For me personally the best Pocket PC emulator is Pocket Nester. It runs nintendo games at full speed with perfect sound on my toshiba e350. Nintendo games are optimal because they are easy to find on kazaa (and I don't feel bad downloading them because back in the day I used to own almost everyone that came out) and they don't take up much space. Nothing like playing Dragon Warrior 4 in class.
Why in the world would a person buy a Dell gaming laptop. Sagers are cheaper and better at playing games. Just go to pctorque.com and get a better laptop for less money. Quality difference isn't an issue because no laptop manufacturer (except for IBM I think) actually makes their own machines. All of them no matter which brand is made by one of three big manufacturers in the east. I don't work for Sager, but I hate how little publicity they get. Especially compared to this nice ad slashdot is giving Dell for free (I assume they get nothing in return but probably not).
Not always. Some browsers can do neat tricks that don't adhere to standards. As long as the web page is not broke and unfunctional to people using other browsers, then it should be ok to say which browser will look the best.
Well it's offical. The DVD is now a complete success. Wasn't these and the Indiana Jones movies purposly held from dvd for a while because Lucas (And his buddy Spielberg) didn't believe in the market for Dvds. Now that he is giving up his baby, it proves that the Dvd is one of the most succesful formats of all time.
Seriously. My dad does eye surgery and everywhere he goes people ask him for free medical advice when people look at something of his and they see the MD(and none of it has to do with eyes). Over the years I've noticed that men ask a lot more questions to my dad than women. I guess its because they are scarred of doctor's offices.
To me the best part about backwards compatibility is that if you an early adopter-as in buying a system within a years of its release- the ability to play old games makes the system instantly more useful. Nowadays consoles usually only ship with one REALLY good game in the first six months (since good games cost more and take longer to develop or something). So the ability to play all the gems from the last console (and benefit from the usual rush of good games that come at the end of a console's life) makes any system instantly more entertaining. It also makes it a better buy for the parents. Mine never understood why all those nes games couldn't play in the snes if the second was more powerful.
Until Linux is a complete entertainment package as well as a utility package, Linux will be hard pressed to take over the desktop.
Amen brother. I have been saying this for sometime. I love Linux in my office. I love that my host uses Linux. But neither I nor MILLIONS of people want to use Linux at home because of how lacking it is as an entertainment box. Until a person can download a movie or an episode of the Simpsons on a P2P app. and play them EASILY (as in maybe having to find a codec pack) on a Linux box, it will never be a real competitor in the desktop market. Until the same games are released on Linux as on Windows, it will never be a real competitor in the desktop market.
Sure you might argue that Linux is better in a business for these reasons. Or you could argue that (in the case of the first example) what the end users want to do is illegal so "we don't want those users anyway." Well fine. But millions of low-end computer users want to do this stuff. At the college level (a great barometer of things to come) Windows machines have gone beyond being "just a computer" to being an all-out media box, with tons of free (as in stealing) content to download, organize and use. Until Linux can "out Kazaa" windows and play the newest games, it will never become a large percentage of the desktop market. period.
Re:Read the policy, it's sensible
on
Superbowling
·
· Score: 1
The CBS Television Network (CTN) sells advertising time for the promotion of goods and services and for institutional advertising
Bullshit. CBA sells ads TO MAKE MONEY. Its not that hard of a concept. SO in order to keep making money as a company, they must keep selling future ads. CBS isn't running this commercial because of the "policies of the company." Its not running the ad because
A. Moveon.org will never buy another ad again, yet its message MIGHT piss of the "consumer base" of a Superbowl (the good ol boys of america -in which Bush is one also).
B. If they piss of "future customers" of they network, then their ad space is less valuable because the value is based on ratings and fewer people would be watching (especially with CBS considering that as a network they pander to old people - a usually conservative group). C. Plently of other regular ad buyers also want the space (pepsi) with less contriversial messages.
Thats a LOT of spam man. You might be one of the random email address I (and people like me) make up to put in the detailed forms that almost EVERY worthwhile site makes you fill out. Yet the pain it causes others whose email addresses I use (mostly whoever has stone@aol.com- I've been using that one for years as a fake email. I actually feel sorry for that person) prevents my email address from getting too much spam. Its a dog eat dog internet out there man. Maybe you should stop filling in all those forms with YOUR real email address. Or get a better spam blocker.
Just to clarify. A liberal-conservative thing is not the same as a democrat-republican thing. The democrats have just been pitching from center base while trying to lock up their traditional voting groups (labor unions, minorities, certain sections of women, ect.) ever since Clinton. Most democrats do not care about true liberalism, but usually only want what the republicans don't. Since almost no democratic candidate would be willing to say no to large campaign contributions (they show an implied favoritism to big businesses and the wealthy -two enemies of modern liberalism) and get serious about the environment, modern liberalism is now is the hands of a new political party.
Therefore democrats (and most of all Bill Clinton) do NOT stand for liberals. They are not the same.
In fact I will argue that the republicans no longer truly represents the conservative voting block. Traditionally conservatives have been about responsible government spending with no extra benefits given to particular (non-corporate) groups. George Bush has not vetoed a single spending bill -sending the government into record debt- while he has recently legally raised the status of illegal workers. Based on these actions alone, he sounds like an old school democrat to me.
Both parties have become mirror images in each other in rhetoric, yet nearly the same in action. Politicians in both parties seem to serve only themselves and the people that bankroll them. Since the vocal voting populace still acts like what politicians say in speeches matters the day after elections, they can do whatever they want. Too bad the rest of the public stopped voting out of disgust instead of voting out the bad guys. Now that both sides are the bad guys, there isn't a way for either conservatives or liberals to win.
Ok. Ok. I know it's a sin to reply to a sig, but I've not seen one this cool. I happen to be drinking a Shiner right now. Just like I did yesterday and the day before. Or anytime I go to a bar or resturant. I love the stuff. I even live with a blond labrador named Shiner. Sorry, but I had to say it. I love that damn beer.
You forgot to use the sarcasm tags like most posts do. If movies have taught me anything its that the public is stupid (even/. users) and that if you are using semi complex rhetorical tactics (sarcasm, irony, ect.) you must blatantly tell them or they won't get it. Just laying on the sarcasm thickly (as you did) is not good enough anymore.
And when that cheese-eater crosses the centerline and headends into you, is that "survival of the fittist"? How nice of you to volunteer.
NO thats just bad luck. Its not like the drug war stops that kind of mess anyway. In fact there is no way now for a police officer to tell if you are intoxicated beyond judgement and expensive and time comsuming piss tests. If drugs were legal than scientists could come up with new products that would test for drug intoxication onsite (much like a breathalizer) because there would be a large profit margin for it. Instead, its easier to get away with snorting coke and driving rather than drinking and driving because the cop doesn't have a surefire way to bust you if you no longer possess the drug. Many people have this idea that if we legalize drugs that everybody will start using them and no one will be safe from the crazed junkies. Truth is, boys and girls, people all over the country are doing drugs anyway. The only safe haven from encoutering a dangerous druggie you have now is the same as the one you would have if drugs were legal, pure luck.
Well that's it. That is an open declaration of malice toward
the American technical worker. These ungrateful companies built on the backs of
great nerds are being run by MBAs that treat the dealing of
multimillion/billion dollar corporation as if it was something you randomly buy
of the internet. They constantly shoot for the cheapest deal, blindly ignoring
long term (like as in a year+, or "four quarters" as they call it). Come on, to
get those kinds of jobs you must have taken a lot of economics. So you must
know that the cheapest options aren't always the best ones because there is
this thing called quality. Hell, even when I buy things online I usually use
companies that I trust (even if they are a little more expensive) to make sure
if something bad happens I won't just automatically get screwed. These
executives know and they don't care. They are as greedy as can be -while
already banking way too much money for what they do- and are willing to blindly
sell out the long term prospects (and histories) of the companies they work for
in order to make the stock go up the next quarter. And then
to blatantly lie in order to avoid responsive legislation.
Countries that resort to
protectionism end up hampering innovation and crippling their industries, which
leads to lower economic growth and ultimately higher unemployment, said
the Washington-based Computer Systems Policy Project, whose member companies
include Intel Corp., IBM, Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard."
THIS IS A LIE!!! America
was founded on protectionist legislation. For a large part of the countries
history most of the government's funds came from tariffs and "protectionism." The United
States became a world power after its civil
war by stimulating and protecting (to the point of the whole "a corporation has
the same rights as a person nonsense") its industries.
At one point economists thought that a trade deficit would do the economy in.
These MBA types would now want to say it's a good thing.
This is blatantly declaring to the techies that built these
companies that we are now invincible to you and we wish to harm you. We don't
care what you did for us, we like our shareholders better. And if you don't
like it doesn't matter because we have" Washington-based Computer Systems Policy Project, whose member companies include Intel Corp.,
IBM, Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard," an obviously big lobby
group that pays a great deal to keep legislation from appearing that might save
your jobs. Screw you, unless you ever want to buy something. In that case We Love You. (TM) Slimeballs.
American nerds have two options:
Unless
you are extremely talented, have a Phd, know Bill Gates personally, ect.
You must retrain and find a new career. You can't move to India.
They won't let you. And even if the jobs aren't gone forever, you gotta eat till then right? I'm thinking about
teaching.
Unite
and create a large enough lobbyist group to battle this Computer Systems Policy Project demon. Band
together, raise some funds (paypal link on/.?) and give congresscritters
on BOTH sides of the political fence some campaign contributions. As long
as it don't blow money on libertarians and laize-fare republicans, a nerd lobbiest
group could move through the necessary bills to save American tech jobs.
I know most nerds hate politics (cause its so dirty. uhhh) but as a group it is possible to use the system for
your own purposes. In this case you need to get involved because the companies
have declared an all out war on you job. Its you vs them. They have more money but nerds have one huge
advantage. Nerds (can potentially) vote. If just
enough money was raised to find out exactly how many Americas (techies and
their families) could be affected by these hostile policies-at the potentially
highest level- by a reputable statistics company then an letter campaign could
be very effective (Dear
Not only does most of the Billions of dollars given to "farmers" go to large Agribusiness, but they then turn around and use that money to lobby (in the form of campaign *cough bribes cough* contributions) congress to increase farm subsidies. Its a never ending cycle.
Nerds can learn from this though. If we want to keep the jobs from disapearing, we must band together, start a lobby, and bribe the congresscriters to pass laws to stop this crap (or tax the shit out of companies that do it). Gun owners and doctors are a minority in American society, yet their lobbiests are the cream of the crop and they get what they what out of the government(seeing how guns are still legal and there is no free health care). As nerds we must quit pretending that someone else (or lord forbid "market forces") will solve the problem and unite for our common good. Sure the system is corrupt and it sucks, but if big corporations can use it to their advantage, so can we.
Try moving south. Here in Texas the tech industry is recovering and new jobs are availible (even though I bet my fellow nerd Texans which you would compete with will want to kill me for saying that). Also after living in many parts of the soulth all my life I've noticed how far behind small businesses are technologically. Few of them can pay you a salary outright, but if you came in as a consultant and showed them how to save money
(or more importantly time) by using computers you could make a decent living. West Texas is a technical wasteland that will NEED new people to bring it into the 21 century.
And if push comes to shove, just work for or start a computer repair company. I always tell my friends that even though I hate how much worse spyware and viruses seen to be getting on windows computers, the harder they are for a layman to defeat the greater the chance that someone has a job cleaning them out for clueless home users (95 percent of domestic computer users). Just keep your chin up.
First of all, when you take out all of the people that are children, unable to fight or too scared to fight you MIGHT have 100 million people.
This website clearly shows that the American military probably killed (cause the government doesn't count) 40000 Iraq troops while losing only 482 American troops. That is a one hundred to one ratio. And our troops weren't killing some guys with hunting guns or low end assault rifles like what would happen in a modern American revolution. These Iraq soldiers were highly trained paid professionals. If they would have fought in the manor that Americans would have to in order to fight the government, it easily would have been a 200 to one ratio. With that ratio 500000 soldiers could kill 100000000 people. But that assumes that the government would fight a modern civil war with ground troops. Instead they would probably send tomahawks and bombs from the sky (stuff that you can't defend yourself from with anything at the gun store).
When our forefathers fought their war of independence, they had nearly the same equipment (technologically speaking) as the British they were fighting. Now the populace is so far behind. The military would win. That's why we must act now from keeping things from becoming another civil war.
But if you won't respect their rights, why should they respect your concerns?
I'm not a MBA or anything, but I do know that any company that does not deal with the concerns of its customers is doomed to failure. Enough people still buy enough CDs so that the big five companies make money hand over fist, and if they continued to be hostile to ALL of their customers as a whole (calling everyone that wants to play a CD on a computer a thief, tricky DRM, increased radio ads and so on) their business will fail.
Is it wrong to steal music. YES.
Are the actions of the RIAA companies over that last 20+ years wrong. YES
DO two wrongs make a right. NO
But does any company survive without pleasing its customers. NO
In the end, nothing the RIAA or any single person can do will stop massive file sharing. Asking for a boycott is naive. Thinking that people will ever respect the RIAA's copyrights (or any thing that is copyrighted but can be turned into ones and zeros) like society used to is naive.
The RIAA has a choice. As you noted the massive copying of their works shows that there product is wanted. So they can either serve the rest of the population that still respects their works and pays for them. Or they can do as they are doing and not trust paying customers by default (no matter what you say that's what DRM on CDs tells customers) and watch what business they have left crumble. Its naive to think that there are any other serious options.
I'm like you in the respect that I hate people on slashdot trying to justify copying the RIAA's works because of something the parent companies did or didn't do. Yet I do know that the justification of copying is irrelevant, as the best reason to infringe now is the simple fact the "everybody is doing it" (everybody being a large enough minority to keep copying in the public mindset). This same rational has been used to justify and further much worse causes- slavery- and so the possibility of filesharing going away to an RIAA acceptable point anywhere in the near future is impossible. So they will never reform in ways you think they might (and I doubt that they would do it if filesharing went away anyway).
The file traders on the internet are sending a clear message. We want your stuff but we don't want to pay for it. I'm not saying thats right, but I will say that its human nature.
Anyone that still uses internet explorer and considers BUYING software or a service to block popups must not ever go to an obscure website some call google. Here you will find the google toolbar which will not only block popups for free, but will also allow you to search with google almost as easy as mozilla does. When dealing with my moms computer, this toolbar combined with IE is the best way for her to browse the web (condering how some pages break in mozilla and that would freak my mom out).
I will agree with you that many younger people are not as familar with computers as the people on slashdot would like them to be. The difference with kids today (which I am one myself) is that new generation, unlike their parents, are less afraid of computers. Even if some kid is not a wiz with computers, they know what computers can do for them (free music, movies, IM, ect.) and most are willing to at least get someone more techinically inclined to help them.
The future problem organizations like the RIAA face is not that all youths are savy enough to get around their roadblocks. The problem is that the generation of children growing up with computers (and the massive amounts of information they store and create) do not value the "cost" of any particular piece of information. To children of the new generation there is way too much info to sift through, so paying a high price for ANY infomation is not respected. Just looking at the disparity in age in any poll concerning file sharing proves that point. (aka many polls show that people under the age of 35 usually believe filesharing to be ok, while those over 35 usually don't).
Its important to note that since filesharing began, the role of nonbusiness computers in the hands of youth went from being a thing to serf the internet and play random games with to being a do it all media box. (on a side note, I believe that the difficulty in playing and obtaining media files is a huge roadblock to desktop linux. until linux has kazaa (or any way to easily copy info) and well formed codec packages to make playing that info VERY easy-as in Windows XP easy- people college age or younger will not want to use it.) Ask an college girl- usually the voice of future technoilliterate population, and they will tell you how much better their computer became when they could actually do something cool with it (like it or not, free media is cool).
Even if media companies succeed in making it harder to trade info, they will never succeed in shifting morals back to a point where their intellectual property is respected.
The cause of feminism is recent history is partly due to fact that contemporary advances in communication have allowed segments of the population to unite and seek privileges other groups receive. In this case the group was biologically maintained at nearly 50% of the population. It's impossible to contain that many people. Most modern men would agree that women should be treated the same as men. Yet the eraser of the lines between men and women displaces one of the most historically important qualities of manhood. Machismo. The pride associated with the fraternities of mankind. Men love to emulate and feed off each other and the bond of manhood is felt by most men. For thousands of years men have made clubs initiated by extreme rituals to include new men into the male group and to strengthen the role as a man. Men have historically had duties (such as providing for and protecting your family) that were strengthened by the mutual encouragement of other men. Yet the march of feminism went beyond creating equality in living conditions and freedom, and more into completely eradicated the lines between men and women. Women have gone past the office leaving only what they overall dislike about mankind. Contact Sports. Gadgets and Computers. Video Games(if they didn't count puzzle games, there would be few women gamers). Acting like idiots. Construction. Drinking competitive amounts of beer. Smelling bad. Loving boobs. Hating shopping (except in electronic stores). Stealing road signs. And a couple other so-so parts of life in comparison to lots of stuff (but wonderful to guys anyway). Just look at any recent commercial, sitcom, mathematics class, or college fraternity and you will see all of these things basically represent the last bastions of machioism. Any women cannot experience how powerful the feeling of being united with men (and only men). The classification of words into feminist and male categories in many old languages expresses how important this concept is to civilization. Yet as the "duties of a man" erode from providing for your family to doing what ever you want, watching TV and getting drunk, the quality of life in the United States will eventually decline. No real man hates feminism. But since it has been around(at least here in the U.S.), it has been harder to determine if you are a real man.
Should have said start smoking pot. Cigs are just another bad addiction but pot will get you unhooked because it is one of the least addictive drugs. I quite caffine for a while with weed.
Slashdot Mirror
For me personally the best Pocket PC emulator is Pocket Nester. It runs nintendo games at full speed with perfect sound on my toshiba e350. Nintendo games are optimal because they are easy to find on kazaa (and I don't feel bad downloading them because back in the day I used to own almost everyone that came out) and they don't take up much space. Nothing like playing Dragon Warrior 4 in class.
Why in the world would a person buy a Dell gaming laptop. Sagers are cheaper and better at playing games. Just go to pctorque.com and get a better laptop for less money. Quality difference isn't an issue because no laptop manufacturer (except for IBM I think) actually makes their own machines. All of them no matter which brand is made by one of three big manufacturers in the east. I don't work for Sager, but I hate how little publicity they get. Especially compared to this nice ad slashdot is giving Dell for free (I assume they get nothing in return but probably not).
Not always. Some browsers can do neat tricks that don't adhere to standards. As long as the web page is not broke and unfunctional to people using other browsers, then it should be ok to say which browser will look the best.
Well it's offical. The DVD is now a complete success. Wasn't these and the Indiana Jones movies purposly held from dvd for a while because Lucas (And his buddy Spielberg) didn't believe in the market for Dvds. Now that he is giving up his baby, it proves that the Dvd is one of the most succesful formats of all time.
Seriously. My dad does eye surgery and everywhere he goes people ask him for free medical advice when people look at something of his and they see the MD(and none of it has to do with eyes). Over the years I've noticed that men ask a lot more questions to my dad than women. I guess its because they are scarred of doctor's offices.
To me the best part about backwards compatibility is that if you an early adopter-as in buying a system within a years of its release- the ability to play old games makes the system instantly more useful. Nowadays consoles usually only ship with one REALLY good game in the first six months (since good games cost more and take longer to develop or something). So the ability to play all the gems from the last console (and benefit from the usual rush of good games that come at the end of a console's life) makes any system instantly more entertaining. It also makes it a better buy for the parents. Mine never understood why all those nes games couldn't play in the snes if the second was more powerful.
Amen brother. I have been saying this for sometime. I love Linux in my office. I love that my host uses Linux. But neither I nor MILLIONS of people want to use Linux at home because of how lacking it is as an entertainment box. Until a person can download a movie or an episode of the Simpsons on a P2P app. and play them EASILY (as in maybe having to find a codec pack) on a Linux box, it will never be a real competitor in the desktop market. Until the same games are released on Linux as on Windows, it will never be a real competitor in the desktop market.
Sure you might argue that Linux is better in a business for these reasons. Or you could argue that (in the case of the first example) what the end users want to do is illegal so "we don't want those users anyway." Well fine. But millions of low-end computer users want to do this stuff. At the college level (a great barometer of things to come) Windows machines have gone beyond being "just a computer" to being an all-out media box, with tons of free (as in stealing) content to download, organize and use. Until Linux can "out Kazaa" windows and play the newest games, it will never become a large percentage of the desktop market. period.
Bullshit. CBA sells ads TO MAKE MONEY. Its not that hard of a concept. SO in order to keep making money as a company, they must keep selling future ads. CBS isn't running this commercial because of the "policies of the company." Its not running the ad because
A. Moveon.org will never buy another ad again, yet its message MIGHT piss of the "consumer base" of a Superbowl (the good ol boys of america -in which Bush is one also).
B. If they piss of "future customers" of they network, then their ad space is less valuable because the value is based on ratings and fewer people would be watching (especially with CBS considering that as a network they pander to old people - a usually conservative group). C. Plently of other regular ad buyers also want the space (pepsi) with less contriversial messages.
Thats a LOT of spam man. You might be one of the random email address I (and people like me) make up to put in the detailed forms that almost EVERY worthwhile site makes you fill out. Yet the pain it causes others whose email addresses I use (mostly whoever has stone@aol.com- I've been using that one for years as a fake email. I actually feel sorry for that person) prevents my email address from getting too much spam. Its a dog eat dog internet out there man. Maybe you should stop filling in all those forms with YOUR real email address. Or get a better spam blocker.
C) I want to put Wesley Clark in my shopping cart so I can buy him, his book, and a Doors CD at the same time.
Therefore democrats (and most of all Bill Clinton) do NOT stand for liberals. They are not the same.
In fact I will argue that the republicans no longer truly represents the conservative voting block. Traditionally conservatives have been about responsible government spending with no extra benefits given to particular (non-corporate) groups. George Bush has not vetoed a single spending bill -sending the government into record debt- while he has recently legally raised the status of illegal workers. Based on these actions alone, he sounds like an old school democrat to me.
Both parties have become mirror images in each other in rhetoric, yet nearly the same in action. Politicians in both parties seem to serve only themselves and the people that bankroll them. Since the vocal voting populace still acts like what politicians say in speeches matters the day after elections, they can do whatever they want. Too bad the rest of the public stopped voting out of disgust instead of voting out the bad guys. Now that both sides are the bad guys, there isn't a way for either conservatives or liberals to win.
Ok. Ok. I know it's a sin to reply to a sig, but I've not seen one this cool. I happen to be drinking a Shiner right now. Just like I did yesterday and the day before. Or anytime I go to a bar or resturant. I love the stuff. I even live with a blond labrador named Shiner. Sorry, but I had to say it. I love that damn beer.
Me looks at my current bittorrent download of 300kbs a second (which I was proud of till now) on the best plan my cable company offers!
Me cries
You forgot to use the sarcasm tags like most posts do. If movies have taught me anything its that the public is stupid (even /. users) and that if you are using semi complex rhetorical tactics (sarcasm, irony, ect.) you must blatantly tell them or they won't get it. Just laying on the sarcasm thickly (as you did) is not good enough anymore.
NO thats just bad luck. Its not like the drug war stops that kind of mess anyway. In fact there is no way now for a police officer to tell if you are intoxicated beyond judgement and expensive and time comsuming piss tests. If drugs were legal than scientists could come up with new products that would test for drug intoxication onsite (much like a breathalizer) because there would be a large profit margin for it. Instead, its easier to get away with snorting coke and driving rather than drinking and driving because the cop doesn't have a surefire way to bust you if you no longer possess the drug. Many people have this idea that if we legalize drugs that everybody will start using them and no one will be safe from the crazed junkies. Truth is, boys and girls, people all over the country are doing drugs anyway. The only safe haven from encoutering a dangerous druggie you have now is the same as the one you would have if drugs were legal, pure luck.
Well that's it. That is an open declaration of malice toward the American technical worker. These ungrateful companies built on the backs of great nerds are being run by MBAs that treat the dealing of multimillion/billion dollar corporation as if it was something you randomly buy of the internet. They constantly shoot for the cheapest deal, blindly ignoring long term (like as in a year+, or "four quarters" as they call it). Come on, to get those kinds of jobs you must have taken a lot of economics. So you must know that the cheapest options aren't always the best ones because there is this thing called quality. Hell, even when I buy things online I usually use companies that I trust (even if they are a little more expensive) to make sure if something bad happens I won't just automatically get screwed. These executives know and they don't care. They are as greedy as can be -while already banking way too much money for what they do- and are willing to blindly sell out the long term prospects (and histories) of the companies they work for in order to make the stock go up the next quarter. And then to blatantly lie in order to avoid responsive legislation.
Countries that resort to protectionism end up hampering innovation and crippling their industries, which leads to lower economic growth and ultimately higher unemployment, said the Washington-based Computer Systems Policy Project, whose member companies include Intel Corp., IBM, Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard."
THIS IS A LIE!!! America was founded on protectionist legislation. For a large part of the countries history most of the government's funds came from tariffs and "protectionism." The United States became a world power after its civil war by stimulating and protecting (to the point of the whole "a corporation has the same rights as a person nonsense") its industries. At one point economists thought that a trade deficit would do the economy in. These MBA types would now want to say it's a good thing.
This is blatantly declaring to the techies that built these companies that we are now invincible to you and we wish to harm you. We don't care what you did for us, we like our shareholders better. And if you don't like it doesn't matter because we have" Washington-based Computer Systems Policy Project, whose member companies include Intel Corp., IBM, Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard, " an obviously big lobby group that pays a great deal to keep legislation from appearing that might save your jobs. Screw you, unless you ever want to buy something. In that case We Love You. (TM) Slimeballs.
American nerds have two options:
I know most nerds hate politics (cause its so dirty. uhhh) but as a group it is possible to use the system for your own purposes. In this case you need to get involved because the companies have declared an all out war on you job. Its you vs them. They have more money but nerds have one huge advantage. Nerds (can potentially) vote. If just enough money was raised to find out exactly how many Americas (techies and their families) could be affected by these hostile policies-at the potentially highest level- by a reputable statistics company then an letter campaign could be very effective (Dear
Nerds can learn from this though. If we want to keep the jobs from disapearing, we must band together, start a lobby, and bribe the congresscriters to pass laws to stop this crap (or tax the shit out of companies that do it). Gun owners and doctors are a minority in American society, yet their lobbiests are the cream of the crop and they get what they what out of the government(seeing how guns are still legal and there is no free health care). As nerds we must quit pretending that someone else (or lord forbid "market forces") will solve the problem and unite for our common good. Sure the system is corrupt and it sucks, but if big corporations can use it to their advantage, so can we.
And if push comes to shove, just work for or start a computer repair company. I always tell my friends that even though I hate how much worse spyware and viruses seen to be getting on windows computers, the harder they are for a layman to defeat the greater the chance that someone has a job cleaning them out for clueless home users (95 percent of domestic computer users). Just keep your chin up.
This website clearly shows that the American military probably killed (cause the government doesn't count) 40000 Iraq troops while losing only 482 American troops. That is a one hundred to one ratio. And our troops weren't killing some guys with hunting guns or low end assault rifles like what would happen in a modern American revolution. These Iraq soldiers were highly trained paid professionals. If they would have fought in the manor that Americans would have to in order to fight the government, it easily would have been a 200 to one ratio. With that ratio 500000 soldiers could kill 100000000 people. But that assumes that the government would fight a modern civil war with ground troops. Instead they would probably send tomahawks and bombs from the sky (stuff that you can't defend yourself from with anything at the gun store).
When our forefathers fought their war of independence, they had nearly the same equipment (technologically speaking) as the British they were fighting. Now the populace is so far behind. The military would win. That's why we must act now from keeping things from becoming another civil war.
I have a good book for you called 1984. It will tell you how a police state can allow a single party to rule and squash those that disagree.
I'm not a MBA or anything, but I do know that any company that does not deal with the concerns of its customers is doomed to failure. Enough people still buy enough CDs so that the big five companies make money hand over fist, and if they continued to be hostile to ALL of their customers as a whole (calling everyone that wants to play a CD on a computer a thief, tricky DRM, increased radio ads and so on) their business will fail.
Is it wrong to steal music. YES.
Are the actions of the RIAA companies over that last 20+ years wrong. YES
DO two wrongs make a right. NO
But does any company survive without pleasing its customers. NO
In the end, nothing the RIAA or any single person can do will stop massive file sharing. Asking for a boycott is naive. Thinking that people will ever respect the RIAA's copyrights (or any thing that is copyrighted but can be turned into ones and zeros) like society used to is naive.
The RIAA has a choice. As you noted the massive copying of their works shows that there product is wanted. So they can either serve the rest of the population that still respects their works and pays for them. Or they can do as they are doing and not trust paying customers by default (no matter what you say that's what DRM on CDs tells customers) and watch what business they have left crumble. Its naive to think that there are any other serious options.
I'm like you in the respect that I hate people on slashdot trying to justify copying the RIAA's works because of something the parent companies did or didn't do. Yet I do know that the justification of copying is irrelevant, as the best reason to infringe now is the simple fact the "everybody is doing it" (everybody being a large enough minority to keep copying in the public mindset). This same rational has been used to justify and further much worse causes- slavery- and so the possibility of filesharing going away to an RIAA acceptable point anywhere in the near future is impossible. So they will never reform in ways you think they might (and I doubt that they would do it if filesharing went away anyway).
The file traders on the internet are sending a clear message. We want your stuff but we don't want to pay for it. I'm not saying thats right, but I will say that its human nature.
Anyone that still uses internet explorer and considers BUYING software or a service to block popups must not ever go to an obscure website some call google. Here you will find the google toolbar which will not only block popups for free, but will also allow you to search with google almost as easy as mozilla does. When dealing with my moms computer, this toolbar combined with IE is the best way for her to browse the web (condering how some pages break in mozilla and that would freak my mom out).
The future problem organizations like the RIAA face is not that all youths are savy enough to get around their roadblocks. The problem is that the generation of children growing up with computers (and the massive amounts of information they store and create) do not value the "cost" of any particular piece of information. To children of the new generation there is way too much info to sift through, so paying a high price for ANY infomation is not respected. Just looking at the disparity in age in any poll concerning file sharing proves that point. (aka many polls show that people under the age of 35 usually believe filesharing to be ok, while those over 35 usually don't).
Its important to note that since filesharing began, the role of nonbusiness computers in the hands of youth went from being a thing to serf the internet and play random games with to being a do it all media box. (on a side note, I believe that the difficulty in playing and obtaining media files is a huge roadblock to desktop linux. until linux has kazaa (or any way to easily copy info) and well formed codec packages to make playing that info VERY easy-as in Windows XP easy- people college age or younger will not want to use it.) Ask an college girl- usually the voice of future technoilliterate population, and they will tell you how much better their computer became when they could actually do something cool with it (like it or not, free media is cool).
Even if media companies succeed in making it harder to trade info, they will never succeed in shifting morals back to a point where their intellectual property is respected.
The cause of feminism is recent history is partly due to fact that contemporary advances in communication have allowed segments of the population to unite and seek privileges other groups receive. In this case the group was biologically maintained at nearly 50% of the population. It's impossible to contain that many people. Most modern men would agree that women should be treated the same as men. Yet the eraser of the lines between men and women displaces one of the most historically important qualities of manhood. Machismo. The pride associated with the fraternities of mankind. Men love to emulate and feed off each other and the bond of manhood is felt by most men. For thousands of years men have made clubs initiated by extreme rituals to include new men into the male group and to strengthen the role as a man. Men have historically had duties (such as providing for and protecting your family) that were strengthened by the mutual encouragement of other men. Yet the march of feminism went beyond creating equality in living conditions and freedom, and more into completely eradicated the lines between men and women. Women have gone past the office leaving only what they overall dislike about mankind. Contact Sports. Gadgets and Computers. Video Games(if they didn't count puzzle games, there would be few women gamers). Acting like idiots. Construction. Drinking competitive amounts of beer. Smelling bad. Loving boobs. Hating shopping (except in electronic stores). Stealing road signs. And a couple other so-so parts of life in comparison to lots of stuff (but wonderful to guys anyway). Just look at any recent commercial, sitcom, mathematics class, or college fraternity and you will see all of these things basically represent the last bastions of machioism. Any women cannot experience how powerful the feeling of being united with men (and only men). The classification of words into feminist and male categories in many old languages expresses how important this concept is to civilization. Yet as the "duties of a man" erode from providing for your family to doing what ever you want, watching TV and getting drunk, the quality of life in the United States will eventually decline. No real man hates feminism. But since it has been around(at least here in the U.S.), it has been harder to determine if you are a real man.
Should have said start smoking pot. Cigs are just another bad addiction but pot will get you unhooked because it is one of the least addictive drugs. I quite caffine for a while with weed.