Don't you know that Slashdot standard sizes only come in "Libraries of Congress" for data, and "VW Bugs" for things that come from, or go up into space?
In a couple of the large apartment buildings I've worked in/lived in, I've often misinterpreted the sound of water gurgling thru pipes as being human speech. If it's muted enough by distance and obstacles it can sound a lot like two people talking on the other side of a wall. Same sort of thing, the mind tends to "fill in the blanks". (Once I caught one of the more eerie noises on a tape deck and when played back they sounded like... water gurgling thru pipes:)
That's why HBO has no legal right to take matters into their own hands.
They don't, but I'd rather see them fighting on this turf than the legislative/politician procurement level. They can't compete with a planetfull of hackers. On this turf it's more equally matched, so to speak.
(Should'a been one of Clarke's laws (or maybe Heinleins) - "No matter how good you are at designing something, somebody else can improve on it. ":)
I don't like the implications of what HBO is doing, either. But to some degree, it's better than the alternative;)
That's a funny distinction you make, since advertising's entire purpose is to whet a customer's appetite for a product or service in exactly the same manner you claim a "sample" is supposed to. You're splitting hairs because you didn't get a big enough sample. But hey, that doesn't mean you can't be accommodated. As others have mentioned, HBO has been sending out free DVDs of the entire first episode.
Quality vs. quantity. I agree with him - rather than a lot of micro-clips highlighting the good parts of a show, I'd rather see actual samples of the show - random ones would be best. All too often I've seen an ad and thought "hey, that looks great" only to find out after I bought/rented it that it's a lot of crap interspersed with a few minutes of good scenes.
It's like a grocer giving out samples of the best cheese but only selling the worst cheese. That's what he meant by "clip vs. sample". Whether or not it was dictionary/thesaurus correct or whatever, I don't care:) Ad != sample. (although semantically a "clip" contains both ads and samples, but whatever)
Now, you will argue that having a direct download is more convenient, and that may be. But the fact remains that you are confusing "getting a sample" with "taking the whole block of cheese" -- it has nothing to do with the issue at hand (i.e., HBO poisoning the BitTorrent downloads of those who try to take the whole block of cheese without paying).
No, he's talking about the concept of viral marketing vs. what Hollywood and the music industry has been trying. The latter have, so far, been extraordinarily dumb about the marketing potential of the internet.
>That is, of course, if the free "cheese" they give me isn't really a pile of poison poo spray painted yellow. I really hate when that happens.
By writing this sentence as a part of your whole cheese-HBO analogy, you chose to blur the difference between the free samples offered by HBO (not poisoned) and the regular shows downloaded without HBO's consent over bittorrent (poisoned). Equating the two propositions hints that the latter should be allowed since the former is.
No, I think he was equating horrible movies/tv show samples with "poison poo spray painted yellow.", not bittorrent.
He's saying that he'll be even more inclined to buy a product if the free samples given out are good, and aren't the usual crap(Hollywood); that's it not JUST the existence of free samples that matters in trying to make a sale, but more the quality of them and of the product they represent.
Our spy from the Council Chambers has apparently been caught and executed. When asked about it, K'Breel denied any knowledge, but did comment that all spies from the Third Planet had finally been found.
Rumor has it that TripMaster Monkey, one of the reporters who regularly attend the Chambers, could not be found anywhere in his regular haunts. Martian authorities are investigating.
Why would terrorists bother with the time and expense? It's much easier for them to simply strap the weapon into a backpack or suitcase and have someone hand deliver it. It's not like they have a shortage of volunteers.
Neither can these rockets reach across thousands of miles - hell, not even Saddam managed to do that, and he threw shitloads of money at the problem.
Besides which, if the terrorist groups already have access to the technology and resources to build such a thing, they'd be doing it already, and we're screwed.
I do agree with your point about how this could be viewed by our current law enforcement, however...
Actually where I see Carmack's research being important is in small engine design for inter-LEO craft and lunar sub-orbital vehicles. Maybe by the time we need it - if we get that far - he'll have something that we can use.
You are right of course; I meant casualties, not lives. That's what I get for posting in a hurry.
Please note that what I said about mainland invasion losses were some of the estimates I've seen. As to the Japanese being defeated, you may want to read this http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfib/courses/Fussell.pdf which echoes things I've read elsewhere as well.
I won't deny that there are all kinds of criticisms of both sides of this argument; but not one of the veterans I've spoken to over the years who served at that end of the Pacific in the summer of '45 believe that the Japanese were ready to surrender.
Anyway, I don't have time to argue this... let the historians battle it out:)
It certainly would have. Most of the estimates I've seen of the invasion of Japan ranged from half a million to a million or more Americans dead, two to three times that number Japanese military, and civilian casualties numbering perhaps close to the same. The article in question underscores the fact that JAPAN WAS NOT CONSIDERING SURRENDER A VIABLE OPTION.
NOT including occupation and subjugation, which might possibly have taken decades. We must remember that, unlike Germany, we had not actually set foot on Japanese homeland soil, and judging from our experiences in our advance across the Pacific, the Japanese were not willing to consider surrender individually, much less as a nation.
It's so damned easy for a lot of morons to say "atomic bombs are horrible, we shouldn't have used them"* while they seem ignorant of just what was happening at the time. Truman made a hideously difficult decision that turned out to be the right one.
Let's just hope that it never, EVER becomes necessary to repeat that.
These anniversaries are there to reflect on whether it is wise to point 1000s of these with a much higher capacity against each other, in 'alert' mode.
I don't think that even the old Soviet Union considered it "wise" to do so.
Your comment about "whoever was 'right'" is well said; but I'll note that at the time, it was pretty clear. We didn't start that war, but it was necessary to finish it, and ensure that Japan could never launch anything like it again. 'Right' has little to do with it.
I do have to admit that I loved a lot of your posts, and am in complete agreement about "fluffy subjective philosophy":) Not a philosopher myself,and didn't pay much attention to it in school, but I understand much of it and the difference between objective and subjective as applied to. Then again I've usually been practical to the point of fanaticism - that may explain why I'm so damned good at fixing things:)
More of the former and less of the latter and perhaps this world would be a much more peaceful place...
more appropriate to a coffeehouse in Amsterdam than a course of study or discourse.
Or various requirements in American university study - unfortunately. Most of the irrationality in the world cannot be explained away thru overindulgence in THC. If that were true, then there would be much insanity we could stop simply by denying them their habitual joint, eh?
I don't think I have to point out that most of the recent idiocy in the world has been perpetuated by cold stone sober people? (well, they CLAIM to be...)
Slashdot Mirror
Don't you know that Slashdot standard sizes only come in "Libraries of Congress" for data, and "VW Bugs" for things that come from, or go up into space?
Not anymore
SB
In a couple of the large apartment buildings I've worked in/lived in, I've often misinterpreted the sound of water gurgling thru pipes as being human speech. If it's muted enough by distance and obstacles it can sound a lot like two people talking on the other side of a wall. Same sort of thing, the mind tends to "fill in the blanks". (Once I caught one of the more eerie noises on a tape deck and when played back they sounded like... water gurgling thru pipes
Cheers,
SB
Excellent! But don't you have a little time discrepancy in there? :)
SB
Jealous? :)
:)
Hey, I was playing D&D in 1983. Don't that count? *g*
News Flash: Ballmer discovers MMORPGs, and vows that he won't give up the fight until he's throw a virutal chair at a troll
SB
Ballmer's first MMORPG session?
SB
Metaphorical stools make Ballmer king of the dungpile.
SB
Not to mention that projects such as googleprint that can help direct researchers to relevant printed works will help advance research...
SB
That's why HBO has no legal right to take matters into their own hands.
:)
;)
They don't, but I'd rather see them fighting on this turf than the legislative/politician procurement level. They can't compete with a planetfull of hackers. On this turf it's more equally matched, so to speak.
(Should'a been one of Clarke's laws (or maybe Heinleins) - "No matter how good you are at designing something, somebody else can improve on it. "
I don't like the implications of what HBO is doing, either. But to some degree, it's better than the alternative
SB
HBO doesn't yet understand that the real money is to be made in licensing - DVDs, soundtracks, decorative "Rome" wall hangings, what have you.
George Lucas...
SB
Google for "bsa campfire songs copyright ascap" and consider that's it's technically a crime that violates state borders.
Copyright is Federal law, not state law.
SB
Amazing to me nowadays that people even have to argue whether stealing a partial file is still stealing.
It's still legal under Fair Use to photocopy an article out of a magazine at the library, you twit.
SB
Mod parent and GP up if you would. Good points.
SB
That's a funny distinction you make, since advertising's entire purpose is to whet a customer's appetite for a product or service in exactly the same manner you claim a "sample" is supposed to. You're splitting hairs because you didn't get a big enough sample. But hey, that doesn't mean you can't be accommodated. As others have mentioned, HBO has been sending out free DVDs of the entire first episode.
:) Ad != sample. (although semantically a "clip" contains both ads and samples, but whatever)
Quality vs. quantity. I agree with him - rather than a lot of micro-clips highlighting the good parts of a show, I'd rather see actual samples of the show - random ones would be best. All too often I've seen an ad and thought "hey, that looks great" only to find out after I bought/rented it that it's a lot of crap interspersed with a few minutes of good scenes.
It's like a grocer giving out samples of the best cheese but only selling the worst cheese. That's what he meant by "clip vs. sample". Whether or not it was dictionary/thesaurus correct or whatever, I don't care
Now, you will argue that having a direct download is more convenient, and that may be. But the fact remains that you are confusing "getting a sample" with "taking the whole block of cheese" -- it has nothing to do with the issue at hand (i.e., HBO poisoning the BitTorrent downloads of those who try to take the whole block of cheese without paying).
No, he's talking about the concept of viral marketing vs. what Hollywood and the music industry has been trying. The latter have, so far, been extraordinarily dumb about the marketing potential of the internet.
SB
>That is, of course, if the free "cheese" they give me isn't really a pile of poison poo spray painted yellow. I really hate when that happens.
By writing this sentence as a part of your whole cheese-HBO analogy, you chose to blur the difference between the free samples offered by HBO (not poisoned) and the regular shows downloaded without HBO's consent over bittorrent (poisoned). Equating the two propositions hints that the latter should be allowed since the former is.
No, I think he was equating horrible movies/tv show samples with "poison poo spray painted yellow.", not bittorrent.
He's saying that he'll be even more inclined to buy a product if the free samples given out are good, and aren't the usual crap(Hollywood); that's it not JUST the existence of free samples that matters in trying to make a sale, but more the quality of them and of the product they represent.
SB
Our spy from the Council Chambers has apparently been caught and executed. When asked about it, K'Breel denied any knowledge, but did comment that all spies from the Third Planet had finally been found.
Rumor has it that TripMaster Monkey, one of the reporters who regularly attend the Chambers, could not be found anywhere in his regular haunts. Martian authorities are investigating.
Perhaps we'll find K'Breel's Council Chamber at last...
SB
folding
You misspelled "bluff"
In other news, Darl is not a poker player...
SB
Why would terrorists bother with the time and expense? It's much easier for them to simply strap the weapon into a backpack or suitcase and have someone hand deliver it. It's not like they have a shortage of volunteers.
Neither can these rockets reach across thousands of miles - hell, not even Saddam managed to do that, and he threw shitloads of money at the problem.
Besides which, if the terrorist groups already have access to the technology and resources to build such a thing, they'd be doing it already, and we're screwed.
I do agree with your point about how this could be viewed by our current law enforcement, however...
Actually where I see Carmack's research being important is in small engine design for inter-LEO craft and lunar sub-orbital vehicles. Maybe by the time we need it - if we get that far - he'll have something that we can use.
SB
You are right of course; I meant casualties, not lives. That's what I get for posting in a hurry.
Please note that what I said about mainland invasion losses were some of the estimates I've seen. As to the Japanese being defeated, you may want to read this http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfib/courses/Fussell.pdf which echoes things I've read elsewhere as well.
I won't deny that there are all kinds of criticisms of both sides of this argument; but not one of the veterans I've spoken to over the years who served at that end of the Pacific in the summer of '45 believe that the Japanese were ready to surrender.
Anyway, I don't have time to argue this... let the historians battle it out
SB
Okinawa alone cost 50,000 American and 200,000 Japanese lives - and it wasn't even part of the mainland.
Just before the bombs dropped we were losing 7,000 men *a week*. Wonder how long it would have taken to subjugate all the main islands?
SB
It certainly would have. Most of the estimates I've seen of the invasion of Japan ranged from half a million to a million or more Americans dead, two to three times that number Japanese military, and civilian casualties numbering perhaps close to the same. The article in question underscores the fact that JAPAN WAS NOT CONSIDERING SURRENDER A VIABLE OPTION.
NOT including occupation and subjugation, which might possibly have taken decades. We must remember that, unlike Germany, we had not actually set foot on Japanese homeland soil, and judging from our experiences in our advance across the Pacific, the Japanese were not willing to consider surrender individually, much less as a nation.
It's so damned easy for a lot of morons to say "atomic bombs are horrible, we shouldn't have used them"* while they seem ignorant of just what was happening at the time. Truman made a hideously difficult decision that turned out to be the right one.
Let's just hope that it never, EVER becomes necessary to repeat that.
SB
* Duh.
These anniversaries are there to reflect on whether it is wise to point 1000s of these with a much higher capacity against each other, in 'alert' mode.
I don't think that even the old Soviet Union considered it "wise" to do so.
Your comment about "whoever was 'right'" is well said; but I'll note that at the time, it was pretty clear. We didn't start that war, but it was necessary to finish it, and ensure that Japan could never launch anything like it again. 'Right' has little to do with it.
SB
I do have to admit that I loved a lot of your posts, and am in complete agreement about "fluffy subjective philosophy"
More of the former and less of the latter and perhaps this world would be a much more peaceful place...
Sigh..
Cheers!
SB
What part of Tongue In Cheek do you not understand? :)
Sb
more appropriate to a coffeehouse in Amsterdam than a course of study or discourse.
;)
Or various requirements in American university study - unfortunately. Most of the irrationality in the world cannot be explained away thru overindulgence in THC. If that were true, then there would be much insanity we could stop simply by denying them their habitual joint, eh?
I don't think I have to point out that most of the recent idiocy in the world has been perpetuated by cold stone sober people? (well, they CLAIM to be...)
*grin*
Cheers... I think
SB