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User: kponto

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  1. Re:Open source ramblings on Dvorak Avocates Open Sourcing OS X · · Score: 1

    We should just open source Dvorak himself and be done with it.

  2. Re:You and your fancy units . . . . . . on The World's Strongest Glue · · Score: 1

    It used to be 16 ounces to the pound, but the pound has been up quite a bit recently.

  3. Re:What will Mac developers think about this? on Apple Officially Releases Beta Dual Boot Loader · · Score: 1

    IMHO, virtualization will eventually result in a huge blow for Windows. With the ability to finally run and compare Windows vs. OS X side by side, the average user is going to realize that with OS X, they don't have to deal with all the crap that they do with Windows. No more virii, malware, spyware, adware, popups, pr0n toolbars, hijacked homepages, zombified machines, BSOD, anything with the word "Wizard" in it, searching for drivers, Clippy, serialized user authentication and authorization, the registry, system crashes, Search (on Mac it's called Find), rot and drive letters. Oh... and Quicktime on the Mac is actually really nice.

    I just don't see how people would put up with Windows if they could compare it with OS X (or anything really) on a day-to-day basis. Especially poeple on the noobier side of things.

  4. Re:Apple's service is not that great. on Why Everyone Loves Apple · · Score: 1

    The iBook G3 logic board problem was a design flaw; Apple's fault. They owened up to it and gave everyone with a bad machine free AppleCare (the extended three-year warranty).

    The G4 iBooks do not suffer from this design flaw, and no, logic board failure on these machines is not a common problem. Knock off the FUD.

  5. That conversation actually took place... on 60% Of Windows Vista Code To Be Rewritten · · Score: 1

    ... 'cept when Steve hung up, everyone in the room around him, having held it in for the duration of the call, started laughing uncontrollably.



    "Shhh, shhh, everbody. Quiet *snicker*, he can hear you. Oh, sorry Bill, that was just the TV."

  6. Re:Why Renting Rocks (for some) on Apple to Offer Monthly iTunes TV Subscriptions · · Score: 1
    ...but being locked into DRM free...

    Boy, that's a new one.

  7. Re:Snappy answer to overboard question on Congressman Quizzes Net Companies on Shame · · Score: 1

    I though they were just trying to kill Ben Affleck.

  8. Hey, this is just like that other comment! on Apple to 'Switch' to Windows? · · Score: 1

    If it weren't for my horse, I never would have spent that year in college.

  9. Re:Here's the thing on Songbird Flies Today · · Score: 1

    iTunes 6 embeds a DRM hash to any files that it encodes from CD. So while your rebuttal was true with previous versions, the original statement is now true. iTunes is "DRM Ridden".

    However, if you use an external encoder, like the iTunes LAME, that hash is not embedded.

  10. Not helping the cause on RMS says Creative Commons Unacceptable · · Score: 2, Funny

    I agree with him on so many points, but goddamn it, every time he opens his mouth I have this overwhelming urge to go buy a rootkit CD.

  11. Re:They still can't calculate my taxes. on Bill Gates' Taxes Require Special Computer · · Score: 1

    You should have Chuck Norris file for you then.

  12. Re:Fair Use on Newspaper Lobbyists Take Aim at Google News · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The ironic thing is, if Google had simply "charged for the privelege" of being listed on Google News, as opposed to listing them for free, we probably wouldn't be hearing a peep.

    It's all about perception.

  13. Re:why is this post about the iPod name specifical on iPod May Become Next Fair-Use Battleground · · Score: 1

    Because the iPod is an extraoridinally popular item that has grabbed the media's attention. True, this issue has been around for a while, but it will take something like the iPod to bring the issue into the light, get it on the cover of The New York Times, and thus into open public debate, and eventually, the Supreme Court.

  14. Re:distinction... on iPod May Become Next Fair-Use Battleground · · Score: 1

    According to the DMCA, you can't, as it makes it illegal to voilate or workaround any DRM restrictions. Since DVD's employ CSS as a DRM means, any transfer of the video from the DVD would involve cracking CSS, and therefore illegal.

    The music is another thing however. Since CD's (Sony aside) don't use copy protection, it is well within your fair use rights to make a backup copy. The Right of First Sale clearly states that you can also go ahead and sell that backup, as long as you destroy the original or sell the original discs along with the backup to the same person.

    Now, the people selling these pre-filled iPods are obviously engaging in copyright violation, as the original discs do not come along with the iPod, and they're damn sure not destroying the original discs (if they even had any to begin with). The companies mentioned however, are perfectly legit under Fair Use, and are only in violation of law if they break a DRM scheme, like CSS.

    However, since this is only illegal because the DMCA tramples all over my Fair Use rights, there's room for debate. This will surely end up in the lap of the Supreme Court, and hopefully they will find the DMCA unconstitutional.

  15. Re:How to report a brickified iMac to Apple on Bounty For Booting XP on the Intel iMac · · Score: 1

    Won't matter, the Apple warranty and AppleCare don't cover software issues for the exact reason that people do weird shit to it. Some by using their advanced knowledge to hose the EFI, and some by using their complete lack of knowledge to delete their System folder.

  16. They'll succeed... on Microsoft Spending $120M To Look Smaller · · Score: 1

    ...and end up looking about $120 million smaller.

  17. Re:What's worse? on Mac users 'too smug' Over Security? · · Score: 1

    I work at a local Mac shop. We have a full repair center, and service about thirty machines a day. On average, about five of those run OS 9.

    In the one year that I've been working here, I have never seen a Mac come in with a virus, OS 9 or OS X. In the five years that our Head Tech has been working here, he's seen maybe two.

    So yeah, we tell people that they don't need to worry about getting a virus. Hell, we even stopped carrying anti-virus software. Sure, it could happen to someone, as it's happened in the past and it will surely happen in the future. I could get struck by lightning too, but I don't worry about it.

  18. Moving Cheese on RIAA Bullies Witnesses Into Perjury · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    The RIAA is pissed because someone moved their cheese.

  19. That's the military for you... on U.S. Army Testing Personal Cooling Suits · · Score: 1

    WTF is wrong with air conditioning?


    Seems to me that if they're going to spend all this time adding a liquid cooling system to the vehicle, they could just add some AC device instead.



    k
  20. Religious Right on Kansas Anti-Creationism Professor Resigns · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Begin rant

    I'm so fucking sick of these people. The fact that this guy calls a spade a spade (ie. calling crazy religious freaks "crazy religious freaks") and has to then resign is unbelievable.

    End Rant

    My roomate is a Christian, and he's a standup guy, thinks creationists are crazy, hates war and the like. He said to me the other day "You know, I really like the term 'Religious Right'. It implies that there's a 'Religious Center' and a 'Religious Left'."

  21. Re:Important Add-on comment on Apple Adds New TV Shows To iTunes · · Score: 1

    Actually, the whole Walker bit came about because NBC merged with Universal, so they own the rights to it. No royalties needed. I'm a little surprised that it's not available on iTMS on it's own, to sort of extend the original joke.

    That, and I'm pretty sure that when celeb's or anything else appears on these shows, an agreement is reached beforehand giving them the rights for redistribution. Could be wrong though.

  22. Re:O Rly? on Caffeine Prevents Liver Disease · · Score: 1

    Everything in moderation...including moderation.

  23. Re:Oh fer cryin out loud on The Real Reason Behind iTMS Tiered Pricing · · Score: 5, Insightful
    The music industry is not particularly profitable

    Nonsense. It's hugely profitable and gets more profitable every year (Don't believe me? Google it)... it's just not profitable to artists.

    Ask yourself this...why is it that cell phone ringtones make more money than digital music sales?

    Because; A) There are vastly more cell phone users out there than people who listen to music on their computers; B) You can order a ringtone right from your phone without ever giving anyone a credit card number (which dissolves the sense that you're actually buying something and therefore removing a barrier to entry); C) Cell phones ringtones are a vanity, something that everyone around you hears whenever it goes off. People are obsessed with how they appear, especially true with teenagers, who are the number one market for ringtones. A cool ringtone makes them cool, and cool changes very quickly these days which requires new ringtones; and finally D) Until recently, ringtones were limited to MIDI files and the like, which take all of 30 seconds to create and then proceed to sell hundreds of thousand of copies. The overhead for production is miniscule which means that the profit margins are ludicrous.

  24. Re:Jugs on Your Favorite Math/Logic Riddles? · · Score: 1

    Or you could just fill them both halfway.

  25. Re:Marketing BS on the sample rate on Creative's X-Fi Audio Chip Reviewed · · Score: 2, Informative
    At best, you're going to wind up with exactly the same thing, while at worst you're going to have a bunch of aliasing artifacts from the upsampling.

    You can't have aliasing from upsampling. Aliasing occurs from attempts to sample frequecnies that cycle at anything more than half the sampling rate. If you think about a wave, you have a peak and a trough. You need at least one sample on the peak and one on the trough to accurately represent that frequency. Any tone higher than one half of your sampling rate results in missed peaks and troughs, which the computer then represents as frequencies lower than what they originally were.

    That said, you're right elsewhere, upsampling a crappy mp3 will only give you a more accurate representation of your crappy mp3.

    WTFHEHO (who the fuck has ever heard of) "upmixing"?