I slugged my way through the last third of Quicksilver too. The Confusion was definately better, and I'm glad I didn't give up. Definately worth the read. While I'm sure it could be written in a lighter, faster style, it wouldn't really match the the subject, and well, it wouldn't really be Neal Stephenson.
It's true tho that a full *forced* fsck takes just as long on ext3 as it does on ext2...
Its also true that by default after 6 months or 30 mounts an ext3 volume *will* perform a full fsck. This can be very painful if the volume is large enough/holds enough files that an fsck will take 24 hours plus (I've seen this several times)
Personally, I'm a fan of IBM's jfs. I had some early problems with it but they were real responsive to every issue I found while punishing it as an NFS volume in a test system.
Reminds me of New York City. I can buy rip off sunglasses everywhere, and its not terribly hard to find shopes that will put anything you want on an article of clothing.
But South Korea is coming around to the US point of view as much because they are increasingly not the low cost source, they are making their own movies now, writing software, and innovating technologies. Sure there is some pressure, but its not that effective in reality.
No, but it means you've got a four-pound bag to carry around.
Not to mention the bag itself weighs 1 pound(total 5 pounds, assuming he's not also carrying the power adapter), will have to wait while it powers up from sleep, will have trouble balancing it in one hand while typing with the other, has to navigate a general purpose interface, have bigger concerns of it being stolen, etc. etc.
How many IT staffers do you think a generic company has?
How many different subjects can those people reasonably be expected to be experts on?
How many really competent IT folks do you think are out there, anyway?
We paid for a support contract for out Blackberry server. We have 4 Blackberries, is it really worth my time and effort to become an expert on the operation of this software? Who will do my normal duties while I'm becoming an expert on this software? Now, repeat this out for file servers, web servers, mail servers, database servers, storage, desktops, security, routers, switches, and all the other crap admins deal with over the course of a year. Service contracts are not about being able to sue someone when things go wrong, its about being able to call on experts when needed to make sure things get done right. It will give the CEO no warm feelings to know he has fired the admin that deleted his database without any good backups as he files backruptcy for his now failed company.
Also, because an admin/contractor/etc knows good enough is good enough does not make him medioccre. It means he knows how to balance the usefulness of a solution with the time/effort/money required to make it better. The "Best" mail solution might be a cluster of high performance systems with redundant high speed connections to the internet, but an good admin/contractor knows when that solution is overkill (which is just about always if your not a Fortune 500 or some other company where a 1 hour delay in getting an email from the internet won't cost $5,000.
so long as it doesn't complicate the phone dialing functionality of the phone
You must be really optimistic to think it won't!
Why? My current phone has games and basic calendar functionality, the only impact is that I now have more menu items to deal with on those rare occasions I have to change settings.
The "convergence" move arose out of the success of the PC.
Obviously a child of the computer age. Convergence has been around for ages. Look at the classic corkscrew/bottle opener gadgets. Heck, look at all the tasks ancient man used sharpened rocks for! I think our old freind Dick Tracy was the leader in Personal Convergence Electronics (PCE's) which he introduced in 1946 with his two-way wrist radio.
But then, I'd would not call the PC a converged device. Its hardly the same thing to compare the fact your computer can run two different software programs at the same time with a Cell Phone with a built in camera. But if you want, I have the solution to your problem. Its called the "shoebox open standard", or SOS. You purchase any number of a number of brands of shoeboxes, that come in a variety of sizes. You buy the cell phone that appeals to you best, and "install" it into the SOS. Then select other gadgets that provide you the functionality etc. that you need, and install them in the SOS, digital Cameras, MP3 and CD players, etc. You are all set now!
As for me, I like the fact that I can play games on my cell phone, because I'm happy I don't have to carry around a GBA, or an SOS if I want to burn a bit of down time in the waiting room. When they are cheap enough, I wont mind a embeded digital camera in my cell phone (because I already have to carry the damned thing) to quickly document something when I didn't expect I'd need my digital camera, such as an auto accident, or my co-worker wearing different colored socks to work, so long as it doesn't complicate the phone dialing functionality of the phone. Is it as good a game device as a GBA? Is it as good a camera as a $300 Digital Camera? Obviously no. But its good enough that I don't need to drag those items around every day.
the video gun sites thing already exists, at least in a prototype form. kapow!
Yes, unfortunately the last incarnation I saw added some serious weight to the gun, which is really a bad thing. I'm not sure if the problem is old tech or lack of milspec tech. Gun sights have to take a fair bit of abuse, and big, heavy, unbalanced games are a problem in combat. I suspect the best option would be a custom gun made for the role, with better recoil absorbtion, integrated electronics housing, and purpose built grips so the whole hand stays protected.
...all super rugid and topping out at 50 pounds (~23 KG).
Hence the need for a powered exoskeleton that increases carrying capacity 300%. 50% of the increase will be devoted to carrying the power/battery system.
I'm curious about this personal armor that can take a machine gun round in stride, simple momentum tells me that isn't really possible. And speaking of momentum, I'm imagining these super soldiers having all sorts of maneuverability issues, encumbered by armor, exoskeletons, and all manner of electronics. Maybe you equip one squad as these human tanks, but you still need normal soldiers for walking to the second floor of shoddy third worls construction, entering buildings/tunnels stealthily, etc.
Useful cool tech:
Better/fuller armor. We don't lose as many lives, but soldiers are losing a lot of hands/feet/arms/etc. Folks are going to realize this soon.
Video gun sights. Stay behind that wall and just stick you gun into the line of fire.
Better communications. Securely relay each soldiers location back to tactical command so reinforcments/flanking actions/artilery hits the right spot.
Anti-Sniper systems. Radar systems track bullets back to the sniper location and fire a response within 3 seconds of first shot. Bring a new meaning to "one shot one kill" to enemy snipers.
Remote mini guns. Why send humans into an enemy held building. Send a team of remote controlled armored Uzi's into a the bulding.
Mobile phone use is about the same in America as it is in Europe. The difference is mostly that people in Europe (I've heard) and in Asia (I've seen firsthand) often use their phones primarily for text messaging. Here in the US, most don't. I'm not sure why, my guess is that we're just too lazy to learn how to type on the telephone pad.:)
Could be Americans prefer the social aspect of speaking to the person they need to send the message too? Realize that they can get their communications done faster and more efficiently by forming words with their mouths than by typing into tiny keyboards, even with predictive text assistance? Or perhaps we're just not as prone to fads as adults, because certainly texting is popular among the younger crowd.
LOL! God you kill me. Lets see, one line paragraph to identify yourself as a fool and a chump:
I am sure people like you just steal the music of of P2p.
Good job. Yep. Because I don't buy music online, Itherefore must be stealing music off P2P. God, I must be so out of touch to realize they no longer sell music in these building they used to call "Stores", that the RIAA, ASCAP, and four remaining music giants realized their fool hardiness in continueing to sell actual CD's in stores; that local bands no longer sell CD's in the baks of clubs, that the worlds supply of vinyl LP's, magnetic tapes, and pressed CD's succumbed to some baterial infection that rendered the only source of music to be online music stores and P2P. Crap I hate it when trouser monkeys like you outwit me! Gosh I feel both foolish and dirty at the same time! I'll immediately turn myself in, after repurchasing my entire music collection online.
Hmm, I guess I have excellent karma for nothing then?
Oops! you did it again. Excellent Karma on Slashdot!, you must be the top trouser monkey in your end of the jungle! Gosh, I feel so stupid now. It was my fault for removing my Tinfoil Hat and allowing the government to control me
Ohh, look, I think Steve has his pants down, time to get to work fanboy.
No, you're killing me. really. stop it. You only need to prove how stupid you are once per paragraph; but you choose to go the extra distance! Having accepted the fact that you can't count, you aren't really very good at flinging your own feces, you now more or less admit you don't know enough not to suck your thumb right after you take it out of your corn hole. Oh well, I'll let you get back to licking your boss's member clean after hes done performing his "cavity searches" on you, because clearly a looser like yourself wouldn't be tolerated to stain the carpets of his business any other way.
Try a little valium there, Chim Chim! What part of "assuming you choose to count CBR and VBR MP3 as one codec" did you have trouble wrapping your banana addled brain around? The magical 4th Codec is the new Apple lossless Codec (AFLAC?) I mentioned and the Slashdot article mentioned. Just because I didn't give a fancy TLA doesn't mean it wasn't mentioned.
And exactly jungle are you from that users have to buy music online to enjoy their new digital music player? Most of the folks I know with iPods don't buy music online.
Here's a quick hint, monkey boy, not everyone who disagrees with you is an Apple Fanboy. Some of us use our opposable thumbs for more than flinging dung at the people who stop by and laugh at your idiotic rants where you consistently identify yourself as fool and a chump about once a paragraph. Its really quite comical; but please don't stop on account of me.
Finally, I tell them that I have a mega-warranty, and I want someone to come out and get the laptop working.
Did you do this from the online session? It sounds like you got irritated with them from their first question. They have tools that they could use if you were on your computer, and having done tech support myself, users can have a surprising definition of "never", at the same time you need to be clear to the agent that your computer is not booting up.
My next question would be: did you buy support for the OS? Because it sounds more like you have a virus or some other software issue that a hardware issue. If you calm down and work with them, Dell usually ships a diagnostic CD that can boot up and test most of the hardware for you; you lucky the tech didn't just tell you to take out your install CD and reformat your computer
Best advice when dealing with any tech support: Stay calm, let them know what troubleshooting steps you have taken, walk through their troubleshooting steps with them, for one it might work (they have those lists for a reason), and for another you'll get to the next level tech support faster that way. While you might like to solve problems using instict and gut reactions, call centers cant afford this, and passing frantic or unresponsive callers off to high cost tier 2 support doesn't help their careers.
Is the fool that employs you as a "senior Programmer" aware that you can't count? I listed 4 codec's, assuming you choose to count CBR and VNR mp3's as one codec (and lists several others on the website I included a link to). Considering the number of products out there that support 1, this isn't bad. But if the one you care about isn't listed, then don't buy an iPod. I mistakenly bought a Sony Digital Music Player some time ago only to find the damned this only used Sony's proprietary ATRACplus codec. So support for established un-DRM encumbered codec's is a good thing; and realisticly 98% of users will be perfectly satisfied with MP3 and Apple's default AAC.
But ahhh, your true concern is protecting users rights to buy music where they wish. Well, I'm quite sure users can purchase music from thousands of music stores all around the world. Oh, you mean stores that sell exclusively online, but use their own proprietary codecs/DRM schemes. Seems to me Apple's new lossless codec is a great solution, since there will be no re-encoding losses once the user burns the competitors music to a standard audio CD.
But wait, no you don't even care about that, because you don't buy music online. You just have an irrational dislike of Apple and iPod, because the reality is that the vast majority of iPod users will enjoy their devices without ever dealing with Apple again.
Apple's prices are high end, but their products are not even close high end.
I'm not sure what your definition of high end is. I know there is a market for extreme high end that is populated by specialty makers that work in small batches, yes, Apple is clearly not one of them. But having compared my Dell DJ to an Apple iPod, I can assure you there is no comparison. The Dell DJ is worth every penny at the price I paid (free), but the little more that an iPod costs buys an awful lot of smaller size, better interface, better design, etc. I'm not an expert in the market, but everything I've seen says the iPod is still the target you shoot for. Perhaps if you know of another player that the maker has had the guts to price at the same price point that the iPod holds for a given capacity, in other words, thinks that their player can compete with Apple without having to give a price incentive, I'll start to consider that maybe you aren't a fool that not only can't count, but also doesn't understand the concept of high end (Hint: High end does not equate with the ability to play your favorite codec or work with some random DRM scheme; that would be Best for you).
That is total crap. It would be like Ford saying I could not use a non-Ford part because they are protecting the "safety" of the vehicle.
I got news for you. Try installing an aftermarket nitrous oxide kit in your mustang then trying to get your blown engine covered by Ford. Hell, you void your warranty just installing a "chip"; its just harder for them to detect.
Initially playing dvd's on Linux was more of a "might work" then does work; it wasn't if it'd crash, it was when. The MPAA & dvd group were protecting their brand and image from potential harm caused by Linux.
No, this arguements as rediculous as the RIAA's.
MPAA is not seen by anybody as responsible for the quality of linux code, and they certianly never answer tech support calls. Apple is most certainly seen as responsible for the stability and quality of the iPod. Additionally, since most users do not see the iPod as a minature computer, they likely don't comprehend that loading a hack like this could cause them no end of trouble, wheras just about every linux user understands the risks associated with testing out new code on their system.
No, what they are saying is that they don't want "Real", notorious for crappy software, patching their OS in their well designed and pretty crash free interface.
How many iPod users are going to say after this patch makes their iPod's CrashMatic 3000's It Real's fault, versus calling in the support lines and bitching in public about how iPods are all crappy and unstable.Apple is protecting their brand and image from potential harm caused by Real's medling.
The bug only happens on DirecTiVo units, and since there are no DirecTV tuner cards that would give you access to the raw digital video streaam, you can't make a MythTV equivalent.
The DirecTV Tivo gets program schedules via satellite. The only thing you need the phone line for is software updates and PPV stuff. If you don't use PPV, you probably never have to plug it in.
You get bitch notices once a day at 14,21,then day 28-119 (I'm not sure what happens after that, I finally plugged it back in for a day). Used to be Tivo would cut you off after 32 days of no phone activity, but policy changed after DirecTV took over. In my case the phone cable stretches accross the floor, so I only plug it in every 30 days or so; but last time somebody broke the connector tripping over the cable. It was my only 50 foot cable, so it had to wait till I was annoyed enough to go to radio shack for a new plug...
This appears to be an isolated issue that has only affected a small number of owners of much older Tivos (and in reality, ones that probably have a bunch of weird hacks).
For the record, the only hack my Sony T-60 has is a 120Gb drive in lieu of the original 40GB (I storage in case of disaster). I've been getting this weird bahavior occasionally too, just hadn't thought to check the forums because it hasn't hit me too much, beyond nearly sending me into tears when a got a big
Your TiVo has experienced serious errors. Please leave your Tivo connected to the phone line for the next three hours while we attempt a repair. If the problem persists, please call (xxx) xxx-xxxx"
While it's true that eliminating copyright would also eliminate the GPL, the original idea behind copyleft was to create an environment that emulated a world without copyright.
Actually no. Because in a world without copyright I could take GPL code, make some fixes to it, the send out binarie sof my product tooting the advantages my fixes made. Under the GPL, I would have to make my changes available to the world, in a no copyright world I can rely on hiding my changes.
software and the internet are clearly much more fictionless industries then automotive
I never thought of the software industry as particularly fictionless...
Friction in this context refers to the effort required to invade that market space. Realistically, a lone programer can write an inventive peice of code and get into the market. To start an automotive company you need factories, dealer networks, the ability to pass government regulations, etc. etc. Look at Napster, Kazza, Netscape, Winzip, etc. etc.
Now look at all the new car companies launched in the past 20 years. I count Vector, who I'm not sure has ever delivered any of their ultr-high performance cars, Delorean, who succeeded in getting partial government backing (I recall the UK invested heavily because he was builing in Ireland), Shelby (Also having difficulty delivering his cars if I recall, funded mostly by selling a hefty number of dubious "original" Shelby Cobra's, Saturn which is barely hanging on despite tha backing of one of the largest automotive conglomeration on the planet. I might have missed a few, but if you didn't follow the industry closely, you might have even missed those blips.
This incentive is as old as TV itself, and likely goes back to the first radio shows. The picture that I get is Wally (yes, of Dilbert fame) learning of a promotion in the company, $500 for every patent filed! then sitting around at writing down every idea he sees that is no currently a branded product, then appending "digitally" to everything...
Women were commenting to me later about how ugly her breast was. I agree. It wasn't arousing in the slightest, just kind of gross. That nipple clamp didn't help either. I prefer tits with no metal in them.
The nipple clamp wasn't discernable on the video feed. It was those helpful sideline photographers that got us the important "sunburst nipple clamp" details that we all so desparately needed. Praise be to gelatin suspended silver hylides!
Despite all the fuss, the actual event was cut away so fast all real time viewers got was a "did I just see what I think I saw?" Heck, even with Tivo I really wasn't sure it wasn't faked, had it been a body stocking nobody would be able to tell
Slashdot Mirror
ROTFLMAO
I slugged my way through the last third of Quicksilver too. The Confusion was definately better, and I'm glad I didn't give up. Definately worth the read. While I'm sure it could be written in a lighter, faster style, it wouldn't really match the the subject, and well, it wouldn't really be Neal Stephenson.
Its also true that by default after 6 months or 30 mounts an ext3 volume *will* perform a full fsck. This can be very painful if the volume is large enough/holds enough files that an fsck will take 24 hours plus (I've seen this several times)
Personally, I'm a fan of IBM's jfs. I had some early problems with it but they were real responsive to every issue I found while punishing it as an NFS volume in a test system.
Reminds me of New York City. I can buy rip off sunglasses everywhere, and its not terribly hard to find shopes that will put anything you want on an article of clothing.
But South Korea is coming around to the US point of view as much because they are increasingly not the low cost source, they are making their own movies now, writing software, and innovating technologies. Sure there is some pressure, but its not that effective in reality.
Not to mention the bag itself weighs 1 pound(total 5 pounds, assuming he's not also carrying the power adapter), will have to wait while it powers up from sleep, will have trouble balancing it in one hand while typing with the other, has to navigate a general purpose interface, have bigger concerns of it being stolen, etc. etc.
How many IT staffers do you think a generic company has?
How many different subjects can those people reasonably be expected to be experts on?
How many really competent IT folks do you think are out there, anyway?
We paid for a support contract for out Blackberry server. We have 4 Blackberries, is it really worth my time and effort to become an expert on the operation of this software? Who will do my normal duties while I'm becoming an expert on this software? Now, repeat this out for file servers, web servers, mail servers, database servers, storage, desktops, security, routers, switches, and all the other crap admins deal with over the course of a year. Service contracts are not about being able to sue someone when things go wrong, its about being able to call on experts when needed to make sure things get done right. It will give the CEO no warm feelings to know he has fired the admin that deleted his database without any good backups as he files backruptcy for his now failed company.
Also, because an admin/contractor/etc knows good enough is good enough does not make him medioccre. It means he knows how to balance the usefulness of a solution with the time/effort/money required to make it better. The "Best" mail solution might be a cluster of high performance systems with redundant high speed connections to the internet, but an good admin/contractor knows when that solution is overkill (which is just about always if your not a Fortune 500 or some other company where a 1 hour delay in getting an email from the internet won't cost $5,000.
Why? My current phone has games and basic calendar functionality, the only impact is that I now have more menu items to deal with on those rare occasions I have to change settings.
Obviously a child of the computer age. Convergence has been around for ages. Look at the classic corkscrew/bottle opener gadgets. Heck, look at all the tasks ancient man used sharpened rocks for! I think our old freind Dick Tracy was the leader in Personal Convergence Electronics (PCE's) which he introduced in 1946 with his two-way wrist radio.
But then, I'd would not call the PC a converged device. Its hardly the same thing to compare the fact your computer can run two different software programs at the same time with a Cell Phone with a built in camera. But if you want, I have the solution to your problem. Its called the "shoebox open standard", or SOS. You purchase any number of a number of brands of shoeboxes, that come in a variety of sizes. You buy the cell phone that appeals to you best, and "install" it into the SOS. Then select other gadgets that provide you the functionality etc. that you need, and install them in the SOS, digital Cameras, MP3 and CD players, etc. You are all set now!
As for me, I like the fact that I can play games on my cell phone, because I'm happy I don't have to carry around a GBA, or an SOS if I want to burn a bit of down time in the waiting room. When they are cheap enough, I wont mind a embeded digital camera in my cell phone (because I already have to carry the damned thing) to quickly document something when I didn't expect I'd need my digital camera, such as an auto accident, or my co-worker wearing different colored socks to work, so long as it doesn't complicate the phone dialing functionality of the phone. Is it as good a game device as a GBA? Is it as good a camera as a $300 Digital Camera? Obviously no. But its good enough that I don't need to drag those items around every day.
Yes, unfortunately the last incarnation I saw added some serious weight to the gun, which is really a bad thing. I'm not sure if the problem is old tech or lack of milspec tech. Gun sights have to take a fair bit of abuse, and big, heavy, unbalanced games are a problem in combat. I suspect the best option would be a custom gun made for the role, with better recoil absorbtion, integrated electronics housing, and purpose built grips so the whole hand stays protected.
Hence the need for a powered exoskeleton that increases carrying capacity 300%. 50% of the increase will be devoted to carrying the power/battery system.
I'm curious about this personal armor that can take a machine gun round in stride, simple momentum tells me that isn't really possible. And speaking of momentum, I'm imagining these super soldiers having all sorts of maneuverability issues, encumbered by armor, exoskeletons, and all manner of electronics. Maybe you equip one squad as these human tanks, but you still need normal soldiers for walking to the second floor of shoddy third worls construction, entering buildings/tunnels stealthily, etc.
Useful cool tech:
Better/fuller armor. We don't lose as many lives, but soldiers are losing a lot of hands/feet/arms/etc. Folks are going to realize this soon.
Video gun sights. Stay behind that wall and just stick you gun into the line of fire.
Better communications. Securely relay each soldiers location back to tactical command so reinforcments/flanking actions/artilery hits the right spot.
Anti-Sniper systems. Radar systems track bullets back to the sniper location and fire a response within 3 seconds of first shot. Bring a new meaning to "one shot one kill" to enemy snipers.
Remote mini guns. Why send humans into an enemy held building. Send a team of remote controlled armored Uzi's into a the bulding.
Could be Americans prefer the social aspect of speaking to the person they need to send the message too? Realize that they can get their communications done faster and more efficiently by forming words with their mouths than by typing into tiny keyboards, even with predictive text assistance? Or perhaps we're just not as prone to fads as adults, because certainly texting is popular among the younger crowd.
I am sure people like you just steal the music of of P2p.
Good job. Yep. Because I don't buy music online, Itherefore must be stealing music off P2P. God, I must be so out of touch to realize they no longer sell music in these building they used to call "Stores", that the RIAA, ASCAP, and four remaining music giants realized their fool hardiness in continueing to sell actual CD's in stores; that local bands no longer sell CD's in the baks of clubs, that the worlds supply of vinyl LP's, magnetic tapes, and pressed CD's succumbed to some baterial infection that rendered the only source of music to be online music stores and P2P. Crap I hate it when trouser monkeys like you outwit me! Gosh I feel both foolish and dirty at the same time! I'll immediately turn myself in, after repurchasing my entire music collection online.
Hmm, I guess I have excellent karma for nothing then?
Oops! you did it again. Excellent Karma on Slashdot!, you must be the top trouser monkey in your end of the jungle! Gosh, I feel so stupid now. It was my fault for removing my Tinfoil Hat and allowing the government to control me
Ohh, look, I think Steve has his pants down, time to get to work fanboy.
No, you're killing me. really. stop it. You only need to prove how stupid you are once per paragraph; but you choose to go the extra distance! Having accepted the fact that you can't count, you aren't really very good at flinging your own feces, you now more or less admit you don't know enough not to suck your thumb right after you take it out of your corn hole. Oh well, I'll let you get back to licking your boss's member clean after hes done performing his "cavity searches" on you, because clearly a looser like yourself wouldn't be tolerated to stain the carpets of his business any other way.
And exactly jungle are you from that users have to buy music online to enjoy their new digital music player? Most of the folks I know with iPods don't buy music online.
Here's a quick hint, monkey boy, not everyone who disagrees with you is an Apple Fanboy. Some of us use our opposable thumbs for more than flinging dung at the people who stop by and laugh at your idiotic rants where you consistently identify yourself as fool and a chump about once a paragraph. Its really quite comical; but please don't stop on account of me.
Did you do this from the online session? It sounds like you got irritated with them from their first question. They have tools that they could use if you were on your computer, and having done tech support myself, users can have a surprising definition of "never", at the same time you need to be clear to the agent that your computer is not booting up.
My next question would be: did you buy support for the OS? Because it sounds more like you have a virus or some other software issue that a hardware issue. If you calm down and work with them, Dell usually ships a diagnostic CD that can boot up and test most of the hardware for you; you lucky the tech didn't just tell you to take out your install CD and reformat your computer
Best advice when dealing with any tech support: Stay calm, let them know what troubleshooting steps you have taken, walk through their troubleshooting steps with them, for one it might work (they have those lists for a reason), and for another you'll get to the next level tech support faster that way. While you might like to solve problems using instict and gut reactions, call centers cant afford this, and passing frantic or unresponsive callers off to high cost tier 2 support doesn't help their careers.
Is the fool that employs you as a "senior Programmer" aware that you can't count? I listed 4 codec's, assuming you choose to count CBR and VNR mp3's as one codec (and lists several others on the website I included a link to). Considering the number of products out there that support 1, this isn't bad. But if the one you care about isn't listed, then don't buy an iPod. I mistakenly bought a Sony Digital Music Player some time ago only to find the damned this only used Sony's proprietary ATRACplus codec. So support for established un-DRM encumbered codec's is a good thing; and realisticly 98% of users will be perfectly satisfied with MP3 and Apple's default AAC.
But ahhh, your true concern is protecting users rights to buy music where they wish. Well, I'm quite sure users can purchase music from thousands of music stores all around the world. Oh, you mean stores that sell exclusively online, but use their own proprietary codecs/DRM schemes. Seems to me Apple's new lossless codec is a great solution, since there will be no re-encoding losses once the user burns the competitors music to a standard audio CD.
But wait, no you don't even care about that, because you don't buy music online. You just have an irrational dislike of Apple and iPod, because the reality is that the vast majority of iPod users will enjoy their devices without ever dealing with Apple again.
Apple's prices are high end, but their products are not even close high end.
I'm not sure what your definition of high end is. I know there is a market for extreme high end that is populated by specialty makers that work in small batches, yes, Apple is clearly not one of them. But having compared my Dell DJ to an Apple iPod, I can assure you there is no comparison. The Dell DJ is worth every penny at the price I paid (free), but the little more that an iPod costs buys an awful lot of smaller size, better interface, better design, etc. I'm not an expert in the market, but everything I've seen says the iPod is still the target you shoot for. Perhaps if you know of another player that the maker has had the guts to price at the same price point that the iPod holds for a given capacity, in other words, thinks that their player can compete with Apple without having to give a price incentive, I'll start to consider that maybe you aren't a fool that not only can't count, but also doesn't understand the concept of high end (Hint: High end does not equate with the ability to play your favorite codec or work with some random DRM scheme; that would be Best for you).
I got news for you. Try installing an aftermarket nitrous oxide kit in your mustang then trying to get your blown engine covered by Ford. Hell, you void your warranty just installing a "chip"; its just harder for them to detect.
Apple does not want to control the whole market. Apple wants to own the high end, and they do that by ensuring their products are high quality and stable; not by catering to every geek that wants codec XYZZY support. The iPod supports MP4/AAC, MP3(cBR & VBR), WAV, and now even has a lossless codec. How much more do you need?
No, this arguements as rediculous as the RIAA's.
MPAA is not seen by anybody as responsible for the quality of linux code, and they certianly never answer tech support calls. Apple is most certainly seen as responsible for the stability and quality of the iPod. Additionally, since most users do not see the iPod as a minature computer, they likely don't comprehend that loading a hack like this could cause them no end of trouble, wheras just about every linux user understands the risks associated with testing out new code on their system.
How many iPod users are going to say after this patch makes their iPod's CrashMatic 3000's It Real's fault, versus calling in the support lines and bitching in public about how iPods are all crappy and unstable.Apple is protecting their brand and image from potential harm caused by Real's medling.
Wasn't that the title of her last album?
No, that was John Tesh.
Suddenly my head fills with an old song lyric... When Canada is dead and gone there be no more Celine Dion
The bug only happens on DirecTiVo units, and since there are no DirecTV tuner cards that would give you access to the raw digital video streaam, you can't make a MythTV equivalent.
You get bitch notices once a day at 14,21,then day 28-119 (I'm not sure what happens after that, I finally plugged it back in for a day). Used to be Tivo would cut you off after 32 days of no phone activity, but policy changed after DirecTV took over. In my case the phone cable stretches accross the floor, so I only plug it in every 30 days or so; but last time somebody broke the connector tripping over the cable. It was my only 50 foot cable, so it had to wait till I was annoyed enough to go to radio shack for a new plug...
For the record, the only hack my Sony T-60 has is a 120Gb drive in lieu of the original 40GB (I storage in case of disaster). I've been getting this weird bahavior occasionally too, just hadn't thought to check the forums because it hasn't hit me too much, beyond nearly sending me into tears when a got a big
Your TiVo has experienced serious errors. Please leave your Tivo connected to the phone line for the next three hours while we attempt a repair. If the problem persists, please call (xxx) xxx-xxxx"
So I went to bed
Actually no. Because in a world without copyright I could take GPL code, make some fixes to it, the send out binarie sof my product tooting the advantages my fixes made. Under the GPL, I would have to make my changes available to the world, in a no copyright world I can rely on hiding my changes.
I never thought of the software industry as particularly fictionless...
Friction in this context refers to the effort required to invade that market space. Realistically, a lone programer can write an inventive peice of code and get into the market. To start an automotive company you need factories, dealer networks, the ability to pass government regulations, etc. etc. Look at Napster, Kazza, Netscape, Winzip, etc. etc.
Now look at all the new car companies launched in the past 20 years. I count Vector, who I'm not sure has ever delivered any of their ultr-high performance cars, Delorean, who succeeded in getting partial government backing (I recall the UK invested heavily because he was builing in Ireland), Shelby (Also having difficulty delivering his cars if I recall, funded mostly by selling a hefty number of dubious "original" Shelby Cobra's, Saturn which is barely hanging on despite tha backing of one of the largest automotive conglomeration on the planet. I might have missed a few, but if you didn't follow the industry closely, you might have even missed those blips.
This incentive is as old as TV itself, and likely goes back to the first radio shows. The picture that I get is Wally (yes, of Dilbert fame) learning of a promotion in the company, $500 for every patent filed! then sitting around at writing down every idea he sees that is no currently a branded product, then appending "digitally" to everything...
The nipple clamp wasn't discernable on the video feed. It was those helpful sideline photographers that got us the important "sunburst nipple clamp" details that we all so desparately needed. Praise be to gelatin suspended silver hylides!
Despite all the fuss, the actual event was cut away so fast all real time viewers got was a "did I just see what I think I saw?" Heck, even with Tivo I really wasn't sure it wasn't faked, had it been a body stocking nobody would be able to tell