Over the past year I've switched from one format to the other, always investigating claims that one codec was better than the next. I did my own comparison tests between MP3,OGG,WMA and later AAC. The one that impressed me the most from a quality perspective was aac, while I desired the "openness" of ogg. Yes, I realise AAC is not an Apple proprietary format (though their DRM encoded files are). I wanted very much to like OGG, and gave it every opportunity to impress me. To my ears however it just sounded "flat" (regardless of bitrate) and I couldn't convince myself otherwise, no matter how I tried.
When iTunes for Windows was released I immediately started encoding to AAC. I loved it. AAC at 160kbps sounded fantastic with a lot of detail and range. It had that "full" sound that I thought was lacking in OGG. What I didn't like was the lack of encoding settings iTunes provided. Not a big deal really - as it did sound very good. But it hit me that (at the time) if I wanted to play AAC outside of iTunes, I'd need a plugin for Winamp (no longer req'd). What if I wanted to play these files off my dvd player or other multi-format device? I'm sure AAC is here to stay, but I wanted to be able to play my music on devices other than just my PC. For portabiltiy I have an external USB 2 hard disk.
I then thought it best to give MP3 another chance. I searched and eventually found www.jthz.com/mp3/ Using this site as a resource, I managed to encode high quality VBR MP3s which use slightly less space than comperably encoded AACs and sound every bit as good. It's a shame how MP3 has received some hard knocks lately as everyone rushes to the latest codec of the month. I'm convinced that the only reason these other codecs exist (aside from OGG) is not for quality reasons whatsoever. They're here because they allow better DRM - that's it! Now if people would spend the time and learn to encode their MP3s properly rather than accepting the defaults (typically 128kbps) of whatever all-in-one app they happen to be using, perhaps these "superior" formats wouldn't be getting as much positive press.
I wonder. It's long been speculated that Apple may some day bring OS X to the x86 platform. It's technically feasible and has most likely already been proven so. OS X is now at a stage where it's stable and reached a point where even the die-hard OS 9 users can't avoid it any longer - and has essentially become what OS X should've been in the first place. They are however still selling product to the converted - and this is where iTunes comes in. It all starts with introducing iTunes to Windows users. Windows users use iTunes and soon realise that Apple can write some fantastic software. It's free, without ads and it works famously. Apple then decides to partner with HP to sell an HP branded iPod to those Windows users who still can't get themselves to buy an Apple branded iPod even though it will work with Windows. An HP iPod on the other hand will be easier for them to swallow - it's all about establishing a comfort factor. Once the HP pod starts getting more glowing reviews and iTunes becomes even more prevelent on Windows desktops, Apple and HP would be in a great position to produce HP branded computers (x86?) running OS X - as by that time they'd have established their market. HP has the manufacturing and cabibility to pull this off whereas it's doubtful that Apple does, esp with a potentially different platform.
I've been using both iTunes & the Winamp 5 betas for about a month now. I've also been attempting to digitize and organise my library of CDs and LPs for about that same amount of time. At first I attempted to use iTunes for all my purposes. It's fantastic for organising genres and editing tags. It's also great for ripping CD's. It's very fast and seemless cddb fetching is a big plus (though CPU intensive). What people here may not know is you can rip to not only AAC or MP3 but uncompressed WAV as well. This is particularly handy as I encode all my MP3s using LAME as I want the best quality MP3s as possible. My usual method is this: 1. Rip CD in iTunes to WAV files 2. Remove WAVs from iTunes and encode to MP3 using LAME 3. Using WinXP (right click properties), apply batch Tags (artist, album title etc) to MP3s. 4. Import MP3s back into iTunes and apply remaining tags/picture.
I've attempted to do the same thing using Winamp, but iTunes has two real advantages. 1. It rips CDs without $$$. 2. Its clean interface makes organising genres much more easily/intuitively.
Where Winamp shines is playing individual files (outside of my collection) and those of oddball extensions. Either way, we're all better off now than just a few months ago.
I for one am glad someone brought this issue forward as I believe it accurately represents the current state of the "enterprise" computing industry. I've witnessed first hand (though not necessarily from HP) endless presentations of vague marketing speak - selling ideas rather than actual product. Further digging only reveals more double speak, even from those supposedly providing technical support. In the end, no one knows what it is they're evaluating and what's worse it comes at us from all fronts, not just from one company. It's an excruciating process which no one understands, and it tells me just how far the industry has fallen in the past few years. The investment in product just doesn't appear to be there anymore and the sales teams are left with regurgitating meaningless marketing speak wrapped around some re-branded product "acquired" sometime last year.
Should've used (Canadian) Smarties!
on
Skittlebrau
·
· Score: 1
Why Skittles when they could've used Smarties? Smarties are by far more tasty! By Smarties, I mean these Canadian Smarties, the same ones found in Dairy Queen Blizzards, not these silly American Smarties (Rockets in Canada). Yum, imagine an alcohol based Smartie Blizzard!
I love keeping old machines running, my Mac LC III (cira 1993, 25Mhz '030) running Linux, Apache & PHP is proof that old machines still have value long after most people send theirs to the curb.
About a year and a half ago, I decided I wanted to host my own web site, on my own equipment running Linux. The experiment was to teach myself more about Linux - more than the occasional use of Red Hat that I had come to equate with the "Linux experience". When it came time to decide which tool it was that I was going to fashion my site with, I decided to continue my self teaching and write the site from scratch using only vi. By writing it from scratch, I would be forced to write better code and to learn how to use a powerful editor - which was the point of the whole expierment in the first place.
Now, after using vi for well over a year, I can truly appreciate its complex simplicity. It has a certain ambience which no gui based I've ever seen has ever come close to matching. These days, I'll use nothing else.:wq
Ok, this hits home where it hurts and I'm sick to death of this mentality. Here's what I've done in my own little way stop this where I live.
Using two garage sale Macintoshes, an LC III and a PowerMac 6100/60, I've put together essentially the same type of idea but with very minimal hardware and even less $$$.
Both Macs run Debian Linux, and between the two I have a working "personal server" complete with:
Web Server
File Server
Web Based Email Server
Streaming MP3 Server
with more features to be added as needed.
All this on less than 100Mhz (collectively).
The whole point of this project was to cobble together something that was a little unique and forced me to learn Linux better. It was also an attempt to bring back a bit of enjoyment to my computing experience in a day when everything is done for you and everyone who can "point and click" considers themselves an expert.
<sarcasm>So way to go! Bring on the pre-builts so everyone with $399 to spend can have one more thing done for them. They'll feel better for it, because like everything else, they didn't bother to learn how to do it themselves.</sarcasm>
..then there's nothing to buy, regardless of the price! Have you HEARD the crap that's piling up in music stores in the past few years?
I used to buy music (regardless of format) all the time because I love good music! These days, I buy about 1 a year. Not because I'm downloading GB's off the net, but because I can't find any good new releases anymore. This years CD is Human League - Secrets. An AWESOME album. WHY on earth music isn't made like this anymore I have NO idea. As far as I'm concerned, music died in 1990....and I still grieve.
What I do these days to fill the void is to browse through used record stores. I bought myself a good used turntable and set myself up to rip my own mp3s. Now I can still go shopping for music that I like, and find really amazing stuff that never made it on CD and digitize it and listen to it anywhere. What's more, I'm paying next to nothing for music that I love.
It's ironic how the current state of the music industry has not only got me to stop buying cds, but I'm still finding "new" music on a format that I once thought was long since dead.
While my PC of today can do soo much more than what I had in 1993, I can honestly say I no more enjoy using it now than I did then. Computer culture has changed a lot in 10 years. They no longer reside in the realm of the geek, rather anyone who can use a mouse now considers themselves computer literate. It's the culture shift that has changed my experience with my computer, not so much the machine itself.
Still, I like to advocate the preservation and continued usage of old computer equipment by finding new and innovative ways of extending their usefulness. This is precisely why I chose to run a websitefor this very purpose on a vintage 1993 (10 years, how coincidental) Macintosh LC III (25 Mhz) running Debian, Apache & PHP 4. It may not be the same experience I had with computers 10 years ago, but it's a whole lot more fun than the "everything done for you" mentality of today.
...they don't know the meaning of the word. Try hosting a site on a Macintosh LC III (that's 25Mhz folks) running Linux & Apache. Whether or not it can survive a good slashdotting remains to be seen however.:-)
This project has been around for a while, and every once in a while I think about implimenting it myself just for kicks. The idea of getting my IIgs on the internet with a graphical browser is just too geeky to ignore. I would require some upgrades like a hard disk, more memory and a means of actually connecting it to the internet but it's entirely doable. Donations anyone?
In the mean time I've decided to feature my IIgs itself as the focus for a mini photography project. Come on, it's a beautiful design!
You can find it in the gallery section of my website www.32bitwonder.org
If you can help with putting it on the web, please leave feedback on the site.
I don't blame you. I searched high and low to find an online store to buy this keyboard from and couldn't find it anywhere but two crappy Yahoo sites, both of which refused to ship to Canada. I ended up finding & buying the keyboard (new) off of ebay.
Yes! These are excellent keyboards. I've often wondered if there were PC conversion kits available for this keyboard - doubt it. I have a few of them, all of which I cannot use on my PC.
What I like about these keyboards as compared to the IBM Model M is their quiet nature. The IBM's are amazing keyboards, but a little too loud for my liking.
My favourite keyboards were the one for the PCjr (not the chicklet one) and the one for the Atari PC1. They both had a very light, non-rubbery feel to them.
I've just spent an exhaustive search for a replacement desktop keyboard and was absolutely dismayed by the garbage keyboards out there. What I really wanted was one that had key switches similar to my old IBM T23 laptop, the best keyboard ever IMHO. I eventually found one, and it is close, but not quite as good as the IBM.
For those interested, you can see it at Precision Squared. Look for the PSK-5000 model. For touch typists, I highly recommend this keyboard. Mac users can find its equivalent with the MacAlly IceKey which appears to be a re-branded PSK-5000.
If nothing else, this article has got people talking about Debian a little bit more, which in my mind is a good thing. I look at it as an opportunity to teach myself a little bit more about my favourite distro (I've a long way to go).
When looking for distros for my Mac LC III I had but one choice - Debian. Now, after running it for several months I would choose no other distro for a server platform, regardless of hardware. Debian has been rock solid and easier to manage than I would've previously thought.
The installer can use work, but I wouldn't go as far as to make it a gui based install - it just needs to be cleaned up. DSELECT is horrific. Hardware detection is also unacceptable (stable). It's great that I can get it running on an m68k platform, but to getting it installed on a current x86 machine with new hardware is a whole other matter. For what it is, Debian is my favourite distro, but it'll never make it to my desktop.
Why not set up your own streaming enabled web server and make it available both inside your home network and on the internet as well? That way you can browse your mp3 collection from where ever you can find a broadband connection. Keeping in mind to secure it of course.
You may not like the idea of reducing your MP3s bitrate to stream effectively, but it may be a good compromise.
An example of software that uses this is ApacheMP3. This is an excellent avenue for those looking to stream mp3s on a shoestring budget. I use it on my PowerMac 6100/60 running Linux and it works quite well as a private library.
Slashdot Mirror
Useless? Hardly. I run a website on lesser hardware!
This "series" was already ruined with Ep. I and II. Any more of this is just beating a dead horse.
Over the past year I've switched from one format to the other, always investigating claims that one codec was better than the next. I did my own comparison tests between MP3,OGG,WMA and later AAC. The one that impressed me the most from a quality perspective was aac, while I desired the "openness" of ogg. Yes, I realise AAC is not an Apple proprietary format (though their DRM encoded files are). I wanted very much to like OGG, and gave it every opportunity to impress me. To my ears however it just sounded "flat" (regardless of bitrate) and I couldn't convince myself otherwise, no matter how I tried.
When iTunes for Windows was released I immediately started encoding to AAC. I loved it. AAC at 160kbps sounded fantastic with a lot of detail and range. It had that "full" sound that I thought was lacking in OGG. What I didn't like was the lack of encoding settings iTunes provided. Not a big deal really - as it did sound very good. But it hit me that (at the time) if I wanted to play AAC outside of iTunes, I'd need a plugin for Winamp (no longer req'd). What if I wanted to play these files off my dvd player or other multi-format device? I'm sure AAC is here to stay, but I wanted to be able to play my music on devices other than just my PC. For portabiltiy I have an external USB 2 hard disk.
I then thought it best to give MP3 another chance. I searched and eventually found www.jthz.com/mp3/ Using this site as a resource, I managed to encode high quality VBR MP3s which use slightly less space than comperably encoded AACs and sound every bit as good. It's a shame how MP3 has received some hard knocks lately as everyone rushes to the latest codec of the month. I'm convinced that the only reason these other codecs exist (aside from OGG) is not for quality reasons whatsoever. They're here because they allow better DRM - that's it! Now if people would spend the time and learn to encode their MP3s properly rather than accepting the defaults (typically 128kbps) of whatever all-in-one app they happen to be using, perhaps these "superior" formats wouldn't be getting as much positive press.
I wonder. It's long been speculated that Apple may some day bring OS X to the x86 platform. It's technically feasible and has most likely already been proven so. OS X is now at a stage where it's stable and reached a point where even the die-hard OS 9 users can't avoid it any longer - and has essentially become what OS X should've been in the first place. They are however still selling product to the converted - and this is where iTunes comes in. It all starts with introducing iTunes to Windows users. Windows users use iTunes and soon realise that Apple can write some fantastic software. It's free, without ads and it works famously. Apple then decides to partner with HP to sell an HP branded iPod to those Windows users who still can't get themselves to buy an Apple branded iPod even though it will work with Windows. An HP iPod on the other hand will be easier for them to swallow - it's all about establishing a comfort factor. Once the HP pod starts getting more glowing reviews and iTunes becomes even more prevelent on Windows desktops, Apple and HP would be in a great position to produce HP branded computers (x86?) running OS X - as by that time they'd have established their market. HP has the manufacturing and cabibility to pull this off whereas it's doubtful that Apple does, esp with a potentially different platform.
Yes, it does actually modify the MP3 ID3 tags.
I've been using both iTunes & the Winamp 5 betas for about a month now. I've also been attempting to digitize and organise my library of CDs and LPs for about that same amount of time. At first I attempted to use iTunes for all my purposes. It's fantastic for organising genres and editing tags. It's also great for ripping CD's. It's very fast and seemless cddb fetching is a big plus (though CPU intensive). What people here may not know is you can rip to not only AAC or MP3 but uncompressed WAV as well. This is particularly handy as I encode all my MP3s using LAME as I want the best quality MP3s as possible. My usual method is this:
1. Rip CD in iTunes to WAV files
2. Remove WAVs from iTunes and encode to MP3 using LAME
3. Using WinXP (right click properties), apply batch Tags (artist, album title etc) to MP3s.
4. Import MP3s back into iTunes and apply remaining tags/picture.
I've attempted to do the same thing using Winamp, but iTunes has two real advantages. 1. It rips CDs without $$$. 2. Its clean interface makes organising genres much more easily/intuitively.
Where Winamp shines is playing individual files (outside of my collection) and those of oddball extensions. Either way, we're all better off now than just a few months ago.
I run Debian on my Macs! Best of both worlds I say!
I for one am glad someone brought this issue forward as I believe it accurately represents the current state of the "enterprise" computing industry. I've witnessed first hand (though not necessarily from HP) endless presentations of vague marketing speak - selling ideas rather than actual product. Further digging only reveals more double speak, even from those supposedly providing technical support. In the end, no one knows what it is they're evaluating and what's worse it comes at us from all fronts, not just from one company. It's an excruciating process which no one understands, and it tells me just how far the industry has fallen in the past few years. The investment in product just doesn't appear to be there anymore and the sales teams are left with regurgitating meaningless marketing speak wrapped around some re-branded product "acquired" sometime last year.
Why Skittles when they could've used Smarties? Smarties are by far more tasty!
By Smarties, I mean these Canadian Smarties, the same ones found in Dairy Queen Blizzards, not these silly American Smarties (Rockets in Canada). Yum, imagine an alcohol based Smartie Blizzard!
What's all this talk of 64-bit? 32-bits should be enough for anybody!
I love keeping old machines running, my Mac LC III (cira 1993, 25Mhz '030) running Linux, Apache & PHP is proof that old machines still have value long after most people send theirs to the curb.
...and see what he comes up with.
Me, I'd say use the money to buy as many old Macs as he can, run Linux on them and create his own VIP Beowulf cluster. Er...wait - VIP? Nevermind.
Could it be? Lead singer of The Human League - Philip Oakley as potential candidate for the new Doctor?
I "Dare" to imagine! cough cough choke....
About a year and a half ago, I decided I wanted to host my own web site, on my own equipment running Linux. The experiment was to teach myself more about Linux - more than the occasional use of Red Hat that I had come to equate with the "Linux experience". When it came time to decide which tool it was that I was going to fashion my site with, I decided to continue my self teaching and write the site from scratch using only vi. By writing it from scratch, I would be forced to write better code and to learn how to use a powerful editor - which was the point of the whole expierment in the first place.
:wq
Now, after using vi for well over a year, I can truly appreciate its complex simplicity. It has a certain ambience which no gui based I've ever seen has ever come close to matching. These days, I'll use nothing else.
Both Macs run Debian Linux, and between the two I have a working "personal server" complete with:
Web Server
File Server
Web Based Email Server
Streaming MP3 Server
with more features to be added as needed.
All this on less than 100Mhz (collectively).
The whole point of this project was to cobble together something that was a little unique and forced me to learn Linux better. It was also an attempt to bring back a bit of enjoyment to my computing experience in a day when everything is done for you and everyone who can "point and click" considers themselves an expert.
..then there's nothing to buy, regardless of the price! Have you HEARD the crap that's piling up in music stores in the past few years?
I used to buy music (regardless of format) all the time because I love good music! These days, I buy about 1 a year. Not because I'm downloading GB's off the net, but because I can't find any good new releases anymore. This years CD is Human League - Secrets. An AWESOME album. WHY on earth music isn't made like this anymore I have NO idea. As far as I'm concerned, music died in 1990....and I still grieve.
What I do these days to fill the void is to browse through used record stores. I bought myself a good used turntable and set myself up to rip my own mp3s. Now I can still go shopping for music that I like, and find really amazing stuff that never made it on CD and digitize it and listen to it anywhere. What's more, I'm paying next to nothing for music that I love.
It's ironic how the current state of the music industry has not only got me to stop buying cds, but I'm still finding "new" music on a format that I once thought was long since dead.
While my PC of today can do soo much more than what I had in 1993, I can honestly say I no more enjoy using it now than I did then. Computer culture has changed a lot in 10 years. They no longer reside in the realm of the geek, rather anyone who can use a mouse now considers themselves computer literate. It's the culture shift that has changed my experience with my computer, not so much the machine itself.
Still, I like to advocate the preservation and continued usage of old computer equipment by finding new and innovative ways of extending their usefulness. This is precisely why I chose to run a website for this very purpose on a vintage 1993 (10 years, how coincidental) Macintosh LC III (25 Mhz) running Debian, Apache & PHP 4. It may not be the same experience I had with computers 10 years ago, but it's a whole lot more fun than the "everything done for you" mentality of today.
...they don't know the meaning of the word. Try hosting a site on a Macintosh LC III (that's 25Mhz folks) running Linux & Apache. Whether or not it can survive a good slashdotting remains to be seen however. :-)
Odd, I can access it just fine. (public machine) :-)
Please try again.
This project has been around for a while, and every once in a while I think about implimenting it myself just for kicks. The idea of getting my IIgs on the internet with a graphical browser is just too geeky to ignore. I would require some upgrades like a hard disk, more memory and a means of actually connecting it to the internet but it's entirely doable. Donations anyone?
In the mean time I've decided to feature my IIgs itself as the focus for a mini photography project. Come on, it's a beautiful design!
You can find it in the gallery section of my website www.32bitwonder.org
If you can help with putting it on the web, please leave feedback on the site.
-Brad
I don't blame you. I searched high and low to find an online store to buy this keyboard from and couldn't find it anywhere but two crappy Yahoo sites, both of which refused to ship to Canada. I ended up finding & buying the keyboard (new) off of ebay.
Yes! These are excellent keyboards. I've often wondered if there were PC conversion kits available for this keyboard - doubt it. I have a few of them, all of which I cannot use on my PC.
What I like about these keyboards as compared to the IBM Model M is their quiet nature. The IBM's are amazing keyboards, but a little too loud for my liking.
My favourite keyboards were the one for the PCjr (not the chicklet one) and the one for the Atari PC1. They both had a very light, non-rubbery feel to them.
I've just spent an exhaustive search for a replacement desktop keyboard and was absolutely dismayed by the garbage keyboards out there. What I really wanted was one that had key switches similar to my old IBM T23 laptop, the best keyboard ever IMHO. I eventually found one, and it is close, but not quite as good as the IBM.
For those interested, you can see it at Precision Squared. Look for the PSK-5000 model. For touch typists, I highly recommend this keyboard. Mac users can find its equivalent with the MacAlly IceKey which appears to be a re-branded PSK-5000.
If nothing else, this article has got people talking about Debian a little bit more, which in my mind is a good thing. I look at it as an opportunity to teach myself a little bit more about my favourite distro (I've a long way to go).
When looking for distros for my Mac LC III I had but one choice - Debian. Now, after running it for several months I would choose no other distro for a server platform, regardless of hardware. Debian has been rock solid and easier to manage than I would've previously thought.
The installer can use work, but I wouldn't go as far as to make it a gui based install - it just needs to be cleaned up. DSELECT is horrific. Hardware detection is also unacceptable (stable). It's great that I can get it running on an m68k platform, but to getting it installed on a current x86 machine with new hardware is a whole other matter. For what it is, Debian is my favourite distro, but it'll never make it to my desktop.
Why not set up your own streaming enabled web server and make it available both inside your home network and on the internet as well? That way you can browse your mp3 collection from where ever you can find a broadband connection. Keeping in mind to secure it of course.
You may not like the idea of reducing your MP3s bitrate to stream effectively, but it may be a good compromise.
An example of software that uses this is ApacheMP3. This is an excellent avenue for those looking to stream mp3s on a shoestring budget. I use it on my PowerMac 6100/60 running Linux and it works quite well as a private library.
Good Luck!