Just as a curiosity, supplying ECUs should be considered a business link or not?

Quote from Riders Motion :

How can this be disrespectful? I think that everyone (maybe except the mods and devs) are at the same level here so I dont see why I couldnt do like everyone else.

No, I'm not on the same level of worms who like preying on some other people's disgraces for a laugh with their lousy sense of humour.

I hope you get banned.

Quote from Berty BERT BERT :

I really dislike the way anything Mclaren related gets a penalty but yet when it comes to Ferrari they're always let off. Did Kimi get a stop and go at Fugi last year for not starting on the correct tyres? I can't remember. For sure Mclaren would have.

Let me refresh your memory.
Ferrari got forced to change tyres at the Japanese GP in 2007 since they started under heavy rain on intermediate tyres and there was an e-mail by the race administration asking to all teams to use wet tyres.

Ferrari got the communication late and was forced by the race administration to change tyres. The email was proven to arrive 7 minutes into the race and it had to arrive before the start. If a proper email communication procedure was set up, this case wouldn't have happened.

It was just another FIA blunder, and rules for email communication changed later, while F1 News talked about private apologies from FIA to Ferrari since Ferrari was damaged by a poor communication system, although the result of the race wouldn't probably have changed at all.

So there was no stop and go, and Ferrari didn't get away scot-free as some people may like to believe: in fact, they paid for something that was proven not to be their fault. Domenicali told the press what happened, clarified there was no responsibility from Ferrari and then left it all behind.

Quote from mcintyrej :

I reckon Sutil should be in the press conference, to see his reaction to Kimi's mistake. (wreck)

I can tell you that reaction. Sutil was disappointed for the race but wasn't angry at Raikkonen. Jean Alesi, commenting for Rai TV, said that after this fair reaction (Sutil said he shed some tears, was down, but calm) Sutil is his new idol.

Quote from mookie427 :

that bastard Raikonnen! Feel so sorry for Sutil, really wanted him to come home 4th, he deserved it. I know we can't blame Kimi but it won't stop me

When Kimi destroyed Sutil's car and hopes, the Italian commentators said they were awfully sorry for Sutil that was doing a wonderful race.

That's sporting spirit.

Yours, calling someone bastard for an accident, is a spirit that goes well with your team name.

Quote from Ian.H :

Please re-read my post. I didn't say anything about how people need AV tools, I asked why people need to use resource-hogging TSRs
Ian

I've re-read it but still don't see what your solution for a permanent and reliable workplace client side protection should be. For what I need, it should be cost-effective, reliable as a client side antivirus, it should protect every possible virus entry point on EVERY computer (including removable media and boot sectors, not only internet traffic), it should be always on and it shouldn't rely upon external resources or additional expensive hardware boxes and - more important - standardised for firms that have a number of PCs ranging from 1 to 100. Proactive solutions are not applicable in this case since user intervention has to be minimised, false alarms and data loss must be kept to a minimum and disabling the AV should always be possible to circumvent data disruption caused by an AV intervention.

If you can provide a centralised solution that wouldn't be contested in a tribunal according to Italian D.D.L 196/03 feel free to do so since you apparently think you know what you're talking about.

As for me, I'll keep analysing the need of my Customers and provide the best solution I can according to their limits and to laws I must respect because I work for someone else and I can't endanger these people with my personal ideas about effectiveness. I work for them, not for myself.

Quote from Ian.H :

Never understood how people operating computers can be so stupid as to need a TSR AV scanner.

Want to know in my case? (4 computers at home, no antivirus running.)

The Italian laws about privacy explicitly mandate the usage of some security measures to prevent data loss and dispersion. The usual interpretation of Law 196/03 dictates some minimal technical measures of safety, which include firewalls, UPSes, antiviruses, along with a row of other obligations when treating sensible or common data.

In short, running no antivirus (or other form of centralised virus protection) is against the law here.

I don't put any kind of trust in antiviruses when it comes to absolute infallibility, but my job includes also configuring and installing antiviruses, so I know them. I'd never use an antivirus to disinfect a computer, save for a major cleanup of inactive items at the end, which manually is a nearly impossible task.

If I have to clean, I do it with my own hands: I use Process Explorer, Autoruns, HiJackThis (for minor things), Rootkit Revealer, Rootkit Unhooker, IceSword, Gmer, The Avenger, Process Monitor and some other piece of software to eradicate malware.

I think antiviruses can be partially ineffectual, sometimes damaging and always eating resources, yet they provide security for the technically unsavvy, at least to a certain extent.

And I have to work for Customers, which, if you don't understand, have to obey a law and to have someone put their hands on their computers, and Customers are those who help me pay my food.

So if someone asks which is the best antivirus, I answer saying my opinion, which is based on a certain experience: you can't understand why people can be so stupid to need an antivirus, but I can tell you with certainty why people here in Italy NEED to run an antivirus on their workplace. I consider ironical the fact that you consider futile something that is vital for my job (including the fact that in the virus world, in one year, the technical aspects change dramatically).

Kaspersky wins hands down, closely followed by NOD32, and F-Secure (but NOT F-Prot). I'd also add Sophos since I've only heard good things about that by professionals using it.

Kaspersky has some strong points, including the best antirootkit and PE pack protection and it's used as a benchmark for generic recognition by rootkit writers. It has a strong service when it comes to definitions updates and databases and it's lightweight compared to Symantec Antivirus or Internet Security.

Avira is the best free antivirus, followed by AVG. Avast doesn't recognise a lot of viruses, just as Symantec Antivirus, which is also a cpu hog and a crappy program when it comes to installation and uninstall issues.

The only downside of Kaspersky is that its kernel driver and antivirus monitor can be sometimes picky in particular situations (or with particular hardware) so they can get stuck easily, but it's a minority of cases compared to all the failures I have experienced with Symantec Antivirus. Kaspersky also provides alternative klif.sys kernel mode drivers for situations in which problems are experienced.

Quote from Hankstar :

OP: in my experience, if you behave you won't get banned from any decent servers

I consider your experience partial, just as mine. In my experience I have been banned just for speaking my mind in this forum, just as a lot of people did, just because I asked a team to do the right thing and admit their admin screwed up badly and acted like a spoiled brat. All the other spoiled brats jumped on me, even disturbing me with private messages (you gotta love the cowardice).

Not all people are decent, so not all admins are decent people. I got used to it.

Quote from Clownpaint :

... Immigrants are like a disease?

Absolutely not, and interpreting my thoughts in such a way is a bit disturbing because my comparison was about things we have to pay for, and we're receiving what we took and gave (and it should be pretty clear if you read also my second sentence, which is clearly tied to the first one). Being scandalised because of immigration when the roots of it are in our own behaviour is hypocritical. I guess too many people are lazy and ignorant about their own history.

Last edited by Albieg, Mon 5 May 2008, 11:20.

Quote from Clownpaint :

That's an interesting leap in logic. As far as I know Mcgas has not taken over any countries. I assume you are referring to people completely unrelated and of a completely different time period to him, correct? If that is the case, would you mind explaining why you feel he holds any responsibility?

I'll explain it with a comparison. White men take Africa, and take tubercolosis with them. Tubercolosis is destroyed in the civilized world, then there is immigration. Tubercolosis comes back where it belongs.

The same thing happened to citizens of the Commonwealth: they could have a British passport (I don't know as of now). So what Electric Kar said was spot on.

Quote from STROBE :

You win some, you lose some. But the British Empire brought plenty good to the world, as well as some bad things.

Curiously enough, that's what a lot of people think about Mussolini's rule in Italy. He did a lot of good things, too... and he even tried to start an Empire, but we all know he was a good man with good intentions, don't we?

Last edited by Albieg, Sun 4 May 2008, 14:53.

Quote from wien :

any digital signal with sufficient sampling frequency (and dynamic range) is indistinguishable from the original analogue signal.

Exactly. A 24 bit recording gives a far better dynamic range than the 96 Db offered by the CD. For instance, you'd be able to record, say, a cannon shot without dynamics loss or unwanted compression.

At 192 KHz you have a theorical frequency range up to about 80.000 Hertz, very very roughly. Plenty of room above the audible maximum, 20.000 Hertz (in young people). Is it important?
I'd say no, but some say yes. For instance, I read years ago that Rupert Neve's channel strips can theoretically record and respond up to frequencies of 150,000 Hertz. Some really skillfull sound engineers say they're able to tell the difference in sound quality from that channel strip to, say, an SSL channel strip.

Certainly Neve is a master in analog mixer design, and he knows what he does. Anyway I'm talking about mixing console that cost up to millions of dollars, not the average, cheap Boehringer mixer. And then again, better sampling rates and more bits in dynamic range help keeping sound quality good, since data loss induced by approximations in calculations during sound processing is reduced.

Apart from frequency response and dynamics, you must consider also two important factors in recording: preamp stage quality and ADC converters quality. The preamp must be good and have excellent frequency response and dynamic range to avoid artifacts. It should also have very low hiss. Most soundcards are not good in this department, except cards specifically geared for sound recording (and even there quality could be far from excellence). A good preamp costs.

But perhaps the most costly stage is the Analog Digital Converter. Most ADCs suck badly, just as most DACs. A good converter has excellent processing that keeps artifacts at large, but it costs. The ADCs on the WaveTerminal 192X cost 100$ more than those of the WaveTerminal 192L, just for 20 Dbs more in dynamic range response (-120Db in total). But the difference with soundcards with worse DACs and ADCs is HUGE. I remember comparing my previous SoundBlaster Live Platinum to the WaveTerminal. The sound was so much better, crisper, livelier, louder. And I thought the Live Platinum was good, before. So, overall, if your digital chain is good it can rival with analog designs at a fraction of the cost.

As for the vynil, if you want good dynamic ranges you have to separate the grooves more. A vynil normally can't handle well 120 Dbs of dynamic range because the arm would jump and skip with normally grooved vynils, so the grooves are heavier in some recordings, and there are considerations to be made about the speed of the record too (33 or 45). But neither a CD does, limited how it is at 44.100 KHz and 16 bits, (dynamic range of 96 Db). The CD sound is far from perfect, but limited how it is it could in most circumstances blow away the sound of the vynil provided that the whole chain is of high quality, with particular regard to the preamp and conversion stages, but also including effects and general processing.

Also, the general standardisation of mixes to satisfy the needs for a decent sound on the largest number of different speakers doesn't help. The mastering process has become a sort of science but in the past it was a sort of magic. Today that magic is substituted, in a lot of cases, by some numeric values (such as the average RMS power of most pop tunes) that become a sort of absolute reference. Only realeases not interested in mass markets are free from some form of orthodoxy in mastering.

Unfortunately an ugly bug prevents me from appreciating TMUF fully. I downloaded and upgraded United. First surprise, the dvd check is gone. I don't know if the copy protection is still there, to be honest I don't care too much about StarForce.

Second new thing, the Force Feedback (makes me want to try with my wheel, but I disabled it on the joypad. Not very good). Third thing, anaglyph 3D. Fourth thing, an ugly bug. If you have too many tracks (more than 30, it seems) in a particular category you risk being unable to display them all. After the second or third page they simply disappear. Clicking back and forth doesn't help.

I really enjoy TrackMania, it's a good arcade racer. I do mostly platform and online racing in the Island environment. Although the online racing is unaffected, that particular bug prevents me from fully appreciating TMU Forever since I downloaded tons of tracks and I'm unable to display them or download new tracks without going through some major hassle. I'm not the one experiencing that bug and I learned that Nadeo knew it since it was submitted during the Beta test.

This really sucks. I don't even know if there will ever be an update, an acceptable workaround or a bug fix. The forums have become messy in the last days, it seems they are doing maintenance and some links are down.

To be honest, I expected a little better from Nadeo since they have been excellent in lots of things, including the cost of the update (that is zero). But I hope (and think) Nadeo will come out with an acceptable solution soon. Still, TrackMania remains one of the software products I appreciate most.

Maybe it would look a bit like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6580mp3EdiA

We're all waiting for a pearl of wisdom of yours as usual, wheel4hummer. Go on, enlighten us.

Lunatic Calm - Leave You Far Behind (just google some sentences within brackets and add lyrics).

As for the style, it's club oriented jungle/breakbeat (at least for that tune). The most prominent similar outfits based on sound should be Prodigy and Chemical Brothers, but surely there are more bands that have a similar style.

But let's look at the motivation too:

"I have, with some reluctance, come to the conclusion that although this material is intrusive and demeaning, and despite the fact that there is no legitimate public interest in its further publication, the granting of an order against this respondent at the present juncture would merely be a futile gesture."

It's available everywhere, so it can be there too! Overall the piece of news is interesting, though, and adds far more (from both sides) than the sentence I quoted.

I expect Mosley to be prosecuted, then, or to lose any cause he'll promote in tribunals. If it was his right to do what he did without being filmed, we'll see in the future.

Wrong. Advocating the freedom of press doesn't mean advocating the right of the press to film nasty movies of someone making sex in private, SamH. Journalism and voyerism are different things, or at least they were last time I checked.

Excellent video.

I'll try to answer to your post without steering the thread into total off-topicness.

I'll accept that rights come from lawmakers (pretty obvious, don't you think?) and talk about the Italian law, which I believe to be much more restrictive on marriage and adultery than the English one.

If Mosley got caught red-handed (or with red buttocks, in this case) there would have been no public process since adultery is no longer a crime from 1968: it's a pure violation of fidelity obligations against the husband or wife, and as such can grant a good reason for a divorce cause but in no way can be considered illegal. On the other hand the publication of such private matters would be a violation of a huge numbers of laws and would have granted a very hard normative intervention of our Garante della privacy, which is a powerful public figure which dictates respect of privacy norms and laws, which - once again - are very advanced in Italy, although not always respected (as it happens not only in Italy).

I think that even in UK things work this way for marriages: what Mosley did could grant a divorce, that is, if Mosley's wife is interested. At the same time I doubt UK laws permit the collection and the diffusion of images regarding the sexual activities of citizens who didn't commit any crime. So what if Mosley is paying for the illegal activities of someone while doing nothing illegal? Too many people seem to forget this fact while pointing their finger at Mosley saying 'woah, what a horrible man'. To me they're just as horrible as the man they are condemning since they can't mind their own business and accuse someone on evidence gathered committing a crime. And if no crime was committed filming Mosley I'd just consider UK a barbaric Country.

Last edited by Albieg, Mon 7 Apr 2008, 09:26.

Quote from hyntty :

Mostly it's his fans I don't like, because they act like he was god himself.

Most of all, I'm sick of the people who believe the team/driver they root for is the Virgin Mary, then accuse other drivers/teams of deeds they didn't do just because the Virgin Mary must be completely free of sin since it's written in their Bible.

I have no Bible. I sympathise (but not root) for Kubica because I think he's a nice bloke and a good racer, but I'm not willing to defend him blindly or unjustly accuse or insult someone because of my sympathies if he does something questionable or outright stupid, or evil.

Let's face the factual truth, Hamilton in Bahrain made some really bad mistakes and behaved in a moronic way with his fellow racers without any reason to do so. I don't think that saying such a thing about someone, whoever he is, makes me anti-someone.

Quote from garph :

I think a lot of people didn't give Alonso the benefit of the doubt because of his behaviour last year and the levels he seemed to be prepared to drop to.

Probably there's too many people taking sides with a prejudice or bias because of the team they support, so they blurb what's within their heart forgetting to use their head, and sometimes good manners too.

I'm one of those who thought Alonso should have been booted from F1 along with some other people, but this doesn't mean that he's guilty by default even when he's right. So I watch F1 races as I can watch a movie like Once Upon a Time in America: the absence of likeable characters doesn't make the movie not worth watching.

As for Hamilton, he had a bad race. Concluding he's not good under pressure would be - once again - an assumption made with too little data. We'll see in the future. But raising the fist against drivers who do their job can hardly be called appropriate or mature behaviour.

Last edited by Albieg, Sun 6 Apr 2008, 18:29.

Quote from NSX_FReeDoM :

i think its just a racing accident if Alonso did not lift off the throttle or brake tested Hamilton. Alonso was just ridiculously slow out of that corner and block hamilton a little bit too late.

Alonso was slow and has acknowledged general car performance problems, but taking a look at the replay I think that Hamilton had time to correct his action but forgot the head at home, so he wasn't able to see.

As for the blocking, Alonso's moves appear to be progressive and steady, although slow because the car is crap.

The early rumours of people who erroneously chatted about Alonso brake testing Hamilton have already been dispelled with telemetry data, as Autosport acknowledges.

Last edited by Albieg, Sun 6 Apr 2008, 18:13.