"Edmund"? Edmund Blackadder? He could certainly be deceitful, sure, but it's a rather obscure link between he, Machiavelli, Mussolini, Hilter, *then* Germany. I'm not sure many folk will "get it".
...by the record companies, then music CDs - which are generally DRM-free - should also be on their (s)hit list (ah crap; a re-entrant joke this way comes) 'cos they're just as easily reproduced/ripped and illegally distributed. After all, that's where the whole MP3 music revolution began.
The music industry can never win with the outdated business model they are using, because DRM really is irrelevant and can never hope to stop piracy - arrr! And the only true viable alternative is to release their music for free then do what the artist does: make gains from the merchandising and touring. It's the only way they'll survive.
---
I like to inappropiately touch myself.
SHA-1 hash of the entire sequence. With a DRM layer to protect the pharmaceutical companies intellectual property 'cos, unlike heading toward a Police State at 100 miles per hour, SHA-1 just isn't collision-proof.
"...it is not the BBC's fault that you chose to give money to Sky or Virgin in addition."
I object. Sky or Virgin offer far more diversity in programming than the BBC, with its bias toward home improvement, crime or legal drama, reality TV, quiz shows, or lame-assed soap operas that suck the atmosphere out of a room faster than a bulkhead breach in the ISS. The BBC's programming is formulaic, and pretty much targets the fat lazy bastard and the housewife - of which I am neither. And for that reason alone, the BBC is inadequate and archaic - and the license "fee" is an abomination.
Oh, look - I've just decided not to renew it. Thanks, BBC. I've been looking for a decent enough reason to dump you along with the rest of life's crap I've left by the wayside (Microsoft products).
...among IMs is the #1 reason most Windows-using folk I know won't touch Ubuntu - even though they really like what they see in Ubuntu and don't enjoy the idea of ever moving over to Vista. While they fully appreciate that there are a whole host of interoperable IM clients for GNU/Linux-based distributions, the interoperable features they most want are: voice and video conferencing, and Windows-alike Remote Assistance direct from the IM client.
The #2 reason most Windows-using folk I know won't touch Ubuntu - even though they really like what they see in Ubuntu and don't enjoy the idea of ever moving over to Vista - are commercial computer games ports. There's just not enough of them for GNU/Linux.
Suffice it to say, 99.99% of all computer owners I know and teach are not geeks - just cutting and pasting is an enlightening and enabling experience for these people - and if GNU/Linux is ever going to enter these peoples lives in the mainstream, it has to offer #1 and #2. But they will, generally, be satisfied with #1 in the short-term.
...I just heard from a friend who purchased an HP printer from Best Buy. She'd recently bought a laptop (Vista infected) and wanted a printer that was compatible with it. So, the friendly assistant pointed out two models that were. (It still took a download from the HP site to actually get the printer to work anyway.)
So, she wanted to be sure that she'd bought everything she needed just so's she can get to printing, asked the assistant if there was anything else she'd need. Oh boy. "Yes," says the assistant pointing at the only USB cable sited near the printer she'd purchased, "you'll need this." And, not knowing any better, she bought the cable too. Now, sure, the printer she'd chosen didn't come with a USB cable, and she did need one, but the only one on show that the assistant pointed out cost her $31.99 - I have a scan of the receipt. In real terms, that's $32. And translating that into UKP (I'm in the UK), that'd be close to twice the price.
I can get a USB cable for £2 - or around about $4.
Am I shocked? Yes. I'm absolutely stunned.
Naive acts of administrative and legal idiocity such as this are more likely to breed terrorists or rampaging, gun-toting psychopaths than deter or eradicate them. Humiliating and intimidating young, suggestive minds leads to disillusionment and demoralisation. Keep taking this route, America, and you're heading into a world of hate.
So let's step into an alternative universe a few years from now, where alternative Mr Lin embarks on an alternative killing spree at his alternative college. His alternative roomate is quoted by alternative Jack Thompson on alternative Fox News: "Alternative Mr Lin really freaked me out - he didn't play computer games, unlike everyone else, or offer anything other than a cursory grunt when I tried talking to him. I knew he was screwed up - they should have seen this coming! Jesus! 90 kids dead because the Thought Police missed this hammer-weilding psycho!"
There's public outcry, mass hysteria, a population boom in the internment camps, and complete crackdown on unlicensed, over-the-counter DIY tools. And then it's revealed that alternative Mr Lin was once a grade-A student, pillar of the community, with an infectious laugh that brightened anyone's day. But - hey! - under that sunny exterior dwelled a manipulative DEMON, where the only hint of a derranged-mentality-in-waiting was the sick and depraved First-Person-Shooter level of his old highschool - the one he threw together one weekend for massacre practice - and the blood soaked hammer that was confiscated from his bedroom. The grunts, the hollow expression and the weightloss, the all-round lack of interest in reality and the sleeping disorder that plagued him since his "alleged persecution" (oh, the old Digg and/. crowd were so ignorant back then!) were all inescapably missed indications of the person he ALWAYS HAD BEEN and WOULD BECOME.
Head will roll in our alternative Texas.
Slashdot Mirror
"Edmund"? Edmund Blackadder? He could certainly be deceitful, sure, but it's a rather obscure link between he, Machiavelli, Mussolini, Hilter, *then* Germany. I'm not sure many folk will "get it".
...by the record companies, then music CDs - which are generally DRM-free - should also be on their (s)hit list (ah crap; a re-entrant joke this way comes) 'cos they're just as easily reproduced/ripped and illegally distributed. After all, that's where the whole MP3 music revolution began. The music industry can never win with the outdated business model they are using, because DRM really is irrelevant and can never hope to stop piracy - arrr! And the only true viable alternative is to release their music for free then do what the artist does: make gains from the merchandising and touring. It's the only way they'll survive. --- I like to inappropiately touch myself.
Wear a hoodie.
SHA-1 hash of the entire sequence. With a DRM layer to protect the pharmaceutical companies intellectual property 'cos, unlike heading toward a Police State at 100 miles per hour, SHA-1 just isn't collision-proof.
"...it is not the BBC's fault that you chose to give money to Sky or Virgin in addition." I object. Sky or Virgin offer far more diversity in programming than the BBC, with its bias toward home improvement, crime or legal drama, reality TV, quiz shows, or lame-assed soap operas that suck the atmosphere out of a room faster than a bulkhead breach in the ISS. The BBC's programming is formulaic, and pretty much targets the fat lazy bastard and the housewife - of which I am neither. And for that reason alone, the BBC is inadequate and archaic - and the license "fee" is an abomination.
Oh, look - I've just decided not to renew it. Thanks, BBC. I've been looking for a decent enough reason to dump you along with the rest of life's crap I've left by the wayside (Microsoft products).
...among IMs is the #1 reason most Windows-using folk I know won't touch Ubuntu - even though they really like what they see in Ubuntu and don't enjoy the idea of ever moving over to Vista. While they fully appreciate that there are a whole host of interoperable IM clients for GNU/Linux-based distributions, the interoperable features they most want are: voice and video conferencing, and Windows-alike Remote Assistance direct from the IM client. The #2 reason most Windows-using folk I know won't touch Ubuntu - even though they really like what they see in Ubuntu and don't enjoy the idea of ever moving over to Vista - are commercial computer games ports. There's just not enough of them for GNU/Linux. Suffice it to say, 99.99% of all computer owners I know and teach are not geeks - just cutting and pasting is an enlightening and enabling experience for these people - and if GNU/Linux is ever going to enter these peoples lives in the mainstream, it has to offer #1 and #2. But they will, generally, be satisfied with #1 in the short-term.
My math sucks. That'd be around £15 Best Buy's price equivalent, or £1 from trade.
...I just heard from a friend who purchased an HP printer from Best Buy. She'd recently bought a laptop (Vista infected) and wanted a printer that was compatible with it. So, the friendly assistant pointed out two models that were. (It still took a download from the HP site to actually get the printer to work anyway.) So, she wanted to be sure that she'd bought everything she needed just so's she can get to printing, asked the assistant if there was anything else she'd need. Oh boy. "Yes," says the assistant pointing at the only USB cable sited near the printer she'd purchased, "you'll need this." And, not knowing any better, she bought the cable too. Now, sure, the printer she'd chosen didn't come with a USB cable, and she did need one, but the only one on show that the assistant pointed out cost her $31.99 - I have a scan of the receipt. In real terms, that's $32. And translating that into UKP (I'm in the UK), that'd be close to twice the price. I can get a USB cable for £2 - or around about $4. Am I shocked? Yes. I'm absolutely stunned.
Naive acts of administrative and legal idiocity such as this are more likely to breed terrorists or rampaging, gun-toting psychopaths than deter or eradicate them. Humiliating and intimidating young, suggestive minds leads to disillusionment and demoralisation. Keep taking this route, America, and you're heading into a world of hate. So let's step into an alternative universe a few years from now, where alternative Mr Lin embarks on an alternative killing spree at his alternative college. His alternative roomate is quoted by alternative Jack Thompson on alternative Fox News: "Alternative Mr Lin really freaked me out - he didn't play computer games, unlike everyone else, or offer anything other than a cursory grunt when I tried talking to him. I knew he was screwed up - they should have seen this coming! Jesus! 90 kids dead because the Thought Police missed this hammer-weilding psycho!" There's public outcry, mass hysteria, a population boom in the internment camps, and complete crackdown on unlicensed, over-the-counter DIY tools. And then it's revealed that alternative Mr Lin was once a grade-A student, pillar of the community, with an infectious laugh that brightened anyone's day. But - hey! - under that sunny exterior dwelled a manipulative DEMON, where the only hint of a derranged-mentality-in-waiting was the sick and depraved First-Person-Shooter level of his old highschool - the one he threw together one weekend for massacre practice - and the blood soaked hammer that was confiscated from his bedroom. The grunts, the hollow expression and the weightloss, the all-round lack of interest in reality and the sleeping disorder that plagued him since his "alleged persecution" (oh, the old Digg and /. crowd were so ignorant back then!) were all inescapably missed indications of the person he ALWAYS HAD BEEN and WOULD BECOME.
Head will roll in our alternative Texas.