You've always been able to use off-the-shelf RAM, but it's true that recent versions of Mac OS X (apparently not the hardware?) are more sensitive to timing issues. So be careful not to buy the rebranded DIMMs they'll sell you at a 50% discount because they failed all the QA tests. Stick to name-brand RAM, or at least buy from somewhere with a decent return policy, and you'll be fine.
Pops cracked jokes about himself all the time. You know what? It made me respect him more, not less.
So what's sadder--suffering from epilepsy and giving yourself hypertension because you decide to get offended at every throwaway comment about your condition, or suffering from epilepsy and staying your easygoing self? I know what I'd do.
Oops, I meant above the knee, not below. Either way, he was a cane-shakin' cripple for the rest of his days. He also had the ability to unhinge his elbow and bend his forearm backwards (I've heard this is supposed to be physically impossible). All the other kids stayed away from my house on Halloween.
I'm not sure if this is a joke. In case it's not, I suppose it wouldn't appease you to know my dad was prone to seizures and his condition was the direct cause of his getting hit by a train and losing his leg below his knee? No, I suppose it wouldn't.
Same to you, cockgobbler. Actually I found his comment quite relevant and appropriate (that I happen to agree with him has nothing to do with it, I assure you).
Are you trolling? Because if not, it really looks like you're just looking for something to bitch about. FairPlay, Apple's DRM scheme for iTMS songs, is the most liberal copy-protection system out there for music owned* by the RIAA. For 99% of users, I daresay it poses no impediment to the free exercise of fair use rights; for the remaining 1%, there are easy, if imperfect, ways around it. So there's no reason to believe an Apple-sponsored DRM for video would be as boneheaded and ineffectual as you suggest.
* If you even think of bringing this up, I'll kill you.
I wonder if you know that MHz means jack shit, especially when comparing across architectures as different as x86 and PowerPC. How can you hang out around Slashdot and not know about the megahertz myth? It's practically gospel. It also happens to be true.
However, I agree that the Mac mini would find it difficult to encode HD video in anything approaching realtime, not least because of its 4200 RPM laptop hard drive.
The linked article is interesting from a technical standpoint, but it's also pretty dry--after the lead paragraph, the author doesn't really talk about the sweat and tears behind the scenes. Fortunately, the Times Magazine ran a story (reg-free link) a couple years ago about the human side of iPod, from conception to birth. Turns out the iPod didn't spring whole from the tip of Steve Jobs' magical wang. The article's worth a read if you're into this kind of thing.
Oh, don't get me wrong. I love the iTMS and its DRM scheme, for example, and I strongly believe that content creators should be rewarded for their work (promote the useful arts and all that). I'm just saying that if people start believing that fair use rights are only for pirates, freeloaders and other miscreants, then we'll all be a little poorer.
Everyone's suggesting you buy a Mac, but not because they're a "bunch of Macies." Everyone's suggesting you buy a Mac because you never bothered to explain, neither in the article submission nor the comments, how the Mini falls short of your needs.
It truly sounds like you already know the Mini is exactly what you're looking for, and the only thing stopping you is a reluctance to try something new (are you afraid you might like it?:-). It's an understandable hesitation, but it would be pretty self-defeating if it led you to reject all this good advice.
"trying to make an unbreakable DRM system is an unwinnable battle"
Exactly. People don't seem to realize that the real battle isn't about technology at all, but for people's hearts and minds. Drill it into every child's head that only criminals and morally bankrupt thugs would ever circumvent DRM--even if only to timeshift TV programs, for example, or throw a mixtape together for your cross-country roadtrip--and you'll only need a cursory sprinkling of DRM to (as Steve Jobs put it) "keep honest people honest."
The battle for content creators and copyright holders is to redefine "honest" in as profitable a way as possible.
Please visit Slashcode bug #981137, which concerns automatically hyperlinking URLs in "Plain Old Text" mode, and add a comment to show your support for a speedy resolution. No progress has been made on this trivial feature request for longer than six months.
Even if you're bent on servicing your computers on your own, it's worth noting that there's bound to be at least a few Apple-authorized repair shops closer to you than the Apple store. If you're not aware of any, it's because you've never had to know before. Trust me, they're out there.
And as an added bonus, (warning--gross generalization ahead!) Mac repair shops are cooler than PC shops. Take Tekserve in Chelsea, for instance. What other repair shop plays picture art on a giant screen while you wait, and sells ten-cent Cokes in glass bottles? Where else can you hobnob with Haruki Murakami and Susan Sontag's son as you wait for the next technician?
Well, if everyone were living 1,000 years or more, your whole time horizon changes. Maybe society evolves at a slower pace measured in terms of how frequently our little rock runs around the sun, but that's a pretty arbitrary measurement, isn't it?
Slashdot Mirror
And here's a bunch of performance benchmarks pitting the Mac mini against a range of other current Macs--not just abstract numbers but real-world tasks (think "17 Meg file"). I wonder how PCs stack up, particularly with Cinebench and the iTunes rip test...
You've always been able to use off-the-shelf RAM, but it's true that recent versions of Mac OS X (apparently not the hardware?) are more sensitive to timing issues. So be careful not to buy the rebranded DIMMs they'll sell you at a 50% discount because they failed all the QA tests. Stick to name-brand RAM, or at least buy from somewhere with a decent return policy, and you'll be fine.
Pops cracked jokes about himself all the time. You know what? It made me respect him more, not less.
So what's sadder--suffering from epilepsy and giving yourself hypertension because you decide to get offended at every throwaway comment about your condition, or suffering from epilepsy and staying your easygoing self? I know what I'd do.
Oops, I meant above the knee, not below. Either way, he was a cane-shakin' cripple for the rest of his days. He also had the ability to unhinge his elbow and bend his forearm backwards (I've heard this is supposed to be physically impossible). All the other kids stayed away from my house on Halloween.
I'm not sure if this is a joke. In case it's not, I suppose it wouldn't appease you to know my dad was prone to seizures and his condition was the direct cause of his getting hit by a train and losing his leg below his knee? No, I suppose it wouldn't.
I'll kill you too.
Same to you, cockgobbler. Actually I found his comment quite relevant and appropriate (that I happen to agree with him has nothing to do with it, I assure you).
Are you trolling? Because if not, it really looks like you're just looking for something to bitch about. FairPlay, Apple's DRM scheme for iTMS songs, is the most liberal copy-protection system out there for music owned* by the RIAA. For 99% of users, I daresay it poses no impediment to the free exercise of fair use rights; for the remaining 1%, there are easy, if imperfect, ways around it. So there's no reason to believe an Apple-sponsored DRM for video would be as boneheaded and ineffectual as you suggest.
* If you even think of bringing this up, I'll kill you.
I wonder if you know that MHz means jack shit, especially when comparing across architectures as different as x86 and PowerPC. How can you hang out around Slashdot and not know about the megahertz myth? It's practically gospel. It also happens to be true.
However, I agree that the Mac mini would find it difficult to encode HD video in anything approaching realtime, not least because of its 4200 RPM laptop hard drive.
Regarding your #7--Does this mean if you just tap your receiver hook in an SOS pattern, you might get a visit from your phone company?
You sure? I used to call people by doing the epileptic thing with the receiver hook, but I never had to add 2 or 3 clicks.
I hated those too. By the time the dial stopped spinning, I'd always forget which digit I'd just dialed. Hang up, start over.
Funny enough, this happened with tone dialing as well.
I think I have memory problems.
(OT) Dude, remember your Ask Slashdot the other day? I think you inspired a troll.
Did you eventually decide to buy the Mac mini, btw?
The linked article is interesting from a technical standpoint, but it's also pretty dry--after the lead paragraph, the author doesn't really talk about the sweat and tears behind the scenes. Fortunately, the Times Magazine ran a story (reg-free link) a couple years ago about the human side of iPod, from conception to birth. Turns out the iPod didn't spring whole from the tip of Steve Jobs' magical wang. The article's worth a read if you're into this kind of thing.
Hahahha, nice. :)
Oh, don't get me wrong. I love the iTMS and its DRM scheme, for example, and I strongly believe that content creators should be rewarded for their work (promote the useful arts and all that). I'm just saying that if people start believing that fair use rights are only for pirates, freeloaders and other miscreants, then we'll all be a little poorer.
Or did I miss your point?
Everyone's suggesting you buy a Mac, but not because they're a "bunch of Macies." Everyone's suggesting you buy a Mac because you never bothered to explain, neither in the article submission nor the comments, how the Mini falls short of your needs.
:-). It's an understandable hesitation, but it would be pretty self-defeating if it led you to reject all this good advice.
It truly sounds like you already know the Mini is exactly what you're looking for, and the only thing stopping you is a reluctance to try something new (are you afraid you might like it?
"trying to make an unbreakable DRM system is an unwinnable battle"
Exactly. People don't seem to realize that the real battle isn't about technology at all, but for people's hearts and minds. Drill it into every child's head that only criminals and morally bankrupt thugs would ever circumvent DRM--even if only to timeshift TV programs, for example, or throw a mixtape together for your cross-country roadtrip--and you'll only need a cursory sprinkling of DRM to (as Steve Jobs put it) "keep honest people honest."
The battle for content creators and copyright holders is to redefine "honest" in as profitable a way as possible.
Link:m l#008280
http://www.buzzmachine.com/archives/2004_10_26.ht
----
Please visit Slashcode bug #981137, which concerns automatically hyperlinking URLs in "Plain Old Text" mode, and add a comment to show your support for a speedy resolution. No progress has been made on this trivial feature request for longer than six months.
Even if you're bent on servicing your computers on your own, it's worth noting that there's bound to be at least a few Apple-authorized repair shops closer to you than the Apple store. If you're not aware of any, it's because you've never had to know before. Trust me, they're out there.
And as an added bonus, (warning--gross generalization ahead!) Mac repair shops are cooler than PC shops. Take Tekserve in Chelsea, for instance. What other repair shop plays picture art on a giant screen while you wait, and sells ten-cent Cokes in glass bottles? Where else can you hobnob with Haruki Murakami and Susan Sontag's son as you wait for the next technician?
(OK, I just made that bit up.)
Well, if everyone were living 1,000 years or more, your whole time horizon changes. Maybe society evolves at a slower pace measured in terms of how frequently our little rock runs around the sun, but that's a pretty arbitrary measurement, isn't it?
Your undertaker better stay the hell away from me.
And the equally glib retort: "Why not?"
Yeah, that was a good one.
Hard to see what the problem is? Besides the fact that they'd lose boatloads of money and sink to the journalistic quality of Salon.com?