Modding your x-box is not illegal, not even under the DMCA. Installing a mod-chip is not illegal. Posession of a mod-chip is not illegal.
However, DISTRIBUTING a mod-chip may or may not be illegal under the DMCA. The DMCA is aimed squarely at those DISTRIBUTING DEVICES (and products, etc) used primarily to circumvent copy protection. Taking it apart, figuring out how it works, modifying it, etc, is all protected by the DMCA under the blanket of reverse-engineering.
Sheesh people. Quit complaining about the DMCA and go read it. Then come back and complain intelligently.
*Sigh*. You've obviously never used Mac Paint. The mac paint format (and program) only allows for 2 bit color (black and white). Kind've hard to design the *color* Windows 3.1 icons on it.
Not to mention the potential difficulty in transferring the file from a mac to a PC. Macs didn't natively support DOS formatted disks back then, and only a few obscure apps that allowed DOS to read Mac formatted disks. I suppose you could resort to a serial connection or modem and a file transfer protocol. Even then you'd have to convert.mac to.bmp. I think MS probably just gave her PC to use...
I had a roommate who was damned good at FPS's too. Our game of choice at the time was Tribes. We were joking about hitting people with discs mid-air, which we'd both occasionally do, but mostly it was a hail-mary type of shot. Anyway, after joking about it, I proceeded to watch him hit two people, mid air, with 2 successive discs, and kill them both. It was a fluke, and I doubt he ever did it again twice in a row, but I will definitely say it is really hard to tell a really good player from a cheater sometimes.
Hmmm. Looks like a pillow and probably a bed next to that Mac classic. And on the table sits a jar of Vasoline. I suppose you use that to keep the mouse ball in good working condition eh?
Get off your lazy butts, stop reading and posting on slashdot and get your resume out there. I got offered 2 CS internships for this summer, both at a very handsome wage. One was at a previous employer, the other was a result of putting my resume into the hands of an HR person at a career fair at my university. I also had an interview for a third position, but it had to be cancelled when the previous one wanted to offer me a position.
The positions are out there, but you're grades had better be good, and you'd better interview well.
So we had an XT. It was old, and the good, family computer was a spiffy 486. The XT was used for things like a modem, and my brother had it hooked up as a HAM radio packet station. So naturally, there was a handheld 2-meter radio sitting next to the computer, hooked to an antenna on the roof.
Then lightning struck the antenna. Zap. Through the radio, arc'd an inch or so to the outside of the computer case. Left a big 1/2" black mark which looked like a blow torch. Traveled into the computer. Fried the modem, the surge got into the phone line, fried a phone, the modem in the 486's computer, and erased the 486's hard drive. The XT? Well, if I remember, the power light came on, but nothing else happened.
So I scrapped it for parts. The PS and motherboard were propriatary, and didn't work. But the CGA card, I/O card, MFM controller and 20MB hard drive, and 5.25" disk drives all worked fine. The monitor was good too, though it emitted a high pitched whine after that incident. $45 later I had a new motherboard, case, and power supply, and I had that baby up and running. Ran for years after that. Oh, and the data on the 20MB hard drive was fine too.
Before you dig out your soldering iron, try this first. Clean all your cartriges with your favorite cartrige cleaner and some isopropol alcohol. Then take your Nintendo apart, and clean that motherboard connector the same way. Now clean all the pins in that big, strange looking black connector with something flat, slightly abrasive, lint-free, and some more isopropol alcohol. Use some really fine grit sandpaper if you have to.
Now put the whole thing back together and forget about solder. Usually the insides just need to be cleaned, as the copper oxidizes slowly over time.
I turned an almost useless Nintendo into one that worked perfectly in under an hour at no cost.
Also tell them that sending any medical info in unencrypted e-mail is as good as yelling medical info down the block, where anyone in the right place at the right time can listen in. Everyone in the medical industry knows about confidentiality. If they can't keep that same confidentialily in the electronic world, then they need to find a new industry. Whining and bitching because they don't want to learn is not an attitude anyone in the medical industry should be allowed to take, computers or not. It is a fast paced field. Those that linger get left behind.
Something I've said to my roommates (who constantly filled my TiVo with Buffy all last year):
Buffy would be so much better without Buffy. The show is very entertaining, all the characters are interesting and amusing in their own respect. Except Gellar. She is way too annoying to be amusing. Her one-liners seem to sink the show to an unwatchable level of stupidity. Her character is unrealisticly goody-two-shoed, even when she had the "fling" with Spike. If Buffy leaves, I might be inclined to actively watch the show (instead of watching it because my roommates were, and there was nothing else to do). Besides that, Faith could make killing vampires actually look interesting again.
Similarly, Dawson's Creek would be an excellent show, without Dawson...
I've been to several live concerts. The professional ones are done well, and the audio quality is superb. However, at lessor places, the audio quality is bad - the vocals are often too soft, the instruments are not mixed well, feedback happens occasionally, and the overall quality is bad. At those times, I'd rather be listening to a professionally recorded CD, ripped to the compression format of your choice.
Now, if they had an optional hard drive (any Secure Digital hard drives exist yet?), the Kyocera would be very close my ideal PDA/phone/mp3 player.
Maybe they could make one with a Compact Flash slot so I could use one of those IBM CF hard drives...
Mmmm. A gig of mp3's in a cellphone...mmmm...
The old way is probably not the best way
on
Version Fatigue
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· Score: 1
The reason developers/designers change things is generally because the old way sucked. Wordperfect was dramatically changed from all those shortcut keys into a GUI with menus, not to confused users, but to make it more intuitive. Yes, it sucks for those people that learned the old way. But generally UI changes are made so that new users can find things easier. Unix doesn't change much in this way because unix' main focus isn't to make life easy for new users. But in Windows, that is a primary focus of UI design. Make it simple and intuitive, becuase no one reads the manual anyway.
They are the "for Dummies" series of books. Well written by experts in the particular field, and a bit of humor tossed in occasionally. If OEM manuals were like this, the Dummies series would never have existed.
There's one important difference here: CDs were vastly improved quality over cassettes (and arguable, as convenient), and DVDs were vastly improved quality over VHS (and as convenient). Consumers dig quality (and convenience.) That's why those two mediums took off. Laserdiscs? Quality was there, but theyy were too big, not convenient enough.
Digital cameras? Extremely convenient (instant view of pictures), but quality is still less than any decent SLR. Result: They are SLOWLY taking off, as quality comes up.
Digital projectors? Convenient (lower cost of distribution, not as much to break, lower cost to operate, etc), but the quality sucks. A theater manager is not going to be happy the first time he hears "Is that showing in your digital theater? Oh. Do you have a non-digital showing? No? Ok. Nevermind, we'll go down the street to the other, smaller, cheaper theater, cuz pixelation and artifacts drive me insane."
Will it take off? Sure. SLOWLY, as quality comes up.
Consumers have been pounded with the idea that digital = better. But if this illusion is broken too many times, consumers may actually wise-up.
I read your essay. You've been fed a lot of crap by a lot of different people. I will speak for TiVo, since I have had one for more than a year. I can't say anything about Replay.
TiVo has 3 ff speeds, as the TiVo supervisor told you. Why did the other customer service rep tell you differently? Because like all first level CS reps, TiVo's CS reps are stupid.
TiVo also has a 30 sec skip function, but it is activated by a backdoor. The Skip-To-End button acts as a 30 sec skip button if you do the following: Play a recorded program. Hit Select, Play, Select, 3, 0, Select. The TiVo will ding three times if you were successful. Works on TiVo versions 1.3, 2.5, and 3.0. The functionality was disabled in 2.0, but re-enabled in 2.5. No official word from TiVo on why this was done. Your TiVo will automatically upgrade to the latest software version the first time it runs the daily call. 3.0 is about to be rolled out to everyone. Series 2's are at 2.0, about to be upgraded to 3.0 (in just a couple weeks). Series 1's and DirectTiVos are at 2.5. Series 1's will be upgraded when the Series 2's are, DirectTiVos will be upgraded to 3.0 by the end of the summer.
TiVo offers stores a "demo" account for a single demo unit. Thus, they can hook it up, get guide data, and show customers everything that the unit can do. It costs the store nothing. How do I know? Some people have purchased store models, brought them home, and had free service for several months until the store registered a new demo unit.
Best Buy has an exclusive contract with TiVo. So go to Best Buy and demand to use the product in action. Inform them of the demo account above. If that fails, try another store. Or call TiVo and tell them that Best Buy refused to show you the product in action. TiVo has lots to lose from Best Buy failing to do their part. If all else fails, get on www.tivocommunity.com and post in the Coffee House that you'd like to see a demo. I imagine there is someone in your area that would welcome you into their home to show you their TiVo.
Service: You've got the terms of service right. TiVo would not sunset the TiVos (even the series 1's) for a very long time. To do so would piss off every TiVo owner in existance, and most of own the "old" series 1's. TiVo has generally done things properly, informing us ahead of time when service agreements will change, etc. As a result, they have a strong community supporting them. To lose this community would be death to TiVo. Also, a representive of TiVo has stated that in the event of the company failing, they have "provisions" to make sure guide data is still available through another company. It may cost more, but those of us with lifetime subscriptions have little to worry about.
Service for a year: I've had my TiVo for over a year, with never an interruption in service. I don't see that changing anytime soon.
Get on www.tivocommunity.com if you have any more questions. You can send me a personal message there, if you'd like.
Maybe I'll start my own hacking contest. I give the winner a billion dollars. I'll setup 2 computers, one connected to the 'net, completely open and unpatched. It'll physically sit on top of the "secure" box, which won't be connected, or even turned on. When the "winner" tries to claim his prize, I'll simply state that he hacked the "decoy", and the real server was untouched. Sounds about as fair as this one.
This might've been true a few years ago, but the necessary filters for blocking cable and allowing data through are quite prevaliant. Before I had my cable modem installed a year ago, there was cable (looked like extended basic) active in my apartment, probably left over from the previous tenants. When they were done installing the cable modem, analog cable was completely gone, thanks to a big fat filter sitting in the cable box outside my house. My roommate watched the guy install it.
I didn't think they could filter it out either, but it turns out they can, so I end up paying around $100 a month for cable modem + extended basic.
Maybe in some areas the cable companies don't use these filters (I imagine they are quite expensive, as they have to be very precise not to mess with the data connection). That's their problem though.
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Modding your x-box is not illegal, not even under the DMCA. Installing a mod-chip is not illegal. Posession of a mod-chip is not illegal.
However, DISTRIBUTING a mod-chip may or may not be illegal under the DMCA. The DMCA is aimed squarely at those DISTRIBUTING DEVICES (and products, etc) used primarily to circumvent copy protection. Taking it apart, figuring out how it works, modifying it, etc, is all protected by the DMCA under the blanket of reverse-engineering.
Sheesh people. Quit complaining about the DMCA and go read it. Then come back and complain intelligently.
You can have my TiVo..when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
If ClearChannel owns all the radio stations in an area, but no one listens to any of them, do they really use any bandwidth?
*Sigh*. You've obviously never used Mac Paint. The mac paint format (and program) only allows for 2 bit color (black and white). Kind've hard to design the *color* Windows 3.1 icons on it.
.mac to .bmp. I think MS probably just gave her PC to use...
Not to mention the potential difficulty in transferring the file from a mac to a PC. Macs didn't natively support DOS formatted disks back then, and only a few obscure apps that allowed DOS to read Mac formatted disks. I suppose you could resort to a serial connection or modem and a file transfer protocol. Even then you'd have to convert
And somewhere else, around the same time, someone was "designing" the sendmail configuration file.
I had a roommate who was damned good at FPS's too. Our game of choice at the time was Tribes. We were joking about hitting people with discs mid-air, which we'd both occasionally do, but mostly it was a hail-mary type of shot. Anyway, after joking about it, I proceeded to watch him hit two people, mid air, with 2 successive discs, and kill them both. It was a fluke, and I doubt he ever did it again twice in a row, but I will definitely say it is really hard to tell a really good player from a cheater sometimes.
Hmmm. Looks like a pillow and probably a bed next to that Mac classic. And on the table sits a jar of Vasoline. I suppose you use that to keep the mouse ball in good working condition eh?
Get off your lazy butts, stop reading and posting on slashdot and get your resume out there. I got offered 2 CS internships for this summer, both at a very handsome wage. One was at a previous employer, the other was a result of putting my resume into the hands of an HR person at a career fair at my university. I also had an interview for a third position, but it had to be cancelled when the previous one wanted to offer me a position.
The positions are out there, but you're grades had better be good, and you'd better interview well.
So we had an XT. It was old, and the good, family computer was a spiffy 486. The XT was used for things like a modem, and my brother had it hooked up as a HAM radio packet station. So naturally, there was a handheld 2-meter radio sitting next to the computer, hooked to an antenna on the roof.
Then lightning struck the antenna. Zap. Through the radio, arc'd an inch or so to the outside of the computer case. Left a big 1/2" black mark which looked like a blow torch. Traveled into the computer. Fried the modem, the surge got into the phone line, fried a phone, the modem in the 486's computer, and erased the 486's hard drive. The XT? Well, if I remember, the power light came on, but nothing else happened.
So I scrapped it for parts. The PS and motherboard were propriatary, and didn't work. But the CGA card, I/O card, MFM controller and 20MB hard drive, and 5.25" disk drives all worked fine. The monitor was good too, though it emitted a high pitched whine after that incident. $45 later I had a new motherboard, case, and power supply, and I had that baby up and running. Ran for years after that. Oh, and the data on the 20MB hard drive was fine too.
Before you dig out your soldering iron, try this first. Clean all your cartriges with your favorite cartrige cleaner and some isopropol alcohol. Then take your Nintendo apart, and clean that motherboard connector the same way. Now clean all the pins in that big, strange looking black connector with something flat, slightly abrasive, lint-free, and some more isopropol alcohol. Use some really fine grit sandpaper if you have to.
Now put the whole thing back together and forget about solder. Usually the insides just need to be cleaned, as the copper oxidizes slowly over time.
I turned an almost useless Nintendo into one that worked perfectly in under an hour at no cost.
The distinct difference here is that SPAM (from both sides) is entirely legal. Annoying, but legal.
The RIAA was proposing to be judge, jury, and executioner for an act which is illegal: distributing copyrighted material.
This is just a lovely taste of his own (legal) medicine, there's bypassing of the judge and jury in this case, because what he's doing is legal.
Also tell them that sending any medical info in unencrypted e-mail is as good as yelling medical info down the block, where anyone in the right place at the right time can listen in. Everyone in the medical industry knows about confidentiality. If they can't keep that same confidentialily in the electronic world, then they need to find a new industry. Whining and bitching because they don't want to learn is not an attitude anyone in the medical industry should be allowed to take, computers or not. It is a fast paced field. Those that linger get left behind.
We refer to this as the BLPD ratio. Blinking Lights Per Dollar. There have been some switches and hubs out there with a very good BLPD.
Something I've said to my roommates (who constantly filled my TiVo with Buffy all last year):
Buffy would be so much better without Buffy. The show is very entertaining, all the characters are interesting and amusing in their own respect. Except Gellar. She is way too annoying to be amusing. Her one-liners seem to sink the show to an unwatchable level of stupidity. Her character is unrealisticly goody-two-shoed, even when she had the "fling" with Spike. If Buffy leaves, I might be inclined to actively watch the show (instead of watching it because my roommates were, and there was nothing else to do). Besides that, Faith could make killing vampires actually look interesting again.
Similarly, Dawson's Creek would be an excellent show, without Dawson...
I've been to several live concerts. The professional ones are done well, and the audio quality is superb. However, at lessor places, the audio quality is bad - the vocals are often too soft, the instruments are not mixed well, feedback happens occasionally, and the overall quality is bad. At those times, I'd rather be listening to a professionally recorded CD, ripped to the compression format of your choice.
Now, if they had an optional hard drive (any Secure Digital hard drives exist yet?), the Kyocera would be very close my ideal PDA/phone/mp3 player.
Maybe they could make one with a Compact Flash slot so I could use one of those IBM CF hard drives...
Mmmm. A gig of mp3's in a cellphone...mmmm...
The reason developers/designers change things is generally because the old way sucked. Wordperfect was dramatically changed from all those shortcut keys into a GUI with menus, not to confused users, but to make it more intuitive. Yes, it sucks for those people that learned the old way. But generally UI changes are made so that new users can find things easier. Unix doesn't change much in this way because unix' main focus isn't to make life easy for new users. But in Windows, that is a primary focus of UI design. Make it simple and intuitive, becuase no one reads the manual anyway.
132 stereo frames per second, which could be very useful in security systems
The local video store puts all its p0rn under the "documentary" category. Has the codename been changed, and no one told me?
They are the "for Dummies" series of books. Well written by experts in the particular field, and a bit of humor tossed in occasionally. If OEM manuals were like this, the Dummies series would never have existed.
No, I think a standard install of RedHat 6.2 will do just fine.
There's one important difference here:
CDs were vastly improved quality over cassettes (and arguable, as convenient), and DVDs were vastly improved quality over VHS (and as convenient). Consumers dig quality (and convenience.) That's why those two mediums took off. Laserdiscs? Quality was there, but theyy were too big, not convenient enough.
Digital cameras? Extremely convenient (instant view of pictures), but quality is still less than any decent SLR. Result: They are SLOWLY taking off, as quality comes up.
Digital projectors? Convenient (lower cost of distribution, not as much to break, lower cost to operate, etc), but the quality sucks. A theater manager is not going to be happy the first time he hears "Is that showing in your digital theater? Oh. Do you have a non-digital showing? No? Ok. Nevermind, we'll go down the street to the other, smaller, cheaper theater, cuz pixelation and artifacts drive me insane."
Will it take off? Sure. SLOWLY, as quality comes up.
Consumers have been pounded with the idea that digital = better. But if this illusion is broken too many times, consumers may actually wise-up.
I didn't know they don't do store accounts anymore. That's truely unfortunate.
I would suggest posting in the Coffee House forum on www.tivocommunity.com and see if there's anyone in your area that would help you.
I read your essay. You've been fed a lot of crap by a lot of different people. I will speak for TiVo, since I have had one for more than a year. I can't say anything about Replay.
TiVo has 3 ff speeds, as the TiVo supervisor told you. Why did the other customer service rep tell you differently? Because like all first level CS reps, TiVo's CS reps are stupid.
TiVo also has a 30 sec skip function, but it is activated by a backdoor. The Skip-To-End button acts as a 30 sec skip button if you do the following: Play a recorded program. Hit Select, Play, Select, 3, 0, Select. The TiVo will ding three times if you were successful. Works on TiVo versions 1.3, 2.5, and 3.0. The functionality was disabled in 2.0, but re-enabled in 2.5. No official word from TiVo on why this was done. Your TiVo will automatically upgrade to the latest software version the first time it runs the daily call. 3.0 is about to be rolled out to everyone. Series 2's are at 2.0, about to be upgraded to 3.0 (in just a couple weeks). Series 1's and DirectTiVos are at 2.5. Series 1's will be upgraded when the Series 2's are, DirectTiVos will be upgraded to 3.0 by the end of the summer.
TiVo offers stores a "demo" account for a single demo unit. Thus, they can hook it up, get guide data, and show customers everything that the unit can do. It costs the store nothing. How do I know? Some people have purchased store models, brought them home, and had free service for several months until the store registered a new demo unit.
Best Buy has an exclusive contract with TiVo. So go to Best Buy and demand to use the product in action. Inform them of the demo account above. If that fails, try another store. Or call TiVo and tell them that Best Buy refused to show you the product in action. TiVo has lots to lose from Best Buy failing to do their part. If all else fails, get on www.tivocommunity.com and post in the Coffee House that you'd like to see a demo. I imagine there is someone in your area that would welcome you into their home to show you their TiVo.
Service: You've got the terms of service right. TiVo would not sunset the TiVos (even the series 1's) for a very long time. To do so would piss off every TiVo owner in existance, and most of own the "old" series 1's. TiVo has generally done things properly, informing us ahead of time when service agreements will change, etc. As a result, they have a strong community supporting them. To lose this community would be death to TiVo. Also, a representive of TiVo has stated that in the event of the company failing, they have "provisions" to make sure guide data is still available through another company. It may cost more, but those of us with lifetime subscriptions have little to worry about.
Service for a year: I've had my TiVo for over a year, with never an interruption in service. I don't see that changing anytime soon.
Get on www.tivocommunity.com if you have any more questions. You can send me a personal message there, if you'd like.
Maybe I'll start my own hacking contest. I give the winner a billion dollars. I'll setup 2 computers, one connected to the 'net, completely open and unpatched. It'll physically sit on top of the "secure" box, which won't be connected, or even turned on. When the "winner" tries to claim his prize, I'll simply state that he hacked the "decoy", and the real server was untouched. Sounds about as fair as this one.
This might've been true a few years ago, but the necessary filters for blocking cable and allowing data through are quite prevaliant. Before I had my cable modem installed a year ago, there was cable (looked like extended basic) active in my apartment, probably left over from the previous tenants. When they were done installing the cable modem, analog cable was completely gone, thanks to a big fat filter sitting in the cable box outside my house. My roommate watched the guy install it.
I didn't think they could filter it out either, but it turns out they can, so I end up paying around $100 a month for cable modem + extended basic.
Maybe in some areas the cable companies don't use these filters (I imagine they are quite expensive, as they have to be very precise not to mess with the data connection). That's their problem though.