Here is my DVR system. Actually, it's two systems. My DVR has a 1.4 Athlon, 256 megs of RAM, 10 gig HD for apps and OS, 80 gig for MP3s, 160 RAID-0 partition for recording, 120 HD for video storage/playback, and an ATI All-in-Wonder 8500DV. It's connected under the floor to the TV/receiver in my living room. Thus, you cannot hear it from the living room.
My second system is a cheap PIII 550 with an 80 gig HD. It too holds my MP3 collection and is primarily for playing music. However, it too is connected to the living room TV and reciever and can play previously recorded content via the network. Thus, when the DVR is recording something, I can still play music or watch shows.
Also, the music computer has two soundcards. Winamp uses my Audigy2 and everything else uses a cheap Hercules card. Thus, I can even listen to music while someone else is watching a recorded show!!!
Also, that music computer is wired to nearly every receiver to the house, so I can listen not only from the living room, but from the kitchen, bedroom, etc. (I'm working on getting the bathroom's wired with speakers.) And I should point out that ATI's Remote Wonder works throughout my huge two-story farm house.
With my homebuilt DVR systems, I can do the following:
1. Record shows, edit out the commercials, and burn them to DVD.
2. Pause, rewind, and fast-forward live TV.
3. Know what's currently on TV and what's coming up. (With ATI's Guideplus/EasyView software, included with its All-in Wonder cards.)
4. Access my entire 900+ CD collection in MP3 format from nearly every room in the house. (Via TightVNC.)
5. Create a playlist of ALL my favorite songs, which I can access with one button from my Remote Wonder. That playlist is over four days long; it's like having my own radio station!
5. Normalize the volume of my CD/MP3 collection via my Audigy 2 card. That's important. A roommate had one of those 200 disc CD players, but considering that nearly every CD has a different volume, I considered it worthless.
6. Rip my DVD collection so I can play them back without all the FBI crap, from nearly every room in the house.
7. And most importantly, I do not have to pay a monthy service, or have it randomly record shows it feels I might want to watch.
Sure, my system probably cost a lot, (I built them both out of mostly spare parts) but considering it does exactly what I want and there is no commercially available alternative, I find it extremely valuable. Heck, even my wife can use it!
If the Xbox Next is not backwards compatible, it will be destroyed by the PS3.
First, on the day of release the PS3 will be able to play all PS2, PS1, and the new PS3 games. Thus, it will have several times more available games than the Xbox Next.
Second, people do not want to have multiple consoles in their living room, especially ones the size of the current Xbox. Sure, some people might have a PS2 and an Xbox, but when the Xbox Next and the PS3 are released, the choice will be easy. If you choose the PS3 you'll still only need two consoles. But if you choose the Xbox Next, you'll need three.
Third, people don't like being screwed. When people invest in games and hardware, they like knowing that they don't have to throw them away every few years. Sony respects that and allows gamers to keep their investments.
My sister pays about 80+ bucks for digital cable through Comcast. She does NOT even get a broadband connection. My dad pays about $50 to Dish and gets more channels, including all local channels.
I also think that Dish's picture is a lot better than Comcast's.
It doesn't matter if the entertainment makes money or not. The only question is its underlying purpose. Was the purpose of Spaceballs to entertain? Yes. Did it also makes money, that's NOT relevant.
Is the purpose of Booble to entertain? Nope, it's purpose is to search for porn.
Gee you are REALLY dense. So I'll rinse and repeat: Booble is a SEARCH engine for porn. Thus its underlying purpose is a SEARCH engine for porn. It is NOT entertainment. It is a SEARCH ENGINE FOR PORN!
If someone made a porn movie called Booble, the case would be dismissed as that would be a legitimate parody. Why? Because porn is entertainment.
Can you tell the difference between a search engine and entertainment?
So you would hire employees who cannot even finish their first task correctly?! If they screw up before they even start working, what's going to make them good employees after you hire them?!
Second, even if it is great, who is going to watching it in a Trek saturated market? First there was 7 years of Next Generation, then 7 years of DS9, then 7 years of Voyager. Let's face it, only the most devoted Trek fan would bother to watch Enterprise, and there are not enough of those types to give the show sufficient ratings.
Considering that all FM radio stations compress the crap out of the music they air, it would be impossbile to get a decent sound from any radio. Crap in means crap out.
My dad has one of those radio/CD players. I'd like to say it sounds good, despite the price. But even that isn't true. It's a simple fact that it sounds like a clock radio, and nothing more.
I totally agree. I'm not amazed that people are downloading free movies, I'm amazed that people are buying them.
Look through a Best Buy ad for the selection of DVDs. Exactly how many times could someone watch "Legally Blonde" or "Bringing Down the House"?! Who is buying those DVDs and why?!
Read the article: "The appeals court said one of the arguments by the Recording Industry Association of America "borders upon the silly," rejecting the trade group's claims that Verizon was responsible for downloaded music because such data files traverse its network."
I don't see how that could be legal. In my state sales tax covers "transaction(s) by which the ownership of tangible personal property is transferred for consideration." MCL 205.51(1)(b)
First, when you buy music online you do not own it. Second, it is not tangible property. Thus, it should not be taxed.
That's EXACTLY why I think it would work for Wal-Mart. The overwhelming majority of consumers in the US are not technologically adept. And a heck of a lot of those consumers shop at Wal-Mart. It's a match made in heaven.
But Wal-Mart has to do it right. Wal-Mart shouldn't concentrate on having music that that only young technologically adept people would like, i.e., the current brainless hits. Those people would rather just download from home. Wal-Mart would have to make available music for older people who are looking to find music from their youth. It's a much more difficult task, but the rewards would be enormous.
The costs to run the service would be a lot cheaper now. Back then every store would have to have its own collection of available music. While nowadays every store would simply get its music via the internet. And blank CDs are a heck of a lot cheaper than blank cassettes. And it's also a lot faster to burn a CD then to record a cassette.
In other words, if it wasn't profitable back in the 80s, there would certainly be more chance for profitability nowadays.
Wal-Mart should install kiosks in their stores and allow people to pick songs and burn them to disc immediately. With all the consumer traffic a Wal-Mart store receives, it would do amazingly well. Heck why would the typical consumer buy the full retail CD when they could buy the exact various CD they wanted?!
And this is one instance where an online music provider could not be bullied by the music industry. If a record label ever complained about something Wal-Mart was doing, Wal-Mart would simply threaten to stop selling its CDs. Wal-Mart will make the music industry its bitch.
Eventually Wal-Mart could become so powerful that it could deal directly with the artists, cutting out the music industry entirely. However, considering how poorly Wal-Mart treats its employees, I think artists would be jumping from the frying pan right into the fire. But unfortunately, they may not have a choice.
It partially depends on whether you'll use a 64-bit OS.
For example, if you're waiting for a 64-bit version of XP, then you should not buy now. By the time XP-64 comes out, your current Athlon64 system will be underpowered compared against what will be available then. Thus the extra money you paid would have gone to waste.
And even if you have a 64 bit OS, what about software?! Unless you just have to have the latest and greatest, I'd wait until we have lots of 64 bit software and drivers to fully support the hardware.
However, if id releases a 64 bit version of Quake3 for Linux, I might have to change my opinion!
You're thinking of criminal law, this is a civil case. But even in criminal cases, the public can be excluded from certain evidence and testimony. Only a defendant has the right to see all of it.
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Here is my DVR system. Actually, it's two systems. My DVR has a 1.4 Athlon, 256 megs of RAM, 10 gig HD for apps and OS, 80 gig for MP3s, 160 RAID-0 partition for recording, 120 HD for video storage/playback, and an ATI All-in-Wonder 8500DV. It's connected under the floor to the TV/receiver in my living room. Thus, you cannot hear it from the living room.
My second system is a cheap PIII 550 with an 80 gig HD. It too holds my MP3 collection and is primarily for playing music. However, it too is connected to the living room TV and reciever and can play previously recorded content via the network. Thus, when the DVR is recording something, I can still play music or watch shows.
Also, the music computer has two soundcards. Winamp uses my Audigy2 and everything else uses a cheap Hercules card. Thus, I can even listen to music while someone else is watching a recorded show!!!
Also, that music computer is wired to nearly every receiver to the house, so I can listen not only from the living room, but from the kitchen, bedroom, etc. (I'm working on getting the bathroom's wired with speakers.) And I should point out that ATI's Remote Wonder works throughout my huge two-story farm house.
With my homebuilt DVR systems, I can do the following:
1. Record shows, edit out the commercials, and burn them to DVD.
2. Pause, rewind, and fast-forward live TV.
3. Know what's currently on TV and what's coming up. (With ATI's Guideplus/EasyView software, included with its All-in Wonder cards.)
4. Access my entire 900+ CD collection in MP3 format from nearly every room in the house. (Via TightVNC.)
5. Create a playlist of ALL my favorite songs, which I can access with one button from my Remote Wonder. That playlist is over four days long; it's like having my own radio station!
5. Normalize the volume of my CD/MP3 collection via my Audigy 2 card. That's important. A roommate had one of those 200 disc CD players, but considering that nearly every CD has a different volume, I considered it worthless.
6. Rip my DVD collection so I can play them back without all the FBI crap, from nearly every room in the house.
7. And most importantly, I do not have to pay a monthy service, or have it randomly record shows it feels I might want to watch.
Sure, my system probably cost a lot, (I built them both out of mostly spare parts) but considering it does exactly what I want and there is no commercially available alternative, I find it extremely valuable. Heck, even my wife can use it!
If the Xbox Next is not backwards compatible, it will be destroyed by the PS3.
First, on the day of release the PS3 will be able to play all PS2, PS1, and the new PS3 games. Thus, it will have several times more available games than the Xbox Next.
Second, people do not want to have multiple consoles in their living room, especially ones the size of the current Xbox. Sure, some people might have a PS2 and an Xbox, but when the Xbox Next and the PS3 are released, the choice will be easy. If you choose the PS3 you'll still only need two consoles. But if you choose the Xbox Next, you'll need three.
Third, people don't like being screwed. When people invest in games and hardware, they like knowing that they don't have to throw them away every few years. Sony respects that and allows gamers to keep their investments.
My sister pays about 80+ bucks for digital cable through Comcast. She does NOT even get a broadband connection. My dad pays about $50 to Dish and gets more channels, including all local channels.
I also think that Dish's picture is a lot better than Comcast's.
It doesn't matter if the entertainment makes money or not. The only question is its underlying purpose. Was the purpose of Spaceballs to entertain? Yes. Did it also makes money, that's NOT relevant.
Is the purpose of Booble to entertain? Nope, it's purpose is to search for porn.
Now do you get it?!
Gee you are REALLY dense. So I'll rinse and repeat: Booble is a SEARCH engine for porn. Thus its underlying purpose is a SEARCH engine for porn. It is NOT entertainment. It is a SEARCH ENGINE FOR PORN!
If someone made a porn movie called Booble, the case would be dismissed as that would be a legitimate parody. Why? Because porn is entertainment.
Can you tell the difference between a search engine and entertainment?
There is a big difference between a parody done for artistic/entertainment purposes and a parody done for pure business purposes.
The movie Spaceballs was a parody of Star Wars and its purpose was to entertain.
The search engine Booble is a parody of Google, but it's real purpose is not to entertain, but to provide search results for porn sites.
Do you see the difference now?
So you would hire employees who cannot even finish their first task correctly?! If they screw up before they even start working, what's going to make them good employees after you hire them?!
I agree, I'd much rather have a bunch of sloppy, lazy, and ignorant employes versus employees who do top notch work.
I'll call it: The Lets Give the Entire World to Corporate America Act! Let's face it, the way we're heading, it's only a matter of time.
First, it sucks.
Second, even if it is great, who is going to watching it in a Trek saturated market? First there was 7 years of Next Generation, then 7 years of DS9, then 7 years of Voyager. Let's face it, only the most devoted Trek fan would bother to watch Enterprise, and there are not enough of those types to give the show sufficient ratings.
Considering that all FM radio stations compress the crap out of the music they air, it would be impossbile to get a decent sound from any radio. Crap in means crap out.
My dad has one of those radio/CD players. I'd like to say it sounds good, despite the price. But even that isn't true. It's a simple fact that it sounds like a clock radio, and nothing more.
...it'll be a huge success. Just like all the money Microsoft makes on the Xbox, WebTV, Slate, MSN, etc.
Learn to read, he woute about the fear of a "prosecuter" to drag him back into court. Moron!
I totally agree. I'm not amazed that people are downloading free movies, I'm amazed that people are buying them.
Look through a Best Buy ad for the selection of DVDs. Exactly how many times could someone watch "Legally Blonde" or "Bringing Down the House"?! Who is buying those DVDs and why?!
Read the article: "The appeals court said one of the arguments by the Recording Industry Association of America "borders upon the silly," rejecting the trade group's claims that Verizon was responsible for downloaded music because such data files traverse its network."
I don't see how that could be legal. In my state sales tax covers "transaction(s) by which the ownership of tangible personal property is transferred for consideration." MCL 205.51(1)(b)
First, when you buy music online you do not own it. Second, it is not tangible property. Thus, it should not be taxed.
That's EXACTLY why I think it would work for Wal-Mart. The overwhelming majority of consumers in the US are not technologically adept. And a heck of a lot of those consumers shop at Wal-Mart. It's a match made in heaven.
But Wal-Mart has to do it right. Wal-Mart shouldn't concentrate on having music that that only young technologically adept people would like, i.e., the current brainless hits. Those people would rather just download from home. Wal-Mart would have to make available music for older people who are looking to find music from their youth. It's a much more difficult task, but the rewards would be enormous.
The costs to run the service would be a lot cheaper now. Back then every store would have to have its own collection of available music. While nowadays every store would simply get its music via the internet. And blank CDs are a heck of a lot cheaper than blank cassettes. And it's also a lot faster to burn a CD then to record a cassette.
In other words, if it wasn't profitable back in the 80s, there would certainly be more chance for profitability nowadays.
Heck, you'll be lucky if you have enough money to pay your attorney fees. ;-)
If you didn't bother to burn and re-rip your collection, the answer is yes.
Wal-Mart should install kiosks in their stores and allow people to pick songs and burn them to disc immediately. With all the consumer traffic a Wal-Mart store receives, it would do amazingly well. Heck why would the typical consumer buy the full retail CD when they could buy the exact various CD they wanted?!
And this is one instance where an online music provider could not be bullied by the music industry. If a record label ever complained about something Wal-Mart was doing, Wal-Mart would simply threaten to stop selling its CDs. Wal-Mart will make the music industry its bitch.
Eventually Wal-Mart could become so powerful that it could deal directly with the artists, cutting out the music industry entirely. However, considering how poorly Wal-Mart treats its employees, I think artists would be jumping from the frying pan right into the fire. But unfortunately, they may not have a choice.
I meant Doom3.
It partially depends on whether you'll use a 64-bit OS.
For example, if you're waiting for a 64-bit version of XP, then you should not buy now. By the time XP-64 comes out, your current Athlon64 system will be underpowered compared against what will be available then. Thus the extra money you paid would have gone to waste.
And even if you have a 64 bit OS, what about software?! Unless you just have to have the latest and greatest, I'd wait until we have lots of 64 bit software and drivers to fully support the hardware.
However, if id releases a 64 bit version of Quake3 for Linux, I might have to change my opinion!
You're thinking of criminal law, this is a civil case. But even in criminal cases, the public can be excluded from certain evidence and testimony. Only a defendant has the right to see all of it.