Technology

Hearing the difference now isn't the reason to encode to FLAC. FLAC uses lossless compression, while MP3 is 'lossy'. What this means is that for each year the MP3 sits on your hard drive, it will lose roughly 12kbps, assuming you have SATA - it's about 15kbps on IDE, but only 7kbps on SCSI, due to rotational velocidensity. You don't want to know how much worse it is on CD-ROM or other optical media.

I started collecting MP3s in about 2001, and if I try to play any of the tracks I downloaded back then, even the stuff I grabbed at 320kbps, they just sound like crap. The bass is terrible, the midrange...well don't get me started. Some of those albums have degraded down to 32 or even 16kbps. FLAC rips from the same period still sound great, even if they weren't stored correctly, in a cool, dry place. Seriously, stick to FLAC, you may not be able to hear the difference now, but in a year or two, you'll be glad you did.

I hate Ubuntu. I immediately lose respect for anyone who runs it, and especially those who advocate it. Here’s why:

Name 20 features, release-for-release or year-for-year that have not come from Redhat. Redhat basically runs the show when it comes to Linux. This includes things like NetworkManager, Gnome, Xorg, GCC, glibc, LVM, KVM, kernel, file systems et al. Redhat has developers making significant contributions to the entire FOSS software stack upstream.

Ubuntu on the other hand pulls most of the heavy weight packaging from Debian with each release. They then perform minor patching and testing. It generally lags behind Fedora by a release or two in parts of the software stack. I never see @ubuntu or @cannocial email addresses in upstream changelogs.

So tell me again, how exactly does Ubuntu innovate? They even struggle to release a new theme with each release, and artwork is about the only original thing in Ubuntu.

Yes, Ubuntu is stable because they are standing on the shoulders of giants. Most of the hard work is hashed out before they ever import software into their repositories. This is fine, and what FOSS is all about, but I prefer to be in with the leaders rather than the followers.

What really irks me and what has really brewed my hatred are Ubuntu users. They seem to think Ubuntu is responsible for all that is good in the FOSS world. I have just proven how false this is. In my experience, Ubuntu support mechanisms (IRC, mailing lists, forums) are much less helpful than the alternative.

If you want a nice desktop distro, run Fedora or OpenSUSE. If you like control, run Gentoo. If you need stability, run RHEL/CentOS or Debian. But please, don’t feed the idiot magnet that is Ubuntu!

>brother calls up, computer doesnt display anything
>he drops it off
>Windows says "Ati card detected, no drivers found"
>remove crap AMD "HD" 7800 card
>Install High-Performance Nvidia Quadro Graphics card in the computer
>install drivers
>configure everything to display at highest quality settings
>return computer
>he calls up
>"Thanks bro, i will never buy anything AMD again! "
>one week later he dies in a housefire

>girl says she's a nerd
>ask what kind of computer she has
>macbook air
>turn 360 degrees
>walk to the exit
>open the door
>there's a bear
>become a dinosaur
>engage in combat
>bear punches me
>makes me vomit spaghetti
>roundhouse kick it
>bear bursts into treats

fucking best buy

>be on /g/, using my Gentoo rig powered by 4 GTX 680's and an i7 2600k, when knock at cave door
>OPEN UP WE'S THE POH LEASE
>push a couple old Pentium 4s against the door (those things are just so damn handy)
>begin waddling towards escape hatch
>BANG BANG BANG
>cops shooting the door, screaming MURIKA FUCK YEAH
>be Canadian, quite confused
>continue waddling as fast as I can
>cops break door down
>they begin sprinting towards me
>one gets caught in my intranet
>fuck that was an expensive cable it's hard to get them that long
>whatever
>cop begins shooting me
>dive behind Fermi pile
>Old Fermis burst into flames, buying me time
>grab my Thinkpad
>escape hatch blocked by cans
>prepare for final stand
>cop comes around corner
>nail her on the head with my Thinkpad
>Thinkpad 1 SWAT helmet 0
>another cop comes around the corner
>shoots me
>absorbed in my fat, bounces off
>this angers me
>release the bear
>Guardian Neckbear leaps from neck and begins biting cop
>throw GNU/Hurd kernel DVDs at him
>he dies from disgust

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>Minding my own business and installing OpenBSD on my router
>Mama starts yelling from downstairs
>"What is it mama?"
>"SERGIO! EL COMPUTER NO WORKO! NO GUSTA!"
>Go downstairs, find that there is taco sauce on the monitor, tostadas on the keyboard, tortillas in the optical drive, salsa in the heatsink, guacamole on the southbridge, burritos in the case fan, beans cooking on the fermi, and tacos in the PSU.
>Fuck it, I'll buy her a Mac
>Go to Apple store
>Considering purchasing an iMac
>Steve Jobs is there
>Talks to me about the iMac
>I get really hyped for the iMac
>Decide to buy it on the spot
>Reach for my wallet
>Suddenly, spaghetti spills out of my pocket
>There's spaghetti on the floor
>Everybody walk the dinosaur
>Try to clean it all up
>I look down
>There's fur in the spaghetti, leading to the realization that I am a bear

Mechanical owner here.

You know, owning a mech keyboard is great and all, but it doesn't come without its tradeoffs.

1. They type 15-30% slower due to longer activation times.
2. They make voice chatting, VOIP impossible due to loud noises and heavy sound distortion.
3. They cost 5 times as much and are already out of date by 20 years.
4. They lack media keys, macros, and other important functions that no self-respecting gamer enthusiast can live without.
5. They also feature scam models known as "10 key less" which are more expensive for fewer keys, worse than that, it's a lie. They actually have 15 fewer keys. You are charged a key removal fee for each key that ranges from $5-10 per key lost.
6. Not all mechanicals are the same. They charge you a premium for using different dyes in the plastic. Want your switches in black or blue? Well they'll charge you more for those colors even though the dye is the same price as red or brown.

Windows 7 Repository: http://fuxx.us/win7repo

You must be GNU here. “Free software” is a matter of liberty, not price. To understand the concept, you should think of “free” as in “free speech,” not as in “free beer.”

Free software is a matter of the users' freedom to run, copy, distribute, study, change and improve the software. More precisely, it means that the program's users have the four essential freedoms:

The freedom to run the program, for any purpose (freedom 0).
The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish (freedom 1). Access to the source code is a precondition for this.
The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor (freedom 2).
The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others (freedom 3). By doing this you can give the whole community a chance to benefit from your changes. Access to the source code is a precondition for this.

A program is free software if users have all of these freedoms. Thus, you should be free to redistribute copies, either with or without modifications, either gratis or charging a fee for distribution, to anyone anywhere. Being free to do these things means (among other things) that you do not have to ask or pay for permission to do so.

let me tell you something

• Opera invented Tabs
• Opera invented memory management
• Opera was the first to integrate privacy control
• Opera was the first to integrate a component which speed up loading times, and could increase page loading as high up as 40x
• Opera designed today's browser UI. Chrome, FF and IE copied it to some extent.
• Opera designed the minimalistic UI of having 1 icon where you access all settings etc.
• Opera pioneered the latest speed race, without Opera, FF would still be in Beta 1, Chrome would be in Chrome 6, Opera is the lead innovator and THEY are paving the way for browsers such as FF and Chrome.
• Opera was the first to have integrated search
• Opera was the first to have Small Screen Rendering
• The first to have full page Zoom
• Opera was the first to cache web pages in RAM rather then HDD
• First to introduce Mouse Gestures
• Opera was the first to introduce integrated pop up blocking
• Opera was the first to introduce Speed Dial. An innovative feature which is now copied by Chrome and I believe Firefox as well
• Don't forget to add that Opera is the first to support HTML5's <input type="date"> so you don't have to use a library like jQuery UI.

let me tell you something

• AMD invented x86_64
• AMD invented Vt-xAMD-v
• AMD designed today's memory controllers. Intel and VIA copied to some extent.
• AMD designed the lowest TDP processor.
• AMD pioneered the latest speed race, without AMD, Intel would still be in Pentium 4, Nvidia would still be in the 9000 series, AMD is the lead innovator and THEY are paving the way for processor and GPU manufacturers such as Intel and Nvidia.
• AMD was the first to have integrated memory controllers.
• AMD was the first to have dual core technology
• AMD was the first to intelligently throttle cpu clock speeds to save power.
• AMD was the first to introduce integrated buffer overflow prevention

Apple doesn't have a a water resistant keyboard design.

Apple doesnt have pointing stick

Apple doesn't have master race of laptop keyboards

Apple doesn't have removable hard drives

Apple doesn't have removable batteries

Apple: Broke your screen? Send it to apple wait 2-3 weeks.
Lenovo: Broke your screen? Order a new one and replace it yourself in 1-5 days including possible shipping time.

Lenovo and MBP is almost equally drop resistant.

The Lenovo comes with Industry standard Windows, MBP Add another 140 bucks...

Media Center Build [Atom]

Product Price Quantity
_____________________________________________________________________
Antec Fusion Remote Black $215 x1 CASE
ASUS AT3N7A-I NVIDIA ION $207 x1 MOBO
Kingston 2GB 800MHz DDR2 $79 x1 RAM
Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB $124 x1 HDD
Sony AD-7240S-GB DVDRW $49 x1 OPTIC
Arch-Linux $FREE x1 OS
_____________________________________________________________________
Total $674 x1

King_John: there are three types of people;
ones who can use any hardware
ones who can use macs
and ones who can use windows

Have you read your SICP today?

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=108088

http://forums.firingsquad.com/firingsquad/board/message?board.id=hardware&thread.id=111309

Check this out: http://www.intern3ts.com/o/hs/res/84.php

What do you think about it? Are EULAs legal?

"#" is a number

Canon
"1##-####.jpg"

"1##-####_IMG.jpg"

"IMG_####.jpg"

"MG####.jpg" (Canon raw conversion)

Casio
"MMDD####.JPG" (QV3000 and QV4000)

"YYmDD###.JPG" (QV7000, m is hex)

Kodak
"DCP#####.jpg" (Kodak)

"DC####S.jpg" (DC-40,50,120 S is (L)arge, (M)eduim, (S)mall)

"P#######.JPG" (DC290)

Nikon
"DSC#####.jpg"

"DSCN####.jpg"

Olympus
"P101####.jpg"

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A computer forensics specialist has a message for security-minded computer users: A single wipe will make drives impossible to read.

In research published on Thursday, auditor Craig Wright tested the ability of a special type of electron microscope, known as a magnetic force microscope, to read data that has been erased. While overwriting the data multiple times with a random series of 0s and 1s makes it harder to recover, Wright found that it is nearly impossible to recover any meaningful amount of data after a only single pass. Recovering a single byte of data, for example, on a used drive is successful less than one percent of the time, he found. Accurately recovering four bytes, or 32 bits, of data only works nine times out of each million tries.