Why Simplex locks (for doors) are bad. I was looking for a solution for a customer's physical security needs and Decius mentioned that Simplex was bad, bad, bad. Here's why.

Black Market Press - Simplex Locks, An Illusion of Security

Apple has just announced a number of new products, including 12 and 17 inch powerbooks (one too small, and the other too large?), updates for iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie which allow them to interoperate more easily, and a new web browser. The web browser, linked here, is the most important development IMHO, as the existing browsers all have various problems. Of course, I have yet to download it. I'll edit this comment when I've had a chance to try it out.

MacOSX & Apple Rock!

Apple - Safari

Decius wrote:
] Apple has just announced a number of new products, including
] 12 and 17 inch powerbooks (one too small, and the other too
] large?), updates for iTunes, iPhoto, and iMovie which allow
] them to interoperate more easily, and a new web browser. The
] web browser, linked here, is the most important development
] IMHO, as the existing browsers all have various problems. Of
] course, I have yet to download it. I'll edit this comment when
] I've had a chance to try it out.

Wh00p! Hurray! I'd love a 17" powerbook. That's what I want out of a laptop: A portable desktop.

RE: Apple - Safari

From John Watkinson, The Art of Digital Audio, 2nd edition, pg. 104:

In the early days of digital audio research, the necessary bandwidth of about 1 Mbps per audio channel was difficult to store. Disk drives had the bandwidth but not the capacity for long recording time, so attention turned to video recorders. These were adapted to store audio samples by creating a pseudo-video waveform which would convey binary as black and white levels. The sampling rate of such a system is constrained to relate simply to the field rate and field structure of the television standard used, so that an integer number of samples can be stored on each usable TV line in the field. Such a recording can be made on a monochrome recorder, and these recording are made in two standards, 525 lines at 60 Hz and 625 lines at 50 Hz. Thus it is possible to find a frequency which is a common multiple of the two and is also suitable for use as a sampling rate.

The allowable sampling rates in a pseudo-video system can be deduced by multiplying the field rate by the number of active lines in a field (blanking lines cannot be used) and again by the number of samples in a line. By careful choice of parameters it is possible to use either 525/60 or 625/50 video with a sampling rate of 44.1KHz.

In 60 Hz video, there are 35 blanked lines, leaving 490 lines per frame or 245 lines per field, so the sampling rate is given by :

60 X 245 X 3 = 44.1 KHz

In 50 Hz video, there are 37 lines of blanking, leaving 588 active lines per frame, or 294 per field, so the same sampling rate is given by

50 X 294 X3 = 44.1 Khz.

The sampling rate of 44.1 KHz came to be that of the Compact Disc. Even though CD has no video circuitry, the equipment used to make CD masters is video based and determines the sampling rate.

44100 Explained

(3) the social environment in which thoughts originate and evolve, and mindsets develop.

MemeStreams is not Yet Another Web Site.

Beyond 'Couch Potatoes' | First Monday

I've seen this around on various MAC sites and ignored it, but recently I've gotten interested in my system performance. This is awesome. I spent about 30 minutes tweeking it, and I am very happy with the results.

iPulse for OSX

] "Our goal is to provide an engaging and educational
] experience for Mac OS X Server administrators and
] afficionados."

A useful site about using OSX as a server.

Welcome to AFP548.com

Jonathan Peterson provides line by line facts in response to Peter Chernin's talk, which I discussed here a few days ago.

Way.Nu: Breaking down Peter Chernin's Comdex Keynote

] "It's wrong because it's a crime."

This is quite an essay. First the guy presents three reasons that people don't think copying an MP3 is morally equivelent to stealing a CD. None of them are the real reason. (Are these people really so stupid that they don't GET this.) Instead, he lists the reasons why people don't like the media industry. He simply claims that these reasons are unfounded. He gives the media industry credit for the VCR. I guess he doesn't recall their fighting tooth and nail to ban VCRs. He claims the media industry isn't really negotiating for every dollar. I guess he didn't read Hillery Rosen when she said "this is about money."

Then, he basically admits, that the media industry is using its political influence to hold the entire technology industry and the economy in general hostage, until they get what they want.

Then he delivers a threat: Do what we want or you can't have your economy back.

I hope they booed him off stage. But, knowing the kind of people that usually show up for Comdex, they probably applauded, because thats what they were supposed to do.

News Corp's Peter Chernin on 'the problem with stealing.'

] "A missing chapter from hacker Kevin Mitnick's recent
] book has been published on the Internet."

After nearly a decade, Mitnick's voice is heard.

Wired News: Mitnick's 'Lost Chapter' Found