"The labels just produce crap like Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys
We think Britney and Backstreet are crap because we're not pre-teen girls. I bet they think our music sucks, too. You can get all snobish if you want, but the truth is that labels, being businesses, produce what consumers want. If consumers want crap, that's what they get, and lots of it."
Allow me to rebut - I'm not a fucking "consumer" - I'm a "citizen" with all the rights and priviledges (as well as responsibilites) protected by the full force of the U.S. Constitution. Something that the corporations always ignore - I'm not an exploitable resource who should just take their forced pablum. The reason the pre-teens "like" Britny Spears is that they have been force-fed that crap. Record Companies don't re-release old music. How many (pre)teens have every heard of groups such as Jan and Dean, The Spaniels, The Temptations, Vito & the Salutations, or even Black Sabbath or The Who?
Well - let's do a little thought experiment. I've bought a song and rip it. I have it on my hard drive and say "Please, listen to this." I'm not charging anything for the person to listen to it. I could either invite 8 million people into my cramped apartment to listen to my stereo, or let them listen on their computers. I see no difference. You claim that one is legal (letting them listen at my home) but the other is illegal.
So - I claim that they are one and the same. Now, I've paid for the song, I am not charging money to let people listen to it (I see it as the same thing as the disclaimer NFL football puts on their broadcasts - you can show it, but don't make money off of it.)
Should I pay for the same song again if it is done by the same artist in a different format (vinyl vs. CD) or in a different style (electric vs. acoustic)? Should I pay for the same song if it is done by a different artist? After all, I paid for the song, and they are the same notes, right? Why should I pay twice for the same thing.
Not so logically (and this is a stretch even for me) - one could argue that when you've paid for one song, you've paid for every song since they are the same notes, simply arranged in different patterns.
What it boils down to is corporate greed, plain and simple. They don't give a damn about the artists, who are merely cheap labor for them. If they could make more money employing Guatemalan or Malaysian children as rugweavers or shoe makers, they would. The RIAA has never sued on behalf of the artists, they've sued on behalf of the record companies. Just take a look at the "industry standard agreement" that basically makes artists fucking slaves to record companies. The industry isn't about art, its about profit. Sure, making money is a great thing, but not when it compromises your morals and ethics.
I have no problem with the concept of paying an artist for his work - once - not every time I want to listen to it. Would you pay someone every time you fired up your copy of Quake? No? Well, what about paying a writer every time you crack open that book you picked up at B&N?
Besides, as it exists now, you're not paying an artist, you are paying some bottom-feeder, who then doles out the equivalent of a bowl of rice gruel to the artist. The industry engages in price-fixing ($16+ for a 2-cent CD?) How much of that goes to the artist? About 7 cents.
Most of the stuff out there is crap anyway - Britny Spears? Backside^H^H^Hstreet boys? I'll take old-school punk, 50's doowop, Elvis, Ozzie, etc. anyday. There are no true artists anymore, merely plastic people packaged by a corporate entity - they don't write their own music or play their own instruments. And - the "music" sucks. I can listen to an entire Led Zeppelin album - every one of them (which I've purchased) - and it is all good. Some of today's albums have a single decent tune (or none at all) and the rest of the album sucks.
Finally - legally right and morally right are hardly ever the same thing. I, for one, advocate armed vigilante justice against bottom-feeders everywhere. What these corporate low-lifes need is to be drug out into the street, get beaten until they beg for death, and then set on fire and the remains left to rot as a warning to others of their ilk. Society as a whole is too caught up in the idea that they can sue for every perceived wrong - common sense and morality have taken a backseat to greed and corruption. If music cost $5 per CD and the artist got 4 of those 5 dollars, I'd be out there buying them left and right.
Everyone is missing a BIG POINT about lawyers and C&D letters: That point is that C&D letters from lawyers have ZERO legal weight. Only a C&D order from a judge (or what passes for a judge in other countries) has the legal weight to force someone to shutdown a server. Until then, you can continually throw away the C&D letters from lawyers. More importantly, if they knock on your door or call you on the phone, you can write them a C&D letter telling them to C&D their harassment of you and demanding that the only contact they have with you is via a letter.
March into Dave Powell's office, look him in the eye, and machete him to death. This will work well for other idiots as well, in any sector of any society, public or private.
Get a bunch of people into a posse, march on the governmental offices, with guns drawn - oh wait - they took away THAT right years ago... How about:...with axes and knives drawn, and physically remove the politicians who will sign this new law?
Well - the main answer is to get the hell out of the dorms. Sure, they can attempt to require you to live on campus, but if mom&dad are footing the bill for that dorm room, go and get a job and get an apartment and live off-campus. Yeah, it sucks that they can make you rent a dorm room, but they can't physically make you stay on campus - even though, for the time being, it means that you'll be paying two sets of rent.
You are wrong - we don't think that management is a bunch of 'super-people' - we know for a fact that the large majority of them are morons for any of the following (or other) reasons:
1. Goes against good advice from employees (i.e. doesn't know correct answer when told)
2. Is a non-technical person in charge of a technological department or vice versa (e.g. - a history major managing engineers).
3. Managers beget managers - instead of taking an objective look at how you they doing their jobs, managers will kiss each others' asses.
Bottom line - a manager should manage instead of do. Additionally - instead of worrying about your career, worry about your employees. If you have happy employees, their efforts will further your career.
Your relationship with your employers (and anyone you don't have a personal connection to, for that matter) is as follows:
"Fuck everybody who is not me!"
Stupid me, I forgot to address chicano's main argument (or lack thereof), in that he highlighted the words well regulated militia . In the vernacular of the day, "well regulated" meant that they were disciplined and trained to properly use their weapons via regular drilling, NOT that they are subjugated by unconstitutional and conflicting laws.
Thank you, sir. I guess I thought too highly of people when I *ass*umed that they were intelligent enough to understand what a militia is, and that if they are a US citizen they are automatically in it. Its kind of sad, really, that the most basic facts need to be pointed out to (left/right)-wing crazies who are arguing about the issue du jour (and who'd much prefer that those of us with a clue would stop clouding the issues with facts.)
What fucking part of "...shall not be infringed." don't you understand? But then again, I guess our US Constitution must really piss you off since we've only needed a handful of amendments to it in the last 200 and some-odd years. Most other shithole countries write theirs on toiletpaper because its easier to wipe your ass with it, throw it away, and write a new one than it is to amend the damn thing every couple of weeks!!
Lessee...
The BEST implementation of Pool of Radiance...
Raid on Bungeling Bay
Raid over Moscow
Beachhead 2 -- "You can't hurt ME. HAHAHA!"
Bruce Lee
Breakdance
Pitfall 2
Manic Miner
Hover Bover (ok - so it was a stupid lawnmower game...)
"The Games" series by Epyx
M.U.L.E. - I don't know why it wasn't on Gamespot - those fools... The first game for the home computer that implemented multiplayer, IIRC...
Too many other games to mention...
Ain't that easy - ya gotta have a 'prom burner.
1. Add memory (this usually may take the most work, depending on the board rev)
2. Pop out the old chip
3. Burn new eeprom and insert
4. Enjoy
Well - did you ever bother to flash an eeprom with the upgraded firmware? The newest firmware fixes the bugs with seamless branching (and reinstalls the loophole, for those who have the firmware w/o loopholes.)
As far as mp3s and other files - mine works fine so long as the only other files are a playlist (besides, who wants to waste cd space putting non-mp3s on it?)
Third thing - price! K-Mart is selling the AD-600A for $129.99 right now in NJ (which is what I paid...)
I guess that you just aren't smart enough to detect all the stuff in that story that isn't being directly said, but rather, is implied - and all you see is a story about people with funny names and accents...
And just how the heck are they gonna ban encryption without it becoming a burden on themselves? For me, it was as simple as getting admin access to my box (we're stuck w/ crappy NT boxes at work and they only give us Power(L)User access to our own boxes) and installing PGP (or any other encryption software and encrypting to your heart's content.) They can ban attachments, but they can't ban all email without it affecting other users.
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Allow me to rebut - I'm not a fucking "consumer" - I'm a "citizen" with all the rights and priviledges (as well as responsibilites) protected by the full force of the U.S. Constitution. Something that the corporations always ignore - I'm not an exploitable resource who should just take their forced pablum. The reason the pre-teens "like" Britny Spears is that they have been force-fed that crap. Record Companies don't re-release old music. How many (pre)teens have every heard of groups such as Jan and Dean, The Spaniels, The Temptations, Vito & the Salutations, or even Black Sabbath or The Who?
So - I claim that they are one and the same. Now, I've paid for the song, I am not charging money to let people listen to it (I see it as the same thing as the disclaimer NFL football puts on their broadcasts - you can show it, but don't make money off of it.)
Should I pay for the same song again if it is done by the same artist in a different format (vinyl vs. CD) or in a different style (electric vs. acoustic)? Should I pay for the same song if it is done by a different artist? After all, I paid for the song, and they are the same notes, right? Why should I pay twice for the same thing. Not so logically (and this is a stretch even for me) - one could argue that when you've paid for one song, you've paid for every song since they are the same notes, simply arranged in different patterns.
What it boils down to is corporate greed, plain and simple. They don't give a damn about the artists, who are merely cheap labor for them. If they could make more money employing Guatemalan or Malaysian children as rugweavers or shoe makers, they would. The RIAA has never sued on behalf of the artists, they've sued on behalf of the record companies. Just take a look at the "industry standard agreement" that basically makes artists fucking slaves to record companies. The industry isn't about art, its about profit. Sure, making money is a great thing, but not when it compromises your morals and ethics.
I have no problem with the concept of paying an artist for his work - once - not every time I want to listen to it. Would you pay someone every time you fired up your copy of Quake? No? Well, what about paying a writer every time you crack open that book you picked up at B&N?
Besides, as it exists now, you're not paying an artist, you are paying some bottom-feeder, who then doles out the equivalent of a bowl of rice gruel to the artist. The industry engages in price-fixing ($16+ for a 2-cent CD?) How much of that goes to the artist? About 7 cents.
Most of the stuff out there is crap anyway - Britny Spears? Backside^H^H^Hstreet boys? I'll take old-school punk, 50's doowop, Elvis, Ozzie, etc. anyday. There are no true artists anymore, merely plastic people packaged by a corporate entity - they don't write their own music or play their own instruments. And - the "music" sucks. I can listen to an entire Led Zeppelin album - every one of them (which I've purchased) - and it is all good. Some of today's albums have a single decent tune (or none at all) and the rest of the album sucks.
Finally - legally right and morally right are hardly ever the same thing. I, for one, advocate armed vigilante justice against bottom-feeders everywhere. What these corporate low-lifes need is to be drug out into the street, get beaten until they beg for death, and then set on fire and the remains left to rot as a warning to others of their ilk. Society as a whole is too caught up in the idea that they can sue for every perceived wrong - common sense and morality have taken a backseat to greed and corruption. If music cost $5 per CD and the artist got 4 of those 5 dollars, I'd be out there buying them left and right.
Nice troll^H^H^Htry BTW, If you are gonna troll, make sure your bait actually applies to the person you attempting to hook...
March into Dave Powell's office, look him in the eye, and machete him to death. This will work well for other idiots as well, in any sector of any society, public or private.
Get a bunch of people into a posse, march on the governmental offices, with guns drawn - oh wait - they took away THAT right years ago... How about: ...with axes and knives drawn, and physically remove the politicians who will sign this new law?
Well - the main answer is to get the hell out of the dorms. Sure, they can attempt to require you to live on campus, but if mom&dad are footing the bill for that dorm room, go and get a job and get an apartment and live off-campus. Yeah, it sucks that they can make you rent a dorm room, but they can't physically make you stay on campus - even though, for the time being, it means that you'll be paying two sets of rent.
Yeah, we 'Merkikuns may be fatter - but "We've Got the Bomb" - too bad we've only dropped it in anger twice...
You are wrong - we don't think that management is a bunch of 'super-people' - we know for a fact that the large majority of them are morons for any of the following (or other) reasons:
1. Goes against good advice from employees (i.e. doesn't know correct answer when told)
2. Is a non-technical person in charge of a technological department or vice versa (e.g. - a history major managing engineers).
3. Managers beget managers - instead of taking an objective look at how you they doing their jobs, managers will kiss each others' asses.
Bottom line - a manager should manage instead of do. Additionally - instead of worrying about your career, worry about your employees. If you have happy employees, their efforts will further your career.
Your relationship with your employers (and anyone you don't have a personal connection to, for that matter) is as follows: "Fuck everybody who is not me!"
Stupid me, I forgot to address chicano's main argument (or lack thereof), in that he highlighted the words well regulated militia . In the vernacular of the day, "well regulated" meant that they were disciplined and trained to properly use their weapons via regular drilling, NOT that they are subjugated by unconstitutional and conflicting laws.
Thank you, sir. I guess I thought too highly of people when I *ass*umed that they were intelligent enough to understand what a militia is, and that if they are a US citizen they are automatically in it. Its kind of sad, really, that the most basic facts need to be pointed out to (left/right)-wing crazies who are arguing about the issue du jour (and who'd much prefer that those of us with a clue would stop clouding the issues with facts.)
What fucking part of "...shall not be infringed." don't you understand? But then again, I guess our US Constitution must really piss you off since we've only needed a handful of amendments to it in the last 200 and some-odd years. Most other shithole countries write theirs on toiletpaper because its easier to wipe your ass with it, throw it away, and write a new one than it is to amend the damn thing every couple of weeks!!
Lessee... The BEST implementation of Pool of Radiance... Raid on Bungeling Bay Raid over Moscow Beachhead 2 -- "You can't hurt ME. HAHAHA!" Bruce Lee Breakdance Pitfall 2 Manic Miner Hover Bover (ok - so it was a stupid lawnmower game...) "The Games" series by Epyx M.U.L.E. - I don't know why it wasn't on Gamespot - those fools... The first game for the home computer that implemented multiplayer, IIRC... Too many other games to mention...
Ain't that easy - ya gotta have a 'prom burner. 1. Add memory (this usually may take the most work, depending on the board rev) 2. Pop out the old chip 3. Burn new eeprom and insert 4. Enjoy
Well - did you ever bother to flash an eeprom with the upgraded firmware? The newest firmware fixes the bugs with seamless branching (and reinstalls the loophole, for those who have the firmware w/o loopholes.) As far as mp3s and other files - mine works fine so long as the only other files are a playlist (besides, who wants to waste cd space putting non-mp3s on it?) Third thing - price! K-Mart is selling the AD-600A for $129.99 right now in NJ (which is what I paid...)
Actually, IIRC, there is new firmware that eliminates the seamless branching bug (as well as restoring the loophole "bug")
I guess that you just aren't smart enough to detect all the stuff in that story that isn't being directly said, but rather, is implied - and all you see is a story about people with funny names and accents...
And just how the heck are they gonna ban encryption without it becoming a burden on themselves? For me, it was as simple as getting admin access to my box (we're stuck w/ crappy NT boxes at work and they only give us Power(L)User access to our own boxes) and installing PGP (or any other encryption software and encrypting to your heart's content.) They can ban attachments, but they can't ban all email without it affecting other users.
Just my 2/100 of $1