...I don't think the packaging of the bill is necessarily sinister.
Well, it's not sinister insomuch as it's par for the course. Inclusion of controversial items in otherwise noncontroversial Bills is commonplace. It's a method of plausible deniability for people who vote one way while simultaneously blaming their opponent for voting the other way on some piece of legislation. E.g., Sen. Alice votes against a tax hike. Unfortunately, the Bill was entitled, "Outlaw Child Slavery," so Alice is obviously in favor of child slavery. See also: porkbelly.
Just another piece of information to be subpoenaed.
Lawyer: "Ladies and gentlemen of the supposed jury, according to Google's records, the defendant clearly searched for 'download Briteney MP3,' which makes him guilty not only of attempted copyright infringement (punishible by up to three years in prison), but stupidity in the first and second degree, and one count of poor spelling."
Jury: "We find the defendant, Mr. John Dumas, guilty as charged."
What's the point of earning money and stats, if you can simply buy them?
Wait, what?
I think the deeper question is the first half alone.. "What's the point of earning (pseudo) money and stats?"
It's pretty much just like real life. If you succeed, people will resent you. If you fail, nobody will care very much. If you're willing to help others succeed, they'll love you till it's time to reciprocate.
If you enjoy what you do (in-game, or out), then whether or not other people succeed shouldn't diminish that enjoyment. If rather your play stems from the idea that there's some sort of end toward which you're working (as most people's does, I'd wager), then you should re-examine why you play, because there is no end. Certainly not one which will give you deep feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment as you look back on all the time you spent building an empire of dirt.
They call it an exp-grind for a reason, after all. Most people don't enjoy it. Unlike real-life however, there's nothing to show for it at the end of the day aside from waning interest in a virtual world which will soon fade into obsolescence.
S.167 Title: A bill to provide for the protection of intellectual property rights, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen Hatch, Orrin G. [UT] (introduced 1/25/2005) Cosponsors (4) Related Bills: H.R.357 Latest Major Action: 4/19/2005 Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote. House Reports: 109-33 Part 1
If the copyright issues were not present here and someone built a program that did something like this, they would be universally reviled as a malicious hacker.
This isn't some idealistic universe where all decisions are morally right or wrong regardless of the criteria. Your knee-jerk reaction is baseless and inflammatory.
"Look people.. If this gangrene wasn't present here, chopping off my leg would be completely unacceptable! How can we just go around chopping off people's legs? Just because I have gangrene!?! What's next, chopping my head off because I have a cold? If someone chopped my leg off when I didn't have gangrene, they would be reviled as malicious!"
Of course the issue of copyright matter. And, as you mention, they are present here.
Let's review your next point...
P2P is a technology. Yes it can be used for copyright violations, just like a photocopy machine or tape recorder. But it also has amazing possibilities in terms of creating a universal organic archive. Crippling like this -- and through using lawsuits -- is an unnecessary attack on a system in its infancy.
So technologies are amoral? I'm glad you agree. If a technology comes along that, say, creates random data that matches the hash of another file, that technology might be used to corrupt filesharing networks, but it might also help further the development of stronger encryption.
The copyright issues will work themselves out...If p2p has a major effect on the entertainment industry's ability to profit (and I'm still not convinced that it really will), human art and culture will survive. And people will continue to find ways to make a living creating art.
If someone knocked on my door one day and told me I had to move because the city was tearing down my house to build a highway, I'd fight it tooth and nail. It might be patently obvious to everyone else that my efforts are futile, but I'm comfortable with my house and I like my location. It's entirely possible, and probable, that I'll find a new place to live -- maybe even a better place to live -- but that doesn't mean I want to be kicked off my property involuntarily. After all, it's also possible that I won't be able to afford a similar house. True, the highway will benefit hundreds of thousands of people, and maybe it's selfish of me to want to stay put, but I'd bet that most people would be displeased if they were in my situation.
Nobody likes having change forced on them.. I'm not saying it's worthwhile to fight it, but I can understand why they would try.
I think you're highly overestimating the amount of "skill and specialization" it takes to serve in the military. And "low-paying civilian security work?" In most cases, civilians get paid much better than their military counterparts, and the hours are usually better as well. People don't join the military to get rich.. they join for patriotism (at least at first), to get out of a bad situation (usually low income family, was in debt, unplanned family to take care of, couldn't afford or wasn't accepted to college, etc), or because they have stars in their eyes and they think it's going to be like living in a video game. Don't get me wrong, I served six years and the only thing I regret is that I allowed myself to reach the point where joining the military was the best solution. And I am grateful that I had that option, but it's not exactly a collection of the best and brightest. In my experience, I've found that the converse of your claim is actually the truth far more often than not:
No one with that amount of skill and specilization stays in the military unless they are really failures at what they tried to do in the real world. Or they're just too scared to try.
There are those who stay in because they love what they do, and they honestly care about the people who work for them, but they're few and far between.. just like any other job.
I don't know what sort of alternate reality the poster is from, but in my world circles are comprised of 360 degrees. Or maybe the Koreans are cutting costs by dividing circles into half as many segments.
Re:Voom went down because they had no customers
on
Voom No More
·
· Score: 1
For still frames, interpolation is pretty much the only method of enhancement which, as you state, is just making an educated guess about the information that isn't there. For animation, as I understand it, there are techniques for creating a higher quality frame by adding information from the preceeding and successive frames which provides much better results. IIRC, this technique was used in the latest re-re-re-release of the Star Wars trilogy, and the detail enchancement was fantastic. Not only can the resolution be improved, but artifacts can be removed using this technique as well.
I believe Douglas Adams once made a comment about how good humor was a gift to the intelligent - those that weren't intelligent really didn't understand it.
I don't get it..
Seriously though, that makes perfect sense.. One definition of genius is the ability to see the relationship between two seemingly unrelated things. This definition could equally apply to humor.
Just because your local RedneckMart has tons of the things doesn't mean they're widely available. It means they're locally available. That's the difference between locally and widely: One applies to you, the other applies to lots of people. Next week we'll cover sparsely and intermittantly.
.2 volts is not going to make a difference. Anything with "complex electronic chips" is likely going to be voltage-regulated anyway, even if it's just with a Zener.
A 13% boost isn't going to make a difference?
Most of the devices listed were unregulated.. flashlights, DC motors, etc.
The digital parts of the other electronics will surely be unaffected, but the analog parts, such as your audio amps are voltage regulated via the volume knob -- full attenuation through zero resistance -- and the sound may very well sound less distorted at full volume. Assuming, of course, that your earphones can handle it and the audio amps aren't being overdriven. The benefits are most certainly going to vary from device to device, but it's quite possible to have cleaner sound at high volumes.
If you're using a device with digital volume control, you're possibly (but not definately) SOL.
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That's hilarious.. unfortunately, you have to actually read down a bit before it gets really funny, so nobody is likely to notice. Wish I had mod points.
I guess everyone who was wondering if the engineers were high when they had that little metric/imperial measuring mixup now has one less thing to ponder.
"Some of the terms being bandied around are more suitable for a computer programmers' convention than for people who want to go online at home, " said Will Smith, AOL's net security expert.
He went on to say that WWW actually stood for Wild Wild West, and if you don't like to get Jiggy Wit It, you're Welcome to Miami where I, Robot prefer to spend my time.
The beauty of the internet is that I don't have to hear the thousands of groans uttered as a result of the above sentence.
Slashdot Mirror
...I don't think the packaging of the bill is necessarily sinister.
Well, it's not sinister insomuch as it's par for the course. Inclusion of controversial items in otherwise noncontroversial Bills is commonplace. It's a method of plausible deniability for people who vote one way while simultaneously blaming their opponent for voting the other way on some piece of legislation. E.g., Sen. Alice votes against a tax hike. Unfortunately, the Bill was entitled, "Outlaw Child Slavery," so Alice is obviously in favor of child slavery. See also: porkbelly.
This is the same "Family Entertainment and Copyright Act of 2005" that was just-as-in-still-on-the-front-page posted in the story about jail time for sharing pre-publication copyrighted works.
The jail time was tacked onto the bill, and of course nobody's going to vote against parental control over DVDs, right?
Won't somebody think of the children!?!
The same tactic that got the bill through Congress got the story posted under a completely different subject on the front page.
ALICE is the *real* female -- she can't stop arguing and she's better at it.
That's only because men have the distinct handicap of using arguments that make sense.
Amazingly, he decided not to bother.
What's more amazing is the amount of people who make the opposite choice.
Am I the only one who saw Google Adds and thought, "typo..."
Just another piece of information to be subpoenaed.
Lawyer: "Ladies and gentlemen of the supposed jury, according to Google's records, the defendant clearly searched for 'download Briteney MP3,' which makes him guilty not only of attempted copyright infringement (punishible by up to three years in prison), but stupidity in the first and second degree, and one count of poor spelling."
Jury: "We find the defendant, Mr. John Dumas, guilty as charged."
Defendant: "It's pronounced Doo-maas!"
Judge: "Sentenced to time served closing popups."
Hang on, in real life, you don't own a big sword and randomly kill small defencless (i.e. anything smaller than you) creatures for fun. Do you?
*shrug*
Sometimes...
What's the point of earning money and stats, if you can simply buy them?
Wait, what?
I think the deeper question is the first half alone.. "What's the point of earning (pseudo) money and stats?"
It's pretty much just like real life. If you succeed, people will resent you. If you fail, nobody will care very much. If you're willing to help others succeed, they'll love you till it's time to reciprocate.
If you enjoy what you do (in-game, or out), then whether or not other people succeed shouldn't diminish that enjoyment. If rather your play stems from the idea that there's some sort of end toward which you're working (as most people's does, I'd wager), then you should re-examine why you play, because there is no end. Certainly not one which will give you deep feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment as you look back on all the time you spent building an empire of dirt.
They call it an exp-grind for a reason, after all. Most people don't enjoy it. Unlike real-life however, there's nothing to show for it at the end of the day aside from waning interest in a virtual world which will soon fade into obsolescence.
S.167
Title: A bill to provide for the protection of intellectual property rights, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Hatch, Orrin G. [UT] (introduced 1/25/2005) Cosponsors (4)
Related Bills: H.R.357
Latest Major Action: 4/19/2005 Passed/agreed to in House. Status: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill Agreed to by voice vote.
House Reports: 109-33 Part 1
Text of Bill
If the copyright issues were not present here and someone built a program that did something like this, they would be universally reviled as a malicious hacker.
This isn't some idealistic universe where all decisions are morally right or wrong regardless of the criteria. Your knee-jerk reaction is baseless and inflammatory.
"Look people.. If this gangrene wasn't present here, chopping off my leg would be completely unacceptable! How can we just go around chopping off people's legs? Just because I have gangrene!?! What's next, chopping my head off because I have a cold? If someone chopped my leg off when I didn't have gangrene, they would be reviled as malicious!"
Of course the issue of copyright matter. And, as you mention, they are present here.
Let's review your next point...
P2P is a technology. Yes it can be used for copyright violations, just like a photocopy machine or tape recorder. But it also has amazing possibilities in terms of creating a universal organic archive. Crippling like this -- and through using lawsuits -- is an unnecessary attack on a system in its infancy.
So technologies are amoral? I'm glad you agree. If a technology comes along that, say, creates random data that matches the hash of another file, that technology might be used to corrupt filesharing networks, but it might also help further the development of stronger encryption.
The copyright issues will work themselves out...If p2p has a major effect on the entertainment industry's ability to profit (and I'm still not convinced that it really will), human art and culture will survive. And people will continue to find ways to make a living creating art.
If someone knocked on my door one day and told me I had to move because the city was tearing down my house to build a highway, I'd fight it tooth and nail. It might be patently obvious to everyone else that my efforts are futile, but I'm comfortable with my house and I like my location. It's entirely possible, and probable, that I'll find a new place to live -- maybe even a better place to live -- but that doesn't mean I want to be kicked off my property involuntarily. After all, it's also possible that I won't be able to afford a similar house. True, the highway will benefit hundreds of thousands of people, and maybe it's selfish of me to want to stay put, but I'd bet that most people would be displeased if they were in my situation.
Nobody likes having change forced on them.. I'm not saying it's worthwhile to fight it, but I can understand why they would try.
Mmmmm.. cake icing shaped like plastic bubbles...
I think you're highly overestimating the amount of "skill and specialization" it takes to serve in the military. And "low-paying civilian security work?" In most cases, civilians get paid much better than their military counterparts, and the hours are usually better as well. People don't join the military to get rich.. they join for patriotism (at least at first), to get out of a bad situation (usually low income family, was in debt, unplanned family to take care of, couldn't afford or wasn't accepted to college, etc), or because they have stars in their eyes and they think it's going to be like living in a video game. Don't get me wrong, I served six years and the only thing I regret is that I allowed myself to reach the point where joining the military was the best solution. And I am grateful that I had that option, but it's not exactly a collection of the best and brightest. In my experience, I've found that the converse of your claim is actually the truth far more often than not:
No one with that amount of skill and specilization stays in the military unless they are really failures at what they tried to do in the real world. Or they're just too scared to try.
There are those who stay in because they love what they do, and they honestly care about the people who work for them, but they're few and far between.. just like any other job.
or frostbite...
Slow down cowboy! You type faster than molasses.
make 'em on the cheap. It would suck to have your CPU melt down any time the power went out.
DJ Sixpack!? DJ Sixgrams perhaps..
I don't know what sort of alternate reality the poster is from, but in my world circles are comprised of 360 degrees. Or maybe the Koreans are cutting costs by dividing circles into half as many segments.
For still frames, interpolation is pretty much the only method of enhancement which, as you state, is just making an educated guess about the information that isn't there. For animation, as I understand it, there are techniques for creating a higher quality frame by adding information from the preceeding and successive frames which provides much better results. IIRC, this technique was used in the latest re-re-re-release of the Star Wars trilogy, and the detail enchancement was fantastic. Not only can the resolution be improved, but artifacts can be removed using this technique as well.
I believe Douglas Adams once made a comment about how good humor was a gift to the intelligent - those that weren't intelligent really didn't understand it.
I don't get it..
Seriously though, that makes perfect sense.. One definition of genius is the ability to see the relationship between two seemingly unrelated things. This definition could equally apply to humor.
I call BS on people who call BS on people.
Just because your local RedneckMart has tons of the things doesn't mean they're widely available. It means they're locally available. That's the difference between locally and widely: One applies to you, the other applies to lots of people. Next week we'll cover sparsely and intermittantly.
Where's the -1, Deformative mod when you need it?
A 13% boost isn't going to make a difference?
Most of the devices listed were unregulated.. flashlights, DC motors, etc.
The digital parts of the other electronics will surely be unaffected, but the analog parts, such as your audio amps are voltage regulated via the volume knob -- full attenuation through zero resistance -- and the sound may very well sound less distorted at full volume. Assuming, of course, that your earphones can handle it and the audio amps aren't being overdriven. The benefits are most certainly going to vary from device to device, but it's quite possible to have cleaner sound at high volumes.
If you're using a device with digital volume control, you're possibly (but not definately) SOL.
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That's hilarious.. unfortunately, you have to actually read down a bit before it gets really funny, so nobody is likely to notice. Wish I had mod points.
Oh Christ, that explains a lot.
I guess everyone who was wondering if the engineers were high when they had that little metric/imperial measuring mixup now has one less thing to ponder.
"Aliens! I see aliens!"
But no, that would require thinking about usability, and that is so-o-o-o-o early 90's.
I don't remember anything Microsoft-related being easy to use in the early 90's. The Mac and the Amiga were nice though.
"Some of the terms being bandied around are more suitable for a computer programmers' convention than for people who want to go online at home, " said Will Smith, AOL's net security expert.
He went on to say that WWW actually stood for Wild Wild West, and if you don't like to get Jiggy Wit It, you're Welcome to Miami where I, Robot prefer to spend my time.
The beauty of the internet is that I don't have to hear the thousands of groans uttered as a result of the above sentence.
Holy Crap. Lions!