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This site is no longer maintained.
My current weblog.
Wednesday, March 27, 2002Via Slashdot, today I read a "scathing critique" of the music industry's release of copy-protected audio CDs. From Roger Ebert, of all people.
It just sunk in for me that copy-protected CDs won't play on DVD players. Not cool! About six months ago I replaced my ancient CD changer and first-gen DVD player with a Pioneer DVD changer.
I have around 4000 MP3 files on my computer, less than 100 of which came from CDs that I did not own at the time I obtained/created them. I pay for my music, it's the "right" thing to do. I think it's fine to share some CDs with my friends, but wholesale piracy via Napster and their successors is wrong.
I also don't like using other people's MP3s because the quality tends to be too low. I listen on my home and car stereos, 128kbps isn't good enough.
Sony taking pre-orders for CLIE NR series
PEG-NR70 and PEG-NR70V are equipped with a 66MHz Dragonball VZ processor, 16MB RAM, 8MB FlashROM, 320x480 16-bit reflective TFT display, PalmOS 4.1, lithium polymer battery, integrated MP3 player, built-in QWERTY keyboard, a Sony JogDial and of course a Memory Stick slot. [...] The NR70V adds a built-in digital camera to the mix capable of snapping 320x240 photos. The CLIE PEG-NR70 retails for $499.99 while the NR70V will sell for $599.99, both units are expected to be available in early May.
[via PDABuzz.com]
Sony press release. Pricey but pretty, the Clie is evolving into something quite interesting. The NR70V begs for a higher resolution camera (it's only 100k pixels) and wireless connectivity (Bluetooth at least).
I've package my CSS conversion of Radio's Default theme, you can fetch the files from here. It has been tested under Windows XP with IE6 and Mozilla 0.9.9, and under Windows NT 4.0 with IE5 and Opera 6.
Installing the theme:
- Download brycescsstheme.fttb to the RU\Themes directory.
- Download header-combined.gif to the RU\www\Images directory
- Download style.css and style2.css to the RU\www directory.
- If you have made any changes to your current theme, go to the Create Theme page to save your current theme!
- Go to the Themes page, select "Bryce's CSS Theme" and click the "Apply Theme" button.
Notes:
- header-combined.gif merges the three images used at the top of the Default theme.
- style.css is used for font formatting and whatnot, all of Radio's default classes are already in there.
- style2.css is used for presentation, it establishes the various CSS boxes.
- the coffee mug in the upper-left is no longer a link.
- #desktopWebsiteTemplate.txt uses the default, table-based layout.
- some minor items from #template.txt and #homeTemplate.txt may have been changed or removed at my whim, this theme may not be an exact conversion.
- Use at your own risk. I disclaim all warrantees, expressed or impled, regarding everything. I'm not responsible for anything, ask anyone. I have nothing worth suing for, and your lawyer will laugh at you. Blah blah blah...
- Do what you like with this theme, I don't mind. If you do something cool, share.
Discovered a better stylesheet switcher. Will dig into it later, right now I'm busy cleaning things up so that I can release this theme into the wild...
From PDABuzz.com:
Handspring Begins Nationwide Retail Distribution of Treo
Handspring to raise stand-alone Treo price by $50
CompUSA and Best Buy have yet to add the Treo to their web sites. I wouldn't pay $600 for a Treo 180 without service contract... but then again, I wouldn't pay $400 with contact either.
I am not the typical video game person. When I lived in Germany, I had a Dreamcast and picked up a PS2 on launch-day... they were gadgets to buy, I rarely played them. I pretty much never play computer games.
The only video game system I've spent much time with since the original NES was a Neo Geo MVS (arcade cabinet, 4-slot, 25") that I had before I moved to Germany. I picked it up for $300 from a small arcade in Sebring. It was the ultimate bachelor pad prop, whenever I had company over they would insist on playing a few rounds. Women, too.
I'm not sure why I decided to buy a new console, but here are the reasons that I chose the X-Box over the others:
- Console Darwinism: The US console market historically has been unwilling to support three consoles for any period of time. Someone will exit the console hardware business within two years, and I don't think that it will be Microsoft.
- Surround Sound: X-Box supports 5.1 Digital surround sound (technically not Dolby Digital). Much like with DVDs, it's something that you have to experience in order to appreciate.
- Launch Titles: I had a PS2 on launch day in Germany, the available games sucked. With the X-Box, I picked up three great games right away: Halo, Oddworld: Munch's Odyssey, and Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding.
- Network Support: It was forward-thinking of Microsoft to include an Ethernet port. My roommate has an X-Box of his own, allowing us to have 8-player Halo competitions at home.
- Availability: I purchased my X-Box over Thanksgiving weekend, I was visiting family and the X-Box happened to be plentiful at the moment in space and time. Availability in my home area was non-existent, and the PS2 and GameCube were equally difficult to obtain (by pure luck I did mange to get my kid brother a GC for Christmas).
- Made for Adults: The X-Box is clearly marketed towards an older crowd than the PS2 and especially the GameCube. From the controllers to the high-end features to games themselves. I really wanted Grand Turisimo 3, exclusive to the PS2, but I could not name two other games that interested me.
For whatever reason, I decided to read the Netcraft survey tonight. In the early days with my last employer (a web hosting company), our web servers showed up in the Top 5. Now they're still hanging in the Top 10, with nearly 15x more sites. The growth of the web in the past four years has been mind boggling.
My roomate brought home a stack of DVD products today. ST:TNG Season 1, K-Pax, and Chinatown. Plus 007 for the X-Box. That's like, the fourth X-Box game in four weeks. I asked if he's finished any of his X-Box games. "Nope."
