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http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling
http://www.elearnenglishlanguage.com/difficulties/looselose.html
http://www.grammar-monster.com/easily_confused/loose_lose.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Know-the-Difference-Between-Lose-and-Loose

easy to use as their 2D inkjet printer counterparts

Put them in the dome:
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/movie_theater_layout

I'm guessing the management doesn't really want the bad press

Who says it would be bad press? I'd be much more likely to choose theaters with zero tolerance polices. I think most people would actually switch off their phones if there was a big on-screen announcement that they absolutely WILL be booted out if it rings or they try to use it in any way during the movie.

If not ... watching somebody who's that self-entitled being told where to get off is probably better entertainment than what's on the screen. They can always pause the movie while they do it.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/movie_theater_layout

Another idea is for each seat to have a row of red LEDs in front of it which gradually light up when people talk. If it reaches LED number three, out with them.

No, more like Linux users just download and watch it, after a minor ethical dilemma.

Yes, you are correct on all points. I refuse to whore out my private contacts to advertisers, even if that would make me more 'acceptable' in the eyes of certain employers, and in this day and age (unfortunately) that does make me a 'wierdo' (do you hear the dolphins dying?)

Email, phone and in person is more than enough to keep current with my group of friends and family. No, I don't have 1,000 paper friends listed on Facebook to impress others: I have a couple dozen close friends with whom I actually share common interests and enjoy spending time with. I am sorry if you can't see the value in not 'friending' every person you have ever met in your life, but I don't feel like short changing the important people in my life in favour of scrambling to keep up with a scattering of acquaintances all clamoring for likes on the latest dog photo they posted. And yes, I did try 'the facebook thing' back when it first came out: that's what I am basing my information on. Perhaps things have gotten better, but from all of the articles I see about it...I suspect it has only gotten worse over time.

The signal to noise ratio is simply way too low for any useful purpose. Of course, if what you prefer is the noise, more power to you. And no, I don't think I 'would want an employee' of you either, it sounds like we simply have two wildly incompatible world views. If you were able to keep your social networking out of the office, then perhaps, but if you insisted on bringing it in where people are trying to do serious work...no, thanks, go waste someone else's time. Frankly, your time spent on (and apparent obsession with) managing your Facebook account should be a huge red flag to any prospective employers, unless maybe you work in marketing or sales.

I don't know about the not eating part, but seeing this in the news, just reminds me of the Eastern Cougar, and I become a sad panda.

Is it related to clapping along to music at concerts? This needs further study...

http://theoatmeal.com/blog/clapalong

If something is too expensive then "DON'T BUY IT". by pirating it you only give them an excuse to provide more lockdowns and inflate the price more.

Game of Thrones pirated; HBO doesn't mind.

Also, those media companies are run by Techno-Luddites who couldn't manage their way out of a wet paper sack with a flashlight and a jackhammer, so no wonder they don't understand how to watch shows on teh intertubes without a cable subscription.

People pirate because it is easier than being legit. If it was easier to pay, many would.

And now you know why this comic was made.

/Oblg. http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple

Yes, people want Game of Thrones.

That also tells you exactly what the providers need to do.

All kinds of wierd DRM has been packaged with PC games

Great, there goes another dolphin...you murderer! :p

How about "Longhorn"? A grossly overweight beast who is destined for the slaughterhouse but will endeavour to leave massive piles of bullshit on your fields before it goes. There's a good code name for a product.

On the other hand, Windows XP Embedded had the code name of Mantis, which fit it nicely.

Things that are an order of magnitude more complex then "start a torrent, pick a file and click stream".

Not once you've already done the one-time action to set up Netflix! But that's the complexity associated with buying anything. If you want to be honest and pay for your content, the complexity of actually paying is irreducible.

But Netflix has solved this problem and most others still haven't (to the extent that the studios want to make money through Netflix, most still seem to have problems with that.)

So says another Apple user.

Well seeing as that a core part of his complaint was that his comics were routinely posted without attribution and with the all reference to The Oatmeal removed, he wasn't really getting the kind of publicity you are describing.

Only those without souls call it work. We all know that what the customer wants will make us cry ourselves to sleep every night....

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell

Rightsholders have to have *full time* people involved in policing sites like youtube.. something just isnt right about that.

Actually, they CHOOSE to have full time people do this. They also choose to have some inadequate software do it too. They don't have to do it. They have some fear (grounded or unfounded, brilliant or misguided) that "people will see our stuff and we won't profit from their eyeballs". This may be true. But it is their choice to produce stuff and their choice to limit distribution in the way that they do. If those choices then result in them choosing to try to put a genie back in a bottle and attempt technical and social engineering means to enforce artificial scarcity on the things they produce - well, that was all their choice. They don't "have to" do it.

I happen to agree with limited copyright protections (maybe 10 years, maybe 20 - there are good arguments on either side), and, as a rule, don't violate copyright and actively educate the minors in my household about respecting copyright laws. But that doesn't make me blind to the crazy choices that these distributors make in limiting distribution of content and then expecting people to not be criminals. Lots of people are criminals. Heck just look at all the red-light runners and speeders on the road. Look at all of the shoplifting that goes on. Then take copyright violation (which many people don't even consider to be immoral) and what would you expect to happen when you attempt to artificially limit the avenues by which content can be legally acquired? Yep. Violations. Lots of them. If hiring people to police web sites is the price of the business decisions they've made - well, sorry, but they made their bed. Now they get to sleep in it. And by artificially limiting distribution - here is what I mean summed up pretty well - http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

But it would have been easier to simply post this old link:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

How much more revenue could they secure if they made it easier to purchase? (Relevant).

Exactly. If he's concerned about image quality, then why not offer downloads that are up to his standards at a price that's so good it's easier to pay it and get a guaranteed good DL.

Heck, run their own private (pay for) torrent site and they can avoid some bandwidth costs. Or free official torrents with an advert or two at the begining (which they should get some revenue off or).

There are ways to monetize free viewers. I stream a few shows from the comedy network (Workaholics mainly, since they have the latest episodes) an I don't mind the ad interruptions.

We should also, in a friendly way, urge them to have their content delivery more closely match the spirit of their PR. If they are OK with piracy that's great! Are they still issuing complaints? Fans would LOVE more ways to pay for their content. Are there viable means for them to make it more available? Fans want the series to make a ton of money, so it continues (and we get more tasty battle sequences). How much more revenue could they secure if they made it easier to purchase? (Relevant).

I guess this link is very appropriate for this post: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/literally

Maybe it was the moustaches that were the cause.

/Oblg. http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple

OK, so it's not the exactly the same concept, but close enough. :-)

Obligatory? http://theoatmeal.com/pl/state_web_winter_2012/twinkies

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones They even get the ads on the pirate site right.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones They even get the ads on the pirate site right.

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple

When you refuse to pay for movies, you're casting a vote against fun, big-budget movies that are made for the purpose of getting lots of people to come see them and enjoy them, and instead voting in favor of excruciatingly boring low-budget films that are made primarily so that the director could whine that the cheese-puff-snarfing American public wouldn't know great art if it bit them on their big bloated behind and subsequently didn't even buy enough tickets for the director to pay off the lien he took out on his Honda Civic to get the movie produced.

Firstly, this.

Secondly, I'm casting a vote against not being able to use the media I purchased in the manner I want, on whatever device I want for as long as I want.

I buy DVDs (okay, usually on sale) and rip them, because all of the legal digital versions available suck lame sauce in terms of DRM crap. If I'm feeling too lazy to rip it myself, I have no compunctions about grabbing a torrent.

In conclusion, I would like to refer you to this handy illustrated guide.

Oh, and this one too.

Why do you feel entitled to other people's stuff because they wont license it to you on your terms? Why not refuse to pay AND refuse to watch it, that's a crazy idea right?

To me this sounds a lot like a land owner offering to let you hunt on his land with an exception - only if you do not drive motorized vehicles over it - and then your response being to plow through it with ATVs doing whatever the hell you want without compensation because "he didn't let me do what I want", "it's not stealing", or "it doesn't cost him anything so it should be free".

When you refuse to pay for movies, you're casting a vote against fun, big-budget movies that are made for the purpose of getting lots of people to come see them and enjoy them, and instead voting in favor of excruciatingly boring low-budget films that are made primarily so that the director could whine that the cheese-puff-snarfing American public wouldn't know great art if it bit them on their big bloated behind and subsequently didn't even buy enough tickets for the director to pay off the lien he took out on his Honda Civic to get the movie produced.

Firstly, this.

Secondly, I'm casting a vote against not being able to use the media I purchased in the manner I want, on whatever device I want for as long as I want.

I buy DVDs (okay, usually on sale) and rip them, because all of the legal digital versions available suck lame sauce in terms of DRM crap. If I'm feeling too lazy to rip it myself, I have no compunctions about grabbing a torrent.

In conclusion, I would like to refer you to this handy illustrated guide.

Oh, and this one too.

Users are going to choose the service that best fits their needs. If there were other options out there that offered services similar to gmail, and were widely advertised and known to the public, then email usage would be more distributed. Also, there's the perception that your email address gives others

(And a P.S. for web designers: mega.co.nz is a model of website design efficiency. Easy to read, short and to-the-point, graphics and layout which improve the presentation, and fast loading.)

As if the web designers are the arbiter of what the client (hopefully) pays for. I do what my clients want.

What about HBO content (or similar offerings for that matter)?

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

Oblig XKCD:

http://xkcd.com/526/

tl,dr: it's better to visualize each measurement than to convert into familiar units.

I meet your XKCD and raise you one Oatmeal:
The Oatmeal - Science [theoatmeal.com]

Is it paying for the content that you object to?

No, it's HBO demanding that people pay $1,000 per year just for Game of Thrones that I object to. Instead, I have chosen to do without. It's also the fact that certain decades-old movies and TV series aren't available to the public for any price that I object to (such as Song of the South and Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea).

Obligatory Oatmeal reference: http://theoatmeal.com/pl/senior_year/science

While probably somewhat known among Slashdotters, I think it is worthwhile to remind people of Alan Turing, mathematician, logician, WWII code breaker and father of computer science (as well as being a victim of cruel injustice by the state).

He's unfortunately by far less recognized than people like Steve Jobs (probably because turing machines don't have rounded corners by design). It's a bit like the story of Tesla vs. Edison. One was a genius scientist, the other one an asshat making lots of money, without contributing nearly as much to the field, but still being more famous and celebrated.

Umm. AKA is short for "also known as." This should help you.

In no particular order:

The Oatmeal http://theoatmeal.com/comics
Schlock Mercenary http://www.schlockmercenary.com/
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal http://www.smbc-comics.com/
Girl Genius http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php

Reminded me of a comic by the oatmeal: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/design_hell

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/angler Why did this article remind me of this, I have no idea...

And how should one compensate HBO for Game of Thrones without compensating Disney for ESPN, an unwanted service?

Since generally ESPN is included with the first paid tier, which you usually have to get before getting HBO, you can't. Of course Disney isn't the only one being compensated. The other option is to talk to your Cable operator, or HBO directly.
What you don't do, is take it for free. "Well I didn't feel like paying for the full package, as there was stuff I didn't want... So I just took it for free instead.'
I only wanted to watch one of the 4 bands playing. I didn't want the other bands to get my money. So I snuck in.
No, you don't get to choose how they run their business. If you don't like it, take your business elsewhere. That doesn't mean taking the product without permission, it means spending your money on a different product.

When they speak of digital rights they mean the ability to get any piece of software without compensating the person/people who created the software, and who are not giving that software away.

Sometimes the author is neither giving the work away nor selling it. For example, how should one obtain a copy of the film Song of the South, the TV series Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea, or the English version of the video game Mother (the Famicom game before Earthbound) while fairly compensating the author? And how should one compensate HBO for Game of Thrones without compensating Disney for ESPN, an unwanted service?

Americans have a similar situation.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

Americans are not the only ones. I generally try to pay for stuff that I feel is worth watching, listening to or running. Pirating takes too long, the quality is often crap, and pirated stuff is riddled with malware. That cartoon is basically the story of what happened when I tried to pay for the privilege of watching Season 2, except most of these services that cartoon character tried are "... unfortunately unable to finalize the transaction due to geographical restrictions" even when the stuff I want is available. The only other ways to get to watch GoT Season 2 was a 3 month minimum package subscription featuring a legion of channels that I never watch or.... put up with the 12 hour delay and pirate GoT after exhausting all legal alternatives except overpriced cable subscriptions.

Americans have a similar situation.
http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

OBtheoatmeal

That takes this addiction to a new extreme...

perhaps we need to buy Stephen Hawking[s] a brewery

Hmm... tempting. What would Matt Inman do?

What exactly is the definition of an "atheist zealot"?

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/extremists