*HOT* Tech News And Downloads, I Would Read This Thread And Post Any Good Info

Discussion in 'Safety valve' started by ireland, Jan 28, 2006.

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  1. FredBun

    FredBun Active member

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    Ireland, about dvdnextcopy, is it true its the same guys that ran 321studio, I read about it some time ago that it might be them, anyway, have you tried this program and if you did how to you like it, and the link you gave is that the trial version, cause to buy I think its $70.
     
  2. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    FredBun
    they are from Korea,a wee bit above the 38 parallel dmz line..
    dvdnextcopy has a 3-day trial to try..
    TRY IT AND LET ME KNOW IF YE LIKE IT..
     
  3. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    FREE,Flashblock 1.5.2

    Lorenzo Colitti and Philip Chee
    Publisher's Website Lorenzo Colitti and Philip Chee

    Flashblock is an extension for the Mozilla, Firefox, and Netscape browsers that takes a pessimistic approach to dealing with Macromedia Flash content on a webpage and blocks all of the Flash content from loading. It then leaves placeholders on the webpage that allow you to click to download and then view the Flash content.

    Version 1.5.2 adds el-GR locale.

    CNET Networks is not responsible for the content of this Publisher's Description. We encourage you to determine whether this product or your intended use is legal. We do not encourage or condone the use of any software in violation of applicable laws.


    download here
    http://www.download.com/Flashblock/3000-11745_4-10622579.html?tag=pop.feed&subj=Flashblock&part=rss
     
  4. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    FREE,Download Embedded 0.5

    DOWNLOAD HERE
    http://www.download.com/Download-Em...?tag=pop.feed&subj=Download-Embedded&part=rss
     
  5. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    link
    http://www.linuxcompatible.org/Ubuntu_7.04_Feisty_Fawn_Beta_s83964.html

    download link
    http://releases.ubuntu.com/7.04/
     
  6. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    Trojan horse targets Skype users


    http://news.com.com/Trojan+horse+targets+Skype+users/2100-7349_3-6169973.html?tag=nefd.top
     
  7. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    DVD Flick 1.2.1.3
    Author: Dennis Meuwissen
    Date: 2007-03-24
    Size: 7.1 Mb
    License: Freeware

    DVD Flick aims to be a simple but at the same time powerful DVD Authoring tool. It can take a number of video files stored on your computer and turn them into a DVD that will play back on your DVD player, Media Center or Home Cinema Set. You can add additional custom audio tracks as well as subtitles of your choice.

    DVD Flick is Open Source, meaning that anyone can download and view or modify the program's source code. It also means that it is absolutely free of charge. Several external programs are used by DVD Flick to do the dirty work like encoding and combining of video material. All of these programs are free, some are Open Source too.

    Supported file container formats are, amongst others, AVI, MPG, MOV, WMV, ASF, FLV, Matroska and MP4. Supported codecs are amongst others, MPEG-1\2\4 (XVid, DivX, etc.), Windows Media Audio\Video. MP3, OGG Vorbis, H264, and On2 VP5\6.

    DOWNLOAD HERE
    http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5530.html
     
  8. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    ZS4 0.958
    Author: t@b
    Date: 2007-03-24
    Size: 2.56 Mb
    License: Freeware

    ZS4 is video editing and compositing software which aims to provide media experts with a facility to combine a variety of media types (currently photos, videos and audio files) into one (or more) output file(s).

    ZS4 can be used like an object oriented photo-manipulation program with a timeline: things that can be manipulated in a photo (workshop) program can be manipulated in ZS4 using parameters which alter over time.

    Main Features:
    - Unlimited* number of audio, video and picture tracks
    - Unlimited number of video/audio effects for every track.
    - Produce video with a resolution of 8x8 or 16000x16000 (~200 Megapixels / frame) and many sizes in between
    - Full automation control for all track and effect variables using keyframes (cropping, zooming, panning, volume, rotation, opacity, key-color etc...)
    - Full cross integration of audio and video. (noise gates triggering video effects. video brightness controlling volume etc.) Here is an example video.
    - Looping of both audio and video signals simultaneously, with adjustable cross-fade on loop boundaries. - Manipulate the flow of time, forward, backward, speed up and slow down smoothly. - Grouping of video/audio tracks into sub-groups (submixers) which can then be manipulated (faded/rotated/effected etc) as if they were a single track.

    DOWNLOAD HERE
    http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4825.html
     
  9. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    Logitech: Setpoint Mouse Software for Vista 3.3 Build 165
    Author: Logitech
    Date: 2007-03-24
    Size: 50.1 Mb
    License: Freeware

    Suupport for the following mice:

    Logitech® MX™ Revolution
    Logitech® VX Revolution™
    Logitech® G7 Laser Cordless Mouse
    Logitech® MX™400 Performance Laser Mouse
    Logitech® G3 Laser Mouse
    Logitech® MX™1000 Laser Cordless Mouse
    Logitech® V500 Cordless Notebook Mouse
    Logitech MX™ 610 Laser Cordless Mouse
    Logitech® MX™610 Left-Hand Laser Cordless Mouse
    Logitech® V150 Laser Mouse for Notebooks
    Logitech® V100 Optical Mouse for notebooks
    Logitech® V450 Laser Cordless Mouse for Notebooks
    Logitech® LX3 Optical Mouse
    Logitech® V400 Laser Cordless Mouse for Notebooks
    Logitech® MediaPlay™ Cordless Mouse
    Logitech® LX7 Cordless Optical Mouse
    Logitech® V200 Cordless Notebook Mouse
    Logitech® LX5 Cordless Optical Mouse
    Logitech® Cordless Mini Optical Mouse
    Logitech® MX™518 Gaming-Grade™ Optical Mouse
    Logitech® G5 Laser Mouse
    Logitech® Cordless Click!™ Optical Mouse
    Logitech® Tiger Mouse
    Logitech® Spot Mouse
    Logitech® Flower Mouse
    Logitech® Leopard Mouse
    Logitech® Zebra Mouse
    Logitech® Racer Mouse
    Logitech® Cordless Click!™ Plus Optical Mouse
    Logitech® RX1000 Laser Mouse (ROEM)

    DOWNLOAD HERE
    http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5507.html
     
  10. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    Realtek AC'97 Drivers for Vista 6.0.1.6231 WHQL
    Author: Realtek
    Date: 2007-03-24
    Size: 29 Mb
    License: Freeware

    Realtek AC'97 Drivers for the Vista operating system.

    DOWNLOAD HERE
    http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5505.html



    Realtek High Definition Audio for Vista 1.63
    Author: Realtec
    Date: 2007-03-24
    Size: 16.6 Mb
    License: Freeware
    Requires: Vista

    Realtek High Definition Audio drivers for Vista.

    DOWNLOAD HERE
    http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5513.html
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2007
  11. ChrisC586

    ChrisC586 Regular member

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    FredBun I've been using the dvdnextcopy since Ireland intro'd me to it and it's a fast simple proggy taht I use along with the others.It's worth the money in my book and the 8 yr old has no problem using it since he doesn't get the originals, try it MHOP I think you'll like it it did some movies for me others were having trouble with when they first came out. Chris
     
  12. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    ChrisC586

    AS I UNDERSTAND dvdnextcopy is giving clonedvd a run for top spot..
    note anydvd will work with dvdnextcopy

    i did offer a couple free keys here,and i had only one who wanted to try the program....

    some of the mods here got a key,but i have no reports from them.

    and those people are not associated with dvdxcopy,321-studios


    We just released a new version
    DVD neXt COPY V2.5.8.2 (Release Date 03-22-07)
    www.dvdnextcopy.com

    http://www.dvdnextcopy.com/setup/DVDneXtCOPY_V2_5_8_2.exe


    Current - DVD neXt COPY V2.5.8.2 - 03/22/07 - Download

    Release Notes

    * NEW neXt Tech™
    * Some Minor Fixes in Software Usage
    * Improved Stability
    * Optimized Engines
    * Optimized Playback Structures
    * Fixed RW bug
    * Improved Buffer Underrun
    * Added 18x burn support
    * Added 20x burn support
    * New Added Skin Options and DVD neXt COPY Skin Base (Website)
    * New Added 2 New FREE Skins (Flame and Metal)
    * New Added DVD neXt COPY Speed Adjuster Tool
    * New Added FREE Gift DVD neXt COPY Virtual Drive V1.0
    * Updated Dynamic Windows
    * Updated Language Resources
    * Updated Splash Screen Image V2.5.8.2
    * Updated Resources to V2.5.8.2
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2007
  13. ChrisC586

    ChrisC586 Regular member

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    ireland Yeah I was one that got a key from you and I can't remember the 2 movies people were having trouble with but it did them.I haven't used the new version just seen it on here for the updateand downloaded it, be trying it tonight.Finally about done moving and dear old Comcast had internet one day and not the next and every time they said errors when they changed address and registration wasn't right then work became 7 days a week with people off work so I couldn't take the vacation during the move and that took away my free time till today. Yours and Rippers jokes this morning really found a long lost smile. Best regards to you and the Bride. Chris
     
  14. FredBun

    FredBun Active member

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    Ireland or chrisc, is this still available with a free key?, if it is, is it a trial version on full version, and does it need a dycrypter to run like anydvd or does it have its own built in.
     
  15. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    NOTE:BE CAREFUL AS THIS OPENS ALL THE DEFAULT SETTING IN FIREFOX



    SET FIREFOX TO ALLOW 10 SIMULTANEOUS DOWNLOADS ..........Just like Internet Explorer, Firefox has a default to only allow you to download only 2 items at the same time. Changing this, is not as simple as going into your Preferences and changing a setting .....(free).....GO THERE!
    http://www.fixmyxp.com/content/view/203/129/


    Set Firefox to Allow 10 Simultaneous Downloads

    Just like Internet Explorer, Firefox has a default to only allow you to download only 2 items at the same time. Changing this, is not as simple as going into your Preferences and changing a setting…

    To change this to allow 10 (or more) simultaneous downloads. Do the following:

    Open a new Firefox browser window.
    Then in the address bar type about:config then hit enter

    Next scroll down and locate the setting for:

    network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server

    Double Click on it and change the value to a 10 (or whatever you want)
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2007
  16. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    Undelete Plus 2.7.1.0
    Author: FDRLab Data Recovery Centre
    Date: 2007-03-26
    Size: 1 Mb
    License: Freeware

    Undelete Plus is a quick and effective way to retrieve accidentally deleted files, files removed from the Recycle Bin, in a DOS window, from a network drive, from Windows Explorer with the SHIFT key held down.

    Undelete Plus works under Win 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 operating systems. The program supports all Windows file systems for hard and floppy drives including FAT12/16/32,NTFS/NTFS5 and image recovery from CompactFlash, SmartMedia, MultiMedia and Secure Digital cards.

    DOWNLOAD HERE
    http://www.majorgeeks.com/download5301.html
     
  17. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    Fresh View 7.15
    Author: FreshDevices
    Date: 2007-03-26
    Size: 2.4 Mb
    License: Freeware

    Fresh View is a free software designed to help you organize and view multimedia files (images, audio, and video). It gives you the ability to watch movies, listen to music, and view graphics in a slide show. Image files in a folder can be displayed using a number of views, such as thumbnails view that lets you quickly see what your images are without having to open them.

    You can convert graphics from one type to another, print, and even create a HTML album. This easy-to-use software supports 86 different formats.

    download here
    http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4719.html
     
  18. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    RIAA targets 10-year-old girl

    p2pnet.net news:- Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG have hit absolute rock bottom in their carefully orchestrated campaign to abuse legal systems and mainstream print and electronic media outlets around the world to menace guileless people into buying 'product,' as they call their music offerings, and to gain control of how music is distributed online.

    Are their onslaughts having the desired effect? They are not.

    Nonetheless, in their most barbaric move yet, they're now targeting Kylee Andersen, a 10-year-old Oregon girl.

    But this'll be no surprise. In what's become an internationally infamous case, they kicked their sue 'em all campaign off by suing Brianna LaHara, who was only 12. And the American administration let them get away with it, just as they're countenancing ongoing attacks on other equally innocent families, and all in the name of corporate profits.

    Nor is this outrageous practice confined to the States.

    "It is not our intention to target children," said Peter Jamieson disingenuously, not long after the news broke that the Big 4 were suing Briana.

    He runs the BPI (British Phonographic Industry), another industry owned RIAA-style organization. But, "[we will] if they are breaking the law on a very large scale," he went on.

    Children breaking the law on a very large scale? That's what EMI (Britain), Vivendi Universal (France), Sony BMG (Japan and Germany) and Warner Music (US) are claiming, and with straight faces.

    None of these cases ever reaches a court, however. That's the last thing the BIG 4 want - not while they can with impunity use organisations such as their RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) to blackmail frightened, unsophisticated people into 'settling' without ever having their cases heard before a jury.

    "The RIAA is insisting on deposing Tanya Andersen's 10-year-old daughter in Atlantic v. Andersen, in Oregon," says Recording Industry vs The People.

    To be deposed is to be questioned by a lawyer or lawyers under oath. And in cases such as the ones being brought by the RIAA, it's guaranteed to be a fearsome experience - certainly not one any child of 10 should be exposed to except in the most extreme circumstances.

    But that's what the RIAA has lined up for Kylee Andersen, who was only seven when the Big 4 first sicced their RIAA on her mother, Tanya, a disabled woman living on benefits.

    The plaintiffs, Big 4 companies Atlantic Recording, Priority Records, Capitol Records UMG Music and BMG Music, say they're entitled, "to take the deposition of Kylee Andersen, and should be allowed to take the deposition in person".

    What if Kylee, who is, after all, only 10, doesn't want to be part of what she'll correctly perceive to be the continuation of a vicious attack on her own mother?

    No problem. The RIAA will force her.

    The plaintiffs, "have a significant interest in deposing Kylee Andersen as a potential witness [against her own mother] in this case and have subpoenaed her," they admit.

    They also say, "Plaintiffs take exception to Defendant's suggestion that taking Kyless Andersen's deposition is an attempt to 'threaten (Defendant) and abuse the child."

    Quite right. Rather, it's a blatant attempt to get her mother to agree to the RIAA's outright extortion rather than expose her daughter to the tender mercies of an RIAA-hired legal gun.

    Tanya Andersen's lawyer, Lory Lybeck, has already defeated the RIAA in one legal battle and on behalf of his client, is suing them under the Oregon RICO (Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organization).

    p2pnet ran a Q&A with Tanya a year ago. You can read it below.

    Click here here to see Lybeck's court submission.

    Andersen, pictured above right with Kylee and Tazz, their terrier/Maltese cross, used to buy music through BMG, but dropped the service when she was sued.

    In this Q&A, she tells p2pnet how BMG Music asked her to return to the fold because she'd been, "such a great customer". They also promised her a free CD if she'd sign up again.

    "I think it's sad that all the beautiful and hard work of artists is being tarnished by these lawsuits," she said.

    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

    p2pnet: You've been embroiled in a fight with the Big Four record labels for some time, now. Mark Eilers at their Tukwila, Washington, 'Settlement Centre,' claims you downloaded 'illegal' digital files. But you've said from Day One the allegation isn't true. Do you have any idea how they decided to zero in on you?

    Andersen: No, I don't. There were a lot of things that went on with my computer during that month - I was down for a week and had to call Verizon to get me back on line. During that time, there was an employee that went in and did some things to my computer - worked my computer from their office; also having me go in and change my ip address several times. I also had a virus that month that I had a hard time getting rid of. I really have no idea. I just know that I never did what they're saying I did.

    p2pnet: Have you ever shared files?

    Andersen: No.

    p2pnet: Do you know how to share files?

    Andersen: I'd heard about people file sharing before this lawsuit was filed against me. But if you told me to go into a program and do it, I wouldn't know how. Through this lawsuit, I've had to educate myself through reading and talking to people to learn about how Kaaza works and about how file sharing works.

    p2pnet: Your lawyer says in a, "sweeping and indefinite manner," the RIAA lists 1,406 file names. This represents statutory damages of either $4,500 or $1,054,500. How much is the RIAA actually demanding from you?

    Andersen: The Settlement Support Center that kept calling me told me if I didn't agree to pay them that they'd be filing a huge lawsuit against me in Federal Court, and would sue me for hundreds of thousands of dollars. When I told them I didn't do what they were saying, they told me they just don't end these things and I'd better just pay. Or else. I kept telling them there is no way I did what they said, and could I please see the proof of what they were saying I did. They told me they couldn't provide that to me at that time. It wasn't something they did. That, when they filed a lawsuit against me, I could see what they had. He did finally tell me on the phone how many songs there were, named some of them, and told me the user name (which I'd never heard of). I continued to tell him I didn't do what they were saying. They would just say they'd sue me for hundreds of thousands of dollars if I didn't enter into an agreement with the Settlement Support Center to pay.

    p2pnet: How much are they demanding from you?

    Andersen: I'm not even sure, at this point, the exact amount they are suing me for. I just know it's huge.

    p2pnet: Have they told you which files they're accusing you of sharing?

    Andersen: When the Settlement Support Center called, they had told me the names of a few they were accusing me of. It was not until I got served the lawsuit and saw the exhibits that I found out what all I was even actually being accused of.

    p2pnet: Have you considered paying to get the RIAA off your back?

    Andersen: Nope. I don't believe I should pay for something I did not do.

    p2pnet: Your daughter, Kylee, is nine, now. Does she understand what's going on?

    Andersen: She understands that her mom is being sued, but isn't sure what all that means. I've tried to keep a lot of it away from her. Even though I try that, she's still heard some things. I found out one day that this stuff was affecting her more than I knew and that she's heard some of it.

    One day, out of the blue, she asked me if those people are going to take her mom away and if I'd go to jail. She wanted to know if we'd still have a place to live and food to eat and would we be OK. It scares and confuses her. She keeps asking me if they're still suing me.

    p2pnet: Might she have shared files on your computer without you knowing?

    Andersen: No. She was seven at the time - only a few months into the age of seven. She still doesn't know how to even connect to the internet. She's always had to ask if she does get on the computer. The computer is out in the living room, and always had been, where I can see it. It also had passwords on it. She gets on the computer to play with her store-bought kid software or has gone on children's site occasionally, if I help her get on there. She doesn't even know how to do that herself.

    p2pnet: Is the RIAA action affecting her in any way?

    Andersen: Yes. She's scared they're going to take her mom away for something she doesn't understand. She's worried if we're going to be OK. Plus, she puts up with a mom who has more stress than normal, at times. I try real hard to keep that under control, but it's pretty hard at times.

    p2pnet: When they can't get to parents, the RIAA is infamous for going after children. Do you know if it's thinking about a suit against your daughter?

    Andersen: No, I haven't heard of that.

    p2pnet: We understand you wrote US senator Ron Wyden and Congressman David Wu, and state senator Gordon Smith, all from Oregon, asking for their help both as an Oregon citizen, and ex-employee of the Oregon Department of Justice. Did they respond?

    Andersen: They each responded with a letter that appeared generic in reply. They all told me that, as congress people, they couldn't get involved in someone being sued in a lawsuit. I could tell by the letters that they didn't even understand what I was talking about.

    p2pnet: What do your friends and neighbors think of the law suit?

    Andersen: Most think it is pretty insane and can't believe this is happening to me. They know I didn't download or share music.

    p2pnet: Do you have any idea at all how the RIAA zeroed in on you?

    Andersen: No, I don't.

    p2pnet: Are, or were you, a customer of any of the labels?

    Andersen: Yes, I was. I bought CDs regularly and was a member of BMG?s music club. I ordered a lot of CDs from BMG. I cancelled my membership when this happened.

    The weird thing is the other day, I received a phone call from BMG Music asking me to come back because I had been 'such a great customer.' They told me if I signed back up, they'd give me a free CD. I told them No and they asked me why. I told them that maybe they should quit suing their great customers. They guy on the phone told me he didn't even know they were doing that. (I'm sure he was just a telemarketer and it didn't matter much to him.)

    There are songs out now that I hear and love and would love to buy the CD, but when I see the recording company, I feel sick to my stomach and won't buy it. It's sad to me because music used to be something that would relax me and make me feel good - it was a huge joy in my life.

    Now, knowing what I know, the entire industry has left me with a different feeling.

    p2pnet: What would you say to any of the other people who are being victimized by the RIAA?

    Andersen: People can make a difference. I believe that.

    Believe in yourself and don't let someone bully you into paying for something you haven't done.

    Jon Newton - p2pnet
    http://p2pnet.net/story/11756
     
  19. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    Big Music victimizes students



    [​IMG]

    p2pnet.net news view:- A very serious problem exploding in senior schools across America will inevitably spread to teaching institutions in Europe and elsewhere.


    Students who download and/or share music copyrighted by EMI (Britain), Vivendi Universal (France), Sony BMG (Japan and Germany) and Warner Music (US) are being held up by the industry and school staffs alike as criminals and thieves who must comply with Big Music online 'settlement' options if they're to avoid appearing in court.

    School administrators are systemically failing to respond appropriately to corporate allegations, instead handing over, on demand, details of students to the Big 4's RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for 'punishment' without cases ever having been made or proved in or out of court.

    Nor are mainstream print and electronic media reporting on what's happening in a fair and balanced manner. Instead, they're relying almost solely on one-sided corporate press statements and spokespeople for material.

    Associated Press states, "The Recording Industry Association of America sent letters offering discounted settlements to 400 computer users at 13 universities in late February. Another batch was sent out this week. Association spokesman Jonathan Lamy said Friday that, so far, 116 settlements were reached after the first round of letters went out."

    Is this OK? AP doesn't wonder at it. Is it acceptable for publicly funded institutions to be used in this way by a purely commercial organisation answering to vested interests? AP doesn't ask.

    The Big 4 labels missed the mp3 online music boat in the 1990s and now, instead of stepping back to see how they can remedy the situation and regain lost ground and consumer trust, they want their customers to bail them out, both literally and metaphorically.

    Billions of digital music files are moving around the Net every hour of every day, but only a fraction, so tiny as to be unmeasurable, are being bought from sites supplied by the Big 4.

    Most of the music traffic is on the p2p networks and independent sites because: management is wholly out of touch; marketing decisions are based on outdated and outmoded models; corporate files are seriously over-priced; corporate catalogues are scant; the quality of corporate product is, generally speaking, poor; and, the music industry persists in treating its customers as though they're all would-be criminals.

    But that's never mentioned or written about.

    Instead, "In the association's latest effort to curb music piracy, colleges are given letters to forward to students suspected of music piracy, Lamy said," states AP, going on, "Students are urged to contact the association to broker a settlement before a lawsuit is filed."

    Copyright infringement is a civil, purely commercial, matter.

    It isn't a crime, or anything close to it, and people who infringe copyrights aren't criminals by any stretch of the imagination.

    To date, not one person, student or otherwise, has appeared in court to be found 'guilty' of the non-existent crime of file sharing.

    And that's the way the labels want it to stay.

    Why bother with the nuisance of courts, where they'd be forced to actually prove their allegations and have to pay hefty legal fees and expenses, not to mention the added, and very real, risk of losing, when they can prosecute people in the mainstream media with guaranteed results? And all for free.

    Additionally, thanks to the settlements, students not only voluntarily incriminate themselves, they also supply the labels with invaluable personal information and data which can be re-used by Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG for many different, often questionable, purposes.

    Moreover, the 'settlements' are pulling in significant amounts of money, none of which goes back to the artists.

    "Patrick McGee, an attorney Ohio University arranged to meet with its students, has said $3,000 is the standard settlement offer, though cases have settled for as much as $5,000," says AP.

    "Years ago, college students were our best customers," said RIAA president Cary Sherman recently. "Now they're among our worst customers."

    Is that possibly because years ago, Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG's RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) weren't trying to sue students into buying 'product'?

    But students aren't alone.

    In the latest travesty, the RIAA is now pursuing a 10-year-old girl.

    JN
    Slashdot Slashdot it!

    Also See:
    online 'settlement' options - RIAA college settlement plan, February 28, 2007
    Associated Press - Recording industry group says piracy students are settling, March 23, 2007
    worst customers - Students 'worst customers': RIAA, March 22, 2007
    latest travesty - RIAA targets 10-year-old girl, March 25, 2007
    http://p2pnet.net/story/11765
     
  20. ireland

    ireland Active member

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    Why the Playstation 3 owns the PC in F@H

    By Jon Stokes | Published: March 26, 2007 - 10:19AM CT

    The numbers are in, and the Playstation 3 is tearing up the Folding@Home charts like Michael Jackson on the 1983 Top 40. Check out the latest numbers, and you'll see what I'm talking about:
    OS Type Current TFLOPS* Active CPUs Total CPUs
    Windows 154 162334 1629354
    Mac OS X/PowerPC 7 8920 95593
    Mac OS X/Intel 10 3068 7728
    Linux 43 25492 216436
    GPU 46 774 2284
    PLAYSTATION®3 494 31050 41044
    Total 754 231638 1992439

    31,000 PS3s are pushing over three times the TFLOPS of 163,000 Windows boxes, a feat that has many wondering about the hows and whys of the new console's apparent F@H dominance. Let's take a closer look at the phenomenon, starting with the numbers above.

    We can begin to get a handle on what's happening by organizing the main contestants by their TFLOPS/CPU ratio. In other words, this metric will give us the average number of TFLOPS per active CPU, which yields a quick-and-dirty view of which systems are bringing the most per-processor power to the project.
    Processor TFLOPS/CPU
    GPU 0.0594
    Cell (PS3) 0.0159
    CPU (Windows) 0.00095

    Clearly, the PS3 owns the Windows machines in terms of TFLOPS/CPU, but the GPU has even the PS3 outclassed. There are two main reasons behind the relative TFLOPS/CPU rankings here, both of which become apparent after a read through the F@H documentation.

    First, most Ars readers are aware that, as a general rule, the TFLOPS metric is a pretty poor way to judge performance. Different instruction set architectures (ISAs) will render the same calculation using different numbers of floating-point operations, sometimes skewing the results significantly when you compare TFLOPS ratings across ISAs. So the TFLOPS ratings given by F@H are fun, but the project itself acknowledges that there are major problems with this metric. In fact, the F@H group's initial numbers for the PS3's TFLOPS rating were wrong, and were revised downward by 50% last night.

    Even if we give the TFLOPS rating the benefit of the doubt, and assume that the TFLOPS/CPU ranking gets us somewhere in the ballpark of what we're looking for, there's another major factor to consider: not all work units (WUs) are created equal. The F@H PS3 FAQ introduces the issue fairly clearly:

    What type of calculations the PS3 client is capable of running? The PS3 right now runs what are called implicit solvation calculations, including some simple ones (sigmodal dependent dielectric) and some more sophisticated ones (AGBNP, a type of Generalized Born method from Prof. Ron Levy's group at Rutgers). In this respect, the PS3 client is much like our GPU client. However, the PS3 client is more flexible, in that it can also run explicit solvent calculations as well, although not at the same speed increase relative to PC's. We are working to increase the speed of explicit solvent on the PS3 and would then run these calculations on the PS3 as well. In a nutshell, the PS3 takes the middle ground between GPU's (extreme speed, but at limited types of WU's) and CPU's (less speed, but more flexibility in types of WU's) [emphasis added].

    I'll also point you to another section of the FAQ:

    The GPU client is still the fastest, but it is the least flexible and can only run a very, very limited set of WU's. Thus, its points are not linearly proportional to the speed increase. The PS3 takes the middle ground between GPU's (extreme speed, but at limited types of WU's) and CPU's (less speed, but more flexibility in types of WU's). We have picked the PS3 as the natural benchmark machine for PS3 calculations and set its points per day to 900 to reflect this middle ground between speed (faster than CPU, but slower than GPU) and flexibility (more flexible than GPU, less than CPU).

    As the last line in each quote above indicates, the PS3 sits halfway between the GPU and the general-purpose CPU in terms of the flexibility vs. performance tradeoff. So the relative positions in the TFLOPS/CPU list given earlier are about what we'd expect, with the GPU being extremely good at the limited number of WU types that it can do, the PS3 being very good at a slightly larger number of types, and the general-purpose CPU offering a range of performance numbers on all the types of WUs that averages out to a result that puts it well at the bottom of the pack.

    Here's a simple analogy to illustrate the logic behind the rankings. The GRE exam has three sections: verbal reasoning, quantitative reasoning, and analytical writing. Let's say that three different students took the exam, and they were then ranked relative to each other based on the average of their three scores.

    Because student G is a mathematical genius and an autistic savant who can't do anything but math, he was asked to take only the quantitative exam—an exam that he's insanely good at. So his GRE average reflects his performance on that single exam. Student P excels at both math and vocabulary, so took he took only the quantitative and the verbal reasoning exams. Thus P's GRE average reflects the average of only these two exams. Student C is good at vocabulary, average at math, and a solid writer. He took all three exams, and all three scores contributed to his GRE average.

    If we were to rank the average scores of all three students, student G would outclass the other two by a wide margin, student P would come in second place, and student C would be stuck at a far, far distant third place. This is because G (the GPU in the analogy) took only the test that he was insanely good at, P (the PS3) took the two tests at which he excelled, and C (the general-purpose CPU) had to take all three tests.

    Ultimately, the TFLOPS/CPU rankings given above align pretty much exactly with the degree of specialization of each type of processor. The GPU is far and away the most specialized of the three, so it sits comfortably atop the rankings. The PS3 has a lower degree of specialization than the GPU, but a significantly higher degree than the general-purpose CPU. Indeed, you could almost use each processor's TFLOPS/CPU score as a sort of "degree of hardware specialization" rating.

    The final thing that's worth noting is that the pool of CPUs that make up the "Windows" portion of the client list varies widely, from older Pentium 4 models to brand new Core 2 Duos and everything in between. The GPUs are much more uniform in terms of hardware types (all ATI), and the PS3 is the most uniform of them all. So the PS3-to-PC comparison isn't just apples-to-oranges. It's more like apples-to-citrus.

    The fact that the metrics by which the rankings are decided are totally stacked against the general-purpose CPU shouldn't necessarily detract from the PS3's feat. There's a reason why IBM is pushing blades based on the same Cell processor that powers the PS3 in the high-performance computing (HPC) market: Cell can offer dramatic speedups vs. a general-purpose CPU on certain types of "embarrassingly parallel" workloads. One such "embarrassingly parallel" workload happens to be the F@H client, at least when it's running certain types of work units.
    http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070326-why-the-playstation-3-owns-the-pc-in-fh.html
     
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