I remember there was a teeny pen on a swiss army knife I owned. That thing was completely useless. You could attempt to write with it, but your hands cramped up almost instantly. That's probably the reason you don't see a lot of swiss army knives with pens as attachments nowdays.
I understand your point, but that is a bad example. The pen in the Swiss Army Knife wasn't meant for everyday usage. You use it when you need a pen but forgot one, such as at the ATM making a deposit. The pen is still apart of many different Swiss Army Knife models. For a good reason too, you never know when you might need a pen even if it is a crappy one.
Sen. Hatch broke this mold for a second and actually stated a strong personal opinion, and he gets nailed for it. I'll bet if you were to have an honest talk with any national representative in private you would find that they hold a very strong opinion on something--but because of the way our political system works, they have to water their opinions down for the masses.
I doubt that this his own opinion. Politicians generally do things to please their constituents, even if they don't agree with them personally. They will go through motions of doing something, like sponsoring bills their constituents want but have another Senator kill the bill. He's also the chairman of the Committee of Judiciary which means he has the clout to push things through subcommittees. My guess is that RIAA and MPAA are lobbying (bribing) heavily for legislation to implement technology to destroy file trader's computers and he is trying to please them with his hardline stance on the issue.
This leaves bluetooth with another thin market segment - connecting cellphones to PCs. Again, cheap fast cables, IRDA, and proprietary RF solutions all own this space, and again bluetooth isn't compelling enough to displace them.
Had this article come up a month ago I would have agreed with you, but after purchasing a new cellphone (Sony Ericsson T68i) I would have to disagree with this point. My new cellphone is capable of using images for wallpapers. Unfortunately, I don't own a laptop or any other device with a IRda port. So I looked into purchasing a IRda port for my desktop, $40. Seems a bit expensive for a piece of outdated technology. I could purchase a cable to connect my phone directly to my desktop (USB or RS-232), but the cables run about $40 as well. The USB cable has an upside of being able to charge my phone while connected to my computer. But then again, I can only use this $40 cable for my phone. Since my phone is bluetooth enabled I took a look at BT adapters. BINGO, only $30 for a BT USB adapter. It's cheaper, and faster than a IRda adapter and it has the potential for other uses besides my phone (keyboard, mouse, etc)
A bit offtopic but there are no self-serve pumps in Oregon. They have some ridiculous law to prevent consumers from the dangers of pumping their own gas. www.wspa.org If they want to increase tax revenue and make gas prices cheaper they should can all the gas monkeys(Read- No more mandatory full service), open up some self-serve pumps with increased taxes. Unless of course people of Oregon can't pump their own gas safely and would prefer to have their milelage tracked by Big Brother.... There goes the marijuana industry in Oregon.
Worried about cellphone radiation? What about all radio stations and TV stations pumping out 50,000watts of crap through the airwaves. Better not fly either, there are studies into increased exposure to "cosmic radiation" while flying (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/380274.stm)
Better bust out the lead paint and paint yourself a protective suit
So this means that I can sell a copy of Ender's Game (Great book by Orson Scott Card, btw) on Ebay (Since I bought it) when I'm done. But since the shower scene was disturbing, I ripped those 5 pages out. So now I can't sell it?
No, you can sell your copy or as many copies of the book you purchased and altered. What you can't do is take the other 320 pages and publish a different version of the book without the consent of the author or publisher. If Clean Flicks were taking DVDs and scratching the surface of the disc to prevent viewing of certain scenes then they could do it all they want and be within their rights.
Hmm... you can't redistribute originals of the materials you buy? Did you check that out?
They go buy a tape. They edit that tape. They sell/rent that tape. Selling/Renting copies is not a factor here.
Personally, I'm squarely on the side of the rental store.
I think the problem here is that Clean Flicks never got the consent of the copyright holders to release a modified version of the movie. In essence they are redistributing bootleg versions of the movies.
On the other side of that token no one is forcing anyone to watch the original. If you find something objectionable then don't watch it. As an aspiring screenwriter/filmmaker I would take offense to someone chopping up my work. Filmmakers are trying to convey a story or an idea by evoking emotions in their audience. If someone cuts out scenes and dialog that they find offensive the message is changed. Take Reservoir Dogs for example. If you cut out all of the profanity and the violent scenes you would have a 10 second movie of 8 guys sitting in a diner drinking coffee.
A bit offtopic, but why has the responsibility of parenting fallen on the shoulders of others? If you feel that your children shouldn't watch something then don't let them. Movies are rated by the MPAA for a reason and the ratings censor what they deem inappropriate for certain audiences. Regardless, your children will probably learn about all the stuff you're trying to shield them from at school from their peers. And they should learn about them as they are a part of life, deal with it.
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I understand your point, but that is a bad example. The pen in the Swiss Army Knife wasn't meant for everyday usage. You use it when you need a pen but forgot one, such as at the ATM making a deposit. The pen is still apart of many different Swiss Army Knife models. For a good reason too, you never know when you might need a pen even if it is a crappy one.
I doubt that this his own opinion. Politicians generally do things to please their constituents, even if they don't agree with them personally. They will go through motions of doing something, like sponsoring bills their constituents want but have another Senator kill the bill. He's also the chairman of the Committee of Judiciary which means he has the clout to push things through subcommittees. My guess is that RIAA and MPAA are lobbying (bribing) heavily for legislation to implement technology to destroy file trader's computers and he is trying to please them with his hardline stance on the issue.
Had this article come up a month ago I would have agreed with you, but after purchasing a new cellphone (Sony Ericsson T68i) I would have to disagree with this point. My new cellphone is capable of using images for wallpapers. Unfortunately, I don't own a laptop or any other device with a IRda port. So I looked into purchasing a IRda port for my desktop, $40. Seems a bit expensive for a piece of outdated technology. I could purchase a cable to connect my phone directly to my desktop (USB or RS-232), but the cables run about $40 as well. The USB cable has an upside of being able to charge my phone while connected to my computer. But then again, I can only use this $40 cable for my phone. Since my phone is bluetooth enabled I took a look at BT adapters. BINGO, only $30 for a BT USB adapter. It's cheaper, and faster than a IRda adapter and it has the potential for other uses besides my phone (keyboard, mouse, etc)
A bit offtopic but there are no self-serve pumps in Oregon. They have some ridiculous law to prevent consumers from the dangers of pumping their own gas. www.wspa.org If they want to increase tax revenue and make gas prices cheaper they should can all the gas monkeys(Read- No more mandatory full service), open up some self-serve pumps with increased taxes. Unless of course people of Oregon can't pump their own gas safely and would prefer to have their milelage tracked by Big Brother.... There goes the marijuana industry in Oregon.
Worried about cellphone radiation? What about all radio stations and TV stations pumping out 50,000watts of crap through the airwaves. Better not fly either, there are studies into increased exposure to "cosmic radiation" while flying (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/380274.stm) Better bust out the lead paint and paint yourself a protective suit
No, you can sell your copy or as many copies of the book you purchased and altered. What you can't do is take the other 320 pages and publish a different version of the book without the consent of the author or publisher. If Clean Flicks were taking DVDs and scratching the surface of the disc to prevent viewing of certain scenes then they could do it all they want and be within their rights.
Hmm... you can't redistribute originals of the materials you buy? Did you check that out? They go buy a tape. They edit that tape. They sell/rent that tape. Selling/Renting copies is not a factor here. Personally, I'm squarely on the side of the rental store.
I think the problem here is that Clean Flicks never got the consent of the copyright holders to release a modified version of the movie. In essence they are redistributing bootleg versions of the movies.
A bit offtopic, but why has the responsibility of parenting fallen on the shoulders of others? If you feel that your children shouldn't watch something then don't let them. Movies are rated by the MPAA for a reason and the ratings censor what they deem inappropriate for certain audiences. Regardless, your children will probably learn about all the stuff you're trying to shield them from at school from their peers. And they should learn about them as they are a part of life, deal with it.