Dude, with this new technology you can lose your music in your change jar, couch, laundry, through the cracks in your floorboards, etc.. Just imagine trying to change "fingernails" while driving on the road (as if CD's weren't a pain in the ass as it is..:) ). I think the industry would LOVE this new format as they're banking on selling the same albums over and over to people who misplace their stuff regularly (guilty I am).
I guess I won't be able to open up my Lunar Sno-Cone shop. Can I sue the owner of the Moon for lack of facilities? Or do I sue the owner of the Sun for driving off all the ice?
Well, think of it this way: Private company gets contract to provide voting solutions. Private company decides upon OSS. Private company spends $MILLIONS that it gets in producing the software/hardware combo, but at the same time releases sofftware to the "community" to go through. While not everyone is going to be able to setup voting suites for mock elections (indeed, think about hardware differences.. chances are you're not going to be using your uberl33t dual Athlon in a voting machine with touch screens and what not), it does provide opportunities for outside developers (fresh sets of eyes) to find bugs that your regular developers just miss. It happens.
While OSS is not the end-all-be-all approach to everything, I'd certainly be more comfortable if the software being used to choose the leaders of my community/country is open for audit. The big question then would be ensuring that that software is actually the software being run on the machines (I mean, what good is it to have "bug-free" software if someone installs a trojaned version?).
I do agree, though, the geek community doesn't lend itself to centralized development very well (there are exceptions), the phrase "herding cats" comes to mind. In that, you do need a central party calling the shots, the problem is that even with one, you can still churn out a shitty product.. (Personally, I'd say someone like Bruce Perens would make an outstanding leader for such a company/project and he could make himself some money to boot.)
As much as we hate to admit it, a great smile is one of the first things people notice about you. Ever see someone and think they're kinda cute and when they smile, their teeth look like Austin Powers'? Or they're missing? Sure, they charge a lot now, but consider it an investment in your child's (or your's) future.
Personally, I think boob-job plastic surgeons are overpaid. Hell, play with different women's boobs all day for free!:)
The difference is: You don't need a manual to figure out stuff under Windows XP. Linux, on the other hand, is a maze of man pages, info pages, --help, etc. Generally speaking, if you want to do something in Windows XP, the intuitive way is how you do it. Same goes for Mac OS. With Linux, you're hoping that the developer thinks like you do...
I was going to post something similar, but then realized that at the very least, someone may get something out of it. Basically, the publishers/writers can get an idea of what they got right and what they can work on for the next Mastering (Fedora?) book. The biggest problem facing publishers is similar to the dilemna that RedHat was facing: RH spent all the time getting a distro out, then working on the documentation, and by the time everything was out, the distro looked dated by the overwhelming numbers of "new releases" in the software they distributed. Compound that with the latency involved in writing a big book on that distro rendered "obsolete" within a month or two when a new version of that distro is released. Such is life on the bleeding edge. (and for note, it's not just Linux.. Something I found interesting was that Real World Bryce 4 came out just shortly before Bryce 5 and still hasn't been updated...)
It's just another paradigm shift. Everyone predicted that CD's would be the death of Vinyl and Cassette tapes and that certainly hasn't happened. While the consumption of both of those formats is nowhere near their peaks, they're both still alive and kicking and aren't going any where soon.
Not everyone has broadband or even an internet connection at home (I'm one.. if it weren't for my job, I'd never get on the web). In fact, I'd say the majority of Americans still have yet to have regular access to the web to make this the overwhelming distribution method for everyone. However, just about everyone DOES have access to the local mall, walmart, or whatever and can pick up physical medium and take it home. There's a convenience factor, plus a hidden costs factor (iPod = $399, Computer = $500+, ISP $20/month+, etc) that while some of us don't pay attention to, they do indeed exist...
Instead of foretelling the "death" of CD's, maybe we should say "death" of traditional monopolized distribution. If anything, this is allowing the floodgates of mass-distribution open to smaller, independent artists who no longer need to sell their souls to "the man" just to get a record deal. iTunes has the potential to put more money into the artists' pockets (folks, living out of a van for 8 months fucking SUCKS, mkay? It'd be nice to get a cheap $20 motel every now and then just to be able to sleep on a bed), which in turn allows artists to produce more music.
Actually, from what I've read about Howard Dean and his "embrace" of new technologies, I'd guess he, at least, knows what Apache and IIS is. He might not configure/maintain/admin it, but he seems to be a brighter tack than others when it comes to technology issues.
2 MIPS CPU's, LCD backlit screen + oodles of other things, my guess is that you might be able to squeeze about 5 minutes from a quad of AA's..
A portable game machine with a crappy battery life won't go too far.... I hope they have something up their sleeve, because even if they go battery-pak route, my experience with their laptop batteries is that they pretty much suck, too.
You know, I'd just be happy with documentation on par with the FreeBSD Handbook. Seriously. I picked up a copy years ago (BSD 4.4 I believe) and it covered just about everything you'd ever need to know to get started and was extremely well-written.
I've *never* found an equivalent to that book for Linux and it's a damn shame.
/* Sure, but what do they use those vechicals for? It takes a long commute to justify a smaller vechcial if it is a given you need the large one for something. */
I think it's a given that 99% of the people that buy SUV's do nothing that an economical/practical vehicle would do. They're bought strictly from an aesthetic point of view (image is everything). I have no qualms with people, like, say, ranchers, who buy Suburbans for use on the farm hauling and towing on a regular basis, but really, why does an inner-city professional need a Hummer H2 that he'll never take off-road, much less off the interstate system? I bought a station wagon that I actually use on a regular basis. Had I not needed the room it provided (I haul people as a designated driver, and band equipment for my band, and actually do quite a bit of off-road excursions when doing rivers & streams faunal studies as well as archaelogical site surveys down lots of gravel roads.. I might actually be better suited to an SUV for some situations, but I can't deal with the piss-poor gas mileage for the 90% of the stuff that doesn't require it...), I'd have gotten another used Honda Civic Hatchback.. But, I digress../* Bikes aren't practical for someone who lives a long distance from work. */
Define long distance and says who? If your rush hour commute takes 1 hour, and a bicycle can get you through in an hour or less, well, I think you have a winner. Here's a true story: I used to live in LA and worked 3 miles from where I lived. In "average" traffic, commute by car took 10 minutes, maybe 15. In "rush hour" traffic, it took 55 minutes. To go 3 miles. I can walk that in less than 45, bike was even faster. If I were "forced" to change my schedule that would coincide with rush hour (I was fortunate to have an 8AM start time, plenty early), my fat ass would've been biking.../* And before you suggest moving, what are you suggesting the spouse do with the increased commute? */
I'm unsure of what you're saying here, but I gather that you're working close to your spouse's work currently and moving closer to your work would just flip-flop the arrangement? In that case, it's a dozen on one hand, 12 on the other. Let your spouse take the car while you ride the bike, you'd save on car notes.:)/* And that is assuming all neighborhoods are created equal */
Most neighborhoods have great people living within them. Unfortunately, it seems they let the minority "trouble" elements run all over them. But no one's saying to just move willy-nilly. You need to research your areas./* Those with kids care about the local schools, and will not move to some places */
If you really care about the local schools, you'll be an active participant in the PTA and whatnot. I work with several ex-teachers and their biggest peeve was that the parents didn't give a damn about their kids educations, mainly because they were working 2 jobs to pay for the fancy SUV's out in the driveway in the $300k house that is 3x too big for what they need. But I digress... (private school is also an option, right?)/* neighborhoods won't allow you to choose what color your house is, or have a flagpole */
I hate those neighborhoods. That's why I don't live in one. They also tend to be "more expensive"./* It isn't practical to have a horse in the typical city */
Not to mention illegal. Who fucking needs a horse these days?
Indeed. Have you *seen* the photos of the massive bike "jams" in China and India? They look no better than the current situation (unless you count CONSUMPTION (gas + autos are much more "expensive" than bikes (also add in health considerations)).
However, you will also begin to notice that our system is based upon urban sprawl. Bicycling isn't too much of a deal in a country where your major cities evolved/grew with bicycling as a major component of transportation (smaller, more crowded housing, but everything is within distance). I live, ironically enough, in "midtown" where I am only about 3-4 miles from the downtown center (easy bike commute), but actually around 17 miles from my work out in the deep suburbs (it seems most people have it the other way).
The option is to use mass transit, and then you lose the so-called health benefits and become dependent upon the "city" to get you to work on time, and that always sucks. Sure, I could leave for work 2 hours early to "make sure", but what does that gain me? I would lose 10 hours/week, or 40 hours/month, which easily would subsidize the cost of my car...
The artists sign into a legally binding contract with the RIAA companies. They know what they are getting into before they sign anything. They have lawyers read the contracts over before any ink is squeezed out of a pen. They're not screwing anybody, everyone has a way out before they sign on the dotted line.
This is somewhat true. Most artists avoid lawyers and reading contracts, mostly due to their dentriment. It's also true that the RIAA and co have created an environment where it is virtually impossible to get any radio play, video play, etc, without selling your soul. The benefits of such marketing (and that's really what radio and video play is when you boil it down) should be apparent to most (sell 1 million CD's rather than the 5-10k you normally move if you're an "artist" and not a manufactured "star"), but then again, when a band signs onto a label, well, you've got to take the good with the bad. Many indies have found that you can make a comfortable living touring and releasing/selling CD's for a reasonable price ($10 seems reasonable to me, directly from the band, but YMMV). Signing with the RIAA also give you a huge distribution channel to ply your wares, much more so than you'd get with an indie label. But I digress. As an artist, I say if the label wants you badly enough, you'll get to set your terms.
No one ever forced you to buy a CD. No one has ever been forced to purchase a CD. If you don't like the price, you don't pay it, end of story. No one has a right to music, that's for sure. If people really wanted to support the bands, they'd quit buying shit on major labels that specialize in screwing the artists (it's like a lottery, really. For every success like "Limp Bizkit" (ugh), there's a hundred Jawbox's or The Pixies (successful in their own right, but never pushed like they could have been). Instead, I try to buy CD's from the local indie shop when I can, but more often than not I pick up my CD's at the SHOWS. I know it's hard for a guy in Ames, IA or some country town to do that, but for them there's places like CDBABY! on the web, plus there are many mail order houses that will help keep you in music. I know when I'm buying from the band, the money gets to the band. I know buying from CDBABY puts money in the bands pockets. I know that seeing the band live puts money in the bands pockets, and is potentially a lot more fun than dorking around on the intarw3b at home all night.
There is a difference between "ripping off" and "overcharging". People, you make your own decisions about what you purchase. If you purchase something you know is overpriced, you are ripping yourself off. No truer words can be said. I don't like the fact that just about every Kevin Smith DVD is $25 or more. Therefore, I don't buy them (however, there's always rental...) I also found a CD the other day at BestBuy and they wanted $15 for the damn thing (when I paid $9.99 for the damn cassette back in 91 or 92). I didn't buy it. I have a feeling that if BestBuy could buy those CD's for $4-5 each, they'd probably still on mark up 85% (which would make them, what, 8-10?). They're paying what the distributers charge them, and the consumers are still buying (but looking at the charts, I'd say they're getting wise), and all the while P2P is taking the blame.
Here's another thought:
Anyone ever consider that the RIAA is just a frontman for the labels? A whipping boy? What I mean is, the RIAA is paid to protect "copyrights" of its customers. From what I understand, they're not in the business of finding musical talent, of distributing, or even of de-facto price setting (although I think they make suggestions). If the labels were to threaten to pull their memberships due to RIAA actions, I would think the RIAA would straighten up. Sueing customers threatens CD sales, which threaten bottom lines, which threaten the music industry. Remember when Universal (I think?) said it was going to reduce the MSRP of
You know, in 2000, comparisons with BeOS were pretty fair. In 2001, too. Now, a whole new generation of folks is coming around and they're wondering why someone is going on and on about the BeOS and it's about as annoying as the die-hard Amiga fans and the OS/2 whackos who just won't accept the sad fact that their platforms, however great they were (and may still be), are gone. At least with BeOS, though, there's still some interesting ideas that haven't filtered out into the "real" world completely as of yet (the db-like file system for one), but I agree, the constant "It's still no BeOS" statements in her reviews gets a bit tiresome.
Dell stock? I dunno. They ship with Windows. And if consumers get "burned" with Windows as badly as having their BIOS flashed and their computers rendered unusable, I'd say Apple might look pretty damn tempting...
quote from Eugenia:/* why not be able to enjoy Red Hot Chilli Peppers or Linkin Park videos as the average Windows user can at 300 kbps?:P */
Because the word "enjoy" does not immediately come to mind when the words "Linkin Park" are uttered, you can safely say you "enjoy" them just as easily as the typical Windows user by not watching them at all.
OpenGL bindings? Are they complete? Where??? I've been playing with writing OpenGL games with Java using lwjgl and was looking at the C# side of things recently. This might make things interesting for the small-end game development scene... Guess I'll go googling..
Because it *might* not have been the application that gave her away...
When I was a Junior in college, I was suddenly bombarded with credit card applications (mail), soon followed by telemarketing. It appears that my college sold information to a credit card company, which then sold my data to someone else, etc etc etc.
Without any real "proof" of who actually sold the data to whom, it will be difficult to prosecute anyone. Can you subpoena the companies in question to determine the source? Or is that information considered "private"? (how ironic would that be?)
Slashdot Mirror
Dude, with this new technology you can lose your music in your change jar, couch, laundry, through the cracks in your floorboards, etc.. Just imagine trying to change "fingernails" while driving on the road (as if CD's weren't a pain in the ass as it is.. :) ). I think the industry would LOVE this new format as they're banking on selling the same albums over and over to people who misplace their stuff regularly (guilty I am).
I guess I won't be able to open up my Lunar Sno-Cone shop. Can I sue the owner of the Moon for lack of facilities? Or do I sue the owner of the Sun for driving off all the ice?
Jesus fucking christ, man. I'm trying to eat my goddamned Jello. It's a fucking computer.
Well, think of it this way:
Private company gets contract to provide voting solutions. Private company decides upon OSS. Private company spends $MILLIONS that it gets in producing the software/hardware combo, but at the same time releases sofftware to the "community" to go through. While not everyone is going to be able to setup voting suites for mock elections (indeed, think about hardware differences.. chances are you're not going to be using your uberl33t dual Athlon in a voting machine with touch screens and what not), it does provide opportunities for outside developers (fresh sets of eyes) to find bugs that your regular developers just miss. It happens.
While OSS is not the end-all-be-all approach to everything, I'd certainly be more comfortable if the software being used to choose the leaders of my community/country is open for audit. The big question then would be ensuring that that software is actually the software being run on the machines (I mean, what good is it to have "bug-free" software if someone installs a trojaned version?).
I do agree, though, the geek community doesn't lend itself to centralized development very well (there are exceptions), the phrase "herding cats" comes to mind. In that, you do need a central party calling the shots, the problem is that even with one, you can still churn out a shitty product.. (Personally, I'd say someone like Bruce Perens would make an outstanding leader for such a company/project and he could make himself some money to boot.)
As much as we hate to admit it, a great smile is one of the first things people notice about you. Ever see someone and think they're kinda cute and when they smile, their teeth look like Austin Powers'? Or they're missing? Sure, they charge a lot now, but consider it an investment in your child's (or your's) future.
:)
Personally, I think boob-job plastic surgeons are overpaid. Hell, play with different women's boobs all day for free!
The difference is: You don't need a manual to figure out stuff under Windows XP. Linux, on the other hand, is a maze of man pages, info pages, --help, etc. Generally speaking, if you want to do something in Windows XP, the intuitive way is how you do it. Same goes for Mac OS. With Linux, you're hoping that the developer thinks like you do...
I was going to post something similar, but then realized that at the very least, someone may get something out of it. Basically, the publishers/writers can get an idea of what they got right and what they can work on for the next Mastering (Fedora?) book. The biggest problem facing publishers is similar to the dilemna that RedHat was facing: RH spent all the time getting a distro out, then working on the documentation, and by the time everything was out, the distro looked dated by the overwhelming numbers of "new releases" in the software they distributed. Compound that with the latency involved in writing a big book on that distro rendered "obsolete" within a month or two when a new version of that distro is released. Such is life on the bleeding edge. (and for note, it's not just Linux.. Something I found interesting was that Real World Bryce 4 came out just shortly before Bryce 5 and still hasn't been updated...)
It's just another paradigm shift. Everyone predicted that CD's would be the death of Vinyl and Cassette tapes and that certainly hasn't happened. While the consumption of both of those formats is nowhere near their peaks, they're both still alive and kicking and aren't going any where soon.
Not everyone has broadband or even an internet connection at home (I'm one.. if it weren't for my job, I'd never get on the web). In fact, I'd say the majority of Americans still have yet to have regular access to the web to make this the overwhelming distribution method for everyone. However, just about everyone DOES have access to the local mall, walmart, or whatever and can pick up physical medium and take it home. There's a convenience factor, plus a hidden costs factor (iPod = $399, Computer = $500+, ISP $20/month+, etc) that while some of us don't pay attention to, they do indeed exist...
Instead of foretelling the "death" of CD's, maybe we should say "death" of traditional monopolized distribution. If anything, this is allowing the floodgates of mass-distribution open to smaller, independent artists who no longer need to sell their souls to "the man" just to get a record deal. iTunes has the potential to put more money into the artists' pockets (folks, living out of a van for 8 months fucking SUCKS, mkay? It'd be nice to get a cheap $20 motel every now and then just to be able to sleep on a bed), which in turn allows artists to produce more music.
Actually, from what I've read about Howard Dean and his "embrace" of new technologies, I'd guess he, at least, knows what Apache and IIS is. He might not configure/maintain/admin it, but he seems to be a brighter tack than others when it comes to technology issues.
Of course, I could be wrong...
But how long does it last? 15 minutes? 30? an hour? It's no good to have portability if you're constantly looking for a walljack to "recharge"..
2 MIPS CPU's, LCD backlit screen + oodles of other things, my guess is that you might be able to squeeze about 5 minutes from a quad of AA's..
A portable game machine with a crappy battery life won't go too far.... I hope they have something up their sleeve, because even if they go battery-pak route, my experience with their laptop batteries is that they pretty much suck, too.
Man, we already know what came out of Berkeley before is a resounding success (see here). Is it time to have a stillborn?
(dammit, it's supposed to be a joke and I'm just not funny today. grrr.)
You know, I'd just be happy with documentation on par with the FreeBSD Handbook. Seriously. I picked up a copy years ago (BSD 4.4 I believe) and it covered just about everything you'd ever need to know to get started and was extremely well-written.
I've *never* found an equivalent to that book for Linux and it's a damn shame.
/* Not very many movies are scarier than that. */
:(
Freddy Got Fingered.
Battlefield Earth.
I'm so scared of movies now that I just refuse to go.
It comes from a Southpark episode. I can't remember the episode, though, but it's a big spoof on Johnny Cochran.
Uh, why do you need a shower? As a proud geek, I flaunt my "essence" for the whole world to smell. Fear me, I am geek and proud! ;)
/* Sure, but what do they use those vechicals for? It takes a long commute to justify a smaller vechcial if it is a given you need the large one for something. */
/* Bikes aren't practical for someone who lives a long distance from work. */
/* And before you suggest moving, what are you suggesting the spouse do with the increased commute? */
:) /* And that is assuming all neighborhoods are created equal */
/* Those with kids care about the local schools, and will not move to some places */
/* neighborhoods won't allow you to choose what color your house is, or have a flagpole */
/* It isn't practical to have a horse in the typical city */
I think it's a given that 99% of the people that buy SUV's do nothing that an economical/practical vehicle would do. They're bought strictly from an aesthetic point of view (image is everything). I have no qualms with people, like, say, ranchers, who buy Suburbans for use on the farm hauling and towing on a regular basis, but really, why does an inner-city professional need a Hummer H2 that he'll never take off-road, much less off the interstate system? I bought a station wagon that I actually use on a regular basis. Had I not needed the room it provided (I haul people as a designated driver, and band equipment for my band, and actually do quite a bit of off-road excursions when doing rivers & streams faunal studies as well as archaelogical site surveys down lots of gravel roads.. I might actually be better suited to an SUV for some situations, but I can't deal with the piss-poor gas mileage for the 90% of the stuff that doesn't require it...), I'd have gotten another used Honda Civic Hatchback.. But, I digress..
Define long distance and says who? If your rush hour commute takes 1 hour, and a bicycle can get you through in an hour or less, well, I think you have a winner. Here's a true story: I used to live in LA and worked 3 miles from where I lived. In "average" traffic, commute by car took 10 minutes, maybe 15. In "rush hour" traffic, it took 55 minutes. To go 3 miles. I can walk that in less than 45, bike was even faster. If I were "forced" to change my schedule that would coincide with rush hour (I was fortunate to have an 8AM start time, plenty early), my fat ass would've been biking...
I'm unsure of what you're saying here, but I gather that you're working close to your spouse's work currently and moving closer to your work would just flip-flop the arrangement? In that case, it's a dozen on one hand, 12 on the other. Let your spouse take the car while you ride the bike, you'd save on car notes.
Most neighborhoods have great people living within them. Unfortunately, it seems they let the minority "trouble" elements run all over them. But no one's saying to just move willy-nilly. You need to research your areas.
If you really care about the local schools, you'll be an active participant in the PTA and whatnot. I work with several ex-teachers and their biggest peeve was that the parents didn't give a damn about their kids educations, mainly because they were working 2 jobs to pay for the fancy SUV's out in the driveway in the $300k house that is 3x too big for what they need. But I digress... (private school is also an option, right?)
I hate those neighborhoods. That's why I don't live in one. They also tend to be "more expensive".
Not to mention illegal. Who fucking needs a horse these days?
Indeed. Have you *seen* the photos of the massive bike "jams" in China and India? They look no better than the current situation (unless you count CONSUMPTION (gas + autos are much more "expensive" than bikes (also add in health considerations)).
However, you will also begin to notice that our system is based upon urban sprawl. Bicycling isn't too much of a deal in a country where your major cities evolved/grew with bicycling as a major component of transportation (smaller, more crowded housing, but everything is within distance). I live, ironically enough, in "midtown" where I am only about 3-4 miles from the downtown center (easy bike commute), but actually around 17 miles from my work out in the deep suburbs (it seems most people have it the other way).
The option is to use mass transit, and then you lose the so-called health benefits and become dependent upon the "city" to get you to work on time, and that always sucks. Sure, I could leave for work 2 hours early to "make sure", but what does that gain me? I would lose 10 hours/week, or 40 hours/month, which easily would subsidize the cost of my car...
The artists sign into a legally binding contract with the RIAA companies. They know what they are getting into before they sign anything. They have lawyers read the contracts over before any ink is squeezed out of a pen. They're not screwing anybody, everyone has a way out before they sign on the dotted line.
This is somewhat true. Most artists avoid lawyers and reading contracts, mostly due to their dentriment. It's also true that the RIAA and co have created an environment where it is virtually impossible to get any radio play, video play, etc, without selling your soul. The benefits of such marketing (and that's really what radio and video play is when you boil it down) should be apparent to most (sell 1 million CD's rather than the 5-10k you normally move if you're an "artist" and not a manufactured "star"), but then again, when a band signs onto a label, well, you've got to take the good with the bad. Many indies have found that you can make a comfortable living touring and releasing/selling CD's for a reasonable price ($10 seems reasonable to me, directly from the band, but YMMV). Signing with the RIAA also give you a huge distribution channel to ply your wares, much more so than you'd get with an indie label. But I digress. As an artist, I say if the label wants you badly enough, you'll get to set your terms.
No one ever forced you to buy a CD. No one has ever been forced to purchase a CD. If you don't like the price, you don't pay it, end of story.
No one has a right to music, that's for sure. If people really wanted to support the bands, they'd quit buying shit on major labels that specialize in screwing the artists (it's like a lottery, really. For every success like "Limp Bizkit" (ugh), there's a hundred Jawbox's or The Pixies (successful in their own right, but never pushed like they could have been). Instead, I try to buy CD's from the local indie shop when I can, but more often than not I pick up my CD's at the SHOWS. I know it's hard for a guy in Ames, IA or some country town to do that, but for them there's places like CDBABY! on the web, plus there are many mail order houses that will help keep you in music. I know when I'm buying from the band, the money gets to the band. I know buying from CDBABY puts money in the bands pockets. I know that seeing the band live puts money in the bands pockets, and is potentially a lot more fun than dorking around on the intarw3b at home all night.
There is a difference between "ripping off" and "overcharging". People, you make your own decisions about what you purchase. If you purchase something you know is overpriced, you are ripping yourself off.
No truer words can be said. I don't like the fact that just about every Kevin Smith DVD is $25 or more. Therefore, I don't buy them (however, there's always rental...) I also found a CD the other day at BestBuy and they wanted $15 for the damn thing (when I paid $9.99 for the damn cassette back in 91 or 92). I didn't buy it. I have a feeling that if BestBuy could buy those CD's for $4-5 each, they'd probably still on mark up 85% (which would make them, what, 8-10?). They're paying what the distributers charge them, and the consumers are still buying (but looking at the charts, I'd say they're getting wise), and all the while P2P is taking the blame.
Here's another thought:
Anyone ever consider that the RIAA is just a frontman for the labels? A whipping boy? What I mean is, the RIAA is paid to protect "copyrights" of its customers. From what I understand, they're not in the business of finding musical talent, of distributing, or even of de-facto price setting (although I think they make suggestions). If the labels were to threaten to pull their memberships due to RIAA actions, I would think the RIAA would straighten up. Sueing customers threatens CD sales, which threaten bottom lines, which threaten the music industry. Remember when Universal (I think?) said it was going to reduce the MSRP of
You know, in 2000, comparisons with BeOS were pretty fair. In 2001, too. Now, a whole new generation of folks is coming around and they're wondering why someone is going on and on about the BeOS and it's about as annoying as the die-hard Amiga fans and the OS/2 whackos who just won't accept the sad fact that their platforms, however great they were (and may still be), are gone. At least with BeOS, though, there's still some interesting ideas that haven't filtered out into the "real" world completely as of yet (the db-like file system for one), but I agree, the constant "It's still no BeOS" statements in her reviews gets a bit tiresome.
Dell stock? I dunno. They ship with Windows. And if consumers get "burned" with Windows as badly as having their BIOS flashed and their computers rendered unusable, I'd say Apple might look pretty damn tempting...
quote from Eugenia: /* why not be able to enjoy Red Hot Chilli Peppers or Linkin Park videos as the average Windows user can at 300 kbps? :P */
Because the word "enjoy" does not immediately come to mind when the words "Linkin Park" are uttered, you can safely say you "enjoy" them just as easily as the typical Windows user by not watching them at all.
Jesus.
Just curious, but why does everyone assume that you *must* choose linux if you want an Open Source solution for your products?
What's wrong with *BSD (hell, NetBSD runs on *everything*, right?)?
My question then becomes, if Linksys had instead chosen a BSD instead of Linux, would they face the same issues?
OpenGL bindings? Are they complete? Where??? I've been playing with writing OpenGL games with Java using lwjgl and was looking at the C# side of things recently. This might make things interesting for the small-end game development scene... Guess I'll go googling..
Because it *might* not have been the application that gave her away...
When I was a Junior in college, I was suddenly bombarded with credit card applications (mail), soon followed by telemarketing. It appears that my college sold information to a credit card company, which then sold my data to someone else, etc etc etc.
Without any real "proof" of who actually sold the data to whom, it will be difficult to prosecute anyone. Can you subpoena the companies in question to determine the source? Or is that information considered "private"? (how ironic would that be?)