It always saddens me when I read these posts, or anywhere for that matter, where so many people only view the world in terms of liberals vs. conservatives. It seems to me that you're really not thinking very hard about something if you're dividing everything up that way.
"So if I photocopy a book in its entirety and start giving out copies, does that make it OK?"
Is the book an original work, or just a collection of facts like a textbook.
More to the point, why should you pay a publisher more money if you take the time and expense to reproduce the facts that you paid for. I tend to think that there can be a middle ground here.
Textbooks and other works of nonfiction seem like it should be perfectly fine to reproduce and distribute since the publisher or author is just collecting facts. They deserve to get paid if you're purchasing the books they produced, but it should be perfectly fine to redistribute that information.
As for original works, I still think the laws are too strict at the moment, but I definitely believe the author deserves some reward for their work. The problem is that the system currently is balanced too much in favor of the publishers and, in the case of music, in favor of the record companies.
This has never been a question of whether or not it's illegal since, technically, it is illegal according to most copyright law. The question has been whether the laws are correct when they're limiting the transfer of information.
Re:Lies, statistics, and analysts
on
Java vs .NET
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· Score: 2, Informative
JBuilder is at version 9, so it couldn't have been that recently. A lot has changed since then.
Regardless, you're probably still better off using something free like eclipse, which has become a great ide, or if you feel like paying, I agree with the other person that suggested IntelliJ. The only argument for JBuilder is that they include the optimizeit suite for free now and you get some other libraries that you might not get elsewhere. Eclipse's IDE is pretty good though and comparable.
The IDE support in my opinion is fine for both languages, it's just the language itself. I think 1.5 will make a difference though. I still agree with the other poster that SWING needs an overhaul. Other than that, it's a good language.
Just use whatever works for that particular project. None of the languages are the best solution all the time.
"The whole "Chinese Future" concept has been done a number of times: Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Blade Runner."
I don't mean to nitpick since I agree it's not an unreasonable idea, but I believe the 3 examples you listed are examples of a "Japanese Future."
I might be wrong, but I seem to remember a few references to Japanese corporations in Blade Runner. It was also made at a time when America was somewhat fearful of the Japanese work ethic and fearful that Japanese corporations might one day control everything.
The other two were both produced in Japan, so it's more of a hunch since it's common to envision your own country as the dominant group in the future.
I think you're choosing a bad example. I still occasionally pull out my old laptop and play XCom: Ufo Defense.
It was ahead of it's time, but it doesn't look anywhere as nice as today's games. I still think it's more fun than most of what comes out today though.
I reread my last post and I suppose it did come off as more rude than I intended. I suppose I'll forgive whoever decided to vote me as a troll this time.
Anyway, I believe you might be missing my point. In my opinion, you just contradicted yourself in your last post by arguing for individual responsibility. That is essentially what I was arguing for, or at least more responsibility as a group.
Technology is not inherently good or bad, it's merely how we use it. You argued that it would be bad for us to place too much dependence on machines based on a work of fiction.
Isn't it just as likely that having machines take over menial, day to day tasks could free up our time to deal with more important matters? Again, it's really just how we take advantage of the situation.
While I'm certainly cautious about the abuses that technology can lead to, that doesn't mean that the research and advancements aren't worthwhile. If you ask me, we're already dependent in many ways since many of the innovations we currently have available wouldn't have been possible without the help of machines. The difference I guess is that I see this as a positive thing.
Of course there would some lazy people, but there's lazy people now. What's your real point?
I mean, I get tired of people who come in with the doomsday prophecies everytime someone mentions computer automation. It's not like people are going to just up and stop doing anything. If computers actually did take over most of the labor, it's not like we'd all just become brainless trolls who sit on our asses all day.
Sure, there will be a few leeches who just take advantage of the situation and do nothing constructive with their time, but honestly, that's already happening and has always been the case.
And, the reason why people are unable to learn and rely on the computer is a failing of the educational system, not the fault of the technology. I for one use my computer all the time to learn by doing research. If kids were taught how to think and learn on their own, the computer would be a tool just like it should be rather than just a game machine.
If you want people to stop being stupid, make the government spend more money on education instead of on the military.
Basically, I'm not sure how T1Lib handles things, so I can't speak for it.
To be honest, I don't completely understand the legal issues surrounding this problem. As far as I know, Adobe has patents on some of the algorithms that handle the hinting information in Type 1 files. I think you only have this problem with display if you encounter fonts with the special hinting info. It's even possible that Adobe doesn't really care about this anymore and maybe that's why PDF has seemed to become even more popular lately. It may have just been bad timing for me.
Adobe uses 14 core fonts that are Type 1 and can be embedded. Some libraries just use different algorithms for rendering or substitute fonts where possible. I think it's kind of a gray area legally (similar problems exist for Truetype fonts because of Apple). This, however does not work all the time.
The problem I had while working on the Java project was that some files would have fonts that did not look right when I tried some of the PDF viewing libraries out there. They looked fine in Acrobat Reader though. Again, this was because of the font embedding issue.
Java, for example, can load type1 fonts if they're already installed on your system or in java's own type folder, it just can't render embedded fonts. It doesn't look like this is going to be a problem much longer since I looked at some of the bug reports and they're planning to add better Type 1 font support in Java 1.5. They're also apparently fixing some of the antialiasing issues, so that should pretty much clear up any problems people were having before.
"I don't particularly like Adobe either, but as a company, they aren't half bad. They have released the postscript and PDF specs, in full, for free, and the license allows anyone to write an implementation of them, without royalty or encumberment."
PDF is a nice format, but let's be clear. PDF is not as open as you might think. I found this out first hand when I was trying to write a PDF viewer in Java last year.
Basically, type 1 fonts are to blame. Java does not support embeddable type 1 fonts and Adobe still owns patents for some of the algorithms that render the fonts. Adobe's licenses specifically claim that you cannot use those algorithms for rendering so most of the fonts will end up looking like crap unless you have other ways of rendering them.
Ever notice that many applications will generate pdf files, but not let you view them? Before you mention Ghostscript, keep in mind that it uses the operating system apis for handling fonts. For example, Adobe Type Manager is embedded in Windows.
Now, I would probably agree with you that it's just an inherent weakness in java since it tries to be cross platform, but that doesn't change the fact that Type 1 fonts are not a completely open format.
Anyway, I'm just bitter. I'll shut up now.
You can buy ddr if you want, but this one is open source and lets you get more variety in the music choices. Plus, they include scripts for just about every dance game out there.
You just have to get a pad and hook it up to your computer.
Should they really be able to sue people for listening in on the signals they send out?
I suppose I could use the same logic and walk into a crowded room, yell out a bunch of stuff, and then sue everyone for listening in without my permission.
I don't doubt that some of the representatives would want all fansubbing to stop, but I generally think that those people are ignorant to its value.
Would it help if I said I worked with Toriyamaworld? As far as I know, the only time they've been bothered was when something got licensed. They were even an affiliate to Viz temporarily when Shonen Jump was first coming out.
While I'm sure there are some people that don't like fansubbers in general, most of the time they tolerate us as long as we're not messing with licensed material.
It IS NOT technically legal according to US law. It just requires a company to sue. Most of the distributers do not care unless it's licensed.
I also don't quite understand some of your other assertions. I have not heard of Viz or Tokyopop trying to stop people unless a title was licensed, at which point the groups should not dispute it since that is the goal of fansubbing/scanslating.
Also, while I might agree with you that the quality is sometimes lacking in some cases, that does not really justify continuing distribution of licensed titles.
Not too long ago,/. posted an article by Lessig regarding japanese dojinshi.
If you read that article, you might understand that the Japanese don't really have a problem with fansubbers and scanslators here in the US because we are actually doing them a favor by building interest for their works. Japanese manga and anime would not be nearly as popular as it is now if it weren't for the work of the fans that have been translating stuff for years.
Basically, there is an unwritten rule that if a title is unlicensed here, it's fair game. Most respectable fan groups will stop distributing works once they become licensed, and some even talk directly to the American companies when these things occur. It's not as underground as you might think.
Also keep in mind that probably about 95% of the stuff that comes out of japan is not ever going to get picked up by American companies, so the fansubbers and translators are just exposing people to stuff they might not ever get to see otherwise.
Right now, I think the only way Linux could ever overtake Mac in marketshare is if those two things change plus something more fundamental.
The mindset of the Linux community still seems to favor the shell interface over gui interfaces. While I agree a command line can be more useful in many cases, I still think that a gui can be a good thing most of the time. Until somebody really sits down, rethinks things, and makes gui tools that are easy for anyone to use to configure the system, Linux will remain the "alternative."
Hehe, I'm aware of that. I actually said it half-jokingly. I'm sure there are tons of obvious Microsoft jokes that could be inserted.
The point was that a majority of the people being affected are probably those that don't even know what windows update is to begin with. They probably wouldn't even notice the changes being made in the background by this worm.
Why doesn't someone just make a worm that goes around and downloads Windows and SQL server updates to patch against all these worms?
I realize Microsoft doesn't have the best track record even with their updates, but it would still probably solve some problems.
And yes, I realize there's something wrong with forcing people to install updates, but consider the alternative of reading these articles every week here.
But, couldn't they just make parts of the signal digital like the cell phone industry is doing? That would free up SOME of the spectrum, but still allow them to feed local channels and would probably even allow them to feed more channels if they wanted.
Of course, it would mean people would have to buy an adapter or something to get the signals, but that's a small price to pay in my opinion considering the alternatives.
I always find it funny when people are elitist snobs just because they get to say "I was into that first..."
Get over yourselves. Who cares if you were watching anime before anyone else? Quit being a selfish jackass and go back to your basement with your little fansubbed collections where you can be alone and feel superior to everyone else.
You sound as bad as those idiots who think they're cool just because they were listening to a band before they got popular.
Yes, clearly your lack of TV has improved your grammar skills. 'too' and 'to' are different you know.
Anyway, after reading that article, it doesn't sound to me like they're cancelling it. It's just going on break for a while so the writers can regroup and give the show a chance to gain an audience during midseason.
Honestly though, I'm not that interested. It's an ok show, but I'm not going to feel sad if they decide to cancel it.
I have to agree with pyrote here.
I would have expected a little more thoughtful repsonses, but most people are just spouting off stereotypes and showing their ignorance.
The simple truth here is that the content of anime is as varied or sophisticated as most US shows, but the only ones the public knows about are the ones brought over here. Unfortunately, the ones licensed in America and shown on tv aren't necessarily the best representation of the variety that Anime has to offer. Most of the popular shows here are the ones catering to teenage boys which is mostly just because the companies still believe that's the only viable market to sell to.
And as for art styles, again, not every anime has "big eyed" individuals. The art styles from show to show can be just as varied. And it's also important to not just look at the face when you're criticizing the art as being too simplistic. If you notice in most anime, the simplification of the face is just a tool to make expressing emotion easier. Most of the background and even the rest of character's bodies are often drawn with more beauty and detail than even some American animation. But again, it's commone for people to focus on the faces. Maybe that's the point?
You can always tell someone doesn't know what they're talking about in this case when the only examples they know of are DBZ and Pokemon. Please try to be more informed people before you respond. I'm starting to lose my respect for this community as it is.
Slashdot Mirror
It always saddens me when I read these posts, or anywhere for that matter, where so many people only view the world in terms of liberals vs. conservatives. It seems to me that you're really not thinking very hard about something if you're dividing everything up that way.
That's all I really have to add on this one.
"So if I photocopy a book in its entirety and start giving out copies, does that make it OK?"
Is the book an original work, or just a collection of facts like a textbook.
More to the point, why should you pay a publisher more money if you take the time and expense to reproduce the facts that you paid for. I tend to think that there can be a middle ground here.
Textbooks and other works of nonfiction seem like it should be perfectly fine to reproduce and distribute since the publisher or author is just collecting facts. They deserve to get paid if you're purchasing the books they produced, but it should be perfectly fine to redistribute that information.
As for original works, I still think the laws are too strict at the moment, but I definitely believe the author deserves some reward for their work. The problem is that the system currently is balanced too much in favor of the publishers and, in the case of music, in favor of the record companies.
This has never been a question of whether or not it's illegal since, technically, it is illegal according to most copyright law. The question has been whether the laws are correct when they're limiting the transfer of information.
JBuilder is at version 9, so it couldn't have been that recently. A lot has changed since then.
Regardless, you're probably still better off using something free like eclipse, which has become a great ide, or if you feel like paying, I agree with the other person that suggested IntelliJ. The only argument for JBuilder is that they include the optimizeit suite for free now and you get some other libraries that you might not get elsewhere. Eclipse's IDE is pretty good though and comparable.
The IDE support in my opinion is fine for both languages, it's just the language itself. I think 1.5 will make a difference though. I still agree with the other poster that SWING needs an overhaul. Other than that, it's a good language.
Just use whatever works for that particular project. None of the languages are the best solution all the time.
"The whole "Chinese Future" concept has been done a number of times: Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Blade Runner."
I don't mean to nitpick since I agree it's not an unreasonable idea, but I believe the 3 examples you listed are examples of a "Japanese Future."
I might be wrong, but I seem to remember a few references to Japanese corporations in Blade Runner. It was also made at a time when America was somewhat fearful of the Japanese work ethic and fearful that Japanese corporations might one day control everything.
The other two were both produced in Japan, so it's more of a hunch since it's common to envision your own country as the dominant group in the future.
I think you're choosing a bad example. I still occasionally pull out my old laptop and play XCom: Ufo Defense.
It was ahead of it's time, but it doesn't look anywhere as nice as today's games. I still think it's more fun than most of what comes out today though.
I reread my last post and I suppose it did come off as more rude than I intended. I suppose I'll forgive whoever decided to vote me as a troll this time.
Anyway, I believe you might be missing my point. In my opinion, you just contradicted yourself in your last post by arguing for individual responsibility. That is essentially what I was arguing for, or at least more responsibility as a group.
Technology is not inherently good or bad, it's merely how we use it. You argued that it would be bad for us to place too much dependence on machines based on a work of fiction.
Isn't it just as likely that having machines take over menial, day to day tasks could free up our time to deal with more important matters? Again, it's really just how we take advantage of the situation.
While I'm certainly cautious about the abuses that technology can lead to, that doesn't mean that the research and advancements aren't worthwhile. If you ask me, we're already dependent in many ways since many of the innovations we currently have available wouldn't have been possible without the help of machines. The difference I guess is that I see this as a positive thing.
I hope you were joking with the dune reference.
Of course there would some lazy people, but there's lazy people now. What's your real point?
I mean, I get tired of people who come in with the doomsday prophecies everytime someone mentions computer automation. It's not like people are going to just up and stop doing anything. If computers actually did take over most of the labor, it's not like we'd all just become brainless trolls who sit on our asses all day.
Sure, there will be a few leeches who just take advantage of the situation and do nothing constructive with their time, but honestly, that's already happening and has always been the case.
And, the reason why people are unable to learn and rely on the computer is a failing of the educational system, not the fault of the technology. I for one use my computer all the time to learn by doing research. If kids were taught how to think and learn on their own, the computer would be a tool just like it should be rather than just a game machine.
If you want people to stop being stupid, make the government spend more money on education instead of on the military.
Sorry for the late reply.
Basically, I'm not sure how T1Lib handles things, so I can't speak for it.
To be honest, I don't completely understand the legal issues surrounding this problem. As far as I know, Adobe has patents on some of the algorithms that handle the hinting information in Type 1 files. I think you only have this problem with display if you encounter fonts with the special hinting info. It's even possible that Adobe doesn't really care about this anymore and maybe that's why PDF has seemed to become even more popular lately. It may have just been bad timing for me.
Adobe uses 14 core fonts that are Type 1 and can be embedded. Some libraries just use different algorithms for rendering or substitute fonts where possible. I think it's kind of a gray area legally (similar problems exist for Truetype fonts because of Apple). This, however does not work all the time.
The problem I had while working on the Java project was that some files would have fonts that did not look right when I tried some of the PDF viewing libraries out there. They looked fine in Acrobat Reader though. Again, this was because of the font embedding issue.
Java, for example, can load type1 fonts if they're already installed on your system or in java's own type folder, it just can't render embedded fonts. It doesn't look like this is going to be a problem much longer since I looked at some of the bug reports and they're planning to add better Type 1 font support in Java 1.5. They're also apparently fixing some of the antialiasing issues, so that should pretty much clear up any problems people were having before.
And at one time, ICQ was the best IM client. Then, AOL bought them.
Don't try to predict the future.
"I don't particularly like Adobe either, but as a company, they aren't half bad. They have released the postscript and PDF specs, in full, for free, and the license allows anyone to write an implementation of them, without royalty or encumberment." PDF is a nice format, but let's be clear. PDF is not as open as you might think. I found this out first hand when I was trying to write a PDF viewer in Java last year. Basically, type 1 fonts are to blame. Java does not support embeddable type 1 fonts and Adobe still owns patents for some of the algorithms that render the fonts. Adobe's licenses specifically claim that you cannot use those algorithms for rendering so most of the fonts will end up looking like crap unless you have other ways of rendering them. Ever notice that many applications will generate pdf files, but not let you view them? Before you mention Ghostscript, keep in mind that it uses the operating system apis for handling fonts. For example, Adobe Type Manager is embedded in Windows. Now, I would probably agree with you that it's just an inherent weakness in java since it tries to be cross platform, but that doesn't change the fact that Type 1 fonts are not a completely open format. Anyway, I'm just bitter. I'll shut up now.
http://www.stepmania.com/stepmania/
You can buy ddr if you want, but this one is open source and lets you get more variety in the music choices. Plus, they include scripts for just about every dance game out there.
You just have to get a pad and hook it up to your computer.
Should they really be able to sue people for listening in on the signals they send out?
I suppose I could use the same logic and walk into a crowded room, yell out a bunch of stuff, and then sue everyone for listening in without my permission.
I don't doubt that some of the representatives would want all fansubbing to stop, but I generally think that those people are ignorant to its value.
Would it help if I said I worked with Toriyamaworld? As far as I know, the only time they've been bothered was when something got licensed. They were even an affiliate to Viz temporarily when Shonen Jump was first coming out.
While I'm sure there are some people that don't like fansubbers in general, most of the time they tolerate us as long as we're not messing with licensed material.
It IS NOT technically legal according to US law. It just requires a company to sue. Most of the distributers do not care unless it's licensed.
I also don't quite understand some of your other assertions. I have not heard of Viz or Tokyopop trying to stop people unless a title was licensed, at which point the groups should not dispute it since that is the goal of fansubbing/scanslating.
Also, while I might agree with you that the quality is sometimes lacking in some cases, that does not really justify continuing distribution of licensed titles.
Old Slashdot Article
/. posted an article by Lessig regarding japanese dojinshi.
Not too long ago,
If you read that article, you might understand that the Japanese don't really have a problem with fansubbers and scanslators here in the US because we are actually doing them a favor by building interest for their works. Japanese manga and anime would not be nearly as popular as it is now if it weren't for the work of the fans that have been translating stuff for years.
Basically, there is an unwritten rule that if a title is unlicensed here, it's fair game. Most respectable fan groups will stop distributing works once they become licensed, and some even talk directly to the American companies when these things occur. It's not as underground as you might think.
Also keep in mind that probably about 95% of the stuff that comes out of japan is not ever going to get picked up by American companies, so the fansubbers and translators are just exposing people to stuff they might not ever get to see otherwise.
Right now, I think the only way Linux could ever overtake Mac in marketshare is if those two things change plus something more fundamental.
The mindset of the Linux community still seems to favor the shell interface over gui interfaces. While I agree a command line can be more useful in many cases, I still think that a gui can be a good thing most of the time. Until somebody really sits down, rethinks things, and makes gui tools that are easy for anyone to use to configure the system, Linux will remain the "alternative."
The point was that a majority of the people being affected are probably those that don't even know what windows update is to begin with. They probably wouldn't even notice the changes being made in the background by this worm.
Why doesn't someone just make a worm that goes around and downloads Windows and SQL server updates to patch against all these worms? I realize Microsoft doesn't have the best track record even with their updates, but it would still probably solve some problems. And yes, I realize there's something wrong with forcing people to install updates, but consider the alternative of reading these articles every week here.
Of course, it would mean people would have to buy an adapter or something to get the signals, but that's a small price to pay in my opinion considering the alternatives.
I always find it funny when people are elitist snobs just because they get to say "I was into that first..."
Get over yourselves. Who cares if you were watching anime before anyone else? Quit being a selfish jackass and go back to your basement with your little fansubbed collections where you can be alone and feel superior to everyone else.
You sound as bad as those idiots who think they're cool just because they were listening to a band before they got popular.
Anyway, after reading that article, it doesn't sound to me like they're cancelling it. It's just going on break for a while so the writers can regroup and give the show a chance to gain an audience during midseason.
Honestly though, I'm not that interested. It's an ok show, but I'm not going to feel sad if they decide to cancel it.
I have to agree with pyrote here. I would have expected a little more thoughtful repsonses, but most people are just spouting off stereotypes and showing their ignorance. The simple truth here is that the content of anime is as varied or sophisticated as most US shows, but the only ones the public knows about are the ones brought over here. Unfortunately, the ones licensed in America and shown on tv aren't necessarily the best representation of the variety that Anime has to offer. Most of the popular shows here are the ones catering to teenage boys which is mostly just because the companies still believe that's the only viable market to sell to. And as for art styles, again, not every anime has "big eyed" individuals. The art styles from show to show can be just as varied. And it's also important to not just look at the face when you're criticizing the art as being too simplistic. If you notice in most anime, the simplification of the face is just a tool to make expressing emotion easier. Most of the background and even the rest of character's bodies are often drawn with more beauty and detail than even some American animation. But again, it's commone for people to focus on the faces. Maybe that's the point? You can always tell someone doesn't know what they're talking about in this case when the only examples they know of are DBZ and Pokemon. Please try to be more informed people before you respond. I'm starting to lose my respect for this community as it is.