Besides, I AM an artist. If I were signed with a label/distribution company/other organ, I would make >10 per unit sold. I much prefer that people burn or download my album, then buy me a beer. I get more out of it that way.
Also, 15,010 angry nerds can't be wrong.
http://consumerist.com/consumer/worst-company-in-a merica/riaa-wins-worst-company-in-america-2007-245 235.php [/rebuttal]
Okay, fair point, the RIAA are just doing their job. We'll disregard for the moment it's a job that doesn't need to be done. In this case, the only thing the RIAA are guilty of is boundless enthusiasm. Unfortunately, the low-income single mothers on the receiving end of the lawsuits don't see it that way.
Okay, I've lost the thread of my argument, so I'm just going to say what I originally intended to say.
Clearchannel.
Money talks. Independent labels can't afford to get music on the radio in America, because they don't have the resource to buy the airtime or lobby the execs. The internet is their only hope. The RIAA, as far as I can work out, is accidentally crushing independent artists while they're going after the roaches. So, sure. Blame the RIAA-haters for depriving artists who already have record labels, have a valid form of income. I'll keep blaming the RIAA for keeping the little guy down with its' clumsy antics.
Ya, we Skips tend to say all sorts of strange things.
Like 'Crikey!' Thanks, Steve. Sleep well.
I dunno where that little prepositional slip came from, it's just something that the Australian idiom has produced. Just a style-note, the emphasis in the phrase "good on 'em" usually falls on the "on" for some reason. So it's "Good on 'em." Or, if you're a wit/wanker, you put the emphasis at the end: "Good on them."
There you go. More information about the Australian patois than anyone could ever want. Ever.
IRONY
noun, plural -nies.
1. the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning: the irony of her reply, "How nice!" when I said I had to work all weekend.
2. Literature.
a. a technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to that which is actually or ostensibly stated.
b. (esp. in contemporary writing) a manner of organizing a work so as to give full expression to contradictory or complementary impulses, attitudes, etc., esp. as a means of indicating detachment from a subject, theme, or emotion.
3. Socratic irony. (feigned ignorance in discussion/debate)
4. dramatic irony. (irony that is inherent in speeches or a situation of a drama and is understood by the audience but not grasped by the characters in the play.)
5. an outcome of events contrary to what was, or might have been, expected.
6. the incongruity of this.
7. an objectively sardonic style of speech or writing.
8. an objectively or humorously sardonic utterance, disposition, quality, etc.
I find their definition lacking somewhat. '10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife' is stupid, not irony. Who has ten THOUSAND spoons?
I think that all these things that are mis-labeled 'irony' would come under the heading of 'a sardonic observation,' but irony is catchier and easier to spell.
I ain't never seen Reality Bites, I can't stand anything that Ben Stiller touches, that includes The Royal Tenenbaums. I still pick people up on particularly glaring abuses of the word 'irony,' most of which, as it happens, people "started because it made [them] feel smart, contrary to all other evidence." Much like the word 'meme.'
...I'm trying to think of a way to drag this little thread back on topic.
Anyway, that's an argument against compulsory voting right there. Even if you were FORCED to vote, you still wouldn't necessarily make a vote useful. A friend of mine spends up to an hour in the polling booth every year, drawing incredibly detailed and lovingly rendered pictures of donkeys.
[NB] And hey, if you're going to make a bold statement like the above two posts, you may as well do it under your own name, so we can give credit where it's due. See you in the polling booths, Coward 1 and Coward 2.
yes people we have the capacity to never get invaded, you do not know 5% of what the military tells you
I should bloody hope so, with all the money your country spends on defence...
The only way it will change is if millions of us (yes im talking 50 million people) stand up to the government at Washington DC
Well, if 50 million people can't be bothered to get off the couch and vote (polling booths aren't THAT far. Get someone else to drive you.) what makes you think that the same 50mil will care enough to march? If they can't even be bothered making COSMETIC change, what makes you think they'll be up for the effort involved in ACTUAL change?
Everything should be decided 'by the people' on a weekly voting basis.
See above. Most people can't be bothered voting once a year, let alone once a week.
Did the people have any say at all in that trillion dollar surplus that was spent? Absolutely not.
The reason people elect leaders is because they don't WANT to have to micromanage every single decision that affects the way their lives are governed. Assuming 'the people' are even interested or educated enough to understand the problem being put to them, the sheer unwieldyness of such a system would ensure that every single one of the 50 million people would be employed counting last week's vote, every damn week.
'the people' had a say in the spending of that money. They said: "I can't be bothered with this. George W. Bush, Congress, Joint Chiefs, you all can think for me. I have enough trouble getting to work on time without having to wonder about where all my tax money goes.
I dunno what talkback radio is like in your area, but in my city it's the place to go for something like this. If the breakfast guy, a motor-bike riding ex-lawyer with a passion for French automobiles, likes what you have to say, he'll bring the weight of his radio-mules to bear.
Unfortunately, I tend to go for petty solutions. If it were me, I'd just wheat-paste the windows of the YMCA shut...
Well, I'd argue that simply getting the information out there is a good step. If it's out there, people like us will find it. It's already stimulated debate, which is a positive step already. And while it may not get the poor lady her eighty-five bucks back, it might mean the next person in a neck-brace who gets lip from a traffic cop will sue the city for damages.
Oh ya, believe me, I understand. I, along with most of my friends, have worked in Tech-Support in various capacities. I understand the difficulties.
"No, it's the big blue E on your desktop, the one you clicked before. Yeah, your desktop. No, your desktop on the screen. Your computer screen. Yes. The big blue E. Yes. No, the E. Like the letter 'e.' That's the internet. Right there. Yep.
If I'm asking a genuinely dumb question, I don't mind being given a stfurtfmbewb by my local tech-support guy, especially if he includes the link. It's the whole "Stacks on the MSWindows noob" attitude I diagree with. The leeter than thou aesthetic that some specialist computing forums are rife with makes my head ping.
So usually I don't go to those forums. I find other, nicer ones, because I understand that it is just a small percent of the population who are that small-minded and mean. The rest are just probably having a bad day.
Again, gross generalisation, but with grounding in truth.
[truth]My bosses at work asked me if their computer was getting hacked, because they got the message "Other users are logged into this computer. Are you sure you want to shut down?"[/truth]
As amusing as this is, it raises a point. The computer may be the vertex of the pie-chart of life for many of us, but for others, people who don't have time to constantly watch over the electronic equivalent of an anemic baby with poor depth-perception (A computer is a lot like an anemic baby. Think about it...) all this stuff about webclick tracking cookies and google-pumping is an unnecessary hassle. It's the same reason some people buy Dell computers, while others put spinners on their CPUfans.
It's a generalisation that most Linux users are camo-wearing cybersurvivalists who do not suffer either fools or noobs. Unfortunately like most generalisations, it has a base in fact. The reason I don't use Linux is the same reason I don't go corporate-paintballing. It is so completely inaccessible to the layperson and as far as I can see, will only end in pain and embarassing stains.
Besides, I've heard so many horror stories about dealing with Linux. I've got a half-dozen Open Source Operating Systems sitting on my desk, waiting for the day I'm brave enough to try 'em out. Even if I DO try one of them out, odds are I'd get frustrated when something went wrong and I was unable to fix it. I wouldn't even bother trying to find an answer on forums, or the ircnets or anything, because I would assume that the camo-puter geeks would all beat me with their keyboards for asking a silly question.
Linux may have come a long way from the days where you had to run a command-line of code a screen long to start up a word processing program, but it's still too arcane for someone with my low self-confidence in the dark arts of coding.
...a Japanese robot who is a waitress... I dunno, I don't think I'd be giving a welcome plate of muffins to any waiting-staff-member who turns left purely out of habit. I think they'd be better on register, or coffee-machine.
I can't wait until they make robotic kitchen-hands, so I can quit washing dishes and get a decent job. Like... data-entry.
I kinda thought the SWAT joke thing was supposed to be an ironically self-deprecating throwaway line, rather than that other sort of a line, the one with the hook in it, that everyone seems to think it is.
Actually, thinking about it, after all the criticism American defense forces have come under, maybe a little prickliness from you guys is a good thing. Last thing this thread needs is someone quoting how much of the US GNP goes into ADF funding.
Slashdot Mirror
Owww! Someone picked up on the fact that I made a sweeping generalisation and didn't qualify every single valid exception to the rule!
I'm melting! MELTIIIIINNNNG!
Good answer. 10 points.
I'd also have accepted a silverware company.
IH speaks! "Can't stop what Napster started."
a merica/riaa-wins-worst-company-in-america-2007-245 235.php
Ya, a copyright infringement website defends copyright infringement. Who'd've thought. also, this lesson has been learned before.
Besides, I AM an artist. If I were signed with a label/distribution company/other organ, I would make >10 per unit sold. I much prefer that people burn or download my album, then buy me a beer. I get more out of it that way.
Also, 15,010 angry nerds can't be wrong. http://consumerist.com/consumer/worst-company-in-
[/rebuttal] Okay, fair point, the RIAA are just doing their job. We'll disregard for the moment it's a job that doesn't need to be done. In this case, the only thing the RIAA are guilty of is boundless enthusiasm. Unfortunately, the low-income single mothers on the receiving end of the lawsuits don't see it that way.
Okay, I've lost the thread of my argument, so I'm just going to say what I originally intended to say.
Clearchannel.
Money talks. Independent labels can't afford to get music on the radio in America, because they don't have the resource to buy the airtime or lobby the execs. The internet is their only hope. The RIAA, as far as I can work out, is accidentally crushing independent artists while they're going after the roaches. So, sure. Blame the RIAA-haters for depriving artists who already have record labels, have a valid form of income. I'll keep blaming the RIAA for keeping the little guy down with its' clumsy antics.
Ya, we Skips tend to say all sorts of strange things.
Like 'Crikey!' Thanks, Steve. Sleep well.
I dunno where that little prepositional slip came from, it's just something that the Australian idiom has produced. Just a style-note, the emphasis in the phrase "good on 'em" usually falls on the "on" for some reason. So it's "Good on 'em." Or, if you're a wit/wanker, you put the emphasis at the end: "Good on them."
There you go. More information about the Australian patois than anyone could ever want. Ever.
I find their definition lacking somewhat. '10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife' is stupid, not irony. Who has ten THOUSAND spoons?
I think that all these things that are mis-labeled 'irony' would come under the heading of 'a sardonic observation,' but irony is catchier and easier to spell.
I ain't never seen Reality Bites, I can't stand anything that Ben Stiller touches, that includes The Royal Tenenbaums. I still pick people up on particularly glaring abuses of the word 'irony,' most of which, as it happens, people "started because it made [them] feel smart, contrary to all other evidence." Much like the word 'meme.'
...I'm trying to think of a way to drag this little thread back on topic.
Anyway, that's an argument against compulsory voting right there. Even if you were FORCED to vote, you still wouldn't necessarily make a vote useful. A friend of mine spends up to an hour in the polling booth every year, drawing incredibly detailed and lovingly rendered pictures of donkeys.
[NB] And hey, if you're going to make a bold statement like the above two posts, you may as well do it under your own name, so we can give credit where it's due. See you in the polling booths, Coward 1 and Coward 2.
I should bloody hope so, with all the money your country spends on defence...
Well, if 50 million people can't be bothered to get off the couch and vote (polling booths aren't THAT far. Get someone else to drive you.) what makes you think that the same 50mil will care enough to march? If they can't even be bothered making COSMETIC change, what makes you think they'll be up for the effort involved in ACTUAL change?
See above. Most people can't be bothered voting once a year, let alone once a week.
The reason people elect leaders is because they don't WANT to have to micromanage every single decision that affects the way their lives are governed. Assuming 'the people' are even interested or educated enough to understand the problem being put to them, the sheer unwieldyness of such a system would ensure that every single one of the 50 million people would be employed counting last week's vote, every damn week.
'the people' had a say in the spending of that money. They said: "I can't be bothered with this. George W. Bush, Congress, Joint Chiefs, you all can think for me. I have enough trouble getting to work on time without having to wonder about where all my tax money goes.
I'm a proud player-hater. The game is only messed up because players made it that way.
:suz
Yes, it's an obvious point. I don't care. Change has to start somewhere,
I garuntee more Americans would vote if Congress would open up the Presidential race for votes via SMS.
...my knee is jerking.
Cool!
I wash dishes for a living.
- - - - - {sotto voce} - - - - -
It's okay, I'm still in tertiary education. Plenty of time for a long-term career in data-entry.
I hope that day comes soon, WGG. My mother has the same thing, she can't work full time either.
I dunno what talkback radio is like in your area, but in my city it's the place to go for something like this. If the breakfast guy, a motor-bike riding ex-lawyer with a passion for French automobiles, likes what you have to say, he'll bring the weight of his radio-mules to bear.
Unfortunately, I tend to go for petty solutions. If it were me, I'd just wheat-paste the windows of the YMCA shut...
Well, I'd argue that simply getting the information out there is a good step. If it's out there, people like us will find it. It's already stimulated debate, which is a positive step already. And while it may not get the poor lady her eighty-five bucks back, it might mean the next person in a neck-brace who gets lip from a traffic cop will sue the city for damages.
It's rational, it's logical, it make sense, it's fair.
Bah, it'll never catch on.
So usually I don't go to those forums. I find other, nicer ones, because I understand that it is just a small percent of the population who are that small-minded and mean. The rest are just probably having a bad day.
Again, gross generalisation, but with grounding in truth.
[truth] My bosses at work asked me if their computer was getting hacked, because they got the message "Other users are logged into this computer. Are you sure you want to shut down?" [/truth]
As amusing as this is, it raises a point. The computer may be the vertex of the pie-chart of life for many of us, but for others, people who don't have time to constantly watch over the electronic equivalent of an anemic baby with poor depth-perception (A computer is a lot like an anemic baby. Think about it...) all this stuff about webclick tracking cookies and google-pumping is an unnecessary hassle. It's the same reason some people buy Dell computers, while others put spinners on their CPUfans.
It's a generalisation that most Linux users are camo-wearing cybersurvivalists who do not suffer either fools or noobs. Unfortunately like most generalisations, it has a base in fact. The reason I don't use Linux is the same reason I don't go corporate-paintballing. It is so completely inaccessible to the layperson and as far as I can see, will only end in pain and embarassing stains.
Besides, I've heard so many horror stories about dealing with Linux. I've got a half-dozen Open Source Operating Systems sitting on my desk, waiting for the day I'm brave enough to try 'em out. Even if I DO try one of them out, odds are I'd get frustrated when something went wrong and I was unable to fix it. I wouldn't even bother trying to find an answer on forums, or the ircnets or anything, because I would assume that the camo-puter geeks would all beat me with their keyboards for asking a silly question.
Linux may have come a long way from the days where you had to run a command-line of code a screen long to start up a word processing program, but it's still too arcane for someone with my low self-confidence in the dark arts of coding.
...a Japanese robot who is a waitress... I dunno, I don't think I'd be giving a welcome plate of muffins to any waiting-staff-member who turns left purely out of habit. I think they'd be better on register, or coffee-machine. I can't wait until they make robotic kitchen-hands, so I can quit washing dishes and get a decent job. Like... data-entry.I kinda thought the SWAT joke thing was supposed to be an ironically self-deprecating throwaway line, rather than that other sort of a line, the one with the hook in it, that everyone seems to think it is. Actually, thinking about it, after all the criticism American defense forces have come under, maybe a little prickliness from you guys is a good thing. Last thing this thread needs is someone quoting how much of the US GNP goes into ADF funding.