In any case, I think WebM is likely a better solution than including a known patent-encumbered codec in Firefox.

And, I don't support WebM because I have any opposition to H.264. As an avid Blu-Ray watcher, I love H.264. Recent x264 builds have managed incredible IQ at relatively low bitrates, and both H.264 and VC-1 are huge improvements over MPEG-2 in terms of efficiency and quality. Nonetheless, quality is far less of a concern with streaming video. Hopefully, Google will be willing to defend VP8's patent-free status in court.

That's why I used the qualifier "If VP8 is in fact patent-free. . ."

It is very much uncertain whether VP8 is in fact patent-free or whether users of VP8 will be sued for patent infringement by MPEG LA or others.

I think the H.264 point has been mooted by the introduction of WebM (VP8 + Ogg Vorbis). If VP8 is in fact patent-free, it is a good alternative for streaming online video as it provides quality equivalent to H.264 Baseline Profile. In fact, Firefox had builds supporting WebM BEFORE Chrome. Chrome's first release came one day after the public announcement whereas Firefox already had a build at the time of announcement with such support.

MS has stated an intent to include WebM in IE9. Firefox and Chrome already support WebM in development releases, and the next stable releases will support it. Opera beta builds support WebM. The only major browser that doesn't have support, and for which support is not forthcoming, is Safari.

The problem isn't really modern CPUs but the lack of improvement in conventional hard drive speeds. With a Core i7 processor and a 160 GB X-25M Gen 2 Intel SSD, pretty much everything I run loads within 1-2 seconds, and there is little or no difference between loading apps from RAM or my hard drive. Even with a 1 TB WD Caviar Black 7200 RPM drive, my Core i7 machine was constantly limited by the hard drive.

With an SSD, I boot to a usable desktop and can load Firefox with Adblock, Pidgin, Skype, Foobar2000 and Word in around 2 seconds. Many programs like Chrome load so quickly that they are effectively instant-on. Even though quad-core processors are often derided for desktop use, I see a tremendous improvement with a Core i7 + high-performance SSD vs. a Core 2 Duo + mediocre laptop drive. Modern CPUs can make your desktop experience much more responsive. You just need a hard drive that can keep up.

Oh, and in video playback, the difference is incredibly obvious. My roommate is still using a 7 year old laptop which can barely playback a DVD (MPEG-2). In contrast, my Core i7 can simultaneously decode 5 1080p H.264 videos with ease (after this point, the hard drives can't keep up). While this might be considered useless, it definitely makes a difference when running background tasks such as backups. With my Core 2 Duo without hardware decoding, I would have to pause when scheduled backups started or video would skip. With my quad-core system, I can run any task in the background without fear of slowdown, and also use high-quality upscale filters and renderers that would have slowed my dual-core system to a crawl.

Too many people claim that modern processors and hardware do not provide meaningful improvements to the desktop experience. I just don't find this to be true. Multi-core processors have allowed users to run background tasks, install software etc. with no noticeable speed degradation. When I am working with old single-core machines, I miss this benefit.

In addition, today's software is more powerful. You may not need all the features in Word 2007 or the latest Firefox build, but that doesn't mean they aren't useful.

Adblock, Flashblock, Session Management, the ability to have dozens of tabs loaded without memory issues, the ability to stream high definition video in my browser with no or minimal buffering, the "Awesomebar" etc. are all features that didn't exist 5+ years ago.

Real-time indexing of system files and applications is relatively recent, and yet I find that it has fundamentally transformed how I access data.

There are many more examples. It may be popular to say that things haven't changed much in two decades, because word processors are superficially similar for example, but a great deal has changed.

Hmm. Perhaps I really, really enjoy downloading Linux ISOs. :P

I actually wasn't complaining. I just thought it odd that they impose a restriction that has gained a great deal of bad PR and don't bother to enforce it.

Easy. Start downloading high-quality 1080p movie encodes (12-15 GB avg) and high-quality 720p encodes of TV series from Blu-Ray (50-75 GB a season). Adds up quickly.

But, the last month was just a freeleech on one of my private trackers. It was upload - not download.

On most private trackers, you have to multiply everything you upload by 2 just to hit a 1.0 ratio, and I tend to seed to significantly higher than that. 250 GB is easy to hit. Hell, 2.5 TB isn't that difficult. :P

I am switching to 25/20 FiOS in a few weeks for the indefinite future, so they're too late.

I'm interested to know if anyone has actually had their Comcast connection terminated (on the East Coast) due to exceeding the 250 GB cap. I have exceeded the cap numerous times and never heard as much as a word from Comcast. In fact, a Comcast tech mentioned that they don't enforce the cap at all in my area.

I wonder if enforcement is regional in nature. It seems stupid to have a rule that generates such bad PR if they're not even going to enforce it.

This idea is discussed more thoroughly in Steve Levitt's book, SuperFreakonomics. The idea apparently thought up by several individuals in a patent-holding company called Intellectual Ventures (IV) which has a number of noteworthy academics and scientists. I suggest you read more about the idea before rejecting it. It is not surprising that Bill Gates has invested in the idea given that the creator of Intellectual Ventures was a high-level executive at Microsoft, and friends with Bill Gates. Gates has invested in several other of IV's projects - all of which seem a bit crazy at first.

1) Transparency means that the music SOUNDS indistinguishable to you when compared with the source. So, if I took the original CD and compared it against a V0 MP3, I would find that they sound the same (tested by a blind ABX test). They are most certainly NOT the same - the MP3 throws out quite a bit of high frequency detail, but the vast majority of people simply can't perceive this information. It sounds the same, but it's not the same.

FLAC, and other lossless formats, should always be transparent since they are in fact identical to the source.

2) It's like any other bittorrent tracker, but it's dedicated to music and designed for that purpose (advanced search features, grouping of albums to allow multiple lossy and lossless codecs per album, grouping of editions per album, searching by artist, album, label, catalog # etc.) It's private, so it's invitation only, or requires an "interview".

3. foobar2000 is a highly configurable mostly open-source (special license) player that supports every major format including Ogg Vorbis and FLAC, and can basically do whatever you want it to. If there is a will, there is a way. I currently have it setup with 6 columns for Genre, Album, Artist (Composer), Performer/Conductor, Orchestra, and Compilation. I can simultaneously search all 6 categories.

Excuse the improper formatting/quoting.

Hey, we agree for once! Let's leave it at that. :-D

The reason is obvious. Nobody wants to their CD collection multiple times. Ripping to MP3 ensures you can share with anyone. Ripping to FLAC or another lossless format ensures you can transcode to any format. Ripping to Ogg Vorbis ensures you have a format that virtually nobody wants.

You are definitely right about Ogg Vorbis's superiority at low bitrates. If you are using a horridly low bitrate like 128 kbit/sec, then you will obtain dramatic gains by using Ogg Vorbis over MP3.

I'm just shocked that's your best source of music. I haven't downloaded anything below V0 (avg. 245 kbit/sec) in years. Perhaps you are in need of an invite to a private music tracker. I'm sure your friends can be of assistance. :P