They had warp drive, transporters, phasers, food synthesizers, cloaking devices, time travel, and yet....a mechanical odometer-like clock on Sulu's console.
Good points. I think it could possibly, in the long run, be better for "desktop software" programmers.
The masses (and all their former pirate-like predilections) would be drawn to using "cheap" software (because the average user doesn't use more than a few basic apps, and tend not to be willing/able to pay a lot for it). And that software is now easier to buy than pirate, with the app store right in front of you. This will make the desktop app more of a professional/specialist type application, with a price to match. And the users of the desktop software will be more likely to be willing/able/forced to pay.
So your average user will *buy* their software cheaply, and the user with specialist/pro level needs will *buy* it. This is great news for software developers!
(at least that's how it works in my little world anyway).
Would you care to elaborate on your theory as to why you think driving [a personal vehicle] is the most efficient method of transportation? Even more efficient than public transit? It doesn't seem logical to me, but I'm willing to gain some insight.
I seriously doubt the veracity of the 95% claim. Why in the world would a farmer who for generations had been replanting his own seed, suddenly desire to plant monsanto seed? This would require that:
A) he now purchase roundup to get the seed to grow (you need to use roundup on this stuff)
B) he risk the wrath of monsanto by not having a license OR he would now have to pay for new seed every year.
He certainly wouldn't want to pay for seed that he had year after year for free; it doesn't add up.
There is simply be no logical reason why he would willingly do that. I think the motivation of each party in this ordeal needs to be questioned. There's nothing to be gained by Schmeiser. From what I have read, he basically lost his life savings fighting monsanto. What's to be gained for monsanto? Plenty of money.
No, he had been saving and replanting his own seed for generations. Once his field was contaminated by monsanto's patented abominations (through no fault of his own) suddenly monsanto declared him a criminal.
An iPhone is not the same as seed.
What most people don't realize is that monsanto is not only patenting GM seed (which is bad enough; they have bought up hundreds of seed companies, closed them down and eliminated the seed. They replace the freely saveable seed with their own patented seed), but they have the audacity to patent regular seed. They go into public seed banks, searching through thousands upon thousands of seeds, looking for ones that haven't been patented yet and patent them. How can they get away with this you ask? Who gives them the right to co-opt a food source and claim it as theirs? Twisted patent laws and corrupt trade deals that's how. Large multi-national corporations influencing government legislation that's how.
Monsanto does need to die.
See "The World according to Monsanto" for a detailed insight into the obscenity known as Monsanto.
Also google around for "Seed Politics" and see for yourself why this needs to be stopped.
I find that in general, the tone of the first post tends to set the tone of a lot of the comments that follow. If the first post tends to dislike the article, it tends to bring out the people who just like to complain about almost everything. Like you said, "hive-mind" sums it up pretty accurately.
"Warm" tends to be associated with a less harsh sound. Kinda (but not exactly)like if you turn down the treble a bit; that could be considered a slightly "warmer" sound. A warmer sound is more soothing in a sense. You get less "listening fatigue" when listening to a warm sound. It has a lot to do with the harmonic overtones (distortion) that are created by the amplifier. Tube (analog) amplifiers create particular types of harmonic overtones that are different from solid state (analog/digital) amplifiers. The human ear gets "fatigued" when it is subjected to distortion with those particular overtones in the signal over an extended period of time. When I say "fatigued" I mean that the music you're hearing starts to sound "muddy" or indistinct after a while(example; you're trying to focus on just one instrument, but you can't quite hear it clearly, even though you could when you first started listening. That is ear fatigue).
This is why people (especially professional audio engineers) pay a premium for studio quality headphones. These high end headphones more accurately produce the original signal without introducing their own distortion, and you can listen longer without getting fatigued.
Even though you listen to hard rock, I would think you'd still want to listen to a warmer sound. I think you're confusing the "cold and raw" *energy* of the music with the cold and raw quality of the amplifier. A warm sound can still impart the cold and raw energy of the music without the associated listening fatigue.
Now, no doubt some clown will reply and say something like, "I can't hear the difference, you're just an elitist audiophile idiot spreading fud". Believe me, professionals CAN hear the difference. The average person can't because they've never worked in a professional audio environment and compared the different qualities of pro audio gear. Kinda like how a computer noob would say they can't see any difference between windows3.1 and say, Ubuntu; they both *generally* do the same thing. Yet a seasoned computer professional KNOWS that there's a big difference.
"I want to be able to get a player other than an iPod in the future. I want to be able to use a platform other than MacOS/Windows in the future."
I think the keyword is "future". If I was concerned about DRM today, then I would certainly worry about vendor lock-in. However when I don't want to use Mac OS XII or Windows Vista mark7 or whatever they're called in the future, the storage capacities of whatever new media format we'll be using would certainly be able to accommodate an uncompressed audio format, especially for the music I bought "today" with 44.1Khz/16bit audio. With current consumer/semi-pro level audio equipment already being able to handle higher sample rates (96Khz, 192Khz etc) and higher dynamic ranges with 32bit recording, the storage capacities of these devices in the future will have to be larger anyway, so uncompressed 44.1/16bit will be absolutely no problem, even for flash drive type storage, IMHO.
I have no problem whatsoever with the DRM on iTunes. I think it's perfectly reasonable and fair. I support the bands I listen to buy buying their music, so I'm not concerned with DRM. Besides, if I ever got stuck because of the DRM, I'd burn the files to CD and keep them as.wav or.aiff format and avoid a conversion loss by not going back to a compressed format. The reason I personally don't buy too much from iTunes (I do buy some stuff, but usually only stuff where I don't want the whole CD) is the 128kbps AAC. The quality is better than mp3 at the same bit rate for sure, but it's still too low. No doubt the storage and bandwidth needed to serve up higher (or full) quality formats is still cost prohibitive, thus the rather low bit rates. But if you actually do a comparison of any compressed format versus the full quality version, you'd notice A) the stereo imaging is not as good in the lossy format B) the bottom end (lower frequencies) are reduced in the lossy format and C) the high end has phasing problems (i.e. it sounds "swishy"). THAT is why I don't buy too much from iTunes. Not because of the DRM.
Just because something is on the internet does NOT mean the person is waiving their right to copyright. Putting something on the internet is a *publishing* (and distribution) method. It has *nothing* to do with defining ownership. By your reasoning, all book authors should sacrifice any claim to copyright as well since they are putting their books in a public place; a bookstore. And all musicians should sacrifice their claim to copyright since their music is sold via a public venue. So just exactly how are copyright holders able to sell their works if they don't make the information available to the public? Just exactly how would you define "controlled, private distribution" if you dispute that distributing via the internet (for example, a private transaction between an author's website and a buyer) is not a private transaction?
They may rock in the workplace, but I personally won't use one in a more confined space (like, say, a home office) due to the toxic emissions they create. Especially with small children in the house. I'd rather pay for the difference with money, rather than my health!
That business model (Mac-only software vendor) does quite well. Those vendors typically understand how to make Mac software more..."Mac like" than say, a primarily Windows software vendor who ports their software over to work on a Mac. Many Mac users like the specific user experience they get with a Mac because of the particular way the software interacts with the O/S. There a lots of companies (ex; The Omni Group) that do well because they specialize in that market. Nothing wrong with knowing and specializing in a particular market. Not every software vendor has to be a supersized-take-over-the-world-large company to be successful. I for one, look to Mac specific software companies for software first, as they will typically implement it in a way that is more useful to me, as a Mac user.
"I do know watching a 640x480 WMV on OSX is like upsampling a 160x120 video into 1080 high-def- UGLY"
Not at all. A 640x480 wmv file on windows has the same resolution as on OS X. They play fine with the flip4mac plug-in for quicktime. VLC can handle a lot of them too.
Interesting. They don't have those type of bank branches where I live (they're all "full service"). Probably more common in large urban centers I'd imagine.
...just as any issue with a Mac not have game #x available is viewed as an opportunity to evangelize windows. Mac users have to listen to this drivel constantly from windows users. It's annoying coming from either direction. Use the tool that suits YOU and don't deride others for their choice of OS.
btw, I think your 2nd last sentence should've read: "As the parent said, any issue with Windows will be viewed as an opportunity to evangelize linux"
Kinda ironic to hear that comment coming from a linux user (the whole group of which I generally have a lot of respect for). Since when did the lack of an driver/codec/app/filesystem/network protocol/distribution system/etc. stop any true linux user from doing what they wanted? I'm kinda dissapointed...
I dunno how many times I heard the linux zealots say that the ability to extend the O/S or write their own software was the strength of linux. Time to get busy and write that software! (As an aside, they've done a helluva job copying windows so far. But when are the linux developers going to stop following in Microsoft's shadow and decide to innovate and become driving force in O/S development, like they could be?)
(karma be damned)
Re:Will this make anyone look at OpenOffice.org?
on
Office Delayed, Too
·
· Score: 1
Wow, ThinkFree looks MUCH better since the last time I looked at it. The online version looks very impressive (works in Safari too). I'll definately be checking out the desktop version since I'm looking for a nice spreadsheet app for OS X. I've checked some of the alternatives, such as Mariner Calc and others, but they all had bad display issues (such as gridlines being thick sometimes and thinner other times etc). I can't deal with the non-anti-aliased text in appleworks any longer, and refuse to pay the ridiculously huge price to buy MS office when all I need is a decent spreadsheet (iWork's only missing feature for me) And I'm not a student, so I can't get the student pricing. ThinkFree looks promising.
Slashdot Mirror
They had warp drive, transporters, phasers, food synthesizers, cloaking devices, time travel, and yet....a mechanical odometer-like clock on Sulu's console.
Good points. I think it could possibly, in the long run, be better for "desktop software" programmers.
The masses (and all their former pirate-like predilections) would be drawn to using "cheap" software (because the average user doesn't use more than a few basic apps, and tend not to be willing/able to pay a lot for it). And that software is now easier to buy than pirate, with the app store right in front of you. This will make the desktop app more of a professional/specialist type application, with a price to match. And the users of the desktop software will be more likely to be willing/able/forced to pay.
So your average user will *buy* their software cheaply, and the user with specialist/pro level needs will *buy* it. This is great news for software developers!
(at least that's how it works in my little world anyway).
Would you care to elaborate on your theory as to why you think driving [a personal vehicle] is the most efficient method of transportation? Even more efficient than public transit? It doesn't seem logical to me, but I'm willing to gain some insight.
The marker is actually there, but it is difficult to find. I know that I had to look quite carefully before I noticed it.
I seriously doubt the veracity of the 95% claim. Why in the world would a farmer who for generations had been replanting his own seed, suddenly desire to plant monsanto seed? This would require that:
A) he now purchase roundup to get the seed to grow (you need to use roundup on this stuff)
B) he risk the wrath of monsanto by not having a license OR he would now have to pay for new seed every year.
He certainly wouldn't want to pay for seed that he had year after year for free; it doesn't add up.
There is simply be no logical reason why he would willingly do that. I think the motivation of each party in this ordeal needs to be questioned. There's nothing to be gained by Schmeiser. From what I have read, he basically lost his life savings fighting monsanto. What's to be gained for monsanto? Plenty of money.
No, he had been saving and replanting his own seed for generations. Once his field was contaminated by monsanto's patented abominations (through no fault of his own) suddenly monsanto declared him a criminal.
An iPhone is not the same as seed.
What most people don't realize is that monsanto is not only patenting GM seed (which is bad enough; they have bought up hundreds of seed companies, closed them down and eliminated the seed. They replace the freely saveable seed with their own patented seed), but they have the audacity to patent regular seed. They go into public seed banks, searching through thousands upon thousands of seeds, looking for ones that haven't been patented yet and patent them. How can they get away with this you ask? Who gives them the right to co-opt a food source and claim it as theirs? Twisted patent laws and corrupt trade deals that's how. Large multi-national corporations influencing government legislation that's how.
Monsanto does need to die. See "The World according to Monsanto" for a detailed insight into the obscenity known as Monsanto. Also google around for "Seed Politics" and see for yourself why this needs to be stopped.
Compotent programmer; "Competent omnipotent important component coder"?? :-)
I find that in general, the tone of the first post tends to set the tone of a lot of the comments that follow. If the first post tends to dislike the article, it tends to bring out the people who just like to complain about almost everything. Like you said, "hive-mind" sums it up pretty accurately.
"Warm" tends to be associated with a less harsh sound. Kinda (but not exactly)like if you turn down the treble a bit; that could be considered a slightly "warmer" sound. A warmer sound is more soothing in a sense. You get less "listening fatigue" when listening to a warm sound. It has a lot to do with the harmonic overtones (distortion) that are created by the amplifier. Tube (analog) amplifiers create particular types of harmonic overtones that are different from solid state (analog/digital) amplifiers. The human ear gets "fatigued" when it is subjected to distortion with those particular overtones in the signal over an extended period of time. When I say "fatigued" I mean that the music you're hearing starts to sound "muddy" or indistinct after a while(example; you're trying to focus on just one instrument, but you can't quite hear it clearly, even though you could when you first started listening. That is ear fatigue).
This is why people (especially professional audio engineers) pay a premium for studio quality headphones. These high end headphones more accurately produce the original signal without introducing their own distortion, and you can listen longer without getting fatigued.
Even though you listen to hard rock, I would think you'd still want to listen to a warmer sound. I think you're confusing the "cold and raw" *energy* of the music with the cold and raw quality of the amplifier. A warm sound can still impart the cold and raw energy of the music without the associated listening fatigue.
Now, no doubt some clown will reply and say something like, "I can't hear the difference, you're just an elitist audiophile idiot spreading fud". Believe me, professionals CAN hear the difference. The average person can't because they've never worked in a professional audio environment and compared the different qualities of pro audio gear. Kinda like how a computer noob would say they can't see any difference between windows3.1 and say, Ubuntu; they both *generally* do the same thing. Yet a seasoned computer professional KNOWS that there's a big difference.
Seems like hydrogenaudio.org is to the music enthusiast as slashdot.org is to the tech enthusiast :-)
"I want to be able to get a player other than an iPod in the future. I want to be able to use a platform other than MacOS/Windows in the future."
I think the keyword is "future". If I was concerned about DRM today, then I would certainly worry about vendor lock-in. However when I don't want to use Mac OS XII or Windows Vista mark7 or whatever they're called in the future, the storage capacities of whatever new media format we'll be using would certainly be able to accommodate an uncompressed audio format, especially for the music I bought "today" with 44.1Khz/16bit audio. With current consumer/semi-pro level audio equipment already being able to handle higher sample rates (96Khz, 192Khz etc) and higher dynamic ranges with 32bit recording, the storage capacities of these devices in the future will have to be larger anyway, so uncompressed 44.1/16bit will be absolutely no problem, even for flash drive type storage, IMHO.
I have no problem whatsoever with the DRM on iTunes. I think it's perfectly reasonable and fair. I support the bands I listen to buy buying their music, so I'm not concerned with DRM. Besides, if I ever got stuck because of the DRM, I'd burn the files to CD and keep them as .wav or .aiff format and avoid a conversion loss by not going back to a compressed format. The reason I personally don't buy too much from iTunes (I do buy some stuff, but usually only stuff where I don't want the whole CD) is the 128kbps AAC. The quality is better than mp3 at the same bit rate for sure, but it's still too low. No doubt the storage and bandwidth needed to serve up higher (or full) quality formats is still cost prohibitive, thus the rather low bit rates. But if you actually do a comparison of any compressed format versus the full quality version, you'd notice A) the stereo imaging is not as good in the lossy format B) the bottom end (lower frequencies) are reduced in the lossy format and C) the high end has phasing problems (i.e. it sounds "swishy"). THAT is why I don't buy too much from iTunes. Not because of the DRM.
Just because something is on the internet does NOT mean the person is waiving their right to copyright. Putting something on the internet is a *publishing* (and distribution) method. It has *nothing* to do with defining ownership. By your reasoning, all book authors should sacrifice any claim to copyright as well since they are putting their books in a public place; a bookstore. And all musicians should sacrifice their claim to copyright since their music is sold via a public venue. So just exactly how are copyright holders able to sell their works if they don't make the information available to the public? Just exactly how would you define "controlled, private distribution" if you dispute that distributing via the internet (for example, a private transaction between an author's website and a buyer) is not a private transaction?
They may rock in the workplace, but I personally won't use one in a more confined space (like, say, a home office) due to the toxic emissions they create. Especially with small children in the house. I'd rather pay for the difference with money, rather than my health!
...and now the NSA, CIA, and FBI will all be in touch with you very shortly.
That business model (Mac-only software vendor) does quite well. Those vendors typically understand how to make Mac software more..."Mac like" than say, a primarily Windows software vendor who ports their software over to work on a Mac. Many Mac users like the specific user experience they get with a Mac because of the particular way the software interacts with the O/S. There a lots of companies (ex; The Omni Group) that do well because they specialize in that market. Nothing wrong with knowing and specializing in a particular market. Not every software vendor has to be a supersized-take-over-the-world-large company to be successful. I for one, look to Mac specific software companies for software first, as they will typically implement it in a way that is more useful to me, as a Mac user.
Walmart
Wow, that's a stunning endorsement for PC's. How stupid of me. I guess I'll have to ditch my Mac kit, because Walmart sells PC's...
p.s. news for you kid, not EVERYONE uses PC's. Get ready to get jumped on by heaps of Linux and Mac users...
"I haven't seen Jaguar, yet"
Jaguar?? I presume you meant to say "Leopard"
"I do know watching a 640x480 WMV on OSX is like upsampling a 160x120 video into 1080 high-def- UGLY"
Not at all. A 640x480 wmv file on windows has the same resolution as on OS X. They play fine with the flip4mac plug-in for quicktime. VLC can handle a lot of them too.
I think he said "...milk the Macintosh for all it's worth and move on to the next big thing" (IIRC)
Interesting. They don't have those type of bank branches where I live (they're all "full service"). Probably more common in large urban centers I'd imagine.
maybe this is a dumb question but...seeing as you were at the bank anyway, wouldn't it have been easier for them to just give you some money?
...just as any issue with a Mac not have game #x available is viewed as an opportunity to evangelize windows. Mac users have to listen to this drivel constantly from windows users. It's annoying coming from either direction. Use the tool that suits YOU and don't deride others for their choice of OS. btw, I think your 2nd last sentence should've read: "As the parent said, any issue with Windows will be viewed as an opportunity to evangelize linux"
Kinda ironic to hear that comment coming from a linux user (the whole group of which I generally have a lot of respect for). Since when did the lack of an driver/codec/app/filesystem/network protocol/distribution system/etc. stop any true linux user from doing what they wanted? I'm kinda dissapointed...
I dunno how many times I heard the linux zealots say that the ability to extend the O/S or write their own software was the strength of linux. Time to get busy and write that software! (As an aside, they've done a helluva job copying windows so far. But when are the linux developers going to stop following in Microsoft's shadow and decide to innovate and become driving force in O/S development, like they could be?)
(karma be damned)
Wow, ThinkFree looks MUCH better since the last time I looked at it. The online version looks very impressive (works in Safari too). I'll definately be checking out the desktop version since I'm looking for a nice spreadsheet app for OS X. I've checked some of the alternatives, such as Mariner Calc and others, but they all had bad display issues (such as gridlines being thick sometimes and thinner other times etc). I can't deal with the non-anti-aliased text in appleworks any longer, and refuse to pay the ridiculously huge price to buy MS office when all I need is a decent spreadsheet (iWork's only missing feature for me) And I'm not a student, so I can't get the student pricing. ThinkFree looks promising.
Why not make your own template? Or even easier, use one of these pre-made templates