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