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I agree that music is even on iTunes still overpriced. It is my feeling that music should be offered for free by default. It costs me NOTHING to turn on the radio - only my time - and I can hear the music for absolute free there.

What maybe would be a good idea is rather than pay for a song pay for a subscription service - you know, $.99 "subscription" to the song which would give you emailed updates on remixes - live versions and such that you could then subsequently download for free.

I think that sounds like a nifty idea.

But at it's core, music should be free ;) - artists should make money through commissions and performances.

Hehe, I must be an engineer eh? 8)

I suppose you are correct in that the computer does not offer an explanation of it's findings. Perhaps you could consider the result of an experiment an explanation in itself, but that's stretching it. Results require explanation: they aren't really explanations themselves.

I guess true science might then be considered one part engineering and one part philosophy - or at least the midpoint between them?
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Music should be free

You still have to build the house to make sure it stands up.

Trial and error are unavoidable.

I think science and trial and error are inseperable.

But I will certainly agree with you and concede that this is not an effecient way of doing science - but I think it is science nonetheless.
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Music should be free

Who do you mean by "them"?
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Music should be free

I don't think we have cicumvented the "survival of the fittest" at all in one bit.

Would not the "fittest" be those who have the largest numbers? Don't you think that some of the "less fit" that we have allowed to survive because of caesarian section births or because of wheelchairs may have lead us to, say, gene therapy or some other advancement which will actually allow all of us to "repair" our genes. Make us all the genetic supermen this model of fitness to which you subscribe alludes?

I think our caring for the less "fit" in the "animalistic" sense is simply a higher level of cultural fitness only humans have yet to achieve.

I would think the development of the nurturing human culture analogous to the evolution of shells, bones and other hard body parts during the cambrian explosion. Those parts don't aid any organ in working better, they don't let the animal see any better. Shells and bones don't even make an animal smarter. But the hard parts offer protection and they offer stability and they offer integrity.
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Music should be free

I think that computers have actually been able to do real science for at least a little while already.
John Koza is a leader in field of genetic and evolutionary computation. Very much his computer's do real science. The computers analize a set of data (observation), they make a series of modifications (hypothesis), they run fitness tests against these modified versions of the data (experiment), then they begin again analizing these results (back to obeservation).

The computer clusters which John Koza has engineered have created high-pass and low-pass filters when given nothing more than a random assortment of electronic components; even while John himself knew nothing of electronics that would enable him to create such a circut himself.

Most impressively is how the computer cluster evolved a new antenna for NASA - when it was completed John was worried that the computer had made some grievious errors because the little antenna looked like a bent paper clip - but it worked!

And that's science if you ask me. Especially the antenna - the results of experiments can, and seeminly do, often go against "common sense" and give answers which are "unintuitive".

Perhaps computers will be much better with the next generation physics we're discovering. Perhaps our little numerical darlings are simply better suited to deal with the abstract, multi-dimensional world of what the universe is starting to appear to be.

(Please pardon my lay and simplified version of the scientific method - but I feel it is a valid interpretation (if overly simplified for minds such as mine ;) )
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Music should be free

"A piece of trickery; a trick.
      1. One that defrauds; a cheat.
      2. One who assumes a false pose; an impostor."

Interestingly I think these are the exact same definitions for "Date" as in an event, and "Date" as in a person.
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Music should be free

Your ideas intrigue me, and I would like to subscribe to your cult's newsletter.
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Music should be free

Boy do I!
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Music should be free

I LOVE astronomy. I think it is simply the most profound thing that we have been able to take the eye and stretch it to points beyond imagination. To look out into the cosmos is so humbling and awe-inspiring. Truly if one science has shown us simple magnificent beauty it is astronomy.

Now having said that I will say that only one thing makes astronomy better - seeing these object in motion! Galaxies and nebula seem so unreal in hubble's photos - it's hard to fully comprehend what exactly they are - what they are really like. But when you view those precious few object we have been able to capture in motion, to me it is exquisite! Somehow, to me, it makes them that much more real, more tangible. And that is truly the dream of the soul - to somehow touch, taste, smell that which is so beautiful :)

I hope these astronomers string together this phenomenal convergence into a movie!

Jupiter's storms in motion
Solar flares

Do you have any other cool astronomical movie links?
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Music should be free

Hmm, we'll need to have a look inside you with this worm. [patient opens his mouth] Guess again.
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Music should be free

Games need to have less rules and more possibilities. This sounds simple to accomplish, but it seeminly is not.

An example: I began playing star wars galaxies when it was first released. It was lauded as having the most expansive character/class system of any mmo to date. I took this to mean that the advancement would be unique.

I began as a gunsmith, and I decided that I wanted to make the finest pistols in the empire - so that's what I spent my time doing; making pistols. I made pistol after pistol, but the pistols weren't getting any better.

I found out that I needed to make rifles and carbines as well if I wanted to advance in level, and that making rifles and carbines would make my pistols better???

I guess that makes sense, but as I climbed in level I realised that there was no way to become the bona-fide pistol expert in the game. Once you got to master level it was just about the materials you used to make your guns. Given identical materials all master gunsmiths would make the same weapons.

To me it always seemed that it would have been cooler that if I spent more time on a particular task that my character become better at that task. That I would be able to make the better item with lesser materials.

I enjoy Second Life for it's realm of possibilities - but it's still not really a pick-it-up-and-play kind of game.

If only there were a combination of the MMO universe and play style married to the sandbox type ideal of a Second Life type game.
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Music should be free - mine is

hmm, good points.

The DVD bootable part of the equation would, I think, be mostly a flashy feature. I would be neat to bring over to a friend's house for example and boot the DVD and plug in the USB drive. You could then show your friend the game without having to install it on his system. But it is undeniable that the long boot time would require you go have dinner while the game loads up :/ - nonetheless, the portability of the whole thing does sound sexy to me.

Ideally the overall solution to the hardware abstraction problem would likely be a combination of a custom gaming Linux and a Java-like gaming language.

The gaming Linux would give the identical OS for the gaming platform and the Java-like language would allow single code to be written for the game on all hardware.

These are huge obstacles - I agree. But the rewards if one were able to create a viable new gaming OS and a simplified game development language would be great for the industry and the consumer I would think.
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Gaming should be free

Compatability is everything isn't it?

You just made me think - wouldn't it be pretty cool if a game company (say blizzard) would release a game that was compatible on all modern systems - but ran linux.

Now hear me out - make the game on a bootable DVD (knoppix based perhaps) and include a USB key/storage device for downloading updates (this key could even add another level of protection as well). Of course allow the option of actually installing this distro so you aren't required to boot from the DVD. Also perhaps for the advanced, assure that any linux distro can be configured with the proper gaming drivers required for your games.

But for the masses who don't want to have to install a whole new OS make the possibility of bootability foremost.

Knoppix can boot pretty fast and the manufacturer could customize it to detect a wide variety of gaming systems (and perhaps download updated drivers). Correct me if I'm wrong - and I may be - but a single boot ROM could boot more than one OS depending upon processor architecture.

This would allow a single DVD to be used across PCs, Macs and new Intel Macs.

The drawback is that this would require a reboot of your system - but many high-end games are the solitary program you want running while you're playing them anyhow - and besides, chat and browsing could still be included on the distro with the game.

It's an idea, yes? And a powerhouse like blizzard could attempt such an audacious experiment.

I mean, the cost of adoption might even-out considering the cost of complying with microsoft. Furthermore this would cover a broad range of users and perhaps simplify development. Well, at least the development of the game itself - the distro would be the pain I'm sure - but once you developed a gaming linux (a ROM bootable one at that) you would have the first new gaming OS to rival Microsofts monopoly.

I think it's extremely lame that Halo 3, for example, will only run on Vista. I mean, the next thing MS will do is release directX updates which only can be installed on Vista.

Oh I wish, I wish
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Music should be free

hehe,

That's a good one!
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Music should be free

sexy

  ;)
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Music should be free

hmm - do you know if SETI saves any recordings of the past signals they intercept? I know it would be an enourmous archive of mostly nothing, so it seems unlikely.

After all, the chances are, of course, that if there is some intelligence out there is using some kind of CDMA that they will stick around for a while thus giving us a chance to create the technology which can demux their "noise". But still, I wonder if any thought has been given to signals that we have recived already, but which we may not have had the sophistication at the time to interpret.

who knows, around our year 1980 some advanced civilization's last multiplexed signals might have been reaching us. Perhaps at that very moment they switched over to a new technology - laser transmission or something.

It would be a sad irony to miss out on that signal just because some alien bueracracy decided it was time to free up a spectrum ;)
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Music should be free

This sounds less like a change in the method of comepetition and more like the end result will be a standardization. I like the idea of standards.

Here in the states, my father is always calling me and saying, "turn the tv to channel 3 quick!" and I'm like what station is channel 3? and he's like "it's channel 3!".

He never seemed to have gotten the idea that different networks operate on different channels depending upon provider and locale.

Of course, I know that channel 3 and 10 and 13 are for some reason very special numbers in the television scheme of things.

I wonder, do you think that some day television channels will be replaced by URLs of some sort?

It's going to be strange when the airwaves are free of broadcast television, and when one day in the garage you run across an old tv, hook it up, prop up the antennas and see that there really is nothing being broadcasted.

I feel sorry already for the extraterrestrial's SETI programs - they only have a small window of less than a century to grab our raw carrier waves.
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Music should be free

You think that's cool? I can actually use my phone line to call people!
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Music should be free

The world cup is only slightly, slightly more destructive.

I think it will be fine.
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Music should be free

hehe, Actually I kind of would :D
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Music should be free

hmm, that is a good point EvanED. That did kind of throw me off a bit at first too.
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Music should be free

is it really that different? looks like everything is in the same spot to me.

the functionality is identical - but I admit, it is kind of like a new pair of shoes. They look awesome! but they are a little stiff until you walk around in them for a bit.
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Music should be free

Ever notice how easy it is to say something bad about anything?

I like this new layout - but it seems that people like to post about what they don't like about something more than what they do. This new layout is clean and modern.

if you don't like it then tell us some specifics on why you don't like it!

I admit, it's different, and it's ok to be scared by things that are different. But as times change so must one if one wishes to survive. You cannot grow without change. Growth is change.

Of course, everyone is entittled to his or her own opinion - this one is mine :]
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Music should be free

Yes you are hallucinating, but also yes they changed the layout.

Personally I think this new layout is nice.

It's clean and more with the times.

Also, I'm pretty sure this new layout now makes slashdot fully web 2.0 compliant ;)
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Music should be free

I had always assumed it was chemical. Interesting.

You've given me an idea - I wonder if there is some way to suspend a substance within the fluid and create these nucleation sites simultaneously throughout the supersaturated medium?

Perhaps some kind of ferrofluid? So you could run a magnetic field over it and cause the nucleation sites to appear which would cause the reaction to happen on a much more instant scale: read, explosive.

Now, if only I had the material, and the knowledge, and the friends at MIT.
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Music should be free

...of course, now I've suddenly become very thirsty.
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Music should be free

that makes sense actually, now that you mention it. Still, it's kind of frustrating when you want to open something up - even if your pretty sure you have no chance of fixing whatever's wrong with the device ;] - I just like to open things.
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Music should be free

A serious question: when has a company's non-standard product significanly benefited the consumer? Or indeed the public at large?

Now, I don't mean standard and in "usual" - I mean standard as in "Serving as or conforming to a standard of measurement or value".

For example, those non-standard screws on some electronic devices. The manufacturer would have you believe that those are there to protect the integrity and quality of the product: but I think they just serve to obfuscate and generate revenue for the manufacturer.

After all, how would it be a bad thing if all MP3 players conformed to standard guidelines for portable devices? How would it be a bad thing if I could build and expand my own MP3 player adding features (like a camera or microphone) and enhancing it's function? How would it be a bad thing if all MP3 players ran a standard software operating system of some sort?

How would that be bad for the consumer?

It would seem to me that perhaps standards mean less choice for the manufacturers and more choice for the consumers. Since the opposite is likely true, I would argue this is must be why standards are so difficult to agree upon.
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Music should be free

You make good points, and they are valid.

I would argue that the innovation of the Wiimote comes from the fact that it is not just simple, but also non-encumbering.

Also, the food example was just the first thing that sprang to mind - I probably wouldn't play a cooking game either, to be honest. But who knows?

The reason the wiimote is unique is because both a steering wheel and the powerglove require effort from the user. I own a steering wheel for my computer, and it's fun. but most of the time all it does is sit in the closet. Why? Because it is big and bulky. I need to latch it down on my desk, or I would need to dedicate some room for it - precious desk real estate and precious time and effort.

the powerglove was cool - but you needed to wear it. It surrounded your hand and arm. You had to "slip into it" to use; it was inconvienient.

The wiimote is essentially a stick, a rock: a ball. You pick it up and you swing it around. This is probably what the very first toys were. The worlds most popular sport requires no more than a single item: a soccer ball.

Playing catch, frisbee, kick the can, snowball fights. Simple is fun. I'm not saying complex isn't fun - playing cards are a testament to complexity. But you don't need shuffle the snow before you play with it.
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Music should be free

That was the word I was looking for! ;D
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Music should be free

My expectations are being raised all the time by announcements. I'm trying very had to keep them in check by playing original NES and SNES titles - just so when the Wii is released it will seem even cooler! Kind of like running around the pool makes it feel warm when you jump back in ;)

Which brings me to the thing I find so tantilizing about this system - the excitement I feel when I think about the Wii is something I haven't felt since I was a young child on christmas morning when my parents suprised us with the NES. I was flabbergasted! I played Mario for hours and watched my siblings play for hours. I never thought I would feel the same again about a video game console - and I haven't yet.

But the excitement around the Wii and hearing how developers simply laugh and laugh while playing it is making me feel like that 12 year old wearing his pajamas until sundown fighting bowser.

I'm so EXCITED :D
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Music should be free

I have to say, that even though the graphics have never been the issue with the Wii/Revolution I am still very happy to see that they appear very much "next gen".

I have to face the fact, that even though I admire gameplay and that "game-play" is really why we "play-games", graphics are darn interesting.

Additionally, the fact that the Wii is going to offer such a unique interface device will, I think, allow us to see "graphics" which will be completely absent on the other consoles. What I mean by this is that because the wiimote offers such a more intimate and intuitive interface with the console's game world that we will be able to interact with it in ways that will have the effect of looking even more "real-life" than a console with simply raw video processing power.

Example: by being able to hold a cooking skillet or wok and flip, shake, swirl and turn the food around in it the resulting imagery on the screen should looks very much and especially FEEL very much more "life like" than by being forced to use a joystick or keypad to move the virtual cookware.

Any additional video processing power should only serve to further enhance this experience. And that's truly what video should be for video games - the enhancement part (like a spice) - not the main course.

Hmm, I'm using a lot of cooking examples - is it lunch time yet?
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Music should be free