The only sites they can't reach are those that require Internet Explorer. And while they can't play Shockwave games, Flash- and Java-enabled Web sites display just fine. PDFs can be viewed, and OpenOffice.org allows MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents to be displayed as well.
I thought that most sites these days are built for and tested on IE - even if they broke the standards, they have become the standard and for my SOs library to make a switch, it would be a nightmare for her public terminal users to come whining to her when they couldn't load some site properly. Why doesn't Firefox have a "emulate IE" mode?
Also, it was my impression (false?) that openoffice could not open and save MS.xls,.doc and.ppt files. Though I am fairly linux cluefree, I prowl/. regularly and would be surprised to find out that openoffice had full MS compatability. If it does, then you linux folks are not getting the message out well...
Her small library would be a great place to set up linux public terminals (they have 10 public PCs) - I would love to have them all running a knoppix CD based OS so I didn't have to dick around with their current win 98 boxen. As it is though, she will probably end up buying more memory and XP.
Can anyone provide a newbie with some helpful advice?
Pay per play. With a Tivo, you could charge me by the individual program. Subscriptions would be commonplace - just like magazines. Then there is no more need for networks at all. And there is no need for commercial sponsorship. Though you could let people watch targeted commercials voulentarily in exchange for free programs.
Government exists to promote the common welfare vs. the monopolistic desires or corporations. This would be a positive thing for the masses. If it makes some business models obsolete - tough shit buggy whip makers...
Public browsing workstations. At my SO's library, they have eight win95/98 boxes that the public uses to browse the internet. They each have Centurion Guard which basically provides the same level of security as a HD free box.
I guess the only issue is that sites are designed for IE. Are the new versions of Mozzila smart enough to render web standards AND microsoft standards?
Ah the heady days of the early 90's. VR was coming, and fast. Jaron Lanier (VPL) was in every issue of Mondo2000 (the precursor to Wired mag). The Dactyl-nightmare VR game (that was just one of the games) was just a taste of what was to come - they had one on the UC Berkeley campus and there was a long line all the time - soon after, I convinced the owner of the campus-side computer store I managed to lease one (me and my buds became the midnight VR crew). The $300 home VR gaming system was on its way. I had four different business plans based on this stuff. This was going to be the beggining of the transhuman revolution. I was going to learn how to juggle in VR - Jaron Lanier said so.
Somehow, the whole thing just disappeared. VPL was sold to some French company, the gaming console never came, Mondo2000 gave way to Wired and the whole thing went poof.
WHY???
I dunno. Maybe because VR makes people naseous? I remember being pretty sick after some 3am dactyl sessions, but I thought that it was just because the displays were laggy. Today's 3d shooters make me want to puke and always give me a headache, but I figured that is because I am looking at a 2d display.
Maybe the military didn't want their tech going into the layman's hands? Conspiracy theorys anyone?
Anybody out there know the rest of the story? Any links to current projects?
With the advances in computing/graphics power, the stuff they were doing with 100k SGIs should be doable on 1k AMD boxen. Why isn't this stuff reality?
...you'd need a method of turning it on and off. With just that, it is already safer than looking down at the instrument panel. Incorporating a GPS seems like a huge convenience factor too. Being lost and confused is dangerous. Ever wonder what a motorcyclist does when they are lost? I'd guess that they would have to pull off the road and whip out a map. ugh! Give me a HUD over that anyday!
I am sure that we slashdotters could come up with a long list of potential long-term enhancements - here is one to start:
* highlighting potential danger spots on the road (potholes, water, gravel, etc...) using image recognition SW
HUD technology goes way beyond the cool factor - it is the interscetion between cool tech and USABLE IN THE REAL WORLD tech. For example - yeah a voice recording PDA is cool (unless you have a lame palm that can't do it), but how easy is it to use in the real world when you are actually doing stuff (like riding a bike).
..try being on a bicycle. This is the reason why I selectively obey laws on my bike. Sometimes, I am safer running red lights and stop signs than trying to engage with the flow of traffic like I am a car. The way I see it - it is my life on the line and it is my judgement call...
Accurate modelling of the streets of LA? That makes the game worth checking out by itself. That a game is "too short" doesn't turn me off at all - I don't have time in my life for another Vice City. BUT - the fire breathing dragons and demon heads? Give me a break! How friking lame is that? Don't get me wrong - I am all into fire breathing dragons - but not in modern LA!
Williams/Bally are the ONLY good pins ever made. Stern pins suck hard - they are just crappy Sega tech all over again. Why doesn't someone buy Williams stuff - you could probably make a mint on Medeval Madness alone...
Not sure why someone would sign their name with an anon login though.
If we start making corporations (and individuals) pay the real costs of their business, they will make decisions that benefit society as a whole. Democrats and Republicans are all cronies paid from the same fat cat till. Where is the outrage? Compare and contrast the reaction to Enron vs. Teapot Dome for example.
We need to bring back public tar and feathering.
Unfortunately for the Greens, nobody will vote for them in an exec branch election again - not after the gorebot lost - Gore would have at least pretended not to be a planet-rapist. Bush doesn't even try to look like he gives a fuck about the future of our shared environment.
I realize that "real crime" is not the idealized movie version and I am not suggesting that the game be 100% realistic, but what could be more boring than makingtrade goods in EQ? Having to bail to Mexico because the heat is on would be a good deterrent to making mistakes or blasting your way through bad situations.
Obviously, the cops would have to have a negative consequence for indesciminately blasting mobsters - demoting them to a beat cop or a desk-jockey would be a good first time offenders punishment. Death and jail are real and they would have to have a stong impact on the player.
Scarface Online doesn't sound so bad. Better than bazooka rampages through a mall filled with "gang members"
I wanna play a criminal. I don't want to play an all out postal psychopath (unless I get frustrated and feel like going down in flames) - if a few guys need to get whacked as part of my schemes, no biggie. I want to plan my own "scores" - not "Italian Job" scores (though that would be fun too) - more like "Heat," "Resivoir Dogs," or "The Usual Suspects." I want to start out small - maybe rob a gas station or two, be a small time dealer, etc.. - then move up into the big leagues as I gain a rep. I wanna get mixed up with "made men" who might hook me up, or might mark me. I want to be hunted down by cops played by real people. I want to get rich and buy cool stuff and flaunt my cash, drugs and guns to my buds.
Vice City came close, but it was way too unrealistic and cartoony. The AI made it boring and the city was crammed full of cops and gang members and buildings that served no purpose. I don't want there to be random "scooby snacks" hidden away to heal me or hide me from the cops. When I get hit by a bullet - I want it to suck - bad.
It needs to be multiplayer and online - but not massively - the world can't be teeming with pure thugs and cops. People need to suffer hard if they get wacked or if they indescriminately whack others - like real life.
It would be fun to play a cop too - trying to bust punk kids and having all of those resources behind me - "can't outrun a radio."
personally, I think that a race from the top of the WTC towers would kick ass! Better yet, a commandos-style game where you try to blow 'em up.
Don't you get it? It is all just bread and circus now. We, as a culture have far exceeded the bounds of taste in many more explicit ways than this and the only thing that is going to make it stop is when the barbarians at the gate put rome to the torch. I have read The Stranger enough times to realize when it is time to just fiddle...
"Hard as it comes still nobody feels asleep at the switch and performing like seals harder and faster - let's rush towards the end some say they're trying but only pretend and apathy has frozen my view - hard to hear anything - nothing is true Nature will punish with sudden despise - man will close his eyes..."
Do you really think that sending letters (and why the fuck not email?) to these so-called representatives actually applies "pressure" to them? HA! The only things that pressures them are the money they get from their corporate masters and the advice they get from their PR reps.
This particular drone happens to have no funding from the RIAA, so he saw a chance to manipulate a public issue to his benefit.
I am beggining to think that our only solution lies in this song...
1. Have a clickable outline of a lecture that lets you skip/repeat/zoom in on the professor's nose, etc...
2. Have the person delivering the lecture be a trained speaker (ie. they don't even have to know the subject - just read the script quickly and clearly).
3. Have a pool of real SMEs (subject matter experts) available via group chat (voice if necessary) to answer questions.
Thank you sir - I was about to post a rant on how emusic missed the target too because their MP3s were only 128, but I thought I'd check them out again just to be sure and lo and behold - they have swithced to VBR files!
The only thing they are missing is a full catalog. For me, they are still worth 10$ a month becuase I can download a bunch of great hardcore thrash from the 80s that I would never have paid even $10 a CD for.
So RIAA - look at emusic - replicate that with a flush catalog and I'd pay you $30 a month. Think about how much cash you could make off of me then. $320 a year vs $0 - the choice is yours.
Yup - I have seven computers on my wireless home network - 4 are hooked up to speakers in different rooms. 1 in the exercise room, 1 in the bedroom, 1 in the livingroom (also hooked to my TV), and one in my office/gameroom. Each of these is pulling MP3s from a dedicated A/V server. I am also thinking about buying a 1 watt radio transmitter so I can have a home radio station going with a radio in the garage, deck and even a waterproof one for the shower. All of my physical media is safely tucked away and never gets used. This is reality.
Frankly, I have the money to buy music, but I refuse to pay more than my opinion of a fair price. If the RIAA and it's out of touch members refuse to come up with a workable business model for the realities of the market, then they should crumble and burn. The rediculous thing is that they have so much power in OUR government because they are all bending over for the corps instead of representing the consumer.
Back in the old days, when I had my first CD player, I went out and replicated my sizable record collection at $12-$13 a pop (note that I lived in Berkeley, which is blessed with two awesome non-chain retailers - Rasputins and Ameoba) - this took all of my struggling-student-with-no-loans spare cash. Over the course of a year, I bought 80+ CDs. It sucked hard, but I hated records and tapes (no nostalgia for me). Back then, the rumor was that the price of CDs was inflated to cover the cost of retooling manufacturing and would come down below record prices because they were cheaper to make.
Five years later, the prices didn't go down and my 200+ CD collection was stolen from my ghetto appartment. I was literally in tears. That was more than $2500 and I was still pretty poor due to the early 90s resession. The upside was that stolen CDs were valuable because there was a budding used CD market in the Bay Area. Once Rasputins & Ameoba started selling used CDs in quantity, I stopped buying new CDs altogether. This is early 90's and I already dropped out of the label's direct market. Here I was, a 20-something kid that was so in love with music that I would spend the better part of my expendable cash on CDs and I dropped right off their books because I could buy "Nevermind" for $9 if I waited a month after it came out.
Funny thing is that when I started making serious money, I still wouldn't buy new CDs. I was used to paying $6-9 and there was no way I could go back. I probably missed out on a lot of music, because I was limited to what college kids would buy and return.
Then came burners - I spent many hours burning all of my friends CD collections. Shortly thereafter came MP3s. I was already pirating software on the FTP scene (another economic lesson to be learned for the SW companies, but I'm not gonna stray there), so suddenly, I'm not even buying used CDs anymore.
So where does this leave us? Well, I'm in my mid 30s, make 6figs, and I like a huge variety of musical genres. I could spend $250 a month on music and not bat an eye, but I don't. The labels have alienated me. I virulently despise them, but I am a music addicted consumer. If they offered me something that had value to me, I would embrace the bastards with loving arms.
So, what can they do for me that would convince me to give them my money again? Simple: 1. Save me time - downloading stuff on Kazaa is work: sifting through the crappy files, figuring out which songs I am missing from a given CD, and organizing the 40+gigs of it all - this stuff takes time and my time is worth money to me. Figure out ways to save me time and I will pay a price for it. 2. Selection - I am limited to what the masses are trading. I like obscure shit and am willing to experiment, but not at $12.99 a pop - no fricking way! 3. Ease my concious - I admit it, I feel bad for screwing the artists by downloading mp3s. The problem is, they are already getting so screwed by the labels. It's kinda like buying Nikes - hard to say whether it helping the poor little Indonesian kid or not. Besides, the less that people give the labels, they less they have to offer the artists who should really all jump ship anyway. I buy Timberland clothes 'cause they make a big deal about how their sweatshops are less satanic than others. Treat the artists well so I don't feel bad about promoting your exploitation of them. Tax the superstars a bit to feed the starving artists - music should be a middle class profession.
So, how can the labels meet these needs? Again, simple: Give me FTP access to a full catalog (all labels in one place)of high quality, verified, DRM-free and properly tagged MP3s. How much would I be willing to pay for this? Figure 2-4 bucks for 10 songs. That's $.20 -.40 a song. Bill me based on bandwidth - that's 5-10 cents per MB (assuming an average of 4min songs). The only real limit to my spending at this price is the availability of good music - better go find some talented new artists fast!
$12.95 is simply too fricking much. I used to pay $12.95 years ago when I used to buy CDs. I have plenty of disposable income to spend on CDs, but I will not open up my wallet for these oligarchical (sure I spelled that one wrong)goons unless they get a clue. Here it is assholes - here is the price that will make me fall in line and be a good little sheep-like consumer.
$8 for brand spanking new CDs - 5 for old stuff.
As for downloadable songs (with good tags and high quality VBR) $.15 to $.50 (and.50 only for high quality acts in pre-release).
Anything else is just a joke.
The sad thing is that they would probably be making money hand over fist at $8 a pop. Fricking losers!
what players are better than Windows Media Player?
on
LovSan Clone Let Loose
·
· Score: 1
I certianly don't like the idea of Microsoft knowing that my media player is playing "Azlea is fricking rad," but the last time I read a slashdot rant about Windows Media Player, the general swell was that there were no viable alternatives for playing AVIs - on Win32 or Linux. Please update me.
I have tried, unsuccessfully, to find any kind of voice filtering SW that would accompligh this - I have googled and yahooed and there seems to be naught. Does anyone know where to find it? The only thing I found was this http://www.audio4fun.com/
and I don't see a "troll" or "ork" preset.
Laundry is supercool - also, check out www.bornnaked.net. Born Naked is another band that blows away the radio crap that clearchannel keeps spoonfeeding kids. Herb played guitar for them.
Slashdot Mirror
Pay per play. With a Tivo, you could charge me by the individual program. Subscriptions would be commonplace - just like magazines. Then there is no more need for networks at all. And there is no need for commercial sponsorship. Though you could let people watch targeted commercials voulentarily in exchange for free programs. Government exists to promote the common welfare vs. the monopolistic desires or corporations. This would be a positive thing for the masses. If it makes some business models obsolete - tough shit buggy whip makers...
Public browsing workstations. At my SO's library, they have eight win95/98 boxes that the public uses to browse the internet. They each have Centurion Guard which basically provides the same level of security as a HD free box.
I guess the only issue is that sites are designed for IE. Are the new versions of Mozzila smart enough to render web standards AND microsoft standards?
Ah the heady days of the early 90's. VR was coming, and fast. Jaron Lanier (VPL) was in every issue of Mondo2000 (the precursor to Wired mag). The Dactyl-nightmare VR game (that was just one of the games) was just a taste of what was to come - they had one on the UC Berkeley campus and there was a long line all the time - soon after, I convinced the owner of the campus-side computer store I managed to lease one (me and my buds became the midnight VR crew). The $300 home VR gaming system was on its way. I had four different business plans based on this stuff. This was going to be the beggining of the transhuman revolution. I was going to learn how to juggle in VR - Jaron Lanier said so. Somehow, the whole thing just disappeared. VPL was sold to some French company, the gaming console never came, Mondo2000 gave way to Wired and the whole thing went poof. WHY??? I dunno. Maybe because VR makes people naseous? I remember being pretty sick after some 3am dactyl sessions, but I thought that it was just because the displays were laggy. Today's 3d shooters make me want to puke and always give me a headache, but I figured that is because I am looking at a 2d display. Maybe the military didn't want their tech going into the layman's hands? Conspiracy theorys anyone? Anybody out there know the rest of the story? Any links to current projects? With the advances in computing/graphics power, the stuff they were doing with 100k SGIs should be doable on 1k AMD boxen. Why isn't this stuff reality?
How could this not be more clear? Netflix "Manufacturing Consent" if you have any questions/doubts.
...you'd need a method of turning it on and off. With just that, it is already safer than looking down at the instrument panel. Incorporating a GPS seems like a huge convenience factor too. Being lost and confused is dangerous. Ever wonder what a motorcyclist does when they are lost? I'd guess that they would have to pull off the road and whip out a map. ugh! Give me a HUD over that anyday!
I am sure that we slashdotters could come up with a long list of potential long-term enhancements - here is one to start:
* highlighting potential danger spots on the road (potholes, water, gravel, etc...) using image recognition SW
HUD technology goes way beyond the cool factor - it is the interscetion between cool tech and USABLE IN THE REAL WORLD tech. For example - yeah a voice recording PDA is cool (unless you have a lame palm that can't do it), but how easy is it to use in the real world when you are actually doing stuff (like riding a bike).
..try being on a bicycle. This is the reason why I selectively obey laws on my bike. Sometimes, I am safer running red lights and stop signs than trying to engage with the flow of traffic like I am a car. The way I see it - it is my life on the line and it is my judgement call...
AMD chips run super hot. My Athlon box sounds like a buzzsaw with all of the fans it needs to keep from melting down into a puddle of silicon goo...
Accurate modelling of the streets of LA? That makes the game worth checking out by itself. That a game is "too short" doesn't turn me off at all - I don't have time in my life for another Vice City. BUT - the fire breathing dragons and demon heads? Give me a break! How friking lame is that? Don't get me wrong - I am all into fire breathing dragons - but not in modern LA!
Williams/Bally are the ONLY good pins ever made. Stern pins suck hard - they are just crappy Sega tech all over again. Why doesn't someone buy Williams stuff - you could probably make a mint on Medeval Madness alone...
Not sure why someone would sign their name with an anon login though.
If we start making corporations (and individuals) pay the real costs of their business, they will make decisions that benefit society as a whole. Democrats and Republicans are all cronies paid from the same fat cat till. Where is the outrage? Compare and contrast the reaction to Enron vs. Teapot Dome for example.
We need to bring back public tar and feathering.
Unfortunately for the Greens, nobody will vote for them in an exec branch election again - not after the gorebot lost - Gore would have at least pretended not to be a planet-rapist. Bush doesn't even try to look like he gives a fuck about the future of our shared environment.
I realize that "real crime" is not the idealized movie version and I am not suggesting that the game be 100% realistic, but what could be more boring than makingtrade goods in EQ? Having to bail to Mexico because the heat is on would be a good deterrent to making mistakes or blasting your way through bad situations.
Obviously, the cops would have to have a negative consequence for indesciminately blasting mobsters - demoting them to a beat cop or a desk-jockey would be a good first time offenders punishment. Death and jail are real and they would have to have a stong impact on the player.
Scarface Online doesn't sound so bad. Better than bazooka rampages through a mall filled with "gang members"
I wanna play a criminal. I don't want to play an all out postal psychopath (unless I get frustrated and feel like going down in flames) - if a few guys need to get whacked as part of my schemes, no biggie. I want to plan my own "scores" - not "Italian Job" scores (though that would be fun too) - more like "Heat," "Resivoir Dogs," or "The Usual Suspects." I want to start out small - maybe rob a gas station or two, be a small time dealer, etc.. - then move up into the big leagues as I gain a rep. I wanna get mixed up with "made men" who might hook me up, or might mark me. I want to be hunted down by cops played by real people. I want to get rich and buy cool stuff and flaunt my cash, drugs and guns to my buds. Vice City came close, but it was way too unrealistic and cartoony. The AI made it boring and the city was crammed full of cops and gang members and buildings that served no purpose. I don't want there to be random "scooby snacks" hidden away to heal me or hide me from the cops. When I get hit by a bullet - I want it to suck - bad. It needs to be multiplayer and online - but not massively - the world can't be teeming with pure thugs and cops. People need to suffer hard if they get wacked or if they indescriminately whack others - like real life. It would be fun to play a cop too - trying to bust punk kids and having all of those resources behind me - "can't outrun a radio."
personally, I think that a race from the top of the WTC towers would kick ass! Better yet, a commandos-style game where you try to blow 'em up.
Don't you get it? It is all just bread and circus now. We, as a culture have far exceeded the bounds of taste in many more explicit ways than this and the only thing that is going to make it stop is when the barbarians at the gate put rome to the torch. I have read The Stranger enough times to realize when it is time to just fiddle...
"Hard as it comes still nobody feels
asleep at the switch and performing like seals
harder and faster - let's rush towards the end
some say they're trying but only pretend
and apathy has frozen my view - hard to hear anything - nothing is true
Nature will punish with sudden despise - man will close his eyes..."
Funny thing is - having done all that and more, I'd be willing to give up my 6fig salary for some fucking representation in our government.
The only difference in my attitude from 20 to 35 is that I am no longer willing to suffer for my beliefs - hardly a noble change...
Do you really think that sending letters (and why the fuck not email?) to these so-called representatives actually applies "pressure" to them? HA! The only things that pressures them are the money they get from their corporate masters and the advice they get from their PR reps.
This particular drone happens to have no funding from the RIAA, so he saw a chance to manipulate a public issue to his benefit.
I am beggining to think that our only solution lies in this song...
1. Have a clickable outline of a lecture that lets you skip/repeat/zoom in on the professor's nose, etc...
2. Have the person delivering the lecture be a trained speaker (ie. they don't even have to know the subject - just read the script quickly and clearly).
3. Have a pool of real SMEs (subject matter experts) available via group chat (voice if necessary) to answer questions.
4. Make all of this available online for a fee.
5. profit
Thank you sir - I was about to post a rant on how emusic missed the target too because their MP3s were only 128, but I thought I'd check them out again just to be sure and lo and behold - they have swithced to VBR files! The only thing they are missing is a full catalog. For me, they are still worth 10$ a month becuase I can download a bunch of great hardcore thrash from the 80s that I would never have paid even $10 a CD for. So RIAA - look at emusic - replicate that with a flush catalog and I'd pay you $30 a month. Think about how much cash you could make off of me then. $320 a year vs $0 - the choice is yours.
This should be arranged through all of the broadband providers - bill me based on the MB downloaded via FTP.
Yup - I have seven computers on my wireless home network - 4 are hooked up to speakers in different rooms. 1 in the exercise room, 1 in the bedroom, 1 in the livingroom (also hooked to my TV), and one in my office/gameroom. Each of these is pulling MP3s from a dedicated A/V server. I am also thinking about buying a 1 watt radio transmitter so I can have a home radio station going with a radio in the garage, deck and even a waterproof one for the shower. All of my physical media is safely tucked away and never gets used. This is reality.
Frankly, I have the money to buy music, but I refuse to pay more than my opinion of a fair price. If the RIAA and it's out of touch members refuse to come up with a workable business model for the realities of the market, then they should crumble and burn. The rediculous thing is that they have so much power in OUR government because they are all bending over for the corps instead of representing the consumer.
Die dinosaurs die!!
Back in the old days, when I had my first CD player, I went out and replicated my sizable record collection at $12-$13 a pop (note that I lived in Berkeley, which is blessed with two awesome non-chain retailers - Rasputins and Ameoba) - this took all of my struggling-student-with-no-loans spare cash. Over the course of a year, I bought 80+ CDs. It sucked hard, but I hated records and tapes (no nostalgia for me). Back then, the rumor was that the price of CDs was inflated to cover the cost of retooling manufacturing and would come down below record prices because they were cheaper to make.
.40 a song. Bill me based on bandwidth - that's 5-10 cents per MB (assuming an average of 4min songs). The only real limit to my spending at this price is the availability of good music - better go find some talented new artists fast!
Five years later, the prices didn't go down and my 200+ CD collection was stolen from my ghetto appartment. I was literally in tears. That was more than $2500 and I was still pretty poor due to the early 90s resession. The upside was that stolen CDs were valuable because there was a budding used CD market in the Bay Area. Once Rasputins & Ameoba started selling used CDs in quantity, I stopped buying new CDs altogether. This is early 90's and I already dropped out of the label's direct market. Here I was, a 20-something kid that was so in love with music that I would spend the better part of my expendable cash on CDs and I dropped right off their books because I could buy "Nevermind" for $9 if I waited a month after it came out.
Funny thing is that when I started making serious money, I still wouldn't buy new CDs. I was used to paying $6-9 and there was no way I could go back. I probably missed out on a lot of music, because I was limited to what college kids would buy and return.
Then came burners - I spent many hours burning all of my friends CD collections. Shortly thereafter came MP3s. I was already pirating software on the FTP scene (another economic lesson to be learned for the SW companies, but I'm not gonna stray there), so suddenly, I'm not even buying used CDs anymore.
So where does this leave us? Well, I'm in my mid 30s, make 6figs, and I like a huge variety of musical genres. I could spend $250 a month on music and not bat an eye, but I don't. The labels have alienated me. I virulently despise them, but I am a music addicted consumer. If they offered me something that had value to me, I would embrace the bastards with loving arms.
So, what can they do for me that would convince me to give them my money again? Simple:
1. Save me time - downloading stuff on Kazaa is work: sifting through the crappy files, figuring out which songs I am missing from a given CD, and organizing the 40+gigs of it all - this stuff takes time and my time is worth money to me. Figure out ways to save me time and I will pay a price for it.
2. Selection - I am limited to what the masses are trading. I like obscure shit and am willing to experiment, but not at $12.99 a pop - no fricking way!
3. Ease my concious - I admit it, I feel bad for screwing the artists by downloading mp3s. The problem is, they are already getting so screwed by the labels. It's kinda like buying Nikes - hard to say whether it helping the poor little Indonesian kid or not. Besides, the less that people give the labels, they less they have to offer the artists who should really all jump ship anyway. I buy Timberland clothes 'cause they make a big deal about how their sweatshops are less satanic than others. Treat the artists well so I don't feel bad about promoting your exploitation of them. Tax the superstars a bit to feed the starving artists - music should be a middle class profession.
So, how can the labels meet these needs? Again, simple:
Give me FTP access to a full catalog (all labels in one place)of high quality, verified, DRM-free and properly tagged MP3s. How much would I be willing to pay for this? Figure 2-4 bucks for 10 songs. That's $.20 -
This would
$12.95 is simply too fricking much. I used to pay $12.95 years ago when I used to buy CDs. I have plenty of disposable income to spend on CDs, but I will not open up my wallet for these oligarchical (sure I spelled that one wrong)goons unless they get a clue. Here it is assholes - here is the price that will make me fall in line and be a good little sheep-like consumer. $8 for brand spanking new CDs - 5 for old stuff. As for downloadable songs (with good tags and high quality VBR) $.15 to $.50 (and .50 only for high quality acts in pre-release).
Anything else is just a joke.
The sad thing is that they would probably be making money hand over fist at $8 a pop. Fricking losers!
I certianly don't like the idea of Microsoft knowing that my media player is playing "Azlea is fricking rad," but the last time I read a slashdot rant about Windows Media Player, the general swell was that there were no viable alternatives for playing AVIs - on Win32 or Linux. Please update me.
I have tried, unsuccessfully, to find any kind of voice filtering SW that would accompligh this - I have googled and yahooed and there seems to be naught. Does anyone know where to find it? The only thing I found was this http://www.audio4fun.com/ and I don't see a "troll" or "ork" preset.
Laundry is supercool - also, check out www.bornnaked.net. Born Naked is another band that blows away the radio crap that clearchannel keeps spoonfeeding kids. Herb played guitar for them.