Avery Griffin, who switched to an Apple Inc. computer a few years ago for its audio recording software. The 24-year-old musician said his new machine wouldn’t stop freezing up and crashing. But he said all he heard from Apple was, “At least it’s not a PC.”
The PC he uses now works just fine, he said.
Well maybe an Apple is really better than a PC, but at this moment there are still a lot more people using PCs, which translates to more people one can turn to for help when something goes wrong.
Finally I took the plunge…at a cost of US$618.
The package weighed 18 pounds!
Is exactly 961151KB. Those computers have 1GB of memory.
It has just come to my attention that my motherboard’s microphone records in a single channel only, and my guess is this is the case for most of the sound cards out there. Granted most computer microphones are mono, but stereo microphones certainly exist and plugging those into a microphone jack could degrade their sound quality significantly.
I am pretty convinced that my Western Digital 120GB 2.5″ Hard Disk is malfunctioning. Some data recovery softwares can see the partitions inside, but the data is unaccessible. This is a serious set back for the CS^2 project since all the project files are inside the disk. I do have backup of everything (less the most recent two weeks of work), but the tape containing the bulk of the footage is back in Hong Kong. For now this would mean the project is on hold until June.
From the title it is apparent that this is a sensitive topic, but an economically interesting one nonetheless. While I was searching for a mp3 version of Hacken Lee’s new hit <<花落誰家>> on emule, I noticed that quite a few porn sites use domain names that suggest they are free. With a not so happy mood I allowed my curiosity overpower me to seek out how on earth do these sites support themselves.
In case you are wondering, yes I can be pretty crazy at times. If not, how would I be able to keep my sanity without going to Karaoke or drink a beer even once?
At first to my surprise there is no obvious sign of advertisement; but as common sense would tell you there is nothing as free lunch in this world (not even salvation, which has been paid for on our behalf by Christ). The following are five types of “hidden” cost I have come up with:
1. Email Address Required
You would think no one would be stupid enough to fall into such obvious invitation to spam; I suppose there is enough people with their sex impulse over their heads to make this work. Also isn’t email verification easily beatable by services like mailinator or bugmenot?
2. Credit Card/Checking Account Number Required
This seems even more idiotic than 1., but considering that there are pay-to-view porn sites out there some potential viewers might think there is nothing to worry about.
3. Expensive Access Phone Call
This method is more ingenious. Potential viewers are directed to call a certain phone number for access password. While the porn site is free in its own right the call is not–the phone number provided is one that carries extremely high charges, for example an international call to Liechtenstein (don’t know where that is huh? Read Wikipedia’s entry on this tiny European country); I bet many potential viewers would just call without realization the hidden charges behind. Furthermore the provider of the phone service would try to hold potential viewers on the phone as long as possible–and no I did not actually make the call, I read about this on the website of a provider of such service, passwordbyphone.com.
4. Advertisement
Advertisement is there after all, though not exactly resembling the typical “Ads by Google”. This New York Times article discuss in some details how the porn industry pioneers web business; in particular,
Free sites profit by carrying links to other sites, which pay fractions of a cent each time a customer clicks through.
I guess this also explain why domain names that resemble famous websites are often porn sites.
5. Mal-ware?
There is still one final possibility–that the free porn site is actually a cover for various type of mal-ware. I would rather not having myself exposed to such dangers so I have firefox’s no-script plug-in on for the whole time.
Every photographer should have one of these: Pantone Huey
Now my two monitors finally give me almost identical rendering.
When one browse dvxuser, a leading video/cinematography forum, for advise on what equipment to purchase, it is very likely that he would deem all the results outrageous–outrageously expensive that is. dvxuser is littered with comments like “$2500 beginner kit”, and mind you Hong Kongers that’s US dollars. Not that those commentators are wrong, for they are just giving their genuine opinions; I would say they are just the wrong people to ask. Photography and cinematography are not that far from fashion–a small selling point could command a significant price. What beginners need are often tricks and tips that allow results a layman would not complain about. I can make a big fuzz on my peers’ photos–and I am sure my photography mentor can do the same on mine–but that would not be helpful; in fact it is more likely to be counterproductive. So allow me to suggest the following: ask someone close to you who knows nothing about photography or cinematography–a stereotypical suggestion would be your mother or grandmother–whether your work looks good; if they think so then you’re all set. Do not try to accommodate the “pros” for it will never work. It sounds somewhat ironically to say so when I keep upgrading my gear, but just think about it–as much as I complain about the low (sub-amateur in times I would say) standard of Hong Kong’s television dramas they never lack audience.
So yes I prefer better gear, but no I don’t think they are necessities.
Discovery Channel’s “How a lens is made”
After watching it you would appreciate how much effort has been put into the making of a lens.
I received a new pair of headphones–the 7th pair inside my room at this very moment–a pair of Sony MDR-7506. It’s expensive (US$99) but I have to say the difference with my other headphones is in the magnitude of night and day.
I never thought it could make such a big difference on text appearance. Try it out.