but who should be responsible to protect it, or decide the laws governing it?
How about the people who live there? I dont know you could call them, what, citizens? And they could run the whole thing with a system of voting and stuff... call it Democracy maybe.
The moon is owned by no one - regardless of who was there last.
OT: Do you understand your.sig is offensive? Your preseident as a dim-witted xenophobe? This quote shows he most certainly is.
Listen up you ignorant, rabid mccarthy-ite: What the FUCK do you know about Communism? You say "that government is COMMUNIST! Sheesh" just like a clueless, indignant moron.
I assert that the present American "success" isnt 'proof' that capitalism works at all. I believe it is really because every american had been propagandized into hysteria regarding the 'communist threat'. They mobilized to protect those who exploit them - fueled by this ColdWar anti-Commusit hysteria you so properly displayed. Good Citizen, here is your Soma.
When the world was building out of WWII, you Yanks sat back and got filthy rich. There was no domestic fighting (save Hawaii) THIS SIMPLE FACT is what has put USofA into its present position. History will , Im certain, prove your system horribly wrong...250 years from now, when armed conflict begins in the US to liberate the population from the control of your Plutocratic owners (think serf & king here) you Yankees wont be so fucking smug about "Communism". The Democratic control of the economy will look like a pretty good fucking idea when the planet is belching, the garbage is neck deep but the Bosses are all fat and rich and happy as ever - 99.999% of the population will NEVER be able to crawl out of the gutter because the game has been rigged in the favour of the present leaders.
This is gonna get me off modded as flaimbait, I dont fucking care. I just get fucking sick and tired of hearing this kind of clueless, self-righteous grandstanding from people who know NOTHING of what Communism and Socialist principles are.
You might want to take a step back and start wondering about reality of your "Democracy" at present. The fear of "Big Government" is really been an idea pushed by your PRESENT GOVERNMENT (that hasnt changed for 120 years) that wants to make sure power doesnt end up in the public body - your country would then be democratically controlled(!) - why not just keep the real power in their Plutocratic bodies and keep the farce playing. Dont try and tell the world how to run its affairs... the US is hardly a "success".
The US harboured terrorists for 4 years before said terrorists blew up the WTC.
The US Government sponsers terrorism directly. The fact is that the CIA is widely accepted as a filthy group of killers... the world over. They topple governments, assassinate people and did some fucked up shit during the coldwar. The US Ambassador to the UN, John Negroponte, is a terrorist.
You even have your own dirty little terrorist training ground, colourfully called theSchool of America.
The ideal believed in by the vast majority of Communists is the Soviet/Chinese type.
No, most western commmunists will acknowledge that China/USSR had far to much oppression and not enough democratic-citizen involvment. Fascism != Communism. The "bad" things in China (cencorship/oppression/lack-of-justice) has nothing to do with Communism.
ot only that, but it would require severe oppression in order to enforce this uniform conformity of thinking.
Why is it necessary to have "conformity of thinking"? Maoists agree that it is necessary to have constant criticism and opposition to the government - it was an ideal that would facilitate 'continuous improvment' in making a better government. Who the fuck advocates 'Conformity of thinking"? Are you sure this isnt an invention of ignorant mccarthyism??
If it can't work in a small scale, it won't work anywhere. Can't you see the deception in the argument you make that "communism would be the best system only of other systems were obliterated"?
No, when OTHER countries are organized to allow non-democratic control, when OTHER countries are capable of using all their will to destroy something that challenges their supreme-position, a great deal of illogical and unhealthy decisions are made to further that goal. Evidence the absolute corruption of "american democracy", monopolistic economy, perversion of law and destruction of meaningfull democracy... lets not even mention the environment or mindless-propaganda(marketing)-driven-over-consump tion. You dont have to obliterate the other systems... unless you are convinced they may take your silver spoon away. American Plutocracy is an extension of British Feudal society - Communism is a furtherance of the democratic principle to include the economy. It has to do with controlling the economy for the benefit of all.
If your trying to build a community that has to support the physical needs of 3 billion people - from each according to ability, to each according to need - you might also find the blatant and mind-numbing propaganda by capitalists via advertisers subversive. I find corporate news incredibly biased and leading... they certainly serve their corporate masters.
USofAmerica is a Plutocracy - I dont have to explain how their media re-enforces certain 'subversive' ideals... christ, imagine if the Communist news media was pushing its agenda into America... wouldnt Americans, via McCarthy inspired mass-hysteria, not be a little put-off? Would it too not be considered "subversive".
Remeber people, right and wrong is very much a matter of perspective.
Plus the fact that every ex-box you buy stabs MS for a 100 bucks if you only use MAME on it, using it to play only games that do not support MS.
Where is your proof of this? I see no reason to believe that the hardware Sony/Nintendo or M$ loose money on hardware... its slashbot assumption. I think you VASTLY underestimage the power of volume pricing/manufacturing and what a device like this costs to make in the MILLIONS of units.
Re:From the pictures...
on
MAME On Xbox
·
· Score: 1, Troll
he only has one cup of Starbucks on the desk.
You mean none. Anyone who is *TRUELY* 1337 dosnt drink Starbucks *anything*. Starbucks is consum-o-drone level trash. Anyone who is 1337 will understand that Starbucks is a homoginized-vanilla reproduction of a vibrant coffee shop. Starbucks carpet-marketing-bombs the "vibrant coffee shop" industry, making diversity in the marketplace impossible - and thus DESTROYS the coffee-shop industry.. you know, the independant "my neighbour owns this store and employees intelligent/interesting people based on their value not on their ability to wear a uniform well and act 'bubbly' (read: starbucks-ish and predictable)"
People who are 1337 are also above being snookered-in by the thinly veiled facade of anything remotely starbuck-ish.
In order for the USPTO to start being usefull again, why dont they use the public to gather prior art?
Couldnt a website, shit even slashcode based, be set up that discloses patent applications (which are public-knowledge anyway) in order to allow the public to AID the EXAMINER in collecting prior art? Somewhere in the examination period should a 'peer-review' element be 'created' (or exercised) in this way.
let the public see the patent application (disclose the applicant or not, its kinda irrelevant) and allow "all those reasonably versed in the art" to aid the Examiner. If the applicant disagrees with the examiner, let the APPLICANT take the isssue to court in order to SECURE his patent - dont allow the system to default in building a club to be held over the heads of others.
I am not a supporter of "intellectual-property" in general, I see the free exchange of ideas in an open society of greater value to the community (than allowing ideas to be controlled by profit-seekers), but I digress, I think i might come to terms with the actions of the USPTO if they implemented a system such as this..
Apple have to maximize the shareholder value or the directors might go to jail
Hahahahahhahah! So now, instead of putting directors and officers in jail for legitimate legal transgressions, environmental damage, collusion, union-busting, bribery, corruption and the like, which people have been demanding. Instead the slugs in the corporate offices hide behind SantaClaraCounty vs. Southern Pacific Railroad , officer non-liability, and various other bits of ill-logic, but NOW you suggest that unless they push the moral bounds of the purpose of patents, that they rob from the community that empowers them, that unless they transgress against the public domain and the intellectual pursuits of a free community - that they WOULD GOTO JAIL!
What a sad fucking statement that is. If that is true, which I accept, probably is; that if it is true, you Yankees need to do some serious re-thinking about the methods to which you organize your goddamned affairs.
From the LKML like above, included as the tag on ESR's email is this:
.. a government and its agents are under no general duty to
provide public services, such as police protection, to any
particular individual citizen...
-- Warren v. District of Columbia, 444 A.2d 1 (D.C. App.181)
Is he asserting case law does not support the government offering public services (police)? Meaning, that the government is violating case law in doing so. Meaning, people dont have a right to public services? Meaning, the government's public services are "illegal" (or not a legal obligation)?
The register has a piece about Bill Gates "fibbing" about sales, but even the uber skeptical Register can't deny that it is selling very brisquely. The story is here. [theregister.co.uk]
You should work on your reading comprehension friend. What that article is implying, and not surprisingly so, is the MS is dropping FUD about XP sales... that they are changing there tune for no good reason when they MUST assuredly know exactly how many theyve sold, through each channel and EXACTLY what the numbers are.... the quotes from M$ have been contradictory and vague... more likely a sign that XP isnt doing as well as the marketroids would like the public to believe.
Im not sure the PC itself is your problem, simply getting a proper LCD driver and VidCard is your real issue.
As Ive seen/thought many times before, even recently mentioned here @/., is the trouble you have driving a standard LCD. Dead laptops with very cool and useful LCD displays probably litter the parts pile of every slashdot user(!) - geeks are really unable to give up that LCD. Outside of buying a terribly expensive driver card from someone like Earth LCD. Also you may want to have a look at this reference.
This is an excellent question, an excellent topic and a very worthwhile idea. Basically, how do we hobble together some cheap, general purpose computers... not too much power - not much more than a network connection... these could be terminals in the home, "tablet-pcs", a DIY "ConnectedTouchpad/IOpener/Audrey", portable MP3 players... all cry out for *EXACTLY* the hardware this question is asking for.
A modular "embedded" PC. Just like our desktops... expandable, extensible and versatile. Why dont we have a solution like this for PDAs? Without straying OT too far, it would be *EXCELLENT* to see a DIY laptop for a lot of reasons.
and I'll pass on the highest scoring ones to Bruce so that he can reply to 8 or so. Bruce has a website for you to check it. It's got a FAQ and bio for you to examine. As usual, the highest moderated questions get passed on to Bruce, of which he will answer 8 or so. Have fun.
Do you people even PROOF-READ your own stories? I mean as usual you didnt even PROOF-READ your own stories.
Re:There are alternatives... besides proprietary
on
SourceForge Drifting
·
· Score: 2
You can have Libre while charging users for use of your code
Well, this is the rub isnt it. I would suggest that once youve written the code for someone it is no longer 'yours'. The act of creation needs to be compensated (hence the real logic that software is a "service"). When you are finished with it it belongs to the person who funded it.
What we should hopefully see, is that customers will demand to recieve their freedom when buying software to bust out of the proprietary IT universe (where M$ stears the whole bit and you 'own' nothing)...
Once the users of technology own their freedom - mutal self interest will keep the tools open, innovation and usability will accelerate because there is no 're-inventing the wheel' in any new project - people are free to use the labours of others...
VA diving is unfortunate, and your suggestion to offer the hosting/managment/bandwidth etc as the service is a terrific idea... one that would have made sense had VA not been funded by capitalists looking to Get Rich Quick(TM)... Like QT, Cygwin and others, you CANNOT start with a massive budget and just buy yourself a viable business (for what its worth, i hate modern capitalism) - you really have to start slowly, build momentum and think "long term" versus the 30 second myopia of the DotBombs.
I mean really, who spends money like they did (what did VA pay for/. again..(!)) and expect to have revenue to match faster than they could spend these kinds of budgets.
If Internet2 runs at "blazing-sufer-fast" speed, why wouldnt we setup a new "X" style protocol - HTML blows because it is stateless, its run, rinse repeat for programmers, not at all fun.
Why not encourage IBM & other OpenSource patrons to develope a new X+Y that doesnt suck.. that can be used unadultered over Internet2.
Does recording a new Britney Spears... album cost money?..Recording time, session musicians, studio staff, blah blah blah
Studios are cheap. And a few musicians for a week or two is reasonably cheap... I would suggest that these 'works for hire' should actually receive equal royalty shares... after all they *ARE* actually making the music.
not to mention all the promotion for the album, design costs
Have you ever thought that advertising and marketing provides NO value to the product you purchased? Suggesting that the price is high b/c of the money they CHOOSE to burn off on mind-control-for-the-masses and asserting that I MUST pay this is absurd. Note to RIAA: Fuck the advertising, Im looking for art not a 'brand'.
Is a new Britney Spears album in demand?
High demand in the marketplace means what to this conversation? Are you suggesting that market demand == worthwhile music?
several million teenagers think you're wrong, and who are you to say you've got better taste than them?
Those same teens think that tombly hilfliger makes quality clothes, he neither makes them nor are they 'quality'. Millions more couldnt tell you the population of their own country. Are these people, somehow by sheer mass, ignorance and stupidity also going to be the deciding voice in what art has merit? Thats like asking illiterates to vote for the Hugo.
First lesson of economics: demand = value. Amazing how many people forget this.
First lesson in life: Economics is a worthless game, fixed to re-enforce the present power structure - it is neither self-evident nor self-justifiying. It is bullshit. "Economics" is a black art used to convince the public there destiny is best left to the marketplace...which it is not.. but i digress.
I care about music because it makes my life better. If music has no value to you, I don't know why you even care whether you can download it for free or not.
Hmm. Maybe I've been reading too many romance novels lately...
What? You read romance "novels"?
Ill be reporting you to CommanderTaco for proper reeducation if this is confirmed. We will have to confiscate, and burn of course, every romance "novel" you own and re-issue you a library of SciFi proper... do not dispare commrade - THERE IS HOPE FOR YOU YET!
...Not this guy. Personally Im holding my wallet until the firesale on public buildings. The Statue of Liberty, Washington Monument and GoldenGate bridge... now thats a good investment. With the right re-naming, cross-marketing, and brand management strategy these are sure fire money makers!
You have to bear in mind that MS is a public company, with a responsibility to share holders: making money.
If the 'shareholders' want to make a living, let them get fucking jobs.
Im tired of all this 'share-holder' value bullshit.
I work for a company that is SERIOUSLY faultering right now, and our (newly replaced) CEO kept up with the 'share-holder value' shite right to the end... while all of us employees constantly said "HEY, What about us poor bastards who do all the work!!!! Nevermind shareholders - I need this job to feed my family!"
7) Microsoft may not meddle in the the legislative processes of Fderal, State or local governemnts or bodies that make recommendations to them, with their work on UCITA being a prime model of behaviour that is prohibited to them as a monopoly.
This is impossible. As most people, who are opposed to American Plutocracy understand, you cannot hinder corporations this way. You see, they are full and equal legal persons protected under the constitution - which is the ROOT CAUSE of the corporate domination of America... this is why there is no political will to break up the MS monopoly... the Plutocratic Government of America knows better than to bite the hand that feeds it... there can be no political will, now or ever in the future, to control capitalism (via anti-trust laws or anything else) as long as this situation remains in America.
IANALBPOO/. (IANAL but play one on slashdot) but I understand there is ANOTHER ruling (much more recent) which gauranteed that corporations are entitled to spend money, without interference to "lobby" (read: bribe) the political system... is anyone farmiliar with this case? I understand it uses SantaClaraCounty as a its legal foundation...
Slashdot Mirror
but who should be responsible to protect it, or decide the laws governing it?
.sig is offensive? Your preseident as a dim-witted xenophobe? This quote shows he most certainly is.
How about the people who live there? I dont know you could call them, what, citizens? And they could run the whole thing with a system of voting and stuff... call it Democracy maybe.
The moon is owned by no one - regardless of who was there last.
OT: Do you understand your
The Linux Game Tome (happypenguin.org) has been down for a few weeks, and I haven't seen any mention of why.
This isn't really off-topic. The subject is gaming video cards. When a source for those games disappears, the question is worth asking.
Ummm isnt it a little stupid using your +1 to tell someone how and why THEY were off topic? Isnt it like cutting off your nose to spite your face?
moron.
that the government is COMMUNIST!
Listen up you ignorant, rabid mccarthy-ite: What the FUCK do you know about Communism? You say "that government is COMMUNIST! Sheesh" just like a clueless, indignant moron.
I assert that the present American "success" isnt 'proof' that capitalism works at all. I believe it is really because every american had been propagandized into hysteria regarding the 'communist threat'. They mobilized to protect those who exploit them - fueled by this ColdWar anti-Commusit hysteria you so properly displayed. Good Citizen, here is your Soma.
When the world was building out of WWII, you Yanks sat back and got filthy rich. There was no domestic fighting (save Hawaii) THIS SIMPLE FACT is what has put USofA into its present position. History will , Im certain, prove your system horribly wrong...250 years from now, when armed conflict begins in the US to liberate the population from the control of your Plutocratic owners (think serf & king here) you Yankees wont be so fucking smug about "Communism". The Democratic control of the economy will look like a pretty good fucking idea when the planet is belching, the garbage is neck deep but the Bosses are all fat and rich and happy as ever - 99.999% of the population will NEVER be able to crawl out of the gutter because the game has been rigged in the favour of the present leaders.
This is gonna get me off modded as flaimbait, I dont fucking care. I just get fucking sick and tired of hearing this kind of clueless, self-righteous grandstanding from people who know NOTHING of what Communism and Socialist principles are.
You might want to take a step back and start wondering about reality of your "Democracy" at present. The fear of "Big Government" is really been an idea pushed by your PRESENT GOVERNMENT (that hasnt changed for 120 years) that wants to make sure power doesnt end up in the public body - your country would then be democratically controlled(!) - why not just keep the real power in their Plutocratic bodies and keep the farce playing. Dont try and tell the world how to run its affairs... the US is hardly a "success".
The US harboured terrorists for 4 years before said terrorists blew up the WTC.
The US Government sponsers terrorism directly. The fact is that the CIA is widely accepted as a filthy group of killers... the world over. They topple governments, assassinate people and did some fucked up shit during the coldwar. The US Ambassador to the UN, John Negroponte, is a terrorist.
You even have your own dirty little terrorist training ground, colourfully called theSchool of America.
Anyone else interested in the machinations of the US Government and its hypocrasy may also like to read this: A wonderfull plan, on how the Government could 'get away' with starting a war with Cuba - very interesting stuff...
Kettle this is pot, Pot, Kettle.
The ideal believed in by the vast majority of Communists is the Soviet/Chinese type.
p tion. You dont have to obliterate the other systems... unless you are convinced they may take your silver spoon away. American Plutocracy is an extension of British Feudal society - Communism is a furtherance of the democratic principle to include the economy. It has to do with controlling the economy for the benefit of all.
No, most western commmunists will acknowledge that China/USSR had far to much oppression and not enough democratic-citizen involvment. Fascism != Communism. The "bad" things in China (cencorship/oppression/lack-of-justice) has nothing to do with Communism.
ot only that, but it would require severe oppression in order to enforce this uniform conformity of thinking.
Why is it necessary to have "conformity of thinking"? Maoists agree that it is necessary to have constant criticism and opposition to the government - it was an ideal that would facilitate 'continuous improvment' in making a better government. Who the fuck advocates 'Conformity of thinking"? Are you sure this isnt an invention of ignorant mccarthyism??
If it can't work in a small scale, it won't work anywhere. Can't you see the deception in the argument you make that "communism would be the best system only of other systems were obliterated"?
No, when OTHER countries are organized to allow non-democratic control, when OTHER countries are capable of using all their will to destroy something that challenges their supreme-position, a great deal of illogical and unhealthy decisions are made to further that goal. Evidence the absolute corruption of "american democracy", monopolistic economy, perversion of law and destruction of meaningfull democracy... lets not even mention the environment or mindless-propaganda(marketing)-driven-over-consum
Which creators meant well?
These ones.
If your trying to build a community that has to support the physical needs of 3 billion people - from each according to ability, to each according to need - you might also find the blatant and mind-numbing propaganda by capitalists via advertisers subversive. I find corporate news incredibly biased and leading... they certainly serve their corporate masters.
USofAmerica is a Plutocracy - I dont have to explain how their media re-enforces certain 'subversive' ideals... christ, imagine if the Communist news media was pushing its agenda into America... wouldnt Americans, via McCarthy inspired mass-hysteria, not be a little put-off? Would it too not be considered "subversive".
Remeber people, right and wrong is very much a matter of perspective.
Plus the fact that every ex-box you buy stabs MS for a 100 bucks if you only use MAME on it, using it to play only games that do not support MS.
Where is your proof of this? I see no reason to believe that the hardware Sony/Nintendo or M$ loose money on hardware... its slashbot assumption. I think you VASTLY underestimage the power of volume pricing/manufacturing and what a device like this costs to make in the MILLIONS of units.
he only has one cup of Starbucks on the desk.
You mean none. Anyone who is *TRUELY* 1337 dosnt drink Starbucks *anything*. Starbucks is consum-o-drone level trash. Anyone who is 1337 will understand that Starbucks is a homoginized-vanilla reproduction of a vibrant coffee shop. Starbucks carpet-marketing-bombs the "vibrant coffee shop" industry, making diversity in the marketplace impossible - and thus DESTROYS the coffee-shop industry.. you know, the independant "my neighbour owns this store and employees intelligent/interesting people based on their value not on their ability to wear a uniform well and act 'bubbly' (read: starbucks-ish and predictable)"
People who are 1337 are also above being snookered-in by the thinly veiled facade of anything remotely starbuck-ish.
This is a bit OT, but..
In order for the USPTO to start being usefull again, why dont they use the public to gather prior art?
Couldnt a website, shit even slashcode based, be set up that discloses patent applications (which are public-knowledge anyway) in order to allow the public to AID the EXAMINER in collecting prior art? Somewhere in the examination period should a 'peer-review' element be 'created' (or exercised) in this way.
let the public see the patent application (disclose the applicant or not, its kinda irrelevant) and allow "all those reasonably versed in the art" to aid the Examiner. If the applicant disagrees with the examiner, let the APPLICANT take the isssue to court in order to SECURE his patent - dont allow the system to default in building a club to be held over the heads of others.
I am not a supporter of "intellectual-property" in general, I see the free exchange of ideas in an open society of greater value to the community (than allowing ideas to be controlled by profit-seekers), but I digress, I think i might come to terms with the actions of the USPTO if they implemented a system such as this..
Apple have to maximize the shareholder value or the directors might go to jail
Hahahahahhahah! So now, instead of putting directors and officers in jail for legitimate legal transgressions, environmental damage, collusion, union-busting, bribery, corruption and the like, which people have been demanding. Instead the slugs in the corporate offices hide behind SantaClaraCounty vs. Southern Pacific Railroad , officer non-liability, and various other bits of ill-logic, but NOW you suggest that unless they push the moral bounds of the purpose of patents, that they rob from the community that empowers them, that unless they transgress against the public domain and the intellectual pursuits of a free community - that they WOULD GOTO JAIL!
What a sad fucking statement that is. If that is true, which I accept, probably is; that if it is true, you Yankees need to do some serious re-thinking about the methods to which you organize your goddamned affairs.
From the LKML like above, included as the tag on ESR's email is this:
.. a government and its agents are under no general duty to
provide public services, such as police protection, to any
particular individual citizen...
-- Warren v. District of Columbia, 444 A.2d 1 (D.C. App.181)
Is he asserting case law does not support the government offering public services (police)? Meaning, that the government is violating case law in doing so. Meaning, people dont have a right to public services? Meaning, the government's public services are "illegal" (or not a legal obligation)?
Am i understanding this correctly...
Sorry, this is very OT.
The register has a piece about Bill Gates "fibbing" about sales, but even the uber skeptical Register can't deny that it is selling very brisquely. The story is here. [theregister.co.uk]
You should work on your reading comprehension friend. What that article is implying, and not surprisingly so, is the MS is dropping FUD about XP sales... that they are changing there tune for no good reason when they MUST assuredly know exactly how many theyve sold, through each channel and EXACTLY what the numbers are.... the quotes from M$ have been contradictory and vague... more likely a sign that XP isnt doing as well as the marketroids would like the public to believe.
In short, your comment is a perfect non-sequitur.
I suggest you start by looking here LinuxDevices.com's SBC reference, it is a terrific resource.
/., is the trouble you have driving a standard LCD. Dead laptops with very cool and useful LCD displays probably litter the parts pile of every slashdot user(!) - geeks are really unable to give up that LCD. Outside of buying a terribly expensive driver card from someone like Earth LCD. Also you may want to have a look at this reference.
Im not sure the PC itself is your problem, simply getting a proper LCD driver and VidCard is your real issue.
As Ive seen/thought many times before, even recently mentioned here @
This is an excellent question, an excellent topic and a very worthwhile idea. Basically, how do we hobble together some cheap, general purpose computers... not too much power - not much more than a network connection... these could be terminals in the home, "tablet-pcs", a DIY "ConnectedTouchpad/IOpener/Audrey", portable MP3 players... all cry out for *EXACTLY* the hardware this question is asking for.
A modular "embedded" PC. Just like our desktops... expandable, extensible and versatile. Why dont we have a solution like this for PDAs? Without straying OT too far, it would be *EXCELLENT* to see a DIY laptop for a lot of reasons.
I use Red Hat's sound configurating program which is installed and waiting.
My Debian Sid laptop still doesnt have working sound, what RH Sound Tool are you using? I havnt run RH since 6.1
..what are these 'consumer' things of which you speak?
and I'll pass on the highest scoring ones to Bruce so that he can reply to 8 or so. Bruce has a website for you to check it. It's got a FAQ and bio for you to examine. As usual, the highest moderated questions get passed on to Bruce, of which he will answer 8 or so. Have fun.
Do you people even PROOF-READ your own stories? I mean as usual you didnt even PROOF-READ your own stories.
You can have Libre while charging users for use of your code
/. again..(!)) and expect to have revenue to match faster than they could spend these kinds of budgets.
Well, this is the rub isnt it. I would suggest that once youve written the code for someone it is no longer 'yours'. The act of creation needs to be compensated (hence the real logic that software is a "service"). When you are finished with it it belongs to the person who funded it.
What we should hopefully see, is that customers will demand to recieve their freedom when buying software to bust out of the proprietary IT universe (where M$ stears the whole bit and you 'own' nothing)...
Once the users of technology own their freedom - mutal self interest will keep the tools open, innovation and usability will accelerate because there is no 're-inventing the wheel' in any new project - people are free to use the labours of others...
VA diving is unfortunate, and your suggestion to offer the hosting/managment/bandwidth etc as the service is a terrific idea... one that would have made sense had VA not been funded by capitalists looking to Get Rich Quick(TM)... Like QT, Cygwin and others, you CANNOT start with a massive budget and just buy yourself a viable business (for what its worth, i hate modern capitalism) - you really have to start slowly, build momentum and think "long term" versus the 30 second myopia of the DotBombs.
I mean really, who spends money like they did (what did VA pay for
If Internet2 runs at "blazing-sufer-fast" speed, why wouldnt we setup a new "X" style protocol - HTML blows because it is stateless, its run, rinse repeat for programmers, not at all fun.
Why not encourage IBM & other OpenSource patrons to develope a new X+Y that doesnt suck.. that can be used unadultered over Internet2.
, boycotting them is fine but STEALING their copyrights
I think mp3 trading on the net is civil diobedience. This disobedience actually discredits the validity of copyright - the whole sytem itself.
Im sorry, but the RIAA has to face up to the fact they, and copyright itself is finished.
Does recording a new Britney Spears... album cost money?..Recording time, session musicians, studio staff, blah blah blah
Studios are cheap. And a few musicians for a week or two is reasonably cheap... I would suggest that these 'works for hire' should actually receive equal royalty shares... after all they *ARE* actually making the music.
not to mention all the promotion for the album, design costs
Have you ever thought that advertising and marketing provides NO value to the product you purchased? Suggesting that the price is high b/c of the money they CHOOSE to burn off on mind-control-for-the-masses and asserting that I MUST pay this is absurd. Note to RIAA: Fuck the advertising, Im looking for art not a 'brand'.
Is a new Britney Spears album in demand?
High demand in the marketplace means what to this conversation? Are you suggesting that market demand == worthwhile music?
several million teenagers think you're wrong, and who are you to say you've got better taste than them?
Those same teens think that tombly hilfliger makes quality clothes, he neither makes them nor are they 'quality'. Millions more couldnt tell you the population of their own country. Are these people, somehow by sheer mass, ignorance and stupidity also going to be the deciding voice in what art has merit? Thats like asking illiterates to vote for the Hugo.
First lesson of economics: demand = value. Amazing how many people forget this.
First lesson in life: Economics is a worthless game, fixed to re-enforce the present power structure - it is neither self-evident nor self-justifiying. It is bullshit. "Economics" is a black art used to convince the public there destiny is best left to the marketplace...which it is not.. but i digress.
I care about music because it makes my life better. If music has no value to you, I don't know why you even care whether you can download it for free or not.
Mee Mee Mee. 'Nuff said.
Agreed.
Correct me if Im wrong, but isnt it illegal in the US to fix prices, collude to rig the market and agree to non-competiton pacts in a given market?
Isnt the very existance of the RIAA (and MPAA for that matter) practically evidence of law-breaking?
Its like gas stations calling one another and pushing the price up...
Hmm. Maybe I've been reading too many romance novels lately...
What? You read romance "novels"?
Ill be reporting you to CommanderTaco for proper reeducation if this is confirmed. We will have to confiscate, and burn of course, every romance "novel" you own and re-issue you a library of SciFi proper... do not dispare commrade - THERE IS HOPE FOR YOU YET!
...Not this guy. Personally Im holding my wallet until the firesale on public buildings. The Statue of Liberty, Washington Monument and GoldenGate bridge... now thats a good investment. With the right re-naming, cross-marketing, and brand management strategy these are sure fire money makers!
"The SubtleNuance Statue Of Plutocracy"... A Monument to Capitalism and Entrepreneurial Spirit.®© Now thats a sure winner. God Bless America(TM)!
You have to bear in mind that MS is a public company, with a responsibility to share holders: making money.
If the 'shareholders' want to make a living, let them get fucking jobs.
Im tired of all this 'share-holder' value bullshit.
I work for a company that is SERIOUSLY faultering right now, and our (newly replaced) CEO kept up with the 'share-holder value' shite right to the end... while all of us employees constantly said "HEY, What about us poor bastards who do all the work!!!! Nevermind shareholders - I need this job to feed my family!"
Bottom Line: Fuck the Shareholders.
7) Microsoft may not meddle in the the legislative processes of Fderal, State or local governemnts or bodies that make recommendations to them, with their work on UCITA being a prime model of behaviour that is prohibited to them as a monopoly.
This is impossible. As most people, who are opposed to American Plutocracy understand, you cannot hinder corporations this way. You see, they are full and equal legal persons protected under the constitution - which is the ROOT CAUSE of the corporate domination of America... this is why there is no political will to break up the MS monopoly... the Plutocratic Government of America knows better than to bite the hand that feeds it... there can be no political will, now or ever in the future, to control capitalism (via anti-trust laws or anything else) as long as this situation remains in America.
See here: The Santa Clara Blues
IANALBPOO/. (IANAL but play one on slashdot) but I understand there is ANOTHER ruling (much more recent) which gauranteed that corporations are entitled to spend money, without interference to "lobby" (read: bribe) the political system... is anyone farmiliar with this case? I understand it uses SantaClaraCounty as a its legal foundation...