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Keep in mind you canโt make a digital recording from an analog source or vice-versa, so make sure the components you are recording to/from are hooked up in the same way (see Connecting up on page12 for more on connections).
I wonder why that is? I suppose this is what HDMI cables, etc, are all about. That is, if the signal stays digital, not only does it not degrade [in theory], you can continue to DRM it.
Still, the speakers aren't putting out digital. Why can't I copy my digital files with an audio cassette?
posted by ruffin
at 5/27/2009 09:34:00 AM
I'm not real sure how long I've been using VIm fairly religiously, but I do know I wish I'd known some of this years earlier:
Note also Ctrl [ is equivalent to Esc and may be easier to type. Also Ctrl o in insert mode will switch to normal mode for one command only and automatically switch back.
I don't think Apple is really worried about losing mindshare in the Java video playback front. Java 7 has already promised on2 video codec support so playback in Java is a non-issue. ffmpeg, FOBS, FMJ, etc... are useless when it comes to meaningful editing so the question of editing support is the only meaningful one worth asking. ... At this point, certainly, relying on Apple for Quicktime Java support would not be wise.
What's this on2 video codec we're talking about? I've been out of the hands-on loop long enough not to know about JavaFX. I can't say I completely understand what it's supposed to do (though JWebKit was supposed to follow it, and hasn't), but it appears to be QT4J's functional successor.
Problem is, this would be a real bear to distribute, and the Mac sys reqs ain't exactly middlin'. Both make it less attractive than a well-supported QT4J (which we all know doesn't now exist, if it ever did).
Microsoft Windows:
* Processors: Intel Pentium 4, Intel Centrino, Intel Xeon, or Intel Core Duo (or compatible) 1.8 GHz minimum * Operating systems: Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise (certified for 32-bit editions) * Memory: 512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended) * Disk space: 256 MB free disk space * Web Browsers: Internet Explorer 6 minimum, FireFox 2.0 minimum * Java SE Development Kit (JDK): JDK 6 Update 7 minimum (JDK 6 Update 13 recommended) The JDK installation includes the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). * Apple QuickTime Player: 7.5.5 minimum is required to run the JavaFX Mobile Emulator, which is currently available only on the Microsoft Windows platform. System restart is required after QuickTime installation.
Apple Macintosh:
* Processor: Dual-Core Intel, PowerPC G5 * Operating system: Macintosh OS X 10.4.10 minimum * Memory: 512 MB of RAM (1 GB recommended) * Disk space: 256 MB of free disk space * Web Browsers: Firefox 3.0 minimum, Safari 3 minimum * Java SE Development Kit (JDK): JDK 5 Update 13 (version 1.5.0_13) minimum (Java for Mac OS X 10.4, Release 7 or Java for Mac OS X 10.5 Update 2 or later) The JDK installation includes the Java Runtime Environment (JRE).
There's also some talk about how JavaFX is being pimped hand-in-hand with Netbeans, kinda like the essentially Netbeans-only VB-like GUI RAD I blogged about a long time ago and whose name I forget. I'm not quite sure I get the Netbeans infatuation. It's a nice dev environ, but I like Eclipse more. I'm still programming in Java, right?
So I'm not sure how much JavaFX is tied to Netbeans, as some conspiracy theorists trumpet, but I'm not completely sold that there's no proverbial synergy driving them either. I hate it when companies try to sell dancing moons and call them shovels (the tool du jour).
Some day I'll remember how to do this off of the top of my head.
I really would like an app that copies photos at a much lower resolution so that they could be easily backed up somewhere... Went to back my pictures up on Amazon S3 today and figured out I needed over ten times as much storage as I thought. Dumb. And wow. Found an Automator script for OS X that'll resize jpg's, but give it anything it doesn't like (like selecting a folder that contains mixed files including jpgs, or selecting everything in that folder, even, where everything is more than just jpgs) and it borks. Not Apple-like. So this resize and copy routine is going to have a few extra steps.
Too bad that feeling the pulse means the flow's already passed... I pulled my old email codebase out of mothballs yesterday during a six and a half hour trip to Meineke and started putting together something that might make my grandfather's attempts at emailing a little easier. Gotten far enough that I'm trying to talk myself out of calling it Seรฑor Email. Then today I find this:
Mr. Hughes realized the e-mail project had reached a dead end when his grandfather, Paw Paw, turned his keyboard into a letter holder and designated the row between 1234 and QWER for bills.
....
They named it PawPawMail and created a Web site, pawpawmail.com. Anyone can use the software for $5 a month and run it on virtually any P.C. or Mac, including old clunkers gathering dust in the back of closets.
Nice. I'm already a month behind. Much of the obvious stuff is there, like displaying picture attachments easily. Breaking with the inbox paradigm and displaying pictures as a slide show are the two biggest improvements I think needed to be made.
I think there are still some areas for nosing in -- $5 a month isn't a big deal, but isn't something I think is necessary. And this system assumes that a caregiver will be there to help out... not a bad idea, but something that can be improved on. Using Flash seems to have its limitations (let's face it, this and this just look bad), and they concentrate more on the new elderly email user, rather than someone who has been using email a while but might now need larger fonts and a simplified interface. We'll see.
(An interview with the programmer of PawPawMail is here.)
The fixed-focus, aspherical lens is of reasonable quality, and does not significantly differ from that found on many modern low-end digital cameras.[citation needed]
An ordinary cassette transport is used for storage of both audio and video. The PXL2000 holds 11 minutes of shooting by moving the tape at a high speed, roughly 16 7/8 in/s (429 mm/s) as opposed to cassette's standard speed of 1 7/8 in/s (48 mm/s) on a C90 CrO2 (chromium dioxide) cassette. The high speed is necessary because video requires a wider bandwidth than standard audio recording (In magnetic tape recording, the faster the recording speed, the more bandwidth can be recorded on the tape). The PXL2000 records the video information on the left audio channel of the cassette, and the audio on the right. [2]
Now, for the first time, Napster members can get 5 MP3 downloads each month and unlimited on-demand streaming music from Napster's catalog of over 7 million songs, together, for just $5 a month...
Play just what you want, or let us pick music for you with Napster playlists, radio stations, and automix.
If there's one thing iTunes hasn't yet done, it's replace the function of the radio station. That is, I'm not bombarded with songs that I don't know but might like, especially after they've been blasted into my head so many times I can't help but associate them with this time of my life. I'm not sure Napster is going to make good with this -- it's little more, afaict, than Pandora or mp3 Baby + five downloads -- but at the same time, why not sell five tracks for $5 and bundle what makes you different? A decent selling point. No longer do they fight pay-to-play with subscription religiously, but concede the pay and expose you to the different distribution.
That said, Napster's not dead yet? Really?
posted by ruffin
at 5/22/2009 01:18:00 PM
AppleInsider provides additional detail on Munster's report, revealing that the tablet is expected to be priced in the $500-$700 range and thus bridging the gap between the iPod touch and the entry level MacBook. The tablet would utilize a display somewhere between 7- and 10-inches and would be well differentiated from existing netbook offerings, which Apple has repeatedly said it has no interest in duplicating due to the poor user experience such devices offer.
This appears to be the latest protocol for faxing via phone ("general switched telephone") vs. OIP. I don't get why you'd fax via the net, however. Attach it, right?
It's not there yet, but AppleInsider post comes close to showing how we could start using DTV broadcast in the future:
Apple has put some effort into conceptualizing a family of next-generation wireless iTunes kiosks that can be placed just about anywhere, allowing users of its portable products to load their devices with a new full-length movie or audio album during travel, in areas where wireless networks may be unavailable.
I'm generally not a fan of using broadcast for pay-to-play content, but imagine streaming House while you're on the road, or the Tuesday matinee...
posted by ruffin
at 5/08/2009 06:11:00 PM
Windows Live Gallery - Developer center: "Windows Live Writer extensions Extensions give people the ability to insert, edit, and publish new types of content. Before uploading extensions, read the Windows Live Writer Software Development Kit (SDK) and review the following checklist:
For Content Plugin Extensions 1) Content Plugins must be built using .NET Framework 1.1 or 2.0. 2) Content Plugins must be packaged and submitted as a Microsoft Installer (*.msi). 3) If you use .NET Framework 2.0, the installer must link to the .NET 2.0 download site or use the Visual Studio 2005 Bootstrapper. The Bootstrapper detects and downloads the correct .NET Framework. 4) Your installer must copy the assembly to the 'Plug-ins' sub-directory of the Windows Live Writer installation directory."
posted by ruffin
at 5/04/2009 07:36:00 PM
To dial a number, the user puts a finger in the corresponding finger hole and rotates the dial clockwise until it reaches the finger stop. The user then pulls out the finger, and a spring in the dial returns it to the resting position. For example, if the user dials '6' on a North American telephone, as the dial returns, electrical contacts wired through the mechanism underneath will open and close six times, thus sending six pulses to the central office.
I think the disconnect for me is that dialing a rotary phone wasn't something you were taught via words. You simply "dialed", mocking everyone else you'd ever seen make a call. And you sure as heck never had a need to see it in print, digital or otherwise.
Boy, I feel old now seeing how to dial in words.
Edit: I've now quizzed a kindergartener, and feel slightly less old, or at least not as left behind. Apparently dialing is still a commonly understood practice solely because nobody's thought to let kids' toy manufacturers know that their rotary toys are passe. Most humourous was this kid's response -- "Yeah, I know what dialing is, but it takes too long!" That impression was formed having never dialed to place a call other than imaginary ones, but having "dialed" via buttons any number of times. (Not that the impression isn't accurate; the accuracy makes the anachronism that much more remarkable. And remember friends' with 9's in their number? Sheesh. What were they thinking? Or folks in the 919 area code? ARGH!)
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