Forum Overview :: Zork I: The Great Underground Empire :: November 2005

[quote name="Ray of Light "][quote]How do I convert SHNs to MP3? Whoa there, bucko. Before you do this, you need to make sure you are allowed to. Check the info file that came with the SHNs (you downloaded the info file too, right?). Usually there is something in there prohibiting you from converting the SHNs to MP3 format. Even if there is no such statement in the info file, you really should not convert the SHNs to MP3, because of the loss of quality, and the fact that once MP3s of a show start to be created, it becomes more difficult to find original, non-mp3-sourced copies of the show. If you do create MP3s from the SHNs, you should never distribute them (don't share them on Napster!), and you should never, ever use your MP3s to create a music CD.[/quote] <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: ... every time I think I've seen the gayest music-related idiocy there is, they think up something new to outflank me [quote]because of the loss of quality, and the fact that once MP3s of a show start to be created, it becomes more difficult to find original, non-mp3-sourced copies of the show.[/quote] <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: That's the funniest part. <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Compressing media? IF YOU'RE STUPID, SURE. <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: yeah, you're ruining it for others <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: note that the SHN format is "not designed to be listened to" <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: to these people, that's an ancillary function, something you might hire someone else to do <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: the paste is from here <a href="http://www.u2shn.com/shnfaq.php">www.u2shn.com/shnfaq.php</a> , after I downloaded an album from oink [<b>RIP OINK!!! --ray</b>] and found it in this queer format <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: so you can't listen to it (BY DESIGN), you can't convert it to a listenable format (without hurting others), it's like pogs <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: good for trading and for taking up space <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Anytime I see a FLAC album I run away sceraming as well <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: FLAC has its downsides, but at least there's a winamp plugin for it, and it's trivial to convert to mp3 <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: I'm just pointing out that even that easier GIANT file format is shunned by me. <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: Look at this fucking goddamn installation guide <a href="http://etree.org/mkw.html#intro">etree.org/mkw.html#intro</a> <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: "DO NOT click the "OK" button on the window below!!!" <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: " Before you install mkwACT program, you must first install the mkwACT Runtime Libraries, " <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: yeah, good that they're unbundled because I often like to install just (a nonworking) half of a program <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Opensourcers and SBs do dumb shit like this. <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: Note that, out of the half dozen broken products that handle SHN, this one is considered the most mature and easiest to use <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: "You may need to download a different application that uses this runtime... In that case, I'll make the pieces available separately." <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: "It's SIMPLE LOGIC" <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: "Based on a FANTASY" <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: but yes, you can just picture him imagining a vast universe of third-party apps that use his stupid shn runtime. Media players, p2p apps, 3D shooters, Microsoft Powerpoint <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Or more likely that he'll later make a second SHN app. <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Which is equal fantasy, of course. <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: That, and that the six people who download it will be thankful to have saved redownloading the 500k runtime <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: Because lossless music file sharers are mostly on dialup <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: I was also going to ask why the app even had an awkward name. <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: don't! <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Then I see it's named after him, Michael K Weiss. <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: Before shn, which he also invented, there was the mkw format <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: really! This was the kind of thing I was forced to learn while searching for a way to listen to them <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: He fancies himself the next Phil Katz. <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Except Phil made something indispensible. <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: Yeah, this guy jumped straight to obscurity <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Phil Katz also was a severe alcoholic who spent all of his time in strip clubs. <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: So he's all-around pretty awesome. <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: The analogy would be better if pkzip came out two years after winzip and needed a dedicated machine to run and cost $99 <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: If I hit it rich on shareware, I'd live in a strip club too <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: It just seems so fitting, get money for nothing, then waste it <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: And by "waste", you mean "use it to have maximum fun" <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: Yeah, maybe "spend at maximum rate" is a better term than waste <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Especially with his rapid declining health, it's the perfect way to live. <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: It's more or less the plot of Leaving Las Vegas, except that he can't touch her genitals or take out his cock <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: I assume that "millionaire, living in a strip club" means a lot more action than just putting dollars in the g-strings. <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: You're supposed to not get blow and hand jobs in the strip clubs either, but.. <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: <a href="http://www.esva.net/~thom/arczip.wmv">www.esva.net/~thom/arczip.wmv</a> <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Hilariously depressing! <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: (20 minute documentary on ARC versus ZIP war) <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Thom Henderson of SEA is wearing a backpack for his interview. <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Perhaps it has emergency "get home" survival gear inside. <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Later on, he cries. <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: "it was a hate mail campaign" <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: later, zip gets submarined by ARJ in much the same way <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: I remember it came with a recursive zip2arj converter for sysops to run <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Well PK started by ripping off ARC with PKARC, stealing the code, so it was a bit more nefarious. <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: ohh yeah. <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Rep. Jack Spratt (D-S.C.). <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: You've got to be joking. <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: that was probably his campaign slogan <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: Katz is dead?? <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Yeah, his pancrease burst or whatever happens to your pancrease when you live on alcohol and lapdances. <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Am I even spelling pancrease right? Jesus Christ <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: pancreas <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: you were thinking of "pantcrease" <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Also Pancrase <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: <a href="http://www.pancrase.co.jp/">www.pancrase.co.jp/</a> <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: the big guy on the couch never stops moving his leg <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: I read somewhere that that's a placebo for masturbation <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: RESTLESS LEG SYNDROME?!?! <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: I bounce my knee constantly. :( <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: <a href="http://www.rls.org">www.rls.org</a> <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: WOAH <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: sometimes my leg jumps when I'm falling asleep <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: but then, it sometimes falls asleep when I'm at my desk <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: That's dreaming. <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Your brain hasn't paralysed your body yet. <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: so I can't characterize it as restless. Only "nonconformant" <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Yeah, it doesn't follow directions. <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: I get that pretty commonly. Just innocuous thoughts like catching a baseball -- but my body reacts and I wake up. <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: yeah, then I'm pissed because it means i was falling asleep really fast <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: that I pushed the envelope too far <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: Vern Buerg, I remember that name <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: from list.com [<b>list.com was one of the first dot-coms --ray</b>] <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: I just got to the part where he cries <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: "people would write letters to say how much they hated me... people who never met me and never would (SOB)" <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: this had to have been filmed before the internet <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: back when being hated by people you didn't know was still special <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: for some reason, you can still purchase list.com, a dos-based shareware file viewer, which inexplicably includes a 170-page manual <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: haha[quote]* includes: o 170 page manual on disk with tutorial o Free upgrades for one year SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS for LIST Plus & LIST Enhanced: * Dos 2.1 or higher * IBM PC, XT, AT, PS2 or compatible * RAM - 80K LIST Plus, 128K LIST Enhanced * Disk Space - 30K LIST Plus, 40K LIST Enhanced * Mouse Support (Optional)[/quote]<font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: "Please choose a drive to install LIST Plus to: [ C: (30K required, 307987328755K available) _]" <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: Psh, I bet there's no uninstall option. <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: I'm going to write FSLIST <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: Select installation options: _ Core Program (30K) _ Uninstaller (6MB) <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: [15:28:35] *** "<font color=orange>mrk</font>" signed off at Thu Nov 17 15:28:35 2005. <i>*** "<font color=orange>mrk</font>" signed on at Thu Nov 17 19</i>:52:00 2005. <i>*** "<font color=orange>mrk</font>" signed off at Thu Nov 17 20</i>:36:41 2005. <i>*** "<font color=orange>mrk</font>" signed on at Thu Nov 17 20</i>:40:53 2005. <i>*** "<font color=orange>mrk</font>" signed off at Thu Nov 17 21</i>:23:14 2005. <i>*** "<font color=orange>mrk</font>" signed on at Thu Nov 17 21</i>:51:05 2005. <i>*** "<font color=orange>mrk</font>" signed off at Thu Nov 17 21</i>:51:07 2005. <i>*** "<font color=orange>mrk</font>" signed on at Sat Nov 19 15</i>:07:43 2005. <i>*** "<font color=orange>mrk</font>" signed off at Sat Nov 19 15</i>:56:25 2005. <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: trying to send an AIM to mark is like some kind of sniping exercise <font color=lightskyblue>Fussbett</font>: haha <font color=lightgreen>Ray</font>: he made a comment on Thursday, I have this great reply all chambered and now I'm just waiting for my quarry to appear [/quote]