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User: huchida

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Comments · 214

  1. Re:That magic juju on Free iTunes Over a Browser · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Paying $10/CD for 128kb DRM encrusted music may be your idea of fantastic. But I think I'll pass on that kind of generosity.

    Right. And with DRM, you only have temporary access to the music at that-- I can guarantee you that most people who buy a song on iTunes will be buying that same piece of music in another format somewhere down the line (say, a computer or two later... Or is the hard drive you're downloading to going to be the one you use for the rest of your life?)

  2. Re:Um..that's how standards are made on Apple Rejects RealNetwork's Pleas · · Score: 1

    Odd, MS seems to be making it drawing most of its revenue from software. I assume Apple was too heavily invested in producing its own hardware. You say that like it's a bad thing. Apple's made computers from day one, Microsoft has always been about licensing OS.

  3. Re:Ummm... on New South Wales Traffic Authority Switches to Macs · · Score: 1
    They decide to switch to "open standards-based software and systems", and decide on Apple, a company which makes Microsoft look like a bastion of openness?

    I have the feeling the person quoted used "Open Source" improperly.

    My guess is, they will be using a custom app to run the system (made with the Apple Development tools, which could be confused with "Open Source".)

    The decision to use iMacs makes sense to me. The last thing the Australian DMV database needs is to be plagued by a Windows virus, to be sabotaged by a hacker, or to just plain crash. They'll be using imaging technology (photos, and I assume fingerprints.) The swivel monitors make sense, easy to turn and show the customers. And last but not least, they probably got a very sweet deal from Apple. Apple knows the value of good press (and exposure, they give thousands of machines to Hollywood every year-- ever noticed how many computers on TV shows or in movies are Macs?)

  4. Re:Earthlink? How ironic. on The Average PC is Infested with Spyware · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Earthlink isn't far from being AOL. I had major trouble with them several times when I first went on-line. The capper was, after I cancelled my account, they billed me for a full year's service ONE YEAR LATER (rather than motnhly, as I was paying it.)

  5. Re:Gotta love apple on Apple Rejects RealNetwork's Pleas · · Score: 1
    I have no doubt that Apple wishes they had more share, but I do doubt they want to be Microsoft ruling the desktop. They're actually in a preety good place-- they have themselves set up as the underdog with the higher quality, more stylish product and have significant and rabidly loyal fan base who pride themselves on being "different."

    It's the same crowd that likes bands when they're hip and "alternative", but hate when they "sell out."

  6. Abandonware. on Free Software at the Local Library? · · Score: 1

    Wishful thinking, but it would be nice to have abandonware applications, OS and even games available at the local library. I could see tremendous advantage, for instance, to let a low-income family with a hand-me-down Windows 3.1 computer or ancient Mac have access to a free, full suite of outdated but still useful programs.

  7. Re:Library demographics on Free Software at the Local Library? · · Score: 1
    Well, first of all, library "demographics" can change. Offer something new, and you will attract a new base of people who will take advantage.

    Second, it's not a for-profit business. One of the roles of the library should be to offer esoteric materials to the few who might seek it, not to be another Barnes and Noble that only concentrates on what products are going to move.

  8. Re:Um..that's how standards are made on Apple Rejects RealNetwork's Pleas · · Score: 1
    By not allowing other people to use their OS on their own hardware, apple killed itself once.

    Actually, licensing the OS to clones nearly killed Apple. Jobs saved the company by making it proprietary.

  9. Active vs. Passive Listening... on The Joy of Random Shuffle · · Score: 2, Insightful
    What the writer seems to miss is that "shuffle" is often used when passively listening-- that is, when the music's in the background when you're doing something else, like working or driving. Then, it really does remulate a private radio station, playing music in a style you want to hear rather than a carefully selected list of tracks.

    I like shuffle. Especially when dealing with (ahem) downloaded music, it's a nice way to discover music I didn't even know I had, or liked.

  10. Re:And it's not dual-boot... on Apple Revises eMac · · Score: 1
    OS 9 is as dead as Windows 3.11 (or at the very least, Win95) No, it's not. 7.5-8 is their Windows '95. 9 was the up-to-date OS until Jaguar came out a few years ago. And I still see it running in major design and animation houses, because a) many high-end printers and scanners just don't run on X, b) networking is still a bit of a bitch, and c) many essential applications such as Quark have yet to be updated.

    I'm all for X, but I still have to re-boot in 9 a few times a week and I'm not the only one. Making current G4's (not talking G5, that's a different processor of course) X-only was an arbitrary from Apple to force their customers to conform whether they were ready or not. They recently lost a sale from me, I would've bought a new Mac last month but settled for a used one instead because I nneded access to 9.

  11. Re:Worth buying? on Apple Revises eMac · · Score: 1
    This still doesn't change the fact that *I* don't want a CRT. My friends don't want a CRT. Everyone OTHER than graphic design peopel don't nessesarily want an LCD. The grpahic design people are a minority.

    Well, yeah. I wasn't trying to sell you an eMac. Attached monitors are silly. If apple made the eMac just a box, I assure you more people would buy it.

    I agree with you 100% there. For one thing, it's the VCR/TV combo problem... You're very likely to end up with a dead screen on a working computer in a couple years time.

  12. Re:Worth buying? on Apple Revises eMac · · Score: 1
    Yes yes, so many people tell me. But this constitutes a very very small fraction of the population. And besides, a high-end graphic artist will want a G5, not an eMac.

    The key word is "want." I've worked for a few major animation houses and saw more eMacs and older G4s being used for production than G5s... When a company's buying dozens or hundreds of computers, they'll tend to supply the employees with whatever does the job for the lowest price.

  13. Re:Worth buying? on Apple Revises eMac · · Score: 2, Insightful

    For high-end graphic design you need a CRT. LCD will never get the color right (colors actually tend to be deceptively deeper and richer on LCD... Ever notice how pictures that seem beautiful on the LCD screen look like crap when you print them out?)

  14. Re:Sure would be nice on First Person Shooter - Under 100KBs of Code · · Score: 1
    More than anything this game serves to prove a point with the illegible vars and "cheating" by using directx. Games don't HAVE to be huge to be good. The games I have played recently come on 2 cds and often take up over 1.3GB for the installation.

    Will all games be this size? Do the games need to fit on a floppy? No, but a happy medium would be nice. It just seems odd that Microsoft bloated their OS with all this stuff that no one seems to fully utilize and developers, because they don't use the OS to its potential, bloat their software further. A lot of applications and games are intentionally bloated these days. Two cds are a lot more difficult to share via P2P or even BitTorrent.

  15. Re:Nothing like England on Florida Ponders Communication Tax on LANs · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Except it's (potentially, in the case of Florida) the government invading your home to check up on your consumer electronics setup, and collect taxes accordingly.

    And saying the fee is the reason for the quality of the BBC is flat-out wrong. It's a cultural sensibility, reflected not just in the TV but in novels, film, music...

  16. Reminds me of England... on Florida Ponders Communication Tax on LANs · · Score: 1

    I know it's a different beast, but I can't help think this is similar to England's absurd tax on televsion sets.

  17. How will this affect LAN Parties? on Florida Ponders Communication Tax on LANs · · Score: 1

    Just a suggestion, but I would propose a fee of $.25 a frag.

  18. Re:Fight back! on Paid To Spam · · Score: 1
    I saw them for sale recently. There are lots of illegal immigrants in my community so I wouldn't be surprised if they were pulled in some areas, but quietly left on the market here.

    I believe you can also buy them in the form of "Gift Cards" -- a credit card sold as a gift certificate you can use anywhere (American Express definitely sells these, though I don't know if you have to be an actual cardmember to buy them.)

    Anyway, if you want to call Bin, just go down to Target and pick up a Virgin Mobile pre-paid cell phone. I have one, all you need is an e-mail address to sign up-- otherwise they're completely anonymous (you can buy top-up cards with cash.) I'm surprised these things are legal, you essentially get a phone, number and voice mail that's pretty much untracable... The exploitation potential is pretty obvious.

  19. Opting Out on A La Carte Cable TV Channels? · · Score: 1
    A pipe dream, but I'm actually more interested in "opting out" of networks I have no interest in. Sports, for example, or the family/Nickelodeon channels. It could also work the other way, the argument for FCC cable censorship would be a lot weaker if a parent could decide not to get MTV, etc. (As most people making the argument don't understand the V-Chip, or how to manually vblock channels.)

    But what REALLY gets me is that as a digital cable subscriber, I'm paying for dozens of Spanish language channels- including a few premium networks.

  20. Re:Of course the question that comes to mind is... on Sony Develops 25 GB Paper Disc · · Score: 1
    All I know is, we have manuscripts from the Middle Ages that are still intact today... But almost all the CD's I bought ten years ago (and took reasonably good care of, I should add) have deteriorated to the point of being useless.

    I have absolutely no faith in the CD or DVD as a archival medium. Bring on the paper discs, let's see what you got.

  21. Re:The question is... on Futurama: Can it be True!? · · Score: 1
    A writing team which included none other than Al Gore's daughter...!

    http://www.acidlogic.com/gore_rock.htm

    I don't know her, but I bet she's cooler than Jenna Bush. Though Jenna seems to know how to party...

  22. Re:So rather than send out... on Finding Yourself With Photo Recognition · · Score: 1
    How many meetings in exotic cities do any of us have, anyway? Seems like a lot of tech gadgets offer solutions to problems most of us will rarely, if ever face.

    I guess it's good business to target our James Bond fantasies...

  23. Alternate uses...? on Finding Yourself With Photo Recognition · · Score: 2, Interesting
    You are lost in a foreign city, you don't speak the language and you are late for your meeting. What do you do?

    I'd rather use the phone to call whoever it is I have a meeting with and ask them how to get there. If they don't speak my language, what'm I doing meeting with them in the first place?

    I'm wondering what the alternate uses of this technology might be, because I just can't see this as being a common problem. Could it actually be designed, say, for a missle to target a landmark by sight?

  24. Tony Hawk? on N-Gage QD - Nokia's Answer To The Critics? · · Score: 1
    Without subsidy from a service provider, the phone will go for $199 (with the platform's Tony Hawk title bundled in at that price).

    Tony Hawk? Can't we retire that game already?

  25. Re:Fight back! on Paid To Spam · · Score: 1
    Ever tried to sign up for an AOL account with one of those basically anonymous, pay-in-advance Visa cards you can pick up at Rite-Aid?

    Yes, it works.