Music Business Falls Off Scale
Much of the blame is laid on pirated music downloaded from the Internet, especially in the United States....
Indeed, and look how far out of their way they go to avoid mentioning who laid it there. That story, and four others of only ten on that page, are broken links.
Then make your own news-for-nerds discussion site. This is a little off-topic, but/.'s appeal is its readership. If something changes that angers most of that readership enough to make them go elsewhere,/. will soon be dead.
Well put. Before America gets significantly better, we need a better election method, otherwise we'll end up with the two-party bullshit we have now.
However, the grandparent post wasn't completely off. It advises voting in primaries; that is, you can vote for which Mr. Righty or Mr. Lefty will be in the final election. Maybe they're all corporate sellouts, but some to a lesser degree than others.
Microsoft intentionally makes some of their web sites work only in IE (MSN for instance, and now I can't seem to log in to Hotmail using Mozilla or Lynx). Why don't we try doing the reverse?
Really, though, this is all to make a point to people: IE is a crappy browser that sucks. This is a truly ridiculous bug that shows MS's carelessness in designing it.
The bug is not quite what I'd call "freaking petty," either. I use Mozilla with the more abusive features of JavaScript disabled, and I expect to be able to view any web site without it dealing any damage on my system or the programs running on it. But now anyone using Internet Explorer for Windows can have it crashed by 12 characters (25 on some versions?) of HTML. Freaking petty, indeed.
If you have JavaScript enabled, type something like javascript:document.write("<h1>this is an html page</h1>") in the location bar. That works for me on IE6 and Mozilla 1.4a.
when they're always there. Only a small minority of my Google searches produce ads. Seeing them is not a routine thing. So they're noticeable.
It also helps that the ads are occasionally interesting. If every ad you get is something you don't care about, then you will begin to disregard the ad space, since there's never anything of worth there.
The main reason is, it's simple game theory that our current election system leads to two major parties. The only way for another party to get popular support is for it to supplant one of the current major parties, and we'll still have a two-party system. We need a better election method.
This article has fewer comments because it didn't make the main page. If you think it should've, then you have an issue with michael, not the comment-posting masses.
Furthermore, this doesn't strike me as all that important an issue. If you truly care about an issue, then you can find the time to write a letter and say something original about it. Granted, the move is a bit extreme, but when we've been hearing doom and gloom about evil laws like DMCA, UCITA, PATRIOT act, etc., it seems all but totally insignificant.
The ease of use for most people is considerable. Just type and click. Many people, myself included, are too lazy or busy to sit down and write a letter, put it in an envelope with a stamp, then put it in the mail.
That's the whole point: if it really matters to you, you'll find the time. But if you don't care all that much, or you have nothing original to say, then you will likely decide it's not worth it. Thus the signal-to-noise ratio is increased.
An even better name for the browser would be What.
"My favourite web browser is What."
"I don't know, you tell me!"
"I already told you; What it is! What is compliant with the latest HTML standards, loads pages quickly, and has options that allow you to block popup ads!"
"I don't know, but how could it do all of that at once?"
"No, How can't do any of that, because How is a mail and news client written in XUL!"
"I have no idea, but I couldn't write one in anything! What's XUL, by the way?"
"Yes, actually, What is written in XUL also. That's why it's cross-platform."
"What are you talking about?!"
Actually, I always say MS Word (or Microsoft Word), as do most people I speak to about it. If one speaks about the browser as just Firebird, then I would imagine he is speaking of it in a context where there is no confusion. Would you think someone who says 'my browser of choice is Firebird' is talking about the SQL database?
The only real room for confusion is on discussion groups with one of the Firebirds as the topic, and if they use the formal name in the title (i.e. Mozilla Firebird or FirebirdSQL), then there is no problem.
It's not only a Sunday comic strip, it's made on weekdays as well. The Sunday versions just sum up the events of all the weekday strips, which seem to be slightly less lame.
The parent makes a very good point. Some of us don't give a damn about trading content (currently) illegally. If all I want to do is read rec.games.abstract and post to Slashdot, then I should not have to pay more for my internet access just because some jerkos are downloading music they don't have rights to.
I make music currently as a hobby, and I am amazed to what lengths even independent musicians will go in order to make every sample sound exactly correct. I have known them to spend hours making changes that are hardly even noticeable to me, and I have neither subaverage hearing (at least not significantly) nor poor speakers. Sometimes the final mixing actually makes things sound worse.
True story: I once challenged an independent-music-making friend to remix a certain song within 30 minutes. When the time was up, he sent me something, but warned me that it was very rough, and he was going to work on it some more later. I listened and thought it sounded great. I told him it was awesome but he insisted on fine-tuning it.
More than two hours later, he sent me the edited version, which had a zillion new effects added and all the instrument sounds changed slightly. The new version sounded awful! It was completely bland and flavourless. That wasn't only my opinion; I sent the rough version, which I had saved, back to my friend and he even agreed that it was better!
So 30 minutes of work created an excellent product, and two hours turned it into total crap. This is what happens on an extreme scale in the music industry. No wonder they're losing money.
Slashdot Mirror
What on earth does BSD have to do with it? No one has suggested there's any improper code in BSD.
Indeed, and look how far out of their way they go to avoid mentioning who laid it there. That story, and four others of only ten on that page, are broken links.
Then make your own news-for-nerds discussion site. This is a little off-topic, but /.'s appeal is its readership. If something changes that angers most of that readership enough to make them go elsewhere, /. will soon be dead.
Well put. Before America gets significantly better, we need a better election method, otherwise we'll end up with the two-party bullshit we have now.
However, the grandparent post wasn't completely off. It advises voting in primaries; that is, you can vote for which Mr. Righty or Mr. Lefty will be in the final election. Maybe they're all corporate sellouts, but some to a lesser degree than others.
It was a joke, you nimbus.
Here, also, is one of many advantages to every mail reader other than OE.
Microsoft intentionally makes some of their web sites work only in IE (MSN for instance, and now I can't seem to log in to Hotmail using Mozilla or Lynx). Why don't we try doing the reverse?
Really, though, this is all to make a point to people: IE is a crappy browser that sucks. This is a truly ridiculous bug that shows MS's carelessness in designing it.
The bug is not quite what I'd call "freaking petty," either. I use Mozilla with the more abusive features of JavaScript disabled, and I expect to be able to view any web site without it dealing any damage on my system or the programs running on it. But now anyone using Internet Explorer for Windows can have it crashed by 12 characters (25 on some versions?) of HTML. Freaking petty, indeed.
If you have JavaScript enabled, type something like javascript:document.write("<h1>this is an html page</h1>") in the location bar. That works for me on IE6 and Mozilla 1.4a.
It also helps that the ads are occasionally interesting. If every ad you get is something you don't care about, then you will begin to disregard the ad space, since there's never anything of worth there.
Right, so don't vote to express an opinion, vote to get someone into office who respects the public interest.
An autobiography is not documentation. You misunderstand the license's purpose.
Doesn't GFDL stand for GNU Free Documentation License?
The main reason is, it's simple game theory that our current election system leads to two major parties. The only way for another party to get popular support is for it to supplant one of the current major parties, and we'll still have a two-party system. We need a better election method.
No, the question is whether we can write Tetris for this.
So next time something like this happens, it will be possible to see who or what is responsible, right?
Furthermore, this doesn't strike me as all that important an issue. If you truly care about an issue, then you can find the time to write a letter and say something original about it. Granted, the move is a bit extreme, but when we've been hearing doom and gloom about evil laws like DMCA, UCITA, PATRIOT act, etc., it seems all but totally insignificant.
That's the whole point: if it really matters to you, you'll find the time. But if you don't care all that much, or you have nothing original to say, then you will likely decide it's not worth it. Thus the signal-to-noise ratio is increased.
"My favourite web browser is What."
"I don't know, you tell me!"
"I already told you; What it is! What is compliant with the latest HTML standards, loads pages quickly, and has options that allow you to block popup ads!"
"I don't know, but how could it do all of that at once?"
"No, How can't do any of that, because How is a mail and news client written in XUL!"
"I have no idea, but I couldn't write one in anything! What's XUL, by the way?"
"Yes, actually, What is written in XUL also. That's why it's cross-platform."
"What are you talking about?!"
The only real room for confusion is on discussion groups with one of the Firebirds as the topic, and if they use the formal name in the title (i.e. Mozilla Firebird or FirebirdSQL), then there is no problem.
It's not only a Sunday comic strip, it's made on weekdays as well. The Sunday versions just sum up the events of all the weekday strips, which seem to be slightly less lame.
The parent makes a very good point. Some of us don't give a damn about trading content (currently) illegally. If all I want to do is read rec.games.abstract and post to Slashdot, then I should not have to pay more for my internet access just because some jerkos are downloading music they don't have rights to.
You raise a good point, but I don't know why the hell you're raising it here. I didn't say hire him, just that his skills aren't obsolete.
The social engineer knowledge is Kevin's specialty. That kind of skill will never be obsolete.
You can also use & for &'s.
True story: I once challenged an independent-music-making friend to remix a certain song within 30 minutes. When the time was up, he sent me something, but warned me that it was very rough, and he was going to work on it some more later. I listened and thought it sounded great. I told him it was awesome but he insisted on fine-tuning it.
More than two hours later, he sent me the edited version, which had a zillion new effects added and all the instrument sounds changed slightly. The new version sounded awful! It was completely bland and flavourless. That wasn't only my opinion; I sent the rough version, which I had saved, back to my friend and he even agreed that it was better!
So 30 minutes of work created an excellent product, and two hours turned it into total crap. This is what happens on an extreme scale in the music industry. No wonder they're losing money.