This is a very short-sighted and narrow attitude to take; Unfortunately, it seems to be a popular one here in the good Ol' US of A. Basic Science should not be subjected to considerations of usefulness and practicality. I highly doubt that Planck, Einstein, Bohr and all the other early investigators of the quantum realm were seeking a new way to cook food, but we somehow ended up with the microwave anyway.
As to the "explain anything" criteria: What do you think all this is about? Understanding matter and energy at a fundamental level is the only way we are going to be able "explain anything". Like anything else worth doing, it's going to take time and money.
In the meantime, those seeking a "practical" use should meditate on the usefulness of manufacturing those crappy little toys at the bottom of their "Jack In a Box" packages.
No. His mutant ability is that of ever-writing the same article without making it seem like that's what he's doing, and then convincing someone to give him money for it.
My mutant ability, on the other hand, is to always be the person at dinner who gets their order screwed up. Although very often irritating, it also leads to a goodly amount of free food over time.
The problem with this whole Napster thing is that there are definitely ethical issues involved. Personally, I do think that artists are losing income from this and other forms of digital 'piracy'. That should be obvious to anyone with half a brain. But, as far as bands/artists like Metallica, Dr. Dre, et. al are concerned, no one is really going to care. These acts pull in milllions year after year and it's hard to feel their pain even if you believe in principle that they are being done wrong.
The protestations by the industry suits are equally absurd in light of recent releases like Britney Spears, 'Nsync, Eminen, et cetera over the past year or so. These are the kind of acts that are the bread and butter of the majors, and they're pulling in absolutely fucking huge piles of cash. The lost sales for these guys is a barely measurable quantity compared to things like studio bills, promotion, and various and sundry perquisites. At best, it might add up to the budgets for a couple videos. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be significantly less than all the litigation costs when everything is said and done.
Quite understandably, all this crap is just serving to piss people off, who see it as more recording industry greed masquerading as concern for the artists' livelihood. Lost under all that is the real concern. Namely, those artists outside or on the fringes of Top 40-Land, artists who really do count on album sales to keep food on the table. If they can't 'move enough product', they stand a real risk of becoming uninteresting to the droids in accounting. No profit, no contract, no career. Indie labels are especially vulnerable as well. If they can't sell enough to make ends meet, they're going down and taking everyone they've signed with them, which could turn out to be a fatal blow for as yet nascent scenes.
Instead we get the majors and chains crying crocodile tears over the sales they've lost, even though album sales have pretty much never been better. Eventually, people are going to get tired of hearing about it and slip into cynically ignoring the whole thing, wishing everyone would just shut the fuck up. This is great for the recording industry, because they can then go into full ruthless mode in order to strengthen their grip on the reins (and the lash).
Thomas S. Howard
Re:top 10 pickup lines on calculusgirls.com
on
80 Proof Quickies
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· Score: 1
Godel's favorite line:
Baby, I'm just not complete without you.
Sorry. It had to be done.
Thomas S. Howard
Re:Well I have heard of Monty Python...
on
80 Proof Quickies
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· Score: 1
Slashdot Mirror
This is a very short-sighted and narrow attitude
to take; Unfortunately, it seems to be a popular
one here in the good Ol' US of A. Basic Science
should not be subjected to considerations of
usefulness and practicality. I highly doubt that
Planck, Einstein, Bohr and all the other early
investigators of the quantum realm were seeking a
new way to cook food, but we somehow ended up
with the microwave anyway.
As to the "explain anything" criteria: What do
you think all this is about? Understanding matter
and energy at a fundamental level is the only way
we are going to be able "explain anything". Like
anything else worth doing, it's going to take
time and money.
In the meantime, those seeking a "practical"
use should meditate on the usefulness of
manufacturing those crappy little toys at the
bottom of their "Jack In a Box" packages.
Thomas S. Howard
No. His mutant ability is that of ever-writing
the same article without making it seem like
that's what he's doing, and then convincing
someone to give him money for it.
My mutant ability, on the other hand, is to
always be the person at dinner who gets their
order screwed up. Although very often irritating,
it also leads to a goodly amount of free food
over time.
Thomas S. Howard
But let us not forget the sublime Yor: The
Hunter From The Future
Thomas S. Howard
The problem with this whole Napster thing is that
there are definitely ethical issues involved.
Personally, I do think that artists are losing
income from this and other forms of digital
'piracy'. That should be obvious to anyone
with half a brain. But, as far as bands/artists
like Metallica, Dr. Dre, et. al are concerned,
no one is really going to care. These acts pull
in milllions year after year and it's hard to
feel their pain even if you believe in principle that they are being done wrong.
The protestations by the industry suits are
equally absurd in light of recent releases
like Britney Spears, 'Nsync, Eminen, et cetera
over the past year or so. These are the kind
of acts that are the bread and butter of the
majors, and they're pulling in absolutely
fucking huge piles of cash. The lost sales
for these guys is a barely measurable quantity
compared to things like studio bills, promotion,
and various and sundry perquisites. At best,
it might add up to the budgets for a couple
videos. I wouldn't be surprised if it turned
out to be significantly less than all the
litigation costs when everything is said and
done.
Quite understandably, all this crap is just
serving to piss people off, who see it as
more recording industry greed masquerading
as concern for the artists' livelihood. Lost
under all that is the real concern. Namely,
those artists outside or on the fringes of
Top 40-Land, artists who really do count on
album sales to keep food on the table. If they
can't 'move enough product', they stand a real
risk of becoming uninteresting to the droids
in accounting. No profit, no contract, no
career. Indie labels are especially vulnerable
as well. If they can't sell enough to make
ends meet, they're going down and taking everyone
they've signed with them, which could turn out
to be a fatal blow for as yet nascent scenes.
Instead we get the majors and chains crying
crocodile tears over the sales they've lost,
even though album sales have pretty much
never been better. Eventually, people are
going to get tired of hearing about it and
slip into cynically ignoring the whole thing,
wishing everyone would just shut the fuck up.
This is great for the recording industry,
because they can then go into full ruthless
mode in order to strengthen their grip on
the reins (and the lash).
Thomas S. Howard
Godel's favorite line:
Baby, I'm just not complete without you.
Sorry. It had to be done.
Thomas S. Howard
Don't feed the trolls.