G.W.B. is so scripted and stage managed that I have to assume it's intentional, and they let him continue to mispronounce the word. It makes him seem folksy and down-to-earth. This is a large part of his appeal. Though the fact that so many people seem to have the same standards for president that they do for a drinking buddy is troubling.
I feel that this is a grey area as far as stealing is concerned. P2P certainly stretches fair use. Up until recently "piracy" really meant bootlegging; ie. copying something and selling it illegally. There is no financial transaction involved with P2P however. Fair use terms have always stipulated that I can give away a recording, but not sell it. This is why I say that P2P stretches fair use. I'm sure that the writers of copyright law did not forsee Kazaa.
I understand that the record companies feel that this causes them to lose sales, and in some cases I'm sure they are correct. But the other day, for example, I downloaded "Come on Eileen" by Dexies Midnight Runners (I'm a child of the 80's, what can I say). This does not represent a lost sale. There's no way I would have gone out and bought a disk with that song on it even if I could find one. It's not worth that much to me. I probably would have asked friends if they had a copy. So what have the record companies lost in this case? Nothing. So did I really steal it? Or was it given to me (albeit by someone I do not know)? This is why I say it is a grey area. There is no question that some people are grabbing whole albums that they ought to pay for. But am I,or should I really be a criminal?
At the same time, I agree with the second half of your post, especially the last paragraph, and I think that Apple may be on to something. I use Macs at home and I can't wait to pay for music! The reason is that it is quick and easy and painless. And you get higher quality tracks than you generally get on P2P. But this is the way to do it. Offer a superior product and people will pay for it. It was pointed out to me that many people can get free coffee at their office, but they still go to Starbucks.
Finally, if you browbeat people into doing things your way, they will only do it so long as you are watching. As soon as the cat is away the mice will play. This is not real change, and it is not stable. It's just intimidation. The RIAA needs to stop taking itself for granted. On a purely visceral level I just don't have sympathy for rich people whining about how they aren't getting richer. Okay, I'll stop ranting...
This is not an entirely fair comparison. These two laptops use different batteries. I have found that the difference in battery life between the A series and the 600 series (and the T series for that matter) is significant. I attributed this to the difference in batteries. I have not taken them apart, but I believe there are more or different cells in the A series batteries. My old A20 got about the same battery life as you describe, but my current T21 won't even make it through a 90 minute DVD. Really, if folks want battery life, get a Mac! Sorry, just hadda get that in:-P
Re:That is not the only issue at stake here
on
Microsoft takes on PDF
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Your PC not having Acrobat reader went on for years?! It's a free download! I have not found PDF to be inconvenient on the PC. Yes, you need the reader app, but otherwise it works pretty well. All you're doing is opening a file after all. OS 9 needed add on software too. Really, it's not PDF that's a pain, it's the PC.;-P
Ok, really, how much time have you spent with X? It f***ing rocks. OSX kicks the hell out of OS9. And with Jaguar alot of my favorite features are back (eg. Spring loaded folders, a working zoom feature). You can even get X to function much like 9 with HDD's on the desktop and all that. Though I find the Home directory model to be very useful.
I love alternatives to IE! I use Omniweb myself. Why? It's fast!! Netscape has always been so dog slow it's intolerable. If 7 is in any way speedy, I'll check it out.
This is absolutely correct. Whether one is stealing music or not is beside the point. What this amounts to is the police (or some authority figure) doing door to door searches just to make sure people are not breaking the law. Would the original poster be ok with this? Really? If so, I think they need to think it through a bit more.
"It is irresponsible to sell a product in a way that can be so easily misused by a customer in a way that jeopardizes their confidential and proprietary and sensitive information," Clarke said.
In that case, you'd think they would go after Microsoft with a little more gusto!
;-)
After reading the article, I'm not sure what he finds so bad about the GUI. His first point is that the GUI "sits there" while a command prompt would flash. C'mon, a GUI gives you all kinds of stuff to click on. And the GUI at least gives you a hint. With a plain command prompt I don't know what to type! Windows even prompts you to click on the Start button. The second point made revolves around the interface being pleasant. While this is a subjective measure, I would agree that "pleasant" would not be the word I use to describe working with Windows. I would also not describe any Linux desktops as pleasant either, though I have only tried KDE and Gnome. Frankly I find Mac OSX to be quite pleasant, though I'm probably biased. Thirdly, the author proposes that computers have not gotten much smarter or brighter in the past 20 years. I may not understand his meaning, as the extent to which computers and the computing experience has improved seems vast and obvious to me. All of this is not to say that there is not room for improvement in computer interfaces, but I don't see the need for anything revolutionary.
It is true that there are not as many software titles for Mac as for Windows. However, I have always owned only Macs (I support Windows for a living) and I have never had an instance where I could not find software to suit my needs. Games are the exception, but between Quake and Wolfenstein, I don't have time for much else. For what the article author wants to use his computer for, Macintosh would be a fine choice. Besides, anyone considering Linux is obviously not concerned with massive software support. On the hardware support point, I must disagree. Macs use all standard interfaces. I can hook up video and audio capture cards, external drives, 3D accelerators, etc. And talk about having them "just work"! Windows is still plug n' pray, though it has improved. This fellow in the article may not want to buy new hardware and all that, but I think that OSX would be quite enjoyable for him.
I have the 10GB version, and I filled it immediately. I have about 30GB of music on my hard drive (most of it legit) so I had to make choices! It's just nice to have music with me to suit my mood, no matter what it is! I'm glad to see that Windows software is out for the iPod. It's the best MP3 player around.
I would LOVE pay per view shows! Ala Carte TV! No ads, and you have total control over what you watch, and what your kids watch! At home anyway. Then maybe we'd see some real competition and better programming.
I love it (read hate it) when Micro$oft uses the argument that closed source is more secure than open. It's just not true. What is going to find more vunerabilities; a team of testing engineers or a whole world of programmers and attackers? The latter of course. This is the point Micro$oft makes, but they don't take it any further. The list of known vulnerabilities may be greater for open source software. But just because a vulnerability is not known doesn't mean it doen't exist! Basically, you get much better QA with everyone able to look at the code than with only M$'s people looking at it.
"I'm glad to see some of the big players in the tech industry are standing up for consumers."
See, that's what makes me nervous. Intel is not standing up for consumers. They are standing up for their own business interests, as I would expect them to do. It's just that in this case their goals fall in line with those of consumers. The article states that someone with a vested interest in the public good (not the bottom line) should stand up for consumers and the public in general. Last I checked, that was supposed to be Congress! I'm sure I remember something about Of the people, by the people and for the people. And I don't buy any of this What's-good-for-business-is-good-for-society trickle down crap either.
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G.W.B. is so scripted and stage managed that I have to assume it's intentional, and they let him continue to mispronounce the word. It makes him seem folksy and down-to-earth. This is a large part of his appeal. Though the fact that so many people seem to have the same standards for president that they do for a drinking buddy is troubling.
I understand that the record companies feel that this causes them to lose sales, and in some cases I'm sure they are correct. But the other day, for example, I downloaded "Come on Eileen" by Dexies Midnight Runners (I'm a child of the 80's, what can I say). This does not represent a lost sale. There's no way I would have gone out and bought a disk with that song on it even if I could find one. It's not worth that much to me. I probably would have asked friends if they had a copy. So what have the record companies lost in this case? Nothing. So did I really steal it? Or was it given to me (albeit by someone I do not know)? This is why I say it is a grey area. There is no question that some people are grabbing whole albums that they ought to pay for. But am I,or should I really be a criminal?
At the same time, I agree with the second half of your post, especially the last paragraph, and I think that Apple may be on to something. I use Macs at home and I can't wait to pay for music! The reason is that it is quick and easy and painless. And you get higher quality tracks than you generally get on P2P. But this is the way to do it. Offer a superior product and people will pay for it. It was pointed out to me that many people can get free coffee at their office, but they still go to Starbucks.
Finally, if you browbeat people into doing things your way, they will only do it so long as you are watching. As soon as the cat is away the mice will play. This is not real change, and it is not stable. It's just intimidation. The RIAA needs to stop taking itself for granted. On a purely visceral level I just don't have sympathy for rich people whining about how they aren't getting richer. Okay, I'll stop ranting...
Aw c'mon! Minesweeper on the can is better than the paper! ;-P
Perhaps because Opera rulez. It has features that IE does not. I am using it now! JMHO.
This is not an entirely fair comparison. These two laptops use different batteries. I have found that the difference in battery life between the A series and the 600 series (and the T series for that matter) is significant. I attributed this to the difference in batteries. I have not taken them apart, but I believe there are more or different cells in the A series batteries. My old A20 got about the same battery life as you describe, but my current T21 won't even make it through a 90 minute DVD. Really, if folks want battery life, get a Mac! Sorry, just hadda get that in :-P
Unkind Bud? ;-)
Your PC not having Acrobat reader went on for years?! It's a free download! I have not found PDF to be inconvenient on the PC. Yes, you need the reader app, but otherwise it works pretty well. All you're doing is opening a file after all. OS 9 needed add on software too. Really, it's not PDF that's a pain, it's the PC. ;-P
By making an SUV. Does Jeep make a sports car?
n/t = No Text NT = New Technology, but it still sucks
You left out cynical, self-righteous and judgemental...
Kewl. From the looks of things we need a good Stalinist purge! Purge!!
Ok, really, how much time have you spent with X? It f***ing rocks. OSX kicks the hell out of OS9. And with Jaguar alot of my favorite features are back (eg. Spring loaded folders, a working zoom feature). You can even get X to function much like 9 with HDD's on the desktop and all that. Though I find the Home directory model to be very useful.
I love alternatives to IE! I use Omniweb myself. Why? It's fast!! Netscape has always been so dog slow it's intolerable. If 7 is in any way speedy, I'll check it out.
Heh, I think it's pretty clear that they don't understand much beyond how to tally campaign contributions.
This is absolutely correct. Whether one is stealing music or not is beside the point. What this amounts to is the police (or some authority figure) doing door to door searches just to make sure people are not breaking the law. Would the original poster be ok with this? Really? If so, I think they need to think it through a bit more.
After reading the article, I'm not sure what he finds so bad about the GUI. His first point is that the GUI "sits there" while a command prompt would flash. C'mon, a GUI gives you all kinds of stuff to click on. And the GUI at least gives you a hint. With a plain command prompt I don't know what to type! Windows even prompts you to click on the Start button. The second point made revolves around the interface being pleasant. While this is a subjective measure, I would agree that "pleasant" would not be the word I use to describe working with Windows. I would also not describe any Linux desktops as pleasant either, though I have only tried KDE and Gnome. Frankly I find Mac OSX to be quite pleasant, though I'm probably biased. Thirdly, the author proposes that computers have not gotten much smarter or brighter in the past 20 years. I may not understand his meaning, as the extent to which computers and the computing experience has improved seems vast and obvious to me. All of this is not to say that there is not room for improvement in computer interfaces, but I don't see the need for anything revolutionary.
Quicktime Pro can do that. I don't think the free (as in beer) version does.
Wise guy...
It is true that there are not as many software titles for Mac as for Windows. However, I have always owned only Macs (I support Windows for a living) and I have never had an instance where I could not find software to suit my needs. Games are the exception, but between Quake and Wolfenstein, I don't have time for much else. For what the article author wants to use his computer for, Macintosh would be a fine choice. Besides, anyone considering Linux is obviously not concerned with massive software support. On the hardware support point, I must disagree. Macs use all standard interfaces. I can hook up video and audio capture cards, external drives, 3D accelerators, etc. And talk about having them "just work"! Windows is still plug n' pray, though it has improved. This fellow in the article may not want to buy new hardware and all that, but I think that OSX would be quite enjoyable for him.
I have the 10GB version, and I filled it immediately. I have about 30GB of music on my hard drive (most of it legit) so I had to make choices! It's just nice to have music with me to suit my mood, no matter what it is! I'm glad to see that Windows software is out for the iPod. It's the best MP3 player around.
I would LOVE pay per view shows! Ala Carte TV! No ads, and you have total control over what you watch, and what your kids watch! At home anyway. Then maybe we'd see some real competition and better programming.
I love it (read hate it) when Micro$oft uses the argument that closed source is more secure than open. It's just not true. What is going to find more vunerabilities; a team of testing engineers or a whole world of programmers and attackers? The latter of course. This is the point Micro$oft makes, but they don't take it any further. The list of known vulnerabilities may be greater for open source software. But just because a vulnerability is not known doesn't mean it doen't exist! Basically, you get much better QA with everyone able to look at the code than with only M$'s people looking at it.
Of course two wrongs make a right! We have the death penalty don't we? :P