I recently experienced the Musicmatch downgrade. As a result, I went out and collected Windows-based MP3 players. Here are my conclusions:
1. Musicmatch v10. - didn't work well with large MP3 libraries. The librarian program (MIM.EXE) had a nasty habit of hanging the whole system. Has my personal favorite music browsing interface, a tree with Artist/Album/Songs
2. iTunes v7.2 - only interface to the iTunes store, which is the best MP3 storefront I have found. Has a nasty habit of using 100% of system resources whenever it wants to. I dislike the browser interface. DRM'd to the max. I only use this to manage my iPod and buy music.
3. WinAmp v5.35 - heavily customizable, but I could never figure out how to implement my favored music browsing interface. Too damn many Windows.
4. MediaMonkey v2.5.5 - my new favorite player. Gives me the Music Explorer Tree. Fast. Let's me play music and playlists from my iPod, which even iTunes won't let me do. Reasonable ripping.
5. Windows Media Player v11 - Slick looking user interface. Lousy music browser. Also DRM'd to the max. A Microsoft product - need I say more?
6. Yahoo MusicMatch - Don't know the version because it pissed me off so much I deleted it from my computer. This player has the music player trifecta - DRM'd, slow, lousy interface. Oh yes, and it deluges you with annoying adds. Avoid this player like the plague.
Bottomline - if they had just FIXED MusicMatch v10, I think it would have been the best of the lot. Instead, Yahoo replaced it with some crap they scraped off the sidewalk. I'm trapped with iTunes to manage my iPod, although I suspect that if I screw around with MediaMonkey it will do that, too. Use WinAmp if you like blinking lights and pretty pictures. Otherwise, MediaMonkey is the best of the lot.
While I understand the joys of Schadenfreude, I just understand why all of you people are getting your knickers in a twist over this. I have looked at the Zune and it is an OK player. I am on my third iPod, and trust me, they have problems too. give it a rest.
This won't work for several reasons. First, most major airports bar code scan the 10-digit IATA bar code on your boarding pass. This number is in the airline's passenger itinerary system. It is extremely unlikely that the boarding pass would authenticate. It certainly wouldn't authenticate for more than one passenger, as some posters suggest. Secondly, flight attendants are trained to count the passengers once they are seated. The old Helen Hayes trick of boarding the plane and acting like you belong from "Airport" won't work anymore.
I couldn't agree more. I am 51 years old, and frankly I am completely unable to hear the kinds of artifacts that are mentioned. Too many years listening to rock and roll on headphones while doing the late night Jolt coding marathon mamba. iTunes suits me just fine.
Actually, the RIAA is pushing technology that would embed a signal in the audio that would show that the CD was DRM'd. They are pushing for legislation that would require makers of recording equipment (including sound cards) to include software that would prevent the record of audio with the DRM finger print.
God, I hate these bastards.
Downloaded tracks typically cost substantially less than the CD version. In my experience, CD's average $1.50+ per track, while downloaded music is $0.99 or less per track.
The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed is a classic of the techie genre. It is also one of the funniest books I have ever read. I give it five stars and two big thumbs up.
Posters are correct when they assert that contrarian viewpoints are what eventually advance scientific understanding. People point to scientific history to suggest that all contrarian viewpoints should be evaluated for this reason. However, you have to slog through an awful lot of dross to get to a jewel. Quacks, charlatans and members of the "tin hat" crowd seldom get written up in text books. Only those whose scientific theories succeeded against the mainstream - none of the failures.
I would be very interested to hear an alternative to the current scientific journal methodology of peer review. Right now it seems to be the best that we've got.
I don't recall anyone saying in the 70's that we would be out of fossil fuels in 10 years. Perahps you could site a reference?
What I do recall is that people said that there was a limited amount of fossil fuels to be mined. There was some dispute about exactly when we would run out of different fuels. A lot of the deviations in answers had more to do with advances in petroleum extraction techniques than with differences regarding the amount of petroleum in the ground.
For a detailed analysis, try the book Hubert's Peak
Regarding Thomas Gold - my recollection is that they actually tested his theories by drilling as deep as he recommended (well outside the petroleum window) and were unable to find ANY trace of the expected deep biosphere
The industry average cost for mishandled bags is $400 per bag. Use of RFID tags will reduce mishandled bags by a lot
RFID tags have a 99% read rate compared to less than 75% read rate for bar coded tags. This means that Delta will need to hire fewer employees to manually encode bags that cannot be automatically encoded by barcode scan tunnels
The bottom line is that DAL is implementing this because it will pay for itself in less than six months
What really made my eyes bug out in this study were the defect numbers. They are claiming a low of.005 per KSLOC - which is five defects per million lines of code! The high was fifty defects per million lines of code. There only explanation of this statistic is that Defects = number of defects reported in the twelve months following implementation / KSLOC. I can only surmise that after implementation means after delivery. Still, this is better than my experience would lead me to suspect by a factor of about a hundred.
Article Content Conflicts with /. Posting
on
Office 2003 and XML
·
· Score: 2, Informative
I took the trouble to go to Internet World and read the ENTIRE article. The portion of the article quoted on/. clearly implies the informtion being received about MS is second hand. "REPORTS ARE [emphasis added] that when saving to XML, [Office 2003] strips out the presentation and formatting information...". The person quoted is a representative of the OASIS OpenOffice XML Format Technical Committee, so there is a definite risk of bias, particularly when coupled with secondhand information.
The article goes on to quote someone who is actually is an Office 2003 beta-tester. He claims that saving in an XML format does not, in fact, strip out the formatting, and states the tests he ran to confirm this.
The source of confusion may be in different XML formats supported by Office 2003. There are two, one of which strips out all of the formatting information, while the other does not. A lively debate then ensues between the pros and cons of both approaches.
Slashdot Mirror
Promotional posters of computer chips. I have one for an Intel 80286 on my office wall that is just gorgeous.
Due to his prediction of geosynchronous communications satelites, this type of orbit is already named after him.
I recently experienced the Musicmatch downgrade. As a result, I went out and collected Windows-based MP3 players. Here are my conclusions: 1. Musicmatch v10. - didn't work well with large MP3 libraries. The librarian program (MIM.EXE) had a nasty habit of hanging the whole system. Has my personal favorite music browsing interface, a tree with Artist/Album/Songs 2. iTunes v7.2 - only interface to the iTunes store, which is the best MP3 storefront I have found. Has a nasty habit of using 100% of system resources whenever it wants to. I dislike the browser interface. DRM'd to the max. I only use this to manage my iPod and buy music. 3. WinAmp v5.35 - heavily customizable, but I could never figure out how to implement my favored music browsing interface. Too damn many Windows. 4. MediaMonkey v2.5.5 - my new favorite player. Gives me the Music Explorer Tree. Fast. Let's me play music and playlists from my iPod, which even iTunes won't let me do. Reasonable ripping. 5. Windows Media Player v11 - Slick looking user interface. Lousy music browser. Also DRM'd to the max. A Microsoft product - need I say more? 6. Yahoo MusicMatch - Don't know the version because it pissed me off so much I deleted it from my computer. This player has the music player trifecta - DRM'd, slow, lousy interface. Oh yes, and it deluges you with annoying adds. Avoid this player like the plague. Bottomline - if they had just FIXED MusicMatch v10, I think it would have been the best of the lot. Instead, Yahoo replaced it with some crap they scraped off the sidewalk. I'm trapped with iTunes to manage my iPod, although I suspect that if I screw around with MediaMonkey it will do that, too. Use WinAmp if you like blinking lights and pretty pictures. Otherwise, MediaMonkey is the best of the lot.
http://www.download.com/Musicmatch-Jukebox/3000-21 67_4-10354571.html?tag=lst-0-1%22
It is possible to rip CD's created by iTunes. You have to turn off iTunes before running Musicmatch.
While I understand the joys of Schadenfreude, I just understand why all of you people are getting your knickers in a twist over this. I have looked at the Zune and it is an OK player. I am on my third iPod, and trust me, they have problems too. give it a rest.
This won't work for several reasons. First, most major airports bar code scan the 10-digit IATA bar code on your boarding pass. This number is in the airline's passenger itinerary system. It is extremely unlikely that the boarding pass would authenticate. It certainly wouldn't authenticate for more than one passenger, as some posters suggest. Secondly, flight attendants are trained to count the passengers once they are seated. The old Helen Hayes trick of boarding the plane and acting like you belong from "Airport" won't work anymore.
I couldn't agree more. I am 51 years old, and frankly I am completely unable to hear the kinds of artifacts that are mentioned. Too many years listening to rock and roll on headphones while doing the late night Jolt coding marathon mamba. iTunes suits me just fine.
Actually, the RIAA is pushing technology that would embed a signal in the audio that would show that the CD was DRM'd. They are pushing for legislation that would require makers of recording equipment (including sound cards) to include software that would prevent the record of audio with the DRM finger print. God, I hate these bastards.
Downloaded tracks typically cost substantially less than the CD version. In my experience, CD's average $1.50+ per track, while downloaded music is $0.99 or less per track.
The Deltoid Pumpkin Seed is a classic of the techie genre. It is also one of the funniest books I have ever read. I give it five stars and two big thumbs up.
Posters are correct when they assert that contrarian viewpoints are what eventually advance scientific understanding. People point to scientific history to suggest that all contrarian viewpoints should be evaluated for this reason. However, you have to slog through an awful lot of dross to get to a jewel. Quacks, charlatans and members of the "tin hat" crowd seldom get written up in text books. Only those whose scientific theories succeeded against the mainstream - none of the failures. I would be very interested to hear an alternative to the current scientific journal methodology of peer review. Right now it seems to be the best that we've got.
I don't recall anyone saying in the 70's that we would be out of fossil fuels in 10 years. Perahps you could site a reference? What I do recall is that people said that there was a limited amount of fossil fuels to be mined. There was some dispute about exactly when we would run out of different fuels. A lot of the deviations in answers had more to do with advances in petroleum extraction techniques than with differences regarding the amount of petroleum in the ground. For a detailed analysis, try the book Hubert's Peak
Regarding Thomas Gold - my recollection is that they actually tested his theories by drilling as deep as he recommended (well outside the petroleum window) and were unable to find ANY trace of the expected deep biosphere
The industry average cost for mishandled bags is $400 per bag. Use of RFID tags will reduce mishandled bags by a lot RFID tags have a 99% read rate compared to less than 75% read rate for bar coded tags. This means that Delta will need to hire fewer employees to manually encode bags that cannot be automatically encoded by barcode scan tunnels The bottom line is that DAL is implementing this because it will pay for itself in less than six months
An outstanding idea! He owes it to me for the pain & suffering I went through seeing the first two movies...
What really made my eyes bug out in this study were the defect numbers. They are claiming a low of .005 per KSLOC - which is five defects per million lines of code! The high was fifty defects per million lines of code. There only explanation of this statistic is that Defects = number of defects reported in the twelve months following implementation / KSLOC. I can only surmise that after implementation means after delivery. Still, this is better than my experience would lead me to suspect by a factor of about a hundred.
I took the trouble to go to Internet World and read the ENTIRE article. The portion of the article quoted on /. clearly implies the informtion being received about MS is second hand. "REPORTS ARE [emphasis added] that when saving to XML, [Office 2003] strips out the presentation and formatting information...". The person quoted is a representative of the OASIS OpenOffice XML Format Technical Committee, so there is a definite risk of bias, particularly when coupled with secondhand information.
The article goes on to quote someone who is actually is an Office 2003 beta-tester. He claims that saving in an XML format does not, in fact, strip out the formatting, and states the tests he ran to confirm this.
The source of confusion may be in different XML formats supported by Office 2003. There are two, one of which strips out all of the formatting information, while the other does not. A lively debate then ensues between the pros and cons of both approaches.