Ok, this is my plan to get the RIAA and MPAA . . . to write a perl script that grabs the names of the top 50 songs off billboard.com, make symbolic links to the DeCSS song using the names of the top 50 songs, then posting these songs on Napster/iMesh/Gnutella/Scour Exchange/FTP/whatever.
The main reason the TV industry isn't worried about TiVo is that because TV is quite a different beast from music. The ways in which they make money are very different, while the music industry makes money from you buying CDs, the TV industry makes money by having you watch commercials. Because of this, the methods of distribution are very different. Music is duplicated on many CDs and people buy the CDs, TV is sent normally once at the same time to everyone. Also, music is resued (you listen to a song over and over again) much more than TV programs (do you watch the same episode of Simpsons many times in the same day?) which are typically watched once.
Because TV isn't reused, most people like to watch programs the first time that it airs. Even if everyone had a TiVo, there would still be millions of viewers watching the Superbowl and all the commercials during the game. Why would you want to watch it later and how many times would you rewatch the game? And if you wanted to rewatch the game, wouldn't you use a vcr to make a tape rather than leaving it on your TiVo taking up space?
TiVo doesn't really hurt the TV industry anymore than VCRs do. While I admit that TiVo is much more convenient than a VCR, I don't think that the inconvenience of a VCR has prevented anyone from taping a program they really wanted to see.
I agree that you'd be hard press to classify all geeks as anime lovers (it's a gross generalization and gross generalizations never seem to apply). However, discarding anime simply because it's pure fantasy is a bit hasty. That's like saying things like Neuromancer, Blade Runner, Matrix, X-Men, etc are all difficult to relate to simply because they are also pure fantasy. Many things that geeks like are pure fantasy, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Now I'm not going to try to make some explaination as to why geeks like anime, but I think most people would agree that the empirical shows that there is a correlation between being a geek and watching anime (hmm, sounds like a someone should run a real study on this).
As for Iron Giant, I watch it a few monthes ago because I remembered all the reviews saying that it was great and that even adults would be touched by it. After I watched it, I was thinking "that was a typical disney-ish ending that anyone over the age of 10 would have seen coming a mile away." (yeah, it's Warner Bros, but it's still a disney-ish ending) I admit that it's kinda touching, but by no means did it have a more meritable storyline or higher quality characters. On the other hand, watch something like My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Nausicaa, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Grave of the Fireflies (a must see for everyone), or anything else by Miyazaki. They all have excellent character development and touching stories with powerful endings all wrapped up into about a 2 hour movie.
Comics books used to be the common thread that geeks used to understand each other. And for the same reason geeks used to read comic books, geeks watch anime. It's something that they can relate to, characters in anime and comics are easier to relate to than the social problems of someone on Dawson's Creek.
In fact, most all anime is derived from Japanese comic books (manga) that is much more prevalent in Japanese culture. It's not unusual to see a business man sitting on a train reading a manga or finding a wide variety of mangas for sale at the news stand on the corner. I see anime more as the next step in the change of comics to video.
Well, no group has "made it" in the sense that they're as successful as someone like Britney Spears, but there are probably 2 reasons for this. First, there are the big record labels that buy out lots of the good bands before they get good. So they may have been successful w/o the help of the record label, but we only see them with the help of the record label. Also, imagine what it would be like w/o any big record labels. Would we be without any ultra-popular groups? I doubt it, even if it was a small label with little publicity, if it was good, it would get around the country.
Second, it depends on how you define "make it." While all artists would love to make millions on their music, few actually do. And I would think that most musicians would be happy to be able to make a living doing their music, not necessarily being millionairs. Someone previously made a point that an artist only has to sell 10,000 CDs at $8 each and receive a $4 royalty for each cd to make $40,000 a year. That's a decent income based on a small number of CD sales.
So what if no grassroots artists has made it as big as the artists under major record labels? They don't have to make it that big to be good or happy. Popularity and sales does not define good music.
Actually, many people mention this in the guestbook. I actually submitted a couple entries into the guestbook but they don't seem to show up. The first comment was about how the cost should be less than the paperback book. The second comment I made was that after he finishes the book, he should allow readers to pay the difference between the cost of the book and how much they've paid for on-line texts to get a physical copy of the book sent to them. It would be nice after finishing the book for a fan to pay the extra 5$ to get a hardback cover of the book (or $2 to get a paperback, or whatever the total price comes out to be). This would definitely give more incentive to pay for the on-line edition knowing that it's paying for part of the hardback copy.
I know that Asian Man Records aren't part of the RIAA and I don't think they have any plans of ever joining. From their web site:
Asian Man Records is a small label out of Northern California. We do everything 100% D.I.Y.! It's an ethic we believe in. The label is run by Mike Park out of his parents garage. His friend Tony works on mail order, Julie does the web site, and Miya does zine/radio promotion. There are no future aspirations to become the next Epitaph or Fat. We appreciate the ton of support from you the buyers. It's an awesome thing to know that there are people who believe in what you're doing. We sell all our cd's for $8 or less, postage paid. We'll never raise the prices unless there's a drastic rise in cost. We hope to be around for a long time. Please mail order as much as possible. I hate hearing that someone paid $13.99 for an Asian Man release when I sell it for $8 postage paid. So remember, mail order is fun! Take care and have a nice DAY! - Everyone at Asian Man Records
While Asian Man Records is a pretty small label, in the punk/ska scene, they're well known. It nice to know that there are still some record companies that care more about the music than making money or becoming a huge company.
ACM has a intercollegiate programming contest each year; here's an archive of old problems: Problem Set Archives. Granted that the question is for high school students, but there are still problems easy enough for high school students to do. You could also tweak some of the problems to make the easier. To do the problems, you could either assign them as homework, or better yet, you could run a mock tournament. Make teams of 3 students with one terminal per team and give them a few problems to do. This probably wouldn't work in a single class period, but I think it's fun as a weekend activity. Also, if you look around, some of the colleges nearby might run a programming contest for high schoolers. I know that those of us who go to the ACM programming contest from Miami University of Ohio, also host a contest for high schoolers each spring.
And actually, the prices of the K6-2 chips have gone up in the past 3 monthes (I think because they stopped making them). I got a K6-2 500 in May for $42 +S&H.
But my point is to get equal price to a K6-2 550, you need to drop down to a Celeron 433. Now for the overclocked, that's probably not a big deal. Also for the power hungry, K6-2 is a joke. But if you're looking to make a very cheap system, K6-2 is probably your best choice. Makes a great linux/FreeBSD server.
This isn't just tech culture.
on
Selfish Society
·
· Score: 1
If it has any common ideology, it honors innovation, economics and freedom -- the freedom to speak openly and to be prosperous. In fact, prosperity and the acquisition of technology have become this society's hallmark; it doesn't really have any other principles.
American culture has always held this ideology, this is nothing new or exclusive to the "selfish society" of the computer elite. And it's nothing new that those in power want to keep and hold the power and look down upon those who don't have power. This is also something that happens all the time. However, the main difference with tech culture is that almost anyone can become part of the elite. No lonber is it just those born into wealth or power, the average joe can inovate, make lots of money, and be his own boss. The average joe can pirate music with little to no fear of being caught, the average joe can do everything he/she wished he/she could do but couldn't because he lacked the means to do it.
I'm not making any value judgements about whether this is better or worse, just pointing out that it's nothing really new, just on a much larger scale.
I would definitely agree with this. I try to make sure I'm always working on 3-4 programs at the same time so that I don't get programmers block.
There are multiple reasons I think this is effective. First, by working on multiple tasks, you get less bored with work. Because when you get bored of one program, you can easily switch to another. Also, sometimes after staring at the same code for hours/days on end, you just start thinking in circles. You'll never find a solution this way. By switching to another program, while you may not directly come upon the solution needed, just by thinking about something else and thiking out of the circle can help a lot. While trying to solve a problem on a different program, you might realized something that could help on the program you were stuck on.
On a side note, sometimes it just helps to talk to someone about the problem. Not necessarily someone you think can solve the problem, but someone who would at least know what you're talking about. Sometimes just saying it out loud can help you find a solution or someone who is detached from the problem may realize something simple or obvious that you're overlooking.
It seems like yet another ignorant newbie wants to sell out artistic integrity for the sake of getting his favorite series on FOX.
First of all, I'm definitely not a newbie, but that's really a moot point. And as I stated, I don't want to see anime censored, but things don't change overnight. Change takes time, and if in the end it means more anime on American TV, I'm willing to support it.
And that's exactly the point -- who wants to deal with corporate America?
I fail to see how not going through corporate America is any different than not going through corporate Japan. No matter what, anime goes through some corporate channel, you just happen to favor corporate Japan over America. I don't care much, I just realize that to have lots of anime produced, you need corporate support (it's not like something you do in your garage).
Frankly, I don't think the U.S. is deserving of these masterpieces at all.
It sounds to me as if you are making value judgement on American culture. While it's not necessarily my idea of an ideal culture, that's no reason to throw around comments of prejudice against American culture.
Well, I haven't heard any news about Robotech being released on TV anytime soon (although it was on Cartoon network a couple of years ago, if my memory serves me correctly). But if you really want to watch it again, Animeigo is going to be releasing the first generation (36 episodes) on DVD soon. They're offering a nice deal where if a lot of people pre-order it, they'll drop the price per person. It's currently down to $270 for the box set and can be dropped to $250 if enough people continue to sign up. You can pre-order it from Animeiogo here.
...I don't see any reason that we, the anime community, should view, promote, or even acknowledge the existence of this travesty. Until companies learn that anime is not to be hacked up to suit network TV, then they have no right to try to take over beloved series like Tenchi Muyo! or Pocket Monsters.
How about to promote the ports of tapes to the US? While fansubs are nice, if you want to be able see all the anime that's in Japan, you really need to have large support from commercial companies. Fansubbers only sub what they want leaving tons of anime unknown to the world outside Japan.
Another good thing to notice is that Cable networks are showing Anime on US TV in the first place. That's the first step in getting your uncensored anime. If anime becomes popular enough, it will only be a matter of time before you can watch Tenchi uncut, or perhaps even subtitled on US TV (I would love that). You can't expect American culture to change overnight, and I think this is a step in the right direction.
I would hope that in the future, some shows might even be released at the same time in the US as in Japan, no need to wait a few years to get "old" anime.
Re:Uncut tenchi... would be deemed inapproiate by.
on
Toonami Plans Revealed
·
· Score: 1
Nudity on Japanese TV in animation is simply characters with no clothes on, no details. This means no hair, no nipples, just flesh colored characters with a line or two to indicate the shape. Normally for TV, it isn't even shaded to show any curvature.
Animation is not about the fucking drawing. It's about the story.
Actually, last I checked, that's what Anime is about too, it's about the story. Where else can you get slapstick comedy involving a bunch of girls and a regular guy (Tenchi)? Where else do you get complicated political and social relationships in a war time setting (Gundam, I think, haven't seen any of it). Where else do you see a group of girls that are so devoted to each other that they're willing to die for each other while arguing like girls in real life (Sailor Moon)?
Anime is all about plot, when you do animation, the sky's the limit on what type of show you can do.
In Blue Submarine, one of the characters continually smokes. Due to digitally re-editing, they were able to remove the cigarette in many scenes and in others, they changed it to a toothpick. Keep your eyes open, the one thing they did not edit out was the smoke from the cigarette.
Why would you bother to edit out the cigarette and leave the smoke? Would it be that hard for even young kids to make the connection? And on a side note, when did showing someone smoke on TV become unacceptable? If I recall correctly, there were a few characters in Looney Toones that smoked.
Costs aside, I can see a few reasons to port apps to OS X from unix. Part of the reason will be to help Apple get more of software market, part of the reason will be just for fun. More importantly, I think the reputation of ease of use of an Apple will make people want to be part of the Apple software market. Throw in the stability of BSD and I think you have a winning OS.
well, probably not more important, but MP3s are now and DivX (for most of us) is the future. MP3s are all over the net now and easy for almost anyone to get a hold of. DivX is harder for the average user to get and even if they could, not many modem users are willing to download 200+ megs to watch a movie on their computer.
On a side note, I haven't been intentially boycotting either RIAA or MPAA, but I've noticed that I refuse to see evening shows now due to the high price at movie theatres. Also I haven't bought any CDs under the major record labels, partially because of the price, partially because I hear it enough on the radio, but mainly because they don't play the music I like. Mainstream music just doesn't do it for me anymore.
I feel that FreeBSD 4s user-friendlyness is fairly low comared to, say, RH 6.2.
I would disagree, I tried out RH 6.0 last year and I had a hard time getting basic things to work. This was partially because of how RH seems to have GUIs for everything and I actually wanted to know how to do things through the terminal. Also, with so many different version of linux, it's sometimes hard to find the help you need for you specific distibution/version.
As far as installing programs for FreeBSD, it's the easiest I've seen hands down. With the ports collection, you just change into the directory of what you want to install and type 'make'. It doesn't get any easier than that.
No matter what happens, you do better by not sending in your dollar.
This may be true, but how cares that much about a single dollar? Sure, multiply it by 10 or 100 and it becomes significant, but in this particular case, it's one dollar. Do you really become worse off because you spent one buck?
Ok, so if you don't like King, don't send in the small 1$ that he's asking for, but if you do, 1$ seems like a small price to pay, even if you don't really have to pay it.
I like how you can download the first installment before paying. I think this makes a great system (kind of like how you can read the first 3 chapters of Orson Scott Card's next book at his web site). This lets the reader get a preview of the book, and if they like it, they can pay the dollar like a down payment for the rest of the book.
Another nice feature is instant gratification. I'd much rather be able to read the book immediately rather than wait for it to ship (or pay for shipping costs in the first place). Granted, reading on my computer monitor isn't as nice as reading in bed, but for the money I save, it's probably worth it.
Even though I'm not a King fan, I may just pay out the 1$ to support the cause, it's not like 1$ is gonna hurt me. If you have a buck to spare, I would encourage you to do the same, it may mean cheaper books in the future.
Actually, I'd have to side with the people who are saying correlation doesn't mean causation. You can't really tell if sales have gone up unless you factor in a few more things that just sales increasing. For example:
Have sales increased faster than inflation? If online music didn't exist, would sales have increased anyway? If sales would have increased anyway, would it have increased as much? What exactly entails "visiting music destinations on the Web"? Does that mean listening to the samples at CDNow.com right before I buy the CD?
In any case, who cares. All it does is provide more statistics to throw around when arguing with your friends, I don't think it matters much in a court case.
Slashdot Mirror
MSNBC
Wired
Yahoo!
ABC News
Enjoy~
Ok, this is my plan to get the RIAA and MPAA . . . to write a perl script that grabs the names of the top 50 songs off billboard.com, make symbolic links to the DeCSS song using the names of the top 50 songs, then posting these songs on Napster/iMesh/Gnutella/Scour Exchange/FTP/whatever.
.
If I only had more bandwidth . .
The main reason the TV industry isn't worried about TiVo is that because TV is quite a different beast from music. The ways in which they make money are very different, while the music industry makes money from you buying CDs, the TV industry makes money by having you watch commercials. Because of this, the methods of distribution are very different. Music is duplicated on many CDs and people buy the CDs, TV is sent normally once at the same time to everyone. Also, music is resued (you listen to a song over and over again) much more than TV programs (do you watch the same episode of Simpsons many times in the same day?) which are typically watched once.
Because TV isn't reused, most people like to watch programs the first time that it airs. Even if everyone had a TiVo, there would still be millions of viewers watching the Superbowl and all the commercials during the game. Why would you want to watch it later and how many times would you rewatch the game? And if you wanted to rewatch the game, wouldn't you use a vcr to make a tape rather than leaving it on your TiVo taking up space?
TiVo doesn't really hurt the TV industry anymore than VCRs do. While I admit that TiVo is much more convenient than a VCR, I don't think that the inconvenience of a VCR has prevented anyone from taping a program they really wanted to see.
I agree that you'd be hard press to classify all geeks as anime lovers (it's a gross generalization and gross generalizations never seem to apply). However, discarding anime simply because it's pure fantasy is a bit hasty. That's like saying things like Neuromancer, Blade Runner, Matrix, X-Men, etc are all difficult to relate to simply because they are also pure fantasy. Many things that geeks like are pure fantasy, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Now I'm not going to try to make some explaination as to why geeks like anime, but I think most people would agree that the empirical shows that there is a correlation between being a geek and watching anime (hmm, sounds like a someone should run a real study on this).
As for Iron Giant, I watch it a few monthes ago because I remembered all the reviews saying that it was great and that even adults would be touched by it. After I watched it, I was thinking "that was a typical disney-ish ending that anyone over the age of 10 would have seen coming a mile away." (yeah, it's Warner Bros, but it's still a disney-ish ending) I admit that it's kinda touching, but by no means did it have a more meritable storyline or higher quality characters. On the other hand, watch something like My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service, Nausicaa, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, Grave of the Fireflies (a must see for everyone), or anything else by Miyazaki. They all have excellent character development and touching stories with powerful endings all wrapped up into about a 2 hour movie.
Comics books used to be the common thread that geeks used to understand each other. And for the same reason geeks used to read comic books, geeks watch anime. It's something that they can relate to, characters in anime and comics are easier to relate to than the social problems of someone on Dawson's Creek.
In fact, most all anime is derived from Japanese comic books (manga) that is much more prevalent in Japanese culture. It's not unusual to see a business man sitting on a train reading a manga or finding a wide variety of mangas for sale at the news stand on the corner. I see anime more as the next step in the change of comics to video.
Well, no group has "made it" in the sense that they're as successful as someone like Britney Spears, but there are probably 2 reasons for this. First, there are the big record labels that buy out lots of the good bands before they get good. So they may have been successful w/o the help of the record label, but we only see them with the help of the record label. Also, imagine what it would be like w/o any big record labels. Would we be without any ultra-popular groups? I doubt it, even if it was a small label with little publicity, if it was good, it would get around the country.
Second, it depends on how you define "make it." While all artists would love to make millions on their music, few actually do. And I would think that most musicians would be happy to be able to make a living doing their music, not necessarily being millionairs. Someone previously made a point that an artist only has to sell 10,000 CDs at $8 each and receive a $4 royalty for each cd to make $40,000 a year. That's a decent income based on a small number of CD sales.
So what if no grassroots artists has made it as big as the artists under major record labels? They don't have to make it that big to be good or happy. Popularity and sales does not define good music.
So is there a Kill Your Computer Website or a Kill Your Website Website?
Actually, many people mention this in the guestbook. I actually submitted a couple entries into the guestbook but they don't seem to show up. The first comment was about how the cost should be less than the paperback book. The second comment I made was that after he finishes the book, he should allow readers to pay the difference between the cost of the book and how much they've paid for on-line texts to get a physical copy of the book sent to them. It would be nice after finishing the book for a fan to pay the extra 5$ to get a hardback cover of the book (or $2 to get a paperback, or whatever the total price comes out to be). This would definitely give more incentive to pay for the on-line edition knowing that it's paying for part of the hardback copy.
ACM has a intercollegiate programming contest each year; here's an archive of old problems: Problem Set Archives. Granted that the question is for high school students, but there are still problems easy enough for high school students to do. You could also tweak some of the problems to make the easier. To do the problems, you could either assign them as homework, or better yet, you could run a mock tournament. Make teams of 3 students with one terminal per team and give them a few problems to do. This probably wouldn't work in a single class period, but I think it's fun as a weekend activity. Also, if you look around, some of the colleges nearby might run a programming contest for high schoolers. I know that those of us who go to the ACM programming contest from Miami University of Ohio, also host a contest for high schoolers each spring.
A quick search on Pricewatch:
AMD K6-2 550: $76
AMD K6-2 533: $66
AMD K6-2 450: $57
Intel Celeron 566: $98
Intel Celeron 533 PPGA: $92
Intel Celeron 500 PPGA: $91
Intel Celeron 466 PPGA: $82
Intel Celeron 433 PPGA: $75
And actually, the prices of the K6-2 chips have gone up in the past 3 monthes (I think because they stopped making them). I got a K6-2 500 in May for $42 +S&H.
But my point is to get equal price to a K6-2 550, you need to drop down to a Celeron 433. Now for the overclocked, that's probably not a big deal. Also for the power hungry, K6-2 is a joke. But if you're looking to make a very cheap system, K6-2 is probably your best choice. Makes a great linux/FreeBSD server.
I'm not making any value judgements about whether this is better or worse, just pointing out that it's nothing really new, just on a much larger scale.
I would definitely agree with this. I try to make sure I'm always working on 3-4 programs at the same time so that I don't get programmers block.
There are multiple reasons I think this is effective. First, by working on multiple tasks, you get less bored with work. Because when you get bored of one program, you can easily switch to another. Also, sometimes after staring at the same code for hours/days on end, you just start thinking in circles. You'll never find a solution this way. By switching to another program, while you may not directly come upon the solution needed, just by thinking about something else and thiking out of the circle can help a lot. While trying to solve a problem on a different program, you might realized something that could help on the program you were stuck on.
On a side note, sometimes it just helps to talk to someone about the problem. Not necessarily someone you think can solve the problem, but someone who would at least know what you're talking about. Sometimes just saying it out loud can help you find a solution or someone who is detached from the problem may realize something simple or obvious that you're overlooking.
Anyway, hope that helps.
It seems like yet another ignorant newbie wants to sell out artistic integrity for the sake of getting his favorite series on FOX.
First of all, I'm definitely not a newbie, but that's really a moot point. And as I stated, I don't want to see anime censored, but things don't change overnight. Change takes time, and if in the end it means more anime on American TV, I'm willing to support it.
And that's exactly the point -- who wants to deal with corporate America?
I fail to see how not going through corporate America is any different than not going through corporate Japan. No matter what, anime goes through some corporate channel, you just happen to favor corporate Japan over America. I don't care much, I just realize that to have lots of anime produced, you need corporate support (it's not like something you do in your garage).
Frankly, I don't think the U.S. is deserving of these masterpieces at all.
It sounds to me as if you are making value judgement on American culture. While it's not necessarily my idea of an ideal culture, that's no reason to throw around comments of prejudice against American culture.
Well, I haven't heard any news about Robotech being released on TV anytime soon (although it was on Cartoon network a couple of years ago, if my memory serves me correctly). But if you really want to watch it again, Animeigo is going to be releasing the first generation (36 episodes) on DVD soon. They're offering a nice deal where if a lot of people pre-order it, they'll drop the price per person. It's currently down to $270 for the box set and can be dropped to $250 if enough people continue to sign up. You can pre-order it from Animeiogo here.
Another good thing to notice is that Cable networks are showing Anime on US TV in the first place. That's the first step in getting your uncensored anime. If anime becomes popular enough, it will only be a matter of time before you can watch Tenchi uncut, or perhaps even subtitled on US TV (I would love that). You can't expect American culture to change overnight, and I think this is a step in the right direction.
I would hope that in the future, some shows might even be released at the same time in the US as in Japan, no need to wait a few years to get "old" anime.
Nudity on Japanese TV in animation is simply characters with no clothes on, no details. This means no hair, no nipples, just flesh colored characters with a line or two to indicate the shape. Normally for TV, it isn't even shaded to show any curvature.
Anime is all about plot, when you do animation, the sky's the limit on what type of show you can do.
Costs aside, I can see a few reasons to port apps to OS X from unix. Part of the reason will be to help Apple get more of software market, part of the reason will be just for fun. More importantly, I think the reputation of ease of use of an Apple will make people want to be part of the Apple software market. Throw in the stability of BSD and I think you have a winning OS.
well, probably not more important, but MP3s are now and DivX (for most of us) is the future. MP3s are all over the net now and easy for almost anyone to get a hold of. DivX is harder for the average user to get and even if they could, not many modem users are willing to download 200+ megs to watch a movie on their computer.
On a side note, I haven't been intentially boycotting either RIAA or MPAA, but I've noticed that I refuse to see evening shows now due to the high price at movie theatres. Also I haven't bought any CDs under the major record labels, partially because of the price, partially because I hear it enough on the radio, but mainly because they don't play the music I like. Mainstream music just doesn't do it for me anymore.
As far as installing programs for FreeBSD, it's the easiest I've seen hands down. With the ports collection, you just change into the directory of what you want to install and type 'make'. It doesn't get any easier than that.
*shrug* anyway, whatever floats your boat . .
Ok, so if you don't like King, don't send in the small 1$ that he's asking for, but if you do, 1$ seems like a small price to pay, even if you don't really have to pay it.
I like how you can download the first installment before paying. I think this makes a great system (kind of like how you can read the first 3 chapters of Orson Scott Card's next book at his web site). This lets the reader get a preview of the book, and if they like it, they can pay the dollar like a down payment for the rest of the book.
Another nice feature is instant gratification. I'd much rather be able to read the book immediately rather than wait for it to ship (or pay for shipping costs in the first place). Granted, reading on my computer monitor isn't as nice as reading in bed, but for the money I save, it's probably worth it.
Even though I'm not a King fan, I may just pay out the 1$ to support the cause, it's not like 1$ is gonna hurt me. If you have a buck to spare, I would encourage you to do the same, it may mean cheaper books in the future.
Actually, I'd have to side with the people who are saying correlation doesn't mean causation. You can't really tell if sales have gone up unless you factor in a few more things that just sales increasing. For example:
Have sales increased faster than inflation?
If online music didn't exist, would sales have increased anyway?
If sales would have increased anyway, would it have increased as much?
What exactly entails "visiting music destinations on the Web"? Does that mean listening to the samples at CDNow.com right before I buy the CD?
In any case, who cares. All it does is provide more statistics to throw around when arguing with your friends, I don't think it matters much in a court case.