Not to mention, I seem to remember reading that the Army looked into modifying people's vocal cords to get around voice-based security systems which is why the armed services don't have any kind of Star Trek "authorization Picard alpha zero" voice-authentication for their secure areas. Fingerprint or retinal scan or galvanic skin response or something.
But anyway, beside the point, commands are no good no matter whose voice they are in because they have to give the appropriate code words or the order is immediately ignore and the channel is closed.
When there was a problem with the gas gauge on my car, I got a call from the dealer that sold it to me. The manufacture had issued the advisory because they didn't want customers stranded without gas due to faulty readings. They told the dealers and the dealers told their customers. That's usually how a recall works, although for serious ones the media usually gets involved.
So then why can't MS contact the VARs who sold/installed NT/2000 server and have them run through their customer list and advise them of this recall in the same fashion? Really, the only systems at risk should be the ones that are pirated.
At every company I have worked at, there is no one single person responsible for "all things NT" and so as a result, it is very difficult to make sure that everyone is on top of the latest update and that it is pushed down to all the servers without interrupting production systems. So patches are basically a "when time permits" activity for whoever remembers to do it. I don't say that's right, but that's reality and I wouldn't be surprised if patches are forgotten because sysadmins are busy getting some users e-mail recovered.
Now, if some IT manager got a call warning them that their servers were vulnerable, he or she would issue the order and it would get done. If you leave it up to the sysadmins, you are really counting on them being through and I've known people who are MSCE and know they should patch systems but simply don't have the time becasue they can't make their bosses see its a Sev1 issue when compared to the MQSeries rollout.
Everyone get down to your local news affiliate and start protesting the lack of attention.
If enough people do that...the story of the media being protesting the lack of news will itself become news...and thus draw attention to the core issue about which we are protesting a lack of news!
I'm serious! If we tell reporters they are being negligent in hiding the truth that's a challenge I doubt they could resist. As soon as one news organization posts a story, they will all have to me-too or look like toadies to corporate interestes (which they are but they hate it being shown true).
Firestone argues that the cut-rate crappy tires would have been fine if they hadn't been deflated to 25psi from the factory-spec 32psi...they still maintain that it was this deflation that caused the tread separation, not the manufacturing.
In all likelihood it was probably a combination of both but how much? 80/20? 70/30?
With one key difference...with open source software people are capable of theoretically fixing it themselves. Which means it is much easier for end users to accept responability.
MS is closed source so when a problem is discovered, you can't just alert everyone and be done with it. You have to go to MS, get them to fix it, then issue the alert.
One solution to the Firestone mess was to remove the Firestone tires and replace it with some other brand, a brand that could then be used in the quasi-inflated state Ford recommended. But what if only Firestone tires worked on Fords? Then you would HAVE to wait for Ford to re-engineer and re-distribute tires, during which time you would either have to drive around in an unsafe condition or not use their Explorer (ha, that analogy is closer than I thought).
Interspersed? As I said, I like the trailers. I do want to watch them. Most theaters show ads/slideshows while people are filing in, then show trailers then the feature presentation.
This theater is showing ad/trailer/ad/trailer/ad etc so basically you have to watch the all or watch none.
And I don't know what kind of theater you go to, but every theater I've been to people who decide to wait out in the lobby for 15 minutes end up sitting in the far right front corner. I come early to get good seats and I'm upset because I don't like where this trend is going.
I'll bet dollars that the next step is for theaters to bring back "Intermission" between "reels" so that people can be pushed out to the snack bars and forced to watch more ads. And that really will be the final nail in the coffin for the local cineplex.
Seriously. Compare this diaster to the Ford/Firestone mess:
A) Ford decides to ship vehicles with partially deflated tires.
B) MS decides to ship products in their least-secure state with every service running.
A) When this causes problems, Ford blames Firestone for not making tires that can handle it.
B) When this causes problems, MS blames system administrators for not being smart enough to patch their system.
A) The end result is that many people died because Ford passes the buck to Firestone and Firestone passed it right back to Ford.
B) The end result is that many servers are going to be knocked offline because MS passes the buck to sysadmins and sysadmins pass it right back to MS.
In my opinion, someone should force MS to take responability for issuing a product recall...just like in any other industry. That means they much contact their dealers and their dealers must contact their customers and get it patched. Obviously this is serious enough to warrant that kind of attention and MS can surely afford it.
If there is any doubt, look at the popularity of sites like AdCritic.Com and the ratins for shows like "The Best Commercials You've Never Seen".
Personally, I enjoy both although I wish adcritic.com would grow some fair use backbone and offer a greater selection (they remove ads by request).
If an ad is done properly it can be quite enjoyable. Not just the funny ones either, there are some ones that really get a reaction.
Personally, with respect to PVRs, I believe the future of ads lies with product placement just like in the movies. Monica and Chandler drinking a Pepsi. The Simpsons ordering from Domino's. Frasier buying a new car from...whatever online car site hasn't gone out of business.
People I think have grown accustomed to the subtle influences that advertising has on their life. But any time you force someone to watch a commercial they are not interested in, you are asking for backlash. I am boycotting a new theater in town because they show 15 minutes of paid commecials (just like TV) interspersed within the trailers (which I sometimes do want to watch). I refuse to pay $8 to fill a seat, $8 for a light snack, and then still provide the theater with another income stream by being a captive eyeball.
This is an excellent point. Do we really trust Disney to green light a project that protrays comptuers/hackers in a positive light?
More than likely, TRON 2.0 will be about an evil young hacker out to destroy the entertainment industry by hacking the encryption on digital content...and TRON will be a rights-enforcement program out to slay all the P2P clients that are sharing the ill-gotten goods.
Remember, there is no better spokesman for Hollywood interests than Hollywood itself.
I clicked the screenshots and I still don't have any idea what the hell this is. The picutures show Reptile as some kinda of wrapper for websites. I see Wired along side Slashdot and so forth. Then everything has a rating...so is this some kind of karma system for whole websites?
Is this actually publishing or just pushing ratings? Because if it is publishing, what's to stop some idiot from posting crap and killing the system (like most P2P) and if it's just ratings how does that help privacy since the source is still the single point of failure?
On the surface, it seems closest to MojoNation in design and implementation (complete with running everything off a local webserver). Speaking of which, whatever became of that?
Two year? That's ridiculous. I play tons of two year old games. I bought a copy of Worms2 the other day because it was $10 and that game has got to be at least two years old. And you can't legally define a major version. Companies will just call their patches 1.0 2.0 3.0 instead of 1.1 1.2 1.3 because it's all arbitrary. If you think you can start legislating how many features it takes to mae a major version then this DFCA has become just as big a pile of crap and any other law with endless riders tacked on.
Games that are two years old that play on systems we all still use are not finacially worthless. Now, games that played in DOS or on hardware from companies that no longer exist...those are games that are no financially viable.
In ten years, our PS2 and Xbox will definely fall in the same category but two years from now we will all still be playing them. I played my SNES for years even after buting an N64. I still was buying games for it too.
Even five years is too short, as games like StarCraft continue to make money from sales and can be played on resonably accessible hardware. Meanwhile, Warcraft 2 (only two years older) requires DOS4GW modes that can't be done on Windows NT, 2000 and probably not XP.
That's the defining line. When the market for hardware is gone, all software for that hardware is finacially worthless.
And get off the damn high horse already, no one appointed you lord of the DFCA. Stop patronizing people by annointing them with section numbers. And if you make good on the promise "I report this everytime a big DMCA story" be assured I know where my moderation point will be spent -1 Redundant.
Yes I would contend that there is no one interested in purchasing that any more because now you can purchase the new 1990s Star Wars with enhanced digital effects.
So this law would also help encourage studios to dusts off their old goods and polish them up a bit, while at the same time turning the older "purer" versions out into the public domain.
Not to mention sequels wouldn't count obviously, so the other two Star Wars films (1980s) would still be considered copyrighted.
I think if the law was properly worded, it would be very tough for a congressman to justify voting against it. If you make it a clear choice between the rights of consumers and the arbitrary chance for profit by a company, any congressman who votes no will have to answer to the constituants. And no matter how much money the companies pump into the system, in the end they can't cast as many votes as the masses.
But the whole point of this thread is just idle dreaming anyway.
- JoeShmoe
Re:Don't turn a "blind" eye to this angle
on
Adobe Backs Down
·
· Score: 3
What they are referring to is that one of the features of the eBook reader on Windows2000 and Macintosh is the ability to read the text of the eBook out loud (System 7/8/9 has a text-to-speech built-in and on Win2K it is free download).
However, this "read-aloud" right has to be set by the publisher or it the eBook reader won't pass the data through to the OS engine. And because cut-and-paste is restricted, a blind person can't just copy the text to a different program (like WordPad or SimpleText) and access the engine through that.
So basically, even though Adobe and the publisher contribute zero effort towards producing a feature (all the work is done by Apple/MS) they feel they still should get to decide when and how you use that feature. And I would bet money that the default option for the eBook encoder is to deny all rights. So basically, unless the publisher goes out of his or her way to enable the read-aloud right then blind people who download eBooks will be unable to listen to them or use their own accessibility tools to do so!
I have always thought that the best bet we have to get rid of the DMCA is to find one blind/deaf person who is unable to access content and then sue to have the DMCA overturned on the grounds that it violates the ADA. Fight fire with fire, fight one law with another law.
Consider the premise of the movie Memento. What if there are people out there who do not have the physical ability to remember as well as you or I? It is a content producer's wet dream for that use would have to pay for the same enjoyment over and over again. But is a pay-per-view billing scheme really fair to these people? Shouldn't their disability give them the right to record ANY content so they can view it at a later date?
Personally, I would suggest Fair Use Protection Act or FUPA for short...it's fun to say and has a somewhat naughty sound to it.
The most important aspect should be a hardcoded limit on created work copyrights that actually matches the reasonable financial lifetime. That means:
Ten years for software/games (legalize abandonware/oldware) because any software/game product ten years old would require such inferior hardware that the chance of that hardware existing is nil.
Twenty years for movies and music. No particular reason for that figure, but it seems reasonable that after a generation changes in style and taste would render old movies/music finacially worthless outside of the people who collect "classics".
The next most important aspect is that companies must provide access to any media (audio video text) on ANY device or it will be legal for anyone to create a solution (by reverse engineering, hacking, whatever) for that device and distribute it. No Linux solution exists for that eBook? Legal to engineer one. Can't watch your DVD bonus footage on the VCR in your RV while you are travelling? Legal to use DeCSS to convert it to VHS.
Now we just need to buy a congressman to get it proposed on the floor...
You know...there's a grain of truth in that statement...what if ROT-13 was a language, or what if we geeks started using ROT-13 as a language (sorta like how certain religious groups speak in Latin or Hebrew).
Then, all these programs to change ROT-13 text into plaintext, well they would just be translators wouldn't they? Languages are so drastically different from each other it could be argued that the grammar of this language is derived from a single keyword.
I originally registered my domains with NetNamesUSA. So then all I had to do was verify my identity to them (faxed them a copy of my driver's license) and order them to change my registrar from Network Solutions to Register.com
I shudder to think what would have happened if I had registered with Network Solutions directly.
I said CDs OR DVDs...the carousel could mix and match any type of disc you want just like the home theater versions (you can put CDs or DVDs in your Sony SmartFile and it will play either one). And as the above posted said, there are disc formats the same size that can holds GB of information.
But you are still wrong that there is any sort of filesize limitation. The filesize limitation is a function of the Linux thinserver, not the disc hardware. After all, any modern hard drive can only store 1/6 of its data per platter but you don't have to worry about that, do you?
If you wanted to save a file larger than 700MB then the thinserver would just have to know to split it into multiple CDs but present the file as a single directory entry (file.mpg instead of file0.mpg file1.mpg and file2.mpg).
Well, if you took your own thumb out of your ass and used it to thumb through a CD burner manual you would find that any modern CD-R/RW drive can record data instantly in UDF packet format. So to the users it would look just like a normal hard drive. Since DVD-R/RW/RAM uses UDF by default this is even easier.
Not to mention, the intent was to migrate an entire collection of data that would be offline storage to online storage without wasting hard drive space. If the data is a bunch of audio or video files it is pointless to have read/write access since the data doesn't change. If you need to "delete" it you can take the CD/DVD out of the unit.
Oh, and one more thing...because you are working with optical media you have a far less likely chance of data failure than with a bunch of expensive hard drives. Really all you have to worry about is fire and you can easily make a complete backup of the entire system by just buying another spindle of CDs/DVDs and a nice standalone burner.
What I would use this system for is creating a single media center for my entire family. Everyone would give me their records/tapes/CDs, I would convert them to MP3s and burn them to the collection. They would give me their video tapes/DVDs, I would encode them as DivX or something and burn them to the collection
Then any time they wanted to watch or listen to any record, tape, CD, video, or DVD it would be as close as the nearest computers (or entertainment center by making a nice TV-out PC). The originals could all go into storage in a nice, safe, dry place.
A carousel that holds 200-300 CDs or DVDs (just like they have for home theaters for around $800)
Sort of like the stuff PowerFile makes. (http://www.dvdchanger.com)
Add to it room for at least two slot-load drives (although four would be even better, one in each corner) so you can access at least two CDs at any given time.
Throw in a Linux thinserver (like the stuff Linksys or any number of companies use) to manange the contents of each CD/DVD.
Result? Over 1TB of storage for around $1000. The only catch is that it is not meant for more than a handful of users at a time.
But considering what an equivalent RAID would cost it doesn't seem like a bad idea. You could put every file you've ever downloaded into one box and each CD/DVD could show up as a separate directory on one master volume. Imagine that. Near-instant access to TB of info.
If you use DVD-ROM drives, it's 1TB of read-only storage but if you use DVD-R/RW/RAM drives then it is 1TV of read/write storage! Wow, you could open your own Avalon!
Please please someone start a project to help build something like this! I desperately want one but the crappy PowerFile version is junk because it relies on crappy Windows/Mac software and ties up a whole computers just to access the damn thing. Plus having to manually mount/unmount the discs like individual drives instead of having just one volume.
Next time a cop pulls you over, whip out a tape recorder and politely tell them that you are making a record of everything.
I'm kinda curious if they would ask you to stop or not. In any event, it seems like a great idea because if there is one thing I have learned is that cops love to twist your words around. I once told a cop my license plate was in my trunk because my front mounting bracket was broken and when the cop recounted my statement it had somehow become that i refused to mount a front license plate to avoid photorader. Jerk.
Step 2, bring a copy of Slashdot articles like this one back to 1780.
Step 3, find Thomas Jefferson and get an amendment made that allows unrestricted access, irrevocably and permanently, for all non-commercial private usage.
Step 4, know that I won't have to entrust my content to companies who lock my content then go out of business and take the keys with them.
Slashdot Mirror
Not to mention, I seem to remember reading that the Army looked into modifying people's vocal cords to get around voice-based security systems which is why the armed services don't have any kind of Star Trek "authorization Picard alpha zero" voice-authentication for their secure areas. Fingerprint or retinal scan or galvanic skin response or something.
But anyway, beside the point, commands are no good no matter whose voice they are in because they have to give the appropriate code words or the order is immediately ignore and the channel is closed.
- JoeShmoe
When there was a problem with the gas gauge on my car, I got a call from the dealer that sold it to me. The manufacture had issued the advisory because they didn't want customers stranded without gas due to faulty readings. They told the dealers and the dealers told their customers. That's usually how a recall works, although for serious ones the media usually gets involved.
So then why can't MS contact the VARs who sold/installed NT/2000 server and have them run through their customer list and advise them of this recall in the same fashion? Really, the only systems at risk should be the ones that are pirated.
At every company I have worked at, there is no one single person responsible for "all things NT" and so as a result, it is very difficult to make sure that everyone is on top of the latest update and that it is pushed down to all the servers without interrupting production systems. So patches are basically a "when time permits" activity for whoever remembers to do it. I don't say that's right, but that's reality and I wouldn't be surprised if patches are forgotten because sysadmins are busy getting some users e-mail recovered.
Now, if some IT manager got a call warning them that their servers were vulnerable, he or she would issue the order and it would get done. If you leave it up to the sysadmins, you are really counting on them being through and I've known people who are MSCE and know they should patch systems but simply don't have the time becasue they can't make their bosses see its a Sev1 issue when compared to the MQSeries rollout.
- JoeShmoe
...let's protest the lack of media coverage!
Everyone get down to your local news affiliate and start protesting the lack of attention.
If enough people do that...the story of the media being protesting the lack of news will itself become news...and thus draw attention to the core issue about which we are protesting a lack of news!
I'm serious! If we tell reporters they are being negligent in hiding the truth that's a challenge I doubt they could resist. As soon as one news organization posts a story, they will all have to me-too or look like toadies to corporate interestes (which they are but they hate it being shown true).
- JoeShmoe
Firestone argues that the cut-rate crappy tires would have been fine if they hadn't been deflated to 25psi from the factory-spec 32psi...they still maintain that it was this deflation that caused the tread separation, not the manufacturing.
In all likelihood it was probably a combination of both but how much? 80/20? 70/30?
-JoeShmoe
With one key difference...with open source software people are capable of theoretically fixing it themselves. Which means it is much easier for end users to accept responability.
MS is closed source so when a problem is discovered, you can't just alert everyone and be done with it. You have to go to MS, get them to fix it, then issue the alert.
One solution to the Firestone mess was to remove the Firestone tires and replace it with some other brand, a brand that could then be used in the quasi-inflated state Ford recommended. But what if only Firestone tires worked on Fords? Then you would HAVE to wait for Ford to re-engineer and re-distribute tires, during which time you would either have to drive around in an unsafe condition or not use their Explorer (ha, that analogy is closer than I thought).
- JoeShmoe
Interspersed? As I said, I like the trailers. I do want to watch them. Most theaters show ads/slideshows while people are filing in, then show trailers then the feature presentation.
This theater is showing ad/trailer/ad/trailer/ad etc so basically you have to watch the all or watch none.
And I don't know what kind of theater you go to, but every theater I've been to people who decide to wait out in the lobby for 15 minutes end up sitting in the far right front corner. I come early to get good seats and I'm upset because I don't like where this trend is going.
I'll bet dollars that the next step is for theaters to bring back "Intermission" between "reels" so that people can be pushed out to the snack bars and forced to watch more ads. And that really will be the final nail in the coffin for the local cineplex.
- JoeShmoe
Seriously. Compare this diaster to the Ford/Firestone mess:
A) Ford decides to ship vehicles with partially deflated tires.
B) MS decides to ship products in their least-secure state with every service running.
A) When this causes problems, Ford blames Firestone for not making tires that can handle it.
B) When this causes problems, MS blames system administrators for not being smart enough to patch their system.
A) The end result is that many people died because Ford passes the buck to Firestone and Firestone passed it right back to Ford.
B) The end result is that many servers are going to be knocked offline because MS passes the buck to sysadmins and sysadmins pass it right back to MS.
In my opinion, someone should force MS to take responability for issuing a product recall...just like in any other industry. That means they much contact their dealers and their dealers must contact their customers and get it patched. Obviously this is serious enough to warrant that kind of attention and MS can surely afford it.
- JoeShmoe
If there is any doubt, look at the popularity of sites like AdCritic.Com and the ratins for shows like "The Best Commercials You've Never Seen".
Personally, I enjoy both although I wish adcritic.com would grow some fair use backbone and offer a greater selection (they remove ads by request).
If an ad is done properly it can be quite enjoyable. Not just the funny ones either, there are some ones that really get a reaction.
Personally, with respect to PVRs, I believe the future of ads lies with product placement just like in the movies. Monica and Chandler drinking a Pepsi. The Simpsons ordering from Domino's. Frasier buying a new car from...whatever online car site hasn't gone out of business.
People I think have grown accustomed to the subtle influences that advertising has on their life. But any time you force someone to watch a commercial they are not interested in, you are asking for backlash. I am boycotting a new theater in town because they show 15 minutes of paid commecials (just like TV) interspersed within the trailers (which I sometimes do want to watch). I refuse to pay $8 to fill a seat, $8 for a light snack, and then still provide the theater with another income stream by being a captive eyeball.
- JoeShmoe
This is an excellent point. Do we really trust Disney to green light a project that protrays comptuers/hackers in a positive light?
More than likely, TRON 2.0 will be about an evil young hacker out to destroy the entertainment industry by hacking the encryption on digital content...and TRON will be a rights-enforcement program out to slay all the P2P clients that are sharing the ill-gotten goods.
Remember, there is no better spokesman for Hollywood interests than Hollywood itself.
- JoeShmoe
Or Laser Saber?
I clicked the screenshots and I still don't have any idea what the hell this is. The picutures show Reptile as some kinda of wrapper for websites. I see Wired along side Slashdot and so forth. Then everything has a rating...so is this some kind of karma system for whole websites?
Is this actually publishing or just pushing ratings? Because if it is publishing, what's to stop some idiot from posting crap and killing the system (like most P2P) and if it's just ratings how does that help privacy since the source is still the single point of failure?
On the surface, it seems closest to MojoNation in design and implementation (complete with running everything off a local webserver). Speaking of which, whatever became of that?
- JoeShmoe
Well, I guess that's fitting since when it comes to sharing...most P2P users are pretty damn cold blooded.
(rimshot)
- JoeShmoe
Two year? That's ridiculous. I play tons of two year old games. I bought a copy of Worms2 the other day because it was $10 and that game has got to be at least two years old. And you can't legally define a major version. Companies will just call their patches 1.0 2.0 3.0 instead of 1.1 1.2 1.3 because it's all arbitrary. If you think you can start legislating how many features it takes to mae a major version then this DFCA has become just as big a pile of crap and any other law with endless riders tacked on.
Games that are two years old that play on systems we all still use are not finacially worthless. Now, games that played in DOS or on hardware from companies that no longer exist...those are games that are no financially viable.
In ten years, our PS2 and Xbox will definely fall in the same category but two years from now we will all still be playing them. I played my SNES for years even after buting an N64. I still was buying games for it too.
Even five years is too short, as games like StarCraft continue to make money from sales and can be played on resonably accessible hardware. Meanwhile, Warcraft 2 (only two years older) requires DOS4GW modes that can't be done on Windows NT, 2000 and probably not XP.
That's the defining line. When the market for hardware is gone, all software for that hardware is finacially worthless.
And get off the damn high horse already, no one appointed you lord of the DFCA. Stop patronizing people by annointing them with section numbers. And if you make good on the promise "I report this everytime a big DMCA story" be assured I know where my moderation point will be spent -1 Redundant.
- JoeShmoe
The original 1970s Star Wars?
Yes I would contend that there is no one interested in purchasing that any more because now you can purchase the new 1990s Star Wars with enhanced digital effects.
So this law would also help encourage studios to dusts off their old goods and polish them up a bit, while at the same time turning the older "purer" versions out into the public domain.
Not to mention sequels wouldn't count obviously, so the other two Star Wars films (1980s) would still be considered copyrighted.
I think if the law was properly worded, it would be very tough for a congressman to justify voting against it. If you make it a clear choice between the rights of consumers and the arbitrary chance for profit by a company, any congressman who votes no will have to answer to the constituants. And no matter how much money the companies pump into the system, in the end they can't cast as many votes as the masses.
But the whole point of this thread is just idle dreaming anyway.
- JoeShmoe
What they are referring to is that one of the features of the eBook reader on Windows2000 and Macintosh is the ability to read the text of the eBook out loud (System 7/8/9 has a text-to-speech built-in and on Win2K it is free download).
However, this "read-aloud" right has to be set by the publisher or it the eBook reader won't pass the data through to the OS engine. And because cut-and-paste is restricted, a blind person can't just copy the text to a different program (like WordPad or SimpleText) and access the engine through that.
So basically, even though Adobe and the publisher contribute zero effort towards producing a feature (all the work is done by Apple/MS) they feel they still should get to decide when and how you use that feature. And I would bet money that the default option for the eBook encoder is to deny all rights. So basically, unless the publisher goes out of his or her way to enable the read-aloud right then blind people who download eBooks will be unable to listen to them or use their own accessibility tools to do so!
I have always thought that the best bet we have to get rid of the DMCA is to find one blind/deaf person who is unable to access content and then sue to have the DMCA overturned on the grounds that it violates the ADA. Fight fire with fire, fight one law with another law.
Consider the premise of the movie Memento. What if there are people out there who do not have the physical ability to remember as well as you or I? It is a content producer's wet dream for that use would have to pay for the same enjoyment over and over again. But is a pay-per-view billing scheme really fair to these people? Shouldn't their disability give them the right to record ANY content so they can view it at a later date?
- JoeShmoe
Personally, I would suggest Fair Use Protection Act or FUPA for short...it's fun to say and has a somewhat naughty sound to it.
The most important aspect should be a hardcoded limit on created work copyrights that actually matches the reasonable financial lifetime. That means:
Ten years for software/games (legalize abandonware/oldware) because any software/game product ten years old would require such inferior hardware that the chance of that hardware existing is nil.
Twenty years for movies and music. No particular reason for that figure, but it seems reasonable that after a generation changes in style and taste would render old movies/music finacially worthless outside of the people who collect "classics".
The next most important aspect is that companies must provide access to any media (audio video text) on ANY device or it will be legal for anyone to create a solution (by reverse engineering, hacking, whatever) for that device and distribute it. No Linux solution exists for that eBook? Legal to engineer one. Can't watch your DVD bonus footage on the VCR in your RV while you are travelling? Legal to use DeCSS to convert it to VHS.
Now we just need to buy a congressman to get it proposed on the floor...
- JoeShmoe
You know...there's a grain of truth in that statement...what if ROT-13 was a language, or what if we geeks started using ROT-13 as a language (sorta like how certain religious groups speak in Latin or Hebrew).
Then, all these programs to change ROT-13 text into plaintext, well they would just be translators wouldn't they? Languages are so drastically different from each other it could be argued that the grammar of this language is derived from a single keyword.
Food for thought?
- JoeShmoe
I originally registered my domains with NetNamesUSA. So then all I had to do was verify my identity to them (faxed them a copy of my driver's license) and order them to change my registrar from Network Solutions to Register.com
I shudder to think what would have happened if I had registered with Network Solutions directly.
- JoeShmoe
I said CDs OR DVDs...the carousel could mix and match any type of disc you want just like the home theater versions (you can put CDs or DVDs in your Sony SmartFile and it will play either one). And as the above posted said, there are disc formats the same size that can holds GB of information.
But you are still wrong that there is any sort of filesize limitation. The filesize limitation is a function of the Linux thinserver, not the disc hardware. After all, any modern hard drive can only store 1/6 of its data per platter but you don't have to worry about that, do you?
If you wanted to save a file larger than 700MB then the thinserver would just have to know to split it into multiple CDs but present the file as a single directory entry (file.mpg instead of file0.mpg file1.mpg and file2.mpg).
- JoeShmoe
Well, if you took your own thumb out of your ass and used it to thumb through a CD burner manual you would find that any modern CD-R/RW drive can record data instantly in UDF packet format. So to the users it would look just like a normal hard drive. Since DVD-R/RW/RAM uses UDF by default this is even easier.
Not to mention, the intent was to migrate an entire collection of data that would be offline storage to online storage without wasting hard drive space. If the data is a bunch of audio or video files it is pointless to have read/write access since the data doesn't change. If you need to "delete" it you can take the CD/DVD out of the unit.
- JoeShmoe
Oh, and one more thing...because you are working with optical media you have a far less likely chance of data failure than with a bunch of expensive hard drives. Really all you have to worry about is fire and you can easily make a complete backup of the entire system by just buying another spindle of CDs/DVDs and a nice standalone burner.
What I would use this system for is creating a single media center for my entire family. Everyone would give me their records/tapes/CDs, I would convert them to MP3s and burn them to the collection. They would give me their video tapes/DVDs, I would encode them as DivX or something and burn them to the collection
Then any time they wanted to watch or listen to any record, tape, CD, video, or DVD it would be as close as the nearest computers (or entertainment center by making a nice TV-out PC). The originals could all go into storage in a nice, safe, dry place.
- JoeShmoe
Combine:
A carousel that holds 200-300 CDs or DVDs (just like they have for home theaters for around $800)
Sort of like the stuff PowerFile makes. (http://www.dvdchanger.com)
Add to it room for at least two slot-load drives (although four would be even better, one in each corner) so you can access at least two CDs at any given time.
Throw in a Linux thinserver (like the stuff Linksys or any number of companies use) to manange the contents of each CD/DVD.
Result? Over 1TB of storage for around $1000. The only catch is that it is not meant for more than a handful of users at a time.
But considering what an equivalent RAID would cost it doesn't seem like a bad idea. You could put every file you've ever downloaded into one box and each CD/DVD could show up as a separate directory on one master volume. Imagine that. Near-instant access to TB of info.
If you use DVD-ROM drives, it's 1TB of read-only storage but if you use DVD-R/RW/RAM drives then it is 1TV of read/write storage! Wow, you could open your own Avalon!
Please please someone start a project to help build something like this! I desperately want one but the crappy PowerFile version is junk because it relies on crappy Windows/Mac software and ties up a whole computers just to access the damn thing. Plus having to manually mount/unmount the discs like individual drives instead of having just one volume.
- JoeShmoe
Next time a cop pulls you over, whip out a tape recorder and politely tell them that you are making a record of everything.
I'm kinda curious if they would ask you to stop or not. In any event, it seems like a great idea because if there is one thing I have learned is that cops love to twist your words around. I once told a cop my license plate was in my trunk because my front mounting bracket was broken and when the cop recounted my statement it had somehow become that i refused to mount a front license plate to avoid photorader. Jerk.
Step 1, invent time machine.
Step 2, bring a copy of Slashdot articles like this one back to 1780.
Step 3, find Thomas Jefferson and get an amendment made that allows unrestricted access, irrevocably and permanently, for all non-commercial private usage.
Step 4, know that I won't have to entrust my content to companies who lock my content then go out of business and take the keys with them.
Screw the temporal prime directive...
- JoeShmoe
Fine, so Carnivore then...pick your nefarious project, it's all the same deal.
- JoeShmoe