Here is a discussion about the old audio files of the Vinge and Maddox speeches at CFP '96.

Because of Hal Abelson's kind cooperation, I obtained MP3 files of the talks footnoted here. I've attached them to this page so anyone who wants to can now listen to them as MP3 files, not Real Audio files.

[I'm tracking down the current whereabouts of these recordings, which seem no longer to be at MIT. As soon as I have a live link, I'll post it. Also, would anyone care to volunteer to transcribe them for Code v. 2? A transcript would be a great addition to the wiki. TM]

[Transcript of session appears to be at http://www.swiss.ai.mit.edu/projects/mac/cfp96/plenary-sf.html -- however my Linux machine does not support RealAudio?; someone else will have to do final confirmation. APK]

[Thanks for the link. It's also the URL I found, but the link to the recording doesn't work. I get a message saying that the server doesn't have a DNS entry. I had to install Rea lPlayer on my machine to test it, ugh. TM]

[You know, the fact that this file is only available in a proprietary DRMed file that does not work is sort of case in point for many of the arguments in this book. Also, it seems a lot like 1984 where the distruction of old information allowed the constant revision of history to keep the government's positions plausible. Perhaps this event could be added to the book somewhere. LuYu?]

[LuYu?, that's a good observation and an even better suggestion. I'll see if I have somewhere to put a discussion of the issue; if not, maybe I'll forward it to the Code Blog for other folks to have a look at.]

[Those files are just stubs for the real streams, which once were on audio.w3.org. Which doesn't exist any more... Even worse than proprietary formats, which may be recoverable wih some effort, is deleted content, broken links, and assorted problems. People think they didn't have those problems in the years Before Digital, but remember the burning of the library of Alexandria... --smurfix]

I don't see any way to view the history of the page. Am I missing something? Mitch Kapor

Hi Mitch,

We've updated our stylesheet to make the "Revision X" link more promintent. Now it's on the right side of the actions bar at the top of each page. -Abe

There seems to be a lot of parallels between this an Jean Baudrillard's theories on Postmodernism. Check out his collection of essays / book Simulacra and Simulation.

- Ryan Hayes

Both decoding and streaming mp3 files are covered by patents in the US. Thompson is actively enforcing rights in both areas. See www.mp3licensing.com for more information on the licensing. I guess the section on "proprietary file formats" is still relevant. - Humberto

The style of this section, in its current form, seems generally different than that of the rest of the book. Please check the diffs and let me know whether my efforts are in the right direction. - Mike Johnson

- Mike Johnson