Yes, you can write an Docbook-LaTeX template that will handle everything...
Just so I'm not taken out of context, I was referring to a Docbook-LaTeX template that would generate a LaTeX document that is compliant with the APA Publication Guide. Anyone who has taken a Psych course has probably suffered through that guide...
Perfectly abstract systems like Docbook are perfect in theory. In practice, and in day to day work, physical layout is a very important part of a document.
That's why people use Word Processors like Word and Wordperfect, and spend 30 minutes per document fucking around with the layout -- because layout matters.
Sure, with Docbook, you don't have to worry about it -- not because it does it Right, but because you can't worry about it by design. The result of using a perfectly abstract system like that, is that you just take what comes out, regardless of whether or not it's what you want. Changing the layout that Docbook generates is exceedingly painful -- and the tradeoff you make when you go to a perfect structural definition like that, is a cleaner document in exchange for a layout that is signifigantly harder to alter.
The tradeoff is simply not worth it for alot of things. For documents whose existance matters more than thier presentation (Docbook is ideal for maintaining documentation -- because it hardly ever matters how documentation is presented, as long as it's there), a perfectly structural layout system is great.
But for writing an APA-publication-guide-compliant paper for a Psychology course, anything that doesn't give you precise physical control over the document is exceedingly painful. (Yes, you can write an Docbook-LaTeX template that will handle everything -- but one doesn't exist, and it would be exceedingly painful to do for 99.9% of the population. And a long weekend project for the other 0.1%. And there's that tradeoff -- you give up easy physical control in exchange for perfect structural definition).
LaTeX is far from perfect, I'll grant you that. But it's a hell of alot more useful for writing everyday documents than anything which abstracts the layout out of the equation.
You're misusing the term pirate -- piracy is by definition a violation of copyright law.
Copying CDs off of a friend (as long as you are the one doing the copying) for your use isn't illegal, so it's not piracy.
So, yes, you are paying for the ability to copy music without buying it directly. That's the whole point of this levy, as a result of the private copying amendment.
Sorry. I know you were trying for hyperbole, but you didn't quite get there.
Why is everyone overlooking the reason that this levy got introduced in the first place -- it was introduced to compensate music artists and publishers for the fact that copying audio, for private use, is now legal.
What this means, is that you can stop by future shop, pick up 6 spindles of CDRs, come to my house, and copy all of my 300 or so CDs. Legally. As long as you don't use them for a public performace.
That's why the levy was introduced -- because by making this legal, the goverenment of Canada knowingly reduced the revenues of Canadian musicians and publishers.
Now, if you are of the opinion that a goverenment should be able to knowingly do that sort of thing to an industry in it's country without some form of compensation, then that's another matter -- but to complain about this levy being 'unfair' requires that you look at it from the perspective of the publishers who were affected by the copyright amendment in 1997.
Also, keep in mind that the new, proposed levies are just that -- proposed. It's unlikely that they'll pass with the current amounts.
George Romero
on
Resident Evil
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· Score: 3, Informative
If you go over to Coming Attractions, you'll discover that George Romero wanted the project quite a bit, and had alot of cool ideas.
"But the biggest damn shame was Resident Evil. We busted balls writing drafts of that screenplay. I'm talkin' marathons, seventy-two hours straight. I really wanted this project. I had directed a TV commercial for ResEv II, and being on the set again with zombies (by Screamin' Mad George), I was hooked. Deep in my heart, I felt that ResEv was a rip-off of Night of the Living Dead. I had no legal case, but I was resentful. And torn...because I liked the video game. I wanted to do the film partly because I wanted to say, 'Look here! This is how you do this shit!'"
Capcom apparently didn't like being shown how to make a Zombie franchise.
Here's to hoping that RE starts a resurgance of Zombie movies so we can see George in action again.
Gnutella, much like gnuplot, has gnu in it's name for reasons independant of the GNU project. The original versions of Gnutella didn't even have source released at all, let alone under the GPL.
I realize that MS might not have as open-and-shut case as they want, but I doubt they'll lose this, simply because of the intent of the Lindows guy.
He's selling a directly competing product, with a name that differs from Windows by only one letter. This is perfectly analogous to trying to sell a competing cola called "Loca Cola", or some such. He's clearly trying to derive benifit from the "Microsoft Windows" trademark.
And neither does the Afterburner It lights the LCD from the edges using LEDs.
Most of the external lights I've seen combine the lighting effect with the (important, IMHO) effect of folding down to act as a screen protector when not in use. So when I do carry it in my pocket, my change and keys don't scratch the screen.
Spending $10 for an easily replaceable external light that protects the GBA seems like a much saner option than $35 for a chance to ruin my GBA.
It's going to be amusing to see how many people think this is such a great idea when they're out $120 after failing to install it correctly.
Umm, there are about 40 companies that sell lights for the GBA. Most work to the extent that the thing is usable.
Or do you prefer tearing apart your GBA manually to add in a light, rather than spend $10 for a clip on?
Re:I thought the article missed the point.
on
SSSCA Editorials
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· Score: 1
Actually, considering my car is completley computer controlled (it's a VW TDI Golf -- the TDI engines have computerized monitoring to decided on how much fuel to inject, afaik), and my car is certainly interactive, I would have to say that my car is a digital interactive device.
Yes, but the problem is that MvC2 sucks ass. It has some horribly, horribly imabalanced characters (*cough*Cable*cough*), and it's the epitome of a button masher. It's made to attract crowds in arcades, which it does well -- alot of flash, and a few killer combos which dominate the game. 56 characters is all well and good, but when there's only a point to using 10 of them, it's not terribly impressive.
The CvS series is an attempt to return to the precision games of the past, a'la Super SFII Turbo, instead of the button mashing frankenstien they created with MvC2. They are awesome games, if only Capcom would bother actually caring about the character sprites in them. It feels like they overlaid SNES character sprites with DC backgrounds and effects in CvS. .
To be fair, they did take over maintenance of the code for a little while. Once id hired a full-time Linux guy, it was brought back to id (I have a feeling some money owed to id on behalf of Loki might have also played a role in severing thier relationship -- you'd have to wait to see if Carmack decides to chime in with confirmation or denial of all this:)).
Heh, just to add to the thread, one of the programmers said it would be in stores on Dec 27th (1999) -- that turned to complete bullshit, with probably a few exceptions. It didn't get into most stores until late January, thanks to thier problems with packaging.
They basically waited on thier order with the 'tin box' manufacturer, instead of getting them out the door ASAP in good, old fashioned cardboard.
I mean, of course, having fancy packaging is more important than having it in stores. Everyone knows that.
But, yeah, the crappy sales for Q3A can easily be attributed to the fact that it really wasn't in stores until a month after the windows version -- 90% or so of the Linux People probably picked up the windows version so they could, you know, play it.
A loss leader is where you give something away/sell at below cost, but using this thing requires consumables or service, which is what you sell.
Video game consoles are loss leaders for selling games. Razors are loss leaders for selling blades. Cell phones are loss leaders for selling service. Etc.
What he described is a bait and switch, not a loss leader.
Re:Please do correct me if I'm wrong, but
on
How to Save PGP
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· Score: 1
Quantum Encryption.
Read up on it -- Quantum Computing has the ability to make conventional encryption look like a toy, as well as provide a truly unbreakable substitute.
Slashdot Mirror
What about asking why people aren't considering Apple? Seems to me they're just soliciting favorable commentary.
Maybe... just maybe... if you're a PC User not considering a Mac... you're *drumroll* not going to be going to Apple's website.
(Yes, I know, there are reasons for PC Users to go to Apple's website (Quicktime), but they won't have any reason to fill anything like this out.)
Yes, you can write an Docbook-LaTeX template that will handle everything...
Just so I'm not taken out of context, I was referring to a Docbook-LaTeX template that would generate a LaTeX document that is compliant with the APA Publication Guide. Anyone who has taken a Psych course has probably suffered through that guide...
Perfectly abstract systems like Docbook are perfect in theory. In practice, and in day to day work, physical layout is a very important part of a document.
That's why people use Word Processors like Word and Wordperfect, and spend 30 minutes per document fucking around with the layout -- because layout matters.
Sure, with Docbook, you don't have to worry about it -- not because it does it Right, but because you can't worry about it by design. The result of using a perfectly abstract system like that, is that you just take what comes out, regardless of whether or not it's what you want. Changing the layout that Docbook generates is exceedingly painful -- and the tradeoff you make when you go to a perfect structural definition like that, is a cleaner document in exchange for a layout that is signifigantly harder to alter.
The tradeoff is simply not worth it for alot of things. For documents whose existance matters more than thier presentation (Docbook is ideal for maintaining documentation -- because it hardly ever matters how documentation is presented, as long as it's there), a perfectly structural layout system is great.
But for writing an APA-publication-guide-compliant paper for a Psychology course, anything that doesn't give you precise physical control over the document is exceedingly painful. (Yes, you can write an Docbook-LaTeX template that will handle everything -- but one doesn't exist, and it would be exceedingly painful to do for 99.9% of the population. And a long weekend project for the other 0.1%. And there's that tradeoff -- you give up easy physical control in exchange for perfect structural definition).
LaTeX is far from perfect, I'll grant you that. But it's a hell of alot more useful for writing everyday documents than anything which abstracts the layout out of the equation.
You're misusing the term pirate -- piracy is by definition a violation of copyright law.
Copying CDs off of a friend (as long as you are the one doing the copying) for your use isn't illegal, so it's not piracy.
So, yes, you are paying for the ability to copy music without buying it directly. That's the whole point of this levy, as a result of the private copying amendment.
Sorry. I know you were trying for hyperbole, but you didn't quite get there.
Huh?
This isn't a tax proposed by the goverenment, it's an increase in revenues requested by a collection of private companies, for giving them more money.
Sure, the goverenment will have a hard time decreasing the amount of tax it takes in. But this money doesn't go to the goverenment.
The CPCC doesn't get to vote on this.
Just found this on the Copyright board's site.
It's the CPCC's rationale behind the proposed increases. Anyone forumlating objections to the proposed increases would be wise to read it.
Okay, I'm glad that FAQ got linked to finally.
Why is everyone overlooking the reason that this levy got introduced in the first place -- it was introduced to compensate music artists and publishers for the fact that copying audio, for private use, is now legal.
What this means, is that you can stop by future shop, pick up 6 spindles of CDRs, come to my house, and copy all of my 300 or so CDs. Legally. As long as you don't use them for a public performace.
That's why the levy was introduced -- because by making this legal, the goverenment of Canada knowingly reduced the revenues of Canadian musicians and publishers.
Now, if you are of the opinion that a goverenment should be able to knowingly do that sort of thing to an industry in it's country without some form of compensation, then that's another matter -- but to complain about this levy being 'unfair' requires that you look at it from the perspective of the publishers who were affected by the copyright amendment in 1997.
Also, keep in mind that the new, proposed levies are just that -- proposed. It's unlikely that they'll pass with the current amounts.
If you go over to Coming Attractions, you'll discover that George Romero wanted the project quite a bit, and had alot of cool ideas.
Capcom apparently didn't like being shown how to make a Zombie franchise.
Here's to hoping that RE starts a resurgance of Zombie movies so we can see George in action again.
Nice try.
But syphilis is a bacterial infection, not a viral one.
It's Gnutella, not GNUtella.
Gnutella, much like gnuplot, has gnu in it's name for reasons independant of the GNU project. The original versions of Gnutella didn't even have source released at all, let alone under the GPL.
And thier personalities suck too!
Err, never mind, wrong Sirius...
... is usually a fucking nightmare. Good luck trying to guess anything by it.
[ note to self -- 3mptyC0k3C4n is not a good enough password anymore ]
I realize that MS might not have as open-and-shut case as they want, but I doubt they'll lose this, simply because of the intent of the Lindows guy.
He's selling a directly competing product, with a name that differs from Windows by only one letter. This is perfectly analogous to trying to sell a competing cola called "Loca Cola", or some such. He's clearly trying to derive benifit from the "Microsoft Windows" trademark.
This was in the same issue.
Didn't you get the memo?
Taste in video game advertising died with Daikatana.
Yes, but they don't *backlight*.
And neither does the Afterburner It lights the LCD from the edges using LEDs.
Most of the external lights I've seen combine the lighting effect with the (important, IMHO) effect of folding down to act as a screen protector when not in use. So when I do carry it in my pocket, my change and keys don't scratch the screen.
Spending $10 for an easily replaceable external light that protects the GBA seems like a much saner option than $35 for a chance to ruin my GBA.
It's going to be amusing to see how many people think this is such a great idea when they're out $120 after failing to install it correctly.
Umm, there are about 40 companies that sell lights for the GBA. Most work to the extent that the thing is usable.
Or do you prefer tearing apart your GBA manually to add in a light, rather than spend $10 for a clip on?
Actually, considering my car is completley computer controlled (it's a VW TDI Golf -- the TDI engines have computerized monitoring to decided on how much fuel to inject, afaik), and my car is certainly interactive, I would have to say that my car is a digital interactive device.
That could be interesting...
The number of record companies that this will be distributed to is a signifigant superset of the RIAA member companies.
If you're an independant publisher in Canada, you're basically a label, and you can probably get a cut of this money.
It would be interesting to see if you can get your money back from it.
Has anyone picked up Final Fight yet?
FF: Mark of the Wolves kicks fucking ass on DC.
The character animation in there put's Capcom's efforts in the CvS games to utter shame.
And don't be so gentle with MK. The only worse fighter was Killer Instinct.
Yes, but the problem is that MvC2 sucks ass. It has some horribly, horribly imabalanced characters (*cough*Cable*cough*), and it's the epitome of a button masher. It's made to attract crowds in arcades, which it does well -- alot of flash, and a few killer combos which dominate the game. 56 characters is all well and good, but when there's only a point to using 10 of them, it's not terribly impressive.
The CvS series is an attempt to return to the precision games of the past, a'la Super SFII Turbo, instead of the button mashing frankenstien they created with MvC2. They are awesome games, if only Capcom would bother actually caring about the character sprites in them. It feels like they overlaid SNES character sprites with DC backgrounds and effects in CvS.
.
To be fair, they did take over maintenance of the code for a little while. Once id hired a full-time Linux guy, it was brought back to id (I have a feeling some money owed to id on behalf of Loki might have also played a role in severing thier relationship -- you'd have to wait to see if Carmack decides to chime in with confirmation or denial of all this
Heh, just to add to the thread, one of the programmers said it would be in stores on Dec 27th (1999) -- that turned to complete bullshit, with probably a few exceptions. It didn't get into most stores until late January, thanks to thier problems with packaging.
They basically waited on thier order with the 'tin box' manufacturer, instead of getting them out the door ASAP in good, old fashioned cardboard.
I mean, of course, having fancy packaging is more important than having it in stores. Everyone knows that.
But, yeah, the crappy sales for Q3A can easily be attributed to the fact that it really wasn't in stores until a month after the windows version -- 90% or so of the Linux People probably picked up the windows version so they could, you know, play it.
You're right, he's wrong.
A loss leader is where you give something away/sell at below cost, but using this thing requires consumables or service, which is what you sell.
Video game consoles are loss leaders for selling games. Razors are loss leaders for selling blades. Cell phones are loss leaders for selling service. Etc.
What he described is a bait and switch, not a loss leader.
Quantum Encryption.
Read up on it -- Quantum Computing has the ability to make conventional encryption look like a toy, as well as provide a truly unbreakable substitute.
No worries.
If you have to ask, then you aren't someone who would want to play it...