Don't suppose i have anything shockingly new to add to the discussion, but i think this is truly a sad moment for Linux. Mandrake was great for people that want their computers to work a lot like Windows/Mac but actually want a LINUX distribution, and not some shit KDE-and-WINE hack. I've tried two or three distributions, and Mandrake was the one that worked the best for me. It's hardware management utilities and it's Windows-friendliness were two of the greatest features to hit Linux in a long time. Granted, most Linux aces can put together a similar system to their liking with any distribution out there, but i'm not a Linux ace, and neither are most of the people i know that want to "get into" Linux. All the people i know want something that's easy, but something that's still Linux. Not Lycoris, not Lindows, not Xandros, not Gentoo. "Linux that works", i guess.
Anyway, while this may not be the end of the Mandrake distribution, it's sad that MandrakeSoft is even touching the B word. I truly hope whatever is going on over there gets worked out. Mandrake really has (present tense, hopefully) a chance to become the big link between n00bs and hax0rs.
... What? What are you talking about? What do the jobs have to do with the consumers? The corporations move all their jobs overseas because they don't have to pay the workers there as much as they do in America, and therefore, they can sell their products in America cheaper, which (perhaps sadly) encourages competition. Like, ah...
01.) Make corporation
02.) Move jobs overseas
03.) ???
04.) PROFIT!
I think the Supreme Court (considering it as a whole group of individuals working toward the same basic goal) has yet to decide between loose and strict construction. Most likely "it" never will, and i highly doubt there's anything that anybody can stick to it (in the way of law or anything) that effectively states that they have to choose. Interpretation of the Constitution generally changes over time; it's totally subjective.
Re:Just because you tolerate that garbage...
on
Real DRM
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· Score: 2
I hate RealPlayer myself; i quit using it just a little before RealPlayer Plus 8 (or whatever it's called) came out. However, i have to agree with you. Anyone that can't take the time to configure their programs doesn't have the right to complain about them (unless of course the problem in question can't be solved by configuration). Linux/BSD/whatever zealots should be able to confirm this. Just because they don't like Windows, some of them treat it like it's somehow inherently different from UNIX. For example, there is NO WAY you're going to get a GUI to your liking with BSD/Linux unless you do some heavy modification (or unless you don't care at all about the GUI). People who don't use Windows gripe about how Luna is so ugly and cartoony, and when someone who actually does use Windows points out that they can make the UI look like anything they want, the Linux/BSD people complain about how that takes so much effort. I can't even get mouse acceleration to work in Linux without fucking with it for an hour, and sometimes not even then. The default KDE themes are hideous, and the font anti-aliasing blows. Of course, that doesn't mean KDE sucks. That just means you have to WORK AT IT to get it the way you want it. Eh, i'll stop there with the GUI analogy.
Anyway, the point is, very rarely are you going to find software that just -POOF!- installs with all your favourite settings right out of the box. I can't think of any program i've EVER used that i didn't have to change the configurations for. Windows, Linux, KDE, GNOME, Internet Explorer, Mozilla, AIM, Winamp, XMMS, Photoshop, mIRC, Mac OS, iTunes... really, there are no programs or operating systems that i have never had to modify slightly to my liking.
As for whether or not Real treats their users like idiots... DUH. I don't appreciate it when Linux gives me warnings about being root either. I don't appreciate it when Quicktime tells me it's had its file associations screwed with. I don't appreciate it when mIRC asks me if i really want to close it, because there are channels open. I don't appreciate it when AIM tells me that clicking the close button will actually send it to the tray instead of closing it. Almost all Windows and Mac programs do this, and a good portion of Linux ones do as well. RealPlayer isn't exactly known for the being the hardcore hacker's tool of choice. So no shit, it treats you like an idiot.
If you need him to post the definition for "sarcasm" to get it, you've already lost the race, guy. As for whether or not it was sarcasm, thesaurus.com tells me that "mockery", "wisecrack", and "satire" are all synonyms. I'm afraid that's twice you lose. If you need me to post the definitions for any of the above words, you lose (2 + number of definitions required to post) times. Keep on truckin'!
* I'd like to see an effective ranking mechanism (e.g., a parallel to movie ratings). If the ESRB can't rise to the challenge, as this Harvard study suggests, then I'd like a third party to oversee the mechanism's creation and enforcement.
That's bull. I, for one, have seen the ESRB's influence first hand. They've done a GREAT job of keeping me from renting games. I can drive to the rental place, but i can't rent Resident Evil once i'm there, because i'm not 17. I can't rent ANY of the "mature" games there. The various incarnations of Silent Hill, Resident Evil, certain FPSes, etc., are all off-limits for me, even though i personally own many of them, and have played them millions of times. I can turn on Fox and see more questionable content than i would playing Resident Evil (Silent Hill is another story, heh). I can see the logic in the system, of course... but this guy's argument is bullshit.
* Based on the ranking mechanism, I'd like to see distribution control so that minors don't get access to inappropriate material.
For the most part, already in place. All the big chains bar minors from buying/renting games below their "age group". Wal-Mart, Target, Blockbuster, and most of the regional chains i've been to, won't allow me to rent or buy "mature" games unless i have a parent with me. There are, of course, small and/or independent shops where i can walk in and they'll pretty much sell me anything, regardless of my age or the content of the game.
* I do believe exposure to some of the content of some video games is prima facie problematic. This seems to be the point where I part ways with most of the people who responded, but so it goes. I don't think video games are inherently "bad", but I do think some of them can exert a negative influence on some kids some of the time.
And of course, who can criticise video games without playing the "games influence kids" argument? I'm sure everyone on Slashdot already has their minds made up about whether or not games influence kids. I'm sure anyone that has ever heard the argument does. However, he says himself that they exert a negative influence on SOME kids SOME of the time. Why stop with video games? Let's regulate TV shows (because no, they are not regulated to any great degree). Let's regulate driver's licences. Let's have everyone participate in a psychological evaluation before we allow them to legally have access to a car, because hey, cars contribute to road rage. I can walk into Target and buy a giant fucking knife, or a box of kitchen matches. Why don't we regulate those things? Why don't we regulate baseball bats? Lumber? Nails? Screwdrivers? Boots?
I'm being facetious, of course. The fact is, games are already regulated as much as they need to be. There is no need to get any more anal about it. Once again, everyone thinks it should be up to somebody else to take care of their kids. Let's see THE PARENTS take some responsibility, instead of blaming video games, movies, and music for their poor child-raising skills.
Excluding very small children (i.e. ~8 and younger), games don't influence people that aren't already fucked up in the head. Small children like that aren't going to be able to rent/buy games anyway. One, where will they get the money? Two, how will they get to the store/rental place? Three, what moron would sell a violent game to a little kid like that if they did happen to get past the first two hurdles? Those are the kids we needed to be worrying about with the game ratings, and we don't have to anymore. They're covered. The only problem now is the psychologically demented people that play Quake and then go out and shoot people. Mainstream society shouldn't have to suffer because there are screwed-up people in the world.
PS: I think Grand Theft Auto (all four versions of it) is a retarded and extremely overrated game.
Err, because the first thing you read in the X Windows System documentation is what it is called... Sooooooo, how much of an expert on X can you be if you haven't read the first page of the manual?
Really, can you explain to me what the fuck the big deal is with calling the X Window System by its proper name? It seems every single time somebody says "XWindows" or "X Windows" or "X Window", somebody gets all anal and replies about how that's not its proper name. Who gives a fuck?
Why is the name of the X Window System ANY different from the name of Winamp (which many call "WinAMP" or "WinAmp"), the name of the Mac (which many call the "MAC"), the name of Microsoft (i can't even begin to list the number of "alternate" spellings for this), the name of Windows (which many call "Windoze" or "Winblows"), the ellipsis ("...", which most fucktards write as ".."), any mispunctuated or misspelt word or sentence, the abbreviation "etc." (which many write as "etc" or "ect")... why don't you take time out of your zealot lives to correct all THOSE typos every single time they come up? Really, what the Hell is the big deal with "X Window System" that it needs to have a dozen persons pointing out its proper name in every discussion?
For the record, i'm not trolling. I truly don't understand why that has to be brought up so often. How does choosing not to write out "the X Window System" == "little credibility"?
Personally, i hate the Windows XP zip feature. I always disable it when installing XP, and then i download WinZip. I also use WinRAR, and i know that sounds stupid (to use both), but.... Call me crazy, but i've been using WinZip for i don't know how many years now, and even though i know WinRAR can handle zips, i still like WinZip better. Anyway, my take on the zip "scene", heh.
By the way... it's not a direct quote if you change my words. I said "criticise", not "criticize". Just out of curiosity, why did you change those and not my lower-cased "i"s? Heh, just wondering.
Fair enough. And if you don't like criticisms of criticisms of Slashdot, you don't have to read them.:p Honestly, we could go on like that forever. Although i realise that (hopefully?) the parent (not sure if that was you) is not responsible for every single "this is not news" comment, i was just saying there's no need to comment on every single article in this fashion. Slashdot doesn't have any "priorities"; they're not entitled to provide any services. The whole operation is, essentially, subjective and opinion-based.
So if the parent (again, not sure if that's you) really finds Slashdot totally pointless except for YRO, then why not just read YRO? What's the point in posting to every article you don't find interesting and saying that "it's not news"? I don't want to turn this into a flame war... i mean, if this was the first post of its kind i had seen, then i would've just moved on. But as it is, like i said, i see dozens of these a month. The whole thing really is subjective, and there's not really any middle ground. I guess it's all opinion. Just stating mine.
Hrm, ok, i'm kind of confused by what you're saying, but let me try to explain.
I'm not complaining (well, sort of)... i'm just saying, that if Slashdot had ANY problem, that would be it, or at least the biggest one. I trust the moderators to a point, but... when i was an AC, i saw a fair few of good posts that were moderated to -1 either because the moderators didn't understand what was being said, or because they just didn't fit into their views. I'm not out to insult moderators or anything; i'm just saying, i've seen it happen, and as such, i browse at -1. In fact i do have time to kill -- lots of it, sadly. However, that's not why i browse at -1. I don't even necessarily "read" -1 comments. I skim over them, and if i notice something about Soviet Russia, Beowulf Clusters, open-source business models, and/or porn stories, i move on.
Really it's not THAT big of a deal, i only mentioned it as an alternative to posting every other article about how the article "doesn't matter" or "isn't news". If i saw it as such a huge deal, i would've already commented on it.
As for wanting "someone 'that [i] can trust' to remove comments that are not interesting to [me]", i never said that's what i wanted. Without getting into a huge Spiel about it, the problem obviously isn't as simple as just deleting trolls. Remember, they tried that before they came up with the moderation system. The problem is too large to just go about deleting trolls, and eventually there would be questions as to just what constitutes a troll, et cetera. It would create more of a problem. And i don't think this is just MY opinion (on trolls, that is). The only people that find the trolls "interesting" (or appear to) are other trolls.
Anyway, like i said, not a big deal. I was just stating an alternative to posting non-constructive comments about what you think should constitute Slashdot.
Vorbis doesn't really encode any faster than MP3. If you believe Xiph (and i tend to do so), then of course it sounds better. Why the Hell would you go through the time and money of creating a new audio codec if it had no advantages? Advantages of Vorbis boil down to:
+ Open-source/free/whatever: You don't care about this, apparently, but the fact is that if you don't pay for your MP3 encoder/decoder (or if the company that makes your MP3 encoder/decoder doesn't pay for it), you are "stealing" if you use it. MP3 is patented. If you create an MP3 encoder/decoder, you are legally required to pay FhG/Thomson for every encoder/decoder you put out. If you don't care about this, fine, but if Apple doesn't have to pay for each piece of MP3-enabled software/hardware they put out, YOU save money. I guess Apple wouldn't phase out MP3 support totally any time soon, but eventually if they did, you would indeed be paying a lower price for your iPod or whatever.
+ Better quality at lower bitrates: Like MP3Pro and (i think) WMA, Xiph has put extra care into lower bitrates in Vorbis. Personally this doesn't matter to me, or the majority of audiophiles, but this can be very beneficial to streaming (i.e. "radio") broadcasts. Remember that bitrate != quality.
+ Bitrate peeling: Bitrate peeling has been planned in Vorbis for a while, and recently they actually implemented the feature. As i understand it, what this essentially does is: say you have some Vorbis files of a given bitrate; let's say (as an example) 160 kbps. Now, let's say you have to stick these Vorbis files on a CD somewhere, or you want to put out a sample on your low-bandwidth Website, or whatever, and you need to make these Vorbis files smaller in size. Before you only had one option: to decode these to Wave, and then re-encode them at a lower bitrate. This isn't a matter of just taking out the "higher" parts of the file. It actually works on the already-encoded parts when you re-encode. That leads to worse quality. To put this into perspective, let me use the example of an MP3, as that's what you seem to be used to. If you rip a Wave off your audio CD, and then convert it into 160 kbps MP3, it's going to be higher quality than that same file that has been ripped to Wave, converted to 192 kbps MP3, decoded back to Wave, and then re-encoded to 160 kbps MP3. Get the idea? So, with bitrate peeling, you essentially skip the decode/re-encode stages, and you just remove the "higher" parts of the file to make them actually the same quality as they would have been if you had encoded to that bitrate in the first place. Confusing, but hopefully you get the idea.
+ Custom tags: MP3 zealots will, of course, claim that MP3's ID3v2 supports custom tags (i.e., you can create any tag you want and put any information into it that you want), but the fact is that very few MP3 decoders (players) actually support this feature. Vorbis, however, natively supports custom tags. You can create any tag you want, and put anything in it, and any respectable media players (for example, Winamp, if you're a Windows user; not sure about Mac/UNIX) should be able to show your custom tags. Maybe this isn't an important feature for some, but i personally like to have as much information as possible on a track. I want a time of encoding, i want to know who encoded it, and with what program, and at what quality. I want to know the EXACT date of release, not just a year. Again, maybe you don't care about that.
+ Better quality: And, of course, Vorbis is designed to be higher quality than MP3. Generally (if the world is a semi-perfect place), a Vorbis file of any given song should be of higher quality than an MP3 of the same song at the same bitrate. (Remember that "bitrate" is a measure of file size, not file quality.) For the sake of simplicity, assume you have a "quality" scale of 1 to 10, 10 being an exact duplicate of the original song. If you have an MP3 that is a 7 on the scale, and an Ogg that is a 7 on the scale, the Ogg should usually be about 20% smaller in file size (this will, of course, vary widely).
There are other, less talked-about features of Vorbis, but those are the main benefits.
You are, of course, entitled to your opinion, but Slashdot doesn't owe you or anyone else anything. I, for one, find this somewhat interesting, and i'd like to see what other Slashdotters have to say about this ("this" being what happened, not criticism of the article itself). Of course, this article isn't as chock full of wordly implications as many of Slashdot's finer ones, but nonetheless it does fit into the "news for nerds" thing. It seems every other article gets a batch of guys like you saying "But how does this fit in with the almighty SLASHDOT MANTRA????". The fact is, the Slashdot mantra is subjective, and you're never going to get everyone to agree on it.
However, if you don't think this is news, by all means, please don't read it. The people on here that do find this interesting will not be converted or otherwise swayed by your comment, or mine, or anyone else's. So, i think the phrase "if you don't have anything constructive to say, don't say anything at all" applies here. If you really want to criticise something, criticise the moderation system. I browse at -1 because i don't trust the moderators to weed out "only the bad" for me. Of course, with this comes the... FIFTEEN (so far) trolls/f1rst pr0st/goatse posts. Now for that i'd be interested in hearing a solution.
I agree. I've read this guy's posts (the fifteen he makes to each article). While some of them admittedly do contain good content, many of them appear to contain showy philosophy, pedantry, or accounts of his many, many, many, many fields of expertise.
As for his reply:
When I remarked, "Note that your second sentence is a fragment -- and, worse, is complete nonsense," the first part was consciously snide, the second the point. See, it's mocking irony, in response to a patronizing post by a wannabe expert. You're now doing the same by assuming I'm unfamiliar with modern usage and require tedious correction on a tedious point.
If, guy, you were so familiar with modern grammar usage, why did you comment? You were the one who started the "pedantry" thread; you can't just stand back and act the victim now. Some guy made a spelling error, you discredited him because of that (i.e. you didn't "read for content rather than details and distractions"). Obviously it was an important enough detail to you that you felt the need to point it out. You, as well, made an error in your writing, and you fell back on some lame excuse for why it's ok for you to do it, but not him.
I quite got the meaning of your (initial) post. The spelling error (made by the author of the Webpage) was only one small point of the whole post; there were others. What got me going was the fact that you couldn't accept your mistake, but rather you fell back on lame excuses (as i said above). I rarely point out spelling/grammar mistakes in posts, but when doing so is an integral part, for any reason, i make damned sure that i didn't misspell anything in my post. If i want to sound condescending, i should do a good job of it.
Anyway, the point is that you do, indeed, fall into the jurisdiction of the "people in glass houses..." thing. Next time you attempt to discredit/ridicule/condescend upon a person, please make sure that either a.) you don't do something along the same lines as your "target", and/or b.) you admit your mistake, if you do make one. Otherwise, expect a thread of flames like this and the above posts.
In fact, sentences beginning with
because are quite common in written English. Another rule states that one should not use a clause beginning with because as the subject of a sentence, as in Just because he thinks it a good idea doesn't mean it's a good idea. This construction is perfectly acceptable, but it carries a colloquial flavor and may best be reserved for informal situations.
If you have been paying attention for the last, i don't know, 30 years, you would know that using conjunctions to start a sentence is no longer considered incorrect. Even if you disagree, posting to a forum (such as Slashdot) is, usually, a form of dialogue. Dialogue does not require perfect grammar. Speaking in such a manner is often redundant, condescending, and/or time-consuming. English also holds the distinction of maintaining ridiculous (i.e. stupid and pointless) rules of grammar, capitalisation, and spelling. As such, many, including myself, take it upon themselves to slightly correct the syntax of the language.
How can something be efficient if you don't like the way it looks? Granted, the design/shape/colour of your computer's case really doesn't have effect on the way it runs (generally speaking, of course; i'm not talking about adding fans/cutting holes/other stuff that could affect performance), some people just aren't satisfied until they've got something looking the way they like it. There are those of us that are very... artistic... i guess, and mixing your two favourite things, computers and art (i guess you could call it), is not only fun, but, in some cases, functional.
I realise this isn't the point of the article, but by your logic, i should leave Windows looking like... this. Ignoring the fact that that's a fucking gigantic image (and the fact that there are some Slashdotters that will no doubt feel the urge to reply with "use lunax u fag0rt!!!!11")... that is a MAJOR distraction to me (and most other people, it seems). So, i go about modifying it so it looks like this.:D </selfpromotion>
Slashdot Mirror
Ah, Microsoft M$. Is that like a sub-division of the real Microsoft, or...?
Anyway, while this may not be the end of the Mandrake distribution, it's sad that MandrakeSoft is even touching the B word. I truly hope whatever is going on over there gets worked out. Mandrake really has (present tense, hopefully) a chance to become the big link between n00bs and hax0rs.
01.) Make corporation
02.) Move jobs overseas
03.) ???
04.) PROFIT!
I haven't used that one in a while.
I think the Supreme Court (considering it as a whole group of individuals working toward the same basic goal) has yet to decide between loose and strict construction. Most likely "it" never will, and i highly doubt there's anything that anybody can stick to it (in the way of law or anything) that effectively states that they have to choose. Interpretation of the Constitution generally changes over time; it's totally subjective.
Anyway, the point is, very rarely are you going to find software that just -POOF!- installs with all your favourite settings right out of the box. I can't think of any program i've EVER used that i didn't have to change the configurations for. Windows, Linux, KDE, GNOME, Internet Explorer, Mozilla, AIM, Winamp, XMMS, Photoshop, mIRC, Mac OS, iTunes... really, there are no programs or operating systems that i have never had to modify slightly to my liking.
As for whether or not Real treats their users like idiots... DUH. I don't appreciate it when Linux gives me warnings about being root either. I don't appreciate it when Quicktime tells me it's had its file associations screwed with. I don't appreciate it when mIRC asks me if i really want to close it, because there are channels open. I don't appreciate it when AIM tells me that clicking the close button will actually send it to the tray instead of closing it. Almost all Windows and Mac programs do this, and a good portion of Linux ones do as well. RealPlayer isn't exactly known for the being the hardcore hacker's tool of choice. So no shit, it treats you like an idiot.
I wasn't laughing either.
If you need him to post the definition for "sarcasm" to get it, you've already lost the race, guy. As for whether or not it was sarcasm, thesaurus.com tells me that "mockery", "wisecrack", and "satire" are all synonyms. I'm afraid that's twice you lose. If you need me to post the definitions for any of the above words, you lose (2 + number of definitions required to post) times. Keep on truckin'!
No need for Shatner to get involved. Haven't you ever heard one of Bush's speeches? He talks like that all the time.
That's bull. I, for one, have seen the ESRB's influence first hand. They've done a GREAT job of keeping me from renting games. I can drive to the rental place, but i can't rent Resident Evil once i'm there, because i'm not 17. I can't rent ANY of the "mature" games there. The various incarnations of Silent Hill, Resident Evil, certain FPSes, etc., are all off-limits for me, even though i personally own many of them, and have played them millions of times. I can turn on Fox and see more questionable content than i would playing Resident Evil (Silent Hill is another story, heh). I can see the logic in the system, of course... but this guy's argument is bullshit.
* Based on the ranking mechanism, I'd like to see distribution control so that minors don't get access to inappropriate material.
For the most part, already in place. All the big chains bar minors from buying/renting games below their "age group". Wal-Mart, Target, Blockbuster, and most of the regional chains i've been to, won't allow me to rent or buy "mature" games unless i have a parent with me. There are, of course, small and/or independent shops where i can walk in and they'll pretty much sell me anything, regardless of my age or the content of the game.
* I do believe exposure to some of the content of some video games is prima facie problematic. This seems to be the point where I part ways with most of the people who responded, but so it goes. I don't think video games are inherently "bad", but I do think some of them can exert a negative influence on some kids some of the time.
And of course, who can criticise video games without playing the "games influence kids" argument? I'm sure everyone on Slashdot already has their minds made up about whether or not games influence kids. I'm sure anyone that has ever heard the argument does. However, he says himself that they exert a negative influence on SOME kids SOME of the time. Why stop with video games? Let's regulate TV shows (because no, they are not regulated to any great degree). Let's regulate driver's licences. Let's have everyone participate in a psychological evaluation before we allow them to legally have access to a car, because hey, cars contribute to road rage. I can walk into Target and buy a giant fucking knife, or a box of kitchen matches. Why don't we regulate those things? Why don't we regulate baseball bats? Lumber? Nails? Screwdrivers? Boots?
I'm being facetious, of course. The fact is, games are already regulated as much as they need to be. There is no need to get any more anal about it. Once again, everyone thinks it should be up to somebody else to take care of their kids. Let's see THE PARENTS take some responsibility, instead of blaming video games, movies, and music for their poor child-raising skills.
Excluding very small children (i.e. ~8 and younger), games don't influence people that aren't already fucked up in the head. Small children like that aren't going to be able to rent/buy games anyway. One, where will they get the money? Two, how will they get to the store/rental place? Three, what moron would sell a violent game to a little kid like that if they did happen to get past the first two hurdles? Those are the kids we needed to be worrying about with the game ratings, and we don't have to anymore. They're covered. The only problem now is the psychologically demented people that play Quake and then go out and shoot people. Mainstream society shouldn't have to suffer because there are screwed-up people in the world.
PS: I think Grand Theft Auto (all four versions of it) is a retarded and extremely overrated game.
Heh. Mission failed.
Why is the name of the X Window System ANY different from the name of Winamp (which many call "WinAMP" or "WinAmp"), the name of the Mac (which many call the "MAC"), the name of Microsoft (i can't even begin to list the number of "alternate" spellings for this), the name of Windows (which many call "Windoze" or "Winblows"), the ellipsis ("...", which most fucktards write as ".."), any mispunctuated or misspelt word or sentence, the abbreviation "etc." (which many write as "etc" or "ect")... why don't you take time out of your zealot lives to correct all THOSE typos every single time they come up? Really, what the Hell is the big deal with "X Window System" that it needs to have a dozen persons pointing out its proper name in every discussion?
For the record, i'm not trolling. I truly don't understand why that has to be brought up so often. How does choosing not to write out "the X Window System" == "little credibility"?
Hey... what's wrong with the Golf? :(
Are you retarded, or just trolling?
Personally, i hate the Windows XP zip feature. I always disable it when installing XP, and then i download WinZip. I also use WinRAR, and i know that sounds stupid (to use both), but.... Call me crazy, but i've been using WinZip for i don't know how many years now, and even though i know WinRAR can handle zips, i still like WinZip better. Anyway, my take on the zip "scene", heh.
Sadly, "British" isn't a race. Perhaps "nationalityist" or "countryist" fits here. :p
Do anthropologists actually go around door-to-door calling them "porno mags"?
By the way... it's not a direct quote if you change my words. I said "criticise", not "criticize". Just out of curiosity, why did you change those and not my lower-cased "i"s? Heh, just wondering.
So if the parent (again, not sure if that's you) really finds Slashdot totally pointless except for YRO, then why not just read YRO? What's the point in posting to every article you don't find interesting and saying that "it's not news"? I don't want to turn this into a flame war... i mean, if this was the first post of its kind i had seen, then i would've just moved on. But as it is, like i said, i see dozens of these a month. The whole thing really is subjective, and there's not really any middle ground. I guess it's all opinion. Just stating mine.
I'm not complaining (well, sort of)... i'm just saying, that if Slashdot had ANY problem, that would be it, or at least the biggest one. I trust the moderators to a point, but... when i was an AC, i saw a fair few of good posts that were moderated to -1 either because the moderators didn't understand what was being said, or because they just didn't fit into their views. I'm not out to insult moderators or anything; i'm just saying, i've seen it happen, and as such, i browse at -1. In fact i do have time to kill -- lots of it, sadly. However, that's not why i browse at -1. I don't even necessarily "read" -1 comments. I skim over them, and if i notice something about Soviet Russia, Beowulf Clusters, open-source business models, and/or porn stories, i move on.
Really it's not THAT big of a deal, i only mentioned it as an alternative to posting every other article about how the article "doesn't matter" or "isn't news". If i saw it as such a huge deal, i would've already commented on it.
As for wanting "someone 'that [i] can trust' to remove comments that are not interesting to [me]", i never said that's what i wanted. Without getting into a huge Spiel about it, the problem obviously isn't as simple as just deleting trolls. Remember, they tried that before they came up with the moderation system. The problem is too large to just go about deleting trolls, and eventually there would be questions as to just what constitutes a troll, et cetera. It would create more of a problem. And i don't think this is just MY opinion (on trolls, that is). The only people that find the trolls "interesting" (or appear to) are other trolls.
Anyway, like i said, not a big deal. I was just stating an alternative to posting non-constructive comments about what you think should constitute Slashdot.
+ Open-source/free/whatever: You don't care about this, apparently, but the fact is that if you don't pay for your MP3 encoder/decoder (or if the company that makes your MP3 encoder/decoder doesn't pay for it), you are "stealing" if you use it. MP3 is patented. If you create an MP3 encoder/decoder, you are legally required to pay FhG/Thomson for every encoder/decoder you put out. If you don't care about this, fine, but if Apple doesn't have to pay for each piece of MP3-enabled software/hardware they put out, YOU save money. I guess Apple wouldn't phase out MP3 support totally any time soon, but eventually if they did, you would indeed be paying a lower price for your iPod or whatever.
+ Better quality at lower bitrates: Like MP3Pro and (i think) WMA, Xiph has put extra care into lower bitrates in Vorbis. Personally this doesn't matter to me, or the majority of audiophiles, but this can be very beneficial to streaming (i.e. "radio") broadcasts. Remember that bitrate != quality.
+ Bitrate peeling: Bitrate peeling has been planned in Vorbis for a while, and recently they actually implemented the feature. As i understand it, what this essentially does is: say you have some Vorbis files of a given bitrate; let's say (as an example) 160 kbps. Now, let's say you have to stick these Vorbis files on a CD somewhere, or you want to put out a sample on your low-bandwidth Website, or whatever, and you need to make these Vorbis files smaller in size. Before you only had one option: to decode these to Wave, and then re-encode them at a lower bitrate. This isn't a matter of just taking out the "higher" parts of the file. It actually works on the already-encoded parts when you re-encode. That leads to worse quality. To put this into perspective, let me use the example of an MP3, as that's what you seem to be used to. If you rip a Wave off your audio CD, and then convert it into 160 kbps MP3, it's going to be higher quality than that same file that has been ripped to Wave, converted to 192 kbps MP3, decoded back to Wave, and then re-encoded to 160 kbps MP3. Get the idea? So, with bitrate peeling, you essentially skip the decode/re-encode stages, and you just remove the "higher" parts of the file to make them actually the same quality as they would have been if you had encoded to that bitrate in the first place. Confusing, but hopefully you get the idea.
+ Custom tags: MP3 zealots will, of course, claim that MP3's ID3v2 supports custom tags (i.e., you can create any tag you want and put any information into it that you want), but the fact is that very few MP3 decoders (players) actually support this feature. Vorbis, however, natively supports custom tags. You can create any tag you want, and put anything in it, and any respectable media players (for example, Winamp, if you're a Windows user; not sure about Mac/UNIX) should be able to show your custom tags. Maybe this isn't an important feature for some, but i personally like to have as much information as possible on a track. I want a time of encoding, i want to know who encoded it, and with what program, and at what quality. I want to know the EXACT date of release, not just a year. Again, maybe you don't care about that.
+ Better quality: And, of course, Vorbis is designed to be higher quality than MP3. Generally (if the world is a semi-perfect place), a Vorbis file of any given song should be of higher quality than an MP3 of the same song at the same bitrate. (Remember that "bitrate" is a measure of file size, not file quality.) For the sake of simplicity, assume you have a "quality" scale of 1 to 10, 10 being an exact duplicate of the original song. If you have an MP3 that is a 7 on the scale, and an Ogg that is a 7 on the scale, the Ogg should usually be about 20% smaller in file size (this will, of course, vary widely).
There are other, less talked-about features of Vorbis, but those are the main benefits.
However, if you don't think this is news, by all means, please don't read it. The people on here that do find this interesting will not be converted or otherwise swayed by your comment, or mine, or anyone else's. So, i think the phrase "if you don't have anything constructive to say, don't say anything at all" applies here. If you really want to criticise something, criticise the moderation system. I browse at -1 because i don't trust the moderators to weed out "only the bad" for me. Of course, with this comes the... FIFTEEN (so far) trolls/f1rst pr0st/goatse posts. Now for that i'd be interested in hearing a solution.
Very well, suh, peace it is. Sorry for the cheap shot. :p
As for his reply:
If, guy, you were so familiar with modern grammar usage, why did you comment? You were the one who started the "pedantry" thread; you can't just stand back and act the victim now. Some guy made a spelling error, you discredited him because of that (i.e. you didn't "read for content rather than details and distractions"). Obviously it was an important enough detail to you that you felt the need to point it out. You, as well, made an error in your writing, and you fell back on some lame excuse for why it's ok for you to do it, but not him.I quite got the meaning of your (initial) post. The spelling error (made by the author of the Webpage) was only one small point of the whole post; there were others. What got me going was the fact that you couldn't accept your mistake, but rather you fell back on lame excuses (as i said above). I rarely point out spelling/grammar mistakes in posts, but when doing so is an integral part, for any reason, i make damned sure that i didn't misspell anything in my post. If i want to sound condescending, i should do a good job of it.
Anyway, the point is that you do, indeed, fall into the jurisdiction of the "people in glass houses..." thing. Next time you attempt to discredit/ridicule/condescend upon a person, please make sure that either a.) you don't do something along the same lines as your "target", and/or b.) you admit your mistake, if you do make one. Otherwise, expect a thread of flames like this and the above posts.
I guess... to put it into one "word"....
STFU.
I realise this isn't the point of the article, but by your logic, i should leave Windows looking like... this. Ignoring the fact that that's a fucking gigantic image (and the fact that there are some Slashdotters that will no doubt feel the urge to reply with "use lunax u fag0rt!!!!11")... that is a MAJOR distraction to me (and most other people, it seems). So, i go about modifying it so it looks like this. :D </selfpromotion>