We did this at MP3.com back when it was the "real" MP3.com.
Lemme see if I remember correctly... We had a set amount of money to pay out each month. and we divided it based on some formula based on number of plays. Some of our top artists actually made a decent amount of money.
BUT.
We then had to have several people who's full time job was to catch cheaters. They used to tell me about all the various ways people would cheat. As you might imagine, people can get very ingenious when money is involved.
I'm sure a company like YouTube (google) has the staff to handle it, but my question is: is it worth the headaches? The points other posters brought up about copyright infringement and posting other people's videos are already a problem at YouTube. These are problems we didn't really have at MP3.com (our copyright infringement problems were us being stupid, not our users:) Paying users for plays is going to make these problems much worse.
--geekd
Re:Smells like a hoax...
on
UFOs In the News
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· Score: 4, Funny
That's exactly the proof we need - a blurry lo-res camera phone pic! Then no one will doubt the existence of our alien overlords.
This is what I'm talking about. You had "managers". Go work at a startup and the boss is THE BOSS. The guy who's money is funding all this. The guy who's ass is on the line if it all fails.
"Managers" are why I'll never work for a big company again.
I must say, tho, when I was at MP3.com, my immediate manager was awesome.
Look people. If you are a programmer, and you have skills, you can work for whoever you want (assuming you're in a major city). Pick your employer carefully, be choosy, and value your work environment more than your paycheck. You'll be way happier in the long run.
I'll never work for someone who is dumb enough to listen to crap like that.
So, let all the big companys buy into the bullsh*t. I'll continue to work for small startups, and we'll continue to out-develop and out maneuver the big dumb lumbering brutes.
Once a company get over 100 people, it's time to leave.
If you have a question about how the app you are writing is supposed to work, and you can't just walk over and ask 1 person, and have them make a decision, then it's time to leave.
Once developers are not allowed to innovate, it's time to leave.
There will always be startups. The pay may go up and down depending on the VC market at the time, but they will always be there, and they will always be better, more challenging, more fun and more rewarding places to work that some big company where the boss listens to Gartner.
Dude, didn't you watch History Channel last night? The Maya say the world will end in 2012, so we'll never see Vista. (heh, never see the vista. Now that's a vista wasted)
The the second linked news article, this gem appears:
Mark MacKay, owner of the WOW Gold Price List website, has condemned this practice in a statement (where "this practice" is discriminating against non-english speakers)
This guy, Mark MacKay, runs a web site dedicated to gold farming! Not only that, but on HIS WEBSITE he spreads this "chinese are gold farmers" "myth" with this definition:
Gold Farmers - Characters (typically played by a group so they can be online 24/7) that do nothing but farm money and high-value vendor trash in order to sell gold to other players for real-world money. The typical usage is "Chinese Gold Farmer", since many of these characters are/were run by companies in China and other parts of Asia.
Exactly what I was going to say. Talk sounds fine on Sirius, but music sounds like crap. Not even 128K, It sounds more like 64K mp3s. Lots of high end warble and other compression artifacts.
In fact, now that "Hair Nation" has stopped playing the same songs every hour, the sound quality is my biggest complaint for Sirius, followed by reception drop outs.
If it wasn't for Howard and the NFL, I would not have Sat. radio.
He didn't say "rotating your screen is impossible", he said "rotating your screen is very difficult." I concur. I spent an hour or two trying to figure it out a few weeks ago before giving up.
despite sending my resume for every IT opening located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, that I can find on CareerBuilder and Monster, I can't even get a ******* interview
You live in Indiana.
I live in Southern California, and I get email from recruiters almost every day.
Re:Some people take things WAY too seriously.
on
Webcomics Dissected
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· Score: 1
I get what your saying man.
I've always been easily amused by what's in plain sight. I've never really felt the need or desire to to dig beneath the surface. I just take things at face value and either like 'em or not.
I do feel that there are some things that are better enjoyed in a simple, not analytical way. Humor comics, punk rock, action movies. Start to go too deep and it's not fun anymore.
However, I recognise that just because that works for me, doesn't mean others might not see it that way.
Honestly, I just saw a new topic on/. that only had a few comments so far, and saw that I could get a "page 1" header post on it (assuming I got modded up) if I acted quickly, and went for it.:)
It's still my honest opinion, though, as is your comment, and really, what more can we ask of each other?
-geekd
Some people take things WAY too seriously.
on
Webcomics Dissected
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
I will never understand the critic mentality. And by that I mean the kind of person that takes a comic strip and totally dissects it so far down to detail that the author is even like "whoa!"
It's a comic. It's funny. Ha ha. It's not a "War & Peace" or "Dante's Inferno". There's only so much thought that goes into these things.
Kurtz from PVP is kind of making that point with his strip today.
Just enjoy the funny drawings, people. You don't have to invent hidden meanings and motives behind them.
artist -> art -> marketing/advertising -> distribution -> retailer -> listener
Quite true.
I am an "independent musician". I distibute my music over the web. I know many, many other musicians who do so also.
Most musicians I know are quite good at the art part, and quite bad/clueless at the marketing part (myself included). Marketing is mostly salesmanship. Musicians, for the most part, are not salesmen. Mostly, we dislike salesmen.
If you look at sucessfull bands that came from the indie scene, either they were good at marketing, or had someone on their side that was.
Marketing is phone calls, footwork, contacts, etc. We'd rather smoke weed and write songs.:)
Slashdot Mirror
Especially because she looked like a gaunt ghoul. Really, she was scary looking.
I have "some rights".
I ain't got much, but I have "some rights"
(still, in the USA)
Now, where did I put my gun?
-geekd
Like the old saying: "Never assume evil when simple incompetence will suffice"
evil is hard, and actually rare. Incompetence is easy and prevalent.
-gekd
We did this at MP3.com back when it was the "real" MP3.com.
:) Paying users for plays is going to make these problems much worse.
Lemme see if I remember correctly... We had a set amount of money to pay out each month. and we divided it based on some formula based on number of plays. Some of our top artists actually made a decent amount of money.
BUT.
We then had to have several people who's full time job was to catch cheaters. They used to tell me about all the various ways people would cheat. As you might imagine, people can get very ingenious when money is involved.
I'm sure a company like YouTube (google) has the staff to handle it, but my question is: is it worth the headaches? The points other posters brought up about copyright infringement and posting other people's videos are already a problem at YouTube. These are problems we didn't really have at MP3.com (our copyright infringement problems were us being stupid, not our users
--geekd
That's exactly the proof we need - a blurry lo-res camera phone pic! Then no one will doubt the existence of our alien overlords.
This is what I'm talking about. You had "managers". Go work at a startup and the boss is THE BOSS. The guy who's money is funding all this. The guy who's ass is on the line if it all fails.
"Managers" are why I'll never work for a big company again.
I must say, tho, when I was at MP3.com, my immediate manager was awesome.
Look people. If you are a programmer, and you have skills, you can work for whoever you want (assuming you're in a major city). Pick your employer carefully, be choosy, and value your work environment more than your paycheck. You'll be way happier in the long run.
-geekd
Smart bosses DO exist. I'm sorry you've never found one.
I'll never work for someone who is dumb enough to listen to crap like that.
So, let all the big companys buy into the bullsh*t. I'll continue to work for small startups, and we'll continue to out-develop and out maneuver the big dumb lumbering brutes.
Once a company get over 100 people, it's time to leave.
If you have a question about how the app you are writing is supposed to work, and you can't just walk over and ask 1 person, and have them make a decision, then it's time to leave.
Once developers are not allowed to innovate, it's time to leave.
There will always be startups. The pay may go up and down depending on the VC market at the time, but they will always be there, and they will always be better, more challenging, more fun and more rewarding places to work that some big company where the boss listens to Gartner.
-geekd
And then get sued by MS, and have to change the kids name to Linspire.
Maybe when Vista comes out (circa 2020 AD)...
Dude, didn't you watch History Channel last night? The Maya say the world will end in 2012, so we'll never see Vista. (heh, never see the vista. Now that's a vista wasted)
Has any one played with or written anything for the GP2X? What do you think?
I like playing and writing games. I think I might get one.
-geekd
So, if you are actually living outside of the USA, the UK or Japan all you get are toy sites with usually clunky interfaces. Go Web 2.0. Rah rah rah.
There are people outside of the US, UK and Japan? I thought that was the mutant zone.
(I'm JOKING, PEOPLE! I've been to the mutant zone, the people seem normal enough. And Absinthe is legal. They use it to keep the mutations in check.)
it did have a nice big back seat (wink, wink), which produced a lot more fun than any Sony equipment
you are obviously not slashdot's target audience.
Hell, by 2007, MS will be dealing with production shortages on the XBox 720.
He says customers have been conditioned to buy software from vendors and their approved partners.
Who would have thought there'd be sheep in New Zealand?
Seriously, if they want to waste their money, I guess it's good for me. Less competition.
The the second linked news article, this gem appears:
Mark MacKay, owner of the WOW Gold Price List website, has condemned this practice in a statement (where "this practice" is discriminating against non-english speakers)
This guy, Mark MacKay, runs a web site dedicated to gold farming! Not only that, but on HIS WEBSITE he spreads this "chinese are gold farmers" "myth" with this definition:
Gold Farmers - Characters (typically played by a group so they can be online 24/7) that do nothing but farm money and high-value vendor trash in order to sell gold to other players for real-world money. The typical usage is "Chinese Gold Farmer", since many of these characters are/were run by companies in China and other parts of Asia.
This Mark MacKay guy is full of crap.
Exactly what I was going to say. Talk sounds fine on Sirius, but music sounds like crap. Not even 128K, It sounds more like 64K mp3s. Lots of high end warble and other compression artifacts.
In fact, now that "Hair Nation" has stopped playing the same songs every hour, the sound quality is my biggest complaint for Sirius, followed by reception drop outs.
If it wasn't for Howard and the NFL, I would not have Sat. radio.
X11 has support for all of those, plus more.
He didn't say "rotating your screen is impossible", he said "rotating your screen is very difficult." I concur. I spent an hour or two trying to figure it out a few weeks ago before giving up.
-geekd
Well, he's making HIS world better. Apparently, he can give a crap about the rest of us.
"Can I be in the basement of a building and still get a signal ?"
I can't be in the living room of my one story house and get a signal.
The antenna has to be outside, with a clear view of the sky.
sucks.
-geekd
despite sending my resume for every IT opening located in Fort Wayne, Indiana, that I can find on CareerBuilder and Monster, I can't even get a ******* interview
You live in Indiana.
I live in Southern California, and I get email from recruiters almost every day.
I get what your saying man.
/. that only had a few comments so far, and saw that I could get a "page 1" header post on it (assuming I got modded up) if I acted quickly, and went for it. :)
I've always been easily amused by what's in plain sight. I've never really felt the need or desire to to dig beneath the surface. I just take things at face value and either like 'em or not.
I do feel that there are some things that are better enjoyed in a simple, not analytical way. Humor comics, punk rock, action movies. Start to go too deep and it's not fun anymore.
However, I recognise that just because that works for me, doesn't mean others might not see it that way.
Honestly, I just saw a new topic on
It's still my honest opinion, though, as is your comment, and really, what more can we ask of each other?
-geekd
I will never understand the critic mentality. And by that I mean the kind of person that takes a comic strip and totally dissects it so far down to detail that the author is even like "whoa!"
It's a comic. It's funny. Ha ha. It's not a "War & Peace" or "Dante's Inferno". There's only so much thought that goes into these things.
Kurtz from PVP is kind of making that point with his strip today.
Just enjoy the funny drawings, people. You don't have to invent hidden meanings and motives behind them.
-geekd
artist -> art -> marketing/advertising -> distribution -> retailer -> listener
:)
Quite true.
I am an "independent musician". I distibute my music over the web. I know many, many other musicians who do so also.
Most musicians I know are quite good at the art part, and quite bad/clueless at the marketing part (myself included). Marketing is mostly salesmanship. Musicians, for the most part, are not salesmen. Mostly, we dislike salesmen.
If you look at sucessfull bands that came from the indie scene, either they were good at marketing, or had someone on their side that was.
Marketing is phone calls, footwork, contacts, etc. We'd rather smoke weed and write songs.
Here's my marketing: go check out my band: http://theexperiments.com/ Free music for download.
See, that's about as much marketing as most bands can do. Now, where's the bong?
-dave
It was incredibly popular in Europe to buy a PS already chipped for a few (insert local currency here) more.