In many cases, ISPs do not *want* to sell you only Internet access. You have to know how to play the system.
In Boston (02108) you could get a cable internet feed from Comcast two ways:
Cable internet only: $57.95 per month (plus taxes and fees)
Cable internet for $29.99 plus basic cable for $10.43 per month = $40.42 total (plus taxes and fees)
You don't need to actually watch any of the 12 fuzzy distorted channels you get with the basic cable package to qualify.
(Note that in many/most areas, the government requires that cable companies have available a low-cost "basic cable" package - although they rarely advertise it, it must be available for purchase if you ask).
TFA doesn't define what they mean by "firmware blob in the kernel"....
If they mean a piece of firmware for download to a specific hardware device, then that is rarely in the *kernel*. Usually it is held in a separate file on disk, that is downloaded to the device at boot time. If it is in a separate file, the binary firmware blob is then not a part of the kernel, so the point is moot. The little bit of loading code that opens and reads the file and blasts it to the hardware is part of the kernel - and is most likely already part of the open source code.
If they mean a part of the kernel with no open source, then it is kernel code and please stop calling it firmware.
The cameras used in the NFL are clearly not "high frame rate" - they are currently using normal video frame rates, HDTV 1080i/5994 (or 720p/5994 in the case of Fox). The video pixels you see of the players and grass are unaltered - the yellow line is merely added in by a downstream keyer. More than one camera is not necessary - the processing is done downstream, and only needs one single camera input.
There are various technologies used by the different networks, but the Stanford software seems most similar to the image processing back end designed by Orad. That system needs no special camera at all - even a handheld unit will work - since the system does not need to know the camera position. The original unit that I worked on in 1994-1995 was a deskside box full of DSPs - but it was just doing image processing, something clearly possible on a current multicore desktop computer.
Maybe these Stanford geeks don't watch football... that yellow first-down line is actually *not* painted on the field, it's inserted into the live video feed electronically. While doing it live requires some reasonable amount of processing power, doing it by non-real-time processing is pretty trivial (it's just a 3D texture map).
The technology to do this was commonly available in the mid-90's.
On the other hand - the captured images are already in a ready-to-edit format. With traditional film, it first needs to be sent out to be developed, then it needs to be run through a film scanner. Both are time-consuming operations; and both need experienced operators, especially if you are doing any form of color correction during the film scan.
So that adds a day, if not more, between shooting and being able to see the raw footage. (Hence the tradition of "dailies", where you see what was shot yesterday). With a decent RED setup, you could review a shot *immediately*.
Is there not a designated smoking area for these people?
There isn't a designated drinking area for the alcoholics, or a designated shooting-up area for the heroin addicts. So why should there be a special area for those addicted to nicotine?
The FCC has already licensed the frequencies in question.... to the television stations. Each TV station gets unfettered access to a 6 MHz wide band - nothing limits what they do with that freqency band. So I'm not sure exactly how the FCC can license those same frequencies a second time.
Legally, I think the NAB and the TV stations own these frequencies and should fight to retain them. If these frequencies are so valuable, the current owners should be the ones to profit if they choose to sublicense them.
Isn't it odd how the program knows ahead of time how many keys you are going to type, and conveniently exits after decoding exactly that many?
Sure - it *could* have an exit condition where it quits if it hasn't seen a keystroke in n seconds. But, on the second video, it doesn't time out while the camera goes to the other room - but it does time out while the camera comes back. And besides - who would create their program that way? Just have it decode anything received in an infinite loop - far easier to use.
What happens to the IP addresses allocated to companies that are now (a) bankrupt, or (b) bought out by larger companies, or (c) allocated to companies now significantly smaller in size? There must be a significant pool of addresses that could be reclaimed there.
So your argument is that, with the gearing on your car, in sixth gear, you are more efficient driving at 85 MPH than at a lower speed.
But: what about economy in *fifth* gear, at 2000 RPM? That way you reap the dual benefits of (a) running the engine in it's sweet spot, and (b) lower aerodynamic drag.
No - they actually *do* turn down the sensitivity when it is busy.
Luckily you Americans have this fifth amendment thingie, so I don't have to tell you how I know this.
IMMEDIATELY rip all the tracks and burn yourself a replacement disk. Better yet, rip all the tracks and put them on an MP3 player.
No, you should create a replacement disk - an exact duplicate of the uncompressed, unencumbered original. Doing all of the work of repairing the original, but then only saving a MP3 copy (a lossy, highly compressed copy) would be silly.
Archival storage should always be done in the highest resolution, least compressed means available. You may think that MP3 is great - but in five years when MP8 comes out, you'll want the uncompressed originals available to encode into the new format.
This is nothing new - there were never any picture quality standards for standard definition television either. The concept of "broadcast quality" varies from country to country, from network to network, and from affiliate to affiliate.
In the early days of HDTV research, test viewers were shown three different televisions: a normal standard def (analog) picture; a standard def picture directly from the digital studio master, produced and delivered to normal high-end studio standards; and a high-definition picture (shot and edited in high definition). Everyone thought the analog standard def was the worst of the three - but most consumers thought there was little, or no, difference between the professional standard def and the HD pictures. So - in actual blind testing - how cleanly the picture was delivered was much more important than picture resolution.
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On the T-Mobile Android data plan, there are no roaming charges in the USA.
Unlimited data per month, too - unlike that other phone that begins with 'i'.
You don't need to actually watch any of the 12 fuzzy distorted channels you get with the basic cable package to qualify. (Note that in many/most areas, the government requires that cable companies have available a low-cost "basic cable" package - although they rarely advertise it, it must be available for purchase if you ask).
Cue the FSF complaining about the beans being proprietary in 3... 2... 1...
Once they get to a Virtual Reality sex simulator, they might have a viable product.....
What sort of lame criminals go to the store and *purchase* SIM cards?
Buying games in stores?? On physical media?? How 1990s. Do people actually do that any more?
With an electronic distribution (Steam, for example) there is no shoplifting problem to begin with.
TFA doesn't define what they mean by "firmware blob in the kernel"....
If they mean a piece of firmware for download to a specific hardware device, then that is rarely in the *kernel*. Usually it is held in a separate file on disk, that is downloaded to the device at boot time. If it is in a separate file, the binary firmware blob is then not a part of the kernel, so the point is moot. The little bit of loading code that opens and reads the file and blasts it to the hardware is part of the kernel - and is most likely already part of the open source code.
If they mean a part of the kernel with no open source, then it is kernel code and please stop calling it firmware.
Well, no.
The cameras used in the NFL are clearly not "high frame rate" - they are currently using normal video frame rates, HDTV 1080i/5994 (or 720p/5994 in the case of Fox). The video pixels you see of the players and grass are unaltered - the yellow line is merely added in by a downstream keyer. More than one camera is not necessary - the processing is done downstream, and only needs one single camera input.
There are various technologies used by the different networks, but the Stanford software seems most similar to the image processing back end designed by Orad. That system needs no special camera at all - even a handheld unit will work - since the system does not need to know the camera position. The original unit that I worked on in 1994-1995 was a deskside box full of DSPs - but it was just doing image processing, something clearly possible on a current multicore desktop computer.
Maybe these Stanford geeks don't watch football... that yellow first-down line is actually *not* painted on the field, it's inserted into the live video feed electronically. While doing it live requires some reasonable amount of processing power, doing it by non-real-time processing is pretty trivial (it's just a 3D texture map).
The technology to do this was commonly available in the mid-90's.
On the other hand - the captured images are already in a ready-to-edit format. With traditional film, it first needs to be sent out to be developed, then it needs to be run through a film scanner. Both are time-consuming operations; and both need experienced operators, especially if you are doing any form of color correction during the film scan.
So that adds a day, if not more, between shooting and being able to see the raw footage. (Hence the tradition of "dailies", where you see what was shot yesterday). With a decent RED setup, you could review a shot *immediately*.
Is there not a designated smoking area for these people?
There isn't a designated drinking area for the alcoholics, or a designated shooting-up area for the heroin addicts. So why should there be a special area for those addicted to nicotine?
The FCC has already licensed the frequencies in question.... to the television stations. Each TV station gets unfettered access to a 6 MHz wide band - nothing limits what they do with that freqency band. So I'm not sure exactly how the FCC can license those same frequencies a second time. Legally, I think the NAB and the TV stations own these frequencies and should fight to retain them. If these frequencies are so valuable, the current owners should be the ones to profit if they choose to sublicense them.
Isn't it odd how the program knows ahead of time how many keys you are going to type, and conveniently exits after decoding exactly that many?
Sure - it *could* have an exit condition where it quits if it hasn't seen a keystroke in n seconds. But, on the second video, it doesn't time out while the camera goes to the other room - but it does time out while the camera comes back. And besides - who would create their program that way? Just have it decode anything received in an infinite loop - far easier to use.
What happens to the IP addresses allocated to companies that are now (a) bankrupt, or (b) bought out by larger companies, or (c) allocated to companies now significantly smaller in size? There must be a significant pool of addresses that could be reclaimed there.
e.g. dec.com, compaq.com, sco.com, sgi.com....
So your argument is that, with the gearing on your car, in sixth gear, you are more efficient driving at 85 MPH than at a lower speed.
But: what about economy in *fifth* gear, at 2000 RPM? That way you reap the dual benefits of (a) running the engine in it's sweet spot, and (b) lower aerodynamic drag.
Wouldn't "Disabling a DRM format that is obsolete" be a good candidate to add to the DMCA exemptions?
Leave the computer at home. Drink beer and enjoy yourself on vacation. Problem solved.
Even a moderately sized memory card for your camera can hold 200 pictures - can you really shoot more than that in a week?
Steam has hosted Gary's Mod for several years - in both a free and a paid version.
(Gary's Mod is a free-form mod based on the Half Life 2 engine, and is possibly the most creative mod ever).
Since the authorities can seize the laptop indefinitely, who cares what sort of bag it's in?
No - they actually *do* turn down the sensitivity when it is busy. Luckily you Americans have this fifth amendment thingie, so I don't have to tell you how I know this.
IMMEDIATELY rip all the tracks and burn yourself a replacement disk. Better yet, rip all the tracks and put them on an MP3 player.
No, you should create a replacement disk - an exact duplicate of the uncompressed, unencumbered original. Doing all of the work of repairing the original, but then only saving a MP3 copy (a lossy, highly compressed copy) would be silly.
Archival storage should always be done in the highest resolution, least compressed means available. You may think that MP3 is great - but in five years when MP8 comes out, you'll want the uncompressed originals available to encode into the new format.
For anyone who has worked in banking in the US, M means thousand, and MM means million.
The target audience of slashdot is geeks - specifically, engineering/computer geeks. This audience uses K for thousand.
If you want to use M for thousand on bankerdot.org, sure, go for it.
So, China blocks portions of the Internet - and always has - and suddenly its front page news.
But, in the USA, ISPs are blocking more and more sites every day - but it barely gets noticed by the same mainstream press.
If human rights violations and internet blocking are reasons to not hold an Olympics - then I guess the USA will never host another one.
This is nothing new - there were never any picture quality standards for standard definition television either. The concept of "broadcast quality" varies from country to country, from network to network, and from affiliate to affiliate.
In the early days of HDTV research, test viewers were shown three different televisions: a normal standard def (analog) picture; a standard def picture directly from the digital studio master, produced and delivered to normal high-end studio standards; and a high-definition picture (shot and edited in high definition). Everyone thought the analog standard def was the worst of the three - but most consumers thought there was little, or no, difference between the professional standard def and the HD pictures. So - in actual blind testing - how cleanly the picture was delivered was much more important than picture resolution.
Don't you wish slashdot had an edit feature? Clearly I meant 4.5 *gigabytes* per second.....