Personally, I'm more interested in letting iTunes support Ogg Vorbis. I'd rather have all my audio files in one place, and I like the iTunes interface more than any other.
If it encourages developers to spend less time and money on crappy media-tie ins and more time on original stuff (and above-average media tie-ins), I don't care if WB or any other conglomerate wants to shoot themselves in the foot.
As a fan of certain properties (certain comic books for example; WB owns DC), I'm crossing my fingers that there might finally be some incentive to do a decent job with the characters I want to see. So bad news for the WB as they try to find someone to make another Superman game. But good news for players if we ever see another Superman game in stores?
Unfortunately for the developers, though, game reviews are too arbritrary a test. And sales don't necessarily have everything to do with quality. It's the excitement of the (first) film that sold Enter the Matrix, not the quality of the game. That first film is also what sold the sequels, but that's another topic.
I think you need to wait 30 days and then you can file a claim with Amazon within the next 30. They'll try to resolve it with the seller, and it it doesn't work out, they'll give you your money back. I ordered a book which never arrived; no response to emails. And got a refund no questions asked. Ebay doesn't have that kind of policy AFAIK.
Not a comprehensive solution, but I know people who work in free health clinics in areas where a significant portion of its clients speak Spanish only. When they don't have a translator on staff, they use a third party translator by having both the patient and the caregiver talk through a translator on the othe line. I don't know how expensive it is, and I wouldn't know where to find these services. But if they can translate health-related terms like STDs and medical conditions, I imagine they'd be able to handle techy terms as well.
Video gaming is still a relatively new medium and it hasn't yet attracted a lot of writers who have the skill and/or desire to write outside of stereotypes for either sex.
Well-written characters, though, might always be few and far between. Take a look at television today and ask any demographic how often they are acurately represented on the screen.
Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, which is one of the groups Telltale Weekly supports, can always use volunteers. Call 1-800-803-7201 to find a studio near you. There are also usually services for the print-disabled that are local. Look in your yellow pages.
I'll be putting up some recording tips (& recommended equipment) shortly for producers/performers who want to be involved at Telltale. Up to this point, participants in the project have had their own home studios (from a simple four-track and microphone to big, bad mixing boards and dedicated rooms).
At some point later this year I'd like to start a steering/planning discussion (forum or list, likely) about the direction Telltale will take to become more community-led. I'm fairly certain that by the end of the year, this project will be limited by what I'm doing with it, rather than encouraged by my work. If this is something that interests you, I hope you'll send me a note or join the newsletter.
I considered this initially and I'm suprised that of all the feedback requests for other formats, this is the first time anyone has publicly or privately requested Speex.
Mainly it's the lack of support for Speex (I know, I know. Something has to come first, the chicken or the egg.) in devices and software. But I figure the more popular Ogg Vorbis gets (and the more support Xiph.org gets) the more likely Speex will eventually become a complimentary standard. While Ogg Vorbis was designed for music, not voice, it's still a better alternative than MP3.
For the "fundraising" part of this audiobook project, a third format Telltale might offer would most likely be AAC, based on user requests. But I do intend to eventually support Speex for free works.
What early (pre-1923) math/technical texts do you think would be most accessible in audiobook format? The math texts at the Dover site either list no dates or list dates that are after 1923 (and are not currently copyright-free). Book requests are most welcome.
Works currently under copyright, but released under a CCL (most often a noncommercial one) would likely have to be produced and hosted competely free of charge from the start, which will be possible down the road, but probably not now, especially for longer works. Though if an author has decided to release her or his work under a CCL, then it is definitely possible that she or he would be interested in working something out with Telltale.
The idea is to slowly and continually fund, stock, and build a free audio library. Recordings of classic texts, which is the heart of Telltale Weekly, will be offered freely after five years or a given number of sales. When free, these audiobooks can be freely distributed whereever and however, including at Project Gutenberg, if they are interested.
Selling the work cheaply until then pays for current and future bandwidth, hosting, and recording costs--and attracts more talent to the project.
How exactly is it decided which charities are political and which aren't? This search is just for presidential donations, it appears. But what if you donated to Bush because you want to support education--his?
Why is it when money's involved (banks, political donation databases, etc.), they have no trouble keeping track of it. But when it comes to e-voting, everything goes to hell?
Ah well. At least now we've got some way of figuring out who's supporting who.
I guess it comes from when I got my first computer after using computer labs to create a stupid vanity fanboy page. When I got my own computer one of the first things I did when I got on the net for the first time was change my "home page" to my "home page." And for no real practical reason the practice stuck. I've long kept my bookmarks organized in dropdown menus off my toolbar (I'm now on Safari as my main browser so I've got a search field right there) and that's the way I like them.
Now that I'm aware of how useless a practice this is for me (except maybe I'll accidentally notice a spelling error or two every once in a while) maybe I'll finally change this practice.
A few years back, before we even got into the big issue of online music sharing, I remember hearing about churches getting sued for using copyrighted music for worship and reprinting the lyrics for all of the congregation (or even putting the lyrics on a transparency for an overhead projector) without permission from the copyright holder or even a blanket license like the CCL.
A friend of mine and I were both musicians and worship leaders at the time and he was the one who told me about the issue. He said he'd probably sue to get reimbursed for copyright violations, even from a church. I still don't think I would, but then I never depended on my music for my livelihood.
Many years later this ethical/spiritual debate was brought into the online world when P2P filesharing service ZPoc was shut down. I didn't know about this one myself until after the fact. I think it's an interesting area of the filesharing and fair use debates, since the issue of morality vs. legality is often brought up on both sides.
Slashdot Mirror
No fair reading the article.
Alex.
Don't you need to wait 24-72 hours before a newly registered .com domain name actually shows up around the world?
Alex.
AFAIK that's the whole of it.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipod.html
Personally, I'm more interested in letting iTunes support Ogg Vorbis. I'd rather have all my audio files in one place, and I like the iTunes interface more than any other.
Alex.
http://www.apple.com/feedback/ipod.html
Alex.
I said I wanted BETTER battery life. I must be breaking up, sorry. I'll try you on a landline.
Alex.
Cheat codes.
If it encourages developers to spend less time and money on crappy media-tie ins and more time on original stuff (and above-average media tie-ins), I don't care if WB or any other conglomerate wants to shoot themselves in the foot.
As a fan of certain properties (certain comic books for example; WB owns DC), I'm crossing my fingers that there might finally be some incentive to do a decent job with the characters I want to see. So bad news for the WB as they try to find someone to make another Superman game. But good news for players if we ever see another Superman game in stores?
Unfortunately for the developers, though, game reviews are too arbritrary a test. And sales don't necessarily have everything to do with quality. It's the excitement of the (first) film that sold Enter the Matrix, not the quality of the game. That first film is also what sold the sequels, but that's another topic.
Alex.
I think you need to wait 30 days and then you can file a claim with Amazon within the next 30. They'll try to resolve it with the seller, and it it doesn't work out, they'll give you your money back. I ordered a book which never arrived; no response to emails. And got a refund no questions asked. Ebay doesn't have that kind of policy AFAIK.
Alex.
Maybe they gave you a placebo batch--all the same--to see if you think you hear any difference.
Alex.
Not a comprehensive solution, but I know people who work in free health clinics in areas where a significant portion of its clients speak Spanish only. When they don't have a translator on staff, they use a third party translator by having both the patient and the caregiver talk through a translator on the othe line. I don't know how expensive it is, and I wouldn't know where to find these services. But if they can translate health-related terms like STDs and medical conditions, I imagine they'd be able to handle techy terms as well.
Alex.
I know a few of the schools lower on the list are mainly Apple-based, so it's nice to see that they weren't excluded from Intel's list.
Alex.
Video gaming is still a relatively new medium and it hasn't yet attracted a lot of writers who have the skill and/or desire to write outside of stereotypes for either sex.
Well-written characters, though, might always be few and far between. Take a look at television today and ask any demographic how often they are acurately represented on the screen.
Alex.
I'll be putting up some recording tips (& recommended equipment) shortly for producers/performers who want to be involved at Telltale. Up to this point, participants in the project have had their own home studios (from a simple four-track and microphone to big, bad mixing boards and dedicated rooms).
Alex.
Ah, somebody understands....
Still something worth thinking about though...
At some point later this year I'd like to start a steering/planning discussion (forum or list, likely) about the direction Telltale will take to become more community-led. I'm fairly certain that by the end of the year, this project will be limited by what I'm doing with it, rather than encouraged by my work. If this is something that interests you, I hope you'll send me a note or join the newsletter.
Alex.
I considered this initially and I'm suprised that of all the feedback requests for other formats, this is the first time anyone has publicly or privately requested Speex.
Mainly it's the lack of support for Speex (I know, I know. Something has to come first, the chicken or the egg.) in devices and software. But I figure the more popular Ogg Vorbis gets (and the more support Xiph.org gets) the more likely Speex will eventually become a complimentary standard. While Ogg Vorbis was designed for music, not voice, it's still a better alternative than MP3.
For the "fundraising" part of this audiobook project, a third format Telltale might offer would most likely be AAC, based on user requests. But I do intend to eventually support Speex for free works.
Alex.
What early (pre-1923) math/technical texts do you think would be most accessible in audiobook format? The math texts at the Dover site either list no dates or list dates that are after 1923 (and are not currently copyright-free). Book requests are most welcome.
Works currently under copyright, but released under a CCL (most often a noncommercial one) would likely have to be produced and hosted competely free of charge from the start, which will be possible down the road, but probably not now, especially for longer works. Though if an author has decided to release her or his work under a CCL, then it is definitely possible that she or he would be interested in working something out with Telltale.
Alex.
Help speed up the process: iPod feedback/feature request form.
The idea is to slowly and continually fund, stock, and build a free audio library. Recordings of classic texts, which is the heart of Telltale Weekly, will be offered freely after five years or a given number of sales. When free, these audiobooks can be freely distributed whereever and however, including at Project Gutenberg, if they are interested.
Selling the work cheaply until then pays for current and future bandwidth, hosting, and recording costs--and attracts more talent to the project.
Alex.
Bad Amazon! No Cookie Patent!
If you see the map with red and blue highlights on the wall of your local fire department...
If I want to contribute to the Satanist party
How exactly is it decided which charities are political and which aren't? This search is just for presidential donations, it appears. But what if you donated to Bush because you want to support education--his?
Alex.
Why is it when money's involved (banks, political donation databases, etc.), they have no trouble keeping track of it. But when it comes to e-voting, everything goes to hell?
Ah well. At least now we've got some way of figuring out who's supporting who.
Alex.
I guess it comes from when I got my first computer after using computer labs to create a stupid vanity fanboy page. When I got my own computer one of the first things I did when I got on the net for the first time was change my "home page" to my "home page." And for no real practical reason the practice stuck. I've long kept my bookmarks organized in dropdown menus off my toolbar (I'm now on Safari as my main browser so I've got a search field right there) and that's the way I like them.
Now that I'm aware of how useless a practice this is for me (except maybe I'll accidentally notice a spelling error or two every once in a while) maybe I'll finally change this practice.
Alex.
A few years back, before we even got into the big issue of online music sharing, I remember hearing about churches getting sued for using copyrighted music for worship and reprinting the lyrics for all of the congregation (or even putting the lyrics on a transparency for an overhead projector) without permission from the copyright holder or even a blanket license like the CCL.
A friend of mine and I were both musicians and worship leaders at the time and he was the one who told me about the issue. He said he'd probably sue to get reimbursed for copyright violations, even from a church. I still don't think I would, but then I never depended on my music for my livelihood.
Many years later this ethical/spiritual debate was brought into the online world when P2P filesharing service ZPoc was shut down. I didn't know about this one myself until after the fact. I think it's an interesting area of the filesharing and fair use debates, since the issue of morality vs. legality is often brought up on both sides.
Alex.