I'm not some depave the planet type, but these are the facts in my life and with the "ecology" of cars in general:
1. I didn't get my license until I was 23, and then it was because my evil Evil EVIL ex-wife demanded that I learn how to drive. So I bludgered about in her POS Mercury Bobcat and got my license. The Bobcat (mercifully) self-destructed a few years later. So: first: DON'T DRIVE unless you have some psycho harpy bitch chewing you a new final voluntary sphincter (cuz it feels good, at first... nemmind...)
2. I didn't own a car of my own until I was 27. A 1972 Chevy Nova. Got horrible mileage, but no one fucked with me over a parking space. It was olive green and nicknamed the Urban Assault Vehicle. After I put it into a guard rail doing about 95 dodging a fucking DEER in Pennsylvania (long story) I sold the parts for what I paid for the car - $425.
3. I moved across the country after that and didn't own another car of my own for almost 5 years. When I did get one, it was an old Honda Civic wagon I bought for $800. I sold it a few years later to my sister for $700.
4. In 1999 I bought my present vehicle, a 1991 Toyota Corolla. It gets about 27 mpg on the highway and about 19 in the city. It's old and dying and there is NO way it's going to pass Smog next month, so the State will take it off my hands for $1000.
After that, I won't own a car, and I hope to never have to own another. If I DO buy another car, it will likely be an old used Geo Metro or an old Rabbit Diesel so I can run it on vegetable oil.
If you REALLY want to do the Earth a BIG FAT FAVOUR DON'T buy a car. And if you do, buy a gas sipping used car. Why?
1. The energy that went into making the car (which is about equal to the amount of energy the damn thing will consume) has already been spent.
2. Buying a new car means that at your behest and convenience a lot of energy was spent making this energy sucking device.
3. NOT using a car at all, or renting them when you need them, means that you have organised your life in such a way that they are no longer of use to you. And THAT is a good thing - I am convinced that Suburbia will prove to be the single most wasteful expense of resources the human species has ever endured.
The best way to predict the future is to invent it. So LIVE THE FUTURE NOW. Get rid of your car. Move to a small (or even not so small) city that has decent public transport and RIDE A FUCKING BICYCLE. It rains where you live? Well, DRESS FOR IT or TAKE A TRAIN. In the town where you live, agitate for light rail, trolleys and suchlike.
Make it happen. Hybrids are NOT a solution - they are just a less (and not very less) heinous face on a cancerous blight. The solution is energy curtailment and population reduction. I say, "Live it, or live with it.
It's a bit like having bees live inside your head, but it's a really good BUZZ.
A LITTLE-known invention by a Church of Scotland minister almost 200 years ago could help to reduce the world's insatiable and ever-growing appetite for oil.
Fuck - ya know - leave it to a fucking SCOT to design a kick ass stingy engine. Aye - ye bastids!
That's very interesting! Thanks for pointing that out. I rarely look for something like that, so I guess I rarely see that kind of arrangement by Google. But you're quite correct - those are two very commercial links right up front.
The difference between them is on Yahoo, the visual differences are less than on Google, and on Yahoo you get commercial links even with something as obscure and trivial as Kyzyl.
But they happen a lot faster when you have cheap energy. It will be interesting to see how all this rah-rah technology thing plays out as energy accelerates in price.
I think we'll see fewer bells and whistles and more fundamental and substantive shifts in how the technology basically works and how and when we choose/bother to use it.
OK: I did a brain fart search on both engines. The word? Kyzyl. It's the capital of Tuva. Tuva is an obscure little suburb of Mongolia. Yep. When you think your stupid relatives who bought a place in Indiana live in the middle of Nowhere, you're wrong. Tuva Is The Middle Of Nowhere.
So, In Firefox tab A, I have Google and tab B is Yahoo. Both searched on Kyzyl.
Results (pleae pay attention because htmling this was a pain...):
Yahoo's first 5 entries:
* All Russia Hotels All Russian Hotels - We offer discount hotel reservation services online in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Russia, Ukraine, CIS and Baltic.
www.allrussiahotels.com
* Tuva Travel Kyzyl city is the capital of Tuva Republic (Russia) Kyzyl city is positioned right in the center of Asia, which is proudly claimed by a local monument specifically dedicated to this fact. www.sokoltours.com
WEB RESULTS
1. Wikipedia: Kyzyl
Open this result in new window
Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia's article on 'Kyzyl' en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyzyl
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2. Weather Underground: Kyzyl, Russia Forecast Open this result in new window Find the Weather for any City, State or ZIP Code, or Airport Code or Country. Email. Password. Maps. United States. International. Information. Refinance Rates. GoTo Meeting. Kyzyl Singles. Hosting Companies. Online deals! Vitamins. Internet Mall... Updated: 8:00 AM KRAST on August 02, 2005. Observed at Kyzyl, Russia (History) Elevation: 2064 ft / 629 m... Coming soon: Flash Stickers. Kyzyl, 63 F / 17 C...
www.wunderground.com/global/stations/36096.html
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3. AllRefer.com - Kyzyl (CIS And Baltic Political Geography) - Encyclopedia
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3. AllRefer.com reference and encyclopedia resource provides complete information on Kyzyl, CIS And Baltic Political Geography. Includes related research links.... By Alphabet : Encyclopedia A-Z - K. Kyzyl, CIS And Baltic Political Geography... Kyzyl or Kizil[both: kizil'] Pronunciation Key, city (1989 pop... reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/K/Kyzyl More from this site - Save - Block
Now, for the first five Google Results on Kyzyl:
Kyzyl'-administrative center of Republic of Tuva, Russia Kyzyl' Republic of Tuva, |Central-Chernozemny|... Republic Capital:, Kyzyl. Capital Population:, 91000( at 01/01/94)... members.tripod.com/~argun/kyzyl.htm - 5k - Cached - Similar pages
Kyzyl on Encyclopedia.com
Kyzyl or Kizilboth: kzl, city (1989 pop. 85000), capital of Tuva Republic, S Siberian Russia, on the Yenisei River. It services motor transport and has...
www.encyclopedia.com/html/K/Kyzyl.asp
- 47k - Cached - Similar pages
Kyzyl Travel Information. Photos, Stories and Diaries about Kyzyl
Sustainable Tourism for independent travellers (travelers) and backpackers.
www.worldsurface.com/browse/location.asp?locationi d=5654 - 59k - Cached - Similar pages
Kyzyl, Tuva, Russia current local time
Kyzyl, Tuva, Russia - before placing a telephone call or making travel plans for a flight or hotel, get the current local time provided by... www.worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_RU-TY.aspx ?city=Kyzyl - 17k - C
Unless you buy your juice from renewable producers
on
Making Fire From Water
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· Score: 1
Here in the sunny happy a-go-go world of tomorrow, we can tell our totally with it happenin' doods and doodettes down at the Energy Palace we call PG&E that we only want to buy our crazy electric from the sweet teddy bears running those wild and crazy windmills things.
It costs a little more on that energy bill at the end of the month but boy-o daddio don't it ever feel good inside to know that I'm only spendin' my bread with the happy good people making juice from Mommy Nature's windy teats.
So why don't you just go and settle on down and buy YOUR energy from those hip and happenin' folks down on the Wind Farm, eh bucko?
You wouldn't want to be one of those sourpuss fuckwit scumsuckin' Trolls now would ya?
Be a good egg and get your juice from the Good Guys.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
There is NO fucking way this ruling will stand up in court.
They all voted yea. But I did not expect otherwise.
Are you disappointed that Democrats are not standing up to corporate greed?
Yes.
Do you think Republicans are somehow better?
No.
Do you think Porgy Tirebiter could do a better job?
Oh heck - he couldn't even be elected dogkiller in this environment. (grin)
To my point: The Democratic party needs to stand up to the corporations, and stand on the side of the common citizen, pure and simple. People who are oposed to the neocon take over of the Republican party must stand up and mobilise and get the democratic party to stand for something, and get some discipline. Otherwise, they're fucked, and we're fucked right with them, and stuff that make CAFTA look like a kitchen sink play will soon be The Law Of The Land.
CAFTA Implementation (S. 1307)
169 6-29 Y Frist motion to proceed to the bill. (61-34)
170 6-30 Y Passage. (54-45)
Here's the record of Democrats who voted FOR the bill:
Bingaman (D-NM), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Cornyn (R-TX), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Lieberman (D-CT), Not Voting (GUTLESS FUCKER)
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Murray (D-WA), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Yea
now, of course,come election time, the Republicans will run some loony right wing shit bag against each of them, and so everyone will vote FOR the Deomcrat...
The second amendment thing is a red herring. The right wing militia types like to get all worked up thinking it will save them from pure fascism. Even an M16 isn't much help against a remote control drone loaded with high explosives flying at night, and certainly won't stop a stand-off bomb. And in terms of actual fighting, you can take an M16 with fulltilt rock and roll and you're going to have a real hard time against a Cobra gunship.
The only even marginally effective weapons in a hot fire fight of resistance are the kinds of things we see in Iraq, but we call that "Terrorism" these days, and those freaks are one hell of a lot better funded than a bunch of beer swilling rednecks with assault weapons.
No - the second amendment crowd are completely out of touch with the facts of modern warfare and crowd control, much less anything related to the actual levers of control that are in the form of manufactured consent and self-expression limited to questions of consumer choices.
The thing is, those wannabe heroes are not looking at what's actually coming down the pike: they're fighting a war that was finished over 200 years ago, and even then, the good guys lost.
The picture is not a good one. Basically, unless something changes REALLY soon, this is what's likely to happen:
Neocon shitbags will continue to run the government into the ground, paring back freedoms of everyone except the corporations. As the USA continues to dig its own grave, wealth will continue to flow OUT of the country at ever greater velocity. Eventually, the people holding the bank notes will get pissed the USA can't keep up with the interest payments and institute the same kind of draconian bullshit the USA and WorldBank has pulled on the 3rd world for the past 50 years. The USA will be prostrate. With no credit, there will be no money to continue the shift over from petroleum, and the US will get stuck in the middle. The suburbs will self destruct, and the USA will simply split up. Once it's gone, the multitrillion dollar debt disappears. The governments that will come up in the mess will be largely regional. Look for a west coastal country, similar to Chile, but more liberal. The Northeast would likely go something like Canada. The midwest and south will sink into a kind of nutty Xian frothing shit fit. I could see Mexico BUYING Arizona and New Mexico. Texas might even go its own way, and turn into a small fascist nation completely deluded that it matters.
The midwest will suffer badly. Shortly after this all goes down, the Oglala aquifer will give out, turning vast regions of the midwest into semi arid PRARIE (what a concept!). None of these new nations will have much in the way of credit, so it will be interesting to see how any of them will come out of it. My guess is the pinheads running Texas will form an axis with the South and declare war on the North East. They'll have some small amount of oil (from Texas and Lousiana) to run their military machines in one final attempt at pointless testosterone poisoned dick brained victory. They'll lose, of course, because the people with the oil, Canada, won't stand for it, and the EU and the far west will come in on the side of the Northeast.
The south and Texas will again be defeated, but this time it'll be much more brutal, making Sherman's march look like a day at Disneyland.
At that point, somewhere around 2040, the oil will simply run out. The Northwest with its hydroelectric and the West with its solar farms will generally survive. The Northeast will have bunchies of nukes and use Texas as the dumping ground for the radioactive waste, and then sell the lower half of the state to the Mexicans.
Around 2080, the first few fusion plants are finally online and working properly, but it's too little too late. What's left of China after the smallpox outbreak/terror attack buys Alaska and big chunks of Alberta to pump the last of the oil out so they can bomb the crap out of
The idea is to loot the treasury while they can, and then move on to greener pastures elsewhere. 70 years on copyright? Who cares? Once the economy implodes, the USA will crumble like the CCCP did in the early 1990s. The debt will disappear because the USgov disappeared. Oil will be largely unavailable, the sauburbs will implode, and North America will become just another impoverished shit hole backwater, while the Steel Wheels of Corporate capitalism crush the life out of some other up and coming part of the planet. Remember: YOU VOTED FOR IT.
Sure: 70 years on copyright? Fuck - make it a 1000. It's not going to matter. And for that matter - up the national debt. I want to see the USA in the hole for $10 quadrillion bucks.
As it is, if the USgov paid back its debt at the rate of $1,000,000 a day (HA!)it'll take over 21,000 years to pay it back. So who cares? Blow that out by a factor of 10,000x. IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER.
Let's not be so negative. I think Adobe will incorporate a lot of the features you and others loved so much about FH into AI.
I think they will do some cosmetic modificiations, but nothing substantial. The basic codebase is so old that I don't see any substantial integration between them.
The concepts are the same, you just have to learn a new interface.
If that was it, I would be happy, but it's not. FH simply has some basic fundamental features that are quite beyond AI. Like:
MULTIPLE PAGES. Sorry - tiling is a pain in the ASS.
MASTER PAGES. Don't need 'em if you only have ONE.
PASTE INSIDE. Yeah - AI has "masking" but once again, it requires more than one step and given how important it is, is bullshit.
SELECTING OBJECTS. AI has more idiotic selection tools than I care to count, and just TRY to directly select and move a point in a path with one action. For years, FH only had ONE selection tool, and frankly, THAT'S ALL YOU NEED.
Seriously, the list is long and extremely basic stuff. AI will never have multiple pages, because it would obviate the need for 90% of what people use InDesign for. AI will never be anything but mediocre. It reminds me of Microsoft Windows - sure it's retarded, but it works and everyone uses it. Feh.
You've already done the hard part (learning the concepts). FH is intuitive cuz you know it better.
Bullshit. FH is intuitive BECAUSE IT WAS DESIGNED THAT WAY.
Don't even try to tell me that the freeware apps are even close to either AI or FH. If there is one, I'll drop FH and AI instantly.
And on THAT note, I *completely* agree with you.
Sidenote: I don't know if I can consider a program that crashes twice a day a "better application".
Depends. I have autosave on, so when it winks out, I just re-open it, and continue on. I might lose a minute or so, and it's a chance for me to go get a cup of coffee and do something other than slave my day away for the almighty dollar.
But: if I have a brochure or newsletter (the majority of my work) to lay out, with illustrations in it - No Way In Fucking Hell would I use AI. I reach for FH - co-ordinating ever changing text styles across multiple AI documents is a mess anda disaster, and InDesign (which I think is GREAT by the way - I detest Quark like I hate AI) is like using a bomb to kill a fly. Nope: the simple fact is: FH was the better app, but Macromedia TOTALLY dropped the ball on its development and marketing - going back to 1996 and 1997. FH should have been the Winner in that category, but Macromedia took its eye off the ball, did screwy (and IMHO barderline illegal) things with its inventory practices, destroyed its stock price justwhen it should have been white hot, chased the fools gold of the internet and took over that segment, and thusly opened itself up to be bought out by its former enemy.
I used to work at Macromedia, and I remember a company wide meeting where they introduced Adobe AS THE ENEMY, and proposed a product strategy to take Adobe out of the game.
The strategy failed miserably. Macromedia then decided to do an End Run around Adobe by chasing the internet demon. Fontographer was murdered, FH was left with a tube up its nose, and a few other apps sank without a trace (Extreme 3D, xRes). FontLab has bought the bones and DNA of Fontographer and will be growing a new one as a test-tube baby very soon. But FH? It's SO fucking doomed... the culture at Adobe is NIH to the extreme, and I am *quite* certain that FH's plug is Completely Pulled. I wouldn't be surprised if they zeroed out all the hard drives that contain the FH codebase.
Dude, FH has hada tube up its nose for years, and now that Adobe has it in its clutches, it's good as GONE. Which is a terrible shame, because I prefer FH to AI any day of the week. It was much more intuitive, and it had MULTIPLE PAGES (like DUH!) and was generally just a Better Application. What pissed me off with FH was it had a persistent memory leak in vers 9, 10, and MX, which they never properly fixed. But even with crashing twice a day, it was SO much easier to use.
AI has a long way to go to match FH, and now that FH is deader than a corporlite, they have no need to improve AI. I would expect AI to simply sit and suck for the rest of eternity until they finally roll it into Phootoshop 14 or whatever.
Time to go smoke some weed and look into those Freeware options...
He didn't whine about anything. He just said "Fuck Apple - I've had enough", and just stopped investing in Apple Hardware. I remember when he bought the 950. I don't remember the exact reason why, but IIRC, it had to do something with how many slots it had in back.
Your second paragraph describes *exactly* why I didn't replace my dead apples with PPC machines. I can't afford to dump serious money into a PPC. I tend to keep my computers for a long time, and while Apple and Apple fanboys are all saying "PPC will be supported for a REALLY long time", that kind of talk in this day and age just sets off all my bullshit detectors. I figured I can suffer under windows for a few years and then get a Kick Ass MacIntel when they come out.
I *love* using apple computers, but I have to add to Mr Bullfish's point with a story about a friend of mine.
Back around 1990 or so he bought a Mac IIfx. That thing was trippy scary fast for the time, and it cost him a HUGE pile of cash - something like $12,000. Which is a huge amount of money for a computer by todays standards and just short of extortionate back in 1990. However it had that weird 64 pin memory, so upping the RAM cost a freakin' fortune, and it was never used again, which meant that this machine was a $13,000 DOORSTOP. That pissed him off. But he was a Believer, and he went back to the Kool-Aid trough again in summer of 1995 and bought a Quadra 950 for about $8,000. It was discontinued a few months later, and at the time with no realistic upgrade path, except to spend another $8000 on a 9500.
At that point he said "FUCK APPLE" - he had invested over $20,000 on TWO computers, both of which were doorstops. He was able to strip the 950 for some parts, at least. Since then, he's been a Wintel Guy ever since.
Apple has a habit of doing that - building extremely expensive machines that have no useful upgrade path. Now that computers are so friggin cheap, upgrape path doesn't mean that much, but back in 1990 it really did.
I bought an LC (or was it an LC-II? I don't remember...) back in 1991 because it was a colour macintosh for less than $2000, which I thought was FANTASTIC. I think it had 8 megs of RAM. But, with no upgrade path, it was useless after a few years, and then I bought my Quadra 650 for about $1700. The Quadra was great - it worked like a champ for years and I finally sold it to someone who is still using it for word processing running Word 5, FreeHand 5, and Quark 3 to this very day.
Apple's crude discontinuation of Lisa was just the first in a series of major customer mis-steps by Apple. (full disclosure: both of my Apple computers died in April, so now I'm running a cheapy Wintel box, but only until the MacIntel boxen arrive. Then I'll get a MacIntel powerbook. YAY!!! I look forward to getting back to OSX. Windows makes my day long and grim, and the software I use precludes Linux, for now.)
"Trying to explain to a non-baseball-fan what's important about a given moment in baseball, is like trying to explain to a non-deadhead what was so great about one particular concert."
The most boring band and the most boring sport - and someone might try to determine when either is exciting? Fuck - why not watch paint dry or one of those old movies by Warhol?
"I like the part where the pigeons fly by."
"Did you see that bug get stuck in the paint? AWESOME!"
I siply don't use the Wireless connexion in a shop that charges for it (such as Starbucks). I also don't buy coffee or munchies in them either (unless I have no other choice).
The places that DO offer free WiFi I DO patronise. And I make it a point to do so, and I spend much more time and money in such places as well.
OK - Sorry. I stand corrected. I think the problem is the bracketing of the questioned post wasn't sufficient to indicate its existence as "humor", i.e. it simulated the kind of trolling drivel from spaceheads so well, that it was indistinguishable from that which it parodied. In which case, it is rather convincingly loony bullshit, and you get magic karma points for doing such a convincing job.
Was I angry? yes. did I overstate my case? Yes. But I was hardly engaged in simple flammage, which is what some fanboy for Kelly modded me.
So I guess it all comes around. However - I complained about the flamebait rating, and people even agreed with me, but the Moderator left no response or excuse. I, at least, was willing to re-look at your post, and come to some agreement.
I think one way to fix the modding problems is to get rid of Anonymous Coward postings. It's not like I really own a car dealership in West Gommorah, or that you're actually Brian Peter George St. John de la Baptiste from 2001 himself.
Planet X will return bringing the Niburu with it as it was prophesied by Zecharaiah Sitchin. I keep telling you people, Plent X is coming and no one ever believes me. You all keep relegating it to the laughable realm of pseudoscience, but it's not and now this is obviously proof. The Niburu will return to enslave us as they did 4000 years ago
SNIP
People will, naturally, think you are a FUCKING LOONY and label your stuff as TROLL. Why? Because that's all a load of fantastic bullshit, and everyone with more than three working neurons knows it.
So kindly go find a bridge to haunt and quitcher bitchin'.
RS
Re:Kevin Kelly is so wrong, he's not even wrong.
on
The Future of the Net
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· Score: 1
I appreciate your appreciation. Unfortunately, some fanboy rated me flamebait, which I think is unfair...
RS
Kevin Kelly is so wrong, he's not even wrong.
on
The Future of the Net
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· Score: 0, Flamebait
1. By 2015, my computer will still have its OS on its hard drive. Why? BECAUSE PEOPLE WANT THEIR DATA LOCAL. If it's up on the web somewhere, then I have to PAY some megacorp (tm) to house it. If I stop paying or my cheque gets lost in the mail - poof - 10 years of work up in smoke? I. Don't. Think. So. I'm using a brand new Windows box, which is my temporary replacement for my dead G3 (which is now a smoking heap of plastic cladding - long story). When I get a MacIntel box in 2007, I expect to own it as long as my G3 wich I bought in 1998. So, 7 years + 2007 = 2014, and I'm going to expect the machine I buy to replace the Macintel in 2014 to have *at least* the same usability and dependability as the G3 I bought in 1998, just as I expect as much from the MacIntel in 2007. I paid (too much) cash for that machine then and I expect much the same in 2007 and 2014 or 2015, so I expect the data and OS to be MINE in my OFFICE - not floating on some rented server farm in Redwood City.
this reminds me of Oracle Boy's ranting about "net computing" back in the 1990s and the "thin client" and how everyone will just have dumb terminals on their desk. Guess what, Battee boy? Ain't Gonna Happen.
2. KK says Today, at any Net terminal, you can get: an amazing variety of (SNIP)
Net Terminal. WHERE THE FUCK is the nearest "Net Terminal"? I don't have a Net Terminal. I have a computer on my desk. It does a fuckload more than cruise the web. The nearest "Net Terminal" I know of is at an Airport, and it costs a fortune to use and it won't burn a disk for love or money, so any data you find in it, stays in it. KK is ASSERTING that the case exists already, in his typical arrogance, and then continues with his phantasmic vision from there. Dumb ass.
3. He then splutters "There is only one time in the history of each planet when its inhabitants first wire up its innumerable parts to make one large Machine. Later that Machine may run faster, but there is only one time when it is born.
You and I are alive at this moment.
What utter hogwash. Messianic cybernetic totalist hogwash. Cheerleading balderdash. I find such attitudes so utterly deserving of my undying contempt and ire that I find it difficult to find the words to describe just how profoundly idiotic and self-serving I find such ejaculations to be.
OK, KK - I can make predictions too. Try these:
In 2015, the United States is at the height of its Cold Civil War, and the thanks to the unmitigated disaster of the Bush Cheney Regime, the American Economy is no longer able to absorb the cost of $200 a barrel oil and the suburbs that the preceding century of cheap oil spawned. There are wide spread black outs, and the USgov declares martial law, effectively ending the era of the American Republic. The internet does gain greater depth, but is pushed to the periphery of human concerns as the population continues to bulge and food riots break out in South Asia. Owning a computer becomes less worthwhile as one only has power fora few hours a day. Refrigeration becomes problematic in the summer of 2015, as unemployment officially hits 11% (but everyone knows the numbers are bullshit, because it only counts people receiving their 3 months of unemployment insurance - the actual number is closer to 50%) and in October 2015 there is a massive demonstration on the Mall in DC. A lone protester stands in front of an M1 Abrams tank. The tank tries to go around him, but he moves to block it. Unlike in Tienamen Square, our hero (now designated a "terrorist") is shot dead from a helicopter gunship - several dozen rounds rip through him and he literally explodes in front of the Tank, which then proceeds to roll over his remains and goes on to squish the protest flat.
In 2016, the United States Government, unable to make the payments on its debt of $42 trillion dollars, declares bankruptcy, and dissolves. It splits up, much like the soviet union did 25 years prior. Kevin Kelley flees to europe to escape the disaster.
Vinyl records are made of oil. CDs are made of oil (the plastic) and aluminium. Making aluminium requires ENORMOUS amounts of energy (like a dedicated power plant), and is an extremely messy and destructive process.
Both systems are extremely polluting. One (vinyl) will hold recognisible data for hundreds and hundreds of years, albeit in an ever degrading form. CDs simply won't. They are completely dependent on the machines they play in and if I could live long enough I would cheerfully bet some large sum of money that in 500 years there will be no player for any CD, period.
We'll be lucky to have electricity at all by that point.
Slashdot Mirror
1. I didn't get my license until I was 23, and then it was because my evil Evil EVIL ex-wife demanded that I learn how to drive. So I bludgered about in her POS Mercury Bobcat and got my license. The Bobcat (mercifully) self-destructed a few years later. So: first: DON'T DRIVE unless you have some psycho harpy bitch chewing you a new final voluntary sphincter (cuz it feels good, at first... nemmind...)
2. I didn't own a car of my own until I was 27. A 1972 Chevy Nova. Got horrible mileage, but no one fucked with me over a parking space. It was olive green and nicknamed the Urban Assault Vehicle. After I put it into a guard rail doing about 95 dodging a fucking DEER in Pennsylvania (long story) I sold the parts for what I paid for the car - $425.
3. I moved across the country after that and didn't own another car of my own for almost 5 years. When I did get one, it was an old Honda Civic wagon I bought for $800. I sold it a few years later to my sister for $700.
4. In 1999 I bought my present vehicle, a 1991 Toyota Corolla. It gets about 27 mpg on the highway and about 19 in the city. It's old and dying and there is NO way it's going to pass Smog next month, so the State will take it off my hands for $1000.
After that, I won't own a car, and I hope to never have to own another. If I DO buy another car, it will likely be an old used Geo Metro or an old Rabbit Diesel so I can run it on vegetable oil.
If you REALLY want to do the Earth a BIG FAT FAVOUR DON'T buy a car. And if you do, buy a gas sipping used car. Why?
1. The energy that went into making the car (which is about equal to the amount of energy the damn thing will consume) has already been spent.
2. Buying a new car means that at your behest and convenience a lot of energy was spent making this energy sucking device.
3. NOT using a car at all, or renting them when you need them, means that you have organised your life in such a way that they are no longer of use to you. And THAT is a good thing - I am convinced that Suburbia will prove to be the single most wasteful expense of resources the human species has ever endured.
The best way to predict the future is to invent it. So LIVE THE FUTURE NOW. Get rid of your car. Move to a small (or even not so small) city that has decent public transport and RIDE A FUCKING BICYCLE. It rains where you live? Well, DRESS FOR IT or TAKE A TRAIN. In the town where you live, agitate for light rail, trolleys and suchlike.
Make it happen. Hybrids are NOT a solution - they are just a less (and not very less) heinous face on a cancerous blight. The solution is energy curtailment and population reduction. I say, "Live it, or live with it.
It's a bit like having bees live inside your head, but it's a really good BUZZ.
RS
A LITTLE-known invention by a Church of Scotland minister almost 200 years ago could help to reduce the world's insatiable and ever-growing appetite for oil.
Fuck - ya know - leave it to a fucking SCOT to design a kick ass stingy engine. Aye - ye bastids!
But then, if it isn't Scottish- IT'S CRAP!!!
RS
The difference between them is on Yahoo, the visual differences are less than on Google, and on Yahoo you get commercial links even with something as obscure and trivial as Kyzyl.
RS
I think we'll see fewer bells and whistles and more fundamental and substantive shifts in how the technology basically works and how and when we choose/bother to use it.
RS
So, In Firefox tab A, I have Google and tab B is Yahoo. Both searched on Kyzyl.
Results (pleae pay attention because htmling this was a pain...):
Yahoo's first 5 entries:
* All Russia Hotels All Russian Hotels - We offer discount hotel reservation services online in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Russia, Ukraine, CIS and Baltic. www.allrussiahotels.com
* Tuva Travel Kyzyl city is the capital of Tuva Republic (Russia) Kyzyl city is positioned right in the center of Asia, which is proudly claimed by a local monument specifically dedicated to this fact. www.sokoltours.com
WEB RESULTS
1. Wikipedia: Kyzyl
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Wikipedia Free Encyclopedia's article on 'Kyzyl' en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyzyl
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2. Weather Underground: Kyzyl, Russia Forecast ... Updated: 8:00 AM KRAST on August 02, 2005. Observed at Kyzyl, Russia (History) Elevation: 2064 ft / 629 m ... Coming soon: Flash Stickers. Kyzyl, 63 F / 17 C ...
Open this result in new window Find the Weather for any City, State or ZIP Code, or Airport Code or Country. Email. Password. Maps. United States. International. Information. Refinance Rates. GoTo Meeting. Kyzyl Singles. Hosting Companies. Online deals! Vitamins. Internet Mall
www.wunderground.com/global/stations/36096.html
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3. AllRefer.com - Kyzyl (CIS And Baltic Political Geography) - Encyclopedia
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3. AllRefer.com reference and encyclopedia resource provides complete information on Kyzyl, CIS And Baltic Political Geography. Includes related research links. ... By Alphabet : Encyclopedia A-Z - K. Kyzyl, CIS And Baltic Political Geography ... Kyzyl or Kizil[both: kizil'] Pronunciation Key, city (1989 pop ...
reference.allrefer.com/encyclopedia/K/Kyzyl
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Now, for the first five Google Results on Kyzyl:
Kyzyl'-administrative center of Republic of Tuva, Russia Kyzyl' Republic of Tuva, ... Republic Capital:, Kyzyl. Capital Population:, 91000( at 01/01/94) ...
|Central-Chernozemny|
members.tripod.com/~argun/kyzyl.htm
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Kyzyl on Encyclopedia.com ...
Kyzyl or Kizilboth: kzl, city (1989 pop. 85000), capital of Tuva Republic, S Siberian Russia, on the Yenisei River. It services motor transport and has
www.encyclopedia.com/html/K/Kyzyl.asp
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Kyzyl Travel Information. Photos, Stories and Diaries about Kyzyl
Sustainable Tourism for independent travellers (travelers) and backpackers. www.worldsurface.com/browse/location.asp?locationi d=5654
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Kyzyl, Tuva, Russia current local time ...
Kyzyl, Tuva, Russia - before placing a telephone call or making travel plans for a flight or hotel, get the current local time provided by
www.worldtimeserver.com/current_time_in_RU-TY.aspx ?city=Kyzyl
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It costs a little more on that energy bill at the end of the month but boy-o daddio don't it ever feel good inside to know that I'm only spendin' my bread with the happy good people making juice from Mommy Nature's windy teats.
So why don't you just go and settle on down and buy YOUR energy from those hip and happenin' folks down on the Wind Farm, eh bucko?
You wouldn't want to be one of those sourpuss fuckwit scumsuckin' Trolls now would ya?
Be a good egg and get your juice from the Good Guys.
RS
Thanks for playing.
RS
Why must "entertainment media" be regionalized?
and the answer is simple:
the plutocratic shitbags who run the music and entertainment biz are nothing but a bunch of greedy assholes.
I hope that clears up that little mystery for you.
cheers,
HW
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
There is NO fucking way this ruling will stand up in court.
RS
So, what's your point?
I'll get to that.
Did no Republicans vote yea?
They all voted yea. But I did not expect otherwise.
Are you disappointed that Democrats are not standing up to corporate greed?
Yes.
Do you think Republicans are somehow better?
No.
Do you think Porgy Tirebiter could do a better job?
Oh heck - he couldn't even be elected dogkiller in this environment. (grin)
To my point: The Democratic party needs to stand up to the corporations, and stand on the side of the common citizen, pure and simple. People who are oposed to the neocon take over of the Republican party must stand up and mobilise and get the democratic party to stand for something, and get some discipline. Otherwise, they're fucked, and we're fucked right with them, and stuff that make CAFTA look like a kitchen sink play will soon be The Law Of The Land.
RS
Feinstein Voted Yes.
Per her website:
CAFTA Implementation (S. 1307)
169 6-29 Y Frist motion to proceed to the bill. (61-34)
170 6-30 Y Passage. (54-45)
Here's the record of Democrats who voted FOR the bill:
Bingaman (D-NM), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Cornyn (R-TX), Yea
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Lieberman (D-CT), Not Voting (GUTLESS FUCKER)
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Murray (D-WA), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Wyden (D-OR), Yea
now, of course ,come election time, the Republicans will run some loony right wing shit bag against each of them, and so everyone will vote FOR the Deomcrat...
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
RS
The second amendment thing is a red herring. The right wing militia types like to get all worked up thinking it will save them from pure fascism. Even an M16 isn't much help against a remote control drone loaded with high explosives flying at night, and certainly won't stop a stand-off bomb. And in terms of actual fighting, you can take an M16 with fulltilt rock and roll and you're going to have a real hard time against a Cobra gunship.
The only even marginally effective weapons in a hot fire fight of resistance are the kinds of things we see in Iraq, but we call that "Terrorism" these days, and those freaks are one hell of a lot better funded than a bunch of beer swilling rednecks with assault weapons.
No - the second amendment crowd are completely out of touch with the facts of modern warfare and crowd control, much less anything related to the actual levers of control that are in the form of manufactured consent and self-expression limited to questions of consumer choices.
The thing is, those wannabe heroes are not looking at what's actually coming down the pike: they're fighting a war that was finished over 200 years ago, and even then, the good guys lost.
The picture is not a good one. Basically, unless something changes REALLY soon, this is what's likely to happen:
Neocon shitbags will continue to run the government into the ground, paring back freedoms of everyone except the corporations. As the USA continues to dig its own grave, wealth will continue to flow OUT of the country at ever greater velocity. Eventually, the people holding the bank notes will get pissed the USA can't keep up with the interest payments and institute the same kind of draconian bullshit the USA and WorldBank has pulled on the 3rd world for the past 50 years. The USA will be prostrate. With no credit, there will be no money to continue the shift over from petroleum, and the US will get stuck in the middle. The suburbs will self destruct, and the USA will simply split up. Once it's gone, the multitrillion dollar debt disappears. The governments that will come up in the mess will be largely regional. Look for a west coastal country, similar to Chile, but more liberal. The Northeast would likely go something like Canada. The midwest and south will sink into a kind of nutty Xian frothing shit fit. I could see Mexico BUYING Arizona and New Mexico. Texas might even go its own way, and turn into a small fascist nation completely deluded that it matters. The midwest will suffer badly. Shortly after this all goes down, the Oglala aquifer will give out, turning vast regions of the midwest into semi arid PRARIE (what a concept!). None of these new nations will have much in the way of credit, so it will be interesting to see how any of them will come out of it. My guess is the pinheads running Texas will form an axis with the South and declare war on the North East. They'll have some small amount of oil (from Texas and Lousiana) to run their military machines in one final attempt at pointless testosterone poisoned dick brained victory. They'll lose, of course, because the people with the oil, Canada, won't stand for it, and the EU and the far west will come in on the side of the Northeast.
The south and Texas will again be defeated, but this time it'll be much more brutal, making Sherman's march look like a day at Disneyland.
At that point, somewhere around 2040, the oil will simply run out. The Northwest with its hydroelectric and the West with its solar farms will generally survive. The Northeast will have bunchies of nukes and use Texas as the dumping ground for the radioactive waste, and then sell the lower half of the state to the Mexicans.
Around 2080, the first few fusion plants are finally online and working properly, but it's too little too late. What's left of China after the smallpox outbreak/terror attack buys Alaska and big chunks of Alberta to pump the last of the oil out so they can bomb the crap out of
It Ain't Gettin' Paid Back. EVER.
The idea is to loot the treasury while they can, and then move on to greener pastures elsewhere. 70 years on copyright? Who cares? Once the economy implodes, the USA will crumble like the CCCP did in the early 1990s. The debt will disappear because the USgov disappeared. Oil will be largely unavailable, the sauburbs will implode, and North America will become just another impoverished shit hole backwater, while the Steel Wheels of Corporate capitalism crush the life out of some other up and coming part of the planet. Remember: YOU VOTED FOR IT.
Sure: 70 years on copyright? Fuck - make it a 1000. It's not going to matter. And for that matter - up the national debt. I want to see the USA in the hole for $10 quadrillion bucks.
As it is, if the USgov paid back its debt at the rate of $1,000,000 a day (HA!)it'll take over 21,000 years to pay it back. So who cares? Blow that out by a factor of 10,000x. IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER.
Stick a Fork In America, kids. She's done.
RS
I think they will do some cosmetic modificiations, but nothing substantial. The basic codebase is so old that I don't see any substantial integration between them.
The concepts are the same, you just have to learn a new interface.
If that was it, I would be happy, but it's not. FH simply has some basic fundamental features that are quite beyond AI. Like: MULTIPLE PAGES. Sorry - tiling is a pain in the ASS.
MASTER PAGES. Don't need 'em if you only have ONE.
PASTE INSIDE. Yeah - AI has "masking" but once again, it requires more than one step and given how important it is, is bullshit.
SELECTING OBJECTS. AI has more idiotic selection tools than I care to count, and just TRY to directly select and move a point in a path with one action. For years, FH only had ONE selection tool, and frankly, THAT'S ALL YOU NEED.
Seriously, the list is long and extremely basic stuff. AI will never have multiple pages, because it would obviate the need for 90% of what people use InDesign for. AI will never be anything but mediocre. It reminds me of Microsoft Windows - sure it's retarded, but it works and everyone uses it. Feh.
You've already done the hard part (learning the concepts). FH is intuitive cuz you know it better.
Bullshit. FH is intuitive BECAUSE IT WAS DESIGNED THAT WAY.
Don't even try to tell me that the freeware apps are even close to either AI or FH. If there is one, I'll drop FH and AI instantly.
And on THAT note, I *completely* agree with you.
Sidenote: I don't know if I can consider a program that crashes twice a day a "better application".
Depends. I have autosave on, so when it winks out, I just re-open it, and continue on. I might lose a minute or so, and it's a chance for me to go get a cup of coffee and do something other than slave my day away for the almighty dollar.
But: if I have a brochure or newsletter (the majority of my work) to lay out, with illustrations in it - No Way In Fucking Hell would I use AI. I reach for FH - co-ordinating ever changing text styles across multiple AI documents is a mess anda disaster, and InDesign (which I think is GREAT by the way - I detest Quark like I hate AI) is like using a bomb to kill a fly. Nope: the simple fact is: FH was the better app, but Macromedia TOTALLY dropped the ball on its development and marketing - going back to 1996 and 1997. FH should have been the Winner in that category, but Macromedia took its eye off the ball, did screwy (and IMHO barderline illegal) things with its inventory practices, destroyed its stock price justwhen it should have been white hot, chased the fools gold of the internet and took over that segment, and thusly opened itself up to be bought out by its former enemy.
I used to work at Macromedia, and I remember a company wide meeting where they introduced Adobe AS THE ENEMY, and proposed a product strategy to take Adobe out of the game.
The strategy failed miserably. Macromedia then decided to do an End Run around Adobe by chasing the internet demon. Fontographer was murdered, FH was left with a tube up its nose, and a few other apps sank without a trace (Extreme 3D, xRes). FontLab has bought the bones and DNA of Fontographer and will be growing a new one as a test-tube baby very soon. But FH? It's SO fucking doomed... the culture at Adobe is NIH to the extreme, and I am *quite* certain that FH's plug is Completely Pulled. I wouldn't be surprised if they zeroed out all the hard drives that contain the FH codebase.
RS
Adobe is buying Macromedia, might vanish.
Might? MIGHT????
Dude, FH has hada tube up its nose for years, and now that Adobe has it in its clutches, it's good as GONE. Which is a terrible shame, because I prefer FH to AI any day of the week. It was much more intuitive, and it had MULTIPLE PAGES (like DUH!) and was generally just a Better Application. What pissed me off with FH was it had a persistent memory leak in vers 9, 10, and MX, which they never properly fixed. But even with crashing twice a day, it was SO much easier to use.
AI has a long way to go to match FH, and now that FH is deader than a corporlite, they have no need to improve AI. I would expect AI to simply sit and suck for the rest of eternity until they finally roll it into Phootoshop 14 or whatever.
Time to go smoke some weed and look into those Freeware options...
RS
Your second paragraph describes *exactly* why I didn't replace my dead apples with PPC machines. I can't afford to dump serious money into a PPC. I tend to keep my computers for a long time, and while Apple and Apple fanboys are all saying "PPC will be supported for a REALLY long time", that kind of talk in this day and age just sets off all my bullshit detectors. I figured I can suffer under windows for a few years and then get a Kick Ass MacIntel when they come out.
RS
Back around 1990 or so he bought a Mac IIfx. That thing was trippy scary fast for the time, and it cost him a HUGE pile of cash - something like $12,000. Which is a huge amount of money for a computer by todays standards and just short of extortionate back in 1990. However it had that weird 64 pin memory, so upping the RAM cost a freakin' fortune, and it was never used again, which meant that this machine was a $13,000 DOORSTOP. That pissed him off. But he was a Believer, and he went back to the Kool-Aid trough again in summer of 1995 and bought a Quadra 950 for about $8,000. It was discontinued a few months later, and at the time with no realistic upgrade path, except to spend another $8000 on a 9500.
At that point he said "FUCK APPLE" - he had invested over $20,000 on TWO computers, both of which were doorstops. He was able to strip the 950 for some parts, at least. Since then, he's been a Wintel Guy ever since.
Apple has a habit of doing that - building extremely expensive machines that have no useful upgrade path. Now that computers are so friggin cheap, upgrape path doesn't mean that much, but back in 1990 it really did.
I bought an LC (or was it an LC-II? I don't remember...) back in 1991 because it was a colour macintosh for less than $2000, which I thought was FANTASTIC. I think it had 8 megs of RAM. But, with no upgrade path, it was useless after a few years, and then I bought my Quadra 650 for about $1700. The Quadra was great - it worked like a champ for years and I finally sold it to someone who is still using it for word processing running Word 5, FreeHand 5, and Quark 3 to this very day.
Apple's crude discontinuation of Lisa was just the first in a series of major customer mis-steps by Apple. (full disclosure: both of my Apple computers died in April, so now I'm running a cheapy Wintel box, but only until the MacIntel boxen arrive. Then I'll get a MacIntel powerbook. YAY!!! I look forward to getting back to OSX. Windows makes my day long and grim, and the software I use precludes Linux, for now.)
RS
The most boring band and the most boring sport - and someone might try to determine when either is exciting? Fuck - why not watch paint dry or one of those old movies by Warhol?
"I like the part where the pigeons fly by."
"Did you see that bug get stuck in the paint? AWESOME!"
Grumpily,
RS
The places that DO offer free WiFi I DO patronise. And I make it a point to do so, and I spend much more time and money in such places as well.
RS
I was recently wronged in modding:
when I slammed Kevin Kelly
Was I angry? yes. did I overstate my case? Yes. But I was hardly engaged in simple flammage, which is what some fanboy for Kelly modded me.
So I guess it all comes around. However - I complained about the flamebait rating, and people even agreed with me, but the Moderator left no response or excuse. I, at least, was willing to re-look at your post, and come to some agreement.
I think one way to fix the modding problems is to get rid of Anonymous Coward postings. It's not like I really own a car dealership in West Gommorah, or that you're actually Brian Peter George St. John de la Baptiste from 2001 himself.
cheers,
RS
Planet X will return bringing the Niburu with it as it was prophesied by Zecharaiah Sitchin. I keep telling you people, Plent X is coming and no one ever believes me. You all keep relegating it to the laughable realm of pseudoscience, but it's not and now this is obviously proof. The Niburu will return to enslave us as they did 4000 years ago
SNIP
People will, naturally, think you are a FUCKING LOONY and label your stuff as TROLL. Why? Because that's all a load of fantastic bullshit, and everyone with more than three working neurons knows it.
So kindly go find a bridge to haunt and quitcher bitchin'.
RS
RS
this reminds me of Oracle Boy's ranting about "net computing" back in the 1990s and the "thin client" and how everyone will just have dumb terminals on their desk. Guess what, Battee boy? Ain't Gonna Happen.
2. KK says Today, at any Net terminal, you can get: an amazing variety of (SNIP)
Net Terminal. WHERE THE FUCK is the nearest "Net Terminal"? I don't have a Net Terminal. I have a computer on my desk. It does a fuckload more than cruise the web. The nearest "Net Terminal" I know of is at an Airport, and it costs a fortune to use and it won't burn a disk for love or money, so any data you find in it, stays in it. KK is ASSERTING that the case exists already, in his typical arrogance, and then continues with his phantasmic vision from there. Dumb ass.
3. He then splutters "There is only one time in the history of each planet when its inhabitants first wire up its innumerable parts to make one large Machine. Later that Machine may run faster, but there is only one time when it is born.
You and I are alive at this moment.
What utter hogwash. Messianic cybernetic totalist hogwash. Cheerleading balderdash. I find such attitudes so utterly deserving of my undying contempt and ire that I find it difficult to find the words to describe just how profoundly idiotic and self-serving I find such ejaculations to be.
OK, KK - I can make predictions too. Try these:
In 2015, the United States is at the height of its Cold Civil War, and the thanks to the unmitigated disaster of the Bush Cheney Regime, the American Economy is no longer able to absorb the cost of $200 a barrel oil and the suburbs that the preceding century of cheap oil spawned. There are wide spread black outs, and the USgov declares martial law, effectively ending the era of the American Republic. The internet does gain greater depth, but is pushed to the periphery of human concerns as the population continues to bulge and food riots break out in South Asia. Owning a computer becomes less worthwhile as one only has power fora few hours a day. Refrigeration becomes problematic in the summer of 2015, as unemployment officially hits 11% (but everyone knows the numbers are bullshit, because it only counts people receiving their 3 months of unemployment insurance - the actual number is closer to 50%) and in October 2015 there is a massive demonstration on the Mall in DC. A lone protester stands in front of an M1 Abrams tank. The tank tries to go around him, but he moves to block it. Unlike in Tienamen Square, our hero (now designated a "terrorist") is shot dead from a helicopter gunship - several dozen rounds rip through him and he literally explodes in front of the Tank, which then proceeds to roll over his remains and goes on to squish the protest flat.
In 2016, the United States Government, unable to make the payments on its debt of $42 trillion dollars, declares bankruptcy, and dissolves. It splits up, much like the soviet union did 25 years prior. Kevin Kelley flees to europe to escape the disaster.
It sucks great steaming tourdes during the day, but at night- it's a fuckin' MOVIE THEATRE.
Take your dinky LCD home with you, please.
RS
Vinyl records are made of oil. CDs are made of oil (the plastic) and aluminium. Making aluminium requires ENORMOUS amounts of energy (like a dedicated power plant), and is an extremely messy and destructive process.
Both systems are extremely polluting. One (vinyl) will hold recognisible data for hundreds and hundreds of years, albeit in an ever degrading form. CDs simply won't. They are completely dependent on the machines they play in and if I could live long enough I would cheerfully bet some large sum of money that in 500 years there will be no player for any CD, period.
We'll be lucky to have electricity at all by that point.
RS