I haven't been on this planet for very long, but I've experienced quite a bit of piracy in the past 30 years and here's a quick recap of some of those experiences.
Age 12 - My mother, never one to be really interested in music at all, acquires an 8-track tape player. She soon discovers that there is a store - yes a legitimate business here folks - where you can walk in, select the 8-track of your choice and bring it to the counter and for a meager $4 they will make you a copy in less than 2 minutes. Did I say copy, damn right! They had several high speed 8-track duplicators sitting right behind the counter. These guys were printing money and you had to shove your way to the counter on several occaisions we visited. There was nothing like getting that crappy Neil Diamond record for only $4.00 and my mom was hooked.
This lasted for several months before they were shut down - hmm...wonder how that happened. But not before the whole town was rocking and rolling with these illegal copies. So let's go skip to the next track here.
Age 16 - Mom finally breaks down and let's me get a stereo - receiver, big ass speakers and record player. A few months later I discover cassette tapes, man I gotta get one of those!! So I acquire a cassette tape recorder and some blanks. Hey guys, can I borrow your LP of Styx or that new Van Halen. I hear they're smoking! We traded LP's and cassettes back and forth for years - I think if I opened all the boxes of tapes I have laying around there must be at least 500 blanks I recorded at one time or another.
Fast forward to 1984, CD's are looking like the next big thing, great sound, compact, portable, wow. So I get a CD player! Guess what, I still have that tape deck too. Ooh that Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon CD sounds so much better on CD (wonder if they'd really have ever sold anymore of that one if it hadn't been remastered on CD) gotta borrow it and tape it off.
We really hadn't thought of duplicating a CD onto another CD at that time, PC's just couldn't deal with the amount of data and commercial duplicator's were way too expensive. But boy those record companies were really raking it in! $17 bucks for Dark Side of the Moon and guess what - they don't have to spend any more on art work, the artist, recording or any of that crap, but they can sell it to you all over again! Now who was printing the money. They were laughing all the way to the bank!
About this time, I walk into my neighborhood video store and guess what - yeah that's right I can rent the latest audio CD's from them for $1.00 a day. I did a double take and thought to myself - I want that one and that one and hey that looks good too. I taped like there was no tomorrow. Why spend $17 on a new CD when I could get 13 on tape after buying the blanks. I had more music than I could possibly listen to - still do for that matter. And now the record companies were starting to feel the pinch from home taping so they got Congress to enact the taping tax on blanks. The bastards!
About this time I started working at a radio station - reviewing records. "Hey, Sire how about sending out copies of that new Talking Heads album for us to give away and anything new you might have going so we can play it out here." I was in taping heaven - a direct fix from the record companies on an almost daily basis. I didn't have to rent it anymore because they would just send it to me and pay the postage too. I was taping things almost 12 hours a day, there was always something laying around that looked interesting. God I loved that job!
It really wasn't until about '98 that CD-burners and the internet caught up with the record companies technology. While they were too busy counting their profits to invent new technology to prevent this, THE PEOPLE got tired of paying the same $17 for a cd they now know costs about a quarter to make. Now we could make a perfect digital copy - in the privacy of our own homes. Hey dude, can I borrow that Floyd disc again - I just got a burner. It was no different with software and porn - burning night and day, while asleep, while at work. And by the way, where are these porn and game devoper people in this debate, how come they aren't right up there on the front row screaming with the rest of them, "They're stealing my god damn avi's of Brittany naked!!"
Now with the advent of compression schemes like MP3, we can steal that song in seconds. Ooh there's that Dark Side of the Moon track on MP3. Yeah I know I own 3 copies (lp, cassette, CD and soon to be DVD video) of the damn record already and I'm too lazy to rip it, just download it and be done with it.
You know where I'm getting most of my CD's to burn these days? The freakin' public library!! Oh yeah and there's that cool DVD I've been wanting but didn't want to shell out $25 for, I think I'll check it out and rip that over to VCD too. I can keep it for a week, no problem, thanks. And now with shn, you can compress the tracks and not worry about quality loss like with MP3. Watch out BMG, I'm coming for your whole damn catalogue next!
I guess the point of this whole rant is that we've been stealing your music for years and you're still making plenty of money. Get over it! We will find a way to do it. It's human nature to rise to that challenge. It's the little kid in all of us that likes to do exactly what he's told not to do just to be rebelious. And besides, 90% of the stuff I taped was CRAP. I listened to it maybe once. I look through it now and it's like, "man why did you tape that shit."
The record moguls need to worry less about us copying there music and more about coming up with a replacement for the CD. They got themselves into this mess with their new technology and that's the only way they are going to get out. They need to come up with something that is so far beyond our computer's power to duplicate, so far beyond consumer electronics and so superior to compact discs that we can't say no. That's the only way out for them.
Laws are made to be broken. And besides, I bet they find that they are going to get hacked a whole bunch more than they will ever be able to hack us consumers. What a pea-brained idea anyway! This was probably the second great idea of the guy who thought up the copy protection scheme you can defeat with a sharpie!
Sorry, the mail man just delivered those VCD's of the Rush - Vapor Trails tour show on 8/24/02 in Colorado I traded for, gotta go check it out. Oh yeah, and what are they going to start doing now, checking my mail? Give me a break and get a life you RIAA idiots!
Re:Wasn't this already solved in the Sony case?
on
EFF Takes Bnetd Case
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· Score: 1
The internet facilitates the use of pirated software.
Are you the same people that reviewed LOTR??
on
A Beautiful Mind
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· Score: 2
Now wait a minute. Suddenly it's OKAY to not tell the whole story and make a movie from a book and not put everything in because one's a book and a movie can never include everything from a book (let alone this guys REAL story). Your egregious duplicity is undeniably annoying!
I don't know about you, but I've spent countless days patching Microsoft security holes, worms, viruses, etc over the past few years. If that's not justification for poking Microsoft with a stick once in a while, I don't know what is. Then again I probably wouldn't have a job if their products were actually as safe as they claim. Are they evil, probably not. Are they out to rule the computing world and do anything in their power to make Bill a buck, you bet!
There is one problem with leaving Tom Bombadil and the Barrow Wight scenes out of the movie. While Bombadil and Goldberry play no part at all in the adventures that follow, Pippin and Merry get their swords (or rather daggers) from the barrow wight mound after they are saved by Bombadil. Merry's sword plays a vitally important role in the last episode - The Return of the King - so it will be interesting to see how they get these to them because undoubtedly they will have to be brought into the movie somehow.
Really looking forward to the show tonight at 7:30 and got free tickets to boot. WOOT!
How many of you really even use the warez/appz/gamez you download on a consistent basis? For all of us that have gotten warez off the net, I'd wager a year's salary that very few of us found anything at all worthwhile to use on a daily basis. It's just not worth messing with and most of the games are butchered anyway so that they only partially work. The best thing warez ever did was waste a bunch of people's time and bandwidth other than expose crappy Star Trek games for the things they are.
The trouble with whole warez thing is it is really not easy for the average joe to obtain. Yeah, I could click through a couple dozen porn pop-ups, download a trojan or virus, get infected from a web page.eml, and spend hours in chat rooms looking for that last.rar file I needed, but really wouldn't you rather read some reviews on a decent site, plunk down the $50 bucks and spend that time playing a kick butt game or using the software fully instead of a butchered, hacked, cracked copy.
One other thing, while all you open source guys ARE on to something, the REAL serious applications that will bring the future to the mass market will always be developed by closed source companies. The revolution will be televised and filled with IBM, Microsoft, Intel and Dell ads. There is no other way to generate the type of money necessary to bring superior products to market. Open source is great and I use it daily, but I will continue to support great products with my hard earned cash. Companies like Id, Blizzard, Valve, Verant and others aren't going to make great games or apps for free or there'd be so much open source gaming goodies out there I'd spend all my time downloading them. It ain't gonna happen!
I agree with most of your sentiments. As an over 35 EQ player, I've been through over 2 years of patches, reboots, etc. And I played Ultima Online for about a year prior to that. UO was neat when it came out, but getting killed the moment you walked out of town by some lamer who had a fast connection go old fast. And UO's lag was atrocious. Finally gave up on that when EQ came out.
Everquest provides the gamer with a wonderful gaming experience and believe me, once you get interested you will end up saving more money than you will have spent on 1 gig of ram, all the software and a new computer. Why? Because you will be spending as much time as you can at the computer, forget renting movies, going out to eat, dating, etc. You get all the interaction with others you'll need, plus challenge and excitement. After all, do any of you singles out there really expect to go to the bar and get laid after drinking yourselves into a self-pitying stupor? Why after two years, you could probably even afford a new car because you've never left the house since you lost your job for surfing the EQ spoiler sites!
All joking aside, I'd recommend EQ to everyone! It has allowed me to stay in touch with old friends all over the country and we get together virtually since we can't be together in real life. "Want a swig o' this Blackburrow Stout, mate?" The options in the game are limitless, you are able to program your own macros, change from first person perspective to multiple others at the flick of a button and beg on your hands and knees for an SOW!
While I haven't picked up my reserved copy of Shadows of Luclin yet, I've been playing Return to Castle Wolfenstein in single player mode. You know what, it seems empty and devoid of life (although a great compilation of the best of 1st person shooters) and I miss the interaction with other people I don't know.
Of all the people in the world, I think that you/.r's would be supporting a game like this. have any of you ever read Roger Zelazny's Donnerajck? For those who have, think about the future of this kind of thing. Someday, and I hope to see it in my lifetime, we'll be truly plugged in to a virtual world. We will be able to venture into incalculable new worlds and adventures while totally oblivious to this reality we've created. And you know how we get to that point in a capitalist society? WE support the people who are making it happen now with the technology we have so that they will have the wherewithall to build the future we want to experience. That's what I see in Everquest, not the patches, not the lamers, but real people like myself interested in building a whole new world, a new frontier where we can experience things the human race has never experienced before other than in our dreams.
If you want to be a part of the future, this game is for you?
One more thing - I keep seeing people whining about "kids" being jerks in the game or some such junk. I must say that, whenever I have asked another play for help that they can readily give, I have never been refused. Other players have traveled all over the world of Norrath to bring me items just because I asked and offered to pay a small amount of coin. The game gives back to you what you give to it. If you are kind and courteous, you will receive kindness in return. If you are mean and cheat people, they will stop dealing with you and word will spread that you are not to be trusted. It is no different than in real life. Thus, for those who have bad experiences, I urge you to return and try it again. The good people are still playing while most of the bad have moved on to other games where they are rewarded for that kind of play.
For those of you who haven't tried the game, there is a gaming magazine on the shelves at the moment that includes a free 10-day trial copy of the original EQ with the magazine. Go get it, try it for 10 days. When you get online ask people for directions, for help, for advice. You'll be surprised what happens!
Qint Dabogue
33rd season barbarian Rogue
The Tribunal
Emusic.com rocks, swings and grooves. If all you slashdotters that hate popular culture get onto emusic.com, we'll have a real revolution at a price we can all afford. The content will continue to grow and leave the major labels peddling their wares to the bubble gum crowd. I have been a subscriber for a couple of months now and couldn't be happier. The 10 early Elvis Costello albums, tons of jazz, great reggae from good labels like Shanachie, techno and folk. It's there and downloadable at 150-250 kbps. Well worth the money. I've bought a MP3 car stereo and yesterday picked up a DVD/CD-R/MP3 player for my home stereo (Panasonic $229). Music was never so good. Go visit and search the catalog for yourself. No Britney Spears, Aerosmith or N'sync here, just real music by real artists!
Have you tried www.emusic.com? They have a one price all you can eat subscription service. I have found the transfer rates to be good (between 100-200 kbs) and the selection of music excellent. They don't seem to have any contracts with the major labels yet, but who needs that force fed crap anyway. If you want good punk, blues, reggae, techno and more check it out. The price is right!
Central Scrutinizer: This is the Central Scruutinizer. We find Joe, now 45 and laid off from the Utility Muffin Research Kitchen after 15 years of dutiful service plooking little green rosettas onto muffins, walking toward the unemployment office. He's wondering what his future holds.
Joe: I'm out again. Boy, the world sure looks different. There's hardly anything fun to do since they made computing illegal. It's all gone. Wait I've got it, I'll be sullen and withdrawn. I'll dwindle off into the twilight realm of my own secret thoughts. I'll swap files with all my anonymous ESP buddys and jam to those imaginary tunes. Insert the sounds of a modem connecting.
I'll frag all those bad guys on my ethereal connection and pay my monthly service fee. Insert the sounds of an imaginary Quake III session.
I'll use my cell phone to buy a Coke and head on to the unemployment office. Insert sounds of popping a coke can top and the beeps of a Nokia.
Central Scrutinizer: Poor Joe. He continue's to believe that he is really free to control his destiny, to use what he buys in anyway he chooses, to compute freely. The white zone is for loading and unloading only. If you gotta load or unload, go to the white zone.
Thanks Frank! Your vision still holds true today, more so than ever!
Now that's the real question. If I burn a copy of the CD, will I be able to play it? MP3 is just a transitional phase as other formats are coming (OGG and MP3Pro) that will change the way we are doing things now. To make matters worse, I just bought a new Kenwood CD/MP3 player for my car (kicks serious ass btw). Realistically, what's to keep you from using something like Soundforge, CoolEdit, etc to record a wav and turn it into an MP3 just like I do with my old LP's. We will always find a way to bypass copy protection and if we ALL share it and don't buckle into the pressure what are they going to do, take us all off to jail. I say buy all their damn copy-protected CD's and rip the hell out of them until they have to give in!
I will buy CD's from people who put out a good package with good music. It just doesn't happen to often. Go buy Einsturzende Neubauten's "Silence is Sexy" to get a great package and awesome music with a bonus CD. That's what people need to be doing.
Here's another thing the artists should do. Put out a few MP3's or whatever from their latest recording, but don't sell it in stores. If the consumers want it, they have to come to the concert and buy a copy there for 20 bucks. Put copy protection on the discs. After 6 months, release all the songs to the net on MP3. Lather, rinse and repeat every 9 months for mucho dinero. Then they sell the live CD's from the previous tour along with their latest offering.
It can't be too hard to create a following that would soon have people trading all their stuff online and having them go to the shows regularly to get the latest stuff. God knows, I should have been a rock group manager:)
I would recommend also the new Lord of the Rings board game from Hasbro/Wizards of the coast. It is a very challenging and entertaining adaption of the books that has very high replay value. My friends in their 30's have loved it as well as my eight year old daughter and family.
The game is playable by 2-5 players (although it wouldn't be to hard to play solo also). The main difference that this game brings to the board game genre is that it is totally dependent on cooperation, sacrifice and communication between the players. If there is a player that is not willing to sacrifice himself or his cards/life tokens in order to destroy the ring, you will lose the game.
It is VERY difficult to win the game and out of probably 15 times playing, we have only managed to destroy the ring twice for a total victory. Yet even in losing, it was still a fun game that involves all the players and encourages team play which is so different than almost all other games out there.
As far as maps go, the single definitive large, poster size map of Middle Earth has to be Jo Hartwig's map done for I.C.E (Iron Crown Enterprises) back in 1996. It was made to go along with their wonderful, but now out of print, collectible card game Middle Earth: The Wizards. The map is beautifully detailed and although very difficult to find now would be well worth the effor to locate and have framed. If anyone has a copy for sale, please contact me at kloster@sunflower.com as I would like to purchase one. The one that I previously owned was destroyed in a flood of my basement.
In addition to Middle Earth: The Wizards, ICE also produced a number of expansions for the card game. The game itself, while having some of the mechanics of Magic the Gathering, is really a completely different animal. You use the cards in your deck to travel to various locations and gain allies or important items from the Lord of the Rings books. Of course, destroying the ring is a possible strategy, but one of only many possibilities.
If you like games like Magic the Gathering, it would be well worth your time to search this game out on Ebay as boxes of boosters and starters can be had for very reasonable prices.
I'm looking forward to seeing the maps of middle earth book as I'm currently reading the Lord of the Rings to my daughter and it would really help to have some good maps to show to her while we read.
Enjoy!
Greyfeld the Happy Gamer
Slashdot Mirror
Age 12 - My mother, never one to be really interested in music at all, acquires an 8-track tape player. She soon discovers that there is a store - yes a legitimate business here folks - where you can walk in, select the 8-track of your choice and bring it to the counter and for a meager $4 they will make you a copy in less than 2 minutes. Did I say copy, damn right! They had several high speed 8-track duplicators sitting right behind the counter. These guys were printing money and you had to shove your way to the counter on several occaisions we visited. There was nothing like getting that crappy Neil Diamond record for only $4.00 and my mom was hooked.
This lasted for several months before they were shut down - hmm...wonder how that happened. But not before the whole town was rocking and rolling with these illegal copies. So let's go skip to the next track here.
Age 16 - Mom finally breaks down and let's me get a stereo - receiver, big ass speakers and record player. A few months later I discover cassette tapes, man I gotta get one of those!! So I acquire a cassette tape recorder and some blanks. Hey guys, can I borrow your LP of Styx or that new Van Halen. I hear they're smoking! We traded LP's and cassettes back and forth for years - I think if I opened all the boxes of tapes I have laying around there must be at least 500 blanks I recorded at one time or another.
Fast forward to 1984, CD's are looking like the next big thing, great sound, compact, portable, wow. So I get a CD player! Guess what, I still have that tape deck too. Ooh that Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon CD sounds so much better on CD (wonder if they'd really have ever sold anymore of that one if it hadn't been remastered on CD) gotta borrow it and tape it off.
We really hadn't thought of duplicating a CD onto another CD at that time, PC's just couldn't deal with the amount of data and commercial duplicator's were way too expensive. But boy those record companies were really raking it in! $17 bucks for Dark Side of the Moon and guess what - they don't have to spend any more on art work, the artist, recording or any of that crap, but they can sell it to you all over again! Now who was printing the money. They were laughing all the way to the bank!
About this time, I walk into my neighborhood video store and guess what - yeah that's right I can rent the latest audio CD's from them for $1.00 a day. I did a double take and thought to myself - I want that one and that one and hey that looks good too. I taped like there was no tomorrow. Why spend $17 on a new CD when I could get 13 on tape after buying the blanks. I had more music than I could possibly listen to - still do for that matter. And now the record companies were starting to feel the pinch from home taping so they got Congress to enact the taping tax on blanks. The bastards!
About this time I started working at a radio station - reviewing records. "Hey, Sire how about sending out copies of that new Talking Heads album for us to give away and anything new you might have going so we can play it out here." I was in taping heaven - a direct fix from the record companies on an almost daily basis. I didn't have to rent it anymore because they would just send it to me and pay the postage too. I was taping things almost 12 hours a day, there was always something laying around that looked interesting. God I loved that job!
It really wasn't until about '98 that CD-burners and the internet caught up with the record companies technology. While they were too busy counting their profits to invent new technology to prevent this, THE PEOPLE got tired of paying the same $17 for a cd they now know costs about a quarter to make. Now we could make a perfect digital copy - in the privacy of our own homes. Hey dude, can I borrow that Floyd disc again - I just got a burner. It was no different with software and porn - burning night and day, while asleep, while at work. And by the way, where are these porn and game devoper people in this debate, how come they aren't right up there on the front row screaming with the rest of them, "They're stealing my god damn avi's of Brittany naked!!"
Now with the advent of compression schemes like MP3, we can steal that song in seconds. Ooh there's that Dark Side of the Moon track on MP3. Yeah I know I own 3 copies (lp, cassette, CD and soon to be DVD video) of the damn record already and I'm too lazy to rip it, just download it and be done with it.
You know where I'm getting most of my CD's to burn these days? The freakin' public library!! Oh yeah and there's that cool DVD I've been wanting but didn't want to shell out $25 for, I think I'll check it out and rip that over to VCD too. I can keep it for a week, no problem, thanks. And now with shn, you can compress the tracks and not worry about quality loss like with MP3. Watch out BMG, I'm coming for your whole damn catalogue next!
I guess the point of this whole rant is that we've been stealing your music for years and you're still making plenty of money. Get over it! We will find a way to do it. It's human nature to rise to that challenge. It's the little kid in all of us that likes to do exactly what he's told not to do just to be rebelious. And besides, 90% of the stuff I taped was CRAP. I listened to it maybe once. I look through it now and it's like, "man why did you tape that shit."
The record moguls need to worry less about us copying there music and more about coming up with a replacement for the CD. They got themselves into this mess with their new technology and that's the only way they are going to get out. They need to come up with something that is so far beyond our computer's power to duplicate, so far beyond consumer electronics and so superior to compact discs that we can't say no. That's the only way out for them.
Laws are made to be broken. And besides, I bet they find that they are going to get hacked a whole bunch more than they will ever be able to hack us consumers. What a pea-brained idea anyway! This was probably the second great idea of the guy who thought up the copy protection scheme you can defeat with a sharpie!
Sorry, the mail man just delivered those VCD's of the Rush - Vapor Trails tour show on 8/24/02 in Colorado I traded for, gotta go check it out. Oh yeah, and what are they going to start doing now, checking my mail? Give me a break and get a life you RIAA idiots!
The internet facilitates the use of pirated software.
Now wait a minute. Suddenly it's OKAY to not tell the whole story and make a movie from a book and not put everything in because one's a book and a movie can never include everything from a book (let alone this guys REAL story). Your egregious duplicity is undeniably annoying!
I don't know about you, but I've spent countless days patching Microsoft security holes, worms, viruses, etc over the past few years. If that's not justification for poking Microsoft with a stick once in a while, I don't know what is. Then again I probably wouldn't have a job if their products were actually as safe as they claim. Are they evil, probably not. Are they out to rule the computing world and do anything in their power to make Bill a buck, you bet!
Really looking forward to the show tonight at 7:30 and got free tickets to boot. WOOT!
The trouble with whole warez thing is it is really not easy for the average joe to obtain. Yeah, I could click through a couple dozen porn pop-ups, download a trojan or virus, get infected from a web page .eml, and spend hours in chat rooms looking for that last .rar file I needed, but really wouldn't you rather read some reviews on a decent site, plunk down the $50 bucks and spend that time playing a kick butt game or using the software fully instead of a butchered, hacked, cracked copy.
One other thing, while all you open source guys ARE on to something, the REAL serious applications that will bring the future to the mass market will always be developed by closed source companies. The revolution will be televised and filled with IBM, Microsoft, Intel and Dell ads. There is no other way to generate the type of money necessary to bring superior products to market. Open source is great and I use it daily, but I will continue to support great products with my hard earned cash. Companies like Id, Blizzard, Valve, Verant and others aren't going to make great games or apps for free or there'd be so much open source gaming goodies out there I'd spend all my time downloading them. It ain't gonna happen!
Everquest provides the gamer with a wonderful gaming experience and believe me, once you get interested you will end up saving more money than you will have spent on 1 gig of ram, all the software and a new computer. Why? Because you will be spending as much time as you can at the computer, forget renting movies, going out to eat, dating, etc. You get all the interaction with others you'll need, plus challenge and excitement. After all, do any of you singles out there really expect to go to the bar and get laid after drinking yourselves into a self-pitying stupor? Why after two years, you could probably even afford a new car because you've never left the house since you lost your job for surfing the EQ spoiler sites!
All joking aside, I'd recommend EQ to everyone! It has allowed me to stay in touch with old friends all over the country and we get together virtually since we can't be together in real life. "Want a swig o' this Blackburrow Stout, mate?" The options in the game are limitless, you are able to program your own macros, change from first person perspective to multiple others at the flick of a button and beg on your hands and knees for an SOW!
While I haven't picked up my reserved copy of Shadows of Luclin yet, I've been playing Return to Castle Wolfenstein in single player mode. You know what, it seems empty and devoid of life (although a great compilation of the best of 1st person shooters) and I miss the interaction with other people I don't know.
Of all the people in the world, I think that you
If you want to be a part of the future, this game is for you?
One more thing - I keep seeing people whining about "kids" being jerks in the game or some such junk. I must say that, whenever I have asked another play for help that they can readily give, I have never been refused. Other players have traveled all over the world of Norrath to bring me items just because I asked and offered to pay a small amount of coin. The game gives back to you what you give to it. If you are kind and courteous, you will receive kindness in return. If you are mean and cheat people, they will stop dealing with you and word will spread that you are not to be trusted. It is no different than in real life. Thus, for those who have bad experiences, I urge you to return and try it again. The good people are still playing while most of the bad have moved on to other games where they are rewarded for that kind of play.
For those of you who haven't tried the game, there is a gaming magazine on the shelves at the moment that includes a free 10-day trial copy of the original EQ with the magazine. Go get it, try it for 10 days. When you get online ask people for directions, for help, for advice. You'll be surprised what happens!
Qint Dabogue
33rd season barbarian Rogue
The Tribunal
Emusic.com rocks, swings and grooves. If all you slashdotters that hate popular culture get onto emusic.com, we'll have a real revolution at a price we can all afford. The content will continue to grow and leave the major labels peddling their wares to the bubble gum crowd. I have been a subscriber for a couple of months now and couldn't be happier. The 10 early Elvis Costello albums, tons of jazz, great reggae from good labels like Shanachie, techno and folk. It's there and downloadable at 150-250 kbps. Well worth the money. I've bought a MP3 car stereo and yesterday picked up a DVD/CD-R/MP3 player for my home stereo (Panasonic $229). Music was never so good. Go visit and search the catalog for yourself. No Britney Spears, Aerosmith or N'sync here, just real music by real artists!
Have you tried www.emusic.com? They have a one price all you can eat subscription service. I have found the transfer rates to be good (between 100-200 kbs) and the selection of music excellent. They don't seem to have any contracts with the major labels yet, but who needs that force fed crap anyway. If you want good punk, blues, reggae, techno and more check it out. The price is right!
Joe: I'm out again. Boy, the world sure looks different. There's hardly anything fun to do since they made computing illegal. It's all gone. Wait I've got it, I'll be sullen and withdrawn. I'll dwindle off into the twilight realm of my own secret thoughts. I'll swap files with all my anonymous ESP buddys and jam to those imaginary tunes.
Insert the sounds of a modem connecting.
I'll frag all those bad guys on my ethereal connection and pay my monthly service fee.
Insert the sounds of an imaginary Quake III session.
I'll use my cell phone to buy a Coke and head on to the unemployment office.
Insert sounds of popping a coke can top and the beeps of a Nokia.
Central Scrutinizer: Poor Joe. He continue's to believe that he is really free to control his destiny, to use what he buys in anyway he chooses, to compute freely. The white zone is for loading and unloading only. If you gotta load or unload, go to the white zone.
Thanks Frank! Your vision still holds true today, more so than ever!
Now that's the real question. If I burn a copy of the CD, will I be able to play it? MP3 is just a transitional phase as other formats are coming (OGG and MP3Pro) that will change the way we are doing things now. To make matters worse, I just bought a new Kenwood CD/MP3 player for my car (kicks serious ass btw). Realistically, what's to keep you from using something like Soundforge, CoolEdit, etc to record a wav and turn it into an MP3 just like I do with my old LP's. We will always find a way to bypass copy protection and if we ALL share it and don't buckle into the pressure what are they going to do, take us all off to jail. I say buy all their damn copy-protected CD's and rip the hell out of them until they have to give in! I will buy CD's from people who put out a good package with good music. It just doesn't happen to often. Go buy Einsturzende Neubauten's "Silence is Sexy" to get a great package and awesome music with a bonus CD. That's what people need to be doing. Here's another thing the artists should do. Put out a few MP3's or whatever from their latest recording, but don't sell it in stores. If the consumers want it, they have to come to the concert and buy a copy there for 20 bucks. Put copy protection on the discs. After 6 months, release all the songs to the net on MP3. Lather, rinse and repeat every 9 months for mucho dinero. Then they sell the live CD's from the previous tour along with their latest offering. It can't be too hard to create a following that would soon have people trading all their stuff online and having them go to the shows regularly to get the latest stuff. God knows, I should have been a rock group manager :)
I would recommend also the new Lord of the Rings board game from Hasbro/Wizards of the coast. It is a very challenging and entertaining adaption of the books that has very high replay value. My friends in their 30's have loved it as well as my eight year old daughter and family. The game is playable by 2-5 players (although it wouldn't be to hard to play solo also). The main difference that this game brings to the board game genre is that it is totally dependent on cooperation, sacrifice and communication between the players. If there is a player that is not willing to sacrifice himself or his cards/life tokens in order to destroy the ring, you will lose the game. It is VERY difficult to win the game and out of probably 15 times playing, we have only managed to destroy the ring twice for a total victory. Yet even in losing, it was still a fun game that involves all the players and encourages team play which is so different than almost all other games out there. As far as maps go, the single definitive large, poster size map of Middle Earth has to be Jo Hartwig's map done for I.C.E (Iron Crown Enterprises) back in 1996. It was made to go along with their wonderful, but now out of print, collectible card game Middle Earth: The Wizards. The map is beautifully detailed and although very difficult to find now would be well worth the effor to locate and have framed. If anyone has a copy for sale, please contact me at kloster@sunflower.com as I would like to purchase one. The one that I previously owned was destroyed in a flood of my basement. In addition to Middle Earth: The Wizards, ICE also produced a number of expansions for the card game. The game itself, while having some of the mechanics of Magic the Gathering, is really a completely different animal. You use the cards in your deck to travel to various locations and gain allies or important items from the Lord of the Rings books. Of course, destroying the ring is a possible strategy, but one of only many possibilities. If you like games like Magic the Gathering, it would be well worth your time to search this game out on Ebay as boxes of boosters and starters can be had for very reasonable prices. I'm looking forward to seeing the maps of middle earth book as I'm currently reading the Lord of the Rings to my daughter and it would really help to have some good maps to show to her while we read. Enjoy! Greyfeld the Happy Gamer