to the article, the 10% decrease in music sales in 2001 was caused mostly by Internet file swapping.
And according to computer nerds, the 10% decrease was caused mostly by shitty music and (hopefully) a realization of the sliminess of the recording industry.
Who's to say they're right and we're wrong? eh? EH? They're just pointing a finger at their favorite target to give it negative publicity. Hell, we don't even KNOW that there was a 10% drop in sales (in fact, the way liberals like to think, it could be a 10% drop in the increase of music sales!)
From the article:
Last week, Best Buy executives blamed Internet music-swapping and a dearth of new blockbuster albums for a slowdown in sales at Musicland, which operates stores under that name as well as Sam Goody, Suncoast, Media Play and On Cue.
They admit themselves that a "dearth of new blockbuster albums" is a potential cause. There you have it.
They're still trying to cut grass with a chainsaw though - it's too late to stop music sharing with laws. That only works against concentrated, organized operations. The Internet is anarchy - everyone is doing everything in a different way for a different reason from a different place.
Eventually the recording industry will see that they can't win this way and will have to work with it instead of against it. I guess the fact that they haven't figured it out by now (especially after going through the same thing with things like VCRs way back when) just shows how much they're unable to adapt. The recording industry's inflexibility in a situation like this could truly be an Achilles' Heel for them.
I think the most important thing to note is that they believe that they are powerful enough to manipulate the American legal and justice systems to tightly regulate the daily lives of U.S. citizens. I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen, but how many of you are willing to let that happen? Yeah, that's what I thought.
To get back on topic, I wonder what Best Buy's motivation for this move was? Were they pressured by the recording industry, or were they just trying to align themselves with the winning side to avoid prosecution if/when things start to get ugly with the recording industry's attempts to embed copy-protection measures into consumer devices?
(on a final note: oh my GOD! 10 PERCENT from BILLIONS of dollars! somebody call the fucking WAABULANCE!)
P.S. Sorry if I was a little incoherent, but I prepared some excuses for you: - This post is comprised of random, spontaneous thoughts strung together by sheer force of will - I like to move things around a lot so that they make more sense to me - I just woke up
I'm currently running a prerelease beta, but I probably won't bother updating until they get the PHP ISAPI module working with Apache 2.0. I really don't understand why there isn't a Win32 PHP module that works with it, considering that both PHP and Apache HTTPd are Apache.org projects, and the Apache 2.0 betas have been out since nigh on forever...
Really I'm just using all that as an excuse to be lazy and not upgrade to the final 2.0 release, and to avoid installing PHP (all I use it for currently is to serve up random pics for message board posts anyways, so noone will miss it for now...:p )
...When you use the "search bar" or whatever that's built into a browser? I noticed a LONG time ago that those things went through Netscape's/M$'s/whoever's servers, and stopped using them before I ever really started.
The only features of your browser you should be able to use without stupid behind-the-scenes stuff happening are: - entering URLs manually - bookmarking and returning to bookmarked pages - clicking on links in web pages
I guess this just gets back to the basic function of web browsers - retrieving and displaying web pages. If you do anything beyond this with your browser then you have no right to complain about what it's doing behind-the-scenes.
Of course this is all just IMHO, but honestly I think it's just a bunch of hot air...
DON'T FSCKING BUY IT. If they can't market it, then it won't become standard no matter how bad they want it to. Remember the DIVX thing? (not the codec) No? I rest my case.
If they want me to stop downloading TV episodes off of the Internet, they're either going to have to:
A) Pay the local TV stations to upgrade me from a "grade B" coverage area to something that lets me pick up more than 1 channel on my homemade Jesus-mount antenna, or
B) Pay my apartment place to give me free cable. No way am I gonna pay for cable that has 3 all-sports networks but not the Sci-Fi channel! WTF?
I have already looked at C++, Java, C++, C#, Eiffel, and even VB.net; I may be missing something but as far as I can tell all of these languages are missing something from this list.
What about C++? Nope, he already looked at that. Hey, I know! C++! Nope, he checked that out too...
well, bandwidth costs money, and this goes into your ISP's calculations, so you have to pay whether you are got flat fee or not or whether/. charges you or not. slashdot is just as free as free software.
Well in that case, a missing word should SAVE you some money, eh?
I knew someone who lived out in an outlying community who could get excellent connect speeds on his 56k modem due to mostly-copper wiring between him and the phone company. Myself, who lived in town, couldn't even get 28.8kbps most of the time due to the numerous conversions that the data was forced to go through due to sloppy design by USWest/Qwest. I'm so glad I'm spoiled by a shared T1 nowadays, or else I might still be pulling my hair out (my brother, who still lives there, finally got cable modem from AT&T, who bought out our local cable company a few years back - ironically giving us the choice between Phone Company A for DSL and Phone Company B for Cable!)
Sweet, they've already compressed the tracks for us! Now all we need is a little program that will extract the individual tracks data convert it to MP3 format (which it's probably already in anyways)
In case anyone is curious about the software used to view the tracks (see the screenshot on page 3 right after "Let's now see the structure of the CDS200 disc. There are 2 sessions inside:"), it's a great program called IsoBuster (www.isobuster.com) that I often use myself to verify and extract the contents of CDs and CD image files.
I haven't seen jumpers for sale in a lot of places, so I just collect them from old motherboards and whatnot before I toss them in the garbage. It's easy to build a collection that way.
I have a feeling that jumpers won't be around for much longer anyways, since everything is moving towards being software-configurable (PnP and whatnot)
Did Lucent actually create a prototype of one of these chips, or have they just designed it? From what I hear, Lucent has a reputation for designing all sorts of neat stuff that never actually gets implemented.
Nice job Napster! But next time, wait for them to dig themselves so deep into their mistake that it will be easier to just bury them alive than to dig them out =)
Yes, and in theory putting all of the Arabs in the U.S. in concentration camps might help prevent acts of terrorism as well. But that isn't acceptable (ethically, constitutionally, or otherwise), nor is it guaranteed to make a difference. We have to stand in firm opposition of those who would trade our freedoms for shallow promises of security (against terrorists or anyone else).
Besides - who protects us from the protectors? I don't trust someone who spies on me and is accountable to noone any more than I trust a terrorist, period.
Also, the Silmarillon wasn't a coherent work meant to be published. Rather, it was a scattered mass of writings which he created as background information for his other books. After he died, the writings were collected into the "book" we now know.
Slashdot Mirror
This is exactly what I've been waiting for them to do for...the last six months or something like that!
Ah crap, that means I can't put off upgrading any more. But now that I'm learining PHP for my database class it also means I'll have a new toy!
And according to computer nerds, the 10% decrease was caused mostly by shitty music and (hopefully) a realization of the sliminess of the recording industry.
Who's to say they're right and we're wrong? eh? EH? They're just pointing a finger at their favorite target to give it negative publicity. Hell, we don't even KNOW that there was a 10% drop in sales (in fact, the way liberals like to think, it could be a 10% drop in the increase of music sales!)
From the article:
They admit themselves that a "dearth of new blockbuster albums" is a potential cause. There you have it.
They're still trying to cut grass with a chainsaw though - it's too late to stop music sharing with laws. That only works against concentrated, organized operations. The Internet is anarchy - everyone is doing everything in a different way for a different reason from a different place.
Eventually the recording industry will see that they can't win this way and will have to work with it instead of against it. I guess the fact that they haven't figured it out by now (especially after going through the same thing with things like VCRs way back when) just shows how much they're unable to adapt. The recording industry's inflexibility in a situation like this could truly be an Achilles' Heel for them.
I think the most important thing to note is that they believe that they are powerful enough to manipulate the American legal and justice systems to tightly regulate the daily lives of U.S. citizens. I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen, but how many of you are willing to let that happen? Yeah, that's what I thought.
To get back on topic, I wonder what Best Buy's motivation for this move was? Were they pressured by the recording industry, or were they just trying to align themselves with the winning side to avoid prosecution if/when things start to get ugly with the recording industry's attempts to embed copy-protection measures into consumer devices?
(on a final note: oh my GOD! 10 PERCENT from BILLIONS of dollars! somebody call the fucking WAABULANCE!)
P.S. Sorry if I was a little incoherent, but I prepared some excuses for you:
- This post is comprised of random, spontaneous thoughts strung together by sheer force of will
- I like to move things around a lot so that they make more sense to me
- I just woke up
I'm currently running a prerelease beta, but I probably won't bother updating until they get the PHP ISAPI module working with Apache 2.0. I really don't understand why there isn't a Win32 PHP module that works with it, considering that both PHP and Apache HTTPd are Apache.org projects, and the Apache 2.0 betas have been out since nigh on forever...
:p )
Really I'm just using all that as an excuse to be lazy and not upgrade to the final 2.0 release, and to avoid installing PHP (all I use it for currently is to serve up random pics for message board posts anyways, so noone will miss it for now...
...When you use the "search bar" or whatever that's built into a browser? I noticed a LONG time ago that those things went through Netscape's/M$'s/whoever's servers, and stopped using them before I ever really started.
The only features of your browser you should be able to use without stupid behind-the-scenes stuff happening are:
- entering URLs manually
- bookmarking and returning to bookmarked pages
- clicking on links in web pages
I guess this just gets back to the basic function of web browsers - retrieving and displaying web pages. If you do anything beyond this with your browser then you have no right to complain about what it's doing behind-the-scenes.
Of course this is all just IMHO, but honestly I think it's just a bunch of hot air...
DON'T FSCKING BUY IT. If they can't market it, then it won't become standard no matter how bad they want it to. Remember the DIVX thing? (not the codec) No? I rest my case.
If they want me to stop downloading TV episodes off of the Internet, they're either going to have to:
A) Pay the local TV stations to upgrade me from a "grade B" coverage area to something that lets me pick up more than 1 channel on my homemade Jesus-mount antenna, or
B) Pay my apartment place to give me free cable. No way am I gonna pay for cable that has 3 all-sports networks but not the Sci-Fi channel! WTF?
Let's do a test:
*gets out scrabble bag*
whatdoyougetwhenyoumultiplyfourbynine
hmm... decide for yourself!
Are you kidding? What do you think people do when they're not farming? They watch satellite TV and surf the 'net!
I knew someone who lived out in an outlying community who could get excellent connect speeds on his 56k modem due to mostly-copper wiring between him and the phone company. Myself, who lived in town, couldn't even get 28.8kbps most of the time due to the numerous conversions that the data was forced to go through due to sloppy design by USWest/Qwest. I'm so glad I'm spoiled by a shared T1 nowadays, or else I might still be pulling my hair out (my brother, who still lives there, finally got cable modem from AT&T, who bought out our local cable company a few years back - ironically giving us the choice between Phone Company A for DSL and Phone Company B for Cable!)
TIMMMMMAHHHHH!
Sweet, they've already compressed the tracks for us! Now all we need is a little program that will extract the individual tracks data convert it to MP3 format (which it's probably already in anyways)
In case anyone is curious about the software used to view the tracks (see the screenshot on page 3 right after "Let's now see the structure of the CDS200 disc. There are 2 sessions inside:"), it's a great program called IsoBuster (www.isobuster.com) that I often use myself to verify and extract the contents of CDs and CD image files.
I see... So that's $267 for the equipment and $56,500 for "operating expenses", right?
GNUtella.
I haven't seen jumpers for sale in a lot of places, so I just collect them from old motherboards and whatnot before I toss them in the garbage. It's easy to build a collection that way.
I have a feeling that jumpers won't be around for much longer anyways, since everything is moving towards being software-configurable (PnP and whatnot)
Bunch of wart-faced trolls getting worked up over a bunch of "pimply-faced dorks". Don't YOU people have lives at all?
http://www.poolofradiance.com/
I don't see any mention of Interplay or Bioware there, yet it's an AD&D computer game. Would anyone care to explain?
Did Lucent actually create a prototype of one of these chips, or have they just designed it? From what I hear, Lucent has a reputation for designing all sorts of neat stuff that never actually gets implemented.
Nice job Napster! But next time, wait for them to dig themselves so deep into their mistake that it will be easier to just bury them alive than to dig them out =)
My cousin once said that he wants to make a house out of a water-tower someday - I wonder if he'd settle for a missile silo?
Yes, and in theory putting all of the Arabs in the U.S. in concentration camps might help prevent acts of terrorism as well. But that isn't acceptable (ethically, constitutionally, or otherwise), nor is it guaranteed to make a difference. We have to stand in firm opposition of those who would trade our freedoms for shallow promises of security (against terrorists or anyone else).
Besides - who protects us from the protectors? I don't trust someone who spies on me and is accountable to noone any more than I trust a terrorist, period.
Also, the Silmarillon wasn't a coherent work meant to be published. Rather, it was a scattered mass of writings which he created as background information for his other books. After he died, the writings were collected into the "book" we now know.
Indeed. Any fool knows that laws and locks only keep honest people from doing bad things.
ANTHRAX! Whoops, now the whole discussion is being stored on some Carnivore database...