I think, more than anything, that insert from Brazil should really hit us hard. I wonder what the media would do with something like that? I can just imagine the headlines...
Brazil: Better Technology, Voter Turnout!
Aren't we supposed to be the very ICON of Democracy at work? I guess that just shows what happens when you just sit around and pat yourself on the back.
I'm actually glad all of this has happened, though. The more controversy, the more likely things will change. I actually hope Congress has to decide our president, and nobody actually gets what they want. Serves us right for: being apathetic, sitting on our laurels, not changing our laws to fit the times/situations, etc.
Because it isn't a lie. Yes, you can look at the Salon story, and yes, the kids weren't even part of the TCM - just used the coats to hide weapons. That isn't the point.
The point is that the backlash caused by it caused a slew of finger-pointing. Because they wore trench-coats, suddenly anyone wearing a trenchcoat was suspect. Because they were somewhat oddballs, all oddballs were put under extra scrutiny. Because they used guns, the strange violent-entertainment blame became more immediate and caustic.
The point is, Geeks ARE now being targeted even more than before. Goths are being targeted more than before. Anyone that somehow doesn't fit in suddenly becomes enemy number one, and that's the truth of the matter. It made things worse, pure and simple. People don't make up these first hand accounts, they happened. Calling these people liars pays them a great disservice. All Jon really did was ask what the hell was going on. It's a philosophical discussion that has been begging to be addressed in this country for decades. Why does it pay to conform when we're supposed to be a country of individualists and free thinkers?
I know, because I was there. I had a community of like thinkers, so I didn't feel disenfranchised, but others are not so lucky. If I were to wear the same clothes I did then to a school today, I would probably be put under counseling or suspension. Tell me that isn't overreacting. In the large picture, Katz is trying to wake people up, show them the how far things have gone in a society where people don't self-analyze nearly enough. Holding up a mirror stirs controversy, but it also gets some damn discussion made so at least vaid points get some airtime. People need to hear this, or it'll only get much worse before it even begins to improve.
That's the way things are. Fight them, or lay down and take the onslaught. I'd rather fight.
I know I'm getting a lot of flack on this from
you people, but you have to realize that if I say
I'll put an end to the drug war, I'll be labled
as some whiny liberal. I'm not a whiny liberal
dammit!
Minority Religions
I think I'll take George's answer on this,
because it's one of the very few areas
where we agree. I don't believe any religion
should determine the laws of any nation, except
for how we watch movies, how we raise our
children and how we go to church everyday.
Why give a tax cut
Because it's what the American People want!
How can I ignore the the needs of our great
country, especially those that are cried the
loudest. But we also have to pay down the
defecit... Luckily my plan does them both, so
you really should vote for me, you know.
Electoral Reform
How dare you attack the great American system
of election! It has survived over two hundred
years intact because it was perfect from the
very beginning. I refuse to answer this question,
and I'm not even going to discuss the fact that
you think I'm only saying this to keep the
status-quo.
Intellectual Property
I believe everyone needs to understand that
patents are here for everyone's benefits! My
aides tell me that patents have a very bad
reputation in this community, but I think I should
defend them. I'm not going to give the same old
lines that they foster innovation, though it's
true. What I will say is that without them,
our poor inventors would never get credit for
the hard work they've done! Like that guy
that invented the Television, would he be known
today if we had no patent office?
Encryption
I think we should keep a tight reign on our
encryption laws as they are. We don't seem to
have learned our lesson in WWII. If a foolproof
encryption system really did fall into the hands
of our future enemies, we'd be helpless to
intercept their communications! We'd be dooming
millions of people! What's to say they won't
come up with their own encryption schemes?
Simple. I believe the American People have some
of the brightest minds in the world, and I'm
strongly convinced that so long as they're under
our control, our enemies have no bite.
Rising Political Protests
I always have to wonder what these people are
protesting about. You all know I'm a union boy,
and I've never heard so much hubub. The simple
fact of the matter, something Nader doesn't want
you to hear, is that free trade is *good* for
everybody. We can't control other governments!
Look at us back when we had kids working in
factories. The simple fact is that these other
countries simply need to catch up! Our companies
see this and just take advantage while they still
can. When the governments move on, so will our
companies - simply looking to keep their profits high. Let them! If it raises outrage and makes
these countries start treating their citizens right, then it's our duty as Americans to buy these exploitive products!
Asteroid Defences
While I think it's a good idea in theory, we
just don't seem to be able to pull off a demonstration that's worthy of any notice. The
Russions seem to think we'll use our new shield
as a come-on and smack around the rest of the
world with impunity due to our newfound immunity to missile attack, but that's just silly. We do that already, for crying out loud, and they ask for it! They want us to police the rest of the world, or they wouldn't keep asking us for aid!
The Future
Need I say "The opiat of the masses," to get
my point across? It's not just our national
image that's fading. We don't like basebal
anymore. What used to be our national pasttime
is now a boring specticle. We're simply a nation
of disenchanted people full of apathy for what
we think we can't control. If we would simply
clean up our schools, get rid of those violent
movies, games, and books, and give everyone a good
taxcut to boost their self esteem, we'd be set!
The answer is right there, people!
Well, we all know about junk mail, and banner tracking systems, so the next logical step is...
Patent this:
An extensive user tracking system utilizing foreign co-location advertisements (BANNERS) tied to a thin transparent layer consisting of internet viewing software storage protocol (COOKIES) inserting viewing behavior trends into a permenant magnetic storage medium (DATABASE). A mathematical analysis statistic system interpreting accumulated contents of (DATABASE) will then interact with a magnetic storage medium containing business partner customer archives (TARGETS) to create a corresponding structure of purchase trends (BS) for each (TARGET) based on past purchases and trends from (DATABASE). Information from (BS) will be used to interact with (TARGET) by automatically obtaining items with a high statistical probability of impending purchase (JUNK). (JUNK) obtained in this manner will then be relocated to (TARGET) via a means of economical airlift to arrive one day later, this will also be charged through the (TARGET) system (MEGA-SCREW). (TARGET) will then be marked in (DATABASE) as having recieved (JUNK) until the next auto-purchase (MEGA-SCREW).
Just sends chills up my spine. 0-click, customer tracking system that automatically buys things for you and sends them to you via next day air. Hehe.
Sure, if you want to download that crap. But
think of a few other things, you small minded
little crack monkey.
Ever read Cryptonomicon? Ever hear of putting
information that some governments want to censor,
in a place that makes it available? That's why stuff like this is perfect for a lot of things. Declaration of independance? I can find one on teh web, compare it to my country's, and make an informed decision on what I should lobby for. Censorship? On the net, I think not. Anonymous is just that much harder. It's called a data-haven, you freaking moron. Get it through your thick skull. Any platform can be abused by putting illegal crap on it, but you can't cut your nose of to spite your face.
Chose to ignore it all you want, but it isn't as simple as you put it. Besides that, advertisements usually cost money. These people are trying to turn low overhead into max profits without having to go through the channels that honest businesses use. TV, radio, ads, etc. They're cheap, worthless bastards just like the people who post porn and warez on this system. They're abusing it for their own ends, period.
Re:Katz writes about things without having 2 clues
on
Selfish Society
·
· Score: 1
Normally, I like and respect Katz for what he usually tries to do, push the geek envelope. It only makes sense that he do the opposite every once in a while so we don't feel to full of ourselves, but this is too much.
After reading posts on slashdot, I've read a couple of other reviews of this book, and it makes a full frontal attack to a form of philosophy that it automatically assumes is invalid and a bane to society in general. The book was literally shreaded in a very logical and concise way that makes it hard to believe Katz used it to base an article on Slashdot.
Now for my actual point. Aside from your caustic tone, I'd have to agree with you on almost every count. I lived in trailer parks, moved more than 20 times before I was 17, below the poverty level and sometimes on food stamps. Does that sound like the background of a technocrat elite? Fuck no. I put myself through college with the help of scholarships, scholastic merit, and hard work. I now have better credit than my parents, good job security, and more than enough intelligence to shoot Katz down.
Why? I sound awfully arrogant, don't I? I was going to go into quantum physics, but there's no money in that. I'm writing at least two books when I get the time, and have already finished many short stories. My point is, everyone has multiple skills, and I practice mine whenever I want. I just made more prudent decisions as to where my money would come from than other people. Don't go blaming the techocrat elite for anything. Lawyers make more money, so do doctors, actors and accountants. You don't see books saying they're inherantly out of touch and selfish. They chose the path they did for their own reasons, and I bet very few of them are the same. Just like every person in the world, they have their own reasons for what they do. Yes, certain fields get more respect and money than others, but that's just how things are. Do what you like, and damn the consiquences. I never stopped writing, I never stop learning more when I get the chance. I'm not sitting fat and happy like so many other respondants to this post would like to believe.
What am I, then? Doctors and Lawyers have to work long years past college to get anywhere. Good computer scientists have to be versed in dozens of languages and architectures, be able to think fast, and usually undergo tons of certification before they get any respect. They still don't get anywhere near as much money unless they get lucky and IPO. People in technical fields aren't special, they're just part of another emerging front that happens to attract cash. Don't think we take this for granted as a general rule. Doing so is bigoted, and I won't stand for it. I know I got lucky, I could have stuck to my writing career more stringently, and tried harder to get published. I could have easily been a starving artist, but I'm not. I came from poverty, and I'm doing what I can to keep from going back. So what? Wouldn't anyone else do the same? Katz certainly isn't hurting for cash, did he apply this analysis to himself?
Somehow, I doubt it. The human condition itself is selfish. We live primarily for ourselves. We eat, when others can't. We donate to charities to escape taxes, or feel better about ourselves. We can't live for other people. This article is complete bunk. Everybody is selfish to a certain degree. Everyone is arrogant. I am because I'm proud of what I've accomplished, knowing where I started.
That's just the way things are. I'll make no excuses, and I'll dare Katz to prove somehow the "geek culture" is somehow more selfish and arrogant than any other field. Try asking an actor, a doctor or a lawyer how arrogant they are, and see what answer you get. Pride is not arrogance. Duhh.
I'm good at what I do, and I like doing it. So sue me.
Nope, not even close. By the way, I assume "Arian" is a typo for "Aryan"; the Arian Heresy (something about the nature of the Trinity, IIRC) has been out of fashion for 1,500 years or so.
Not really a typo... I just didn't know how to spell it. ^_^
Right here, it sounds like you're almost as much of a dittohead as the fictional moron you're arguing with. When the right yowls about "special rights", they're always working up to some excuse to deny perfectly ordinary rights to somebody who doesn't happen to be white, or christian, or male, or heterosexual, or some damn thing.
Not really. I'm just very supportive of not sugar-coating what you really mean. It's almost a throwback to "If you don't have anything nice to say..." I've just been in too many situations that just being straight forward is simply easier. PC is itself a kind of censorship... you have to monitor everything you say lest it accidently offend someone. Like someone else quoted earlier, anything can offend anyone if they are determined to be offended. As far as the other part of that, think about the rest of my comment. I don't care if you're gay, black, white, jew, whatever. You're human, enough said. That should really be the extent of legislation on that issue. I think the goal of many "rights" campaigns would be better served by pointing out that fact than avidly exclaiming "gay/black/etc rights now!" They already have those rights just like everyone else does. Sooner or later, society as a whole will realize that, and the rhetoric we "simulated" will be a thing of the past. To me, it's all the same ball of wax, "Human rights." The differentiation just serves to confuse.
You said it, not me. It's a clear fact that politics is outside the range of women's natural interests, but that has nothing to do with their being "subhuman"
Where does this "clear fact" come from, again? I don't recall any scientific studies proving women "simply don't like politics, it's in their DNA, you see."
forced exercise by women and minorities of "rights" which they do not naturally posess or profit from, PC thought-control laws and regulations, and affirmative action.
Women and minorities, whether they be gay/lesbian, nerds, "insert anything out of the ordinary here" have the same rights as any other human being. Are you some kind of nazi or something? While I don't agree with "special" rights like affermative action and PC crap, you're taking things way too far.
So, yes, a quick examination of history proves me to be right, just as it proves you to be a Holocaust denier, a revisionist propagandist who worships mass-murder from behind a laughable and transparent facade of "rationality".
The holocaust was due to this kind of thinking. "This group of people is somehow different, and their method of thought is ruining the social fabric of the world. Let's kill 'em." You may not be thinking "Let's kill 'em", but you're not all that far from it. Great, there really are psychos on the net. Sorry, but I can't take you seriously anymore... you've got to be a fake. Hitler didn't kill people because he was liberal, he killed them because they were a scapegoat - someone to blame for society's ills, exactly what you're doing with your blame of "liberals." Stalin was just a bastard, he killed 20 million of his own people because he wanted his country to look industrial and strong to the rest of the world, so he worked it into the ground. His emphasis was on "If you disagree with me, you're against society and advancement of the Russian people, and you die now." Not exactly what I'd call liberal thought.
I hate to call this "debate" short, but if you can't see that the very blame (It's them damn liberals, stupid) that you are advocating is exactly what you're arguing against, then you're a lost cause. Circular agumentation may be fun, but give me a break, this is too much. Heh.
You do that. Enjoy life on the "outside" while you can, because this country will be returning to the rule of law within the next ten years. When that day comes, sane laws will finally be enacted, and people like you will be incarcerated for sexually exploiting children. Justice will be done.
This was the kicker, though. Man, that's funny. Within the next ten years, eh? Are you part of some militant group that is going to overthrow the government and plans are currently underway? I can just see you there caressing a rifle staring at your screen with glazed eyes mumbling insanely about "How it's all going to change." You just go ahead and ignore the fact that the united states is a melting pot of thousands of different cultures and religions. Pushing Christianity on the entire country is not the "Freedom of Religion" promised in the Constitution. You must be thinking about an entirely different country, man. I bet you're even a member of the Arian Nation or something like that. Well, anyway... you've given me a good laugh, but I must be off.
I hate replying to a Rush Limbaugh generator, but why not.
It's clear that the Feminazis of the League of Women Voters have chosen sides here. They're indisputably in favor of ramming homosexual pornography down the throats of children, and when the children are (inevitably) harmed by it, well, so much the better.
<sarcasm> Oh yes, it's absolutely horrible that those damn women get the right to vote. They must all be lesbians trying to ruin our children by thinking such liberal ideas. Everyone knows women are sub-human and should never be able to vote! </sarcasm>
On a more serious note: are you on crack? Nobody forces anyone to look at anything. With proper parenting, kids will stay away from pornography by themselves. By making it a big issue, we're drawing their attention to it - making it look exciting. Let them look. Sooner or later they'll just get bored with it just like the rest of us. Just look at how many underage kids drink and smoke to see how effective simply blocking or banning something is. If somebody wants something bad enough, they'll find a way to get it eventually.
And, typically, they have the unanimous and unambiguous support of the Slashdot theocracy. As always, no dissenting voices will be allowed.
Not allowed? You posted this, didn't you? Slashdot is the perfect example of self-sensorship - the very thing we're advocating. People can read your BS as long as they like if they so desire. Besides that, the fact that you present yourself as a raving idiot spouting zealous anti-gay rhetoric for no apparent reason doesn't give your argument much weight.
A quick look at history will show the Right fighting the Left every step of the way as the Left attempts to ban and burn books.
::makes quick look at history::
Well, according to this, the right (associated with religious and moral interpretations in a strictly conservative manner) is the one who has been banning books in schools and advocating censorship for the last few hundred years. I don't know where you've been looking, but if you look up liberal in any dictionary, it implies more freedom, not less. Now look up conservative. No one group should be able to push their views on another. That's the whole point here, and why this very article was posted on slashdot. Do yourself a favor and read a banned book.
The filtering software that will be provided in the public libraries of this nation will free us from this insanity, and whether you pathetic liberals like it or not, it will prevent you from shoving all of your filth in our faces:
Oh, I get it. So a woman can't look up a medical site because it talks about how to do a self breast exam. Darn, I guess it's just that liberal propaganda and not cancer prevention after all. If you think libraries are so visited by children that this one magical bullet will solve all social and psychological ills all children in the entire country may exhibit, you really are an idiot.
So-called "sex-education" (child pornography, propaganda designed to force children to have sex at an early age), Feminazi propaganda, propaganda forcing the Homosexual Agenda, the whole nine yards.
Sigh. So, you'd rather have a child who's interested in sex to just do it, and not be informed of the diseases he/she may contract, risks of pregnancy, ways of saying no, how to avoid rape, and why it's better to abstain? Such ignorance can get a child killed, lured into a situation they aren't prepared to deal with, or harm others they have contact with (viruses.) Seems like you're the one advocating the harm of children.
In conclusions, this must be a Rush Limbaugh generator, albeit a very bad one. Even Rush sounds slightly convincing in a "Hate everyone, it's fun!" kind of way. This was just too easy. I think I'll get back to my programming now, and stop harming children with my wild liberal views.
You don't have grits in the UK? I find that hard to believe. But since you asked:
Grits are a corn-meal like paste when fully cooked, much like cream of wheat, and is similarly served hot. Generally eaten in larger quantities in the southern US, grits is usually a dinner item. Often canadian bacon or ham is cut up and dropped into a bowl of grits.
Now just to follow the string of this original post, imagine a hot gritty bowl of this substance being poured down your pants.
I may just be a misinformed jackinape, but didn't the @Home network limit customer's uplink bandwidth to 256k, and disallow the running of any and all servers? Isn't the solution as simple as cutting off customers that are running servers? I know the server ban was a reason I didn't buy @Home... I don't see how they can use customer's servers as an excuse.
It really is unfortunate that things went in this direction. We all know that Etoy was there first, and the case should be very clear; things don't always work out the way you expect them.
How so?
I'd imagine that the claims of conspiracy (the Xmas fiasco) have quite a bit of merit, but somehow I predict that this will ring the same responses. Who's to say that EToys didn't *say* they were backing off to fix their public image, all while their legal department had a field day with Etoy. It is a possibility.
Since this is an old issue, isn't there something we can do about it? Contacting Etoys with nice well-thought-out responses would always be nice, but I mean a more "fit to print" solution. We're a pretty big community, but the fact of the matter is that we're a specific group that is no target. But we do have access to other people. Why not have our own publicity campaign that actually releases the facts of this case, and tell as many friends as we can about what is going on.
Our power will be completely wasted if we don't use it to hit them where it counts, and why they started this whole thing: In their pocketbook. The proposed boycott isn't enough if it's only us... we need more. This is enough indication that at least their legal department just doesn't get it.
This may sound odd, but I think it would work. Why don't the web developers and programmers work together on this one, and create a draft standard protocol (rfc) that can handle searches. What do we know about searching the web?
There are static pages that can be changed daily, making indexed content practically useless in the long run. Dynamic pages are just a more obvious version of these.
Spider traps can kill a spider, or make a site unsearchable.
The internet is slow.
These are really enough to get a handle on how this could work. By problem 3, it's obvious we can't send a keylist request to each server in the world, and get their response (though this would be the best solution for maximum search depth.) What we can do, however, is present servers the ability to contact whatever search engine is the main hub(s) and send a keyword based tree. This will allow a search engine to grab information instantly and give a list of sites with that keyword or description.
Most likely, though, the answer will have to be two-fold. What about people who just send in infinite key words? The first search the engine finishes is the "domain->keyword list" search. From that point on, either by querying each individual server on the original match to get more extensive information, or hitting a previously cached crawl, context and relevance numbers can be fleshed out.
The final result, then, would be this:
Domain->keylist->internal|external lookup
The structure would still allow results like what current engines give us, but much more up to date. The protocol could also include a "last update" kind of field, so internal data doesn't have to be updated for x days/months/years. I think if we work on it, it could happen. But it's the only real alternative. Indexing the entire internet just isn't possible.
Because nobody, and I mean nobody wants that. Why? You ask? Easy enough. Ever hear that Microsoft requires a compile at the end of the day, no matter how they get it? We have a similar policy where I work, and it really pisses me off. Here we're encouraged to do a slapdash job to meet deadlines.
Here are the disadvantages to such an approach:
The slapdash job is harder to maintain in the long run. Subroutines that were just slapped together generally have to be rewritten entirely sometime later to make up for assumptions and deficiencies they don't deal with properly.
Readability anyone? If you want to make sure almost no other coder can figure out what the hell you just did, go right on ahead. But I don't suggest it.
Morality? Condone giving a vender crap software because of some arbitrary deadline.
I could probably come up with more, but I think you get the idea. It's like either building a pinto or a lamborghini. Sure a pinto is easier to fix (just duct tape and bailing wire, right?) but nobody wants to own one. Why does the software industry continuously ignore the fact that nobody wants a pinto - so why force people to buy them? I'm frankly glad that Mozilla has gotten it into their heads to do it right the first time. God knows we could use more of it.
I presume that you are refering to copying one tape to another (using two VCR's)? It's not as straight forward as copying using a home VCR due to Macrovision. Macrovision plays with the gain in the VCR, effecting copies but not the TV.
Yes. However not all tapes use this. I know quite a few people who make copies of movies they buy so they can wear out a cheap tape instead of the original (for stuff they like to watch quite a bit.) What about people who record movies off of something like HBO, Pay Per View, or other formats. You get cable-quality which isn't totally horrible, and all you have to do is pay your cable bill. Doesn't *that* hurt the industry? Since you didn't buy the movie you just recorded? It's irrelevant.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that MPEG-2 is compressed. A straight screen or data stream capture would require huge amounts of storage space and make redistribution tricky. I've also heard that DVD-Video also utilises Macrovision, making copying to tape difficult without some additional equipment.
I have no idea how MPEG layer 2 compression works, nor do I care. The point isn't that you Can make copies, but that there are certain classifications of people... I propose two:
Joe Viewer - Joe doesn't give a damn. He just wants to watch his !%#$% videos that he paid good money for. Getting ahold of pirated copies is a big pain in the keester, and DVD's aren't that expensive anyway, so he buys them without complaint.
Bill h4X0R - Bill just wants shit for free. Doesn't care how he gets it, where it comes from, or even what quality it is. So long as it looks good on a TV, he won't complain. He knows the basics for doing cheap video capture. He sometimes does it digitally from a VCR, and the concept is the same from a DVD. Picking a usable compression ratio and converting it to MPEG2, AVI, RealPlayer, Quicktime, etc, he can get a fairly small video that will look crystal clear on any TV. Does encryption stop this man? No. Does Macrovision stop this person? No. Are these formats too big to distribute with a CD? No again.
My question is this: What do they gain by using encryption? Joe user is damn likely not to pirate videos other than recording stuff off of HBO or whatever. And Bill knows that anything sampled at a fairly decent rate may look bad on a monitor, but will be very forgiving when seen on a TV, and so far as I know, TV has been fine for most people for years. Bill may want an exact copy, but with DVD, that isn't feasable due to storage size limits in DVD recordable media. People make copies of their own movies all the time to avoid wearing out their favorite tapes. What exactly is gained by encrypting this kind of media?
My answer: absolutely nothing. Good users won't pirate unless to make a copy to avoid wearing something out, which is less prevailent with hard-media. Of course they can't make backups on anything but a VHS in case they scratch or break the disk, but there's always a catch, right? Bad users will do whatever they can to get a movie - including recording it at the theatre, and there isn't any way you can stop that short of metal detectors in the lobby. You've been able to record a CD on to a tape, or another CD for years, and that didn't seem to matter. But as soon as MP3's became all the rage, then the industry started worrying. Why? Because the files can be distributed and anyone can download them? So what. I could have done that with a wave file, mp3 is just better compression. Nothing new has really occoured in the past 5 years to make anyone more paranoid, but for some reason this new technology is making entire industries quake in their boots. What is the big hairy deal, anyway?
I really don't think it matters. The industry is too paranoid for its own good. Besides that, if they were really serious about this, they would have used a little more common sense when copy protecting DVD's. The playstation did it for crying out loud. Yes Mod chips can get around this, but I can also get around macrovision by putting a mod chip in my VCR or removing the macrovision chip. Very few people go this far, but this only proves that even hardware isn't foolproof.
Ok, this may all seem obvoius, and if it is, please tell me I'm just being insane. But what in the hell is going on here? Let me get this straight:
Anybody with a vcr has been able to copy any movie ever released to the VHS format, yet this industry has not collapsed so far as anyone knows.
CD's also fit into the above category, as does most software ever written. So why when they were designing DVD, did they find it in their great wisdom to even need to encrypt the DVD format?
If they were really worried about pirates, what about screen captures? What about split data streams? What about capturing the signal from the decoder and saving the raw output to a vcr? What about every other possible way to copy something that can be seen or heard? You simply can't encrypt something of this nature, so why try?
Excuse me, but 40bit encryption? 400 keys? Take off a few powers of two for that... effectively 35 bit encryption. I could crack that with a commadore in a back closet. If they thought that would deter anyone who truly wanted to crack the encryption, they were sadly mistaken.
I could go on for a while, but I see that it's pointless. The fact that they're trying to sue someone for their own neglegence is fairly amusing. But the fact is, they lose absolutely nothing by having the keys cracked. They didn't get anything out of it in the first place - so they can't lose anything.
Is it just me, or does it seem like the DVD industry was trying to pull a fast one on movie and publishing studios... you know, "Hey, DVD is encrypted... so you'll no longer have to worry about bootlegged copies of your product." Now they have to save face, and it looks like they don't like it one single iota. If this is the case, I wonder how they explained the DVD->VCR and similar copying techniques once the stream is decoded... Oh well, back to the drawing board.
I read the above link about two years ago, and was amazed by the technology. Quarter-sized 100TB holographic discs. They're supposed to have something viable in another year; here's hoping!
It's all a matter of perspective.
on
Why Kids Kill
·
· Score: 1
We've all heard the statistics, the explanations, the confusion. What seems to be a bit of pervasive ignorance however, are the things that are being constantly ignored.
What are those?
I know this idea isn't new, and it seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. In Japan, media and violence in entertainment are actually much more prevalant than they are, yet their crime rates are lower. One suggestion is that in a world where frustrations, anger, and annoyance abound, it's nice to have some kind of outlet, so the buildup doesn't start entering real life. The net, games such as Quake, and music have all been cited as examples of violence; the fact is, they might be having the exact opposite effect. Children and adults who watch violent movies, who play violent games, have their anger and frustrations sated before they start taking them out on actual people.
From what I understand, these kids had a lot of anger. Who wouldn't? I know what it's like to be ridiculed through high school. No, it didn't turn me into a mass murderor, but it did make me quite bitter. Luckily I had peers, people who made it all worth the hardship. Without that, I don't know where I would be. If kids are treated as unwanted, they lash out. What was it those two kids were yelling? "This is what you get for treating us like that!" or something similar? I agree that it's no excuse, but something should have been done before this happened. Things only explode if you let them build up enough.
Sometimes people fall through the cracks. They get depressed and kill themselves, or they become angry at their situation and those who caused it, and do as much damage as they can. If there is any blame to pass, blame the uncaring selfish masses that ridicule people who are different until they want to die or kill.
Besides that, media only reflects the violence inherant in a culture. If people didn't like it, they wouldn't buy it, and media would change accordingly or lose money. The crazies that do get ideas from movies or music would have done something anyway, just something different. Some people are just born killers, with no concience, paranoid delusions, or whatever label applies. Children abused and beaten by parents, broken families, pressure from all sides. There are many more uncited causes that people seem to ignore.
The simple fact is: Until we learn to be more accepting of differences beyond racial or sexual issues, we'll continue to generate people who don't fit, and feel alone. I know, I'm one of them. I only try every day to make sure that nobody else falls into the same cracks that I did.
Society could learn a few things from freaks like me.
Shaun Thomas: s-thomas@cornell-iowa.edu Cornell College WebTeam Math/CSC/Physics Major -* ICQ #13671332 *- http://www.kildosphere.com
Slashdot Mirror
I think, more than anything, that insert from Brazil should really hit us hard. I wonder what the media would do with something like that? I can just imagine the headlines...
Brazil: Better Technology, Voter Turnout!
Aren't we supposed to be the very ICON of Democracy at work? I guess that just shows what happens when you just sit around and pat yourself on the back.
I'm actually glad all of this has happened, though. The more controversy, the more likely things will change. I actually hope Congress has to decide our president, and nobody actually gets what they want. Serves us right for: being apathetic, sitting on our laurels, not changing our laws to fit the times/situations, etc.
Ever feel that we're starting to backslide?
--
Shaun Thomas: INN Programmer
Because it isn't a lie. Yes, you can look at the Salon story, and yes, the kids weren't even part of the TCM - just used the coats to hide weapons. That isn't the point.
The point is that the backlash caused by it caused a slew of finger-pointing. Because they wore trench-coats, suddenly anyone wearing a trenchcoat was suspect. Because they were somewhat oddballs, all oddballs were put under extra scrutiny. Because they used guns, the strange violent-entertainment blame became more immediate and caustic.
The point is, Geeks ARE now being targeted even more than before. Goths are being targeted more than before. Anyone that somehow doesn't fit in suddenly becomes enemy number one, and that's the truth of the matter. It made things worse, pure and simple. People don't make up these first hand accounts, they happened. Calling these people liars pays them a great disservice. All Jon really did was ask what the hell was going on. It's a philosophical discussion that has been begging to be addressed in this country for decades. Why does it pay to conform when we're supposed to be a country of individualists and free thinkers?
I know, because I was there. I had a community of like thinkers, so I didn't feel disenfranchised, but others are not so lucky. If I were to wear the same clothes I did then to a school today, I would probably be put under counseling or suspension. Tell me that isn't overreacting. In the large picture, Katz is trying to wake people up, show them the how far things have gone in a society where people don't self-analyze nearly enough. Holding up a mirror stirs controversy, but it also gets some damn discussion made so at least vaid points get some airtime. People need to hear this, or it'll only get much worse before it even begins to improve.
That's the way things are. Fight them, or lay down and take the onslaught. I'd rather fight.
--
Shaun Thomas: INN Programmer
I know I'm getting a lot of flack on this from you people, but you have to realize that if I say I'll put an end to the drug war, I'll be labled as some whiny liberal. I'm not a whiny liberal dammit!
Minority ReligionsI think I'll take George's answer on this, because it's one of the very few areas where we agree. I don't believe any religion should determine the laws of any nation, except for how we watch movies, how we raise our children and how we go to church everyday.
Why give a tax cutBecause it's what the American People want! How can I ignore the the needs of our great country, especially those that are cried the loudest. But we also have to pay down the defecit... Luckily my plan does them both, so you really should vote for me, you know.
Electoral ReformHow dare you attack the great American system of election! It has survived over two hundred years intact because it was perfect from the very beginning. I refuse to answer this question, and I'm not even going to discuss the fact that you think I'm only saying this to keep the status-quo.
Intellectual PropertyI believe everyone needs to understand that patents are here for everyone's benefits! My aides tell me that patents have a very bad reputation in this community, but I think I should defend them. I'm not going to give the same old lines that they foster innovation, though it's true. What I will say is that without them, our poor inventors would never get credit for the hard work they've done! Like that guy that invented the Television, would he be known today if we had no patent office?
EncryptionI think we should keep a tight reign on our encryption laws as they are. We don't seem to have learned our lesson in WWII. If a foolproof encryption system really did fall into the hands of our future enemies, we'd be helpless to intercept their communications! We'd be dooming millions of people! What's to say they won't come up with their own encryption schemes? Simple. I believe the American People have some of the brightest minds in the world, and I'm strongly convinced that so long as they're under our control, our enemies have no bite.
Rising Political ProtestsI always have to wonder what these people are protesting about. You all know I'm a union boy, and I've never heard so much hubub. The simple fact of the matter, something Nader doesn't want you to hear, is that free trade is *good* for everybody. We can't control other governments! Look at us back when we had kids working in factories. The simple fact is that these other countries simply need to catch up! Our companies see this and just take advantage while they still can. When the governments move on, so will our companies - simply looking to keep their profits high. Let them! If it raises outrage and makes these countries start treating their citizens right, then it's our duty as Americans to buy these exploitive products!
Asteroid DefencesWhile I think it's a good idea in theory, we just don't seem to be able to pull off a demonstration that's worthy of any notice. The Russions seem to think we'll use our new shield as a come-on and smack around the rest of the world with impunity due to our newfound immunity to missile attack, but that's just silly. We do that already, for crying out loud, and they ask for it! They want us to police the rest of the world, or they wouldn't keep asking us for aid!
The FutureNeed I say "The opiat of the masses," to get my point across? It's not just our national image that's fading. We don't like basebal anymore. What used to be our national pasttime is now a boring specticle. We're simply a nation of disenchanted people full of apathy for what we think we can't control. If we would simply clean up our schools, get rid of those violent movies, games, and books, and give everyone a good taxcut to boost their self esteem, we'd be set! The answer is right there, people!
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Shaun Thomas: INN Programmer
Well, we all know about junk mail, and banner tracking systems, so the next logical step is...
Patent this:Just sends chills up my spine. 0-click, customer tracking system that automatically buys things for you and sends them to you via next day air. Hehe.
Sure, if you want to download that crap. But think of a few other things, you small minded little crack monkey.
Ever read Cryptonomicon? Ever hear of putting information that some governments want to censor, in a place that makes it available? That's why stuff like this is perfect for a lot of things. Declaration of independance? I can find one on teh web, compare it to my country's, and make an informed decision on what I should lobby for. Censorship? On the net, I think not. Anonymous is just that much harder. It's called a data-haven, you freaking moron. Get it through your thick skull. Any platform can be abused by putting illegal crap on it, but you can't cut your nose of to spite your face.
Chose to ignore it all you want, but it isn't as simple as you put it. Besides that, advertisements usually cost money. These people are trying to turn low overhead into max profits without having to go through the channels that honest businesses use. TV, radio, ads, etc. They're cheap, worthless bastards just like the people who post porn and warez on this system. They're abusing it for their own ends, period.
Normally, I like and respect Katz for what he usually tries to do, push the geek envelope. It only makes sense that he do the opposite every once in a while so we don't feel to full of ourselves, but this is too much.
After reading posts on slashdot, I've read a couple of other reviews of this book, and it makes a full frontal attack to a form of philosophy that it automatically assumes is invalid and a bane to society in general. The book was literally shreaded in a very logical and concise way that makes it hard to believe Katz used it to base an article on Slashdot.
Now for my actual point. Aside from your caustic tone, I'd have to agree with you on almost every count. I lived in trailer parks, moved more than 20 times before I was 17, below the poverty level and sometimes on food stamps. Does that sound like the background of a technocrat elite? Fuck no. I put myself through college with the help of scholarships, scholastic merit, and hard work. I now have better credit than my parents, good job security, and more than enough intelligence to shoot Katz down.
Why? I sound awfully arrogant, don't I? I was going to go into quantum physics, but there's no money in that. I'm writing at least two books when I get the time, and have already finished many short stories. My point is, everyone has multiple skills, and I practice mine whenever I want. I just made more prudent decisions as to where my money would come from than other people. Don't go blaming the techocrat elite for anything. Lawyers make more money, so do doctors, actors and accountants. You don't see books saying they're inherantly out of touch and selfish. They chose the path they did for their own reasons, and I bet very few of them are the same. Just like every person in the world, they have their own reasons for what they do. Yes, certain fields get more respect and money than others, but that's just how things are. Do what you like, and damn the consiquences. I never stopped writing, I never stop learning more when I get the chance. I'm not sitting fat and happy like so many other respondants to this post would like to believe.
What am I, then? Doctors and Lawyers have to work long years past college to get anywhere. Good computer scientists have to be versed in dozens of languages and architectures, be able to think fast, and usually undergo tons of certification before they get any respect. They still don't get anywhere near as much money unless they get lucky and IPO. People in technical fields aren't special, they're just part of another emerging front that happens to attract cash. Don't think we take this for granted as a general rule. Doing so is bigoted, and I won't stand for it. I know I got lucky, I could have stuck to my writing career more stringently, and tried harder to get published. I could have easily been a starving artist, but I'm not. I came from poverty, and I'm doing what I can to keep from going back. So what? Wouldn't anyone else do the same? Katz certainly isn't hurting for cash, did he apply this analysis to himself?
Somehow, I doubt it. The human condition itself is selfish. We live primarily for ourselves. We eat, when others can't. We donate to charities to escape taxes, or feel better about ourselves. We can't live for other people. This article is complete bunk. Everybody is selfish to a certain degree. Everyone is arrogant. I am because I'm proud of what I've accomplished, knowing where I started.
That's just the way things are. I'll make no excuses, and I'll dare Katz to prove somehow the "geek culture" is somehow more selfish and arrogant than any other field. Try asking an actor, a doctor or a lawyer how arrogant they are, and see what answer you get. Pride is not arrogance. Duhh.
I'm good at what I do, and I like doing it. So sue me.
Nope, not even close. By the way, I assume "Arian" is a typo for "Aryan"; the Arian Heresy (something about the nature of the Trinity, IIRC) has been out of fashion for 1,500 years or so.
Not really a typo... I just didn't know how to spell it. ^_^
Right here, it sounds like you're almost as much of a dittohead as the fictional moron you're arguing with. When the right yowls about "special rights", they're always working up to some excuse to deny perfectly ordinary rights to somebody who doesn't happen to be white, or christian, or male, or heterosexual, or some damn thing.
Not really. I'm just very supportive of not sugar-coating what you really mean. It's almost a throwback to "If you don't have anything nice to say..." I've just been in too many situations that just being straight forward is simply easier. PC is itself a kind of censorship... you have to monitor everything you say lest it accidently offend someone. Like someone else quoted earlier, anything can offend anyone if they are determined to be offended. As far as the other part of that, think about the rest of my comment. I don't care if you're gay, black, white, jew, whatever. You're human, enough said. That should really be the extent of legislation on that issue. I think the goal of many "rights" campaigns would be better served by pointing out that fact than avidly exclaiming "gay/black/etc rights now!" They already have those rights just like everyone else does. Sooner or later, society as a whole will realize that, and the rhetoric we "simulated" will be a thing of the past. To me, it's all the same ball of wax, "Human rights." The differentiation just serves to confuse.
You said it, not me. It's a clear fact that politics is outside the range of women's natural interests, but that has nothing to do with their being "subhuman"
Where does this "clear fact" come from, again? I don't recall any scientific studies proving women "simply don't like politics, it's in their DNA, you see."
forced exercise by women and minorities of "rights" which they do not naturally posess or profit from, PC thought-control laws and regulations, and affirmative action.
Women and minorities, whether they be gay/lesbian, nerds, "insert anything out of the ordinary here" have the same rights as any other human being. Are you some kind of nazi or something? While I don't agree with "special" rights like affermative action and PC crap, you're taking things way too far.
So, yes, a quick examination of history proves me to be right, just as it proves you to be a Holocaust denier, a revisionist propagandist who worships mass-murder from behind a laughable and transparent facade of "rationality".
The holocaust was due to this kind of thinking. "This group of people is somehow different, and their method of thought is ruining the social fabric of the world. Let's kill 'em." You may not be thinking "Let's kill 'em", but you're not all that far from it. Great, there really are psychos on the net. Sorry, but I can't take you seriously anymore... you've got to be a fake. Hitler didn't kill people because he was liberal, he killed them because they were a scapegoat - someone to blame for society's ills, exactly what you're doing with your blame of "liberals." Stalin was just a bastard, he killed 20 million of his own people because he wanted his country to look industrial and strong to the rest of the world, so he worked it into the ground. His emphasis was on "If you disagree with me, you're against society and advancement of the Russian people, and you die now." Not exactly what I'd call liberal thought.
I hate to call this "debate" short, but if you can't see that the very blame (It's them damn liberals, stupid) that you are advocating is exactly what you're arguing against, then you're a lost cause. Circular agumentation may be fun, but give me a break, this is too much. Heh.
You do that. Enjoy life on the "outside" while you can, because this country will be returning to the rule of law within the next ten years. When that day comes, sane laws will finally be enacted, and people like you will be incarcerated for sexually exploiting children. Justice will be done.
This was the kicker, though. Man, that's funny. Within the next ten years, eh? Are you part of some militant group that is going to overthrow the government and plans are currently underway? I can just see you there caressing a rifle staring at your screen with glazed eyes mumbling insanely about "How it's all going to change." You just go ahead and ignore the fact that the united states is a melting pot of thousands of different cultures and religions. Pushing Christianity on the entire country is not the "Freedom of Religion" promised in the Constitution. You must be thinking about an entirely different country, man. I bet you're even a member of the Arian Nation or something like that. Well, anyway... you've given me a good laugh, but I must be off.
p.s. Were you Hitler in a past life?
I hate replying to a Rush Limbaugh generator, but why not.
It's clear that the Feminazis of the League of Women Voters have chosen sides here. They're indisputably in favor of ramming homosexual pornography down the throats of children, and when the children are (inevitably) harmed by it, well, so much the better.
<sarcasm>
Oh yes, it's absolutely horrible that those damn women get the right to vote. They must all be lesbians trying to ruin our children by thinking such liberal ideas. Everyone knows women are sub-human and should never be able to vote!
</sarcasm>
On a more serious note: are you on crack? Nobody forces anyone to look at anything. With proper parenting, kids will stay away from pornography by themselves. By making it a big issue, we're drawing their attention to it - making it look exciting. Let them look. Sooner or later they'll just get bored with it just like the rest of us. Just look at how many underage kids drink and smoke to see how effective simply blocking or banning something is. If somebody wants something bad enough, they'll find a way to get it eventually.
And, typically, they have the unanimous and unambiguous support of the Slashdot theocracy. As always, no dissenting voices will be allowed.
Not allowed? You posted this, didn't you? Slashdot is the perfect example of self-sensorship - the very thing we're advocating. People can read your BS as long as they like if they so desire. Besides that, the fact that you present yourself as a raving idiot spouting zealous anti-gay rhetoric for no apparent reason doesn't give your argument much weight.
A quick look at history will show the Right fighting the Left every step of the way as the Left attempts to ban and burn books.
::makes quick look at history::
Well, according to this, the right (associated with religious and moral interpretations in a strictly conservative manner) is the one who has been banning books in schools and advocating censorship for the last few hundred years. I don't know where you've been looking, but if you look up liberal in any dictionary, it implies more freedom, not less. Now look up conservative. No one group should be able to push their views on another. That's the whole point here, and why this very article was posted on slashdot. Do yourself a favor and read a banned book.
The filtering software that will be provided in the public libraries of this nation will free us from this insanity, and whether you pathetic liberals like it or not, it will prevent you from shoving all of your filth in our faces:
Oh, I get it. So a woman can't look up a medical site because it talks about how to do a self breast exam. Darn, I guess it's just that liberal propaganda and not cancer prevention after all. If you think libraries are so visited by children that this one magical bullet will solve all social and psychological ills all children in the entire country may exhibit, you really are an idiot.
So-called "sex-education" (child pornography, propaganda designed to force children to have sex at an early age), Feminazi propaganda, propaganda forcing the Homosexual Agenda, the whole nine yards.
Sigh. So, you'd rather have a child who's interested in sex to just do it, and not be informed of the diseases he/she may contract, risks of pregnancy, ways of saying no, how to avoid rape, and why it's better to abstain? Such ignorance can get a child killed, lured into a situation they aren't prepared to deal with, or harm others they have contact with (viruses.) Seems like you're the one advocating the harm of children.
In conclusions, this must be a Rush Limbaugh generator, albeit a very bad one. Even Rush sounds slightly convincing in a "Hate everyone, it's fun!" kind of way. This was just too easy. I think I'll get back to my programming now, and stop harming children with my wild liberal views.
You don't have grits in the UK? I find that hard to believe. But since you asked:
Grits are a corn-meal like paste when fully cooked, much like cream of wheat, and is similarly served hot. Generally eaten in larger quantities in the southern US, grits is usually a dinner item. Often canadian bacon or ham is cut up and dropped into a bowl of grits.
Now just to follow the string of this original post, imagine a hot gritty bowl of this substance being poured down your pants.
I may just be a misinformed jackinape, but didn't the @Home network limit customer's uplink bandwidth to 256k, and disallow the running of any and all servers? Isn't the solution as simple as cutting off customers that are running servers? I know the server ban was a reason I didn't buy @Home... I don't see how they can use customer's servers as an excuse.
It really is unfortunate that things went in this direction. We all know that Etoy was there first, and the case should be very clear; things don't always work out the way you expect them.
How so?
I'd imagine that the claims of conspiracy (the Xmas fiasco) have quite a bit of merit, but somehow I predict that this will ring the same responses. Who's to say that EToys didn't *say* they were backing off to fix their public image, all while their legal department had a field day with Etoy. It is a possibility.
Since this is an old issue, isn't there something we can do about it? Contacting Etoys with nice well-thought-out responses would always be nice, but I mean a more "fit to print" solution. We're a pretty big community, but the fact of the matter is that we're a specific group that is no target. But we do have access to other people. Why not have our own publicity campaign that actually releases the facts of this case, and tell as many friends as we can about what is going on.
Our power will be completely wasted if we don't use it to hit them where it counts, and why they started this whole thing: In their pocketbook. The proposed boycott isn't enough if it's only us... we need more. This is enough indication that at least their legal department just doesn't get it.
So make them.
This may sound odd, but I think it would work. Why don't the web developers and programmers work together on this one, and create a draft standard protocol (rfc) that can handle searches. What do we know about searching the web?
These are really enough to get a handle on how this could work. By problem 3, it's obvious we can't send a keylist request to each server in the world, and get their response (though this would be the best solution for maximum search depth.) What we can do, however, is present servers the ability to contact whatever search engine is the main hub(s) and send a keyword based tree. This will allow a search engine to grab information instantly and give a list of sites with that keyword or description.
Most likely, though, the answer will have to be two-fold. What about people who just send in infinite key words? The first search the engine finishes is the "domain->keyword list" search. From that point on, either by querying each individual server on the original match to get more extensive information, or hitting a previously cached crawl, context and relevance numbers can be fleshed out.
The final result, then, would be this:
Domain->keylist->internal|external lookup
The structure would still allow results like what current engines give us, but much more up to date. The protocol could also include a "last update" kind of field, so internal data doesn't have to be updated for x days/months/years. I think if we work on it, it could happen. But it's the only real alternative. Indexing the entire internet just isn't possible.
Just a thought.
-- ShaunBecause nobody, and I mean nobody wants that. Why? You ask? Easy enough. Ever hear that Microsoft requires a compile at the end of the day, no matter how they get it? We have a similar policy where I work, and it really pisses me off. Here we're encouraged to do a slapdash job to meet deadlines.
Here are the disadvantages to such an approach:
I could probably come up with more, but I think you get the idea. It's like either building a pinto or a lamborghini. Sure a pinto is easier to fix (just duct tape and bailing wire, right?) but nobody wants to own one. Why does the software industry continuously ignore the fact that nobody wants a pinto - so why force people to buy them? I'm frankly glad that Mozilla has gotten it into their heads to do it right the first time. God knows we could use more of it.
Just wondering if there is a mirror or a working link of that comment...
But I doubt many people here thought mozilla was dead in the first place. Considering what they started with, they've worked miracles.
I presume that you are refering to copying one tape to another (using two VCR's)? It's not as straight forward as copying using a home VCR due to Macrovision. Macrovision plays with the gain in the VCR, effecting copies but not the TV.
Yes. However not all tapes use this. I know quite a few people who make copies of movies they buy so they can wear out a cheap tape instead of the original (for stuff they like to watch quite a bit.) What about people who record movies off of something like HBO, Pay Per View, or other formats. You get cable-quality which isn't totally horrible, and all you have to do is pay your cable bill. Doesn't *that* hurt the industry? Since you didn't buy the movie you just recorded? It's irrelevant.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that MPEG-2 is compressed. A straight screen or data stream capture would require huge amounts of storage space and make redistribution tricky. I've also heard that DVD-Video also utilises Macrovision, making copying to tape difficult without some additional equipment.
I have no idea how MPEG layer 2 compression works, nor do I care. The point isn't that you Can make copies, but that there are certain classifications of people... I propose two:
My question is this: What do they gain by using encryption? Joe user is damn likely not to pirate videos other than recording stuff off of HBO or whatever. And Bill knows that anything sampled at a fairly decent rate may look bad on a monitor, but will be very forgiving when seen on a TV, and so far as I know, TV has been fine for most people for years. Bill may want an exact copy, but with DVD, that isn't feasable due to storage size limits in DVD recordable media. People make copies of their own movies all the time to avoid wearing out their favorite tapes. What exactly is gained by encrypting this kind of media?
My answer: absolutely nothing. Good users won't pirate unless to make a copy to avoid wearing something out, which is less prevailent with hard-media. Of course they can't make backups on anything but a VHS in case they scratch or break the disk, but there's always a catch, right? Bad users will do whatever they can to get a movie - including recording it at the theatre, and there isn't any way you can stop that short of metal detectors in the lobby. You've been able to record a CD on to a tape, or another CD for years, and that didn't seem to matter. But as soon as MP3's became all the rage, then the industry started worrying. Why? Because the files can be distributed and anyone can download them? So what. I could have done that with a wave file, mp3 is just better compression. Nothing new has really occoured in the past 5 years to make anyone more paranoid, but for some reason this new technology is making entire industries quake in their boots. What is the big hairy deal, anyway?
I really don't think it matters. The industry is too paranoid for its own good. Besides that, if they were really serious about this, they would have used a little more common sense when copy protecting DVD's. The playstation did it for crying out loud. Yes Mod chips can get around this, but I can also get around macrovision by putting a mod chip in my VCR or removing the macrovision chip. Very few people go this far, but this only proves that even hardware isn't foolproof.
Shaun ThomasKildosphere.com
Ok, this may all seem obvoius, and if it is, please tell me I'm just being insane. But what in the hell is going on here? Let me get this straight:
I could go on for a while, but I see that it's pointless. The fact that they're trying to sue someone for their own neglegence is fairly amusing. But the fact is, they lose absolutely nothing by having the keys cracked. They didn't get anything out of it in the first place - so they can't lose anything.
Is it just me, or does it seem like the DVD industry was trying to pull a fast one on movie and publishing studios... you know, "Hey, DVD is encrypted... so you'll no longer have to worry about bootlegged copies of your product." Now they have to save face, and it looks like they don't like it one single iota. If this is the case, I wonder how they explained the DVD->VCR and similar copying techniques once the stream is decoded... Oh well, back to the drawing board.
Shaun ThomasKildosphere.com
http://www.spie.org/web/oer/june/jun98/opcwg.html
I read the above link about two years ago, and was amazed by the technology. Quarter-sized 100TB holographic discs. They're supposed to have something viable in another year; here's hoping!
We've all heard the statistics, the explanations, the confusion. What seems to be a bit of pervasive ignorance however, are the things that are being constantly ignored.
What are those?
I know this idea isn't new, and it seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. In Japan, media and violence in entertainment are actually much more prevalant than they are, yet their crime rates are lower. One suggestion is that in a world where frustrations, anger, and annoyance abound, it's nice to have some kind of outlet, so the buildup doesn't start entering real life. The net, games such as Quake, and music have all been cited as examples of violence; the fact is, they might be having the exact opposite effect. Children and adults who watch violent movies, who play violent games, have their anger and frustrations sated before they start taking them out on actual people.
From what I understand, these kids had a lot of anger. Who wouldn't? I know what it's like to be ridiculed through high school. No, it didn't turn me into a mass murderor, but it did make me quite bitter. Luckily I had peers, people who made it all worth the hardship. Without that, I don't know where I would be. If kids are treated as unwanted, they lash out. What was it those two kids were yelling? "This is what you get for treating us like that!" or something similar? I agree that it's no excuse, but something should have been done before this happened. Things only explode if you let them build up enough.
Sometimes people fall through the cracks. They get depressed and kill themselves, or they become angry at their situation and those who caused it, and do as much damage as they can. If there is any blame to pass, blame the uncaring selfish masses that ridicule people who are different until they want to die or kill.
Besides that, media only reflects the violence inherant in a culture. If people didn't like it, they wouldn't buy it, and media would change accordingly or lose money. The crazies that do get ideas from movies or music would have done something anyway, just something different. Some people are just born killers, with no concience, paranoid delusions, or whatever label applies. Children abused and beaten by parents, broken families, pressure from all sides. There are many more uncited causes that people seem to ignore.
The simple fact is: Until we learn to be more accepting of differences beyond racial or sexual issues, we'll continue to generate people who don't fit, and feel alone. I know, I'm one of them. I only try every day to make sure that nobody else falls into the same cracks that I did.
Society could learn a few things from freaks like me.
Shaun Thomas: s-thomas@cornell-iowa.edu
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