Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Runs Out Of Windows XP Family Licenses
TrAvELAr writes: "'There is a backlog,' says Mark Croft, lead product manager for Windows XP. According to this article on IDG, Microsoft has underestimated it's popularity of the new Windows XP family license. In an effort to slow piracy within single households, Microsoft has introduced the family license which will allow the user to install multiple copies of it's Windows XP operating system at a slightly discounted price of a $10 savings. Croft also states that the savings reflects the cost of Microsoft not having to produce another disc."
temporary nav whilst completing renovations
toys Ceiva Cam (4d) - PuKards - Cat - 1-900
stories Schumin - Goof - UPS - Red - ParentCam - Downtime - Sign - Drop - Geek - Frank - Bit Jugglers
Margin Note 1 Boston Herald article.
My god, not exposing teens to opinions?! Can't we find some law to stop this man?!
Margin Note 2 Cox News Service article.
Speaking of Protecting The Children, fortunately we have a company willing to protect our youth by digitally masking swords in the Princess Bride with laser light instead of steel, thus making it acceptable. I imagine in the scene where Inigo stabs the bad guy, instead of blood coming out of the wound, flowers and Pokemon jump out singing "I love you!! Kid power!!"
Sent by Ryan Bayne
Page 6
Whoo that was just the BESTEST week EVER.
Parodies can suck.
Not the parodies themselves--though God knows enough of them suck--I mean, making them. I just went through a small hullabaloo over my Page 5 update, which was a reminder to myself that people care about the work they produce, and parody can be hurtful. Plus, oy! The fans on both sides! I had to keep beating people back with a stick, you know, like look guys, stop with the YEAH YEAH LET'S GET HER crud, because I am the instigator here, and any talk of backlash is silly, since I'm the backlash-ee. I can't help wondering if she had a similar (but arguably more justifiable) issue, given that the "Welcome to our spammy opt-in mailing list!!!!!" announcements I've been getting are finally trailing off.
Now that the cold front's passing out of that particular teapot, I'm left thinking about parody in general. How much is too much? There's the legal angle, which I pretty much have a handle on--though my biggest stumbling block there is that I run towards perfectionism, and my idea of "minimum required to execute the parody" would be much higher than a court's view of the same. Part of my problem with the McYuks thing was that I was using her original art as clipart, and to me, I think you need that to make an effective parody; but I conceeded that point and redrew them myself, and it still works. It's not as immediate-funny as I'd like, but it puts me in a much more comfortable legal area.
Of course if you listened to popular uninformed opinion, I was never out of legal in the first place. Put me in the awkward position of having to repeatedly explain to people that what I was doing might not necessarily be kosher. You get kind of tired of hearing DUDE PARODY IS PROTECTED BY LAW (it isn't) AND MAD MAGAZINE DOES IT ALL THE TIME (with prior permission) SO LIGHTEN UP ALREADY.
Er, yeah, and there's the part I have trouble with, because I don't think "you should lighten up" or "look at all the publicity you're getting" or "you should find it flattering" are valid mitigating factors. I don't like hurting people, but...ah, there's no less stupid way to say this, but I take humor seriously. I tend to spend more time crafting the perfect punchline and less time worrying about who it's punching. Still, even when everything was going to crap and I was getting DUDE CAN'T YOU JUST BE NICE messages and such, I was thinking, wait, this is important. A parody probably has something mean at its core--otherwise, it's just fan art. So I felt like it was in my best interest to keep it up, because I know I'll be in this situation again, and I shouldn't start (continue?) a pattern of backing down just because someone's uncomfortable with something that I think is funny.
Also, I was surprised I didn't get the obvious question: how would you feel if this happened to you? Now, apparently I have an unusual viewpoint on this sort of thing: I don't think "you're a hypocrite" is a valid supporting point in a discussion. (Sure, being a hypocrite is bad, but I don't think "I might've left dirty dishes on the table, but you do it too" puts you in the clear.) So how I would feel about a parody of my work is immaterial to the subject at hand, but it did get me to thinking about it anyway. And it's a tough call, because I haven't really had to deal with it. How would I feel about someone taking my stuff and using it to goof on itself?
So, in the interest of fairness, I'm providing the following Zweblö Parody Kit.
I was going to start this with "Well, this teaches me a lesson about parody," but it's something I knew already, really.
About my comic: I drew Zweblö (formerly Zweckloser Blödsinn) for my college newspaper, from 1992 to 1994, and I maintained a constant inferiority complex throughout, and always needed convincing that it wasn't crap. In fact, one of the comic artists (who was an actual art student and thoroughly blew me away for drawing ability) once got wind I was doing a parody of his comic, so he did one of mine in the same week. I was so upset by it that I couldn't be bothered to see him or even talk about him for weeks. I had (and have) time, personality, and soul invested into it, and it's been pointed out more than once that my characters are essentially different aspects of my personality.
I wish I had a Mr. K set here, but I really wanted to get this update out today, and this drawin' thing is powerful hard, son. Eh, if it really catches on I'll sell expansion sets by mail.
Page 5
As a public SpinnWebe service, I am now providing Humor.
I was trying to get 1-900 back online today when I got entirely distracted by an online comic. Clearly there is a void to fill, here. I've been looking at some online comics recently, and I think there must be an issue with file formats I'm missing. I'll be honest; I don't hang around long enough to read their guestbooks or their Yahoo Groups to get details. I'm blessed with my own legal copy of Photoshop (and that's only because a reader who works for Adobe was kind enough to send it to me); maybe there are pandemic deficiencies with cheap/free graphic software which I know nothing about. Either way, there's a problem I run into frequently: many comics seem to be cut off before the punchline.
Could be that something goes wrong with the upload? Maybe there's some required plug-in I'm missing? Whatever the deal is, it occurred to me: here I am with a top-notch graphics program and a desire to help struggling comics artists, so why not do something about it?
And that I did. I picked a comic--in this case, McYukkies--and added the funny. Read the original on the home site, and then the panels I bolted on to the side. They're listed below in ascending order of how much they made me laugh.
Original Now with Humor(TM) By
21 21+ me
35 35+ me
33 33+ agent orange
38 38+ me
Thanks to Chris for co-developing the idea, and agto and Mach for their contributions. Mah posse gots mah back, yo.
if he is so inclined, the gentle reader may click here to peruse pages one through four which
previously appeared in this space.
hook line and sinker good troll/ +2 use of historical value +1 readability and +1 for getting a +3 moderation
This must be Thursday, I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Erm, that's not a troll. It might be karmawhoring, but it's not trolling.
If corporations are people, aren't stockholders guilty of slavery?