I am certainly not an advocate of DRM, and I don't believe the **AA has any right to cripple a product I purchased in good faith. I just don't think that using moral relativism to justify breaking laws is a strong argument. (Irrelevant of the law's intent or a law's applicability in our changing world). As a writer for a respected magazine I think it is irresponsible for the author to take this view.
That's some really awesome reasoning. Nobody takes some laws seriously, so we should apply that mentality to other laws we object to, and your obligation to obey the laws is relative only to the seriousness of the "crime" committed. I'll let somebody else go on about the issue of moral relativism, but this guy really sounds like he wants to justify his mp3 collection.
This is not a Troll. Kzadot here is correct. Do some research into the area and you will find this is the accepted historical viewpoint. The Maori were here before European discovery, but only by a couple of hundred years. Even superficially, check the similarities between the polynesian customs and those of the Maori. Also look into the similarities between the Maori and Hawaiian cultures, another group of travelling polynesians.
Mate, I agree. I should also let you know that one of the best biographies i've read in a while is titled "Is That It?" and is written by Sir Bob Geldof, of all people. Now I don't like him or his music, but it really is a good read for the same reasons. Lots of underground London punk/music scene in the late 70's early 80's.
Perfume by Patrick Suskind is a book I can highly recommend. It is not as poncy as it sounds, it's the tale of a perfumer in 18th (?) Century france who will go to any length to obtain the perfect fragrance, even to the extent of murder. Check out some of the reviews on Amazon to get a feel of the story. It really is an excellent read.
Stephen Donaldson - The chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever
I second that notion. An excellent series with a true anti-hero as the main character. You've gotta love any book that generates such a love/hate relationship between the reader and the main character while completely endearing you to all the other characters in that world. I loved it, and the first series is excellent. A lot of people don't like the second series so much, as it deviates a fair bit from the world set up in the first series, but I thought it just showed how creative and talented Donaldson is. I would happily recommend this book to anyone. Another off-shoot of Donaldson's work is that he has an excellent vocabulary, so you tend to learn a few new words while reading his books. That was the case when I gave this book to my little brother. He isn't much of a reader, but he got so hooked on the books he finished the whole series, which prepped him nicely to tackle some more difficult books.
Ahhh... but next week the shop will have fresh, new carrots! They need to pick a standard and stick with it, after all, I don't want to get ripped off when I buy a kilo of sausages just to find out it was judged against a kilo of feathers, while the shop up the road measures against a kilo of hammers. That's just not cricket!
It was obviously a reference to that obscure little game, you know, DOOM, in which a portal opens to hell and demons pour into our dimension. It's a good thing you didn't get all excited and fly off the handle because you didn't get the joke.
There's four of them? I only read Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, I wasn't aware there were any more. Could you tell me a little more about the series? Amazon.com has a bunch of his books listed, but I'm not sure which ones are the "Hyperion" series. You're right though, there are truly excellent books.
Yeah, but changing the currency type can bring other issues. I had a mate that waited until our new money had been in circulation for about 12 months then made a killing on printing off his own "old" $20 notes and spending them. Probably dropped about $2000 and nobody noticed. I guess it had been a while since people handled paper money;o)
I was really referring to the fact that killing a police officer carries a higher sentence than killing a civilian. As if somehow their lives are worth more than the rest of us.
Almost as alarming as the law is the fact that the designers of video games are so completely out of creativity that they have to resort to something as disgusting as shooting law enforcement officers. Is there truly nothing more interesting or fun that they can come up with for new video games?
You know, I read your comment and it led me thinking on another skew: What does that say about the image of law enforcement officers in America as a whole? Are they the enemy,and if so, why? Is killing them "cool"? What crimes are you committing (or pretending you're committing) that warrant the killing of a peace officer? Or, without a mass of bullshit rhetorical questions, WTF are you doing that means you have to pit your life against a policeman doing his job?
The only answer I can come up with: It's a game. And in real life, about the worst thing you can do to in society (according to the courts, anyway) is kill a police officer. That's much worse than killing a civilian, you know. I guess the police force and the reputation it has built for itself as a powerful force with a large number of members and more importantly, the image that they are untouchable/unbeatable, means the exploitation of this sort of taboo becomes acceptable, if not (scarily) attractive, at least on a fantasy level. Rebellion against authority has always been enticing, especially to those still working out their place in society (ie teenagers). Until, of course, they get their first taste of reality. It's just the usual attraction to that which is against the grain (and there ain't a bigger "grain" than the government).
Slashdot Mirror
I am certainly not an advocate of DRM, and I don't believe the **AA has any right to cripple a product I purchased in good faith. I just don't think that using moral relativism to justify breaking laws is a strong argument. (Irrelevant of the law's intent or a law's applicability in our changing world). As a writer for a respected magazine I think it is irresponsible for the author to take this view.
That's some really awesome reasoning. Nobody takes some laws seriously, so we should apply that mentality to other laws we object to, and your obligation to obey the laws is relative only to the seriousness of the "crime" committed. I'll let somebody else go on about the issue of moral relativism, but this guy really sounds like he wants to justify his mp3 collection.
Do whatever the fuck you like, AC. Nobody here is gonna stop you. Just don't try and convince yourself (or us) you can do it legally.
What, are you a struggling hobbit? ;o)
But seriously, I agree. There are no excuses for outright piracy, and no justification for it no matter what you try to convince yourself.
This is not a Troll. Kzadot here is correct. Do some research into the area and you will find this is the accepted historical viewpoint. The Maori were here before European discovery, but only by a couple of hundred years. Even superficially, check the similarities between the polynesian customs and those of the Maori. Also look into the similarities between the Maori and Hawaiian cultures, another group of travelling polynesians.
Mate, I agree. I should also let you know that one of the best biographies i've read in a while is titled "Is That It?" and is written by Sir Bob Geldof, of all people. Now I don't like him or his music, but it really is a good read for the same reasons. Lots of underground London punk/music scene in the late 70's early 80's.
Perfume by Patrick Suskind is a book I can highly recommend. It is not as poncy as it sounds, it's the tale of a perfumer in 18th (?) Century france who will go to any length to obtain the perfect fragrance, even to the extent of murder. Check out some of the reviews on Amazon to get a feel of the story. It really is an excellent read.
I second that notion. An excellent series with a true anti-hero as the main character. You've gotta love any book that generates such a love/hate relationship between the reader and the main character while completely endearing you to all the other characters in that world. I loved it, and the first series is excellent. A lot of people don't like the second series so much, as it deviates a fair bit from the world set up in the first series, but I thought it just showed how creative and talented Donaldson is. I would happily recommend this book to anyone. Another off-shoot of Donaldson's work is that he has an excellent vocabulary, so you tend to learn a few new words while reading his books. That was the case when I gave this book to my little brother. He isn't much of a reader, but he got so hooked on the books he finished the whole series, which prepped him nicely to tackle some more difficult books.
Hey, you sass that hoopy anonymous loser? There's a frood who really knows where his towel is.
Welcome to Japan... The land of... Tomorrow.
um... usually, but I live in bizarroville. D'oh!
It's directly across the road from 106.223.16.96, stupid. Gee whiz, you'll never be a cop.
Ahhh... but next week the shop will have fresh, new carrots! They need to pick a standard and stick with it, after all, I don't want to get ripped off when I buy a kilo of sausages just to find out it was judged against a kilo of feathers, while the shop up the road measures against a kilo of hammers. That's just not cricket!
They tried this with the new standard: the Aguilera, but this was abandoned due to mass/weight fluctuations.
Why couldn't they just take it down the shops and measure it against, say, 1kg of carrots or a kg of sugar?
Great, thanks a lot! I'm hitting amazon.com as we speak...
It was obviously a reference to that obscure little game, you know, DOOM, in which a portal opens to hell and demons pour into our dimension. It's a good thing you didn't get all excited and fly off the handle because you didn't get the joke.
There's four of them? I only read Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion, I wasn't aware there were any more. Could you tell me a little more about the series? Amazon.com has a bunch of his books listed, but I'm not sure which ones are the "Hyperion" series. You're right though, there are truly excellent books.
Yeah, but changing the currency type can bring other issues. I had a mate that waited until our new money had been in circulation for about 12 months then made a killing on printing off his own "old" $20 notes and spending them. Probably dropped about $2000 and nobody noticed. I guess it had been a while since people handled paper money ;o)
Super Puzzle Fighter.I know it's not strictly a fighter, but it does use the characters from the Streetfighter franchise.
I was really referring to the fact that killing a police officer carries a higher sentence than killing a civilian. As if somehow their lives are worth more than the rest of us.
You know, I read your comment and it led me thinking on another skew: What does that say about the image of law enforcement officers in America as a whole? Are they the enemy,and if so, why? Is killing them "cool"? What crimes are you committing (or pretending you're committing) that warrant the killing of a peace officer? Or, without a mass of bullshit rhetorical questions, WTF are you doing that means you have to pit your life against a policeman doing his job?
The only answer I can come up with: It's a game. And in real life, about the worst thing you can do to in society (according to the courts, anyway) is kill a police officer. That's much worse than killing a civilian, you know. I guess the police force and the reputation it has built for itself as a powerful force with a large number of members and more importantly, the image that they are untouchable/unbeatable, means the exploitation of this sort of taboo becomes acceptable, if not (scarily) attractive, at least on a fantasy level. Rebellion against authority has always been enticing, especially to those still working out their place in society (ie teenagers). Until, of course, they get their first taste of reality. It's just the usual attraction to that which is against the grain (and there ain't a bigger "grain" than the government).
Urmm... What's your point?
I thought it was forfty percent?
Tell that to James Dean...