Re: rnd pckts

Mark Grant (mark@unicorn.com)
Mon, 14 Apr 1997 23:01:17 +0000


On Sun, 13 Apr 1997, Eugene Leitl wrote:

> Well, the goal is cramming movies (while still recognizable as such) in
> smallest store possible. (Hint: compression ratio rules). Quality? What
> for?

Uh, so that you can see something on that movie you recorded? Yes, being
able to squash my movies down to one byte per frame would be nice, but I'd
rather have high quality pictures. In the last few weeks I've been copying
a lot of the Hi8 footage I recorded while travelling and watching some of
the VHS footage I recorded when I was a VIP at a couple of space shuttle
launches years ago and wishing that we'd had a higher quality camera back
then. The difference in detail is amazing (about twice the horizontal
resolution and better color seperation).

> Besides, IFS/ANN compression should beat MPEG (or wavelets, or...) by
> orders over orders. Asymmetrical, of course. Crunching offline,
> expanding online.

Which won't help video cameras much.

> Personally, I think the "Amiga(tm)" is cursed. So don't buy it, ever.
> (Particularly, if approached in the street. Hey mo, Amiga Inc., just $50.
> Deal?).

Yeah, I have wondered why the Amiga nuts on the Net didn't just get
together and buy the company.

> Junk mail poses a sufficient problem on its own, it will be dealt with
> by a mechanism, shortly. Authentication by crypto protocol, I guess. Nothing
> less will serve.

But as someone who's currently writing his own spambot to keep the crap
out I don't see how this would work. I could easily block mail which
wasn't signed by keys that I recognize, but then noone could mail me
unless I already knew them.

> Well, I tend to just ignore insane legislation. What, a law preventing me
> from clicking on that link? Bull. I can click whatever thing I like.

Sure, but when the Feds find you downloaded PGP from an American site, or
the local cops come around and find 'child porn' or Neo-Nazi Holocaust
Revisionist propaganda in your Netscape cache you'll be on your way to
jail.

> Fuck the law, then. Let that be problem of the Chinese (those behind the
> Great China Firewall), or Arab countries.

Am I wrong in thinking that Germany bans Holocaust Revisionist writings?
What about Wolfenstein 3D?

> Just now, yes. But a) not everybody is a pro b) CCD resolution will go up
> in near future c) image processing and archival is a lot easier if no
> scan necessary

Yes, but image size also goes up with CCD resolution. I guess that a CD
with full-size, high-quality JPEGs will be smaller than an equivalent
number of 35mm films.

> I think the question is whether digital photography is suitable for the mass
> market. What's "real"?

'Real' is when I show some photos to a friend and they want to see more
rather than get away as soon as possible ;-).

Mark

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