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You either didn't understand the question or completely ignored it.

Here's the non-affiliate link.

That's only one example. Per Norgard may be mentioned as well, his third symphony abounds in Golden Section references. And, as others is well known, Bartok used the sequence heavily in his work.

That's only one example. Per Norgard may be mentioned as well, his third symphony abounds in Golden Section references. And, as others is well known, Bartok used the sequence heavily in his work.

How come this type of biography seems only to be available for Apple?

An interesting book about the history of Sony is "Sony: The private life" (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0002570254). It talks about Morita and Ibuka who started the company in post-WWII Japan, Ohga who was responsible for the CD and has a large section to Idei and Schulhof and the Columbia pictures acquisition.

Computer graphics apps can't teach anatomy, proportion, shading, perspective, and composition. Dicking around on the computer is NOT going to impart these eessential skills. Having a modicum of drawing talent, the best thing that ever happened to my drawing ability was to learn the above basics. Want to draw sexy chicks? Learn anatomy and proportion for starters, then move on to shading/lighting. For drawing people, a great starting point is Drawing the Head and Figure by Jack Hamm. The best drawing books are by Andrew Loomis, but unfortunately most of them are out of print but they can be found *cough* online.

Also, yes, it's an RTOS, though maybe not the most sophisticated one out there. The idea seems to be to provide something that's very small, lightweight, and fast, with absolutely minimal interrupt handling times, etc.

In case you're interested, here's a link to a book, Embedded Software Development with eCos, which describes the thing.

Come on, if back in the early 1980s you could get a sentient talking car, then why in 2006 do we settle for these simple guidance systems that are so limited they could get us killed?

The last time that I used Oracle directly, which was admittedly a few years ago, RMAN was not considered a good solution. It was only bundled with Oracle starting with the 8i series, and was possibly not quite ready for prime time then.

Even now, the 10g RMAN page is less than optimistic about previous versions:

RMAN becomes more powerful with a redesigned incremental backup scheme, offline recovery of incremental backups, previewing restore, recovering through resetlogs, file compression, and much more.

Most people would agree that RMAN is the de facto tool of choice for Oracle database backup. But as powerful as they were, early versions of RMAN left something to be desired. Like many DBAs, I had pet peeves about the absence of what I consider to be must-have features. ...

So why do many DBAs do incremental backups only rarely? One reason is that in Oracle9i and below, RMAN scans all the data blocks to identify candidates for backup. This process puts so much stress on the system that doing incrementals becomes impractical.

It also didn't use to be able to do things like backup to tape (ooh) without external tools from people like Legato. And heck, there's a whole series of books about how to use it effectively - if that isn't the sign of a poorly designed tool, well... Heck, the fact that a simple google search will show that a lot of people were (and still are) using filesystem backups indicates a severe (if historical) weakness in provided backup tools. Contrast this to most other enterprise vendors, where doing a backup is as simple as saying, "Backup to this [tape|disk] device, and make it a level [0|1|2] incremental backup."

In fact, management just makes stuff up and jobs are threatened when they don't toe the party line.

So, your argument of the personal views of the people at the very bottom of the organization aren't really valid. And sure, most of us wish these folks would grow some balls and form a new corporation that doesn't spew republican talking poitns at will (just watch some john stewart and you can get a mashup of republicans going on every major network and saying the exact same thing (with no variation even in phrasing!) at the same time.

Don't be more blind than you absolutely have to.

Oh yeah, one more thing. Liberal media in an of itself is a neo-con talking point. So, I hope you're enjoying your Kool-aid.

I *have* done my homework. I have a better than layman's understanding of both evolution and early Christian history. I understand why the Bible is self-contradictory in numerous places- it's an amalgam of multiple creation myths that don't necessary have much to do with each other. In the case of Genesis, it's a mashup of two different stories: you can tell them apart by how they refer to the creator deity. Genesis 1 through 2:3 is from the polytheist version of the tale with Elohim (plural) as the creator god, 2:4 and on from the older Jewish version (YHWH). The author of the first few books managed to remove most of the polytheistic elements from the Elohim sources, although hints remain.

Now, back to the *very* simple question. Which version of the Genesis tale is the correct one? You claim that Genesis is the correct record of how life came to be. Fine: all I want to know is which one. This is not a complex question. There are even good rebuttals to the issue- I'm surprised that you don't know them. Any biblical literalist who wants to debate evolution better have them available at the drop of a hat. As a side note, I'd encourage you to do some serious reading on biblical scholarship. Elaine Pagels has some wonderful books on biblical history, although she focuses on early Christian history rather than the Old Testament. I'd also recommend Robert Alter's translation of Genesis as a really wonderful resource that captures both the scholarship and poetry of Genesis.

I *have* done my homework. I have a better than layman's understanding of both evolution and early Christian history. I understand why the Bible is self-contradictory in numerous places- it's an amalgam of multiple creation myths that don't necessary have much to do with each other. In the case of Genesis, it's a mashup of two different stories: you can tell them apart by how they refer to the creator deity. Genesis 1 through 2:3 is from the polytheist version of the tale with Elohim (plural) as the creator god, 2:4 and on from the older Jewish version (YHWH). The author of the first few books managed to remove most of the polytheistic elements from the Elohim sources, although hints remain.

Now, back to the *very* simple question. Which version of the Genesis tale is the correct one? You claim that Genesis is the correct record of how life came to be. Fine: all I want to know is which one. This is not a complex question. There are even good rebuttals to the issue- I'm surprised that you don't know them. Any biblical literalist who wants to debate evolution better have them available at the drop of a hat. As a side note, I'd encourage you to do some serious reading on biblical scholarship. Elaine Pagels has some wonderful books on biblical history, although she focuses on early Christian history rather than the Old Testament. I'd also recommend Robert Alter's translation of Genesis as a really wonderful resource that captures both the scholarship and poetry of Genesis.

After studying it for 4 years (and counting), I've learned the following are lies people tell about the language. Some people here had some good advice, including this post

Japanese is Hard. No, it isn't. It's just different from your everyday life. People learn to speak and listen to the language without writing it and without classes in Japan. Most famous examples are the Iranians in the Tokyo area who teach each other Japanese and they get quite good.

Never use anime or manga. The better advice is "use anime and manga set in normal everyday life". There are lots of shows that are set in everyday life and have everyday conversations. Use those.

Formal Japanese is all you need to know. This is such bullshit. I've read posts from fresh graduates with Japanese degrees getting baffled at a KFC in Japan. Normal, everyday Japanese is not the polite, grammatically correct version you learn in school or from books. After you learn basic Japanese, buy this book. Then you'll understand what normal Japanese people say. :-)

Kanji is impossibly hard. No, not if you use the right book. Most kanji are composites and this book helps you see that.

Now some truths...

Get a penpal! Use the Pen Pal depot to find a friend that you want to talk with. Use MSN, Skype, whatever to have voice-video chats. I found a pen-pal this way and we use Skype to practice every week, and it really, really works.

Start reading/watching real material early. Don't wait until you get super proficient to start reading manga, short stories and novels. Push yourself because learning vocabulary from flashcards is hard, but learning a new word in context from a Japanese drama/anime or manga is a lot easier.

Buy dictionaries and grammar guides. You'll need them!

Buy an electronic dictionary. It's easier and portable.

Sasuga Bookstore. Sasuga Bookstore is your friend. Learn to buy from them early and often. :-) (I don't work for them, just a fan).

Ganbatte, kudasai! Hang in there, please. Have faith that you are progressing when all else says otherwise. EVERYONE who has studied any language can struggle, for years even, but they eventually get good.

Rumour says that SCO has given IBM a reference book to help find the copyrighted material.

Anyone under the age of 30, intelligent enough to use a computer, who intentionally reproduced despite the COMMONLY UNDERSTOOD STATE OF AFFAIRS, should be very, very ashamed of themselves.

The thing about us nerds, though, is that we usually have a strong belief in the power of Man to improve his lot through technological innovation. There's no reason that you can't fit more people on Earth, we just have to take the initiative towards a more environmentally friendly use of technology. If you like science-fiction, as most of us here do, the story collection Future Primitive: The New Ecotopias , edited by Kim Stanely Robinson, has various glimpses of such a future.

Besides, the birthrate in the West has fallen quite low and in many countries (Italy, Spain) is below the replacement rate. Most population growth is being fueled in the Third World, and people there lack the education to understand the consequences of their actions. There's the oft prediction that once their income level rises to Western standards, they will cease to have so many children.

In effect, a non-issue. Most of you already know you shouldn't go to the media and make comments about the job your boss is doing, or make comments about what they should do instead.

No, it *is* an issue. My tax dollars are at work funding government scientists. What's the fucking point of paying these scientists to do research if they can't talk about the results of their work with the public? We have a long tradition of federally-funded scientists being generally insulated from politics, because in the past both major parties have recognized the value of unbiased scientific research.

The Bush Administration has been muzzling the results of government-sponsored research for several years now, and this is a very troubling development. Representative democracies (yes, even republics, for those of you who will latch onto the semantics) need some areas of government to be devoid of partisanship.

If you're wondering about Hansen's reference to Nazi Germany and the USSR, read Hitler's Scientists to see how science can be co-opted for political ends.

The only people really communicating with the public now are those who deny global warming. Take Michael Crichton as an example, his novel State of Fear was a best-seller and even has a fancy bibliography at the end to make it look convincing. The side that would seek to inform the public is, regrettably, a bunch of eggheads doing good research without the talent to communicate it.

I'm in about my 3rd month of doing exactly what it sounds like you want to do -- teaching myself Japanese. On the whole, I don't think it's as hard as people make it out to be. The key thing is, do you enjoy learning? If so, then it should be worthwhile to try.

There are a couple of resources I am using to learn:

Japanese in Mangaland - a fantastic book that is organized into simple lessons of grammar, culture, and vocabulary. Each lesson includes examples of actual Manga to apply what you have learned. (There are two more books in the series once you get past the first one.)

If you read that book and decide you want to learn more, then it's time to start learning Kanji (you should already have learned the two phonetic scripts -- Hiragana and Katakana by then). For Kanji, I have been very pleased with:

Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters by Henshall.

This book may or may not work for you depending on your learning style, but it's been fantastic for me (I'm up to 400 Kanji in 3 months). It basically lays out the history of each Kanji and explains why it came to have it's current meaning. It shows you how to break the characters down into their component parts (called radicals) and what the meaning of those parts is. Since radicals can be shared by many kanji, this gives you extra insight into what a Kanji is likely to mean, even if you don't know it to begin with. This is a great memory aid, since it means you're not just memorizing random symbols but actually learning a system of symbols with meaning and context.

The other tool I used to learn Kanji is King Kanji. This is a Palm program that has tons of different writing lessons. It does handwriting recognition and tells you when you are writing the characters incorrectly. You can use it to quiz either the kanji, katakana, hiragana, or the meanings or pronunciation of the Kanji. I basically do this whenever I have some down time (bathroom, bus, etc.) and that is what has allowed me to progress as far as I have on my own with learning the Japanese writing.

Finally, a couple of websites that I have found helpful:

Teach yourself Japanese has a great detailed explanation of Japanese grammar.
Japanese Online has fantastic language lessons.

There are a ton of other sites out there as well. Just spend some time with Google and I'm sure you'll find the ones that work for you.

Good luck! Learning Japanese has been a lot of fun for me, and isn't nearly as hard as people make it out to be.

I'm in about my 3rd month of doing exactly what it sounds like you want to do -- teaching myself Japanese. On the whole, I don't think it's as hard as people make it out to be. The key thing is, do you enjoy learning? If so, then it should be worthwhile to try.

There are a couple of resources I am using to learn:

Japanese in Mangaland - a fantastic book that is organized into simple lessons of grammar, culture, and vocabulary. Each lesson includes examples of actual Manga to apply what you have learned. (There are two more books in the series once you get past the first one.)

If you read that book and decide you want to learn more, then it's time to start learning Kanji (you should already have learned the two phonetic scripts -- Hiragana and Katakana by then). For Kanji, I have been very pleased with:

Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters by Henshall.

This book may or may not work for you depending on your learning style, but it's been fantastic for me (I'm up to 400 Kanji in 3 months). It basically lays out the history of each Kanji and explains why it came to have it's current meaning. It shows you how to break the characters down into their component parts (called radicals) and what the meaning of those parts is. Since radicals can be shared by many kanji, this gives you extra insight into what a Kanji is likely to mean, even if you don't know it to begin with. This is a great memory aid, since it means you're not just memorizing random symbols but actually learning a system of symbols with meaning and context.

The other tool I used to learn Kanji is King Kanji. This is a Palm program that has tons of different writing lessons. It does handwriting recognition and tells you when you are writing the characters incorrectly. You can use it to quiz either the kanji, katakana, hiragana, or the meanings or pronunciation of the Kanji. I basically do this whenever I have some down time (bathroom, bus, etc.) and that is what has allowed me to progress as far as I have on my own with learning the Japanese writing.

Finally, a couple of websites that I have found helpful:

Teach yourself Japanese has a great detailed explanation of Japanese grammar.
Japanese Online has fantastic language lessons.

There are a ton of other sites out there as well. Just spend some time with Google and I'm sure you'll find the ones that work for you.

Good luck! Learning Japanese has been a lot of fun for me, and isn't nearly as hard as people make it out to be.

The goal of SCO's intentionally vague requests seem to be to essentially consume the defendant's resources.

Seeing the financial state that SCO is in, all of this legal action is simply going to consume it's last resources. After all, SCO isn't actually producing anything, so there's no sure stream of profit, just a few last-minute handouts from other firms to stop it from going under. IBM, on the other hand, is a strong company. Yes, it might not be what it was in the 60s, and it went through some bad times in the early 90s, but in the end it has come out fairly comfortable (see Gerstner's Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? for a fun history of the turnaround). SCO might waste some of IBM's money, but it's still putting up a fight that ultimately it can't win.

Seriously, though, I stopped buying Sony products over this attitude, back in the days of the Playstation 1. This is why we've had how many failed Castlevania games, but people still rave about Symphony of the Night.

Also... I guess the success of the Gameboy and DS really prove his point here. I always wonder if there isn't a hidden agenda here since the constant push for heavier and heavier polygonal graphics really hinder independents and help the big studios.. Also when he says "the market has spoken," he fails to account for the fact that no popular "2D" fighters have ever successfully transitioned into "3D." Not one of the major "3D" fighting game series started out as a "2D" series. Truthfully, how many really successful "3D" fighting series are there? Soul Calibur and Tekken. As far as I know not even the much vaunted Virtua Fighter has been all that successful in raw numbers... and I tend to consider wrestling games another beast entirely.

Now that he has three awesome flatscreen monitors, he'll no doubt write a new edition of The Road Ahead claiming that a three monitor setup is the wave of the future and he knew it would be all along.

(The first edition of the book didn't mention that Internet, so when the Web got big, Gates put out a second edition claiming that it was the new big thing.)

Just ran across a book that came out this last week on this, its currently being shipped, so not sure of the actual content yet, but it looks good:
Practical VoIP Security on Amazon.com

just translate it. Spanish saying

Anyway, there are several nice disks to learn english. If you, like me want to do it the "pirata" way, goto emule and downlaod some japanese e-books (I downloaded an interesting reading about the basis of writting) and then look for some iso torrents.

Oh, for other languages (french, spanish and german) there are some Michel Thomas courses they are Sehr gute! I downloaded the french and german courses (although I studied German for 1 year).

Anyway, IMHO nothing is better than a course (a good one of course)I do not know about USA but in Mexico Universities, as a student you can subscribe to ANY language course free, that is how I studied my 1 year of German.

Oh! and for you people in USA(I know, maybe you already know Español) another nice way to learn Spanish is to go to some state in Mexico (yes, self advertisment here, sorry =-) for example to La Paz,BCS[English] where you will find everything cheap AND you can subscribe to the University Spanish courses (of course will also be able to practice).

I met a lot of American and Canadian people when I was studying there, they used to go in their boats to stay for the winter (they found pretty warm the water =oS). So, a year over there would be really nice (oh and it would be a great way to convince mom and dad to sponsor a year at the beach).

Anyway, sorry for the shameless plug, unfortunately there is no such thing for Japanese (although for French the east of Canada might be all right).

Science writer Carl Zimmer (author of At the Water's Edge : Fish with Fingers, Whales with Legs, and How Life Came Ashore but Then Went Back to Sea) has an excellent blog post about how this new find fits in with the larger picture.

I have been learning Japanese for the past year or so. My University uses the series Genki: An Integrated Course in Elementary Japanese. The entire series consists of two books, two workbooks, and two audio CDs. Everything is really well organized; in each chapter you learn some new grammar, vocabulary, and kanji, and there are plenty of exercises for you to practice what you have learned. The series assumes you know nothing of Japanese when you start, so it's a great book that takes you from a beginner to an intermediate level proficiency in Japanese. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/4789009637/sr=8-1 /qid=1144323650/ref=pd_bbs_1/103-0114107-8967059?_ encoding=UTF8

Don't make the book Making out in Japanese your bible. It was the first book on slang out there, it's amusing but a little dated. It's also it's the #1 favourite of all high-school boys taking Japanese class. You can spot them a mile away rattling off the phrases in it.

Richard Dawkins, Climbing Mount Improbable. pp 138-197.

Save yourself $14.80 by buying the book here: Beginning SQL Server 2005 Express. And if you use the "secret" A9.com discount, you can save an extra 1.57%!

Save yourself $14.80 by buying the book here: Beginning SQL Server 2005 Express. And if you use the "secret" A9.com discount, you can save an extra 1.57%!

And let's not forget William F. Buckley.

I'd purchase TAL CDs too.

If only buying one, I'd recommend the latter, but they're both good deals. Great for long car rides.

I'd purchase TAL CDs too.

If only buying one, I'd recommend the latter, but they're both good deals. Great for long car rides.

Generally if there's a referral, the link will read: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/%5Bsome_num ber%5D/%5Bsomebody's_account_name%5D/%5Bpossibly_s ome_other_stuff%5D/ So if you see something after the ASIN number that looks like an account name, then it's a referral -- in this case it was particularly blatant because the account name (christorculve-20) looks a lot like the guy's /. ID. There are some other variants depending on the type of link, but generally that's what to look for.

Ok -- So how exactly do we tell that a link to Amazon contains a referral or not?

I took a look at the URL the poster gave, which is:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/069111725X/ christorculve-20/102-7757899-4084146?_encoding=UTF 8&camp=1789&link_code=xm2

I also surfed to Amazon independently and clicked on the product, which gave me the following URL:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/069111725X/sr=8-1 /qid=1144246883/ref=sr_1_1/104-8075798-9983914?_en coding=UTF8

Which this is kindof funny, because the 2nd URL (which I went to myself) has a REF in it, but the first one does not. Could someone please enlighten me?

Ok -- So how exactly do we tell that a link to Amazon contains a referral or not?

I took a look at the URL the poster gave, which is:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/069111725X/ christorculve-20/102-7757899-4084146?_encoding=UTF 8&camp=1789&link_code=xm2

I also surfed to Amazon independently and clicked on the product, which gave me the following URL:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/069111725X/sr=8-1 /qid=1144246883/ref=sr_1_1/104-8075798-9983914?_en coding=UTF8

Which this is kindof funny, because the 2nd URL (which I went to myself) has a REF in it, but the first one does not. Could someone please enlighten me?

The first patent, granted in 2003, covers the method by which Netflix customers select and receive a certain number of movies at a time, and return them for more titles.

So a common-sense business method is patentable? The U.S. patent system really is broken, I'd encourage all to read Jaffe & Lerner's Innovation and Its Discontents to see just how broken it is. Personally, I think there's no hope of repair, and innovation would progress better were the entire system thrown out. But patents are seen as such a triumph of early American government, with founding fathers like Jefferson in favor of them. Plus, our legislature is currently enslaved to monetary interests. So, we're stuck in quite a pickle where nothing can really be done.

" Maybe it was cool to you, but most kids in your class thought it was lame"

No, actually most kids in my school _did not have computers_ at all! Like I said, you weren't there. You're not old enough to witness the transformation from _not_ having computers to _having_ them. Even the lowest powered machine, something on the order of a Kaypro luggable (talk about rugged!) suitcase computer can give culture shock.

"but solving this other problem would be even better!"

It would! Give them teachers, books, literacy, and a stable society and the rest will take care of itself. You'll then _get_ electricity for things like refrigeration (ooh!) for food and drugs, and to be able to power, of all things, computers.

"It will have much longer range transmission than regular WiFi"

It will? Where does it say that? It takes electricity to drive radio waves, there, and the more distance needed to communicate, the more power you need.

"The laptop is going to be distributed for free by governments and NGOs"

Hahahahahah!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1401352014/102-73 62304-2355308?v=glance&n=283155

Read that. Then get back to me when you have a clue.

--
BMO

Anime and Asimov have taught us that autonomous machines will inevitably rise up against us, this self parking thing is just the first of several tiny robot steps into a dark, tentacle-rape filled future.

I'd recommend Daniel Wilson's How To Survive a Robot Uprising . It has the skills you need to protect yourself when the metal ones come for you.

It's called Breaking the Spell . It's not a perfect book by any stretch of the imagination, but it is quite interesting. Most but not all of the negative reviews you can see on Amazon appear to be by people who didn't actually get his main point--the possibility and importance of the scientific study of religion.

I have access to a copy of "By the Hand of Mormon". I've read the Introduction and most of the first chapter. I don't know when I'll have time to read it all (though maybe you have recommendations of good chapters), but at least some parts of it intrigued me--though perhaps not for the kinds of reasons you might want. (E.g., if the image of the Anthon Script on p. 29 is in fact what Harris showed Anthon, then all hope for the Book of Mormon's authenticity goes out the window.)

Not to sound arrogant, but I imagine I could give you better answers than any of what your bishops were able to if it comes to intellectual questions about Mormonism.

I believe you could have. Your comments in this thread have already been of a higher caliber than the kinds of comments I ever got from a Mormon leader. Regardless, it wasn't their short-comings that drove me from the Church. It was their short-comings that made me seek my own answers. (There's a Buddhist saying: When someone points at the moon, you don't look at their fingertip.) My decision to leave was based on what I learned, both intellectually and spiritually.

I've read stuff by Hugh Nibley, though never a full book. I've read a lot of the FARMS publications, especially about language. My specialization in linguistics is in American Indian languages (BA and MA theses, and PhD dissertation). Not just book work--I spent, and still spend, hours every week (sometimes even days) working with tribe members face-to-face, learning their languages, and less so their cultures and religions. That includes tribes originally from the Missouri area, across the Southwest, and communities down in Central Mexico. That's how far my quest for understanding took me.

I don't have any grudge towards Mormonism as a result of this. The most intense intellectual and spiritual experiences of my life have been because of my work with members of these tribes; and I never would have started on this road without prodding from my religious doubts.

Sure, it might be easy just to slap a motor on it, but the hard part is programming those three laws into it so that it doesn't kill you and then commit robot suicide in a great orgy of blood and electrical fires.

Also, one must include "reduction to the mean" in all things biological - that's a given, together, today with the infusion of evolutionary medicine and parasitology (for an excellent, easy-to-read primer, see Scott Westerfeld's excellent novel, PEEPS.

At you know where.

This life is all we have. There is no second chance to get things right "next time", or reward in an afterlife. Please consign these fantasies to ancient history where they belong.


Afterlife or 'fever dream'-- you decide:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1560434481/102-88 47344-5576142?v=glance&n=283155

Yes, I have and read the book and find it inspirational....

Just for your information, and excuse me if you already know this...

Though I've never actually seen it myself, there was a well-received movie adaptation of "Flowers for Algernon," called "Charly", starring Cliff Robertson. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062794/ Come to think of it, one of these days I need to put out the effort to see it. Looks like it's stilll available.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002KPHWY/qid=11 44199647/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/102-9452147-5242510?s=d vd&v=glance&n=130

Today a TiVo is a pretty basic piece of technology and isn't that innovative. It didn't even support dual tuners (outside of the DirecTiVo version) or offloading shows onto DVDs the last time I checked it out.

Erm, check again, dual tuner support was in DTV systems for over 5 years now and been anounced for standalone S3 system coming out....well, someday... Not to mention that with MRV (standard on all S2+ tivos) you can have as many tuners as you are willing to pay for. As for offloading stuff onto DVD's, thats been around for a few years. And thats not mentioning a simple connecting DVD-R to tivo output. Either way, the point is not "what have you done for me lately", but the fact that they were the first to create and market such a system in a set-top box and got a patent for it. They have a right to enforce such a patent, especialy when they were obviously ripped off.

They want to PROGRAM, not talk to customers all day.

That's why a programmer in a vacuum is useless. All manufacturing laborers (ie, programmers) need additional people to bring their manufacturer product to market. Would a guy who spot welds auto parts be fine by himself?

If you're charging for service, you've actually got a big financial incentive NOT to make your product straightforward and bug-free; the only reason you're even MAKING a product, from a business standpoint, is so that you have something to fix.

This is only true when you have government-granted monopoly powers of various kinds. People who write bad code don't necessarily last long without government favoritism. Those who write good code will find customers to help them implement new features -- no customer has unique needs that can't be marketed to all their competition. In the long run, it is this growth of customer base through positive past references that builds profit competitively.

But is a novelist supposed to give away his books for free (or for the price of distribution)? If so, how is he supposed to make a living? Are we back to the old model of artists finding wealthy patrons and writing sycophantic dedications to them in front of every book?

I published two books (one self, one through a publisher) that I always gave out freely. The books allowed me to do public speaking engagements for a fee, as well as drove people to my print newsletters that I charged for. Also, I was able to charge for autographed versions of the book if people so desired (some did). In the long run, I made more money on a 5000-run book than most authors make on a 50,000-run book published by the publisher's cartels. In fact, there are many authors of 100,000-sale books who never earn their advance. I publish my blogs for free, and since I started in November my billable rate has only gone up due to the customer base that has appeared around it. Why should I charge for what is basically marketing? One of my blogs has afforded me 3 international trips to talk to people who financed the trips -- again, why should I charge for marketing?

The Mises Institute offers almost all their e-books for free, even though you can buy them at Amazon.com. Go to Amazon and look up any of their books. For example, What has Government done to our money is available at Amazon (ranked #8971 yesterday), but you can download it for free at the publisher. Why do people buy it?

But I don't buy the argument that it's a universalizable business model.

Of course it isn't. Some products that are very hard to reverse engineer and get working in a niche market are likely not going to get copied. If I make a program that helps gay chinese midgets track their daily intake of chitin, will you pirate it? Probably not. But the 50 people out there that want the product will buy it. On the other hand, if you make a product that could have 10 million customers, why should you have a monopoly on it? 10 million customers means there is room for all to play competitively by making the best product they can at the best price possible. You balance support with pricing, your competition will also, and both can profit.

EB Games sells 1600 cards for $20, but the regular price is $25 elsewhere and the retail/list price is always $25.

In other words, the CIA have been reading all my email for years now

In the United States, monitoring communications is the mission of the National Security Agency, not the Central Intelligence Agency, which focuses on various other fields of intelligence. For a good introduction to the NSA, what they do and (as best we know) how they do it, try James Bamford's Body of Secrets , written by the foremost public expert on the agency.

I recall now that Winston Smith's apartment in 1984 was built in such a way that part of his room was outside the glimpse of the telescreen. This allowed him to write his diary, although as anyone who has read the book knows, this small blow for freedom didn't mean much in the end.

But on the Internet, what spaces do we have that are truly private? What is our best bet for having a small amount of privacy to live as normal human beings? PGP? Or, as the previous Slashdot story tells, Freenet? On a system where all communication between two individual goes over a wire that Big Brother can watch with ease, finding a private nook is hard indeed.

Why buy a UMD Movie, that is the same price as the DVD

If only it things were that good!! Almost always you can by the DVD equivalent for less. More quality, more versetile, less money. No brainer. UMD was doomed to fail from the get-go.

Compare two samples, a new release and an old release:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: $15.76 vs $21.99
The Matrix: $9.76 vs. 17.99

Why buy a UMD Movie, that is the same price as the DVD

If only it things were that good!! Almost always you can by the DVD equivalent for less. More quality, more versetile, less money. No brainer. UMD was doomed to fail from the get-go.

Compare two samples, a new release and an old release:

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: $15.76 vs $21.99
The Matrix: $9.76 vs. 17.99