phorm - Slashdot User

Submission + - CBC to broadcast program finale on BitTorrent (thestar.com)

Submitted by

phorm

on Tuesday March 25, 2008 @11:36AM

phorm writes: "The CBC television program "Canada's Next Great Prime Minister," which recently aired its final episode and is already notable for having conducted auditions on YouTube and having its own Facebook group, is now planning to release a high-resolution, DRM-free version of the finale via BitTorrent.

As other media companies continue to slam BitTorrent as being only a "tool for piracy", will the continued increase of its use in legitimate distribution overshadow these failing arguments?"

Submission + - You can not reverse-engineer our GPL-violations... 6

Submitted by

phorm

on Wednesday September 05, 2007 @06:17PM

phorm writes: "If appears that Monsoon Technology, the makers of the Hava media-transmission systems, don't quite understand the GPL. As some users pointed out in their forums, their systems appear to be based on Linux and various GPL'ed software, with the output of "strings" and other tests showing signs of running busybox and others. A monsoon spokesperson on the forum has indicated that they are aware it uses GPL'ed software, and are "working" on making source available, but at the same time are dropping various threats against supposed reverse-engineering of the software by those that determined the GPL violations.

A few snippets from the Monsoon rep include: I have a little secret to let you in on — HAVA runs Linux! Yes, much of the source is GPL and we should publish those sections which we have modified per the terms of GPL. A project is underway to pull this together. A couple of observations — some of you appear to be violating the terms of the End User License Agreement
You recognize and agree that the HAVA Software including its structure, source code and the design and structure of modules or programs, constitute valuable trade secrets owned by Snappymultimedia or its licensors. You will not copy or use the HAVA Software except as expressly permitted by this EULA and, specifically, you will not ...

(b) yourself or through any third party modify, reverse engineer, disassemble or decompile the HAVA Software in whole or part, except to the extent expressly permitted by applicable law, and then only after you have notified Snappymultimedia in writing of your intended activities; Seems to me that some of you have just come out blatantly admitting you are reverse engineering the firmware — or trying to. How should we handle this? As responses have indicated, the methods used to determine the violation do not seem to constitute reverse-engineering. Moreover, the initial friendliness of the rep is severely marred by the apparent hostility of the later message, as forum members have indicated. The overall message seems to be "we have not lived up to our obligations under the license of the software which we are using, but we'll get to it... sometime. Meanwhile, do not attempt to poke around our code yourself or things will get ugly."

The owners of BusyBox have been notified of this violation, however the response is still troubling. Is this the response we should come to expect as more and more commercial software uses and misuses GPL'ed components?"

Submission + - HP removes all support for windows 98, ME (phormix.com)

Submitted by

phorm

on Tuesday July 10, 2007 @04:27PM

phorm writes: "At my work location, I suppose a number of older (pentium-III generation, sometimes pentium-II) machines which run using windows 98. Recently, after re-imaging a machine, I attempted to download a printer driver from HP's website only to be greeted with a message stating that HP has removed all drivers for windows 98, 98SE, and ME, and will no longer offer CD's with drivers for hardware under those platforms. This includes the removal of drivers for any printers, etc that previously existed on the HP site.

Here's the blurb [and printable version] from HP's website, they blame it on changes from Microsoft but frankly I can't see how this affects older, previously-available drivers:

As of July 2007, HP will no longer be able to offer software driver downloads or replacement CD ordering for Windows 98, 98 Second Edition (SE), or Windows Millennium (Me) for your HP printer, all-in-one, camera, or scanner. Microsoft has stopped providing and supporting certain files related specifically to Windows 98 SE, and this change affects all technology companies. HP, along with other technology companies, is no longer able to use selected components in support of Windows 98SE, which has an impact on our software strategy for Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows Me.

Although the software drivers for Windows 98, 98 Second Edition, and Windows Me will no longer be supported by HP, your HP product will still work with these operating systems with the software provided to you on the CD that shipped with the product. Also, if you have previously received a software CD that lists any of these operating systems on the CD label, or downloaded a driver for one of these operating systems, please maintain these files. These files will no longer be available in the HP online support Web site or in any other HP support options (such as e-mail, chat or phone support) after the date mentioned above.

This information supersedes any statements in the printed documentation, the online Help and also other documents available in the HP support website. "

Submission + - How much sleep do you need?

Submitted by

phorm

on Tuesday May 29, 2007 @11:40AM

phorm writes: "I was recently having a discussion with a friend wherein we noticed that, although we had been lacking in sleep lately, we were — in general — feeling somewhat less tired. More specifically for myself, I generally end up feeling more alert in the morning, sometimes with a more steep drop-off towards night.

This had led to research over the concept of how much sleep is optimal, and how much is enough. Interestingly, it seems that many who are into heavy fitness schedules (bodybuilders etc) require lesser sleep amounts to maintain an alert state. This would seem to fit with my own observations, in that if I have exercised heavily, I tend to fall into a deeper sleep, within a shorted period of time. However, if I have exercised in a way that has over-strained my body, sometimes extra rest can be required, most likely so that it can "fix" itself.

I have many memories of college wherein intellectual stimulation would also have the same result. Coding would run into the early AM hours, and at some point when my brain was reduced to gelatin I would return home for about 3-6 hours of sleep, and still manage to feel active and refreshed the next day. Coding where I went to bed before my brain gelified might result in tossing-and-turning.

Stimulants, of course, affect either of these situations, but as I'm not much of a caffeine drinker (particularly later in the day), I believe that can be ruled out.

So, how much sleep does a normal slashdotter need before being able to achieve uncaffeinated alertness? What tips and tricks can you recommend to pull a few extra hours out of the day (much like many fitness fanatics do) without sacrificing your health or alertness? How do you trick your body into achieving the almighty "power-nap" or "super-sleep" for quick revitalization?"

Submission + - Open-Source or Free blue-screen software?

Submitted by on Thursday August 17, 2006 @06:50PM

phorm writes: A lot of cool movies have been coming out nowadays using not-too-expensive hardware and consumer-available software. In particular, works such as Star Wreck have shown that you don't need to be a big-budget production company to create modern effects and impressive video. Even the PC hardware that's available to consumers nowadays is coming closer to the power of big-production, with dual-core and even quad-core technology pushing into the marketplace, and high-capacity hard-drives + RAM becoming ever-lower in price.

However, I have noticed that most software used along these lines is still commercial and/or closed source. Open-source software along these lines would allow for greater intregration and/or private development. In particular I have some interest in integrating software based on some of the free 3d SDK's with blue-screening, allowing for new and interesting combinations of reality and fantasy. Does anyone know of any open source (linux or windows, but preferably for linux or both) software to handle bluescreening or greenscreening? Perhaps a modification of existing software such as EffecTV would allow for realtime effects and new concepts in realtime digital video effects.

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