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[L]et's not let facts or a shaky grounding in history keep us from being a bitchy wise-ass -- THAT would get you thrown out of the club that meets at [NYT critic] Michiko's to watch "Sex in the City" and spout a lot of nonsense about things they don't know."

full text here

P.S. To quickly bring this post back around to the question at hand, I've got "The Second Rumpole Omnibus" and O'Reilly's "Programming PHP" in my summer bag right now. (Hey, depending on how you look at it, they're both mysteries.)

[L]et's not let facts or a shaky grounding in history keep us from being a bitchy wise-ass -- THAT would get you thrown out of the club that meets at [NYT critic] Michiko's to watch "Sex in the City" and spout a lot of nonsense about things they don't know."

full text here

P.S. To quickly bring this post back around to the question at hand, I've got "The Second Rumpole Omnibus" and O'Reilly's "Programming PHP" in my summer bag right now. (Hey, depending on how you look at it, they're both mysteries.)

This article, The Name Game cites these firms charging around $75,000 for a single word that may only be seven letters long. Not a logo, not an ad campaign, not even a domain registration, just the single word. I guess this runs roughly around $10,000 per byte.

This was actually already posted today in the supermodels in space bit. Please guys, at least try to read the articles.

The In Space, No One Knows You Read Vogue story, just two posts ago, had the supermodel report which seemed to already cover this.:

They also reported a loud, growling noise inside the space station. It turned out to be a broken gyroscope that was commanded to spin down and then shut down. One of the bearings apparently seized up.

NASA said the other gyroscopes were working fine and that the failure would not affect the station's navigation and control. But the bad unit will need to be replaced, and the soonest that can happen is early next year.

Finally, I'd like to submit one last idea. Right now, there are three technologies that are capable of providing good TV, Internet and Telephony services. That would be the telephone companies' copper (or fiber), the cable companies' coax (or fiber) and wireless broadband. If all of these technologies can provide the same services, I really don't care if each is a monopoly. As long as they compete with each other, prices will go down and service will go up. What I don't want to see is one company controlling all of these technologies in the same area.

In the most extensive independent study of broadband to date, the National Research Council came to a mixed conclusion regarding interplatform competition. The report found that interplatform, or "facilities based," competition, is important and should be encouraged. But it also predicted it would not take hold everywhere and should not be relied on exclusively for consumer protection.

Another good reason to use the Carrier Pigeon Internet Protocol (yeah, correct link, it's *also* on Salon.com - how convenient). The details here.

Transmitting IP Datagrams over Avian Carriers simply has to be a way to avoid these mega corporations getting control over these common, often fiber based transmission techniques.

But I'm sure there will soon be a Pigeonsoft breeding huge amounts of pigeons for the sole purpose of pissing of others. And of course, the technique of training them to carry datagrams will be patented. And if you try to understand how it works, you'll be sued by the PPAA (Pigeon Protocol Association) for "infringing on intellectual property". They will use the PMCA (Pigeon Master Copyright Act) to support this claim in court.

That's the world we're living in.

love says that unlike books, the music industry wasn't always tied to distributed media. it wasn't dead then and doesn't have to be in the future. i think the glamour was always part of the performance of music, not the record contracts. i'm in a modest band and have friends in slightly more successful punk bands around pittsburgh... they hardly rake in the dough, but still get by, and with enough booze/sex/id to satisfy your American Dream.

just because people are making 300 people scream at a local club instead of 3000 or 30000 at some massively promoted venue, does that mean rock stardom is dead? and didn't we figure out yet that when people start getting more limos, cocain, and fly company than they can possibly need, they just stop having that much to say to the rest of us? god, look what happened to Bono, over the years.

just my 2 cents...

sexual dolls

Not that Salon is a peer-reviewed journal or anything, but this will give a little background for those who'd like it. http://www.salon.com/people/feature/2000/07/06/ein stein/

Well, duh. That's what the NSA does. Good article on a GREAT book about the NSA. Heard the author speaking on NPR a while ago, which drove me to pick up the book. Excellent, excellent book.

> One way for small businesses to deal with the problem would be to avoid it by using Paypal. They're a reputable financial institution

Tell me, what color is sky in your world?
Or Let me ask it like This...
What Color Is The Sky In Your World?

Whoever 'breaks the copy once protection scheme' can be prosecuted under the DMCA's anti-circumvention provision.

Like the folks who figured out how to use a magic marker to defeat the recording industries' most recent attempt?

Someone will break the scheme, like every previous scheme, and the results will spread around the world in hours via the net.

Look folks, copy protection is finished, over, dead, done, gone. Accept it and move on; then we can start figuring out a way to get artists paid. (I almost wrote "a new way", but fact is that many artists never got paid under the old system.)

It has come to my attention that the entire Linux community is a hotbed of so called 'alternative sexuality,' which includes anything from hedonistic orgies to homosexuality to pedophilia.

What better way of demonstrating this than by looking at the hidden messages contained within the names of some of Linux's most outspoken advocates:

Linus Torvalds is an anagram of SLIT ANUS OR VD 'L,' clearly referring to himself by the first initial.

Richard M. Stallman , spokespervert for the Gaysex is Not Unusual 'movement' is an anagram of MANS CRAM THRILL AD.

Alan Cox is barely an anagram of ANAL COX which is just so filthy and unchristian it unnerves me.

I'm sure that Eric S. Raymond, composer of the satanic homosexual propaganda diatribe The Cathedral and the Bizarre, [Buy At Amazon] is probably an anagram of something queer, but we don't need to look that far as we know he's always shoving a gun up some poor little boy's rectum. Update: Eric S. Raymond is actually an anagram for SECONDARY RIM and CORD IN MY ARSE. It just goes to show you that he is indeed queer.

Update the Second: It is also documented that Evil Sicko Gaymond is responsible for a nauseating piece of code called Fetchmail, which is obviously sinister sodomite slang for "Felch Male" - a disgusting practise. For those not in the know, "felching" is the act performed by two perverts wherein one sucks their own post-coital ejaculate out of the other's rectum. In fact, it appears that the dirty Linux faggots set out to undermine the good Republican institution of e-mail, turning it into "e-male."

As far as Richard "(cock)Master" Stallman goes, that filthy fudge-packer was actually quoted on leftist commie propaganda site Salon.com as saying the following:

RMS: "I've been resistant to the pressure to conform in any circumstance," he says. "It's about being able to question conventional wisdom," he asserts. "I believe in love, but not monogamy," he says plainly.

And this isn't a made up troll bullshit either! He actually stated this tripe, which makes it obvious that he is trying to politely say that he's a flaming homo slut!

Speaking about "flaming," who better to point out as a filthy chutney ferret than Slashdot's very own self-confessed pederast Jon Katz. Although an obvious deviant anagram cannot be found from his name, he has already confessed, nay boasted of the homosexual perversion of corrupting the innocence of young children. To quote from the article linked:

"I've got a rare kidney disease,' I told her. 'I have to go to the bathroom a lot. You can come with me if you want, but it takes a while. Is that okay with you? Do you want a note from my doctor?'

Is this why you were touching your penis in the cinema, Jon? And letting the other boys touch it too?

We should also point out that Jon Katz refers to himself as "Slashdot's resident Gasbag." Is there any more doubt? For those fortunate few who aren't aware of the list of homosexual terminology found inside the Linux "Sauce Code," a "Gasbag" is a pervert who gains sexual gratification from having a thin straw inserted into his urethra (or to use the common parlance, "piss-pipe"), then his homosexual lover blows firmly down the straw to inflate his scrotum. This is, of course, when he's not busy violating the dignity and copyright of posters to Slashdot by gathering together their postings and publishing them en masse to further his twisted and manipulative journalistic agenda.

Sick, disgusting antichristian perverts, the lot of them.

In addition, many of the Linux distributions (a 'distribution' is the most common way to spread the faggots' wares) are run by faggot groups. The Slackware distro is named after the Slack-wear fags wear to allow easy access to the anus for sexual purposes. Furthermore, Slackware is a close anagram of CLAW ARSE, a reference to the homosexual practise of anal fisting. The Mandrake product is run by a group of French faggot satanists, and is named after the faggot nickname for the vibrator. It was also chosen because it is an anagram for DARK AMEN and RAM NAKED, which is what they do.

Another "distro," (abbrieviated as such because it sounds a bit like "Disco," which is where homosexuals preyed on young boys in the 1970s), is Debian, an anagram of IN A BED, which could be considered innocent enough (after all, a bed is both where we sleep and pray), until we realise what other names Debian uses to describe their foul wares. "Woody" is obvious enough, being a term for the erect male penis, glistening with pre-cum. But far sicker is the phrase "Frozen Potato" that they use. This filthy term, again found in the secret homosexual "Sauce Code," refers to the solo homosexual practice of defecating into a clear polythene bag, shaping the turd into a crude approximation of the male phallus, then leaving it in the freezer overnight until it becomes solid. The practitioner then proceeds to push the frozen 'potato' up his own rectum, squeezing it in and out until his tight young balls erupt in a screaming orgasm.

And Red Hat is secret homo slang for the tip of a penis that is soaked in blood from a freshly violated underage ringpiece.

The fags have even invented special tools to aid their faggotry! For example, the "supermount" tool was devised to allow deeper penetration, which is good for fags because it gives more pressure on the prostate gland. "Automount" is used, on the other hand, because Linux users are all fat and gay, and need to mount each other automatically.

The depths of their depravity can be seen in their use of "mount points." These are, plainly speaking, the different points of penetration. The main one is obviously /anus, but there are others. Militant fags even say "There is no /opt mount point" because for these dirty perverts faggotry is not optional but a way of life.

More evidence is in the fact that Linux users say how much they love 'man', even going so far as to say that all new Linux users (who are in fact just innocent heterosexuals indoctrinated by the gay propaganda) should try out 'man'. In no other system do users boast of their frequent recourse to a man.

Other areas of the system also show Linux's inherit gayness. For example, people are often told of the "FAQ," but how many innocent heterosexual Windows users know what this actually means. The answer is shocking: Faggot Anal Quest: the voyage of discovery for newly converted fags!

Even the title "Slashdot" originally referred to a homosexual practice. Slashdot of course refers to the popular gay practice of blood-letting. The Slashbots, of course are those super-zealous homosexuals who take this perversion to its extreme by ripping open their anuses, as seen on the site most popular with Slashdot users, the depraved work of Satan, http://www.goatse.cx/.

The editors of Slashdot also have homosexual names: "Hemos" is obvious in itself, being one vowel away from "Homos." But even more sickening is "Commander Taco" which sounds a bit like "Commode in Taco," filthy gay slang for a pair of spreadeagled buttocks that are caked with excrement. (The best form of lubrication, they insist.) Sometimes, these "Taco Commodes" have special "Salsa Sauce" (blood from a ruptured rectum) and "Cheese" (rancid flakes of penis discharge) toppings. And to make it even worse, Slashdot runs on Apache!

The Apache server, whose use among fags is as prevalent as AIDS, is named after homosexual activity -- as everyone knows, popular faggot band, The Village People, featured an Apache Indian, and it is for him that this gay program is named.

And that's not forgetting the use of patches in the Linux fag world -- patches are used to make the anus accessible for repeated anal sex even after its rupture by a session of fisting.

To summarise: Linux is gay. "Slash - Dot" is the graphical description of the space between a young boy's scrotum and anus. And BeOS is for hermaphrodites and disabled "stumpers."

FEEDBACK

What worries me is how much you know about what gay people do. I'm scared I actually read this whole thing. I think this post is a good example of the negative effects of Internet usage on people. This person obviously has no social life anymore and had to result to writing something as stupid as this. And actually take the time to do it too. Although... I think it was satire.. blah.. it's early. - Anonymous Coward, Slashdot

Well, the only reason I know all about this is because I had the misfortune to read the Linux "Sauce code" once. Although publicised as the computer code needed to get Linux up and running on a computer (and haven't you always been worried about the phrase "Monolithic Kernel"?), this foul document is actually a detailed and graphic description of every conceivable degrading perversion known to the human race, as well as a few of the major animal species. It has shocked and disturbed me, to the point of needing to shock and disturb the common man to warn them of the impending homo-calypse which threatens to engulf our planet.

You must work for the government. Trying to post the most obscene stuff in hopes that slashdot won't be able to continue or something, due to legal woes. If i ever see your ugly face, i'm going to stick my fireplace poker up your ass, after it's nice and hot, to weld shut that nasty gaping hole of yours. - Anonymous Coward, Slashdot

Doesn't it give you a hard-on to imagine your thick strong poker ramming it's way up my most sacred of sphincters? You're beyond help, my friend, as the only thing you can imagine is the foul penetrative violation of another man. Are you sure you're not Eric Raymond? The government, being populated by limp-wristed liberals, could never stem the sickening tide of homosexual child molesting Linux advocacy. Hell, they've given NAMBLA free reign for years!

you really should post this logged in. i wish i could remember jebus's password, cuz i'd give it to you. - mighty jebus, Slashdot

Thank you for your kind words of support. However, this document shall only ever be posted anonymously. This is because the "Open Sauce" movement is a sham, proposing homoerotic cults of hero worshipping in the name of freedom. I speak for the common man. For any man who prefers the warm, enveloping velvet folds of a woman's vagina to the tight puckered ringpiece of a child. These men, being common, decent folk, don't have a say in the political hypocrisy that is Slashdot culture. I am the unknown liberator.

ROLF LAMO i hate linux FAGGOTS - Anonymous Coward, Slashdot

We shouldn't hate them, we should pity them for the misguided fools they are... Fanatical Linux zeal-outs need to be herded into camps for re-education and subsequent rehabilitation into normal heterosexual society. This re-education shall be achieved by forcing them to watch repeats of Baywatch until the very mention of Pamela Anderson causes them to fill their pants with healthy heterosexual jism.

Actually, that's not at all how scrotal inflation works. I understand it involves injecting sterile saline solution into the scrotum. I've never tried this, but you can read how to do it safely in case you're interested.

(Before you moderate this down, ask yourself honestly - who are the real crazies - people who do scrotal inflation, or people who pay $1000+ for a game console?) - double_h, Slashdot

Well, it just goes to show that even the holy Linux "sauce code" is riddled with bugs that need fixing. (The irony of Jon Katz not even being able to inflate his scrotum correctly has not been lost on me.) The Linux pervert elite already acknowledge this, with their queer slogan: "Given enough arms, all rectums are shallow." And anyway, the PS2 sucks major cock and isn't worth the money. Intellivision forever!

dude did u used to post on msnbc's nt bulletin board now that u are doing anti-gay posts u also need to start in with anti-black stuff too c u in church - Anonymous Coward, Slashdot

For one thing, whilst Linux is a cavalcade of queer propaganda masquerading as the future of computing, NT is used by people who think nothing better of encasing their genitals in quick setting plaster then going to see a really dirty porno film, enjoying the restriction enforced onto them. Remember, a wasted arousal is a sin in the eyes of the Catholic church. Clearly, the only god-fearing Christian operating system in existence is CP/M -- The Christian Program Monitor. All computer users should immediately ask their local pastor to install this fine OS onto their systems. It is the only route to salvation.

Secondly, this message is for every man. Computers know no colour. Not only that, but one of the finest websites in the world is maintained by A Black Man . Now fuck off you racist donkey felcher.

And don't forget that slashdot was written in Perl, which is just too close to "Pearl Necklace" for comfort.... oh wait; that's something all you heterosexuals do.... I can't help but wonder how much faster the trolls could do First-Posts on this site if it were redone in PHP... I could hand-type dynamic HTML pages faster than Perl can do them. - phee, Slashdot

Although there is nothing unholy about the fine heterosexual act of ejaculating between a woman's breasts, squirting one's load up towards her neck and chin area, it should be noted that Perl (standing for Pansies Entering Rectums Locally) is also close to "Pearl Monocle", "Pearl Nosering", and the ubiquitous "Pearl Enema".

One scary thing about Perl is that it contains hidden homosexual messages. Take the following code: LWP::Simple -- It looks innocuous enough, doesn't it? But look at the line closely: There are two colons next to each other! As Larry "Balls to the" Wall would openly admit in the Perl Documentation, Perl was designed from the ground up to indoctrinate it's programmers into performing unnatural sexual acts -- having two colons so closely together is clearly a reference to the perverse sickening act of "colon kissing," whereby two homosexual queers spread their buttocks wide, pressing their filthy torn sphincters together. They then share small round objects like marbles or golfballs by passing them from one rectum to another using muscle contraction alone. This is also referred to in programming 'circles' as "Parameter Passing".

And PHP stands for Perverted Homosexual Penetration. Didn't you know?

Thank you for your valuable input on this. I am sure you will be never forgotten. BTW: Did I mention that this could be useful in terraforming Mars? Mars rulaa. - Eimernase, Slashdot

Well, I don't know about terraforming Mars, but I DO know that homosexual Linux Advocates have been probing Uranus for years.

That's inspiring. Keep up the good work, AC. May God in his wisdom grant you the strength to bring the plain honest truth to this community, and make it pure again. Yours, Cerberus. - Anonymous Coward, Slashdot

*sniff* That brings a tear to my eye. Thank you once more for your kind support. I have taken faith in the knowledge that I am doing the Good Lord's work, but it is encouraging to know that I am helping out the common man here.

However, I should be cautious about revealing your name 'Cerberus' on such a filthy den of depravity as Slashdot. It is a well known fact that the 'Kerberos' documentation from Microsoft is a detailed manual describing, in intimate, exacting detail, how to sexually penetrate a variety of unwilling canine animals; be they domesticated, wild, or mythical. Slashdot posters have taken great pleasure in illegally spreading this documentation far and wide, treating it as an "extension" to the Linux "Sauce Code," for the sake of "interoperability." (The slang term they use for non-consensual intercourse - their favourite kind.)

In fact, sick twisted Linux deviants are known to have LAN parties, (Love of Anal Naughtiness, needless to say.), wherein they entice a stray dog, known as the "Samba Mount," into their homes. Up to four of these filth-sodden blasphemers against nature take turns to plunge their erect, throbbing, uncircumcised members, conkers-deep, into the rectum, mouth, and other fleshy orifices of the poor animal. Eventually, the "Samba Mount" collapses due to "overload," and needs to be "rebooted." (i.e., kicked out into the street, and left to fend for itself.) Many Linux users boast about their "uptime" in such situations.

Inspiring stuff! If only all trolls were this quality! - Anonymous Coward, Slashdot

If only indeed. You can help our brave cause by moderating this message up as often as possible. I recommend +1, Underrated, as that will protect your precious Karma in Metamoderation. Only then can we break through the glass ceiling of Homosexual Slashdot Culture. Is it any wonder that the new version of Slashcode has been christened "Bender"???

If we can get just one of these postings up to at least '+1,' then it will be archived forever! Others will learn of our struggle, and join with us in our battle for freedom!

It's pathetic you've spent so much time writing this. - Anonymous Coward, Slashdot

I am compelled to document the foulness and carnal depravity that is Linux, in order that we may prepare ourselves for the great holy war that is to follow. It is my solemn duty to peel back the foreskin of ignorance and apply the wire brush of enlightenment.

As with any great open-source project, you need someone asking this question, so I'll do it. When the hell is version 2.0 going to be ready?!?! - Anonymous Coward, Slashdot

I could make an arrogant, childish comment along the lines of "Every time someone asks for 2.0, I won't release it for another 24 hours," but the truth of the matter is that I'm quite nervous of releasing a "number two," as I can guarantee some filthy shit-slurping Linux pervert would want to suck it straight out of my anus before I've even had chance to wipe.

I desperately want to suck your monolithic kernel, you sexy hunk, you. - Anonymous Coward, Slashdot

I sincerely hope you're Natalie Portman.

Dude, nothing on slashdot larger than 3 paragraphs is worth reading. Try to distill the message, whatever it was, and maybe I'll read it. As it is, I have to much open source software to write to waste even 10 seconds of precious time. 10 seconds is all its gonna take M$ to whoop Linux's ass. Vigilence is the price of Free (as in libre -- from the fine, frou frou French language) Software. Hack on fellow geeks, and remember: Friday is Bouillabaisse day except for heathens who do not believe that Jesus died for their sins. Those godless, oil drench, bearded sexist clowns can pull grits from their pantaloons (another fine, fine French word) and eat that. Anyway, try to keep your message focused and concise. For concision is the soul of derision. Way. - Anonymous Coward, Slashdot

What the fuck?

I've read your gay conspiracy post version 1.3.0 and I must say I'm impressed. In particular, I appreciate how you have managed to squeeze in a healthy dose of the latent homosexuality you gay-bashing homos tend to be full of. Thank you again. - Anonymous Coward, Slashdot

Well bugger me!

ooooh honey. how insecure are you!!! wann a little massage from deare bruci. love you - Anonymous Coward, Slashdot

Fuck right off!

IMPORTANT: This message needs to be heard (Not HURD, which is an acronym for Huge Unclean Rectal Dilator) across the whole community, so it has been released into the Public Domain. You know, that licence that we all had before those homoerotic crypto-fascists came out with the GPL (Gay Penetration License, according to geekacronyms.org) that is no more than an excuse to see who's got the biggest feces-encrusted cock. I would have put this up on Freshmeat, but that name is KNOWN to be a euphemism for the tight rump of a young boy.

Come to think of it, the whole concept of "Source Control" unnerves me, because it sounds a bit like "Sauce Control," which is a description of the homosexual practice of holding the base of the cock shaft tightly upon the point of ejaculation, thus causing a build up of semenal fluid that is only released upon entry into an incision made into the base of the receiver's scrotum. And "Open Sauce" is the act of ejaculating into another mans face or perhaps a biscuit to be shared later. Obviously, "Closed Sauce" is the only Christian thing to do, as evidenced by the fact that it is what Cathedrals are all about.

Contributors: (although not to the eternal game of "soggy biscuit" that open "sauce" development has become) Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, phee, Anonymous Coward, mighty jebus, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, double_h, Anonymous Coward, Eimernase, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, Anonymous Coward, The WIPO Troll, FreeWIPO, Bring BackATV. Further contributions are welcome.

Current changes: This version is based on the all-too-rare backup copy sent to FreeWIPO by 'Bring BackATV' as plain text. Re-reformatted everything, added all links back in (that we could match from the previous version), many new ones (Slashbot bait links). Even more spelling fixed. Additional stuff done in preparation for the future.

Previous changes: Yet more changes added. Spelling fixed. Feedback added. Explanation of 'distro' system. 'Mount Point' syntax described. More filth regarding 'man' and Slashdot. Yet more fucking spelling fixed. 'Fetchmail' uncovered further. More Slashbot baiting. Apache exposed. Distribution licence at foot of document.

ANUX -- A full Linux distribution... Up your ass!

Want to know why radio still sucks? Pay for play hasn't gone away.

Check out this article

Even though the subject matter (use of marijuana) and show's name ("Club Cannabis") were agreed upon beforehand Clear Channel backed out. It should be noted that it was a sales representative of Clear Channel who came up with the idea for the show and had already sold ad spots (they got 4 minutes per show)

What kind of company is Clear Channel. When asked to comment company spokeswoman Pam Taylor said, "We don't talk to Salon."

Playing with Clear Channel is like playing with M$: "If you go to bed with the dogs don't complain about getting fleas (or rabies).

pherris

Even though the subject matter (use of marijuana) and show's name ("Club Cannabis") were agreed upon beforehand Clear Channel backed out. It should be noted that it was a sales representative of Clear Channel who came up with the idea for the show and had already sold ad spots (they got 4 minutes per show)

What kind of company is Clear Channel. When asked to comment company spokeswoman Pam Taylor said, "We don't talk to Salon."

Playing with Clear Channel is like playing with M$: "If you go to bed with the dogs don't complain about getting fleas (or rabies).

pherris

outside of college radio stations, there's nothing left worth listening to, and this tells you why.

Even that statement isn't true anymore. College radio is no longer a free-spirited playground of diverse music that it once was. Now, college radio is a proving grounds.

Indies, promoters, radio execs, they all visit college radio stations. They pay the stations/DJs and/or the schools money to get certain songs on the air. They test the market amongst college students, trying to find the next big hit for commercial radio. Very few college radio stations don't have at least some form of commercial influence.

You can read more on the subject at Salon.com:
http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2001/03/14/payola / ndex.html

Check out the extensive coverage they've gotten over at Salon for the past year or so. There's about a dozen articles about various aspects of their business practices.

> mythologist Joseph Campbell (who helped Lucas craft the Skywalker/Vader saga)

This is not true, as well documented by Salon.

> mythologist Joseph Campbell (who helped Lucas craft the Skywalker/Vader saga)

This is not true, as well documented by Salon.

Well, as they say on tv, `we report, you decide'. I would argue that there is a strong liberal bias to much of the moderation which goes on here, you seem to feel that there is not. I dare say the readers of our posts can decide that for themselves, taking this thread and others as their guide.

As to your bit about intolerance, I would argue that it misses a key point. Modern `I feel your pain' liberalism, with its morass of identity politics, anti-Americanism, and subjectivist morality, has little use for rational argument and the respect for civil discourse which was a proud tradition of the liberalism of the past. From our college campuses, to our network news, liberals increasingly see labels and smears as a replacement for reason. Conservatism, with its central emphasis on reason and on individual rights, is less guilty of this.

Hint: when was the last time you saw a small group of conservative protesters use insults, violence or threats of violence to shut down a liberal speech, event, or newspaper? It happens to conservatives all the time -- see here, or here, or here or here or here.

The late mythologist Joseph Campbell (who helped Lucas craft the Skywalker/ Vader saga)...

Somehow the idea has grown that George Lucas and Joseph Campbell were old college buddies that sat around the Skywalker Ranch drinking margaritas and discussing mythology. The fact is that Lucas and Campbell never even met until the 80's, and that Star Wars owes more to pulp sci-fi themes than any mythological archetypes. Only after people started making the Star Wars/mythological connection did Lucas claim any influence from Campbell. Salon has an excellent article on this whole thing.

the cost of production for anything always decreases over time, until such a point when demand begins to drastically decline.

Music production is a labor-intensive industry, and the cost of employing songwriters, vocalists, musicians, and recording engineers has not gone down.

Since demand has done nothing but increase

An "increase in demand" means an increase in quantity demanded at all price levels. It pushes the demand curve (the one shaped like a \ sign) up and to the right. This causes an increase in both price and quantity supplied.

and since the technologies employed in the production of CDs have not decreased in efficiency

How are you sure of this? The primary thing that has become more efficient since the dawn of the CD has been the studio process, and in general, studio costs are completely recouped out of the artist's royalties.

In fact, the promotional expenses (also recouped out of the artist's royalties) have actually increased. The promotion agencies are able to bleed the labels more for "adds" to Clear Channel's playlist. Music videos become more extravagant each year. Courtney Love would be glad to do the math for you.

What with all the allegations of Pay for Play going on right now with the Radio industry, I wouldn't be surprised if a similar set of events isn't occuring in the online world too.

After all, the streaming audio sites are under tremendous pressure to make a profit, and when the indie promotor shows up with a briefcase full of money, it must be very tempting to go along with his playlist "suggestions".

Chip H.

--Mid

--Mid

Just a minor point. As I recall, and have read, Joseph Campbell really didn't help Lucas craft the mythos. It was more of an after-the-fact thing that Campbell recognized and Lucas then picked up and ran with to inflate his own 'artistry' and level.

It's not a vast work of high art. However, it's the early cinema serials taken to the pinacle. Just spend a weekend watching the old Buster Crabbe serials, then watch Episode IV. From the settings (the common desert-type area), to the music to the cuts, wipes and dissolves, it's clearly a loving tribute to Flash Gordon.

Even more than pulp sci-fi (which I loved as a Jr. High student, E.E. 'Doc' Smith and all), Star Wars is the direct evolution of Flash Gordon. Remember, those old 30's serials hit TV in the early fifties, right about when Lucas would have been around 10 years old (wich is around how old I was when Star Wars came out and I watched it). So one could easily see his childhood wonder and awe come through there.

A spokesperson said, "There's room for improvement."

The Media Borg's Man in Washington

Their Man in Washington

After reading through all of Salons articles (mentioned elsewere in the comments)

Pay $19 for a CD we paid $2 to create.

The CD itself costs about 32 cents in a large production run, according to Michael Pardo, V.P. of sales for CD duplicator Greenwood Solutions. Add packaging and the price goes to 54 cents. Add the cut for a new artist, somewhere between 10 and 50 cents, and your cost nears a buck.

I remembered reading several of these articles in the past. Very informative about the whole situation. It's about time someone attempted to do something about it.

Does XM run ads?

Yes, XM Radio does run ads. That's why, if anything, I'm considering SiriusRadio (which has no ads).

Do we know how they pick their playlists?

The recording industry is complaining that the recording industry is paying to have certain songs played on the radio. They why don't they just stop paying?

In 1981, upset about the influence amassed by a group of powerful indies known as "The Network," Warner Bros. and Columbia (before CBS sold the label to Sony) launched a boycott. Like today, powerful indies then were getting $3,000 or $4,000 an add, even though they rarely talked to station programmers. According to Fredric Dannen's 1990 music industry exposé, "Hit Men," the boycott quickly collapsed after the labels' marquee artists -- Loverboy (a platinum act at the time) and the Who among them -- revolted after having trouble getting their songs on the radio.

Personally, I think the record labels should have just stuck with it. After all, it was only a short-term loss, but surely would have been a long-term gain as other record companies bought into the idea.

• Pay for play "Why does radio suck? Because most stations play only the songs the record companies pay them to. And things are going to get worse"
• Fighting pay-for-play "Sources in the music industry call for a federal clampdown on the new payola"
• The "Bootylicious" gambit "Can a hot new single from Destiny's Child help Columbia Records crack the indie promoters' control of pop radio?"
• Payola City "In the wild world of urban radio, money buys hits -- and nobody asks questions. "

Man, that reminds me -- I really ought to subscribe to Salon :-/.

PS Since ClearChannel has a large stake in XM Radio, I completely expect XM Radio to support payola >:-[. But, does anyone know if SiriusRadio also support payola? I'm thinking of subscribing, but I wouldn't want to do so if they're corrupt as well.

• Pay for play "Why does radio suck? Because most stations play only the songs the record companies pay them to. And things are going to get worse"
• Fighting pay-for-play "Sources in the music industry call for a federal clampdown on the new payola"
• The "Bootylicious" gambit "Can a hot new single from Destiny's Child help Columbia Records crack the indie promoters' control of pop radio?"
• Payola City "In the wild world of urban radio, money buys hits -- and nobody asks questions. "

Man, that reminds me -- I really ought to subscribe to Salon :-/.

PS Since ClearChannel has a large stake in XM Radio, I completely expect XM Radio to support payola >:-[. But, does anyone know if SiriusRadio also support payola? I'm thinking of subscribing, but I wouldn't want to do so if they're corrupt as well.

• Pay for play "Why does radio suck? Because most stations play only the songs the record companies pay them to. And things are going to get worse"
• Fighting pay-for-play "Sources in the music industry call for a federal clampdown on the new payola"
• The "Bootylicious" gambit "Can a hot new single from Destiny's Child help Columbia Records crack the indie promoters' control of pop radio?"
• Payola City "In the wild world of urban radio, money buys hits -- and nobody asks questions. "

Man, that reminds me -- I really ought to subscribe to Salon :-/.

PS Since ClearChannel has a large stake in XM Radio, I completely expect XM Radio to support payola >:-[. But, does anyone know if SiriusRadio also support payola? I'm thinking of subscribing, but I wouldn't want to do so if they're corrupt as well.

• Pay for play "Why does radio suck? Because most stations play only the songs the record companies pay them to. And things are going to get worse"
• Fighting pay-for-play "Sources in the music industry call for a federal clampdown on the new payola"
• The "Bootylicious" gambit "Can a hot new single from Destiny's Child help Columbia Records crack the indie promoters' control of pop radio?"
• Payola City "In the wild world of urban radio, money buys hits -- and nobody asks questions. "

Man, that reminds me -- I really ought to subscribe to Salon :-/.

PS Since ClearChannel has a large stake in XM Radio, I completely expect XM Radio to support payola >:-[. But, does anyone know if SiriusRadio also support payola? I'm thinking of subscribing, but I wouldn't want to do so if they're corrupt as well.

• Pay for play "Why does radio suck? Because most stations play only the songs the record companies pay them to. And things are going to get worse"
• Fighting pay-for-play "Sources in the music industry call for a federal clampdown on the new payola"
• The "Bootylicious" gambit "Can a hot new single from Destiny's Child help Columbia Records crack the indie promoters' control of pop radio?"
• Payola City "In the wild world of urban radio, money buys hits -- and nobody asks questions. "

Man, that reminds me -- I really ought to subscribe to Salon :-/.

PS Since ClearChannel has a large stake in XM Radio, I completely expect XM Radio to support payola >:-[. But, does anyone know if SiriusRadio also support payola? I'm thinking of subscribing, but I wouldn't want to do so if they're corrupt as well.

• Pay for play "Why does radio suck? Because most stations play only the songs the record companies pay them to. And things are going to get worse"
• Fighting pay-for-play "Sources in the music industry call for a federal clampdown on the new payola"
• The "Bootylicious" gambit "Can a hot new single from Destiny's Child help Columbia Records crack the indie promoters' control of pop radio?"
• Payola City "In the wild world of urban radio, money buys hits -- and nobody asks questions. "

Man, that reminds me -- I really ought to subscribe to Salon :-/.

PS Since ClearChannel has a large stake in XM Radio, I completely expect XM Radio to support payola >:-[. But, does anyone know if SiriusRadio also support payola? I'm thinking of subscribing, but I wouldn't want to do so if they're corrupt as well.

Not to side with the RIAA (shudder), but Clear Channel is a pretty ugly company. You probably listen to them now and don't even know it. There's a station list available at http://www.cjr.org/owners/clearchannel.asp

A brief history of the original 1950s payola scandal is here. Another interesting payola scandal that I don't think ever went anywhere is that Salon ran an article accusing the US government of payola for having Hollywood run anti-drug plots...

From the Salon article:

Scalfani sells CDs for free. That is, if you don't count the $4.95 "shipping" charge

So, if I turn up at their offices in person, with a box, these CDs really will be free. As in free.

If I were the word free, I'd be feeling pretty raw and abused these days.

That's an understatement. In fact, several of his arguments are, frankly, absurd:

Salon: Putting aside the possible legal dangers of a broad Court decision, how do you think an Eldred victory in the Supreme Court would affect the world of ideas? What are the larger cultural dangers?
MDG:There will be fewer derivative works prepared from existing works, because there's much more of an incentive to create a derivative work if you can get an exclusive right from the copyright holder.

Of course, the derivative work would enjoy copyright protection in its own right, thus providing incentive without any need of an exclusive grant from the original copyright holder.

MDG:There would also be much less incentive to prepare new works. This is difficult to show empirically

I'll just bet it is! The "incentive" of possible income to one's great-grandchildren 70-90 years after one has joined the choir invisible is so tenuous as to be laughable.

This idea to use games to convince impressionable kids to join the army is a good one.

Looking around, all the people of my generation have one of a few careers:

* Alien-attacker, particularly where you have three bases to hide behind
* Ever-hungry giant mouth eating never-ending supply of pellets
* Race car driver on tracks with a lot of popup
* Professional princess rescuer, particularly when you can jump on a lot of mushrooms
* Cubical worker

That last one is the least suprising. I remember as a kid, me and my friends would never stop playing "Cubical Worker!" It was the most popular game in America at the time, which is why everyone seems to have grown up to do it for a living.

> The Army expects by September to spent about $7.5 million on the program

Whew! I'm glad we're spending $7.5 million on this project. With this new Republican leadership manning the purse strings, we've got so much money, I was worried there was no way we'd be able to spend it all. This is a great example of how to get rid of it.

What was that? A $100 billion dollar deficit ?

Wait... which party was for big government and likes to waste money?

Of course, if there's a conspiracy among the labels to present only highly unfavorable contracts, then there's a bit of a problem.

In fact, there is such a conspiracy. Courtney Love wrote an article for Salon about it.

Is it just me or do others see a big difference in the quality of the aguments being put forth, pro and con. Salon has an interview with Morton David Goldberg, who is a top copyright lawyer and partner with Cowan Liebowitz and Latman in New York. He feels the Supreme Court shouldn't have even heard the case. His arguments don't seem very insightful or well thought out to me. At one point he makes the statement: "And the court, in another case from the 19th century -- there was a claim that a circus poster was not original, because originality is a requirement of the Constitution..." but actually originality is not explicitly required by the Constitution, but is inferred by the verbage "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts...". He also throws around a big scare about "creat[ing] a dangerous precedent by shifting power away from Congress and toward the judiciary". Baloney.

On the pro Eldred side, the opening brief filed by Lawrence Lessig, et al seems to make alot more sense. It basically says that the authors of the Constitution used specific language in the copyright clause to limit the length of time that a monopoly would be given to authors of creative works. By regularly extending that time, Congress is, in effect, circumventing the "limited time" in a piecemeal fashion and, in effect, creating unlimited copyright terms. They also do a good job of showing how the reversion of a copyrighted work to the public domain helps to further scientific and artistic progress and bring up interesting First Amendment issues surrounding it. Good read.

I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable with Microsoft running my game server code for me; as others have mentioned, they probably won't do that good a job. And who will the customers blame? Me.

Microsoft's strategy is much higher risk than Sony's. Sony says "Let's put this out and see what people do with it." Microsoft says "Let's build an enormous system that hopefully people will use.

According to an excellent Salon.com article, the Xbox has little in the way of compelling games to differentiate itself from Sony or Nintendo.

The Register is right about one thing: Salex of the Xbox have been dropping. That makes me give their opinions the benefit of the doubt. Just because they're biased doesn't make them wrong.

D

Mathematica is a nice piece of software, but as This this letter to Salon points out, it's really just a cleaned-up reimplementation of the 30-year-old Macsyma (of which, by the way, there is a GPL'd version called Maxima available).