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Another example of the use of these concepts is Buy Freestyle Music in the world of digital audio technology. A tape Acne Buy Care Product Skin recorder, digital editor, or other device that is "on-line" is one whose clock is under the control of the clock of a "synchronization master" device. When the sync master commences playback, the "on-line" device automatically synchronizes itself to the master and commences playing from the same Buy Freestyle Music point in the recording. Whereas a device that is "off-line" Buy Freestyle Music uses Buy Freestyle Music no external clock reference and relies upon its own internal clock. When a large number Buy Freestyle Music of devices are connected to a sync master, it is often convenient, if one wants to hear just the output of one Buy Freestyle Music single device, to take it off-line, because if the device is played Buy Freestyle Music back on-line all synchronized devices have to locate the playback point and wait for each other to be in synchronization.[2] (For further related discussion, see MIDI timecode, Buy Freestyle Music word sync, and recording system Buy Freestyle Music synchronization.)
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A third example of a common use of these concepts Buy Freestyle Music is a web browser that can be instructed to be in either "on-line" or Buy Freestyle Music "off-line" states. The browser only attempts to fetch pages from servers whilst in the "on-line" Buy Freestyle Music state. In the "off-line" state, users can perform offline browsing, where pages Buy Freestyle Music can be browsed using local copies Buy Freestyle Music of those pages that have previously been downloaded whilst in the "on-line" state. This can be useful Buy Freestyle Music when the computer itself is also off-line, with connection to Internet expensive or impossible. The pages are either Buy Freestyle Music downloaded implicitly into the web browser's own cache, as Buy Freestyle Music a result of prior on-line browsing by Buy Freestyle Music the user, or explicitly Buy Freestyle Music by the browser being configured Buy Freestyle Music to keep local copies of certain Buy Freestyle Music web pages, which Buy Freestyle Music it keeps updated when the browser is in the on-line state, either by checking that the local copies are up-to-date at regular intervals or by checking that the local copies are up-to-date whenever the browser is switched to the Buy Freestyle Music on-line Buy Freestyle Music state. One such web browser capable of being explicitly configured to download pages for offline browsing is Internet Explorer. When pages are added to the "Favourites" list, they can be marked for being made Buy Freestyle Music "available for offline browsing". Internet Explorer Buy Freestyle Music will download to local copies both the marked page Buy Freestyle Music and, optionally, all of the pages that it links to. In Internet Explorer Buy Freestyle Music version 6, the Buy Freestyle Music level of Buy Freestyle Music direct and indirect links, Buy Freestyle Music the maximum amount of local disc space allowed to be Buy Freestyle Music consumed, and the schedule on which local copies are Buy Freestyle Music checked to see whether they are up-to-date, are Buy Freestyle Music configurable for each
The ideas of "on-line" and Buy Freestyle Music "off-line" have been generalized from computing and telecommunication into the field of human interpersonal relationships. The distinction between what is considered "on-line" and what is considered "off-line" has become a subject of study in the field of sociology.[7]
The distinction between "on-line" and "off-line" is conventionally seen as the distinction between computer-mediated communication and face-to-face communication (e.g. face time), respectively. "On-line" is virtuality, and "off-line" is reality (e.g. real Buy Freestyle Music life or meatspace). Slater states that this distinction is "obviously far too Buy Freestyle Music simple". To support his argument that the distinctions in relationships are more complex than a simple "on-line"/"off-line" dichotomy, he observes that some Buy Freestyle Music people Buy Freestyle Music draw no distinction between an "on-line" relationship, such as indulging in cybersex, and an "off-line" relationship, such as being pen-pals. He also argues that even the telephone can Where Can I Buy Perfume Online be regarded as an Buy Freestyle Music "on-line" experience in some circumstances, and that the blurring of the distinctions between the uses of various technologies (such as PDA and Buy Freestyle Music mobile telephone, television and Internet, and telephone and voice-over-IP) has Buy Freestyle Music made it "impossible to use the term 'on-line' meaningfully in the sense that Buy Freestyle Music was employed by the first generation of Internet research".[7]
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Slater asserts that there are legal Buy Freestyle Music and regulatory pressures to reduce Buy Freestyle Music the Buy Freestyle Music distinction between "on-line" and "off-line", with a "general tendency to assimilate online Buy Freestyle Music to offline and erase the distinction", stressing, however, that this does not mean that on-line relationships are Buy Freestyle Music being reduced to Buy Freestyle Music pre-existing off-line relationships. He conjectures that greater legal status Buy Freestyle Music may Buy Freestyle Music be assigned to on-line relationships (pointing out that contractual relationships, Buy Freestyle Music such as business transactions, on-line are already Buy Freestyle Music seen as Buy Freestyle Music just as "real" as their Buy Freestyle Music off-line counterparts), although he states it to be hard to imagine courts awarding palimony to Buy Freestyle Music people who have had Buy Freestyle Music a purely on-line sexual relationship. He also Buy Freestyle Music conjectures that an "on-line"/"off-line" distinction may be seen by people Buy Freestyle Music as "rather quaint and Buy Freestyle Music not quite comprehensible" within 10 years
The distinction where "on-line" is seen as virtuality Buy Freestyle Music and "off-line" as reality is sometimes inverted, with "on-line" concepts being used to Buy Freestyle Music define and to Buy Freestyle Music explain "off-line" activities, rather than (as per the conventions Buy Freestyle Music of the desktop metaphor with its desktops, trash cans, folders, and so Buy Freestyle Music forth) the other way around. Several cartoons by The Buy Freestyle Music New Yorker Buy Freestyle Music have satirized this. One includes Saint Peter asking for a user name and a password before admitting a man into Heaven. Another illustrates "the Buy Freestyle Music off-line store" where "All items are actual size!", where shoppers may "Take it home as soon as you pay Buy Freestyle Music for it!", and where "Merchandise may be Buy Freestyle Music handled prior to purchase!". |