The year: 2019. The pay article on Slashdot: The Last Tribute to the "Commercial."
Today marks the day that the last commercial aired. Of course, it's just a symbolic commercial. No real company cares one way or the other what kind of ratings it gets. Only the National Archival Committee In Preservation Of Commercials gives a rat's ass.
Now that commercials are extinct, the human existence is completely ad free. Quite an accomplishment for the region once called America.
"The tourney is finally at an end," was the message following the final commercial. "We are now ad free."
And with that, the final broadcast signal is given, and the channel returns to static, as it had been in the early 1930's. The old Federal Communications Commission retired, hence and closes yet another federal entity, leaving only two others.
Only thirty six people ever saw the commercial live. They were some fanatics, and some political zealots. Everyone else continued on with their life as though a coup never took place. They were unaware of the significance, as though a misquote finally landed on the dusty ground for the last time.
The Slashdot article ended up receiving a mer 1042 comments before it entered the archive. Some comments asking where the torrent was, some asking what format the torrent was. Most unconcerned to the content, just wanting to use the data to meet the quota of the day before it was lost.
Life resumed as the day before. Content was paid on use. Few even understood what the concept of "ad" ever was in the first place. Some elderly referred to soap, but only because they once traded in old time "radio" broadcasts. Everyone was complacent.
No big deal?? Every disk that's preformatted with FAT is grounds for a retroactive refund. That means every preformatted thumb drive, flashcard, zip disk, stuper disk, and FLOPPY DISK since 1996 would be due if it were retroactive. I have no idea how many that is, but they've been paying Microsoft for a pretty long while, and it's no small amount, I'm sure.
Those Canadians and their flapping heads are so behind. Wasn't this stuff covered, like, last century? Are they going to have a dot com bubble too? Of course, this is just more proof that *BSD & Apple are in fact dying. (fp)
Wait, let me try and understand this...
on
Running for Geeks
·
· Score: 2, Funny
Ru nnin gforG eeks? R un nung fo rGe eks? I'm not sure I understand. Sir, you're speaking gibberish!
I've talked to some of these call center operators. I was trying to activate one of my credit cards (the automated activation wasn't working I guess), and when I was done, they asked me a few marketing questions. They wanted me to add payment protection and some other insurance options. I said that I would like to wave those options. He seemed confused by my response, and asked what I meant by waving those options. Clearly, this was not one of the responses they had been trained to deal with.
So if you're disgusted by the practice of outsourcing, make your dialog with people you suspect as being an outsourced employee as complicated or colloquial as possible.
On the site: Just to warn you, this site will be on/. very shortly. Prepare for the flames that are sure to follow. Too bad the place will likely suck for a couple days, as I think this site might be a good idea.
How cute, they think it will only suck for a couple days.
So far, the only thing I've seen the QIRO do is dance. Once they demonstrate some functionality, I'll be intrested. Now it's just a toy.
It is just a toy. Sony knows there's a market, at least in some countries, for entertainment robots. But the side effect for this goal is that their robots don't need to prove anything because they aren't designed to prove anything.
Do you realize how close this sounds to 1998-esque dot-com business plans? "Let's give away free pies so that, we, umm, can see which pies people like so that we can, umm, sell pies!"
Ever go to the mall and pass by the food court? They're giving out samples...for FREE! If you play your cards right, and the food court is big enough, you won't have to pay for your meal. There's always abuse, and this model doesn't work for everyone. But I guess you're right. It can't possibly work for anyone.
They'd have to write an application that downloads the official version, strips the banner ad, then posts it practically instantly. So it would then become an arms race. What banner configuration can the official version utilize that will defeat the automated countermeasure?
The countermeasure would have to be fairly instant in order to compete with the official version because who would want to wait?
Eventually, the banner would manifest like it does during an NFL game, by "tilting" and stretching the media to make room for the banner in different places. Or, just by overlaying the banner directly on the media.
Basically, anyone who does us a favor and strips out the banner is actually doing harm because eventually the banner will have to appear in more and more inconvenient places.
Their logic probably goes something like this: so long as we can keep making people feel guilty/nervous about filesharing, we'll be able to keep P2P as a promotional tool while minimizing the risk of it taking over as the best way to get music.
How Orwellian. There's a word for that in 1984: Doublethink
Now I expect a full apology and retraction for the demonization P2P has gotten from the RIAA, et. al. They should be trying to increase downloads like radio stations try to increase listeners.
Record labels should distribute approved MP3 tracks, then offer them as singles on CD, just like the radio stations. They should closely scrutinize the downloading habits, then create an album based on the popularity of certain tracks.
They don't see this as a tool, only as a threat. They're idiots.
TV Production should do this too. If Viacom released official BitTorrents of Enterprise, complete with banner ads at the bottom of the screen, I'd download them. The banner ads would make me more likely to delete it when I'm done watching it, which is what they'd want, right. Then they can still sell me the DVD.
Slashdot Mirror
The year: 2019. The pay article on Slashdot: The Last Tribute to the "Commercial."
Today marks the day that the last commercial aired. Of course, it's just a symbolic commercial. No real company cares one way or the other what kind of ratings it gets. Only the National Archival Committee In Preservation Of Commercials gives a rat's ass.
Now that commercials are extinct, the human existence is completely ad free. Quite an accomplishment for the region once called America.
"The tourney is finally at an end," was the message following the final commercial. "We are now ad free."
And with that, the final broadcast signal is given, and the channel returns to static, as it had been in the early 1930's. The old Federal Communications Commission retired, hence and closes yet another federal entity, leaving only two others.
Only thirty six people ever saw the commercial live. They were some fanatics, and some political zealots. Everyone else continued on with their life as though a coup never took place. They were unaware of the significance, as though a misquote finally landed on the dusty ground for the last time.
The Slashdot article ended up receiving a mer 1042 comments before it entered the archive. Some comments asking where the torrent was, some asking what format the torrent was. Most unconcerned to the content, just wanting to use the data to meet the quota of the day before it was lost.
Life resumed as the day before. Content was paid on use. Few even understood what the concept of "ad" ever was in the first place. Some elderly referred to soap, but only because they once traded in old time "radio" broadcasts. Everyone was complacent.
No big deal?? Every disk that's preformatted with FAT is grounds for a retroactive refund. That means every preformatted thumb drive, flashcard, zip disk, stuper disk, and FLOPPY DISK since 1996 would be due if it were retroactive. I have no idea how many that is, but they've been paying Microsoft for a pretty long while, and it's no small amount, I'm sure.
It'd be cool to wire up a front door peep hole up with an old CCD and LCD screen. Better yet, make it a reverse peep hole. Then you've got something.
...or a stock holder.
Those Canadians and their flapping heads are so behind. Wasn't this stuff covered, like, last century? Are they going to have a dot com bubble too? Of course, this is just more proof that *BSD & Apple are in fact dying. (fp)
Ru nnin gforG eeks? R un nung fo rGe eks? I'm not sure I understand. Sir, you're speaking gibberish!
No friend, just a product of the public school system.
I've talked to some of these call center operators. I was trying to activate one of my credit cards (the automated activation wasn't working I guess), and when I was done, they asked me a few marketing questions. They wanted me to add payment protection and some other insurance options. I said that I would like to wave those options. He seemed confused by my response, and asked what I meant by waving those options. Clearly, this was not one of the responses they had been trained to deal with.
So if you're disgusted by the practice of outsourcing, make your dialog with people you suspect as being an outsourced employee as complicated or colloquial as possible.
On the site: Just to warn you, this site will be on /. very shortly. Prepare for the flames that are sure to follow. Too bad the place will likely suck for a couple days, as I think this site might be a good idea.
How cute, they think it will only suck for a couple days.
There, is that better?
Why would anyone do this? Everyone knows that Linux is in fact dying.
So far, the only thing I've seen the QIRO do is dance. Once they demonstrate some functionality, I'll be intrested. Now it's just a toy.
It is just a toy. Sony knows there's a market, at least in some countries, for entertainment robots. But the side effect for this goal is that their robots don't need to prove anything because they aren't designed to prove anything.
Those stupid canadians. Is there nothing they don't screw up?
Why do you think the space shuttle uses electronic guidance to land?
Yeah, great example.
Microsoft pays EU big bag of cash.
Microsoft pays SUN big bag of cash.
What's next?
Phase three: Profit!
I'm not a sneak, you insensitive clod!
Ha ha, very funny. April Fools...no wait, it's the second! Wow, imagine that!
The fact that you disagree is even more Orwellian. Expect a gun to the back of your head ... NOW! (keep on thinking, "I Love Big Brother!")
It's April 1st...somewhere in the world.
We are at war with terrorism. We have always been at war with terrorism.
Do you realize how close this sounds to 1998-esque dot-com business plans? "Let's give away free pies so that, we, umm, can see which pies people like so that we can, umm, sell pies!"
Ever go to the mall and pass by the food court? They're giving out samples...for FREE! If you play your cards right, and the food court is big enough, you won't have to pay for your meal. There's always abuse, and this model doesn't work for everyone. But I guess you're right. It can't possibly work for anyone.
They'd have to write an application that downloads the official version, strips the banner ad, then posts it practically instantly. So it would then become an arms race. What banner configuration can the official version utilize that will defeat the automated countermeasure?
The countermeasure would have to be fairly instant in order to compete with the official version because who would want to wait?
Eventually, the banner would manifest like it does during an NFL game, by "tilting" and stretching the media to make room for the banner in different places. Or, just by overlaying the banner directly on the media.
Basically, anyone who does us a favor and strips out the banner is actually doing harm because eventually the banner will have to appear in more and more inconvenient places.
Their logic probably goes something like this: so long as we can keep making people feel guilty/nervous about filesharing, we'll be able to keep P2P as a promotional tool while minimizing the risk of it taking over as the best way to get music.
How Orwellian. There's a word for that in 1984: Doublethink
Now I expect a full apology and retraction for the demonization P2P has gotten from the RIAA, et. al. They should be trying to increase downloads like radio stations try to increase listeners.
Record labels should distribute approved MP3 tracks, then offer them as singles on CD, just like the radio stations. They should closely scrutinize the downloading habits, then create an album based on the popularity of certain tracks.
They don't see this as a tool, only as a threat. They're idiots.
TV Production should do this too. If Viacom released official BitTorrents of Enterprise, complete with banner ads at the bottom of the screen, I'd download them. The banner ads would make me more likely to delete it when I'm done watching it, which is what they'd want, right. Then they can still sell me the DVD.
That'll probably never happen, though.