As an interface designer and technical writer, this has always been my personal mantra. It's finally nice to see that at least one engineer finally actually gets it!
You probably won't believe how many MMI designers and technical writers are feeling totally vindicated at this point.
Really, it's not often one sees history in the making.;~)
I'm not quite sure what the fuss is about. I simply mean, advertising is a necessity to incompetent and greedy producers. Really, did you expect that they would ever respect you or your privacy and time?
Personally, my white list and non-baysian rules eliminate 99.9% of the crap and abuse. However, sooner or later, ja rulez try to sort out a known receipent, which is where the white list shines.
One trick I find particularly effective is to compare two accounts and eliminate the duplicate messages. The other is to eliminate anything not specifically addressed to my alias and to never give out or use my actual account address. Ninty percent of the spam I get, goes to an address I've never used.
The problem is, even with baysian techniques, there is no way to quarantee that only spam was sorted out. I highly suggest a white list, in addition to filters, as the only way of ensuring that at least known mail is always received.
Sheesh. Dood, don't have a bird. Really, after reading your reply, I'm left wondering why you're so bitter and dismissive? In my humble opinion, you've generalized and discriminated against many people and many products. I know some audio hardware producers personally and not one of them for a minute thinks they don't sell an effective and useful component. In fact, many people have spent their lives and, in some cases, thier fortunes to develop cutting edge, innovative audio equipment. In other words, you've taken all the good audiophile (built without cost as an engineering factor) products and lumped them in with the psuedo high end products built solely as a marketing tool. As well, even if some products are scientifically dubious, it hardly ensures that no improvement would be the result, as many of these products are of higher quality than the components they replace. So, even in a worse case scenario, there are flashy and overly expensive not overly effective systems out there. How is this different from any other hobby or interest?
Besides in this, the age of the overly affluent, if a few sheep are shorn, well, they never really worked for it anyways, which is why they lose it so easily. From what I've seen through all my years, is there will always be those who can't really discern between truth and hype and as a result there will all be a market for hype.
However, this in no way invalidates every single product in the audiophile market. I believe many of the producers of such products actually do believe that the products have merit. As well, many customers, whether deservedly or not, feel satisfied with thier purchase. I can appreciate that many of the products you dismiss have provided actual enjoyment to the owners of such products. So it seems to me that it's self evident that such products fulfill a real need. On this note, those who produce and use such products have spent more time then you have looking in to the products they purchased. Again, PERHAPS,in some of the cases, they have simply looked into it further than you?
I'm really puzzled after considering that you own an audiophile system. By the same reasoning as you've used, I'm sure that some people would consider your system overkill and would have a hard time appreciating why anyone would, say, build their own preamp. I'm sure you found it worthwhile, however. By this same reasoning, why don't you temper your bitter criticism by appreciating that science is a process full of trial and error and a free market implies a broad range of usefullness and quality.
As for your perfect and infallible understanding of every high end audio theory and product, why, dood, you should market that, it would fit right in with all those products and people you despise so much.
By the way, my tube amps are hot and the waves are huge. I'm on my way to listen to sound so live, my friends prefer it to concerts. Personally, I don't regret one second or one dollar I've "invested". I've never lost a cent on high end gear and I often realize a small profit even after years of use. For instance, I purchased my Quad electrostats for a grand and sold them twelve years later for two. Ya, being paid a thou for years of midrange paradise. Boy, what a rip off eh? (grin)
Besides, my system has never sounded better, and yes, I do notice the cumulative effect of all the little, sometimes even crazy tweaks.
So I, and many, many others are happy being audiophiles. I can only hope that you can get past your generalizations and get back to some scientific open-mindedness and the pursuit of serious sounds. Peace.
As the owner of a home built audiophile system, I can personally attest to the fact that I can hear the difference and so do many others. As for your blind study theory... I don't buy it. First off, I'll bet there is just a study or several. Secondly, if there isn't, there could and will be. Third, even if there were, are or will be studies that "prove" you can't tell the difference, I, and others, would know better as the difference is clearly audible on my rig. Perhaps you simply have never listened to an audiophile system, so therefore, you simply don't realize how much more detail and depth can be heard from even a ordinary CD and don't even get me started about SACD quality.
Personally, I find it incredible that anyone could dismiss the entire audiophile domain out of hand. Have you ever considered that the millions of people who are involved in high end audio may know something you simply haven't gotten to yet? In this regard, I respect those who have spent their precious time developing knowledge and mastery of a subject, however, I have no respect for those who dis others out of simple ignorance. Please, do yourselves a favor, go to the local audio hackers hang-out and listen to a real stereo. I'll bet you can't come back and tell me that quality is unimportant and that lossy compressed audio files are not discernably inferior to lossless formats or original CD's.
As well, many recording enginners spend crazy time trying to make recordings sound great. "The Trinity Sessions" by The Cowboy Junkies comes to mind. I really wonder if you realize how much more you'd appreciate the music if you understood the depths of inherent qualities. Perhaps an analogy is in order, listening to mp3's is like going to an art show wearing dark sunglasses. Get it?
Is an emersive 3D enviroment the equivalent of a 2D page? Only as a book is to a play or movie I suppose. Movies don't invalidate books, neither does 3D invalidate, replace or surplant 2D. They can, do and will coexist. I just think 3D really hasn't happened for the same reason other real time real world tasks, ie, voice, face or pattern recognition, aren't mainstream yet. Imho, we simply can't handle the complexity either on the desktop nor on the net, yet. VRML and other standards allow us 3D worlds, are you suggesting we won't inhabit them? Not! The gamerz I play with live to dive in. Think, webspace + opengl. Hey, how about it JC? Please build us an Id web browser!
(i wonder how many man hours have been spent in q3dm6?)
and make sure to pick a design you can live with for the duration... on this note, why not use your name? That laptop will always be traceable no matter how far it walks or runs....
Laptop Rule One: Laptops have legs and will run away as soon as you turn your back on one. especially once you've given it a lot of data.
After reading all the other comments, it's clear that this is a bad idea and can only hurt these artist's image in the eyes of the fans and customers. That should have been obvious. I think the reason they, the superstars, don't get it is the same reason the RIAA and it's owners don't get it. They are in denial and want to stay in the past when life was easy.
The truth is, the world changed. We don't need them anymore. It's most apparent in terms of distribution, which is why the labels see the problem more than their artists. However, the writing is on the wall. The industry has lost control over the music business. We the people are now free to not only find and have whatever music we like.
However the real impact will be seen soon, new artists will undoubtably use this freedom to create music outside the old commercial system by using the net for both performance and promotion. I believe we will soon see a renaissance in music, as those who were denied an outlet for their creativity use this new channel to develop a fan base. Viva la revolution.
This, of course, assumes that a just solution will be adjudicated. As a previous post mentioned, there is no guarantee given the rampant corruption found in high places. However, if enough people pull together, there is little that could not be accomplished. Really, this is not a test, at least one that we can afford to fail. If we don't affect positive changes here and now, then negative effects must result.
This is as clear as the fact that we cannot rely on governments or justice systems to represent us. We must personally step up to the plate and carry the day, lest we lose all that so many have contributed freely.
Make no mistake, this is a litmus test for this community. If we give more ground up now, the battle to regain it will likely be bloody.
Generally, the only places you're carrying your travel pack is when your arriving or leaving. You don't wander around the town with your full pack. You use your carry on daypack for that.
Packs are easily carried and balanced. It's called design. This is a packs function so I don't understand your comment.
It's hard to fit everything into a daypack. I know of a few people who travel this way. If you can live very simply, yes, it's a good idea but not nearly as easy as you make it sound. As well, not everyone can afford to spend thier way out of every situation.
The scanned copies online is a good idea, however, if border officials find you with someone elses documents on you, it will cause no end of grief. Your best to carry photocopies and the originals in separate locations. Check with the local embassy and only ever check your passport with them. If you are asked to give up your passport, let the embassy know right away.
The only problem with disposable cameras is they don't mail well as they go through xray scanners, esp airmail of any kind. Also, they don't always arrive or they arrive in poor condition.
Actually, I have dual citizenship so I've travelled under both flags. As much as I'm proud of my country (s), my advice stands. I never had so many problems as when I had the stars n strips displayed. If you don't like it, then I recommend no flag at all. Unfortunately, many people don't seem to like Americans, especially affluent ones. Go figure, huh.
Personally, I'd love to show the flag that I'm so proud of, it's just to bad it's been given such a bad name by so many self-serving, affluent, upperclass, so-called, "Americans". Imho, some people's loyalty is only to money. The corruption of excessive affluence is America's biggest problem and gravest threat.
Webmail is the last resort granted, but, if you send one pic at a time it works well. The upload is the same for any protocol as it's limited to the available bandwidth in any case. One never has hundreds of megs in my experience. After I've disgarded flawed or inferior shots, I rarely snap more than five to ten pics a day. I uploaded them when I'm checking in and updating my travel log. Almost certainly, you find that either the cafe, one of the staff or a customer has a reader. However, I recommend carring the reader and drivers with with you.
Few cafes are willing to install an FTP client. FTP is less reliable than HTTP in those situations in my experience.
Internet cafes often have the best connections and they are almost always a high speed one. Cafes can't really function with MODEM's and the large user basis supports a broader pipe than most other individuals or organizations can afford.
Ya, lithiums are better. Also, there are some lightweight solar or mechanical recharges that can come in handy for "outbacking"
1) Most hostels have 9 or 10 am checkout times but if you ask, and for a small fee, you can stay all day and sleep in when it's quite quiet.
2) Many hostels have private or family rooms. Some hostels only have private rooms, many have small two to six person dorms.
3) The cost is always less than westernized hotels and often hostels are better maintained than local B&B's or "flophouses". For instance, the hostels in Japan are as nice as the hotels if not nicer and the cost is far less. You can stay at the train stations and use the public bathhouses for about the same price, but then you forgo the kitchen and laundry facilities. So no deal there, sorry dood.
4) You purchase your own "sheet bag" and bring your own sleeping bag / blanket. This saves the rental and the enviroment and you can sleep in your own bed "sorta";)
5) Reservations during high season are a must. The IYH reservation system is effective and inexpensive. The last thing you want is to be searching for accomadations in a strange place late at night. Sheesh. After you stayed at the hostel for a few days, you can find and rent a nice local apartment for a month or two and settle in if you like.
Sure dood. Ever seen what airport baggage systems do to packs with straps. Get real eh. Also a have a dayback for the most irreplaceable items. Always carry it with you. Luggage often gets lost, sometimes forever.
Not true, thieves won't know you're a "rich" American if you don't look like one. See?
Lol, bribery is a great way to end up in a local jail until you can cough up some money. It's a favorite scam in many third world countries. Never, never do anything illegal in a foreign country unless you're willing to spend time in a foreign jail. Duh. Go ahead, flash cash, that keeps the bad guys from bothering peeps like me.
You need a money belt especially when on trains or other crowds, pickpockets are quite common at airports, bus and train stations. Also, people will lift your stuff well you are napping, so be careful about where you catch a few z's.
Try to fit in, try to learn the local customs and lanquage, the natives will appreciate it and you will experince things few if any tourists ever get to. Don't treat people like they are slow, they'll think your rude and obnoxious. Rather, write down common requests, have them translated and written clearly on sheet of paper and then point to the approriate statement so they can read what it is you want. Alternatively, get a phrase book. Then, practice saying those phrases. In a few days, you'll be making basic requests as if you were a native. This impresses the locals and they will give you the royal treatment.
Yes but who would know better than the artist which musical influences were the basis for a composition? As it is now, the labels do most of the classifying or it isn't done and then one has to assign them manually. I'm all for people using their own categories, however, I'd also like to know what the composer thought.
Besides this is a moot point if you read my initial post, as I was advocating multiple attribute fields which could be used to reference multiple generes or sort songs by other characterstics, style, tempo, key, happy, romantic, etc, etc. In fact, I should be able to specify I want to hear all fast tempo'd, upbeat, happy songs and my OS should be able to provide just such a filtered view. Of course, this assumes that the people who write software begin to notice that most apps are rather shallow and redundant.
When travelling, I've found it best to make extensive use of the IYH network. ( International Youth Hostels ~ www.iyhf.org ) They often have Internet access and they often have the most practical and reasonable accomadations. The fellow travellers that you'll meet at the communal kitchens are a wealth of info.
Get a good travel pack, one that is both an internal frame pack and a suitcase with wheels. Pack light, get a money belt. Never display american money on the street if possible. Beware of black market money changers. If you buy soveniers, ship them home from the country of origin. It's best to check your passport into the embassy in some countries.
As for photos, don't buy a brand new spiff camera or other flashy equipment. It's far, far better not to display any signs of affluence. You'll encounter far less problems if you dress locally (trade at used clothing stores) and blend in. You're need a good universal current adapter kit and consider web email account as the most reliable way to get the pictures home. Internet cafes abound and there's always someone who has a fairly new pc or laptop somewhere. Also try searching thru or posting to the relevant newsgroups, many travellers and professional photographers have discussed these concerns in great detail.
One last, somewhat strange piece of advice, you may also want to sew a small Canadian flag to your pack. I've had far less problems since I did.
Main rule: get down, get local, that's where it's at. Happy trails.
Eisner, "If we don't provide consumers with our product in a timely manner, the pirates will."
Isn't it amazing how effective grassroots movements can be? All I can say, is Mom told me sharing is a good thing!
Hmm, now lemme see... disney bad, pirates good? Disney are the pirates you say, oh my, I'm so confused! Bill, help us little users, make sure I can only do the right thing. After all, you are the expert on what's best for us.
There is some deep truth in the statement that a, "majority of musicians are dying to get contracts with record companies."
On the surface, personally, I took this to mean, "most musicians want to get contracts with record companies", however it's also said that an artist often loses their creative control in such arrangements. So, in a metaphorical sense, musicians are "dying", to get contracts with record companies.
Really, there is no way to deny the music "industry" acts in it's own interests and not always and, perhaps, even rarely, in the interests of either the artist or the audience. If the "industry" was really on the side of musicians, the majority of musicians would be happy with their relationships with the labels. Even if we don't include all the musicians unfortunete enough not to have a "contract", the remaining paid musicians are not happy. My first point is, it is common knowledge that bands with contracts feel unfairly treated by the industry. Can anyone show that this isn't true? Matt Oppenheim said "The vast majority of artists who have contracts with the record companies have great relationships with their labels." A simple google will demonstrate this to be a lie. Simply compare the almost nonexistant praise to the massive amount of distrust documented by many, many musicians. In fact, there are entire anti-labels movements among musicians. So my point remains, musicians do not support nor want the music industry or it's contracts, really. Using a biased subset of a group as an example is not truthful. So, you see this is simply more propoganda.
This touches upon, as it must, the central and real issue. The real issue is the commercialization of mind and subsequently, society. In this regard the current P2P, file copying/sharing/trading is perhaps the clearest example of this current conflict.
On one hand, we have the creative and the community, which lives to share as it must to grow. On the other hand, we have industry which must profit or die. All industry depends on trade which depends upon exchange. The exchange is based on production which is based on man hours. Things cost because people spend time. Time is money. Modern (robotic) production removes the cost. Inevitablely, all produced, i.e. non-creative things will someday be free. Please, consider: limitless production = unlimited supply = no demand. Therefore, someday, all that will be valuable will be the artistic and creative. Art and service with be the only scarcity. Industry is struggling to commoditize both art and service, as it must to survive. It must and will try to commercialize and control people and thier products.
Indeed, Mr Oppenheim says it himself, "more often than not, our litigations are attempting to establish a legal precedent." The truth is, that precedent doesn't benefit the many, it benefits the few and it flies in the face of the spirit of freedom. The industry cannot claim to be on moral ground here. It's actions and intentions are clearly not ethical and, quite frankly, border the illegal. Actually, to many, it appears to be corruption of the worst sort, and yes, Matt, many do belive this justifies "copying" the music. In fact, to some, it demands it.
As far as, "worked out by the parties or by courts", I believe Bill Schneider said it best when he said, "People shouldn't be able to use the courts to turn their own stupidity into an asset.
On that note, Matt, when are you guys going to smarten up and halve the price of a CD and double your profit through volume?
Furthermore, the reason none of your "official" sites do well, is simple. Your prices are unfairly high. People understand it doesn't cost a penny to provide a copy of a file, yet you want want major dollars. We think you're out in orbit, which is why most people can't and won't buy music from you in any form.
As for variety on radio, tell me Matt, where do the playlists come from? Personally, this looks like just more propaganda. Let's face it, the majority of recorded music is bu
Forget static IP's, they cause way too much grief at every LAN party I've been involved with. Set up a DHCP server and let er rip... also, put your game servers n switches on a dedicated breaker with a UPS. Don't forget to have backups of your server configs. Demo the games, so you can review any tournament matches. Give the best prizes to the top players not some lamer as a door prize. Fragapalooza makes that mistake every year, n boy does it piss off the leets.:)
Yes, I agree, everyone is able and freely does use the genre field (or not) but what of cases where a person doesn't know which genre to assign?
As well, wouldn't it be better if there were tags for multiple or meta genres. Doesn't the depth, and consequently the power, of a system increase as you increase the number of meaningful and useful connections?
I think people forget that if you don't put much thought into it, you really shouldn't expect much intellegence out of it.
Actually, why don't you just ask the artist to decide which genre a song belongs to. The category (ies) that songs (data) belong to are often most evident to the originator.
As well, Audioscrobbler and freedb do a reasonable job of collecting stats on the media itself and about the uses it is put to.
What I think was required was a way to attach custom attributes (meta data) to file system objects. Then sophisticated queries could be used in scripts. Maybe there's a file system or app that does this already? Imho, this is inevitable. Perhaps we just aren't there yet?
What's that line? Oh yeah, "There's a sucker born every minute." Imagine, embedding arguably the worlds most insecure client into the kernel of the most common OS! The crackers must be jumping for joy.
Personally, I prefer, "You can fool all of the people some of the time; You can fool some of the people all of the time; But you can't fool all of the people all of the time." ~ AL
Is there any doubt that if honest Abe were around today, he wouldn't be a GNU guy?;)
Do you also feel the whole commercial copyright agenda has distracted people from focusing on the system and networking aspects of your project? In other words, do you find or think that social issues have dramatically impacted yourself or other people who are simply trying to develop leading edge applications?
Recently, my fav webcaster, www.ckua.org, dropped real audio in favour of WiMP streaming for the simple reason that they couldn't justify the ridiculous cost of a proprietary protocol. I bet many, many NPO's (non profit organizations) are alos currently considering moving to open type systems in order to realize significant cost savings. The managers at MS and other monopolistically minded enterprises must be worried that this is the start of a mass migration towards low or no cost software alternatives.
I believe Microsoft is simply giving away Windows in order to maintain any market presence at all. They must be banking on the fact that if the licensing costs are equal, people will stay with what they use already, thereby denying Linux an opportunity to enter the lucrative corporate market at it's lowest level.
Isn't it a shame that all those well-paid, educated and supposedly honest senior managers are buzy devoting their energies to market manipulation rather that product development?
Personally, IMHO, MS has never been a engineering firm, but rather, a marketing concern; and lately, it seems, a haven for litigators. If MS has ever lead the IT field, surely it was only in a quest for undeserved profits. Really, is this the America we should be proud of?
MS-DRM ... the crackers must be shakin in fear ;|
on
Linus on DRM
·
· Score: 1
Really, it's irrelevant if you must know, an unbreakable DRM the RIAA will never show.
For every time they try to imprison freedom, some damn smart software engineer will beat em!
Slashdot Mirror
As an interface designer and technical writer, this has always been my personal mantra. It's finally nice to see that at least one engineer finally actually gets it!
;~)
You probably won't believe how many MMI designers and technical writers are feeling totally vindicated at this point.
Really, it's not often one sees history in the making.
I'm not quite sure what the fuss is about. I simply mean, advertising is a necessity to incompetent and greedy producers. Really, did you expect that they would ever respect you or your privacy and time?
Personally, my white list and non-baysian rules eliminate 99.9% of the crap and abuse. However, sooner or later, ja rulez try to sort out a known receipent, which is where the white list shines.
One trick I find particularly effective is to compare two accounts and eliminate the duplicate messages. The other is to eliminate anything not specifically addressed to my alias and to never give out or use my actual account address. Ninty percent of the spam I get, goes to an address I've never used.
The problem is, even with baysian techniques, there is no way to quarantee that only spam was sorted out. I highly suggest a white list, in addition to filters, as the only way of ensuring that at least known mail is always received.
Sure, charge more, it's custom. :) Isn't this America, the land of for sale?
Seriously, depreciation is a larger concern, after all, the used laptop market is extremely active and inexpensive.
Besides, of course, I was speaking lightly.
Sheesh. Dood, don't have a bird. Really, after reading your reply, I'm left wondering why you're so bitter and dismissive? In my humble opinion, you've generalized and discriminated against many people and many products. I know some audio hardware producers personally and not one of them for a minute thinks they don't sell an effective and useful component. In fact, many people have spent their lives and, in some cases, thier fortunes to develop cutting edge, innovative audio equipment. In other words, you've taken all the good audiophile (built without cost as an engineering factor) products and lumped them in with the psuedo high end products built solely as a marketing tool. As well, even if some products are scientifically dubious, it hardly ensures that no improvement would be the result, as many of these products are of higher quality than the components they replace. So, even in a worse case scenario, there are flashy and overly expensive not overly effective systems out there. How is this different from any other hobby or interest?
Besides in this, the age of the overly affluent, if a few sheep are shorn, well, they never really worked for it anyways, which is why they lose it so easily. From what I've seen through all my years, is there will always be those who can't really discern between truth and hype and as a result there will all be a market for hype.
However, this in no way invalidates every single product in the audiophile market. I believe many of the producers of such products actually do believe that the products have merit. As well, many customers, whether deservedly or not, feel satisfied with thier purchase. I can appreciate that many of the products you dismiss have provided actual enjoyment to the owners of such products. So it seems to me that it's self evident that such products fulfill a real need. On this note, those who produce and use such products have spent more time then you have looking in to the products they purchased. Again, PERHAPS,in some of the cases, they have simply looked into it further than you?
I'm really puzzled after considering that you own an audiophile system. By the same reasoning as you've used, I'm sure that some people would consider your system overkill and would have a hard time appreciating why anyone would, say, build their own preamp. I'm sure you found it worthwhile, however. By this same reasoning, why don't you temper your bitter criticism by appreciating that science is a process full of trial and error and a free market implies a broad range of usefullness and quality.
As for your perfect and infallible understanding of every high end audio theory and product, why, dood, you should market that, it would fit right in with all those products and people you despise so much.
By the way, my tube amps are hot and the waves are huge. I'm on my way to listen to sound so live, my friends prefer it to concerts. Personally, I don't regret one second or one dollar I've "invested". I've never lost a cent on high end gear and I often realize a small profit even after years of use. For instance, I purchased my Quad electrostats for a grand and sold them twelve years later for two. Ya, being paid a thou for years of midrange paradise. Boy, what a rip off eh? (grin)
Besides, my system has never sounded better, and yes, I do notice the cumulative effect of all the little, sometimes even crazy tweaks.
So I, and many, many others are happy being audiophiles. I can only hope that you can get past your generalizations and get back to some scientific open-mindedness and the pursuit of serious sounds. Peace.
As the owner of a home built audiophile system, I can personally attest to the fact that I can hear the difference and so do many others. As for your blind study theory ... I don't buy it. First off, I'll bet there is just a study or several. Secondly, if there isn't, there could and will be. Third, even if there were, are or will be studies that "prove" you can't tell the difference, I, and others, would know better as the difference is clearly audible on my rig. Perhaps you simply have never listened to an audiophile system, so therefore, you simply don't realize how much more detail and depth can be heard from even a ordinary CD and don't even get me started about SACD quality.
Personally, I find it incredible that anyone could dismiss the entire audiophile domain out of hand. Have you ever considered that the millions of people who are involved in high end audio may know something you simply haven't gotten to yet? In this regard, I respect those who have spent their precious time developing knowledge and mastery of a subject, however, I have no respect for those who dis others out of simple ignorance. Please, do yourselves a favor, go to the local audio hackers hang-out and listen to a real stereo. I'll bet you can't come back and tell me that quality is unimportant and that lossy compressed audio files are not discernably inferior to lossless formats or original CD's.
As well, many recording enginners spend crazy time trying to make recordings sound great. "The Trinity Sessions" by The Cowboy Junkies comes to mind. I really wonder if you realize how much more you'd appreciate the music if you understood the depths of inherent qualities. Perhaps an analogy is in order, listening to mp3's is like going to an art show wearing dark sunglasses. Get it?
Is an emersive 3D enviroment the equivalent of a 2D page? Only as a book is to a play or movie I suppose. Movies don't invalidate books, neither does 3D invalidate, replace or surplant 2D. They can, do and will coexist. I just think 3D really hasn't happened for the same reason other real time real world tasks, ie, voice, face or pattern recognition, aren't mainstream yet. Imho, we simply can't handle the complexity either on the desktop nor on the net, yet. VRML and other standards allow us 3D worlds, are you suggesting we won't inhabit them? Not! The gamerz I play with live to dive in. Think, webspace + opengl. Hey, how about it JC? Please build us an Id web browser!
(i wonder how many man hours have been spent in q3dm6?)
and make sure to pick a design you can live with for the duration ... on this note, why not use your name? That laptop will always be traceable no matter how far it walks or runs ....
Laptop Rule One: Laptops have legs and will run away as soon as you turn your back on one. especially once you've given it a lot of data.
After reading all the other comments, it's clear that this is a bad idea and can only hurt these artist's image in the eyes of the fans and customers. That should have been obvious. I think the reason they, the superstars, don't get it is the same reason the RIAA and it's owners don't get it. They are in denial and want to stay in the past when life was easy.
The truth is, the world changed. We don't need them anymore. It's most apparent in terms of distribution, which is why the labels see the problem more than their artists. However, the writing is on the wall. The industry has lost control over the music business. We the people are now free to not only find and have whatever music we like.
However the real impact will be seen soon, new artists will undoubtably use this freedom to create music outside the old commercial system by using the net for both performance and promotion. I believe we will soon see a renaissance in music, as those who were denied an outlet for their creativity use this new channel to develop a fan base. Viva la revolution.
This, of course, assumes that a just solution will be adjudicated. As a previous post mentioned, there is no guarantee given the rampant corruption found in high places. However, if enough people pull together, there is little that could not be accomplished. Really, this is not a test, at least one that we can afford to fail. If we don't affect positive changes here and now, then negative effects must result.
...
This is as clear as the fact that we cannot rely on governments or justice systems to represent us. We must personally step up to the plate and carry the day, lest we lose all that so many have contributed freely.
Make no mistake, this is a litmus test for this community. If we give more ground up now, the battle to regain it will likely be bloody.
We shall see
Generally, the only places you're carrying your travel pack is when your arriving or leaving. You don't wander around the town with your full pack. You use your carry on daypack for that.
Packs are easily carried and balanced. It's called design. This is a packs function so I don't understand your comment.
It's hard to fit everything into a daypack. I know of a few people who travel this way. If you can live very simply, yes, it's a good idea but not nearly as easy as you make it sound. As well, not everyone can afford to spend thier way out of every situation.
The scanned copies online is a good idea, however, if border officials find you with someone elses documents on you, it will cause no end of grief. Your best to carry photocopies and the originals in separate locations. Check with the local embassy and only ever check your passport with them. If you are asked to give up your passport, let the embassy know right away.
The only problem with disposable cameras is they don't mail well as they go through xray scanners, esp airmail of any kind. Also, they don't always arrive or they arrive in poor condition.
Actually, I have dual citizenship so I've travelled under both flags. As much as I'm proud of my country (s), my advice stands. I never had so many problems as when I had the stars n strips displayed. If you don't like it, then I recommend no flag at all. Unfortunately, many people don't seem to like Americans, especially affluent ones. Go figure, huh.
Personally, I'd love to show the flag that I'm so proud of, it's just to bad it's been given such a bad name by so many self-serving, affluent, upperclass, so-called, "Americans". Imho, some people's loyalty is only to money. The corruption of excessive affluence is America's biggest problem and gravest threat.
Webmail is the last resort granted, but, if you send one pic at a time it works well. The upload is the same for any protocol as it's limited to the available bandwidth in any case. One never has hundreds of megs in my experience. After I've disgarded flawed or inferior shots, I rarely snap more than five to ten pics a day. I uploaded them when I'm checking in and updating my travel log. Almost certainly, you find that either the cafe, one of the staff or a customer has a reader. However, I recommend carring the reader and drivers with with you.
Few cafes are willing to install an FTP client. FTP is less reliable than HTTP in those situations in my experience.
Internet cafes often have the best connections and they are almost always a high speed one. Cafes can't really function with MODEM's and the large user basis supports a broader pipe than most other individuals or organizations can afford.
Ya, lithiums are better. Also, there are some lightweight solar or mechanical recharges that can come in handy for "outbacking"
1) Most hostels have 9 or 10 am checkout times but if you ask, and for a small fee, you can stay all day and sleep in when it's quite quiet.
;)
2) Many hostels have private or family rooms. Some hostels only have private rooms, many have small two to six person dorms.
3) The cost is always less than westernized hotels and often hostels are better maintained than local B&B's or "flophouses". For instance, the hostels in Japan are as nice as the hotels if not nicer and the cost is far less. You can stay at the train stations and use the public bathhouses for about the same price, but then you forgo the kitchen and laundry facilities. So no deal there, sorry dood.
4) You purchase your own "sheet bag" and bring your own sleeping bag / blanket. This saves the rental and the enviroment and you can sleep in your own bed "sorta"
5) Reservations during high season are a must. The IYH reservation system is effective and inexpensive. The last thing you want is to be searching for accomadations in a strange place late at night. Sheesh. After you stayed at the hostel for a few days, you can find and rent a nice local apartment for a month or two and settle in if you like.
Sure dood. Ever seen what airport baggage systems do to packs with straps. Get real eh. Also a have a dayback for the most irreplaceable items. Always carry it with you. Luggage often gets lost, sometimes forever.
Not true, thieves won't know you're a "rich" American if you don't look like one. See?
Lol, bribery is a great way to end up in a local jail until you can cough up some money. It's a favorite scam in many third world countries. Never, never do anything illegal in a foreign country unless you're willing to spend time in a foreign jail. Duh. Go ahead, flash cash, that keeps the bad guys from bothering peeps like me.
You need a money belt especially when on trains or other crowds, pickpockets are quite common at airports, bus and train stations. Also, people will lift your stuff well you are napping, so be careful about where you catch a few z's.
Try to fit in, try to learn the local customs and lanquage, the natives will appreciate it and you will experince things few if any tourists ever get to. Don't treat people like they are slow, they'll think your rude and obnoxious. Rather, write down common requests, have them translated and written clearly on sheet of paper and then point to the approriate statement so they can read what it is you want. Alternatively, get a phrase book. Then, practice saying those phrases. In a few days, you'll be making basic requests as if you were a native. This impresses the locals and they will give you the royal treatment.
Yes but who would know better than the artist which musical influences were the basis for a composition? As it is now, the labels do most of the classifying or it isn't done and then one has to assign them manually. I'm all for people using their own categories, however, I'd also like to know what the composer thought.
Besides this is a moot point if you read my initial post, as I was advocating multiple attribute fields which could be used to reference multiple generes or sort songs by other characterstics, style, tempo, key, happy, romantic, etc, etc. In fact, I should be able to specify I want to hear all fast tempo'd, upbeat, happy songs and my OS should be able to provide just such a filtered view. Of course, this assumes that the people who write software begin to notice that most apps are rather shallow and redundant.
If software was ships, we'd still be sailing.
When travelling, I've found it best to make extensive use of the IYH network. ( International Youth Hostels ~ www.iyhf.org ) They often have Internet access and they often have the most practical and reasonable accomadations. The fellow travellers that you'll meet at the communal kitchens are a wealth of info.
Get a good travel pack, one that is both an internal frame pack and a suitcase with wheels. Pack light, get a money belt. Never display american money on the street if possible. Beware of black market money changers. If you buy soveniers, ship them home from the country of origin. It's best to check your passport into the embassy in some countries.
As for photos, don't buy a brand new spiff camera or other flashy equipment. It's far, far better not to display any signs of affluence. You'll encounter far less problems if you dress locally (trade at used clothing stores) and blend in. You're need a good universal current adapter kit and consider web email account as the most reliable way to get the pictures home. Internet cafes abound and there's always someone who has a fairly new pc or laptop somewhere. Also try searching thru or posting to the relevant newsgroups, many travellers and professional photographers have discussed these concerns in great detail.
One last, somewhat strange piece of advice, you may also want to sew a small Canadian flag to your pack. I've had far less problems since I did.
Main rule: get down, get local, that's where it's at. Happy trails.
Eisner, "If we don't provide consumers with our product in a timely manner, the pirates will."
... disney bad, pirates good? Disney are the pirates you say, oh my, I'm so confused! Bill, help us little users, make sure I can only do the right thing. After all, you are the expert on what's best for us.
Isn't it amazing how effective grassroots movements can be? All I can say, is Mom told me sharing is a good thing!
Hmm, now lemme see
There is some deep truth in the statement that a, "majority of musicians are dying to get contracts with record companies."
On the surface, personally, I took this to mean, "most musicians want to get contracts with record companies", however it's also said that an artist often loses their creative control in such arrangements. So, in a metaphorical sense, musicians are "dying", to get contracts with record companies.
Really, there is no way to deny the music "industry" acts in it's own interests and not always and, perhaps, even rarely, in the interests of either the artist or the audience. If the "industry" was really on the side of musicians, the majority of musicians would be happy with their relationships with the labels. Even if we don't include all the musicians unfortunete enough not to have a "contract", the remaining paid musicians are not happy. My first point is, it is common knowledge that bands with contracts feel unfairly treated by the industry. Can anyone show that this isn't true? Matt Oppenheim said "The vast majority of artists who have contracts with the record companies have great relationships with their labels." A simple google will demonstrate this to be a lie. Simply compare the almost nonexistant praise to the massive amount of distrust documented by many, many musicians. In fact, there are entire anti-labels movements among musicians. So my point remains, musicians do not support nor want the music industry or it's contracts, really. Using a biased subset of a group as an example is not truthful. So, you see this is simply more propoganda.
This touches upon, as it must, the central and real issue. The real issue is the commercialization of mind and subsequently, society. In this regard the current P2P, file copying/sharing/trading is perhaps the clearest example of this current conflict.
On one hand, we have the creative and the community, which lives to share as it must to grow. On the other hand, we have industry which must profit or die. All industry depends on trade which depends upon exchange. The exchange is based on production which is based on man hours. Things cost because people spend time. Time is money. Modern (robotic) production removes the cost. Inevitablely, all produced, i.e. non-creative things will someday be free. Please, consider: limitless production = unlimited supply = no demand. Therefore, someday, all that will be valuable will be the artistic and creative. Art and service with be the only scarcity. Industry is struggling to commoditize both art and service, as it must to survive. It must and will try to commercialize and control people and thier products.
Indeed, Mr Oppenheim says it himself, "more often than not, our litigations are attempting to establish a legal precedent." The truth is, that precedent doesn't benefit the many, it benefits the few and it flies in the face of the spirit of freedom. The industry cannot claim to be on moral ground here. It's actions and intentions are clearly not ethical and, quite frankly, border the illegal. Actually, to many, it appears to be corruption of the worst sort, and yes, Matt, many do belive this justifies "copying" the music. In fact, to some, it demands it.
As far as, "worked out by the parties or by courts", I believe Bill Schneider said it best when he said, "People shouldn't be able to use the courts to turn their own stupidity into an asset.
On that note, Matt, when are you guys going to smarten up and halve the price of a CD and double your profit through volume?
Furthermore, the reason none of your "official" sites do well, is simple. Your prices are unfairly high. People understand it doesn't cost a penny to provide a copy of a file, yet you want want major dollars. We think you're out in orbit, which is why most people can't and won't buy music from you in any form.
As for variety on radio, tell me Matt, where do the playlists come from? Personally, this looks like just more propaganda. Let's face it, the majority of recorded music is bu
Forget static IP's, they cause way too much grief at every LAN party I've been involved with. Set up a DHCP server and let er rip ... also, put your game servers n switches on a dedicated breaker with a UPS. Don't forget to have backups of your server configs. Demo the games, so you can review any tournament matches. Give the best prizes to the top players not some lamer as a door prize. Fragapalooza makes that mistake every year, n boy does it piss off the leets. :)
Yes, I agree, everyone is able and freely does use the genre field (or not) but what of cases where a person doesn't know which genre to assign?
As well, wouldn't it be better if there were tags for multiple or meta genres. Doesn't the depth, and consequently the power, of a system increase as you increase the number of meaningful and useful connections?
I think people forget that if you don't put much thought into it, you really shouldn't expect much intellegence out of it.
If moz wasn't superior in some ways, it wouldn't have much of a following.
ps. Linux is the dominant OS from a technical perspective and oddly enough, from that same view, accountability and innovation at MS died long ago.
Actually, why don't you just ask the artist to decide which genre a song belongs to. The category (ies) that songs (data) belong to are often most evident to the originator.
As well, Audioscrobbler and freedb do a reasonable job of collecting stats on the media itself and about the uses it is put to.
What I think was required was a way to attach custom attributes (meta data) to file system objects. Then sophisticated queries could be used in scripts. Maybe there's a file system or app that does this already? Imho, this is inevitable. Perhaps we just aren't there yet?
... this way to egress!
;)
What's that line? Oh yeah, "There's a sucker born every minute." Imagine, embedding arguably the worlds most insecure client into the kernel of the most common OS! The crackers must be jumping for joy.
Personally, I prefer, "You can fool all of the people some of the time; You can fool some of the people all of the time; But you can't fool all of the people all of the time." ~ AL
Is there any doubt that if honest Abe were around today, he wouldn't be a GNU guy?
Do you also feel the whole commercial copyright agenda has distracted people from focusing on the system and networking aspects of your project? In other words, do you find or think that social issues have dramatically impacted yourself or other people who are simply trying to develop leading edge applications?
Recently, my fav webcaster, www.ckua.org, dropped real audio in favour of WiMP streaming for the simple reason that they couldn't justify the ridiculous cost of a proprietary protocol. I bet many, many NPO's (non profit organizations) are alos currently considering moving to open type systems in order to realize significant cost savings. The managers at MS and other monopolistically minded enterprises must be worried that this is the start of a mass migration towards low or no cost software alternatives.
I believe Microsoft is simply giving away Windows in order to maintain any market presence at all. They must be banking on the fact that if the licensing costs are equal, people will stay with what they use already, thereby denying Linux an opportunity to enter the lucrative corporate market at it's lowest level.
Isn't it a shame that all those well-paid, educated and supposedly honest senior managers are buzy devoting their energies to market manipulation rather that product development?
Personally, IMHO, MS has never been a engineering firm, but rather, a marketing concern; and lately, it seems, a haven for litigators. If MS has ever lead the IT field, surely it was only in a quest for undeserved profits. Really, is this the America we should be proud of?
Really, it's irrelevant if you must know,
an unbreakable DRM the RIAA will never show.
For every time they try to imprison freedom,
some damn smart software engineer will beat em!