POINT: I don't consider treaties to be higher than the Supreme Law of the Land (Constitution) or the People (ultimate authority). They can be signed today and nullified ten years from now, if we so wish. When the Russian Federation took-over for the collapsed Sovyet Union, they said they would honor the treaties but they didn't have to. The new government could have just as easily nullified them as being "illegitimate acts" by a defunct government. Another example is when Japan walked-out of the League of Nations, nullified their treaties, and started building tons of battleships.
Ditto. I recently subscribed to Asimov's Science Fiction because I heard they were in bad shape (dropped below 15,000 subscribers). I enjoy short stories so I decided it was worthwhile to give them ~$30 a year to keep this literary genre alive. I'm supporting art for the sake of art, because I don't want to see it disappear.
But I feel absolutely no compunction to buy a Britney, Lady Gaga, or Black Eyed Peas CD. Maybe I'll pick-up their greatest hits CDs circa 2020, but that's about it. It's bubblegum, not art. I don't care how much RIAA browbeats me and others to go buy every single CD/song they ever produced. I refuse. I have that right.
But seriously...... the whole point of the DMCA was to protect third-party companies. If I upload an infringing video and Viacom complains, then youtube is expected to honor the request. BUT if I then file a motion to reinstate the video because it doesn't violate copyright (for example it's me singing my own song), Youtube is supposed to restore the video immediately.
From that point forward youtube is now held blameless as a neutral party. They followed the rules. Why RIAA would want youtube to be punished makes no logical sense, except in the mind of a bunch of greedy tyrants. I guess RIAA doesn't want youtube restoring videos of Me singing my own song..... they want all music production to be in *their* hands, not in the People's hands.
I'm getting tired of standards changing all the time. I just upgraded to a Mac, and it does not have a VGA connector. Only DVI. So my 3 VGA monitors are now worthless. And yes I know they have DVI-to-VGA adapters, which I'm using, but the picture doesn't look right. It isn't as clear as it used to be with my old computer (VGA).
Next I guess they'll change the standard again from DVI to this HD Base-T stuff? Or maybe phaseout S-video so I can no longer connect my VCR, DVR, or Playstation units? These constant upgrades are getting ridiculously expensive. I am of the opinion that (a) if it ain't broke don't fix it. DVI and HDMI works just fine and we don't need HD Base-T.
Or (b) maintain the old connectors so people can still use older equipment. Include new connectors but also keep the VGA and S-video connectors.
If you want to invest money, you're wasting it on cables. What you really need is a source that uses compressionless or lossless video. i.e. Like a CD or FLAC, but for movies. No more annoying macroblocking, or mosquitos, or other compression artifacts.
What you need, basically, is a copy of the original digital movie or TV show on a 5 terabyte disc or hard drive. THAT'S how you improve your picture in a dramatic fashion.
>>>Current cannot be "pushed". A device presents a load on an electrical circuit and will DRAW a certain amount of current depending on that load.
Hello. Electrical engineer here. What you just said is complete rubbish. A device does not "draw" current like a sucking vacuum. If devices could do that, we would not need power supplies or batteries. The devices would just draw the current from thin ain. The current is indeed "pushed" and the amount of push is called the voltage (measured across the terminals of the power supply or battery).
How you can have the audacity to correct someone who used the word "push", when said person was 100% correct is beyond me. What an anal-retentive asshole you must be. Like that guy Cliff Clavin on Cheers.
>>>ensures that our culture will endure and not be destroyed by bit rot.
Like when all the CGI to Babylon 5 was lost, or several Doctor Who #2 and #3 episodes destroyed, due to carelessness. Yes I agree..... our culture benefits when things are copied so that even if the original is gone, the copy can still be seen. That's how at least one Doctor Who was recovered - a Canadian made a copy on Betamax in the 70s and later donated it to the BBC. But alas the Babylon 5 CGI can never be recovered. Why? Because WB threw-out the hard drives.
So what is this guy supposed to do? Throw-out a perfectly good monitor and spend ~$300 to buy a new one? How convenient for the greedy bastards at Time0-Fucklign-Warner.
Damn. We really, really need to have a Pro-choice solution to cable. Have the state government revoke the monopoly, run 100-fiber bundles under all city streets, and then lease 1 fiber to 1 company at a time. Then we'll have choice: If Time-warner screws you, switch to Comcast or Cox or Cablevision or AppleTV or GoogleTV or Verizon or Mom&Pop Cable or whoever else you desire.
Okay I need to calm down. Talking about Ass... I mean corporations gets me a little riled up .
>>>>>I once spent an hour trying to figure out why the DVI output from my Time Warner Cable box would appear on my computer monitor for two seconds, then disappear. I finally realized it didn't "trust" my monitor and HDCP was the culprit. >> >>Time Warner technical support told me it must be my fault
And people wonder why I hate corporations and think their licenses should be revoked. They no longer give a fuck about the consumer, or delivering defective product, such that the consumer is forced to upgrade their equipment every 5 years just to keep-up with the Digital Rights Bullshit........ Sooooo I figure they no longer deserve to exist. Revoke their corporate license.
Not really. If you have a copper cable that works just fine transferring the HD signal from your Bluray to your TV, then that's all you need. Going out and buying a $100 gold-plated cable will not make digital bits any more "bittier". 1s and 0s are 1s and 0s, and you will see no improvement.
Yes you're right but at the same time, price-fixing ("pricing constraints") is not going to fix the problem. All it does is create shortages (because businessmen run-away from industries that lose money). See the Soviet Union and the rampant food shortages they had. The EU seems to be copying the same idea for the computer industry, and it won't work any better.
The computer industry is not exactly a free market, but then neither was the videotape or music industry (VHS, CD dominated) and things worked out okay for the consumer. They were not ripped off. Besides computers are becoming more free as Microsoft loses share (dropping below 90%) and alternative companies/browsers are chipping-away at Internet Explorer. Consumers have more computer choice now than they had in 1995 or 2000.
Plus the rise of the internet has provided a universal standard by which people communicate and do work. This sounds like a solution looking for a problem. It was already fixed by Nature (competition).
By 1995 Atari Computer Division was dead, and Commodore/Amiga was bankrupt. The Mac was also on shaky ground and nearly-bankrupt itself. The IBM PC with Windows was therefore the "safe" choice that everyone flocked to, and by 2000 had 97% share.
Today things are vastly different. Mac's been revitalized again thanks to Apple's ascendancy, and Linux is a viable alternative to Windows. Plus the operating system is no longer as important, because it's been eclipsed by the web browser as people's main tool, and we have tons of choices in that area.
Whatever. The point is I never once voted for George Duh Bush, so you can't place the blame on me. I thought he was an idiot from day one, and thought the other guy (Gore) was also a little kooky (invented the internet - riiiight). So I voted for neither of them.
Actually there's no paradox at all, when you move beyond first-order thinking. The first order would tell you to hate members of the KKK because they are intolerant of blacks and non-whites, but *second* and third order thinking tells you that even KKK members have a right to free speech, free expression, and free thought.
In other words I may not agree with the KKK, but I tolerate their right to exist as human beings "pursuing happiness" along whatever course they choose. The Supreme Court apparently agrees since it has frequently upheld the KKK Members' Constitutionally-protected rights to exist, assemble, and so on .
You are prejudging that the Indian Christians in this story are all dicks, just because a FEW american christians treated you poorly. That's just as wrong as prejudging that all Blacks or all Asians are thieves, just because you saw some getting arrested on the TV. Stop prejudging an entire group of people, just based on the acts of a few. That's what the KKK does and I know you are better than that.
>>>Why would I be tolerant of someone who does not repay the favor?
PREJUDICE. You are prejudging that the Indian Christians are all dicks, just because a FEW american christians treated you poorly. That's just as wrong as prejudging that all Blacks or all Asians are thieves, just because you saw some getting arrested on the tv.
Instead of being so convoluted, why not just simplify things and let guys marry guys, and gals marry gals. The end. I cannot think of any reason why marriage should only be restricted to guy and gal pairings.
>>>Maybe it's because gays just want to enjoy the same rights that you enjoy; whereas Muslims, Jews and Christians want to remove the rights they feel disagree with their beliefs.
Perhaps, but you have no indication that's what *these* Indian Christians are doing. You are committing Prejudice on a bunch of people you've never meant, and painting them all the same color ("crazies"). At this point the only fact we know is that these people don't want to have ID's, per their religious beliefs. I don't see what's so horrible about that, or why they should be insulted.
I'm not frothing at the mouth. I'm not even excited. I was just stating my view of the world in an unemotional fashion, the same way a Vulcan might observe that democracy is preferable to slavery. .
>>>puffing up his red-neck.
You have a great imagination but you really should layoff the sugar. I'm not a redneck and it isn't puffing.
At the time Microsoft was defending Windows 98, claiming their browser was integrated with it (which was true). Of course that OS was retired in 2001 (me was the last version). We now use a completely different OS called Windows NT 5.x (XP) or 6.x (Vista/Seven) so the old argument that IE is integrated no longer applies.
One nice thing about older programs is their compact size.
For example I have Word 97 open right now, and it's only consuming 5 megabytes. i.e. Not slowing down the system with memory swapping/drive thrashing. Similarly IE6 usually stays under 100 megabytes..... only a third as much as Firefox or Opera consume.
Netscape was the best browser you could buy up 'til AOL bought them out, and made the stupid decision to release Netscape 6 in 2001 (really just Firefox 0.6 beta). What a mess that was. But all the earlier Netscapes were superior to Internet Exploder. Overall my favorite browsers have been:
Mosaic Amiga Mosaic Netscape Firefox 1.0-present
I sometimes use Opera X 10.5 too, but there's something not quite "right" about that browser. It consumes a lot of memory (according to task manager) and sometimes freezes-up for no apparent reason. Plus the Opera Turbo feature often doesn't work (stops loading the page at 95%) which is annoying when you're on a slow connection.
I didn't waste the Homeland Security's time. They did that to themselves when they suddenly decided to do an illegal, without warrant, search of my car while I was on vacation. Maybe next time they'll learn to OBEY THE LAW and not commit illegal acts against American citizens.
>>>One of those responsibilities is to treat public servants with respect
I do. I admire police and soldiers..... right up to the point where they interrupt my pleasant California-to-Texas travel vacation and demand to see inside my trunk. They are violating the Supreme Law of the Land (no search without a warrant) and showing disrespect towards me, so I will not comply. I will still be polite when I say "No you may not search my trunk" but it will still be a "no"
Slashdot Mirror
"But we have treaties!" - Londo
"Words on a page. Ignore them." - Refa
POINT: I don't consider treaties to be higher than the Supreme Law of the Land (Constitution) or the People (ultimate authority). They can be signed today and nullified ten years from now, if we so wish. When the Russian Federation took-over for the collapsed Sovyet Union, they said they would honor the treaties but they didn't have to. The new government could have just as easily nullified them as being "illegitimate acts" by a defunct government. Another example is when Japan walked-out of the League of Nations, nullified their treaties, and started building tons of battleships.
>>>I feel that I'm supporting a deserving cause
Ditto. I recently subscribed to Asimov's Science Fiction because I heard they were in bad shape (dropped below 15,000 subscribers). I enjoy short stories so I decided it was worthwhile to give them ~$30 a year to keep this literary genre alive. I'm supporting art for the sake of art, because I don't want to see it disappear.
But I feel absolutely no compunction to buy a Britney, Lady Gaga, or Black Eyed Peas CD. Maybe I'll pick-up their greatest hits CDs circa 2020, but that's about it. It's bubblegum, not art. I don't care how much RIAA browbeats me and others to go buy every single CD/song they ever produced. I refuse. I have that right.
But seriously...... the whole point of the DMCA was to protect third-party companies. If I upload an infringing video and Viacom complains, then youtube is expected to honor the request. BUT if I then file a motion to reinstate the video because it doesn't violate copyright (for example it's me singing my own song), Youtube is supposed to restore the video immediately.
From that point forward youtube is now held blameless as a neutral party. They followed the rules. Why RIAA would want youtube to be punished makes no logical sense, except in the mind of a bunch of greedy tyrants. I guess RIAA doesn't want youtube restoring videos of Me singing my own song..... they want all music production to be in *their* hands, not in the People's hands.
"Well tough shit! It's OUR culture not yours so fuck off." - The People of these 50 United States
"eeep!" - RIAA runs away
I'm getting tired of standards changing all the time. I just upgraded to a Mac, and it does not have a VGA connector. Only DVI. So my 3 VGA monitors are now worthless. And yes I know they have DVI-to-VGA adapters, which I'm using, but the picture doesn't look right. It isn't as clear as it used to be with my old computer (VGA).
Next I guess they'll change the standard again from DVI to this HD Base-T stuff? Or maybe phaseout S-video so I can no longer connect my VCR, DVR, or Playstation units? These constant upgrades are getting ridiculously expensive. I am of the opinion that (a) if it ain't broke don't fix it. DVI and HDMI works just fine and we don't need HD Base-T.
Or (b) maintain the old connectors so people can still use older equipment. Include new connectors but also keep the VGA and S-video connectors.
If you want to invest money, you're wasting it on cables. What you really need is a source that uses compressionless or lossless video. i.e. Like a CD or FLAC, but for movies. No more annoying macroblocking, or mosquitos, or other compression artifacts.
What you need, basically, is a copy of the original digital movie or TV show on a 5 terabyte disc or hard drive. THAT'S how you improve your picture in a dramatic fashion.
>>>Current cannot be "pushed". A device presents a load on an electrical circuit and will DRAW a certain amount of current depending on that load.
Hello. Electrical engineer here. What you just said is complete rubbish. A device does not "draw" current like a sucking vacuum. If devices could do that, we would not need power supplies or batteries. The devices would just draw the current from thin ain. The current is indeed "pushed" and the amount of push is called the voltage (measured across the terminals of the power supply or battery).
How you can have the audacity to correct someone who used the word "push", when said person was 100% correct is beyond me. What an anal-retentive asshole you must be. Like that guy Cliff Clavin on Cheers.
>>>ensures that our culture will endure and not be destroyed by bit rot.
Like when all the CGI to Babylon 5 was lost, or several Doctor Who #2 and #3 episodes destroyed, due to carelessness. Yes I agree..... our culture benefits when things are copied so that even if the original is gone, the copy can still be seen. That's how at least one Doctor Who was recovered - a Canadian made a copy on Betamax in the 70s and later donated it to the BBC. But alas the Babylon 5 CGI can never be recovered. Why? Because WB threw-out the hard drives.
Bastards.
So what is this guy supposed to do? Throw-out a perfectly good monitor and spend ~$300 to buy a new one? How convenient for the greedy bastards at Time0-Fucklign-Warner.
Damn. We really, really need to have a Pro-choice solution to cable. Have the state government revoke the monopoly, run 100-fiber bundles under all city streets, and then lease 1 fiber to 1 company at a time. Then we'll have choice: If Time-warner screws you, switch to Comcast or Cox or Cablevision or AppleTV or GoogleTV or Verizon or Mom&Pop Cable or whoever else you desire.
Okay I need to calm down. Talking about Ass... I mean corporations gets me a little riled up
.
>>>>>I once spent an hour trying to figure out why the DVI output from my Time Warner Cable box would appear on my computer monitor for two seconds, then disappear. I finally realized it didn't "trust" my monitor and HDCP was the culprit.
>>
>>Time Warner technical support told me it must be my fault
And people wonder why I hate corporations and think their licenses should be revoked. They no longer give a fuck about the consumer, or delivering defective product, such that the consumer is forced to upgrade their equipment every 5 years just to keep-up with the Digital Rights Bullshit........ Sooooo I figure they no longer deserve to exist. Revoke their corporate license.
Not really. If you have a copper cable that works just fine transferring the HD signal from your Bluray to your TV, then that's all you need. Going out and buying a $100 gold-plated cable will not make digital bits any more "bittier". 1s and 0s are 1s and 0s, and you will see no improvement.
Yes you're right but at the same time, price-fixing ("pricing constraints") is not going to fix the problem. All it does is create shortages (because businessmen run-away from industries that lose money). See the Soviet Union and the rampant food shortages they had. The EU seems to be copying the same idea for the computer industry, and it won't work any better.
"Former Soviet apparatchiks feel at home in the 'Yevropeyskiy Soyuz' (EU in russian)"
EU MEP Daniel Hannan - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl-amBxz-to
The computer industry is not exactly a free market, but then neither was the videotape or music industry (VHS, CD dominated) and things worked out okay for the consumer. They were not ripped off. Besides computers are becoming more free as Microsoft loses share (dropping below 90%) and alternative companies/browsers are chipping-away at Internet Explorer. Consumers have more computer choice now than they had in 1995 or 2000.
Plus the rise of the internet has provided a universal standard by which people communicate and do work.
This sounds like a solution looking for a problem. It was already fixed by Nature (competition).
By 1995 Atari Computer Division was dead, and Commodore/Amiga was bankrupt. The Mac was also on shaky ground and nearly-bankrupt itself. The IBM PC with Windows was therefore the "safe" choice that everyone flocked to, and by 2000 had 97% share.
Today things are vastly different. Mac's been revitalized again thanks to Apple's ascendancy, and Linux is a viable alternative to Windows. Plus the operating system is no longer as important, because it's been eclipsed by the web browser as people's main tool, and we have tons of choices in that area.
Whatever. The point is I never once voted for George Duh Bush, so you can't place the blame on me. I thought he was an idiot from day one, and thought the other guy (Gore) was also a little kooky (invented the internet - riiiight). So I voted for neither of them.
Similarly you can't blame me for Obama either
Actually there's no paradox at all, when you move beyond first-order thinking. The first order would tell you to hate members of the KKK because they are intolerant of blacks and non-whites, but *second* and third order thinking tells you that even KKK members have a right to free speech, free expression, and free thought.
In other words I may not agree with the KKK, but I tolerate their right to exist as human beings "pursuing happiness" along whatever course they choose. The Supreme Court apparently agrees since it has frequently upheld the KKK Members' Constitutionally-protected rights to exist, assemble, and so on
.
You sir are PREJUDICED.
You are prejudging that the Indian Christians in this story are all dicks, just because a FEW american christians treated you poorly. That's just as wrong as prejudging that all Blacks or all Asians are thieves, just because you saw some getting arrested on the TV. Stop prejudging an entire group of people, just based on the acts of a few. That's what the KKK does and I know you are better than that.
>>>Why would I be tolerant of someone who does not repay the favor?
PREJUDICE. You are prejudging that the Indian Christians are all dicks, just because a FEW american christians treated you poorly. That's just as wrong as prejudging that all Blacks or all Asians are thieves, just because you saw some getting arrested on the tv.
Instead of being so convoluted, why not just simplify things and let guys marry guys, and gals marry gals. The end. I cannot think of any reason why marriage should only be restricted to guy and gal pairings.
>>>Maybe it's because gays just want to enjoy the same rights that you enjoy; whereas Muslims, Jews and Christians want to remove the rights they feel disagree with their beliefs.
Perhaps, but you have no indication that's what *these* Indian Christians are doing. You are committing Prejudice on a bunch of people you've never meant, and painting them all the same color ("crazies"). At this point the only fact we know is that these people don't want to have ID's, per their religious beliefs. I don't see what's so horrible about that, or why they should be insulted.
>>>frotting at the mouth
I'm not frothing at the mouth. I'm not even excited. I was just stating my view of the world in an unemotional fashion, the same way a Vulcan might observe that democracy is preferable to slavery.
.
>>>puffing up his red-neck.
You have a great imagination but you really should layoff the sugar. I'm not a redneck and it isn't puffing.
Good question.
At the time Microsoft was defending Windows 98, claiming their browser was integrated with it (which was true). Of course that OS was retired in 2001 (me was the last version). We now use a completely different OS called Windows NT 5.x (XP) or 6.x (Vista/Seven) so the old argument that IE is integrated no longer applies.
One nice thing about older programs is their compact size.
For example I have Word 97 open right now, and it's only consuming 5 megabytes. i.e. Not slowing down the system with memory swapping/drive thrashing. Similarly IE6 usually stays under 100 megabytes..... only a third as much as Firefox or Opera consume.
Netscape was the best browser you could buy up 'til AOL bought them out, and made the stupid decision to release Netscape 6 in 2001 (really just Firefox 0.6 beta). What a mess that was. But all the earlier Netscapes were superior to Internet Exploder. Overall my favorite browsers have been:
Mosaic Amiga
Mosaic
Netscape
Firefox 1.0-present
I sometimes use Opera X 10.5 too, but there's something not quite "right" about that browser. It consumes a lot of memory (according to task manager) and sometimes freezes-up for no apparent reason. Plus the Opera Turbo feature often doesn't work (stops loading the page at 95%) which is annoying when you're on a slow connection.
>>>Wasting police time is a matter of principle?
I didn't waste the Homeland Security's time. They did that to themselves when they suddenly decided to do an illegal, without warrant, search of my car while I was on vacation. Maybe next time they'll learn to OBEY THE LAW and not commit illegal acts against American citizens.
>>>One of those responsibilities is to treat public servants with respect
I do. I admire police and soldiers..... right up to the point where they interrupt my pleasant California-to-Texas travel vacation and demand to see inside my trunk. They are violating the Supreme Law of the Land (no search without a warrant) and showing disrespect towards me, so I will not comply. I will still be polite when I say "No you may not search my trunk" but it will still be a "no"