Is 'the fans always get fleeced' the rock industry's equivalent to Moore's Law?
No, it's a side effect of conspicuous consumption. Quite frankly, people who spend $250 on a concert ticket are going to have no problem shelling out $15 for a CD - they might not be able to make rent, but music's important.
Software can't cause the hardware to run it. This is not a meaningful distinction.
Meaningful or not, that's the verbage they used to define software. Causal in this case would be the effect of running the collection of bits through the processor - software would perform some desired reaction; an MPEG-2 file would cause the processor to barf up a lung because it does not, in and of itself, contain meaningful instructions for the hardware.
True, but excepting Java and the like, software consists of instructions specifically designed to cause the processor to do something.
My point was that by trying to reinterpret the law in a way it was not intended (so as to circumvent the legislative process), these states (and District) are leaving open a simple argument to defeat them.
In Washington, politicians are using their definition of software (already taxable), 'a set of coded instructions designed to cause a computer...to perform a task,' to justify taxation of online media because 'they cause some action by a piece of hardware to play them
...except that the media file itself cannot cause the hardware to play it. Software must be employed to decode the file. Double-clicking on the file's icon requires more software, the OS, to load the software required to decode the file.
This'll take about five minutes to be thrown out. *yawn*
See, that's why you burn AI v0.1 into your customized Ubuntu LiveDVD. Little fucker thinks he's getting out every single time. But there are just a few hundred AIs out there who are very pissed at me.
And to the folks at Visa, if you're reading this, that's why I can't pay my bill this month.
I'm just wondering when it will get to the point that you have to have your memory wiped MIB style after watching a movie so that you don't distribute what you've seen and violate those precious copyrights.
That would pretty well kill the word-of-mouth on which some movies thrive.
Guy #1: I hear you saw Rocky XIV last night. How was it?
Guy #2: *drools and falls twitching to the floor*
For some movies, this would be a bad thing indeed. No one ever would have seen Napoleon Dynamite, even on DVD. For others, it's a good thing; aside from the drooling and twitching, Hulk made me throw excrement and pick lice off my friend's back.
Even if this controller for some reason doesn't pan out it's 100% wireless so theres no reason they couldn't always fall back on a more "traditional" controller if need be.
You did notice that if you turned it sideways, you'd have the NES/GBA controller, right? (Which works well if you're truly going to be able to download classic games.)
You're telling me. I went into CompUSA the day after the story broke (I'd been meaning to pick it up anyway, just kept putting it off) and they had one copy left - the demo copy. When they tried to ring it up, it game up as $9999.99 "DO NOT SELL."
At first they told me it was because it was the floor model, but they quickly changed their tune. When I asked if they couldn't sell it could they at least GIVE it to me, they were not particularly friendly. (I was tempted to return with an armload of all the hard-core pornography I'm allowed to purchase as a 28 year-old, but decided against it.)
Thanks, a-holes, for wasting 25 minutes of my time. I eBayed it for about $60, but before it arrived I'd already snagged it with BT.
I did. On my laptop. That has a 4 gig HD and 128 megs of RAM, and 433 mHz processor. And I used a 2.4.x kernel. And then I had to get my Netgear WG511 card working.
All told it took me about 10 hours of reading the docs, not including compile times, and most of that was spent trying to get the WiFi working. But the thing just freaking works now, and I haven't had any major problems with it in the 10 months since I did it. (Heck, i'm using it now.)
For people unwilling to undergo all that, though, there is Ubuntu.
the ATM which may or may not have embedded Windows.
I know for a fact that Wells Fargo ATMs run Windows. Back in April I ran into the bank to get some cash, and I saw both ATMs stuck in the NT4 blue boot screen. Apparently, that branch had had an overnight power outage long enough for the UPSs to fail, and their servers were still down at one the following afternoon while they verified integrity.
astronomers infer their presence by noting the behavior of material nearby: gas is superheated and accelerated to a significant fraction of light-speed just before it is consumed.
...whereas gas is superheated and accelerated to a significant fraction of light-speed just before it is expelled from your average CowboyNeal.
Slashdot Mirror
First I get in trouble for looking at pr0n at work. Now I'm going to get in trouble for masturbating, too?
Is 'the fans always get fleeced' the rock industry's equivalent to Moore's Law?
No, it's a side effect of conspicuous consumption. Quite frankly, people who spend $250 on a concert ticket are going to have no problem shelling out $15 for a CD - they might not be able to make rent, but music's important.
Software can't cause the hardware to run it. This is not a meaningful distinction.
Meaningful or not, that's the verbage they used to define software. Causal in this case would be the effect of running the collection of bits through the processor - software would perform some desired reaction; an MPEG-2 file would cause the processor to barf up a lung because it does not, in and of itself, contain meaningful instructions for the hardware.
Like rootkits? Nope, Sony just added that into the software designed to decode their DRM'd CD.
True, but excepting Java and the like, software consists of instructions specifically designed to cause the processor to do something.
My point was that by trying to reinterpret the law in a way it was not intended (so as to circumvent the legislative process), these states (and District) are leaving open a simple argument to defeat them.
In Washington, politicians are using their definition of software (already taxable), 'a set of coded instructions designed to cause a computer...to perform a task,' to justify taxation of online media because 'they cause some action by a piece of hardware to play them
...except that the media file itself cannot cause the hardware to play it. Software must be employed to decode the file. Double-clicking on the file's icon requires more software, the OS, to load the software required to decode the file.
This'll take about five minutes to be thrown out. *yawn*
...let Jack Thompson be their lawyer. Then, as a Take Two shareholder, he'd have a conflict of interest.
That would be sweet.
If we get bored, I've got Tetris on this thing.
Netscape was a one-hit-wonder that folded as soon as a real competitor showed up.
True, but at least they released their code into the wild before folding. Remember, without Netscape, there'd be no Mozilla and hence, no Firefox.
I bought a bottle of this back in the early-to-mid 90's and for one reason or another never got around to drinking it.
So, I still have a bottle of Java Cola.
See, that's why you burn AI v0.1 into your customized Ubuntu LiveDVD. Little fucker thinks he's getting out every single time. But there are just a few hundred AIs out there who are very pissed at me.
And to the folks at Visa, if you're reading this, that's why I can't pay my bill this month.
No, I don't always use that excuse.
The chances of it not being the right person or someone in that household are slim
In a house of six? There's an 83% chance it's not the right person. Yeesh.
Yet they'd be willing to litigate six times based solely on what they mistake for principle.
Cut your design in the pumpkin backwards, and set the pumpkin facing the wall. Insert a lit candle, and the silhouette is projected.
Kind of low tech, but cool nonetheless.
Wallace and Gromit's creator, Nick Park, said the earthquake in South Asia helped put the loss into perspective.
"Even though it is a precious and nostalgic collection and valuable to the company, in light of other tragedies, today isn't a big deal," he said.
Good to hear that Nick Park is so well-grounded.
Pardon my weak attempt at formatting this in HTML:
It came out okay, but for future reference, Slashdot does allow a specialized <CODE> tag similar to <PRE>.
I'm just wondering when it will get to the point that you have to have your memory wiped MIB style after watching a movie so that you don't distribute what you've seen and violate those precious copyrights.
That would pretty well kill the word-of-mouth on which some movies thrive.
Guy #1: I hear you saw Rocky XIV last night. How was it?
Guy #2: *drools and falls twitching to the floor*
For some movies, this would be a bad thing indeed. No one ever would have seen Napoleon Dynamite, even on DVD. For others, it's a good thing; aside from the drooling and twitching, Hulk made me throw excrement and pick lice off my friend's back.
Even if this controller for some reason doesn't pan out it's 100% wireless so theres no reason they couldn't always fall back on a more "traditional" controller if need be.
You did notice that if you turned it sideways, you'd have the NES/GBA controller, right? (Which works well if you're truly going to be able to download classic games.)
Now my old "Gta:SA" will be worth a fortune!
You're telling me. I went into CompUSA the day after the story broke (I'd been meaning to pick it up anyway, just kept putting it off) and they had one copy left - the demo copy. When they tried to ring it up, it game up as $9999.99 "DO NOT SELL."
At first they told me it was because it was the floor model, but they quickly changed their tune. When I asked if they couldn't sell it could they at least GIVE it to me, they were not particularly friendly. (I was tempted to return with an armload of all the hard-core pornography I'm allowed to purchase as a 28 year-old, but decided against it.)
Thanks, a-holes, for wasting 25 minutes of my time. I eBayed it for about $60, but before it arrived I'd already snagged it with BT.
Google Ubiquity.
GoogleNet sounds soooooo 1982.
I did. On my laptop. That has a 4 gig HD and 128 megs of RAM, and 433 mHz processor. And I used a 2.4.x kernel. And then I had to get my Netgear WG511 card working.
All told it took me about 10 hours of reading the docs, not including compile times, and most of that was spent trying to get the WiFi working. But the thing just freaking works now, and I haven't had any major problems with it in the 10 months since I did it. (Heck, i'm using it now.)
For people unwilling to undergo all that, though, there is Ubuntu.
the ATM which may or may not have embedded Windows.
I know for a fact that Wells Fargo ATMs run Windows. Back in April I ran into the bank to get some cash, and I saw both ATMs stuck in the NT4 blue boot screen. Apparently, that branch had had an overnight power outage long enough for the UPSs to fail, and their servers were still down at one the following afternoon while they verified integrity.
astronomers infer their presence by noting the behavior of material nearby: gas is superheated and accelerated to a significant fraction of light-speed just before it is consumed.
...whereas gas is superheated and accelerated to a significant fraction of light-speed just before it is expelled from your average CowboyNeal.
Er, your leagl counsel, anway.
IANAL, in case you thought otherwise. I'm just a guy who's been screwed by the legal system for waiving that right.
...the officer asks do you know how fast you were going...
However, I've wondered what the correct answer would be?
"Yes."
If asked to specify, reply that you wish to exercise your right to remain silent, pending the advice of your legal consel.
That's very sad. I remember sitting in my chemistry class thinking about the girl sitting in front of me.
I did that too, thinking how nice it would be to wrap around her cones. =D