The genie is long out of the bottle on music DRM and the record companies will never get their CD profits back.
I don't think that "DRM" and no "CD profits" go hand-in-hand. Simply stated, I think that most people are relatively honest. If the customer does not feel like they are getting screwed, they are happy to support their favorite bands. I remember back to 8-track days, so I was around at the rise of Napster, but I did not do that because I would rather support my favorite bands. I have a couple of bands right now that I would happily pay double what they ask if it meant that I would get new albums more often.
Of course, that depends on the "not getting screwed" part. If the listener feels like the label/artist is trying hard to prevent the customer/listener from enjoying the music, then things can get nasty. Does anybody remember paying $1 for a song, and $3 for a 20 seconds ringtone of the same song? Yeah, pay three times as much for one tenth of the song.
There are some who will download every track that they can find, but those people are not actually customers.
Funny. You speak like this has not already happened.
We have seen cases of people in private businesses being forced out not because of how well the run the company, but because of their private political view.
We have seen schools censor the "wrong kind" of political speech. This extends not only to students, but also to professors.
Thoughtcrime is a real crime these days. You have to fit in with the majority or you are ostracized.
Yes, considering the trigger happy US police threatening them with a shotgun is stupid. Just fire first, it's self defense.
Yeah, because confronted with stereotyping all members of a group as being the same, you have to combat this by portraying all members of a groups as being the same.
You do know that Gary Johnson is on the ballot in all 50 states, right?
What is country REALLY needs is an approval voting system: vote for as many candidates as you approve of. All of those "anybody but Trump" people would vote for Hillary and Johnson. All of those "anybody but Hillary" people would vote for Trump and Johnson, and suddenly a 3rd party becomes a very viable option.
You want to get mad at Trump for telling them to turn over the contents of Hillary's emails because they may contain classified information, but are not mad at Hillary for putting classified information in such a poorly-secured server such that the Russians having them is already likely? Does that about summarize it?
Democrats voted AGAINST two watered-down, NRA-approved control laws two days ago, and are now throwing a fit because they can't get gun control passed.
So, no loaf is better than half of a loaf?
It is called COMPROMISE. Explain to me how a watered-down bill is better than nothing.
Plus, is was "watered down" in order to establish some sort of BALANCE between safety and freedom.
If the Democrats are UNWILLING to COMPROMISE to find something mutually agreeable, they will never get anything passed.
Or the fact that space is LITERALLY littered with raw materials.
Oh really? Where? In near earth orbit, there are no other materials except for other satellites. The closest source of raw materials in space is the moon, and that is not exactly an economical place to get anything from.
Asteroids are rich in minerals, but getting there take on the order of years, and nobody has figured out the logistics yet.
How the hell do you know the decision wasn't driven by PayPal not wanting to do business under the terms imposed by a gang of barbaric homophobes stuck in the Dark Ages?
Well, maybe because PayPal still has a Saudi Arabia office, where homosexuality can carry the death penalty.
I don't care about DVD playback -- I use VideoLan for that -- that way I can skip previews.
What I do care about is the media center itself -- recording from four over-the-air tuners, getting program guide, etc. In other words, TIVO-like stuff.
Back around 1990 or so, I picked up a Tandy 6000 -- a system that used 8" floppies and ran Xenix (Microsoft version of Unix). There is nothing like booting a machine from a floppy almost the same size as typing paper (yes, we used to call it "typing paper" back then).
And while conservative fucktards all over the US get their panties in a knot over this nonsense, look what they ignore
Yeah, conservative "fucktards" worry about things more important. How is an obsolete non-networked computer a security hole? Even if an attacker managed to steal one of these floppies, how would he read it? When was the last time that you saw an 8" floppy drive?
Obsolete? Yes. Security hole? No.
You want Clinton in charge of our nuclear launch codes?
The study itself said "Asian American." People who came here directly from India and are not citizens have NO "American" in them, so they can't fall under that group. They would be just plain "Asian." Funny how I didn't see that category in the study.
For the record, I would happily spend more money on Zelda and Mario, except that the guys at Nintendo are a bunch of dicks.
I understand that Nintendo is worried about piracy, and rightly so, but their stance is one that I just cannot stand any more. Ever since the original Wii, they have tied downloadable content to a particular MACHINE instead of a particular account. If my machine gets lost or destroyed (which actually happened to me), all that DLC is gone forever. Sorry, but I can do better than that. If you absolutely have to include DRM, Steam at least does it right by not being dicks about it.
If Nintendo ever decides to tie purchases to an account, I will immediately run out and buy a bunch of their stuff again. Until then, no more Nintendo for me.
The Pi 0 has been "out" for a while (although supplies are very limited, if you can find one in stock).
It is essentially the processor on a board that looks kind of like a memory module. It is intended to be embedded into other things. All it has is HDMI, one USB port, and the micro-SD card slot. No networking at all.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't think that "DRM" and no "CD profits" go hand-in-hand. Simply stated, I think that most people are relatively honest. If the customer does not feel like they are getting screwed, they are happy to support their favorite bands. I remember back to 8-track days, so I was around at the rise of Napster, but I did not do that because I would rather support my favorite bands. I have a couple of bands right now that I would happily pay double what they ask if it meant that I would get new albums more often.
Of course, that depends on the "not getting screwed" part. If the listener feels like the label/artist is trying hard to prevent the customer/listener from enjoying the music, then things can get nasty. Does anybody remember paying $1 for a song, and $3 for a 20 seconds ringtone of the same song? Yeah, pay three times as much for one tenth of the song.
There are some who will download every track that they can find, but those people are not actually customers.
Funny. You speak like this has not already happened.
We have seen cases of people in private businesses being forced out not because of how well the run the company, but because of their private political view.
We have seen schools censor the "wrong kind" of political speech. This extends not only to students, but also to professors.
Thoughtcrime is a real crime these days. You have to fit in with the majority or you are ostracized.
Yeah, because confronted with stereotyping all members of a group as being the same, you have to combat this by portraying all members of a groups as being the same.
So, if I hold my phone three inches from my face, I get a "theater experience?"
You do know that Gary Johnson is on the ballot in all 50 states, right?
What is country REALLY needs is an approval voting system: vote for as many candidates as you approve of. All of those "anybody but Trump" people would vote for Hillary and Johnson. All of those "anybody but Hillary" people would vote for Trump and Johnson, and suddenly a 3rd party becomes a very viable option.
OK. Let's assume that it isn't a joke.
You want to get mad at Trump for telling them to turn over the contents of Hillary's emails because they may contain classified information, but are not mad at Hillary for putting classified information in such a poorly-secured server such that the Russians having them is already likely? Does that about summarize it?
Well, in some ways the theater experience IS nicer.
At the price of tickets, I can't afford to take my kids, to my wife and I get a child-free experience.
Plus, I cannot afford a 40-foot screen at home.
Still $7 for a soda that costs them $0.25? No thank you. I understand some markup, but I refuse to be gouged.
Yes it is getting better. Donald Trump is making what is known as a "joke." Get over it.
So, any bill that does not trample rights is shit? Interesting point of view.
So, no loaf is better than half of a loaf?
It is called COMPROMISE. Explain to me how a watered-down bill is better than nothing.
Plus, is was "watered down" in order to establish some sort of BALANCE between safety and freedom.
If the Democrats are UNWILLING to COMPROMISE to find something mutually agreeable, they will never get anything passed.
Democrats voted AGAINST two common-sense gun control laws two days ago, and are now throwing a fit because they can't get gun control passed.
Yeah, that reminds me of the story about the kid who killed his parents and then begged for mercy because he was an orphan.
Well, at least we KNOW that Hillary has heard of the KKK, since she is good friends with a former KKK member.
Former Senator Byrd was actually a KKK member, and very cozy with the Clintons -- close enough to give Hillary a big smooch.
http://www.snopes.com/clinton-...
Hmmm. That's funny. I never knew that "illegal" and "Muslim" were races.
Oh really? Where? In near earth orbit, there are no other materials except for other satellites. The closest source of raw materials in space is the moon, and that is not exactly an economical place to get anything from.
Asteroids are rich in minerals, but getting there take on the order of years, and nobody has figured out the logistics yet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Well, maybe because PayPal still has a Saudi Arabia office, where homosexuality can carry the death penalty.
I don't care about DVD playback -- I use VideoLan for that -- that way I can skip previews.
What I do care about is the media center itself -- recording from four over-the-air tuners, getting program guide, etc. In other words, TIVO-like stuff.
I tend to prefer AMD, and, from what I understand, using the GPU is better integrated with more desktop tasks using Windows 10.
My own personal opinion? I install "Classic Shell," so I have not seen too much difference between 8.1 and 10.
The only REAL problem is that I have an 8.1 machine as a media center, and Microsoft killed Media Center with 10, so that machine is stuck on 8.1.
Back around 1990 or so, I picked up a Tandy 6000 -- a system that used 8" floppies and ran Xenix (Microsoft version of Unix). There is nothing like booting a machine from a floppy almost the same size as typing paper (yes, we used to call it "typing paper" back then).
Yeah, conservative "fucktards" worry about things more important. How is an obsolete non-networked computer a security hole? Even if an attacker managed to steal one of these floppies, how would he read it? When was the last time that you saw an 8" floppy drive?
Obsolete? Yes. Security hole? No.
You want Clinton in charge of our nuclear launch codes?
I hate to say this, but Amazon started this ball rolling. Try finding Downton Abbey or Doctor Who streaming from anywhere but Amazon.
Amazon's e-book business is not much better, from what I hear.
The study itself said "Asian American." People who came here directly from India and are not citizens have NO "American" in them, so they can't fall under that group. They would be just plain "Asian." Funny how I didn't see that category in the study.
For the record, I would happily spend more money on Zelda and Mario, except that the guys at Nintendo are a bunch of dicks.
I understand that Nintendo is worried about piracy, and rightly so, but their stance is one that I just cannot stand any more. Ever since the original Wii, they have tied downloadable content to a particular MACHINE instead of a particular account. If my machine gets lost or destroyed (which actually happened to me), all that DLC is gone forever. Sorry, but I can do better than that. If you absolutely have to include DRM, Steam at least does it right by not being dicks about it.
If Nintendo ever decides to tie purchases to an account, I will immediately run out and buy a bunch of their stuff again. Until then, no more Nintendo for me.
I'm still waiting for the movie adaption of "Pong."
Ebon severely underestimated the demand. Supposedly production is being ramped up.
The Pi 0 has been "out" for a while (although supplies are very limited, if you can find one in stock).
It is essentially the processor on a board that looks kind of like a memory module. It is intended to be embedded into other things. All it has is HDMI, one USB port, and the micro-SD card slot. No networking at all.
https://thepihut.com/products/...