I know you were joking, but if you think about it...how many people do you know (assuming you are not a helicopter pilot for a living) that fly real helicopters? For many people, game simulations of helicopters are the closest they will ever come to flying one.
"How's that any different to some indier-than-thou NME-reading arsehole that insists that anything in the charts must be shite?"
Its different because they don't insult your music, they just say they don't like it. On the otherhand, here you are stating:
"And sure, it's largely opinion, but there are absolutes in this world: Westlife are undeniably shite, and Ella Fitzgerald is undeniably a genius."
There is not good and bad music, the world is not black and white. There is music people like, and music people don't like, and that varies from person to person. Who are you to say that Westlife is bad, and Ella Fitzgerald is good? Many people may agree, but there are people who care nothing for Ella Fitzgerald, and greatly enjoy Westlife.
So why don't you drop your whole argument, because things are not black and white like you seem to believe they are. Once again, who are YOU to make that decision? O yes, I forgot, an elitist troll.
I think you might be correct that it is not necessarily the music, but contempt for the person who buys it simply because of successful marketing. Thank you for making an intelligent post as opposed to the borderline-trollish postings of Bertie on this topic.
I believe I read in the RIAA article earlier today that they RIAA is paying for the employees at ISPs to handle the subpoenas. Sorry, too lazy to look it up now.
"And you people complaing about the use of the word "steal".....that's what it is. When you take something that isn't yours, whether it's physical or bits of data over the internet, that's stealing, folks. Saying otherwise is just splitting hairs, the Slashdot equivilant of "I did not have sexual relations with that woman".
It may be legally called copyright infringment, but deep down, you KNOW what you're doing."
What you have to realize though is that semantics are entirely relevant with this issue. You see, this battle used to be fought technologically. Then it was fine to call it whatever you wanted. Stealing, piracy, sharing, whatever. Now it has turned into a legal battle. A very big, very gory legal battle that will have many casualties. The courtroom is the one place where the difference between 'stealing' and 'copyright infringement' makes a major difference.
Normally, I would agree that it is petty to argue over the semantics of it, but the reason so many people on here get aggravated over the misuse of the word is that this time its not just nitpicking, misuse of the word has legal consequences. While the court would very likely recognize it for what it is (copyright infringement) you have to remember that unfortunately, half of a legal battle is always PR. And right now the RIAA is getting a big upperhand on us PR-wise by teaching everybody in america that copyright infringement, is in fact, stealing.
So please use the correct terms, and don't put down the people who argue over the semantics, because legally, it matters, and this is a legal issue now.
Exactly, thats what the EFF needs to do in a commercial. List the labels that are members of the RIAA, list the big artists under those labels....and then say: "It's not really the RIAA suing you, its the labels behind them. Boycott these bands."
So when will Mr. Lee open his Hong Kong Franchise in the US? I hear they take just about anybody, and they have those cool Rat Things (wonder if they run linux?)
" Do you think it would be easier to fly if you had real-time video feedback from the helicopter's point of view? "
While I can't say I've ever flown a real helicopter, I do have a lot of in game experience flying the various choppers in the Eve of Destruction mod for Bf1942. I can't tell you how impossible it is for me to fly the helicopter from a third person view. Yet when I get into first person view, it suddenly becomes a lot simpler, because you have a much more accurate feel for the movement. You would be surprised how much extra flight data can be picked up by your brain when you're eyes actually sense you are moving. Yet when you're on the ground, the helicopter may be making minute changes in its movement, yet you are not. Very interesting phenomenon and I think this technology will definitely help.
" If you haven't noticed, Rab/R&B/Hip-Hop is really popular with the disaffected suburban youth. Who have computers."
Ah yes, the trend of upperclass white suburban kids trying to be lowerclass black innercity kids. Funny stuff actually...now excuse me while I bitchslap my little brother for listening to 50 cent.
"How about we demand that the "open CDs cannot be returned" policy gets permanently lifted?"
You realize the reason for this policy right? It is because people would take CDs home, burn a copy, and return them. Yes this is a little less convenient than just doubleclicking something, but now not only do you have a perfect hard copy, you can then digitize it to your hearts content. And if you really want to do that, there are places called Libraries that are designed specifically for this kind of thing.
" Elitist? Because people don't listen to the same regurgitated, marketed-to-death CRAP?"........."Because one doesn't buy into the marketing, has different tastes than you, and refuses to follow/live/emulate the "stars" of today does NOT make them elitist. "
One is not elitist because they listen to different music, one is elitist because they put down another person's music just because they 'don't like it' or in your case, consider it 'regurgitated, marketed-to-death-CRAP'. While I dislike the vast majority of music being put out today, and while I do feel it is being shoved down our throats, I do not call it CRAP because that would make me elitist. Keep in mind, they probably hate your music just as much as you hate theirs. But be aware that when it comes to bashing on music, the people who tend to do the most are the ones who listen to the rarer more unheard of music, not the ones that listen to the more mainstream music. They are also the ones who use their taste of music to put down others who don't share their taste.
They will sue people who share the latest crap they are pushing...and once they are off the P2P networks.....all that will be left is good music.....and they'll leave P2P alone again? Heh, can't blame me for dreamin.
" I don't think that telling students that you're watching their every single move is the way to build their trust."
In my highschool, in the junior hallway, there was some vandalism of lockers. This is in the typical rich burby highschool. They decided to put those little black dome cams on the wall...about every 5 feet so they could see down into every locker row.
It took one week before they were all defaced in some way. Whether it be nail polish all over them by kids in masks (one kid even made a "mirror mask"), or covered in garbage, had misc. things glued to them etc. They then posted someone (typically a teacher) in the hallway at all times. Nothing else happened to the cameras. Instead, numerous articles made the school paper. But guess what, ultimately, nothing was done about them. This is not a battle students can win on their own. Now, granted this database is very different, but the principles remain the same. Like it or not, there's not a damn thing students can do about it.
"The only problem I have is, why the hell does it track immigration status? What does that have to do with the quality of their education; apart from language barriers, but even that has nothing to do with immigration status."
Because students who are immigrants are more likely to be terrorists...err...dropouts.
" Wow, another attempt to copy an Apple product goes horribly, horribly wrong."
Not to mention that whoever is in charge of their advertising must have snatched all the cut material from Apple's ITMS ads and just slapped Buymusic.com at the end of them.
"And the cost of tracking them down is prohibitive."
Naw, I think it could be simple and cheap.
RIAA man in dark hallway of school:"pssssst, hey you" Little Timmy:"What do you want?" RIAA guy:"Wanna get a couple free CDs?" Little Timmy:"Uh...sure, but I already get them online from my friends." RIAA guy:"Well, I'm gonna make you a deal. See, we know you've been pirating music, and we were going to arrest all of your group, but if you help us, not only will we not arrest you, but we'll give you a free CD of any of your favorite pop stars for every piece of evidence you help us collect." Little Timmy:"Uh...golly....that deal sounds like its too good to be true. I get to keep my life savings AND get the latest pop hits!"
I'm sure someone could post a Matrix version of this from the scene where Agent Smith interrogates Neo at the beginning, so I'll give you the opening and toss some potential karma your way.
You know, I thought the same thing about dynamic IPs at the beginning of this whole mess. But in reality, does it really give you any protection? If they've already sent you a notice, the ISP has to have been aware of what customer was assigned what IP address at what time. And you can bet your ass they have records of this. So how does having a dynamic IP address give you any added protection over a static IP address?
Granted, I could be completely wrong about all this, so if I am please correct me.
Slashdot Mirror
I know you were joking, but if you think about it...how many people do you know (assuming you are not a helicopter pilot for a living) that fly real helicopters? For many people, game simulations of helicopters are the closest they will ever come to flying one.
Its different because they don't insult your music, they just say they don't like it. On the otherhand, here you are stating:
"And sure, it's largely opinion, but there are absolutes in this world: Westlife are undeniably shite, and Ella Fitzgerald is undeniably a genius."
There is not good and bad music, the world is not black and white. There is music people like, and music people don't like, and that varies from person to person. Who are you to say that Westlife is bad, and Ella Fitzgerald is good? Many people may agree, but there are people who care nothing for Ella Fitzgerald, and greatly enjoy Westlife.
So why don't you drop your whole argument, because things are not black and white like you seem to believe they are. Once again, who are YOU to make that decision? O yes, I forgot, an elitist troll.
What you have to realize though is that semantics are entirely relevant with this issue. You see, this battle used to be fought technologically. Then it was fine to call it whatever you wanted. Stealing, piracy, sharing, whatever. Now it has turned into a legal battle. A very big, very gory legal battle that will have many casualties. The courtroom is the one place where the difference between 'stealing' and 'copyright infringement' makes a major difference.
Normally, I would agree that it is petty to argue over the semantics of it, but the reason so many people on here get aggravated over the misuse of the word is that this time its not just nitpicking, misuse of the word has legal consequences. While the court would very likely recognize it for what it is (copyright infringement) you have to remember that unfortunately, half of a legal battle is always PR. And right now the RIAA is getting a big upperhand on us PR-wise by teaching everybody in america that copyright infringement, is in fact, stealing.
So please use the correct terms, and don't put down the people who argue over the semantics, because legally, it matters, and this is a legal issue now.
"All Your Base Are Belong to Us!"
While I can't say I've ever flown a real helicopter, I do have a lot of in game experience flying the various choppers in the Eve of Destruction mod for Bf1942. I can't tell you how impossible it is for me to fly the helicopter from a third person view. Yet when I get into first person view, it suddenly becomes a lot simpler, because you have a much more accurate feel for the movement. You would be surprised how much extra flight data can be picked up by your brain when you're eyes actually sense you are moving. Yet when you're on the ground, the helicopter may be making minute changes in its movement, yet you are not. Very interesting phenomenon and I think this technology will definitely help.
Ah yes, the trend of upperclass white suburban kids trying to be lowerclass black innercity kids. Funny stuff actually...now excuse me while I bitchslap my little brother for listening to 50 cent.
You realize the reason for this policy right? It is because people would take CDs home, burn a copy, and return them. Yes this is a little less convenient than just doubleclicking something, but now not only do you have a perfect hard copy, you can then digitize it to your hearts content. And if you really want to do that, there are places called Libraries that are designed specifically for this kind of thing.
One is not elitist because they listen to different music, one is elitist because they put down another person's music just because they 'don't like it' or in your case, consider it 'regurgitated, marketed-to-death-CRAP'. While I dislike the vast majority of music being put out today, and while I do feel it is being shoved down our throats, I do not call it CRAP because that would make me elitist. Keep in mind, they probably hate your music just as much as you hate theirs. But be aware that when it comes to bashing on music, the people who tend to do the most are the ones who listen to the rarer more unheard of music, not the ones that listen to the more mainstream music. They are also the ones who use their taste of music to put down others who don't share their taste.
I fail to see the problem with this....
For those of you who don't know what that's from, I suggest you look for the mp3 of the second D&D spoof that was made.
Is it just me, or did anybody else read that and instantly think of Snow Crash?
In my highschool, in the junior hallway, there was some vandalism of lockers. This is in the typical rich burby highschool. They decided to put those little black dome cams on the wall...about every 5 feet so they could see down into every locker row.
It took one week before they were all defaced in some way. Whether it be nail polish all over them by kids in masks (one kid even made a "mirror mask"), or covered in garbage, had misc. things glued to them etc. They then posted someone (typically a teacher) in the hallway at all times. Nothing else happened to the cameras. Instead, numerous articles made the school paper. But guess what, ultimately, nothing was done about them. This is not a battle students can win on their own. Now, granted this database is very different, but the principles remain the same. Like it or not, there's not a damn thing students can do about it.
Because students who are immigrants are more likely to be terrorists...err...dropouts.
Not to mention that whoever is in charge of their advertising must have snatched all the cut material from Apple's ITMS ads and just slapped Buymusic.com at the end of them.
Um...Microsoft?
Naw, I think it could be simple and cheap.
RIAA man in dark hallway of school:"pssssst, hey you"
Little Timmy:"What do you want?"
RIAA guy:"Wanna get a couple free CDs?"
Little Timmy:"Uh...sure, but I already get them online from my friends."
RIAA guy:"Well, I'm gonna make you a deal. See, we know you've been pirating music, and we were going to arrest all of your group, but if you help us, not only will we not arrest you, but we'll give you a free CD of any of your favorite pop stars for every piece of evidence you help us collect."
Little Timmy:"Uh...golly....that deal sounds like its too good to be true. I get to keep my life savings AND get the latest pop hits!"
I'm sure someone could post a Matrix version of this from the scene where Agent Smith interrogates Neo at the beginning, so I'll give you the opening and toss some potential karma your way.
Granted, I could be completely wrong about all this, so if I am please correct me.