Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

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Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

2003-05-26 00:16:24

AccurateRip will be opened up for anyone and everyone**, the benefit of such a system should not be limited to one program. Once the specification is tied down it will be released as easy plug-ins for other software developers - you might find it appearing in EAC, CDex or even AudioGrabber, developer permitting.

** The exception is 'Easy CD Exctrator', or any Pokiosoft product, it has been judged that they have engaged in 'unsportsman-ship behavior' - for the facts read here.

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #1 – 2003-05-26 00:27:42

pretty lame. you would think download.com would have removed that software after that blatent abuse

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #2 – 2003-05-26 00:37:33

Sorry for being an ass but you spell "Poikosoft" wrong.

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #3 – 2003-05-26 01:01:21

I wanted to contribute to the AccurateRip database but I didn't want to install dBpowerAMP Music Converter. That's quite good news. But I am not willing to rip my CDs again EAC stores the CRC information for the CDs I ripped. Is there a way to make use of those?

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #4 – 2003-05-26 02:19:41

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AccurateRip will be opened up for anyone and everyone**, the benefit of such a system should not be limited to one program. Once the specification is tied down it will be released as easy plug-ins for other software developers - you might find it appearing in EAC, CDex or even AudioGrabber, developer permitting.

** The exception is 'Easy CD Exctrator', or any Pokiosoft product, it has been judged that they have engaged in 'unsportsman-ship behavior' - for the facts read here.

how are you planning to limit who would have access to the accuraterip implementation and who wouldn't have access? i mean, how are you going to make sure that poikosoft wouldn't just hack a ripping program that have accuraterip and ripoff the implementation and just rename it and say that they invented it?

i don't want to pass early judgement on poikosoft, but the fact that the Cdex rating have gone down from 92% to 39% is fishy. furthermore, it's quite obvious that someone is trying to fraudulently influence the ratings of poikosoft products so that people will buy their programs. for sure it's a scam

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #5 – 2003-05-26 02:31:42

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i mean, how are you going to make sure that poikosoft wouldn't just hack a ripping program that have accuraterip and ripoff the implementation and just rename it and say that they invented it?

Well, no need to hack anything if AccurateRip is ever implemented in CDex. Everything there is visible for anyone to see.

And if AccurateRip is going to be only released as some precompiled library, or in some license incompatible with the GPL, then it won't be implemented in CDex. The GPL prevents that.

Regards;

Roberto.

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #6 – 2003-05-26 03:43:01

Has anyone reported this to CNET Download.com staff yet? I don't think they should be allowed to get away with this rigging of the vote and user comments.

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #7 – 2003-05-26 10:02:41

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Has anyone reported this to CNET Download.com staff yet? I don't think they should be allowed to get away with this rigging of the vote and user comments.

I have sent them an email, the more people that do it I think the better, for they have just ignored it in the past - so get writing emails! especially as any listing on download.com has to now be paid at $79 to get it listed, someone is just ripping off all the hard work of CDex.

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And if AccurateRip is going to be only released as some precompiled library, or in some license incompatible with the GPL, then it won't be implemented in CDex. The GPL prevents that.

It will be a library, inside it is quite complex and I cannot risk just 1 developer implementing it slightly off. I wouldn't be so sure about GPL, the WMA8 encoder supplied with CDex is dBpowerAMPs encoding DLL and that is not under GPL.

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #8 – 2003-05-26 10:41:02

If you want to voice your opinion to Download.com here is where you do it:

http://download.com.com/1200-20-750060.html?tag=subnav

and the offending voting page of Poikiosofts Power Encoder is here:

http://download.com.com/3302-2140_4-10202863.html

The more people complain the more likely download.com will do something about it.

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EAC stores the CRC information for the CDs I ripped. Is there a way to make use of those?

Unforetunately not, AccurateRip uses 2 different calculated CRCs.

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #9 – 2003-05-26 10:44:55

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It will be a library, inside it is quite complex and I cannot risk just 1 developer implementing it slightly off. I wouldn't be so sure about GPL, the WMA8 encoder supplied with CDex is dBpowerAMPs encoding DLL and that is not under GPL.

Use LGPL. If you use GPL, you can forget about having it implemented in foobar2000's CD reader. CDex includes LGPL libraries already.

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #10 – 2003-05-26 11:05:54

Shame one must register to Vote on download.com or I'd give their "power encoder" thumbs down. If what happened here holds true, I'm pissed.

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #11 – 2003-05-26 13:00:43

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It will be a library, inside it is quite complex and I cannot risk just 1 developer implementing it slightly off. I wouldn't be so sure about GPL, the WMA8 encoder supplied with CDex is dBpowerAMPs encoding DLL and that is not under GPL.

Maybe because CDex itself is breaking the GPL >_<

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #12 – 2003-05-28 01:47:43

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Has anyone reported this to CNET Download.com staff yet? I don't think they should be allowed to get away with this rigging of the vote and user comments.

I have sent them an email, the more people that do it I think the better, for they have just ignored it in the past - so get writing emails! especially as any listing on download.com has to now be paid at $79 to get it listed, someone is just ripping off all the hard work of CDex.

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And if AccurateRip is going to be only released as some precompiled library, or in some license incompatible with the GPL, then it won't be implemented in CDex. The GPL prevents that.

It will be a library, inside it is quite complex and I cannot risk just 1 developer implementing it slightly off. I wouldn't be so sure about GPL, the WMA8 encoder supplied with CDex is dBpowerAMPs encoding DLL and that is not under GPL.

The rigged voting has been going on for a very long time it isn't from just one software developer. I seriously don't think CNET Download.com.com (it ain't Download.com no more) cares too much since the problem is on going, and goes beyond just audio related programs.

At least there is some attempt (albeit perhaps feeble) being made as in requirements that users must now register to vote.

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #13 – 2003-05-28 13:57:47

About the facts related by spoon: shame on Poikosoft! :-(

BTW, I'd like to talk about my findings on Poikosoft's Power Encoder:

I've installed the demo, to evaluate its performance.
Its a very simple prog and I didnt find any impressive feature.
The only "special" feature is the fact of the program uses a encrypting routine named "SoftWrap".

"Before you install a "softwrapped" program, be warned that it will pollute your system with numerous hidden files, folders and registry entries. Not knowing what "Softcrap" really was, I inadvertedly installed a protected program, and that was how I got pissed off by this product. You should use a program like "Installwatch", which will take a "snapshot" of your system and let you review every change made by the softcrap. The usage of filemon and regmon for that purpose is less convenient."
(The above explanation came from the web, and helped me to understang what was going on after all).
At the end, I didnt like the app and its intrusive behaviour.
After using the built-in uninstall, I had to manually delete all hidden files/folders left behind and restore a registry backup.

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #14 – 2003-05-28 16:26:15

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The only "special" feature is the fact of the program uses a encrypting routine named "SoftWrap".

I'd call it 'DubiousWare', the kind of stuff you install and can never get rid of, unless of course a snapshot was made of the system beforehand and a registry backup was made.

Any "so-called" flags or warning during the license agreement is a sign to avoid the software.

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #15 – 2003-05-28 17:09:29

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I'd call it 'DubiousWare'...

or maybe:
"MaliciousWare"... "TrojanHorseWare"...

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #16 – 2003-08-08 10:23:54

As an update to this story, Pokiosoft Power Encoder was removed from Download.com for vote rigging.

Current user ratings of CDex do not seem to be tampered with - ie they are not down in the low 30s%, infact CDex has a rating of 96%:

http://download.com.com/sort/3150-2140-0-1-3.html?

Unsportsmanship behaviour has been stopped

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #17 – 2003-08-08 10:36:03

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As an update to this story, Pokiosoft Power Encoder was removed from Download.com for vote rigging.

It's interesting. The main page is indeed gone
http://download.com.com/3000-2140-10202863.html

But the opinions page is still there
http://download.com.com/3302-2140_4-10202863.html
And you can download from that page. :-/

@Spoon: You have any special reason to write Pokiosoft instead of Poikosoft, even after Peter corrected your writing?

Maybe something like avoiding it to appear on searches?

It's also misspelled at the AccurateRip page.

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #18 – 2003-08-08 11:15:56

Just bad spelling / memory on my part

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #19 – 2003-08-08 11:37:46

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Current user ratings of CDex do not seem to be tampered with - ie they are not down in the low 30s%, infact CDex has a rating of 96%

This is probably because the latest CDex on download.com has only been there a short time (07/28/2003), it still has the [span style='font-size:12pt;line-height:100%']new[/span] tag.

Why Poikosoft is the only developer to be Excluded

Reply #20 – 2003-08-08 12:16:33

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I wanted to contribute to the AccurateRip database but I didn't want to install dBpowerAMP Music Converter. That's quite good news. But I am not willing to rip my CDs again EAC stores the CRC information for the CDs I ripped. Is there a way to make use of those?

I concur. This would be very nice to allow the program to use EAC's crcs to verify (not necessarily add to database, possibly, but at least verify with this info). As long as the option to use null samples in crc calculation is selected, and the user has a verified read offset, EACs read crcs should be completely valid, if not more so than dbpoweramp. I have ripped my entire collection to FLAC files with cue sheets. It would also be nice to verify these rips (even if I have to decode to WAV of course) in AccurateRip, either through EAC reading the cue sheets, or through a separate function either reading the cue sheets or analyzing the WAVs themselves. Eventually, native FLAC verification would be a plus

Edit:

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EAC stores the CRC information for the CDs I ripped. Is there a way to make use of those?

Unforetunately not, AccurateRip uses 2 different calculated CRCs.

Ok, point taken, but my idea of recalculating these crcs from cue sheets and wav files still stands, at least to verify them. If the original rips were bad, then they are wrong crcs and it won't matter, if the original rips were good, then they should match actually ripping the cd again, and verification should be possible.

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