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User: jedrek

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  1. Re:FIrewire 800 on MacWorld Keynote Announces x86 iMac & Laptop · · Score: 1

    Another likelihood to the lack of FW 800 includes Intel (who developed the USB spec and may have asked Apple to push USB2 instead), as well as problems in heat or design that prohibited use of FW 800. I'm betting for simplicity + Intel pressure. We've already seen Apple choose USB2 as its dominate sync interface for iPods, and this is a reflection of that change.

    Actually, as it's been mentioned, the licensing fees for FireWire and the size/weight of the hardware needed to support it is why they were dropped from the iPods - especially the nano.

  2. Re:Lightroom really lean on features on Adobe Lightroom Review · · Score: 1

    However Aperture at this point has a serious lead out of the gate, that combined with the Lightroom team also having to try and support a Windows build eventually may let Apple not only keep but increase the lead.

    Excuse me? The fact that there will be a Windows version means Lightroom will pretty much TOAST Aperture as long as Apple has NO DECENT LAPTOPS. Sure, that may change, but as it stands now, a top of the range (1.67/2GB) Powerbook will not run Aperture well and even Photoshop on it trembles at the sight of a 12 or 16mpx RAW file.

    That can take up a lot of space.

    When you're a pro shooting RAW, where each file is 6 to 24MB, application that 'take up a lot of space' are you last worries.

  3. Re:Celebs on The Year in Ideas · · Score: 1

    dial up your iso, open up your lens and you can easly use a good flash at 50-70 feet.

  4. Re:High-end cameras, high-priced computers on Consumer Strikes Back at Crooked Online Retailer · · Score: 1

    Ten years ago this box was a $30,000 server; now it's a $49 doorstop.

    The pro model cameras don't lose value nearly as fast. The 3 year old 11mpx Canon 1Ds is still $2.5k+, used on ebay - and it doesn't even have ISO1600. The 4 year old 4mpx 1D is selling for over $1.2k - about as much as a new 20D.

    Of course, any photographer who's actually shot with SLR (or non-toy MFs) knows the true cost of photography is in the lenses. The cheapest 'L' glass you can get from Canon is around $700, with a lot of speciality glass at comming in at $3-6k. A lot of Leica/Zeiss seciality manual-focus lenses are around the $2000 mark as well - and that's used.

  5. Re:Brightened my day on Consumer Strikes Back at Crooked Online Retailer · · Score: 1

    Who buys a $2900 camera anyways?

    I did - and it's everything I expected it to be. No multiplier, very low high ISO noise. I assure you, if anybody was buying a camera to say they spent thousands on a camera, they'd all be buying 1Ds MkIIs - only $7,249.99 at B&H. It's the only other camera you can buy new right now that supports a full frame sensor.

    For a lot of people, a camera is a toy/accessory/whatever - for quite a few others, for whom photography is a passion or livelyhood, it's a lot more. If your 5D allows you to get 5-10 shots your 20D (a $1300 camera) wouldn't be able to make, it's just paid for itself. If the lower noise and higher dynamic range saves you 10 hours in post processing, it's paid for itself. Heck, if it allows you to use your 16-35 as it was meant to be used and avoid getting a 10-22, that's almost half the difference right there.

    Learn the first rule of social interaction: not everybody is like you.

  6. The advantage of social networks on Consumer Strikes Back at Crooked Online Retailer · · Score: 5, Informative

    When I first heard about this yesterday, I was surprised. The victim in this tale is a fan (or employee? dunno) of flickr, one of the hottest social network web apps around at the moment. Yet when buying a camera, he didn't take advantage of them at all.

    Look around any photography forum, every time a questions like, "hey, I just saw this camera at an incredible price at this store, is this a good deal?" people always reply with "check out resellerratings.com. How someone so technically and netsocially (for lack of a better term) savvy didn't ask around about this new store they were about to send $3k to is a mystery to me. Heck, a simple google search would've revealed problems.

    There are so many tools out there to verify good sellers/companies to do business with. Why do you think B&H has so much business, even though its prices aren't rock bottom? They win on service and reliability, again and again. Of course, they're not perfect, but they've never failed me, and 'horror stories' with them are few and far between - especially compared to the volume they do.

    Speaking of trust systems: I've had excellent results with ebay - buying from reputable sellers. There are quite a few chinese/hong kong sellers on there with 10-50k transactions and 1-10 negative feedbacks. I don't know *any* brick and mortar stores with those kinds of numbers.

  7. Google for Usenet? on GUBA makes Usenet search easy as Google · · Score: -1, Redundant

    Isn't that Google Groups?

  8. I did this for Orange on Use of Student Plants to Pitch Products Rising · · Score: 2, Informative

    Almost two years ago, I did this for Idea (now Orange) - one of Poland's 3 cellular services providers. While working for the Red Cell network, we ran this program in 8 cities on 8 campuses, with some 300-400 ambassadors working for us at once.

    The ambassadors would make a couple of bucks (I can't remember how much, I'm thinking 20PLN) for each contract they got and were able to give their clients deals they wouldn't get at the salon. There were clearly a couple of stars, people who would get 30-50 contracts/month, while a lot of them worked just enough to pay for their own cell phone usage.

    At the end of the program, a lot of the stars were offered steady work - why would we want to get rid of a good salesperson?

  9. Re:This just in: Students will do anything for mon on Use of Student Plants to Pitch Products Rising · · Score: 1

    I know a couple of guys that would make a pretty coin every graduation season selling graduation supplies (robes, diplomas, folders, whatever). Their business was very simple website on Yahoo! Stores and contacts with wholesalers. They would work out of their shared apartment, spend the day sitting at their computers, getting faxes/emails, retyping them and sending them off to the wholesaler to ship direct to the clients.

    My definition of a good deal is one where everybody is happy. The client is happy getting a lower price than he would through a larger graduation supply company, my friends are happy because they're getting paid.

  10. Re:In other words... on Microsoft's Vigilante Investigation of Zombies · · Score: 1

    My Acer Travelmate 8101, purchased this July, had no anti-vir soft pre-installed.

  11. Re:I don't know about anyone else on Sony Profits Low, Halts CRT Production · · Score: 1

    A couple of years ago I was talking to a friend about electronics equipment. After talking about a couple of brands we moved to Sony and were a bit surprised that between the two of us, we'd owned (or lived with) at least 30 pieces of Sony equipment, and the only two things that hadn't broken. This included at least 3 or 4 minidisc, a number of walkmans, playstations, tvs, vcrs. The only thing that came out ok was the a boom-box radio/tape player and a playstation console. Since that realization I've stayed away from Sony as far as I can and have pretty much told anyone who's asked the same.

    On the other hand, I have a 14" Sanyo TV that's working as well now as it was 15 years ago.

  12. Re:They already made it, John. on Dvorak on 'Rinky-Dink' Software Rant · · Score: 1

    Because it's not a Photoshop killer. If you're a photographer and the only thing you are using PS for is cropping, levels and curves - you're missing the point and have overpaid. Photoshop's greatest tools are the masks and its plugin system.

  13. Re:Hmmm, on Apple Unveils New Pro Products · · Score: 3, Informative

    It's a different piece of software. The most similar thing I can find is Capture One which is in exactly the same price category with a much shorter feature list. This is pro software for photo professionals. If its organizational tools (and that really is a possibility) save a pro 5 hours (at $100/h) of work or a single reshoot, it'll be worth it.

  14. Re:What other pre-web services are out there? on IMDb Turns 15 · · Score: 1

    I just logged in to ftp.funet.fi where I used to download MODs from in like '89 or '90.

  15. Re:Interstate Commerce on States Planning to Require License to Sell on EBay · · Score: 1

    Not only that...but, the city actually has a patrol that goes out to check out garage/yard sales, and if you don't have a permit...they fine you.

    Most cities introduced this after some sellers started having daily garage sales, and in became de facto stores in residential districts, free from charging sales tax.

  16. Re:Fob size on Lloyds TSB Pushing New Online Security Protocol · · Score: 1

    I have three pieces of info I need to login and actually transfer money:

    1. Client number. This is an 8 digit number that is used only for logging on to the website. Actually, the phone system may take it as well, I don't really use the phone system though.

    2. A self-selected password. These can be pretty long, up to 24 chars (I think, maybe longer)

    These two get you into the system, but to actually transfer money, you need:

    3. One Time Passwords. I have a scratch off credit card with 40 OTPs. Every transaction, address change, etc - requires me to scratch off the next 8 digit number and enter it. If I'm feeling paranoid, I can note down what the number of the last code I used was.

    When I use the 25th code, I get another card in the mail which I activate with the last code from the previous card.

    I love it, it's simple and low tech enough for it not to fail me (had a friend who's electronic token failed him in South America) while at the same time requires me and the OTP card to transfer any money, and because it's scratch-off, allows me to see tampering.

    And the best part of my bank is that any and all charges, deposits, credits and transfers are sent to me via text message, so if anything is out of the ordinary I see it right away.

  17. Re:More info, bad news for geeks. on MIT Unveils Prototype for $100 Linux Laptop · · Score: 1

    You can get a $200-600 refurbished laptop with a Pentium III chip, something that most people in poorer countries don't have access to. Outside of housing, wealth care and service costs, the US is one of the cheapest countries in the world, as amazing as it sounds.

  18. Re:Extremely cool, but... on MIT Unveils Prototype for $100 Linux Laptop · · Score: 1

    They offer far more capacity than buses, are much more comfortable (they're silent and do not bounce about) and are definitely more popular with people than buses.

    Have you ever lived with streetcars? While they don't spew crap into the air, they are definately not silent, my friend lives near a streetcar line and every time a streetcar runs outside his window it's a little armegedon. Street cars are popular, as long as they don't share lanes with buses. In this situation, they are far superiour for cutting through traffic congestion, otherwise they're just part of it.

  19. Nobody's menioned Indiana Jones? on Review: The Incredible Hulk - Ultimate Destruction · · Score: 1

    Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (by Lucasarts) was probably the best movie-based adventure game of all time. Similar enough to have me going 'hey, I remember that from the movie!' yet different enough to suprise me now and then. Followed up by the quite enjoyable Fate of Atlantis (based upon an original work), these two games were a pleasure to play.

    Does anybody make adventure games anymore?

  20. Re:Still the same, but less so on Comparing MySQL and PostgreSQL 2 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Like firefox [...] it's not that much better than the alternatives

    Excuse me? Please point me to the alternative browser that exceeds the functionality of Firefox with its extensions. I'd love to try it out.

  21. Re:This is new? I've had it since 1997 on New Winzip in the Works · · Score: 1

    WinZIP also has great corporate pricing/licensing. All WPP companies (and that's 65,000 employees world-wide, if I'm not wrong) can use WinZIP for free - the corporate software guide includes the key. The only thing that is close to that price is Norton AntiVirus, which costs $1/station.

  22. Re:Why?! on The Hidden Boot Code of the Xbox · · Score: 1

    I dunno... My XBox is modded to hell and back and I can't remember the last time I actually played a game on it, not to mention I own all the games I've played. All 15 titles are on my hard drive, along with a bunch of movies and TV shows. See, the main thing I used it for is viewing media. XBMC is the first position on my EVOX dashboard.

  23. Re:Poland's broadband... on 164 Million Broadband Subscribers Worldwide · · Score: 1

    Don't forget out limits. I moved down to Krakow recently, and got the telco's (TPSA) 2MB/s package which has a whopping 35GB/month limit. Good thing I left a mac mini hooked up to my astercity 1mb/s cable, unlimited connection up in Warsaw.

  24. Warsaw, Poland - Sightseeing on Google Adds Satellite Imagery for the World · · Score: 1

    From various construction around Warsaw, I'm guesstimating these images were taken on a spring saturday or sunday, about 2 years ago. It's strange because 70% of Warsaw has hires images like the ones I linked to - the rest (like almost all of northern Warsaw, large parts of eastern Warsaw) are at a much lower res.

    Warsaw sights:

    Palace of Culture and Science
    Historic Old Town - which is actually one of those UNESCO historic things. Unfortunately, for me it's a bit of a sham - Warsaw's old town was totally destroyed in 1944, and was totally rebuilt after the war.
    Pilsudzki Square and Saski Park
    Lazienki Park
    Wilanow Royal Gardens
    Plac 3 Krzyzy
    Agrykola Park

  25. This is new? on Online Takeout Delivery is Back · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Over here in Warsaw, I've been using a number of various services like this: Room Service, , etc. Thanks to these places, I have a total of 48 restaurants I can order from at the click of a button (or a phone call, if I feel like it.)

    We even have 3 (mostly) high-end supermarkets that offer online ordering/delivery out of their brick-and-mortar locations. From what I understand, they've been making out like gangbusters.