I admit I am a coffee addict; and although I like to frequent a variety of coffee shops, I frequrntly find myself in Starbucks. I don't know how many years they have been selling CD's at the register, but I do know that in the almost 10 years I've been going to Starbucks, I have only bought one CD. This is significant considering I am sure I'm in their target audience (I am 21 -- and yes, that means I started going to Starbucks when I was 11). I listen to a lot of music and have literally hundreds of CD's, but I do not associate Starbucks with music. I do not see this as getting Starbucks any more customers and if they charge even $10/CD it is beyond the price of an impulse buy (esp. for most college students). Another issue I have with it is that I don't know how they wiill store the music, but I personally wouldn't pay for CD burned with music once stored in a lossy format (like AC3 or MP3). I would hope (but highly doubt) that they keep the music in SHN format (lossless) and just unshorten and burn the files then reshorten them. I must admit, this probably won't keep the people who buy CD's off of iTunes from buying them, but it does eliminate some of their audience.
There is a new type of phone memory soon to be released, T-Flash ( http://www.sandisk.com/corporate_press.html ). I for one am disappointed as I already have devices using CF, SD, and Memory Stick media, last thing I need is another type. The Motorola 710 for Verizon is rumored to use T-Flash.
I completely agree, this is especially evident in the NHL series put out by EA for both consoles. You can compare any NHL '9X game side by side and the Genesis one is much faster (even comparing NHL '94 on Genesis to NHL '98 on SNES). Now if you'd excuse me, I need to go make Gretzky's head bleed for Mr. Superfan #99 over here.
For those interested in obtaining legal copies live music by bands that support free trade of live music, check out www.etree.org. The traders there use the SHN format (lossless), and you can frequently get any show you want for free (either via FTP or sending a blank disc and a self addressed stamped envelope - B&P) if you ask nicely. For personal use, you are allowed to transcode the SHN o MP3, but please don't trade any shows in MP3 format (and likewise, don't turn an MP3 show into a SHN).
I installed the pPod demo last Friday mainly to piss off my roommate (big iPod fan) and I must say that besides looking kinda cool it doesn't do much else. Using a stylus as in place of your fingers worked haphazardly at best, and I am certainly not going to run out and buy a microdrive for it. It's mainly just a fancy skin for a MP3 only player (if it had support for alternate formats, then I'd reconsider). If I want to compete with my friend's iPod, I find it much easier to use programs like Net Use to create a network drive and stream the MP3 wirelessly to my PDA. Sure this limits me to staying within my network, but if I want to go out, a 256MB CF card has more than enough storage for any short trip.
I have never had a weather related instance in which DirecTV doesn't work. Given I live in San Diego, but contrary to popular belief we have bad weather every so often too. Furthermore, at savings of $5 a month, you could buy a new Tivo every 20 months (40GB units start at $100). I don't know about you, but I have never broken a satellite reciever (or a digital reciever for that matter). Furthermore, all DirecTV channels are digital, giving better quality compared to the analog channels (all your local ones at the very least). My parents have Comcast digital cable in the SF Bay Area and they still regret not going with satellite. Oh and DirectTV Tivo's record two shows at once, last I checked that feature isn't available on Comcast DVR yet. For a good comparison check here: http://www.pvrcompare.com/intro.html
First off, I agree with those who have said that you ought to consider electrical engineering over computer science (I am presuming you want to design network systems, not set up and install networks). I currently attend the Univ. of California, San Diego, and when I first was admitted I had goals similar to yours in mind. UCSD requires electrical engineers to choose a "Depth Sequence" of which there are about a dozen selections including Network Engineering and Queuing Systems. However after speaking with the academic advisor (a professor in the field) for the networking depth sequence, I was convinced (by the professor) that focusing on networking this early would limit me in the long run. He recommended to choose a broader depth called Communications Systems which focuses on multiple aspects in the field (such as DSP) and said to leave network engineering for grad school.
Slashdot Mirror
I admit I am a coffee addict; and although I like to frequent a variety of coffee shops, I frequrntly find myself in Starbucks. I don't know how many years they have been selling CD's at the register, but I do know that in the almost 10 years I've been going to Starbucks, I have only bought one CD. This is significant considering I am sure I'm in their target audience (I am 21 -- and yes, that means I started going to Starbucks when I was 11). I listen to a lot of music and have literally hundreds of CD's, but I do not associate Starbucks with music. I do not see this as getting Starbucks any more customers and if they charge even $10/CD it is beyond the price of an impulse buy (esp. for most college students). Another issue I have with it is that I don't know how they wiill store the music, but I personally wouldn't pay for CD burned with music once stored in a lossy format (like AC3 or MP3). I would hope (but highly doubt) that they keep the music in SHN format (lossless) and just unshorten and burn the files then reshorten them. I must admit, this probably won't keep the people who buy CD's off of iTunes from buying them, but it does eliminate some of their audience.
There is a new type of phone memory soon to be released, T-Flash ( http://www.sandisk.com/corporate_press.html ). I for one am disappointed as I already have devices using CF, SD, and Memory Stick media, last thing I need is another type. The Motorola 710 for Verizon is rumored to use T-Flash.
I completely agree, this is especially evident in the NHL series put out by EA for both consoles. You can compare any NHL '9X game side by side and the Genesis one is much faster (even comparing NHL '94 on Genesis to NHL '98 on SNES). Now if you'd excuse me, I need to go make Gretzky's head bleed for Mr. Superfan #99 over here.
For those interested in obtaining legal copies live music by bands that support free trade of live music, check out www.etree.org. The traders there use the SHN format (lossless), and you can frequently get any show you want for free (either via FTP or sending a blank disc and a self addressed stamped envelope - B&P) if you ask nicely. For personal use, you are allowed to transcode the SHN o MP3, but please don't trade any shows in MP3 format (and likewise, don't turn an MP3 show into a SHN).
I installed the pPod demo last Friday mainly to piss off my roommate (big iPod fan) and I must say that besides looking kinda cool it doesn't do much else. Using a stylus as in place of your fingers worked haphazardly at best, and I am certainly not going to run out and buy a microdrive for it. It's mainly just a fancy skin for a MP3 only player (if it had support for alternate formats, then I'd reconsider). If I want to compete with my friend's iPod, I find it much easier to use programs like Net Use to create a network drive and stream the MP3 wirelessly to my PDA. Sure this limits me to staying within my network, but if I want to go out, a 256MB CF card has more than enough storage for any short trip.
I have never had a weather related instance in which DirecTV doesn't work. Given I live in San Diego, but contrary to popular belief we have bad weather every so often too. Furthermore, at savings of $5 a month, you could buy a new Tivo every 20 months (40GB units start at $100). I don't know about you, but I have never broken a satellite reciever (or a digital reciever for that matter). Furthermore, all DirecTV channels are digital, giving better quality compared to the analog channels (all your local ones at the very least). My parents have Comcast digital cable in the SF Bay Area and they still regret not going with satellite. Oh and DirectTV Tivo's record two shows at once, last I checked that feature isn't available on Comcast DVR yet. For a good comparison check here: http://www.pvrcompare.com/intro.html
First off, I agree with those who have said that you ought to consider electrical engineering over computer science (I am presuming you want to design network systems, not set up and install networks). I currently attend the Univ. of California, San Diego, and when I first was admitted I had goals similar to yours in mind. UCSD requires electrical engineers to choose a "Depth Sequence" of which there are about a dozen selections including Network Engineering and Queuing Systems. However after speaking with the academic advisor (a professor in the field) for the networking depth sequence, I was convinced (by the professor) that focusing on networking this early would limit me in the long run. He recommended to choose a broader depth called Communications Systems which focuses on multiple aspects in the field (such as DSP) and said to leave network engineering for grad school.