Gems on X, Zero, Axl head?

[Fatso]

sumfink?

[Chron]

I still think that they're holographic pornography projectors.

[ChaosVortex]

"DR. LIGHT. WHAT ARE YOU DOI-"
"X. Turn off your helmet."
"oh..."

[Jwhude]

I still think that they're holographic pornography projectors.

Where can I buy one of these? 

[ChaosVortex]

Someone should just make a comic where X finds Dr. Light's "secret" capsule.

"X. I've prepared parts for you."
*vomits*

[ASR]

I still think that they're holographic pornography projectors.

Where can I buy one of these? 

Well, we know that as soon as holographic projectors are invented, the first thing you'll see them being used for is porn.

[Johncarllos]

Just like the internet.

[Chron]

All format wars are driven by porn.
Why is Blu-Ray the standard now?
It was adopted by the porn industry.

[ASR]

Yep, that's actually true, gentleman.

[Johncarllos]

I knew that.

Porn likes Sony more than Microsoft.

[Chron]

... what does Microsoft have to do with video format wars?

Anyway, historically it seems they choose the format with the smallest size but highest amount of space for content.

Hence why Beta never made it big (sadchron.gif)

[Mikero]

I really don't see the point of Blu-Ray or care to. There's a point where I don't need or even want more special features on a movie. I really think it should've gone like how music went. Digital. Example;

Music
Phonograph cylinder > Gramophone disc > Vinyl > Reel-to-reel > 8-track tape > Cassette tape > CDs > Mp3 > ???

Obviously I skipped a lot of less notable advancements, but my point is just that it should move completely to something digital. I know it already has pretty much, since you can get a video of any movie, and some movies comes with a digital copy and there's netflix and all that jargon but I think my point stands. I just don't see the point of blu-ray other than HD. But I've yet to move into the HD realm so whatever.

[Chron]

HD looks nice, and Blu-Ray movies are great, but I'm someone who cares more about content than I do video quality. So I understand that.

Blu-Ray is a fully digital medium, though, with its own codec (just like MPEG Layer-3 is a codec).

The disc is a portable means of storage for the digital data, albeit shielded by a metric #####ton of "security measures".

But I catch the drift that you mean downloadable, and they are, they're all just horrifyingly large.
Blu-Ray is a storage medium; it serves as the storage device for the encoded digital data.

The last non-digital video medium was the laser disc, which actually stored analog images (at least the wave form for composite video feed) on the disc itself.

[Fatso]

Video quality is whatever it is for me (although it's nice, it is by no means necessary as long as I can see what I need to see), but audio quality is a necessity and is the root of my problem with online music vending. I didn't pay for a #####ty 128kbps MP3 (if I'm lucky it might even be stereo) that chunks out at the first cymbal hit. I payed for a song I can listen to. Send me the uncompressed audio, I'll handle the rest.

[Chron]

FLAC is pretty decent for HQ audio.

I'm not one to particularly care about audio quality, either, as long as it isn't below standard or grating or whatnot.

But I can hear the difference between raw audio (WAV in this instance) and an MP3.

[Fatso]

FLAC is only one step below raw in terms of filesize anyway, but for example the size of iTunes music files is such that they couldn't be any better than 192kbps, which is only borderline acceptable for me, which is why I've moved to self-encoding from raw instead.

[Chron]

And it works with OGG, and that's always good.

[TheRedPriest]

I've noticed 128kbps being low quality more in recent years.  But anything at 192 or higher sounds good to me.

[Mikero]

I never check the kbps.

If I get a crap sounding mp3 I either bear it until I buy the album, or delete it. But good quality mp3s on iTunes are fine with me. When I import a CD to iTunes, it still sounds almost exactly the same. And I only say "almost" because there's just the touch that it's become digital, which could just be my speakers/headphones themselves.

[Chron]

... isn't the iTunes default format MP4?
It's a bit more advanced and clear than MP3.

[Fatso]

The format they sell you has file-extension M4P which if I recall correctly is protected AAC.

[Mikero]

Perhaps if you buy from the iTunes store. I don't, so I don't know. But my iTunes imports from CDs as mp3.

Maybe, at some point, I set it to do that.

[Fatso]

iTunes defaults CD ripping as M4A (AAC unprotected), so that's probably your own setting. I gave up a long time ago and started ripping WAVs instead and just encoding them myself if I need portability.

[Abominator]

iTunes is for bennys.

[Fatso]

These days I can't imagine ever using anything but Winamp for audio anyway.

[Mikero]

I can't have Winamp on this OS so I originally just went with what it had temporarily. That turned permanent when I got an iPod Shuffle. I'm still using iPod so I'm still using iTunes. Otherwise, I'd probably not use it.

[ASR]

I use WinAmp for VIDEO stuff, and iTunes for music, but only because I have an iPod and it makes that whole dealio easier.

[Chron]

I use WinAmp for everything music/video related (unless the plugins are bugged or non-existent, like SIDs).

I would rather not use anything else these days.

I can't have Winamp on this OS so I originally just went with what it had temporarily. That turned permanent when I got an iPod Shuffle. I'm still using iPod so I'm still using iTunes. Otherwise, I'd probably not use it.

... what OS are you using, DOS?
As far as I know there's a distro of WinAmp for every major OS.

[Mikero]

OK well at least when I got this Mac, I couldn't get Winamp for it. I want a new one anyway.
(I just realized my computer saw me type that is probably getting mad, worried, or MAD worried.)

By now, there's probably some gimmick that lets me iPod up with Winamp too...

[Chron]

There may be some kind of freeware tool, but to be honest, with an iPod you want iTunes running on it; the program is optimized for the device (at least I hope it is).

[Mikero]

Eh, sometimes I wonder.

[Chron]

That's because it's Apple.

[Mikero]

Well, iPod at least. My other Mac stuff has been great. But iTunes talking to iPods is lacking. With 1st gen iPod nano anyway.

[TheRedPriest]

iTunes is one of the #####tiest music players ever made.  Winamp beats it by a mile in every possible way.  Ease of use, options, display, skins, orginization, etc etc... 

iTunes isn't a music player, it's a portal to a music store, and it shows compared to actual music players.

[ASR]

I very much prefer Winamp to iTunes in every way, but I use iTunes because I have an iPod and that's the only reason why.

And I DO like iPods.

[von Teelio]

I hate iPods, but I need to listen to my music somehow...

[Fatso]

Better than the iPod in every single way

AND NO PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE, BITCHES - it's all optional extras like a CD ripper and video converter.

[preventerWIND]

YEAH BUT DOES IT COME IN 9 STUPID LAME LOOKING COLORS?! Better in every single way my butt.

[NovaMan XP]

Damn, that looks nice.

... how much are iPods normally?

[preventerWIND]

It varies from iPod to iPod, nano's go about a bill and a half brand new. They've been known to go up to 300 bucks.

iPod's look very nice, and they work pretty well(ignoring the iTunes coversion and #####), but too expensive.

[Johncarllos]

I'm happy with my Zune.

[ASR]

My roommate has a Zune and it doesn't work at all with his Mac, so he's stuck with the same set of songs on them.

Anyway, from what I've seen, iPods are definitely the best of all MP3 players out there, unless you strictly just want the simplicity of listening to music. I have a handful of mini MP3-players that were given out to me as freebies for events and things over time. Including one that came with the Transformers DVD. And they all work just fine.

[TheRedPriest]

I very much prefer Winamp to iTunes in every way, but I use iTunes because I have an iPod and that's the only reason why.

And I DO like iPods.

Winamp synches with an ipod just fine anymore.  Get rid of iTunes.

[ASR]

Explain yourself. How does that work?

Basically I use WinAmp to open single audio files, and for all forms of video.

But I use iTunes if I just want to open it up and have no idea what I want to listen to.

Another problem I have is that there is a large percentage of my music library that is DRM-protected because I bought them from iTunes back when my parents were giving my iTunes cards and allowances.

So, like, 25% of my music library would be forfeited if I switched. That actually REALLY pisses me off and has done so for a long, long time.

[Fatso]

When in doubt, rerecord.

Worth the time? Probably not. Viable? Hell yes.

[Mikero]

I very much prefer Winamp to iTunes in every way, but I use iTunes because I have an iPod and that's the only reason why.

And I DO like iPods.

What she said.

[TheRedPriest]

Another problem I have is that there is a large percentage of my music library that is DRM-protected because I bought them from iTunes back when my parents were giving my iTunes cards and allowances.

So, like, 25% of my music library would be forfeited if I switched. That actually REALLY pisses me off and has done so for a long, long time.

That.  Also that is why I have never nor will I ever buy digital music.  It's gotten a bit better with the removal of DRM, but you still can't get full 320 kbps or variable bitrate music.  It's all still rather low quality.  Buy the CD.  Rip it.  Tag it.  It's not that hard.  If a CD does not exist, you have to take what you can get, but most digital only stuff can be found in pretty good bitrate.

To address your question though, you would just use the sync option in Winamp and it should work just like itunes/ipod do.  I don't HAVE an ipod so I've not been able to do it myself, but all indications point to Winamp having gottent iPod syncing to work just fine.  As for your DRM problem, there should be converters out there to remove the DRM, but past that I can't help you as I never bought any of that ##### and have never needed to convert said files.

But yeah, the DRM ##### is nothing but a tool to allow Apple to keep thier monopoly on digital music.  Would YOU switch servieces or players if all your music wouldn't work on the new player/platform?  Apple didn't think so either.  ##### Apple.

[ASR]

I'll look into the Winamp/iPod syncing.

As for DRM-removal, one of these days I'm going to go through and figure out which songs are DRM-protected and which aren't, and then go through the long process of converting them.

[TheRedPriest]

Or just reaquire them.  I'm sure you can get them from friends or CDs.  Hell, if I HAD anything you have that is DRM'd I'd send it to you out of spite.  Besides, you've paid for the #####ing song.  You have EVERY right to play it on whatever platform you want, dispite what RIAA lawyers want to legistlate.

[ASR]

There's actually a large amount of songs that I HAVE re-downloaded. I forgot about doing that, that would probably be easier than trying to convert them all. But yeah, I'll figure it out.