If you were a CS student, you may have a rather skewed view of things.
I was at RIT for my freshman year, as a CS major, and I got the overall impression that not only did the professors in the department not care about the material, they didn't care about the students either.
My CS 1 teacher the first year would regularly swear and/or belittle students publicly in class, was ticked off every time somebody asked a question, and pretty much made everyone afraid to do anything but take notes. The department also had fun policies like failing an entire project - and by extension, the whole course - if every character of your output, down to white space, didn't match what they wanted.
In general, the whole program just felt unfriendly, overbearing, and stifling. Laugh if you will, but in the end, I ended up taking a leave of abcense for a year, finished off a bunch of courses at a community college, and came back this year as an IT major- and I couldn't be happier at the moment:) I'm doing things that I actually like, and my professors are friendly and excited by the material.
Even that switch had problems, though...I had to have 3 meetings with the CS department head before I could convince him that yes, I really did want to change my major.
Anyway, I suppose i'm kinda rambling here, but my point is that CS departments, RIT's included, seem to stay in their own little worlds sometimes- don't judge the whole educational system on that basis alone.
Thanks for the honors, but i'd like to point out that none of my latest posts have been moderated down, or even moderated at all, so maybe i'm not the "Mozart of trolling" quite yet.
That was a long post alright. And much of it consisted of flames and putting words in the mouth of the parent. Such as "do you think someone's always behind you with a camera or something?"
That was slight exaggeration and a guess at his motivations for saying what he did, combined with a jab at the paranoia to make a point. Nowhere did I say that's specifically what he thinks, and he's free to post again and clarify things when and if he wants to. While the parent seemed to be overreacting I should point out that that's exactly what you're doing by making remarks such as "I knew the geese in my backyard were up to something" as it most certainly put words in that individual's mouth. Nowhere was anything of the sort said. And I'm wondering if you even read the articles which stated exactly what spying the powers that be plan on doing.
Umm...You do realize that comment was joking, right? I think geese are kinda cute, actually, there's a pair that has 5 goslings hanging out nearby lately. And if you think i'm going to get close enough to check whether they're robo-spy geese or something, and risk them kicking my ass for getting near the babies, you have another thing coming:):P So if you are going to apologize for that "anti-american" comment for being over the top, maybe you should come up with another long post. Of more apologies.
Gee, my sincerest apologies, only said I was sorry 3 times, and got called anti-American myself by someone attempting to chastize me. I'm sorry yet again, and I shouldn't have said it. I stand by everything else I post(ed).
With that said, screw off, Mr. AC. At least have the guts to log in if you're gonna try and guilt-trip me.
It's kind of funny because his talk of paying rent, gas, food, and tuition really just affirms your assertion that one no longer owns anything. I have long had a beef with the progession from a ownership based society (the American dream of owning a house and a chicken in every pot) to a disposable service based society. Even though ownership of land and property can be usurped by the government (hence there really is no ownership beyond what they allow) the idea of the traditional American dream has been replaced with that of a consumer driven economy and a dumbed down society where your life is rented from blockbuster and true American grit has taken a back seat to couch-ass complacency.
You make some good points, though i'd like to point out that i'm pretty sure my education isn't going anywhere after I pay tuition to get it, at least until I die. As for rent, gas, and food....I look at rent as a stepping-stone until I can actually buy a house. Try finding a developed area of the planet where nobody with more power than you owns the land, and you'll be looking a long time- it's not just in America. As for gas and/or food, they're going to be necessary in some form, no matter what society you live in. I'm not sure what the point is in sitting around and gnashing your teeth about it all, let me know if you find out, though.
I'd like to contradict what the kid said as for America not needing you. We do need you. We need people just like you in America to continue to think freely and express their opinions, however radical. That is what being American is all about. So I say stay and fight in your own way, only run when your actual _life_ is on the line. That's what I intend to do.
You call me a kid based on the fact that I pay tuition and rent, and play video games. Wonderful(WRONG) generalization! Anyhow, if he's free to express his radical opinions, so am I. I happen to think that believing you're being monitored every second of your life, when it's not actually happening, is flat out idiotic. There's better things to do with your life.
I already apologized for the anti-American bit twice now, but sorry again.
Sorry, I guess that comment was a bit over-the-top, wasn't it? I find it funny that you turned right around and said the same thing, though.
At any rate, I've seen the Matrix several times, and i'd go see the sequel a few more if I didn't have finals this week. I would definately agree there's a lot to be learned from it.
Also, I don't watch ANY TV news, or even any TV at all right now, as i've had more important things to spend money on than giving more of it to Time Warner. I listen to streams of BBC World News and NPR sometimes, dunno if that qualifies by your standards, though.
My apologies, maybe the anti-American comment was a bit much. Anyway, long post ahead...
Seeing your mention of rent, tuition and a PSX game, I would estimate that you are pretty young. You haven't been around long enough to SEE with your own eyes how the world has changed for the worse and how EVIL the government has become.
I realize what you're trying to say, but geez, that just made me laugh out loud. If you want to debate with me, fine, but lose the caps everywhere maybe? At any rate, i'm 22, and i'll graduate from RIT with a Bachelor's in IT in a couple years. Feel free to insert a joke about how it obviously hasn't done me any good or something, since you seem to think I couldn't possibly have valid views on the government if i'm young. Oh, and this'll probably hurt your head, but my SO is about 10 years older than me, and she uses our various game systems almost more than I do.
And no, I'm not anti-American. I'm anti-BIG BROTHER. I don't want anyone controlling my life
Okay, so you're just quite paranoid, sorry. I'd hope you're the one in control, anyway, unless you're writing this from prison or The Matrix or something.
spying on me
Oh god, I knew the geese in my backyard were up to something!
watching what web pages I visit
Get a good firewall, don't accept cookies from places you don't trust completely, clean the ad/spyware and viruses off your system, don't let anyone look over your shoulder...I dunno. You're posting on Slashdot, of all places, and you complain about something like that?
compiling databases on what I buy or the friends I consort with
So, use cash only when you buy things, or at least only use credit cards with places you absolutely trust. I think there was an amusing Calvin & Hobbes strip along those lines once. Watch out for the black helicopters and Agents when you go to see friends, too...Do you think someone's always behind you with a camera or something? Please. and I don't appreciate busting my ass then having to spend all my money on SHIT imported from China and Mexico, made by slave labor so the fat cats at the top of the corporate ladder can get fatter while paying less taxes
Umm...So don't buy that stuff. Hope you don't like playing with high-tech things too much, though. I find the fact that you think anything made in Asia or Mexico is automatically made by "slave labor" amusing, as well. And that cheap SHIT from Wally World is garbage. Things used to last for years and then you could repair them. You could buy parts and fix things. Not any more. Throw it away, clog the land fills up and buy a new one.
*snip ranting about inflation, youth, and rising prices*
I can't speak for your personal experiences, but I don't buy "cheap SHIT from Wally World", and I never did, really, besides maybe a bag of chips on the way home from work or something. Sounds to me like you're more upset that things are too complicated for you to fix yourself these days, at any rate....Tough luck. Maybe you should be paying some tuition costs as well.
Funny you should make that comment about cars, too. I'm getting a used car as a gift from my parents soon, a 1989 Camry that has 200,000+ miles on it, and will still get me around just fine. Until you KNOW what you are talking about from personal experiance, it's best to just observe.
Gee, guy, thanks. I'll just sit back and let all those two or three times older than me debate all the important issues. I'm sure things'll work out just fine, right? I've been around and I've seen how it WAS, how it is, and where it's going. Wisdom comes from personal experiance. You can't learn wisdom, it can't be taught in a classroom, you don't get it from the TV set and you certainly won't get any out of that PSX console...
Who are you to say (again) that I have nothing to contribute, and to throw in that snide little remark about video games? Unless you have personal experience with me, I don't think you're qualified to say much. Oh, and guess what? You won't get much wisdom from whining to the clerks at Wal-Mart or Home Depot, either.
You are born to be a good little consumer. You may not question the party line. You slave away to generate revenue for the state so that the state can grow more powerful. ALL of your income goes towards purchasing disposable crap and taxes.
Damn....And here I thought almost all my income was going towards my rent, gas, food, and tuition at a private university. Please, tell me where i've gone wrong! I haven't gone to the mall for anything but a single PSX game in almost a year now!
You sound like every other anti-American, anti-government screamer, who believes that all anyone in the US does is work to make money for the government and come home to buy and eat fast food on disposable plates all night or something.
Go ahead, leave. I have a feeling we'd be better off without you.
Do you have any 5 year old dvd's or cd's that are still in good shape? I don't, but I have books that have withstood a great deal of abuse over the last 30 years and are still good.
Yep, at least 50-75 CDs that I can lay eyes on at the moment. Most of them have survived 3 moves, dust, heat, cold, being inside my PSX when it fell off a dresser, laying outside the case on my desk, etc., and still work perfectly.
It's for a proprietary handheld system, you moron....Did you even read the headline, let alone the article? It's not even a PC game, why the hell would it be Linux-compatible?
If you'd actually read the article, and look into the situation a little, you'd see that this patch has been in the works for years, and it's for Diablo II, of all games. This isn't just another monthly patch for the game-of-the-week.
In any case, if you don't want to know about it, don't read the damn story:P
Why don't YOU gtow up and smell the roses. He DOES have a point. Spam IS international problem and he has a point when he mentions Americans as short sighted. Not to mention "Language challanged".
This from someone that can't even write proper English themselves...Oh, the irony is priceless...
Just for the record, I'm 22 years old, a born English speaker, I know passable Spanish, and i'm slowly teaching myself Japanese as well. Also, my girlfriend used to speak fluent Spanish, although she's gotten a little rusty after switching jobs and not using it for a while.
I'm not sure if the requirements have changed either way now, but back when I was in high school, the state (New York) requirements mandated that everyone had to take either Spanish, French, German, or Italian classes until their 3rd year of high school...11th grade for most Americans, not sure what that equates to in other countries.
So, yet again, i'm guessing you're either European or Asian as the other poster was, and quite short-sighted yourself...You anti-American sorts love sweeping generalizations, don't you?
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against non-Americans - my family has roots in 3 or 4 European countries - but people like you and the original poster make it awful hard to form positive opinions sometimes.
I'm going to guess that you're an american. Americans tend to have this blind spot that extends from their borders and works outward. Most of them tend to ignore (and be ignorant of)the rest of the world. For example, in the movie Outbreak a plague is sweeping across the States. There is a scene where they extrapolate the spread of the disease. Curiously, it never crosses the borders.
And i'm going to guess that you're a rather short-sighted European or Asian, that bases a large part of their opinion of over 250 million people on small bits of popular culture.
Grow up. Contrary to what Hollywood would like you to believe, the daily life of most Americans is vastly different than the movies.
That said, maybe the original poster meant that a multi-national government site should be set up, one that (almost) anyone in the world could use?
Nowhere in:
or end users could check a government web site to make sure the license key is valid and that the spammer had paid their tax.
did he make the jump to:
The idea of taxing email, or having a government sender verification site, contains the assumtion that the internet is somehow contained in a single country.
Sure, it wouldn't be perfect, and as you say, some countries wouldn't comply...But it would be a start. I'm sure it'd be a far cry from the vision you probably have of Americans (or anyone) trying to contain the internet in a single country...You seriously need a clue if you think it would ever turn out that way.
Can't speak to the bandwidth of the server, but I just found it at this site. Google for "gtnm.zip" if that one goes down, I think it's in a couple other places too.
You know I really couldn't care less what happens in the US, I never intend to visit the place and the more riduculous laws they subject themselves to to, well you 'voted' the guys in, so you have to live with them.
My problem is that now that the US has officially told the rest of the world you do what we say or else (not that it was much different previously, just a bit more hidden), we find that our governments are doing whatever the US wants.
Get it through your skulls somehow....The "US" is not telling you what to do, the common citizens of America are not telling you what to do, a figurative handful of government and special-interest group officals are telling you what to do. The common man in the US doesn't even know these problems exist, much less that they should fight against them.
Quit the self-righteous, superior bitching about never wanting to visit here, and realize that Europe and Asia have had some pretty nasty screwups of their own lately (and in the past...Gee, anyone remember where World War I+II started and what over? Wait, I know!). Maybe you could even go talk to your own local government about these issues, instead of whining about the evil Americans forcing everything on you.
Moderate this as flaming if you want, but i'm just sick and tired of the US being lambasted as a whole, just because of officals that would be tossed out in a heartbeat if there was any possible way.
And you're the one trying to convince someone with "shit for brains". Guess you're not the brightest bulb yourself, either, are you?
Look moron, I don't care whether you rip in MP3, AAC, OGG, or PCM.
Then why are you even posting, exactly?
My argument is that I don't want my music collection to be split into 2 or 3 different formats, siwwy AC man. And there's also the fact that my portable MP3 player wouldn't exactly work on OGG files, either.
And c'mon...If you're going to swear and be all flustered at me, at least have some guts and log in.
Wow, your impassioned use of "fucking retard", "dipshit", and "dickhead" has completely destroyed my self-confidence.
I'm going to go weep in the corner now, and wait for the "MP3 police" to take me away.
In all honesty, I find it rather funny that you're so pissed off at the idea that someone might, horror of horrors, not want to use OGG.
So what? See above... no-one is saying you (or anyone else) should dump all your MP3s and not download any more. It not a fucking hard idea to understand, even for a dickhead like you.
True...What you are saying, though, is that I would be an idiot not to rip new material in OGG, something which I, again, have no desire to do. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
No, "friend", you're the one with the mental impairment...
What use is ripping new stuff as OGG if 95% of my collection is still MP3? Aside from being able to go "damn, i'm so l33t, a few hundred of my 10,000 files are superior OGG", there's no point. I don't need to start splitting up my files into different formats just to impress an anonymous dumbass like you.
Also, I don't know about you, but I can't afford to buy tons of new CDs right now, and i've already ripped everything I own. As well, anything new I may download from P2P services or an FTP is almost certainly likely to be an MP3 as well.
Even if OGG would get me "the benefits of using a superior format", I, again, don't give a damn, really. My MP3s sound perfectly fine to my heathen ears, and that's all that matters.
Oh, and the fact that you offer no specific data at all to support the "superior format" claim really helps your case, Mr. AC
There are far less barriers to change in the ripped audio format, although there will still be some inertia, but there is nothing* to stop ogg vorbis becoming the dominant format.
So you're saying that re-ripping/encoding my 25+ gigs of music would be less of a barrier than buying a new VHS copy of a Beta tape? Okaaaay...
This is why I will never use Ogg....The benefit is just not high enough to justify working over 400 hours of music that's already accesible and sounds fine on my speakers.
Sorry, but it's just too late. MP3 is everywhere, and it's not going away until something massively improved comes along, which Ogg is not an example of.
My spam program filters valid messages at up to 3,000 msg/sec, detects spam messages and decodes base64 at 200 to 300 msg/sec, and has no false positives or false negatives.
It's a psychological disorder where you attempt to captitalize on a previous smash success over and over again until it's bled dry, tweaking the story only slightly with each iteration to make it just about the same, but different enough to keep the audience from falling asleep.
You do know the Matrix storyline was planned to be a trilogy from the start, right?
Even if it wasn't, do you really think the MPAA would give a damn about maybe a few hundred Slashdotters skipping out on a movie?
If you want change, tiny individual opinions mean nothing- you must organize the general public to do something.
Slashdot Mirror
*slightly offtopic*
:) I'm doing things that I actually like, and my professors are friendly and excited by the material.
If you were a CS student, you may have a rather skewed view of things.
I was at RIT for my freshman year, as a CS major, and I got the overall impression that not only did the professors in the department not care about the material, they didn't care about the students either.
My CS 1 teacher the first year would regularly swear and/or belittle students publicly in class, was ticked off every time somebody asked a question, and pretty much made everyone afraid to do anything but take notes. The department also had fun policies like failing an entire project - and by extension, the whole course - if every character of your output, down to white space, didn't match what they wanted.
In general, the whole program just felt unfriendly, overbearing, and stifling. Laugh if you will, but in the end, I ended up taking a leave of abcense for a year, finished off a bunch of courses at a community college, and came back this year as an IT major- and I couldn't be happier at the moment
Even that switch had problems, though...I had to have 3 meetings with the CS department head before I could convince him that yes, I really did want to change my major.
Anyway, I suppose i'm kinda rambling here, but my point is that CS departments, RIT's included, seem to stay in their own little worlds sometimes- don't judge the whole educational system on that basis alone.
Thanks for the honors, but i'd like to point out that none of my latest posts have been moderated down, or even moderated at all, so maybe i'm not the "Mozart of trolling" quite yet.
That was a long post alright. And much of it consisted of flames and putting words in the mouth of the parent. Such as "do you think someone's always behind you with a camera or something?"
That was slight exaggeration and a guess at his motivations for saying what he did, combined with a jab at the paranoia to make a point. Nowhere did I say that's specifically what he thinks, and he's free to post again and clarify things when and if he wants to.
While the parent seemed to be overreacting I should point out that that's exactly what you're doing by making remarks such as "I knew the geese in my backyard were up to something" as it most certainly put words in that individual's mouth. Nowhere was anything of the sort said. And I'm wondering if you even read the articles which stated exactly what spying the powers that be plan on doing.
Umm...You do realize that comment was joking, right? I think geese are kinda cute, actually, there's a pair that has 5 goslings hanging out nearby lately. And if you think i'm going to get close enough to check whether they're robo-spy geese or something, and risk them kicking my ass for getting near the babies, you have another thing coming
So if you are going to apologize for that "anti-american" comment for being over the top, maybe you should come up with another long post. Of more apologies.
Gee, my sincerest apologies, only said I was sorry 3 times, and got called anti-American myself by someone attempting to chastize me. I'm sorry yet again, and I shouldn't have said it. I stand by everything else I post(ed).
With that said, screw off, Mr. AC. At least have the guts to log in if you're gonna try and guilt-trip me.
It's kind of funny because his talk of paying rent, gas, food, and tuition really just affirms your assertion that one no longer owns anything. I have long had a beef with the progession from a ownership based society (the American dream of owning a house and a chicken in every pot) to a disposable service based society. Even though ownership of land and property can be usurped by the government (hence there really is no ownership beyond what they allow) the idea of the traditional American dream has been replaced with that of a consumer driven economy and a dumbed down society where your life is rented from blockbuster and true American grit has taken a back seat to couch-ass complacency.
You make some good points, though i'd like to point out that i'm pretty sure my education isn't going anywhere after I pay tuition to get it, at least until I die. As for rent, gas, and food....I look at rent as a stepping-stone until I can actually buy a house. Try finding a developed area of the planet where nobody with more power than you owns the land, and you'll be looking a long time- it's not just in America. As for gas and/or food, they're going to be necessary in some form, no matter what society you live in. I'm not sure what the point is in sitting around and gnashing your teeth about it all, let me know if you find out, though.
I'd like to contradict what the kid said as for America not needing you. We do need you. We need people just like you in America to continue to think freely and express their opinions, however radical. That is what being American is all about. So I say stay and fight in your own way, only run when your actual _life_ is on the line. That's what I intend to do.
You call me a kid based on the fact that I pay tuition and rent, and play video games. Wonderful(WRONG) generalization! Anyhow, if he's free to express his radical opinions, so am I. I happen to think that believing you're being monitored every second of your life, when it's not actually happening, is flat out idiotic. There's better things to do with your life.
I already apologized for the anti-American bit twice now, but sorry again.
Sorry, I guess that comment was a bit over-the-top, wasn't it? I find it funny that you turned right around and said the same thing, though.
At any rate, I've seen the Matrix several times, and i'd go see the sequel a few more if I didn't have finals this week. I would definately agree there's a lot to be learned from it.
Also, I don't watch ANY TV news, or even any TV at all right now, as i've had more important things to spend money on than giving more of it to Time Warner. I listen to streams of BBC World News and NPR sometimes, dunno if that qualifies by your standards, though.
My apologies, maybe the anti-American comment was a bit much. Anyway, long post ahead...
Seeing your mention of rent, tuition and a PSX game, I would estimate that you are pretty young. You haven't been around long enough to SEE with your own eyes how the world has changed for the worse and how EVIL the government has become.
I realize what you're trying to say, but geez, that just made me laugh out loud. If you want to debate with me, fine, but lose the caps everywhere maybe? At any rate, i'm 22, and i'll graduate from RIT with a Bachelor's in IT in a couple years. Feel free to insert a joke about how it obviously hasn't done me any good or something, since you seem to think I couldn't possibly have valid views on the government if i'm young. Oh, and this'll probably hurt your head, but my SO is about 10 years older than me, and she uses our various game systems almost more than I do.
And no, I'm not anti-American. I'm anti-BIG BROTHER.
I don't want anyone controlling my life
Okay, so you're just quite paranoid, sorry. I'd hope you're the one in control, anyway, unless you're writing this from prison or The Matrix or something.
spying on me
Oh god, I knew the geese in my backyard were up to something!
watching what web pages I visit
Get a good firewall, don't accept cookies from places you don't trust completely, clean the ad/spyware and viruses off your system, don't let anyone look over your shoulder...I dunno. You're posting on Slashdot, of all places, and you complain about something like that?
compiling databases on what I buy or the friends I consort with
So, use cash only when you buy things, or at least only use credit cards with places you absolutely trust. I think there was an amusing Calvin & Hobbes strip along those lines once. Watch out for the black helicopters and Agents when you go to see friends, too...Do you think someone's always behind you with a camera or something? Please.
and I don't appreciate busting my ass then having to spend all my money on SHIT imported from China and Mexico, made by slave labor so the fat cats at the top of the corporate ladder can get fatter while paying less taxes
Umm...So don't buy that stuff. Hope you don't like playing with high-tech things too much, though. I find the fact that you think anything made in Asia or Mexico is automatically made by "slave labor" amusing, as well.
And that cheap SHIT from Wally World is garbage. Things used to last for years and then you could repair them. You could buy parts and fix things. Not any more. Throw it away, clog the land fills up and buy a new one.
*snip ranting about inflation, youth, and rising prices*
I can't speak for your personal experiences, but I don't buy "cheap SHIT from Wally World", and I never did, really, besides maybe a bag of chips on the way home from work or something. Sounds to me like you're more upset that things are too complicated for you to fix yourself these days, at any rate....Tough luck. Maybe you should be paying some tuition costs as well.
Funny you should make that comment about cars, too. I'm getting a used car as a gift from my parents soon, a 1989 Camry that has 200,000+ miles on it, and will still get me around just fine.
Until you KNOW what you are talking about from personal experiance, it's best to just observe.
Gee, guy, thanks. I'll just sit back and let all those two or three times older than me debate all the important issues. I'm sure things'll work out just fine, right?
I've been around and I've seen how it WAS, how it is, and where it's going. Wisdom comes from personal experiance. You can't learn wisdom, it can't be taught in a classroom, you don't get it from the TV set and you certainly won't get any out of that PSX console...
Who are you to say (again) that I have nothing to contribute, and to throw in that snide little remark about video games? Unless you have personal experience with me, I don't think you're qualified to say much. Oh, and guess what? You won't get much wisdom from whining to the clerks at Wal-Mart or Home Depot, either.
You are born to be a good little consumer. You may not question the party line. You slave away to generate revenue for the state so that the state can grow more powerful. ALL of your income goes towards purchasing disposable crap and taxes.
Damn....And here I thought almost all my income was going towards my rent, gas, food, and tuition at a private university. Please, tell me where i've gone wrong! I haven't gone to the mall for anything but a single PSX game in almost a year now!
You sound like every other anti-American, anti-government screamer, who believes that all anyone in the US does is work to make money for the government and come home to buy and eat fast food on disposable plates all night or something.
Go ahead, leave. I have a feeling we'd be better off without you.
Do you have any 5 year old dvd's or cd's that are still in good shape? I don't, but I have books that have withstood a great deal of abuse over the last 30 years and are still good.
Yep, at least 50-75 CDs that I can lay eyes on at the moment. Most of them have survived 3 moves, dust, heat, cold, being inside my PSX when it fell off a dresser, laying outside the case on my desk, etc., and still work perfectly.
*feeds troll*
It's for a proprietary handheld system, you moron....Did you even read the headline, let alone the article? It's not even a PC game, why the hell would it be Linux-compatible?
If you'd actually read the article, and look into the situation a little, you'd see that this patch has been in the works for years, and it's for Diablo II, of all games. This isn't just another monthly patch for the game-of-the-week.
:P
In any case, if you don't want to know about it, don't read the damn story
Why don't YOU gtow up and smell the roses. He DOES have a point. Spam IS international problem and he has a point when he mentions Americans as short sighted. Not to mention "Language challanged".
This from someone that can't even write proper English themselves...Oh, the irony is priceless...
Just for the record, I'm 22 years old, a born English speaker, I know passable Spanish, and i'm slowly teaching myself Japanese as well. Also, my girlfriend used to speak fluent Spanish, although she's gotten a little rusty after switching jobs and not using it for a while.
I'm not sure if the requirements have changed either way now, but back when I was in high school, the state (New York) requirements mandated that everyone had to take either Spanish, French, German, or Italian classes until their 3rd year of high school...11th grade for most Americans, not sure what that equates to in other countries.
So, yet again, i'm guessing you're either European or Asian as the other poster was, and quite short-sighted yourself...You anti-American sorts love sweeping generalizations, don't you?
Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against non-Americans - my family has roots in 3 or 4 European countries - but people like you and the original poster make it awful hard to form positive opinions sometimes.
I'm going to guess that you're an american. Americans tend to have this blind spot that extends from their borders and works outward. Most of them tend to ignore (and be ignorant of)the rest of the world. For example, in the movie Outbreak a plague is sweeping across the States. There is a scene where they extrapolate the spread of the disease. Curiously, it never crosses the borders.
And i'm going to guess that you're a rather short-sighted European or Asian, that bases a large part of their opinion of over 250 million people on small bits of popular culture.
Grow up. Contrary to what Hollywood would like you to believe, the daily life of most Americans is vastly different than the movies.
That said, maybe the original poster meant that a multi-national government site should be set up, one that (almost) anyone in the world could use?
Nowhere in:
or end users could check a government web site to make sure the license key is valid and that the spammer had paid their tax.
did he make the jump to:
The idea of taxing email, or having a government sender verification site, contains the assumtion that the internet is somehow contained in a single country.
Sure, it wouldn't be perfect, and as you say, some countries wouldn't comply...But it would be a start. I'm sure it'd be a far cry from the vision you probably have of Americans (or anyone) trying to contain the internet in a single country...You seriously need a clue if you think it would ever turn out that way.
Can't speak to the bandwidth of the server, but I just found it at this site. Google for "gtnm.zip" if that one goes down, I think it's in a couple other places too.
You know I really couldn't care less what happens in the US, I never intend to visit the place and the more riduculous laws they subject themselves to to, well you 'voted' the guys in, so you have to live with them.
My problem is that now that the US has officially told the rest of the world you do what we say or else (not that it was much different previously, just a bit more hidden), we find that our governments are doing whatever the US wants.
Get it through your skulls somehow....The "US" is not telling you what to do, the common citizens of America are not telling you what to do, a figurative handful of government and special-interest group officals are telling you what to do. The common man in the US doesn't even know these problems exist, much less that they should fight against them.
Quit the self-righteous, superior bitching about never wanting to visit here, and realize that Europe and Asia have had some pretty nasty screwups of their own lately (and in the past...Gee, anyone remember where World War I+II started and what over? Wait, I know!). Maybe you could even go talk to your own local government about these issues, instead of whining about the evil Americans forcing everything on you.
Moderate this as flaming if you want, but i'm just sick and tired of the US being lambasted as a whole, just because of officals that would be tossed out in a heartbeat if there was any possible way.
Oh please....And that applies to all DVD's someone might ever want to watch, even the ones that were never based on books?
:P
You sound just like those ranting that we should "kill" our TV's...Join the rest of us from fantasy-land when you're ready
I'm using Phoenix 0.5, even(as per my name, I suppose), and it still renders perfectly...
For months? Could have sworn I was able to access it just a month or two ago...Guess school's made me lose track of time even worse than I thought.
Looks like someone's getting things started already...
www.riaa.org is completely inaccesible at the moment, at least from where I am.
And you're the one trying to convince someone with "shit for brains". Guess you're not the brightest bulb yourself, either, are you?
Look moron, I don't care whether you rip in MP3, AAC, OGG, or PCM.
Then why are you even posting, exactly?
My argument is that I don't want my music collection to be split into 2 or 3 different formats, siwwy AC man. And there's also the fact that my portable MP3 player wouldn't exactly work on OGG files, either.
And c'mon...If you're going to swear and be all flustered at me, at least have some guts and log in.
FLAME ON!
Wow, your impassioned use of "fucking retard", "dipshit", and "dickhead" has completely destroyed my self-confidence.
I'm going to go weep in the corner now, and wait for the "MP3 police" to take me away.
In all honesty, I find it rather funny that you're so pissed off at the idea that someone might, horror of horrors, not want to use OGG.
So what? See above... no-one is saying you (or anyone else) should dump all your MP3s and not download any more. It not a fucking hard idea to understand, even for a dickhead like you.
True...What you are saying, though, is that I would be an idiot not to rip new material in OGG, something which I, again, have no desire to do. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
No, "friend", you're the one with the mental impairment...
What use is ripping new stuff as OGG if 95% of my collection is still MP3? Aside from being able to go "damn, i'm so l33t, a few hundred of my 10,000 files are superior OGG", there's no point. I don't need to start splitting up my files into different formats just to impress an anonymous dumbass like you.
Also, I don't know about you, but I can't afford to buy tons of new CDs right now, and i've already ripped everything I own. As well, anything new I may download from P2P services or an FTP is almost certainly likely to be an MP3 as well.
Even if OGG would get me "the benefits of using a superior format", I, again, don't give a damn, really. My MP3s sound perfectly fine to my heathen ears, and that's all that matters.
Oh, and the fact that you offer no specific data at all to support the "superior format" claim really helps your case, Mr. AC
Don't be an ass.
He means that it takes forever to rip from a CD and encode that data to the Ogg format.
Why the hell would you think he was ripping Ogg files directly from a CD?
There are far less barriers to change in the ripped audio format, although there will still be some inertia, but there is nothing* to stop ogg vorbis becoming the dominant format.
So you're saying that re-ripping/encoding my 25+ gigs of music would be less of a barrier than buying a new VHS copy of a Beta tape? Okaaaay...
This is why I will never use Ogg....The benefit is just not high enough to justify working over 400 hours of music that's already accesible and sounds fine on my speakers.
Sorry, but it's just too late. MP3 is everywhere, and it's not going away until something massively improved comes along, which Ogg is not an example of.
My spam program filters valid messages at up to 3,000 msg/sec, detects spam messages and decodes base64 at 200 to 300 msg/sec, and has no false positives or false negatives.
:):P
None? As in absolutely 0%?
So, when can we expect Skynet from you, then?
It's a psychological disorder where you attempt to captitalize on a previous smash success over and over again until it's bled dry, tweaking the story only slightly with each iteration to make it just about the same, but different enough to keep the audience from falling asleep.
You do know the Matrix storyline was planned to be a trilogy from the start, right?
Even if it wasn't, do you really think the MPAA would give a damn about maybe a few hundred Slashdotters skipping out on a movie?
If you want change, tiny individual opinions mean nothing- you must organize the general public to do something.