Going offtopic here --- but as an ex-gaming/hobby retailer, I feel the need to vent some spleen as regards Upper Dick.
[rant on] To put it bluntly, they shit all over the hobby retailer by giving exclusive launches to chains like Blockbuster Video (search on www.icv2.com for "upper deck blockbuster" to find information about the Shaman King launch, and other complaints), whose stores don't host tournaments or staff employees knowledgable in CCG's. Furthermore, UDE offers their latest Yu-Gi-Oh expansions to Wal-Mart weeks before the hobby stores can get them. Hell, I couldn't even order direct from UDE because they refused to do business with a store unless they purchased cards by the case --- an investment that won't be recovered since the players will be all stocked up from Wally World before the store gets their first shipment. When the kids showed up in our store with their brand new cards, they were shocked that we didn't host Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments! [/rant off]
Upper Deck does not care about the quality of their games, or about the hobby stores that promote them. They care about selling cards --- period.
Of course Universal will attribute any drop in sales to piracy and never figure out it's their own damn fault.
Not a problem. They'll just get their lapdogs in Congress to pass a video tax that every citizen will have to pay --- because we're all pirates, ya know.
Actually, explicitly not removing racist blogs without court order supports censorship, too - removing the blogs by themselves wouldn't be censorship because only governments can do that.
Oh please tell me we're not back to that canard. Back when I was a teen, my parents let me watch The Howling. They skipped past the part where the werewolves were shagging in the woods so that I couldn't see it. Know what that's called? CENSORSHIP.
If you buy a Picasso print and put your elbow through it, you don't get another copy for free. If you buy a book and fall asleep reading it in the bathtub, you don't get another copy for free. If you buy a porcelain sculpture, drop it and it shatters, you don't get another one for free. CDs are no different in this respect than any other copyrighted work.
This analogy is fine, as far as it goes. There are real limitations on one's ability to duplicate a Picasso print, a book, or a porcelain sculpture. There are no such real limitations on one's ability to duplicate digital music or video. Hence the laws that supplement copyright law --- DMCA, for example.
Personally, I could couldn't care less if the record company refuses to issue me a replacement disc. But, if they try to keep me from making a backup, it rankles me.
Just because you buy an object does not give you the right to duplicate that object or the information on it. This is not a new interpretation of copyright law. It's always been that way. In fact, it's even in the name: "copy right" -- that is, the right to copy. That right doesn't belong to you.
Ever hear of Fair Use? There are well-known exceptions to copyright law that permit me to copy copyrighted materials under certain conditions. Now, here is where the corporate greedheads go too far --- they try to circumvent fair use by crippling the media with DRM, then invoke DMCA when I try to exercise my limited rights to copy the information.
Furthermore, these asshats act like copyright law was handed down from on high as some kind of universal natural law, and that it is only through their generosity that we can currently make backups. The reality is that copyright law is a right granted by the public to the copyright holder for a LIMITED TIME. However, as with many laws, the wealthy are allowed to renege on their end of the bargain, and extend their copyright in perpetuity.
Record companies didn't replace broken vinyl albums, what makes you think they'll replace a snapped CD?
Aha, but they've changed the rules, see? No consumer could make a backup copy of their vinyl. They could copy it to tape, but then tape hiss is introduced, and the vinyl sounds worse every time you play it anyway. So, the rule then was: you had purchased a physical object, and if said object fails, tough titty.
NOW, the consumer can make perfect digital replicas of their music purchases. So, we have this nebulous product called the CD that when it works, you have purchased a license, and when it is broken, you have purchased a physical object.
Yep, just like if you dropped a vinyl album and it broke.
That analogy would make sense except for one teeny, tiny little thing: The music companies say that you haven't purchased a physical object (for if you did, you could make legal copies of it at will, just like I can buy a hamburger, enjoy it, and make some at home to serve to my family and friends without violating any law), you have purchased a LICENSE to the music/video on the media. Under the terms of the license (and copyright law) you cannot make copies. BUT, by the same token, when the media is damaged, you still have a valid license to the music/video, bought and paid for, and they should pony up another copy. As George Carlin would say, the want to eat their cake and have it too.
I'm pretty sure that you are wrong. I don't download/share/upload music --- I pay for it. So, I tend to get miffed when these assholes try to keep me from making backups or cd mixes of music that I BOUGHT AND PAID FOR by whining to Congress to pass draconian legislation like the DMCA, print DRM infected discs, try to install rootkits on my computer, or any of the other restrictive bullshit they pull that only affects their PAYING CUSTOMERS, and which pirates easily bypass ANYWAY. FUCK THEM!!!
That is assuming that each combination is available for use --- which is completely false. The numbers aren't assigned in increasing order, they contain fields whose values are in a certain range. This reduces the number of available SSN's.
Well, just consider me as a false negative. I did poorly on the essay question. Yet, I aced all of my essays in Essay Writing, excelled in graduate school, and had papers published in two academic journals. So, chalk up one instance of where the GRE failed as a predictor of academic ability.
You're going to do research, and write papers about it
And write here is where the GRE test fails miserably. Doing research implies you've done a GREAT deal of thinking about a particular topic. After the research comes the writing. Once again, you will likely spend a great deal of time writing/re-writing your paper before it is in its final form. Now for the punchline. What is the purpose of the research paper? Is it to reveal new and interesting content to the readers, or is it to dazzle them with its structural form? These essay questions, by the admission of their designers, favor form over content --- which is irrelevant for anything you are likely to do in graduate school... unless you're a fraud.
I'm calling Bullshit on that. I don't know what it is exactly that tests like these are supposed to measure, much less what they actually measure. I have known people who couldn't pass a test if their life depended on it, YET are better at their job than most of their colleagues. Conversely, I've known Ph.D's who could pass any test you throw at them, but can't solve a practical problem and who don't have the sense to come in from a rain storm.
Repeat after me: The Principia and Finnegans Wake aren't whipped up in twenty minutes --- or twenty days for that matter. These timed tests are not representative of anything that the majority of the population (educated or otherwise) are likely to have to do in the real world --- EXCEPT when they have to take one of these timed tests.
You're absolutely right when you call AV companies bottom feeders (though not in those words) who rely on an insecure product for their relevance.
Are physicians and auto mechanics also "bottom feeders"? Human beings and automobiles also require preventative maintenance and repair. And as with humans and automobiles, I seriously doubt that situation is going to change anytime soon for MS operating systems (or any other OS for that matter).
Sure it is! Everyone knows that R'lyeh is at the bottom of the Pacific. Just hop on a ship, whip out the Necronomicon, and show these amateurs how world domination is REALLY carried out!
Lots of people care what you think. If, for example, you believe in a different god than they do, some people think you should be converted, and failing that, you should be killed --- regardless of whatever actions you may take. Doubly so if you speak about your god, or theirs... witness the furor in the muslim world over the pope's recent speech. Don't you think that if they had the power to keep him from saying those things they would exercise it?
The word "significant" is key here. Whenever I put on my shoes and attempt to leave the house, there is a closed door in front of me. When I open it, AHA! a BREAKTHROUGH --- I have removed a barrier to progress!!! I think that is the main point of the article.
Parents need to require their schools to teach and really teach their children.
Yeah, once you overcome the fact that many parents are themselves uneducated, don't know what all the issues are, and don't have the time and financial resources to pursue changes (since they are working long hours at low-paying jobs) you find that the courts have tied the schools' hands when it comes to discipline and that schools don't have much say over what is taught and how it is taught.
I agree with your assessment of middlemen like Wal-Mart. In fact, not only are they convenient, they are necessary. It's just simply not economically feasible for every town to have their own Charmin toilet paper store. As far as I'm concerned, places like Wal-Mart are okay for distributing basic necessities like food & clothes.
However, when it comes to playthings, Wal-Mart mostly serves up cheap crap. I wouldn't dream of purchasing a television, DVD player, computer, or stereo components from them. Furthermore, if your musical tastes extend beyond Justin Timberlake; or if you like obscure films, you're probably better off shopping elsewhere.
For some of us the choices are (1) driving to the local Wal-Mart/Hastings and not finding what we want or paying too much for it, OR (2) shopping online, finding exactly what we want, and having it shipped to our doorstep for a total cost that's less than what we'd pay locally.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't think D&D and MtG were/are fads. D&D has been around for what --- 30 years now? MtG came out in 1994, and is still the leading CCG.
I'll go with GREEDY BASTARDS.
Going offtopic here --- but as an ex-gaming/hobby retailer, I feel the need to vent some spleen as regards Upper Dick.
[rant on]
To put it bluntly, they shit all over the hobby retailer by giving exclusive launches to chains like Blockbuster Video (search on www.icv2.com for "upper deck blockbuster" to find information about the Shaman King launch, and other complaints), whose stores don't host tournaments or staff employees knowledgable in CCG's. Furthermore, UDE offers their latest Yu-Gi-Oh expansions to Wal-Mart weeks before the hobby stores can get them. Hell, I couldn't even order direct from UDE because they refused to do business with a store unless they purchased cards by the case --- an investment that won't be recovered since the players will be all stocked up from Wally World before the store gets their first shipment. When the kids showed up in our store with their brand new cards, they were shocked that we didn't host Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments!
[/rant off]
Upper Deck does not care about the quality of their games, or about the hobby stores that promote them. They care about selling cards --- period.
Absolutely correct. Good thing for Uncle Sam that they have 1 tank, 1 airplane, and 1 missile for every gun toting citizen.
Of course Universal will attribute any drop in sales to piracy and never figure out it's their own damn fault.
Not a problem. They'll just get their lapdogs in Congress to pass a video tax that every citizen will have to pay --- because we're all pirates, ya know.
Actually, explicitly not removing racist blogs without court order supports censorship, too - removing the blogs by themselves wouldn't be censorship because only governments can do that.
Oh please tell me we're not back to that canard. Back when I was a teen, my parents let me watch The Howling. They skipped past the part where the werewolves were shagging in the woods so that I couldn't see it. Know what that's called? CENSORSHIP.
And, who can forget the first time they were ninja-linked to the Goatse guy?
If you buy a Picasso print and put your elbow through it, you don't get another copy for free. If you buy a book and fall asleep reading it in the bathtub, you don't get another copy for free. If you buy a porcelain sculpture, drop it and it shatters, you don't get another one for free. CDs are no different in this respect than any other copyrighted work.
This analogy is fine, as far as it goes. There are real limitations on one's ability to duplicate a Picasso print, a book, or a porcelain sculpture. There are no such real limitations on one's ability to duplicate digital music or video. Hence the laws that supplement copyright law --- DMCA, for example.
Personally, I could couldn't care less if the record company refuses to issue me a replacement disc. But, if they try to keep me from making a backup, it rankles me.
Just because you buy an object does not give you the right to duplicate that object or the information on it. This is not a new interpretation of copyright law. It's always been that way. In fact, it's even in the name: "copy right" -- that is, the right to copy. That right doesn't belong to you.
Ever hear of Fair Use? There are well-known exceptions to copyright law that permit me to copy copyrighted materials under certain conditions. Now, here is where the corporate greedheads go too far --- they try to circumvent fair use by crippling the media with DRM, then invoke DMCA when I try to exercise my limited rights to copy the information.
Furthermore, these asshats act like copyright law was handed down from on high as some kind of universal natural law, and that it is only through their generosity that we can currently make backups. The reality is that copyright law is a right granted by the public to the copyright holder for a LIMITED TIME. However, as with many laws, the wealthy are allowed to renege on their end of the bargain, and extend their copyright in perpetuity.
Record companies didn't replace broken vinyl albums, what makes you think they'll replace a snapped CD?
Aha, but they've changed the rules, see? No consumer could make a backup copy of their vinyl. They could copy it to tape, but then tape hiss is introduced, and the vinyl sounds worse every time you play it anyway. So, the rule then was: you had purchased a physical object, and if said object fails, tough titty.
NOW, the consumer can make perfect digital replicas of their music purchases. So, we have this nebulous product called the CD that when it works, you have purchased a license, and when it is broken, you have purchased a physical object.
Yep, just like if you dropped a vinyl album and it broke.
That analogy would make sense except for one teeny, tiny little thing: The music companies say that you haven't purchased a physical object (for if you did, you could make legal copies of it at will, just like I can buy a hamburger, enjoy it, and make some at home to serve to my family and friends without violating any law), you have purchased a LICENSE to the music/video on the media. Under the terms of the license (and copyright law) you cannot make copies. BUT, by the same token, when the media is damaged, you still have a valid license to the music/video, bought and paid for, and they should pony up another copy. As George Carlin would say, the want to eat their cake and have it too.
my own opinion is that that some things work better on ie. its just a fact.
For example: html composed with Frontpage.
I'm pretty sure that you are wrong. I don't download/share/upload music --- I pay for it. So, I tend to get miffed when these assholes try to keep me from making backups or cd mixes of music that I BOUGHT AND PAID FOR by whining to Congress to pass draconian legislation like the DMCA, print DRM infected discs, try to install rootkits on my computer, or any of the other restrictive bullshit they pull that only affects their PAYING CUSTOMERS, and which pirates easily bypass ANYWAY. FUCK THEM!!!
That is assuming that each combination is available for use --- which is completely false. The numbers aren't assigned in increasing order, they contain fields whose values are in a certain range. This reduces the number of available SSN's.
... going to the rest room and eating rice balls during the attempt
I wonder how many digits of pi can be squeezed onto a piece of rice.
Well, just consider me as a false negative. I did poorly on the essay question. Yet, I aced all of my essays in Essay Writing, excelled in graduate school, and had papers published in two academic journals. So, chalk up one instance of where the GRE failed as a predictor of academic ability.
You're going to do research, and write papers about it
... unless you're a fraud.
And write here is where the GRE test fails miserably. Doing research implies you've done a GREAT deal of thinking about a particular topic. After the research comes the writing. Once again, you will likely spend a great deal of time writing/re-writing your paper before it is in its final form. Now for the punchline. What is the purpose of the research paper? Is it to reveal new and interesting content to the readers, or is it to dazzle them with its structural form? These essay questions, by the admission of their designers, favor form over content --- which is irrelevant for anything you are likely to do in graduate school
I'm calling Bullshit on that. I don't know what it is exactly that tests like these are supposed to measure, much less what they actually measure. I have known people who couldn't pass a test if their life depended on it, YET are better at their job than most of their colleagues. Conversely, I've known Ph.D's who could pass any test you throw at them, but can't solve a practical problem and who don't have the sense to come in from a rain storm.
Repeat after me: The Principia and Finnegans Wake aren't whipped up in twenty minutes --- or twenty days for that matter. These timed tests are not representative of anything that the majority of the population (educated or otherwise) are likely to have to do in the real world --- EXCEPT when they have to take one of these timed tests.
You're absolutely right when you call AV companies bottom feeders (though not in those words) who rely on an insecure product for their relevance.
Are physicians and auto mechanics also "bottom feeders"? Human beings and automobiles also require preventative maintenance and repair. And as with humans and automobiles, I seriously doubt that situation is going to change anytime soon for MS operating systems (or any other OS for that matter).
nah, the pacific isn't all its cracked up to be
Sure it is! Everyone knows that R'lyeh is at the bottom of the Pacific. Just hop on a ship, whip out the Necronomicon, and show these amateurs how world domination is REALLY carried out!
I've read it and still think it's a stupid verdict.
uhhh, no.
... witness the furor in the muslim world over the pope's recent speech. Don't you think that if they had the power to keep him from saying those things they would exercise it?
Lots of people care what you think. If, for example, you believe in a different god than they do, some people think you should be converted, and failing that, you should be killed --- regardless of whatever actions you may take. Doubly so if you speak about your god, or theirs
... and speech, and thoughts.
The word "significant" is key here. Whenever I put on my shoes and attempt to leave the house, there is a closed door in front of me. When I open it, AHA! a BREAKTHROUGH --- I have removed a barrier to progress!!! I think that is the main point of the article.
It's also not fair that nearly the only voice one can hear is the corporate voice.
Parents need to require their schools to teach and really teach their children.
Yeah, once you overcome the fact that many parents are themselves uneducated, don't know what all the issues are, and don't have the time and financial resources to pursue changes (since they are working long hours at low-paying jobs) you find that the courts have tied the schools' hands when it comes to discipline and that schools don't have much say over what is taught and how it is taught.
I agree with your assessment of middlemen like Wal-Mart. In fact, not only are they convenient, they are necessary. It's just simply not economically feasible for every town to have their own Charmin toilet paper store. As far as I'm concerned, places like Wal-Mart are okay for distributing basic necessities like food & clothes.
However, when it comes to playthings, Wal-Mart mostly serves up cheap crap. I wouldn't dream of purchasing a television, DVD player, computer, or stereo components from them. Furthermore, if your musical tastes extend beyond Justin Timberlake; or if you like obscure films, you're probably better off shopping elsewhere.
For some of us the choices are (1) driving to the local Wal-Mart/Hastings and not finding what we want or paying too much for it, OR (2) shopping online, finding exactly what we want, and having it shipped to our doorstep for a total cost that's less than what we'd pay locally.