if for example China doesn't respect software copyright laws, then it's totally allowable for companies in China to copy, repackage, and resell software made, trademarked, and copyrighted in the US?
Yes, it's their land, their law, their "right". I think that's pretty self-explanatory.
.. and what if these companies in china decide to sell the software in the US at a cheaper price than the original author of the software's price?
Now they cross the line, specifically the line affectionately known as the U.S. border. Now they have to play by our rules, and under the scenario you have setup, they would be breaking those rules, and be subject to the consequences (unless diplomatic immunity comes into play)
Now, to move this to the Canadian environment, WHERE IT'S LEGAL TO REBROADCAST TV SIGNALS GIVEN THAT YOU DON'T CHANGE THE CONTENT. Now the specific wording (not included here) is very important as this was a case for law. I'm not sure if you were familar with iCrave's service, but basically they put a full rebroadcast signal in a little window and then put a banner ad on top of the page. To put it in Internet terms, it would be like have a frame at the top a page with a banner and the rest of the page filled with a frame of outside content.
Unfortunately iCrave didn't have the money to fight this to the bitter end and capitulated to the massive pressure applied by every big money copyright holder in the U.S., hoping to do something different in the future. What pisses me off is that the guy started on this idea less than a year ago, it would be TRIVIAL for TV stations to rebroadcast their stuff on the 'Net. Why aren't they?
-- ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver. ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
this sigs for you. Go read some Canadian law if can put down the pipe long enough. -- ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver. ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
I would seem to my silly young head that if someone sets up a protection and I circumvent that protection, it would be me breaking the law. My action, my responsibility. Heck I want to break that law, peaceful civil disobedience and all that. In this case in particular I don't have that choice. Why? Because the MPAA can skip me and go straight to the source. And given the pervasive nature of U.S. foreign policy, they can go after that source anywhere in the world. Does this bother anyone else? Instead of industries having to deal with consumer, they can bypass consumers and go straight to the courts and congress (foreign policy) and take away my ability to protest restrictive legislation. Or, and this is the big one, keep the market from evolving. Dammit, I want TV on the 'Net, on demand, that's innovation. Where we are headed now is oppression.
If everyone can break a law, continually, and no one's the wiser, and enforcement is impossible, and there's no detrimental consequences, then IT'S A STUPID LAW!
This is why I will continue to use Napster, Gnutella, and whatever the hell else I want to. Peaceful civil disobedience against unjust laws, with the stated intent to prove just how unjust they just might be. Justice will be served, to anybody who wants to log on and fight for whats right.
-- ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver. ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
There was nothing in your comment that addresses the issue of the high cost of Microsoft's programs. So who's whining and bitching, prewt? -- ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver. ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
ABOUT GNULLSOFT -- Gnullsoft is the open source, freeware extension of all the cool crap Justin and Tom want to do. Justin and Tom work for Nullsoft, makers of Winamp and SHOUTcast. See? AOL *CAN* bring you good things!
If you like abuse, you can email tom: tom@winamp.com
-- We'll see how Gerald Levin likes this when he starts to see all his precious IP float free on the Net, using a program a couple of his employees built and GPLed!
-- ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver. ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
So I should probably think about a summary to this rant! I guess I'm saying that we should pretty much carry on as we have done - use the technology, copy stuff for personal use, but don't expect to publicly use other people's work and make money from it without attracting some serious big-lawyer attention!
I have a friend who I think would like to hear an album I just bought. I e-mail him MP3s of a few tracks, which he likes, and eventually the whole album (or one of the 100 other ways to transfer it). Is this wrong? Why? Say I have a whole lot of friends, now is it wrong? Does my popularity make a difference?
-- ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver. ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
I think you answered your question yourself, but don't want to admit it.
...that music was a profession... and live music was pretty much the only way you could earn your keep
to answer one question
and...
musicians who make music that doesn't translate well live,
suck. Or this conversation doesn't apply (more on this). As to the suck part, for a band like say Blink 182, or the Wallflowers from a couple years ago. I've seen both these bands "play" live (via TV), and well, they suck. Bad. At least 75% (conservative) of mass produced music today would not survive the transition into a "live-music" preferred culture, basically because they suck. There is also the "mass(ively) produced" aspect that doesn't translate well to the live show.
As to your "types of music that don't translate well live" I guess I'd have to see an expanded list and address each genre a la carte.
Certainly it's a good idea to try and change the way it works. I can tell you without a doubt that it's NECESSARY to do so.
Now you're just confusing me. -- I think your site is a good start. Basically to make it, you'll have to do exactly what big studios do, promote the shit out of your music. Try and get it played everywhere, and make it as simple as possible to hear, ingrain it on popular culture. Guess what, it'll take years of dedication. It should take years, very few people get to "play" for a living, only the best who truly have something to say should get the opportunity.
I noticed I couldn't buy the CD from your site, (which is probably not a problem, I'm not a big fan of that style of music), are there mass-production shops out there to help out smaller companies? I see the potential for a new industry of musical artist support (akin to our current album production companies, but outsourced as opposed to collected), where all the support an artist might need would be available on an item by item basis. Yes, you would lose some of the economy of scale, but who wants mass produced homogenized, lowest-common-denominator Art?
The big problem is most people don't care. They're happy to eat at McDonald's their entire life and think it is both good and good for them. Same goes for music.
And to draw a close, I'll end with a corruption of one of your lyics (which I just intellectually stole from you:) "I've been broken before, I will NOT be broken again. I know who you are, I know what I am."
$.02 worth of b.s., enjoy!
-- ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver. ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
the words "theft" and "piracy" are used by those whose businesses have been (are being) made obsolete (BTW, these businesses involve actions revolving around saying things loudly and often). I prefer the terms "borrowing" and "sharing", since they reflect both the positive nature of the transaction and are much closer in line with the real-world effects of such actions.
-- ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver. ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
yea, I saw the Russians getting an early grave. Anyone notice the Iwo Jima imagery as they first uncovered and then implanted the beautiful American flag, bringing peace and harmony to an otherwise alien landscape? Of course, what would a space movie be with the older, grizzled east german scientist, with just a hint of Einstein to give him that "credible" look.
The single good (i.e. interesting) effect in the whole movie was the guy getting spun apart by that oh-so-unexplainable, incredibly terminal, twister defence system the Martians set up to protect the Face from the only other inhabitants for 6o million light-years....themselves with a few million years of evolution.
-- ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver. ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
I saw it yesterday up in Wyoming (where it's cold) with some friends of mine who were playing there that night. This movie was so bad, we had a special event and admonished everyone in the bar that night to avoid "Mission to Mars" and instead, go on a much more productive "Mission to Bars." Needless to say, our mission was a success.
Like the NYU screening (see Salon article), we couldn't help but laugh when the laws of physics were suspended for a rescue attempt that would have been more at home during a Mr. Show with Bob and David episode. "Oh, look, her determination will pay off! oup, nope, couple feet short, time for the touching suicide of a main character 100 yards in front of the love of his life.
The only way to see the movie is to sit in the front row and loudly and verbally belittle it to the delight of your fellow move-ie go-ers.
-- ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver. ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
how about a quick bio for all interviewees? Some sort of resume, track record or something. When part of the payback is people knowing your name, it would be a nice service for/. to add a face and a history to it. (Yes, I am extremely lazy)
yes, it was off-topic (and said so in the header), but I posted it as 2 for a reason (and it is now at 4 for a reason). I use my bonus point as a way to get heard, as it was awarded me for adding some of the value reflected in/.'s stock price.
The reason I flamed was that I did if fact get useful info from the c'n'p'. I like the tactic, I think it saves time. We all don't have time to wade through every README of every release, the notes he posted made it clear to me that *I* don't need to rush home and install XF86 4.0, it's got the 4, but isn't perfect, yet.
And yes we *do* reward early (not first) posters with high Karma, they get more mods reading and are more likely to get bumped, so the first person who pastes useful info will likely get rewarded, but the second person is redundant, I've seen this happen and it works.
I've gone on for waay too long here, and sorry if this is still near the top o' the thread, I just had to address (twice) a common bitch that I think "we" can do without.
I've seen this lament a number of times in recent/. years. It holds no water. You, as an obvious repeat AC, know of something called the "Slashdot Effect", it's the strange phenomenon of 100,000 info-crazy quadrapeds stressing the laws of physics and the capabilities of silicon based counting machines. Sometimes this "effect" breaks stuff. Chains being only as strong as the weakest link and all that, bottlenecks and such.
So to bring it to a point, sometimes it is, in fact, "informative" to cut and paste some electrons, as such action makes this information more available to all, utilizing the vast resources of a billion dollar corporation who's mouthpiece is affectionately known as/..(nitpick that punctuation)
I await your inevitable retort.(and my Karma protects me from flames like Goku's many Dragonballz)
yea, but if you had all those things you wouldn't be living in a third world country, right, right? Am I a git? Hopefully less times than more, but this one goes in the more column. I'll stand by my assetion, however, than given the basics of life (food clothing and shelter), coupled with an Internet connection, computer, and stable power to use both, could quite easily lead to a prosperous individual in a repressive environment. But if you don't have food and spend your day on the 'Net, somethins seriously fscked.
And you are correct, I don't know what it's like to be poor in a poor country, so my whole perspective is most likely useless, as is this post.
given the Internet, a few Perl/C++ books (written in a native language), one could go about finding abundant work from pretty much anywhere. Getting paid might be a problem, but the Net could be a big bootstrap for many of these countries. Information is a very valuable substance, and not being a commodity, helps quite a bit.
...to protect their stock price. They had a full new product news (free advertising) blitz this last weekend, I haven't seen the bug report stories yet...
Playstation (mostly the games) accounts for 20% of Sony's overall revenue and 33% of their profits (according to those same news stories) The PS2 is a *big* deal for them and damage control is a very serious occupation around there right about now.
The people have ultimate control over the laws they live by. We are in touch with the culture. We do everything. We all do the work. We are the counrty. We have ultimate power. I think history would hold this to be true, at least so far.
How about this...
A certain (25% ?) of people by population signs a petition to remove a law, it gets put on the ballot. This is on ANY level of government. Once on the ballot, in the next election if it receives 50%+ vote, that law is removed from the record. In as ethnically & behaviourally diverse culture as we have in this country, this could allow for extreme local variations under an unbrella that we all (basically) have to live under and agree upon.
I know there are procedures for this (at least I assume so), but perhaps it could be part of the Constitution? We have a much better informed public 200 years later. Things have changed. (.sig excused;)
Backwards compatibility is why I didn't get a 5200 and eventually Atari lost the crown. The things (consoles 15-20 ago) were hugely un-popular (IMHO) because the they sucked. The games sucked, the graphics sucked, the sound sucked. That's not to say they weren't fun. but comparing the simple experience of Combat or Robotron with Falcon 4.0, Twisted Metal, or Quake is a joke. The realism has improved on every level and for an entertainment medium that purports to create a *"virtual"* reality is very important. Remember 1st and 10 the football game? Vs. Madden 2000?!?!
Anyway, gaming is finally becoming mainstream and the quality and number of the games and machines is a big part of that. Atari could have 20 years of faithful customers had they bent over backwards to keep them, but the industry moves fast and they tripped. No doubt Sony will stumble at some point, but after you reach a certain size I don't know if you can fall, or just kind of teeter (IBM).
It's also fun to see games created by people who have been playing quality games since birth, as opposed to those who had to define a whole new artform.
Think about *starting* gaming on a Dreamcast, PS2 vs an old "Pong, Pong, and more Pong" box. *sigh*
[cut to court scene where Celera is prosecuting someone for infringing on their DNA patents]
Prosecutor : So you see, your Honor. This person is very obviously "digesting" food. We discovered and patented how this process works on a fundamental level, and are trying to recieve recompense for our studies.
Defendant : but, but (tummy growls)
Posecutor : That'll be another five dollars.
Defendant's Public Defender : Your honor, I'd like to call a special witness to establish prior art.
Judge : Okee-dokey
Bailiff : The defendants call GOD to the stand.
Bailiff : Place your hand on the Bible, Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you, uh, God.
GOD : I AM THE TRUTH
Bailiff : Good enough for me.
Defendant's Lawyer : So you say you knew about this whole DNA thing years ago?
GOD : YES, BILLIONS OF YEARS IN THE PLANNING STAGES, BILLIONS OF YEARS IN THE GROWING STAGES AND MILLIONS OF YEARS OF FIELD TESTING.
DL : Yet, in all that time you failed to get a patent on your creation?
GOD : PLEASE REFER TO INTER-DIMENSIONAL DOCUMENT #F45369 DETAILING THE CREATION AND EVOLUTION OF A SENTIENT SPECIES.
DL : Umm, all I see is a bright light..
(enough of this, time for lunch...patenting parts of people is stupid, really stupid. "Owning" existing genetic code is similarly so. If they actually invent something, maybe, but just finding something and thereby owning it...they get to name it, but owning it, NO)
I just went down to his office (its in the same building, yes I can be that lazy) and will be setting up an appointment when he returns from Washington.
That's the big fight for me, fighting the cynicism over seeing the way our government appears to work. I told the secretary I wanted to talk about Internet laws and give my two cents on the growing copyright debates. I was thinking about wearing by DVD-CCA t-shirt..anyone have suggestions on how to approach (first time talking to a congressamn) or good URLs that I can give him?
Slashdot Mirror
if for example China doesn't respect software copyright laws, then it's totally allowable for companies in China to copy, repackage, and resell software made, trademarked, and copyrighted in the US?
.. and what if these companies in china decide to sell the software in the US at a cheaper price than the original author of the software's price?
Yes, it's their land, their law, their "right". I think that's pretty self-explanatory.
Now they cross the line, specifically the line affectionately known as the U.S. border. Now they have to play by our rules, and under the scenario you have setup, they would be breaking those rules, and be subject to the consequences (unless diplomatic immunity comes into play)
Now, to move this to the Canadian environment, WHERE IT'S LEGAL TO REBROADCAST TV SIGNALS GIVEN THAT YOU DON'T CHANGE THE CONTENT. Now the specific wording (not included here) is very important as this was a case for law. I'm not sure if you were familar with iCrave's service, but basically they put a full rebroadcast signal in a little window and then put a banner ad on top of the page. To put it in Internet terms, it would be like have a frame at the top a page with a banner and the rest of the page filled with a frame of outside content.
Unfortunately iCrave didn't have the money to fight this to the bitter end and capitulated to the massive pressure applied by every big money copyright holder in the U.S., hoping to do something different in the future. What pisses me off is that the guy started on this idea less than a year ago, it would be TRIVIAL for TV stations to rebroadcast their stuff on the 'Net. Why aren't they?
--
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
this sigs for you. Go read some Canadian law if can put down the pipe long enough.
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ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
thanks for bring this up.
I would seem to my silly young head that if someone sets up a protection and I circumvent that protection, it would be me breaking the law. My action, my responsibility. Heck I want to break that law, peaceful civil disobedience and all that. In this case in particular I don't have that choice. Why? Because the MPAA can skip me and go straight to the source. And given the pervasive nature of U.S. foreign policy, they can go after that source anywhere in the world. Does this bother anyone else? Instead of industries having to deal with consumer, they can bypass consumers and go straight to the courts and congress (foreign policy) and take away my ability to protest restrictive legislation. Or, and this is the big one, keep the market from evolving. Dammit, I want TV on the 'Net, on demand, that's innovation. Where we are headed now is oppression.
If everyone can break a law, continually, and no one's the wiser, and enforcement is impossible, and there's no detrimental consequences, then IT'S A STUPID LAW!
This is why I will continue to use Napster, Gnutella, and whatever the hell else I want to. Peaceful civil disobedience against unjust laws, with the stated intent to prove just how unjust they just might be. Justice will be served, to anybody who wants to log on and fight for whats right.
--
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
If life was fair, Bill Gates would have a toilet that shot shit up his ass every time he flushed. AND HE COULDN'T EVER USE A DIFFERENT TOILET!!!
(very busy and annoyed today, then NT crashes, joy)
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ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
There was nothing in your comment that addresses the issue of the high cost of Microsoft's programs. So who's whining and bitching, prewt?
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ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
One should also take into consideration what they are learning AND how much it costs to do something with it.
Personally I'd rather have a $5000 training course and free software vs. a $2000 training and $1000/seat software. Hmmm, which is the "real" deal?
--
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
ABOUT GNULLSOFT --
Gnullsoft is the open source, freeware extension of all the cool crap Justin and Tom want to do.
Justin and Tom work for Nullsoft, makers of Winamp and SHOUTcast. See? AOL *CAN* bring you good things!
If you like abuse, you can email tom: tom@winamp.com
--
We'll see how Gerald Levin likes this when he starts to see all his precious IP float free on the Net, using a program a couple of his employees built and GPLed!
--
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
So I should probably think about a summary to this rant! I guess I'm saying that we should pretty much carry on as we have done - use the technology, copy stuff for personal use, but don't expect to publicly use other people's work and make money from it without attracting some serious big-lawyer attention!
I have a friend who I think would like to hear an album I just bought. I e-mail him MP3s of a few tracks, which he likes, and eventually the whole album (or one of the 100 other ways to transfer it). Is this wrong? Why? Say I have a whole lot of friends, now is it wrong? Does my popularity make a difference?
--
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
just to wander on by with a bashing stick...
...that music was a profession... and live music was pretty much the only way you could earn your keep
:) "I've been broken before, I will NOT be broken again. I know who you are, I know what I am."
I think you answered your question yourself, but don't want to admit it.
to answer one question
and...
musicians who make music that doesn't translate well live,
suck. Or this conversation doesn't apply (more on this). As to the suck part, for a band like say Blink 182, or the Wallflowers from a couple years ago. I've seen both these bands "play" live (via TV), and well, they suck. Bad. At least 75% (conservative) of mass produced music today would not survive the transition into a "live-music" preferred culture, basically because they suck. There is also the "mass(ively) produced" aspect that doesn't translate well to the live show.
As to your "types of music that don't translate well live" I guess I'd have to see an expanded list and address each genre a la carte.
Certainly it's a good idea to try and change the way it works. I can tell you without a doubt that it's NECESSARY to do so.
Now you're just confusing me.
--
I think your site is a good start. Basically to make it, you'll have to do exactly what big studios do, promote the shit out of your music. Try and get it played everywhere, and make it as simple as possible to hear, ingrain it on popular culture. Guess what, it'll take years of dedication. It should take years, very few people get to "play" for a living, only the best who truly have something to say should get the opportunity.
I noticed I couldn't buy the CD from your site, (which is probably not a problem, I'm not a big fan of that style of music), are there mass-production shops out there to help out smaller companies? I see the potential for a new industry of musical artist support (akin to our current album production companies, but outsourced as opposed to collected), where all the support an artist might need would be available on an item by item basis. Yes, you would lose some of the economy of scale, but who wants mass produced homogenized, lowest-common-denominator Art?
The big problem is most people don't care. They're happy to eat at McDonald's their entire life and think it is both good and good for them. Same goes for music.
And to draw a close, I'll end with a corruption of one of your lyics (which I just intellectually stole from you
$.02 worth of b.s., enjoy!
--
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
read the .sig, look in the mirror, ask some serious questions of yourself.
:)
Thanks
(Posted at 2 to annoy whiners)
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the words "theft" and "piracy" are used by those whose businesses have been (are being) made obsolete (BTW, these businesses involve actions revolving around saying things loudly and often). I prefer the terms "borrowing" and "sharing", since they reflect both the positive nature of the transaction and are much closer in line with the real-world effects of such actions.
--
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
yea, I saw the Russians getting an early grave. Anyone notice the Iwo Jima imagery as they first uncovered and then implanted the beautiful American flag, bringing peace and harmony to an otherwise alien landscape? Of course, what would a space movie be with the older, grizzled east german scientist, with just a hint of Einstein to give him that "credible" look.
The single good (i.e. interesting) effect in the whole movie was the guy getting spun apart by that oh-so-unexplainable, incredibly terminal, twister defence system the Martians set up to protect the Face from the only other inhabitants for 6o million light-years....themselves with a few million years of evolution.
--
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
..P.O.S.
I saw it yesterday up in Wyoming (where it's cold) with some friends of mine who were playing there that night. This movie was so bad, we had a special event and admonished everyone in the bar that night to avoid "Mission to Mars" and instead, go on a much more productive "Mission to Bars." Needless to say, our mission was a success.
Like the NYU screening (see Salon article), we couldn't help but laugh when the laws of physics were suspended for a rescue attempt that would have been more at home during a Mr. Show with Bob and David episode. "Oh, look, her determination will pay off! oup, nope, couple feet short, time for the touching suicide of a main character 100 yards in front of the love of his life.
The only way to see the movie is to sit in the front row and loudly and verbally belittle it to the delight of your fellow move-ie go-ers.
--
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
btw, haven't you ever heard of curveballs?
yea, the fat kid from "Stand by Me" could throw killer ones.
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ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
ba-bu-ba-ba-baaa, da-da-dum. Re-boot the ser-ver.
how about a quick bio for all interviewees? Some sort of resume, track record or something. When part of the payback is people knowing your name, it would be a nice service for /. to add a face and a history to it. (Yes, I am extremely lazy)
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yes, it was off-topic (and said so in the header), but I posted it as 2 for a reason (and it is now at 4 for a reason). I use my bonus point as a way to get heard, as it was awarded me for adding some of the value reflected in /.'s stock price.
The reason I flamed was that I did if fact get useful info from the c'n'p'. I like the tactic, I think it saves time. We all don't have time to wade through every README of every release, the notes he posted made it clear to me that *I* don't need to rush home and install XF86 4.0, it's got the 4, but isn't perfect, yet.
And yes we *do* reward early (not first) posters with high Karma, they get more mods reading and are more likely to get bumped, so the first person who pastes useful info will likely get rewarded, but the second person is redundant, I've seen this happen and it works.
I've gone on for waay too long here, and sorry if this is still near the top o' the thread, I just had to address (twice) a common bitch that I think "we" can do without.
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Since you brought it up...
/. years. It holds no water. You, as an obvious repeat AC, know of something called the "Slashdot Effect", it's the strange phenomenon of 100,000 info-crazy quadrapeds stressing the laws of physics and the capabilities of silicon based counting machines. Sometimes this "effect" breaks stuff. Chains being only as strong as the weakest link and all that, bottlenecks and such.
/..(nitpick that punctuation)
I've seen this lament a number of times in recent
So to bring it to a point, sometimes it is, in fact, "informative" to cut and paste some electrons, as such action makes this information more available to all, utilizing the vast resources of a billion dollar corporation who's mouthpiece is affectionately known as
I await your inevitable retort.(and my Karma protects me from flames like Goku's many Dragonballz)
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yea, but if you had all those things you wouldn't be living in a third world country, right, right? Am I a git? Hopefully less times than more, but this one goes in the more column. I'll stand by my assetion, however, than given the basics of life (food clothing and shelter), coupled with an Internet connection, computer, and stable power to use both, could quite easily lead to a prosperous individual in a repressive environment. But if you don't have food and spend your day on the 'Net, somethins seriously fscked.
And you are correct, I don't know what it's like to be poor in a poor country, so my whole perspective is most likely useless, as is this post.
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given the Internet, a few Perl/C++ books (written in a native language), one could go about finding abundant work from pretty much anywhere. Getting paid might be a problem, but the Net could be a big bootstrap for many of these countries. Information is a very valuable substance, and not being a commodity, helps quite a bit.
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...to protect their stock price. They had a full new product news (free advertising) blitz this last weekend, I haven't seen the bug report stories yet...
Playstation (mostly the games) accounts for 20% of Sony's overall revenue and 33% of their profits (according to those same news stories) The PS2 is a *big* deal for them and damage control is a very serious occupation around there right about now.
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that's what evolution is for.
any links on your research?
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How about a "People" power?
;)
The people have ultimate control over the laws they live by. We are in touch with the culture. We do everything. We all do the work. We are the counrty. We have ultimate power. I think history would hold this to be true, at least so far.
How about this...
A certain (25% ?) of people by population signs a petition to remove a law, it gets put on the ballot. This is on ANY level of government. Once on the ballot, in the next election if it receives 50%+ vote, that law is removed from the record. In as ethnically & behaviourally diverse culture as we have in this country, this could allow for extreme local variations under an unbrella that we all (basically) have to live under and agree upon.
I know there are procedures for this (at least I assume so), but perhaps it could be part of the Constitution? We have a much better informed public 200 years later. Things have changed. (.sig excused
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human generation.
Backwards compatibility is why I didn't get a 5200 and eventually Atari lost the crown. The things (consoles 15-20 ago) were hugely un-popular (IMHO) because the they sucked. The games sucked, the graphics sucked, the sound sucked. That's not to say they weren't fun. but comparing the simple experience of Combat or Robotron with Falcon 4.0, Twisted Metal, or Quake is a joke. The realism has improved on every level and for an entertainment medium that purports to create a *"virtual"* reality is very important. Remember 1st and 10 the football game? Vs. Madden 2000?!?!
Anyway, gaming is finally becoming mainstream and the quality and number of the games and machines is a big part of that. Atari could have 20 years of faithful customers had they bent over backwards to keep them, but the industry moves fast and they tripped. No doubt Sony will stumble at some point, but after you reach a certain size I don't know if you can fall, or just kind of teeter (IBM).
It's also fun to see games created by people who have been playing quality games since birth, as opposed to those who had to define a whole new artform.
Think about *starting* gaming on a Dreamcast, PS2 vs an old "Pong, Pong, and more Pong" box. *sigh*
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[cut to court scene where Celera is prosecuting someone for infringing on their DNA patents]
Prosecutor : So you see, your Honor. This person is very obviously "digesting" food. We discovered and patented how this process works on a fundamental level, and are trying to recieve recompense for our studies.
Defendant : but, but (tummy growls)
Posecutor : That'll be another five dollars.
Defendant's Public Defender : Your honor, I'd like to call a special witness to establish prior art.
Judge : Okee-dokey
Bailiff : The defendants call GOD to the stand.
Bailiff : Place your hand on the Bible, Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you, uh, God.
GOD : I AM THE TRUTH
Bailiff : Good enough for me.
Defendant's Lawyer : So you say you knew about this whole DNA thing years ago?
GOD : YES, BILLIONS OF YEARS IN THE PLANNING STAGES, BILLIONS OF YEARS IN THE GROWING STAGES AND MILLIONS OF YEARS OF FIELD TESTING.
DL : Yet, in all that time you failed to get a patent on your creation?
GOD : PLEASE REFER TO INTER-DIMENSIONAL DOCUMENT #F45369 DETAILING THE CREATION AND EVOLUTION OF A SENTIENT SPECIES.
DL : Umm, all I see is a bright light..
(enough of this, time for lunch...patenting parts of people is stupid, really stupid. "Owning" existing genetic code is similarly so. If they actually invent something, maybe, but just finding something and thereby owning it...they get to name it, but owning it, NO)
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Thanks for the kick in the ass.
I just went down to his office (its in the same building, yes I can be that lazy) and will be setting up an appointment when he returns from Washington.
That's the big fight for me, fighting the cynicism over seeing the way our government appears to work. I told the secretary I wanted to talk about Internet laws and give my two cents on the growing copyright debates. I was thinking about wearing by DVD-CCA t-shirt..anyone have suggestions on how to approach (first time talking to a congressamn) or good URLs that I can give him?
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