$9.99 albums of lossy content and no physical medium supposedly make up for the fact that I have no recourse if I lose the data I purchased. So how can they justify charging more than that (closing in on the average cost of a CD) when it costs them money to have the CDs pressed, packaged, and sent to stores?
They can't. This is simply an attempt to say, "see, we tried to go DRM-less but people wouldn't do it."
In your opinion. Just because a good bit of the main demographic here on Slashdot likes to watch Stewart, doesn't mean that everyone does (I find him incredibly boring at times). In addition, I don't see how one single show can turn the entire media's crapmeter around.
Please, Jon Stewart isn't the savior of cable networks' actions.
And more people will know that the industries are evil, will stop buying their product. Then they will claim it was 'piracy', when its their own damned fault for producing crap, and acting like total morons.
And the media companies, which control media distribution:shock:, will continue to bombard the public with their scare tactics (which so far, for the general public, have been successful).
As I said before, YouTube will just become the Napster of video. Most people weren't all pissed off about the industry when they shut that down, they just moved to LimeWire, BitTorrent, allofmp3, and iTS.
I have bad news for the author: information still wants to be free
Oh for fucks sake, stop with that already. A good majority of people don't want to pay for ANYTHING they don't have to -- it has nothing to do w/the information.
Support free music and you don't have to worry about DRM or paying off the RIAA.
I'm the exact opposite. I -hate- those tiny key keyboards that feel like you're going to split your fingernails on trying to type on them. They're mostly worthless since they take up most of the phone (which would be large even without them). I'll pass on that.
You've never used it the correct way and you've obviously never used one that was really designed well. It's difficult to split your fingernails when you're typing w/the flat side of your thumb. I can type almost as fast (using some quick software shortcuts) as I do on the full sized QWERTY (w fills in "with", u fills in "you", etc) and I'm by no means a small guy. My hands and fingers are large and I find the Hiptop's keyboard quite cozy.
I paid $650 for my HTC Trinity P3600, and if Apple can integrate a GPS and EDGE/3G, I'd pay $1000 for it just on the interface alone. Give it a few weeks after release, and I think people's opinions of the device will change. They'll see what it can do for them (especially business folks, teenagers with money, and young adults with new credit cards), and they'll jump at the chance to have one early for $500.
There are a few things that I don't like about the device that are the reasons why I will not be purchasing one:
1. It's locked in to the worst wireless provider that is out there. Cingluar/AT&T. This may be a great idea for Apple and Cingular/AT&T but it's terrible for everyone that has to switch to them to use this device.
2. There is no tactile QWERTY keyboard as part of the device. dada, as a previous Hiptop user and now with the P3600, you have to know how great a real keyboard is compared to a touchscreen based one. I could NOT get along by tapping the screen -- it's just not the same and touch typing would become extremely difficult.
3. The price is ASTRONOMICAL especially if you're getting new service and paying out the ass to drop your current contract with a better wireless company to switch. The research is right as $299 is more reasonable than $500+ even with disposable income and the desire for a great wireless device, it's not worth that much to me when I'm locked in to one vendor for at least two years.
I crossed the border on a geocaching trip to Winnipeg and we were stopped and held for an hour by the Canadian border agents. After we waited for them to stop standing around chatting and deal with us (which was 35 minutes of the hour we were there) they began to interview a group of three men that were waiting before us. The conversation with the border patrol agent went something like this:
Agent: "Sir, according to our records obtained from the Minnesota State Patrol, you were stopped for DUI in April 2006. When you were asked if you had any prior incidents and you said, 'no' you lied. You are not to lie to a Border Patrol Agent at any time."
Crosser: "I haven't been convicted yet."
Agent: "I didn't ask if you were convicted."
---
Agent: "Sir, according to our records you were convicted of lewd conduct and indecent exposure in March of 2006. When I asked you if you had any prior convictions and you said, 'no', you lied. You are not to lie to a Border Patrol Agent at any time."
Crosser: "It was reduced to a lesser charge!"
Agent: "I asked if you had any prior incidents."
---
This went on for the next individual as well (I don't remember what he did wrong). After that they were released and permitted to go on to their next destination which was a wedding in Winnipeg. For us, they called us one by one into a back interview room and asked us a bunch of questions about our educational background and work history. I actually felt uncomfortable with some of the questions but answered them anyway.
They checked our passports and birth certificates and while the previous group had convictions and lied and we didn't, we still had our car searched for another 30 minutes before being allowed to move along.
So, even though Bush shouldn't be allowed into the country, these fools were. Bleh.
Why would you do that when laser printers are well under $100.00 and color lasers are under $200.00?
Because the toner is $120+ and while I don't know the usage patters of the parent, I wouldn't need to spend $220 on a printer when I print maybe 50 sheets of paper at home a year.
Well, I don't know how many people have access to the Firehose option to "vote" on which stories should make it on the front page, but when I saw this blurb (or one similar) I thought exactly the same thing.
I wonder if Slashdot will continue to fucking suck with their old and outdated (yes, even 24 hours is lame in this day and age) system or if the Firehose system will help Slashdot run back up w/the big dogs.
Can you imagine Bill Gates telling Steve Jobs to go screw himself? In fact, I just recently saw some photos of those two hanging out at some social function, chatting and getting along fine. Now my head is filled with the image of Gates and Jobs living it up and having a laugh, with Cox and Raymond hunched over their computers in the background banging out enraged emails to one another.
Yeah, you just pointed out what I would have imagined. Two people who despise each other at some stupid public social function pretending that they are all honky dory while one is ready to take a clue from a co-worker and throw a chair and the other wants to give a wedgie.
And Alan Cox just told Eric Raymond to go and die.
Can you imagine Alan Cox looking clean cut and impressive at an interview instead of looking very much like the GNU logo? Yeah, neither can I.
Can't a prominent OSS person just switch anymore? It seems like they have to make a big political stink out of it. It's really too bad that people can't leave when things are still amicable, and instead they let it boil over to a traditional email flame-fest by the time they act.
Because it all online circles (just as in real life) people are obsessed with drama. My opinion isn't only limited to the major players but to everyone on the lists/forums/sites they post to.
It's really disappointing that people can't just keep their opinions to themselves and lead by example rather than by trolling.
What I want to know is why the blurb includes that line. Is there documented evidence of that being their "fear"? It seems more like an opinion that has no bases in fact.
What the RIAA *is* worried about is other people winning, for whatever reason, and there being prior judgments against them charging for attorney fees -- which means that people will be happy to go to court against them and possibly win meaning that the RIAA can't play the extortion game as well as they have been.
SuperFetch does more than caching. Windows Vista runs a SuperFetch service that analyzes your application behavior and usage patterns, meaning that it tracks which applications you request the most. A good example would be your activity as you start the PC in the morning: You launch Outlook to fetch email, a messenger, a web browser and probably additional applications such as a development environment. If you do this repeatedly and ideally in the same order, SuperFetch will recognize this and then proactively populate these applications into all available main memory the next time you start the PC. You should only wait for a few minutes before you commence work to give the SuperFetch service the time to "superfetch" your applications.
This seems really silly to me. Applications load fast for me on the P4 2.4 with 512MB of RAM that I use for work. I don't have any productivity issues because I'm waiting for my applications to load. It takes less than twenty seconds to get to the desktop and start loading applications. I wouldn't have any use for this at all at home as the laptop hibernates with the applications open.
What I want to know is if they fixed Access' broken network behaviors when trying to access remote databases -- you know, the one where the entire system is hung up because it and the OS it runs on is a pile of shit? Yeah, *that* particular application fucks me all up and makes it difficult to be productive when I have to try to minimize it or switch to the desktop 10x before it will go all while it's popping back up when a single little dot on the progress meter moves up.
I'm waiting for the day when we don't have any bells and whistles and Windows operates as it should -- fast and fast with minimal amounts of RAM, CPU power, and graphics capabilities.
That it happens in a school social setting is not new, as was stated, but the lack of training for students as to what constitutes libel, slander, or other actions that could result in litigation or penalties is sad.
Oh give me a fucking break.
Students shouldn't be "educated" on how to become even more litigious than we already are. What people should be educated on is how to *personally* deal with the problems they face and how to not take out anger and persecution on others.
Learning to deal with these problems in the open helps you to better deal with the petty office drama that they may face in the future -- stuff that isn't in the open but instead behind your back. If you can't learn to deal with it at a young age, then you will fail in the work place of the future.
I'm a fairly knowledgeable computer user with 10 years of Linux experience on top of the standard Windows use since 3.1. When I have an IT problem I play stupid, real stupid. You know why? Because the second they think that I'm self diagnosing a problem it becomes priority 0.
When I called up to tell them that my co-workers computer was denying Groupwise proxy rights via a VBA Access module for a single proxy account and not any others, they ignored me for *four weeks*.
When I call up and say, "my computer doesn't work" they show up in minutes and do whatever it is that they need to do.
Well, I bought four two packs at Target this weekend and there were plenty more where that came from but since you are in the UK, perhaps here at Ace Hardware online would help?
We tried CFLs in my household and we hated them. We found some random buzzing issues, hated the color of our walls and furniture, and didn't really see a huge savings over incandescent because we turn off lights we don't use (and we use home automation in the bathroom and bedroom).
I usually agree with you on many things and others I think you're a wacko. In this particular case, while I agree with you about the buzzing and color issues, I think you're a wacko to believe that home automation and self-savings by turning off lights not in use is common.
Most people can't turn on their computers or use all of the functions on a four-function calculator. You think that they are going to be investing in home automation? I really wonder how many people have a programmable thermostat in their homes and never use it the right way (I know that my neighbors, who are insulated on 3 sides of their home by other homes have a gas bill 6x as high as mine and I'm insulated by homes on only two sides and I have another 400 square feet of livable space as well as a larger unheated garage).
Also, while incandescents will likely go onto the black market (gray market, whatever) most people will not have access to that and will just settle for the annoying mandated light bulbs.
nor is there any diagnosis for it that an insurance company would reimburse you for.
WTF does that have to do w/anything? Just because an insurance company denies coverage for something does NOT mean that it's an invalid illness, disorder, whatever. I'm not arguing this particular case but insurance companies are out to MAKE MONEY, not to PAY OUT money.
...there are other places to post video. I hope they don't wind up the iTunes of online video.
They are going to become the Napster of online video... An awesome service when it was all free and full of pirated stuff. Now that it's going legal and making deals with the industry, it's probably going to suck.
Slashdot Mirror
$9.99 albums of lossy content and no physical medium supposedly make up for the fact that I have no recourse if I lose the data I purchased. So how can they justify charging more than that (closing in on the average cost of a CD) when it costs them money to have the CDs pressed, packaged, and sent to stores?
They can't. This is simply an attempt to say, "see, we tried to go DRM-less but people wouldn't do it."
Fuck that.
Is there a DRM alternative that is suitable on all platforms?
Yeah, it's called UNDRM and it works on every platform!
The Daily Show is not crap
In your opinion. Just because a good bit of the main demographic here on Slashdot likes to watch Stewart, doesn't mean that everyone does (I find him incredibly boring at times). In addition, I don't see how one single show can turn the entire media's crapmeter around.
Please, Jon Stewart isn't the savior of cable networks' actions.
And more people will know that the industries are evil, will stop buying their product. Then they will claim it was 'piracy', when its their own damned fault for producing crap, and acting like total morons.
:shock:, will continue to bombard the public with their scare tactics (which so far, for the general public, have been successful).
And the media companies, which control media distribution
As I said before, YouTube will just become the Napster of video. Most people weren't all pissed off about the industry when they shut that down, they just moved to LimeWire, BitTorrent, allofmp3, and iTS.
I have bad news for the author: information still wants to be free
Oh for fucks sake, stop with that already. A good majority of people don't want to pay for ANYTHING they don't have to -- it has nothing to do w/the information.
Support free music and you don't have to worry about DRM or paying off the RIAA.
So... no, it's not an idle threat, and the author is a freaking asshole who deserves to have his reputation destroyed over this.
You mean the authors are freaking assholes who deserve to have both their reputation destroyed over this.
I'm the exact opposite. I -hate- those tiny key keyboards that feel like you're going to split your fingernails on trying to type on them. They're mostly worthless since they take up most of the phone (which would be large even without them). I'll pass on that.
You've never used it the correct way and you've obviously never used one that was really designed well. It's difficult to split your fingernails when you're typing w/the flat side of your thumb. I can type almost as fast (using some quick software shortcuts) as I do on the full sized QWERTY (w fills in "with", u fills in "you", etc) and I'm by no means a small guy. My hands and fingers are large and I find the Hiptop's keyboard quite cozy.
I paid $650 for my HTC Trinity P3600, and if Apple can integrate a GPS and EDGE/3G, I'd pay $1000 for it just on the interface alone. Give it a few weeks after release, and I think people's opinions of the device will change. They'll see what it can do for them (especially business folks, teenagers with money, and young adults with new credit cards), and they'll jump at the chance to have one early for $500.
There are a few things that I don't like about the device that are the reasons why I will not be purchasing one:
1. It's locked in to the worst wireless provider that is out there. Cingluar/AT&T. This may be a great idea for Apple and Cingular/AT&T but it's terrible for everyone that has to switch to them to use this device.
2. There is no tactile QWERTY keyboard as part of the device. dada, as a previous Hiptop user and now with the P3600, you have to know how great a real keyboard is compared to a touchscreen based one. I could NOT get along by tapping the screen -- it's just not the same and touch typing would become extremely difficult.
3. The price is ASTRONOMICAL especially if you're getting new service and paying out the ass to drop your current contract with a better wireless company to switch. The research is right as $299 is more reasonable than $500+ even with disposable income and the desire for a great wireless device, it's not worth that much to me when I'm locked in to one vendor for at least two years.
I crossed the border on a geocaching trip to Winnipeg and we were stopped and held for an hour by the Canadian border agents. After we waited for them to stop standing around chatting and deal with us (which was 35 minutes of the hour we were there) they began to interview a group of three men that were waiting before us. The conversation with the border patrol agent went something like this:
Agent: "Sir, according to our records obtained from the Minnesota State Patrol, you were stopped for DUI in April 2006. When you were asked if you had any prior incidents and you said, 'no' you lied. You are not to lie to a Border Patrol Agent at any time."
Crosser: "I haven't been convicted yet."
Agent: "I didn't ask if you were convicted."
---
Agent: "Sir, according to our records you were convicted of lewd conduct and indecent exposure in March of 2006. When I asked you if you had any prior convictions and you said, 'no', you lied. You are not to lie to a Border Patrol Agent at any time."
Crosser: "It was reduced to a lesser charge!"
Agent: "I asked if you had any prior incidents."
---
This went on for the next individual as well (I don't remember what he did wrong). After that they were released and permitted to go on to their next destination which was a wedding in Winnipeg. For us, they called us one by one into a back interview room and asked us a bunch of questions about our educational background and work history. I actually felt uncomfortable with some of the questions but answered them anyway.
They checked our passports and birth certificates and while the previous group had convictions and lied and we didn't, we still had our car searched for another 30 minutes before being allowed to move along.
So, even though Bush shouldn't be allowed into the country, these fools were. Bleh.
Why would you do that when laser printers are well under $100.00 and color lasers are under $200.00?
Because the toner is $120+ and while I don't know the usage patters of the parent, I wouldn't need to spend $220 on a printer when I print maybe 50 sheets of paper at home a year.
Well, I don't know how many people have access to the Firehose option to "vote" on which stories should make it on the front page, but when I saw this blurb (or one similar) I thought exactly the same thing.
I wonder if Slashdot will continue to fucking suck with their old and outdated (yes, even 24 hours is lame in this day and age) system or if the Firehose system will help Slashdot run back up w/the big dogs.
Can you imagine Bill Gates telling Steve Jobs to go screw himself? In fact, I just recently saw some photos of those two hanging out at some social function, chatting and getting along fine. Now my head is filled with the image of Gates and Jobs living it up and having a laugh, with Cox and Raymond hunched over their computers in the background banging out enraged emails to one another.
Yeah, you just pointed out what I would have imagined. Two people who despise each other at some stupid public social function pretending that they are all honky dory while one is ready to take a clue from a co-worker and throw a chair and the other wants to give a wedgie.
And Alan Cox just told Eric Raymond to go and die.
Can you imagine Alan Cox looking clean cut and impressive at an interview instead of looking very much like the GNU logo? Yeah, neither can I.
Can't a prominent OSS person just switch anymore? It seems like they have to make a big political stink out of it. It's really too bad that people can't leave when things are still amicable, and instead they let it boil over to a traditional email flame-fest by the time they act.
Because it all online circles (just as in real life) people are obsessed with drama. My opinion isn't only limited to the major players but to everyone on the lists/forums/sites they post to.
It's really disappointing that people can't just keep their opinions to themselves and lead by example rather than by trolling.
What I want to know is why the blurb includes that line. Is there documented evidence of that being their "fear"? It seems more like an opinion that has no bases in fact.
What the RIAA *is* worried about is other people winning, for whatever reason, and there being prior judgments against them charging for attorney fees -- which means that people will be happy to go to court against them and possibly win meaning that the RIAA can't play the extortion game as well as they have been.
SuperFetch does more than caching. Windows Vista runs a SuperFetch service that analyzes your application behavior and usage patterns, meaning that it tracks which applications you request the most. A good example would be your activity as you start the PC in the morning: You launch Outlook to fetch email, a messenger, a web browser and probably additional applications such as a development environment. If you do this repeatedly and ideally in the same order, SuperFetch will recognize this and then proactively populate these applications into all available main memory the next time you start the PC. You should only wait for a few minutes before you commence work to give the SuperFetch service the time to "superfetch" your applications.
This seems really silly to me. Applications load fast for me on the P4 2.4 with 512MB of RAM that I use for work. I don't have any productivity issues because I'm waiting for my applications to load. It takes less than twenty seconds to get to the desktop and start loading applications. I wouldn't have any use for this at all at home as the laptop hibernates with the applications open.
What I want to know is if they fixed Access' broken network behaviors when trying to access remote databases -- you know, the one where the entire system is hung up because it and the OS it runs on is a pile of shit? Yeah, *that* particular application fucks me all up and makes it difficult to be productive when I have to try to minimize it or switch to the desktop 10x before it will go all while it's popping back up when a single little dot on the progress meter moves up.
I'm waiting for the day when we don't have any bells and whistles and Windows operates as it should -- fast and fast with minimal amounts of RAM, CPU power, and graphics capabilities.
Or the fact that, currently, Writely doesn't even have the most basic functionality like utilizing the INSERT key on the keyboard?
Sorry, but it's not going to replace any Microsoft Office product until the program works like *every other* word process on the most basic level.
But the real question is whether or not SETI@Home can find CowboyNeal's BSD box that's serving pages about Stephen King's death.
That it happens in a school social setting is not new, as was stated, but the lack of training for students as to what constitutes libel, slander, or other actions that could result in litigation or penalties is sad.
Oh give me a fucking break.
Students shouldn't be "educated" on how to become even more litigious than we already are. What people should be educated on is how to *personally* deal with the problems they face and how to not take out anger and persecution on others.
Learning to deal with these problems in the open helps you to better deal with the petty office drama that they may face in the future -- stuff that isn't in the open but instead behind your back. If you can't learn to deal with it at a young age, then you will fail in the work place of the future.
I'm a fairly knowledgeable computer user with 10 years of Linux experience on top of the standard Windows use since 3.1. When I have an IT problem I play stupid, real stupid. You know why? Because the second they think that I'm self diagnosing a problem it becomes priority 0.
When I called up to tell them that my co-workers computer was denying Groupwise proxy rights via a VBA Access module for a single proxy account and not any others, they ignored me for *four weeks*.
When I call up and say, "my computer doesn't work" they show up in minutes and do whatever it is that they need to do.
Well, I bought four two packs at Target this weekend and there were plenty more where that came from but since you are in the UK, perhaps here at Ace Hardware online would help?
It was the first hit for "GE CFL" on Google BTW.
Thereby making almost any dimmer switch entirely useless, as well as forcing people to use CFLs in dimmer circuits that could damage them.
I think you mean using CFLs designed to work with dimmer switches. Like the ones made by GE and numerous others?
We tried CFLs in my household and we hated them. We found some random buzzing issues, hated the color of our walls and furniture, and didn't really see a huge savings over incandescent because we turn off lights we don't use (and we use home automation in the bathroom and bedroom).
I usually agree with you on many things and others I think you're a wacko. In this particular case, while I agree with you about the buzzing and color issues, I think you're a wacko to believe that home automation and self-savings by turning off lights not in use is common.
Most people can't turn on their computers or use all of the functions on a four-function calculator. You think that they are going to be investing in home automation? I really wonder how many people have a programmable thermostat in their homes and never use it the right way (I know that my neighbors, who are insulated on 3 sides of their home by other homes have a gas bill 6x as high as mine and I'm insulated by homes on only two sides and I have another 400 square feet of livable space as well as a larger unheated garage).
Also, while incandescents will likely go onto the black market (gray market, whatever) most people will not have access to that and will just settle for the annoying mandated light bulbs.
But would it be a "silver bullet" (I keep imagining a Vampire drinking a Coors Light) for those that are treated early?
nor is there any diagnosis for it that an insurance company would reimburse you for.
WTF does that have to do w/anything? Just because an insurance company denies coverage for something does NOT mean that it's an invalid illness, disorder, whatever. I'm not arguing this particular case but insurance companies are out to MAKE MONEY, not to PAY OUT money.
...there are other places to post video. I hope they don't wind up the iTunes of online video.
They are going to become the Napster of online video... An awesome service when it was all free and full of pirated stuff. Now that it's going legal and making deals with the industry, it's probably going to suck.