Seriously, saying "bomb" in an airplane can pretty much land you in the can. You think that if they had actually DONE something they would have been let go after two hours? No way they would have gotten out if anything could have been pinned on them...
A disgruntled member of the Lagomorphics team sabotaged some key servers several months ago after he was caught stealing from the company; as awful as the thought is, we can't rule out the possibility of additional sabotage.
Seems to be quite possible that a previous admin did this. In this case, the only real backup would be something disconnected (and tested). Risk factors are otherwise still high:
a) RAID: Data overwrite, controller failure, PC failure,multiple disk failure, data corruption/RAM/drive issues, deliberate erasure, out-of-space related errors
b) RAID+backup disk: Controller failure, major hardware malfunction (power surge, explosion).
d) Off-site sync: Deliberate sabotage (privilaged user), which could be somewhat offset using a pull-based backup rather than a push (backup server having very limited access and none from the server being backed up). Can also be redundant servers in different locations
e) Permanent storage media: Even this could go bad if the tapes/disks/etc get damaged or demagnetized etc. Tape backups can also be slow'ish (incremental-differential backups a bit faster to do)
There is no silver bullet, but relying on just RAID ignores a huge number of potential failures, ESPECIALLY after existing issues with attempted sabotage. No as it was the database that was nuked and not necessarily the webserver/etc, I'd be interested in knowing what logs were in place and if there traces of sabotage. A login at an odd time, but a weird account, or by a script set to execute on say "01-01-2009 00:00:01" would be a good start.
Wonder if a data-recovery firm might be able to get something bad on a DB if it's just been erased. Might be easier than if it were actually overwritten with bad data...
Well, wouldn't have helped in that case, but likely the other four. In the case of the latter, I'm guessing that the speed wasn't appreciable compared to a while-driving collision.
Anyhow, personally I think the whole computer-compensation-for-user-responsibility concept is a little dumb anyhow. Really, the rear-ending is only going to occur in one of a few scenarios
a) Poor road conditions (computer can't help you)
b) Being cut-off (computer probably can't help you, at least not without getting *YOU* rear-ended)
c) Not paying attention and maintaining a safe-following distance
So really, the only situation this might help is (when the power is on) when a driver isn't paying attention to road-safety. Really, we should be moving poor drivers off the roads, not giving everyone extra gadgets to compensate which could cause other screwups. What happens if a car ahead stops short and there are several cars in close proximity to each other behind? What happens if one is a rig? Personally, I'd rather have no brakes and do the ditch-swerve than be crushed by the rig when the car auto-brakes.
Perhaps a happier middle ground would be something that dings or whatever when your safe following distance is too short, though even having that on would drive me nuts if it sounds off whenever some jackass cuts in front and cuts off my SFD.
I think I might have dated the same woman. She hated wearing a seatbelt, but for some reason would accept it if *I* buckled it for her. She also tried to bring her open beer into my car, insisting that if I really cared about her I wouldn't worry about a silly thing like roadside checks and fines, etc.
I've met the type a few times since. Some women like to request unreasonable things in order to have men "prove" how much they value them over common sense. I've seen guys do similar things though in different ways (acting unreasonable and demanding acceptance)...
It seems to me that gaming has pushed off from the shores of PC's sometime ago, and moved towards consoles. While in many cases I find it rather irritating, it's something I've come to accept.
There are a few things that PC's still have over consoles though:
a1) A mouse equivilent. I have the XB360 version of "Kane's Wrath" (c&c3, ep2) and PC version of "Tiberium wars" (c&c3 ep1) and the former is a horror to play b1) Resolution. While high-def 1028p TV's are becoming cheaper, they're still not common enough for consoles to push them as the primary output device, meaning that graphics/menus have to fit in a lower-def environment that doesn't necessarily work as well as a PC.
c1) Text Input: Keyboards can be really handy at times, although in many cases you can get addons that give similar functionality
d1) Shared screens: Becoming less of an issue now that consoles have more networking abilities, but it's still more common to see two PCs/laptops/etc than two consoles+TV's in the same house.
e1) Other than hacked-systems, can one develop for an Xbox/Wii/PS3 free? What's the cost of the API's, and what about the royalties (if any) on publishing for someone else's console?
But where consoles really shine is:
a2) Common hardware: You already know what's in it, what the limitations are (with some variance for peripherals such as TV or control add-ons).
b2) Cost: It's cheaper to get a gaming-centric console than a gaming PC... although again if you count in the cost of a high-def TV it starts to even up (but it's nicer to watch movies on the TV than vise-versa)
c3) Configuration: Along with (a), everything pretty much ready-to-go or configured by the manufacturer. NO driver issues.
So there are some advantages in either camp. Games like the MMO's and RTS are still a lot nicer on PC (and personally I prefer my FPS with a mouse too, but others seem to do well with a gamepad). Now, assuming that people are going to be buying PC's anyhow, (a2) and (c2) are the big hurdles for PC games that are hard to surmount. For the platforms, it seems like (e1) is going to the big issue for any homebrew or third-party games that don't want to go through the big-names.
Seems to me that the big barrier is graphics+soundcards and drivers.
As mentioned, memory isn't a big deal these days, but in the linux world being able to pop a disc in and play would be rather beneficial, and as nice as Ubuntu and others' hardware detection is, and driver-support has advanced, it's not quite there yet... ESPECIALLY on newer hardware.
Having to configure Xorg, a soundcard driver, or having other issues such as with my recent laptop where (at the time I bought it) ACPI was messed up and would force a shutdown due to poor CPU-temperature detection... it's not really going to fly.
Excessive amounts of money are not a requirement to a good game, nor are they a guarantee of success. The same applies to many other entertainment industries as well.
Art + other assets would seem also to be a good way to still make money from an open-source project. If the engine is out, anyone can modify it, and technically anyone could copy it too, but you can't just rip off the entire game and redistribute/resell it as the art is still copyrighted.
That means that end-users get a game that they can tweak, fix up, and continue to expand/use if the parent company has abandoned it, but those that made it can still - in theory - also sell the game itself and made money off it.
How about everyone comes through quickly - person by person - enters a bomb-proof enclosure, and is subjected to measures that would set off about 99% of bombs for premature detonation.
Maybe every 1 in 1,000,000 times you might get a *whoomph* followed by the need for a clean-up crew and a dust-bin, while renders the room unavailable for a time and everyone else has to go through the other enclosures, but it'd still be faster and more effective than the current methods:-)
While there may be some overlap, the female members of group(s) that are against the display of breasts in public are quite likely to be the same that would bitch about breastfeeding in public.
Seriously, how many guys do you know that would bitch about boobs in public? The only time it's ever bothered me was when I saw a cute baby, went to look closer, and got the dirty look because he was apparently attached to a boob at the time (a bit embarrassing, but it's fairly natural for people to peek at cute babies, especially those planning their own future parenthood).
At this point though, it seems more a case of law (many states/provinces legally permit breastfeeding in public, and in fact rules against such are illegal) than a case of my values or even yours.
Years back I broke my ankle and had it screwed together for awhile. The screws are out now, but I've got them saved in a container and - other than the material - they really don't seem much different from those in my shop.
So was there some doctor who moonlighted as a carpenter, and one day looked at a broken, out-of-place bone... then at his workbench wood-projects... then back at the bone.
Even today, looking at the X-ray of those screws firmly drilled through my bones gives me a bit of a creepy feeling, but I can't really complain about the results as the bones firmly knit themselves back together in the right positions.
This won't work so well in summer hurricanes, but in winter we Canadians have a good solution to overfull fridges/freezers or power-loss situations that keeps the essentials at a nice frosty temperature.
Why would you even mention this? Fuses cost $5, and a penny costs $0.01, and the cheap bastard that owned my house before me went with the latter when he blew fuses... in a room that was filled with dryer lint. The pennies actually had severe scorch marks and one was almost burned through when I caught it, and had the box replaced with a breaker.
Despite good intentions, and the warning, it's best to not give out the illegal way and just have people do things properly, because invariably somebody will miss a step, hurting themselves or even others.
Gas taxes overall are a messed-up concept. In BC, Canada, the major city of Vancouver already had gas taxes which is supposed to pay for transit infrastructure, etc.
Now the provincial gov't has introduced an ever-increasing tax (+$0.03 this year) on the whole province, but there doesn't seem to be any plan on *WHERE* this money goes, though most guess it to be paying off part of the extreme costs involved in hosting the next olympics...
So those in a city with good transportation are at an advantage, whereas those with crappy public transportation *must* drive.
Seems that a proper system would reassign a good slice of the tax to creating better transit infrastructure, etc and thus reducing the people's need on private transport, or perhaps at overall pollution-reduction strategies, but so far most have marked the whole concept as another cash-grab.
I think that in this case part of the issue is physical, as it shouldn't be easy to just "flip a switch" and turn off an important machine.
I used to work in a company which had huge photocopiers which had what was basically a small PC running on a FOSS platform internally handling network printing, etc. You could hear the POST beep when it started up. Anyhoo, despite the huge number of warnings and notices posted NOT to hard power-off the machine (there was a software option for this) without consulting IT, users would regularly do so constantly. The printer would then have to FSCK on reboot, and impatient users would assume that it had frozen and power cycle it a few more times, ensuring that it was completely gibbled.
Eventually, we just ended up taping the door on the power switch shut, and putting the warning label over the tape. Users that ripped off the tape (and some STILL did) were given a rather low priority in the tech queue to have their screwed-up copiers fixed.
Actually, to be fair, it does happen in other professions in various methods.
For doctors, you get people who insist they need to be treated for "condition X", which they don't actually have. Alternately, you get people who don't take their medication properly, or refuse to take medication, etc.
Mechanics: plenty of people come in with PEBIAC (Problem exists between ignition and chair), people that bitch the cost of a superior part and then bitch again when the cheap one wears out quickly, etc
Electricians: People who have wired stuff themselves in an unsafe/against-code way, or want something wired thusly
From my friends in the above industries, I'd say that tech support personnel aren't the only ones dealing with such issues. They do, however, often get stuck with customers that a mechanic/doctor/electrician might have the option of simply refusing to service.
One of the things that still amazes me is how clever my grandparents can be in using their computer, and in some other ways how very stubborn and dumb.
They discovered on their own the wonders of internet radio, and found some stations serving up German ooompah music which they absolutely love. Pretty slick for some old folks having their first PC.
However, for months they would harass me about their internet connection/computer being *broken* whenever their radio station wouldn't come in. I tried to explain that sometimes sites (especially media sites) go down for maintenance, or reach their capacity, etc, and won't be available. However, these answers weren't acceptable to them, as the problem must be with the machine. This is, of course, despite the fact that all other sites worked, including other "internet radio" sites.
When I finally thought I had got the concept of the website being at fault through to them, they pointed out that the radio station (same station) worked fine when they pulled it through on their satellite/stereo...
I think it took another few months to explain that the satellite and internet were completely different services, but what I really wonder is why they would be insist on listening through their tinny computer speakers and not on the stereo in the first place.
The material cannot be deemed obscene unless it meets all three of the criteria of the Miller test for obscenity:
(a) whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest : not likely to be pass under most community standards
(b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law: also screwed unless a workaround on the comic vs real argument works
(c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value : pretty hard to pass an argument of artist value on this, likely not any political or scientific either
I think he's pretty must going to be nailed on the obscenity charges, unless he's got a really clever lawyer and some workarounds or loopholes...
Explain exactly how one can "view" something like child porn and not possess it?
Seems that possession is almost inherent in the viewing, at least when the internet is involved. If you've viewed it, it has likely been cached or saved somewhere on your computer, at least for awhile.
The only situation I could see a viewing-but-not-possession would be if you saw it in a happened-by situation, while in somebody else's possession, or perhaps if it was inadvertently sent to you (good luck proving that though).
There are many cases where "public attention" really isn't such a thing though. In this case it's likely against the RIAA's interests to have too might light shone upon the way they go about their lawsuits and legal threats, but there are all sorts of other cases where the weight of the accusations alone - or perhaps other private details that come along with them - make them best suited for a private environment.
While some accusations might not have much legal weight in terms of deciding a case, etc, they're often enough to ruin lives and reputations. There are also plenty of private "activities" that - while legal - are sometimes best kept private.
If the RIAA wanted to play hardball in regards to a public trial, I could see them doing things like including the whole contents of a shared folder in among the MP3's given for evidence. I wouldn't really see the lawyers in question of being above such tricks.
Maybe the next case will be presented like"Ladies and gentlemen. As you can see from the shared folder of the defendants' computer, `greatest hits of Britney Spears.mp3` is clearly outlined in between `enormous dog c*ck.avi` and `hentai an*l tentacle schoolgirls.mpg`, proving that the defendant is a dirty copyright infringer"
In other cases related to personal issues (divorce, sexual/relationship issues or others) such charges are really not something you want the public seeing, because even if they're not true (or not illegal) they're still enough to damage one's reputation.
Possibly what friends suggest, but actually it's more likely to be something that I've heard and liked. Increasingly, this is whatever has been online for free (demos), on internet radio, or possibly available through podcasts, etc.
Will you listen to all the samples on iTunes? Probably not. But a lot of online services offer "people who like X also listen to Y" type information, and these days that may lead away from the big boys and to some less well-known, but still well-followed band.
You're accusing the salt companies of being somewhat false in their advertising, but you're giving your mom bottles of isopropyl alcohol instead of perfume? While she might not smell it, I'm guessing that others around her do, and either way one is as false as the other.
I original came from BC, Canada. Lumber is a major market there, and is used both for construction materials and paper (pulp). The trees are re-planted regularly, but it can take quite awhile to regrow a forest.
The more recent issues arising were that the majority of trees being planted were a certain variety of pine that grew fairly fast and was easy to harvest again in the future.
Unfortunately, a plague of "pine beetles" hit the province and has been decimating forests, partly due to the fact that these trees were used in such abundance.
So even replanting has issues if not done correctly. Trees may be replaced, but it's not always quite the same as what was there before.
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Seriously, saying "bomb" in an airplane can pretty much land you in the can. You think that if they had actually DONE something they would have been let go after two hours? No way they would have gotten out if anything could have been pinned on them...
A disgruntled member of the Lagomorphics team sabotaged some key servers several months ago after he was caught stealing from the company; as awful as the thought is, we can't rule out the possibility of additional sabotage.
Seems to be quite possible that a previous admin did this. In this case, the only real backup would be something disconnected (and tested). Risk factors are otherwise still high:
a) RAID: Data overwrite, controller failure, PC failure,multiple disk failure, data corruption/RAM/drive issues, deliberate erasure, out-of-space related errors
b) RAID+backup disk: Controller failure, major hardware malfunction (power surge, explosion).
c) On-site sync: Site-wide catastrophe (explosion, flood,electrical surge, etc), network issues (usually temporary)
d) Off-site sync: Deliberate sabotage (privilaged user), which could be somewhat offset using a pull-based backup rather than a push (backup server having very limited access and none from the server being backed up). Can also be redundant servers in different locations
e) Permanent storage media: Even this could go bad if the tapes/disks/etc get damaged or demagnetized etc. Tape backups can also be slow'ish (incremental-differential backups a bit faster to do)
There is no silver bullet, but relying on just RAID ignores a huge number of potential failures, ESPECIALLY after existing issues with attempted sabotage. No as it was the database that was nuked and not necessarily the webserver/etc, I'd be interested in knowing what logs were in place and if there traces of sabotage. A login at an odd time, but a weird account, or by a script set to execute on say "01-01-2009 00:00:01" would be a good start.
Wonder if a data-recovery firm might be able to get something bad on a DB if it's just been erased. Might be easier than if it were actually overwritten with bad data...
Well, wouldn't have helped in that case, but likely the other four. In the case of the latter, I'm guessing that the speed wasn't appreciable compared to a while-driving collision.
Anyhow, personally I think the whole computer-compensation-for-user-responsibility concept is a little dumb anyhow. Really, the rear-ending is only going to occur in one of a few scenarios
a) Poor road conditions (computer can't help you)
b) Being cut-off (computer probably can't help you, at least not without getting *YOU* rear-ended)
c) Not paying attention and maintaining a safe-following distance
So really, the only situation this might help is (when the power is on) when a driver isn't paying attention to road-safety. Really, we should be moving poor drivers off the roads, not giving everyone extra gadgets to compensate which could cause other screwups. What happens if a car ahead stops short and there are several cars in close proximity to each other behind? What happens if one is a rig? Personally, I'd rather have no brakes and do the ditch-swerve than be crushed by the rig when the car auto-brakes.
Perhaps a happier middle ground would be something that dings or whatever when your safe following distance is too short, though even having that on would drive me nuts if it sounds off whenever some jackass cuts in front and cuts off my SFD.
They would if installed in the other person's car...
I think I might have dated the same woman. She hated wearing a seatbelt, but for some reason would accept it if *I* buckled it for her. She also tried to bring her open beer into my car, insisting that if I really cared about her I wouldn't worry about a silly thing like roadside checks and fines, etc.
I've met the type a few times since. Some women like to request unreasonable things in order to have men "prove" how much they value them over common sense. I've seen guys do similar things though in different ways (acting unreasonable and demanding acceptance)...
Good call in ditching her.
It seems to me that gaming has pushed off from the shores of PC's sometime ago, and moved towards consoles. While in many cases I find it rather irritating, it's something I've come to accept.
There are a few things that PC's still have over consoles though:
a1) A mouse equivilent. I have the XB360 version of "Kane's Wrath" (c&c3, ep2) and PC version of "Tiberium wars" (c&c3 ep1) and the former is a horror to play
b1) Resolution. While high-def 1028p TV's are becoming cheaper, they're still not common enough for consoles to push them as the primary output device, meaning that graphics/menus have to fit in a lower-def environment that doesn't necessarily work as well as a PC.
c1) Text Input: Keyboards can be really handy at times, although in many cases you can get addons that give similar functionality
d1) Shared screens: Becoming less of an issue now that consoles have more networking abilities, but it's still more common to see two PCs/laptops/etc than two consoles+TV's in the same house.
e1) Other than hacked-systems, can one develop for an Xbox/Wii/PS3 free? What's the cost of the API's, and what about the royalties (if any) on publishing for someone else's console?
But where consoles really shine is:
a2) Common hardware: You already know what's in it, what the limitations are (with some variance for peripherals such as TV or control add-ons).
b2) Cost: It's cheaper to get a gaming-centric console than a gaming PC... although again if you count in the cost of a high-def TV it starts to even up (but it's nicer to watch movies on the TV than vise-versa)
c3) Configuration: Along with (a), everything pretty much ready-to-go or configured by the manufacturer. NO driver issues.
So there are some advantages in either camp. Games like the MMO's and RTS are still a lot nicer on PC (and personally I prefer my FPS with a mouse too, but others seem to do well with a gamepad). Now, assuming that people are going to be buying PC's anyhow, (a2) and (c2) are the big hurdles for PC games that are hard to surmount. For the platforms, it seems like (e1) is going to the big issue for any homebrew or third-party games that don't want to go through the big-names.
Seems to me that the big barrier is graphics+soundcards and drivers.
As mentioned, memory isn't a big deal these days, but in the linux world being able to pop a disc in and play would be rather beneficial, and as nice as Ubuntu and others' hardware detection is, and driver-support has advanced, it's not quite there yet... ESPECIALLY on newer hardware.
Having to configure Xorg, a soundcard driver, or having other issues such as with my recent laptop where (at the time I bought it) ACPI was messed up and would force a shutdown due to poor CPU-temperature detection... it's not really going to fly.
Excessive amounts of money are not a requirement to a good game, nor are they a guarantee of success. The same applies to many other entertainment industries as well.
Art + other assets would seem also to be a good way to still make money from an open-source project. If the engine is out, anyone can modify it, and technically anyone could copy it too, but you can't just rip off the entire game and redistribute/resell it as the art is still copyrighted.
That means that end-users get a game that they can tweak, fix up, and continue to expand/use if the parent company has abandoned it, but those that made it can still - in theory - also sell the game itself and made money off it.
How about everyone comes through quickly - person by person - enters a bomb-proof enclosure, and is subjected to measures that would set off about 99% of bombs for premature detonation.
Maybe every 1 in 1,000,000 times you might get a *whoomph* followed by the need for a clean-up crew and a dust-bin, while renders the room unavailable for a time and everyone else has to go through the other enclosures, but it'd still be faster and more effective than the current methods :-)
While there may be some overlap, the female members of group(s) that are against the display of breasts in public are quite likely to be the same that would bitch about breastfeeding in public.
Seriously, how many guys do you know that would bitch about boobs in public? The only time it's ever bothered me was when I saw a cute baby, went to look closer, and got the dirty look because he was apparently attached to a boob at the time (a bit embarrassing, but it's fairly natural for people to peek at cute babies, especially those planning their own future parenthood).
Does that mean that if I post a shirtless pic of myself (I don't, more to save my own modesty) on facebook that it should be considered nudity?
And BTW, I'm a guy...
How about if I'm a guy with gynecomastia?
At this point though, it seems more a case of law (many states/provinces legally permit breastfeeding in public, and in fact rules against such are illegal) than a case of my values or even yours.
Years back I broke my ankle and had it screwed together for awhile. The screws are out now, but I've got them saved in a container and - other than the material - they really don't seem much different from those in my shop.
So was there some doctor who moonlighted as a carpenter, and one day looked at a broken, out-of-place bone... then at his workbench wood-projects ... then back at the bone.
Even today, looking at the X-ray of those screws firmly drilled through my bones gives me a bit of a creepy feeling, but I can't really complain about the results as the bones firmly knit themselves back together in the right positions.
This won't work so well in summer hurricanes, but in winter we Canadians have a good solution to overfull fridges/freezers or power-loss situations that keeps the essentials at a nice frosty temperature.
Why would you even mention this? Fuses cost $5, and a penny costs $0.01, and the cheap bastard that owned my house before me went with the latter when he blew fuses... in a room that was filled with dryer lint. The pennies actually had severe scorch marks and one was almost burned through when I caught it, and had the box replaced with a breaker.
Despite good intentions, and the warning, it's best to not give out the illegal way and just have people do things properly, because invariably somebody will miss a step, hurting themselves or even others.
Gas taxes overall are a messed-up concept. In BC, Canada, the major city of Vancouver already had gas taxes which is supposed to pay for transit infrastructure, etc.
Now the provincial gov't has introduced an ever-increasing tax (+$0.03 this year) on the whole province, but there doesn't seem to be any plan on *WHERE* this money goes, though most guess it to be paying off part of the extreme costs involved in hosting the next olympics...
So those in a city with good transportation are at an advantage, whereas those with crappy public transportation *must* drive.
Seems that a proper system would reassign a good slice of the tax to creating better transit infrastructure, etc and thus reducing the people's need on private transport, or perhaps at overall pollution-reduction strategies, but so far most have marked the whole concept as another cash-grab.
I think that in this case part of the issue is physical, as it shouldn't be easy to just "flip a switch" and turn off an important machine.
I used to work in a company which had huge photocopiers which had what was basically a small PC running on a FOSS platform internally handling network printing, etc. You could hear the POST beep when it started up. Anyhoo, despite the huge number of warnings and notices posted NOT to hard power-off the machine (there was a software option for this) without consulting IT, users would regularly do so constantly. The printer would then have to FSCK on reboot, and impatient users would assume that it had frozen and power cycle it a few more times, ensuring that it was completely gibbled.
Eventually, we just ended up taping the door on the power switch shut, and putting the warning label over the tape. Users that ripped off the tape (and some STILL did) were given a rather low priority in the tech queue to have their screwed-up copiers fixed.
Actually, to be fair, it does happen in other professions in various methods.
For doctors, you get people who insist they need to be treated for "condition X", which they don't actually have. Alternately, you get people who don't take their medication properly, or refuse to take medication, etc.
Mechanics: plenty of people come in with PEBIAC (Problem exists between ignition and chair), people that bitch the cost of a superior part and then bitch again when the cheap one wears out quickly, etc
Electricians: People who have wired stuff themselves in an unsafe/against-code way, or want something wired thusly
From my friends in the above industries, I'd say that tech support personnel aren't the only ones dealing with such issues. They do, however, often get stuck with customers that a mechanic/doctor/electrician might have the option of simply refusing to service.
One of the things that still amazes me is how clever my grandparents can be in using their computer, and in some other ways how very stubborn and dumb.
They discovered on their own the wonders of internet radio, and found some stations serving up German ooompah music which they absolutely love. Pretty slick for some old folks having their first PC.
However, for months they would harass me about their internet connection/computer being *broken* whenever their radio station wouldn't come in. I tried to explain that sometimes sites (especially media sites) go down for maintenance, or reach their capacity, etc, and won't be available. However, these answers weren't acceptable to them, as the problem must be with the machine. This is, of course, despite the fact that all other sites worked, including other "internet radio" sites.
When I finally thought I had got the concept of the website being at fault through to them, they pointed out that the radio station (same station) worked fine when they pulled it through on their satellite/stereo...
I think it took another few months to explain that the satellite and internet were completely different services, but what I really wonder is why they would be insist on listening through their tinny computer speakers and not on the stereo in the first place.
Or this part...
The material cannot be deemed obscene unless it meets all three of the criteria of the Miller test for obscenity:
(a) whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest : not likely to be pass under most community standards
(b) whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law: also screwed unless a workaround on the comic vs real argument works
(c) whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value : pretty hard to pass an argument of artist value on this, likely not any political or scientific either
I think he's pretty must going to be nailed on the obscenity charges, unless he's got a really clever lawyer and some workarounds or loopholes...
Explain exactly how one can "view" something like child porn and not possess it?
Seems that possession is almost inherent in the viewing, at least when the internet is involved. If you've viewed it, it has likely been cached or saved somewhere on your computer, at least for awhile.
The only situation I could see a viewing-but-not-possession would be if you saw it in a happened-by situation, while in somebody else's possession, or perhaps if it was inadvertently sent to you (good luck proving that though).
There are many cases where "public attention" really isn't such a thing though. In this case it's likely against the RIAA's interests to have too might light shone upon the way they go about their lawsuits and legal threats, but there are all sorts of other cases where the weight of the accusations alone - or perhaps other private details that come along with them - make them best suited for a private environment.
While some accusations might not have much legal weight in terms of deciding a case, etc, they're often enough to ruin lives and reputations. There are also plenty of private "activities" that - while legal - are sometimes best kept private.
If the RIAA wanted to play hardball in regards to a public trial, I could see them doing things like including the whole contents of a shared folder in among the MP3's given for evidence. I wouldn't really see the lawyers in question of being above such tricks.
Maybe the next case will be presented like"Ladies and gentlemen. As you can see from the shared folder of the defendants' computer, `greatest hits of Britney Spears.mp3` is clearly outlined in between `enormous dog c*ck.avi` and `hentai an*l tentacle schoolgirls.mpg`, proving that the defendant is a dirty copyright infringer"
In other cases related to personal issues (divorce, sexual/relationship issues or others) such charges are really not something you want the public seeing, because even if they're not true (or not illegal) they're still enough to damage one's reputation.
Possibly what friends suggest, but actually it's more likely to be something that I've heard and liked. Increasingly, this is whatever has been online for free (demos), on internet radio, or possibly available through podcasts, etc.
Will you listen to all the samples on iTunes? Probably not. But a lot of online services offer
"people who like X also listen to Y" type information, and these days that may lead away from the big boys and to some less well-known, but still well-followed band.
You're accusing the salt companies of being somewhat false in their advertising, but you're giving your mom bottles of isopropyl alcohol instead of perfume? While she might not smell it, I'm guessing that others around her do, and either way one is as false as the other.
I original came from BC, Canada. Lumber is a major market there, and is used both for construction materials and paper (pulp). The trees are re-planted regularly, but it can take quite awhile to regrow a forest.
The more recent issues arising were that the majority of trees being planted were a certain variety of pine that grew fairly fast and was easy to harvest again in the future.
Unfortunately, a plague of "pine beetles" hit the province and has been decimating forests, partly due to the fact that these trees were used in such abundance.
So even replanting has issues if not done correctly. Trees may be replaced, but it's not always quite the same as what was there before.