I own the Tab 2 and it's a great device - but the poor black contrast lets it down, particularly when watching video. On my Galaxy S4 mobile the blacks (eg, dark scenes or fade to black in movie) are pure black, better than iPhone and others.. whereas on the Tab2 they're distinctly grey due to the LCD backlight. Super AMOLED is superb.
Sigh - Rei, you're doing it again. Projecting your own experiences onto another. As I imagine you're aware, as a matter of public record:
- SW (the more serious "rape" alleg) has since stated she was "half asleep" after making love with Assange a couple of hours previously (for 3rd time). As opposed to your description that makes sound like some kind of bedroom invader.
- Immediately after penetration while they were cuddling in bed, asked if Assange was wearing a condom, then agreed continue when he answered no. They'd also only half used a condom the previous time they made love.
- SW was the aggressor in initiating the relationship according to her own statement and witnesses in police report, seeking Assange out, paying for his train ticket & becoming upset when he didn't want to have sex. They spent all day together courting, kissing in cinema etc, before going back hers.
- Police report witness statements say they initially had no interest in reporting the issue to the police, but instead wanted to force an STD test. Second complainant AA said to a friend she filed hers "as support" for SWs, as police said it would present a stronger case.
- The interviews were carried out by an active Rad Fem officer personal friend of AA's who breached virtually every rule in book while taking statements. Including allowing AA in the interview room during SW's interview, not tape recording either interview, amending the interviews later (on instruction of her superiors) and pressuring SW to continue. SW was so distraught when she heard the police had issued an arrest warrant that she didn't finish or sign the interview.
- The original Chief Prosecutor in the case Eva Finné, acting in the spotlight of frenzied media reports of "double rape" after Assange's name was leaked and after reviewing the evidence in detail, channelled the arrest warrant in Aug 2010 and gave statement to press that "I don’t think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape". She also stated he was no longer wanted by police (thus free to leave Sweden), but she would continue to investigate lesser charges.
- Whilst SW has arguably legitimate cause for complaint (lack of condom), AA's self described "support" charges are simply nonsense. Her statement clearly identifies consent at all times and her only allegation of any seriousness - alleged sabotaging of a condom - appears heavily dubious as the "evidence" she presented of it contains ZERO Assange DNA. AA also famously threw a party for Assange the evening after the supposed incidents, posted tweets about how much she was enjoying his company, allowed him share her room for week after, deleted evidence online after the event, etc etc.
- After outrage grew in the US over the famous Wikileaks diplomatic cables release at that time, a second Prosecutor Ny & RF lawyer Borgström were parachuted in, who both just happened to have active political careers in pushing Radical Feminist legislation in Sweden - e.g., support for a proposed tax on all males to counteract their sins. The original prosecutor Finné lodged a filing demanding an explanation for this unusual change and asking on what grounds the Gov were overruling her earlier findings.
- The EAW that the UK courts based their findings on *demonstrably* exaggerates the accusations far beyond those in the official SW & AA statements. E.g., they suggest violence/force (no mention in statements), they fail to mention the complainants both acknowledge the encounters were consensual, they suggest lack of condom use with AA when one was used but split, they describe SW as asleep etc - see the J4A Allegations page for a direct comparison between the EAW and what actually reported.
Now even given all of the above evidence that this sort of case would NEVER normally warrant an Interpol Red Notice and EAW - hell, most times not even cut and dried rape cases do - most Assange suppo
At the rate cyberwarfare is turning from a prophecy into day to day reality, I question why a nation would want to dissuade its emerging hacking talent? In the not too distant future, a nation's security will depend on an ample supply of greyhats. Less wealthy nations already arguably have a head start: more disenfranchised youths = larger hacking community.
I set up @NetFreeUK a month or so ago and built up a following by retweeting and commenting on stories related to freedom of speech, individual privacy, dangerous Big Media legislation like ACTA etc. I've been meticulous in sticking to the rules - not spamming, replying politely to those with contradictory views etc.. but my account is currently suspended, as of several days ago.
I've appealed to Twitter, asking them to verify from my history that I've not broken any rules, heard nothing back after nearly a week. I'm assuming someone took a dislike to my views (e.g., defending Assange) and reported my account to silence it. If it's happened to me in this manner, I can't be the first.
So much for Twitter being an effective medium of free speech. Dissenters using it to share knowledge within repressive regimes like Syria can be easily silenced simply by officials reporting their account for "trolling" or similar - Twitter don't seem to bother verifying complaints. That could have disastrous IRL consequences. In my case it's just been a very effective method of putting me off advocating some important causes.
Anyone else run into the same problem with Twitter? Any advice on restoring a maliciously suspended AC?
Whilst the pushers (Home Secretary Theresa May and her cronies) claim this is about tackling serious organised crime, the actual legislation makes no such restriction.
Likely key benefactors are HMR&C tax collectors (e.g., eBay sales), high level smear campaign organisers (e.g., Assange, political opponents), and of course Big Media - our DCMS (Ed Vaizey et al) is a complete puppet for the copyright industry.
"The UK’s extradition treaty does not have the temporary surrender (’conditional release’) clause. The UK’s judicial review process, while far from perfect, has a number of practical review mechanisms. The nearest equivalent case, of Gary McKinnon - a UK citizen who has been charged for hacking US military systems - has been opposed in the courts for 8 years.
Public opinion and the media (to a greater extent) are more sympathetic to Julian Assange in the UK than in Sweden. Public pressure could draw out the process of extradition to the United States in the UK. In Sweden the media climate is hostile (seeMedia climate in Sweden ) due to the sex allegations. Public outcry would be significantly weaker and therefore less likely to stand in the way of a strategically convenient extradition.
In the UK, Julian Assange is better able to defend himself, muster support and understand the legal procedures against him. In Sweden on the other hand, the language barrier prevents him from effectively challenging the actions against.
The UK is politically better positioned to withstand pressure from the United States than Sweden. Sweden is a small country of nine million people close to Russia. It has grown increasingly dependent on the United States. In recent years Sweden has complied with directives from the United States in a manner that has not been scrutinised by Parliament, as has been revealed by the disclosed diplomatic cables (seePolitical Interference ).
Quite. I'd also add note that the original Swedish Chief Prosecutor Eva Finné publicly announced: "I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape."
There are regular prosecutions for false, maliciously motivated rape claims here in the UK, not that this will sway Ms RT from her blinkered world view.
.. [JS] didn't even manage to get equality comparisons implemented in a sensible manner!
Yeah, coz PHP really *shines* for equality comparisons.
switch("dog") {
case 0 : echo("Won't see this, nosir."); break;
case "dog" : echo("This will be shown, promise."); break;
}
if("123" == " 123") echo("Hmmm... I expected string comparison, but whatever.");
if("123" == "123 ") echo("You'll at least be consistent about trimming though, right?");
JavaScript gets loosely-typed comparison operations pretty spot on IMO - i.e., logical and intuitive results, including for "truthiness" evaluation. Of course, like any language it has its share of quirks - e.g.:
if( parseInt("0123") != 123) alert("Eeek - are you *really* defaulting to Octal radix for zero-padded nums, parseInt?!");
if(typeof null == "object") alert("Meh, Netscape!");
if( myDate.month == 11 ) alert("December, ORLY?");
Utter FUD codswallop. MS bundled IE to the OS to get one over Netscape. Ironically, they had a better browser by the time they reached IE4, so the bundling was unnecessary- they could have won through offering the better product, but couldn't help themselves.
Now Android- Google doesn't utilise its search engine in any way to encourage uptake of Android. Users choose it because the software and ecosystem beats iOS and WM hands down. Google services like Maps are optionally bundled with Android- but the same goes for iOS et al.
So what are you arguing? That rich companies aren't allowed to enter new markets? Because that's what "off the back of search profits" sounds like. The rest of your arguments are nonsense, please stop that.
Nope - the Swedish prosecution is in the USG's back pocket, as demonstrated by the re-opening of the "assault" (cough, condom split.. open radical feminist.. threw party for him the next morning) cases, after being thrown out by the original prosecuter, as soon as the USG began applying pressure in response to the cable leaks. The slew of coffee-spluttering high-ranking US officials openly calling for the death penalty for Assange (!) would also be grounds for denying extradition under EU Human Rights treaties.
Oh please. Apple's own engineers warned Jobs of the issue right from the earliest design meetings, but were overruled. When users -shock- began complaining soon after launch, Jobs personally dismissed the "non-issue", telling them to "avoid holding it in that way."
Even when Apple *finally* accepted there was a problem at the 16 July press conference (only after a damning confirmation of the issue from Consumer Reports), there was no "mea cupla". They claimed the problem was common to all internal antenna phones, something which competitors and reviewers were quick to dispute, but they would begrudgingly issue free cases as a band-aid fix.
It never ceases to amaze me the infinite reserve of benefit-of-doubt that Apple commands from its fans!:]
"To the best of my knowledge Apple doesn't exploit, extort, or engage in dishonest business practices."
To the best of my knowedge, no Applezoid has ever accepted that Apple is a self preserving, spin marketing megacorp like any other. Are you seriously suggesting you are unaware of the iPhone 4 antenna debacle and subsequent denial by Apple?
Yes, I'd be inclined to agree that MS have demonstrated more underhand tendencies over the years than Apple. But Apple today very much practices the same self-preserving restrictive nonsense that got MS its reputation in the first place.
From the interview: "Microsoft’s philosophy is to get it out there and fix it later. Steve would never do that. He doesn’t get anything out there until it is perfected."
< 50% my arse. This is headline grabbing from a stats company that fails to represent the corporate user market, IE's home turf.
RTFA: "Another Web measurement company, Net Applications, last week said its research shows Windows IE had a 59.7% share during September, though it did say IE's share is declining."
Same here - all searches today on Google.co.uk for me are using the new "real-time" search - results update as you type.
Slightly unnerving for users to see their UI change completely where they're not expecting it? Useful though.
We have to put up with worse crap than this in the UK: our cheapest operator, Ryanair, charges extra for a bunch of things that are certainly *not* optional extras.. like checking in.. and PAYING!
IIRC: £10 online checkin fee per passenger. £5 each way per passenger "payment fee" (unless use a specific obscure card type). £15-£20 each way per passenger for a measly 15kg of checked baggage.
You think *you've* got problems!:-O
The summary states that cost isn't the primary factor in choosing commercial vs FOSS. Granted, but I wonder what role the (often tolerated) ability to pirate commercial software plays in this?
If there was genuinely no option but to stump up ~$1,700 each time one wishes to upgrade to the latest Adobe Creative Suite (Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop etc), this would discourage home users and push them toward FOSS alternatives. Same for MS Office vs Open Office, etc.
Students are a prime example - what percentage of students do you realistically think pay for their software (particularly those requiring numerous high cost tools, such as programming students)? The tools that students become familiar with they will then become advocates for when they start working.
It's no secret that Microsoft tolerated a rife pirating of MS DOS in order to strengthen their install base - a tactic which has reaped dividends. I wonder if this tolerance continues today for major software titles that rely on ubiquity to ensure their popularity, such as MS Office?
From April, MS will no longer sell you a copy of XP, that's the problem.
See my submission on this and the leaked Windows 7 price hike ($45-$55 for the Starter Edition, up to $40 more expensive than the XP licence for netbook machines!):
Agree in principle that the Recording Industry (Saleable Copyright model) is not working, but the "pay for creative work up-front" seems to have major drawbacks - principly that you have no idea if a creative person is any good until they've delivered the goods, creating chicken and egg.
I think you're missing a trick though: live performances.
I've read up on the subject as a former MP3.com artist myself, from talking to upcoming bands like Silverman and from the widespread public writings of established artists. All say that recording artists rarely make any money from sales though their record company; in fact they normally end up heavily in debt (the famous record label "tab").
Let me say that again: most artists do not profit from music sales. Only the record labels (and industry quangos like the RIAA) profit from music sales. Instead, most current artists make their money from live gigs, merchandise, appearance fees, etc - the good old fashioned "goods/services for cash" model.
As soon as you appreciate this, you realise you can ditch the record label altogether, "open source" your music (allow to be freely distributed on a non-profit basis, with distribution channels allowed to charge a small fee to cover their costs if they wish) and make money from gigs, etc, instead as your popularity grows.
This is not a new idea: numerous bug names in music are advocating the idea. Here's a quote from an excellent 2007 Wired feature by former label boss David Byrne:
"What is called the music business today, however, is not the business of producing music. At some point it became the business of selling CDs in plastic cases, and that business will soon be over. But that's not bad news for music, and it's certainly not bad news for musicians. Indeed, with all the ways to reach an audience, there have never been more opportunities for artists."
"The fact that Radiohead debuted its latest album online and Madonna defected from Warner Bros. to Live Nation, a concert promoter, is held to signal the end of the music business as we know it. Actually, these are just two examples of how musicians are increasingly able to work outside of the traditional label relationship. There is no one single way of doing business these days. There are, in fact, six viable models by my count. That variety is good for artists; it gives them more ways to get paid and make a living. And it's good for audiences, too, who will have more - and more interesting - music to listen to. Let's step back and get some perspective."
Ian Tomlinson was pushed to the ground by a police officer after strolling into the scene of the biggest violent protest in recent London history. He died of a pre-existing heart condition soon after, likely caused by the stress of the incident - this was tragic, and the officer involved should feel guilt at his actions.
However, where the hell do you get that he was "beaten"?! It helps no one to muddy the facts.
I was going to moan about the description of De Menezes death as "murder" based on my understanding of the circumstances (terror suspect running from police on day of bombing), but I've just read Wikipedia's coverage of the evidence. Bloody hell, that really was a scary cock-up, even if it's difficult to hold one individual culpable.
Whether or not that is true, the Slashmins clearly believe IE users to be unimportant (you know, the users of the world's most popular browser), as post formatting is messed up in IE7.
Half the replies in this thread appear blank in IE7 on XP (e.g., whatever Hurricane78 was replying to with "Last time I checked, they were not your b*tch, ya know?"). This reply textarea I'm using now is shifted to the right on 1024x768, meaning I have to scroll right to see it.
I was away from Slashdot for a few months recently (work overload!) and have come back to mess of broken formatting. WTF happened?!
As others have pointed out, many of us either have no choice about using IE (e.g., corporate boxes, or web design professionals where it makes sense to us the same browser as the majority of your clients), or even *shock* choose it as browser of choice.
Grrrr - focus on the basics before twiddling the AJAX nobs!
Arrrggg... my eyes! The Fiat Multipla (above) is truely the Goatse of cars, closely followed by the pathetically weedy Renault Twingo and pre-2002 Nissan Micra:])
Strange how standards have sunk so low at GoDaddy; they were the hip, cheap n' cheerful leader 5 or so years ago.
Bob Parsons' blog always made interesting reading, some thought-provoking insights into business philosophy and marketing. However, even this appears to have turned into a slightly tacky bikini models video channel!
There's a comments section beneath each entry if you'd like to share views with Mr Parsons. However, it's subject to moderation, so you'll need to keep it constructive!
Because the consumer has chosen which capacity MP3 player to go for based on how many MP3s they want to fit on. MP3 sizes are measured in MB, which is Base-2. Hence the capacity of devices for storing MP3s should also be expressed in Base-2 - it's not complicated.
A consumer purchasing a 1GB MP3 player expects to fit 1GB of MP3s onto it, as reported by their operating system (i.e., Base-2). If they have a folder containing 1GB of MP3s on their PC, but cannot fit it onto the device, they have been mislead on its capacity.
Also, Windows 2000 users (I'm one - never felt the need for XP eye candy and Win2K is a rock-steady OS) are capped at IE6 - MS decided to prevent IE7 running on Win2K.
Slashdot Mirror
I own the Tab 2 and it's a great device - but the poor black contrast lets it down, particularly when watching video. On my Galaxy S4 mobile the blacks (eg, dark scenes or fade to black in movie) are pure black, better than iPhone and others .. whereas on the Tab2 they're distinctly grey due to the LCD backlight. Super AMOLED is superb.
Sigh - Rei, you're doing it again. Projecting your own experiences onto another. As I imagine you're aware, as a matter of public record:
Now even given all of the above evidence that this sort of case would NEVER normally warrant an Interpol Red Notice and EAW - hell, most times not even cut and dried rape cases do - most Assange suppo
At the rate cyberwarfare is turning from a prophecy into day to day reality, I question why a nation would want to dissuade its emerging hacking talent? In the not too distant future, a nation's security will depend on an ample supply of greyhats. Less wealthy nations already arguably have a head start: more disenfranchised youths = larger hacking community.
I set up @NetFreeUK a month or so ago and built up a following by retweeting and commenting on stories related to freedom of speech, individual privacy, dangerous Big Media legislation like ACTA etc. I've been meticulous in sticking to the rules - not spamming, replying politely to those with contradictory views etc .. but my account is currently suspended, as of several days ago.
I've appealed to Twitter, asking them to verify from my history that I've not broken any rules, heard nothing back after nearly a week. I'm assuming someone took a dislike to my views (e.g., defending Assange) and reported my account to silence it. If it's happened to me in this manner, I can't be the first.
So much for Twitter being an effective medium of free speech. Dissenters using it to share knowledge within repressive regimes like Syria can be easily silenced simply by officials reporting their account for "trolling" or similar - Twitter don't seem to bother verifying complaints. That could have disastrous IRL consequences. In my case it's just been a very effective method of putting me off advocating some important causes.
Anyone else run into the same problem with Twitter? Any advice on restoring a maliciously suspended AC?
So what manner of corruption is going on here?
Whilst the pushers (Home Secretary Theresa May and her cronies) claim this is about tackling serious organised crime, the actual legislation makes no such restriction.
Likely key benefactors are HMR&C tax collectors (e.g., eBay sales), high level smear campaign organisers (e.g., Assange, political opponents), and of course Big Media - our DCMS (Ed Vaizey et al) is a complete puppet for the copyright industry.
http://bit.ly/qIKLgo
"The UK’s extradition treaty does not have the temporary surrender (’conditional release’) clause. The UK’s judicial review process, while far from perfect, has a number of practical review mechanisms. The nearest equivalent case, of Gary McKinnon - a UK citizen who has been charged for hacking US military systems - has been opposed in the courts for 8 years.
Public opinion and the media (to a greater extent) are more sympathetic to Julian Assange in the UK than in Sweden. Public pressure could draw out the process of extradition to the United States in the UK. In Sweden the media climate is hostile (seeMedia climate in Sweden
) due to the sex allegations. Public outcry would be significantly weaker and therefore less likely to stand in the way of a strategically convenient extradition.
In the UK, Julian Assange is better able to defend himself, muster support and understand the legal procedures against him. In Sweden on the other hand, the language barrier prevents him from effectively challenging the actions against.
The UK is politically better positioned to withstand pressure from the United States than Sweden. Sweden is a small country of nine million people close to Russia. It has grown increasingly dependent on the United States. In recent years Sweden has complied with directives from the United States in a manner that has not been scrutinised by Parliament, as has been revealed by the disclosed diplomatic cables (seePolitical Interference
).
Quite. I'd also add note that the original Swedish Chief Prosecutor Eva Finné publicly announced: "I don't think there is reason to suspect that he has committed rape."
There are regular prosecutions for false, maliciously motivated rape claims here in the UK, not that this will sway Ms RT from her blinkered world view.
.. [JS] didn't even manage to get equality comparisons implemented in a sensible manner!
Yeah, coz PHP really *shines* for equality comparisons.
switch("dog") { ... I expected string comparison, but whatever.");
case 0 : echo("Won't see this, nosir."); break;
case "dog" : echo("This will be shown, promise."); break;
}
if("123" == " 123") echo("Hmmm
if("123" == "123 ") echo("You'll at least be consistent about trimming though, right?");
JavaScript gets loosely-typed comparison operations pretty spot on IMO - i.e., logical and intuitive results, including for "truthiness" evaluation. Of course, like any language it has its share of quirks - e.g.:
if( parseInt("0123") != 123) alert("Eeek - are you *really* defaulting to Octal radix for zero-padded nums, parseInt?!");
if(typeof null == "object") alert("Meh, Netscape!");
if( myDate.month == 11 ) alert("December, ORLY?");
Utter FUD codswallop. MS bundled IE to the OS to get one over Netscape. Ironically, they had a better browser by the time they reached IE4, so the bundling was unnecessary- they could have won through offering the better product, but couldn't help themselves.
Now Android- Google doesn't utilise its search engine in any way to encourage uptake of Android. Users choose it because the software and ecosystem beats iOS and WM hands down. Google services like Maps are optionally bundled with Android- but the same goes for iOS et al.
So what are you arguing? That rich companies aren't allowed to enter new markets? Because that's what "off the back of search profits" sounds like. The rest of your arguments are nonsense, please stop that.
Nope - the Swedish prosecution is in the USG's back pocket, as demonstrated by the re-opening of the "assault" (cough, condom split .. open radical feminist .. threw party for him the next morning) cases, after being thrown out by the original prosecuter, as soon as the USG began applying pressure in response to the cable leaks. The slew of coffee-spluttering high-ranking US officials openly calling for the death penalty for Assange (!) would also be grounds for denying extradition under EU Human Rights treaties.
Oh please. Apple's own engineers warned Jobs of the issue right from the earliest design meetings, but were overruled. When users -shock- began complaining soon after launch, Jobs personally dismissed the "non-issue", telling them to "avoid holding it in that way."
Even when Apple *finally* accepted there was a problem at the 16 July press conference (only after a damning confirmation of the issue from Consumer Reports), there was no "mea cupla". They claimed the problem was common to all internal antenna phones, something which competitors and reviewers were quick to dispute, but they would begrudgingly issue free cases as a band-aid fix.
It never ceases to amaze me the infinite reserve of benefit-of-doubt that Apple commands from its fans! :]
"To the best of my knowledge Apple doesn't exploit, extort, or engage in dishonest business practices."
To the best of my knowedge, no Applezoid has ever accepted that Apple is a self preserving, spin marketing megacorp like any other. Are you seriously suggesting you are unaware of the iPhone 4 antenna debacle and subsequent denial by Apple?
Yes, I'd be inclined to agree that MS have demonstrated more underhand tendencies over the years than Apple. But Apple today very much practices the same self-preserving restrictive nonsense that got MS its reputation in the first place.
From the interview: "Microsoft’s philosophy is to get it out there and fix it later. Steve would never do that. He doesn’t get anything out there until it is perfected."
Riiiiight. {cough faulty IP4 antenna design, cracking screens}
< 50% my arse. This is headline grabbing from a stats company that fails to represent the corporate user market, IE's home turf.
RTFA: "Another Web measurement company, Net Applications, last week said its research shows Windows IE had a 59.7% share during September, though it did say IE's share is declining."
Same here - all searches today on Google.co.uk for me are using the new "real-time" search - results update as you type. Slightly unnerving for users to see their UI change completely where they're not expecting it? Useful though.
We have to put up with worse crap than this in the UK: our cheapest operator, Ryanair, charges extra for a bunch of things that are certainly *not* optional extras .. like checking in .. and PAYING!
:-O
IIRC: £10 online checkin fee per passenger. £5 each way per passenger "payment fee" (unless use a specific obscure card type). £15-£20 each way per passenger for a measly 15kg of checked baggage. You think *you've* got problems!
The summary states that cost isn't the primary factor in choosing commercial vs FOSS. Granted, but I wonder what role the (often tolerated) ability to pirate commercial software plays in this?
If there was genuinely no option but to stump up ~$1,700 each time one wishes to upgrade to the latest Adobe Creative Suite (Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop etc), this would discourage home users and push them toward FOSS alternatives. Same for MS Office vs Open Office, etc.
Students are a prime example - what percentage of students do you realistically think pay for their software (particularly those requiring numerous high cost tools, such as programming students)? The tools that students become familiar with they will then become advocates for when they start working.
It's no secret that Microsoft tolerated a rife pirating of MS DOS in order to strengthen their install base - a tactic which has reaped dividends. I wonder if this tolerance continues today for major software titles that rely on ubiquity to ensure their popularity, such as MS Office?
From April, MS will no longer sell you a copy of XP, that's the problem.
See my submission on this and the leaked Windows 7 price hike ($45-$55 for the Starter Edition, up to $40 more expensive than the XP licence for netbook machines!):
http://slashdot.org/submission/1021213/Microsoft---Windows-7-Pricing-Malfunction
Agree in principle that the Recording Industry (Saleable Copyright model) is not working, but the "pay for creative work up-front" seems to have major drawbacks - principly that you have no idea if a creative person is any good until they've delivered the goods, creating chicken and egg.
I think you're missing a trick though: live performances.
I've read up on the subject as a former MP3.com artist myself, from talking to upcoming bands like Silverman and from the widespread public writings of established artists. All say that recording artists rarely make any money from sales though their record company; in fact they normally end up heavily in debt (the famous record label "tab").
Let me say that again: most artists do not profit from music sales. Only the record labels (and industry quangos like the RIAA) profit from music sales. Instead, most current artists make their money from live gigs, merchandise, appearance fees, etc - the good old fashioned "goods/services for cash" model.
As soon as you appreciate this, you realise you can ditch the record label altogether, "open source" your music (allow to be freely distributed on a non-profit basis, with distribution channels allowed to charge a small fee to cover their costs if they wish) and make money from gigs, etc, instead as your popularity grows.
This is not a new idea: numerous bug names in music are advocating the idea. Here's a quote from an excellent 2007 Wired feature by former label boss David Byrne:
"What is called the music business today, however, is not the business of producing music. At some point it became the business of selling CDs in plastic cases, and that business will soon be over. But that's not bad news for music, and it's certainly not bad news for musicians. Indeed, with all the ways to reach an audience, there have never been more opportunities for artists."
"The fact that Radiohead debuted its latest album online and Madonna defected from Warner Bros. to Live Nation, a concert promoter, is held to signal the end of the music business as we know it. Actually, these are just two examples of how musicians are increasingly able to work outside of the traditional label relationship. There is no one single way of doing business these days. There are, in fact, six viable models by my count. That variety is good for artists; it gives them more ways to get paid and make a living. And it's good for audiences, too, who will have more - and more interesting - music to listen to. Let's step back and get some perspective."
Wise words. Full article (well worth a read):
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_byrne
If that's not enough for you, plenty of similar reading at:
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/record-label.htm/printable
http://www.sourban.net/The-Future-Of-Music-How-Real-Artists-Will-Save-Music-From-The-Music-Industry
http://www.magnatune.com/info/musicians
http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/magazine/16-01/ff_yorke
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=music+artists+make+money+live+performances+record+label
Cheers, Ben
Ian Tomlinson was pushed to the ground by a police officer after strolling into the scene of the biggest violent protest in recent London history. He died of a pre-existing heart condition soon after, likely caused by the stress of the incident - this was tragic, and the officer involved should feel guilt at his actions.
However, where the hell do you get that he was "beaten"?! It helps no one to muddy the facts.
I was going to moan about the description of De Menezes death as "murder" based on my understanding of the circumstances (terror suspect running from police on day of bombing), but I've just read Wikipedia's coverage of the evidence. Bloody hell, that really was a scary cock-up, even if it's difficult to hold one individual culpable.
Whether or not that is true, the Slashmins clearly believe IE users to be unimportant (you know, the users of the world's most popular browser), as post formatting is messed up in IE7.
Half the replies in this thread appear blank in IE7 on XP (e.g., whatever Hurricane78 was replying to with "Last time I checked, they were not your b*tch, ya know?"). This reply textarea I'm using now is shifted to the right on 1024x768, meaning I have to scroll right to see it.
I was away from Slashdot for a few months recently (work overload!) and have come back to mess of broken formatting. WTF happened?!
As others have pointed out, many of us either have no choice about using IE (e.g., corporate boxes, or web design professionals where it makes sense to us the same browser as the majority of your clients), or even *shock* choose it as browser of choice.
Grrrr - focus on the basics before twiddling the AJAX nobs!
Arrrggg ... my eyes! The Fiat Multipla (above) is truely the Goatse of cars, closely followed by the pathetically weedy Renault Twingo and pre-2002 Nissan Micra :])
Strange how standards have sunk so low at GoDaddy; they were the hip, cheap n' cheerful leader 5 or so years ago.
Bob Parsons' blog always made interesting reading, some thought-provoking insights into business philosophy and marketing. However, even this appears to have turned into a slightly tacky bikini models video channel!
http://www.bobparsons.tv/
There's a comments section beneath each entry if you'd like to share views with Mr Parsons. However, it's subject to moderation, so you'll need to keep it constructive!
Because the consumer has chosen which capacity MP3 player to go for based on how many MP3s they want to fit on. MP3 sizes are measured in MB, which is Base-2. Hence the capacity of devices for storing MP3s should also be expressed in Base-2 - it's not complicated. A consumer purchasing a 1GB MP3 player expects to fit 1GB of MP3s onto it, as reported by their operating system (i.e., Base-2). If they have a folder containing 1GB of MP3s on their PC, but cannot fit it onto the device, they have been mislead on its capacity.
Also, Windows 2000 users (I'm one - never felt the need for XP eye candy and Win2K is a rock-steady OS) are capped at IE6 - MS decided to prevent IE7 running on Win2K.