However, it's all relative: even in video, a level of quality is going to eventually be reached where typical people just can't see the difference. Because audio is so much simpler to record, we reached this level technologically long before we will with video, but it will happen eventually.
Surely that point has been reached already, you've got DVD -> MPEG-4 (divx, xvid, etc).
The quality difference between XviD and DVDs is not that big, especially with multiple passes, yet the size is significantly smaller. That's exactly the same situation as MP3s, sure one format is by definition lower quality, but you can't really tell in most situations.
Or where you referring to the quality of the original images, before any compression?
That just seems really stupid, I mean all it would take is to temporarily remove the redirect feature from the code, or put a couple of regular expressions in there to only allow their hostnames to be used.
It would take literally 2 minutes for them to fix this.
I've made sites with drop down lists before and I always put a button in there then use javascript to hide it. That way it has a fallback mode for non javascript users.
It's just bad coding to assume javascript will be present/enabled.
That's definately how you want it, just think of the cost savings when all the providers are sharing the same network.
In the UK we have a similar thing with BT, although they are a private company, they are heavily regulated and have to lease their network to other phone companies and ISPs. We still have a hell of a lot of providers, you just get to make your decisions based purely on service and not on what monopoly is operating in the area. We have a similar thing with the utility companies as well, I'm not sure who owns the infrastructure for those though.
I'm not sure about WMA with DRM as a format but I've done quite a lot of programming with the DirectShow API and there is a way to speed playback up to whatever rate your PC can handle, the Microsoft help files even state it can be used for re-encoding files without waiting through the full length of the media.
I find the whole concept of DRM laughable, it's like Bush declaring war on terrorists, there's no way they can win; it's totally an issue of feeling in control. The only way out of the DRM situation is to fix the causes, the opinions of the customers.
If there was a fair and reasonably priced way to get music online then the problem would simply go away. Raising public awareness of the artists need to get paid, fair enough; reaping huge profits and wondering why people don't like you as you put the smack down on a 15yr old for wanting to see if he/she liked the latest pop drivel before spending their pocket money is a different story.
I have myself put things like:
"What does this do"
"Cheeky fix"
"Nasty bodge"
"wtf"
etc into my/others code at some point in time, I wouldn't want customers seeing those! But I feel they can still be justified and are actually useful when someone has more time to spend improving the code. Ok so maybe the language needs toning down but if the comments have to be cleaned up to show customers, hopefully the code will be too!
Well duh, that was the point of my response, to say that you can't provide examples that convieniently leave out things you don't agreee with or that might not put your point across.
I didn't say it had to be an extreme, I just said I didn't agree with the current system. Unfortunately if some middle ground is magically found it will most likely be more business [interests] orientated than truly fair.
I never said it was a vast percentage of them, I just said there's enough bad ones coming through to show that the system needs reforming.
Geez, read a post before you slap it down with your rantings.
If a nuclear bomb went off I think you'd have a little more to worry about than your car not starting.
I take it you don't like airbags, or abs, or traction control, or any other kind of safety system that ALL have electronic controllers.
I agree about older cars being easier and cheaper to fix though but cars tend to be more reliable these days anyway. It's a trade off between safety and performance to cost.
I personally am, I believe people should be able to do what they like with their own bodies and education should be there to premote moderation. Like alcohol for example, it can be far more damaging than most non legal drugs but the majority of people are sensible enough to keep their intake to reasonable amounts. It's a matter of opinion and you will find that in the real world things aren't black and white like that.
I believe that patents in their current form should not be issued for software. We need some kind of protection and I agree that Slashdot only publicises the bad side of things, but still there is an endless supply of them for you to read about every day! That to me suggests a flawed system, patents are supposed to help the small inventor; the way I see it, the current system means big companies can rip off the little guy who can't afford to defend him/herself while at the same time suing everyone into oblivion over trival things.
What is audio watermarking?
Surely if analog signals that make up a sound can reach your speakers and produce an audible sound they can reach the line in socket of your linux box?
That's impossible, you could get 2 pc's together and use the line out/in sockets. How are they going to know the audio stream is copyright once it has left it's digital form?
I think you misunderstand the term libertarian, it refers to a social viewpoint not an economic one. You can be a libertarian and still support strong state control over the economy.
Check out this link. Look under the anaylsis section and take the test if you like. You can also see the positions of the leading candidates for the US election.
Slashdot Mirror
Surely that point has been reached already, you've got DVD -> MPEG-4 (divx, xvid, etc).
The quality difference between XviD and DVDs is not that big, especially with multiple passes, yet the size is significantly smaller. That's exactly the same situation as MP3s, sure one format is by definition lower quality, but you can't really tell in most situations.
Or where you referring to the quality of the original images, before any compression?
It would take literally 2 minutes for them to fix this.
It's just bad coding to assume javascript will be present/enabled.
In the UK we have a similar thing with BT, although they are a private company, they are heavily regulated and have to lease their network to other phone companies and ISPs. We still have a hell of a lot of providers, you just get to make your decisions based purely on service and not on what monopoly is operating in the area. We have a similar thing with the utility companies as well, I'm not sure who owns the infrastructure for those though.
I find the whole concept of DRM laughable, it's like Bush declaring war on terrorists, there's no way they can win; it's totally an issue of feeling in control. The only way out of the DRM situation is to fix the causes, the opinions of the customers.
If there was a fair and reasonably priced way to get music online then the problem would simply go away. Raising public awareness of the artists need to get paid, fair enough; reaping huge profits and wondering why people don't like you as you put the smack down on a 15yr old for wanting to see if he/she liked the latest pop drivel before spending their pocket money is a different story.
I have myself put things like:
"What does this do"
"Cheeky fix"
"Nasty bodge"
"wtf"
etc into my/others code at some point in time, I wouldn't want customers seeing those! But I feel they can still be justified and are actually useful when someone has more time to spend improving the code. Ok so maybe the language needs toning down but if the comments have to be cleaned up to show customers, hopefully the code will be too!
Well duh, that was the point of my response, to say that you can't provide examples that convieniently leave out things you don't agreee with or that might not put your point across. I didn't say it had to be an extreme, I just said I didn't agree with the current system. Unfortunately if some middle ground is magically found it will most likely be more business [interests] orientated than truly fair. I never said it was a vast percentage of them, I just said there's enough bad ones coming through to show that the system needs reforming. Geez, read a post before you slap it down with your rantings.
If a nuclear bomb went off I think you'd have a little more to worry about than your car not starting. I take it you don't like airbags, or abs, or traction control, or any other kind of safety system that ALL have electronic controllers. I agree about older cars being easier and cheaper to fix though but cars tend to be more reliable these days anyway. It's a trade off between safety and performance to cost.
Are you for having all drugs legalised then?
I personally am, I believe people should be able to do what they like with their own bodies and education should be there to premote moderation. Like alcohol for example, it can be far more damaging than most non legal drugs but the majority of people are sensible enough to keep their intake to reasonable amounts. It's a matter of opinion and you will find that in the real world things aren't black and white like that.
I believe that patents in their current form should not be issued for software. We need some kind of protection and I agree that Slashdot only publicises the bad side of things, but still there is an endless supply of them for you to read about every day! That to me suggests a flawed system, patents are supposed to help the small inventor; the way I see it, the current system means big companies can rip off the little guy who can't afford to defend him/herself while at the same time suing everyone into oblivion over trival things.
What is audio watermarking? Surely if analog signals that make up a sound can reach your speakers and produce an audible sound they can reach the line in socket of your linux box?
That's impossible, you could get 2 pc's together and use the line out/in sockets. How are they going to know the audio stream is copyright once it has left it's digital form?
I think you misunderstand the term libertarian, it refers to a social viewpoint not an economic one. You can be a libertarian and still support strong state control over the economy. Check out this link. Look under the anaylsis section and take the test if you like. You can also see the positions of the leading candidates for the US election.