...will never work and isn't really a war - it's just greed, plain and simple.
The minute DRM starts to chafe for the average user the technology will fail because users want access to the material they licensed at the checkout stand - and make no mistake, they did license the fair use of whatever the hell is on the disk.
The lie IP hogs want us to believe is that they have rights over and above our right to hear/view/access what we have already paid for.
The real world says no.
But like a drunken man in search of more drink the IP hogs go for more DRM, they always do - like a blow upon a bruise.
"Doctor, it hurts us every time we try to implement DRM."
Every time we capitulate to money and power and grant new extensions to existing IP laws, this is exactly what we lose - we lose that material that belongs to everyone as a whole and to which we all have a right held in common.
I love moves forward like this. Perhaps if people understood what it meant to access knowledge and information at whim they wouldn't be so keen to keep extending privately held rights any further than is reasonable.
I live for the day when people count down the days until something enters the public domain. There are so many great works of art and knowledge that could gain new life from such enthusiasm.
Addendum: I forgot to mention that the lack of legit venues for one track online sales didn't help the music industry during the "perfect storm" part of my argument. Movies are surely suffering a similar fate right now.
I think what we had with P2P was a "perfect storm" of people downloading the history of music coupled with only crap being available retail. So sure, sales plummeted. The machine was broken and will likely stay broken - at least in part. I don't know much about the new breed of music artists but I am guessing it's going to be "put up or shut up" with music buyers - the music artists must truly be great or not expect many retail sales.
And isn't that as it should be?
And BTW, I wanted to note that the ability to preview an album was always a readily available feature of the best music stores and new releases were often available on radio stations also. I must insist that the idea is not new or unique.
Sharing one way or another exists in social settings that we tend to ignore; like when you go to a friends house and find yourself watching a rented DVD or something on a cable movie channel with them. If you're like me, your friends constantly loan you stuff that they think is cool or make you a copy of it. If you are near a big city, go check the holdings at the local library. In the Bay Area of CA I can assure you that many books, magazines, comic books, music, and a shockingly large number of DVDs are readily available for loan.
And like I said, those that will not buy were never going to buy anyway. There's your Babylon 5 scenario. If the person downloading the torrents likes what s/he sees they may well buy retail disks; if not the industry never had that sale in the bag any way.
In my business I'd love to be able to go cry to congress that I had a sale in the bag but it just never happened somehow and then have them enforce the sale through changes to the IP laws. How sweet would that be?
I generally agree, but let's be fair and accept the fact that copyright exists so that "creators" can reap the exclusive benefit of having created something for at least a short period of time. In the main, I don't have a problem with that.
The real problem is where something shared P2P supposedly hampers the sales of such a created product. I think there is much evidence to suggest that P2P sharing doesn't damage sales the way it is pretended. It's just that people will buy only what truly interests them - at $15 USD a pop for the average DVD or CD one must limit one's purchases to the essentials.
In my time I have downloaded one of the LOTR movies and many episodes of Invader Zim. Would it surprise anyone here to learn that I have purchased all of the extended LOTR DVDs and all 3 of the Invader Zim DVD releases? I bet not. Having numerous Invader Zim AVIs clogging my hard drives did not in any way assuage my desire to purchase the DVDs practically the moment they came out. Quite the opposite. I am like that idiot child that keeps watching the same movie again and again - I could watch "Dark Harvest" a thousand times and still want to see it again! Why? Because I have head pigeons, okay?
When I was younger we used to share music via cassette tape and movies via videotape. Sometimes a radio program would play both sides of a new album with commercials in between - I would sometimes tape those and listen to them until the tape was unusable. If the album was good I'd eventually buy a copy. That's how it worked: I would get to preview the material and then decide if I wanted to buy it. And the sky did not fall.
Now I am sure the RIAA and the MPAA would love to pass legislation requiring us to buy Brittany's latest drivel, but I think it will never come to that. Sadly, we have to *WANT* to buy it. And once someone has heard Brittany's latest drivel - well, who would wish to buy it? Did they really think I was going to drop $15 USD for a CD on the weight of one tepid song or something? What a laugh!
I know it's been said before but if the MPAA and the RIAA had any smarts at all they'd simply release "nearly" good copies of movies and music albums as they come out. Want the pristine version instead? It's $15 USD a pop at the local store...
Sure, a lot of people will be satisfied with the crap quality version and never buy the full retail version. Here's the big secret: they never had that sale to begin with, that person never intended to buy the full retail version. Not ever. Boo fucking hoo.
Fair enough. It seemed to me the poster was talking about what he does on behalf of others. A lamer wouldn't know what to do with the other tool anyway, on what basis would they allow or disallow different items at startup?
Right - they wouldn't be knowledgeable enough to know what to allow or disallow.
With the GUI tool it might be easier to walk them through it over the phone though if they started having a problem.
Re:ECON 101 for techies
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Offshoring IT
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· Score: 1
Naw, the degree to which the younger crowd is able to handle these issues is VASTLY overestimated. Sure, younger people understand MAC, Win, Linux GUIs far better than older generations (email, browser, messaging, MP3 player, etc) that still doesn't mean they know how to troubleshoot or work on the hardware. They just don't know it.
A friend of mine teaches web design, networking, and 3D animation to high schoolers in the Bay Area, CA. She assures me that most kids are not actually geeks - they take the class because they have to, and forget everything they learned the moment they are no longer seeking a grade.
IT types undervalue themselves routinely because they know others just like themselves, but overall we are truly a tiny portion of the population. That would also be why no one cares about our most common concerns.
Stop selling yourselves short. And if you can't do that, get out of the field because you haven't got what it takes to make it anyway.
Re:Not all Americans get screwed
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· Score: 3, Insightful
And who will buy these new cheaper products when they are on Wal-Mart welfare? Short-term you may be right; long-term your strategy is called "shooting yourself in the foot."
You need a robust middle-class in the U.S. unless you just intend for the U.S. to become a third world labor market.
Is that your purpose, you cheap labor republican?
Re:Outsourcing made simple
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Offshoring IT
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· Score: 1, Troll
Have you got three minutes. Because that's all you need to learn how to defeat the Republican Right. Just read through this handy guide and you'll have everything you need to successfully debunk right-wing propaganda.
It's really that simple. First, you have to beat their ideology, which really isn't that difficult. At bottom, conservatives believe in a social hierarchy of "haves" and "have nots" that I call "corporate feudalism". They have taken this corrosive social vision and dressed it up with a "respectable" sounding ideology. That ideology is pure hogwash, and you can prove it.
But you have to do more than defeat the ideology. You have to defeat the "drum beat". You have to defeat the "propaganda machine", that brainwashes people with their slogans and catch-phrases. You've heard those slogans."Less government", "personal responsibility" and lots of flag waving. They are "shorthand" for an entire worldview, and the right has been pounding their slogans out into the public domain for getting on forty years.
So you need a really good slogan - a "counter-slogan" really, to "deprogram" the brainwashed. You need a "magic bullet" that quickly and efficiently destroys the effectiveness of their "drum beat". You need your own "drum beat" that sums up the right's position. Only your "drum beat" exposes the ugly reality of right-wing philosophy - the reality their slogans are meant to hide. Our slogan contains the governing concept that explains the entire right-wing agenda. That's why it works. You can see it in every policy, and virtually all of Republican rhetoric. And it's so easy to remember, and captures the essence of the Republican Right so well, we can pin it on them like a "scarlet letter".
Is there really a catch phrase - a "magic bullet" - that sums up the Republican Right in such a nice easy-to-grasp package. You better believe it, and it's downright elegant in its simplicity.
You want to know what that "magic bullet" is, don't you. Read on. You've still got two minutes. Right-Wing Ideology in a Nutshell
When you cut right through it, right-wing ideology is just "dime-store economics" - intended to dress their ideology up and make it look respectable. You don't really need to know much about economics to understand it. They certainly don't. It all gets down to two simple words.
"Cheap labor". That's their whole philosophy in a nutshell - which gives you a short and pithy "catch phrase" that describes them perfectly. You've heard of "big-government liberals". Well they're "cheap-labor conservatives".
"Cheap-labor conservative" is a moniker they will never shake, and never live down. Because it's exactly what they are. You see, cheap-labor conservatives are defenders of corporate America - whose fortunes depend on labor. The larger the labor supply, the cheaper it is. The more desperately you need a job, the cheaper you'll work, and the more power those "corporate lords" have over you. If you are a wealthy elite - or a "wannabe" like most dittoheads - your wealth, power and privilege is enhanced by a labor pool, forced to work cheap.
Don't believe me. Well, let's apply this principle, and see how many right-wing positions become instantly understandable.
* Cheap-labor conservatives don't like social spending or our "safety net". Why. Because when you're unemployed and desperate, corporations can pay you whatever they feel like - which is inevitably next to nothing. You see, they want you "over a barrel" and in a position to "work cheap or starve".
* Cheap-labor conservatives don't like the minimum wage, or other improvements in wages and working conditions. Why. These reforms undo all of their efforts to keep you "over a barrel".
* Cheap-labor conservatives like "free trade", NAFTA, GATT, etc. Why. Becau
Re:ECON 101 for techies
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· Score: 4, Insightful
Man, is the parent post poorly written...
Your main problem is that you think what you do is easy. Doctors think being a doctor is easy too. Lawyers, same thing. For anyone without the requisite skill set, it is *NOT* easy at all. Now I do not refer to swapping out a hard drive, but how about figuring out a hardware conflict or some other more complicated software engineering issue? How about setting up some basic security for a 24/7 connected system? We slashdot types read and study these issues daily for what amounts to hundreds of hours a year - and the average person is willing to pay good money so that they do not have to do the same. Could they do the same thing? Sure, they can all become doctors and lawyers too, right?
What you really have to understand is that half the population of the U.S. is so stupid that they couldn't even be bothered to discover the true findings of the 9-11 Commission and voted Bush and his "lootocracy" back into power. Where do you think that level of intelligence leaves them when their mouse driver suddenly goes wonky on them?
A fellow IT person is not going to hire you, but what about the millions of soccer moms? How about their husbands at work?
With all that said, I wouldn't bet much on the progamming part of the equation (even though it is harder and requires greater intelligence in my view); you have to bet on the service side of things and work on your people skills. Good communication skills will help, as will a better grasp of basic grammar and a spell-checker.
People need to get over the idea of there actually being a perfectly "objective" source or viewpoint - it doesn't exist in the news world any more than it exists in the world of science. The observer effects the outcome - it's as simple as that. Everyone has an agenda.
Bottom line: you need to read enough that you can filter out the crap for yourself. There is no such thing as a fact checked and reliable source.
I think I can amplify on this point. We keep hearing about "killer apps" like cell phones and so forth, and why can't computer technology be as simple as a cell phone? Etc, etc, etc...
Hell, I can barely work my cell phone! Why? Because I am too busy keeping up with computer technologies to worry about much more than what it takes to make the cell phone place a simple call, or to return one. My point is this: the cell phone is not so simple unless you REALLY want to know how to use all of it's features and spend some time with the manual and get it all down to rote.
If people felt that way about ANY computer technology beyond email clients and browsers they'd then have the exact same enthusiasm for the computer as they do for the cell phone.
That's the bullshit part, that most other technologies are any more simple. Remind your parents/clients how they can't program the VCR either. Confirm for them that it's mostly a matter of the will to achieve a thing.
> Perhaps you can tell us what they hoped to gain from this grand deception.
Brilliantly myopic of you to ask. What could a glut of intelligent high tech laborers gain them?
And it's such a simple answer too: cheap labor. Cheap labor here, cheap labor there, cheap labor everywhere. Wise up and stop being a chump. They want to destroy the middle-class because a robust middle-class eats away at their bottom line where even enough is never enough.
> Terry Gilliam isn't the end-all and be-all of offbeat filmmaking, you know. Just because he doesn't want to do it doesn't mean it can't be done.
Well, he is coming originally from comics and graphic design himself so his is at least an informed opinion. And he has done some rather good work himself over the years.
The problem with Watchmen is that you have to first give a shit about superheroes to buy into the whole idea of hyper-realistic superhero characters.
Frankly, the best bit in Watchmen is when Dr. Manhattan raises a city out of the ground - which is itself homage to a "Little Nemo in Slumberland" bit by Winsor McCay c. 1904-1906.
The rest is mostly superhero crap. They could probably make an interesting detailed movie about just Rorschach though.
The ending of Watchmen is completely flat, almost terrible.
I think you are talking about a limitation that has to do with the codec for creating a kind of file. I haven't used iTunes to know how their files work.
If all you want to achieve is a file that segues without interruption, just rip two tracks as one. If it's a whole album that segues, then it never really makes sense to listen to it in any other form than that of a single file.
But right, I agree that MP3s should always have followed the CDA standard and allowed for separate tracks that segue seamlessly one to another.
I am a longtime WinAmp user also AND I still use it. I have tried other players and nothing comes close for all the reasons stated by others previously.
I just wanted to "ditto" the comment above on the issue of bloatware. All too true.
I run winamp 5 on a POS server that would have you gamer types just weeping with what a POS it is. I'm keeping it because it has ISA slots on the board and hell - it does the job. Winamp has no problems on that old POS system.
Seriously, does it have to do more than just do it's intended job and be stable?
I don't really get this talk about playlists and so on. Make your freaking playlist and save it for future use. Create a directory named M3U in your MP3 directory and then save your playlists there. What's the problem? Don't tell me you want automated playlists - get into your music, make your own freaking playlists just like a real music lover does.
These shows are not unlike Law & Order in that they appeal to an apparently bottomless longing for an ordered and fair universe. People watch these shows in the vain hope that reality really is something like what they see in the show. Forget about one hour solutions - what the viewer hopes is that the world can be categorized and understood down to the smallest detail, crimes solved, and the guilty held responsible.
We know that the universe is a frenzy of poorly understood phenomena, crimes are often never solved, and the guilty we catch are usually merely dumber than the cops that catch them. Any crime is possible to achieve and easily gotten away with given sufficient attention to detail and premeditation.
Look at that Peterson guy - the main things that convicted him are that he is not likable (a liar and a cheat - which ought not be evidence of murder, right?) and that he claims to have gone fishing on Xmas eve. Suspicious, yes? Guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? Not likely...
Our nation's leader is a criminal: he was awol from the national guard, was a drug abuser and alcoholic, and is currently engaging in all manner of political corruption and corporate malfeasance. It breeds disrespect for the law at all levels of society. Everyone recognizes a thug when they see one.
I'd like to tell you being a wealthy thug makes Bush less attractive to people, but the truth is that people are attracted to power for all kinds of sadly genetic reasons. I know staunchly liberal women that have suggested to me that they think it might be fun to "party" with the prez. That freaks me out quite a bit - but I do understand the genetic attraction to power even so.
Bill Gates stole most of Windows functionality from others. Stole it outright, or reversed it. He's a slightly slippery case because some of the things he pilfered were not well protected in law when he actually stole them - but that doesn't change the ethical considerations at all. Most people would have behaved differently - in fact, the relative peace we enjoy in our society is predicated on the fact that most people behave differently. But anyway, Gate's is filthy rich and was recently knighted for his "service" to the queen. The downside please...?
You don't have to be a genius to realize that might makes right in our world. Might is usually some reflection of money. And to many, might is wildly attractive.
While ghetto kids ride beemers thanks to drug money, and while riding beemers equals getting the bitches, and while nailing bitches remains a favorite activity for the young and hormone-crazed - laws don't mean dick, and money/power means everything.
Spammers are just the geek version of the same equation.
$40K is not the average wage of people working at Blockbuster, or at least I would think not - it's far too high a wage. Maybe the manager *MIGHT* make that much.
The main thing is that $40K is nothing in the Bay Area. That's barely scratching out a living. Forget about getting a house any time soon. Hopeless.
But considering the conditions many are willing to work under, that's actually close to minimum wage (SF style) if you are actually working 80 hours a week.
The catch in many occupations is the long hours. Lawyers make decent pay, but they work 90 hour weeks in many instances. It's often specifically expected.
I agree that such hours are not reasonable. Corporate america has forgotten it's end of the social contract - we should work to live, not live to work.
I am sorry to report to you that I am very happy with my life. I neither live in my parent's basement nor shout at the TV (mainly because I don't watch a lot of TV, it's boring). I date very happily amongst a group of people I find attractive, interesting and sexually creative. No problems there. Ho hum...
What you fail to understand is that most people of very high competence often more than excel at many other areas of life also. We are better looking than average, often very well socialized (thanks for asking), and probably make more money than most people (probably because of the first two things mentioned, and not forgetting the high competence factor).
And your right, Slashdot can be a bit free-wheeling. I still find it interesting and often informative. Your point again?
As it occurs, theoretical physics is a pet interest of mine. And I would have no problem coding in APL if it ever comes up. Only a moron is bound to one language.
You just don't get it do you? I have general knowledge where I only need general knowledge; but where I need detailed specialized knowledge I either already possess it or can acquire it lickety-split. That's how I exercise the space between my ears.
Yeah, you are dumb. In most of your examples you have no basis for not being completely screwed by a smooth-talking salesman or service person.
In my day, and I'm only at the lunchtime of life, I have worked on cars, done my own electrical work (to code or better), remodeled a home (to code or better), and I currently tutor my nephew in English because his private school fails him in this one area.
So yeah, you do seem kinda dumb to me. Back in the day, you would have seemed fairly dumb to most hackers too.
You are reading a site where people mod boxes, build computers from spare parts or even from scratch, and even do some electrical and fairly extensive carpentry for their MAME machines.
So by the standard of the average hacker - yes, and I apologize to you in advance, but you come across almost like a blithering moron.
Now I agree, a superior attitude won't get you very far with someone. But it wouldn't hurt for the people on the other side of the equation to occasionally acknowledge that we hackers are literally the architects of the future. Instead, we are being driven down the economic and status chain just as was once done to our country's educators. That's not a wise thing to do.
We might just jump ship. Once the U.S. becomes the cheap labor camp the Red states wanted, what will be our reason to stay on? National pride?
Oh, I laugh...
Most people that know me consider me one of the smartest people they know. How do I know this? I have been told this repeatedly over the years, and without solicitation.
Perhaps surprisingly, I treat most people with a deference that they almost certainly do not deserve from me. Most people are complete lamers, and I am not, AND I know it. But I am almost always perfectly sweet to people in real life because you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. I am nice to people because I find it useful to be nice to them.
So I ask you: What kind of hacker doesn't know how to do the things you claim not to know how to do?
Terrorism: OBL, excellently attired, looking fit and tan, gave a speech last week. He was living proof that Bush has failed to protect us from terrorism. I take Bush at his word, I don't think he is bothered by OBL as long as he can use OBL as an excuse to blanket over the rest of his misguided agenda. War is good business for these guys. Big profits!
The Draft: is almost inevitable. The soldiers that are there don't want to be there. They are being retained well beyond their time. The war is a failure. To make it work and keep those war dollars flowing into the right pockets many more americans will have to die. Say it with me: Draft!
I'll give you the middle east issue as long as it is agreed that our continued support of Israel might be misguided and create enemies for us. Israel cannot talk of peace with clean hands. Some Israelis, just like some Americans, are sick warmongering bastards.
Chief Justice Scalia? Yeah, he is a strict constitutionalist - in your dreams! Hell, the Gore decision revealed the huge partisanship of certain members of the court. Don't be a retard. The Gore decision is only useful as toilet paper. Bush may well lean the court so far right you will not know what hit you.
I keep hoping that Bush's faith is just an act for the lamers to believe in - but if it's the real deal, even you may have issues with what is to come.
And the rest of the world doesn't matter? Hmmm. that might be a bad business idea right there. I think it certainly does matter. No nation ever lost money because they made more friends in the world than the next nation over - that's just a good trade practice. When you piss everyone off, they have a tendency to take their business elsewhere.
I won't put words in your mouth, but I bet you think China and India trade with us because they like taking our leftovers, the scraps from our table. Has it occurred to you that they are just biding their time until we need them more than they need us?
Slashdot Mirror
...will never work and isn't really a war - it's just greed, plain and simple.
The minute DRM starts to chafe for the average user the technology will fail because users want access to the material they licensed at the checkout stand - and make no mistake, they did license the fair use of whatever the hell is on the disk.
The lie IP hogs want us to believe is that they have rights over and above our right to hear/view/access what we have already paid for.
The real world says no.
But like a drunken man in search of more drink the IP hogs go for more DRM, they always do - like a blow upon a bruise.
"Doctor, it hurts us every time we try to implement DRM."
"Then stop trying to DRM everything."
Every time we capitulate to money and power and grant new extensions to existing IP laws, this is exactly what we lose - we lose that material that belongs to everyone as a whole and to which we all have a right held in common.
I love moves forward like this. Perhaps if people understood what it meant to access knowledge and information at whim they wouldn't be so keen to keep extending privately held rights any further than is reasonable.
I live for the day when people count down the days until something enters the public domain. There are so many great works of art and knowledge that could gain new life from such enthusiasm.
Addendum: I forgot to mention that the lack of legit venues for one track online sales didn't help the music industry during the "perfect storm" part of my argument. Movies are surely suffering a similar fate right now.
This isn't the only article I have seen BTW, but it is one I remember seeing before and that I could easily google up:
4 04 4303.stm
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"UK music sees record album sales"
Last Updated: Friday, 26 November, 2004, 09:58 GMT
UK record companies are celebrating their best ever year for album sales, with a record 237 million sold in the 12 months to September.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/
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I think what we had with P2P was a "perfect storm" of people downloading the history of music coupled with only crap being available retail. So sure, sales plummeted. The machine was broken and will likely stay broken - at least in part. I don't know much about the new breed of music artists but I am guessing it's going to be "put up or shut up" with music buyers - the music artists must truly be great or not expect many retail sales.
And isn't that as it should be?
And BTW, I wanted to note that the ability to preview an album was always a readily available feature of the best music stores and new releases were often available on radio stations also. I must insist that the idea is not new or unique.
Sharing one way or another exists in social settings that we tend to ignore; like when you go to a friends house and find yourself watching a rented DVD or something on a cable movie channel with them. If you're like me, your friends constantly loan you stuff that they think is cool or make you a copy of it. If you are near a big city, go check the holdings at the local library. In the Bay Area of CA I can assure you that many books, magazines, comic books, music, and a shockingly large number of DVDs are readily available for loan.
And like I said, those that will not buy were never going to buy anyway. There's your Babylon 5 scenario. If the person downloading the torrents likes what s/he sees they may well buy retail disks; if not the industry never had that sale in the bag any way.
In my business I'd love to be able to go cry to congress that I had a sale in the bag but it just never happened somehow and then have them enforce the sale through changes to the IP laws. How sweet would that be?
I generally agree, but let's be fair and accept the fact that copyright exists so that "creators" can reap the exclusive benefit of having created something for at least a short period of time. In the main, I don't have a problem with that.
The real problem is where something shared P2P supposedly hampers the sales of such a created product. I think there is much evidence to suggest that P2P sharing doesn't damage sales the way it is pretended. It's just that people will buy only what truly interests them - at $15 USD a pop for the average DVD or CD one must limit one's purchases to the essentials.
In my time I have downloaded one of the LOTR movies and many episodes of Invader Zim. Would it surprise anyone here to learn that I have purchased all of the extended LOTR DVDs and all 3 of the Invader Zim DVD releases? I bet not. Having numerous Invader Zim AVIs clogging my hard drives did not in any way assuage my desire to purchase the DVDs practically the moment they came out. Quite the opposite. I am like that idiot child that keeps watching the same movie again and again - I could watch "Dark Harvest" a thousand times and still want to see it again! Why? Because I have head pigeons, okay?
When I was younger we used to share music via cassette tape and movies via videotape. Sometimes a radio program would play both sides of a new album with commercials in between - I would sometimes tape those and listen to them until the tape was unusable. If the album was good I'd eventually buy a copy. That's how it worked: I would get to preview the material and then decide if I wanted to buy it. And the sky did not fall.
Now I am sure the RIAA and the MPAA would love to pass legislation requiring us to buy Brittany's latest drivel, but I think it will never come to that. Sadly, we have to *WANT* to buy it. And once someone has heard Brittany's latest drivel - well, who would wish to buy it? Did they really think I was going to drop $15 USD for a CD on the weight of one tepid song or something? What a laugh!
I know it's been said before but if the MPAA and the RIAA had any smarts at all they'd simply release "nearly" good copies of movies and music albums as they come out. Want the pristine version instead? It's $15 USD a pop at the local store...
Sure, a lot of people will be satisfied with the crap quality version and never buy the full retail version. Here's the big secret: they never had that sale to begin with, that person never intended to buy the full retail version. Not ever. Boo fucking hoo.
Fair enough. It seemed to me the poster was talking about what he does on behalf of others. A lamer wouldn't know what to do with the other tool anyway, on what basis would they allow or disallow different items at startup?
Right - they wouldn't be knowledgeable enough to know what to allow or disallow.
With the GUI tool it might be easier to walk them through it over the phone though if they started having a problem.
Ummm...what's wrong with using the registry instead? Try regedit, you'll like it...
C ur rentVersion\Run]c rosoft\Windows\Cur rentVersion\RunOnce]e \Microsoft\Windows\Cur rentVersion\RunServices]t ware\Microsoft\Windows\Cur rentVersion\RunServicesOnce]\ Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Userinit]
u rr entVersion\Run]o soft\Windows\Curr entVersion\RunOnce]M icrosoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\RunServices]a re\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\RunServicesOnce]o ftware\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Mi
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Softwar
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Sof
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\C
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Micr
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Softw
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\S
Naw, the degree to which the younger crowd is able to handle these issues is VASTLY overestimated. Sure, younger people understand MAC, Win, Linux GUIs far better than older generations (email, browser, messaging, MP3 player, etc) that still doesn't mean they know how to troubleshoot or work on the hardware. They just don't know it.
A friend of mine teaches web design, networking, and 3D animation to high schoolers in the Bay Area, CA. She assures me that most kids are not actually geeks - they take the class because they have to, and forget everything they learned the moment they are no longer seeking a grade.
IT types undervalue themselves routinely because they know others just like themselves, but overall we are truly a tiny portion of the population. That would also be why no one cares about our most common concerns.
Stop selling yourselves short. And if you can't do that, get out of the field because you haven't got what it takes to make it anyway.
And who will buy these new cheaper products when they are on Wal-Mart welfare? Short-term you may be right; long-term your strategy is called "shooting yourself in the foot."
You need a robust middle-class in the U.S. unless you just intend for the U.S. to become a third world labor market.
Is that your purpose, you cheap labor republican?
DEFEAT THE RIGHT IN THREE MINUTES
http://www.conceptualguerilla.com/beattherightinth ree.htm
Have you got three minutes. Because that's all you need to learn how to defeat the Republican Right. Just read through this handy guide and you'll have everything you need to successfully debunk right-wing propaganda.
It's really that simple. First, you have to beat their ideology, which really isn't that difficult. At bottom, conservatives believe in a social hierarchy of "haves" and "have nots" that I call "corporate feudalism". They have taken this corrosive social vision and dressed it up with a "respectable" sounding ideology. That ideology is pure hogwash, and you can prove it.
But you have to do more than defeat the ideology. You have to defeat the "drum beat". You have to defeat the "propaganda machine", that brainwashes people with their slogans and catch-phrases. You've heard those slogans."Less government", "personal responsibility" and lots of flag waving. They are "shorthand" for an entire worldview, and the right has been pounding their slogans out into the public domain for getting on forty years.
So you need a really good slogan - a "counter-slogan" really, to "deprogram" the brainwashed. You need a "magic bullet" that quickly and efficiently destroys the effectiveness of their "drum beat". You need your own "drum beat" that sums up the right's position. Only your "drum beat" exposes the ugly reality of right-wing philosophy - the reality their slogans are meant to hide. Our slogan contains the governing concept that explains the entire right-wing agenda. That's why it works. You can see it in every policy, and virtually all of Republican rhetoric. And it's so easy to remember, and captures the essence of the Republican Right so well, we can pin it on them like a "scarlet letter".
Is there really a catch phrase - a "magic bullet" - that sums up the Republican Right in such a nice easy-to-grasp package. You better believe it, and it's downright elegant in its simplicity.
You want to know what that "magic bullet" is, don't you. Read on. You've still got two minutes.
Right-Wing Ideology in a Nutshell
When you cut right through it, right-wing ideology is just "dime-store economics" - intended to dress their ideology up and make it look respectable. You don't really need to know much about economics to understand it. They certainly don't. It all gets down to two simple words.
"Cheap labor". That's their whole philosophy in a nutshell - which gives you a short and pithy "catch phrase" that describes them perfectly. You've heard of "big-government liberals". Well they're "cheap-labor conservatives".
"Cheap-labor conservative" is a moniker they will never shake, and never live down. Because it's exactly what they are. You see, cheap-labor conservatives are defenders of corporate America - whose fortunes depend on labor. The larger the labor supply, the cheaper it is. The more desperately you need a job, the cheaper you'll work, and the more power those "corporate lords" have over you. If you are a wealthy elite - or a "wannabe" like most dittoheads - your wealth, power and privilege is enhanced by a labor pool, forced to work cheap.
Don't believe me. Well, let's apply this principle, and see how many right-wing positions become instantly understandable.
* Cheap-labor conservatives don't like social spending or our "safety net". Why. Because when you're unemployed and desperate, corporations can pay you whatever they feel like - which is inevitably next to nothing. You see, they want you "over a barrel" and in a position to "work cheap or starve".
* Cheap-labor conservatives don't like the minimum wage, or other improvements in wages and working conditions. Why. These reforms undo all of their efforts to keep you "over a barrel".
* Cheap-labor conservatives like "free trade", NAFTA, GATT, etc. Why. Becau
Man, is the parent post poorly written...
Your main problem is that you think what you do is easy. Doctors think being a doctor is easy too. Lawyers, same thing. For anyone without the requisite skill set, it is *NOT* easy at all. Now I do not refer to swapping out a hard drive, but how about figuring out a hardware conflict or some other more complicated software engineering issue? How about setting up some basic security for a 24/7 connected system? We slashdot types read and study these issues daily for what amounts to hundreds of hours a year - and the average person is willing to pay good money so that they do not have to do the same. Could they do the same thing? Sure, they can all become doctors and lawyers too, right?
What you really have to understand is that half the population of the U.S. is so stupid that they couldn't even be bothered to discover the true findings of the 9-11 Commission and voted Bush and his "lootocracy" back into power. Where do you think that level of intelligence leaves them when their mouse driver suddenly goes wonky on them?
A fellow IT person is not going to hire you, but what about the millions of soccer moms? How about their husbands at work?
With all that said, I wouldn't bet much on the progamming part of the equation (even though it is harder and requires greater intelligence in my view); you have to bet on the service side of things and work on your people skills. Good communication skills will help, as will a better grasp of basic grammar and a spell-checker.
People need to get over the idea of there actually being a perfectly "objective" source or viewpoint - it doesn't exist in the news world any more than it exists in the world of science. The observer effects the outcome - it's as simple as that. Everyone has an agenda.
Bottom line: you need to read enough that you can filter out the crap for yourself. There is no such thing as a fact checked and reliable source.
I think I can amplify on this point. We keep hearing about "killer apps" like cell phones and so forth, and why can't computer technology be as simple as a cell phone? Etc, etc, etc...
Hell, I can barely work my cell phone! Why? Because I am too busy keeping up with computer technologies to worry about much more than what it takes to make the cell phone place a simple call, or to return one. My point is this: the cell phone is not so simple unless you REALLY want to know how to use all of it's features and spend some time with the manual and get it all down to rote.
If people felt that way about ANY computer technology beyond email clients and browsers they'd then have the exact same enthusiasm for the computer as they do for the cell phone.
That's the bullshit part, that most other technologies are any more simple. Remind your parents/clients how they can't program the VCR either. Confirm for them that it's mostly a matter of the will to achieve a thing.
> Perhaps you can tell us what they hoped to gain from this grand deception.
h tm
Brilliantly myopic of you to ask. What could a glut of intelligent high tech laborers gain them?
And it's such a simple answer too: cheap labor. Cheap labor here, cheap labor there, cheap labor everywhere. Wise up and stop being a chump. They want to destroy the middle-class because a robust middle-class eats away at their bottom line where even enough is never enough.
Learn something. Read: http://www.conceptualguerilla.com/lessgovernment.
> Terry Gilliam isn't the end-all and be-all of offbeat filmmaking, you know. Just because he doesn't want to do it doesn't mean it can't be done.
Well, he is coming originally from comics and graphic design himself so his is at least an informed opinion. And he has done some rather good work himself over the years.
The problem with Watchmen is that you have to first give a shit about superheroes to buy into the whole idea of hyper-realistic superhero characters.
Frankly, the best bit in Watchmen is when Dr. Manhattan raises a city out of the ground - which is itself homage to a "Little Nemo in Slumberland" bit by Winsor McCay c. 1904-1906.
The rest is mostly superhero crap. They could probably make an interesting detailed movie about just Rorschach though.
The ending of Watchmen is completely flat, almost terrible.
I think you are talking about a limitation that has to do with the codec for creating a kind of file. I haven't used iTunes to know how their files work.
If all you want to achieve is a file that segues without interruption, just rip two tracks as one. If it's a whole album that segues, then it never really makes sense to listen to it in any other form than that of a single file.
But right, I agree that MP3s should always have followed the CDA standard and allowed for separate tracks that segue seamlessly one to another.
I am a longtime WinAmp user also AND I still use it. I have tried other players and nothing comes close for all the reasons stated by others previously.
I just wanted to "ditto" the comment above on the issue of bloatware. All too true.
I run winamp 5 on a POS server that would have you gamer types just weeping with what a POS it is. I'm keeping it because it has ISA slots on the board and hell - it does the job. Winamp has no problems on that old POS system.
Seriously, does it have to do more than just do it's intended job and be stable?
I don't really get this talk about playlists and so on. Make your freaking playlist and save it for future use. Create a directory named M3U in your MP3 directory and then save your playlists there. What's the problem? Don't tell me you want automated playlists - get into your music, make your own freaking playlists just like a real music lover does.
These shows are not unlike Law & Order in that they appeal to an apparently bottomless longing for an ordered and fair universe. People watch these shows in the vain hope that reality really is something like what they see in the show. Forget about one hour solutions - what the viewer hopes is that the world can be categorized and understood down to the smallest detail, crimes solved, and the guilty held responsible.
We know that the universe is a frenzy of poorly understood phenomena, crimes are often never solved, and the guilty we catch are usually merely dumber than the cops that catch them. Any crime is possible to achieve and easily gotten away with given sufficient attention to detail and premeditation.
Look at that Peterson guy - the main things that convicted him are that he is not likable (a liar and a cheat - which ought not be evidence of murder, right?) and that he claims to have gone fishing on Xmas eve. Suspicious, yes? Guilty beyond a reasonable doubt? Not likely...
Wishful collective dreaming...
Our nation's leader is a criminal: he was awol from the national guard, was a drug abuser and alcoholic, and is currently engaging in all manner of political corruption and corporate malfeasance. It breeds disrespect for the law at all levels of society. Everyone recognizes a thug when they see one.
I'd like to tell you being a wealthy thug makes Bush less attractive to people, but the truth is that people are attracted to power for all kinds of sadly genetic reasons. I know staunchly liberal women that have suggested to me that they think it might be fun to "party" with the prez. That freaks me out quite a bit - but I do understand the genetic attraction to power even so.
Bill Gates stole most of Windows functionality from others. Stole it outright, or reversed it. He's a slightly slippery case because some of the things he pilfered were not well protected in law when he actually stole them - but that doesn't change the ethical considerations at all. Most people would have behaved differently - in fact, the relative peace we enjoy in our society is predicated on the fact that most people behave differently. But anyway, Gate's is filthy rich and was recently knighted for his "service" to the queen. The downside please...?
You don't have to be a genius to realize that might makes right in our world. Might is usually some reflection of money. And to many, might is wildly attractive.
While ghetto kids ride beemers thanks to drug money, and while riding beemers equals getting the bitches, and while nailing bitches remains a favorite activity for the young and hormone-crazed - laws don't mean dick, and money/power means everything.
Spammers are just the geek version of the same equation.
$40K is not the average wage of people working at Blockbuster, or at least I would think not - it's far too high a wage. Maybe the manager *MIGHT* make that much.
The main thing is that $40K is nothing in the Bay Area. That's barely scratching out a living. Forget about getting a house any time soon. Hopeless.
But considering the conditions many are willing to work under, that's actually close to minimum wage (SF style) if you are actually working 80 hours a week.
The catch in many occupations is the long hours. Lawyers make decent pay, but they work 90 hour weeks in many instances. It's often specifically expected.
I agree that such hours are not reasonable. Corporate america has forgotten it's end of the social contract - we should work to live, not live to work.
I'm killing some time, I don't post here every day or anything.
Yeah, that's a great quote.
And in the grand scheme of things, I don't know shit. Very true.
In the practical matters of the real world, I am extremely knowledgeable and generally quite self-sufficient.
What hat shall I wear today?
Lamers always bring up the social life issue.
I am sorry to report to you that I am very happy with my life. I neither live in my parent's basement nor shout at the TV (mainly because I don't watch a lot of TV, it's boring). I date very happily amongst a group of people I find attractive, interesting and sexually creative. No problems there. Ho hum...
What you fail to understand is that most people of very high competence often more than excel at many other areas of life also. We are better looking than average, often very well socialized (thanks for asking), and probably make more money than most people (probably because of the first two things mentioned, and not forgetting the high competence factor).
And your right, Slashdot can be a bit free-wheeling. I still find it interesting and often informative. Your point again?
As it occurs, theoretical physics is a pet interest of mine. And I would have no problem coding in APL if it ever comes up. Only a moron is bound to one language.
You just don't get it do you? I have general knowledge where I only need general knowledge; but where I need detailed specialized knowledge I either already possess it or can acquire it lickety-split. That's how I exercise the space between my ears.
Yeah, you are dumb. In most of your examples you have no basis for not being completely screwed by a smooth-talking salesman or service person.
In my day, and I'm only at the lunchtime of life, I have worked on cars, done my own electrical work (to code or better), remodeled a home (to code or better), and I currently tutor my nephew in English because his private school fails him in this one area.
So yeah, you do seem kinda dumb to me. Back in the day, you would have seemed fairly dumb to most hackers too.
You are reading a site where people mod boxes, build computers from spare parts or even from scratch, and even do some electrical and fairly extensive carpentry for their MAME machines.
So by the standard of the average hacker - yes, and I apologize to you in advance, but you come across almost like a blithering moron.
Now I agree, a superior attitude won't get you very far with someone. But it wouldn't hurt for the people on the other side of the equation to occasionally acknowledge that we hackers are literally the architects of the future. Instead, we are being driven down the economic and status chain just as was once done to our country's educators. That's not a wise thing to do.
We might just jump ship. Once the U.S. becomes the cheap labor camp the Red states wanted, what will be our reason to stay on? National pride?
Oh, I laugh...
Most people that know me consider me one of the smartest people they know. How do I know this? I have been told this repeatedly over the years, and without solicitation.
Perhaps surprisingly, I treat most people with a deference that they almost certainly do not deserve from me. Most people are complete lamers, and I am not, AND I know it. But I am almost always perfectly sweet to people in real life because you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. I am nice to people because I find it useful to be nice to them.
So I ask you: What kind of hacker doesn't know how to do the things you claim not to know how to do?
Terrorism: OBL, excellently attired, looking fit and tan, gave a speech last week. He was living proof that Bush has failed to protect us from terrorism. I take Bush at his word, I don't think he is bothered by OBL as long as he can use OBL as an excuse to blanket over the rest of his misguided agenda. War is good business for these guys. Big profits!
The Draft: is almost inevitable. The soldiers that are there don't want to be there. They are being retained well beyond their time. The war is a failure. To make it work and keep those war dollars flowing into the right pockets many more americans will have to die. Say it with me: Draft!
I'll give you the middle east issue as long as it is agreed that our continued support of Israel might be misguided and create enemies for us. Israel cannot talk of peace with clean hands. Some Israelis, just like some Americans, are sick warmongering bastards.
Chief Justice Scalia? Yeah, he is a strict constitutionalist - in your dreams! Hell, the Gore decision revealed the huge partisanship of certain members of the court. Don't be a retard. The Gore decision is only useful as toilet paper. Bush may well lean the court so far right you will not know what hit you.
I keep hoping that Bush's faith is just an act for the lamers to believe in - but if it's the real deal, even you may have issues with what is to come.
And the rest of the world doesn't matter? Hmmm. that might be a bad business idea right there. I think it certainly does matter. No nation ever lost money because they made more friends in the world than the next nation over - that's just a good trade practice. When you piss everyone off, they have a tendency to take their business elsewhere.
I won't put words in your mouth, but I bet you think China and India trade with us because they like taking our leftovers, the scraps from our table. Has it occurred to you that they are just biding their time until we need them more than they need us?
Stay tuned...
http://www.conceptualguerilla.com/index.html