"I don't think there is much to be learned that requires a mechanical mind to achieve."
Agreed, but there is one thing to be learned that does: how to build a mechanical mind.
I think that many of those working in AI are trying to create artifical intelligence just to see if it can be done and how far it can be taken.
You have put a horrible thought in my mind.
If we are not careful in training AIs in the way they should go:
1. AI robots eat people! Or maybe they'll just milk our brainwaves for electricity.
2. AI robots eat people-food: they convert plants to ethanol, etc. And they do so with no more respect to the needs of human ecosystems than the average corporation does for the earth at large. We will end up getting human-kibble, at best.
No. Libraries charge for photocopies now, and it can be a quarter a page. Photocopying a chapter from a cheap book, or from a book with long chapters, could get more expensive than buying the book in question.
Sure. All you gamers who want to give Sony a financial hit, buy a PS3 right now, since they're losing money on the consoles. But remember: for maximum effect, you should buy only one game (or Blu-ray) for that PS3. Sony is willing to lose money on machines if they make it back with their content.
People who are buying PS3s for extra Linux machines but are otherwise angry at Sony, shouldn't buy any games at all. There are free Linux games, right?
Well, let's go put the people who did develop the rootkit on trial. Admittedly, the corp. who did that was British, but if America can get bankers extradited under the anti-terror extradition act when all they did was give money to Enron, then it can certainly get execs extradited whose work disabled thousands of computers. (Or has the UK already crushed them?)
Whose fault is it that we can't trust discs that appear to be audio CDs?
Even if there was no such thing as Autorun on Windows, people would've tried to play the rootkitted discs--after all, they were store-bought and had music. The anti-virus programs didn't hunt down the rootkit because it was DRM, and normally you're not allowed to remove DRM without the permission of whoever put the DRM on.
Neither MS nor the user is responsible for the secret rookit installations.
I think it was called "Mr. Smith." It aired in the early-to-mid-'80s, and I saw a few episodes. But it was canceled well before the TV season was over.
Pity. I liked that one.
Hey! I'm interested in some of that '30s through '50s material!
I think I am, anyway. There is this library I know that had the largest selection of old sci-fi I've ever seen. Many of the books it has, I've never seen anywhere else, and I think that at least some of the sub-works are public domain. I mean, most of the books in question are in generic library covers.
There are stories in those books that I liked, that I might want to read again. Let's not let those works disintegrate--please?
Also, the libraries I've gone to do have trashy novels. Some of them have sections for paperbacks, or even "romance" sections. I don't read the romances, but I have read and enjoyed trashy novels from libraries. I would like the trashy novels to remain available if possible.
And maybe the FTC will rake Sony over the coals, too.
Those of you who think Sony needs a criminal trial for installing damaging rootkits? The FTC should be the entity to arrange it.
So? People on the wrong side of copyright lawsuits, inc. the ones Sony files, are likely to pay more than a quarter of their yearly income to the RIAA.
Yes. And to make sure all that content is stored, we will have to require that all copyrights be registered again.
Before the Sonny Bono Copyright Act (IIRC), for a work to be registered and copyrighted, a copy had to be submitted to the Library of Congress. This requirement was lifted when the requirement to register was because everything whatsoever is copyrighted on being written, including the epherema. We don't want to force the Library of Congress to store every shopping list ever written.
So, we reinstate the old 28+28 terms for all persons, human or corporate, with explicit renewal after the first 28. We also require that for any copyright to be valid, the Library of Congress must have a DRM-free copy on archive. The Library of Congress will then be required to preserve everything they have in storage. We will charge for copyright registration and renewal, though not so much that a human being can't afford to register or renew.
Noncommercial works can be released without any copyright at all; if, after being posted in public forums, they then become insanely popular, well, the creator didn't expect it. Commercial works will be registered; whether they are re-registered will depend on if the holder of the copyright wants to bother with it. RIAA members might let go of their older non-hits. MPAA members won't let go of anything because of what happened with It's a Wonderful Life; they have since learned how to spark long-term interest in almost any film they choose. Smaller corps. (and humans) might have no choice but to release some works from copyright if they are prolific; copyright fees can add up.;)
I think that the idea is to minimize the ammo the MPAA and RIAA can use. If they're claiming that all their monetary losses are due to "theft," then their position will hold no water if there isn't any "theft" to speak of. But if it's already known that there is a significant amount of "theft," then they can claim that the known amount is just the tip of an iceberg.
(I use "theft" in quotes because "copyright infringement" is much longer to type.)
Thanks. I like both your opinion and the compliment. 8-)
No, "it's a fine line between clever and stupid" came first. This Is Spinal Tap and its contents were released approx. 1984. Macca's quote is from the song "Fine Line," which came off the album Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard; they were released in 2005.
I found your site, but I was reluctant to open your PDF.
So, for the benefit of the PDF-phobes around here, what sort of globes are you replacing the outdoor incandescent lights with? It doesn't sound like you're just swapping 100W with 40W.
CF? Surely not--those would short out when it rains.
Halogen? Or are you replacing those, too? Are they major savings over normal incandescents? (I really don't know.)
So, what are you using? LED globes? Or what?
And what do you do when you find an incandescent in an outdoor lantern fixture? Those don't seem made for globes...
Hmmm. Mr. Leary challenged a law which made marijuana legal, but made buying or selling it illegal or impractical.
The law was successfully struck down. It was then replaced with a law that, among other things, outlawed marijuana outright.
If the law that Mr. Leary had challenged had never been overturned, the people trying to use medical marijuana would not have as much trouble they do now, since they aren't trafficking it.
Therefore, if we try to overturn the DMCA in court, we had better make sure that Congress doesn't replace it with something stronger. We don't want the law of unintended consequences to strike again.
But if copyright did expire, then it would only be borrowing from the Public Domain until expiration day. It's only outright theft when it doesn't expire in an average human lifetime.
Maybe if you look hard enough in the dollar store, you'll find something to make your case with. They sell dollar DVDs. Most of the cost of a DVD is licensing the content; therefore, dollar DVDs are likely to be public domain.
Alternatively, you could try to remove a public domain film from a DVD that contains both the film and newer material (commentary tracks, documentaries, etc.). Such DVDs tend to carry the copyright date of the newer material, but if an untouched public domain work is there...
Your example work often won't be of great quality. When a film gets remastered, the resulting DVD can get re-copyrighted to the year when the remastering was done, and it often is. DVDs containing only public-domain work will often contain things like snow or strange edits as well.
Music that has been remastered can be re-copyrighted also. Since almost all digital music is either recent or remastered, it'll be a while before you can strip WMADRM or Fairplay off a song.
Strong DRM and short copyrights?
This could get interesting. If the copyrights for everyone were cut down to 28+28 (explicit renewal required), but the anti-circumvention clause of the DMCA remained intact--then in 28 years, many of us will really know what it means to have DRM on public-domain works!
Of course, many corporations, esp. the ones in the MPAA, will renew everything they can. We'll have to wait 56 years for the films. But imagine the fight to unearth thirty-year-old forgotten songs hidden under DRM!
In short, if we're going to have strong DRM, we'll have to issue a few trusted people licenses to break DRM schemes. Locksmiths for DRM...
That's the spirit! 8-)
If I recall correctly, there were at least ten years between when Betamax lost the consumer format war and content-provider support, and when the tapes themselves ceased to be sold. (Since they stopped selling consumer-level players before then, I am not sure.) So, you should have many years of videotaping TV programs ahead of you yet.
There's a brisk trade in record players, too. I considered vinyl dead in the early-to-mid '90s, but I was clearly wrong.
Lasers are not in themselves digital; they are no more discontinuous than any other light source. It's how the info is recorded on CDs and DVDs that make those formats digital. Vinyl records are still analog when they're played through a laser.
Of course, many modern records are digitally mastered. I doubt those would sound analog in any format whatsoever.
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"I don't think there is much to be learned that requires a mechanical mind to achieve."
Agreed, but there is one thing to be learned that does: how to build a mechanical mind.
I think that many of those working in AI are trying to create artifical intelligence just to see if it can be done and how far it can be taken.
You have put a horrible thought in my mind.
If we are not careful in training AIs in the way they should go:
1. AI robots eat people! Or maybe they'll just milk our brainwaves for electricity.
2. AI robots eat people-food: they convert plants to ethanol, etc. And they do so with no more respect to the needs of human ecosystems than the average corporation does for the earth at large. We will end up getting human-kibble, at best.
No. Libraries charge for photocopies now, and it can be a quarter a page. Photocopying a chapter from a cheap book, or from a book with long chapters, could get more expensive than buying the book in question.
Sure. All you gamers who want to give Sony a financial hit, buy a PS3 right now, since they're losing money on the consoles. But remember: for maximum effect, you should buy only one game (or Blu-ray) for that PS3. Sony is willing to lose money on machines if they make it back with their content.
People who are buying PS3s for extra Linux machines but are otherwise angry at Sony, shouldn't buy any games at all. There are free Linux games, right?
Well, let's go put the people who did develop the rootkit on trial. Admittedly, the corp. who did that was British, but if America can get bankers extradited under the anti-terror extradition act when all they did was give money to Enron, then it can certainly get execs extradited whose work disabled thousands of computers. (Or has the UK already crushed them?)
Hate to say this, but I don't think I have a problem with Sony Music/BMG being dismantled.
Whose fault is it that we can't trust discs that appear to be audio CDs?
Even if there was no such thing as Autorun on Windows, people would've tried to play the rootkitted discs--after all, they were store-bought and had music. The anti-virus programs didn't hunt down the rootkit because it was DRM, and normally you're not allowed to remove DRM without the permission of whoever put the DRM on.
Neither MS nor the user is responsible for the secret rookit installations.
I think it was called "Mr. Smith." It aired in the early-to-mid-'80s, and I saw a few episodes. But it was canceled well before the TV season was over.
Pity. I liked that one.
Hey! I'm interested in some of that '30s through '50s material!
I think I am, anyway. There is this library I know that had the largest selection of old sci-fi I've ever seen. Many of the books it has, I've never seen anywhere else, and I think that at least some of the sub-works are public domain. I mean, most of the books in question are in generic library covers.
There are stories in those books that I liked, that I might want to read again. Let's not let those works disintegrate--please?
Also, the libraries I've gone to do have trashy novels. Some of them have sections for paperbacks, or even "romance" sections. I don't read the romances, but I have read and enjoyed trashy novels from libraries. I would like the trashy novels to remain available if possible.
And maybe the FTC will rake Sony over the coals, too.
Those of you who think Sony needs a criminal trial for installing damaging rootkits? The FTC should be the entity to arrange it.
So? People on the wrong side of copyright lawsuits, inc. the ones Sony files, are likely to pay more than a quarter of their yearly income to the RIAA.
It's not the photographers who are having problems because of digital imaging. It's the makers of camera film.
Yes. And to make sure all that content is stored, we will have to require that all copyrights be registered again. ;)
Before the Sonny Bono Copyright Act (IIRC), for a work to be registered and copyrighted, a copy had to be submitted to the Library of Congress. This requirement was lifted when the requirement to register was because everything whatsoever is copyrighted on being written, including the epherema. We don't want to force the Library of Congress to store every shopping list ever written.
So, we reinstate the old 28+28 terms for all persons, human or corporate, with explicit renewal after the first 28. We also require that for any copyright to be valid, the Library of Congress must have a DRM-free copy on archive. The Library of Congress will then be required to preserve everything they have in storage. We will charge for copyright registration and renewal, though not so much that a human being can't afford to register or renew.
Noncommercial works can be released without any copyright at all; if, after being posted in public forums, they then become insanely popular, well, the creator didn't expect it. Commercial works will be registered; whether they are re-registered will depend on if the holder of the copyright wants to bother with it. RIAA members might let go of their older non-hits. MPAA members won't let go of anything because of what happened with It's a Wonderful Life; they have since learned how to spark long-term interest in almost any film they choose. Smaller corps. (and humans) might have no choice but to release some works from copyright if they are prolific; copyright fees can add up.
I think that the idea is to minimize the ammo the MPAA and RIAA can use. If they're claiming that all their monetary losses are due to "theft," then their position will hold no water if there isn't any "theft" to speak of. But if it's already known that there is a significant amount of "theft," then they can claim that the known amount is just the tip of an iceberg.
(I use "theft" in quotes because "copyright infringement" is much longer to type.)
Thanks. I like both your opinion and the compliment. 8-)
No, "it's a fine line between clever and stupid" came first. This Is Spinal Tap and its contents were released approx. 1984. Macca's quote is from the song "Fine Line," which came off the album Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard; they were released in 2005.
I found your site, but I was reluctant to open your PDF.
So, for the benefit of the PDF-phobes around here, what sort of globes are you replacing the outdoor incandescent lights with? It doesn't sound like you're just swapping 100W with 40W.
CF? Surely not--those would short out when it rains.
Halogen? Or are you replacing those, too? Are they major savings over normal incandescents? (I really don't know.)
So, what are you using? LED globes? Or what?
And what do you do when you find an incandescent in an outdoor lantern fixture? Those don't seem made for globes...
Hmmm. Mr. Leary challenged a law which made marijuana legal, but made buying or selling it illegal or impractical.
The law was successfully struck down. It was then replaced with a law that, among other things, outlawed marijuana outright.
If the law that Mr. Leary had challenged had never been overturned, the people trying to use medical marijuana would not have as much trouble they do now, since they aren't trafficking it.
Therefore, if we try to overturn the DMCA in court, we had better make sure that Congress doesn't replace it with something stronger. We don't want the law of unintended consequences to strike again.
I meant digital music with DRM. The dollar store CDs don't count because they aren't DRMed.
But if copyright did expire, then it would only be borrowing from the Public Domain until expiration day. It's only outright theft when it doesn't expire in an average human lifetime.
Maybe if you look hard enough in the dollar store, you'll find something to make your case with. They sell dollar DVDs. Most of the cost of a DVD is licensing the content; therefore, dollar DVDs are likely to be public domain.
Alternatively, you could try to remove a public domain film from a DVD that contains both the film and newer material (commentary tracks, documentaries, etc.). Such DVDs tend to carry the copyright date of the newer material, but if an untouched public domain work is there...
Your example work often won't be of great quality. When a film gets remastered, the resulting DVD can get re-copyrighted to the year when the remastering was done, and it often is. DVDs containing only public-domain work will often contain things like snow or strange edits as well.
Music that has been remastered can be re-copyrighted also. Since almost all digital music is either recent or remastered, it'll be a while before you can strip WMADRM or Fairplay off a song.
Strong DRM and short copyrights?
This could get interesting. If the copyrights for everyone were cut down to 28+28 (explicit renewal required), but the anti-circumvention clause of the DMCA remained intact--then in 28 years, many of us will really know what it means to have DRM on public-domain works!
Of course, many corporations, esp. the ones in the MPAA, will renew everything they can. We'll have to wait 56 years for the films. But imagine the fight to unearth thirty-year-old forgotten songs hidden under DRM!
In short, if we're going to have strong DRM, we'll have to issue a few trusted people licenses to break DRM schemes. Locksmiths for DRM...
That's the spirit! 8-)
If I recall correctly, there were at least ten years between when Betamax lost the consumer format war and content-provider support, and when the tapes themselves ceased to be sold. (Since they stopped selling consumer-level players before then, I am not sure.) So, you should have many years of videotaping TV programs ahead of you yet.
There's a brisk trade in record players, too. I considered vinyl dead in the early-to-mid '90s, but I was clearly wrong.
Yeah, an analogue-to-digital converter would make a laser record player digital. Touche.
Lasers are not in themselves digital; they are no more discontinuous than any other light source. It's how the info is recorded on CDs and DVDs that make those formats digital. Vinyl records are still analog when they're played through a laser.
Of course, many modern records are digitally mastered. I doubt those would sound analog in any format whatsoever.
They'd shut this site down first.