I was in the music store just tonight in fact, lamenting over the unfortunate nature of today's music business. It's the same as it was ten years ago. Most of the CDs were priced at $15 - $18. There's no way in hell I'm going to fork out that kind of cash for a CD. Here's the important part - I only have music I've legally purchased. I have not, nor will I, engage in music pirating. Just because I refuse the offer made at the music store does not give me an inherent right to acquire it by other means. If this were the prevalent mindset, the music business would have been forced to change a long time ago- not because they're losing revenue to people stealing their music, but because people just aren't buying it at the going rate. If people want the market to work, they have to let it work.
That would suggest something that has nothing to do with Windows. Let's say an embedded version of Linux. These are extremely pared down with only the essentials. Add one more component to handle the counting, and there you have it. There's FAR less chance that something will go wrong with a setup like this. The fact that it's open source is icing on the cake, since it makes the counting process a bit more verifiable.
I think the problem is not too much capitalism, it is too little. Adam Smith's free markets have been replaced by an international neo-conservative monarchy and nobility.
I'm not sure I agree. I think there's plenty of capitalism, but I also think that capitalism is a lot like freedom - if you take it forgranted, you'll eventually get screwed. Participation in an capitalistic society is an active process, not a passive one. The passivity is born from laziness. Change only really seems to happen when something reaches the tipping point and enough people are being affected by a specific capitalistic influence. As an example, it is conceivable that the citizens of the US could have put the RIAA out of business a long time ago. But people still insist on giving them money (for the mediocre crap they produce, no less), which the RIAA then uses to continue to tightening the noose around copyright law and fair use.
There's a small contingency of people who see this...the rest are the same people that regularly buy from McDonald's, KFC, etc, and who have absolutely leveraged themselves to the hilt with credit, etc. They're part of McUSA, and they buy everything offers them a little bit of convenience or gratification.
Personally, I'd rather see a central artist's registry (there are some moves in that direction already with MySpace(eewwwww) and Facebook, but I'm talking about something that's completely accessible to anyone. download.com has a lot of music samples from various artists, but actually purchasing a CD with the music on it is very difficult sometimes - if one even exists. I'm talking about artists that aren't represented by RIAA or other large media company - the small guys that still do it for the love of the craft.
I agree. I don't see this as a war between distros as much as I see it as two competing alternatives that are both good. Ubuntu paved the way for the end-user experience, but that Redhat is now incorporating some of that same mindset into Fedora can't be bad thing. I can use either/or for whatever reason, and I can be reasonably assured that I won't be bogged down by arcane (by end user standards) configuration issues.
I'd like to think that's true, but alot, I'm afraid, depends on the culture of the company that acquired it. For example, I don't think there's any way in hell that Microsoft would have done much for Netscape - not because of IE, but because Microsoft just doesn't have the culture that would allow something like that to flourish. I'm guessing there are probably many other larger companies with a similar culture.
People who say it was lame are clueless. It was a perfect medium - the ragged edges of bricks lent themselves perfectly to the representation of an 8-bit, low-res video image. It was creative, and it was definitely a part of our geek heritage. So if you want to complain about it, feel free to STUFF IT!
Saddest thing is that a significant part of the cost of money (interest) has been going into the pockets of a VERY small number of people...but for what? It's the most pervasive and long-lived pyramid scheme in the history of the modern world. The Federal Reserve is nothing more than a contemporary version of a troll on a bridge, extracting money in exchange for economic participation.
This same kind of thing happened with HushMail recently. They changed their process to make it more convenient for users, but failed to adequately notify them of the potential consequences. The motto should always be TRUST NO ONE. Companies can always change their policies, or sell some interest to another party with a completely different agenda. Then you could very well be screwed.
They don't actually solve social problems, they merely talk about solving social problems, and then create even more problems with their idea of a solution. It's a form of job security, albeit a rather pathetic one.
This is one reason you haven't received a dime of my money. Hasn't hurt me a bit, because EVERYTHING you sell can be acquired from other places, and from what I've seen, often at better prices.
Right. There's a small little detail, though: The execs make the decisions that make the difference between making and losing millions of dollars.
That would only matter if the execs actually stood to lose something if things didn't pan out. That almost never happens these days. The execs get paid when they win, and they get paid even more when they lose. The entire system is quite backward. I can't think of any reason an executive shouldn't have to face the very same potential for unemployment and no extra compensation as the sales staff.
You're rationalizing that "there should be some way to...". No. There shouldn't be a "way to.." This shouldn't even be necessary. This shouldn't even be happening. We have an election coming up in 2008. If we elect a leader instead of a scum-sucking politician, this project will be tabled. Forever.
This is still not a bad thing, because the more the RIAA moves toward *completely* shackling their stable of artists, the more incentive artists will have to explore other means of distribution. I see the whole RIAA mess as a nasty case of co-dependency- hopefully one that artists will soon outgrow.
MS shareholders need to do something about the state of that company, otherwise they're just going to continue to piss money away and eventually find themselves just like IBM in the early 90's.
The issue has never been about spying on foreigners, or spying on foreigners. The issue is quite simply, that the government has taken it upon itself to begin spying on American citizens without due process or oversight. THAT one of the reasons that Qwest refused to grant the government access to its local switches.
This isn't a matter of opinion. This is a matter of obscuring or removing factual information portraying what actually happened. To lie about something factual is entirely different than offering an opinion. And the motive is obvious - to circumvent accountability.
The comparison of 'planting a flag' and 'creating something of value' is of questionable validity. Simply saying something is mine quite different than claiming ownership of, or certain rights to, something I created.
As the artist, if people were so inclined to use my creative works on their terms, I'd be well within my right to tell them to create their own culture. Artists have many reasons for pursuing the creative process, but I doubt that public ownership of their work is high on their list.
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I was in the music store just tonight in fact, lamenting over the unfortunate nature of today's music business. It's the same as it was ten years ago. Most of the CDs were priced at $15 - $18. There's no way in hell I'm going to fork out that kind of cash for a CD. Here's the important part - I only have music I've legally purchased. I have not, nor will I, engage in music pirating. Just because I refuse the offer made at the music store does not give me an inherent right to acquire it by other means. If this were the prevalent mindset, the music business would have been forced to change a long time ago- not because they're losing revenue to people stealing their music, but because people just aren't buying it at the going rate. If people want the market to work, they have to let it work.
That would suggest something that has nothing to do with Windows. Let's say an embedded version of Linux. These are extremely pared down with only the essentials. Add one more component to handle the counting, and there you have it. There's FAR less chance that something will go wrong with a setup like this. The fact that it's open source is icing on the cake, since it makes the counting process a bit more verifiable.
You make a good point.
I think the problem is not too much capitalism, it is too little. Adam Smith's free markets have been replaced by an international neo-conservative monarchy and nobility.
I'm not sure I agree. I think there's plenty of capitalism, but I also think that capitalism is a lot like freedom - if you take it forgranted, you'll eventually get screwed. Participation in an capitalistic society is an active process, not a passive one. The passivity is born from laziness. Change only really seems to happen when something reaches the tipping point and enough people are being affected by a specific capitalistic influence. As an example, it is conceivable that the citizens of the US could have put the RIAA out of business a long time ago. But people still insist on giving them money (for the mediocre crap they produce, no less), which the RIAA then uses to continue to tightening the noose around copyright law and fair use.
There's a small contingency of people who see this...the rest are the same people that regularly buy from McDonald's, KFC, etc, and who have absolutely leveraged themselves to the hilt with credit, etc. They're part of McUSA, and they buy everything offers them a little bit of convenience or gratification.
Personally, I'd rather see a central artist's registry (there are some moves in that direction already with MySpace(eewwwww) and Facebook, but I'm talking about something that's completely accessible to anyone. download.com has a lot of music samples from various artists, but actually purchasing a CD with the music on it is very difficult sometimes - if one even exists. I'm talking about artists that aren't represented by RIAA or other large media company - the small guys that still do it for the love of the craft.
I agree. I don't see this as a war between distros as much as I see it as two competing alternatives that are both good. Ubuntu paved the way for the end-user experience, but that Redhat is now incorporating some of that same mindset into Fedora can't be bad thing. I can use either/or for whatever reason, and I can be reasonably assured that I won't be bogged down by arcane (by end user standards) configuration issues.
Any other company would have built up Netscape
I'd like to think that's true, but alot, I'm afraid, depends on the culture of the company that acquired it. For example, I don't think there's any way in hell that Microsoft would have done much for Netscape - not because of IE, but because Microsoft just doesn't have the culture that would allow something like that to flourish. I'm guessing there are probably many other larger companies with a similar culture.
People who say it was lame are clueless. It was a perfect medium - the ragged edges of bricks lent themselves perfectly to the representation of an 8-bit, low-res video image. It was creative, and it was definitely a part of our geek heritage. So if you want to complain about it, feel free to STUFF IT!
Saddest thing is that a significant part of the cost of money (interest) has been going into the pockets of a VERY small number of people...but for what? It's the most pervasive and long-lived pyramid scheme in the history of the modern world. The Federal Reserve is nothing more than a contemporary version of a troll on a bridge, extracting money in exchange for economic participation.
Don't forget the beloved WTO - no telling how it could make the situation even more absurd that it already is.
This same kind of thing happened with HushMail recently. They changed their process to make it more convenient for users, but failed to adequately notify them of the potential consequences. The motto should always be TRUST NO ONE. Companies can always change their policies, or sell some interest to another party with a completely different agenda. Then you could very well be screwed.
I'd mod this up if I had points.
They don't actually solve social problems, they merely talk about solving social problems, and then create even more problems with their idea of a solution. It's a form of job security, albeit a rather pathetic one.
This is one reason you haven't received a dime of my money. Hasn't hurt me a bit, because EVERYTHING you sell can be acquired from other places, and from what I've seen, often at better prices.
That was pretty clever. It has "geek" written all over it, and for those that deserve the title, it is one to be held with honor.
Right. There's a small little detail, though: The execs make the decisions that make the difference between making and losing millions of dollars.
That would only matter if the execs actually stood to lose something if things didn't pan out. That almost never happens these days. The execs get paid when they win, and they get paid even more when they lose. The entire system is quite backward. I can't think of any reason an executive shouldn't have to face the very same potential for unemployment and no extra compensation as the sales staff.
You're rationalizing that "there should be some way to...". No. There shouldn't be a "way to.." This shouldn't even be necessary. This shouldn't even be happening. We have an election coming up in 2008. If we elect a leader instead of a scum-sucking politician, this project will be tabled. Forever.
This is still not a bad thing, because the more the RIAA moves toward *completely* shackling their stable of artists, the more incentive artists will have to explore other means of distribution. I see the whole RIAA mess as a nasty case of co-dependency- hopefully one that artists will soon outgrow.
Anyway, this has to be considered a significant offense for two reasons reasons
Do you ever get the feeling that you've been inadvertently redundunant?
MS shareholders need to do something about the state of that company, otherwise they're just going to continue to piss money away and eventually find themselves just like IBM in the early 90's.
And that's a problem?
I stand corrected - I hadn't read the parent post before I responded. My bad.
The issue has never been about spying on foreigners, or spying on foreigners. The issue is quite simply, that the government has taken it upon itself to begin spying on American citizens without due process or oversight. THAT one of the reasons that Qwest refused to grant the government access to its local switches.
This isn't a matter of opinion. This is a matter of obscuring or removing factual information portraying what actually happened. To lie about something factual is entirely different than offering an opinion. And the motive is obvious - to circumvent accountability.
The comparison of 'planting a flag' and 'creating something of value' is of questionable validity. Simply saying something is mine quite different than claiming ownership of, or certain rights to, something I created.
As the artist, if people were so inclined to use my creative works on their terms, I'd be well within my right to tell them to create their own culture. Artists have many reasons for pursuing the creative process, but I doubt that public ownership of their work is high on their list.
I'm using 2.4.1 on a PC running Windows. I repeated the steps again with the same results. Perhaps 2.4.2 fixed it.