Of course, when I hear something that sounds like sh*t, I don't buy it. I suppose if you're using just a traditional "singer/guitars/bass/drums" lineup it's probably not that big of a deal, but how can I make a decision whether or not I like Autechre or Aphex Twin if the music SOUNDS bad? Go listen to the sound samples available at Amazon or CDNow for more experimental bands, and then buy the albums. Did the samples give you anywhere NEAR a good feel as to what the music sounds like? Absolutely not.
On a more philosophical note, you're complaining about the possibility of having your stuff found on Gnutella, and then you're out however much money the downloader's theoretically not spending on you anymore. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but personally, getting me to like your music is the absolute best thing you could possibly do. If I download your music and like it, you can be sure that eventually I'm going to buy it. I don't listen to radio or watch MTV, so how do I find new music? Online. Through file-sharing systems. But I like owning CDs. I like the tangible feel of them. Maybe I won't purchase the album I downloaded, but you can bet I'll purchase the next one. If I like you enough, I tend to become rather completist, too. I'll end up with every last EP you've ever put out, just because I'm that obsessive about it.
Now without your songs ending up on my hard drive, how am I going to know you even exist? Your argument is based on an assumption that if I download your music, I'll never give you any money. That's just not true.
Okay, yeah, obviously they were eventually going to try something this moronic. They might even be lucky enough to get it passed for awhile until the supreme court manages to knock it down.
But are they REALLY so insensitive as to tack it on to the end of an anti-terrorism bill? This has nothing to do with keeping terrorists at bay (some could argue that half of the stuff that is still in the bill doesn't do that either, but at least those bits have rationalized themselves). This is just some greedy organization that tried to use a "get this through quick" bill to slip in some really nasty stuff.
The other day, I was trying to force myself to reconsider my opinions on the evilness organizations like the RIAA. Or at least take a closer look at the actual humans involved in the decisions they make. But this is just insane . . .
Obviously if you're using FTP or telnet on any connection that has to be in the least bit secure, you're an idiot. What about anonymous FTP sites, though? Just because I use sftp to grab files from my Linux box at work doesn't mean I should have to go through that just to grab the most recent kernel patch.
Also, I typically end up using telnet quite a bit when, for instance, I'm signed on to a list on an old email address (that happens to still get forwarded to my current one) and I need to post and I don't want to bother figuring out how to change my email address on the list. A quick "telnet localhost 25" works just fine.
There are times when the insecurity of plain-text protocols just isn't a problem . . .
It reminds me of someone who buys up all of the plywood before a hurricane and sells it for $100/sheet to his desperate neighbors.
That seems just a bit harsh. Let's look at it:
Somebody scraps up all the resources with which to defend against a hurricane. Result: Unless people cough up lots of money, they could have a higher chance of being killed or have severe damage done to their homes.
Somebody scraps up a domain name which some corporation later wants. Result: The corporation has to get a different domain name.
I really don't see the comparison. (Oh, wait, you're probably a Troll. Drat. And it worked. Ah, well.)
"The only thing we have a problem with is when the government funds open-source work. Government funding should be for work that is available to everybody."
eg, you could NOT, without dying at least once, *learn* what you had to do and setup the babel fish puzzle before the gaurds came and took you away. as long as you knew to put the robe on the hook, etc, and did everything else without missing a turn, you had two extra turns before the guards retrieved you.
Not necessarily; it was tricky, but it could be done. I actually just finished going through the Infocom HHGTTG the other day (I was bored), and I had completely forgotten what you had to do to get the Babel fish. At least on the rev of the game I was using, there were enough turns to get all the items you needed, find out which word to be listening for in the Vogon Poetry Session, press the Babelfishdispenserbutton(tm) between every item you place around the room, and still have a few turns to spare. It was close, but certainly doable.
Of course, I remember having a terrible time with it when first tried it all those years ago . . .
Perhaps using "IQ" was a bad phrase to use. Remember that an IQ score does not necessarily equate into meaningful measurement of intelligence. I'd much rather have someone with a "low" IQ but solid, thought-out ideas on how to do something in charge than someone with a "high" IQ who just threw something together.
And to those Libertarians out there...
Do you really want a government that believes IT can make the important decisions for you?
I'm confused. I was under the impression that the Libertarian party was basically about "less government == good," "more government == bad."
Then again, genetics seems to do a pretty good job with *us* . . . Whether by chance or divine intervention, it's good enough to render a human pretty decently.
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On a more philosophical note, you're complaining about the possibility of having your stuff found on Gnutella, and then you're out however much money the downloader's theoretically not spending on you anymore. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but personally, getting me to like your music is the absolute best thing you could possibly do. If I download your music and like it, you can be sure that eventually I'm going to buy it. I don't listen to radio or watch MTV, so how do I find new music? Online. Through file-sharing systems. But I like owning CDs. I like the tangible feel of them. Maybe I won't purchase the album I downloaded, but you can bet I'll purchase the next one. If I like you enough, I tend to become rather completist, too. I'll end up with every last EP you've ever put out, just because I'm that obsessive about it.
Now without your songs ending up on my hard drive, how am I going to know you even exist? Your argument is based on an assumption that if I download your music, I'll never give you any money. That's just not true.
But are they REALLY so insensitive as to tack it on to the end of an anti-terrorism bill? This has nothing to do with keeping terrorists at bay (some could argue that half of the stuff that is still in the bill doesn't do that either, but at least those bits have rationalized themselves). This is just some greedy organization that tried to use a "get this through quick" bill to slip in some really nasty stuff.
The other day, I was trying to force myself to reconsider my opinions on the evilness organizations like the RIAA. Or at least take a closer look at the actual humans involved in the decisions they make. But this is just insane . . .
Obviously if you're using FTP or telnet on any connection that has to be in the least bit secure, you're an idiot. What about anonymous FTP sites, though? Just because I use sftp to grab files from my Linux box at work doesn't mean I should have to go through that just to grab the most recent kernel patch.
Also, I typically end up using telnet quite a bit when, for instance, I'm signed on to a list on an old email address (that happens to still get forwarded to my current one) and I need to post and I don't want to bother figuring out how to change my email address on the list. A quick "telnet localhost 25" works just fine.
There are times when the insecurity of plain-text protocols just isn't a problem . . .
- Somebody scraps up all the resources with which to defend against a hurricane. Result: Unless people cough up lots of money, they could have a higher chance of being killed or have severe damage done to their homes.
- Somebody scraps up a domain name which some corporation later wants. Result: The corporation has to get a different domain name.
I really don't see the comparison. (Oh, wait, you're probably a Troll. Drat. And it worked. Ah, well.)Of course, I remember having a terrible time with it when first tried it all those years ago . . .
Then again, genetics seems to do a pretty good job with *us* . . . Whether by chance or divine intervention, it's good enough to render a human pretty decently.