I was having similar thoughts. Thanks for speaking my mind so clearly.
ALL social media sites are simply fads. There is not one that will stand the test of time. Facebook selling stock? Cool - Suckerburg really got one over on all the greedy fools with money to gamble. It certainly isn't going to last as long as MS, Apple, or Google. Facebook isn't the new IBM, or even Timex. Bars, pubs, and other social meeting places come and go. Facebook offers nothing truly special, unless they start serving free beer.
You and I have differed on some things in the past. But, on this one, all I can say is, the uninitiated simply cannot believe. I have problems with some of the things that the US does to other people - but we most certainly have our enemies.
I don't dismiss ANY stories of foreign penetration of our shores, or our airspace. If, and I say if, I were to gain real first hand information that positively put the lie to an incident, then I would dismiss it. Since this stuff doesn't happen where I can witness it - I can't possibly say whether Spetznaz came ashore or not. It is plausible. I've walked ashore in a couple of countries where I wasn't invited, and I didn't bother to look up the local constabulary to inform them that I was there. Why can't other people do the same? I'm not real special, certainly not super human or anything. If I can do it, anyone with balls can do it.
When I was in the Navy, I heard a bunch of stories that I've never been able to verify, or to debunk. Old sailors claim that there are several Soviet subs sunk off the coast of Cape Canaveral - now Cape Kennedy. I heard the stories from people that I was sure were full of crap - but I also heard the stories from people whom I believe are very credible.
Ehhh - if you don't have a "need to know" you are never going to get all the information.
It's just that thin veneer of civilization. A determined force can cripple the infrastructure, up close and personal, in pretty short order. You simply cannot secure all the infrastructure in this country. There are people who do little more than train themselves on methods to destroy stuff, and to kill people. Most nations maintain armies of men and women dedicated to that purpose. It shouldn't be surprising that not all people with a destructive bent are in the military.
It is noteworthy that only two men were involved here. A squad, or a platoon, or a company of men with a mission could really wreak havoc. At least these guys weren't intent on gaining physical access to a generating plant, where they may have killed any number of people.
I have said that Microsoft hurt the future of computer science. This particular instance, the AARD code, would be meaningless as an isolated instance. Cumulatively, Microsoft's actions have held science back.
Extraordinary evidence? There it is, all over the web. "The AARD code ran several functional tests on the underlying DOS that succeeded on MS-DOS and PC DOS, but resulted in an error message on competing disk operating systems such as DR-DOS" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AARD_code
I think you posted that same information, didn't you? Of course I'm not retracting any statement I have made. Because I lack documentation for frustrations I experienced more than 20 years ago, I should retract my statements? Are you nuts?
As for moderations - don't worry about them. I don't. Sometimes, the mod demons beat hell out of me. Stuff happens. As with Microsoft's actions, it's the cumulative effects that matter. You post intelligent posts, and your karma stays high. You've been stubborn in this thread, but you haven't been stupid.
I do have some strong anti-Microsoft sentiments. I've explained them. No other company on earth has inflicted as much frustration on me as Microsoft. How many operating systems are there, which you could install, then connect to the internet for updates, and be thoroughly infected with a half dozen viruses before the updates could download? That was much more frustrating than my experience with Windows 3.11 refusing to install on any but Microsoft's select, approved OS's. And, that too is documented on the internet!
I view MS with a jaundiced eye, you view MS through rose tinted glasses. I think my view is more realistic. We have agreed earlier that both Apple and Google do wrong. It seems to me that it is demonstrably true that MS has done far more wrong than either of the other two. Someone above argues that Google is more evil because they outed some Chinese dissidents. Here's a story about Microsoft doing the same thing, http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2004/feb/01/business.microsoft
Both companies have backed off of exposing dissidents, apparently because they suddenly realized how "real" that shit can get. I suppose that I might find a similar story on Apple if I searched.
Whatever - Happy New Year. Maybe we'll battle over another subject sometime soon.
Everything on the website is under the vendor's control. The listing, the price in the listing, the checkout, everything. The ONLY part of the process under the customer's control, is the decision to enter financial information. Just like any brick and mortar store, once the transaction is concluded, and the customer has a receipt in hand, the vendor is obligated to deliver the goods.
We've just had Black Friday, where damn near everything in the world was advertised at 50% to 80% off. With their bogus sales running like that, how is the customer to know that the store didn't mark the item up 600% so that he could then mark it down 80% and STILL make a huge profit? That is standard procedure today, after all.
And, if there WERE a problem with the checkout, then the vendor most certainly should have caught it before he shipped the items. He is still obligated to deliver them, at the price he charged - but if he caught his mistake before he shipped, he could at least negotiate with the customer. "Look, Pal, I made a serious mistake, and I sold this item so far below cost that my boss is going to fire me. Can we meet in the middle? No? How 'bout you pay for the shipping, and you'll still be way ahead of the ballgame! Alright - if that sounds good to you, I'll just charge another ten bucks to your card, and ship it out today!"
The vendor cannot arbitrarily cancel a sale, or arbitrarily add a charge to the sale. The customer has his receipt, the property is his. All you can do is beg him to meet you in the middle. And, doing that may well cost you a return customer.
A reference way back in the early '90's would have been good. It's going to be 2014 next week. I don't even have all those installation disks anymore. At this date, I can't remember exactly which versions of which operating systems I used. I variously used PC-DOS, TRS-DOS, DR-DOS, IBM-DOS, and MS-DOS. On everything except MS-DOS, I got a message telling me that Windows could only be installed on MS-DOS. And, in fact, I later got that message when I attempted to install Windows on MS-DOS 6.22. I did get Windows working on 6.22, but initially it didn't want to install.
I did recover (from an estate sale) various versions of Windows preceding 3.1 which were happy to install on all of the above. As I recall, I had Windows versions 1.2 and 2.6, and a partial set of 2.8 or 2.9 but I won't swear to those version numbers now.
What is certain, and what has been documented, is that MS did put that AARD code into it's products. If you've actually read up on it, you'll realize that Win3.1 is not the ONLY place it showed up. Win3.1 is the only place where I personally encountered it.
That late beta nonsense doesn't cut it. I personally tried to install Win 3.11 on top of non-Microsoft OS's - and always, it failed. Since I was not on the mailing list during Windows development, it's hard to believe that what I had in my hands was a "late beta".
You should re-read my posts. I've not set Google up as some savior - that is entirely your own nonsense there.
I've not put one single lie into my posts here. Not one. As bad as any of the other major players in the tech fields might be, MS makes them all look good. You, and most of the world, are happy to overlook all of MS sins, because they are so successful.
I know that MS has committed a lot of moral, ethical, as well as legal crimes. I judge MS as being worse than any of the other tech companies. You may judge differently, which is reasonable. But, you have no right to claim that I have lied - there is nothing in my posts above that is not factual, and documented. FUD against MS? Don't forget that MS is the MASTER of FUD.
First and foremost, the term of copyright protection is wrong. You want ten years, fifteen years, or twenty years? We can argue that forever, and you can make good points for any of those figures.
You want life of the author, plus? Totally frigging unreasonable. 75 years? Still unreasonable. 50 years? Well - that's at least within the realm of rationality.
Let us undo all the work done by Disney and Sonny Bono, let's get the copyright terms rolled back to something reasonable, then we can talk about any problems remaining.
Funny you should mention Internet Explorer. Where did that come from, anyway? It started life with the name of Mosaic, licensed by Spyglass. It didn't belong to Microsoft at all. But, MS liked it, and offered Spyglass a share of revenues if they would allow MS to distribute and use it with Windows.
"Spyglass, which licensed its browser to Microsoft in return for a percentage of each sale; Microsoft turned the browser into Internet Explorer and bundled it with Windows, giving it away to gain market share but effectively destroying any chance of Spyglass making money from the deal they had signed with Microsoft; Spyglass sued for deception and won a $8 million settlement.[62]"
I asked another individual today if they are paying attention to the NSA and Snowden. I have to ask you the same. Are you paying attention? If this particular law is passed, hundreds of thousands of us, maybe millions, will become convicted felons.
On the surface, your response looks reasonable. The factor that you've left out is, the corporations spend millions upon millions to brainwash the masses into believing that the corporate offerings are all there is.
More, the corporations actually have sent take down notices to block original content, posted by the owner. Intellectual Froglegs had an episode taken down, with his own song cited as infringing. The guy wrote the song, he sang the song, he used it in an episode that he produced, then he posted it to Youtube. Some corporate bitch told Youtube to take the episode down, because that song infringed on some imagined copyright.
ROFLMAO - now that you've got THAT out of your system, tell us how you REALLY feel. And, what is this obsession you have with Stallman's toe jam? You're warped dude. Warped.
And, how WOULD a somewhat normal person fuck himself with a few electrons? Maybe you'll make a video for us, and post a link here. Go for it.
Perhaps you have missed that whole saga of Edward Snowden and the NSA files. Maybe you would like to read more about the NSA's practices - practices which Google may resist, but they are powerless to stop.
I'm not real certain that I believe the privacy policy entirely, either. To reiterate the idea of my previous posts - I think Google is more honest than a lot of other big corporations, but they are not entirely trustworthy either.
First problem - not everyone has a fiberoptic cable coming into their homes. This is going to take days to download.
Second problem, no on can browse the file to see if he even wants it.
Torrents are usually made up of a directory, rather than a zip file which hides the contents. I might want to download entire groups of these ROMS, and leave other groups on the server where I found them. Or, I might have wanted to browse through, and only download a dozen, or a hundred of them.
I wasn't going to comment until I had looked things over. But, yeah, all there is to see, is that poorly packaged humongous frigging zip file. I guess you have to download the whole damned thing, then decide if there is anything that you really want. FFS, I haven't seen anything quite so stupid in a long time.
I'm sure that Vikingpower means Greece. The economy in Greece is really kicking off. Oh yeah, I have a really nice bridge for sale that would look great in your back yard!!
You're sure, huh? Maybe you haven't been reading any damned thing about corporate taxes. Or, maybe you've been reading but suffer some comprehension problem.
NONE OF THE MAJOR CORPORATIONS PAYS MORE THAN A PITTANCE OF THE TAXES DUE IN ANY NATION!!
I hope that is clear enough for you. When Google, or any other major player, has a million dollars in tax liability, they just shuffle numbers on ledgers, move some money around, and hide that liability wherever convenient - like Ireland.
Good God - don't encourage ANYONE to strengthen copyright law! Outrageous, draconian copyright law already inhibits artists. Real artists that is, not the media whores who sign those big corporate contracts.
So, Alexgieg - you are merely defending America's capitalistic approach to "culture", am I correct? Basically, if it doesn't make a heap of money for Hollywood executives and investors, then it's not really culture, right?
Sadly, America has lost a lot of culture in the past century, because of Hollywood. There was a time when an American citizen could be entertained by Russians, Slavs, Africans, Asians, Mexicans, or any other culture they might choose. Today? We've lost almost all of that. The only entertainment that has survived is that which corporate executives approve of. Entertainment which they have harnessed toward the goal of milking Americans of their money.
As a young boy, and as a young man, I remember being fascinated by the diversity that was obvious in my own hometown, and in the surrounding region. Today - cultural diversity seems to be about dead. Everyone, no matter their background, flocks to the cinema for their entertainment. They all listen to music for which they have paid - music approved by RIAA represented companies. What has happened to our folk music, and our folk lore?
Culture?
I really don't know much about French movies, or French music, or French culture in general. I'm not a student of any of the arts. If I were a student, maybe my opinion of French art would be lower than Hindi, or Chinese, or Russian. Maybe. I really don't know.
What I do know, without a doubt, is that the shit that Hollyweird puts out is truly that - shit. Bang-bang shootemups, often times with less plot than little children could offer. "Action thriller" is just about synonymous with "brain dead".
If California experienced an earthquake that swallowed Hollyweird and all of it's execs, along with all of it's major actors - mankind would have lost nothing.
I would much prefer to sample a little culture from places like France, than to be forced to watch another idiot action movie out of Hollyweird, thank you very much. Not that I intend to start studying any of the arts, mind you. But, I do enjoy a little entertainment now and then. There is nothing on the airwaves in the US that entertains me.
Embrace, extend, extinguish. Every end user on the planet has lost out due to Microsoft's greed. Netscape and Digital Research are only two names at the beginning of a long, long, LONG list.
"They didn't kill anyone,"
I already stated as much. Perhaps it is you who needs to get a grip.
Made which founders of which companies very rich? I'd have to do some searching, but I believe that Bill Gates bought Windows for mere hundreds of dollars.
There are very good reasons that Microsoft has lost litigation multiple times to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
I have already granted that Google does some evil shit. I rather like Google, but I'm not blind to the bad stuff they do. Microsoft, on the other hand, is guilty of just about every crime of which a business can be guilty of, short of murder. Gates is ruthless, and the company he founded shares that characteristic.
That AARD code I mentioned above - have you ever looked at it? A few lines that instruct Microsoft software to check for the underlying operating system on which it is to be installed. If any system fails to report that it is a Microsoft system, the software simply refuses to install. There was no good reason for that - it was just anti-competitive bullshit.
Perspective. I repeat part of what I stated above. Microsoft has done more to hinder computer science than either Google or Apple. I mean, they have actively blocked advancement in many lines of research. There are no really "clean" players up there in the stratosphere, but Microsoft is just plain dirty.
I will note that Google has pulled out of China. It seems that whatever evil Google has committed, they might have a conscience. Can you make any such claim for Microsoft? Please don't tell me about the Gates Foundation. I view that nonsense the same as I view the pyramids. AFTER have destroyed dozens of companies and thousands of careers, Gates wants to achieve some kind of immortality with his "charitable works". Screw Gates. I have more respect for Jobs, who remained a selfish egomaniac until his dying day. I have far more respect for those goofy kids who founded Google. They screw up, but they are far better people than Gates or Jobs, IMHO.
Slashdot Mirror
I was having similar thoughts. Thanks for speaking my mind so clearly.
ALL social media sites are simply fads. There is not one that will stand the test of time. Facebook selling stock? Cool - Suckerburg really got one over on all the greedy fools with money to gamble. It certainly isn't going to last as long as MS, Apple, or Google. Facebook isn't the new IBM, or even Timex. Bars, pubs, and other social meeting places come and go. Facebook offers nothing truly special, unless they start serving free beer.
You and I have differed on some things in the past. But, on this one, all I can say is, the uninitiated simply cannot believe. I have problems with some of the things that the US does to other people - but we most certainly have our enemies.
I don't dismiss ANY stories of foreign penetration of our shores, or our airspace. If, and I say if, I were to gain real first hand information that positively put the lie to an incident, then I would dismiss it. Since this stuff doesn't happen where I can witness it - I can't possibly say whether Spetznaz came ashore or not. It is plausible. I've walked ashore in a couple of countries where I wasn't invited, and I didn't bother to look up the local constabulary to inform them that I was there. Why can't other people do the same? I'm not real special, certainly not super human or anything. If I can do it, anyone with balls can do it.
When I was in the Navy, I heard a bunch of stories that I've never been able to verify, or to debunk. Old sailors claim that there are several Soviet subs sunk off the coast of Cape Canaveral - now Cape Kennedy. I heard the stories from people that I was sure were full of crap - but I also heard the stories from people whom I believe are very credible.
Ehhh - if you don't have a "need to know" you are never going to get all the information.
It's just that thin veneer of civilization. A determined force can cripple the infrastructure, up close and personal, in pretty short order. You simply cannot secure all the infrastructure in this country. There are people who do little more than train themselves on methods to destroy stuff, and to kill people. Most nations maintain armies of men and women dedicated to that purpose. It shouldn't be surprising that not all people with a destructive bent are in the military.
It is noteworthy that only two men were involved here. A squad, or a platoon, or a company of men with a mission could really wreak havoc. At least these guys weren't intent on gaining physical access to a generating plant, where they may have killed any number of people.
I have said that Microsoft hurt the future of computer science. This particular instance, the AARD code, would be meaningless as an isolated instance. Cumulatively, Microsoft's actions have held science back.
Extraordinary evidence? There it is, all over the web. "The AARD code ran several functional tests on the underlying DOS that succeeded on MS-DOS and PC DOS, but resulted in an error message on competing disk operating systems such as DR-DOS" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AARD_code
I think you posted that same information, didn't you? Of course I'm not retracting any statement I have made. Because I lack documentation for frustrations I experienced more than 20 years ago, I should retract my statements? Are you nuts?
As for moderations - don't worry about them. I don't. Sometimes, the mod demons beat hell out of me. Stuff happens. As with Microsoft's actions, it's the cumulative effects that matter. You post intelligent posts, and your karma stays high. You've been stubborn in this thread, but you haven't been stupid.
I do have some strong anti-Microsoft sentiments. I've explained them. No other company on earth has inflicted as much frustration on me as Microsoft. How many operating systems are there, which you could install, then connect to the internet for updates, and be thoroughly infected with a half dozen viruses before the updates could download? That was much more frustrating than my experience with Windows 3.11 refusing to install on any but Microsoft's select, approved OS's. And, that too is documented on the internet!
I view MS with a jaundiced eye, you view MS through rose tinted glasses. I think my view is more realistic. We have agreed earlier that both Apple and Google do wrong. It seems to me that it is demonstrably true that MS has done far more wrong than either of the other two. Someone above argues that Google is more evil because they outed some Chinese dissidents. Here's a story about Microsoft doing the same thing,
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2004/feb/01/business.microsoft
Both companies have backed off of exposing dissidents, apparently because they suddenly realized how "real" that shit can get. I suppose that I might find a similar story on Apple if I searched.
Whatever - Happy New Year. Maybe we'll battle over another subject sometime soon.
I don't believe so.
Everything on the website is under the vendor's control. The listing, the price in the listing, the checkout, everything. The ONLY part of the process under the customer's control, is the decision to enter financial information. Just like any brick and mortar store, once the transaction is concluded, and the customer has a receipt in hand, the vendor is obligated to deliver the goods.
We've just had Black Friday, where damn near everything in the world was advertised at 50% to 80% off. With their bogus sales running like that, how is the customer to know that the store didn't mark the item up 600% so that he could then mark it down 80% and STILL make a huge profit? That is standard procedure today, after all.
And, if there WERE a problem with the checkout, then the vendor most certainly should have caught it before he shipped the items. He is still obligated to deliver them, at the price he charged - but if he caught his mistake before he shipped, he could at least negotiate with the customer. "Look, Pal, I made a serious mistake, and I sold this item so far below cost that my boss is going to fire me. Can we meet in the middle? No? How 'bout you pay for the shipping, and you'll still be way ahead of the ballgame! Alright - if that sounds good to you, I'll just charge another ten bucks to your card, and ship it out today!"
The vendor cannot arbitrarily cancel a sale, or arbitrarily add a charge to the sale. The customer has his receipt, the property is his. All you can do is beg him to meet you in the middle. And, doing that may well cost you a return customer.
It's best if the vendor just swallows the loss.
Excellent point. Political correctness flat out denies any pride in your heritage, unless you are part of some select minority.
A reference way back in the early '90's would have been good. It's going to be 2014 next week. I don't even have all those installation disks anymore. At this date, I can't remember exactly which versions of which operating systems I used. I variously used PC-DOS, TRS-DOS, DR-DOS, IBM-DOS, and MS-DOS. On everything except MS-DOS, I got a message telling me that Windows could only be installed on MS-DOS. And, in fact, I later got that message when I attempted to install Windows on MS-DOS 6.22. I did get Windows working on 6.22, but initially it didn't want to install.
I did recover (from an estate sale) various versions of Windows preceding 3.1 which were happy to install on all of the above. As I recall, I had Windows versions 1.2 and 2.6, and a partial set of 2.8 or 2.9 but I won't swear to those version numbers now.
What is certain, and what has been documented, is that MS did put that AARD code into it's products. If you've actually read up on it, you'll realize that Win3.1 is not the ONLY place it showed up. Win3.1 is the only place where I personally encountered it.
Is that you, Nancy?
That late beta nonsense doesn't cut it. I personally tried to install Win 3.11 on top of non-Microsoft OS's - and always, it failed. Since I was not on the mailing list during Windows development, it's hard to believe that what I had in my hands was a "late beta".
You should re-read my posts. I've not set Google up as some savior - that is entirely your own nonsense there.
I've not put one single lie into my posts here. Not one. As bad as any of the other major players in the tech fields might be, MS makes them all look good. You, and most of the world, are happy to overlook all of MS sins, because they are so successful.
I know that MS has committed a lot of moral, ethical, as well as legal crimes. I judge MS as being worse than any of the other tech companies. You may judge differently, which is reasonable. But, you have no right to claim that I have lied - there is nothing in my posts above that is not factual, and documented. FUD against MS? Don't forget that MS is the MASTER of FUD.
First and foremost, the term of copyright protection is wrong. You want ten years, fifteen years, or twenty years? We can argue that forever, and you can make good points for any of those figures.
You want life of the author, plus? Totally frigging unreasonable. 75 years? Still unreasonable. 50 years? Well - that's at least within the realm of rationality.
Let us undo all the work done by Disney and Sonny Bono, let's get the copyright terms rolled back to something reasonable, then we can talk about any problems remaining.
Funny you should mention Internet Explorer. Where did that come from, anyway? It started life with the name of Mosaic, licensed by Spyglass. It didn't belong to Microsoft at all. But, MS liked it, and offered Spyglass a share of revenues if they would allow MS to distribute and use it with Windows.
"Spyglass, which licensed its browser to Microsoft in return for a percentage of each sale; Microsoft turned the browser into Internet Explorer and bundled it with Windows, giving it away to gain market share but effectively destroying any chance of Spyglass making money from the deal they had signed with Microsoft; Spyglass sued for deception and won a $8 million settlement.[62]"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_litigation
An internet that can't be tamed? Where might such a thing exist?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Intelligence_Sharing_and_Protection_Act
I asked another individual today if they are paying attention to the NSA and Snowden. I have to ask you the same. Are you paying attention? If this particular law is passed, hundreds of thousands of us, maybe millions, will become convicted felons.
On the surface, your response looks reasonable. The factor that you've left out is, the corporations spend millions upon millions to brainwash the masses into believing that the corporate offerings are all there is.
More, the corporations actually have sent take down notices to block original content, posted by the owner. Intellectual Froglegs had an episode taken down, with his own song cited as infringing. The guy wrote the song, he sang the song, he used it in an episode that he produced, then he posted it to Youtube. Some corporate bitch told Youtube to take the episode down, because that song infringed on some imagined copyright.
ROFLMAO - now that you've got THAT out of your system, tell us how you REALLY feel. And, what is this obsession you have with Stallman's toe jam? You're warped dude. Warped.
And, how WOULD a somewhat normal person fuck himself with a few electrons? Maybe you'll make a video for us, and post a link here. Go for it.
Perhaps you have missed that whole saga of Edward Snowden and the NSA files. Maybe you would like to read more about the NSA's practices - practices which Google may resist, but they are powerless to stop.
https://www.google.com/search?q=Does+the+NSA+reimburse+corporations+for+their+data%3F&oq=Does+the+NSA+reimburse+corporations+for+their+data%3F&aqs=chrome..69i57.16794j0j1&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
As usual, Google is your friend.
I'm not real certain that I believe the privacy policy entirely, either. To reiterate the idea of my previous posts - I think Google is more honest than a lot of other big corporations, but they are not entirely trustworthy either.
First problem - not everyone has a fiberoptic cable coming into their homes. This is going to take days to download.
Second problem, no on can browse the file to see if he even wants it.
Torrents are usually made up of a directory, rather than a zip file which hides the contents. I might want to download entire groups of these ROMS, and leave other groups on the server where I found them. Or, I might have wanted to browse through, and only download a dozen, or a hundred of them.
I wasn't going to comment until I had looked things over. But, yeah, all there is to see, is that poorly packaged humongous frigging zip file. I guess you have to download the whole damned thing, then decide if there is anything that you really want. FFS, I haven't seen anything quite so stupid in a long time.
I'm sure that Vikingpower means Greece. The economy in Greece is really kicking off. Oh yeah, I have a really nice bridge for sale that would look great in your back yard!!
You're sure, huh? Maybe you haven't been reading any damned thing about corporate taxes. Or, maybe you've been reading but suffer some comprehension problem.
NONE OF THE MAJOR CORPORATIONS PAYS MORE THAN A PITTANCE OF THE TAXES DUE IN ANY NATION!!
I hope that is clear enough for you. When Google, or any other major player, has a million dollars in tax liability, they just shuffle numbers on ledgers, move some money around, and hide that liability wherever convenient - like Ireland.
Google is your friend. Look up "tax haven".
Good God - don't encourage ANYONE to strengthen copyright law! Outrageous, draconian copyright law already inhibits artists. Real artists that is, not the media whores who sign those big corporate contracts.
So, Alexgieg - you are merely defending America's capitalistic approach to "culture", am I correct? Basically, if it doesn't make a heap of money for Hollywood executives and investors, then it's not really culture, right?
Sadly, America has lost a lot of culture in the past century, because of Hollywood. There was a time when an American citizen could be entertained by Russians, Slavs, Africans, Asians, Mexicans, or any other culture they might choose. Today? We've lost almost all of that. The only entertainment that has survived is that which corporate executives approve of. Entertainment which they have harnessed toward the goal of milking Americans of their money.
As a young boy, and as a young man, I remember being fascinated by the diversity that was obvious in my own hometown, and in the surrounding region. Today - cultural diversity seems to be about dead. Everyone, no matter their background, flocks to the cinema for their entertainment. They all listen to music for which they have paid - music approved by RIAA represented companies. What has happened to our folk music, and our folk lore?
Culture?
I really don't know much about French movies, or French music, or French culture in general. I'm not a student of any of the arts. If I were a student, maybe my opinion of French art would be lower than Hindi, or Chinese, or Russian. Maybe. I really don't know.
What I do know, without a doubt, is that the shit that Hollyweird puts out is truly that - shit. Bang-bang shootemups, often times with less plot than little children could offer. "Action thriller" is just about synonymous with "brain dead".
If California experienced an earthquake that swallowed Hollyweird and all of it's execs, along with all of it's major actors - mankind would have lost nothing.
I would much prefer to sample a little culture from places like France, than to be forced to watch another idiot action movie out of Hollyweird, thank you very much. Not that I intend to start studying any of the arts, mind you. But, I do enjoy a little entertainment now and then. There is nothing on the airwaves in the US that entertains me.
Infinite ignorance. What a concept. Can ignorance be truly infinite, or have we merely failed to measure the limits of ignorance?
"A few dodgy business practices"
There are pages and pages of those practices.
"Netscape and DRDOS lost out, big fucking whoop."
Embrace, extend, extinguish. Every end user on the planet has lost out due to Microsoft's greed. Netscape and Digital Research are only two names at the beginning of a long, long, LONG list.
"They didn't kill anyone,"
I already stated as much. Perhaps it is you who needs to get a grip.
Tell us - what is YOUR interest in Microsoft?
Made which founders of which companies very rich? I'd have to do some searching, but I believe that Bill Gates bought Windows for mere hundreds of dollars.
There are very good reasons that Microsoft has lost litigation multiple times to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.
I have already granted that Google does some evil shit. I rather like Google, but I'm not blind to the bad stuff they do. Microsoft, on the other hand, is guilty of just about every crime of which a business can be guilty of, short of murder. Gates is ruthless, and the company he founded shares that characteristic.
That AARD code I mentioned above - have you ever looked at it? A few lines that instruct Microsoft software to check for the underlying operating system on which it is to be installed. If any system fails to report that it is a Microsoft system, the software simply refuses to install. There was no good reason for that - it was just anti-competitive bullshit.
Perspective. I repeat part of what I stated above. Microsoft has done more to hinder computer science than either Google or Apple. I mean, they have actively blocked advancement in many lines of research. There are no really "clean" players up there in the stratosphere, but Microsoft is just plain dirty.
I will note that Google has pulled out of China. It seems that whatever evil Google has committed, they might have a conscience. Can you make any such claim for Microsoft? Please don't tell me about the Gates Foundation. I view that nonsense the same as I view the pyramids. AFTER have destroyed dozens of companies and thousands of careers, Gates wants to achieve some kind of immortality with his "charitable works". Screw Gates. I have more respect for Jobs, who remained a selfish egomaniac until his dying day. I have far more respect for those goofy kids who founded Google. They screw up, but they are far better people than Gates or Jobs, IMHO.