In which way does he qualify for a Darwin Award? Clue: There's more to one than being stupid. He's committed a hideous crime, then posted a picture on the internet that can be easily unscrambled. This will dramatically improve his chances of being caught. When caught, he will be locked up for a long time. In all probability, his fellow inmates will then cut his bollocks off and make him eat them.
I rather think that removes him from the gene pool, for which he deserves a Darwin award.
Having said that, a homosexual paedophile has probably already opted out of the gene pool.
When I read the headline, I was intrigued. It makes the whole process sound like something from 24. The sort of thing that normally gets me shouting "That's bloody impossible!" at the TV and annoying my wife. However when you look at the actual photo, you realise that the guy, as well as being evil, is a complete fuckwit.
At first glance, you know that this is a reversible transformation. This guy should be given a Darwin Award for utter stupidity.
Much of what you say is true, but most of it applies equally to all religions. To paraphrase Richard Dawkins, religion requires faith without proof. That is fundamentally opposed to the scientific method.
Given the way that Google caved in to the Chinese demands, will they supply the CIA with a means of undoing this blurring?
You would hope they would make it a one-way process, but that probably requires cryptography, hence computing power, hence money.
It seems to be headed that way, but by no means have every record label signed up to Amazon's service, which seems a bit like dipping their toe into the water. So far it's US only, too - at least nominally.
This is a very interesting point and the DRM guys are making sure that piracy is still the way to go.
Why would you pay for crippled media when you can get fully functional for free?
They fundamentally failed to understand the issues at stake.
They sought to scare off average members of the public because they are the ones who buy overpriced CDs.
They have put all this effort into trying to protect an outmoded business model, rather than establishing a new and successful business model and look where it's got them.
Give them a break.
It's like raising kids.
When they do something bad, make them sit on the naughty chair. When they do something good (like this), praise them.
As long as they are bound by the GPL, they can't do anything bad to the Kernel.
Actually, you do need special software to download entire albums, which is significantly cheaper than getting the individual songs. It's imaginatively called the "Amazon MP3 Downloader". Currently it is only available for Windows and Mac, but the FAQ claims that a Linux version is in the works.
The same FAQ provides the following explanation for it being needed for albums:
Why is the Amazon MP3 Downloader required to download albums but not songs?
The Amazon MP3 Downloader queues up all songs from an album for download, saves them all to a specific folder on your computer, and can import them automatically to your iTunes or Windows Media Player library. The Amazon MP3 Downloader offers customers the simplest way to download and import multiple songs in one easy step. Doesn't actually seem to answer the question, but what the hell. If I get a chance later, I'll try it out under Wine.
There's a surprise! A Gartner analyst that is unable to distinguish between his arse and his elbow.
What fun it must be to wander around Gartner head office.
Just because we pay for health insurance through our taxes does not make it free. Our taxes are much higher than yours. In addition, many of us end up paying for additional medical insurance, as the government provision is not adequate.
In the UK, childcare is rarely subsidised by the government and it is very expensive.
Public transport here is rubbish and fuel costs are far higher than in the US, again due to taxation.
Property prices are very high.
Consumer goods cost much more. We are used to paying the same in GBP as you do in USD for almost all goods, even though the exchange rate is 2:1.
This idea that we get low salaries, but everything is entirely specious.
The whole idea of the web is that any page should display on any user agent
I'm sorry, but that's just a crock of shit - A photo gallery is never going to display well on Lynx.
User agents are so different that to cater for the lowest common denominator would result in an incredibly bland and static web.
Don't blame the humble web developer for this situation. User agents have continually evolved and engaged in "arms races" in an attempt to propriatise (if that's not a word, it should be) the web.
Standards are beginning to help, but there's a long way to go.
This particular web site may be folding, but the Virgin brand is still everywhere you look - trains, airlines and recently in the UK Digital Media. My Cable TV and Phone services are provided by Virgin. I would have thought it was in the interest of the Brand to do the right thing for the customer.
They are probably unable to provide non-DRM versions of the downloads due to their original agreements with the music companies.
How the hell did the parent get modded to Troll?
This is a really good point. Apple could just have easily have used Ogg Vorbis, rather than AAC, but then they could not have got into bed with the DRM filth.
Apple do not give a damn about Open or Free software, but just their bottom line. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but don't expect any favours from them.
This gives me wood!
A massive commercial outfit like Intel producing stuff for FF only is really exciting. As an enterprise Web Developer, I know how much easier it is to develop for one browser only (especially if that browser is standards compliant (ie: not IE)) and this may well be just laziness on behalf of Intel's devs. Anyway, more power to their elbows.
He should have just concentrated on useful new features like the ability to get a commmand window at any folder.
If that's the most compelling reason to upgrade, it's not surprising that things aren't going too well for Vista. I'm sure that was a "PowerToy" ages ago.
Who's going to pay to find out if this is true. Just because an academic study says it might be the case, proves nothing. A costly law suit will be needed to do that.
Any volunteers?
We simply have to stop buying anything with copy protection.
DRM is not immoral, it's just aimed at stupid people. If people stop being stupid by buying DRM content it will go away.
Slashdot Mirror
When I read the headline, I was intrigued. It makes the whole process sound like something from 24. The sort of thing that normally gets me shouting "That's bloody impossible!" at the TV and annoying my wife. However when you look at the actual photo, you realise that the guy, as well as being evil, is a complete fuckwit. At first glance, you know that this is a reversible transformation. This guy should be given a Darwin Award for utter stupidity.
Much of what you say is true, but most of it applies equally to all religions. To paraphrase Richard Dawkins, religion requires faith without proof. That is fundamentally opposed to the scientific method.
Contrary to what you might have seen on 24, satellite coverage is not universal and exhaustive. The CIA would welcome any new source of data.
True, but it makes everything look very sinister. I doubt if that's what Google are trying to achieve.
Given the way that Google caved in to the Chinese demands, will they supply the CIA with a means of undoing this blurring? You would hope they would make it a one-way process, but that probably requires cryptography, hence computing power, hence money.
It seems to be headed that way, but by no means have every record label signed up to Amazon's service, which seems a bit like dipping their toe into the water. So far it's US only, too - at least nominally.
This is a very interesting point and the DRM guys are making sure that piracy is still the way to go. Why would you pay for crippled media when you can get fully functional for free?
They fundamentally failed to understand the issues at stake. They sought to scare off average members of the public because they are the ones who buy overpriced CDs. They have put all this effort into trying to protect an outmoded business model, rather than establishing a new and successful business model and look where it's got them.
Give them a break. It's like raising kids. When they do something bad, make them sit on the naughty chair. When they do something good (like this), praise them. As long as they are bound by the GPL, they can't do anything bad to the Kernel.
I used the only valid combination I could think of: CA/90210. No problem.
The Amazon MP3 Downloader queues up all songs from an album for download, saves them all to a specific folder on your computer, and can import them automatically to your iTunes or Windows Media Player library. The Amazon MP3 Downloader offers customers the simplest way to download and import multiple songs in one easy step. Doesn't actually seem to answer the question, but what the hell. If I get a chance later, I'll try it out under Wine.
There's a surprise! A Gartner analyst that is unable to distinguish between his arse and his elbow. What fun it must be to wander around Gartner head office.
Just because we pay for health insurance through our taxes does not make it free. Our taxes are much higher than yours. In addition, many of us end up paying for additional medical insurance, as the government provision is not adequate. In the UK, childcare is rarely subsidised by the government and it is very expensive. Public transport here is rubbish and fuel costs are far higher than in the US, again due to taxation. Property prices are very high. Consumer goods cost much more. We are used to paying the same in GBP as you do in USD for almost all goods, even though the exchange rate is 2:1. This idea that we get low salaries, but everything is entirely specious.
The whole idea of the web is that any page should display on any user agent
I'm sorry, but that's just a crock of shit - A photo gallery is never going to display well on Lynx. User agents are so different that to cater for the lowest common denominator would result in an incredibly bland and static web. Don't blame the humble web developer for this situation. User agents have continually evolved and engaged in "arms races" in an attempt to propriatise (if that's not a word, it should be) the web. Standards are beginning to help, but there's a long way to go.
That's the current plan. If take up by corporates remains low, even MS will have to rethink this policy.
This particular web site may be folding, but the Virgin brand is still everywhere you look - trains, airlines and recently in the UK Digital Media. My Cable TV and Phone services are provided by Virgin. I would have thought it was in the interest of the Brand to do the right thing for the customer. They are probably unable to provide non-DRM versions of the downloads due to their original agreements with the music companies.
I am a bit afraid of the GPL ever being tested in court. It's not like the US courts have a track record of doing the right thing.
How the hell did the parent get modded to Troll? This is a really good point. Apple could just have easily have used Ogg Vorbis, rather than AAC, but then they could not have got into bed with the DRM filth. Apple do not give a damn about Open or Free software, but just their bottom line. There's nothing inherently wrong with that, but don't expect any favours from them.
This gives me wood! A massive commercial outfit like Intel producing stuff for FF only is really exciting. As an enterprise Web Developer, I know how much easier it is to develop for one browser only (especially if that browser is standards compliant (ie: not IE)) and this may well be just laziness on behalf of Intel's devs. Anyway, more power to their elbows.
I know it's not the /. way, but I stand corrected. Clearly my knowledge of the Canadian legal system is somewhat lacking.
He should have just concentrated on useful new features like the ability to get a commmand window at any folder. If that's the most compelling reason to upgrade, it's not surprising that things aren't going too well for Vista. I'm sure that was a "PowerToy" ages ago.
People are starting to get all nostalgic about XP. This is weird. It's still the same shitty OS it was 12 months ago. What's next - DOS 3.3?
Who's going to pay to find out if this is true. Just because an academic study says it might be the case, proves nothing. A costly law suit will be needed to do that. Any volunteers?
We simply have to stop buying anything with copy protection. DRM is not immoral, it's just aimed at stupid people. If people stop being stupid by buying DRM content it will go away.