I've seen several police vehicle interiors and have noticed a wide range of equipment being used. Some of it is proprietary and expensive (such as the systems made by ADSi) and some of it is made up of off-the-shelf products that you or I could buy (e.g. as shown in this photo).
This is a market that is growing quite quickly. Not surprisingly, MS, IBM, and other big computer industry players are becoming more involved in equipping law enforcement (and other) agencies with purpose-built mobile computers. Pretty interesting stuff.
I believe the rumour refers to MaxMenus using a hidden AppleScript or somesuch to send personal details (such as your e-mail address) back to Proteron. It's reproted to be an anti-piracy measure. Personally, I don't know if this is true (because I don't own/use MaxMenus or have it on my machines), but there are references to the hidden code on various Mac news and rumour sites.
To test if this is actually happening or not, perhaps someone who has just installed MaxMenus could use Little Snitch to see if there's anything outgoing from their machine to Proteron.
I think that you've misunderstood what the levy is for. It's meant to recoup losses that result from piracy. It doesn't give you indemnity. Just because you've paid the $2.27 per disc levy does not mean that you are now immune to being charged with piracy, or somehow now have the right to download music or movies that you didn't previously own.
As I said before, the levy is just a cash grab by the CPCC. They don't seem to have taken into account that many (most?) people use DVD blanks to either make their own movies (for example, with Apple iMovie/iDVD), or to make data backups. So, even if we aren't pirating anything, we're still being punished for it. I don't know about you, but being preemptively labelled a "pirate", then being hit with a fine (the levy), without having done anything wrong just makes me sick.
This guy has a slightly less bulky, slightly more practical noise-damping system for his computer. After all is said and done, it just looks like another piece of furniture.
I didn't see anything in the Apple Store's sales policy to indicate that you wouldn't be able to get a discount from there, but it might be buried in the fine print.
Perhaps the best thing to do is to call 1-800-MY-APPLE and ask.
And then, there are those of us with lousy hearing and/or tin ears who can't detect the quality loss and, therefore, wouldn't even think twice about converting their AAC files to MP3.
If iTunes required IE 5/6, then it seems likely that Apple would have listed that under the requirements at the iTunes download page. There's no mention of any extra software requirement, except for a recommendation to make sure that your Windows OS install is up-to-date.
If I recall correctly, as of October, 2002, blank DVDs are subject to a $0.65 CDN levy per disc. Therefore, at the price that I quoted earlier (4x DVD-Rs @ $1.60 CDN each), the CPCC levy accounts for about 40% of the per-unit price of a blank DVD.
However, the CPCC is seeking $2.27 (!) per disc starting sometime next year. Obviously, this is just a big cash grab... not to mention a massive pile of flaming horseshit.
There are a few groups that are fighting the levy. One of the major players is the CCFDA, a coalition of retailers and manufacturers (such as Apple, Intel, Sony, Motorola, etc.) that seeks the repeal of the levy legislation.
In Vancouver, B.C., the price of bulk 4x DVD-Rs has been fluctuating around the $1.60 CDN range (= ~$1.20 US). I bought 50 from ATIC recently, burned a couple dozen at 4x with my Sony DW-U14A, and haven't had any coasters (...yet).
A few companies manufacture printers and scanners that have FireWire connectivity. Canon, MicroTek, Epson, and UMAX come to mind. There are also a few FireWire webcams.
Otherwise, I don't know about any other non-storage peripherals. (Does FireWire networking count as an input method?)
D.
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I've seen several police vehicle interiors and have noticed a wide range of equipment being used. Some of it is proprietary and expensive (such as the systems made by ADSi) and some of it is made up of off-the-shelf products that you or I could buy (e.g. as shown in this photo).
This is a market that is growing quite quickly. Not surprisingly, MS, IBM, and other big computer industry players are becoming more involved in equipping law enforcement (and other) agencies with purpose-built mobile computers. Pretty interesting stuff.
D.
Or perhaps: "Tea, Earl Grey, hot."
D.
I believe the rumour refers to MaxMenus using a hidden AppleScript or somesuch to send personal details (such as your e-mail address) back to Proteron. It's reproted to be an anti-piracy measure. Personally, I don't know if this is true (because I don't own/use MaxMenus or have it on my machines), but there are references to the hidden code on various Mac news and rumour sites.
To test if this is actually happening or not, perhaps someone who has just installed MaxMenus could use Little Snitch to see if there's anything outgoing from their machine to Proteron.
D.
An addendum to my own post:
Apple itself has provided a method of deep-linking to songs within the iTMS. See this page.
D.
You must have forgotten that there was a site hosted on an Atari 800.
On a similar note, there's a site hosted on a 17-year old Mac Plus. Not quite as old as an Atari 800, but still impressive.
D.
Ah, I see. Actually, I guess I would go for that, too. :-)
D.
I think that you've misunderstood what the levy is for. It's meant to recoup losses that result from piracy. It doesn't give you indemnity. Just because you've paid the $2.27 per disc levy does not mean that you are now immune to being charged with piracy, or somehow now have the right to download music or movies that you didn't previously own.
As I said before, the levy is just a cash grab by the CPCC. They don't seem to have taken into account that many (most?) people use DVD blanks to either make their own movies (for example, with Apple iMovie/iDVD), or to make data backups. So, even if we aren't pirating anything, we're still being punished for it. I don't know about you, but being preemptively labelled a "pirate", then being hit with a fine (the levy), without having done anything wrong just makes me sick.
D.
This guy has a slightly less bulky, slightly more practical noise-damping system for his computer. After all is said and done, it just looks like another piece of furniture.
D.
It would certainly be cheaper than any of the products on this website. Probably not as efficient, though.
D.
I didn't see anything in the Apple Store's sales policy to indicate that you wouldn't be able to get a discount from there, but it might be buried in the fine print.
Perhaps the best thing to do is to call 1-800-MY-APPLE and ask.
D.
I take it that you don't want to be on my list of friends? ;-)
D.
You will thus lose some quality.
And then, there are those of us with lousy hearing and/or tin ears who can't detect the quality loss and, therefore, wouldn't even think twice about converting their AAC files to MP3.
D.
Very interesting. I, also, have trouble sleeping without some noise (particularly a droning noise) being present.
:-)
Reminds me of when I was a kid... Whenever my Mom vacuumed the carpet, I'd get sleepy because the droning of the vacuum was sort of hypnotising me.
Anyway... sorry for the detour off-topic...
D.
"Irregardless" may be a real word, but it's a stupid one.
D.
If iTunes required IE 5/6, then it seems likely that Apple would have listed that under the requirements at the iTunes download page. There's no mention of any extra software requirement, except for a recommendation to make sure that your Windows OS install is up-to-date.
D.
This page has a bit of info about the way the iTMS is set up, and possibly some ways to search it without using iTunes.
D.
Meanwhile with WMA there are tools out there to do the conversion directly at the digital source file. No need to waste a burnt CD for it.
Use a CD-RW instead.
D.
Robbie Williams.
If I recall correctly, as of October, 2002, blank DVDs are subject to a $0.65 CDN levy per disc. Therefore, at the price that I quoted earlier (4x DVD-Rs @ $1.60 CDN each), the CPCC levy accounts for about 40% of the per-unit price of a blank DVD.
However, the CPCC is seeking $2.27 (!) per disc starting sometime next year. Obviously, this is just a big cash grab... not to mention a massive pile of flaming horseshit.
There are a few groups that are fighting the levy. One of the major players is the CCFDA, a coalition of retailers and manufacturers (such as Apple, Intel, Sony, Motorola, etc.) that seeks the repeal of the levy legislation.
D.
In Vancouver, B.C., the price of bulk 4x DVD-Rs has been fluctuating around the $1.60 CDN range (= ~$1.20 US). I bought 50 from ATIC recently, burned a couple dozen at 4x with my Sony DW-U14A, and haven't had any coasters (...yet).
D.
n8_f, in another thread, notes that Dr. Hassan Aref, Dean of VT's College of Engineering, has said that the G5 cluster uses a stock OS X install.
D.
Sorry, I meant to make that URL a link. Here 'tis: http://aurejac.dyndns.org/
The guy who uses a Mac Plus (circa 1986) as his webserver definitely wins the prize for the oldest equipment still doing something semi-useful:
http://aurejac.dyndns.org/
A few companies manufacture printers and scanners that have FireWire connectivity. Canon, MicroTek, Epson, and UMAX come to mind. There are also a few FireWire webcams. Otherwise, I don't know about any other non-storage peripherals. (Does FireWire networking count as an input method?) D.