Even if that were true (which I don't believe it is - they are two separate copyrights), nothing obligates you to release the source code. Even if you have renounced your copyright on it, all that means is that it's not now illegal to copy it. But if you have the only copy, you can still refuse to give it to people.
This story is not very timely, as the entire issue has been resolved for at least a week now. Audiogalaxy did include the VX2 spyware in their application, was thoroughly lambasted for it, and finally gave in to user complaints and removed it. The current version of audiogalaxy available on their website has no spyware in it (or at least no VX2 spyware, and no mandatory-install spyware; it might still include Gator or something as an optional install, I haven't checked).
In general (with a few exceptions), the masses of gamers follow games, not platforms. They're "Grand Theft Auto III fans," not "PS2 platform fans" - with console platforms in particular, which games are available is a large part of the decision process for which platform to buy.
So the problem with Loki's business model is that it was porting games that were already available. The only people interested would be those people who don't run Windows, but want to play the games - that's a minority of gamers. The vast majority of gamers just want to play the game; since it was already released for Windows, they have no need to get it again for Linux.
Now if they were producing new games for Linux, that'd be another matter entirely. But they're producing games for Linux that the hardcore gamers all already have for another platform; there's little incentive for them to buy it again.
AOL bundles IE with its software because in return Microsoft bundles AOL with Windows. If AOL were to use Netscape instead, it'd lose its place on the default Windows desktop.
It's lossy because you lose quality from the original input. With lossless compression you can do something like:
compress as zip -> uncompress -> compress as gzip -> uncompress -> compress as rar -> uncompress -> compress as ace -> uncompress
and end up with the original file. With an audio example, this means you could transcode between LPAC, Shorten, etc. without any loss in quality.
With lossy compression, this is not possible. If you do CD -> wav -> mp3 -> wav -> mpc -> wav -> ogg -> wav, you'll end up with a really crappy wav at the end.
This has practical implications in that it makes transcoding unattractive. If for example you wanted to rip your CD collection to Ogg for archiving, but had an mp3 portable player, your mp3s in the Cd -> Ogg -> mp3 process would be of lower quality than if you had directly encoded the mp3s from Cd.
I'm not sure how supporting a format that the general public is unlikely to use in the near future would increase illegal trading of music above the rates supporting mp3 already causes (which AOL-Time-Warner is happy to do, or they wouldn't continue developing Winamp). The explanation I've heard, which sounds more likely, is that since Winamp doesn't make AOL any money (at least not directly), they don't want to risk getting sued over it, so their lawyers are carefully reviewing Ogg to make sure that it really is as patent-free as its developers claim (checking all the perceptual audio-coding patents - and there are a lot of them - to see if there are any that Ogg might infringe on).
At low bitrates Ogg is indeed the best (well, AAC might be better, but it's enormously expensive). Depending on your ears, this may be good enough. However, for many people, higher bitrates are needed for transparent encoding, and in this category I don't think you can say Ogg is the best lossy audio codec. It's certainly better than MP3, but it cannot beat MPC at high bitrates, especially for people who are sensitive to transient smearing (MPC's design as a subband codec gives it an inherent advantage over transform codecs like MP3 and Ogg in this respect).
You don't seem to have been following developments lately. LAME at 256kbps is not perfect - check the ISO test samples, as well as some others people have dug up. There are people who can reliably ABX such encodes 16/16. Ogg tends to be slightly better than mp3 with many of these test samples, though I'd put the extreme high-bitrate category at a tie right now. In the "stuff most people use" category, Ogg at -q5 or -q6 is approximately the same as LAME with --alt-preset standard, and results in a lower bitrate. Ogg at -q7 is about the same as --alt-preset extreme, and Ogg at -q8 or -q9 can only be matched by LAME --alt-preset insane (320kbps CBR), but usually results in a lower bitrate.
Of course, it depends what your ear hears. If you're particularly sensitive to pre-echo and other transient-related problems, MPC is without a doubt the best encoder, at any reasonably high (>200 kbps) bitrate.
So what are the other 995,000?
on
Million Man LAN
·
· Score: 2
...one of the largest lanparties ever, MillionManLan . Check it out, both sides are to have up to 2,500 participants with linked networks for the ultimate fragfest for a total of 5,000 gamers...
There's going to be 995,000 men there who are not gamers, eh?
I'm not too familiar how MS handled how to lock their DVD-ROM games, but if it's anything like Sony's DVD-ROMs, then it only takes time to crack it.
From what I understand, MS's DVD-ROM drive spins backwards, and the discs thus are written so the spiral is in the opposite direction of normal DVD discs. I don't think you'll be seeing a crack for that anytime soon.
Exactly - ADA isn't a "can you do your job" sort of thing, it's a "all public places and places of businesses have to accomodate you" sort of thing. If CTS were an ADA disability, then we'd have such bizarre things as every single doorknob in the United States having to be modified so people with severe CTS could operate it.
CS: This is a degree for people who want to program. We teach algorithms and writing code. We write programs.
This is highly dependent on the school. At many schools, CE is actually the degree for people who want to program, while CS is more for people who want to do research into computers - very heavy on math. After all, programming is simply implementing something, and specific implementations of concepts is almost the definition of engineering. Science, on the other hand, is typically concerned with research and coming up with new concepts (or refining old concepts), so computer science would then be more along the lines of coming up with a new sorting algorithm rather than implementing an existing one.
But what the Slashdotters really want to know is..
on
Attack of the Clones
·
· Score: 1
Uhh, the prefix "Mega" is a standard prefix for 1,000,000, and the prefix "kilo" is a standard prefix for "1,000." The use of these prefixes predates the invention of computers. After all, a kilometer is not 1024 meters, so a kilobyte should not be 1024 bytes.
...using V in place of U in English does not make you seem Roman, and neither does it make you seem erudite. A point lost on many neo-classical architects, it would seem.
1) Uhh, they "felt they had to make a profit," of course - otherwise they'd go bankrupt and have to shut down all their servers, and you'd get nothing.
2) I've never gotten a spam from them. It's opt-out at sign-up; just uncheck the "send me spam" box.
3) They haven't cut the number of servers. In fact they've doubled them over the past 2 months, adding multiple worldwide mirrors to their original two. They just implemented a queue because before you'd have to hammer their servers to get in, since they were perpetually busy. Now you can just wait in line and be guaranteed you'll eventually get in. And there's not much of a wait either - they're busy today because of the Medal of Honor release, but I still got it with no wait at 2am. My roommate got it in the afternoon with a 8 minute wait.
Umm, I just downloaded it 3 hours ago, no wait. They had 4 free servers up, 3 had free slots.
And they haven't been crippling their public servers; in fact, they've doubled the number of free slots in the past 2 months. They've just implemented a queue because before the servers were always busy so people would keep hammering them trying to get in.
Fileplanet is the only place I've seen with so many demos available so quickly with so little download wait times. They serve literally gigabytes per hour, so if they're trying to make some money on the side to support it, while still keeping the service free for those who don't want ot pay, I fully support them.
Slashdot Mirror
Even if that were true (which I don't believe it is - they are two separate copyrights), nothing obligates you to release the source code. Even if you have renounced your copyright on it, all that means is that it's not now illegal to copy it. But if you have the only copy, you can still refuse to give it to people.
This story is not very timely, as the entire issue has been resolved for at least a week now. Audiogalaxy did include the VX2 spyware in their application, was thoroughly lambasted for it, and finally gave in to user complaints and removed it. The current version of audiogalaxy available on their website has no spyware in it (or at least no VX2 spyware, and no mandatory-install spyware; it might still include Gator or something as an optional install, I haven't checked).
except with digital cable, where you have to rent a set top box monthly for each tv...
So the problem with Loki's business model is that it was porting games that were already available. The only people interested would be those people who don't run Windows, but want to play the games - that's a minority of gamers. The vast majority of gamers just want to play the game; since it was already released for Windows, they have no need to get it again for Linux.
Now if they were producing new games for Linux, that'd be another matter entirely. But they're producing games for Linux that the hardcore gamers all already have for another platform; there's little incentive for them to buy it again.
AOL bundles IE with its software because in return Microsoft bundles AOL with Windows. If AOL were to use Netscape instead, it'd lose its place on the default Windows desktop.
It's lossy because you lose quality from the original input. With lossless compression you can do something like:
compress as zip -> uncompress -> compress as gzip -> uncompress -> compress as rar -> uncompress -> compress as ace -> uncompress
and end up with the original file. With an audio example, this means you could transcode between LPAC, Shorten, etc. without any loss in quality.
With lossy compression, this is not possible. If you do CD -> wav -> mp3 -> wav -> mpc -> wav -> ogg -> wav, you'll end up with a really crappy wav at the end.
This has practical implications in that it makes transcoding unattractive. If for example you wanted to rip your CD collection to Ogg for archiving, but had an mp3 portable player, your mp3s in the Cd -> Ogg -> mp3 process would be of lower quality than if you had directly encoded the mp3s from Cd.
I'm not sure how supporting a format that the general public is unlikely to use in the near future would increase illegal trading of music above the rates supporting mp3 already causes (which AOL-Time-Warner is happy to do, or they wouldn't continue developing Winamp). The explanation I've heard, which sounds more likely, is that since Winamp doesn't make AOL any money (at least not directly), they don't want to risk getting sued over it, so their lawyers are carefully reviewing Ogg to make sure that it really is as patent-free as its developers claim (checking all the perceptual audio-coding patents - and there are a lot of them - to see if there are any that Ogg might infringe on).
At low bitrates Ogg is indeed the best (well, AAC might be better, but it's enormously expensive). Depending on your ears, this may be good enough. However, for many people, higher bitrates are needed for transparent encoding, and in this category I don't think you can say Ogg is the best lossy audio codec. It's certainly better than MP3, but it cannot beat MPC at high bitrates, especially for people who are sensitive to transient smearing (MPC's design as a subband codec gives it an inherent advantage over transform codecs like MP3 and Ogg in this respect).
Of course, it depends what your ear hears. If you're particularly sensitive to pre-echo and other transient-related problems, MPC is without a doubt the best encoder, at any reasonably high (>200 kbps) bitrate.
...one of the largest lanparties ever, MillionManLan . Check it out, both sides are to have up to 2,500 participants with linked networks for the ultimate fragfest for a total of 5,000 gamers...
There's going to be 995,000 men there who are not gamers, eh?
So why didn't he go lock himself in the lavatory and light it, instead of trying to do it in his seat?
...why isn't IBM entering?
Umm, the leaked tech demo - a playable version of certain levels - has been out for months. And you're getting excited about a few measly screenshots?
I'm not too familiar how MS handled how to lock their DVD-ROM games, but if it's anything like Sony's DVD-ROMs, then it only takes time to crack it.
From what I understand, MS's DVD-ROM drive spins backwards, and the discs thus are written so the spiral is in the opposite direction of normal DVD discs. I don't think you'll be seeing a crack for that anytime soon.
Exactly - ADA isn't a "can you do your job" sort of thing, it's a "all public places and places of businesses have to accomodate you" sort of thing. If CTS were an ADA disability, then we'd have such bizarre things as every single doorknob in the United States having to be modified so people with severe CTS could operate it.
From kernel.org:
"The latest stable version of the Linux kernel is: 2.4.17"
I wouldn't call 17 kernel upgrades "almost never."
Well, it's the same with Linux, only they're all rolled into kernel revisions. Still the old upgrade and reboot cycle.
This is highly dependent on the school. At many schools, CE is actually the degree for people who want to program, while CS is more for people who want to do research into computers - very heavy on math. After all, programming is simply implementing something, and specific implementations of concepts is almost the definition of engineering. Science, on the other hand, is typically concerned with research and coming up with new concepts (or refining old concepts), so computer science would then be more along the lines of coming up with a new sorting algorithm rather than implementing an existing one.
...will it be petrified?
Uhh, the prefix "Mega" is a standard prefix for 1,000,000, and the prefix "kilo" is a standard prefix for "1,000." The use of these prefixes predates the invention of computers. After all, a kilometer is not 1024 meters, so a kilobyte should not be 1024 bytes.
...using V in place of U in English does not make you seem Roman, and neither does it make you seem erudite. A point lost on many neo-classical architects, it would seem.
somehow I found that amusing.
When Ford comes out with a new car, the dealers don't ask you to kick in 5 or 10 bucks to have a chance to drive it do they?
But when the hollywood studios come out with a new movie, they sure ask me for 5 or 10 bucks to see the preview screening...
1) Uhh, they "felt they had to make a profit," of course - otherwise they'd go bankrupt and have to shut down all their servers, and you'd get nothing.
2) I've never gotten a spam from them. It's opt-out at sign-up; just uncheck the "send me spam" box.
3) They haven't cut the number of servers. In fact they've doubled them over the past 2 months, adding multiple worldwide mirrors to their original two. They just implemented a queue because before you'd have to hammer their servers to get in, since they were perpetually busy. Now you can just wait in line and be guaranteed you'll eventually get in. And there's not much of a wait either - they're busy today because of the Medal of Honor release, but I still got it with no wait at 2am. My roommate got it in the afternoon with a 8 minute wait.
Umm, I just downloaded it 3 hours ago, no wait. They had 4 free servers up, 3 had free slots.
And they haven't been crippling their public servers; in fact, they've doubled the number of free slots in the past 2 months. They've just implemented a queue because before the servers were always busy so people would keep hammering them trying to get in.
Fileplanet is the only place I've seen with so many demos available so quickly with so little download wait times. They serve literally gigabytes per hour, so if they're trying to make some money on the side to support it, while still keeping the service free for those who don't want ot pay, I fully support them.