No, I don't want free music, I want quality music for a reasonable price. Like I said, $10,000 to fill a nano, and why shouldn't I get a new iPod regularly, they come out with new and better features. You are an idiot and that is why you will only reply as an anonomous coward!
Okay, maybe every year is an exageration, but what happened to the idea that if I own it I can copy it to protect it. I actually have had several friends go through 2-3 iPods in a year for various reasons (ie dropping in a pool, car accidents, etc) and the limits they set have screwed them.
I think the music industry hurts itself. When CD's were release they promised that they would cost around $5 in a few years as the costs of R&D were covered and mass production set in. The only CD's that sell for $5 are either crappy or used. They want to maintain their monopoly status and are unwilling to change. Those are the reasons I no longer buy CD's.
As for DRM protected content for $1 a song, the protection limits my ability to move to a new ipod every year without loosing music. The price point is too high, who has $10,000 to shell out on music to fill their iPod nano?
It's not file share that is there problem, they are their own problem. Their business model is horrible and I can't wait until they collapse over the next 10-15 years. Once the music conglomerates go broke or more artists move to independent labels that don't overcharge I will start buying CD's again. They claim its in the advertising and number of artists that they have to sign that cause prices to remain high. If they quite charging such a premium and actually went to a few shows put on my burgeoning artists they could cut those "costs" in 1/4.
I think the best idea is to take a business approach to the problem. As a techie turned MBA that attends a land grand university I see how larger institutions fund education. My B-School has a brand new building with LCD screens in some of our own private meeting rooms. Our computer lab has dual 21" flat screens on about 40 computers even though it is all but required for us to have laptops. This was all funded by private donations. Most of the money came from alumni, but a fair ammount came from campanies with an interest in hiring our students. The same is true for high schools. Schools can find money through several sources, taxes, donations, and fund raisers. Try an hit up local tech companies. Don't just walk in asking for cash without a solid plan. Business people love plans and being a high school student with a well thought out plan would give you a huge boost in their eyes. Even small tech shops may be willing to donate time/resources to help your cause if you think it through. Look at you plan and approach sponsors/donors that would get something out of it. If they see some benifit (ie. a better workforce, potential customers, or possilbe advertising opportunities) they will at least listen to your ideas. Business people usually have money to invest if they see value in the idea so think about it from that perspective.
The argument over athletics vs. academics is futile and a waste of time. As many have stated they are based on seprate budgets and athletics (especially football and basket ball) make money and recieve a fair ammount of cash from sponsors and donations.
I went to a private boarding school for high school and actually took a step backwards in technology oriented education from the public school I went to beforhand (I took AP CS as a freshman and my second high school, the private one, had no computer lab).
I taught myself (now I am dating myself a bit) by first being a BBS'er then a BBS sysadmin while in junior high (Then most of my BBS buddies were in high school or college). Then I moved on to running Linux and Windows NT in the early to mid 90's when they became available to me. (I actually didn't have any computer for the last couple of years of high school.) I also had a bit of luck by landing a summer job with the DOD as a junior systems analyst as I finished high school and started college. The best education I ever had was just being turned loose on a network and learning on my own how to secure it and configure the equipment. I wouldn't recommend too much learning from a class room unless you really have a hard time. With the Internet it is much easier today to find answers than it was in the late 80's and early 90's when I was limited in the tech community to the people I communicated with through the local BBS network. Everyone learns in their own way so my tactics may not be suited to you, but start your self education by setting goals. Once goals are set you should be able to determine the best course of action to achieve them. Without goals it is very difficult to get very far.
For the budget just browse through the thousands of bills passed each session, then read through the thousands of pages in the annual budget published every year. This databse sounds like a waste of time. All it will give people is a list of payments to particular companies which won't mean too much. 1/3 goes to Boeing, Lockheed, Northrup Grumman, and United Technologies. 1/3 goes to employees. The other 1/3 is for useless computer systems that they can't get to work, the consultants that tell administrators what to buy, and to a variety of contractors that help build things (probably the best spent money in the government). Now of course they won't release any detail on the first 1/3 since its all classified. The employee pay checks are already public record. The wastes on computer systems are brought up by 20/20, 60 minutes, and Dateline every time the projects fall behind schedule or don't work.
I am interested in better accountability, but it starts with the congress that just keeps passing pork. I wonder how many riders were attached to the bill authorizing this database, it probably included projects like a tropical rainforst in Nome Alaska, a desert research station in Alabama, and a study to figure out how many government employees it takes to screw in a light bulb.
I thought it was also GW's fault that the dinasaurs went extinct... and Al Gore invented the Internet.
Although I think polution is horrible due to smoggy skies, poor views, and a large number of other reasons, I am personally much more worried about the huge methane deposits sitting on the sea floors. Methane is by far the worst greenhouse gas, yet I don't hear too many people (with the exception of extreemists like PETA) saying we should stop raising cattle, pigs, chickens, or any other source of nutrition. They don't cite previous massive releases of methane. A landslide, major earthquake, or meteor slamming into the sea floor will cause a release. I don't remember where exactly these deposits are located although on is in the Atlantic and sits near a major fault (the Mid-Atlantic Ridge). That deposit alone will contribute more of a greenhouse effect than all of the greenhouse gasses emmitted by mankind since our evolution in a matter of minutes, not decades.
Environmental extreemists are like all extreemists: they focus on a single issue and take it out of the context of every day human survival. The argument earlier taking an economic approac (cost/benefit analysis) is probably the most sane. If we halted the purchases of fossil fuels from the middle east their econonmies would colapse, and millions would die due to war and famine. Everything that anything does will have unintended consequences (think of the Butterfly Effect, For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, etc.)
"And this is where the point flies right over your head. The Americans could have made Ross Perot president if they wanted to. Nazi storm troopers didn't drag Perot off in handcuffs. No evil corporate death squads showed up to prevent people from voting. Americans just didn't vote for him. They could have and they didn't. End of story."
I agree 100%. American's often have the problem of following the masses. Not that I thought that Perot was the best candidate for the job, he was probably the best candidate available at the time just because he hadn't been part of the political machine. His experience and reputation as a cut-throat business man was contrary to the status quo and most Americans were not really ready for that. The major parties used that against him and Perot had no clue how to combat that type of machine.
America doesn't need a revolution, only candidates with charisma and a lack of extreemist views in order to be a viable candidate. I agree with you that the Grren's and the Libratarians tend to have too far left or right a message. The green's would have us all believe that corporations are inherantly evil (which as an entity with no true values this isn't really possible, some of the directors and CEO's are evil, but the corporation itself can't be as it has no heart, soul, or brain) and the libratarians would argue that we should eliminate al social programs and take the government out of all roles other than foreign policy. Although I probably lean toward the Libratarin point of view every since I watch a family use food stamps to buy food in front of me, then went out to my 8 year olf wreck of a Honda civic to watch them hop into a brand new decked out Toyota 4-Runner that had to have cost $45,000-$50,000. (This is just my opinion on social welfare programs and their poor management... and you are all entitled to your own... don't try and change mine.)
If you don't like the current candidates or system you have more of an ability to change it today than ever before. With the Internet it is easy to voice your opinion. Write to the editorials... it isn't that hard to get published. Go and start your own voter registration drive. Use your ability to communicate and spread the message you want heard. If you just sit back and complain about the system it is your own fault. I can't stand it when people rant about how messed up the system is yet they have no plan on how to solve it. It sounds like the same thing that everyone complains about politicians doing. You are no better than the system if you don't make your voice heard.
Slashdot is a great place to start but your audience is very limited. Write to the Wall Street Journal, the Ney York Times, The Washington Post, or any other publication with a national audience, not the geek audience that is here. Try running for a local office, the local government has a great deal of power in this country, it just doesn't make headlines. A majority of your taxes go to the local government anyway, even if you don't realize it (Schools, roads, and local services comprise much more of the tax revenue than defense or national programs.) Don't complain, try to make your own impact rather than complaining about what everyone else does1!!!
I think you have an unfounded fear of the government. I don't like the government interfering in my life, like most of us. What I fear more is someone with a bomb. I, being a libratarian, believe that the government should provide one primary function: protection from those who wish to do harm. In order to protect against terrorism the government must be right 100% of the time. In order to accomplish that task I feel that they should do whatever it takes. When our enimies don't play by the rules, use the security software and hardware that the readers here develop (for peacefull purposes), have no problem killing innocent people, and try and raise funds from extremists in our own country, the government must have the ability to snoop on them. The only people that should be concerned are those who are performing illegal activities such as financing terrorists, trafficing drugs, or commiting international fraud. The program only allows international calls to be monitored that involve people on the CIA's terrorist watch list. This is not limiting my freedom, and if it limiting your freedom it really means that you are in violation of the law. This program has been around since the 1970's and has always had limited use. Actually Slick Williy (known as Bill Clinton) used this program more than any other President before him. Voting the democratic party in will not change this program, nor will putting in any viable candidate that has any concern for the survival of our county.
As someone who lived in Riyadh and worked at OPM-SANG (an American military mission that trains the Saudi Arabian National Guard) when it was attacked by terrorists killing 6 Americans, 2 Phillipino's and an unreported number of locals eating and shopping in the neighboring shopping areas, I think I have a much better perspective on what terrorists are capable of. If you have actually been through a terrorist attack (worrying about your own personal saftey as well as your loved ones) you have grounds to stand on, otherwise try it out. Go work abroad in a country like Iraq and put things in perspective. Would you rather be fighting for your life, or worry about the CIA tracking your occasional phone call to a terrorist... I choose the CIA any day.
Tying the hands of our protectors (Inteligence, the Military, the Police, etc.) is not the way to make the country better, it only leads to disaterous consequences.
Dangerous People/Organizations
1) ACLU - Supposedly standing for civil rights while impeding my freedom to say a prayer in school if I so choose because someone might be offended.
2) UN - Supposedly meant to prevent wars and settle disputes, but without any action they actually encourage countries like Iran and North Korea to develop WMD.
3) Nancy Piloski - This congreswoman actualy wants to put Bush on trial for using the same information that a vast majority of congess used support the Iraq war. She also wants to try him for using an inteligence program that is legal, was authorized by congress decades ago, and has been used by both politcal parties for years.
4) People like you - I am positive that if you had it your way and underwent a terrorist attack that could have been prevented by the use of a wiretap you would want to sue the government over their incompentce. You are entitled to your own opinion, but you really should think about the bigger picture. The NSA program is not new, hasn't impacted any law abiding American in a negative way, and has helped lead to the capture and/or death of hundreds of active terrorists that constantly chant death to America.
Slashdot Mirror
No, I don't want free music, I want quality music for a reasonable price. Like I said, $10,000 to fill a nano, and why shouldn't I get a new iPod regularly, they come out with new and better features. You are an idiot and that is why you will only reply as an anonomous coward! Okay, maybe every year is an exageration, but what happened to the idea that if I own it I can copy it to protect it. I actually have had several friends go through 2-3 iPods in a year for various reasons (ie dropping in a pool, car accidents, etc) and the limits they set have screwed them.
I think the music industry hurts itself. When CD's were release they promised that they would cost around $5 in a few years as the costs of R&D were covered and mass production set in. The only CD's that sell for $5 are either crappy or used. They want to maintain their monopoly status and are unwilling to change. Those are the reasons I no longer buy CD's.
As for DRM protected content for $1 a song, the protection limits my ability to move to a new ipod every year without loosing music. The price point is too high, who has $10,000 to shell out on music to fill their iPod nano?
It's not file share that is there problem, they are their own problem. Their business model is horrible and I can't wait until they collapse over the next 10-15 years. Once the music conglomerates go broke or more artists move to independent labels that don't overcharge I will start buying CD's again. They claim its in the advertising and number of artists that they have to sign that cause prices to remain high. If they quite charging such a premium and actually went to a few shows put on my burgeoning artists they could cut those "costs" in 1/4.
I think the best idea is to take a business approach to the problem. As a techie turned MBA that attends a land grand university I see how larger institutions fund education. My B-School has a brand new building with LCD screens in some of our own private meeting rooms. Our computer lab has dual 21" flat screens on about 40 computers even though it is all but required for us to have laptops. This was all funded by private donations. Most of the money came from alumni, but a fair ammount came from campanies with an interest in hiring our students. The same is true for high schools. Schools can find money through several sources, taxes, donations, and fund raisers. Try an hit up local tech companies. Don't just walk in asking for cash without a solid plan. Business people love plans and being a high school student with a well thought out plan would give you a huge boost in their eyes. Even small tech shops may be willing to donate time/resources to help your cause if you think it through. Look at you plan and approach sponsors/donors that would get something out of it. If they see some benifit (ie. a better workforce, potential customers, or possilbe advertising opportunities) they will at least listen to your ideas. Business people usually have money to invest if they see value in the idea so think about it from that perspective.
The argument over athletics vs. academics is futile and a waste of time. As many have stated they are based on seprate budgets and athletics (especially football and basket ball) make money and recieve a fair ammount of cash from sponsors and donations.
I went to a private boarding school for high school and actually took a step backwards in technology oriented education from the public school I went to beforhand (I took AP CS as a freshman and my second high school, the private one, had no computer lab).
I taught myself (now I am dating myself a bit) by first being a BBS'er then a BBS sysadmin while in junior high (Then most of my BBS buddies were in high school or college). Then I moved on to running Linux and Windows NT in the early to mid 90's when they became available to me. (I actually didn't have any computer for the last couple of years of high school.) I also had a bit of luck by landing a summer job with the DOD as a junior systems analyst as I finished high school and started college. The best education I ever had was just being turned loose on a network and learning on my own how to secure it and configure the equipment. I wouldn't recommend too much learning from a class room unless you really have a hard time. With the Internet it is much easier today to find answers than it was in the late 80's and early 90's when I was limited in the tech community to the people I communicated with through the local BBS network. Everyone learns in their own way so my tactics may not be suited to you, but start your self education by setting goals. Once goals are set you should be able to determine the best course of action to achieve them. Without goals it is very difficult to get very far.
The federal budget has been online for a long time.
http://www.gpoaccess.gov/legislative.html
For the budget just browse through the thousands of bills passed each session, then read through the thousands of pages in the annual budget published every year. This databse sounds like a waste of time. All it will give people is a list of payments to particular companies which won't mean too much. 1/3 goes to Boeing, Lockheed, Northrup Grumman, and United Technologies. 1/3 goes to employees. The other 1/3 is for useless computer systems that they can't get to work, the consultants that tell administrators what to buy, and to a variety of contractors that help build things (probably the best spent money in the government). Now of course they won't release any detail on the first 1/3 since its all classified. The employee pay checks are already public record. The wastes on computer systems are brought up by 20/20, 60 minutes, and Dateline every time the projects fall behind schedule or don't work.
I am interested in better accountability, but it starts with the congress that just keeps passing pork. I wonder how many riders were attached to the bill authorizing this database, it probably included projects like a tropical rainforst in Nome Alaska, a desert research station in Alabama, and a study to figure out how many government employees it takes to screw in a light bulb.
I thought it was also GW's fault that the dinasaurs went extinct... and Al Gore invented the Internet.
Although I think polution is horrible due to smoggy skies, poor views, and a large number of other reasons, I am personally much more worried about the huge methane deposits sitting on the sea floors. Methane is by far the worst greenhouse gas, yet I don't hear too many people (with the exception of extreemists like PETA) saying we should stop raising cattle, pigs, chickens, or any other source of nutrition. They don't cite previous massive releases of methane. A landslide, major earthquake, or meteor slamming into the sea floor will cause a release. I don't remember where exactly these deposits are located although on is in the Atlantic and sits near a major fault (the Mid-Atlantic Ridge). That deposit alone will contribute more of a greenhouse effect than all of the greenhouse gasses emmitted by mankind since our evolution in a matter of minutes, not decades.
Environmental extreemists are like all extreemists: they focus on a single issue and take it out of the context of every day human survival. The argument earlier taking an economic approac (cost/benefit analysis) is probably the most sane. If we halted the purchases of fossil fuels from the middle east their econonmies would colapse, and millions would die due to war and famine. Everything that anything does will have unintended consequences (think of the Butterfly Effect, For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, etc.)
"And this is where the point flies right over your head. The Americans could have made Ross Perot president if they wanted to. Nazi storm troopers didn't drag Perot off in handcuffs. No evil corporate death squads showed up to prevent people from voting. Americans just didn't vote for him. They could have and they didn't. End of story."
I agree 100%. American's often have the problem of following the masses. Not that I thought that Perot was the best candidate for the job, he was probably the best candidate available at the time just because he hadn't been part of the political machine. His experience and reputation as a cut-throat business man was contrary to the status quo and most Americans were not really ready for that. The major parties used that against him and Perot had no clue how to combat that type of machine.
America doesn't need a revolution, only candidates with charisma and a lack of extreemist views in order to be a viable candidate. I agree with you that the Grren's and the Libratarians tend to have too far left or right a message. The green's would have us all believe that corporations are inherantly evil (which as an entity with no true values this isn't really possible, some of the directors and CEO's are evil, but the corporation itself can't be as it has no heart, soul, or brain) and the libratarians would argue that we should eliminate al social programs and take the government out of all roles other than foreign policy. Although I probably lean toward the Libratarin point of view every since I watch a family use food stamps to buy food in front of me, then went out to my 8 year olf wreck of a Honda civic to watch them hop into a brand new decked out Toyota 4-Runner that had to have cost $45,000-$50,000. (This is just my opinion on social welfare programs and their poor management... and you are all entitled to your own... don't try and change mine.)
If you don't like the current candidates or system you have more of an ability to change it today than ever before. With the Internet it is easy to voice your opinion. Write to the editorials... it isn't that hard to get published. Go and start your own voter registration drive. Use your ability to communicate and spread the message you want heard. If you just sit back and complain about the system it is your own fault. I can't stand it when people rant about how messed up the system is yet they have no plan on how to solve it. It sounds like the same thing that everyone complains about politicians doing. You are no better than the system if you don't make your voice heard.
Slashdot is a great place to start but your audience is very limited. Write to the Wall Street Journal, the Ney York Times, The Washington Post, or any other publication with a national audience, not the geek audience that is here. Try running for a local office, the local government has a great deal of power in this country, it just doesn't make headlines. A majority of your taxes go to the local government anyway, even if you don't realize it (Schools, roads, and local services comprise much more of the tax revenue than defense or national programs.) Don't complain, try to make your own impact rather than complaining about what everyone else does1!!!
I think you have an unfounded fear of the government. I don't like the government interfering in my life, like most of us. What I fear more is someone with a bomb. I, being a libratarian, believe that the government should provide one primary function: protection from those who wish to do harm. In order to protect against terrorism the government must be right 100% of the time. In order to accomplish that task I feel that they should do whatever it takes. When our enimies don't play by the rules, use the security software and hardware that the readers here develop (for peacefull purposes), have no problem killing innocent people, and try and raise funds from extremists in our own country, the government must have the ability to snoop on them. The only people that should be concerned are those who are performing illegal activities such as financing terrorists, trafficing drugs, or commiting international fraud. The program only allows international calls to be monitored that involve people on the CIA's terrorist watch list. This is not limiting my freedom, and if it limiting your freedom it really means that you are in violation of the law. This program has been around since the 1970's and has always had limited use. Actually Slick Williy (known as Bill Clinton) used this program more than any other President before him. Voting the democratic party in will not change this program, nor will putting in any viable candidate that has any concern for the survival of our county. As someone who lived in Riyadh and worked at OPM-SANG (an American military mission that trains the Saudi Arabian National Guard) when it was attacked by terrorists killing 6 Americans, 2 Phillipino's and an unreported number of locals eating and shopping in the neighboring shopping areas, I think I have a much better perspective on what terrorists are capable of. If you have actually been through a terrorist attack (worrying about your own personal saftey as well as your loved ones) you have grounds to stand on, otherwise try it out. Go work abroad in a country like Iraq and put things in perspective. Would you rather be fighting for your life, or worry about the CIA tracking your occasional phone call to a terrorist... I choose the CIA any day. Tying the hands of our protectors (Inteligence, the Military, the Police, etc.) is not the way to make the country better, it only leads to disaterous consequences. Dangerous People/Organizations 1) ACLU - Supposedly standing for civil rights while impeding my freedom to say a prayer in school if I so choose because someone might be offended. 2) UN - Supposedly meant to prevent wars and settle disputes, but without any action they actually encourage countries like Iran and North Korea to develop WMD. 3) Nancy Piloski - This congreswoman actualy wants to put Bush on trial for using the same information that a vast majority of congess used support the Iraq war. She also wants to try him for using an inteligence program that is legal, was authorized by congress decades ago, and has been used by both politcal parties for years. 4) People like you - I am positive that if you had it your way and underwent a terrorist attack that could have been prevented by the use of a wiretap you would want to sue the government over their incompentce. You are entitled to your own opinion, but you really should think about the bigger picture. The NSA program is not new, hasn't impacted any law abiding American in a negative way, and has helped lead to the capture and/or death of hundreds of active terrorists that constantly chant death to America.