A "whiz" is what I take at ballgames on the way to get another beer.
If I find someone who knows more about something than I do, I ask them about it. It doesn't really matter how they got that knowledge (whether through some mystical guru means (ha!) or by reading it in a book or by asking someone); if there's something they know that will save me a truckload of pain-in-the-ass, I want to know!
Most of the time, I find, all it takes is to delve just a little deeper, or read a book, and you can do almost anything.
To "Paragraph" 1: I like the 2nd choice... "If it bleeds, we can kill it."
As for the second paragraph... That superhacker's login wouldn't be "God", would it? I mean, come on. A Super{natural being,hacker} controlling everything in the {universe,internet} does seem like a great way to distract people from reality.
I'm wondering if that is the true root of the problem. The disc is a hybrid HD-DVD + regular DVD. Maybe one part of the hybrid works and the other part doesn't.
Is it possible that the people for which the movie does work on their HD-DVD add-on, that they are actually watching the SD plain-old-DVD version of the movie, not the HD version? It would go well with the stories that 50% of peeps with HDTVs aren't actually watching HD, and that 50% of those people *don't even realize* they're not seeing HD.
Or, you know, vice versa...
I can't help but smile over this. I knew the format wars were ultimately bad for the consumer. I just wasn't expecting it to fail us so soon.
I've had my share of hardware+software trouble, but its usually when I'm trying to do something new or different, like trying to get Linux installed on some obscure hardware. Stuff there's not really manuals for... Things that aren't format standards that I helped create.
Its not clear from the article whether the flaw is in the hardware or the disc, but this is certainly a HUGE screwup on someone's part. If the flaw does lie in the hardware, this could seriously hurt the HD-DVD format in the market, with Blu-Ray consistently claiming its successes, as dubious as they may be.
That said, I'm glad I've not wasted my money on either. BluRay and HD-DVDs are just band-aids until downloaded and streaming HD movies get here. I learned my lessons with DVD. Once the initial novelty of "I have this expensive player, so I better buy every movie that comes out" wore off, Netflix beats the hell out of buying movies all the time.
Netflix is already shipping the HD formats, so if and when I do break down and buy a PS3, I'm sure I'll rent a few, but I don't need to burden myself with storage of yet another set of 5" plastic discs. AppleTV and the MeTooTubes should have us covered before too long.
Its very interesting that Cocaine (3g ~ $120 == 3122 rubles, or so I've heard;) and Windows ($99 here and there) are priced the same as in the US, while everything else on your list is way cheaper in Russia. Does the Windows price in other countries also track with Cocaine? Do other drugs and contraband follow the same scale?
Is Windows really placing itself in the same market as illegal substances, rather than on par with the legal consumer products?
For reference, here's how your other items compare:
- Your Vodka price is on par with bottled water here. A factor of 5 gets us to Vodka.
- Beer is about 5 times more here (12-pack of budweiser for $10 vs your $11.50 for 60 bottles).
- A Subway ticket is WAY more than 19 cents here. Way more even than 5 times 19 cents, in some cities.
- There is certainly no new car available here in the $2000-$3000 range. Its a stretch, but a factor of 5 ($10-$15,000) might get you a new Kia or a Scion.
They consider that a feature, right? The movies you buy today may not play tomorrow. Screw that!
As I said elsewhere, I'm not even getting into this fray until the DRM BS is over. I don't need a babysitter telling me where I can and cannot watch the movies that I buy. I'm also not into buying revocable rights that are controlled at the whims of greedy technophobes who think that me paying $20 of my hard-earned cash for their product is somehow ripping them off.
Don't forget! Sony promised not to start using the really nasty features of AACS until 2010. Their hope, I suppose, is that people are so deeply invested in blu-ray players and movies, that they'll have no choice but to upgrade to new TVs.
This is the most anti-consumer product line I have ever seen.
That is definitely an interesting bit. DVDs were slow on the uptake because the initial round of players were in the $600-$1000 range, ad the movie offerings were pretty sparse. I was a early adopter, and I remember buying my overpriced player, then wishing there were more movies available for it. For a while I was buying practically every movie they released just so I'd have *something* to watch.
This time around Bluray got some bonus hardware sales by bundling in the PS3. Now everyone with a PS3 is sitting around wishing there was something compelling to play on it, so the movies sell like hotcakes. I think this dubious statistic speaks more to the marketing of the PS3 than something inherent to the disc format.
I think the point is to not have to purchase multiple copies of the same movie/show/whatever. I won't move to a format that limits me to less than I currently can do with DVDs and CDs (music, too). While all bluray and hddvd titles so far have been cracked, the industry is still working to cripple the new formats and I don't want to support their blatant greed.
I'll "upgrade" to an HD format:
- after the DRM efforts collapse - when combo players are under $200 - when disc prices drop to the same as DVDs - when the content industry stops treating their paying customers like criminals
Until then I'll stick with DVDs, Netflix and freedom.
Honestly I'd have to say that I have no desire to buy, borrow, download, steal or even listen to most of the music out today. My music aquisition has slowed to practically a dead stop. I listen to talk radio instead of music when I get bored with my CDs.
If there were a song I liked, I might be inclined to purchase just that song for $1 instead of dropping a Hamilton and change on a whole CD. Surely singles sales have cut hard into CD sales. However the DRM-crippled "purchases" are too restrictive; I can't load them on my media player (my phone), and some won't even burn to a CD to listen in the car. There's also no guarantee that your "purchases" will continue to work in the future. Look how Microsoft fucked people by dropping "PlaysForSure". I'm not wasting my money on that.
I don't purchase music because the "product" being sold is junk, and I don't want to support an industry who considers me a thief first, and a customer second.
I just filled up my car at $3.49/gallon. I'm pretty sure the last fill (probably 2 weeks ago) was under $3/gal.
While I perhaps *think* about using less energy, my real behavior doesn't actually change. 25mpg highway, 16 in the city. I could easily boost that city number just by driving more...efficiently (for example, by not treating every traffic light as a drag-race xmas tree), but I don't. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
CORONA, CA - The Nintendo Wii gaming console has a wiittle God problem. That's right; this seemingly innocent family game console has a dirty little secret. It has the dubious ability to access religious propaganda via the internet and most parents are not aware of this fact.
Like many new gaming technologies, the Wii's wireless internet capabilities make it a portal to Jesus. "Parents think the computer is the only way for their kids to get prayer on the internet. Unfortunately, they are dead wrong," says Mike Foster, founder of ThePornTalk.com. "Gaming devices like the Wii and the PSP aren't just for fun games anymore. You're able to surf the net, chat with friends, email, and accept Jesus because of its internet access. Kids know this but parents don't!"...
While I believe that explaining bittorrent is complicated, surely understanding of the protocol is prerequisite to a judge making a decision in any of these cases. Once that has been established, demonstrating how this client collects swarm info, but rejects any data transfer should be a simple matter.
The harder part would more likely be convincing the judge that the user was using a torrent client in this manner, rather than for downloading. Its a good thing we're all "innocent until proven guilty." IANAL, but this should establish that the plaintiffs need to demonstrate that defendants actually distributed content. Presence in the swarm is clearly not enough for a conviction, so it certainly should not be enough for an ISP takedown.
The article's author would make for a great expert witness in any of these cases. If the only evidence being shown is the defendant's IP address in the cloud, they have nothing.
The article doesn't say what the intersection points are. While it does say that "A system call is an opportunity to address memory", it doesn't explain how that relates to the images, just "Both images are a complete map of the system calls that occur when..."
I was hoping the "larger image" would clarify things, but its almost as useless as the inlined image. In the bigger picture, the horizontal line at each intersection kind of looks like it would be a word, perhaps the name of a system call. Its simply not clear that the images support the claim, since it is not at all clear what the images actually represent.
The feature of showing Windows Apps on the same desktop, intermingled with MacOSX apps is going beyond mere virtualization. This is pretty bitchen.
They're running Windows, but somehow intercepting some API calls (or something...i dunno) to trick the virtualized Windows into drawing its apps intermingled on the MacOSX desktop instead of on the (now hidden) XP desktop.
Hmm... Analog hole, maybe? I mean, I know Sony promised not to downgrade the analog signal for at least a few years after the launch of Blu-ray, but they didn't say a word about not-upscaling the analog signal to full res. Sneaky bastards!
An analog 1080p signal would lead every PS3 owner directly to a life of crime, helplessly pirating perfect digital copies of a bunch of crap movies. That's what the MPAA tells me anyway...
How many lowly commoners had structures as tall as the pyramids? Maybe they simply didn't need the advanced techniques.
That the lower levels were still quarried rocks and the concrete was only used up high, suggests that for most structures moving big rocks was probably adequate, and they only resorted to the concrete as needed. Maybe there was some threshhold above which carrying a few hundred buckets of slime up a ladder was faster and easier than getting 20 or 30 of your "friends" to come over and lift a big rock a few stories.
Perhaps the desert-ness of their surroundings contributed as well. Was water so plentiful that slaves would use it to mix up some bricks, or did they need whatever water they could get for more critical things like food and drinking? Maybe only the super-rich could afford to mix their water with sand, pour it into a box, and let it evaporate to the heavens.
I think more to the point, WMA has all of that dude's music files, and he's already said (multiple times) that he doesn't want to take the time to convert all of the audio he has collected over several years.
I re-ripped all my CDs last year (500 or so of them), and its a pain in the ass. Beyond that it really shouldn't be necesary. The DRM efforts
Seriously... How can anyone trust Microsoft after they abandon their own "Plays For Sure" initiative? They've screwed over every company that made devices to support their proprietary format. They've screwed every consumer who bought into Plays-for-Shit. Now what? They expect consumers to buy the music again?
I hope the backlash they get from this gets enough mainstream coverage that people stop buying into bullshit proprietary lock-in DRM formats. I'm so sick of having to "break the law" in order to listen to music.
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A "whiz" is what I take at ballgames on the way to get another beer.
If I find someone who knows more about something than I do, I ask them about it. It doesn't really matter how they got that knowledge (whether through some mystical guru means (ha!) or by reading it in a book or by asking someone); if there's something they know that will save me a truckload of pain-in-the-ass, I want to know!
Most of the time, I find, all it takes is to delve just a little deeper, or read a book, and you can do almost anything.
To "Paragraph" 1: I like the 2nd choice... "If it bleeds, we can kill it."
As for the second paragraph... That superhacker's login wouldn't be "God", would it? I mean, come on. A Super{natural being,hacker} controlling everything in the {universe,internet} does seem like a great way to distract people from reality.
I'm wondering if that is the true root of the problem. The disc is a hybrid HD-DVD + regular DVD. Maybe one part of the hybrid works and the other part doesn't.
Is it possible that the people for which the movie does work on their HD-DVD add-on, that they are actually watching the SD plain-old-DVD version of the movie, not the HD version? It would go well with the stories that 50% of peeps with HDTVs aren't actually watching HD, and that 50% of those people *don't even realize* they're not seeing HD.
Or, you know, vice versa...
I can't help but smile over this. I knew the format wars were ultimately bad for the consumer. I just wasn't expecting it to fail us so soon.
Damn straight!
I've had my share of hardware+software trouble, but its usually when I'm trying to do something new or different, like trying to get Linux installed on some obscure hardware. Stuff there's not really manuals for... Things that aren't format standards that I helped create.
Its not clear from the article whether the flaw is in the hardware or the disc, but this is certainly a HUGE screwup on someone's part. If the flaw does lie in the hardware, this could seriously hurt the HD-DVD format in the market, with Blu-Ray consistently claiming its successes, as dubious as they may be.
That said, I'm glad I've not wasted my money on either. BluRay and HD-DVDs are just band-aids until downloaded and streaming HD movies get here. I learned my lessons with DVD. Once the initial novelty of "I have this expensive player, so I better buy every movie that comes out" wore off, Netflix beats the hell out of buying movies all the time.
Netflix is already shipping the HD formats, so if and when I do break down and buy a PS3, I'm sure I'll rent a few, but I don't need to burden myself with storage of yet another set of 5" plastic discs. AppleTV and the MeTooTubes should have us covered before too long.
Its very interesting that Cocaine (3g ~ $120 == 3122 rubles, or so I've heard ;) and Windows ($99 here and there) are priced the same as in the US, while everything else on your list is way cheaper in Russia. Does the Windows price in other countries also track with Cocaine? Do other drugs and contraband follow the same scale?
Is Windows really placing itself in the same market as illegal substances, rather than on par with the legal consumer products?
For reference, here's how your other items compare:
- Your Vodka price is on par with bottled water here. A factor of 5 gets us to Vodka.
- Beer is about 5 times more here (12-pack of budweiser for $10 vs your $11.50 for 60 bottles).
- A Subway ticket is WAY more than 19 cents here. Way more even than 5 times 19 cents, in some cities.
- There is certainly no new car available here in the $2000-$3000 range. Its a stretch, but a factor of 5 ($10-$15,000) might get you a new Kia or a Scion.
They consider that a feature, right? The movies you buy today may not play tomorrow. Screw that!
As I said elsewhere, I'm not even getting into this fray until the DRM BS is over. I don't need a babysitter telling me where I can and cannot watch the movies that I buy. I'm also not into buying revocable rights that are controlled at the whims of greedy technophobes who think that me paying $20 of my hard-earned cash for their product is somehow ripping them off.
Don't forget! Sony promised not to start using the really nasty features of AACS until 2010. Their hope, I suppose, is that people are so deeply invested in blu-ray players and movies, that they'll have no choice but to upgrade to new TVs.
This is the most anti-consumer product line I have ever seen.
That is definitely an interesting bit. DVDs were slow on the uptake because the initial round of players were in the $600-$1000 range, ad the movie offerings were pretty sparse. I was a early adopter, and I remember buying my overpriced player, then wishing there were more movies available for it. For a while I was buying practically every movie they released just so I'd have *something* to watch.
This time around Bluray got some bonus hardware sales by bundling in the PS3. Now everyone with a PS3 is sitting around wishing there was something compelling to play on it, so the movies sell like hotcakes. I think this dubious statistic speaks more to the marketing of the PS3 than something inherent to the disc format.
I think the point is to not have to purchase multiple copies of the same movie/show/whatever. I won't move to a format that limits me to less than I currently can do with DVDs and CDs (music, too). While all bluray and hddvd titles so far have been cracked, the industry is still working to cripple the new formats and I don't want to support their blatant greed.
I'll "upgrade" to an HD format:
- after the DRM efforts collapse
- when combo players are under $200
- when disc prices drop to the same as DVDs
- when the content industry stops treating their paying customers like criminals
Until then I'll stick with DVDs, Netflix and freedom.
That's not what it says. It uses their gait to recognize them from prior surveillance footage where it has "fingerprinted" people's stride.
Its time for another visit to the Ministry of Funny Walks (or whatever that old Monty Python sketch was).
Honestly I'd have to say that I have no desire to buy, borrow, download, steal or even listen to most of the music out today. My music aquisition has slowed to practically a dead stop. I listen to talk radio instead of music when I get bored with my CDs.
If there were a song I liked, I might be inclined to purchase just that song for $1 instead of dropping a Hamilton and change on a whole CD. Surely singles sales have cut hard into CD sales. However the DRM-crippled "purchases" are too restrictive; I can't load them on my media player (my phone), and some won't even burn to a CD to listen in the car. There's also no guarantee that your "purchases" will continue to work in the future. Look how Microsoft fucked people by dropping "PlaysForSure". I'm not wasting my money on that.
I don't purchase music because the "product" being sold is junk, and I don't want to support an industry who considers me a thief first, and a customer second.
I just filled up my car at $3.49/gallon. I'm pretty sure the last fill (probably 2 weeks ago) was under $3/gal.
While I perhaps *think* about using less energy, my real behavior doesn't actually change. 25mpg highway, 16 in the city. I could easily boost that city number just by driving more...efficiently (for example, by not treating every traffic light as a drag-race xmas tree), but I don't. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
I think you'll find him in Wikipedia under "douchebag, corporate."
Pr0n isn't the only thing you can get online!
...
CORONA, CA - The Nintendo Wii gaming console has a wiittle God problem. That's right; this seemingly innocent family game console has a dirty little secret. It has the dubious ability to access religious propaganda via the internet and most parents are not aware of this fact.
Like many new gaming technologies, the Wii's wireless internet capabilities make it a portal to Jesus. "Parents think the computer is the only way for their kids to get prayer on the internet. Unfortunately, they are dead wrong," says Mike Foster, founder of ThePornTalk.com. "Gaming devices like the Wii and the PSP aren't just for fun games anymore. You're able to surf the net, chat with friends, email, and accept Jesus because of its internet access. Kids know this but parents don't!"
You're reading my (and probably thousands of others') mind!
Its a beautiful fit. It would give FreeNet a huge boost, and its not pr0n, or war3z, or t3rrorism, or any of the usual criticisms of FreeNet.
Let's see... "Huge arrays of kittens" make a "QUIET [...] power plant". Yeah, right!
I don't even want to think about the litter box.
While I believe that explaining bittorrent is complicated, surely understanding of the protocol is prerequisite to a judge making a decision in any of these cases. Once that has been established, demonstrating how this client collects swarm info, but rejects any data transfer should be a simple matter.
The harder part would more likely be convincing the judge that the user was using a torrent client in this manner, rather than for downloading. Its a good thing we're all "innocent until proven guilty." IANAL, but this should establish that the plaintiffs need to demonstrate that defendants actually distributed content. Presence in the swarm is clearly not enough for a conviction, so it certainly should not be enough for an ISP takedown.
The article's author would make for a great expert witness in any of these cases. If the only evidence being shown is the defendant's IP address in the cloud, they have nothing.
Yeah, but even if he is a cop, he can't enforce made-up laws.
Read it again... (I'll wait ;)
The article doesn't say what the intersection points are. While it does say that "A system call is an opportunity to address memory", it doesn't explain how that relates to the images, just "Both images are a complete map of the system calls that occur when..."
I was hoping the "larger image" would clarify things, but its almost as useless as the inlined image. In the bigger picture, the horizontal line at each intersection kind of looks like it would be a word, perhaps the name of a system call. Its simply not clear that the images support the claim, since it is not at all clear what the images actually represent.
Only so we can look up their dresses... :)
The feature of showing Windows Apps on the same desktop, intermingled with MacOSX apps is going beyond mere virtualization. This is pretty bitchen.
:)
They're running Windows, but somehow intercepting some API calls (or something...i dunno) to trick the virtualized Windows into drawing its apps intermingled on the MacOSX desktop instead of on the (now hidden) XP desktop.
Or they're doing something really ugly.
Its a good thing, then, that the "Computer Monitor in Eyeglasses" is in eyeglasses.
duh.
"...for some reason."
Hmm... Analog hole, maybe? I mean, I know Sony promised not to downgrade the analog signal for at least a few years after the launch of Blu-ray, but they didn't say a word about not-upscaling the analog signal to full res. Sneaky bastards!
An analog 1080p signal would lead every PS3 owner directly to a life of crime, helplessly pirating perfect digital copies of a bunch of crap movies. That's what the MPAA tells me anyway...
How many lowly commoners had structures as tall as the pyramids? Maybe they simply didn't need the advanced techniques.
That the lower levels were still quarried rocks and the concrete was only used up high, suggests that for most structures moving big rocks was probably adequate, and they only resorted to the concrete as needed. Maybe there was some threshhold above which carrying a few hundred buckets of slime up a ladder was faster and easier than getting 20 or 30 of your "friends" to come over and lift a big rock a few stories.
Perhaps the desert-ness of their surroundings contributed as well. Was water so plentiful that slaves would use it to mix up some bricks, or did they need whatever water they could get for more critical things like food and drinking? Maybe only the super-rich could afford to mix their water with sand, pour it into a box, and let it evaporate to the heavens.
Copyright laws do not solely exist to protect the aging business models of international cartels, though we're definitely headed in that direction.
I think more to the point, WMA has all of that dude's music files, and he's already said (multiple times) that he doesn't want to take the time to convert all of the audio he has collected over several years.
I re-ripped all my CDs last year (500 or so of them), and its a pain in the ass. Beyond that it really shouldn't be necesary. The DRM efforts
Seriously... How can anyone trust Microsoft after they abandon their own "Plays For Sure" initiative? They've screwed over every company that made devices to support their proprietary format. They've screwed every consumer who bought into Plays-for-Shit. Now what? They expect consumers to buy the music again?
I hope the backlash they get from this gets enough mainstream coverage that people stop buying into bullshit proprietary lock-in DRM formats. I'm so sick of having to "break the law" in order to listen to music.