Topic: I'm Not dead yet!

[Age]

Like a lot of old things some software refuses to die eg LPs are hotter now more than ever.

[Tulwar]

Does no one else remember "Windows for Warships"?  How much does a top of the line Destroyer with every thing computerized cost to scrap or re-engineer when MS obsoletes your OS?  Planned life span of said destroyer compared to lifespan of a Microsoft OS?

The idea of operating military equipment on civilian electronics is scary on a number of levels.  I looked it up on Wikipedia, and I can't believe anybody was serious with the idea.

[Tulwar]

Like a lot of old things some software refuses to die eg LPs are hotter now more than ever.

There is a reason for this.  Quadraphonic sound recording was perfected in the 1970's with analog technology.  Digital recording still has a way to go.  In analog recordings, the media cannot record ultra and sub sonic frequencies.  The sounds people cannot hear drop off in a very natural way.  Digital sampling captures everything!  This means you can blow your speakers with sounds you can't even hear.

They've been trying to eliminate the ultra-highs and Ultra-lows, without distorting the perceptible range for decades.  At first, they simply cut the highs and lows, but people noticed.  They came up with "Dynamic Compression," but people still complain that they are missing something.

To make this more notable, in analog times, the artists created their sounds around the limitations and strengths of the recording equipment.  Different technology has different strengths and weaknesses.  The only way to get that '70's sound is to play it with '70's equipment.  Newer equipment will emphasize and drop different sounds.

Then there is the anecdotal evidence:  I've been assured by one person working with professional sound equipment that there is a very noticeable difference between analog and digital recording.  When complaining about not being able to hear a couple of notes in my favorite song, a younger guy at work assured me that it wasn't because I'm losing my hearing, but because I was listening to a CD.  To test this out, I'm going to have to buy a turn-table and an LP.

[Age]

I guess that is why my lp sound good on my old 77 Sanyo reciever.There is another eg and that is old cars were made far better and simple.

[knightstorm]

There is another eg and that is old cars were made far better and simple.

They were also made heavier, less fuel efficient, and lacking in safety features.

[Corbomite]

There is another eg and that is old cars were made far better and simple.

They were also made heavier, less fuel efficient, and lacking in safety features.

Ahh, the good ol' days...

[Tulwar]

That was the fun!  I had a Datsun 240z.  It looked like the 280z, but it was a different animal.  It had that good Nissan clutch, but I've never driven a car that could engine brake like that thing.  It would fishtail if someone spit on the sidewalk.  It could go over 100 mph pretty easily, but it was also easily lose control at 35 mph.  Then again, even newer Nissans are extremely light and overpowered.

I can't understand why anyone would want a sports car with an automatic.  I once drove a Subaru with 4WD , 265 hp, and an automatic transmission.  If you start to lose control of a car like that, well, it's going to be at very high speed and under conditions where recovery just isn't likely.  RIP.  Driving that thing was about as exciting as watching paint dry.  At least a Dodge Neon with an automatic would get your heart thumping as you put your foot through the firewall, trying to merge on the highway!

Oh, I just remembered one of my problems w/ Win 8.  I bought a Western Digital external HD at the same time.  Turns out WD didn't have a good set of Win 8 drivers.  It doesn't like to come out of sleep mode.  Oops.  I hate surprises.  May XP last until someone releases a tolerable OS.  I'm thinking about buying a Chromebook and installing Ubuntu Linux.

[TAnimaL]

Just curious - why get a chromebook and then put a Linux build on it? Chrome OS not for you? You could of course accomplish the same thing putting ubuntu on any laptop/netbook.

Man, nothing like geezers being curmudgeons, not that I'm not one myself...

My other car is a 75 Jeep DJ5 with a rebuilt chrysler 727 trans. When I pop the hood, even a car noob like me can identify and fix the carb, alternator, plugs. My mechanic says he can fix the thing in his sleep. I love it, it's a blast to ride and I get nothing but smiles from others on the road. It also gets horrendous mileage, can't go over 50 without peril, parts are becoming harder to find, and if I were in an accident I would be horribly hurt, and most likely killed if at speeds above 40. My main car is a '08 mazda3 manual which gets 23mpg city, zippy as hell and airbags in every conceivable position, safe for the family. I will never put my kids in the jeep.

I'm sure this won't convince anyone but everything I've read is that the "vinyl is best" is a myth (http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=1&doc_id=1283408), and what really matters is just having a decent sound system, whatever the source

C'mon guys! Change is ineveitible! Resistance is futile! 

[Corbomite]

I love change and I love new tech, but only if it's a move forward and not just an excuse to make more money. Some things are just made nearly perfect the first time they are invented. Look at how long it took them to improve the toothbrush. Oh, they motorized it and played with the head and the handle some, but until they came up with sonic cleaners you just couldn't beat bristles on a stick for cleaning your teeth. Worked for hundreds of years.

[Nemesis]

Just curious - why get a chromebook and then put a Linux build on it? Chrome OS not for you? You could of course accomplish the same thing putting ubuntu on any laptop/netbook.

Get away from the Google tracking of everything and have Linux compatible hardware. 

Link

Also your system works fully even when not connected to the internet.

[knightstorm]

One explanation that I've heard for the apparent inferiority of CD to vinyl is that CDs of older recordings were made using masters that were intended for vinyl.

[Tulwar]

The problem with a buying a Linux system is price.  Remember, you can buy Windows machines for $300.00 all day long.  Software companies pay the hardware companies to buy all that useless garbage on your computer when it comes from the store.  A Windows machine comes with a substantial discount.  To buy a machine with Linux installed, hardware makers charge a premium, so it just costs more.

Chromebooks, on the other hand, are really cheap machines with a lobotomized OS.  All they're really good for is paying a monthly rate for whatever you need a computer for.  The price is down around $200.00.  So, if you want a machine that can run open office, or perhaps use WINE to for the outdated Windows software that you've been using for 20 years and just doesn't work with the current version of Windows, you can just wipe the HD and install Ubuntu.

Eventually, the world is going to go Linux.  Computers are made in China, and the Chinese government runs Linux.  They are Communist, after all.  For a long time, there is going to be this East/West split, with the English world running MS, and the Chinese running Linux.  With China's manpower, the Chinese will be able to employ vast numbers of software engineers to outproduce the West.  Of course, they'll continue to backwards engineer MS products with their vast industrial espionage networks.  Once the Chinese come to dominate the world technologically,  MS will disappear.

Of course, all the good software will be Chinese language.

[TAnimaL]

OH, thanks Tulwar, I needed a good laugh today..

[Age]

You mean this car I ma Muscle Man myself love the sounds of good V8.

http://youtu.be/EO2y_-vpolA

I thought you had to install Linux yourself as you can't a buy machine with it.

[knightstorm]

You linux people are becoming increasingly militant!

NSFW due to F-bombs

Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa | Penguin Scene

[Tulwar]

Toshiba and other companies will build a Linux machine for you, but they're going make you pay through the nose.

Thanks for the 240z vid.  It is amazing how you could feel the road in those cars!  You could really feel the texture through the steering wheel.  They didn't have power steering, either.  The engine was made before catalytic converters, so it still had a very high compression ratio.  Without fuel injection, the engine backfired as you would engine brake, and you would start braking the instant you eased up on the accelerator.  I mean, as soon as there wasn't enough gas to maintain speed, that engine would backfire and try to stop the car.  The scent of raw gasoline would enter the cabin, even as the steering wheel lunged at your face.

That was a car!  These days, almost anything could out-perform it.  A moderately priced sedan could beat it in the quarter mile, and the average econobox could take a sharper turn, but it was so raw and dangerous!  Now driving a car is about as exciting as typing on a keyboard.  You're going to have to do something really stupid to lose control, because operating at the limits of a modern machine is suicidal.

This raises an issue.  As processor speed increases, year after year, not to mention "dual" or even "quad-core," my new computer is always slower than my old computer.  They don't seem to do anything my old computer didn't; they just do it slower.  I guess it's because I'm working with store-bought Windows machines, and I haven't wiped the HD and performed a clean installation of Windows.  Then again, I remember the machine I downgraded from Vista to XP:  When I installed SP3, it took just as long to boot as it did to boot up Vista.  Unlike automobiles, I don't think that Windows OS are really improving, at least, from the end user's point of view.

[Nemesis]

Toshiba and other companies will build a Linux machine for you, but they're going make you pay through the nose.

That couldn't possibly be because Microsoft will raise their prices to companies that build any real numbers of Linux machines at competitive prices? 

[Nemesis]

This raises an issue.  As processor speed increases, year after year, not to mention "dual" or even "quad-core," my new computer is always slower than my old computer.  They don't seem to do anything my old computer didn't; they just do it slower.  I guess it's because I'm working with store-bought Windows machines, and I haven't wiped the HD and performed a clean installation of Windows.  Then again, I remember the machine I downgraded from Vista to XP:  When I installed SP3, it took just as long to boot as it did to boot up Vista.  Unlike automobiles, I don't think that Windows OS are really improving, at least, from the end user's point of view.

Windows keeps adding layers of cruft and controls.  Not controls for you to use but controls to control YOU.  Part of the slowness of Vista forward is the constantly running DRM to prevent you from violating copyrights.  Somehow Microsoft thinks that they are law enforcement, judge and jury as well.  Their software judges what you are doing to be a legal violation and stops you.  I first saw that with Win2k which stopped me from legally copying a DVD.  It would have been illegal in the U.S. but not here where I bought the Win2k. 

I have a wireless internet connection now (yes Stephen I did move out of the dial up era some time ago..  Since it was a USB Stick not compatible with Linux I bought the hotspot which lets me connect up to 5 machines so I could connect the Linux desktop I'm currently posting from.  I also had to get wireless USB network sticks for the two desktops.  Why is it that the Chromebook, Linux desktop, android tablet and Win7Pro 64bit netbook all had no difficulty connecting but the Win7Pro 64bit desktop had to enable internet sharing before IT could access the internet through the hotspot connected to it?   (That doesn't happen when it is connected to the netbook.)

[Tulwar]

That couldn't possibly be because Microsoft will raise their prices to companies that build any real numbers of Linux machines at competitive prices?

I wouldn't put it past MS.  I guess they could do that, and that 1 minute delay MS wrote into 2000 and ME was declared an illegal, amti-competative practice.  What I know is that MS and every rat-fink, screw-you-over-in-a-heartbeat software publisher pays to pre-load Windows machine with crapware.  That is introductory software that you can't use, but it still takes up space in the registry, slowing your machine down, but you just can't get rid of it without completely wiping the HD.  I'm told that that is a significant source of revenue for the computer companies.

[Tulwar]

Windows keeps adding layers of cruft and controls.  Not controls for you to use but controls to control YOU.  Part of the slowness of Vista forward is the constantly running DRM to prevent you from violating copyrights.  Somehow Microsoft thinks that they are law enforcement, judge and jury as well.  Their software judges what you are doing to be a legal violation and stops you.  I first saw that with Win2k which stopped me from legally copying a DVD.  It would have been illegal in the U.S. but not here where I bought the Win2k. 

I've understood this to be a big part of it.