There is a defference in the physical media, which is what the poster was referring to. A CD-R copy of a CD may be identical bit for bit, but the actual disc in not the same.
A retail audio CD (or any other for that matter) is pressed. The data track is reflective, and pits are formed which change the reflectivity.
A CD-R has a clear dye layer and a reflective layer. The dye layer is heated by the laser during burning which causes it to become opaque. A CD-RW is essentially the same, but the dye can be changed from transparent to opaque like CD-Rs, but also opaque to transparent with different temperatures.
I totally agree...anyway, how the heck could you make a website accessible to the blind??? A CRT that projects Braille dots sounds quite impossible...
Does it? braille displays have been around for a while. Remember sneakers?
Re:Hello ignorance!
on
LCD Round-up
·
· Score: 5, Informative
The display control panel may say 60 Hz, but that's not how fast the LCD updates. LCD updates are dependent on how fast the diode can turn on and off, usually called response time. It's generally in the range of 30 or 40 ms (about 25-30 Hz), though they are getting faster - I think I've seen some as fast as 20 ms (50 Hz) recently.
Since they say you can't bring in your own stuff...
Sure, they say this, but are you telling me anyone is really checked before they come in to see if they have food with them. Some of the bigger items aren't practical, but candy will fit pockets just fine. If you live in colder climates, then just about anything is game thanks to winter clothing. You can fit a one liter or several 20 oz. bottles of soda in a coat sleeve and throw it over your shoulder. Those huge bags of popcorn that are sold in grocery stores will also fit in a coat sleeve - sure I got strange looks when the coat thrown over my shoulder had one sleeve sticking out at a 90 degree angle, but they people who work there really don't care.
I've always seen poor customer service and poor product quality as sonicblue/rio's biggest problem. I've heard from many people that until these are fixed they will never buy a sonicblue product.
My girlfriend and I each bought a Rio500 about 2 years ago. Both stopped working and were returned to the online store. She got a refund, but I had it replaced. I had to send it in twice within a year to have it repaired. Their customer service was no help - each time they made it a huge hassle to send it in. The second time they had it for 4 or 5 months before they returned it. I was browsing online forums during this time to try to find out what was wrong and found many people with the same problems/complaints.
Someone pointed me to this BBB link which basically says Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau.Specifically, our records show a pattern of non-response to consumer complaints brought to its attention by the Bureau.
The BBB has two ratings: satisfactory and unsatisfactory, and it very difficult to receive the latter.
"I've heard a few interesting ideas such as:
*...ahaving the products show up in the show itself (product placement). For example: Buffy, after killing a vampire, could then slam down a Mountan Dew.
This already happens. Pay attention during TV shows and movies (which, by the way, we *are* already paying to see) - there are tons of product placement. A few that come to mind: iBooks and iMacs in several prime time shows, and Seinfeld used to have a Klein mountain bike prominently displayed in his apt.
People aren't watching commercials - they either skip them if they have a TiVo, or switch channels. Stations know this and will have to change the way they advertise. It's been said before, stations are going to start playing ads during the show. Think of how CNN and ESPN have news/scores scrolling across the bottom of the screen during the broadcast - it's only a matter of time before this is used by shows for advertising.
MLS does this in a less annoying way now. The score in the corner of the screen is usually displayed with coke, nike or some other company's logo.
Why is everyone jumping on Palm about this? The Compaq iPAQ has a 12-bit screen and produces *ONLY* 4,096 colors. The m130, by contrast, produces *MORE* colors, using blending techniques.
Because the blending technique is nothing more than dithering.
From the Palm support site: The color technologies Palm employed in the m130 handheld to deliver text and images include frame-rate control and dithering techniques. (Frame-rate control turns pixels off or on to deliver a specific shade of color. Dithering uses a group of adjacent pixels to convey a composite color.)
If Palm gets away with this, we will never know the bit depth of video cards, handhelds, cell phones, etc. since companies will be able to claim any number they want because their product's display can dither. I say nip this in the bud and get Palm to admit it only produces 4,096 colors. And yes, I am aware that they claim it uses "frame rate control" too, but it seems this is nothing more than a pixel flashing so it appears to be a less intense color - surely all displays could do this too.
At least with current software when a hole is found it will get patched - more quickly for some companies than others. What happens when a major flaw is found with older OSes/apps? Do you really think MS will bother to write a patch for win95 or Apple for mac os 7.1? You will not only have a security problem, but to fix it you'll have to upgrade or migrate to a new platform.
Yes, it would be a big deal to be able to backup my entire HD or all my CDs on a single CD-sized disc (though the article makes no mention of the size I'm assuming it's the same size as a CD/DVD). Come to think of it, the article really doesn't mention much of anything. Almost the entire article is quoted in Alt173's post.
I can understand why the parent was modded as troll, but I have to jump in to defend it to some degree.
When I saw the article, I just knew it had to be CNN. Their cable news channels barely pass as news. My cable co. carries both CNN channels, but not Fox or MS/NBC, so if I want news in the morning without the mindless chatter of the network morning shows I have little other choice.
Their reporting is anything but unbiased - they routinely advertise their other media outlets as news - shows on WB tonight or what's new on AOL get just as much coverage as other world events. What really bugs me though is the attempt at witty titles for almost all the news stories - if there's an opportunity for a bad pun, their writers won't pass it up.
Don't feel too bad for sonicblue, I would guess that their complete lack of customer support is more damaging than this will be. They have an unsatisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau for a pattern of non-response to consumer complaints. This is the lowest rating the BBB give. For well over a year on various online forums I have read countless complaints about the company, and would never buy anything from them.
My understanding is that the only difference between VCD and DVD is the physical media (and as a consequence storage capacity, for VCD it's CD's 650 megs). The data stored is exactly the same image data, no degradation whatsoever? Or is it not?
While VCDs are digital and can be copied without degradation, they are not the same as DVDs. A VCD is a mpeg-1 video file at 352x240 (for NTSC) and mpeg-1 audio for a total of 1150 kbps. A DVD is a mpeg-2 video at 720x480, mpeg-2 AC3 audio and uses 3-10x the bit rate.
It is the bit rate that makes the biggest difference in quality - not the use of mpeg-2 instead of mpeg-1. I've made XVCDs (mpeg-1)and SVCDs (mpeg-2), and at high bit rates the VCDs look just as good at the SVCDs.
I have noticed this too. I have a feeling that people with 1,000+ ratings on eBay can get lazy about shipping, etc. since a few negative ratings won't really hurt them at this point. Will a potential buyer care if someone has a rating of 3,583 instead of 3,584? I now check the actual feedback for sellers for any negatives/neutrals and read them to see why.
about 678 thousand kmh, though my arithmetic is probably wrong somewhere
Yeah, you're off by at least a factor of a thousand.
At 40x, the CD is spinning 8,000 RPM (here). The CD is 5.25" in diameter = 16.5" = circumference. 16.5" * 8,000 RPM * 60 min/hour / 12 inch/foot / 5280 feet/mile = 125 miles/hour (about 200 kph).
Actually, it doesn't. I have a few bucks in my paypal account that are not earning interest - mainly because I don't want to become verified and give PP access to my bank account. You can have paypal put your money in a money market account (which may earn or lose $). From the prospectus: note - you have to login to see this page
Although the Fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1 per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund.
I took a look at the DVD-player compatibility chart [tech-report.com] in the Tech Report article mentioned yesterday
That list isn't very thorough. It lists about 20 players and only three kinds of media (DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW). If you want a much better (IMO) list, check out vcdhelp.com's DVD compatibility list. It has over 800 players and their compatibility with CDR, CDRW, DVD-R,
DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, VCD, SVCD, XVCD, XSVCD, MP3s, miniDVD, and the bit rates that at which the players will play XVCDs, mp3s, etc.
Once again someone who didn't read the article getting modded up...
The $2.50 was per unit meaning that every unit (hardware, software) was charged. Under the MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License the party that offers MPEG-2 Royalty Products (Section 1.25) for Sale (Section 1.30) to the end user is responsible for royalties on the various categories of end product
Now, each of those end users will only be charged $0.25. The service providers will be charged for streaming content. This is shifting the burden of cost from the end user (you and me) to the provider.
Of course the cost will eventually get passed on to the users, so expect to pay for streaming content either through subscription fees, banners or a short commercial that you will have to watch before the video. But those who don't use it for streaming content won't have to pay for those who do.
human = 3 billion base pairs
= 6 billion bits of data
The way I figure it, you would need at least twice this. 3 billion pairs means 6 billion actual nucleotides, but since there are 4 possible nucleotides, so you would need at lease 2 bits to describe each one.
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There is a defference in the physical media, which is what the poster was referring to. A CD-R copy of a CD may be identical bit for bit, but the actual disc in not the same.
A retail audio CD (or any other for that matter) is pressed. The data track is reflective, and pits are formed which change the reflectivity.
A CD-R has a clear dye layer and a reflective layer. The dye layer is heated by the laser during burning which causes it to become opaque. A CD-RW is essentially the same, but the dye can be changed from transparent to opaque like CD-Rs, but also opaque to transparent with different temperatures.
Does it? braille displays have been around for a while. Remember sneakers?
The display control panel may say 60 Hz, but that's not how fast the LCD updates. LCD updates are dependent on how fast the diode can turn on and off, usually called response time. It's generally in the range of 30 or 40 ms (about 25-30 Hz), though they are getting faster - I think I've seen some as fast as 20 ms (50 Hz) recently.
Sure, they say this, but are you telling me anyone is really checked before they come in to see if they have food with them. Some of the bigger items aren't practical, but candy will fit pockets just fine. If you live in colder climates, then just about anything is game thanks to winter clothing. You can fit a one liter or several 20 oz. bottles of soda in a coat sleeve and throw it over your shoulder. Those huge bags of popcorn that are sold in grocery stores will also fit in a coat sleeve - sure I got strange looks when the coat thrown over my shoulder had one sleeve sticking out at a 90 degree angle, but they people who work there really don't care.
My girlfriend and I each bought a Rio500 about 2 years ago. Both stopped working and were returned to the online store. She got a refund, but I had it replaced. I had to send it in twice within a year to have it repaired. Their customer service was no help - each time they made it a huge hassle to send it in. The second time they had it for 4 or 5 months before they returned it. I was browsing online forums during this time to try to find out what was wrong and found many people with the same problems/complaints.
Someone pointed me to this BBB link which basically says
Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau.Specifically, our records show a pattern of non-response to consumer complaints brought to its attention by the Bureau.
The BBB has two ratings: satisfactory and unsatisfactory, and it very difficult to receive the latter.
"I've heard a few interesting ideas such as: ...ahaving the products show up in the show itself (product placement). For example: Buffy, after killing a vampire, could then slam down a Mountan Dew.
*
This already happens. Pay attention during TV shows and movies (which, by the way, we *are* already paying to see) - there are tons of product placement. A few that come to mind: iBooks and iMacs in several prime time shows, and Seinfeld used to have a Klein mountain bike prominently displayed in his apt.
People aren't watching commercials - they either skip them if they have a TiVo, or switch channels. Stations know this and will have to change the way they advertise. It's been said before, stations are going to start playing ads during the show. Think of how CNN and ESPN have news/scores scrolling across the bottom of the screen during the broadcast - it's only a matter of time before this is used by shows for advertising.
MLS does this in a less annoying way now. The score in the corner of the screen is usually displayed with coke, nike or some other company's logo.
Why is everyone jumping on Palm about this? The Compaq iPAQ has a 12-bit screen and produces *ONLY* 4,096 colors. The m130, by contrast, produces *MORE* colors, using blending techniques.
Because the blending technique is nothing more than dithering.
From the Palm support site:
The color technologies Palm employed in the m130 handheld to deliver text and images include frame-rate control and dithering techniques. (Frame-rate control turns pixels off or on to deliver a specific shade of color. Dithering uses a group of adjacent pixels to convey a composite color.)
If Palm gets away with this, we will never know the bit depth of video cards, handhelds, cell phones, etc. since companies will be able to claim any number they want because their product's display can dither. I say nip this in the bud and get Palm to admit it only produces 4,096 colors.
And yes, I am aware that they claim it uses "frame rate control" too, but it seems this is nothing more than a pixel flashing so it appears to be a less intense color - surely all displays could do this too.
Not just a spammer, this guy has been arrested for burglary, theft, receiving stolen property, writing bad checks, fraud, and probably many other offenses. Go here for info on this spammer.
They usually wait a few weeks to a month before putting it on their ftp sites. This version will be available for download july 5th.
At least with current software when a hole is found it will get patched - more quickly for some companies than others. What happens when a major flaw is found with older OSes/apps? Do you really think MS will bother to write a patch for win95 or Apple for mac os 7.1? You will not only have a security problem, but to fix it you'll have to upgrade or migrate to a new platform.
Yes, it would be a big deal to be able to backup my entire HD or all my CDs on a single CD-sized disc (though the article makes no mention of the size I'm assuming it's the same size as a CD/DVD). Come to think of it, the article really doesn't mention much of anything. Almost the entire article is quoted in Alt173's post.
Because for $200 it would be a nice machine. 733 MHz P3, 300 MHz geforce (geforce3 I think), 100 baseT, DDR RAM, 8 gig HD, DVD drive.
Legislation has nothing to do with morality. Nothing.
Which is why so many legislators want to make flag-burning and stem cell research illegal?
I can understand why the parent was modded as troll, but I have to jump in to defend it to some degree.
When I saw the article, I just knew it had to be CNN. Their cable news channels barely pass as news. My cable co. carries both CNN channels, but not Fox or MS/NBC, so if I want news in the morning without the mindless chatter of the network morning shows I have little other choice.
Their reporting is anything but unbiased - they routinely advertise their other media outlets as news - shows on WB tonight or what's new on AOL get just as much coverage as other world events. What really bugs me though is the attempt at witty titles for almost all the news stories - if there's an opportunity for a bad pun, their writers won't pass it up.
Don't feel too bad for sonicblue, I would guess that their complete lack of customer support is more damaging than this will be. They have an unsatisfactory rating with the Better Business Bureau for a pattern of non-response to consumer complaints. This is the lowest rating the BBB give. For well over a year on various online forums I have read countless complaints about the company, and would never buy anything from them.
What is the /ref=sr_11_0_1/ in the url if it's not a referal code?
My understanding is that the only difference between VCD and DVD is the physical media (and as a consequence storage capacity, for VCD it's CD's 650 megs). The data stored is exactly the same image data, no degradation whatsoever? Or is it not?
While VCDs are digital and can be copied without degradation, they are not the same as DVDs. A VCD is a mpeg-1 video file at 352x240 (for NTSC) and mpeg-1 audio for a total of 1150 kbps. A DVD is a mpeg-2 video at 720x480, mpeg-2 AC3 audio and uses 3-10x the bit rate. It is the bit rate that makes the biggest difference in quality - not the use of mpeg-2 instead of mpeg-1. I've made XVCDs (mpeg-1)and SVCDs (mpeg-2), and at high bit rates the VCDs look just as good at the SVCDs.
I have noticed this too. I have a feeling that people with 1,000+ ratings on eBay can get lazy about shipping, etc. since a few negative ratings won't really hurt them at this point. Will a potential buyer care if someone has a rating of 3,583 instead of 3,584? I now check the actual feedback for sellers for any negatives/neutrals and read them to see why.
I'm asking if they could present a case and get it to court. Thoughts?
Seeing as how Rio (the city in Brazil, not the mp3 player) can sue the Simpsons (yes, the cartoon) for making fun of the city, I'd say that anything is possible. You don't need a legitimate complaint, anyone can sue over anything (and too often does - look at the petswarehouse story that was run last week)
about 678 thousand kmh, though my arithmetic is probably wrong somewhere
Yeah, you're off by at least a factor of a thousand.
At 40x, the CD is spinning 8,000 RPM (here). The CD is 5.25" in diameter = 16.5" = circumference. 16.5" * 8,000 RPM * 60 min/hour / 12 inch/foot / 5280 feet/mile = 125 miles/hour (about 200 kph).
Yeah, I quoted the wrong part of the post - "it pays interest" is what I should've highlighted. I meant to comment on paypal paying interest to us.
it earns money on cash on deposit
Actually, it doesn't. I have a few bucks in my paypal account that are not earning interest - mainly because I don't want to become verified and give PP access to my bank account. You can have paypal put your money in a money market account (which may earn or lose $). From the prospectus: note - you have to login to see this page
Although the Fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1 per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund.
I took a look at the DVD-player compatibility chart [tech-report.com] in the Tech Report article mentioned yesterday
That list isn't very thorough. It lists about 20 players and only three kinds of media (DVD-R, DVD-RW and DVD+RW). If you want a much better (IMO) list, check out vcdhelp.com's DVD compatibility list. It has over 800 players and their compatibility with CDR, CDRW, DVD-R, DVD-RW, DVD+R, DVD+RW, VCD, SVCD, XVCD, XSVCD, MP3s, miniDVD, and the bit rates that at which the players will play XVCDs, mp3s, etc.
Once again someone who didn't read the article getting modded up...
The $2.50 was per unit meaning that every unit (hardware, software) was charged. Under the MPEG-2 Patent Portfolio License the party that offers MPEG-2 Royalty Products (Section 1.25) for Sale (Section 1.30) to the end user is responsible for royalties on the various categories of end product
Now, each of those end users will only be charged $0.25. The service providers will be charged for streaming content. This is shifting the burden of cost from the end user (you and me) to the provider.
Of course the cost will eventually get passed on to the users, so expect to pay for streaming content either through subscription fees, banners or a short commercial that you will have to watch before the video. But those who don't use it for streaming content won't have to pay for those who do.
human = 3 billion base pairs = 6 billion bits of data
The way I figure it, you would need at least twice this. 3 billion pairs means 6 billion actual nucleotides, but since there are 4 possible nucleotides, so you would need at lease 2 bits to describe each one.