Re-reading the article, shows the IP as: 138.26.72.17 (stupid eyes).
Nice. Class A: University of Alabama at Birmingham - University Computer Center UAB (NET-138-26-0-0-1) 138.26.0.0 - 138.26.255.255 NetRange: 138.0.0.0 - 138.255.255.255 CIDR: 138.0.0.0/8
The IP address showing in the screenshot accompanying TFA is: 130.26.72.17. That entire 130.26 Class-B network is owned by Hewlett Packard. Falun Gong are a bunch of wackjob lying liars. Seriously. They're like Scientology + The Force + Tai Chi + Jehovah's Witnesses.
...Maybe it should be an all IT day, so that we can all play halo and eat pizza and drink mountain dew!
That'd be a bad idea, because you guys would eventually blame any problems we had whilst gaming together on the server, and we'd be bitching at you for the crappy code and debug logs (that you never read) filling up all the space in/var/tmp, and every user with shell access having their own instance of TOP or fucking GLANCE while not understanding that CPU cycles and memory aren't GASOLINE and don't disappear when you use them.:-) We should just stick to drinking booze.
I don't get this obsession. Back in the day I was a rabid (psychotic) Amiga fan/user. As I matured I realized something, IT'S JUST A COMPUTER GUYS. JUST ANOTHER TOOL. If people were this committed to, say hammers or forstner bits -- you'd think they were completely insane.
I'm also looking at you, the "yeah, but can it run LINUX" crowd. For fucks sake, people many of you are amongst the most intelligent human beings in the world, you need to be out there breeding instead of developing a goddamn zippo lighter simulator for your iPhone.
For many people -- not *us*, coz we know better;^) -- 128k is "just fine". Some kinds of music (indie/glitchcore) are already low-fi enough, and have watery cymbals anyway, so you wouldn't notice. My point is exactly, with all the cookie-magic being done, there is still a way.
Quote: topherhenk said:
"So you can listen to it online as much as you want for $0.10, you just can't take it with you."
Heh, says you. Creative Labs SoundBlaster Audigy ZS2 "What-U-Hear" Recording controls say differently. i gotz mp3's now bitchez!!!!
Fuck you for fear mongering. You fucking fearmongering fuckers.
There is no way in hell the Chinese would authorize the use of this sort device when the entire world has come to China's doorstep for the games.
While I'll be the first to admit, China needs fucking improvement, you've got to look beyond OUR OWN propaganda that we get here in the West.
From China's perspective, Seperatist Tibetans cannot be allowed to succeed. China is in fact, made up of many nations and peoples. There are numerous ethnic groups within it's borders.
Would we in America be happy if the indigenous peoples of Alaska, Hawaii -- the states we got in the Mexican Cession -- or matter of fact, the ENTIRE United States back to the Native Americans whos land we took buy unfair trade or worse yet -- murder? Fuck that. You lost, we won, you got what losers get. We got what winners get.
Communist China's early history is a bloody one. Yes, during the Cultural Revolution, people were, well -- exterminated. However, The Chinese are attempting to make amends with the ethnic (non-Han) Chinese and become truly powerful in it's multiculturalism. So much so, that there's a rising sort-of descrimination not unlike our own Affirmative Action.
Ultimately, Modern China is trying to sell the idea that the Government IS the people. It's hard for Americans especially to reconcile, because we like to have shit both ways. You have less to answer for when that condition exists. "Dubya ain't MY president". It's a claim made by pussies too chickenshit to do anything to REALLY CHANGE.
This isn't too likely as many Chinese still do not own personal computers. Many obtain their access to the net via internet cafes. If you get your access at a cafe it kinds sucks because you are required to prove that you're 18 or older, which means you must present identification, which is recorded with the workstation you use and subsequently the IP address and time in which you used it.
For home access in larger cities like Shanghai, adsl is the way to go, and you purchase time, and you get a static IP. Also traceable to you.
I was in China for a couple of weeks immediately following the recent Tibet fracas (which is quite perplexing if you listen to all 3 sides of the discussion).
Based on my personal observation, The "Great Firewall" isn't so much a firewall (which in my eyes connotes address/port blocking) but it's more the corporate content filter. Too many keywords and your transmission gets squelched.
Example: The first day I tried to use myspace.com and I couldn't get a single word to load. The next day, Myspace would load, I could log in, but when I selected the option to update my personal Blog, I got half a page of unrendered HTML code. I didn't even bother after that.
Kellyb9 said:Actually - as someone who plays guitar - I can't fully agree with your comment. Although, in part, being good at Rockband is not going to make you a better guitarist, I believe it does help beginners move their fingers independently. Which is one of the early battles people face when trying to learn how to play guitar correctly.
I can't really say the same thing for drums or singing. On a side note, has anyone actually used the microphone yet, and is it really lame?
As an owner of Rock Band, and an "actual" guitar player, I would add the guitar playing also teaches some fundamental strumming techniques as well. You learn to strum both down and up to reduce muscle fatique, and play faster.
For drumming, I'd say the sticks that come with the game are "ok", I replaced mine with some vinyl-tipped ones that I got for my standalone snare many years ago. They're bouncier.
In addition to the syncopation learned from the snare and hat/cymbal work, the drum kit has a bass kick pedal, and this helps would-be drummers gain limb independence (arms do one thing, right-foot does other stuff) and at "Expert" stage, you should be able to transfer what you learn in Rock Band to a real drum kit (not accounting for hi-hats).
To wit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ9XLiMfBRo&feature=user/
This guy uses some pretty cool video techniques to show both himself & the video from the game. He'll occasionally fade the game audio out to demonstrate what HE hears.
If you watch some of this users other videos, you can see what kind of work he has done researching the quality/effectivness of the Rockband drum kits. (Some models are better than others).
Also, the microphone is quite heavy for it's size and feels very nice. It's USB, and also doubles as the cowbell. (And you get to use it during Don't Fear The Reaper)
DragonWriter said:
Sony doesn't bundle PS/3 consoles with most of their BD players, though they do bundle a BD player as part of the PS/3 console. They sell standalone BD players (even entire home theater systems) that you can get cheaper than a PS/3 console.
My point was that, for a time at least, the cheapest option in Blu-Ray players was to get the PO^HS3. They should have just made a cheap Blu-Ray player to get them out the door, instead of people thinking "I'll buy *this* as my Blu-Ray player and maybe some day I'll buy some games.
*My* confusion comes from the fact that when the film was released, the Best Buy I frequent (West County, St. Louis, MO) had both the standard DVD and HD-DVD's on an island/shelf with the DVD on one side and the HD-DVD combo disc on the other. I don't have a Blu-Ray player so I didn't even bother to look in the Blu-Ray section.
This could be an accident. (The island only had two sides) or intentional. The HD-DVD section is closer to the front of the store than the Blu-Ray (which is on the same rack), however, the island of discs was staged between the movie section and the big-screen televisions.
I do not WANT to beleive there is implicit collusion between the studios/retailers to push one format over another. However, it would be foolish to think that retailers are not tired of the format competition themselves.
1.) 16:9 widescreen displays are still not pervasive enough to warrant upgrades. (This will change in 2009 after analog broadcast is dead) (My 60 year old mom hates "those black bars" on the top and bottom of the 4:3 display - she's gonna freak when there are "those grey bars" on the sides!)
2.) Cost. Retailers are dumping fairly recent DVD's for as little as $5.00 per disc. HD-DVD & Blu-Ray are easily 6-7 times that.
3.) Format confusion. Blu-Ray is being marketed as "Blu-Ray HiDef" and HD-DVD's are also marketed as "HiDef" i.e. "Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix - on DVD and HiDef" (There isn't a Blu-Ray version available yet).
4.) HD-DVD has combo discs (i.e.: Harry Potter, above) that will work on current DVD players as well as HD players - this allows the consumer to continue to add to their library of movies, while defraying the cost of hardware upgrade into the future. Blu-Ray forces you into expensive gear NOW in order to watch the film you've just bought.
Some advice: Until this shit gets sorted out, the people who currently have large libraries (i'm thinking 200+ DVD's) are not going to offload their old movies and upgrade their films to HD-DVD/Blu-Ray. It's time for those "Proof of Purchase" coupon-looking things in most DVD packages to be useful. Furthermore, If Sony wants to sell more BRD players they need to cut their costs in half and stop trying to bundle their PS3 console with the player. Not everybody wants to play video games. Microsoft hedged their bets and made the HD-DVD an add-on component, which, though not very attractive inside the t.v. cabinet, provides function for VERY low cost. (I got mine + Heroes Season 1 on HD-DVD for about $180)
Many people did die, but the net result was that some people who already had power got more, and some people that had power lost it (and frequently their lives).
I think you grossly understate things.
I've personally met more than a handful people in China who simply refuse to discuss the Cultural Revolution in any detail at all. They wont even document their experience in writing. It's still too painful for them.
(Most Chinese people under 30 don't know about the Tianamen Square protests -- Those that do don't really hold the event in high regard, as the student protest leaders are rumored to have had passports/visa's and transportation to get out of the country after the protest was held.)
Americans like the idea of revolution, but when it happens for real, good people die.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_revolut ion/) The Chinese government knows this, and freedoms will come, but it's going to take time. Generations. Not weeks.
1.) Kym Barret (The Matrix,Reloaded,Revolutions) will be doing the costume design. 2.) John Gaeta (The Matrix, inventor of Bullet Time..) is the visual effects supervisor. 3.) Owen Patterson (The Matrix, etc) is the production designer. 4.) Peter Fernandez (The original American voice of Speed Racer) will have an appearance in the film.
How substantive do you think a movie with a girl who flys a helicopter whilst wearing a mini skirt and go-go boots can be? Don't even get me started on the kid and his pet monkey.
If everything is going to appear two-dimensional I wonder if the actor/background details will be minimised at all. Not really cell-shaded, but something less detailed.
Surely they will follow much of the original Speed Racer construction formula and have lots of close-up shots, re-used footage and the same 4 panels of background speeding by as Speed and Racer X do their thing.
If the story villains don't have polygonal moustaches than I'm not going.
You can still purchase hardware support for Any "Tandem" that doesn't use switches on the front to boot the system. (yeah, these machines still used punch cards 20 years ago) So... "K-series" is supported and the newer "S-Series" is supported as well. The things still run Guardian(OS) They're still Non-Stop machines. Best of all... (for HP) They're still as expensive as fuck.
FWIW your Bank and your Cable television provider are probably using Tandems/NonStop systems.
From a performance perspective, all I can recommend for the general PC power user is: Raid 1. Raid 1 will give you a mirrored storage setup, which doubles the number of spindles and heads you have at your disposal, arguably doubling your access and write times. It will guard against hardware failure, but regardless of what you do, NO RAID LEVEL WILL PROTECT YOU FROM STUPIDITY.
For all the fancy-schmancy disk magic that can be done for very little cost these days, which the one thing that many people do not "get" is that nothing else matters but YOUR DATA. Drive capacaties are growing at fantastic rates, which means you now have more data than ever to lose.
Investing in a proper backup solution should be priority-one for users who utilize their computers as a tool for creating, well, anything. Music, art, writing, programming... things that simply cannot be replaced from scratch. We use computers to get these things from our brains to a more communicative medium. It is foolish to expect that the computer will remember all that which you created -- FOREVER.
Ultimately this will come down to how much your wallet can bear. You can begin with using offlined disk-to-disk backups, that is to say, an external hard disk that you use for backups and ONLY for backups. When your backup operation is complete, you switch the thing off and set it aside. A 300gb drive with 8 mb cache can be had for around $80 in some markets. A miniscule investment, considering a drive dies about every 2-3 years depending on use and it will be covered under warranty.
The ability to remove junk data from your archive repository will prove its value after opting for a more expensive solution and find yourself scanning through stolen milk crates filled with DDS3/4, LTO or DLT tapes.
Yes, you can drop A LOT of cash in optical or magnetic media storage systems, but those require deep pockets and good mind that is good with scheduling, logging, tape rotation, and testing backups.
Slashdot Mirror
Re-reading the article, shows the IP as: 138.26.72.17 (stupid eyes).
Nice. Class A:
University of Alabama at Birmingham - University Computer Center UAB (NET-138-26-0-0-1) 138.26.0.0 - 138.26.255.255
NetRange: 138.0.0.0 - 138.255.255.255
CIDR: 138.0.0.0/8
My other position still stands. They're nuts.
The IP address showing in the screenshot accompanying TFA is: 130.26.72.17. That entire 130.26 Class-B network is owned by Hewlett Packard. Falun Gong are a bunch of wackjob lying liars. Seriously. They're like Scientology + The Force + Tai Chi + Jehovah's Witnesses.
Call me when it's 75% cheaper than other "solutions".
Jeez man. There's no "START" key on your keyboard. "Enter" is the best approximation you could have. Why do people have to be spoon-fed?
Have you seriously gotten so lazy that you can't even SET SOMETHING DOWN?
...Maybe it should be an all IT day, so that we can all play halo and eat pizza and drink mountain dew!
That'd be a bad idea, because you guys would eventually blame any problems we had whilst gaming together on the server, and we'd be bitching at you for the crappy code and debug logs (that you never read) filling up all the space in /var/tmp, and every user with shell access having their own instance of TOP or fucking GLANCE while not understanding that CPU cycles and memory aren't GASOLINE and don't disappear when you use them. :-) We should just stick to drinking booze.
I don't get this obsession. Back in the day I was a rabid (psychotic) Amiga fan/user. As I matured I realized something, IT'S JUST A COMPUTER GUYS. JUST ANOTHER TOOL. If people were this committed to, say hammers or forstner bits -- you'd think they were completely insane.
I'm also looking at you, the "yeah, but can it run LINUX" crowd. For fucks sake, people many of you are amongst the most intelligent human beings in the world, you need to be out there breeding instead of developing a goddamn zippo lighter simulator for your iPhone.
easy and old:
copy /b myimage.jpg + filetohide.mp3 my_new_image.jpg
It's a good way to hide mp3 files in images and get past the pesky proxies blocking .mp3/.mpg files.
Just drop the mp3-imbedded gif/jpg file into winamp and... presto! you got music.
For many people -- not *us*, coz we know better ;^) -- 128k is "just fine". Some kinds of music (indie/glitchcore) are already low-fi enough, and have watery cymbals anyway, so you wouldn't notice.
My point is exactly, with all the cookie-magic being done, there is still a way.
Quote:
topherhenk said:
"So you can listen to it online as much as you want for $0.10, you just can't take it with you."
Heh, says you. Creative Labs SoundBlaster Audigy ZS2 "What-U-Hear" Recording controls say differently. i gotz mp3's now bitchez!!!!
Fuck you for fear mongering. You fucking fearmongering fuckers.
There is no way in hell the Chinese would authorize the use of this sort device when the entire world has come to China's doorstep for the games.
While I'll be the first to admit, China needs fucking improvement, you've got to look beyond OUR OWN propaganda that we get here in the West.
From China's perspective, Seperatist Tibetans cannot be allowed to succeed. China is in fact, made up of many nations and peoples. There are numerous ethnic groups within it's borders.
Would we in America be happy if the indigenous peoples of Alaska, Hawaii -- the states we got in the Mexican Cession -- or matter of fact, the ENTIRE United States back to the Native Americans whos land we took buy unfair trade or worse yet -- murder? Fuck that. You lost, we won, you got what losers get. We got what winners get.
Communist China's early history is a bloody one. Yes, during the Cultural Revolution, people were, well -- exterminated. However, The Chinese are attempting to make amends with the ethnic (non-Han) Chinese and become truly powerful in it's multiculturalism. So much so, that there's a rising sort-of descrimination not unlike our own Affirmative Action.
Ultimately, Modern China is trying to sell the idea that the Government IS the people. It's hard for Americans especially to reconcile, because we like to have shit both ways. You have less to answer for when that condition exists. "Dubya ain't MY president". It's a claim made by pussies too chickenshit to do anything to REALLY CHANGE.
This isn't too likely as many Chinese still do not own personal computers. Many obtain their access to the net via internet cafes. If you get your access at a cafe it kinds sucks because you are required to prove that you're 18 or older, which means you must present identification, which is recorded with the workstation you use and subsequently the IP address and time in which you used it.
For home access in larger cities like Shanghai, adsl is the way to go, and you purchase time, and you get a static IP. Also traceable to you.
I was in China for a couple of weeks immediately following the recent Tibet fracas (which is quite perplexing if you listen to all 3 sides of the discussion).
Based on my personal observation, The "Great Firewall" isn't so much a firewall (which in my eyes connotes address/port blocking) but it's more the corporate content filter. Too many keywords and your transmission gets squelched.
Example: The first day I tried to use myspace.com and I couldn't get a single word to load. The next day, Myspace would load, I could log in, but when I selected the option to update my personal Blog, I got half a page of unrendered HTML code. I didn't even bother after that.
I can't really say the same thing for drums or singing. On a side note, has anyone actually used the microphone yet, and is it really lame?
As an owner of Rock Band, and an "actual" guitar player, I would add the guitar playing also teaches some fundamental strumming techniques as well. You learn to strum both down and up to reduce muscle fatique, and play faster.
For drumming, I'd say the sticks that come with the game are "ok", I replaced mine with some vinyl-tipped ones that I got for my standalone snare many years ago. They're bouncier.
In addition to the syncopation learned from the snare and hat/cymbal work, the drum kit has a bass kick pedal, and this helps would-be drummers gain limb independence (arms do one thing, right-foot does other stuff) and at "Expert" stage, you should be able to transfer what you learn in Rock Band to a real drum kit (not accounting for hi-hats).
To wit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ9XLiMfBRo&feature=user/ This guy uses some pretty cool video techniques to show both himself & the video from the game. He'll occasionally fade the game audio out to demonstrate what HE hears.
If you watch some of this users other videos, you can see what kind of work he has done researching the quality/effectivness of the Rockband drum kits. (Some models are better than others).
Also, the microphone is quite heavy for it's size and feels very nice. It's USB, and also doubles as the cowbell. (And you get to use it during Don't Fear The Reaper)
My point was that, for a time at least, the cheapest option in Blu-Ray players was to get the PO^HS3. They should have just made a cheap Blu-Ray player to get them out the door, instead of people thinking "I'll buy *this* as my Blu-Ray player and maybe some day I'll buy some games.
HD-DVD players are already region free. No hack to wait for.
Duly noted.
*My* confusion comes from the fact that when the film was released, the Best Buy I frequent (West County, St. Louis, MO) had both the standard DVD and HD-DVD's on an island/shelf with the DVD on one side and the HD-DVD combo disc on the other. I don't have a Blu-Ray player so I didn't even bother to look in the Blu-Ray section.
This could be an accident. (The island only had two sides) or intentional. The HD-DVD section is closer to the front of the store than the Blu-Ray (which is on the same rack), however, the island of discs was staged between the movie section and the big-screen televisions.
I do not WANT to beleive there is implicit collusion between the studios/retailers to push one format over another. However, it would be foolish to think that retailers are not tired of the format competition themselves.
The adoption problems are manifold:
1.) 16:9 widescreen displays are still not pervasive enough to warrant upgrades. (This will change in 2009 after analog broadcast is dead) (My 60 year old mom hates "those black bars" on the top and bottom of the 4:3 display - she's gonna freak when there are "those grey bars" on the sides!)
2.) Cost. Retailers are dumping fairly recent DVD's for as little as $5.00 per disc. HD-DVD & Blu-Ray are easily 6-7 times that.
3.) Format confusion. Blu-Ray is being marketed as "Blu-Ray HiDef" and HD-DVD's are also marketed as "HiDef" i.e. "Harry Potter & The Order of the Phoenix - on DVD and HiDef" (There isn't a Blu-Ray version available yet).
4.) HD-DVD has combo discs (i.e.: Harry Potter, above) that will work on current DVD players as well as HD players - this allows the consumer to continue to add to their library of movies, while defraying the cost of hardware upgrade into the future. Blu-Ray forces you into expensive gear NOW in order to watch the film you've just bought.
Some advice:
Until this shit gets sorted out, the people who currently have large libraries (i'm thinking 200+ DVD's) are not going to offload their old movies and upgrade their films to HD-DVD/Blu-Ray. It's time for those "Proof of Purchase" coupon-looking things in most DVD packages to be useful. Furthermore, If Sony wants to sell more BRD players they need to cut their costs in half and stop trying to bundle their PS3 console with the player. Not everybody wants to play video games. Microsoft hedged their bets and made the HD-DVD an add-on component, which, though not very attractive inside the t.v. cabinet, provides function for VERY low cost. (I got mine + Heroes Season 1 on HD-DVD for about $180)
Many people did die, but the net result was that some people who already had power got more, and some people that had power lost it (and frequently their lives).
I think you grossly understate things.
I've personally met more than a handful people in China who simply refuse to discuss the Cultural Revolution in any detail at all. They wont even document their experience in writing. It's still too painful for them.
Nope. 404-Not Found.
t ion/) The Chinese government knows this, and freedoms will come, but it's going to take time. Generations. Not weeks.
(Most Chinese people under 30 don't know about the Tianamen Square protests -- Those that do don't really hold the event in high regard, as the student protest leaders are rumored to have had passports/visa's and transportation to get out of the country after the protest was held.)
Americans like the idea of revolution, but when it happens for real, good people die.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_revolu
Who cares. What's really cool is that:
1.) Kym Barret (The Matrix,Reloaded,Revolutions) will be doing the costume design.
2.) John Gaeta (The Matrix, inventor of Bullet Time..) is the visual effects supervisor.
3.) Owen Patterson (The Matrix, etc) is the production designer.
4.) Peter Fernandez (The original American voice of Speed Racer) will have an appearance in the film.
How substantive do you think a movie with a girl who flys a helicopter whilst wearing a mini skirt and go-go boots can be? Don't even get me started on the kid and his pet monkey.
If everything is going to appear two-dimensional I wonder if the actor/background details will be minimised at all. Not really cell-shaded, but something less detailed.
Surely they will follow much of the original Speed Racer construction formula and have lots of close-up shots, re-used footage and the same 4 panels of background speeding by as Speed and Racer X do their thing.
If the story villains don't have polygonal moustaches than I'm not going.
Tandem as a company, yes, is dead.
Compaq bought Tandem, HP bought Compaq.
You can still purchase hardware support for Any "Tandem" that doesn't use switches on the front to boot the system. (yeah, these machines still used punch cards 20 years ago) So... "K-series" is supported and the newer "S-Series" is supported as well. The things still run Guardian(OS) They're still Non-Stop machines. Best of all... (for HP) They're still as expensive as fuck.
FWIW your Bank and your Cable television provider are probably using Tandems/NonStop systems.
From a performance perspective, all I can recommend for the general PC power user is: Raid 1.
Raid 1 will give you a mirrored storage setup, which doubles the number of spindles and heads you have at your disposal, arguably doubling your access and write times. It will guard against hardware failure, but regardless of what you do, NO RAID LEVEL WILL PROTECT YOU FROM STUPIDITY.
For all the fancy-schmancy disk magic that can be done for very little cost these days, which the one thing that many people do not "get" is that nothing else matters but YOUR DATA. Drive capacaties are growing at fantastic rates, which means you now have more data than ever to lose.
Investing in a proper backup solution should be priority-one for users who utilize their computers as a tool for creating, well, anything. Music, art, writing, programming... things that simply cannot be replaced from scratch. We use computers to get these things from our brains to a more communicative medium. It is foolish to expect that the computer will remember all that which you created -- FOREVER.
Ultimately this will come down to how much your wallet can bear. You can begin with using offlined disk-to-disk backups, that is to say, an external hard disk that you use for backups and ONLY for backups. When your backup operation is complete, you switch the thing off and set it aside. A 300gb drive with 8 mb cache can be had for around $80 in some markets. A miniscule investment, considering a drive dies about every 2-3 years depending on use and it will be covered under warranty.
The ability to remove junk data from your archive repository will prove its value after opting for a more expensive solution and find yourself scanning through stolen milk crates filled with DDS3/4, LTO or DLT tapes.
Yes, you can drop A LOT of cash in optical or magnetic media storage systems, but those require deep pockets and good mind that is good with scheduling, logging, tape rotation, and testing backups.
See, she's wearing a helmet. Retards sometimes wear helmets.
Retard Helmet + Wii Controller + You = WIITARDED.