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new remix

Mon, 04 Jul 2005 23:16:00

RambOrc

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev/ramborc/river1_new.mp3">http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev ... r1_new.mp3</a><!-- m --> A bit rough as some of the instruments are too "loud", but I'm off to bed for tonight and wanted to upload it the way it is right now.
Tue, 05 Jul 2005 02:24:43

Firebrand

* downloads and hears * I like it a lot, nice work Ramborc! <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D --> The fast rythm makes it sound better for me <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) --> .
Tue, 05 Jul 2005 09:19:56

RambOrc

Oh and BTW it's not a live guitar, it's the original MIDI track with some nice effects. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->
Tue, 05 Jul 2005 14:43:51

The 4th Class

Interesting remix, but the guitars are too distorted IMO. Great choice in background instruments too! I really liked how you increased the tempo, creating a more urgent environment. BTW, if you like Speed Metal, you should really give Slayer and Kreator a try. Slayer's Reign In Blood has been ranked as one of the best Thrash albums of all time here in North America, and Kreator's Pleasure To Kill is arguably the most brutal album I own. Either way, they like them both and I thought you might be interested.
Tue, 05 Jul 2005 15:47:25

RambOrc

LOL for me it's still not distorted enough (resp. it should be played with more tap-down and less open tunes Actually I didn't do that much, the only instrument track I've really modified is the lead guitar. For the drum set, I chose a rock one instead of the pop one that was in by default and for the bass I put on a bass boost in the equalizer, but aside from that I only changed the volumes a bit. The rest the program did automatically when importing the MIDI file. I've used a 4-track tape-based mini-studio from 1994 to 1998 (and didn't give it away until recently, though using it very little these last 6 years) and after that time was planning to do the whole composing thing on the PC for many years, but though I tried several hardware and software, never found anything that was really usable. I tried unsuccessfully to run a reasonable audio studio on $2000+ PCs and software up to several hundred bucks but all of it was cumbersume, buggy, user unfriendly etc... And now I've got a machine anyone can get for $499 and it includes the software too, it's amazing how it is always said Apple computers are so expensive, yes it's true for the G5 PowerMacs but not for the Mac Mini (neither for the iMac for that matter). Garageband 2 is so different from everything else I saw before, it's a completely different world - I barely scratched the surface but already I was able to do more with it than with any other MIDI sequencer before. It also offers very good software instruments and an overall great sound quality, for being onboard sound in such a cheap computer it's of amazingly high quality. OK OK I'll stop now, but for the first time in my life it's really a joy to work with music on a computer. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) --> Anyway, it's a lot more than a MIDI sequencer, effects can be applied to real instrument tracks too (haven't tried that yet because the one big drawback of the Mac mini design is that it doesn't have an audio in, I'll have to buy an external USB device for that). So 4th class if you like the way things sound, I could try to export some of your MIDIs with it, all it takes is simply to drag&drop the midi file into a new or an existing track from anywhere (desktop, file system, you name it), then click the export option in the menu and wait until the conversion is finished. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) --> Actually, if you have an older mac, Garageband runs on a G3 600 MHz and better. Oh yes regarding Kreator and Slayer, I should look more into them, though Slayer struck me as rather primitive in the past. What one absolutely shouldn't forget in this category is Destruction, unlike many old thrash legends from the 1980s they are still at the front, showing the others how to do it... if you haven't listened to album "Metal Discharge" yet, you should do so, it's so much like the classic thrash metal 20 years ago and at the same time it's absolutely nothing stale, it's very modern and has an extreme power in it.
Tue, 05 Jul 2005 17:32:23

The 4th Class

[quote="RambOrc":32qhnngk]So 4th class if you like the way things sound, I could try to export some of your MIDIs with it, all it takes is simply to drag&drop the midi file into a new or an existing track from anywhere (desktop, file system, you name it), then click the export option in the menu and wait until the conversion is finished. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) --> Interesting to see a remix of my own work. Sure, I don't mind! <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D --> [quote="RambOrc":32qhnngk]Oh yes regarding Kreator and Slayer, I should look more into them, though Slayer struck me as rather primitive in the past. What one absolutely shouldn't forget in this category is Destruction, unlike many old thrash legends from the 1980s they are still at the front, showing the others how to do it... if you haven't listened to album "Metal Discharge" yet, you should do so, it's so much like the classic thrash metal 20 years ago and at the same time it's absolutely nothing stale, it's very modern and has an extreme power in it. I'll give Destruction a listen. You are so much more seasoned in heavy metal than I am, that there probably is a reason you never got into Slayer and Kreator in the first place. <!-- s8) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_cool.gif" alt="8)" title="Cool" /><!-- s8) --> Slayer was the first thrash band I ever got into, and I don't really know how Europe sees them, but in North America (especially the States) every metal magazine/website sucks up to them big time. Yeah I'll agree with you, their sound is a bit raw, but the guitar work still shines. If you're gonna get into them, I recommend sticking to their 80's material. Or maybe just get a live album? By the 90's and 21st century, they started sounding like the "kids" they influenced. And believe me, underground metal these days is utter shit. (Though there are always exceptions <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->) Actually, I only have one Kreator album, and that's Pleasure To Kill. Average song plays at 260 BPM. Their lyrics, I admit, are very corny and sometimes cheesy, but the same applies to Slayer and any band where all their albums are concept albums about Lucifer. BTW RambOrc, if it weren't for you, I'd never have gotten into Manowar and Helloween, two excellent bands quite obscure in the Western World. <!-- s:wink: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=":wink:" title="Wink" /><!-- s:wink: -->
Tue, 05 Jul 2005 18:46:03

RambOrc

Well if you count Western Europe to the Western world, then Manowar is quite well known. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) --> At any rate, here my next remix from a MIDI file, I wanted to do this one for more than 10 years but until recently I never found a software instrument good enough for the solo guitar: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev/ramborc/storm.mp3">http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev ... /storm.mp3</a><!-- m --> Any ideas what this is? <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->
Tue, 05 Jul 2005 19:21:56

The 4th Class

Heh heh heh yep. That's Summer III from The Four Seasons. <!-- s:wink: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=":wink:" title="Wink" /><!-- s:wink: --> O that reminds me, I start violin lessons tomorrow. <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->
Tue, 05 Jul 2005 20:19:58

RambOrc

You mean Presto from Opus 8 n.2 <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) --> Anyway, what I'm pretty sure of is that most so-called classical music fans (middle-aged and older men and women who dress nicely and regard themselves as highly civilized) would say this shit has been composed by some disgusting creeps who never bathe and can't read and write, whereas all I did was was changing the instruments and adding a simple drum beat. <!-- s:P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" /><!-- s:P --> p.s. violin is maybe the most versatile single instrument.
Tue, 05 Jul 2005 20:41:47

Firebrand

Sounds really good! <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) --> Nice work Ramborc.
Tue, 05 Jul 2005 21:02:03

The 4th Class

[quote="RambOrc":3txchhqs]Anyway, what I'm pretty sure of is that most so-called classical music fans (middle-aged and older men and women who dress nicely and regard themselves as highly civilized) would say this shit has been composed by some disgusting creeps who never bathe and can't read and write, whereas all I did was was changing the instruments and adding a simple drum beat. <!-- s:P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" /><!-- s:P --> I hate people who think their preference in music is superior to everyone else'. Hell, I really hate people who think they are superior to everyone else because of their preference in music. IMO that is not only closed-minded, but down and out prejudice. Don't get me wrong, if you just can't stand a particular style, that's fine. My grandpa has three German violins that are about 50 years old. That was his instrument of choice, second to the double bass, so one of the reasons I started learning it was to, I guess, follow in his footsteps. It will also work wonders in the band I'm in. But instruments take a lifetime to master, regardless of the instrument.
Tue, 05 Jul 2005 21:20:38

RambOrc

Consider yourself lucky you weren't born in Eastern Europe, there prejudices are the unshakable pillars of society...
Tue, 05 Jul 2005 22:37:15

Firebrand

Wow 4th Class, the violin is one of those instruments I think it's complicated to learn and play, I wish you all the luck learning it! I also think it's one of the instruments with a really amazing sound on it too <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->.
Thu, 07 Jul 2005 00:19:14

The 4th Class

LOL I just got back from my first violin lesson. It was really fun and I'm glad I took it. Although I still suck, knowing guitar and saxophone really helped on the learning part. Plus, my teacher is a really good guy, very encouraging and playful. Anyway, yeah I'll keep the violin up, it's definitely worth the effort. <!-- s8) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_cool.gif" alt="8)" title="Cool" /><!-- s8) --> Maybe now, the violin parts I add in future songs may be a bit more realistic, eh? <!-- s:wink: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=":wink:" title="Wink" /><!-- s:wink: -->
Tue, 12 Jul 2005 22:23:06

RambOrc

I've got an updated version in the meantime: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev/ramborc/storm2.mp3">http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev ... storm2.mp3</a><!-- m -->
Tue, 12 Jul 2005 23:07:05

Firebrand

Cool to see site back up again! <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
Thu, 14 Jul 2005 13:05:42

Moose

[quote="Firebrand":ux1tyl5y]Cool to see site back up again! <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) --> Indeed and hopefully things haven't died in it's absense.
Thu, 14 Jul 2005 15:26:26

RambOrc

huh?
Fri, 15 Jul 2005 02:03:11

Firebrand

Oh, BTW Ramborc the drums in the second version of your MP3 sound a lot better! <!-- s8) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_cool.gif" alt="8)" title="Cool" /><!-- s8) -->
Fri, 15 Jul 2005 11:09:52

RambOrc

It's now two drum tracks mixed together. How did you like the bass in the middle BTW?
Fri, 15 Jul 2005 14:32:10

Firebrand

I think it needs a bit more volume but it sounds nice, I like the way you work with the effects, but I'm curious, does that program you use handle all the MIDI instruments? Or you need to get samples for it to work... Heh! I have some experience using that kind of programs and I also like to make "my own" remixes, lol.
Fri, 15 Jul 2005 14:51:32

RambOrc

It's got 100 or so software instruments and with a half dozen effect classes and settings you can vary most instruments to a great degree, so there are thousands of effective combinations. You can also transpose music by up to 3 octaves (that's how I made a bass guitar from the original harpsichord track). <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/">http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/</a><!-- m -->
Fri, 15 Jul 2005 16:01:41

Firebrand

Too bad it only runs on MacOS, I have just used a Mac just once and I didn't liked it, lol.
Fri, 15 Jul 2005 18:16:45

RambOrc

...maybe because you don't like things that just work out of the box? <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->
Fri, 15 Jul 2005 23:35:33

Firebrand

LOL, maybe that's the problem... <!-- s:roll: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_rolleyes.gif" alt=":roll:" title="Rolling Eyes" /><!-- s:roll: -->
Sat, 16 Jul 2005 08:11:43

RambOrc

It's the phenomenon that's called "conditioning" in ethology, I've observed it with lots of people, they have been showed M$ Winblows and Orifice only and now that they have a vague idea about how the most basic things are done in them (often extremely ineffectively), they are afraid of anything new because it might be even worse, while in reality nothing is as bad as M$ products... I've been working with a large number of operating systems and office suites and through sheer routine I can get along with pretty much every one of them. But M$ products are among the very worst, it's the most difficult to achieve what you want to. This goes especially for M$ Orifice which I'd never even consider using unless paid for it (which I am at work), and it's only marginally better with Winblows, which while in maybe 5-10% of the cases has some advantages against other OSes, in 90-95% of the cases it's vastly inferior to them. A premier example is Mac OS X, in which the only things I miss from Winblows are a couple of key shortcuts not implemented (like Home and End keys jumping to the beginning or the end of a line while writing text like here) and similar little things the average Winblows user might not even know they exist. Yes it's no good for gaming but for what an operating system is actually there, it's vastly superior and after a learning curve of maybe a couple of hours, it's infinitely much easier to use too.
Sat, 16 Jul 2005 16:15:56

The 4th Class

Incidently, and I'm probably wrong, I remember hearing something that throughout OS history, Windows is the OS that has always had the most extremely critical bugs in its software. The prime ones involving DLL's and Internet Explorer. O yeah, and I suppose you're all aware of Dell's phasing out of floppies. At first I strongly opposed the idea, but now I've gotten more used to the change.
Sun, 17 Jul 2005 11:11:58

RambOrc

Actually, the basics of Winblows are all wrong - it was designed from the beginning for a single user on a single computer, whereas Unix (from which GNU/Linux, Solaris and all the different *BSD variants, among them Mac OS X) was drafted from the beginning as a multi-user multi-computer networked environment. Up to this day, Winblows still kind of emulates all this stuff and in the background still thinks in the old way. Win9x up to WinME is even worse, because like Win1-3 before, it is not even really an operating system, but rather a GUI running on the archaic operating system behind it... Phasing out floppies by Dell? I could tell you that Compaq started this years ago, but I'll rather tell not about something in between but the real other end of the spectrum: Apple did it in 1997... <!-- s:P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" /><!-- s:P --> One of the greatest thing about the Mac mini is that it's actually way cheaper than a comparable PC: while Aopen finally brought out a PC clone, it's not only bulkier, it also costs a lot more even without any kind of software. And the software Apple provides with a new computer is worth hundreds even if you aren't going to use all of it.
Sun, 17 Jul 2005 12:51:07

The 4th Class

Now here's the paradox: if Windows is so bad, why is it arguably the most abundant OS on the market? I've used MACs before, they're the OS of choice in all my schools. Although it worked fine, it was extremely slow and was always memory-deficient. But I doubt that was because of the MAC itself, the applications we had to use were most likely too sophisticated for the computer. Actually, if it weren't for the gaming trouble, I myself would probably be using Linux right now. I've long had it with WinME, it's just too unstable (and XP, although MARGINALLY better IMO, is still just an aesthetic joke - definitely an insult to the intellegent human psyche. Good thing, though, mine is professional edition, as it just goes to show that Home Edition was designed for people who not only know nothing about computers, but want to keep it that way.), though Win3.1 proved to be the most reliable version for me.
Sun, 17 Jul 2005 18:29:06

RambOrc

It's all about marketing and lies, Winblows and Orifice are and have always been the most inferior choices of all, but M$ had the best (and sneakiest, most dishonest) marketing machine of all and so they won out in the long run. There's nothing special to eat, it happens in every facet of our dog eat dog society where the strong and rich get always strong and richer and the poor and weak are stomped out. Just yesterday read about Malawi, a small African country with 14 million people, no electricity, no clean drinking water, no other transportation than bicycles or feet, one teacher for hundreds of children, one doctor for every 100'000 people (in the Western world, it's somewhere between 1:100 and 1:1'000 depending on the country, in Germany it's 1:270 for example), anything that requires an operation (like taking out your appendix) is a death sentence because there is no technology for it, and so on... to end all this forever, to allow everyone im Malawi to live like human being, all this entails would cost less than what it costs the US to station their troops in Iraq for a week... this is our society, praised to the be the most advanced of all and the most free too... still not macabre enough? The whole Iraq war (and some others) are all about the oil which wouldn't be needed at all any more because alternative fuel has been developed long ago and by today's oil prices it could actually be even cheaper than current cars, but the oil industry is huge and it has immense political influence (it's a good question which mafia is bigger and stronger, the one behind heavy drugs like heroin or the oil companies and their related concerns), so such things are suppressed. Some extremely rich and important people would lose their steady flow of income, so they spend whatever is needed to stop the competition from making this world a better place. Oh, digressed again... <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) --> Well anyway, it's a good question what kind of Mac OS it was, if the classic one (up to 9.x), while it had a better GUI than Winblows, the underlying OS was greatly outdated and not very good. This changed with Mac OS X, since then Mac OS is not only easier to use but also more stable on the OS level. If in Win2K/XP (I don't mention 9x/ME because that's not an operation system, not even M$ developers regard it as one) an app is freezing up, you often can't do anything but CTRL+ALT+DEL and click the "end task" button and wait until the program is shut down so you can resume any kind of work on the machine. On OS X (at least current versions like 10.3 and 10.4), when an app freezes, I can just click outside of its window and everything else is running as usual on the system, so if I want to wait and see whether the app is just looking like frozen and it'll be available after some time, finishing the task it was doing (this happens with some apps quite often), instead of waiting in front of a useless computer you can just work on with everything else. As for one of M$'s most important tricks in establishing Winblows as the de-facto standard, they realized the power of bundled OEM software and others didn't (well Apple always did of course, but I mean PCs), they did it with DOS and later with Win3.x, and by the time Win95 came out they had such a huge lead that out of simple social inertia manufacturers bought the OEM licence for their machines because it was difficult to sell new PCs without it any more.
Sun, 17 Jul 2005 18:34:29

RambOrc

One point I forgot to answer to, the crappy and slow software, in some cases it's simply bad conversions from a PC version. The latest example I stumbled upon is in Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004, the advanced table layout mode which works on Winblows just like any other function, but on the Mac version it locks up for half a minute and longer for initial display and for every click into a new element a similar lockup time occurs (i.e. it's simply unusable). And Macromedia has been releasing Mac versions of Dreamweaver since the beginning, so what can one expect from a software company with even less Mac roots? OTOH since Mac OS 1.3, you can install X11 on Mac OS X and compile and run a large number of generic Unix apps. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->
Sun, 17 Jul 2005 19:32:04

The 4th Class

Hey it's not just our society, it's all pure instinct. It's Darwin's theory of natural selection on a more technological level. O yes, now we've shifted to politics, let me just say that the only G8 nation that refused to make donations to help Africa is the States. No comment from them as to why. They're also the only western nation to oppose a UN court. They can say whatever they want, but here's the real reason why: they would be pressed with massive war crime charges, the Iraq war and the dropping of the atomic bombs to name a few. More American soldiers alone have died in this war on Iraq than UN peacekeepers since the UN was even formed!
Sun, 17 Jul 2005 20:15:59

RambOrc

The way modern capitalism (mis)quotes Darwin is eerily similar to the way the Nazis (mis)quoted Nietzsche, twisting and contorting what those people originally said into something that uses the same words but means something completely different. Not to mention Darwin was just one scientist, his viewpoints were just one of the many possible, it's no absolute truth. Indeed other 19th century scientists observed the natural world with different eyes and reached different conclusions, like an emigrant Russian prince (can't remember his name) who wrote a book about the way animals help each other, i.e. pretty much the opposite of Darwin. But of course in our so-called freedom you still learn in school what those of power want you to learn and such ideas are not among them... I've grown up on the communist side of the Iron Curtain but often I don't really see the difference between that and the "free" Western world, as far as speaking your mind and teaching nonconform ideas go.
Sun, 17 Jul 2005 23:11:35

RambOrc

Just found this interesting tidbit about OS/2: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://news.com.com/5208-12-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=8047&messageID=55505&start=-1">http://news.com.com/5208-12-0.html?foru ... 5&start=-1</a><!-- m --> As you read about those features and their superiority to even latest Winblows releases, keep in mind he's talking about something that was commercially available at the time when M$ was selling Win3.1 - not even Win95 was out at that time.
Mon, 18 Jul 2005 13:34:37

Firebrand

You are right in almost all the stuff you say here, I'm sure that if I try to change the OS I use I'll get a surprise, I'm not saying that I'm always sticking to M$ software or anything, I already know for very much people comments and my own experience that this software is not the best or it's not the one with the best features, but the thing is, it is the most standard everywhere, I mean, anywhere (or almost anywhere) where you get a job they use M$ orifice or winblows sometimes they don't they work with linux and other softwares, but most of the times the fault is because of the way things work and because most people are afraid of changing their softwares, also I think that M$ is a company that claims they "innovate" new stuff, but I think the only thing they do to "innovate" is to brign features from the competition to their own shitie products and to clain they "invented" those, that's why I hate M$ prodtucts that much, because they really think people is stupid and believes their shity comments, I remember I went to a secutiry conference in the college I go to and someone asked the guy who was talking about the security in other OS's and the guy said something like "well, it's different to use an OS that everyone uses than an OS that only 10 or 20 people use" that's pure shit, because they know their software is bad and vulnerable to anything and everything, and other OS's aren't that unsafe, that's only my point of view and I remember to laugh at his answer BTW.
Mon, 18 Jul 2005 13:49:38

RambOrc

I remember when Win95 came out and it touted all-new features like a trash can and Plug&Play, I was amazed how their marketing machine can say such shit, I mean Win95 came out in Q3 or Q4 1995, OS/2 Warp 3 came out in 1994 and had auto hardware detection (that's what PnP is after all, at least in the early implementation in win95). Or the trash can which Mac OS had for ages, and OS/2 Warp 3 had it too (not sure about previous versions). The funniest was that even Win3.1 did have it in a way if you ran it on DOS 6.2 (dunno about other versions), it worked less consumer friendly but it did exist all the same. As for the guy you talked about, tell him if you see him again I want him to know I think he's a brainless shithead, LOL... what's up with 10-20 people??? The BIG companies still don't use Winblows as the only OS, even after all these years. 10 years ago OS/2, AS 400, AIX, Unix, Solaris & co. were the OSes the vast majority of the machines ran, and while Winblows gained lots of ground since then (especially in enterprises with stupid IT managers who went to Winblows to save software costs and lost ten times as much in TCO), it's still far from being the one and only OS in large corporations. They might own 90-95% of the consumer and even nearly as much of the corporate desktop market, but that's just the low end crap. Just like Intel who until recently had zero foothold in the really high end server area, M$ has not much of a foothold there neither.
Mon, 18 Jul 2005 14:01:45

The 4th Class

[quote="RambOrc":3030ndex]Just found this interesting tidbit about OS/2: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://news.com.com/5208-12-0.html?forumID=1&threadID=8047&messageID=55505&start=-1">http://news.com.com/5208-12-0.html?foru ... 5&start=-1</a><!-- m --> As you read about those features and their superiority to even latest Winblows releases, keep in mind he's talking about something that was commercially available at the time when M$ was selling Win3.1 - not even Win95 was out at that time. Heh, I actually have OS/2 2.0 on old floppies, but I myself have never used it yet. BTW, just as a side note here in the western world, most people often find it amusing and sympathetic when their computers don't work. Rather than find a way to fix the problem, they're more willing to just have a laugh because the same thing happens to everybody. <!-- s:roll: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_rolleyes.gif" alt=":roll:" title="Rolling Eyes" /><!-- s:roll: -->
Mon, 18 Jul 2005 14:49:00

RambOrc

Now THIS is the real achievement of Micro$oft over the last two decades... <!-- s:evil: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_evil.gif" alt=":evil:" title="Evil or Very Mad" /><!-- s:evil: -->
Mon, 18 Jul 2005 15:19:35

Firebrand

[quote="The 4th Class":3uw6tsvu]BTW, just as a side note here in the western world, most people often find it amusing and sympathetic when their computers don't work. Rather than find a way to fix the problem, they're more willing to just have a laugh because the same thing happens to everybody. <!-- s:roll: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_rolleyes.gif" alt=":roll:" title="Rolling Eyes" /><!-- s:roll: --> Yes, sadly that's how people think around here too, lol. <!-- s:( --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_sad.gif" alt=":(" title="Sad" /><!-- s:( --> (Obvously that's no my case all the time)
Mon, 18 Jul 2005 15:39:49

RambOrc

If you pay $2 at McDonald's and get a cold hamburger, you complain to the manager and demand your money back or at least a 100% satisfying replacement (i.e. a freshly done, steaming hot burger). In most cases, the manager will even offer you a free milkshake or similar to make you a 100% satisfied customer. If you pay $2'000 for a computer system and all you get are problems, you don't even call the free support line but rather shove the machine into the corner of the bedroom and try not to think of it and of your failure to stand up for your rights when you should have. ...sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Mon, 18 Jul 2005 16:28:48

Firebrand

That's why I prefer to build my own computer, I remember the only time I bought a HP Pavilion computer, when it became slow and old I tried to expand the hardware to find that it had support for just 128 MB RAM and NOTHING MORE, I tried using 512 MB but I wasn't able to install them because of that <!-- s:( --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_sad.gif" alt=":(" title="Sad" /><!-- s:( -->, also I tried upgrading the video card and everythging, but the darned PCI ports made it impossible for me to buy newer cards (that are all AGP), since then I decided to build my own computers with the hardware I like to use for them and without having to worry myself for expansion limits and stuff like that. As for an OS that brings problems, I guess most of the people prefer to buy pirated software here in Mexico at least than to pay for a darned ridiculous price for a license of M$ shitty programs, lol.
Mon, 18 Jul 2005 16:41:02

RambOrc

That's actually one of the big mysteries I just don't get, I mean if there is an alternative that costs much less or even nothing, why do they people steal the expensive one? As for building my own computer, I did that for nearly a decade, but the last computer I bought was a factory assembled one once again. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) --> Which is lately becoming sensible once again as you don't need anything near the best performance possible these days, for most things people do with a computer today you could actually use a 1 GHz machine with 512 megs RAM and a graphics cards 3-4 generations back and it'd still be fine, quality is a much more crucial factor. The only relatively expensive and fast processor I've ever bought for a computer was the 3 GHz P4 early 2004 because I actually did need the performance boost for compiling the maps in WadAuthor (the town map for SE took 1/3 as long on it than on the 1.3 GHz Duron I had before that).
Mon, 18 Jul 2005 16:45:36

Firebrand

[quote="RambOrc":10c9fue9]That's actually one of the big mysteries I just don't get, I mean if there is an alternative that costs much less or even nothing, why do they people steal the expensive one? I think it would make us return to the same thing that we were talking before, the bad marketing stuff M$ has that makes people think that if they don't use the M$ OS they won't have a chance to do anything with their computers, that's another thing I hate from them, they think that people is idiot enough to buy their stuff just because they make us think that.
Sun, 31 Jul 2005 19:43:16

RambOrc

Back to topic, here the latest version: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev/ramborc/storm3.mp3">http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev ... storm3.mp3</a><!-- m -->
Mon, 01 Aug 2005 02:40:48

The 4th Class

The bass solo sounds quite authentic; I can hear the player slapping his nails on the strings near the pickups. That and I can hear "knacks" from what sounds like the guitar player adjusting his palm so he can get a better mute. Are all the instruments still synths? Or did you record on some tracks? I swear the bass cannot be MIDI. <!-- s8) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_cool.gif" alt="8)" title="Cool" /><!-- s8) -->
Mon, 01 Aug 2005 12:28:03

RambOrc

What do you think why am I so amazed by Garageband? <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) --> It's all software instruments and it doesn't even require a $300+ sound card from Creative or Terratec, it's got a maybe 10-20 bucks worth audio chip in it and I guess all is done through the CPU (which BTW in OS X is needed less for graphics rendering as part of it is done directly through the 3D card, and that has been so for years, compared to Winblows where it is scheduled to make its debut in Winblows Whistle). I am pretty much content with this version, finally I figured out how to make loops play faster than intended, hence the double-speed drums. The drums sound a bit strange during the bass solo, I'm not yet sure why.
Mon, 01 Aug 2005 16:18:56

Firebrand

Hey! Amazing work! I like the drums a lot, it sounds a lot better, I don't hear anything strange about the drums myself <!-- s:? --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_confused.gif" alt=":?" title="Confused" /><!-- s:? --> .
Mon, 01 Aug 2005 23:23:36

RambOrc

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?home&NewsID=12201">http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cf ... wsID=12201</a><!-- m -->
Fri, 05 Aug 2005 13:51:03

Firebrand

Hehe! What else you could expect from M$ Ramborc? I also read somewhere that the new IE 7 will have some of the features from Firefox, like the tabs to organize the navigation and some popup blockers & security stuff that are also technology from other companies, I think they don't have enough imagination to create good features, because they would make them all bugged and security risky, so they have to steal other technology from their competition, also, it's not the first time we see this kind of stuff, after all, windows it's not their product, right?
Fri, 05 Aug 2005 15:30:37

RambOrc

IE 7 is a big lie starting with the name - it's not a next-generation software, the name 6.1 would be more approppriate because besides a bunch of bugfixes all it does is adding tabbed browsing and maybe a couple of other minor features the competition has had for years and even for IE they have been available as community-made addons. Funny how one of the giants of closed source proprietary software who is bashing open source community efforts all the time has held some of its market share throughout the years only thanks to these unofficial addons...
Fri, 05 Aug 2005 15:43:11

Firebrand

Yep, it's an irony that they are implementing stuff that others have done for free <!-- s:lol: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: --> .
Fri, 05 Aug 2005 15:50:42

The 4th Class

Beta 1 will not be available to the general public, at least in part because it lacks many of the user-oriented features Windows Vista will have when it ships in the second half of 2006, Microsoft officials say. "The whole canvas is not complete," says Greg Sullivan, group product manager in the Windows client division. "We've painted less than half the picture here."
I'd much rather work with a TUI than a sugar-coated playground.
Brad Goldberg, Windows client general manager, told reporters and analysts at a recent pre-Beta 1 workshop that Microsoft's design goals for Windows Vista fell into three major categories: instilling a "new level of confidence in your PC" by improving security, privacy, performance, reliability, and ease of deployment; bringing clarity to the organization and use of information; and "seamlessly connecting you to people and devices."
Notice the strong emphasis on the second person pronoun. This is a very popular marketing/propaganda technique used to make the issues seem more personal or realistic. BTW, if you want to be connected to people and devices, get the Internet.
Of the three, improving user confidence was at the top of the list at the pre-beta workshop. "We have to nail the fundamentals first," says Windows client director Austin Wilson. Microsoft is determined to avoid "the patch management nightmare" and to seal off vulnerabilities "so that things like Blaster don't happen in the future," he adds.
M$ obviously doesn't think very highly of its customers if they think users need to improve confidence. Just because they're the middle class doesn't mean they're sensitive and insecure. Although it's good to know that the Windows representitives are very enthusiatic about their new product. On a side note, when my grandma decided she needed a computer for work, she was terrified of software. Her OS is XP home. IMO, the graphical presentation of the software make her even more nervous about computers, because the user-friendliness was too informal and vague. If you want to improve confidence, don't. When you figure things out yourself (with help if needed of course), it's easier to remember and understand. At least, that's how I see it. Here's a page I found pretty interesting: [url:2gzglauq]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_vs._Linux And another: [url:2gzglauq]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_criticisms_of_Microsoft I know Wikipedia isn't an academic or official source, but still fairly informative if you haven't known about it yet. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
Fri, 05 Aug 2005 19:35:46

RambOrc

Show your grandma OS X and she might just find her way around it without much help because it's been designed from a human perspective, something Winblows never was. It's been designed by a bunch of geeks who never went to a party in high school, didn't have a girlfriend by the end of college and usually don't have a life outside of their LOCAL computers (because they obviously have no idea how about connection between computers work, that much is obvious from Winblows).
Fri, 05 Aug 2005 19:46:03

RambOrc

The European Commission quotes Microsoft head of C++ development Aaron Contorer as stating in an internal Microsoft report for senior management: "The Windows API is so broad, so deep, and so functional that most ISVs would be crazy not to use it. And it is so deeply embedded in the source code of many Windows apps that there is a huge switching cost to using a different operating system instead... It is this switching cost that has given the customers the patience to stick with Windows through all our mistakes, our buggy drivers, our high TCO [total cost of ownership], our lack of a sexy vision at times, and many other difficulties [...] Customers constantly evaluate other desktop platforms, [but] it would be so much work to move over that they hope we just improve Windows rather than force them to move. In short, without this exclusive franchise called the Windows API, we would have been dead a long time ago." ROFL <!-- s:lol: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: -->
Fri, 05 Aug 2005 20:02:45

Firebrand

Was that a joke or the reality? <!-- s:lol: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: --> Because, really, I don't see any difference between them, lol.
Sat, 06 Aug 2005 04:22:02

The 4th Class

[quote="RambOrc":1iy2izpc]Show your grandma OS X and she might just find her way around it without much help because it's been designed from a human perspective, something Winblows never was. It's been designed by a bunch of geeks who never went to a party in high school, didn't have a girlfriend by the end of college and usually don't have a life outside of their LOCAL computers (because they obviously have no idea how about connection between computers work, that much is obvious from Winblows). Well I've been to small parties with my friends at their houses, but I've never been to an all out frat party with alcohol and sex and loud music. Though there is a really nice pub two or three blocks from my house, complete with ten billiards tables and a stage tailor made for bands. Someday, my band will play on that stage. <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D --> O yes that reminds me, I got one more year left of high school! It all starts early September. I'm hoping it's really fun and exciting. In all other years of high school, you have to take 4 courses each semester, for 2 semesters. However, in your last year, if you've passed everything up to that point, you only need to take 3 courses each semester. That means I get to spend a quarter of the day doing whatever I want! <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D --> Though I will always use the spare courses for schoolwork, maybe once a month I'll take a well-deserved treat and shoot some pool at that pub I was talking about. And I've decided what I'm doing after high school: I'm going to university to take Linguistics and a social science, either Philosophy or Psychology. Sorry if I went off topic here, but this has been on my mind for a really long time, as it has for almost everybody in my grade, and I'm really looking forward to the whole experience. After this, it's off to the real world for me. And boy does it suck ass. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
Sat, 06 Aug 2005 10:58:38

RambOrc

LOL I don't know maybe it's just me, but in high school I had more than a dozen girlfriends, drank myself senseless more times than I could count, did lots of crazy shit and still I graduated with pretty good grades, and that at the second best school of the country. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->
Sat, 06 Aug 2005 11:08:51

Firebrand

No, my friend, it wasn't just you, lol <!-- s:wink: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=":wink:" title="Wink" /><!-- s:wink: --> I had a rough time on my last semester for this, but it was a lot of fun and I managed to succeed in the end <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->. Now I have been studying harder, because the career it's starting to become more complex and difficult, but it has been fun, today I'm going to concursate in a programming contest at the college with my brother and a good friend of mine, it will be fun and it will distract me from thinking in the final exams from this period, heh! I hope I can win this thing, it will be a hard competition, I know a lot of guys that are entering the contest, they are really good, but I think I have a really big chance of winning, well, I think that's all I have to say for now, heh! Wish me luck <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->.
Sat, 06 Aug 2005 17:55:10

The 4th Class

[quote="RambOrc":19dge8rq]LOL I don't know maybe it's just me, but in high school I had more than a dozen girlfriends, drank myself senseless more times than I could count, did lots of crazy shit and still I graduated with pretty good grades, and that at the second best school of the country. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) --> Who'd be desperate enough to go out with an orc? <!-- s:P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" /><!-- s:P --> LOL I guess you were a huge partier, eh? I always liked it better when I went somewhere and I knew everybody there. And I've never gotten drunk, though once in a while I'll try out a glass of vintage in my grandma's wine cellar. Sorry if my personality seems too boring. <!-- s:wink: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=":wink:" title="Wink" /><!-- s:wink: --> And Firebrand, good luck at the contest! <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D --> What's the grand prize?
Sat, 06 Aug 2005 20:36:03

RambOrc

Well there were 600 students at our higschool and 500+ knew me (and I knew 1-200 of them), so not knowing anyone wasn't a common occurence. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->
Sat, 06 Aug 2005 21:24:16

Firebrand

[quote="The 4th Class":20gtnkbm]And Firebrand, good luck at the contest! <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D --> What's the grand prize? Well, it's a bunch of really good books about M$ VC.NET, it might not be much, but the thing that matters is to compete and do your best, heh! <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->. BTW, it was a hard competition, there were a lot of people, most of them good at programming, there were like 6 different projects, everyone worth a certain number of points, I could complete 3 of them succesfully <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->, they were the ones that were worth more points, and were more difficult, the awards will be took on tuesday, the next week, I hope I at least get a 4th place, anyway it was worth my time, I started the most difficult program and finished it, but there were some details here and there, when I decided to change the whole program, then I discovered I made a mess with it and with the rush forgot to save a backup <!-- s:x --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_mad.gif" alt=":x" title="Mad" /><!-- s:x --> , so when I look at the time there was short time to correct the program and I had to give it like that, it won't be worth the whole point count, but anything it's better than nothing, heh! <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->, I think I did well, also I noticed that my analysis time was shorter than that of other guys that say the are better, I guess we all have our points of advantage, anyway, I feel really good about my participation on it, and I hope to get at least a 4th place in it, that would be really cool! <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
Sun, 07 Aug 2005 03:12:49

The 4th Class

[quote="RambOrc":11cuf3g1]Well there were 600 students at our higschool and 500+ knew me (and I knew 1-200 of them), so not knowing anyone wasn't a common occurence. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) --> My highschool has about 900 students, which is medium-sized relative to all the others in the province. Most students there know me, and I know many of them, and I've gotten some interesting comments over the years in my yearbooks. <!-- s:shock: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_eek.gif" alt=":shock:" title="Shocked" /><!-- s:shock: -->
Fri, 30 Sep 2005 19:07:38

RambOrc

Back to topic, I finally got through all steps of guitar recording, i.e. finding and buying a USB "sound card", setting it up (well OK you can scrap that step, on OS X you just plug it in and it works automatically, no need to install or configure anything) and having some free time for a quick record session. It works real fine and opens a whole new vista of possibilities, for a proof of concept I've uploaded a small one, it uses the very same 4-tact guitar riff which I recorded live and then copied a dozen or so times and every time I added a bit different effects to it. No more being limited by how exactly I set my amp and distortion when I record something on guitar! I also did some tests with slowing down and speeding up things, GarageBand can do that too, even with live instruments (also interpolate up to one octave up and down). <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev/ramborc/imictest3.mp3">http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev ... ctest3.mp3</a><!-- m -->
Sat, 01 Oct 2005 13:10:54

The 4th Class

[quote="RambOrc":372gx3b8]I also did some tests with slowing down and speeding up things, GarageBand can do that too, even with live instruments (also interpolate up to one octave up and down). <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev/ramborc/imictest3.mp3">http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev ... ctest3.mp3</a><!-- m --> If you slow down a live instrument on GarageBand, do the wave peaks slack (this tends to happen - to me at least - on some software, particularly when you transpose)? Also, does the tempo slow down as well? Or has modern technology well surpassed A-track limitations and neither of the above occurs? <!-- s8) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_cool.gif" alt="8)" title="Cool" /><!-- s8) -->
Sat, 01 Oct 2005 14:10:59

RambOrc

Not sure what you mean, here a couple of tests that should answer your questions: 1) <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev/ramborc/imictest4.mp3">http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev ... ctest4.mp3</a><!-- m --> - transposing, 0/+4/-4/0/+8/-8+/0/+12/-12 2) <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev/ramborc/imictest5.mp3">http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev ... ctest5.mp3</a><!-- m --> - sped up to 240 bpm (original 120) 3) <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev/ramborc/imictest6.mp3">http://downloads.orcishweb.com/koraxdev ... ctest6.mp3</a><!-- m --> - slowed down to 60 bpm (original 120)
Sat, 01 Oct 2005 17:50:50

Firebrand

I must say that it sounds really well <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->, I like the results a lot, that software keeps impressing me, too bad I don't own a Mac <!-- s:( --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_sad.gif" alt=":(" title="Sad" /><!-- s:( -->.
Sat, 01 Oct 2005 19:21:28

The 4th Class

Transposition passes my test (I admit that on Cakewalk, you lose a substantial deal of quality when you do this). Though quality tends to be a bit lost in bigger transpositions, there's not much else that can be done (AFAIR the low E string is tuned to 82.4 Hz, and half that - an octave lower - is already approaching the point where sound is unregisterable as a note.) Speeding up is perfect, though slowing down really enhances the player's sloppiness (:P) so you have to be as precise as possible in recording if you're going to slow it down. On the whole, I'm also impressed. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) --> BTW RambOrc do you have any experience with analog recording systems?
Sat, 01 Oct 2005 19:24:56

RambOrc

It's a funny thing how with the Mac mini Apple just changed the rules completely. Before that, it was true that you had to pay quite a lot for a Mac, more than for a PC, especially in the entry level area. Not any more, for the $499 the Mac mini costs you can't get squat in the PC world, I mean sure you can get a crap PC but not a PC that can fulfill following criteria: - quality workmanship - small - silent - looks good - hardware balanced enough that you don't see slowdowns in everyday usage - includes OS and a wide range of tools, utilities and multimedia applications so that you barely need to buy any other software Indeed I use very little extra software that didn't come with the machine: - NeoOffice/J (OS X version of OpenOffice) - Macromedia Studio MX 2004 (which average people wouldn't need at all, it's only for webdesigners) - a good FTP app (I'm currently evaluating two and both are so fine I don't know which one to license LOL) - Mozilla Firefox and Thunderbird (these are more out of habit since the Apple supplied apps, Safari and Mail.app, are fine) - a couple of small things like Audacity which are cool but I rarely ever use them Compared to this, on Winblows I had to buy and install all the above extra plus a ton of little utilities, things like the average Winblows user might not even stop to think about, things like: - Adobe Reader - Java VM - a ZIP program - a terminal app etc. Aopen actually released a Mac mini copycat and it retails for $499 with WinXP or $399 with GNU/Linux, but it's not even comparable because in both configs it's missing pretty much everything from the list at the top of this post, except for the small and maybe the silent part (dunno about the last). On OS X (the same would apply to all kind of GNU/Linux, FreeBSD etc too, it's not a Mac-only thing but comes from the Unix-derivate architecture) I can do things I never could on Winblows, like putting pretty much all progs are frequently use into the startup, with the hidden option meaning they all run when the OS boots, but they aren't visible and they don't use anything except for a couple hundreds of MB RAM, but whenever I want to open a file in any of them or do something they are instantly available. On Winblows this is not possible, first because opening a dozen programs you'd have a dozen and more windows and the taskbar would be cluttered, and second because Winblows gets very slow with so many apps open and is crashing rather fast. It's amazing how much more a machine with much lower hardware specs is capable of: my Mac mini: 1.25 GHz G4 CPU 1 GB PC333 DDR SDRAM (single channel) 5400 rpm HDD 32 MB ATI Radeon 9200, AGP 4x my PC: 3 GHz P4 CPU with 800 MHz FSB 1 GB PC400 DDR SDRAM (dual channel) 7200 rpm HDD 128 MB ATI Radeon 9700, AGP 8x The PC is about 20x bigger, 5x louder, 2x as expensive and should be much faster but it's not, in everyday usage it's often slower. Because of all this, over the last 4-5 months I've been slowly migrating from PC to Mac, by now all I use the PC for is gaming and if I need to burn a DVD (I went with a CD-RW/DVD-ROM version of the Mac mini). The only other things still on it are browsers/e-mail and a DVD player. Depending on how the PS3 turns out next year, I might exchange my PC for one, so that's another incentive for me to release both KA and SE next year, LOL (or get a version of it that runs on OS X which shouldn't be impossible since it has X11 and there is a FreeBSD port for Vavoom, meaning a programmer with access to a Mac should be able to do this port pretty fast).
Sat, 01 Oct 2005 19:31:06

RambOrc

[quote="The 4th Class":54s33wg4]Speeding up is perfect, though slowing down really enhances the player's sloppiness (:P) so you have to be as precise as possible in recording if you're going to slow it down. LOL I never was much of a pro and I took the very first recording of the guitar play at this test, even though it was far from perfect. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) --> But seeing how much something can be manipulated and that one only needs to play a repeating riff only once in a near-perfect condition, with a bit of time and patience I guess I could make quite good recordings for songs. Still not sure when I will get around doing something like this, but now at least I've got everything on the technical side. [quote="The 4th Class":54s33wg4]BTW RambOrc do you have any experience with analog recording systems? Not much, I bought a TEAC Tascam something back in 1994, it did cost about $7-800 back then, it's a 4 track recorder using chrome cassettes (stereo and backside of the tape, meaning on a 90min cassette you can record up to 22.5 minutes of music), I used it back in '98 to record the Badlands demo. Aside of that, my experiences are pretty much zero. Why?
Sat, 01 Oct 2005 19:49:35

The 4th Class

From what I've experienced, speeding up audio on analog transposes it as well (makes sense, since most analog systems use tapes). And while I was working, I had this really interesting idea about how you can dub two songs on top of eachother, but transpose one of them so high up that its frequencies are ultrasonic. Thus, you only hear one of them, and to hear the other, you have to slow down the medium a LOT (thus the "original" song became infrasonic). So hypothetically, you'd have two songs on the same medium, only one can be heard at a time by the human ear. I think it would be easier to achieve this effect on an analog system because you don't have to worry about sampling frequencies. Also, I don't think digital equipment stores inaudible frequencies, which analog does. I'm not a sound technician, so I can't say I'm completely right. Anyway, does this idea make any sense? Is it plausable?
Sat, 01 Oct 2005 20:12:26

RambOrc

Speeding up transposes on tape, yes. I've used this to distort voice on this song of mine from the mid-90s: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://downloads.orcishweb.com/badlands/openletter.mp3">http://downloads.orcishweb.com/badlands/openletter.mp3</a><!-- m -->
Sat, 01 Oct 2005 20:15:38

The 4th Class

Esophageal death grunts. <!-- s:shock: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_eek.gif" alt=":shock:" title="Shocked" /><!-- s:shock: --> I guess you liked all your tracks to be distorted back in the 90's, eh? <!-- s:wink: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=":wink:" title="Wink" /><!-- s:wink: -->
Sat, 01 Oct 2005 20:25:35

RambOrc

[quote="The 4th Class":68fayptn]I guess you liked all your tracks to be distorted back in the 90's, eh? You mean guitar amp settings or overall track quality?
Sat, 01 Oct 2005 21:32:36

The 4th Class

All audio settings.
Sat, 01 Oct 2005 22:09:53

RambOrc

No, that was just poor equipment quality and/or configuration. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->
Sun, 02 Oct 2005 00:31:16

Firebrand

I really think you are really right on what you say, and the worst thing is that with that longhorn thing M$ is going to do the same thing they did with Winblows 95, to change the whole file system to something different and nothing will work again, and even with an expensive computer system you'll have a piece of crap with the OS <!-- s:? --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_confused.gif" alt=":?" title="Confused" /><!-- s:? --> , that's what I hate from changing from operative systems... I also use Audacity for some sound editing and I also have a copy of Dreamweaver MX from when I was learning at college (I still remember a few things <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->), I think it's pretty easy to use and understand. As for the latest sound tests they sound really well, I think you got a powerfull tool there and if you learn to use it well we will have some really cool music pieces coming around for our projects <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D -->. Good work!
Sun, 02 Oct 2005 03:08:16

RambOrc

The thing is that the specs floating around for Winblows Whistle (dual core 64 bit CPU, 256 MB 3D card, 1 GB DDR3 RAM etc) with all the much-touted Aero Glass won't really be much more than a cheap copy of OS X (even the name of the graphical interface is similar, in OS X it's called Aqua). Disregarding other differences, Aqua works fine on a several years old mid-range computer. You know what's funny? Every new release of OS X, from 10.0 to 10.4 (current "Tiger" release) is faster on the same computer, not slower as with Winblows. You can actually run the latest OS X v10.4 on a 5+ years old prehistoric G4 PowerMac and even lower, and while I never tried it based on my experiences with the Mac mini I guess it'd work pretty well. Try running WinXP on a release date - 5 years = 1997 computer. That'd be a Pentium MMX with 64 megs RAM and a 2D PCI graphics card... I guess you see what I mean. <!-- s:P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" /><!-- s:P --> As for the good music, two of the four basic points are covered: technical base and willingness. Now what I need is time which should be available sooner or later, leaving the one point where I'm not too good: talent/skill/knowledge. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->
Sun, 02 Oct 2005 19:25:18

RambOrc

Interesting, I just found an article that basically says the same about a Winblows computer, i.e. that without manually downloading and installing a bunch of 3rd party programs, the whole system is no good to use: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20050930/index.html">http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20050930/index.html</a><!-- m -->
Mon, 03 Oct 2005 02:56:36

The 4th Class

RambOrc, you should practise more. Practise does make perfect, and I can vouch for that. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) --> What I did when I started playing was play along with my albums. Trust me, that's an excellent method! You won't be the next Van Halen overnight, but if you dedicate a good hour every day, the improvement will be noticeable and definitely a reward. The guitar is such a beautiful and versatile instrument that is capable of such magnificent virtuosity, and I'd love to record dual guitars with you on this project sometime. <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D --> [quote="RambOrc":39gwtk52]You know what's funny? Every new release of OS X, from 10.0 to 10.4 (current "Tiger" release) is faster on the same computer, not slower as with Winblows. Interesting, I wouldn't have expected that to happen. I thought that since it's more sophistated software so to speak, it would require more CPU or something. Obviously I'm wrong. <!-- s:? --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_confused.gif" alt=":?" title="Confused" /><!-- s:? -->
Mon, 03 Oct 2005 17:17:39

RambOrc

LOL I heard the 1 hour a day thing back 10 years ago when I was actively playing guitar - which meant maybe a couple of hours a week, in irregular intervals and lenghts. The time I spent playing guitar these last 3-4 years, measured in hours, can be counted on my fingers, quite probably one hand would suffice. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) --> As for sophisticated software, one of the measurements of sophistication is that it uses resources instaed of abusing them. It is true not only for OS X but for pretty much every OS except for Winblows. It's not by chance that all through the 90s a popular conspiration theory was that Intel pays big money to Microsoft to eat hardware performance in big gulps so that people will have to buy new CPUs all the time.
Tue, 04 Oct 2005 02:46:05

The 4th Class

Well it's never too late to pick it up again. <!-- s:D --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy" /><!-- s:D --> Now that you have this new technology, you have no excuse not to play it more. The sad fact is, no matter how inferior MS products are proven to be, we as consumers will always rely on them for the most trustworthy and compatible software, because in this evil world of terrorism and pathos, we need guidance from those who drive the economy and who can keep us connected together with confidence. <!-- s:roll: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_rolleyes.gif" alt=":roll:" title="Rolling Eyes" /><!-- s:roll: -->
Tue, 04 Oct 2005 10:28:44

RambOrc

I've seen a list of the ten most trusted brands in Switzerland and this top ten included both the telecom and internet providers who are the heritage of the original state monopoly and have bad service for high prices. None of the other telecom or internet providers made it into the list. Typical for sheep... The really weird thing is that the US economy would collapse without the massive financial support of Japan and Western Europe (indeed they already hold more borrower's notes in hand than the total yearly production of the US). And they continue to support the most deficit economy on this whole planet because they rely on the US to protect them with its military might from the rest of the world. Whereas if the US wouldn't waste those billions on military in the first place, their economy would be able to sustain itself and they wouldn't have to fight wars against imaginary foes to deflect the attention of the American people from the growing poverty and decay all through their country...
Tue, 04 Oct 2005 22:31:37

The 4th Class

Believe it or not, the poverty rate here in Canada is twice that of the states, and our economy is very slowly collapsing. Not to mention that our government is just as corrupt as the States (last year our government was caught wasting at least $1 billion of our tax money on advertising firms with strong ties to the Quebec branch of the government), but since we don't invade other countries, nobody knows about it.
Wed, 05 Oct 2005 11:21:07

RambOrc

In 2003, state social security lost 1 billion CHF (about 85% of US$ course currently) for the simple reason they invested in the wrong shares.
Wed, 12 Oct 2005 03:22:02

The 4th Class

Back on the music topic, I hatched another idea just today regarding my MIDIs. I admit, I have come to a bit of a stump in making new songs; I mean, I have some excellent introductions, but I can't really find a way to wrap them into a full song. So, I thought: why not write a best-of medley? <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) --> Here, the new material I have written would be the main theme, the one that "links" the "best-of" songs together. Thus, while the songs progress in this big track, they also revolve around the main theme. What do you think of this idea? <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) --> Hopefully, it may give me some inspiration for newer songs. Furthermore, I may eventually even use the main theme for a song on its own when I can extrapolate on it.
Wed, 12 Oct 2005 09:56:07

RambOrc

Not sure whether you're talking about KA or SE, but at any rate I'm not really sure I see your problem, I mean you've got WAY more songs than we've got maps. <!-- s;) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_wink.gif" alt=";)" title="Wink" /><!-- s;) -->
Wed, 12 Oct 2005 12:24:21

The 4th Class

I guess this would fit more into SE, because I'm convinced it will be very long and fluid, and fluid is just the way RPG music is optimum. This is unlike music in action-oriented games like KA, where they are more straightforward and sometimes more mainstream. Though this is a big generalization of course.
Tue, 25 Oct 2005 20:35:07

The 4th Class

Just finished this compelation. Its URL is [url:3w35jbp7]http://www.freewebs.com/orchestratedchaos/Classic_4th_Class.zip. When you've heard all of it give me your feedback please. <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->
Wed, 26 Oct 2005 10:07:50

RambOrc

Link doesn't seem to work.
Wed, 26 Oct 2005 13:12:13

The 4th Class

Try typing the URL. For some reason just clicking on them doesn't work for me. <!-- s:? --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_confused.gif" alt=":?" title="Confused" /><!-- s:? -->
Wed, 26 Oct 2005 20:18:52

The 4th Class

Did that work?
Wed, 26 Oct 2005 20:59:13

RambOrc

Yep, now I could listen to it, though it doesn't sound like much in MIDI, neither on the work machine nor here at home. Well some instruments sound good, others too much like a cheap synthesizer. I guess your original sounds different.
Wed, 26 Oct 2005 21:11:07

The 4th Class

Try testing the compelation parts with the actual MIDIs they're from and see if there's a difference in instrument realism. If not, then I guess I have the better of the sound cards. <!-- s:P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" /><!-- s:P -->
Wed, 26 Oct 2005 21:14:19

RambOrc

I don't have a sound card
Wed, 26 Oct 2005 21:16:41

The 4th Class

Then I guess there's something about hardware I don't know about: how can you hear it then? <!-- s:o --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_surprised.gif" alt=":o" title="Surprised" /><!-- s:o -->
Thu, 27 Oct 2005 12:48:52

RambOrc

soundchip <!-- s:idea: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_idea.gif" alt=":idea:" title="Idea" /><!-- s:idea: --> <!-- s:P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" /><!-- s:P --> <!-- s:lol: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: -->
Thu, 27 Oct 2005 13:33:43

Firebrand

I have downloaded them and heard them too, they seem to be a compilation of different MIDIs of your songs 4th, but I don't hear a pattern on them (or maybe I don't find the patter myself, lol), I think they miss some sequence between them, maybe it would be a good idea if the songs were of the same style, I don't know what would be the exact purpose of doing this change, could you please explain me better what's this about?
Fri, 28 Oct 2005 13:06:04

The 4th Class

[quote="RambOrc":3r8wnxds]soundchip <!-- s:idea: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_idea.gif" alt=":idea:" title="Idea" /><!-- s:idea: --> <!-- s:P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" /><!-- s:P --> <!-- s:lol: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing" /><!-- s:lol: --> Something tells me you had that one planned. At any rate, it shows that you don't have better things to do with your time. <!-- s:roll: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_rolleyes.gif" alt=":roll:" title="Rolling Eyes" /><!-- s:roll: --> <!-- s:P --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_razz.gif" alt=":P" title="Razz" /><!-- s:P --> Firebrand, indeed it is a compilation - no pattern, though I tried my best to make them flow. Essentially, I stuck with songs that were in the same key signature, and for those that changed, I tried to "answer" them with the appropriate chord progressions. Thus, the flow was accomplished through technical music theories. Did that help? <!-- s:) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_smile.gif" alt=":)" title="Smile" /><!-- s:) -->

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