The notion that a free citizen can have a harmless hobby like model rocketry effectively destroyed by a not-very-well-thought-out law certainly should indicate something about the treatment the government dishes out.
A politician (or a group of them) passed a knee-jerk law to make it appear as though they were doing something relevant and productive in order to glean votes, and the citizens pay the price.
Look at most of the post 911 "security" legislation to see what I mean.
A politician is perfectly happy to shaft citizens to further his career... Haven't you ever heard of "screwing your way to the top"?
Maybe I needed to elaborate more in my post, but the connection I was trying to show is certainly not "flamebait". Sheesh.
I got the quote, I was just trying to make the point that people who follow that law are getting a good shafting too.
I own Office Space on DVD (I bought it used to avoid contributing to the MPAA members), it is a great movie. The guy's boss is disturbingly similar to my boss here, however.
The current system, where you only charge in-state transactions, is acceptable. In-state customers certainly should pay the going in-state sales tax, that's just logical.
Actually, the concept of sales tax should be scrapped altogether. Just take a flat percentage of wages just like the federal government does and you can be sure that your state's citizens are exclusively shouldering the burden of funding its programs.
The issue revolves squarely around the recording industry, and it is twofold.
First, if the artist was selling direct without the RIAA distribution network (which is what bloats the pricing) then the artist would get the money and the music would be priced at a reasonable level ($5-7). With the RIAA taking it's cut and dominating the industry, that is not going to happen. If CDs were priced reasonably, you'd see a HUGE decline in "piracy", or at least a LARGE jump in sales of popularly swapped music. People will buy if it is a good buy.
The other consideration is morality. I don't mind stealing from a thief, the RIAA passes very little of the profit to the artist. The bulf of the money is used to politically get their business model endorsed at my expense, to limit my rights, and to further exploit me financially and legally.
Personally, I am reluctant to buy a label CD when I know that the profits will go to make my life miserable and not to the artist.
I'll agree that traditionally most game development has been for Windows, but I can also see game companies writing for both OSes in the near future. There are too many stuckists refusing to run XP, and a lot of those stuckists are hardcore gamers.
The Ti4200 is better bang for the buck then the Ti200 is, and the 440MX (at $41) is the best bang for the buck around. So, in the budget category, the 440MX wins.
You can get a 2100XP, ECS K7S5A mobo with sound and LAN that can handle ddr/sdr, and a 440MX card for under $200. Sacrificing CPU or GFX card to improve the other will cost you too much performance, and having done this exact setup for some "cash flow impaired" friends I can tell you firsthand that it's plenty fast to game on, especially when you are upgrading from a P2 400 and a TNT 2 32mb card.
The 440MX has it's place, depending on what you are looking to do.
The breakup didn't matter at all. Now each part just has a monopoly in a particular region. Yay, rah!
To really end their monopoly status, they need to have competition in the same service area. By compeitition I'm not referring to subleasing lines to other companies at inflated prices, I'm talking about allowing the competitors to run their own lines.
Mind you, the same thing needs to be done to the power and cable companies.
Re:Remember in the good ole days
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Infinite Games?
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· Score: 1
I'd say profit is the motive if it is not art. I don't think the modern pr0n is artistic in the least, unlike the earlier examples you mentioned where the creation was done for the joy of creation.
Although the mental image of a caveman taking credit card numbers from people to look at his cave wall is pretty funny (to me, but I need more sleep).
... if I write a letter to my congresscritter supporting an issue, I support that issue whether or not the original words are entirely mine. After all, presidents use speechwriters -- and this is entirely accepted as the norm (though Lincoln often wrote his own, but that's an abberation.) And yet we say that the president himself (or herself, someday in the future) supports the issue. Why should members of the public be ignored just because they have speechwriters, of a sort? It's the opinion that matters, not the form of the opinion, as long as it's not threatening or rude to another person.
:-) Ya, ya, redundant, I know. Still appropriate here, though!
... if I write a letter to my congresscritter supporting an issue, I support that issue whether or not the original words are entirely mine. After all, presidents use speechwriters -- and this is entirely accepted as the norm (though Lincoln often wrote his own, but that's an abberation.) And yet we say that the president himself (or herself, someday in the future) supports the issue. Why should members of the public be ignored just because they have speechwriters, of a sort? It's the opinion that matters, not the form of the opinion, as long as it's not threatening or rude to another person.
Go ahead, mod me redundant if you want. I kinda think that was the whole point of repeating it. Well, that and it was funny.
Perhaps it is because a movie will distract you for a short time from the fact that you're broke, and a CD is just background noise for the day to day grind or when you are sitting around thinking about how broke you are?
People watch movies to escape for a while, buying a CD doesn't have that effect.
Please, please, PLEASE don't equate that whiny drivel known as country with the "American Experience" or my culture. Please... *imploring look*
If that is truly the perception the rest of the world has, I can see why you bang on Americans so much. Country is rap for white people, it fills a cultural niche (or vacuum, depecnding on your outlook).
Not all rural Americans like country, just like not all urban Americans enjoy rap.
I'm not trying to tear on the fact that you found some you like, I just want to dissuade you from too deep of an association.
C'mon mods! It was neither troll nor interesting, it was a joke. I took the comment of the parent and twisted it. After all, it seems to me that MS has harmed network security more than Saddam Hussein has. Sheesh...
Money to pay for roads should come from a fuel tax. People who use them more should pay more. The cost of shipping goods would be rolled into the product anyway, so someone without a car would still pay their share.
As far as the school payments go, I tend to agree with that also. Why should I pay for someone else's kids? It's bad enough they get a tax break, so I'm paying some of their share anyway. My taxes are higher to cover the portion they don't pay, simply because I have no kids.
Why am I being penalized for remembering to wrap my willie?
There you are going from a digital input to an analog input. Analog does have advantages.
What I am referring to is a nice analog gamepad with good response and range of motion for more control.
I got good at Goldeneye on a N64 controller before I owned a computer. I could not play FPS nearly as well with a keyboard/mouse, or even a different controller. It took me a while to adjust, I was just plain used to a N64 gamepad. And now that I'm used to a keyboard/mouse, I'd have just as hard a time switching back.
Maybe, but DVD prices are already much closer to acceptable levels than CD prices are. I doubt you'll see much of a shift, because people still like fancy boxes and whatnot.
Don't the pirate versions rip stuff out (features, languages) to save space?
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The notion that a free citizen can have a harmless hobby like model rocketry effectively destroyed by a not-very-well-thought-out law certainly should indicate something about the treatment the government dishes out.
A politician (or a group of them) passed a knee-jerk law to make it appear as though they were doing something relevant and productive in order to glean votes, and the citizens pay the price.
Look at most of the post 911 "security" legislation to see what I mean.
A politician is perfectly happy to shaft citizens to further his career... Haven't you ever heard of "screwing your way to the top"?
Maybe I needed to elaborate more in my post, but the connection I was trying to show is certainly not "flamebait". Sheesh.
I own Office Space on DVD (I bought it used to avoid contributing to the MPAA members), it is a great movie. The guy's boss is disturbingly similar to my boss here, however.
Actually, the concept of sales tax should be scrapped altogether. Just take a flat percentage of wages just like the federal government does and you can be sure that your state's citizens are exclusively shouldering the burden of funding its programs.
The services the state provides did not improve in quality or quantity by 20%, or even 10% (or even 1%).
Government is one of the exeptions to the old adage "you get what you pay for".
How is that any different from the treatment free citizens already get from the government?
First, if the artist was selling direct without the RIAA distribution network (which is what bloats the pricing) then the artist would get the money and the music would be priced at a reasonable level ($5-7). With the RIAA taking it's cut and dominating the industry, that is not going to happen. If CDs were priced reasonably, you'd see a HUGE decline in "piracy", or at least a LARGE jump in sales of popularly swapped music. People will buy if it is a good buy.
The other consideration is morality. I don't mind stealing from a thief, the RIAA passes very little of the profit to the artist. The bulf of the money is used to politically get their business model endorsed at my expense, to limit my rights, and to further exploit me financially and legally.
Personally, I am reluctant to buy a label CD when I know that the profits will go to make my life miserable and not to the artist.
How many frames per second do you really need to play "Command Prompt", anyway? *rolls eyes*
I thought PCs ran Linux too. LOL
I'll agree that traditionally most game development has been for Windows, but I can also see game companies writing for both OSes in the near future. There are too many stuckists refusing to run XP, and a lot of those stuckists are hardcore gamers.
Agreed, but I would hardly call it a "windows-only" game either. That was my point.
You can get a 2100XP, ECS K7S5A mobo with sound and LAN that can handle ddr/sdr, and a 440MX card for under $200. Sacrificing CPU or GFX card to improve the other will cost you too much performance, and having done this exact setup for some "cash flow impaired" friends I can tell you firsthand that it's plenty fast to game on, especially when you are upgrading from a P2 400 and a TNT 2 32mb card.
The 440MX has it's place, depending on what you are looking to do.
I thought Quake III was available on Linux as well as Windows.
To really end their monopoly status, they need to have competition in the same service area. By compeitition I'm not referring to subleasing lines to other companies at inflated prices, I'm talking about allowing the competitors to run their own lines.
Mind you, the same thing needs to be done to the power and cable companies.
Although the mental image of a caveman taking credit card numbers from people to look at his cave wall is pretty funny (to me, but I need more sleep).
Go ahead, mod me redundant if you want. I kinda think that was the whole point of repeating it. Well, that and it was funny.
That's great! I did notice, however, that the letter spelled "re-education camp" wrong at the end. :-)
People watch movies to escape for a while, buying a CD doesn't have that effect.
Please, please, PLEASE don't equate that whiny drivel known as country with the "American Experience" or my culture. Please... *imploring look*
If that is truly the perception the rest of the world has, I can see why you bang on Americans so much. Country is rap for white people, it fills a cultural niche (or vacuum, depecnding on your outlook).
Not all rural Americans like country, just like not all urban Americans enjoy rap.
I'm not trying to tear on the fact that you found some you like, I just want to dissuade you from too deep of an association.
C'mon mods! It was neither troll nor interesting, it was a joke. I took the comment of the parent and twisted it. After all, it seems to me that MS has harmed network security more than Saddam Hussein has. Sheesh...
No, they had to bring in consultants to do that.
I think that Microsoft is a mneace that must be stopped with all due force. :-)
If you use city water, you get socked for a plethora of taxes on your water bill.
As far as the school payments go, I tend to agree with that also. Why should I pay for someone else's kids? It's bad enough they get a tax break, so I'm paying some of their share anyway. My taxes are higher to cover the portion they don't pay, simply because I have no kids.
Why am I being penalized for remembering to wrap my willie?
What I am referring to is a nice analog gamepad with good response and range of motion for more control.
I got good at Goldeneye on a N64 controller before I owned a computer. I could not play FPS nearly as well with a keyboard/mouse, or even a different controller. It took me a while to adjust, I was just plain used to a N64 gamepad. And now that I'm used to a keyboard/mouse, I'd have just as hard a time switching back.
Don't the pirate versions rip stuff out (features, languages) to save space?