I use a Firefox Add-on called http://www.customizegoogle.com/ which blocks some of the methods Google use to profile users. It can also block Google ads (which I never click on anyway).
I wonder if Google hasn't realized their vulnerability in not controlling the browser space. I'm guessing there's no room for CustomizeGoogle in their vision of the future?
And for years, we the public have had our rights progressively eroded. Well-monied rights holders throw money at congress who turn around and keep extending their copyright. This reached an artform in the "Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act", otherwise known as the "Mickey Mouse Copyright Act". Yet Disney has quite happily argued against this when it suits them. http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,17327,00.html
And then there was that DRM debacle... What's worst is countries like Australia spinelessly accepted the DRM laws as their own (and US patents being enforcable in Australia) all for a political photo opportunity with George W. Bush. In this way, these execessive new laws are spreading all over the world.
And here we have Universities teaching one side of the Great Copyright Rights Grab.
Why aren't they educating their students about both sides, instead of brainfeeding them RIAA propaganda?
Bottom line is: Congress doesn't work for you. It works for these guys. I don't see Congress ever saying no to MPAA slush funds, and treating IP the way the Constitution intended it too. So to hell with Congress and the MPAAFIA: Stupid Laws are made to be broken. I say torrent freely and torrent often. It's our very own digital tea party.
Despite the funny title, it's not that useful. The author says a lot of blatantly obvious stuff, and much of it seems to be stuff he's *thought about* that might work, not stuff he actually *did himself*.
So to save you time here's the conclusion: Don't try and compete with India on price. Find an area you can specialize in where they absolutely need you on site or its a bleeding edge tech that's yet to appear in India. Emphasize quality: At $50 p/h you are still a better deal than a $10 p/h coder in a distant land if you are going to do a better job.
I've a buddy who outsources his coders - he has a few good one he keeps - but he says most of them are a complete waste of time even talking to. Even with the ones he keeps he knows when they slack off he can tell but there's nothing he can do - he doesn't want to say anything that'll upset them because at that distance he has very little control. Despite all that he still uses them, but he does get very tired of the drawbacks.
The only reason the Star Wars Battlefront game was so popular was that you got to shoot Ewoks and Gunguns. Personally I get on the speeder bike and run a minimum fifty the little rats over a gane. Oooopeeedeee!
In the early days Lucas had people helping him with the art, story and scripts including his wife. He parted ways with these people, losing excellent screenwriter Kasdan, director Kershner and producer Kurtz, the last two over money - Lucas wanted to make the movies on the cheap and those guys cared about quality. I don't think he ever realized how important these people were to the vision. He just assumed he was a genius and he didn't need them. He was wrong.
Recommend you read SecretHistoryOfStarWars.com - Bring Tissues:(
According to TFA Lucas had little to do with the Tartakovsky series, but with this one "The early plots were then hashed out by Henry and me. We would take those ideas back to George and he'd get us feedback and move things around, teach us if the idea worked within the Star Wars universe or not. Eventually the story ideas were driven more and more by George because he became so excited about the project. He started coming to us with a bunch of stories he wanted to tell, and we worked off his outlines after that." At that point, the project was DOOMED.
The smartest thing Lucas ever did was letting a real writer+screen writer+director do Empire. Same with Tartakovsky. Lucas needs to learn to get out of the way and professionals handle the stuff he is by his own admission bad at. Of course Lucas says he doesn't listen to his critics, so don't expect any changes.:-|
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I use a Firefox Add-on called http://www.customizegoogle.com/ which blocks some of the methods Google use to profile users. It can also block Google ads (which I never click on anyway). I wonder if Google hasn't realized their vulnerability in not controlling the browser space. I'm guessing there's no room for CustomizeGoogle in their vision of the future?
If only there was a way for information to spread without having to be transmitted through television...
Here we see Hollywood studios regularly rob, cheat and steal from the people that work for them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2001/aug/31/artsfeatures
Here companies like News Limited trick the public into surrendering their copyright, giving them massive royalty-free photo libraries, all for the "chance of winning an iPod".
http://blogs.smh.com.au/photographers/archives/2008/07/read_the_fine_print.html
Orson Scott Card wrote this good piece on the hipocracy of the RIAA:
http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2003-09-07-1.html
http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2003-09-14-1.html
And for years, we the public have had our rights progressively eroded. Well-monied rights holders throw money at congress who turn around and keep extending their copyright. This reached an artform in the "Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act", otherwise known as the "Mickey Mouse Copyright Act". Yet Disney has quite happily argued against this when it suits them.
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,17327,00.html
Well, eat this Disney: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mickey22-2008aug22,0,3228580,full.story
And then there was that DRM debacle... What's worst is countries like Australia spinelessly accepted the DRM laws as their own (and US patents being enforcable in Australia) all for a political photo opportunity with George W. Bush. In this way, these execessive new laws are spreading all over the world. And here we have Universities teaching one side of the Great Copyright Rights Grab. Why aren't they educating their students about both sides, instead of brainfeeding them RIAA propaganda?
Bottom line is: Congress doesn't work for you. It works for these guys. I don't see Congress ever saying no to MPAA slush funds, and treating IP the way the Constitution intended it too. So to hell with Congress and the MPAAFIA: Stupid Laws are made to be broken. I say torrent freely and torrent often. It's our very own digital tea party.
Let's see: Microsoft hires a comedian past his prime from a canceled-show to sell a joke of an operating system that no one wants.
This is easy to fix Microsoft, and for much cheaper than $300M. Offer XP alongside Vista and let the users choose what they want.
Despite the funny title, it's not that useful. The author says a lot of blatantly obvious stuff, and much of it seems to be stuff he's *thought about* that might work, not stuff he actually *did himself*. So to save you time here's the conclusion: Don't try and compete with India on price. Find an area you can specialize in where they absolutely need you on site or its a bleeding edge tech that's yet to appear in India. Emphasize quality: At $50 p/h you are still a better deal than a $10 p/h coder in a distant land if you are going to do a better job. I've a buddy who outsources his coders - he has a few good one he keeps - but he says most of them are a complete waste of time even talking to. Even with the ones he keeps he knows when they slack off he can tell but there's nothing he can do - he doesn't want to say anything that'll upset them because at that distance he has very little control. Despite all that he still uses them, but he does get very tired of the drawbacks.
There's an exception for Political Advertising?
The only reason the Star Wars Battlefront game was so popular was that you got to shoot Ewoks and Gunguns. Personally I get on the speeder bike and run a minimum fifty the little rats over a gane. Oooopeeedeee!
No. It's true. http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/08/12/is-zero-the-hutt-the-first-gay-alien-in-star-wars-history/
In the early days Lucas had people helping him with the art, story and scripts including his wife. He parted ways with these people, losing excellent screenwriter Kasdan, director Kershner and producer Kurtz, the last two over money - Lucas wanted to make the movies on the cheap and those guys cared about quality. I don't think he ever realized how important these people were to the vision. He just assumed he was a genius and he didn't need them. He was wrong.
Recommend you read SecretHistoryOfStarWars.com - Bring Tissues :(
According to TFA Lucas had little to do with the Tartakovsky series, but with this one "The early plots were then hashed out by Henry and me. We would take those ideas back to George and he'd get us feedback and move things around, teach us if the idea worked within the Star Wars universe or not. Eventually the story ideas were driven more and more by George because he became so excited about the project. He started coming to us with a bunch of stories he wanted to tell, and we worked off his outlines after that." At that point, the project was DOOMED.
The smartest thing Lucas ever did was letting a real writer+screen writer+director do Empire. Same with Tartakovsky. Lucas needs to learn to get out of the way and professionals handle the stuff he is by his own admission bad at. Of course Lucas says he doesn't listen to his critics, so don't expect any changes. :-|