wessman
September 25th, 2002, 05:07 PM
Janis Ian on Life in the Music Business |
| from the been-there-forever-and-done-it-all dept. |
| posted by Roblimo on Monday September 23, @12:00 (music) |
| http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/133228 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Y'all didn't pull any punches in the [0]questions you asked, and [1]Janis
didn't pull any in her answers. But then, the word "outspoken" has been
used to describe Janis ever since she recorded [2]Society's Child at the
age of 15, back in 1965.
This story continues at:
http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/133228
Discuss this story at:
http://interviews.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/133228
Links:
0. http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/03/1218209&tid=141
1. http://janisian.com/
2. http://janisian.com/lyric-societys_child.html
----------------------------------------------------
Online Fans Start to Pay the Piper
Music fans once scoffed at the attempts by the record
industry to create Internet subscription services. Now they
are joining them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/25/arts/music/25DOWN.html
------------------------------------------
TheKompany: tkcOggRipper: Easy-to-use Ogg Vorbis C |
| from the rip-on-my-friend dept. |
| posted by Hemos on Tuesday September 24, @14:30 (music) |
| http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/24/1830242 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]GonzoJohn writes "Looks like TheKompany has released an ogg rippoer
for CDs: "[1]tkcOggRipper is a freely available (but not GPL) program for
easily and conveniently ripping CDs into the Ogg Vorbis format. If you
are not familiar with Ogg Vorbis, it is available from Xiph
(www.xiph.org). It compresses smaller and creates higher fidelity files
than MP3. Ogg Vorbis also doesn't have any license time bombs or
restrictions associated with it as MP3 does. You can look here to see
what we mean. MP3 royalties will cost you either directly as a producer
or indirectly as a consumer. One problem with Ogg Vorbis has been a lack
of easy to use tools for ripping CDs into the Ogg Vorbis format -- they
were confusing or command line based. This led us to write tkcOggRipper,
which couldn't be more easy to use. Pop in a CD, pick an ouput directory
and select a "Quality" setting, and go. tkcOggRipper is currently
available for Linux and Windows, and we hope to release a version for Mac
OS X soon."
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/24/1830242
Links:
0. http://www.linuxorbit.com
1. http://www.thekompany.com/projects/tkcoggripper/
Kazaa Continues to Evolve |
| from the gotta-make-some-money dept. |
| posted by Hemos on Monday September 23, @11:02 (announce) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/123203 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Zephy writes "The New York Times (free registration etc.. ) has an
article about a new [1]partnership between Kazaa, and Tiscali, the
European internet access provider. Seems that Kazaa will carry ads for
Tiscali's broadband services in return for a cash 'bounty' when a user
signs up for broadband. To quote the article, 'This gives legitimacy to
KaZaA.' Also, Cnet has an article about the [2]new Kazaa version which
has features designed to help users avoid corrupt or wrong files such as
those spread around p2p by the MP/RIAA."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/123203
Links:
0. http://[jon]%20[at]%20[aezis.net]
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/23/technology/23TUNE.html
2. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-958912.html
Ethical Lines of the Gray Hat |
| from the what-hat-will-you-wear? dept. |
| posted by Hemos on Monday September 23, @13:05 (security) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/1417249 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Facter writes "There is a [0]great article on CNET about the ethical
debate between white/gray/black-hat hackers - interesting to note is that
it reports the "fading away" of the "gray" definition between white and
black, due to the DMCA hindering anything in between.."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/1417249
Links:
0. http://news.com.com/2009-1001-958129.html
Directors Counter-Sue Movie Bowdlerizing Company |
| from the see-you-one-lawsuit-and-raise-you-two dept. |
| posted by michael on Monday September 23, @04:59 (movies) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/22/222241 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
crazyhorse44 writes "The lesser of two evils? 'The Directors Guild of
America is suing more than a dozen companies that delete scenes depicting
violence, sex and profanity from Hollywood films, saying the process
violates federal copyright law. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Denver, was
a response to a suit filed last month by Clean Flicks of Colorado, which
is part of the Utah-based rental chain [0]Clean Flicks. The company had
asked a judge to rule its practice legal, despite protests from several
well-known directors, including Robert Redford and Steven Spielberg.
Clean Flicks argues it doesn't violate copyright law because it purchases
a new copy each time it edits a film and because customers are
technically owners of the videos through a cooperative arrangement. The
edited tapes also carry a disclaimer that the film was edited for
content, the company says.' Whose side to take? The DGA is defending the
desecration of many of our favorite films, while Clean Flicks is strongly
advocating for the copyright rights of the consumer to edit and/or alter
the media that they purchase. At the extreme you have folks who want to
eliminate all traces of sex and violence from the popular media against
the movie industry who wants to eliminate all property rights of the
consumer. Whose side would you take? Links at [1]Salon, [2]USA Today and
[3]FindLAW." We've had previous stories [4]here and [5]here.
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/22/222241
Links:
0. http://www.cleanflicks.com/
1. http://www.salon.com/ent/wire/2002/09/21/lawsuit/index.html
2. http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/2002-09-02-flicks_x.htm
3. http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hilden/20020903.html
4. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/07/175254&tid=97
5. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/31/1648231&tid=97
------------------------------------------------
Prices fall for CD-rewritable drives
By Richard Shim
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 25, 2002, 1:21 PM PT
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-959494.html
Shipments of CD-rewritable drives jumped to unexpected levels earlier this year, while sales suffered--a combination that could mean a happy holiday season for price-minded consumers.
The market for CD-RW drives is so oversaturated that prices of some models have fallen below $100. Best Buy is selling an internal 40x Sony CD-RW drive for $84.92 before a $20 mail-in rebate, as well as an internal 40x Digital Research CD-RW drive for $65.92 without a rebate.
"In the first quarter there was some channel stuffing, where the numbers were unexplainably high, and we're still seeing the effects of a correction," said Wolfgang Schlichting, an analyst with research firm IDC.
CD-RW drives have very nearly become a standard component in PCs that target home users, hence the glut has been exacerbated by poor PC sales, said Gartner analyst Mary Craig.
"PC makers had forecast higher sales in the second quarter than there actually ended up being," Craig said. "So there were plenty of cancellations, which built up inventory. August was especially rough for PC and drive makers."
The traditionally strong back-to-school shopping season proved to be a letdown for PC makers, despite aggressive efforts by retailers. Students also tend to be big buyers of add-on CD-RW drives, and sales there didn't materialize either.
Craig added that CD-RW drives with 48x speeds came out sooner than expected, causing manufacturers to "blow out" inventory below cost.
Schlichting expects the glut to carry over to the fourth quarter and anticipates that there will be further price drops in the coming months.
At the same time, manufacturing processes for CD-RW drives are maturing, which should further lower prices. More and more makers are reducing the number of parts used in the drives making them faster and less expensive.
One bright spot for CD-RW makers could be the business market, where shipments are beginning to pick up.
"The corporate market has been slow to pick up CD-RW drives, but they are just starting to come around," said Schlichting. "If that accelerates, there could be some upside potential." About 15 percent to 20 percent of corporate PCs come with CD-RW drives, but that could grow to 50 percent in the coming months, according to IDC data.
Schlichting said that he expected the CD-RW market to begin consolidating, with some of the smaller manufacturers ending their efforts.
Meanwhile, prices for DVD-rewritable drives have also fallen significantly because of improvements in the manufacturing process, according to drive makers. DVD-RW drives have become the new high-end optical storage technology, and computer makers are expected to include such drives in PCs this coming holiday season.
As it gears up for the holidays, Hewlett-Packard has cut the price of its DVD-RW drives by $100, to $349 for the dvd200i and $449 for the dvd200e. HP's first generation drive, the dvd100i, cost $600 when it was introduced in August of last year.
Related News
Computer makers gird for holiday battle September 25, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-959378.html
PC squeeze means DVDs for the masses September 17, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-958287.html
Intel forecasts a gloomy fall September 5, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-956776.html
Start of school year brings PC deals August 27, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-955446.html
Get this story's "Big Picture"
http://news.com.com/2104-1040-959494.html
Copyright ©1995-2002 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
---------------------------------------------------------
Snail Mail Still Winning The Bandwidth War |
| from the first-mover-advantage dept. |
| posted by timothy on Monday September 23, @16:18 (internet) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/1719234 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
LR_none writes "Today's [0]New York Times has [1]this short piece
suggesting snail mail is the leading broadband technology, at least for
video movies on demand. The article states that the 8 to 9 gigs of data
on a DVD would take two weeks to download at 56kb, making [2]Netflix'
three-day distribution by mail seem speedy. (Since they can send three or
more movies at once, Netflix compares favorably with DSL download speeds,
too.) The author estimates Netflix alone distributes 1,500 terabytes a
day, which is impressive considering the Internet carries 2,000TB a day
(by estimates cited in the article). The 'immediate gratification' aspect
of Internet consumerism has given a huge boost to companies like [3]FedEx
and [4]UPS, but it's surprising to think of [5]the post office as being
the leading infrastructure provider for digital entertainment, in terms
of market share and efficiency, for the forseeable future. (Disclaimer: I
don't work for Netflix or the post office.)"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/1719234
Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/23/technology/23NECO.html
2. http://www.netflix.com/
3. http://www.fedex.com/
4. http://www.ups.com/
5. http://www.usps.gov/
Report: Broadband Too Expensive For Many |
| from the what's-it-really-worth dept. |
| posted by Hemos on Monday September 23, @09:39 (money) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/1219211 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous submitter writes "This [0]AP article, citing a study from
the U.S. Commerce Department, reports that "Almost all U.S. families live
in areas where a high-speed Internet connection is available, but many
see no compelling reason to pay extra for it." The article mentions a
survey that found that "more than 70 percent of dial-up users cited cost
as the main reason they aren't upgrading to faster access."" It's much
like digital cable - the cable networks ratch up the price for...music
channels? But broadband is a chicken - egg problem. You won't get people
signing up until they see a reason, and you won't get compelling reasons
until more people have signed up.
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/1219211
Links:
0. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/13/tech/main521892.shtml
The Coming Time for 802.11a? |
| from the faster-better-more-secure dept. |
| posted by Hemos on Monday September 23, @14:15 (news) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/1516222 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]abhikhurana writes " [1]This article on [2]80211-planet.com predicts a
real boom in the market for 802.11a in the coming year. An excerpt from
the article: In tests in my SOHO LAN, I found that in real world
conditions, 802.11a averaged four times faster than 802.11b. In addition,
with its 5GHz frequency, 802.11a avoids the interference slow-downs that
b must suffer with microwave ovens, high-end wireless phones, and other
802.11b networks. Also makes an interesting read for knowing about the
technologies which maybe driving the wireless bandwagon in the coming
years."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/1516222
Links:
0. mailto:abhikhurana@crosswinds.net
1. http://www.80211-planet.com/columns/article/0,4000,1781_1465111,00.html
2. http://www.80211-planet.com/
Political Issues of the Tech Community? |
| from the what-do-you-care-about dept. |
| posted by Cliff on Tuesday September 24, @15:55 (usa) |
| http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/24/1940256 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]DonJefe68 asks: "I'm planning to create a website which lists the
political positions that US House and Senate candidates here in North
Carolina have on issues of concern to the tech community. There are
obvious issues like the DMCA and Fritz Hollings' CBDTPA as well as issues
such as the effect of the economy on the tech sector and the USA PATRIOT
Act's privacy concerns. What national issues other than intellectual
property, privacy and jobs are we interested in?" Are there other sites
that track politician votes, on technical issues, for other US States or
on a national level? For those readers who do not live in the US, please
feel free to speak your mind on this topic or on political issues that
affect you as well.
Discuss this story at:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/24/1940256
Links:
0. http://donjefe68&carolina,rr,com
Censorware Funded By The Japanese Government |
| from the who'd-a-thunk-it dept. |
| posted by timothy on Monday September 23, @16:49 (censorship) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/2021215 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]sakichan writes "Most readers of /. won't know about the censorware
funded by the Japanese Government. Recently I distributed tools to
decrypt rating labels, not violating the license. One month after,
IAJapan, which represents the Internet industry in Japan and runs the
censorware project, changed the license. The new license prohibits not
only reverse-engineering, but also "any activities which We consider
would interfere with Our Purpose or business, by means of the use of the
Software or the Services." Full story is on [1]my web site."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/2021215
Links:
0. mailto:sakichan@sakichan.org
1. http://www.jca.apc.org/~sakichan/censorware/IAJapan/index-e.html
--------------------------------------------------------
Special report: Spam's out of control
http://cl.com.com/Click?q=9b-7-TFQSIw1xWZz1n0dxaz5re3KTiR
------------------------------------
Google Does the News |
| from the hey-mister-wanna-buy-the-paper dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday September 23, @10:25 (internet) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/1348245 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
rizen was among the countless readers who submitted that [0]google does
the news. They've added a new tab to their interface, and a CNNish sorta
web page that indexes thousands of online news sites. Their technology
section is showing some Slashdot stories too (sweet!). I like that they
combine related stories on the same subject. Nifty setup.
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/1348245
Links:
0. http://news.google.com/ :sw
| from the been-there-forever-and-done-it-all dept. |
| posted by Roblimo on Monday September 23, @12:00 (music) |
| http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/133228 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Y'all didn't pull any punches in the [0]questions you asked, and [1]Janis
didn't pull any in her answers. But then, the word "outspoken" has been
used to describe Janis ever since she recorded [2]Society's Child at the
age of 15, back in 1965.
This story continues at:
http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/133228
Discuss this story at:
http://interviews.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/133228
Links:
0. http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/03/1218209&tid=141
1. http://janisian.com/
2. http://janisian.com/lyric-societys_child.html
----------------------------------------------------
Online Fans Start to Pay the Piper
Music fans once scoffed at the attempts by the record
industry to create Internet subscription services. Now they
are joining them.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/25/arts/music/25DOWN.html
------------------------------------------
TheKompany: tkcOggRipper: Easy-to-use Ogg Vorbis C |
| from the rip-on-my-friend dept. |
| posted by Hemos on Tuesday September 24, @14:30 (music) |
| http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/24/1830242 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]GonzoJohn writes "Looks like TheKompany has released an ogg rippoer
for CDs: "[1]tkcOggRipper is a freely available (but not GPL) program for
easily and conveniently ripping CDs into the Ogg Vorbis format. If you
are not familiar with Ogg Vorbis, it is available from Xiph
(www.xiph.org). It compresses smaller and creates higher fidelity files
than MP3. Ogg Vorbis also doesn't have any license time bombs or
restrictions associated with it as MP3 does. You can look here to see
what we mean. MP3 royalties will cost you either directly as a producer
or indirectly as a consumer. One problem with Ogg Vorbis has been a lack
of easy to use tools for ripping CDs into the Ogg Vorbis format -- they
were confusing or command line based. This led us to write tkcOggRipper,
which couldn't be more easy to use. Pop in a CD, pick an ouput directory
and select a "Quality" setting, and go. tkcOggRipper is currently
available for Linux and Windows, and we hope to release a version for Mac
OS X soon."
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/24/1830242
Links:
0. http://www.linuxorbit.com
1. http://www.thekompany.com/projects/tkcoggripper/
Kazaa Continues to Evolve |
| from the gotta-make-some-money dept. |
| posted by Hemos on Monday September 23, @11:02 (announce) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/123203 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Zephy writes "The New York Times (free registration etc.. ) has an
article about a new [1]partnership between Kazaa, and Tiscali, the
European internet access provider. Seems that Kazaa will carry ads for
Tiscali's broadband services in return for a cash 'bounty' when a user
signs up for broadband. To quote the article, 'This gives legitimacy to
KaZaA.' Also, Cnet has an article about the [2]new Kazaa version which
has features designed to help users avoid corrupt or wrong files such as
those spread around p2p by the MP/RIAA."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/123203
Links:
0. http://[jon]%20[at]%20[aezis.net]
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/23/technology/23TUNE.html
2. http://news.com.com/2100-1023-958912.html
Ethical Lines of the Gray Hat |
| from the what-hat-will-you-wear? dept. |
| posted by Hemos on Monday September 23, @13:05 (security) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/1417249 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Facter writes "There is a [0]great article on CNET about the ethical
debate between white/gray/black-hat hackers - interesting to note is that
it reports the "fading away" of the "gray" definition between white and
black, due to the DMCA hindering anything in between.."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/1417249
Links:
0. http://news.com.com/2009-1001-958129.html
Directors Counter-Sue Movie Bowdlerizing Company |
| from the see-you-one-lawsuit-and-raise-you-two dept. |
| posted by michael on Monday September 23, @04:59 (movies) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/22/222241 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
crazyhorse44 writes "The lesser of two evils? 'The Directors Guild of
America is suing more than a dozen companies that delete scenes depicting
violence, sex and profanity from Hollywood films, saying the process
violates federal copyright law. The lawsuit, filed Friday in Denver, was
a response to a suit filed last month by Clean Flicks of Colorado, which
is part of the Utah-based rental chain [0]Clean Flicks. The company had
asked a judge to rule its practice legal, despite protests from several
well-known directors, including Robert Redford and Steven Spielberg.
Clean Flicks argues it doesn't violate copyright law because it purchases
a new copy each time it edits a film and because customers are
technically owners of the videos through a cooperative arrangement. The
edited tapes also carry a disclaimer that the film was edited for
content, the company says.' Whose side to take? The DGA is defending the
desecration of many of our favorite films, while Clean Flicks is strongly
advocating for the copyright rights of the consumer to edit and/or alter
the media that they purchase. At the extreme you have folks who want to
eliminate all traces of sex and violence from the popular media against
the movie industry who wants to eliminate all property rights of the
consumer. Whose side would you take? Links at [1]Salon, [2]USA Today and
[3]FindLAW." We've had previous stories [4]here and [5]here.
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/22/222241
Links:
0. http://www.cleanflicks.com/
1. http://www.salon.com/ent/wire/2002/09/21/lawsuit/index.html
2. http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/2002-09-02-flicks_x.htm
3. http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hilden/20020903.html
4. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/07/175254&tid=97
5. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/31/1648231&tid=97
------------------------------------------------
Prices fall for CD-rewritable drives
By Richard Shim
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 25, 2002, 1:21 PM PT
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-959494.html
Shipments of CD-rewritable drives jumped to unexpected levels earlier this year, while sales suffered--a combination that could mean a happy holiday season for price-minded consumers.
The market for CD-RW drives is so oversaturated that prices of some models have fallen below $100. Best Buy is selling an internal 40x Sony CD-RW drive for $84.92 before a $20 mail-in rebate, as well as an internal 40x Digital Research CD-RW drive for $65.92 without a rebate.
"In the first quarter there was some channel stuffing, where the numbers were unexplainably high, and we're still seeing the effects of a correction," said Wolfgang Schlichting, an analyst with research firm IDC.
CD-RW drives have very nearly become a standard component in PCs that target home users, hence the glut has been exacerbated by poor PC sales, said Gartner analyst Mary Craig.
"PC makers had forecast higher sales in the second quarter than there actually ended up being," Craig said. "So there were plenty of cancellations, which built up inventory. August was especially rough for PC and drive makers."
The traditionally strong back-to-school shopping season proved to be a letdown for PC makers, despite aggressive efforts by retailers. Students also tend to be big buyers of add-on CD-RW drives, and sales there didn't materialize either.
Craig added that CD-RW drives with 48x speeds came out sooner than expected, causing manufacturers to "blow out" inventory below cost.
Schlichting expects the glut to carry over to the fourth quarter and anticipates that there will be further price drops in the coming months.
At the same time, manufacturing processes for CD-RW drives are maturing, which should further lower prices. More and more makers are reducing the number of parts used in the drives making them faster and less expensive.
One bright spot for CD-RW makers could be the business market, where shipments are beginning to pick up.
"The corporate market has been slow to pick up CD-RW drives, but they are just starting to come around," said Schlichting. "If that accelerates, there could be some upside potential." About 15 percent to 20 percent of corporate PCs come with CD-RW drives, but that could grow to 50 percent in the coming months, according to IDC data.
Schlichting said that he expected the CD-RW market to begin consolidating, with some of the smaller manufacturers ending their efforts.
Meanwhile, prices for DVD-rewritable drives have also fallen significantly because of improvements in the manufacturing process, according to drive makers. DVD-RW drives have become the new high-end optical storage technology, and computer makers are expected to include such drives in PCs this coming holiday season.
As it gears up for the holidays, Hewlett-Packard has cut the price of its DVD-RW drives by $100, to $349 for the dvd200i and $449 for the dvd200e. HP's first generation drive, the dvd100i, cost $600 when it was introduced in August of last year.
Related News
Computer makers gird for holiday battle September 25, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-959378.html
PC squeeze means DVDs for the masses September 17, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-958287.html
Intel forecasts a gloomy fall September 5, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-956776.html
Start of school year brings PC deals August 27, 2002
http://news.com.com/2100-1040-955446.html
Get this story's "Big Picture"
http://news.com.com/2104-1040-959494.html
Copyright ©1995-2002 CNET Networks, Inc. All rights reserved.
---------------------------------------------------------
Snail Mail Still Winning The Bandwidth War |
| from the first-mover-advantage dept. |
| posted by timothy on Monday September 23, @16:18 (internet) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/1719234 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
LR_none writes "Today's [0]New York Times has [1]this short piece
suggesting snail mail is the leading broadband technology, at least for
video movies on demand. The article states that the 8 to 9 gigs of data
on a DVD would take two weeks to download at 56kb, making [2]Netflix'
three-day distribution by mail seem speedy. (Since they can send three or
more movies at once, Netflix compares favorably with DSL download speeds,
too.) The author estimates Netflix alone distributes 1,500 terabytes a
day, which is impressive considering the Internet carries 2,000TB a day
(by estimates cited in the article). The 'immediate gratification' aspect
of Internet consumerism has given a huge boost to companies like [3]FedEx
and [4]UPS, but it's surprising to think of [5]the post office as being
the leading infrastructure provider for digital entertainment, in terms
of market share and efficiency, for the forseeable future. (Disclaimer: I
don't work for Netflix or the post office.)"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/1719234
Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/09/23/technology/23NECO.html
2. http://www.netflix.com/
3. http://www.fedex.com/
4. http://www.ups.com/
5. http://www.usps.gov/
Report: Broadband Too Expensive For Many |
| from the what's-it-really-worth dept. |
| posted by Hemos on Monday September 23, @09:39 (money) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/1219211 |
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An anonymous submitter writes "This [0]AP article, citing a study from
the U.S. Commerce Department, reports that "Almost all U.S. families live
in areas where a high-speed Internet connection is available, but many
see no compelling reason to pay extra for it." The article mentions a
survey that found that "more than 70 percent of dial-up users cited cost
as the main reason they aren't upgrading to faster access."" It's much
like digital cable - the cable networks ratch up the price for...music
channels? But broadband is a chicken - egg problem. You won't get people
signing up until they see a reason, and you won't get compelling reasons
until more people have signed up.
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/1219211
Links:
0. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/13/tech/main521892.shtml
The Coming Time for 802.11a? |
| from the faster-better-more-secure dept. |
| posted by Hemos on Monday September 23, @14:15 (news) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/1516222 |
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[0]abhikhurana writes " [1]This article on [2]80211-planet.com predicts a
real boom in the market for 802.11a in the coming year. An excerpt from
the article: In tests in my SOHO LAN, I found that in real world
conditions, 802.11a averaged four times faster than 802.11b. In addition,
with its 5GHz frequency, 802.11a avoids the interference slow-downs that
b must suffer with microwave ovens, high-end wireless phones, and other
802.11b networks. Also makes an interesting read for knowing about the
technologies which maybe driving the wireless bandwagon in the coming
years."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/1516222
Links:
0. mailto:abhikhurana@crosswinds.net
1. http://www.80211-planet.com/columns/article/0,4000,1781_1465111,00.html
2. http://www.80211-planet.com/
Political Issues of the Tech Community? |
| from the what-do-you-care-about dept. |
| posted by Cliff on Tuesday September 24, @15:55 (usa) |
| http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/24/1940256 |
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[0]DonJefe68 asks: "I'm planning to create a website which lists the
political positions that US House and Senate candidates here in North
Carolina have on issues of concern to the tech community. There are
obvious issues like the DMCA and Fritz Hollings' CBDTPA as well as issues
such as the effect of the economy on the tech sector and the USA PATRIOT
Act's privacy concerns. What national issues other than intellectual
property, privacy and jobs are we interested in?" Are there other sites
that track politician votes, on technical issues, for other US States or
on a national level? For those readers who do not live in the US, please
feel free to speak your mind on this topic or on political issues that
affect you as well.
Discuss this story at:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/24/1940256
Links:
0. http://donjefe68&carolina,rr,com
Censorware Funded By The Japanese Government |
| from the who'd-a-thunk-it dept. |
| posted by timothy on Monday September 23, @16:49 (censorship) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/2021215 |
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[0]sakichan writes "Most readers of /. won't know about the censorware
funded by the Japanese Government. Recently I distributed tools to
decrypt rating labels, not violating the license. One month after,
IAJapan, which represents the Internet industry in Japan and runs the
censorware project, changed the license. The new license prohibits not
only reverse-engineering, but also "any activities which We consider
would interfere with Our Purpose or business, by means of the use of the
Software or the Services." Full story is on [1]my web site."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/2021215
Links:
0. mailto:sakichan@sakichan.org
1. http://www.jca.apc.org/~sakichan/censorware/IAJapan/index-e.html
--------------------------------------------------------
Special report: Spam's out of control
http://cl.com.com/Click?q=9b-7-TFQSIw1xWZz1n0dxaz5re3KTiR
------------------------------------
Google Does the News |
| from the hey-mister-wanna-buy-the-paper dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday September 23, @10:25 (internet) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/23/1348245 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
rizen was among the countless readers who submitted that [0]google does
the news. They've added a new tab to their interface, and a CNNish sorta
web page that indexes thousands of online news sites. Their technology
section is showing some Slashdot stories too (sweet!). I like that they
combine related stories on the same subject. Nifty setup.
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=02/09/23/1348245
Links:
0. http://news.google.com/ :sw