Gotta be honest here, I personally agree, but that's not necessarily going to happen. I've downloaded music from iTunes, iTunes Plus (the DRM-free iTunes) and Amazon's MP3 service. The iTP and Amazon stuff is freely redistributable, and while I don't know about the Amazon stuff, I know the iTP stuff does have my user account info (nothing security sensitive, just enough to point the finger at me) in the AAC file. But it's not hard to strip that stuff out.
There was a big hoopla when a user discovered their Apple ID was stored in the M4A file, and all of a sudden there was this big paranoia trip over security and privacy issues. To me, this isn't much of a bigger issue than a hardware manufacturer linking a serial number to your credit card/user account, or writing your name on something with a Sharpie. Having that opinion, I didn't bother striping the information from my iTP file, but as far as I'm aware, my MP3 from Amazon doesn't have that. Even in that situation, with a 256 KbPS VBR MP3 copy of the file, complete with album art and metadata, I haven't copied the file anywhere. Even moreso, I don't feel like sharing it. Same goes for my copy of OS X. I bought Leopard and Tiger, and in both cases, I felt that I shouldn't pirate it, and I didn't feel any pressure to share it (despite friends asking to borrow my disc for an upgrade, I didn't quite feel right about it). But that doesn't mean that people don't share iTP files, or Amazon MP3s, or copies of OS X.
I love the idea, but in practice, it's too easily beaten. The only way you're getting around it is to embed the data directly into the stream. With an audio file, you could easily just plant the stuff into a frequency range outside human hearing, but a simple filter would remove it. With video, you'd have to burn it into the video or audio stream (audio stream's problems already discussed). If you put it in the video, it'd likely be visible, which would ruin the viewing experience, or in some transparent layer, or possibly hidden in visual details that must be filtered to remove it (maybe using a 32-bit colorspace?). But simple transcoding would ruin that.
With those holes in your solutions, the ever controlling MPAA will never back it. The RIAA is starting to lose the fight (look at iTunes Plus, Amazon's DRM-free music store, Radiohead, and everyone else going DRM-free or independent), but it's a bit harder to break the MPAA mold. The business world seems to think that just because you add pictures to sound, it's a whole new ball game. In my eyes, it's just another way to experience a creative vision.
I can see so many college WoW players crying out in pain as their campus Internet connections go haywire, and their precious link to Azeroth/Outlands is severed (or has a 2+ second delay tacked on)!
OK, but pray tell when will I get my digital SD over the cable lines from my cable company without them crippling my available channels? Or without having to shell out more money for an ASTC tuner, or for an HD cable box/Firewire card combo?
Besides, the amount of data in EIT is insufficient for the kind of advanced planning Myth users (such as I) are accustomed to, or is required for best operation. I mean, if I wanted to make sure I got my episode of Battlestar Galactica recorded, I would have to check my listings the day it airs. This would be a problem if I was out of town that day (like, oh, say, at my friend's, staying the weekend). That aside, let's say it's between the new BSG and a South Park I haven't seen, and desperately want to see. Well, I'd cancel the SP recording in favor of BSG. What's that? Two days later the BSG episode is replayed, but the SP episode isn't. What's worse is that MythTV is programmed to make those kinds of decisions itself, and without a lot of future data to look at, it can't make those kinds of automated decisions.
That reduces users to checking their weekly TV listings and manually programming their Myth boxes with priorities for each individual episode, and for recordings it doesn't have a clue about. I remember doing that with a different kind of device. It was called a VCR. Essentially it kills the entire concept of a PVR, which is supposed to be an intelligent system that acquires schedule information and then figures out which shows to record, when, on what channel, and in the event of a conflict, resolve it (preferably with a resolution that records both shows, but if not, the show of higher priority).
I don't mean to sound crass or mean or anything, but until you've used a MythTV system, you don't realize how important it is to have data that goes out a week or two weeks in advance. 24 hours just isn't going to cut it.
Figures. Just when I thought I'd be able to return from summer vacation, and plug in my Myth box at my home for school, tweak the network configuration and let the machine go on its automated little way, I'm going to have to upgrade it (this means a whole new version of MythTV for my back-end AND my front-end) and reconfigure it.:\
That's a different story. First, there's no protection to privacy in your e-mail. Second, e-mail is intended to be a person-to-person type of connection. You know who the person on the other end is. This is different from BitTorrent or other P2P networks where your client essentially shouts across a publicly accessible network "I have this file, come get it from me!" It's like walking out into a crowded area and shouting "come get these stolen [insert item here] from me!" over and over again and not expect someone with authority to overhear you.
Besides, if you care about your e-mail security so much, just encrypt it with PGP. That's what I do, and it's pretty good;)
But what about the bazillion of us who don't have HD, and don't have enough money or time to upgrade to HD? We're kind of out of luck. I mean, there are some on-air TV stuff (like built-in-TV TVGuide stuff), but those work really poorly. Someone is probably going to create a scraper for some other guide site, like the TV Guide website or something.
I'll use WPA when all my devices support it. Granted, I'm not leaving my access point to be unencrypted, but I'm using WEP. I'm a technologically aware guy, I know that WEP can be cracked. But here's my story:
I have a PSP, and I love using it as a web tablet. It supports WPA, but it doesn't support WPA2, WPA Enterprise, or WPA2 Enterprise. The Nintendo DS doesn't even support WPA, and I like my online Tetris. I have an old laptop I use for StarCraft LAN parties, it's USB WiFi device has trouble with WPA. Many portable devices don't support the latest WPA cyphers, or even the RADIUS-enabled WAPs.
So, technologically aware guys aren't going to use an encryption cypher that their devices don't support. I'm already kinda unhappy with my school for using WPA Enterprise, which means the only device I can use on their WiFi network is my laptop, and I'm actively trying to hunt down a PDA or smart-phone that supports WPA Enterprise so that I could get online without having to whip out my laptop and wake it up. Likewise, manufacturers aren't going to force people to use encryption that won't work with their other devices.
Actually, this feature is already in use, and has received major upgrades since firmware 1.00 on the PS3 (now at 1.80) and 3.00 on the PSP (now at 3.50). Originally, the Location Free Player would allow people to placeshift in their own home, provided they owned a LocationFree Base Station. Then there was Remote Play, which did the same thing, except for your PS3. Anything that could be done on the PS3 could be remotely done with your PSP. Then PS3 Firmware 1.80 came out and gave the PS3 DLNA functionalities. PSP firmware 3.50 came out, and allowed Advanced Remote Play, which is basically Remote Play over the Internet. So, if it's on your PS3, you can placeshift it anywhere that has a WiFi access point. This includes videos on the hard disk, videos on the network, pictures, web browser, even BD-ROM and games, I think. That sounds pretty unrestricted, especially at PSP native resolution (480x272) in color.
Wow. I don't normally say this, but that has to be one of the DUMBEST comments I've ever read in my entire life, and I read QuickJump!
You know how ambulances have those twirly lighty things on the top (you know, emergency flashers)? And they have those loud noisy things (emergency klaxons), the kind loud enough to overpower your average car stereo from a good distance away? They exist to WARN people to GET OUT OF THE WAY OR YOU'RE GOING TO BE HIT BY A RATHER MASSIVE VEHICLE MOVING AT HIGH SPEEDS.
Further more, all emergency vehicles have these flashers and klaxons. The light color is used to signify what kind of priority this vehicle has (though your average motorist hasn't a clue). Also, these vehicles have strobe lights on them to trigger certain events at stop lights. They activate a bright white light and turn the other light (the one perpendicular to the vehicle) to red.
The guys who design these vehicles aren't nitwits. They know that they could cause more damage than most other cars on the road (except 18-wheelers). All these lights and sounds are in place to prevent this. So, yeah, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that more people are saved in ambulances than are killed by them. Besides, what gives me the right to make my left hand turn RIGHT NOW, and make somebody's (sibling/parent/child/grandchild/grandparent/signi ficant other/friend/complete stranger) have to wait to get to the hospital to save their life? I'll pull off to the side of the road, turn off the car, get out, and sit on the sidewalk to let an ambulance past. Unless you're in an emergency vehicle, NOBODY has any reason that they need to be that impatient. If you're late to something, that's your own fault. If you disagree, wait until it's your (sibling/parent/child/grandchild/grandparent/signi ficant other/friend) in the back of that ambulance, and then tell me how you feel.
An excellent point, I think. However, this one could work both ways. Since, inferring from your information, not many HD sets are officially HDCP Compliant (handshake failure counts and non-compliant), and certain discs or devices will require HDCP, consumers will notice something's wrong when their $40 HD-DVD/BluRay is lower quality than the Free OTA broadcasts (or the infernal thing doesn't work at all). Many disgruntaled users will complain and be told to buy a new HDTV. Since HDTVs aren't exactly a dime-a-dozen (unlike DVDs and DVD players), it's likely people will revolt. This will lead to one of a few different outcomes, in my opinion.
First
Fed up, consumers will abandon HD-DVD/BluRay and go with DVDs which JustWork(TM). HD-DVD and BluRay will become a niche format with videophiles, in a similar way to vinyl; and collectors, similarly to LaserDisc. Seems likely to me.
Second
Someone will come up with an HDCP spoofer or stripper, kind of like the de-Macrovisioning boxes, and that will become common place. HDCP will collapse, and HDCP-free discs and players will take over. Highly unlikely for quite a few years, and by then this will be resolved.
Third
Afraid of losing their angry and riotous customers (IE: their bread and butter), HDCP is abandoned, either completely (like most kinds of CD-based DRM) or for a "better" encryption method (kind of like ARCCoS). This could happen, but I'm not too sure if consumers will pay to be disappointed.
I'm not saying these are the only outcomes, but given what I know (and I don't know a whole ton, admittedly) these seem most likely. Feel free to revise my theories.
Mac OS X: Cmd+Option+Esc brings up our "Force Quit" window. It doesn't allow us to reset the OS, but it does give us a nifty shortcut to kill any crashed programs. Did I mention the entire combo can be hit with one hand?
Beeb content has been showing up on Google Video for a while now, mostly because Google Video doesn't impose a 10 minute limit. And I personally like it because Google lets me download things for my iPod and PSP, which is especially nice when my laptop is doing some heavy lifting stuff. Hopefully Google will at least drag those features into YouTube.
Not really. Create a database of natural items like "apple" and "pear" and "banana" and have it contain the average readings. Then when these readings come up, list the possible objects it could be.
At home, I'd be more than happy for a Port80/Port110 prioritized connection, with other ports reduced in speed or performance. Sure, videos come over Port80, but the vast majority of cable users in my neighborhood are downloading torrentz and other similar protocols.
Wow, how ignorant. You do realize that there are lots of legitimate uses for Torrent, right? Ubuntu and Debian use it to distribute disc images, there's a guy who has pre-fabricated MythTV+Xebian Disk Images for XBox, Blizzard uses Torrent to distribute their software patches and even all of World of Warcraft. Throw in that the creator of BitTorrent has signed a few deals, and all of a sudden, this is an entirely different game. Then there's the problem of impacting net-based delivery concepts, such as NetFlix's proposed Video-On-Demand service, and
I don't see a reason why everyone should pay the same price for different service. Sure, the telecom industry is scared of Net Neutrality because they WANT to ban Skype and VoIP, but that is why the FCC needs to back off on over-regulating the opportunity for competitors to enter the market. There is a huge opportunity for more wireless providers and more people bringing FTTH or other options.
Wait, hold up. So you're saying that ISPs should be free to ban VoIP from their networks? You're saying that's over-regulated? Well, I'm sorry, but I beg to differ. If Telcos are scared of VoIP, then they should try and compete with them, instead of banning them outright. It's like some kid who plays a certain game coming over to my house and beating me at a game. Instead of kicking him out and never letting him come back, I should either learn to play the game better, or concede that I cannot play the game.
My point is i'm sure microsoft provides links to drivers which it takes the time to test for compatability, but one can not expect them to cover everything, esp not this soon into the release.
Even if they did, the drivers microsoft reccomends are not always the best.
Funny, because I remember people mentioning that Apple had plenty of time to test iTunes to make sure it worked with Vista. So, if that's true, why hasn't Microsoft had time to test drivers?
And isn't it the manufacturer's job to provide drivers? If drivers aren't available through first party channels, why is the OEM even selling a machine where the hardware isn't supported by the software provided?
Well two things. First, that was to illustrate that fingerprint readers are NOT infallible. I'm assuming the non-optical sensor is the kind where you swipe your finger. This is an honest question, now: if it's not optical, how DOES it read the finger prints?
Been MythBusted. Adam and Jamie tried a few different methods of breaking the security on a super-high end finger print door lock, including trying to covertly acquire the fingerprint that unlocks it. They managed to fool a high and low end finger print scanner with a warmed ballistics gel finger, and even managed to fool the high end scanner with a photo copy of the finger print, on licked paper, pressed down with a real finger. The high end scanner had the technology you're talking about, yet it was still beaten.
Let me know when we get retinal scanners.
Yes, but did.NET frameworks, XNA or Managed Code exist when MS ported NT to PPC? And don't all programs have to be ported to XNA,.NET or use Managed Code to function in that environment? Hmm, starting to sound more and more like the OS X Classic/Carbon/Cocoa situation (Just swap XNA,.NET or MC for Universal Binary).
Wal*Mart can't even match Google. Google sells videos, mind you you can only watch them in the browser window (I think) and they support IE and FireFox and Safari and Opera (last I checked). They even have stuff you'll never find at Wal*Mart like Plan 9 From Outer Space or D.O.A. (both worth watching, even if just for the hilarity of Ed Wood). Google even plays both sides of the game and supports two competing devices (iPod and PSP). True, if you don't download for those devices, you have to use Google's Video Player, but that just downloads a GVI file which is essentially an AVI file (easy enough to fix).
You aren't "smart" if you're a good doctor, but a bad driver, or a good mechanic, but a lousy brain surgeon.
I dunno. I'd be sort of wary of having brain surgery done on me by a Mechanic. Besides, don't people say Einstein was smart? Or Hawking is smart? Somehow I doubt either of them could/can perform brain surgery (physical issues such as disease or death aside, I'm speaking purely from a training point of view). That doesn't make them any less smart. But I do agree that this guy is sounding kind of stupid.
Have you ever programmed for Windows before in your life? MS goes way out of their way to ensure that legacy API work as expected, to the detrement of the OS itself. Only in recent times have they made consessions of breaking API where security is required.
I'll admit, I've never programmed for Windows. However, MS's compatibility layers don't always work as expected. Consider all the problems people had with their software once XP Service Pack 2 came out. Besides, it's not like the iPod is the only MP3 Player not working with Vista...
Apple, on the other hand, wholesale changed their platform in every conceivable fashion. For MacOSX you had to port to Carbon if you wanted to ensure that your apps would work, otherwise it would run in emulation, and that emulator would only handle PowerPC. This means that at the time that MacOSX was launched Apple officially obsoleted every program written six years earlier for the Motorola chipsets.
On Vista I can run software written for DOS/Windows in the mid 80s, without even a recompile. How much software can you claim to run on your Mac in the same way? I fucking thought so.
Ahh, but as you said: Apple changed their platform twice. And each time, it was a great improvement. 68k was pushed to the limits, and PowerPC had hit a wall. x86 really wasn't making great strides in improvements until recently, all they did was increase the clock speed. I'd like to see Windows maintain compatibility when it changes architectures. Remember Windows NT for PowerPC? Did all of the previous non-MS software work on it?
If Microsoft has one major failing it is that they have accumulated such a massive amount of legacy support that it has turned the API into a tangled mess.
Agreed. They really need to draw the line at some point. In my opinion, they should drop support for all things prior to WinXP in Vista (or the next OS), and do backwards compatibility in a sandbox, kind of how OS X requires Classic Mode to function with pre-OS 9 software (Yeah, yeah, I know: OS 9 doesn't work on the Intel Macs)
Apple has shortcomings, and so does Microsoft. Leave it at that.
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It's free for OS X. It ran alright on my four-and-a-half year old iBook G4 too.
Gotta be honest here, I personally agree, but that's not necessarily going to happen. I've downloaded music from iTunes, iTunes Plus (the DRM-free iTunes) and Amazon's MP3 service. The iTP and Amazon stuff is freely redistributable, and while I don't know about the Amazon stuff, I know the iTP stuff does have my user account info (nothing security sensitive, just enough to point the finger at me) in the AAC file. But it's not hard to strip that stuff out.
There was a big hoopla when a user discovered their Apple ID was stored in the M4A file, and all of a sudden there was this big paranoia trip over security and privacy issues. To me, this isn't much of a bigger issue than a hardware manufacturer linking a serial number to your credit card/user account, or writing your name on something with a Sharpie. Having that opinion, I didn't bother striping the information from my iTP file, but as far as I'm aware, my MP3 from Amazon doesn't have that. Even in that situation, with a 256 KbPS VBR MP3 copy of the file, complete with album art and metadata, I haven't copied the file anywhere. Even moreso, I don't feel like sharing it. Same goes for my copy of OS X. I bought Leopard and Tiger, and in both cases, I felt that I shouldn't pirate it, and I didn't feel any pressure to share it (despite friends asking to borrow my disc for an upgrade, I didn't quite feel right about it). But that doesn't mean that people don't share iTP files, or Amazon MP3s, or copies of OS X.
I love the idea, but in practice, it's too easily beaten. The only way you're getting around it is to embed the data directly into the stream. With an audio file, you could easily just plant the stuff into a frequency range outside human hearing, but a simple filter would remove it. With video, you'd have to burn it into the video or audio stream (audio stream's problems already discussed). If you put it in the video, it'd likely be visible, which would ruin the viewing experience, or in some transparent layer, or possibly hidden in visual details that must be filtered to remove it (maybe using a 32-bit colorspace?). But simple transcoding would ruin that.
With those holes in your solutions, the ever controlling MPAA will never back it. The RIAA is starting to lose the fight (look at iTunes Plus, Amazon's DRM-free music store, Radiohead, and everyone else going DRM-free or independent), but it's a bit harder to break the MPAA mold. The business world seems to think that just because you add pictures to sound, it's a whole new ball game. In my eyes, it's just another way to experience a creative vision.
I can see so many college WoW players crying out in pain as their campus Internet connections go haywire, and their precious link to Azeroth/Outlands is severed (or has a 2+ second delay tacked on)!
OK, but pray tell when will I get my digital SD over the cable lines from my cable company without them crippling my available channels? Or without having to shell out more money for an ASTC tuner, or for an HD cable box/Firewire card combo?
:\
Besides, the amount of data in EIT is insufficient for the kind of advanced planning Myth users (such as I) are accustomed to, or is required for best operation. I mean, if I wanted to make sure I got my episode of Battlestar Galactica recorded, I would have to check my listings the day it airs. This would be a problem if I was out of town that day (like, oh, say, at my friend's, staying the weekend). That aside, let's say it's between the new BSG and a South Park I haven't seen, and desperately want to see. Well, I'd cancel the SP recording in favor of BSG. What's that? Two days later the BSG episode is replayed, but the SP episode isn't. What's worse is that MythTV is programmed to make those kinds of decisions itself, and without a lot of future data to look at, it can't make those kinds of automated decisions.
That reduces users to checking their weekly TV listings and manually programming their Myth boxes with priorities for each individual episode, and for recordings it doesn't have a clue about. I remember doing that with a different kind of device. It was called a VCR. Essentially it kills the entire concept of a PVR, which is supposed to be an intelligent system that acquires schedule information and then figures out which shows to record, when, on what channel, and in the event of a conflict, resolve it (preferably with a resolution that records both shows, but if not, the show of higher priority).
I don't mean to sound crass or mean or anything, but until you've used a MythTV system, you don't realize how important it is to have data that goes out a week or two weeks in advance. 24 hours just isn't going to cut it.
Figures. Just when I thought I'd be able to return from summer vacation, and plug in my Myth box at my home for school, tweak the network configuration and let the machine go on its automated little way, I'm going to have to upgrade it (this means a whole new version of MythTV for my back-end AND my front-end) and reconfigure it.
Besides, if you care about your e-mail security so much, just encrypt it with PGP. That's what I do, and it's pretty good ;)
But what about the bazillion of us who don't have HD, and don't have enough money or time to upgrade to HD? We're kind of out of luck. I mean, there are some on-air TV stuff (like built-in-TV TVGuide stuff), but those work really poorly. Someone is probably going to create a scraper for some other guide site, like the TV Guide website or something.
I have a PSP, and I love using it as a web tablet. It supports WPA, but it doesn't support WPA2, WPA Enterprise, or WPA2 Enterprise. The Nintendo DS doesn't even support WPA, and I like my online Tetris. I have an old laptop I use for StarCraft LAN parties, it's USB WiFi device has trouble with WPA. Many portable devices don't support the latest WPA cyphers, or even the RADIUS-enabled WAPs.
So, technologically aware guys aren't going to use an encryption cypher that their devices don't support. I'm already kinda unhappy with my school for using WPA Enterprise, which means the only device I can use on their WiFi network is my laptop, and I'm actively trying to hunt down a PDA or smart-phone that supports WPA Enterprise so that I could get online without having to whip out my laptop and wake it up. Likewise, manufacturers aren't going to force people to use encryption that won't work with their other devices.
Actually, this feature is already in use, and has received major upgrades since firmware 1.00 on the PS3 (now at 1.80) and 3.00 on the PSP (now at 3.50). Originally, the Location Free Player would allow people to placeshift in their own home, provided they owned a LocationFree Base Station. Then there was Remote Play, which did the same thing, except for your PS3. Anything that could be done on the PS3 could be remotely done with your PSP. Then PS3 Firmware 1.80 came out and gave the PS3 DLNA functionalities. PSP firmware 3.50 came out, and allowed Advanced Remote Play, which is basically Remote Play over the Internet. So, if it's on your PS3, you can placeshift it anywhere that has a WiFi access point. This includes videos on the hard disk, videos on the network, pictures, web browser, even BD-ROM and games, I think. That sounds pretty unrestricted, especially at PSP native resolution (480x272) in color.
You know how ambulances have those twirly lighty things on the top (you know, emergency flashers)? And they have those loud noisy things (emergency klaxons), the kind loud enough to overpower your average car stereo from a good distance away? They exist to WARN people to GET OUT OF THE WAY OR YOU'RE GOING TO BE HIT BY A RATHER MASSIVE VEHICLE MOVING AT HIGH SPEEDS.
Further more, all emergency vehicles have these flashers and klaxons. The light color is used to signify what kind of priority this vehicle has (though your average motorist hasn't a clue). Also, these vehicles have strobe lights on them to trigger certain events at stop lights. They activate a bright white light and turn the other light (the one perpendicular to the vehicle) to red.
The guys who design these vehicles aren't nitwits. They know that they could cause more damage than most other cars on the road (except 18-wheelers). All these lights and sounds are in place to prevent this. So, yeah, I'd say it's a pretty safe bet that more people are saved in ambulances than are killed by them. Besides, what gives me the right to make my left hand turn RIGHT NOW, and make somebody's (sibling/parent/child/grandchild/grandparent/signi ficant other/friend/complete stranger) have to wait to get to the hospital to save their life? I'll pull off to the side of the road, turn off the car, get out, and sit on the sidewalk to let an ambulance past. Unless you're in an emergency vehicle, NOBODY has any reason that they need to be that impatient. If you're late to something, that's your own fault. If you disagree, wait until it's your (sibling/parent/child/grandchild/grandparent/signi ficant other/friend) in the back of that ambulance, and then tell me how you feel.
First
Fed up, consumers will abandon HD-DVD/BluRay and go with DVDs which JustWork(TM). HD-DVD and BluRay will become a niche format with videophiles, in a similar way to vinyl; and collectors, similarly to LaserDisc. Seems likely to me.
Second
Someone will come up with an HDCP spoofer or stripper, kind of like the de-Macrovisioning boxes, and that will become common place. HDCP will collapse, and HDCP-free discs and players will take over. Highly unlikely for quite a few years, and by then this will be resolved.
Third
Afraid of losing their angry and riotous customers (IE: their bread and butter), HDCP is abandoned, either completely (like most kinds of CD-based DRM) or for a "better" encryption method (kind of like ARCCoS). This could happen, but I'm not too sure if consumers will pay to be disappointed.
I'm not saying these are the only outcomes, but given what I know (and I don't know a whole ton, admittedly) these seem most likely. Feel free to revise my theories.
Mac OS X: Cmd+Option+Esc brings up our "Force Quit" window. It doesn't allow us to reset the OS, but it does give us a nifty shortcut to kill any crashed programs. Did I mention the entire combo can be hit with one hand?
Beeb content has been showing up on Google Video for a while now, mostly because Google Video doesn't impose a 10 minute limit. And I personally like it because Google lets me download things for my iPod and PSP, which is especially nice when my laptop is doing some heavy lifting stuff. Hopefully Google will at least drag those features into YouTube.
Not really. Create a database of natural items like "apple" and "pear" and "banana" and have it contain the average readings. Then when these readings come up, list the possible objects it could be.
Wow, how ignorant. You do realize that there are lots of legitimate uses for Torrent, right? Ubuntu and Debian use it to distribute disc images, there's a guy who has pre-fabricated MythTV+Xebian Disk Images for XBox, Blizzard uses Torrent to distribute their software patches and even all of World of Warcraft. Throw in that the creator of BitTorrent has signed a few deals, and all of a sudden, this is an entirely different game. Then there's the problem of impacting net-based delivery concepts, such as NetFlix's proposed Video-On-Demand service, and
I don't see a reason why everyone should pay the same price for different service. Sure, the telecom industry is scared of Net Neutrality because they WANT to ban Skype and VoIP, but that is why the FCC needs to back off on over-regulating the opportunity for competitors to enter the market. There is a huge opportunity for more wireless providers and more people bringing FTTH or other options.
Wait, hold up. So you're saying that ISPs should be free to ban VoIP from their networks? You're saying that's over-regulated? Well, I'm sorry, but I beg to differ. If Telcos are scared of VoIP, then they should try and compete with them, instead of banning them outright. It's like some kid who plays a certain game coming over to my house and beating me at a game. Instead of kicking him out and never letting him come back, I should either learn to play the game better, or concede that I cannot play the game.
Well two things. First, that was to illustrate that fingerprint readers are NOT infallible. I'm assuming the non-optical sensor is the kind where you swipe your finger. This is an honest question, now: if it's not optical, how DOES it read the finger prints?
Been MythBusted. Adam and Jamie tried a few different methods of breaking the security on a super-high end finger print door lock, including trying to covertly acquire the fingerprint that unlocks it. They managed to fool a high and low end finger print scanner with a warmed ballistics gel finger, and even managed to fool the high end scanner with a photo copy of the finger print, on licked paper, pressed down with a real finger. The high end scanner had the technology you're talking about, yet it was still beaten. Let me know when we get retinal scanners.
Yes, but did .NET frameworks, XNA or Managed Code exist when MS ported NT to PPC? And don't all programs have to be ported to XNA, .NET or use Managed Code to function in that environment? Hmm, starting to sound more and more like the OS X Classic/Carbon/Cocoa situation (Just swap XNA, .NET or MC for Universal Binary).
Wal*Mart can't even match Google. Google sells videos, mind you you can only watch them in the browser window (I think) and they support IE and FireFox and Safari and Opera (last I checked). They even have stuff you'll never find at Wal*Mart like Plan 9 From Outer Space or D.O.A. (both worth watching, even if just for the hilarity of Ed Wood). Google even plays both sides of the game and supports two competing devices (iPod and PSP). True, if you don't download for those devices, you have to use Google's Video Player, but that just downloads a GVI file which is essentially an AVI file (easy enough to fix).
http://www.publicdomaintorrents.com/
I agree with the comment about Apple users, but that's kind of moot since the video service is incompatible with iTunes (likely it uses WMV).
You aren't "smart" if you're a good doctor, but a bad driver, or a good mechanic, but a lousy brain surgeon. I dunno. I'd be sort of wary of having brain surgery done on me by a Mechanic. Besides, don't people say Einstein was smart? Or Hawking is smart? Somehow I doubt either of them could/can perform brain surgery (physical issues such as disease or death aside, I'm speaking purely from a training point of view). That doesn't make them any less smart. But I do agree that this guy is sounding kind of stupid.
Linspire's supposed to have some sort of Windows compatibility layer, isn't it? Doesn't that mean it'll run Internet Explorer?
I'll admit, I've never programmed for Windows. However, MS's compatibility layers don't always work as expected. Consider all the problems people had with their software once XP Service Pack 2 came out. Besides, it's not like the iPod is the only MP3 Player not working with Vista...
Apple, on the other hand, wholesale changed their platform in every conceivable fashion. For MacOSX you had to port to Carbon if you wanted to ensure that your apps would work, otherwise it would run in emulation, and that emulator would only handle PowerPC. This means that at the time that MacOSX was launched Apple officially obsoleted every program written six years earlier for the Motorola chipsets.
On Vista I can run software written for DOS/Windows in the mid 80s, without even a recompile. How much software can you claim to run on your Mac in the same way? I fucking thought so.
Ahh, but as you said: Apple changed their platform twice. And each time, it was a great improvement. 68k was pushed to the limits, and PowerPC had hit a wall. x86 really wasn't making great strides in improvements until recently, all they did was increase the clock speed. I'd like to see Windows maintain compatibility when it changes architectures. Remember Windows NT for PowerPC? Did all of the previous non-MS software work on it?
If Microsoft has one major failing it is that they have accumulated such a massive amount of legacy support that it has turned the API into a tangled mess.
Agreed. They really need to draw the line at some point. In my opinion, they should drop support for all things prior to WinXP in Vista (or the next OS), and do backwards compatibility in a sandbox, kind of how OS X requires Classic Mode to function with pre-OS 9 software (Yeah, yeah, I know: OS 9 doesn't work on the Intel Macs)
Apple has shortcomings, and so does Microsoft. Leave it at that.
MS is snubbing Japan because Japan snubbed the XBox. Just that simple: Billy's jealous, so he's going to make Japan wait. ;)