Windows 7 has an option to link user accounts to an "online ID provider"; and when I asked what this meant, I was told it is OpenID. If so, could give OpenID a boost. More details here:
> hence the fact that the vast majority of records sounded very bad
> indeed.
Maybe it was different where you were, but I disagree. I still have many of my 70s records and by and large they sound great. I also frequented high-end hi-fi dealers, and far from insisting on Dark Side of the Moon they generally said "bring your own records, play what you like." These invariably sounded far better on decent equipment than on cheap stuff. One of the frustrations of vinyl is the amount of investment required to get something approaching the best from it.
Tim
plus linked posts. FireFox was better than IE (but not much better on its default settings); but in both cases there was a delay of several hours before the filter worked. I imagine the effectiveness of a phishing attempt tails off rapidly after its first appearance, so the delay is critical.
I also worry about the false reasurrance folk may get from a site appearing to check out OK in this phish-sensitive browsers.
Vista Ultimate Edition's default user has
administrative rights.
This is true but needs qualification. By default, processes initiated by the default user do not have administrative rights. They run with standard user rights unless elevated; and they can only be elevated (AIUI) by passing a dialog.
This is to my mind a significant advance over Windows XP.
I'm a switcher. I do a substantial amount of recording for ITWriting.com and other publications. I went over to an iRiver MP3 player/recorder a couple of years back and the experience overall is vastly better. As someone noted, you don't have to put up with an iPod. Some of the advantages:
40GB storage - that's a lot of hours at 192kbs
Trivial to transfer files over USB 2.0
Multi-function device, also useful for data backup
Cataloguing - storing and organizing digital files on a hard drive just makes more sense than piles of plastic gathering dust
Playback and editing - a zillion utilities exist for editing sound files, normalization, playback at varying speeds
The only advantage of my old MD player that I will concede is that it takes standard AA batteries as an option. However, that is incidental. The iRiver can happily record a full day's conference, for example, on a single charge.
It also does a good job with music and can record to uncompressed WAV. I use the same mic as I did with MD, a Sony that uses plug-in power.
I am not advocating this particular device, which is sadly no longer made. But it would take a lot to persuade to go back to removeable media of any kind.
Whereas a device that would transparently stream to internet-based storage in the background over wifi might catch my interest...
Interesting - can't think of any friends who have it, so I guess it depends who your friends are:-) However a quick Google throws up some un-attested claims of "30% of US homes" so my "tiny minority" may be an exaggeration. Still, my personal observation is that although I'm set up for it, I don't tend to play the few recordings where I have a surround mix any more frequently than others. I do use a simulation setting called "5 channel stereo" sometimes as it's great for filling a room with sound. As for the rest of my family, I'm fairly sure they don't notice either way.
To me, the surround sound counts for more in games and movies, where it adds substantially to the atmosphere - but that's probably less relevant for MP3, though it could still be important.
Not many everyday users care about surround-sound. It's meaningless for personal listening (earbuds, cans), and only a tiny minority of living rooms are set up for 5.1 or whatever.
Me, I'm encoding everything as MP3 because I know it will play on everything for the forseeable future. I'm also using Flac 'cos I like lossless.
I should think the RIAA may be correct from a legal perspective, though I doubt it is cut-and-dried. There's a powerful "fair use" argument that says, if you buy a CD you can expect to be able to play it, and that "play" in today's world implies ripping to PC or MP3 player.
I was interested in Robert Fripp's (he of King Crimson fame) DGM Live download store which offers uncompressed, unprotected downloads for purchase. When I blogged about this and questioned exactly what I was purchasing, I got an answer first from the DGM Live programmer and then (indirectly) from Fripp himself. He said, ""...in response to Tim's I sort-of assume that I can make reasonable personal use of the downloads the quick answer is yes. The longer answer is act rightly..."
I very much like the DGM Live model and would like to see it widely adopted. My worries would be first, that its legal basis is all rather vague; second, that it would be abused too widely to make commercial sense outside the progressive-old-fart niche; and third, that the industry just won't be willing to risk it.
You know Orwell's doublethink has arrived when someone talks about the iTunes/Fairplay/iPod lock-in as a "level playing field". Let me see... Apple owns the standard, sets the rules (and can change them at any time), makes the hardware and the software, runs the store. It's a proprietary platform; for sure you can make money from it, but it's shifting sand. Plus, it locks me out, because I'll never purchase anything with FairPlay protection on it.
I don't think you should take this index seriously. The guy explains his method, which is to search the web and newsgroups for references. He excludes "tv" in an effort to focus on software programming. He then gives a huge weighting to newsgroups, which I assume is further bolstered by the fact that there are websites out there which simply represent newsgroup content.
So it's a (dubious) index of which languages are most discussed, nothing more, nothing less. The bit that is objectionable is that the index presents itself as:
"The ratings are based on the world-wide availability of skilled engineers, courses and third party vendors"
which is complete rubbish.
Tim
Slashdot Mirror
Windows 7 has an option to link user accounts to an "online ID provider"; and when I asked what this meant, I was told it is OpenID. If so, could give OpenID a boost. More details here:
http://www.itwriting.com/blog/1134-openid-embedded-into-windows-7.html
Tim
IE8 has a new rendering engine. Trident is also included for the compatibility mode. Tim
I posted an MP3 player for sale. I was told I must offer PayPal and ONLY PayPal.
See here for screen grab:
http://www.itwriting.com/blog/708-ebay-insisting-on-paypal-only-in-the-uk.html
Tim
> hence the fact that the vast majority of records sounded very bad > indeed. Maybe it was different where you were, but I disagree. I still have many of my 70s records and by and large they sound great. I also frequented high-end hi-fi dealers, and far from insisting on Dark Side of the Moon they generally said "bring your own records, play what you like." These invariably sounded far better on decent equipment than on cheap stuff. One of the frustrations of vinyl is the amount of investment required to get something approaching the best from it. Tim
Novatech, for example, has always sold the OS separately:
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/
Maybe not the best-known PC vendor but a well-established company.
Tim
I did my own small experiment with a phishing email that came my way. You can see the results here:
FireFox 2.0, IE7 both fail phishing test
plus linked posts. FireFox was better than IE (but not much better on its default settings); but in both cases there was a delay of several hours before the filter worked. I imagine the effectiveness of a phishing attempt tails off rapidly after its first appearance, so the delay is critical.
I also worry about the false reasurrance folk may get from a site appearing to check out OK in this phish-sensitive browsers.
Tim
This is true but needs qualification. By default, processes initiated by the default user do not have administrative rights. They run with standard user rights unless elevated; and they can only be elevated (AIUI) by passing a dialog.
This is to my mind a significant advance over Windows XP.
Tim
Tech blog: http://www.itwriting.com/blog
The only advantage of my old MD player that I will concede is that it takes standard AA batteries as an option. However, that is incidental. The iRiver can happily record a full day's conference, for example, on a single charge.
It also does a good job with music and can record to uncompressed WAV. I use the same mic as I did with MD, a Sony that uses plug-in power.
I am not advocating this particular device, which is sadly no longer made. But it would take a lot to persuade to go back to removeable media of any kind.
Whereas a device that would transparently stream to internet-based storage in the background over wifi might catch my interest...
Interesting - can't think of any friends who have it, so I guess it depends who your friends are :-) However a quick Google throws up some un-attested claims of "30% of US homes" so my "tiny minority" may be an exaggeration. Still, my personal observation is that although I'm set up for it, I don't tend to play the few recordings where I have a surround mix any more frequently than others. I do use a simulation setting called "5 channel stereo" sometimes as it's great for filling a room with sound. As for the rest of my family, I'm fairly sure they don't notice either way.
To me, the surround sound counts for more in games and movies, where it adds substantially to the atmosphere - but that's probably less relevant for MP3, though it could still be important.
Not many everyday users care about surround-sound. It's meaningless for personal listening (earbuds, cans), and only a tiny minority of living rooms are set up for 5.1 or whatever.
Me, I'm encoding everything as MP3 because I know it will play on everything for the forseeable future. I'm also using Flac 'cos I like lossless.
Support for MP3 and Flac is why I like Robert Fripp's music download store.
I should think the RIAA may be correct from a legal perspective, though I doubt it is cut-and-dried. There's a powerful "fair use" argument that says, if you buy a CD you can expect to be able to play it, and that "play" in today's world implies ripping to PC or MP3 player. I was interested in Robert Fripp's (he of King Crimson fame) DGM Live download store which offers uncompressed, unprotected downloads for purchase. When I blogged about this and questioned exactly what I was purchasing, I got an answer first from the DGM Live programmer and then (indirectly) from Fripp himself. He said, ""...in response to Tim's I sort-of assume that I can make reasonable personal use of the downloads the quick answer is yes. The longer answer is act rightly..." I very much like the DGM Live model and would like to see it widely adopted. My worries would be first, that its legal basis is all rather vague; second, that it would be abused too widely to make commercial sense outside the progressive-old-fart niche; and third, that the industry just won't be willing to risk it.
You know Orwell's doublethink has arrived when someone talks about the iTunes/Fairplay/iPod lock-in as a "level playing field". Let me see ... Apple owns the standard, sets the rules (and can change them at any time), makes the hardware and the software, runs the store. It's a proprietary platform; for sure you can make money from it, but it's shifting sand. Plus, it locks me out, because I'll never purchase anything with FairPlay protection on it.
I don't think you should take this index seriously. The guy explains his method, which is to search the web and newsgroups for references. He excludes "tv" in an effort to focus on software programming. He then gives a huge weighting to newsgroups, which I assume is further bolstered by the fact that there are websites out there which simply represent newsgroup content. So it's a (dubious) index of which languages are most discussed, nothing more, nothing less. The bit that is objectionable is that the index presents itself as: "The ratings are based on the world-wide availability of skilled engineers, courses and third party vendors" which is complete rubbish. Tim
> why did you buy an iPod in the first place?
... he said he didn't. Nor did I.
Errrmmm
Tim