I didn't think it was funny but there was a moment I thought was mildly amusing: the pizza boy looking like 70s Gates. Everything else was just kind of 'meh...'
FWIW my prediction for the future ads: a Ricky Gervais guest spot. That is when they will have truly jumped the shark.
Think of what we could have included: the music that influenced generations, films that invoke anger, sadness, joy, books that literally changed the way that the world thought...
Can't do music or films, because part of the intent is that the disc be self-contained - no players, viewers, or technology required. Which whittles it down to books and hey - it's the freakin' Bible! It's got all of those and a whole lot more. It IS the Rosetta Stone for most of the great Western works and our history. It's the literary work that is also an adjective, by sheer force of its ubiquity. It's been used, abused, translated, interpreted, distilled, reworked and spun off countless times and ways. Including translation into Klingon, picture books, and God's Little Princess Devotional Bible. It's at the cultural core of the wealthiest, most powerful nation on the planet today. I can't think of a better choice for Rosetta Stone material.
And it's not because the other religions have more or fewer followers, it's not because they're less important spiritually - it's because the Bible, by truth or by falsehood has touched so much including the histories and contexts of the other religions. I think that at the end of it all, the Bible suffuses the most of the other texts and events that may need to be translated and understood.
I'd want to see the other works preserved, surely - but a Rosetta Stone is to be a key in translating and understanding whatever works survive history. Wars will not have been fought over Harry Potter... however, keep a vigilant watch over the fuckers waving the mouse banner. I don't trust them beady eyed varmints.
That would once have been the iGesture, by FingerWorks. Apparently they were picked up by Apple, and their tech is inside the iPhone now - and possibly, just possibly, coming along in the form of an iTablet as well. Rumours, patents and such keep bubbling up but I've never seen anything official on their old site or Apple's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerworks
Caveat: There's a lot that I don't know well, but I'm going to spout off about some of it anyway.
Have we really entered an age where the number of names on a petition are used as some kind of measure?
Of course a petition is "some kind of measure" - and that's hardly new. At the very least, it's a list of people who DIDN'T tell the petition writer to f*** off. It would be shocking if petitions had become some kind of final arbitrating value, or were given equal credence as polls, or letter writing campaigns, or the ultimate poll - voting.
Obviously petitions can't be given any kind of absolute authority, but still they indicate that there's more than one crazy with a vote out there that might hate you. That's worth considering, if you're in politics. And a Facebook group doesn't end with the petition - there are 90,000 communicating to each other, receiving updates, and already connected in case someone wants to mobilize on the issue. It's certain that most of them won't - but it's also certain that many of them will.
You should see the look on peoples faces when I tell them that the Bell Canada is promoting a new feature on their PVR which would be illegal under the new law. Or that the proposed law is such that the record labels will have the teeth to decide which CDs they can copy to their MP3s. Mostly, all I need to say is "like the American DMCA, and maybe worse", and the light goes on. On every petition are names of people who will work damn hard to sway votes when the time comes... a large petition or Facebook group is something an intelligent politician must consider. It is a measure of collective will in the voting populace.
And unlike the "One Million Potato Lovers Can't Be Wrong" groups, this one hasn't just popped up and filled right away - it's been growing steadily over weeks, which hints to me and may suggest to a politico that people are considering the issues and getting on board. Those people might have decided to vote based on the issue. It's not final, it's not quantifiable, but it's also not insignificant.
Specifically to the significance of this petition/group - there's a Canadian federal election coming (not yet announced, but imminent). It's going to be nasty. They're going to be measuring and gauging the collective sensibility by every marker they can get their hands on.
Thanks for making the point for me. I've got a stack of games for the 360 and the Wii, and right now the most Adult/Crass game I own is No More Heroes, and the grisliest is Resident Evil 4. The cutest are Viva Pinata and Overlord. Admittedly, you play an evil master of demons in Overlord and that must count as "Mature", but c'mon - those little fuggers are adorable.
As one commenter under TFA wrote:
The Wii is no more 'family oriented' than a dvd player or a stereo. Unless of course putting Die Hard on my dvd player 'spoils' it.
#1 has been enough of an issue vendors have dealt with it, and it's not too big a deal, anymore. In my own view, of course.
EA was set to release Mass Effect and Spore to validate and re-check online, and the outcry was loud enough that they backed off to a reasonable point. Gamers will accept Internet activation, if they don't need to be always on to play. But the epsiode also showed that diligence is still due, and although I'm comfortable with online activation I'm not oblivious to the flaws.
Steam lets you play offline, and they know that it's important for them that you can:
Offline Mode allows you to play games through Steam without reconnecting to the Steam Network every time you wish to play - this is particularly useful if you do not plan on playing over the internet and would prefer not to download new updates for your single-player games.
You need to activate them and set them up, of course. Some of the things I like about
Steam and its peers are that the games are cheaper, access is quick and easy (including impulse buys that can turn a demo into a purchase lickety-split), and a larger back catalogue which includes and further discounts that you can't find in retail. I used to torrent full games and buy (or delete), but thanks in large part to such services I don't feel the impulse anymore and it feels like a huge waste of time.
As for #2, that information is already out there - and more, besides. I bank, I have a job, I have a credit history, I buy things at stores and I collect points. A game adding to the great morass of data about me is immaterial - to me. I recognize that it's a legitimate concern, but hell I have an XBox, a Wii, Air Miles, a VISA... it's all out there in quintuplicate at the least. If a game developer thinks he can turn a few shekels based on whether I rocket a tank or grenade it, I'm indifferent. The recent flight I took to PEI divulged more of my information than any game will deduce.
I generally prefer targetted ads - occasionally, the message is actually useful. The idea of targetted ads almost encourages me to reveal such non-essential information as the year I was born (the Summer of Love), the nature of my plumbing (an outie), and whether or not I expect to retire on dog food (yes, but the good stuff with real meat).
I began by glibly stating that they only have the information you give out, but it's already out there. Good sense is always advisable. For companies that don't have an essential need for my core data (VISA does need to know my credit history, after all), I have specific contact information I use to simplify filtering whatever promo/spam that comes back to me. Your measure of good sense differs from mine.
These are not illegitimate concerns - but they're not mine. They don't even register, in the context of the advantages I get.
Why cant they just stream the whole thing free on the web so we can choose what we want to watch and when?
There's a huge amount of web coverage this time around, although it comes with the usual Zip Code screening/restrictions. I'm going to peek in on the Olympics for the first time in several iterations, just because I'm curious to see how well they pull it off.
But for the life of me, I do NOT understand the value of printed tech reference manuals about computer topics. They invariably become obsolescent within a year anyhow. Mine were all thrown out years ago.
I've got a few. Caveats abound, such as personal preferences, the specific topic, and the skill of the author, but nevertheless...
It's hard to look up what I don't already know about in Google. My search terms are what I do already know about but lack detail... I discover more completely new ideas by reading a book. But then, I'll browse through a dictionary too.
It can be faster to look something up in a book than online, especially to see the connections I might not have immediately gone to in my own mind. It's faster to flip between chapters, for me, than to look up mulitple web pages. Generally, a good reference book is much faster for me than an Internet search.
A dead tree never goes offline, but I do. It's useful to have a reference I don't need to look for, and it's useful to get away from my desk. Getting what I need from a book instead of a website is an opportunity for both. Depending on what I'm working on, I can reinvigorate the process by working with a reference book, paper and pen instead of at the computer. My thought patterns change.
Although they weren't going for realism in The Incredibles, they went to considerable effort to make their stylised characters more realistic. I sought the article that I remembered reading; I found this instead - http://www.writingstudio.co.za/page689.html.
I also spend more money overall. And now, not only has my exposure to artists broadened, but more and more artists are self-publishing and to my good fortune my tastes are eclectic. I haven't bought an artist that the RIAA (or an equivalent) has heard of in years. I buy from the artist's website, or their live shows, or festivals. I'm so much happier with my collection now.
One of the reasons I'm spending more is because I get a lot more for my dollar - self-run artists tend to charge a good chunk less than the major labels, and I'm more likely to buy three $10.00 download collections than one $20.00 CD. It's viable for an artist if they get the word out, because as independents their costs are lower, and so they still pocket more than if they sold through a major label's production line. I burn copies or collections for my friends, and if they like the songs they come to the shows, or buy the downloads and future releases too.
> A metre is a metre (well, a meter at least) but it's the same distance.
Unless you are a spacecraft engineer, and then a meter is the same as a foot !! It's not rocket sci... well, it's not brain surgery.
Automatically inserts HTML signatures into your Gmail messages based on which address you are sending from. Works for Compose Message and Reply/Forward.
You may not like what you know about today's NDP, but Charlie Angus is the real deal and whether or not Layton is using him for effect, you might like what you find out about Angus if you look around a little. I'm not big on today's NDP, but I'm an Angus fan. He's new to politics, and maybe that's why he still comes across as honest. Heck, I liked his band too, back in the day.
In the final tally, it's how much fun I have that really counts.
And so it follows that my time spent on "hobby" activities pays back at a much higher rate than other chores. If I love to work with wood, I'm more likely to build a table than buy one. It may take a ridiculous amount of time by a typical "time = money" equasion, but since I already am achieving my ultimate goal - fun - it's a freebie. (In this circumstance, I balance it against the unfun of my wife wondering when we have a dam* table to eat off of.)
Alternatively, it's not a flawed argument but you don't see from it's perspective. It's a subjective argument, and not flawed for me. If I can save $300.00 by 5 hours of work then I am effectively paying myself $60.00 per hour (or paying someone else $60.00) per hour. 5 hours after begin a task, I am better off by $300 than if I had not done that task.
If it requires me to learn a new skill or if I'm flat out incompetent the scale changes quickly. If it takes me 25 hours to reduce a cost by $300.00, I'm effectively paying myself or another $12.00 an hour.
Even if that service person is working for me for 1 hour at $300/hour, I consider the expense of that by considering how long it takes me to earn that money. It's not that I expect money to magically appear when I perform my own tasks, it's that my time and my money are limited and when I balance my options it's easier to measure everything in terms of one unit.
In the final tally, it's how much fun I have that really counts. My two most precious resource to apply towards fun are my money and my time. If I have infinite money, then I'm going to spend it all to maximize my time. If I have infinite time, I'm not spending my money. Both are finite, and I balance the two when I make spending decisions.
But as they say, mileage varies. I was more likely to disregard the time spent doing something 10 years ago than I am today. I earn better money now, I have a fuller life, and I'm increasingly aware of the finiteness of my time!
Some people might be embarrassed to tell musicians and movie makers that they shouldn't be compensated for the work they do, but in the blue green world of news for nerds, it's considered a noble crusade.
It's gotta be more embarassing to pretend that copyright laws actually help artists make a living.
I can't speak directly for the movie makers, but for a lot of us musicians (and the film-makers I work with) it's a noble crusade, too. Existing business and royalty models based on today's interpretation of copyright fail for musicians. Giving it away is more profitable than selling it, for more artists than not.
The music industry eats its young - the models haven't been broken for years, they've been broken for decades. The only artists served by the "my copyright or wrong" mindset are the mega-stars who are in themselves walking corporations. The savvy artist is learning different rules and making a living.
Slashdot Mirror
I didn't think it was funny but there was a moment I thought was mildly amusing: the pizza boy looking like 70s Gates. Everything else was just kind of 'meh...'
FWIW my prediction for the future ads: a Ricky Gervais guest spot. That is when they will have truly jumped the shark.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9076288729387457440 - Part one of two faux training videos for Microsoft UK employees featuring Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant ...
From a couple of years ago. Sploosh?
Think of what we could have included: the music that influenced generations, films that invoke anger, sadness, joy, books that literally changed the way that the world thought ...
Can't do music or films, because part of the intent is that the disc be self-contained - no players, viewers, or technology required. Which whittles it down to books and hey - it's the freakin' Bible! It's got all of those and a whole lot more. It IS the Rosetta Stone for most of the great Western works and our history. It's the literary work that is also an adjective, by sheer force of its ubiquity. It's been used, abused, translated, interpreted, distilled, reworked and spun off countless times and ways. Including translation into Klingon, picture books, and God's Little Princess Devotional Bible. It's at the cultural core of the wealthiest, most powerful nation on the planet today. I can't think of a better choice for Rosetta Stone material.
And it's not because the other religions have more or fewer followers, it's not because they're less important spiritually - it's because the Bible, by truth or by falsehood has touched so much including the histories and contexts of the other religions. I think that at the end of it all, the Bible suffuses the most of the other texts and events that may need to be translated and understood.
I'd want to see the other works preserved, surely - but a Rosetta Stone is to be a key in translating and understanding whatever works survive history. Wars will not have been fought over Harry Potter ... however, keep a vigilant watch over the fuckers waving the mouse banner. I don't trust them beady eyed varmints.
Slashdot has its moments. Not many of them, but it has them.
So it's just like TV?
Mouse pads should also incorporate multi-touch.
That would once have been the iGesture, by FingerWorks. Apparently they were picked up by Apple, and their tech is inside the iPhone now - and possibly, just possibly, coming along in the form of an iTablet as well. Rumours, patents and such keep bubbling up but I've never seen anything official on their old site or Apple's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerworks
Caveat: There's a lot that I don't know well, but I'm going to spout off about some of it anyway.
Have we really entered an age where the number of names on a petition are used as some kind of measure?
Of course a petition is "some kind of measure" - and that's hardly new. At the very least, it's a list of people who DIDN'T tell the petition writer to f*** off. It would be shocking if petitions had become some kind of final arbitrating value, or were given equal credence as polls, or letter writing campaigns, or the ultimate poll - voting.
Obviously petitions can't be given any kind of absolute authority, but still they indicate that there's more than one crazy with a vote out there that might hate you. That's worth considering, if you're in politics. And a Facebook group doesn't end with the petition - there are 90,000 communicating to each other, receiving updates, and already connected in case someone wants to mobilize on the issue. It's certain that most of them won't - but it's also certain that many of them will.
You should see the look on peoples faces when I tell them that the Bell Canada is promoting a new feature on their PVR which would be illegal under the new law. Or that the proposed law is such that the record labels will have the teeth to decide which CDs they can copy to their MP3s. Mostly, all I need to say is "like the American DMCA, and maybe worse", and the light goes on. On every petition are names of people who will work damn hard to sway votes when the time comes ... a large petition or Facebook group is something an intelligent politician must consider. It is a measure of collective will in the voting populace.
And unlike the "One Million Potato Lovers Can't Be Wrong" groups, this one hasn't just popped up and filled right away - it's been growing steadily over weeks, which hints to me and may suggest to a politico that people are considering the issues and getting on board. Those people might have decided to vote based on the issue. It's not final, it's not quantifiable, but it's also not insignificant.
Specifically to the significance of this petition/group - there's a Canadian federal election coming (not yet announced, but imminent). It's going to be nasty. They're going to be measuring and gauging the collective sensibility by every marker they can get their hands on.
Thanks for making the point for me. I've got a stack of games for the 360 and the Wii, and right now the most Adult/Crass game I own is No More Heroes, and the grisliest is Resident Evil 4. The cutest are Viva Pinata and Overlord. Admittedly, you play an evil master of demons in Overlord and that must count as "Mature", but c'mon - those little fuggers are adorable.
As one commenter under TFA wrote:
The Wii is no more 'family oriented' than a dvd player or a stereo. Unless of course putting Die Hard on my dvd player 'spoils' it.
Why, I'm working diligently right now!
#1 has been enough of an issue vendors have dealt with it, and it's not too big a deal, anymore. In my own view, of course.
EA was set to release Mass Effect and Spore to validate and re-check online, and the outcry was loud enough that they backed off to a reasonable point. Gamers will accept Internet activation, if they don't need to be always on to play. But the epsiode also showed that diligence is still due, and although I'm comfortable with online activation I'm not oblivious to the flaws.
Steam lets you play offline, and they know that it's important for them that you can:
Offline Mode allows you to play games through Steam without reconnecting to the Steam Network every time you wish to play - this is particularly useful if you do not plan on playing over the internet and would prefer not to download new updates for your single-player games.
You need to activate them and set them up, of course. Some of the things I like about Steam and its peers are that the games are cheaper, access is quick and easy (including impulse buys that can turn a demo into a purchase lickety-split), and a larger back catalogue which includes and further discounts that you can't find in retail. I used to torrent full games and buy (or delete), but thanks in large part to such services I don't feel the impulse anymore and it feels like a huge waste of time.
As for #2, that information is already out there - and more, besides. I bank, I have a job, I have a credit history, I buy things at stores and I collect points. A game adding to the great morass of data about me is immaterial - to me. I recognize that it's a legitimate concern, but hell I have an XBox, a Wii, Air Miles, a VISA ... it's all out there in quintuplicate at the least. If a game developer thinks he can turn a few shekels based on whether I rocket a tank or grenade it, I'm indifferent. The recent flight I took to PEI divulged more of my information than any game will deduce.
I generally prefer targetted ads - occasionally, the message is actually useful. The idea of targetted ads almost encourages me to reveal such non-essential information as the year I was born (the Summer of Love), the nature of my plumbing (an outie), and whether or not I expect to retire on dog food (yes, but the good stuff with real meat).
I began by glibly stating that they only have the information you give out, but it's already out there. Good sense is always advisable. For companies that don't have an essential need for my core data (VISA does need to know my credit history, after all), I have specific contact information I use to simplify filtering whatever promo/spam that comes back to me. Your measure of good sense differs from mine.
These are not illegitimate concerns - but they're not mine. They don't even register, in the context of the advantages I get.
Why cant they just stream the whole thing free on the web so we can choose what we want to watch and when?
There's a huge amount of web coverage this time around, although it comes with the usual Zip Code screening/restrictions. I'm going to peek in on the Olympics for the first time in several iterations, just because I'm curious to see how well they pull it off.
But for the life of me, I do NOT understand the value of printed tech reference manuals about computer topics. They invariably become obsolescent within a year anyhow. Mine were all thrown out years ago.
I've got a few. Caveats abound, such as personal preferences, the specific topic, and the skill of the author, but nevertheless...
It's hard to look up what I don't already know about in Google. My search terms are what I do already know about but lack detail ... I discover more completely new ideas by reading a book. But then, I'll browse through a dictionary too.
It can be faster to look something up in a book than online, especially to see the connections I might not have immediately gone to in my own mind. It's faster to flip between chapters, for me, than to look up mulitple web pages. Generally, a good reference book is much faster for me than an Internet search.
A dead tree never goes offline, but I do. It's useful to have a reference I don't need to look for, and it's useful to get away from my desk. Getting what I need from a book instead of a website is an opportunity for both. Depending on what I'm working on, I can reinvigorate the process by working with a reference book, paper and pen instead of at the computer. My thought patterns change.
Although they weren't going for realism in The Incredibles, they went to considerable effort to make their stylised characters more realistic. I sought the article that I remembered reading; I found this instead - http://www.writingstudio.co.za/page689.html.
In Soviet /., a clod of insensitive memes imagine Beowulf Clusters of you!
Cancellation? I think you mean consolation.
If it's a negation for your vexation, it's both!
If I knew that my 21-year-old self was going to be reading this message, I would tell him: "yes, Google is exactly where you want to end up."
That's exactly the point. To those developers who consider 21 "the distant future", Google's junior-developer centric environment is appealing.
But in this case, age 21 is in the past; not "the distant future". Or, from your comment, exactly not the (original) point.
I also spend more money overall. And now, not only has my exposure to artists broadened, but more and more artists are self-publishing and to my good fortune my tastes are eclectic. I haven't bought an artist that the RIAA (or an equivalent) has heard of in years. I buy from the artist's website, or their live shows, or festivals. I'm so much happier with my collection now.
One of the reasons I'm spending more is because I get a lot more for my dollar - self-run artists tend to charge a good chunk less than the major labels, and I'm more likely to buy three $10.00 download collections than one $20.00 CD. It's viable for an artist if they get the word out, because as independents their costs are lower, and so they still pocket more than if they sold through a major label's production line. I burn copies or collections for my friends, and if they like the songs they come to the shows, or buy the downloads and future releases too.
Gmail HTML Signatures
Automatically inserts HTML signatures into your Gmail messages based on which address you are sending from. Works for Compose Message and Reply/Forward.
http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/20887
You may not like what you know about today's NDP, but Charlie Angus is the real deal and whether or not Layton is using him for effect, you might like what you find out about Angus if you look around a little. I'm not big on today's NDP, but I'm an Angus fan. He's new to politics, and maybe that's why he still comes across as honest. Heck, I liked his band too, back in the day.
Relevant press releases and Wiki:
http://www.charlieangus.net/newsitem.php?id=318http://www.ndp.ca/page/6326
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Angus
I haven't taken that seminar yet. Ask me again last week.
And so it follows that my time spent on "hobby" activities pays back at a much higher rate than other chores. If I love to work with wood, I'm more likely to build a table than buy one. It may take a ridiculous amount of time by a typical "time = money" equasion, but since I already am achieving my ultimate goal - fun - it's a freebie. (In this circumstance, I balance it against the unfun of my wife wondering when we have a dam* table to eat off of.)
Alternatively, it's not a flawed argument but you don't see from it's perspective. It's a subjective argument, and not flawed for me. If I can save $300.00 by 5 hours of work then I am effectively paying myself $60.00 per hour (or paying someone else $60.00) per hour. 5 hours after begin a task, I am better off by $300 than if I had not done that task.
If it requires me to learn a new skill or if I'm flat out incompetent the scale changes quickly. If it takes me 25 hours to reduce a cost by $300.00, I'm effectively paying myself or another $12.00 an hour.
Even if that service person is working for me for 1 hour at $300/hour, I consider the expense of that by considering how long it takes me to earn that money. It's not that I expect money to magically appear when I perform my own tasks, it's that my time and my money are limited and when I balance my options it's easier to measure everything in terms of one unit.
In the final tally, it's how much fun I have that really counts. My two most precious resource to apply towards fun are my money and my time. If I have infinite money, then I'm going to spend it all to maximize my time. If I have infinite time, I'm not spending my money. Both are finite, and I balance the two when I make spending decisions.
But as they say, mileage varies. I was more likely to disregard the time spent doing something 10 years ago than I am today. I earn better money now, I have a fuller life, and I'm increasingly aware of the finiteness of my time!
It's gotta be more embarassing to pretend that copyright laws actually help artists make a living.
I can't speak directly for the movie makers, but for a lot of us musicians (and the film-makers I work with) it's a noble crusade, too. Existing business and royalty models based on today's interpretation of copyright fail for musicians. Giving it away is more profitable than selling it, for more artists than not.
The music industry eats its young - the models haven't been broken for years, they've been broken for decades. The only artists served by the "my copyright or wrong" mindset are the mega-stars who are in themselves walking corporations. The savvy artist is learning different rules and making a living.
corperal?
In other words, they're not coming back.
Not me. I hate that game.