrated into DVD players...