"Most" was about 65/95. It was generally the older-than-25 crowd that didn't hear the difference. Since I was in college at the time, the bulk of my test candidates were also college students.
Now the ABR may be a very good point. The version of lame I used (late 2000/early 2001) barfed on
lame -q0 --abr 256 filein fileout
so I used
lame -q0 -b 112 -B 256 filein fileout
which did result in an average bit-rate on par with the ogg samples. (It is debatable that the ogg could have gone higher and lower than the mp3. ie, (10 + 90)/2 = (40 + 60)/2 . I was warned against setting the "-b" less than 112, as there were reports of over-compression with lame VBR below that threshold.) Caveat emptor.
I also did not convert both back to wave and compare signal spectra, as I did with wma. Wma appeared to just discard certain frequencies in the middle of the audible spectra. Reminded me of Bose speakers.
Well, flywheels are used to store kinetic energy. And they can be made pretty darn efficient at it. There was a 1996 article in Discover magazine about a man named Jack Bitterly that wanted to use the darn things to power automobiles. In many ways, that article probably instilled my resolve to later get a degree in engineering.
Here's an "update article" from 2000 in Discover about it. Re-Energizer
Except ogg doesn't sound any better than mp3 above 128kbps
For part of a project I did a while back, I administered blind listening tests of several samples of music in various formats. If I recall; LAME VBR (nominal 128, 256), Ogg (nominal 128, 256), WMA8(128, 256), & the original wav.
Listening device was a set of Sennheiser HD600s piped from a MAudio Audiophile 2496(?). First I played the wav file for them to hear, then I played the other samples in random order, including the wav file. I eventually had around 100 volunteers. (17 years to 65 years, avg. 22 years) They were asked to rate each sample from 1 to 10 and comment on the sound if applicable. I also asked them to guess which one of the samples was the original wav, as a check on their hearing:)
Results: Most people could pick out the original wav. The few times they didn't, what they picked was the Ogg/256. The Mp3/256 came in next, but significantly under the Ogg/256. Next came a close grouping of ogg/128, mp3/128, and wma/256. wma/128 was at the bottom.
I (in my own subjectivity) have encoded a couple of albums with FLAC because I thought even the Ogg/256 [Well, now I generally use the -q tag rather than -b] didn't reproduce some of the original recording's nuances on my home audio system.
As an aside, I used "Duel of the Fates" as one of the samples, since earlier encoders had 'issues' encoding it correctly. The usual response to the WMA encodings of it was for the listener to screw up their face, look at me, and mouth 'yuck!' To be fair, I later did a smaller study on low bitrate encoding and wma did better.
The final point is that none of the above means a damn for a portable system...you probably wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference. But for playback on moderately good equipment, let the Ogg be with you. I just wanted to refute the parent comment's assertion.
"Absolutely! We're pleased to offer a la carte pricing! And we can offer you each of those channels for...you said ten channels? Let me see...$6.00 a month per!"
Ok. Where do I sign up? I would be more than content with $6.00/channel. There are only a few things I'd really like to watch on TV (I hardly touch the thing now) and I'd have no trouble winnowing it down to say, 1 to 3 channels. In my case, that would probably be Turner Classic Movies, a PBS affiliate, and something else. My antenna reception is crappy at best, but I only really need to watch the local affiliates if the weather is miserable anyhow. So I don't need to pay for those. Maybe Comedy Central as the third choice. The Daily Show is enjoyable.
I could be way off base, but if I remember correctly, all navigable waterways in the united states fall under the dominion/juristicion of the Army Corps of Engineers and it is technically illegal to do anything that alters the river without their approval and permission. Ownership isn't the issue. Kinda like it is criminal to drain wetlands, even if you own the property.
People tend not to understand what double jeopardy means...
(Virginia, AP) - A man who wrote a prosecutor a letter boasting about killing a 16-year-old girl--thinking a court ruling prevented him from getting the death penalty--has been convicted of capital murder. A jury recently found Paul Powell, 24, guilty of attempted rape and murder in the 1999 stabbing death of Stacie Reed. Powell had been convicted in 2000, but the Virginia Supreme Court overturned the verdict, ruling he could not be executed because prosecutors lacked evidence that Powell tried to rape or rob the girl. While awaiting trial, Powell wrote to prosecutor Paul Ebert. "Since the Virginia Supreme Court said that I can't be charged with capital murder again, I figured I would tell you the rest of what happened on January 29 1999 to show you how stupid all of y'all are." He described how he tried to rape Reed, then killed her. The letter enabled prosecutors to indict him again on capital murder charges.
And I wholeheartedly agree with you about civ. I like PTW over the new Conquests expansion, but I've spent many a night up until daybreak with just one more turn syndrome.
And that, Lord Kestrel, gets you added to my "friends" list. You could be a Nazi Goth Feminist pro-SCO Satan worshiper and it still wouldn't make a difference;)
Not to mention that many developers use far too many keyboard commands and the interface gets so complicated the game's a bear to play. There is something to be said for simpler designs on user interfaces to games.
Interesting that you should say that. As someone who grew up with DOS and uses the linux console extensively, I still subconciously consider the mouse a secondary input device. Even under Windows, I tend to use the keyboard a lot to get around. ctrl-esc/win_key + r then type a command, etc. The mouse is invaluable for graphics editing (or for quickly setting focus under any application) and other uses (post-Doom FPSes which have free-look, etc.)
Not everyone is this world is so god damned materialistic. If I can do something to help others - be it a corporation or, preferably, individuals or charitable organizations - without appreciably lowering my quality of living, I would happily do so without needing any further motivation. Many, if not most, open-source projects are done in a person's spare time. If that's your thing, go for it. And there are a hundred other impetuses for creating free sowftware. In the end though, it is like 'giving back' to the community, whether that is the intent or not. If you want to make money off of it, then write it with that intent. It's more likely then that you'll be doing it full-time too.
It has a similar flavor to copyright (or the way copyright should be, not this ridiculous farce it is now.) You create a creative work. You choose the method of distribution - ie, free or not. Obviously, not-free is the more popular choice, since you need something to live on. In any event, after you have made some profit off of your work over a goodly amount of time (which should be no more than 20-30 years max, imho. But that's me) then the work becomes a public treasure. And you've got motivation to create other creative works and can't rest on the laurels of soemthing you did 40 years ago.
I'm sorry that this rant has rambled on. I'm tired, stressed, and sweaty from karate drill. My point really is just that avarice will be the downfall of society. Capitalism isn't moral nor ethical by nature. We have to impose those limits ourselves.
Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a night. Set a man afire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. Terry Pratchett
Hell, pretty much anything becomes paramagnetic if you have strong enough fields. Some things have stronger diamagnetic properties than others though. Aluminum is actually fairly paramagnetic, if I recall.
Back in 1997 a group even levitated a frog in a 16 Tesla field. How fun is that?
That, and I like the fact that if I take care of my straight razor, I'll probably need to buy another one in, oh, 50-75 years. The one I'm using now was manufactured around 1895 and I picked it up at a flea market for $3. Shaves great.
I've only found one downside. If you're in a real hurry and try to rush a shave, you'll end up looking like you were in a knife fight ^_^
Moral of the story: spend an extra 3 minutes and take your time.
Yeah, I mean, as if we've had a good president or candidate for president in years...:-) Honestly. I personally consider Bush the lesser of two^H^H^H many evils. That certainly doesn't make him great and I disagree with a lot of the current "policy"; I just think most of the alternatives are worse.
Hurray for politics and a crappy two-party system!
Right, left, it doesn't matter. You have to actively participate in the political process and police whatever abuses either side thinks they can get away with.
Eh, it isn't really unheard of today. In the old days, computer scientists didn't really exist. You basically had groups of electrical engineers, mathematicians, etc, developing what is today computer science.
As a graduate of an accredited Computer Engineering curriculum, my take is this; computer scientists develop software, algorithms, etc. Computer engineers design the underlying digital circuits, logic, and such. Software guys vs. hardware guys.
As such, you'll find computer engineers use assembly a heck of a lot more than computer scientists. I've worked with MIPS, x86, motorola's, and several others. And when you get down to it, I like to work with C more than I do with languages like C++ or Java. I enjoy the low-level nitty-gritty.
I'm making a generalization of course; there's no great schism between the two groups and our work often overlaps. We just each use the tools most appropriate for our jobs.
I didn't create an account on slashdot until almost a year after I'd first started visiting and I have this horribly high UID to show for it. Who could have known that, years later, a low UID would be such a symbol of power, fear, and respect!
I'm glad I didn't have to say that in person; I couldn't possibly have kept a straight face:-)
Um, why not just mux all of the sensors to an AND gate. If any one of them goes low, the parrallel pin signal goes low. All you sacrifice is knowing which specific beam was broken. You could accomplish this with $5 of IC logic...
the grain of salt for those which are simply ridiculous
As is web weaver for god's sake. A good change? Ha. A master does not imply evil doings. A martial arts master or a master carpenter generally don't have slaves. Master implies that they the best at what they do. Yes, it also implies authority, but not cruel domination. Gah. People drive me insane. Some of these offended groups are probably the same ones that burn 'inappropriate books.' Pooh on them.
I'd rather have lived a hundred years ago. Except of course, for all my grumbling about rampant political correctness and other hogwash, I'd be much more pissed about the lack of women's suffrage, real racial inequality, and the other issues of the day. The moral? There isn't one really.
Now let's replace 'racisism' with 'the holocaust': 1) I decide I don't want my kids to read about the holocaust on the web. At least, not in an encouraging, the holocaust-actually-happened way. 2) I buy a product that claims to block web sites according to category. 3) I set it to block sites that are implicitly holocaust-happened-positive. 4) It works.
I don't like censorship. Everyone wants to protect their children and that is well and good, but I would much rather that you would sit down and chat with your kids about the subject than put blinders on them like a stupid horse.
Knowledge is power - good and bad. Your job as a parent is to provide guidance. It is a healthy thing to question your own values every once in a while too, regardless of which way you lean. Either you will strengthen and reaffirm your beliefs, or you will change them. Or am I the only person that believe in doing a reality check?
Here's a link to the NIH's list of common radiation sources & doses. It appears I was on the conservative side. 30 cigarettes a day = 2,000 Chest X-Rays a year. Ouch. http://www.nih.gov/od/ors/ds/rsb/sectionf.htm
I also remember reading that burning coal releases tons of radioisotopes into the atmosphere every year... Give me good, clean, controlled nuclear power any day. And I'll be happy to use solar, wind, or whatever to supplement. If I live someplace which is always sunny or always windy. Which I don't. That, and I don't want to obstruct the view.
The amount of naturally occuring Radon - anywhere - is going to give you a higher exposure to radiation in a year than in living next to a Nuclear plant for 30 years. (Unless you live on the 60th floor of a skyscraper or something. Radon tends to sink in air.)
Hell, smokers are far and above the average for yearly acceptable radiation exposure due to inhaling, among other things, radioactive Polonium (nasty) in tobacco which has a half life of almost a year and then decays into lead (still nasty, if not radioactive.) A pack-a-day smoker gets the equivalent to 300(!) chest X-Rays a year. How's that for another reason not to smoke?
Slashdot Mirror
"Most" was about 65/95. It was generally the older-than-25 crowd that didn't hear the difference. Since I was in college at the time, the bulk of my test candidates were also college students.
Now the ABR may be a very good point. The version of lame I used (late 2000/early 2001) barfed on
lame -q0 --abr 256 filein fileout
so I used
lame -q0 -b 112 -B 256 filein fileout
which did result in an average bit-rate on par with the ogg samples. (It is debatable that the ogg could have gone higher and lower than the mp3. ie, (10 + 90)/2 = (40 + 60)/2 . I was warned against setting the "-b" less than 112, as there were reports of over-compression with lame VBR below that threshold.)
Caveat emptor.
I also did not convert both back to wave and compare signal spectra, as I did with wma. Wma appeared to just discard certain frequencies in the middle of the audible spectra. Reminded me of Bose speakers.
Well, flywheels are used to store kinetic energy. And they can be made pretty darn efficient at it. There was a 1996 article in Discover magazine about a man named Jack Bitterly that wanted to use the darn things to power automobiles. In many ways, that article probably instilled my resolve to later get a degree in engineering.
Here's an "update article" from 2000 in Discover about it.
Re-Energizer
For part of a project I did a while back, I administered blind listening tests of several samples of music in various formats. If I recall; LAME VBR (nominal 128, 256), Ogg (nominal 128, 256), WMA8(128, 256), & the original wav.
Listening device was a set of Sennheiser HD600s piped from a MAudio Audiophile 2496(?). First I played the wav file for them to hear, then I played the other samples in random order, including the wav file. I eventually had around 100 volunteers. (17 years to 65 years, avg. 22 years) They were asked to rate each sample from 1 to 10 and comment on the sound if applicable. I also asked them to guess which one of the samples was the original wav, as a check on their hearing
Results: Most people could pick out the original wav. The few times they didn't, what they picked was the Ogg/256. The Mp3/256 came in next, but significantly under the Ogg/256. Next came a close grouping of ogg/128, mp3/128, and wma/256. wma/128 was at the bottom.
I (in my own subjectivity) have encoded a couple of albums with FLAC because I thought even the Ogg/256 [Well, now I generally use the -q tag rather than -b] didn't reproduce some of the original recording's nuances on my home audio system.
As an aside, I used "Duel of the Fates" as one of the samples, since earlier encoders had 'issues' encoding it correctly. The usual response to the WMA encodings of it was for the listener to screw up their face, look at me, and mouth 'yuck!' To be fair, I later did a smaller study on low bitrate encoding and wma did better.
The final point is that none of the above means a damn for a portable system...you probably wouldn't be able to tell much of a difference. But for playback on moderately good equipment, let the Ogg be with you. I just wanted to refute the parent comment's assertion.
Ok. Where do I sign up? I would be more than content with $6.00/channel. There are only a few things I'd really like to watch on TV (I hardly touch the thing now) and I'd have no trouble winnowing it down to say, 1 to 3 channels. In my case, that would probably be Turner Classic Movies, a PBS affiliate, and something else. My antenna reception is crappy at best, but I only really need to watch the local affiliates if the weather is miserable anyhow. So I don't need to pay for those. Maybe Comedy Central as the third choice. The Daily Show is enjoyable.
I could be way off base, but if I remember correctly, all navigable waterways in the united states fall under the dominion/juristicion of the Army Corps of Engineers and it is technically illegal to do anything that alters the river without their approval and permission.
Ownership isn't the issue. Kinda like it is criminal to drain wetlands, even if you own the property.
And that, Lord Kestrel, gets you added to my "friends" list. You could be a Nazi Goth Feminist pro-SCO Satan worshiper and it still wouldn't make a difference
Viva la CIV
Interesting that you should say that. As someone who grew up with DOS and uses the linux console extensively, I still subconciously consider the mouse a secondary input device. Even under Windows, I tend to use the keyboard a lot to get around. ctrl-esc/win_key + r then type a command, etc. The mouse is invaluable for graphics editing (or for quickly setting focus under any application) and other uses (post-Doom FPSes which have free-look, etc.)
Civilization is by far my favorite computer game, in almost every incarnation of it. (There has continuously been an install of one of them on my hard drive since about 1990-91.) The notable exception was the Call to Power sub-series. I was more or less appalled at how much one needed to use the mouse and hated playing the game.
So to each one's own
Um, UFO = Unidentified Flying Object?
Man. Why'd you post anonymously? Your rant entitles you to instant +friend.
Why are there never any mod points when you need them...
Not everyone is this world is so god damned materialistic. If I can do something to help others - be it a corporation or, preferably, individuals or charitable organizations - without appreciably lowering my quality of living, I would happily do so without needing any further motivation. Many, if not most, open-source projects are done in a person's spare time. If that's your thing, go for it. And there are a hundred other impetuses for creating free sowftware. In the end though, it is like 'giving back' to the community, whether that is the intent or not. If you want to make money off of it, then write it with that intent. It's more likely then that you'll be doing it full-time too.
It has a similar flavor to copyright (or the way copyright should be, not this ridiculous farce it is now.) You create a creative work. You choose the method of distribution - ie, free or not. Obviously, not-free is the more popular choice, since you need something to live on. In any event, after you have made some profit off of your work over a goodly amount of time (which should be no more than 20-30 years max, imho. But that's me) then the work becomes a public treasure. And you've got motivation to create other creative works and can't rest on the laurels of soemthing you did 40 years ago.
I'm sorry that this rant has rambled on. I'm tired, stressed, and sweaty from karate drill. My point really is just that avarice will be the downfall of society. Capitalism isn't moral nor ethical by nature. We have to impose those limits ourselves.
Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a night.
Set a man afire and he'll be warm for the rest of his life. Terry Pratchett
Hell, pretty much anything becomes paramagnetic if you have strong enough fields. Some things have stronger diamagnetic properties than others though.
Aluminum is actually fairly paramagnetic, if I recall.
Back in 1997 a group even levitated a frog in a 16 Tesla field. How fun is that?
That, and I like the fact that if I take care of my straight razor, I'll probably need to buy another one in, oh, 50-75 years. The one I'm using now was manufactured around 1895 and I picked it up at a flea market for $3. Shaves great.
I've only found one downside. If you're in a real hurry and try to rush a shave, you'll end up looking like you were in a knife fight ^_^
Moral of the story: spend an extra 3 minutes and take your time.
Yeah, I mean, as if we've had a good president or candidate for president in years... :-) Honestly. I personally consider Bush the lesser of two^H^H^H many evils. That certainly doesn't make him great and I disagree with a lot of the current "policy"; I just think most of the alternatives are worse.
Hurray for politics and a crappy two-party system!
Right, left, it doesn't matter. You have to actively participate in the political process and police whatever abuses either side thinks they can get away with.
For my part, I'm really digging Orson Scott Card's take on current political issues (at least, 95% of the time.)
Eh, it isn't really unheard of today.
In the old days, computer scientists didn't really exist. You basically had groups of electrical engineers, mathematicians, etc, developing what is today computer science.
As a graduate of an accredited Computer Engineering curriculum, my take is this; computer scientists develop software, algorithms, etc. Computer engineers design the underlying digital circuits, logic, and such. Software guys vs. hardware guys.
As such, you'll find computer engineers use assembly a heck of a lot more than computer scientists. I've worked with MIPS, x86, motorola's, and several others. And when you get down to it, I like to work with C more than I do with languages like C++ or Java. I enjoy the low-level nitty-gritty.
I'm making a generalization of course; there's no great schism between the two groups and our work often overlaps. We just each use the tools most appropriate for our jobs.
I didn't create an account on slashdot until almost a year after I'd first started visiting and I have this horribly high UID to show for it. Who could have known that, years later, a low UID would be such a symbol of power, fear, and respect!
:-)
I'm glad I didn't have to say that in person; I couldn't possibly have kept a straight face
Hallelujah.
Welcome to MS Freedom 2.0 (A government contracted Microsoft product, which, like all software products, was delayed. Since 1984.)
Um, why not just mux all of the sensors to an AND gate. If any one of them goes low, the parrallel pin signal goes low. All you sacrifice is knowing which specific beam was broken. You could accomplish this with $5 of IC logic...
As is web weaver for god's sake. A good change? Ha. A master does not imply evil doings. A martial arts master or a master carpenter generally don't have slaves. Master implies that they the best at what they do. Yes, it also implies authority, but not cruel domination. Gah. People drive me insane. Some of these offended groups are probably the same ones that burn 'inappropriate books.' Pooh on them.
I'd rather have lived a hundred years ago. Except of course, for all my grumbling about rampant political correctness and other hogwash, I'd be much more pissed about the lack of women's suffrage, real racial inequality, and the other issues of the day. The moral? There isn't one really.
Now let's replace 'racisism' with 'the holocaust':
1) I decide I don't want my kids to read about the holocaust on the web. At least, not in an encouraging, the holocaust-actually-happened way.
2) I buy a product that claims to block web sites according to category.
3) I set it to block sites that are implicitly holocaust-happened-positive.
4) It works.
I don't like censorship. Everyone wants to protect their children and that is well and good, but I would much rather that you would sit down and chat with your kids about the subject than put blinders on them like a stupid horse.
Knowledge is power - good and bad. Your job as a parent is to provide guidance. It is a healthy thing to question your own values every once in a while too, regardless of which way you lean. Either you will strengthen and reaffirm your beliefs, or you will change them. Or am I the only person that believe in doing a reality check?
Sell out their shares....doesn't that imply someone is buying those shares?
My first reaction.
"Oooh. A Red Story."
Making my Slashdollars count.
Hope there's some aurora to see in the sky early Wednesday morning.
Here's a link to the NIH's list of common radiation sources & doses. It appears I was on the conservative side. 30 cigarettes a day = 2,000 Chest X-Rays a year. Ouch.
http://www.nih.gov/od/ors/ds/rsb/sectionf.htm
I also remember reading that burning coal releases tons of radioisotopes into the atmosphere every year... Give me good, clean, controlled nuclear power any day. And I'll be happy to use solar, wind, or whatever to supplement. If I live someplace which is always sunny or always windy. Which I don't. That, and I don't want to obstruct the view.
I so very much agree.
The amount of naturally occuring Radon - anywhere - is going to give you a higher exposure to radiation in a year than in living next to a Nuclear plant for 30 years. (Unless you live on the 60th floor of a skyscraper or something. Radon tends to sink in air.)
Hell, smokers are far and above the average for yearly acceptable radiation exposure due to inhaling, among other things, radioactive Polonium (nasty) in tobacco which has a half life of almost a year and then decays into lead (still nasty, if not radioactive.) A pack-a-day smoker gets the equivalent to 300(!) chest X-Rays a year. How's that for another reason not to smoke?