I'm reading this comment and envisioning an ankle-biting 12-year old who just finished Social Studies 9 and is itching to dive into politics. Sorry kiddo, but Paul Martin has nothing to do with these lawsuits.
Canada has had its own intellectual property laws for a long time and they are generally quite similar to those enforced in the US. Under the Canadian Copyright Act, as amended in 1998, the RCIA has every right to pursue legal action against individuals who provide access to content for which they do not own distribution rights.
Don't get me wrong, I'm just as upset about the RCIA as you are (and I'm no fan of Mr. Martin), but I think you need to hit the books a little harder before you start blindly hurling allegations. For one thing, the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of the US have very different jobs - they are in charge of different branches of government. There are plenty of reasons to accuse the Canadian PM of "fascism" (i.e. Ottawa's lack of accountability), but this isn't one of them.
(One more thing, Canuck to Canuck: if you want to be taken seriously, you should really learn how to use your apostrophes, especially when you're calling our neighbours to the South "stupid". They tend to carpet bomb in response to attacks like that.)
I've never been a fan of MS games, but wouldn't it make more sense for them to focus attention on cross-platform games that they would be able to market both for PCs and for their XBox system? Perhaps the second MMORPG mentioned in the article meets this critereon while the cancelled game doesn't.
I can wait for the paper trail to be counted instead of electronic voting giving me the result instantly without 100% reliability.
This is a compelling argument in favour of the electronic system; however, hand-counting introduces a whole different problem because it requires hands, which are generally attached to people. And people are assholes.
Since the Bush Vs. Gore in Florida issue has already come up many times, I'm going to use a different example: the Quebec sovereignity referendum in Canada during the 90s. To this day, accusations fly between the Bloq Quebecois (seperatists) and the Liberals (federalists) over the fact that several instances of ballot mishandling by BQ supporters went completely un-investigated.
Regardless of how elections are run, there are going to be problems ensuring that results are 100% accurate.
Although you're right, the journalist has buried the "no proof" statement deep in the article after making countless statements that do affirmatively link MyDoom to Linux (including the subtitle of the article).
I have a lot of respect for the BBC as a news source, but this is a fine example of poor, lazy journalism. Considering the fact that scores of readers don't make it past the first few paragraphs of any given article, it's also deceitful and misleading.
From the article: 69. Saruman enjoys the pipeweed of the Halflings (ROTK p.324). Jackson has Saruman tell Gandalf that his wits have been dulled by Halfling leaf as if he doesn't smoke it himself and, it might be added, even though there is pipeweed amongst the flotsam and jetsam of Isengard.
If I'm not mistaken, this line was actually lifted from Unfinished Tales, the rambling colletion of bits and pieces that Tokien never hammered into stories worthy of publication. I recall this line being spoken by Saruman to Gandalf in the presence of the other members of the Council of the Wise when they were meeting to discuss the matter of the Rings of Power.
From The Encyclopedia of Arda: When the Council debated the Rings of Power, Saruman claimed that his researches showed that the One Ring had been lost forever. It was later shown that he did not believe this, however, and was searching for it himself, having secretly rebelled against the Council.
Saruman was attempting to discredit Gandalf (they were in disagreement on this matter) by exposing his affinity for hobbits. The quotation was something like: "Your wits have been dulled by your love of the halflings' leaf."
I might be wrong about the timing, but I'm pretty sure I had read the line before I heard it delivered in FOTR. In the end, it ended up being one of my favourite lines:)
I assume 1 gigabit is 1 billion bytes, which works out to 1,000,000,000 / 8 = 125,000,000 bytes. That's actualy closer to 120 MEGA bytes. I'm no Gameboy expert, but that actually seems pretty high.
As always, when dealing with exchange rates these equivalencies are relatively meaningless. What really matters is whether UK residents (for instance) are willing to pay twice as much per download. I remember travelling through the UK and being totally shocked that chocolate bars are around $2.25 CDN apiece, but they still seemed to sell.
In economic terms, if the market price of a good is higher in a given currency compared to the US dollar, that currency is overvalued with respect to the US dollar. In the opposite case (a la Canadian dollar) it is an indication of an undervalued currency.
Theoretically, I suppose Americans could simply buy all their mp3s from Canadian stores and save big, but I imagine there's some sort of rule in place that prevents them from doing so. And if there isn't, I'm sure it won't be long before there is.
If anyone's intrigued by this idea but hasn't heard enough Warp tracks to know what's good, I would strongly recommend checking out "Come to Daddy" by Aphex Twin. It's only 8 tracks, so it should be pretty cheap.
"Selected Ambient Works" is also quite good, especially for those times when you want to listen to something subtle but your brother in law has borrowed your whale music CD. Seriously, this guy is very talented. And he drives a tank (no, it's not a joke link - just a strange domain).
Finally, I'm still waiting for the Bleep page to load up, so does anyone know if their artist's videos are alsofor sale? Squarepusher's "Come On My Selector" is my favourite video of all time.
Good: A Mighty Wind
Very funny movie by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy. Same "mock-u-mentary" vein as Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman and Spinal Tap. Indeed, the best part of the movie is a not-so-subtle nods to fans through the reunion of the boys from Tap in a folk trio. (For those of you who are fans - CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT THEY DID TO DEREK SMALLS!?)
Bad: Matrix Rehashed/Revolted
Dear God, these films were horrendous.
Okay, this is getting a little off-topic, but I just can't resist. Your whole post was LA this and LA that, blah blah blah - and I'm fine with that. You live in LA and you seem to like it. Bully for you.
BUT, your sig ("learn to swim") is a clever allusion to the Tool song AEnima that quite openly suggests the best possible fate for LA and the rest of California would be a giant earthquake - a sort of "societal enema" - that would result in the statuette-grubbing studio whores drowning in "Arizona Bay". I mean... the illustration on the inside of the jewel case was an optical trick that let you imagine what America would look like "sans-Calfornia".
I really doubt the International Labour Organization would bother with a comprehensive study of discrimination against Morrocan migrant workers working in Spain if there weren't quite a few working there.
The fact is, much like migrant Palestinians working in Israli underwear factories, the Morrocans provide an endless and inexpensive labour force to the Spanish industry. The reason why you weren't able to get a work visa is that you're an American, which means they have to worry about the inevitable fact that you will piss and moan when they step all over your basic rights.
Remember, you're an American which means that you're FAR from average. Sometimes being the biggest and the strongest has its drawbacks.
The EU keeps Turkey out of the EU, in large part because Turkey is a Muslim country...
Actually, it has much more to do with Turkey's incredibly poor record on human rights. A few years ago during the Danish Presidency, the European Council issued a set of requirements called the Coppenhagen Criteria, which basically made up a laundry list of minor atrocities perpetrated/ignored by the Turkish government that would have to be resolved before the country was considered for EU membership.
It's really easy to make blanket statements about the European community's supposed "intolerance" for the Islamic minority, but the criticism is far from water tight. For example, the mentioned "head scarf" policy, which is being discussed in terms of its enforcement in state-run public schools, also forbids the wearing of "obvious" religious symbols like skull caps and large crucifixes.
Many Africans enter Spain legitimately - jumping through all the necessary hoops. This in itself is not problematic. The trouble starts when their work Visas start to expire and they realize that the EU's uber-flimsy border control allows them to leave Spain and bounce around other countries in continental Europe almost indefinitely. The proposed rail link would have little or no impact on this problem because it deals with a different set of borders.
Yeah, I hope you're wrong too, but my opinion remains the same. The numerous tariffs may not "legalize" piracy of music per se, but they will certainly make for a compelling legal argument if and when the Witch hunt makes its way to Canuckistan.
Frankly, I think this is another example of intelligent Canadian legislation. The tariffs on CDR media and (potentially) MP3 players may not be palatable to consumers, but they keep the dogs of the music industry at bay. Meanwhile, South of the border there is a dearth of similar legislation. What happens? The heads of the RIAA are weeping and gnashing their teeth, launching lawsuits against pre-pubescent downloaders.
Although I'm not terribly fond of either option, I'd much rather pay a bit of a premium if the alternative is getting lubed up and penetrated by American-style "Justice".
That said, I might be wrong. I know the RIAA suits have pressed charges on non-American downloaders. Can anyone confirm whether (or not) any Canadians have been taken to task?
Anyways, it's no big deal because I've already got my iPod:)
Yeah, my understanding of "antitrust" laws in the US (and Canada for that matter) is pretty sketchy; what I was trying to point out is that the situation you were suggesting with Apple co-operating with all the other manufacturers would be more similar to a cartel than a monopoly.
Slashdot Mirror
Oh dear. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before we're all drinking Chateau Neverland...
This has already been mentioned below, but I dug up the link and I think it deserves its own thread: LINK
One of the labs at my University has the infamous Tetris oscilloscopes. Hoo mamma, when I discovered that little "feature" I was one happy camper.
I'm reading this comment and envisioning an ankle-biting 12-year old who just finished Social Studies 9 and is itching to dive into politics. Sorry kiddo, but Paul Martin has nothing to do with these lawsuits.
Canada has had its own intellectual property laws for a long time and they are generally quite similar to those enforced in the US. Under the Canadian Copyright Act, as amended in 1998, the RCIA has every right to pursue legal action against individuals who provide access to content for which they do not own distribution rights.
Don't get me wrong, I'm just as upset about the RCIA as you are (and I'm no fan of Mr. Martin), but I think you need to hit the books a little harder before you start blindly hurling allegations. For one thing, the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of the US have very different jobs - they are in charge of different branches of government. There are plenty of reasons to accuse the Canadian PM of "fascism" (i.e. Ottawa's lack of accountability), but this isn't one of them.
(One more thing, Canuck to Canuck: if you want to be taken seriously, you should really learn how to use your apostrophes, especially when you're calling our neighbours to the South "stupid". They tend to carpet bomb in response to attacks like that.)
I've never been a fan of MS games, but wouldn't it make more sense for them to focus attention on cross-platform games that they would be able to market both for PCs and for their XBox system? Perhaps the second MMORPG mentioned in the article meets this critereon while the cancelled game doesn't.
I can wait for the paper trail to be counted instead of electronic voting giving me the result instantly without 100% reliability.
This is a compelling argument in favour of the electronic system; however, hand-counting introduces a whole different problem because it requires hands, which are generally attached to people. And people are assholes.
Since the Bush Vs. Gore in Florida issue has already come up many times, I'm going to use a different example: the Quebec sovereignity referendum in Canada during the 90s. To this day, accusations fly between the Bloq Quebecois (seperatists) and the Liberals (federalists) over the fact that several instances of ballot mishandling by BQ supporters went completely un-investigated.
Regardless of how elections are run, there are going to be problems ensuring that results are 100% accurate.
Although you're right, the journalist has buried the "no proof" statement deep in the article after making countless statements that do affirmatively link MyDoom to Linux (including the subtitle of the article).
I have a lot of respect for the BBC as a news source, but this is a fine example of poor, lazy journalism. Considering the fact that scores of readers don't make it past the first few paragraphs of any given article, it's also deceitful and misleading.
Is it any coincidence that only hours after this story was posted, Slashdot went down like an obedient date? I think not.
From the article: 69. Saruman enjoys the pipeweed of the Halflings (ROTK p.324). Jackson has Saruman tell Gandalf that his wits have been dulled by Halfling leaf as if he doesn't smoke it himself and, it might be added, even though there is pipeweed amongst the flotsam and jetsam of Isengard.
If I'm not mistaken, this line was actually lifted from Unfinished Tales, the rambling colletion of bits and pieces that Tokien never hammered into stories worthy of publication. I recall this line being spoken by Saruman to Gandalf in the presence of the other members of the Council of the Wise when they were meeting to discuss the matter of the Rings of Power.
From The Encyclopedia of Arda: When the Council debated the Rings of Power, Saruman claimed that his researches showed that the One Ring had been lost forever. It was later shown that he did not believe this, however, and was searching for it himself, having secretly rebelled against the Council.
Saruman was attempting to discredit Gandalf (they were in disagreement on this matter) by exposing his affinity for hobbits. The quotation was something like: "Your wits have been dulled by your love of the halflings' leaf."
I might be wrong about the timing, but I'm pretty sure I had read the line before I heard it delivered in FOTR. In the end, it ended up being one of my favourite lines :)
Perhaps the title should be "KFE" (King of Fucking Everything)... I have this title embossed on my bank card.
I assume 1 gigabit is 1 billion bytes, which works out to 1,000,000,000 / 8 = 125,000,000 bytes. That's actualy closer to 120 MEGA bytes. I'm no Gameboy expert, but that actually seems pretty high.
But by all means, go ahead and keep yawning.
As always, when dealing with exchange rates these equivalencies are relatively meaningless. What really matters is whether UK residents (for instance) are willing to pay twice as much per download. I remember travelling through the UK and being totally shocked that chocolate bars are around $2.25 CDN apiece, but they still seemed to sell.
In economic terms, if the market price of a good is higher in a given currency compared to the US dollar, that currency is overvalued with respect to the US dollar. In the opposite case (a la Canadian dollar) it is an indication of an undervalued currency.
Theoretically, I suppose Americans could simply buy all their mp3s from Canadian stores and save big, but I imagine there's some sort of rule in place that prevents them from doing so. And if there isn't, I'm sure it won't be long before there is.
An interesting corollary, for those who are interested in the economics of foreign exchange, is The Economist's Startbuck Tall Latte Index. Definitely worth a click.
If they want to up the ante, maybe they should consider using some of the Emperor's Waka Poetry (more syllables == more boring).
Does the DVD have a title? Where did you pick it up?
Funny comment, but FYI it's "hors d'oeuvres". It's a french phrase for appetizers that literally means "outside of work".
see here.
If anyone's intrigued by this idea but hasn't heard enough Warp tracks to know what's good, I would strongly recommend checking out "Come to Daddy" by Aphex Twin. It's only 8 tracks, so it should be pretty cheap.
"Selected Ambient Works" is also quite good, especially for those times when you want to listen to something subtle but your brother in law has borrowed your whale music CD. Seriously, this guy is very talented. And he drives a tank (no, it's not a joke link - just a strange domain).
Finally, I'm still waiting for the Bleep page to load up, so does anyone know if their artist's videos are alsofor sale? Squarepusher's "Come On My Selector" is my favourite video of all time.
Good: A Mighty Wind
Very funny movie by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy. Same "mock-u-mentary" vein as Best in Show, Waiting for Guffman and Spinal Tap. Indeed, the best part of the movie is a not-so-subtle nods to fans through the reunion of the boys from Tap in a folk trio. (For those of you who are fans - CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT THEY DID TO DEREK SMALLS!?)
Bad: Matrix Rehashed/Revolted
Dear God, these films were horrendous.
Okay, this is getting a little off-topic, but I just can't resist. Your whole post was LA this and LA that, blah blah blah - and I'm fine with that. You live in LA and you seem to like it. Bully for you.
BUT, your sig ("learn to swim") is a clever allusion to the Tool song AEnima that quite openly suggests the best possible fate for LA and the rest of California would be a giant earthquake - a sort of "societal enema" - that would result in the statuette-grubbing studio whores drowning in "Arizona Bay". I mean... the illustration on the inside of the jewel case was an optical trick that let you imagine what America would look like "sans-Calfornia".
Does anyone else see the irony here?
Obviously they're mail-order Maids-a-Milking.
Link
I really doubt the International Labour Organization would bother with a comprehensive study of discrimination against Morrocan migrant workers working in Spain if there weren't quite a few working there.
The fact is, much like migrant Palestinians working in Israli underwear factories, the Morrocans provide an endless and inexpensive labour force to the Spanish industry. The reason why you weren't able to get a work visa is that you're an American, which means they have to worry about the inevitable fact that you will piss and moan when they step all over your basic rights.
Remember, you're an American which means that you're FAR from average. Sometimes being the biggest and the strongest has its drawbacks.
It would connect the UK to Morocco. Gibraltar is British turf.
The EU keeps Turkey out of the EU, in large part because Turkey is a Muslim country...
Actually, it has much more to do with Turkey's incredibly poor record on human rights. A few years ago during the Danish Presidency, the European Council issued a set of requirements called the Coppenhagen Criteria, which basically made up a laundry list of minor atrocities perpetrated/ignored by the Turkish government that would have to be resolved before the country was considered for EU membership.
It's really easy to make blanket statements about the European community's supposed "intolerance" for the Islamic minority, but the criticism is far from water tight. For example, the mentioned "head scarf" policy, which is being discussed in terms of its enforcement in state-run public schools, also forbids the wearing of "obvious" religious symbols like skull caps and large crucifixes.
Many Africans enter Spain legitimately - jumping through all the necessary hoops. This in itself is not problematic. The trouble starts when their work Visas start to expire and they realize that the EU's uber-flimsy border control allows them to leave Spain and bounce around other countries in continental Europe almost indefinitely. The proposed rail link would have little or no impact on this problem because it deals with a different set of borders.
Yeah, I hope you're wrong too, but my opinion remains the same. The numerous tariffs may not "legalize" piracy of music per se, but they will certainly make for a compelling legal argument if and when the Witch hunt makes its way to Canuckistan.
The misspell of the word "response" tipped me off that something was awry.
And it's only later that the creatively-spelled "udpate" sneaks up on you.
Man oh man, these guys are smart enough to find and exploit security holes in Windows. When are they going to learn how to SPELL? Morons...
Frankly, I think this is another example of intelligent Canadian legislation. The tariffs on CDR media and (potentially) MP3 players may not be palatable to consumers, but they keep the dogs of the music industry at bay. Meanwhile, South of the border there is a dearth of similar legislation. What happens? The heads of the RIAA are weeping and gnashing their teeth, launching lawsuits against pre-pubescent downloaders.
Although I'm not terribly fond of either option, I'd much rather pay a bit of a premium if the alternative is getting lubed up and penetrated by American-style "Justice".
That said, I might be wrong. I know the RIAA suits have pressed charges on non-American downloaders. Can anyone confirm whether (or not) any Canadians have been taken to task?
Anyways, it's no big deal because I've already got my iPod :)
Yeah, my understanding of "antitrust" laws in the US (and Canada for that matter) is pretty sketchy; what I was trying to point out is that the situation you were suggesting with Apple co-operating with all the other manufacturers would be more similar to a cartel than a monopoly.
Also I was itchin' to make some cartel jokes.