If the original spirit of the copyright law was set for 30 years, then everything from 1976 and earlier should be up for grabs, no matter what the current laws are because those new laws were made by lobbyists for the industries. My question is though... why is that right? Why should someone, who's still alive, who made a movie/song back in 1970 say, not still be getting money from it if people are still wanting to buy said movie/song?
Sure you can go on about copyright being in the hands of the record companies/studios etc. rather than the artists, but that's another argument.
The argument I'm trying to resolve is why should the artist just stop making money from something they made 30 years ago?
I got that impression after living in San Mateo CA for a while... in Melbourne it's by no means the case that Starbucks outnumbers anything... they're not even closer to things than other, better places.
Just bizarre.
The only thing I can come up with is that they have nice couches and a good atmosphere to drink the terrible coffee in.
The reason people drink it in America is that there are so few places to get a decent espresso coffee (Latte, cappuccino, machiato, etc.) Starbucks actually seems good in comparison to the majority of crud on sale over there.
Now... in a country like Australia, in a city like Melbourne, I am absolutely STUNNED that people go to Starbucks... STUNNED! Why anyone would subject themselves to the horrendous taste of Starbucks 'coffee' when they need only walk two to three shops before they stumble across somewhere else selling better coffee is beyond me.
The ONLY reason I do have Starbucks occasionally is that the local one in our shopping centre has a play area for the kids... damn great idea. But it's the only Starbucks I've seen with one, so I don't know why people go to any of the others... I suffer through the lackluster, burnt coffee so I can at least be at peace while I do so as the kids are entertained.
But... to be back on topic... I too was of the opinion that Starbucks was a 'good' company, and it somewhat baffles me why organizations like Oxfam pick on them when there are truly BAD companies doing BAD things that they should be spending their time on.
Douglas Adams, not Billy Connelly.
Well, I saw Billy say it in a stand up performance (the one with his name in large pink letters behind him), and a quick check on the web for the quote finds it being attributed to him by all I come across.
The problem isn't so much the generation itself, but moreso the people who end up being polititions.
As Billy Connelly so aptly said once "The desire to be a politician should automatically disqualify you from ever being one" (Quoted from memory, may be paraphrasing)
"It is hard to see why anyone would want to access the information on the chip." Even if the info on the chip is just the same as what's printed in plain sight as they say... it's still defeating one of the security measures in short shrift. How is that not a concern? The fact that the electronic portion of it can be read and copied without actually needing the item (just need to be near it) is a great concern.
Also, the article states that the key to some encrypted information on the chip is something that's printed, in plain sight, on the passport... oh man.
It's a scary world when those who are old and have little clue about technology (the politicians) are told they need a high tech solution to a security issue. They hear a buzzword (RFID) and tell their people "Get something that used RFID into market STAT!"
Yes, pretty much - I mean I can generally type faster (English) than before and the pain in my wrists went away (it usually happened while typing long letters with QWERTY). Ah, yeah, the pain in wrists would be about the only thing that would make me switch... which I don't get... so no need for me:)
Just as a question, have you found the switch to DVORAK to be worth it? I mean, with the losing the agility on pretty much every other keyboard around, do the benefits really outweigh that loss?
My god I'm sick of 'news' articles in our local media which are nothing more than thinly veiled adverts for companies and services.
In Melbourne, Australia we have a free daily 'newspaper' called the MX which is provided at train stations. It is created by the news outlet that creates the largest circulation paid for newspaper in the city (the Herald Sun) and shares a large amount of its content.
Every single issue there are at least 4 or 5 'articles' about 'surveys' or 'studies' which have discovered some new and exciting 'fact' about our populous. They headline and lead into these articles speaking as if the results are fact ('Australian workers love working longer hours', 'Women want more pampering'), and it's not until you read into the article that you find 'according to a web survey of 300 by recruitment company X', or 'says a study done by cosmetics firm Y'.
And people read the guff as fact, and reiterate it over and over.
And the number of ridiculous celebrity pieces of trivial shite that is reported that just so happens to be about some star of a movie that just so happens to be coming out next week...
These two types of 'news' really do account for about 50-60% of the content of this rag.
And the big brother of the MX, the Herald Sun... yeah, not so much better.
Sigh... will teach me for being a cheap bastard and not buying a real newspaper I suppose.
Exactly. While I do like privacy, and should be able to surf without fear that my entire surfing history can be tracked back to me personally, anonymous usage information is fine by me to collect. I too like doing surveys, not always because I think my voice will be heard, but also as I like to know what the company is interested in about their customers. It can be quite enlightening via the questions they ask.
Plus I actually have made some nice cash via focus groups and online surveys:)
The thing to me about the 'HDR' images produced by that technique is that they look far more 'unreal' than normal photos. They have this 'hypereal' effect that reminds me of postcards from the erm... I guess 1940s/1950s that had some hand retouching done to them, or a foil look.
They just, to me, look a little silly, and that's a result of having an image with more information in it than the medium they are displaying on can handle.
Now, with a display that can ACTUALLY display the full spectrum of a HDR image. THAT I'm interested in.
Why is this story only being posted now though? It's from last year!
"but they actually have a lot of competitors with actual products to show, such as Novalux, Mitsubishi etc." Did you even read the articles I posted to?
FTFA "Manufacturing company Arasor produces the unique optoelectronic chip central to the laser projection device being developed by Silicon Valley-based Novalux, which is being used by a number of television manufacturers."
And "With a worldwide launch date scheduled for Christmas 2007, under recognisable brands like Mitsubishi and Samsung, Novalux chief executive Jean-Michel Pelaprat is so bold as to predict the death of plasma."
So... erm... yeah, did you even bother to read the article before trying to debunk them.
And yes, I did post the original story, but I have no vested interest in it other than I wanted the Slashdot crew to nitpick it and show whether this had real legs or not. As if it does, I'm excited to see high def tvs get cheaper.:)
You know... I don't think it was really neccessary to have right there in the heading the little note that it's some tiny bug squished during the scanning process.
The fact it was posted with the Monty Python foot should be enough for anyone to know it shouldn't be taken seriously.
We could have had hundreds, if not thousands, of posts as to exactly what it could all mean, how it got there, why it was taking a large dump at the time of the photo...
But now... now you've ruined it.
I hope you're happy... go and sit in the corner and think about what you've done.
Exactly, from the article "This operating system has needed a steady diet of patches to stay close to healthy. "
Unlike WHAT personal operating system? Really, that kind of speil is just not useful. He could have done some, oh I dunno, actual work, and rustled up some stats to work out the relative number and severity of patches on the major operating systems as a comparison. He probably would have made a better case, as it may be the case that Windows has required a lot more patches to remain safe and usable. I don't know, I'm not a writer who should be doing that kind of research for his articles.
Also included in that steady stream of patches is improvements and new applications (like other operating systems)... and the deal is that over the course of SP1 and SP2, XP has become a much, much better system, and for $0 more than you paid for it originally. Just touting one other operating system, OSX... how many point releases have they charged for since it came out?
I actually had to just stop reading the article at the point as it pretty much was just retreading the Same Old Ground (tm)
I have had a few friends computers who I've had to repair from a state of just hardly running, and in all cases, even when they said 'no... no we don't', all the spyware and adware and junk that was loading them down was due to surfing porn sites or similar.
A cleanup with AdAware, Spybot search and destroy and Hijack this... perfectly working system
Now, the site seems down, but being that you labelled that "One of my favorite messy racks", and it's from a site called waystupid.com, I was expecting a set of breasts with mud on them or something.
The reason why I replied as I did though, was because he stated: "I'd argue that anybody who doesn't have an adversion to socializing in todays society is mal-adjusted. Look at all the scary shit out there; What sane person would subject themselves to that?"
That sounds like someone who has some real issues with people and being out and about, not just someone who enjoys being inside.
The car initiative is what excites me most really. There is no good scientific/manufacturing reason that I know of that we can't be driving around in affordable hybrid/completely petrol devoid cars. It really does seem to be a reluctance based on the huge oil cartels.
So if Google, with its huge wealth, can kick start the availability of cars that are cheaper to run and far better for the environment, how can there not be a market?
I really hope they succeed... and then bring the success down under, as we need those cars here in Australia, hell, you could add some solar panels to help as we have an abundance of sun over here.
"And the largest disadvantage to a "for-profit charity?" Your donations are NOT tax deductible.
They've slit their own throats on this one."
Yeah, the people behind Google, the most successful web venture in the world, didn't give any thought at all as to the consequences of making it a for profit charity.
Have you perhaps thought that they are targetting other methods of funding that don't rely as much on the tax deduction angle? How about that they are planning on making products that can make money and therefore self fund the charity?
I highly applaud them, and I think the lack of needing to be non profit could be very liberating and free them up to do many things they otherwise may have not been able to.
Slashdot Mirror
Sure you can go on about copyright being in the hands of the record companies/studios etc. rather than the artists, but that's another argument.
The argument I'm trying to resolve is why should the artist just stop making money from something they made 30 years ago?
I got that impression after living in San Mateo CA for a while... in Melbourne it's by no means the case that Starbucks outnumbers anything... they're not even closer to things than other, better places.
Just bizarre.
The only thing I can come up with is that they have nice couches and a good atmosphere to drink the terrible coffee in.
The reason people drink it in America is that there are so few places to get a decent espresso coffee (Latte, cappuccino, machiato, etc.) Starbucks actually seems good in comparison to the majority of crud on sale over there.
Now... in a country like Australia, in a city like Melbourne, I am absolutely STUNNED that people go to Starbucks... STUNNED! Why anyone would subject themselves to the horrendous taste of Starbucks 'coffee' when they need only walk two to three shops before they stumble across somewhere else selling better coffee is beyond me.
The ONLY reason I do have Starbucks occasionally is that the local one in our shopping centre has a play area for the kids... damn great idea. But it's the only Starbucks I've seen with one, so I don't know why people go to any of the others... I suffer through the lackluster, burnt coffee so I can at least be at peace while I do so as the kids are entertained.
But... to be back on topic... I too was of the opinion that Starbucks was a 'good' company, and it somewhat baffles me why organizations like Oxfam pick on them when there are truly BAD companies doing BAD things that they should be spending their time on.
Check out the 'Alien Quadrilogy', quite cheap these days and has all 4 movies as well as a TONNE of other material. Great set.
And I too really like Alien3, much underrated as far as I'm concerned.
Well, I saw Billy say it in a stand up performance (the one with his name in large pink letters behind him), and a quick check on the web for the quote finds it being attributed to him by all I come across.
The problem isn't so much the generation itself, but moreso the people who end up being polititions.
As Billy Connelly so aptly said once "The desire to be a politician should automatically disqualify you from ever being one" (Quoted from memory, may be paraphrasing)
"It is hard to see why anyone would want to access the information on the chip."
Even if the info on the chip is just the same as what's printed in plain sight as they say... it's still defeating one of the security measures in short shrift. How is that not a concern? The fact that the electronic portion of it can be read and copied without actually needing the item (just need to be near it) is a great concern.
Also, the article states that the key to some encrypted information on the chip is something that's printed, in plain sight, on the passport... oh man.
It's a scary world when those who are old and have little clue about technology (the politicians) are told they need a high tech solution to a security issue. They hear a buzzword (RFID) and tell their people "Get something that used RFID into market STAT!"
Plus, I bet they don't even know what STAT means.
Just as a question, have you found the switch to DVORAK to be worth it? I mean, with the losing the agility on pretty much every other keyboard around, do the benefits really outweigh that loss?
My god I'm sick of 'news' articles in our local media which are nothing more than thinly veiled adverts for companies and services.
In Melbourne, Australia we have a free daily 'newspaper' called the MX which is provided at train stations. It is created by the news outlet that creates the largest circulation paid for newspaper in the city (the Herald Sun) and shares a large amount of its content.
Every single issue there are at least 4 or 5 'articles' about 'surveys' or 'studies' which have discovered some new and exciting 'fact' about our populous. They headline and lead into these articles speaking as if the results are fact ('Australian workers love working longer hours', 'Women want more pampering'), and it's not until you read into the article that you find 'according to a web survey of 300 by recruitment company X', or 'says a study done by cosmetics firm Y'.
And people read the guff as fact, and reiterate it over and over.
And the number of ridiculous celebrity pieces of trivial shite that is reported that just so happens to be about some star of a movie that just so happens to be coming out next week...
These two types of 'news' really do account for about 50-60% of the content of this rag.
And the big brother of the MX, the Herald Sun... yeah, not so much better.
Sigh... will teach me for being a cheap bastard and not buying a real newspaper I suppose.
Exactly. While I do like privacy, and should be able to surf without fear that my entire surfing history can be tracked back to me personally, anonymous usage information is fine by me to collect. I too like doing surveys, not always because I think my voice will be heard, but also as I like to know what the company is interested in about their customers. It can be quite enlightening via the questions they ask.
:)
Plus I actually have made some nice cash via focus groups and online surveys
The thing to me about the 'HDR' images produced by that technique is that they look far more 'unreal' than normal photos. They have this 'hypereal' effect that reminds me of postcards from the erm... I guess 1940s/1950s that had some hand retouching done to them, or a foil look.
They just, to me, look a little silly, and that's a result of having an image with more information in it than the medium they are displaying on can handle.
Now, with a display that can ACTUALLY display the full spectrum of a HDR image. THAT I'm interested in.
Why is this story only being posted now though? It's from last year!
"but they actually have a lot of competitors with actual products to show, such as Novalux, Mitsubishi etc."
:)
Did you even read the articles I posted to?
FTFA "Manufacturing company Arasor produces the unique optoelectronic chip central to the laser projection device being developed by Silicon Valley-based Novalux, which is being used by a number of television manufacturers."
And "With a worldwide launch date scheduled for Christmas 2007, under recognisable brands like Mitsubishi and Samsung, Novalux chief executive Jean-Michel Pelaprat is so bold as to predict the death of plasma."
So... erm... yeah, did you even bother to read the article before trying to debunk them.
As for the domain name:
http://www.arasor.com.au/ takes you right there, as does http://www.novalux.com/ for Novalux.
Really... that was some poor investigation.
And yes, I did post the original story, but I have no vested interest in it other than I wanted the Slashdot crew to nitpick it and show whether this had real legs or not. As if it does, I'm excited to see high def tvs get cheaper.
:D
That amused me.
You know... I don't think it was really neccessary to have right there in the heading the little note that it's some tiny bug squished during the scanning process.
The fact it was posted with the Monty Python foot should be enough for anyone to know it shouldn't be taken seriously.
We could have had hundreds, if not thousands, of posts as to exactly what it could all mean, how it got there, why it was taking a large dump at the time of the photo...
But now... now you've ruined it.
I hope you're happy... go and sit in the corner and think about what you've done.
I have no mod points at present... so "Bravo!" will have to suffice :)
Ok, fine... surf porn sites with Firefox then... It's like safe sex for the interenet. :D
Exactly, from the article "This operating system has needed a steady diet of patches to stay close to healthy. "
Unlike WHAT personal operating system? Really, that kind of speil is just not useful. He could have done some, oh I dunno, actual work, and rustled up some stats to work out the relative number and severity of patches on the major operating systems as a comparison. He probably would have made a better case, as it may be the case that Windows has required a lot more patches to remain safe and usable. I don't know, I'm not a writer who should be doing that kind of research for his articles.
Also included in that steady stream of patches is improvements and new applications (like other operating systems)... and the deal is that over the course of SP1 and SP2, XP has become a much, much better system, and for $0 more than you paid for it originally. Just touting one other operating system, OSX... how many point releases have they charged for since it came out?
I actually had to just stop reading the article at the point as it pretty much was just retreading the Same Old Ground (tm)
Stop surfing porn sites.
Problem solved.
Really.
I have had a few friends computers who I've had to repair from a state of just hardly running, and in all cases, even when they said 'no... no we don't', all the spyware and adware and junk that was loading them down was due to surfing porn sites or similar.
A cleanup with AdAware, Spybot search and destroy and Hijack this... perfectly working system
Oh, and using Firefox instead of IE.
Problem solved.
No slowdown.
Now, the site seems down, but being that you labelled that "One of my favorite messy racks", and it's from a site called waystupid.com, I was expecting a set of breasts with mud on them or something.
But then I remembered I wasn't on Fark.
The reason why I replied as I did though, was because he stated: "I'd argue that anybody who doesn't have an adversion to socializing in todays society is mal-adjusted. Look at all the scary shit out there; What sane person would subject themselves to that?"
That sounds like someone who has some real issues with people and being out and about, not just someone who enjoys being inside.
The car initiative is what excites me most really. There is no good scientific/manufacturing reason that I know of that we can't be driving around in affordable hybrid/completely petrol devoid cars. It really does seem to be a reluctance based on the huge oil cartels.
So if Google, with its huge wealth, can kick start the availability of cars that are cheaper to run and far better for the environment, how can there not be a market?
I really hope they succeed... and then bring the success down under, as we need those cars here in Australia, hell, you could add some solar panels to help as we have an abundance of sun over here.
Doh, doh, doh... that will teach me for not using the preview button... stupid italics!
"And the largest disadvantage to a "for-profit charity?" Your donations are NOT tax deductible.
They've slit their own throats on this one."
Yeah, the people behind Google, the most successful web venture in the world, didn't give any thought at all as to the consequences of making it a for profit charity.
Have you perhaps thought that they are targetting other methods of funding that don't rely as much on the tax deduction angle? How about that they are planning on making products that can make money and therefore self fund the charity?
I highly applaud them, and I think the lack of needing to be non profit could be very liberating and free them up to do many things they otherwise may have not been able to.
Very excited to watch this one!
You might as well add "overdramatic, pseudo-intellectual, temper-tantrum-throwing shit" to your resume.
Oh, I did, right below the part where I added "At least I never post insulting comments on Slashdot annonymously".
But then, my resume is full of crap that has no place in any resume, ever!