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IANAL so those linked PDFs won't do me much more good than a schematic wiring diagram would do for a plumber.

1. I thought "making available" was what was against the law, that it was "broadcasting?"

2. If unauthorized downloading itself is illegal, how do I know the download is unauthorized? If I see the file available, why should I assume the file is illegal? If I want to download The Station's The Fog, which is an authorized download, how do I keep from downloading Radiohead's song of the same name?

3. If they're abandoning the "making available" thing, what are they doing now?

To be clear, I use P2P, but don't want to doanload unauthorized stuff. P2P and intternet radio are the only way to find good new music, since the RIAA labels' fare has turned to complete and utter drek. How can I defend myself against this organization that doesn't want me to hear indie music?

-mcgrew (not the mcgrew from "McGrew Security", I'm the "Paxil Diaries" mcgrew, aka sm62704 at slashdot.

PS- do you want the entire top forty, free, legal, and at better quality than iTunes or P2P? Plug your radio into your PC, tune to a top 40 station, and sample for a couple of hours. (mirror is here

I can't think of a single song that is "worth" a 10th, nay a 100th of that value.

I'd pay that to hear a funural march at the RIAA's funeral

-mcgrew

...it's unclear that a decrease in piracy would equate to an increase in sales...

"Piracy" is a smokescreen. You want the entire top 40? Plug your radio's headphone jack into your PC's sound card, tune to a top-40 station, and sample it. Just let it run for a couple of hours, and you can make MP3s of each and every one of the top 40.

They're not worried about you getting their music for free, they're worried about you hearing indie music. that's what eats into their profits! E.G, say you like Radiohead. Now, if you like Radiohead you're very likely to buy a CD or some iTunes downloads. You heard a snippet of a tune called "The Fog", so you fire up eDonkey or Kazaa or whatever and enter "The Fog", if you like it you'll buy it.

You're very likely to download my friends' band The Station by mistake, who have a completely different song by the same name. You like this song, so you buy their CD or download the song from iTunes. You now have the price of one CD's less worth of cash - and that stops you from buying an RIAA CD.

There's where their fear of "piracy" comes in. The REAL "pirates" are their independant competetitors, with superior quality and lower price.

-mcgrew

...it's unclear that a decrease in piracy would equate to an increase in sales...

"Piracy" is a smokescreen. You want the entire top 40? Plug your radio's headphone jack into your PC's sound card, tune to a top-40 station, and sample it. Just let it run for a couple of hours, and you can make MP3s of each and every one of the top 40.

They're not worried about you getting their music for free, they're worried about you hearing indie music. that's what eats into their profits! E.G, say you like Radiohead. Now, if you like Radiohead you're very likely to buy a CD or some iTunes downloads. You heard a snippet of a tune called "The Fog", so you fire up eDonkey or Kazaa or whatever and enter "The Fog", if you like it you'll buy it.

You're very likely to download my friends' band The Station by mistake, who have a completely different song by the same name. You like this song, so you buy their CD or download the song from iTunes. You now have the price of one CD's less worth of cash - and that stops you from buying an RIAA CD.

There's where their fear of "piracy" comes in. The REAL "pirates" are their independant competetitors, with superior quality and lower price.

-mcgrew

So you can alledge that a lawyer has kidnapped Elvis and locked him up in his basement along with a bunch of alien corpses stolen from Roswell and the bar association will open an investigation.

Oddly enough, My ex-wife's lawyer did kidnap Elvis and lock him in a basement with Roswell Alien corpses! I called the cops but they wouldn't do jack about it. Dumb cops.

Of course, this IS Illinois!

-mcgrew

So you can alledge that a lawyer has kidnapped Elvis and locked him up in his basement along with a bunch of alien corpses stolen from Roswell and the bar association will open an investigation.

Oddly enough, My ex-wife's lawyer did kidnap Elvis and lock him in a basement with Roswell Alien corpses! I called the cops but they wouldn't do jack about it. Dumb cops.

Of course, this IS Illinois!

-mcgrew

Destructive? Not really, when compared to something like Andrew or Hugo

You want destruction? Try a tornado! The one the linked wiki article is about is one (ok, two that came through at the same time) that hit my town last year. The photos don't come close to doing justice to reality.

The building pictured in the article was a very short walk from the apartment I lived in. Its massive steel girders were bent like pladough. The tree with the three foot diameter trunk behind the apartment looked like a weed someone had stepped on (Godzilla?). There were mobile homes torn in half, cinderblock buildings with half the building gone and thousands of five inch long wood splinters embedded in the concrete. There were trees with five foot diameter trunks and larger uprooted. Utility poles with the middle of the pole snapped out and the top hanginhg by the wires (I was without power for a week). It was a sea of yellow and red building insulation, trash, and debris.

If Osama Bin Laden had walked through my neighborhood he'd have said "holy fucking shit! We can't hurt these people, we might as well give up!"

My neighborhood looked like a war zone. And it was "only" an F-2. I can't possibly imagine what an F-5 would be like (flatness, I guess).

here are some pictures, which as I say, don't do justice to reality at all.

-mcgrew... oh wait, that was about teh terroristz. here is one where the tornado sirens went off, but no tornado. I never blogged about the actual tornado, because my computer won't work without the electricity I was out of for a week, nor can I get on the internet without the cable connection that was down for an entire month.

Destructive? Not really, when compared to something like Andrew or Hugo

You want destruction? Try a tornado! The one the linked wiki article is about is one (ok, two that came through at the same time) that hit my town last year. The photos don't come close to doing justice to reality.

The building pictured in the article was a very short walk from the apartment I lived in. Its massive steel girders were bent like pladough. The tree with the three foot diameter trunk behind the apartment looked like a weed someone had stepped on (Godzilla?). There were mobile homes torn in half, cinderblock buildings with half the building gone and thousands of five inch long wood splinters embedded in the concrete. There were trees with five foot diameter trunks and larger uprooted. Utility poles with the middle of the pole snapped out and the top hanginhg by the wires (I was without power for a week). It was a sea of yellow and red building insulation, trash, and debris.

If Osama Bin Laden had walked through my neighborhood he'd have said "holy fucking shit! We can't hurt these people, we might as well give up!"

My neighborhood looked like a war zone. And it was "only" an F-2. I can't possibly imagine what an F-5 would be like (flatness, I guess).

here are some pictures, which as I say, don't do justice to reality at all.

-mcgrew... oh wait, that was about teh terroristz. here is one where the tornado sirens went off, but no tornado. I never blogged about the actual tornado, because my computer won't work without the electricity I was out of for a week, nor can I get on the internet without the cable connection that was down for an entire month.

Amendment 5 - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings. Ratified 12/15/1791.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

I'm pretty sure the EULA states somewhere MS can do this. You agree to it when clicking that little checkbox for accepting the license when installing the damn OS.

No, I didn't. I didn't rent or license Windows, I bought a copy. As soon as I paid my money that copy belonged to me to do anything with that the law allows (I can't legally sell copies of my copy, but then I can't legally discharge my firearm in the city or drive my auto at 100mph either).

Microsoft has no more right to enter MY computer to change MY copy of Windows than Chrysler has the right to put a document in the glove box before the sale giving them rights the law doesn't allow, like opening the hood of my car and fiddling with my engine without my permission.

There is no contract. My signature is not there, nor is there any proof that it was I who clicked the so-called "agreement". Mike sure as hell didn't agree to anything when I (re)installed his copy of Windows on his spyware-laden Dell; I clicked the thing on Mike's box. Mike is not legally bound by that so-called "agreement". He didn't agree to anything. And if you claim I clicked, you're going to have to have proof.

IANAL but AL will tell you that a verbal agreement isn't worth the paper it isn't printed on. Neither is a "clickthrough", as there is no proof that the OWNER OF THE COPY clicked the so-called "agreement".

You want to license software? Fine, write out a contract and present the contract and get it signed before the sale. I paid for it, it's mine, and Microsoft has no right to do anything to it without my permission.

-mcgrew

with a true believer

just found these with google: http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/3/25/195318/874 http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/4/12/201332/748

just found these with google: http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/3/25/195318/874 http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/4/12/201332/748

They need to mod you up some more, it's only a 4.

There have been fewer than 3,000 deaths from terrorism on American soil this entire century. Meanwhile, 40,000 Americans die on the highways every single year. I'm far more afraid of the blonde terrorist in the SUV than I am of the Muslim terrorist in a bomb jacket.

Far worse, though, are the corporate terrorists. Osama Bin Laden killed almost 3,000 people, big fucking deal. R.J. Reynolds kills half a million every year from cancer, and that red and white striped clown terrorist Ronald McDonald kills another half million with heart disease.

Bin Laden is a piker. He should not be looked at as any more than a minor nuisance. more people die from tripping over their own clumsy feet!

It's time to retire this bogeyman. 3,000 in 7 years vs 280,000? I say lets put some of that Homeland Security money into a few guardrails!

-mcgrew

Just read some of the comments posted here that are comparing intercepting German emails to Turkey to turning the US into a barbed wire laden police state

I don't see a lot of barbed wire, but it IS a police state. The first indication that you live in a police state is Secret Police. We call them plainclothesmen, undercover agents, and other euphemisms but they are secret police nevertheless.

About a month or so ago a couple of my friends wanted a ride a few blocks away to talk with someone. Now, before anyone suspects that racism is playing a part here, I'm white, as was everyone else (including the police). I'm 55 years old and wear a white goatee and gray hair for Chrissake!

They got out of the car (a 2002 Concorde) and went inside. After a few minutes, they came out and got in the car. I started to pull out, and a big black Chevy SUV cut us off. Half a dozen very large armed men, one wearing a ski mask (in July in Illinois in 90 degree heat) jumped out and surrounded the car.

They wore no uniforms, although they did have blue vests with "Police", "FBI", and "DEA" written on their backs. A gun was pointed at me and we were ordered out of the car.

We were all searched, as was the car. We were not arrested, nor asked permission to search, nor shown any kind of warrant.

Jackboots.

It seems the place the ladies went into was a "known crack houuse" as the Secret Policeman said. There were no drugs on anyone, of course. If it was a "known drug house" then why were they harrassing (and searching) us instead of the "known" drug house? I didn't much like having that God damned cop putting his hands on my balls looking for contraband, I'll tell you.

So from now on, I shout it from the rooftops: America is a police state, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. We have become what we have fought against for 200 years. And assholes like you are helping it happen! When the secret police stop you without cause, and search you and your property without a warrant, I'll wager you'll change your tune PDQ, young man.

Get rid of victimless "crime" and realize that the terrorists are NOT a threat (under 3000 folks this century vs half a million yearly from heart disease alone) and you have no need for secret police. That's why drugs, prostitution, and gambling are illegal, and why the government is scaring everyone with the toothless terrorists - so the government can have an excuse to deploy secret police.

-mcgrew

Hmm, destruction of your whole business model, financially costly? Really?

Not if your business model is fatally flawed and/or obsolete.

The fact is that the labels' current business model is untenable. Fifty years ago it took LOTS of money to make a record. Today it only takes a couple thousand; just about every local band (link is to friends of mine) in Springfield has at least one CD recorded in a studio and professionally duplicated.

They don't HAVE to sell a million to make a profit - the things only cost a buck or two apiece, anything above that is profit, so long as they're sold at the bands' shows.

The RIAA labels' only current hold on music is that they still control radio and empty-v. THAT is why they killed internet radio and are trying to kill P2P - they can't control it and keep the indies off. These two outlets are the indies' meal tickets and the labels' worst nightmare.

If you're trying to find, say, a live version of The Station's song The Fog on Kazaa (say someone told you about them), you're likely to find a Radiohead song by the same name, and get yourself sued. But the labels' fear is that you'll be looking for Radiohead's tune and find The Station by mistake. You buy their two CDs (or downloads from iTunes) and you no longer have the money you spent on those two CDs and now can afford one less RIAA CD, since they cost twice as much as most indie CDs sold as shows.

This isn't about "piracy", it's about destroying the competetion.

-mcgrew

C is now owned by Pascal: http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/2/7/144019/8872

When New Scientist does its annoying "buy the magazine to read the rest of the article" bullshit in 'Heretical' cosmologist does away with the big bang and I go to Wikipedia for a little info, what do I get? I search for "Cristiano Germani", the heretic, and get no results. I then search for "cosmological slingshot", the heretical theory's name, and likewise come up dry.

Oh well, there's always Google, with a ton of hits on "cosmological slingshot". To wit: "In this paper we clarify two important issues regarding the Cosmological Slingshot Scenario, namely the choice of frame and the creation of primordial fluctuations. In particular, we show that the Einstein frame represents a non-trivial bouncing cosmology. Regarding the calculation of the primordial perturbations, we identify their vacuum state and elucidate their evolution from the quantum to the classical regimes. Finally, we calculate the exact power spectrum of primordial perturbations showing its compatibility with current data."

OTOH, Goatse is there, as is a description of every episode of every TV show made in the last 40 years, as well as every CD (but not LP, the LPs are listed as if they are CDs, without a "side 1" and "side 2").

That said, I don't know how I ever got along without wikipedia.

-mcgrew

...and the horse they rode in on. Anyway, here's page 3, slashdot. (picture of a jock wearing taped glasses and a necktie... what nerd wears a necktie? who would confuse C|NET with a nerd site or even a tech site? These asshats are clueless)

SLASHDOT
What's the story?
Slashdot is a well-respected science and technology news aggregation Web site. It lists user-submitted news stories with a bias towards geeks. Each story is vetted by a moderator before being posted, at which point visitors can leave their opinions in Slashdot's highly active forums. It was created in September 1997 by Rob 'CmdrTaco' Malda, who still runs the site.

The first Slashdot submission was recorded on 31 December 1997. By 18 August 2004 it had recorded 10 million posts. During this time its users helped create a unique subculture that was responsible for the propagation of several Internet memes. Among these were Al Gore's spurious claim to have invented the Internet, Chuck Norris' refusal to use email because he comes from the cowboy generation, and countless hyperlink-related 'pranks' involving the Goatse phenomenon.

Slashdot's core audience is thought primarily to be Linux users. Contrary to popular opinion, however, over half of its visitors use a Windows PC. Approximately a third use some form of Linux, with 10 per cent using Mac OS X.

Did you know?
Before Slashdot was Slashdot, it was known as 'Chips & Dips'. The site was launched in July 1997 but less than three months later it was renamed. The name Slashdot was allegedly chosen to confuse those poor souls who pronounce the full URL of the site ("h-t-t-p-colon-slash-slash-
slashdot-dot-org"). You've got to love geek humour.

What Slashdot says about you
Slashdot's tagline is "news for nerds", so no prizes for guessing what type of people visit the site. The average male Slashdot user probably looks a lot like our model -- but has more acne and bigger glasses. Users are 23 years old but look twice their age and steadfastly refuse to accept the fact that Windows is actually not a bad operating system.

Far from being lovable dorks, the Slashdotters have a vicious streak. They hunt like spiders, awaiting the arrival of an article from their victims -- usually a hapless news reporter. The second moderators accept a story, they pounce -- pedantry, suspicion and anonymity their weapons of choice.

Reminds me of The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect http://www.kuro5hin.org/prime-intellect/ except without all the death games.

August Charles Fruehauf (1868-1930), was a blacksmith and carriage builder in the Detroit area. In 1914, he built a trailer to carry a merchant's pleasure boat, which was to be hauled by a Ford automobile. The trailer was a success. The merchant asked Fruehauf to build additional trailers to haul lumber. These trailers, which Fruehauf called "semi-trailers", became very popular. In 1918, Fruehauf incorporated his semi-trailer manufacturing company, and the Fruehauf Trailer Company was was formed.

August Charles Fruehauf (1868-1930), was a blacksmith and carriage builder in the Detroit area. In 1914, he built a trailer to carry a merchant's pleasure boat, which was to be hauled by a Ford automobile. The trailer was a success. The merchant asked Fruehauf to build additional trailers to haul lumber. These trailers, which Fruehauf called "semi-trailers", became very popular. In 1918, Fruehauf incorporated his semi-trailer manufacturing company, and the Fruehauf Trailer Company was was formed.

There was a huge black man standing before the judge. Apparently this fellow was unemployed and hadn't been paying his child support.

"Look, Judge, I gots no problem with child support."

"Yes, you do," the judge replied. "You may not have a problem with the idea of child support, but you do have a problem with actually paying it.

There was some nearly subaudible back and forth between the judge and the large man standing before him, when the judge said "Do you think this is a joke, Mister Johnson?"

Mr. Johnson replied quietly, too quiet to hear. The judge repeated, "I'll ask you again, Mr. Johnson," very firmly, "Do you think this is a joke??"

"I gots no fuckin' money!" Johnson replied. "You gonna sent me to jail?"

"Would you like me to cite you for contempt, Mr. Johnson?"

"Fuck you, motherfucker!" Gasps and giggles from the gallery...

"Contempt of court!" the judge ordered. "Take him to jail."

"Fuck you!" Johnson added rather stupidly.

"That's two" the judge said.

"Fuck you! Eat shit cocksucker!"

"That's three."

"Kiss my big black ass, motherfucker. Fuck you!"

"That's four!"

"Suck my dick bitch!"

By the time he got to eight, Mr. Johnson was being led out in handcuffs. The judge shook his head in wonder. This was more entertaining than a TV courtroom drama, for sure.

Another black man came in through the door Mr. Johnson left through, wearing Sangamon County's black and gray striped jail uniform. I always thought prison stripes were only in cartoons, but I guess this is Springfield.

Apparently this fellow had run afoul of the judge before, ignoring a court order or something. Or maybe he, too, had called the judge a motherfucker.

Next step massive bribery in congress to change it.

There, fixed that little typo for you. When that great American corporation Sony can donate to both the Republican and the Democrat in the same race, it doesn't matter to Sony who wins, Sony's interests are upheld. "Donating" to both major parties is bribery, plain and simple.

Of course, it shouldn't even be legal for a corporation or union to have that kind of influence in government. It shouldn't be legal to donate to any candidate you're not registered to vote for. Is Sony registered to vote? Then why do they have more aof a say in "my" government than I do?

We have the best government money can buy.

-mcgrew

Protecting our freedoms? I thought it was about stopping terrorist attacks. I mean, so many people have died in America from Osama Bin Laden's terrorism; there have been almost 3,000 deaths this century!

Of course, since over 40,000 people die every year on the highways, I'd like to see some of that "Homeland Security" money go to guard rails and other safety improvements. I'm far more afraid of the cell-phone weilding blonde than the bomb wielding Muslim!

But wait, that's still chicken feed. Osama should be jealous as hell of a far bigger terrorist - RJ Reynolds, whose poison kills over half a million people yearly! the corporate terrorists are truly deadly!

Even Ronald McDonald kicks Osama's ass when it comes to killing Americans. Heart Disease also kills over half a million Americans every year.

Hell, even Bush himself is deadlier to Americans than Osama, since well over 3,000 of the soldiers he sent to Iraq (to destabilize the region and drive gas prices up; he's an oil man. Gas was $1 here when he took office, now it's over three times as high) have died there.

Al Quaida? Shit, the tornado that tore through my home town in 2006 miraculously didn't kill or even seriously injure anyone, but look at the destruction of ONE building! The tree behind my apartment looked like a weed someone had stomped on. I saw twisted girders, trailor homes torn in half, five foot diameter trees uprooted, wood splinters imbedded in concrete. If Osama saw what I saw he'd have given up.

So I completely agree with you. That God damned abomination must go! I think the Congress and Senate who passed it and the President who begged for it and signed it should go as well.

-mcgrew

his opinion can't exactly be considered unbiased...

Neither can mine, since I've been using row-stores since dBase II. I've used that, Clipper, FoxPro, Access (yuck), and Nomad (on the mainframe) and probably some I forgot about and there is a horrible problem with every one of them, which is that the data aren't readable without the underlying program.

Damn it, people, there is no excuse for that, and no reason save product lock-in. If only these row-based databases were like the examples in the linked Wikipedia article - "1,Smith,Joe,40000;2,Jones,Mary,50000;3,Johnson,Ca thy,44000;", although I'd prefer fixed length fields; hard drives are dirt cheap these days.

My favorite DBMS was Nomad. I absolutely fucking HATE Access. But the only way I'd go to a column based DBMS would be if my employer forced me to.

BTW, I notice that the Wiki article says Sybase is column based, so column based DBMSes aren't exactly new (weren't they around last decade?) and there is little reason to think they'll be the "next big thing", save perhaps Sybase's advertising budget. Yes, if you aren't indexing your data (what DBMS doesn't?) and you're not writing much data, I'll take someone's word that column based is faster, even though the how and why wasn't explained, but that is a very narrow range of uses.

I'm incredibly skeptical. Now if you'll excuse me I have to get back to this (shudder) Excel spreadsheet...

-mcgrew

So, if I shave and you look at me with them on I'd look like this? (I grew a goatee since this fine portrait was rendered)

-mcgrew

The mass extinction (not by a meteor impact) of energy efficient cars that fight global warming won't work for the poor folks whose DNA causes their dinosaur-like obesity.

Now get my goddamn research grant here RIGHT NOW dammit!

-mcgrew

Religion and science are in opposition like wales and mountains are in opposition. Neither has anything to do with the other. Science is about testable theories (unlike a mathematical theorum, you cannot prove a scientific theory correct. You can only prove it incorrect).

I've never been to Europe. That doesn't negate Europe's existance, because eyewitnesses have been there and verified its existance. There is documentation. Even if you've never been to Europe you likely believe in Europe as well, for the same reasons.

But for some strange reason, when someone talks of God, Christ, Muhammed, Bhudda, or any other religious precept, the documentation is automatically presumed false, and its witnesses and authors are presumed to be either insane or lying, no matter how many witnesses!

If God wants you to know of His existance, you will not be able to deny Him. I recounted being squished by God like a bug here. Now, whenever I tell this tale, I get all sorts or rational explanations for it. My brain (indeed, my whole body) had been brutally traumatized, or I am a schitzophrenic (despite having never been disgnosed with any mental disorder except Adjustment disorder with Depressed Mood (a temporary condition that did not exist at the time of the trauma), or I'm just a bald faced liar (even though I have a goatee).

I not only have no doubts, I can have no doubts. I can no more doubt God's existance than you can doubt the existance of the computer you are typing on. I can prove nothing; take my word for it, consider me insane, or whatever. But the fact is arguing with me about God is like a man blind from birth arguing about the existance of the color red.

-mcgrew

AT&T has scuttled plans it had to deploy wireless Internet with some free access throughout Springfield, according to Mayor Tim Davlin's top aide.

"They just made a business decision not to pursue these types of ventures," executive assistant Jim Donelan said Tuesday.
Other companies are still welcome to make proposals for citywide wireless access, Donelan said, but there are no active negotiations.

A spokesman for AT&T was contacted but did not provided a statement from the company.

AT&T has scuttled plans it had to deploy wireless Internet with some free access throughout Springfield, according to Mayor Tim Davlin's top aide.

"They just made a business decision not to pursue these types of ventures," executive assistant Jim Donelan said Tuesday.
Other companies are still welcome to make proposals for citywide wireless access, Donelan said, but there are no active negotiations.

A spokesman for AT&T was contacted but did not provided a statement from the company.

The other publishing industries have been lagging behind the music recording industries. I have LPs from the lat 60s that claim rights that they STILL don't have. They threatened you with the FBI for taping them!

Those notices aren't nearly as funny as some of the other utter bullshit you see on CD cases of works that were originally in analog format, talking about CDs' "superior resolution" and how it wouldn't sound as good as the record company would like because they were analog. I actually believed this when I first started buying CDs, before I researched them. I had a few that made me wonder, and finally discovered that the remastering of some of these CDs is so bad that if you sample the vinyl and burn it to a blank, your home-sampled CD can actually sound better than the store bought version!

Also, the fact is that anything mastered in analog medium and reproduced digitally, or mastered digitally and reproduced in analog media will be the worst of both worlds and will sound like shit, or at least the digital analog of shit.

-mcgrew

PS- at 44,000 samples per second, a 15kHz wave will have only three samples per crest. Is that a sine wave, a square wave, or a sawtooth wave?

Essentially, while we are dealing with intellectual property (ugh, I hate that term) theft

If you hate the term, then stop using it! Why do you hate it?

Now, I personally hate that term because it's a lie. The US Constitution is clear: you do NOT own the copyrighted or patented work. All you own is a limited time monopoly on its distribution. there is no such thing as intellectual property.

-mcgrew (the link is to a rant; here's another)

Essentially, while we are dealing with intellectual property (ugh, I hate that term) theft

If you hate the term, then stop using it! Why do you hate it?

Now, I personally hate that term because it's a lie. The US Constitution is clear: you do NOT own the copyrighted or patented work. All you own is a limited time monopoly on its distribution. there is no such thing as intellectual property.

-mcgrew (the link is to a rant; here's another)

I'll try Hardy, but it better work out of the box

Lets just hope they didn't name it after the Hardy Boys and you have to be a detective to figure it out...

-mcgrew

it's a copy paste job:

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2003/2/13/8422/16656

http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=159323&thresho ld=1&commentsort=0&mode=thread&cid=13343214

You're right, lack of broadband sucks (my friend Mike in the sticks outside Columbia, IL is on dialup), but it's hardly a "crisis".

A crisis is when you're broke and you run out of toilet paper. A crisis is when you're addicted to cigarettes and can't find a light.

A crisis is when the Soviets ship ICBMs to Cuba and the President threatens to destroy the world. THAT's a crisis. Broadband? There are businesses here in Springfield, where you can choose cable or DSL, on dialup.

-mcgrew

With the majority of music in existence now belonging to the RIAA in some way

If you're counting all the 20th century music by all those dead people, perhaps. But if you only count new music (lets say from the present century), most of it is indie.

In the last century, a bar band needed a label to record; studios, pressing, and distribution were all controlled by the labels. But we have computers now; five hundred bucks for a machine more powerful than the biggest supercomputer in existance when CDs were invented.

Hell, I have friends with CDs out, and none of them have an RIAA contract. A label tried to to sign Joe and he told them to go to hell. The link is to a blog posting with links to MP3s of live recordings (acoustics in the clubs aren't good; find a copy of Posamist's CD for quality). Some other friends have 2 CDs out and SHNs at Archive.org. And those are just a couple of my friends; here is a Michael Craford article linking to thousands of FREE MP3s. The article is several years old, there are more free MP3s posted on the internet every day!

"Piracy" is a red herring. You can "download" the entire top 40 in a few hours by plugging your radio's headphone jack into your PC's sound card and sampling the RIAA dreck. The RIAA's problem is that they control radio and empty-v, but they can't keep Joe and Dave and the other thousands of bands Mike linked to off of P2P or internet radio. That's the real reason they have attacked both of those outlets (and very sucessfully, too).

It's not about copyright infringement. It's about destroying the major labels' competetion. There is no reason whatever to download or upload top 40 crap with P2P; it's easier to sample it from the radio. Old John Lee Hooker tunes, and indie music, are what P2P is for.

-mcgrew

With the majority of music in existence now belonging to the RIAA in some way

If you're counting all the 20th century music by all those dead people, perhaps. But if you only count new music (lets say from the present century), most of it is indie.

In the last century, a bar band needed a label to record; studios, pressing, and distribution were all controlled by the labels. But we have computers now; five hundred bucks for a machine more powerful than the biggest supercomputer in existance when CDs were invented.

Hell, I have friends with CDs out, and none of them have an RIAA contract. A label tried to to sign Joe and he told them to go to hell. The link is to a blog posting with links to MP3s of live recordings (acoustics in the clubs aren't good; find a copy of Posamist's CD for quality). Some other friends have 2 CDs out and SHNs at Archive.org. And those are just a couple of my friends; here is a Michael Craford article linking to thousands of FREE MP3s. The article is several years old, there are more free MP3s posted on the internet every day!

"Piracy" is a red herring. You can "download" the entire top 40 in a few hours by plugging your radio's headphone jack into your PC's sound card and sampling the RIAA dreck. The RIAA's problem is that they control radio and empty-v, but they can't keep Joe and Dave and the other thousands of bands Mike linked to off of P2P or internet radio. That's the real reason they have attacked both of those outlets (and very sucessfully, too).

It's not about copyright infringement. It's about destroying the major labels' competetion. There is no reason whatever to download or upload top 40 crap with P2P; it's easier to sample it from the radio. Old John Lee Hooker tunes, and indie music, are what P2P is for.

-mcgrew

I beg to differ, son.

if you use the property of hiding directories as a simple way of keeping data from less experienced people [eg. slashdotters hiding the porn from their parents] then it isn't malware

It is if it's their computer! Hiding your porn from Mom on Mom's computer constitutes abuse. Hiding porn from Mom on your computer doen't.

-mcgrew

How can it not be normal if it occurs in nature?

Does this answer your question?

-mcgrew

(BTW, I'm not that normal myself.

"SLOW DOWN, COWBOY! It's been 48 hours since your last submitted article was posted on the front page! And 42 minutes since you last successfully posted a comment. Stop typing so damned fast, mcgrew!"

I imagine the board meeting went like this:

No way, that was far too coherent. The slashdot blurb was virtually unreadable; since TFA isn't likely to be any better I see no reason to R (eye muss knot bee knew hear, looser). A whois lookup for my site does in fact reveal my identity, although the address and phone numbers are my registrar's, but the email addresses are correct (although the insightbb address won't work; I didn't pay my bill). My other site has all the info, although most of it is out of date with my old apartment (I bought a house), disconnected landline (I'm cell-only now) and email (I changed ISPs).

There is no way to make certain that whois data is current, or even correct. So considering that (and the unparsability of the blurb and presumably TFA as well) I'm having a hard time figuring out what the controversy is. Maybe if I'd used my host's "masking service" it would be easier; and note that my host is in an entirely different country than I am!

FUCK law enforcement; they have more than enough tools to do their dirty, sinful jobs.

-mcgrew

PS- OT, but I'm at work using IE6, and the slashdot headlines are invisible today, white on white (unless you highlight them). Also, I'd like someone to provide me with some reefer to compensate me for this fine but now illegal post! After all, I do own copyright on it, do I not? ;)

http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2007/5/18/41120/9156

I don't know, that's a pretty high bar.

As high as this one?

-mcgrew

I know, I know, I have sacrificed my principles for a cheap joke

Not as cheap as mine. The headline as submitted was "DOOMed rocket crashes and burns". Scuttlemonkey turned it into a single paragraph, too. I guess he must not be a mcgrew fan.

-mcgrew

The 'war' refers to the competition among record companies to make louder and louder albums by compressing the dynamic range.

I found out when my kids were in high school that you could buy pot in school. You could NOT buy alcohol in school.

If you're for prohibiting adult access to drugs, you're FOR granting access to drugs for minors. Drug prohibition isn't any more effective than alcohol prohibition was.

-mcgrew (on-topic link)

Tobacco vs marijuana

Nobody ever died from smoking marijuana. It does not cause cancer; indeed, they thought it must since there are known carcinogens in it, but when they did a study on mice they found that it slows lung cancer. It shrinks brain tumors, protects the brain from strokes, and a study of the "hippie generation" who had smoked pot for thirty years with controls who didn't smoke pot found that pot smokers had a far lower incidence of cancer than nonsmokers. Among cigarette smokers, the difference between potsmokers and nonpotsmokers was even more pronounced.

There is no known lethal dose. It is not addictive, unlike tobacco, which may possibly be the most addictive substance on the planet. So why is tobacco, which is addictive and kills almost all its users, legal while pot is not?

And I would posit that it IS a human right to get high; it's called freedom of thought.

-mcgrew

OK, I posted this earlier. Both vinyl and CD have advantages over the other. But a vinyl album from digital source will generally be inferior to the CD (late model vinyl after about 1979 or so) while a CD made from an analog master (especially one remastered by one of the RIAA labels' deaf engineers) will be far inferior to the original vinyl.

If I played Van Halen's first album cranked up to "9" with the stereo I had in 1978 and closed my eyes, Van Halen was literally in the living room. I have never heard a CD on anyone's stereo that could fool me into thinking that it was a live performance.

With any analog player, the quality of your device matters a LOT. A CD will always sound better than vinyl played on a cheap turntable. OTOH I have CDs I sampled from cassette on a used deck that originally cost $600 that you would swear were factory CDs. As to "a few dozen plays" that also is variable on the quality of the equipment; I've seen turntables that would ruin an album after a single play (and people who would ruin an album as soon as it was out of its sleeve) but had a Dual from germany that never seemed to ruin a record. I did, however, limit the plays, recording to tape on the first play.

-mcgrew

I submitted the same story an hour or two ago after seeing This AP story at.

I like netbuzz's story better than mine, because it sets up a classic fight: Digital vs. analog- which is better? The answer I gave in MFA was that each has strengths and weaknesses, but it's plain that analog/digital hybrids, like a digitally mastered vinyl record or a CD mastered from an analog tape, are the worst of both worlds, having the disadvantages of both and the advantages of neither.

My best sounding CDs are ones I made myself from vinyl, so the above paragraph isn't absolute; many CDs that are remastered from analog originals (Led Zepplin's Presence or Blue Öyster Cult's first album) have horrible remasters, making a digital sample of the vinyl album sound better than the remastered CD. Presence especially; my homemade CD has more dynamics, higher highs and lower lows. BOC sounds especially good in the car, that's what I play when I want to show off my car stereo.

After hearing some remastered albums I'm sure the RIAA's labels have hired deaf engineers, and wonder if the poor sods ever learned to read an oscilloscope? For you younger folks: any new vinyl album should be inferior to the CD, unless the master was sampled with a far higher sampling rate and bit size than Red Book. But compared to what they could do with a high speed analog tape with dolby, Red Book suX0rz. If my sample of Presence sounds better than the store-bough CD, imagine how good the actual vinyl sounds?

But anyway, happy birthday, CD!

-mcgrew