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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 102 responses total. |
orinoco
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response 31 of 102:
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Jan 20 21:37 UTC 2004 |
Oh, hell yes. I hadn't realized just how painful bad interface design could
be until I started trying to learn to use the GIMP.
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krj
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response 32 of 102:
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Jan 21 02:28 UTC 2004 |
Washington Post has an article on the newfangled audio disc formats,
DVD Audio and Super Audio CD (SACD). The executive summary: neither
format is doing significant business, and there is no reason to
expect them to survive. There are no portable players
or car players for these formats. It seems that consumers value
portability (mp3s, AAC and Windows Media) over the improved sound
quality of the new disc formats. It also may be that consumers
reject the new formats because of their resistance to digital copying.
The formats have been on the market for three years. Three years after
the introduction of the CD format, sales were starting to explode.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30490-2004Jan19.html
"Audio Formats Stumble In Quest To Replace CDs"
Quote:
>> "During the six-month period ending in June 2003, only 100,000 DVD-
Audio discs were sold, compared with 245 million CDs, the Recording
Industry Association of America reports. Even traditional vinyl
records outsold DVD-Audio -- by a factor of six to one.
>> "Rather than growing, sales of DVD-Audio discs are actually down
from the same period a year ago. The RIAA does not track SACD
sales. "<<
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mcnally
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response 33 of 102:
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Jan 21 02:49 UTC 2004 |
They might have better luck introducing their "superior" DRM-ed
formats if they didn't commonly charge another $5-20 over the
already outrageous price of a CD recording. There just aren't
many albums that I love enought to pay $25-30 for when a "good
enough" CD version is available for $15-$20.
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gull
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response 34 of 102:
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Jan 21 02:58 UTC 2004 |
I have mixed feelings about GIMP's user interface. After using it for a
while, it really annoys me that in Photoshop (or PSP) I have to truck my
mouse clear over to the edge of the image window every time I want to
switch tools, instead of just right-clicking.
I agree that Photoshop is excellent...I'm not sure it's good enough to
justify its outrageous price, for most people, though. Comparing the
student discount price to the commercial price should give an idea of
just how huge the profit margin on that software is.
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scott
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response 35 of 102:
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Jan 21 14:06 UTC 2004 |
I use GIMP, and I've never tried Photoshop. While GIMP is non-obvious to
learn, it is pretty efficient at least compared to most computer apps. If
I used it a lot I'd end up memorizing all the keyboard shortcuts and get
pretty fast.
(I'm using the Linux version, which of course is the most stable)
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gull
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response 36 of 102:
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Jan 21 14:52 UTC 2004 |
Yeah, I actually like GIMP, but it punishes new users.
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krj
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response 37 of 102:
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Jan 21 23:54 UTC 2004 |
The RIAA files another 532 lawsuits. Because the RIAA can no longer
used the "expedited subpoena" power of the DMCA to uncover the
identity of IP addresses it believes are being used to share files,
the RIAA has filed these as "John Doe" lawsuits naming IP addresses,
presumably with dates and times attached.
http://www.wired.com/news/digiwood/0,1412,61989,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_1
-----
A Michigan Daily story says that nine U. Michigan students have had their
identities subpoenaed by the RIAA. This makes little sense to me, as the
DMCA subpoena process against file sharing users was thrown out last
December, and it's too early for the new John Doe lawsuits to have
been processed down to the University. ???
http://www.michigandaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/01/21/400e279425891
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twenex
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response 38 of 102:
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Jan 22 00:02 UTC 2004 |
How on earth does one file lawsuits against J Random P2Per?
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gull
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response 39 of 102:
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Jan 22 00:42 UTC 2004 |
Re resp:37: The easy subpoena process against ISPs was thrown out. They
probably subpoenaed the university, and the university probably decided
not to fight it.
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twinkie
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response 40 of 102:
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Jan 22 05:29 UTC 2004 |
re: 34 - You have to consider that the student pricing is intended for people
who are learning Photoshop in one of their courses. More likely than not,
they'll ask their "How do I...?" questions in class, rather than calling
Adobe -- which reduces the overall cost.
I'll have to check our copies of Adobe software at work, but I'm vaguely
remembering something about education copies not having any sort of phone
support. I know that's how Macromedia handles their education software (after
spending time mulling over paying $250 to let someone call once, or buying
a 5-call pack for $1,000).
And what's this right-clicking business? Do you mean Control+Click? ;)
You might find Photoshop a bit friendlier if you move the toolbar closer to
the area where you'll be changing tools.
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mcnally
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response 41 of 102:
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Jan 22 08:16 UTC 2004 |
I can't remember ever calling a software company to get phone support
for a piece of application software. I'd be quite happy to exchange
any right to do so in the future for the ability to buy legal versions
of software at educational prices.
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gull
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response 42 of 102:
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Jan 22 15:43 UTC 2004 |
I've occasionally called companies about installation issues. I'd say
about 75% of the time the phone support is useless and I end up having
to work it out myself anyway. I don't have any experience with Adobe,
though.
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twinkie
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response 43 of 102:
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Jan 22 19:50 UTC 2004 |
re: 41 - I'm almost positive that's part of the tradeoff. I know that's why
OEM versions of Microsoft software costs less. The included documentation
(what there is of it) says rather explicitly "If you need help, call whoever
sold this to you. Don't call us. We won't help you for free." (of course, I'm
paraphrasing there).
re: 42 - That's part of the rub. You're paying for support, and not getting
it very often. Adobe's support was reasonably good the last time I needed it,
but that was about two years ago. I'm sure they've offshored their support
to people who aren't able to help you with issues that aren't on a phonetic
script by now.
Sun and Apple, on the other hand, have the most fabulous support I've ever
experienced. I almost want to call AppleCare, just to remind myself that there
are a few good companies still out there.
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krj
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response 44 of 102:
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Jan 22 20:15 UTC 2004 |
The Washington Post had a chat this afternoon with Eric Garland of
Big Champagne, a company which tracks usage on peer-to-peer networks
-- not hunting individuals, but looking to measure popularity of
various items. Garland's main thrust is that this is an
unstoppable technical/social phenomenon and compulsory licensing
is the only way out.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A36356-2004Jan21.html
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keesan
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response 45 of 102:
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Jan 23 04:30 UTC 2004 |
For $24/month, AOL provides online live support that tells you when their
radio program won't install that you need more RAM, and after you tell them
four or five times that your computer cannot take more RAM because it is a
COMPAQ and they don't make large RAM for it, they tell you several ways to
clear the hard disk cache. For some reason that did not free up RAM. (The
RAM was being eaten up by things in Quick Launch). In the meantime we got
Realaudio to work despite AOL. I think the first half of the 'dialog' was
being run by a computer. 'We are having trouble with installing Radio@AOL'.
'Do I correctly understand that you are having trouble with Radio@AOL'. Yes.
'I will try to fix the problem. Can you tell me more'. ..... Eventually
we started noticing typos in the answers and knew there was a live person.
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gull
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response 46 of 102:
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Jan 23 14:39 UTC 2004 |
It was probably a low-paid human in India working off a script.
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keesan
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response 47 of 102:
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Jan 24 13:57 UTC 2004 |
The name did sound Indian. Today I got an email from the AOL user, who
upgraded (sic) from 5 to 7 for the added features (none of which probably work
without adding 128M RAM tho they say you only need 32M). She says it seems
to be crashing more than usual. Usual is pretty bad! Could it be the modem?
I gave her my 56K internal winmodem that had never crashed for me with Opera.
I suggested she try reinstalling AOL 5 to see if that crashed as much, and
then try running Opera with an AOL connection - would it continue to take
up a lot of RAM even if minimized? I also strongly urged her to try a normal
ISP instead.
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polygon
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response 48 of 102:
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Jan 25 22:28 UTC 2004 |
Piece in the NY Times Magazine today about copyright issues.
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krj
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response 49 of 102:
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Feb 9 05:26 UTC 2004 |
Here's the best piece I've found on a recent copy-prevention story.
Sunn Comm, who avid readers will recall have the Media Max copy
prevention process which installs drivers on your PC to prevent
copying, have acquired a UK firm called DarkNoise Technology.
DarkNoise claims to be able to encode recordings so that they
cannot be copied in either digital or analog fashion.
Stereophile is skeptical of claims that this can be done without
really audible artifacts in the original recording.
http://www.stereophile.com/news/020904sunncomm/
Another point I thought of: if the Darknoise stuff successfully
stops digital resampling, then that puts an end to webcasting
as we know it today, since webcasting relies on resampling either
to Real Audio, WMA or MP3 formats.
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mcnally
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response 50 of 102:
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Feb 9 07:23 UTC 2004 |
What on earth does it mean to make a sound that "cannot be copied in
analog fashion"?
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ryan
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response 51 of 102:
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Feb 9 16:27 UTC 2004 |
This response has been erased.
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krj
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response 52 of 102:
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Feb 9 17:28 UTC 2004 |
Sorry, I'm not writing clearly. The DarkNoise company claims their
process introduces unpleasant artifacts in copies made either
digitally or via "the analog hole," even to ordinary cassette tape.
One can make copies, but they are not enjoyable to listen to, claims
DarkNoise. The Stereophile page linked above has links to DarkNoise's
pages which don't sound like peer-reviewed research to me.
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mcnally
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response 53 of 102:
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Feb 9 19:50 UTC 2004 |
Ken, it's not you that's being unclear -- that's pretty much what
I understood your text to say. It's DarkNoise's claim that the
music will sound one way when you listen to it and another way
when re-recorded on analog equipment that's confusing and nonsensical.
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krj
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response 54 of 102:
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Feb 9 20:03 UTC 2004 |
Stereophile's writer said this was theoretically possible, but the
magnitude of the modifications required to the original sound are
so great as to be pretty audible.
For an example, think back to making a cassette tape off a really warped
record. Record warp creates an inaudible low-frequency pulse which you
could see on the tape deck's recording level meters; in severe cases,
the subsonic warp signal could overload the tape, resulting in nasty
distortion. (The solution was a subsonic filter, and I can't remember
which box those filters were packed in when I last moved, dammit.)
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krj
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response 55 of 102:
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Feb 9 22:00 UTC 2004 |
Tower Records has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, protection from creditors.
Stories are everywhere, so I won't bother with a link. Some stories say that
this process is just to push the few reluctant creditors into a sale deal,
and we should know soon who will be controlling Tower.
-----
The Australian music industry has organized raids on the offices of
Kazaa's corporate parent, the homes of their executives, and several
universities and ISPs. The Aussie music industry believes that recent,
unspecified-in-the-press changes in Kazaa make it vulnerable to
this copyright action in Australia.
There are better stories in the Aussie media, but this is all I have on screen
right now:
http://news.com.com/2100-1027_3-5155848.html?tag=nefd_top
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