I looked around on the website of BUMA/STEMRA (the Dutch RIAA). There is some very interesting info there, but what is even more interesting is that nowhere on the website could I find how much the artists get of all the money BUMA/STEMRA collects.
Because computers are powerhogs and we do care about global warming. Besides, leaving it on makes it much more vulnerable to attacks. We're not behind a firewall and even if we were, the University campus is full of nerds who are dying to give this new software they downloaded from the site full of naked women a try.
Unfortunately, that's not my decision to make. If I were in charge of my own computer at work I wouldn't have any anti virus software, just a good firewall. And I do use Windows because according to our university there is nothing better. Although they started supporting Linux about a week ago. Sigh.
I believe we have Symantec. One thing is certain: it sure is crappy. The computer is a 1800 MHz PIV with 512 MB, which is fast enough after it has checked the viruses.:) Yep, they're all there!:)
Almost every morning after I switch on my computer at work it's unusable for about half an hour because it has to check for viruses. Why does it have to be like that? Why can't that #&%#&@ program just be niced so I can do my work?
Spoken like a true American who doesn't care about checking facts (before calling me a fanboi you could have taken a look at my other comments about the horrible disaster that the iPhone is in my opinion), and who doesn't have a clue of what fascism is all about.
Spoken like a true American who doesn't have a clue about European law. Give me one example of the EU forcing a good product out of the market. Give me the definition of a 'good' product, and tell me what that has to do with the issue at hand. You think you have a good phone selection? We can use any phone we want on any network we want. We have locked phones too of course, but the providers are required to unlock them if the contract with the customer has expired and the customer asks for it. This is to ensure that you can take your phone with you to another provider. I bet you Apple didn't even know that a few months ago. The European GSM market is at least twice as big as the market Apple will ever reach if they continue the way they are going in America, so I hope they come to their senses soon and start getting their priorities right. The only reason they have so many problems here is because of the new sophisticated voice mail they have invented. They were too far ahead of the time with that, so why not remove that feature and make the iPhone compatible with all providers?
Shouting that something is bad is something every idiot can do. But I can't take someone who doesn't give at least one suggestion how to improve on things seriously.
I never had cables with PRAT. I guess that's why I don't listen to music as much as I used to. Without PRAT, the joy of listening deminishes with time. I will go to the shop tonight and ask for cables with PRAT! PRAT is where it's at! But I have one question for Dave Clark. I was told by my audiophilic colleagues in the late 1990's that as a true audiophile it is important to:
1. Check which way your amplifier is plugged in. Having the main power plug in the wrong way wreaks havoc on the sound,
2. Switch on your amplifier at least half an hour before even thinking about playing music, even if you have an amplifier that is devoid of any tubes whatsoever,
3. Put a second CD on top of the CD you want to play,
4. Keep your CD's in the freezer at all times.
This is all very very important for getting the best sound quality. Did you do all those things Dave? If not, I can't take your review seriously, sorry.
And you know what the best thing is? They are not tied to providers like Apple is. That means they can make phones that do the things they want, not the things the provider wants.
For me the most impressive threads were the ones that came after the Columbine shootings. So many slashdotters seemed to have (had) very bad times in high school, mistreated or ignored because they were smarter than most of the class. There were many gripping posts in these threads.
And do you remember John Katz? Man, did he get a beating after every one of his stories! Poor guy, I always felt sorry for him.
I'm not eloquent enough to put it correctly, but I think what the author meant to say is that if the same code is used in, say, a Redhat kernel and a Suse kernel, and Redhat is sued because of patent violation, then we have a peculiar situation at hand. MS now has a handle to easily do exactly this, and because MS has deeper pockets than almost anyone else they can sue most smaller Linux companies to oblivion, just because these small companies use the same code as MS in the Suse distro they sell. MS will argue that they got hands of the code in a legal way because they made this deal with Novell.
How can Novell not care about that? They are benefiting from code that was written by people who are now not protected from patent claims from Microsoft, and Novell is making money from doing a deal with the company threatening them.
Yes but is that information still valuable to us? If it is, it will be preserved because people want to continue to use it. If not, no harm done if it dies with the language. People shouldn't try to conservate everything, but look to the future instead. You can't change the past, but you can try to make the future better for all of us.
I just read that XP will be sold in shops for a few years more, so I don't think I wasted my money on that regard. But I was greatly misinformed about OpenGL on XP, as this page proofs. My bad, I should have checked my facts better.
That was a very interesting and informative post, thank you very much. It changed my perception of the iPhone quite a bit. But I still don't want one if I can't get it without a SIM lock;)
You're right, I was a bit grumpy. But this whole iPhone thing fascinates me. Why do people pay so much for a device that doesn't perform its main function very well, is too big for a phone but not a very useable PDA because you can't get thirth party software on it, and ties them to a contract with a provider they would often not have chosen otherwise? Is Steve's reality distortion field really that good?
Yesterday I bought a copy of XP. The reason why I don't want Vista is that apparently MS has decided that OpenGL shouldn't work on it. If that isn't misuse of monopoly I don't know what is. Many many new adventure games made by independant developers use OpenGL instead of DirectX. I need Windows only to play adventure games, so the choice was a no-brainer. O, and Neelie! We need you to fine them again! Make it 1.5 G$ this time, maybe that helps?
Why should Apple be forced to support the changes you made? Because you want to use it on a network that is not the one they are under a contract with?
The mere fact that Apple is under contract with service providers is reason enough for me not to buy the iPhone. Nothing good can come from service providers and hardware sellers working together. It promotes closed standards and stifles competition, leads to crippled devices, and need I go on?
Not only in America but also in Europe you see the rights that citizens fought hard and long for in the 19th and 20th century carelessly chucked away by people who who have no idea about the efforts and hardships it cost to achieve those rights, and the reasons why gouvernments back then changed the laws to the citizens benefits. I know Verizon is not a gouvernment but they should be utterly ashamed of themselves. Freedom of speech is freedom of speech, regardless of media.
Slashdot Mirror
I looked around on the website of BUMA/STEMRA (the Dutch RIAA). There is some very interesting info there, but what is even more interesting is that nowhere on the website could I find how much the artists get of all the money BUMA/STEMRA collects.
The time I spent waiting for my PC to become useable after switching it on is many times the time it costs to get a new PC up and running.
Here in the Netherlands you also have to pay outrageous amounts of money if you play music in your shop, or your cafe.
Because computers are powerhogs and we do care about global warming. Besides, leaving it on makes it much more vulnerable to attacks. We're not behind a firewall and even if we were, the University campus is full of nerds who are dying to give this new software they downloaded from the site full of naked women a try.
Unfortunately, that's not my decision to make. If I were in charge of my own computer at work I wouldn't have any anti virus software, just a good firewall. And I do use Windows because according to our university there is nothing better. Although they started supporting Linux about a week ago. Sigh.
I believe we have Symantec. One thing is certain: it sure is crappy. The computer is a 1800 MHz PIV with 512 MB, which is fast enough after it has checked the viruses. :) Yep, they're all there! :)
Almost every morning after I switch on my computer at work it's unusable for about half an hour because it has to check for viruses. Why does it have to be like that? Why can't that #&%#&@ program just be niced so I can do my work?
Spoken like a true American who doesn't care about checking facts (before calling me a fanboi you could have taken a look at my other comments about the horrible disaster that the iPhone is in my opinion), and who doesn't have a clue of what fascism is all about.
Spoken like a true American who doesn't have a clue about European law. Give me one example of the EU forcing a good product out of the market. Give me the definition of a 'good' product, and tell me what that has to do with the issue at hand.
You think you have a good phone selection? We can use any phone we want on any network we want. We have locked phones too of course, but the providers are required to unlock them if the contract with the customer has expired and the customer asks for it. This is to ensure that you can take your phone with you to another provider. I bet you Apple didn't even know that a few months ago. The European GSM market is at least twice as big as the market Apple will ever reach if they continue the way they are going in America, so I hope they come to their senses soon and start getting their priorities right. The only reason they have so many problems here is because of the new sophisticated voice mail they have invented. They were too far ahead of the time with that, so why not remove that feature and make the iPhone compatible with all providers?
Liberty and justice for all corporations!
Shouting that something is bad is something every idiot can do. But I can't take someone who doesn't give at least one suggestion how to improve on things seriously.
I guess it's the same reason as why I'm now modded 'Interesting'. ;)
I never had cables with PRAT. I guess that's why I don't listen to music as much as I used to. Without PRAT, the joy of listening deminishes with time. I will go to the shop tonight and ask for cables with PRAT! PRAT is where it's at!
But I have one question for Dave Clark. I was told by my audiophilic colleagues in the late 1990's that as a true audiophile it is important to:
1. Check which way your amplifier is plugged in. Having the main power plug in the wrong way wreaks havoc on the sound,
2. Switch on your amplifier at least half an hour before even thinking about playing music, even if you have an amplifier that is devoid of any tubes whatsoever,
3. Put a second CD on top of the CD you want to play,
4. Keep your CD's in the freezer at all times.
This is all very very important for getting the best sound quality. Did you do all those things Dave? If not, I can't take your review seriously, sorry.
And you know what the best thing is? They are not tied to providers like Apple is. That means they can make phones that do the things they want, not the things the provider wants.
For me the most impressive threads were the ones that came after the Columbine shootings. So many slashdotters seemed to have (had) very bad times in high school, mistreated or ignored because they were smarter than most of the class. There were many gripping posts in these threads.
And do you remember John Katz? Man, did he get a beating after every one of his stories! Poor guy, I always felt sorry for him.
Yeah, I witnessed almost all of it! Cool.
Keep it up, Taco et al.! I'm here almost every day and still enjoying it. Who needs Digg!
I'm not eloquent enough to put it correctly, but I think what the author meant to say is that if the same code is used in, say, a Redhat kernel and a Suse kernel, and Redhat is sued because of patent violation, then we have a peculiar situation at hand. MS now has a handle to easily do exactly this, and because MS has deeper pockets than almost anyone else they can sue most smaller Linux companies to oblivion, just because these small companies use the same code as MS in the Suse distro they sell. MS will argue that they got hands of the code in a legal way because they made this deal with Novell.
How can Novell not care about that? They are benefiting from code that was written by people who are now not protected from patent claims from Microsoft, and Novell is making money from doing a deal with the company threatening them.
Need I say more. This deal is a shame.
Yes but is that information still valuable to us? If it is, it will be preserved because people want to continue to use it. If not, no harm done if it dies with the language. People shouldn't try to conservate everything, but look to the future instead. You can't change the past, but you can try to make the future better for all of us.
I just read that XP will be sold in shops for a few years more, so I don't think I wasted my money on that regard. But I was greatly misinformed about OpenGL on XP, as this page proofs. My bad, I should have checked my facts better.
That was a very interesting and informative post, thank you very much. It changed my perception of the iPhone quite a bit. But I still don't want one if I can't get it without a SIM lock ;)
You're right, I was a bit grumpy. But this whole iPhone thing fascinates me. Why do people pay so much for a device that doesn't perform its main function very well, is too big for a phone but not a very useable PDA because you can't get thirth party software on it, and ties them to a contract with a provider they would often not have chosen otherwise? Is Steve's reality distortion field really that good?
Yesterday I bought a copy of XP. The reason why I don't want Vista is that apparently MS has decided that OpenGL shouldn't work on it. If that isn't misuse of monopoly I don't know what is. Many many new adventure games made by independant developers use OpenGL instead of DirectX. I need Windows only to play adventure games, so the choice was a no-brainer. O, and Neelie! We need you to fine them again! Make it 1.5 G$ this time, maybe that helps?
Why should Apple be forced to support the changes you made? Because you want to use it on a network that is not the one they are under a contract with?
The mere fact that Apple is under contract with service providers is reason enough for me not to buy the iPhone. Nothing good can come from service providers and hardware sellers working together. It promotes closed standards and stifles competition, leads to crippled devices, and need I go on?
Not only in America but also in Europe you see the rights that citizens fought hard and long for in the 19th and 20th century carelessly chucked away by people who who have no idea about the efforts and hardships it cost to achieve those rights, and the reasons why gouvernments back then changed the laws to the citizens benefits. I know Verizon is not a gouvernment but they should be utterly ashamed of themselves. Freedom of speech is freedom of speech, regardless of media.