As someone who has been attacked viciously in the UK under the gaze of CCTV, and the CCTV footage being instrumental in getting the offenders locked up, I can't say I mind CCTV.
What I'd mind is if it was used proactively, e.g., for tracking people without their knowledge using face recognition systems. I believe a person has the right to go about their day without being tracked and logged in databases "Citizen #45932842 logged at Market Square 8:23:23" and so on.
From www.listen.com: "Rhapsody currently delivers audio encoded with Windows Media 8 using a proprietary streaming mechanism."
So the article is incorrect. They are comparing 128kbps AAC to 196kbps WMA. WMA isn't that bad quality wise, but it certainly isn't "the same software standard for compression".
I was also looking at the FAQ for Rhapsody. You can't burn lots of tracks, you can only burn if you pay extra per track and you are subscribing to their service. It is a DRM nightmare compared to Apple's reasonable DRM.
Heh, I suppose you can argue that CD-Audio is lossy from the get go, being at only 44.1 kHz and 16-bit. Certainly there are many people that can tell the difference between the original and a CD version of that original on decent equipment.
Someone tell me when I can buy 96 kHz 24-bit compressed audio online:)
(although I'm unsure what Rhapsody uses, maybe it uses MP3Pro which is pretty good).
I think that 128kbps is a little shortsighted from Apple, there will be losses in the audio at that rate. 192 kbps AAC would be preferable of course.
Then again, most people listen to music on cheap headphones, speakers, etc, or just want music in the background. In that respect 128 kbps AAC is way more than necessary, and beats a cheap FM radio totally (if only in that you don't have a retard DJ wittering on between tracks).
They are meant to record the VHS recorder for casual recording and viewing, and perhaps as a TiVo backup thing. i.e., you record the football when you are out, or Star Trek, or any number of shows that Fox will consider cancelling just as they get good. I suppose the sensible person would use a DVD-RW for recording purposes. What is it? 2? 3? hours of DVD quality recording time on a medium that isn't clunky and doesn't lose clarity.
Indeed. The only issue is that Apple don't give the option of getting a 2 or 3 button mouse instead of the unimouse that they supply by default with a system.
At least on the PowerBook you can download the hack that makes the trackpad into a 3 button trackpad with scrollwheel action.
And yes, the menubar at the top of the screen is the sensible option for a fast interface. As long as the items on the menubar actually extend to the top of the screen, of course, so you can whack the mouse up there and click. Hell, Windows still doesn't extend the taskbar items to the base of the screen for some elements, meaning you still have to aim the mouse pointer. The menubar at the top is something that MacOS and AmigaOS both got correct.
Me? I want a Mac, but I have spare monitors lying around already. I just want a Mac... with space for standard equipment (3.5" HDs, memory, AGP slot + card for upgradeability, PCI slot or 2) and no monitor.. but I don't want to pay over the top for a PowerMac with dual processors and so on.
Not saying that something similar couldn't be done for Firefox or Opera of course... it stands to reason that if something can be "plugged into" an application, like these BHOs, and that they can do stuff with the page content, or intercept form data before any transport stage, that this was bound to happen at one stage or another.
But... it happens on IE, and thus IE's entire design is flawed. Quite how any corporate institution can continue to use IE instead of wiping it from all hard drives for security reasons is beyond me.
Don't worry about dual PCIe x16 motherboards... remember nVidia make chipsets as well. Expect an nForce4 chipset at the end of this year supporting their new SLI technology with two PCIe x16 slots supported
Of course, when you are spending $400 apiece on graphics cards, will you really be skimping on the processor and motherboard?
But then again there are games out there that give a quick fix. Hell, GTA (of any sort) gives a quick fix when you think about it - you don't have to do that 5 minute stake-out and all that.
OTOH booting up and getting going can take longer than those 5 minutes.
I like those new joystick-with-old-games things, like the Namco, C64 and Atari gamesticks. They must start up pretty quickly and give instant satifaction.
Hell, I still think that Zombie Apocalypse 2 was the best instant satisfaction game ever made, and judging by how popular my computer was in college because I had it I am not alone. I recommend trying it if you have an Amiga emulator installed. Yeah, it's written in BASIC, but when you are shooting gobs of flesh that jump around under your bullets and scream... who cares!
Will I have to cite you when I make my "computer in the bedroom" patent, and then 3 years further down the line "computerised entertainment doll in the bedroom" patent?
I too was just about to mention that this bank in America has clearly just stolen the idea from UK Building Societies ('banks' owned and run by their customers, in essence).
I bet that desk at the entrance with the person to greet people will turn into another American "Missing you already!" charade.
But... that heatsink it quite large, they might as well have put all the interfaces on the back panel!
Maybe it they removed the PCI slot and put some of the other interfaces along that side of the board they could truly make it an expandable thin system? Also if they upgraded to the CN400 chipset in addition...
* reasonably happy owner of a VIA Epia800 - mainly because I got it 20 months ago and it hasn't depreciated one bit since *
1) Make it wider, and two seater 2) This would allow another 6 or so batteries to fit in the extra space 3) That would extend the range 50% 4) It wouldn't look like a nose 5) That is a lot more space internally for shopping, a passenger 6) It would appeal more to the average person 7) Try and drop the price to under $10k - doable if sales are higher 8)... 9) Profit
That tZero looks great. So what do they do? They price themselves out of the market. I know a lot of people that would buy a 2 seater vehicle that had sports car characteristics, had a 100 mile range and cost under one quid to recharge overnight. Shame that savings on electricity are negated by needing to get a new set of batteries every 2 years.
Ah, 8kW is a full charge. In the UK that is around 80p, or 25p if you charge overnight and you have an economy electricity plan. (My electricity is 12.4p / unit during the day, and 2.78p / unit overnight, dropping to 5.82p and 2.68p respectively after a certain amount of usage.
A normal car doing 30mpg would cost around 3.60 to go the same distance as that 25p/80p electricity. So the running costs are 1/14th to 1/3rd of a petrol engine. Of course, you could buy a cheap 1.0l diesel that does 50mpg to somewhat counteract that.
Unless as a personal intra-city transport device, and even then:
1) Bad weather places that are congested 2) In a city like London, a small vehicle is good 3) If this vehicle was exempt from the 5/day congestion fee
If you drive daily in London, then this vehicle could save you up to 1500 in congestion charges **IF** this vehicle was exempt because it was small and non-polluting. In 5 years that would be around the cost of the vehicle itself.
It has enough power to get you to and from work in a small area. It is ugly and geeky, so it won't get stolen. You can rent a garage for your main car somewhere cheap for when you need to do a long journey somewhere.
Somehow I don't see the government wanting to give up precious congestion charge fees, even to forward small economical (? how much does the electricity for a full charge cost in this vehicle anyway ?) vehicles over large uneconomical ones.
It is a shame that things like this need to be made law.
I expect that spyware already falls under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 in the UK regarding modification of a computer system without the user/owner being aware.
As far as I am aware, these bits of software are viruses and should be treated as such. Including the writers of said spyware.
Slashdot Mirror
As someone who has been attacked viciously in the UK under the gaze of CCTV, and the CCTV footage being instrumental in getting the offenders locked up, I can't say I mind CCTV.
What I'd mind is if it was used proactively, e.g., for tracking people without their knowledge using face recognition systems. I believe a person has the right to go about their day without being tracked and logged in databases "Citizen #45932842 logged at Market Square 8:23:23" and so on.
Yeah, I looked it up, and it was WMA that is used. In fact, nobody else discovered that in this thread as far as I can see.
Yeah, most people just want the music to play in the background, distraction against life and how it sucks.
From www.listen.com: "Rhapsody currently delivers audio encoded with Windows Media 8 using a proprietary streaming mechanism."
So the article is incorrect. They are comparing 128kbps AAC to 196kbps WMA. WMA isn't that bad quality wise, but it certainly isn't "the same software standard for compression".
I was also looking at the FAQ for Rhapsody. You can't burn lots of tracks, you can only burn if you pay extra per track and you are subscribing to their service. It is a DRM nightmare compared to Apple's reasonable DRM.
Interesting, I wasn't aware of that.
:)
Heh, I suppose you can argue that CD-Audio is lossy from the get go, being at only 44.1 kHz and 16-bit. Certainly there are many people that can tell the difference between the original and a CD version of that original on decent equipment.
Someone tell me when I can buy 96 kHz 24-bit compressed audio online
(although I'm unsure what Rhapsody uses, maybe it uses MP3Pro which is pretty good).
I think that 128kbps is a little shortsighted from Apple, there will be losses in the audio at that rate. 192 kbps AAC would be preferable of course.
Then again, most people listen to music on cheap headphones, speakers, etc, or just want music in the background. In that respect 128 kbps AAC is way more than necessary, and beats a cheap FM radio totally (if only in that you don't have a retard DJ wittering on between tracks).
Music is just part of life these days.
They are meant to record the VHS recorder for casual recording and viewing, and perhaps as a TiVo backup thing. i.e., you record the football when you are out, or Star Trek, or any number of shows that Fox will consider cancelling just as they get good. I suppose the sensible person would use a DVD-RW for recording purposes. What is it? 2? 3? hours of DVD quality recording time on a medium that isn't clunky and doesn't lose clarity.
I know a lot of consumers who would go for that.
Indeed. The only issue is that Apple don't give the option of getting a 2 or 3 button mouse instead of the unimouse that they supply by default with a system.
At least on the PowerBook you can download the hack that makes the trackpad into a 3 button trackpad with scrollwheel action.
And yes, the menubar at the top of the screen is the sensible option for a fast interface. As long as the items on the menubar actually extend to the top of the screen, of course, so you can whack the mouse up there and click. Hell, Windows still doesn't extend the taskbar items to the base of the screen for some elements, meaning you still have to aim the mouse pointer. The menubar at the top is something that MacOS and AmigaOS both got correct.
Free Upgrade? Interesting ... very interesting ...
... with space for standard equipment (3.5" HDs, memory, AGP slot + card for upgradeability, PCI slot or 2) and no monitor .. but I don't want to pay over the top for a PowerMac with dual processors and so on.
Me? I want a Mac, but I have spare monitors lying around already. I just want a Mac
Not saying that something similar couldn't be done for Firefox or Opera of course ... it stands to reason that if something can be "plugged into" an application, like these BHOs, and that they can do stuff with the page content, or intercept form data before any transport stage, that this was bound to happen at one stage or another.
... it happens on IE, and thus IE's entire design is flawed. Quite how any corporate institution can continue to use IE instead of wiping it from all hard drives for security reasons is beyond me.
But
Don't worry about dual PCIe x16 motherboards ... remember nVidia make chipsets as well. Expect an nForce4 chipset at the end of this year supporting their new SLI technology with two PCIe x16 slots supported
Of course, when you are spending $400 apiece on graphics cards, will you really be skimping on the processor and motherboard?
But then again there are games out there that give a quick fix. Hell, GTA (of any sort) gives a quick fix when you think about it - you don't have to do that 5 minute stake-out and all that.
... who cares!
OTOH booting up and getting going can take longer than those 5 minutes.
I like those new joystick-with-old-games things, like the Namco, C64 and Atari gamesticks. They must start up pretty quickly and give instant satifaction.
Hell, I still think that Zombie Apocalypse 2 was the best instant satisfaction game ever made, and judging by how popular my computer was in college because I had it I am not alone. I recommend trying it if you have an Amiga emulator installed. Yeah, it's written in BASIC, but when you are shooting gobs of flesh that jump around under your bullets and scream
Will I have to cite you when I make my "computer in the bedroom" patent, and then 3 years further down the line "computerised entertainment doll in the bedroom" patent?
I too was just about to mention that this bank in America has clearly just stolen the idea from UK Building Societies ('banks' owned and run by their customers, in essence).
I bet that desk at the entrance with the person to greet people will turn into another American "Missing you already!" charade.
Americans. Can't live with them. Can't nuke them.
The Award Winning "Website" doesn't render anything apart from a copyright message and a credits message. Yeah, I guess that qualifies as simple.
Unless I installed a third party plugin of course, but really all that does is run a weblication inside the browser, it is hardly a website.
But ... that heatsink it quite large, they might as well have put all the interfaces on the back panel!
Maybe it they removed the PCI slot and put some of the other interfaces along that side of the board they could truly make it an expandable thin system? Also if they upgraded to the CN400 chipset in addition...
* reasonably happy owner of a VIA Epia800 - mainly because I got it 20 months ago and it hasn't depreciated one bit since *
What the Sparrow makers should do:
...
1) Make it wider, and two seater
2) This would allow another 6 or so batteries to fit in the extra space
3) That would extend the range 50%
4) It wouldn't look like a nose
5) That is a lot more space internally for shopping, a passenger
6) It would appeal more to the average person
7) Try and drop the price to under $10k - doable if sales are higher
8)
9) Profit
That tZero looks great. So what do they do? They price themselves out of the market. I know a lot of people that would buy a 2 seater vehicle that had sports car characteristics, had a 100 mile range and cost under one quid to recharge overnight. Shame that savings on electricity are negated by needing to get a new set of batteries every 2 years.
Ah, 8kW is a full charge. In the UK that is around 80p, or 25p if you charge overnight and you have an economy electricity plan. (My electricity is 12.4p / unit during the day, and 2.78p / unit overnight, dropping to 5.82p and 2.68p respectively after a certain amount of usage.
A normal car doing 30mpg would cost around 3.60 to go the same distance as that 25p/80p electricity. So the running costs are 1/14th to 1/3rd of a petrol engine. Of course, you could buy a cheap 1.0l diesel that does 50mpg to somewhat counteract that.
Unless as a personal intra-city transport device, and even then:
1) Bad weather places that are congested
2) In a city like London, a small vehicle is good
3) If this vehicle was exempt from the 5/day congestion fee
If you drive daily in London, then this vehicle could save you up to 1500 in congestion charges **IF** this vehicle was exempt because it was small and non-polluting. In 5 years that would be around the cost of the vehicle itself.
It has enough power to get you to and from work in a small area. It is ugly and geeky, so it won't get stolen. You can rent a garage for your main car somewhere cheap for when you need to do a long journey somewhere.
Somehow I don't see the government wanting to give up precious congestion charge fees, even to forward small economical (? how much does the electricity for a full charge cost in this vehicle anyway ?) vehicles over large uneconomical ones.
I put my genetic code under the BSD license, and yet no-one has kidnapped me and made me theirs yet :(
Each machine is dual processor.
VT used non-ECC machines, so safeguards took up some of the processing power.
Current XServes use ECC memory, so that should provide more overall computing power and provide a higher final score.
Different interconnect can also have a greater effect.
And finally, yeah, I reckon that this could be peak results. I remember VT had a peak of aroun 19TFlops? I don't remember the exact details.
It is a shame that things like this need to be made law.
I expect that spyware already falls under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 in the UK regarding modification of a computer system without the user/owner being aware.
As far as I am aware, these bits of software are viruses and should be treated as such. Including the writers of said spyware.
Take with a THG Pinch Of Salt
9 /s ocket_775-15.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/2004061
(yes, that is page 15 to start the chipset talk, there's plenty of stuff before that of course, but this is a chipset story)
http://www.anandtech.com/printarticle.html?i=2088
Very weak, Athlon FX 53 thrashes a 3.6GHz Prescott on i925 in gaming, and simply beats it in a lot of other areas.
Click on a link and then click back!
Or use the ctrl-mousewheel text-size fix.
Surely this problem could therefore be fixed by a simple automatic page refactoring after everything has loaded?