A Belgian internet user downloaded 2.6TB of data in the space of a month according to his (or her) internet service provider. And amazingly the ISP is happy about it.
Telenet recently launched a service known as “Vrij Downloaden”. It translates as “free download”, but rather than referring to the price, it appears to be more about the lack of restrictions. The company doesn’t outright promise unlimited downloading for its fastest connections, but its fair use policy simply means you can’t use so much that it begins to affect the service for other users.
The company has now published a list of the 25 users with the most data downloaded in the first month of the service. Eight managed to clock up a full TB (1,024 GB), with the number one slot going to a user with 2,680GB.
What’s particularly impressive about that is that the user was only on the third fastest package, with a maximum download speed of 30MBps. One message board poster notes that this works out as the equivalent of eight and a half days of continuous downloading at full speed.
What the user actually downloaded isn’t known. Officially Telenet does not allow copyright-infringing content to be downloaded so we’ll be generous and assume the person tried out 570 different Linux distributions designed to each fill a DVD.
If you were to put it in a more cynical context, the data is enough that if it were entirely video content and burned to single layer discs at their two-hour capacity, it would have taken 47 full days to watch, which would certainly be an impressive achievement in the space of a month.
In case your wondering, the package used in this case to download the 2.6TB of data costs 61.32 euros a month: just over US$75.
I’ve not come across any confirmed reports of anyone topping the 2.6TB figure. However, a writer at Arstechnica says an unnamed US provider told him of a customer who managed 4TB in a month.
While there have been rumors for some time circulating about the Neverwinter franchise—including links to Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition—we’re getting a clear picture for the first time with yesterday’s announcement of a new game, Neverwinter. Courtesy of GameSpot, who scored an exclusive Q&A session with Jack Emmert, chief operating office of Cryptic–the company behind the project–here’s some more details.
A few things to know right off the bat: the game is going to be both multiplayer and solo playable, however the emphasis is toward the group aspect, echoing the collaborative play of D&D itself. The game itself is tied to upcoming books by fantasy heavyweight R.A. Salvatore, so you can see they’re clearly trying to blur the lines between games and books—which certainly Dragon Age attempted to do in a way, too. Narrative is becoming more and more important, it seems, in these fantasy RPGs.
But wait, I shouldn’t call it that, because as Emmert says, they’re coining a new phrase: OMG. Yes, OMG. It stands for “online multiplayer game”—a cooperative RPG, in other words. Yes, it’s Forgotten Realms. Yes, it’s D&D. But the idea isn’t to queue in line for an hour to do a raid; it’s to get together in a group and do some serious damage.
From a D&D standpoint, the developers are currently working to combine 4E into the game system. Explains Emmert:
I think there are two very unique gameplay elements in 4th Edition that we’ve done something interesting with: action points and healing surges. In the tabletop game, an action point lets a player perform a reroll or add an additional die to a roll. In our game, action points are earned through combat and spent to power special abilities called “boons.” These boons give players special boosts, but only in certain circumstances. Healing surges represent the amount of times a player can heal himself before resting.
From the interview, Emmert indicates that the initial classes will be Fighter, Wizard, Rogue, Ranger, and Cleric, and playable races include humans, elves, and dwarves, with a few currently undisclosed options as well. Additionally, gameplay will first center around the city of Neverwinter, but with hopeful expansions reach out across the landscape.
To add to the fray, there is also a project in the works called Forge (which is a code-name), which will allow for world and adventure customization and building. Familiar Neverwinter Nights players will recognize this approach from previous incarnations, but this could be promising if done right. Especially good, I’d imagine, for long-distance D&D sessions.
I’m hopeful, in this case. As someone who loved the original games and certainly adores D&D (and 4th Edition), this holds a great deal of promise. But, as the adage goes, the proof is in the potion. If Neverwinter combines what I loved best about the franchise with D&D, it could be awesome; however, if it goes off too far on a tangent, trying too hard, it could fall flat.
Check out the awesome Star Wars / Winnie the Pooh illustrations [GAS] friend and artist James Hance recently created. Also, be sure to check out this old post if you want to see some of James’ additional work.
It’s important to note that no one knows for sure if this actually comes from Mrs. Roosevelt, and the quote itself is often attributed to Admiral Hyman G. Rickover. Though Admiral Rickover was overhead speaking these words, he never claimed to be the original author, saying on the 28th November 1959’s edition of The Saturday Evening Post, that it came from an “unkown sage.”
If you’ve been making videos for YouTube, you’re likely to have noticed that the background music is a thorny issue. Popular music from the RIAA labels and bigger indie labels is usually quickly identified and marked by YouTube.
The best case scenario, then, is that YouTube simply “lets you get away with it” and runs advertisements on the video, where the payments go straight to the record company. It’s a nice middle ground, but anyone hoping their video will “go viral” and make some money off of YouTube’s advertiser program are out of luck. It’s even more embarrassing if someone else is running advertisements on some sort of corporate video (a product tutorial, a game demo, a keynote address, etc.) hosted on YouTube.
The worst case scenario is that the entire audio of your video production is deleted or your video is taken down.
If you want to use popular music the legal way, there are a lot of hurdles to jump through. You need to purchase mechanical rights, public performance royalties, synchronization and transcription rights, publishing rights, neighboring rights, and master use rights. Just to get Blues Traveler’s “Crash & Burn” in your video of your four year old running into a wall.
The way that Hollywood has typically dealt with this problem is to pay “production music” libraries for their music. These libraries buy the copyrights to music on a work-to-hire basis and then license that music to the film and television companies for a fee that is typically cheaper than having music specifically commissioned for the video. The problem is that these fees can be cost-prohibitive for smaller production houses and the semi-pro/semi-amateur filmmakers that are likely to see YouTube as a primary distribution medium.
There are other options. Creative Commons-licensed music can often be available at no fee, and be reused in video projects without paying a dime. However, Creative Commons should not be confused with the public domain, and not every Creative Commons license is equal.
For example, some Creative Commons licenses prohibit use of the material in commercial works. In that case, if you’re planning on making any money off of the video – even in an advertising based model – you can’t use the song without coming to a separate license agreement with the author. There’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to contact the author, however, who can then choose to charge you for the song or choose not to license it at all.
Other creative commons works require “share-alike” provisions – that is, you can use the song in your project freely, but the work you use it in must be also shared under the same creative commons license. This will work well for some projects, not so well for others, like, for example, corporate videos.
Finally, some CC licenses prohibit derivative works – which precludes the use of that song as a background audio track.
So, with all the problems with music for video laid out, what can YouTube filmmakers use for their audio?
First is Incompetech, the brainchild of Kevin MacLeod. Incompetech has a large variety of royalty free music for use in film and video projects (like YouTube videos) that’s of a surprisingly good quality for the price. The only thing required is attribution, although there is a $5 suggested donation. For $0 budget videos, this is probably the best option.
Similarly, Dan-O at Danosongs.com has also released a number of songs, which are free for commercial or non-commercial projects with attribution. There is a pay-what-you-feel-is-fair donate button, however.
Another option, though more expensive, is the use of “crowdsourced” libraries for music. Though not free, music purchased through sites such as iStockPhoto.com or Envato libraries is relatively cheap. Primary Elements also offers production music at $3 per track for non-commercial projects and $9 per track for commercial ones.
One interesting option is Moby Gratis, a site set up by music composer and techno artist Moby, designed specifically to allow amateur filmmakers to use Moby’s music. Though limited to one sole author, and though there’s an application process, Moby Gratis still has a large array of very professional music from the composer of the Southland Tales soundtrack available for free to amateur and student filmmakers.
Finally, I’ve actually created some music with Apple GarageBand and Sony Acid that you can use, a GeeksAreSexy.net exclusive. Download them here. << For the link on the left, and only this link, here is the required information waiving all copyright and related or neighboring rights for Brian Boyko’s music.
To the extent possible under law, Brian Boyko has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to Royalty Free Music.
This work is published from: United States.
All of these options should have you end up with copyright-legal audio for your YouTube videos that won’t get hit with ads or taken down by YouTube.
How do you make Starcraft 2 even more awesome? Mash Final Fantasy 7 style gameplay and music into it, that’s how! Final Fantasy 0.2 is a Starcraft 2 mod that uses the Battlemap editor to create a radically different gameplay experience.
When I was a kid, cheese was a no-no. Unlike the typical American family, the only cheese we had was of the soy variety; my mother was allergic, and my father just thought it wasn’t nutritious enough to be a mainstay in our refrigerator. So, in those rare visits to family members, especially during the holidays, I became enamored of cheese—the variety, the textures, the flavors, the applications. When I was old enough to purchase cheese of my own volition, I made it a personal goal of mine to experience as many cheeses as possible.
You’d think that I’d be tired of cheese, but that’s far from the truth. In fact, the more I think I know about cheese, the more I discover what I don’t know. One of my son’s first foods was goat cheese, followed by Jarlsberg; now his favorite is Dubliner. At four he’s already sampled more cheese varieties than I did by the time I was eighteen. I consider that a definite leg up on life in general. He’s also fearless when it comes to tasting cheese, and considering the many varieties–and sometimes tongue-numbing curious flavors in the cheese realm–that will come in handy as he grows up.
And the particularly good news is that, when eaten in moderation of course, cheese is good for you. Chock full of protein, calcium, phosphorous, and fat, it’s a great snack to keep you from eating junk food and a compliment to a myriad dishes. Cheese has been consumed around the world for thousands of years because of its longevity and nutritional benefit. Eat up! Think of it as part of your world heritage.
So in the spirit of all things cheese, I thought I’d share some of my favorite cheeses, sprinkled with some interesting facts and notes that might help you the next time you want to venture into this culinary Eden. Or should I say, culinary Edam?
Brie – This is the smooth, sultry sister in the cheese family. Brie, originally named for the now renamed provence of its origin, is a soft cheese, pale in color, with a distinctive hard “mouldy” rind that can be consumed. You most often see it served with crackers, sort of slathered on top, and its got a very distinctive flavor—sometimes it can be very mild, but it can have quite a bite depending on the individual process. Two bacterium are responsible for the flavor and texture of brie, which is typically made of cow’s milk or goat’s milk, depending on the recipe: Penicillium candidum or Penicillium camemberti and/or Brevibacterium linens. Personally, I like Brie straight up; just a slice will suffice. But it’s divine wrapped in phyllo and baked, spread on a sandwich in lieu of mayonnaise, or melted over a prime piece of steak.
There are other options. 
