arturmarques.com - 200509xx posts - September 2005 -- digital photos, programming, audio, video, e-commerce, genetic loto, cgi, tutorials, exempt reviews, innovation, knowledge economy, virtual racing

20050926 - Usenet newsgroups providers

I am now looking for the best newsgroups service provider (NSP)... Until now, available data, points to newshosting.com: they sell limited and unlimited accounts, for attractive prices, relatively to the alternatives.

However, what looks goods on paper might not rise to the expectations, so I am now testing the service...

20050924 - .CHL channels sorter for ChrisTV

For viewing TV with a PC, my preferences go to ChrisTV, now on version 4.7.
Unfortunately, the software doesn't include an option to sort the TV and Radio channels it tunes, making it difficult to browse through a big list.
However, because it is possible to export the channels to a .CHL file and it doesn't take much effort to understand its clean text file format, I decided to write a small application that reads a .CHL file, sorts the channels by name, then writes the sorted file, which can be imported into ChrisTV. It might be useful to you.

I am using ChrisTV version 4.7 and this free software, that comes with absolutely no warranties or support, should work for any version >=4.5.

Download arturmarques_dot_com_chl_channels_sorter.exe (WIN32 EXE)

20050921 - 1up.com security issues?

I wanted to host a blog on 1up.com, so I visited the site, only to be amazed with what seems to me like a severe security issue: whenever I browse to 1up.com, the server thinks I am someone else: for example, right now, the system "thinks" I am "shymoz" (score 4695, rank lurker) - check the picture!

If I try to log out and clean all browser cookies, but the only result is a log in with the credentials of a different user...

Of course I could be wrong and 1up might be trying to build a really open community, based on total trust. If that is the case, sorry about this message... However I really can't convince myself of that, even if only because there is no "new user" link to be found!

20050921 - BBC World, TV Cabo, Anacom

No dia 2005-08-27, a TV Cabo distribuia o canal BBC World com um som tão péssimo, que me vi obrigado a reclamar à empresa (TV Cabo), ao canal (BBC World) e à entidade reguladora (ANACOM).

A BBC World respondeu em poucos minutos (!!), e o problema ficou resolvido no dia seguinte.
A ANACOM respondeu no dia 2005-09-13, dizendo que depois responderia...
A ANACOM respondeu "uma resposta" no dia 2005-09-21, sugerindo-me que contactasse o ICS...

Abaixo fica a minha mensagem original e o meu reply à "resposta" da ANACOM. Por uma questão de sigilo e respeito, não mostro o texto dos respondentes - apenas o meu texto.

<mensagem original, para TV Cabo e ANACOM>
Poderiam verificar o som da BBC World?
Está horrível: monofónico, com uma amostragem muito baixa, doloroso de se ouvir.

Confirmei esta falta de qualidade extrema, noutras instalações TV Cabo, pelo que posso assegurar-vos que o problema não é específico de ninguém, mas geral.

Por favor, subam a vossa fasquia de qualidade, nomeadamente no que toca ao áudio da BBC World.
</mensagem original, para TV Cabo e ANACOM>

<mensagem original para BBC World>
First I would like to congratulate "BBC World", for the excellence of all its contents.
Secondly, and sadly, I am writing you to complain about the audio quality of the BBC World cable TV channel, as distributed by TV Cabo Portugal (www.tvcabo.pt), in Portugal.

It happens, that "BBC World" is being distributed NOT with the original audio, but with an extremely poor quality, roughly equivalent to a bad phone conversation (mono, very low sampling).

I wrote my discontent to TV Cabo, as my cable provider, but the company is (in)famous for its disregard of any kind of feedback, hence this message: I am hoping that the BBC can claim its original quality and never settle for less.
</mensagem original para BBC World>

< última mensagem para ANACOM>
Obrigado por responderem.

Conforme vos disse em mensagem datada de 2005-09-13 (que entretanto levantou outras questões), a BBC World respondeu minutos depois de eu enviar a reclamação - o que achei perfeitamente extraordinário - e, no dia seguinte, o problema foi resolvido.

Quanto à resposta da Anacom, poderiam explicar-me qual a lógica que conduziu à recomendação de contacto do ICS, um organismo público criado para "para executar, desenvolver e acompanhar as *políticas* definidas para a comunicação social"?
Este pareceu-me um assunto respeitante à Anacom, enquanto entidade reguladora, na medida em que um dos agentes económicos regulados, não cumpria a actividade de "(re)distribuição de sinal", por estar a adulterá-lo, para pior.

Na minha posição de individuo desinteressado e isento, que apenas se manifesta quando, enquanto consumidor, é sujeito a abusos extremos (a BBC World não se ouvia, literalmente...), permitam-me a constatação *estritamente factual* de uma diferença significativa no tratamento de terceiros, por parte das entidades que contactei:
- facto #1: a primeira coisa que a BBC World fez, foi informar-me de que tudo faria para resolver o problema rapidamente; *especulo* que teria sido mais fácil responder "isso é com o seu fornecedor de TV", mas não foi isso que fizeram...
- facto #2: a Anacom teve como primeira resposta remeter-me para outra entidade, com ou sem fundamento, porque essa discussão é estéril.
</última mensagem para ANACOM>

20050919 - e-mail sent to Joshua Fruhlinger

I read and enjoyed your article, but I think you are underestimating the speed and the reach of changes, once they've started...

I also disagree, when you imply that e-books are less good for your eyes. I believe it can be the exact opposite: regular books 1) depend on external light sources that cast shadows, and 2) their uneven surface demand continuous refocusing from your eyes. So, if you use a slim, light, flat, evenly self illuminated device, you might prefer it... Have you tried it?

I use a HP Tablet TC1100, just for reading e-books and e-magazines (have you checked zinio.com?). I just love it. I don't read on paper, since 2000, the year I dared to experience the alternative.

Now that I've tried both flavours, for at least half a decade, I now what is best: the electronic versions.

As for DRM, many formats and so on, they are not obstacles - they are just the proof that the change is coming.

20050917 - JaCob, not JaKob

I stumbled upon the list of students who have been awarded the Microsoft Research European PhD scholarship, for 2006. I was surprised to see the "Jacob Nielsen" entry, because I thought it was JaKob Nielsen, of useit.com fame - it is not: it is someone from the Maersk Institute, in Denmark.

The point is that, for some reason, for nanoseconds, my small brain had a prejudice regarding the feasibility of finding such an established persona back in school, as a student. Shame on me.

Of course it would make all sense: the more you know, the more you know that you don't know, hence the more you must learn. Unfortunately, many people achieve their degrees or some status in their respective fields, then come to think that they've reached the end of the road. That is wrong, to think there is an end to the road.

20050915 - Movie Meta Review - Les Biches (1968)

I enjoyed "Les Biches" (1968).
Running on ice, Jacqueline Sassard seduces another woman - that is it.
As usual with Claude Chabrol, this is a slow paced movie with rich surroundings.
Image comes first: if you are looking for a complex story, deep dialogues or fast action, forget about it.
If you enjoy the imagery in what is not spoken, you'll have a good time.

My rating: 6/10
My "Worth reading reviews": @cultmovies
Buy: DVD (USA) | DVD (Europe) | Poster

20050915 - I am not online, yet I blog

Now you can blog off-line. Just dump your thoughts to w.bloggar, then click "post and publish" to your blog service provider (BSP), and it will be online!
Can it get any easier? It depends on your BSP: blogger.com seems the most popular and its API is widely supported, yet the way it stores images, doesn't allow much freedoom to you, the publisher, and this w.bloggar tool doesn't address that.

20050914 - Why I blog, when you have a website?

I found myself visiting the Google services page (http://groups.google.com/intl/en/options/), only to confirm that they've already spawned way beyond the "search the web" business.

The same thing with Amazon: they are much more than e-retailers, now. Amazon provides a search engine (a9.com), imdb.com, the superb 43things.com and much more...

Yesterday (2005-09-13), eBay bought Skype...

Meanwhile, Yahoo.com is king of content, light years ahead of all the rest, easily providing the best portal in the known universe and the best related services.

These are the GIANTS... Oh, but back to the topic. While visiting Google, I couldn't resist to check if arturmarques.blogspot.com was available. It was, so I subscribed to the service.

The question remains: why a blog, when I have a website (arturmarques.com)?
Is this stupid? I really don't have a solid opinion, yet...
I believe the answer depends on the site. For my humble spot, the blog seems an efficient way for (1) collecting visitors' feedback, and (2) announcing updates.

If you have an opinion on "blogs vs personal websites", please share it.

	20050926 - Usenet newsgroups providers I am now looking for the best newsgroups service provider (NSP)... Until now, available data, points to newshosting.com: they sell limited and unlimited accounts, for attractive prices, relatively to the alternatives. However, what looks goods on paper might not rise to the expectations, so I am now testing the service...

	20050924 - .CHL channels sorter for ChrisTV For viewing TV with a PC, my preferences go to ChrisTV, now on version 4.7. Unfortunately, the software doesn't include an option to sort the TV and Radio channels it tunes, making it difficult to browse through a big list. However, because it is possible to export the channels to a .CHL file and it doesn't take much effort to understand its clean text file format, I decided to write a small application that reads a .CHL file, sorts the channels by name, then writes the sorted file, which can be imported into ChrisTV. It might be useful to you. I am using ChrisTV version 4.7 and this free software, that comes with absolutely no warranties or support, should work for any version >=4.5. Download arturmarques_dot_com_chl_channels_sorter.exe (WIN32 EXE)

	20050921 - 1up.com security issues? I wanted to host a blog on 1up.com, so I visited the site, only to be amazed with what seems to me like a severe security issue: whenever I browse to 1up.com, the server thinks I am someone else: for example, right now, the system "thinks" I am "shymoz" (score 4695, rank lurker) - check the picture! If I try to log out and clean all browser cookies, but the only result is a log in with the credentials of a different user... Of course I could be wrong and 1up might be trying to build a really open community, based on total trust. If that is the case, sorry about this message... However I really can't convince myself of that, even if only because there is no "new user" link to be found!

	20050921 - BBC World, TV Cabo, Anacom No dia 2005-08-27, a TV Cabo distribuia o canal BBC World com um som tão péssimo, que me vi obrigado a reclamar à empresa (TV Cabo), ao canal (BBC World) e à entidade reguladora (ANACOM). A BBC World respondeu em poucos minutos (!!), e o problema ficou resolvido no dia seguinte. A ANACOM respondeu no dia 2005-09-13, dizendo que depois responderia... A ANACOM respondeu "uma resposta" no dia 2005-09-21, sugerindo-me que contactasse o ICS... Abaixo fica a minha mensagem original e o meu reply à "resposta" da ANACOM. Por uma questão de sigilo e respeito, não mostro o texto dos respondentes - apenas o meu texto. <mensagem original, para TV Cabo e ANACOM> Poderiam verificar o som da BBC World? Está horrível: monofónico, com uma amostragem muito baixa, doloroso de se ouvir. Confirmei esta falta de qualidade extrema, noutras instalações TV Cabo, pelo que posso assegurar-vos que o problema não é específico de ninguém, mas geral. Por favor, subam a vossa fasquia de qualidade, nomeadamente no que toca ao áudio da BBC World. </mensagem original, para TV Cabo e ANACOM> <mensagem original para BBC World> First I would like to congratulate "BBC World", for the excellence of all its contents. Secondly, and sadly, I am writing you to complain about the audio quality of the BBC World cable TV channel, as distributed by TV Cabo Portugal (www.tvcabo.pt), in Portugal. It happens, that "BBC World" is being distributed NOT with the original audio, but with an extremely poor quality, roughly equivalent to a bad phone conversation (mono, very low sampling). I wrote my discontent to TV Cabo, as my cable provider, but the company is (in)famous for its disregard of any kind of feedback, hence this message: I am hoping that the BBC can claim its original quality and never settle for less. </mensagem original para BBC World> < última mensagem para ANACOM> Obrigado por responderem. Conforme vos disse em mensagem datada de 2005-09-13 (que entretanto levantou outras questões), a BBC World respondeu minutos depois de eu enviar a reclamação - o que achei perfeitamente extraordinário - e, no dia seguinte, o problema foi resolvido. Quanto à resposta da Anacom, poderiam explicar-me qual a lógica que conduziu à recomendação de contacto do ICS, um organismo público criado para "para executar, desenvolver e acompanhar as políticas definidas para a comunicação social"? Este pareceu-me um assunto respeitante à Anacom, enquanto entidade reguladora, na medida em que um dos agentes económicos regulados, não cumpria a actividade de "(re)distribuição de sinal", por estar a adulterá-lo, para pior. Na minha posição de individuo desinteressado e isento, que apenas se manifesta quando, enquanto consumidor, é sujeito a abusos extremos (a BBC World não se ouvia, literalmente...), permitam-me a constatação estritamente factual de uma diferença significativa no tratamento de terceiros, por parte das entidades que contactei: - facto #1: a primeira coisa que a BBC World fez, foi informar-me de que tudo faria para resolver o problema rapidamente; especulo que teria sido mais fácil responder "isso é com o seu fornecedor de TV", mas não foi isso que fizeram... - facto #2: a Anacom teve como primeira resposta remeter-me para outra entidade, com ou sem fundamento, porque essa discussão é estéril. </última mensagem para ANACOM>

	20050919 - e-mail sent to Joshua Fruhlinger I read and enjoyed your article, but I think you are underestimating the speed and the reach of changes, once they've started... I also disagree, when you imply that e-books are less good for your eyes. I believe it can be the exact opposite: regular books 1) depend on external light sources that cast shadows, and 2) their uneven surface demand continuous refocusing from your eyes. So, if you use a slim, light, flat, evenly self illuminated device, you might prefer it... Have you tried it? I use a HP Tablet TC1100, just for reading e-books and e-magazines (have you checked zinio.com?). I just love it. I don't read on paper, since 2000, the year I dared to experience the alternative. Now that I've tried both flavours, for at least half a decade, I now what is best: the electronic versions. As for DRM, many formats and so on, they are not obstacles - they are just the proof that the change is coming.

	20050917 - JaCob, not JaKob I stumbled upon the list of students who have been awarded the Microsoft Research European PhD scholarship, for 2006. I was surprised to see the "Jacob Nielsen" entry, because I thought it was JaKob Nielsen, of useit.com fame - it is not: it is someone from the Maersk Institute, in Denmark. The point is that, for some reason, for nanoseconds, my small brain had a prejudice regarding the feasibility of finding such an established persona back in school, as a student. Shame on me. Of course it would make all sense: the more you know, the more you know that you don't know, hence the more you must learn. Unfortunately, many people achieve their degrees or some status in their respective fields, then come to think that they've reached the end of the road. That is wrong, to think there is an end to the road.

	20050915 - Movie Meta Review - Les Biches (1968) I enjoyed "Les Biches" (1968). Running on ice, Jacqueline Sassard seduces another woman - that is it. As usual with Claude Chabrol, this is a slow paced movie with rich surroundings. Image comes first: if you are looking for a complex story, deep dialogues or fast action, forget about it. If you enjoy the imagery in what is not spoken, you'll have a good time. My rating: 6/10 My "Worth reading reviews": @cultmovies Buy: DVD (USA) \| DVD (Europe) \| Poster

	20050915 - I am not online, yet I blog Now you can blog off-line. Just dump your thoughts to w.bloggar, then click "post and publish" to your blog service provider (BSP), and it will be online! Can it get any easier? It depends on your BSP: blogger.com seems the most popular and its API is widely supported, yet the way it stores images, doesn't allow much freedoom to you, the publisher, and this w.bloggar tool doesn't address that.

	20050914 - Why I blog, when you have a website? I found myself visiting the Google services page (http://groups.google.com/intl/en/options/), only to confirm that they've already spawned way beyond the "search the web" business. The same thing with Amazon: they are much more than e-retailers, now. Amazon provides a search engine (a9.com), imdb.com, the superb 43things.com and much more... Yesterday (2005-09-13), eBay bought Skype... Meanwhile, Yahoo.com is king of content, light years ahead of all the rest, easily providing the best portal in the known universe and the best related services. These are the GIANTS... Oh, but back to the topic. While visiting Google, I couldn't resist to check if arturmarques.blogspot.com was available. It was, so I subscribed to the service. The question remains: why a blog, when I have a website (arturmarques.com)? Is this stupid? I really don't have a solid opinion, yet... I believe the answer depends on the site. For my humble spot, the blog seems an efficient way for (1) collecting visitors' feedback, and (2) announcing updates. If you have an opinion on "blogs vs personal websites", please share it.