Alright, this is ridiculous. DRM is no different, in principle, than copyright. Does everyone here feel that copyrights are unacceptable? Most people (myself included) that have problems with DRM aren't or shouldn't be with DRM itself, but how it's implemented. If DRM exists, to show a digital copyright, so to speak, but it does not infringe on my fair use, the ability to copy a song or video to media for my personal use, or use it in ANY of my personal audio/video devices, than I think DRM is wonderful.
Companies that provide services over the internet must obey the laws of each country which their services may be used in. If a country has laws disallowing this, AOL may find itself (if pushed) in a situation of having to make many localized copies of AIM.
Well, before I start my rant, let me qualify my statement. I moved from Michigan to Arizona in mid-January of this year. So while I'm not currently a resident, I have been previously for nearly 28 years, and most of my family and friends still are.
I was one of the foolish saps that voted for Granholm in the first place. After Blanchard, and then Engler, I thought we needed some REAL change. Well, we got it. But it was the wrong change to get. So far, I honestly can say that Granholm has done as much (bad) for Michigan as Coleman Young did for Detroit in roughly the same time. Thank the gods that she can't stay in office for the same amount of time.
I was recently made aware that Michigan is now the state with the highest unemployment rate (at ~7.5%) in the country. But wait... wasn't unemployment one of her top priorities? Sadly, many new policies and laws of the state have been driving businesses (small and large) out of the state for a couple of years now. That cuts back on revenue for the state and cuts away needed jobs. Wasn't that her biggest issue? The states budget deficit? So we're still moving in the wrong direction.
By the way, I forgot to mention at the top that I'm a soldier in the Army National Guard. For those of you that don't know, the Guard has dual-requirements to answer to the president and to the governor of your particular state. While in reserve status, your state pays for your training (drills, annual training and the like). However, when you get activated for federal duty, the DoD pays your way. Granholm had the audacity to activate her states troops more than 3x as often (per capita) as any other state, for the sole purpose of getting those soldiers off her books. Sure, that's our job. But we're not a tool to be used frivilously for financial purposes. We're a tool to be used to protect our country and state and the citizens which live in them.
At any rate, I regret having contributed to her gaining this office in Michigan. Sadly, I won't be able to take part in the attempt to remove her from it. I hope all of the Michiganders here take note and vote for somebody else next election.
This type of thing really irks me. I hope the ACLU/EFF shoves a lawyer up this guys (lawyers) a$$ so hard they get stuck in his scrotum. What is wrong with people these days?! A video game can NOT make you insane and start killing people. You have to be insane to begin with. It's the whole "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" argument. And it's TRUE!
Well, care is needed indeed. In fact, the US Patriot Act as a whole is an afront to the rights that the Bill of Rights put forth. However, I do believe that this is a serious issue and that the man in question does deserve his day in court. I wish the fed could find charges that did not invoke the USPA.
However, calling this a non-threat is akin to saying it shouldn't be illegal to put pennies on passenger rail tracks. While it appears harmless enough 99.99% of the time, the one time it does kill 500 people is worth it being illegal to begin with.
I agree, giving up personal freedoms is NOT acceptable. I want to reiterate this strongly! I do not believe the USPA has citizens best interest in mind. I do believe this man (and other doing the same thing) are/were wrong and should be dealt with accordingly.
So many people here seem to want to reiterate that this is a site for "nerds". That we're supposed to make a difference. But in the same breath, they bash others for using "l33tsp34k" or net abbreviations. They'll bash a teen LJ user for posting their virtual diary, but put forth the fury of crap on their own site and tout it as a masterpiece. What's crap to you isn't crap to others.
As for blogging in and of itself, why could it be considered bad? If Xanga allows for these types of issues, perhaps the creators of Xanga need to be blamed, not the trend of blogging. Blogging can be such an interesting look into the lives of others. Some of you are so far into nerddom that you are antisocial and don't care what others think. That's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. But those of us that are curious about other people, or... God forbid... outgoing or extroverted, blogs let us see what's on the other side... the other side of the bridge, the city, the state or the world. How can this ever be a bad thing?
Yes, yes... almost everyone that comes to this site knows what a blog is. Maybe somebody doesn't. Maybe they are a neo-nerd, fresh to the community. Are you ACTUALLY offended that the term was described in a quote on the front page? Seriously... some people need to get over themselves. There are plenty of things that occur, are said or are shown on the internet that I feel are ignorant or ill-advised. But generally (this post, of course, being an exception), I just let it go./. used to have a pretty decent sense of community. About the only time you see people being a group is to bash M$ or team up for the new dsitributed.net project. Yes, we've always disagreed... that's part of a community. But either I've grown very old very quickly, the/. populace has becoem extremely immature, or the community has just broken down for no apparent reason.
Humans weren't meant to dive to depths of dozens or hundreds of meters (subs, pressure suits). Humans weren't meant to fly through clouds and above thunderstorms.
WTF are you actually talking about? Humans weren't "meant" for any specific purpose. We are nature's swiss-army lifeform. We adapt, we overcome, we explore and we learn. Rinse and repeat! If such a narrow view as yours was prevelant in this world, we'd still be rubbing sticks together and smashing crude wheels out of stone.
What do we know about flight (in the early 20th century)? It's dangerous, most flights fail and the vehicle cannot support more than one or two people (no longer the case, by a long shot). What do we know about computers (circa 1990). Processors are rapidly approahing their maximum ability. Magnetic storage is about to hit it's cap as well (not the case, by a long shot).
The only thing thing we should KNOW is that we really don't know very much of anything.
1) This is assuming that the drives themselves are all built to the same spec and work the same way. If I were to have a 40x Lite-On and a 40x Plextor, and the assumption was made that burning at less than 40x degredated my data, I would further venture to guess that the Plextor would have a better chance at making a "better" disc because of the quality of engineering going into the product.
2) What is "optimal" for recording drives? Is the "max speed" always the "optimal speed" as well? Once again, there is no industry standard for this, so I wouldn't say that the argument holds up.
3) "large number of CD-R samples" does not indicate that universally this is true. Some media may respond better at lower speeds than others, and better at lower speeds than at higher regardless of the drive.
4) You link the site, but not the page that shows "this sort of testing". Could you please add a link?
I'd have to disagree with you. I think you are confusing usability with robustness. Surely vi is robust based on its feature sets and ability to be adapted.
Usability:
Notepad/Wordpad/Edit > MS Word > vi (based on sheer ease of use)
Learnability:
Notepad/Wordpad/Edit > MS Word/vi (I don't get vi, but lots of people don;t get Word either *shrug*)
Robustness:
vi/Word > Wordpad > Notepad > Edit
Word and vi can both accept new types of data and can be "updated" without being "upgraded" via plug-ins and macros and the like. Wordpad allows for RTF where the last two do not. Notepad is a more user-friendly GUI. Edit is just Edit.
... how long after the technology is introdcued that Plextor will finally get around to making one. I love their drives, but I'm not a fan of their slow uptake of technology.:-/
Hmmm... very interesting. You must be a med student (or in the medical field). If not, you're a scary person!:-p
At any rate, I agree with your points. These days people assume anything they've not heard of before is somehow "pushing the envelope", or an otherwise amazing feat. While I am personally impressed with this, I'm not particularly surprised.
As for the ethical issues... when did the HippocraticOath take ethics into consideration? Both of the linked oaths (old and new) say nothing of such considerations. Whether you like it or not, a doctor is sworn to bring health to a patient at any cost that does not bring harm again to others. That's like the ethics behind a soldier shooting a woman with an AK-47 pointed at him, finger on the trigger. Ethics be damned, life and death are life and death and the woman is a threat to the soldier, his fellow soldiers and possibly the mission at hand. Ethics don't play a part in such things.
Hmmm... I agree, but am curious about the eye thing. I'm not aware of anybody having open-casket, open-eye viewings... I think that would be terribly disturbing. If they are just meant to keep your eyelids from collapsing, it could be anything really, cotton batting, wood, whatever, right? Why would they need to match yours and be lifelike?
Hmm, I could see this as a BIG thing for social studies, however. Sure, from a required standpoint it's horrible, but it'd never fly. From a science standpoint.
I'd love to see experiments done where volunteers wear clothing (shoes, hats, socks, pants, underwear, shirts) with this type of thing embedded to collect data. This could be SO useful...
* Wear and tear points in clothing. Wear do different clothing styles rub against someone, potentially uncomfortably, depending on the body shape and size.
* hot/cold comfort... Where does the wearer get hotter, colder based on wear of certain overcoats, garments and standard clothing
* posture studies... how do people really sit, stand, skip and run? once again, by body shape, age, race, culture, locale
* interaction studies... check for nervousness and pulse rate and the like based on social interaction. This could be done with wires and straps and such, but those things also impose tehmselves on wearers. THis could be done "on the sly" like the driving studies about how much people pay attention, when they THINK it's about seeing how they react to traffic and road conditions. (can't find a link... if someone knows of one, post it... interesting read).
I'm sure there are many other ideas out there for such things in the study of human nature. This is a tpoic that gets overlooked far too often.
I'm not sure this wasn't part of the plan... "bad acting" such as that seen in movies of the era this is supposed to emulate. The CGI is quite impressive, IMHO, and I think as a whole, the movie will probably do pretty well. Even if not financially, it's sure to have a respectable following of geeks who enjoy the genre of movie that this falls into. Being indie gives it points up front for a lot of people anyhow.
Personally, I think it'll be a lot like I imagine... a faux early 20th-century sci-fi, without the Ed Woodian strings attached to the spacecraft..o)
He would appear, from the article, to be just the visionary mentioned, though. Or at least that's my hope. He seems to really be striving for something to call his own. That's something that most geeks can really appreciate!;o)
Slashdot Mirror
Alright, this is ridiculous. DRM is no different, in principle, than copyright. Does everyone here feel that copyrights are unacceptable? Most people (myself included) that have problems with DRM aren't or shouldn't be with DRM itself, but how it's implemented. If DRM exists, to show a digital copyright, so to speak, but it does not infringe on my fair use, the ability to copy a song or video to media for my personal use, or use it in ANY of my personal audio/video devices, than I think DRM is wonderful.
Yeah... links are a beautiful thing in contect-based stories.
Untrue...
Companies that provide services over the internet must obey the laws of each country which their services may be used in. If a country has laws disallowing this, AOL may find itself (if pushed) in a situation of having to make many localized copies of AIM.
Well, before I start my rant, let me qualify my statement. I moved from Michigan to Arizona in mid-January of this year. So while I'm not currently a resident, I have been previously for nearly 28 years, and most of my family and friends still are.
I was one of the foolish saps that voted for Granholm in the first place. After Blanchard, and then Engler, I thought we needed some REAL change. Well, we got it. But it was the wrong change to get. So far, I honestly can say that Granholm has done as much (bad) for Michigan as Coleman Young did for Detroit in roughly the same time. Thank the gods that she can't stay in office for the same amount of time.
I was recently made aware that Michigan is now the state with the highest unemployment rate (at ~7.5%) in the country. But wait... wasn't unemployment one of her top priorities? Sadly, many new policies and laws of the state have been driving businesses (small and large) out of the state for a couple of years now. That cuts back on revenue for the state and cuts away needed jobs. Wasn't that her biggest issue? The states budget deficit? So we're still moving in the wrong direction.
By the way, I forgot to mention at the top that I'm a soldier in the Army National Guard. For those of you that don't know, the Guard has dual-requirements to answer to the president and to the governor of your particular state. While in reserve status, your state pays for your training (drills, annual training and the like). However, when you get activated for federal duty, the DoD pays your way. Granholm had the audacity to activate her states troops more than 3x as often (per capita) as any other state, for the sole purpose of getting those soldiers off her books. Sure, that's our job. But we're not a tool to be used frivilously for financial purposes. We're a tool to be used to protect our country and state and the citizens which live in them.
At any rate, I regret having contributed to her gaining this office in Michigan. Sadly, I won't be able to take part in the attempt to remove her from it. I hope all of the Michiganders here take note and vote for somebody else next election.
This type of thing really irks me. I hope the ACLU/EFF shoves a lawyer up this guys (lawyers) a$$ so hard they get stuck in his scrotum. What is wrong with people these days?! A video game can NOT make you insane and start killing people. You have to be insane to begin with. It's the whole "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" argument. And it's TRUE!
Well, care is needed indeed. In fact, the US Patriot Act as a whole is an afront to the rights that the Bill of Rights put forth. However, I do believe that this is a serious issue and that the man in question does deserve his day in court. I wish the fed could find charges that did not invoke the USPA.
However, calling this a non-threat is akin to saying it shouldn't be illegal to put pennies on passenger rail tracks. While it appears harmless enough 99.99% of the time, the one time it does kill 500 people is worth it being illegal to begin with.
I agree, giving up personal freedoms is NOT acceptable. I want to reiterate this strongly! I do not believe the USPA has citizens best interest in mind. I do believe this man (and other doing the same thing) are/were wrong and should be dealt with accordingly.
I'm not entirely sure how anyone is getting screwed...
a) New things always take time to come to fruition, whether it's the wheel or spaceflight.
b) The first people to fly will be the wealthy who can afford it... who cares if they have to pay $10,000 per flight?
c) You're just jealous (so am I).
So many people here seem to want to reiterate that this is a site for "nerds". That we're supposed to make a difference. But in the same breath, they bash others for using "l33tsp34k" or net abbreviations. They'll bash a teen LJ user for posting their virtual diary, but put forth the fury of crap on their own site and tout it as a masterpiece. What's crap to you isn't crap to others.
/. used to have a pretty decent sense of community. About the only time you see people being a group is to bash M$ or team up for the new dsitributed.net project. Yes, we've always disagreed... that's part of a community. But either I've grown very old very quickly, the /. populace has becoem extremely immature, or the community has just broken down for no apparent reason.
As for blogging in and of itself, why could it be considered bad? If Xanga allows for these types of issues, perhaps the creators of Xanga need to be blamed, not the trend of blogging. Blogging can be such an interesting look into the lives of others. Some of you are so far into nerddom that you are antisocial and don't care what others think. That's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. But those of us that are curious about other people, or... God forbid... outgoing or extroverted, blogs let us see what's on the other side... the other side of the bridge, the city, the state or the world. How can this ever be a bad thing?
Yes, yes... almost everyone that comes to this site knows what a blog is. Maybe somebody doesn't. Maybe they are a neo-nerd, fresh to the community. Are you ACTUALLY offended that the term was described in a quote on the front page? Seriously... some people need to get over themselves. There are plenty of things that occur, are said or are shown on the internet that I feel are ignorant or ill-advised. But generally (this post, of course, being an exception), I just let it go.
It's sad really...
Humans weren't meant to dive to depths of dozens or hundreds of meters (subs, pressure suits). Humans weren't meant to fly through clouds and above thunderstorms.
WTF are you actually talking about? Humans weren't "meant" for any specific purpose. We are nature's swiss-army lifeform. We adapt, we overcome, we explore and we learn. Rinse and repeat! If such a narrow view as yours was prevelant in this world, we'd still be rubbing sticks together and smashing crude wheels out of stone.
What do we know about flight (in the early 20th century)? It's dangerous, most flights fail and the vehicle cannot support more than one or two people (no longer the case, by a long shot). What do we know about computers (circa 1990). Processors are rapidly approahing their maximum ability. Magnetic storage is about to hit it's cap as well (not the case, by a long shot).
The only thing thing we should KNOW is that we really don't know very much of anything.
This is a laughable argument, at best.
1) This is assuming that the drives themselves are all built to the same spec and work the same way. If I were to have a 40x Lite-On and a 40x Plextor, and the assumption was made that burning at less than 40x degredated my data, I would further venture to guess that the Plextor would have a better chance at making a "better" disc because of the quality of engineering going into the product.
2) What is "optimal" for recording drives? Is the "max speed" always the "optimal speed" as well? Once again, there is no industry standard for this, so I wouldn't say that the argument holds up.
3) "large number of CD-R samples" does not indicate that universally this is true. Some media may respond better at lower speeds than others, and better at lower speeds than at higher regardless of the drive.
4) You link the site, but not the page that shows "this sort of testing". Could you please add a link?
I'd have to disagree with you. I think you are confusing usability with robustness. Surely vi is robust based on its feature sets and ability to be adapted.
Usability:
Notepad/Wordpad/Edit > MS Word > vi (based on sheer ease of use)
Learnability:
Notepad/Wordpad/Edit > MS Word/vi (I don't get vi, but lots of people don;t get Word either *shrug*)
Robustness:
vi/Word > Wordpad > Notepad > Edit
Word and vi can both accept new types of data and can be "updated" without being "upgraded" via plug-ins and macros and the like. Wordpad allows for RTF where the last two do not. Notepad is a more user-friendly GUI. Edit is just Edit.
... but conversely, making things hard seems relatively easy!
It's already /.'d and there's only 4 or 5 replies before mine.
...would be a great movie to go see on Easter Sunday... *grin*
... how long after the technology is introdcued that Plextor will finally get around to making one. I love their drives, but I'm not a fan of their slow uptake of technology. :-/
This is a pretty sad state of affairs. Why must perfectly good things get ruined or attacked by perfectly ignorant people?
Hmmm... very interesting. You must be a med student (or in the medical field). If not, you're a scary person! :-p
At any rate, I agree with your points. These days people assume anything they've not heard of before is somehow "pushing the envelope", or an otherwise amazing feat. While I am personally impressed with this, I'm not particularly surprised.
As for the ethical issues... when did the Hippocratic Oath take ethics into consideration? Both of the linked oaths (old and new) say nothing of such considerations. Whether you like it or not, a doctor is sworn to bring health to a patient at any cost that does not bring harm again to others. That's like the ethics behind a soldier shooting a woman with an AK-47 pointed at him, finger on the trigger. Ethics be damned, life and death are life and death and the woman is a threat to the soldier, his fellow soldiers and possibly the mission at hand. Ethics don't play a part in such things.
Hmmm... I agree, but am curious about the eye thing. I'm not aware of anybody having open-casket, open-eye viewings... I think that would be terribly disturbing. If they are just meant to keep your eyelids from collapsing, it could be anything really, cotton batting, wood, whatever, right? Why would they need to match yours and be lifelike?
Hmm, I could see this as a BIG thing for social studies, however. Sure, from a required standpoint it's horrible, but it'd never fly. From a science standpoint.
I'd love to see experiments done where volunteers wear clothing (shoes, hats, socks, pants, underwear, shirts) with this type of thing embedded to collect data. This could be SO useful...
* Wear and tear points in clothing. Wear do different clothing styles rub against someone, potentially uncomfortably, depending on the body shape and size.
* hot/cold comfort... Where does the wearer get hotter, colder based on wear of certain overcoats, garments and standard clothing
* posture studies... how do people really sit, stand, skip and run? once again, by body shape, age, race, culture, locale
* interaction studies... check for nervousness and pulse rate and the like based on social interaction. This could be done with wires and straps and such, but those things also impose tehmselves on wearers. THis could be done "on the sly" like the driving studies about how much people pay attention, when they THINK it's about seeing how they react to traffic and road conditions. (can't find a link... if someone knows of one, post it... interesting read).
I'm sure there are many other ideas out there for such things in the study of human nature. This is a tpoic that gets overlooked far too often.
I'm feeling like I could be the 6 trillion dollar man any year now... between this, powered exoskeletal legs, BrainGate computer hacker upgrades, and health-enhancing contact lenses, I'll be a super sapper in no time. I wonder how much of this my beloved US Army has actually looked into.
I'm not sure this wasn't part of the plan... "bad acting" such as that seen in movies of the era this is supposed to emulate. The CGI is quite impressive, IMHO, and I think as a whole, the movie will probably do pretty well. Even if not financially, it's sure to have a respectable following of geeks who enjoy the genre of movie that this falls into. Being indie gives it points up front for a lot of people anyhow.
.o)
Personally, I think it'll be a lot like I imagine... a faux early 20th-century sci-fi, without the Ed Woodian strings attached to the spacecraft.
Xepherys
Hmmmm, I agree...
;o)
He would appear, from the article, to be just the visionary mentioned, though. Or at least that's my hope. He seems to really be striving for something to call his own. That's something that most geeks can really appreciate!
Hmmm... I suppose that makes sense.
hmmm, yes, and perhaps my grammer as well? Excellent post, well worth the response. Thank you muchly, cowardly friend!
what insects "hover" rather tahn "fly"? I'm honestly curious...