This apparently contrasts with MS Office, where if bugs go unresolved, users do not have any options.
Not true. Microsoft gives you plenty of options. For instance, if you don't like using their buggy, worm-ridden software in a work environment, you have the option to go fuck yourself.
Actually, I think that OpenOffice is really the "option" in question here. Especially since it can open some.doc files.
I really hope that OO makes some inroads because I'm sick and tired of using Micro$oft's crappy excuse for products. The thing they work best at is keeping you trapped in their upgrade cycle.
Think how many people now believe in crap like Roswell and little green men.
There's an undercurrent of desperate fascism in your post. You're essentially saying "the believers must be reprogrammed! We can't allow them to think differently!"
Fuck that. People are gonna believe in what they want to believe. I accept the fact that you don't believe in aliens, despite the small-minded, self-centered, delusional logical leaps you must take to reach that conclusion. The idea that there is no more life in the universe than us is absolutely preposterous to me. It borders on inconceivable. If you need me to explain that to you, I don't think I can. You need to fit the universe in your brain to understand how much space there is out there. A shitload, to say the least. Look how many stars are up in the sky. And now imagine that there's a billion galaxies, each filled with billions of stars. And NONE of these has life? NONE?!?!!!! The idea is fucking madness. Especially when you consider all the possibilities for life in our own tiny solar system.
Now, I'm not saying I agree with everything Hoagland says, but I sure as hell don't believe the Powers That Be. Believing them is dangerous to your health, and your mind. I come to my own conclusions. You are entitled to your beliefs, but I don't think I should have to put on a tinfoil hat just to talk about the possibility of life existing elsewhere. Who knows, maybe we are not the first advanced human civilization to arise on this planet. Maybe we colonized Mars and Venus millions of years ago, before utterly annihilating ourselves. Both planets look like they were decimated, either through warfare or really bad weather.;-)
Anyway, I urge you to keep an open mind. I know/. is practically the skeptic's Mecca, but some of us still dare to dream "crazy" ideas. Doesn't mean we don't need evidence, but if I had your attitude, I wouldn't bother to look. Hope is what will take us out and into the stars.
Wow, I didn't know that. Here I thought I was trying to do the best I can by my family and working hard to better myself, but it turns out I've been trampling the Constitution with my power-mad ways. Thanks for the heads-up.
So trampling the Constitution is helping your family somehow? I'm confused, why did you feel accused by his (IMO) accurate insight that many Americans are not concerned with such abstract concepts as "rights." Many people, I'm sad to say, are not exactly staunch defenders of our 1st ammendment rights.
Are you implying that you are helping your family while bettering yourself by somehow trampling our rights? If that's the case, then screw you. If this is just a misunderstanding, then perhaps you should read posts more carefully and take them less personally.
Re:Don't forget the ad CBS is refusing to air.
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Censorship is something the government does. When it is done by company or individual it is editorial control.
Oh, hello. You must be from 1904. Here in 2004 the corporations control almost everything, with aid from their friends in the government. In fact, whole government agencies such as the FCC and FDA are in the business of protecting business. Ostensibly they are supposed to protect the public from unethical corporations, but that's now thought of as a really funny joke. Boy, we really fell for that one!
Censorship happens all the time, especially when corporations and the government both agree that something is "controversial" (translation: damaging to their public image). I don't know much about 1904, but I'm pretty sure the corporations were starting to run amok during that time, peaking during the roaring 20's (you'll love that decade, but the following one is like one really bad hangover. Don't even ask me about the 40's).
I suggest you pay more attention to the way corporate interests are protected by the government and vice versa. They are in a symbiotic relationship, which means that they scratch each other's back when necessary. That's very kind of them, but unfortunately, when giants frolick in the forest it's the trees and the grass that suffer.
As far as "editorial control" goes, that's a code word for "printing/playing what we like" with the obvious implication that what they don't like doesn't get any air time. Who knows why the government does the things it does, but we all feel the effects of it. During the 30's they will move to make cannabis sativa (a.k.a. "marijuana") illegal because a rich newspaper baron bought a bunch of tree-filled land. His competitors were starting to use hemp, which is a kind of cannabis. So the baron, William Randolph Hearst, paid his friends in the government to see things his way and used his many newspapers to scare the public by saying marijuana is a demon-drug used by those filthy Mexicans who like to get high and rape our daughters. Of course, cannabis was soon illegal to buy or sell (except for during WW2, when they needed all the hemp they could get - hemp is an amazingly useful plant) and everybody just assumed that it was a horrible drug that made people go insane, a la Reefer Madness, but in the 60's this turned out not to be the case. Still, the drug remains illegal.
Why do I bring this up? Well, because the White House will air an ad during the SuperBowl claiming that pot-users are in fact terrorists, or supporting terrorists, just like they were previously communists, nazis and Mexicans. Surely this is a somewhat "controversial" idea? Surely accusing the 40%+ part of the population who've used pot of supporting terrorism is a controversial claim? Surely CBS could exercise their editorial control and refuse to run that ad?
Funny how that works. Tell me, how do things work in 1904?
As I was reading your post I was listening to Faust (Overture) by Wagner. You may be right, it could be a deal with the devil, or at least a major demon - we're not talking Microsoft here!
It could be a wise play for Apple. If they didn't get there first Microsoft would've been all over it with their infernal Media Center. Still, letting them slap the HP logo on iPods?...Isn't that desecration?
Ideally, I see this as a risky play by Apple, like reaching into a hornet's nest for a gem, that could pay off with big time dividends. They could end up stealing a lot of customers with this wager. Microsoft will move aggressively to counter them, so they'll have to act fast. Microsquash has been paying more attention to it's other foe lately; open source. I wonder if Bill Gates underestimated Jobs. I just hope Steve knows what he's doing. I don't want to live in some sort of subscription-based Microsoft-branded universe, beholden to Gates and his pals.
Jobs touched on the conundrum (but didn't really explore it) of the modern (or maybe "obsolete") music industry. The artists are getting screwed out their cash, the labels are using clever accounting to make it look like they're losing money and people are "stealing" music over the internet. Are we supposed to feel bad about "stealing" (which is actually copyright infringement) when the artists aren't getting a plugged nickel because the label's have them tied to legally murky 7 album deals?
I say, support the artists you like any way you can. If you like a bunch of songs on an album, buy it. See them live when they come to your town. But don't shed a tear when the labels cry about their profit margins shrinking from 20% to 15%. I also don't think they're going away anytime soon, precisely because of their massive margins (but I don't know what they really are because they've hidden their profits so well). However, I do think there is hope from a new generation of internet-based labels, like CD Baby, who are willing to treat artists fairly (gasp! what a concept!). I'm eager to see how this plays out. I hope Jobs will allow smaller labels (like the one I'd like to start in my bedroom) onto iTunes. This will piss of the majors, but...who gives a fuck about them? They've been screwing over artists and consumers for years. Viva la revolution!
Come on, I mean Microsoft installs viruses on your computer all the time. They call it "Windows." They also put Outlook on your machine, which is a big sign that says to any passing viruses, worms or trojans, "Hey, come over here! I'm stupid!"
Such is the dry smugness of a Mac user.
Really, this is a big problem, though. Companies seem to be taking more and more liberties with users' computers. I, for one, am disturbed by the recent push towards cataloging each of us in massive databases so they can understand our buying patterns and market goods directly to us. I consider such invasive advertising to be boarding on threatening; it gets my blood up.
Perhaps I'm overreacting, but our capitalist system seems to be changing from one of the free market towards one you might call the "compulsory market." We are being coerced into buying things we don't need to "improve the economy." Screw that, I never see any of those fat corporate profits from the recent productivity increases. It's not just about money, it's about realizing that there are more important things than money and market share and commerce in general. When will advertisers realize that methods like telemarketing and spyware are going too far and pissing off more potential customrers than can be made up by the suckers who pad their bottom line by biting at the hook? We have to protest not only spyware, spam and telemarketing but also firms that associate with known offenders, which Dell is trending perilously close to doing.
First of all, as has been said in every possible opportunity for well-on 3 years now, the scouring was never even filmed. So no, it won't be on the DVD's (I'm not sure where all these people keep coming from that seem to not know this, since it's brought up *every* time an LOTR movie debate gets rolling).
Well, please excuse me if I don't believe everything I hear on Slashdot. It's hard to tell who has inside information, and who's just spreading FUD. Be that as it may, I have heard conflicting information stating that every scene was filmed, just in case. This is probably not true (either?), so I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
I'm still not over this, though. Something about this omission really pisses me off. I can't fully explain my frustration and disappointment... I guess it's because it looked like the movies were gonna be so damn cool.
What we should really be talking about is what Christopher Lee said on TV about the premier of ROTK, and whether he would attend given that he is cut out of the film: "No. What would be the point?" THAT is kind of sad, if you ask me.
I would be pissed, too. Think about it; Christopher Lee is witnessing the complete desecration of his character. Peter Jackson is assassinating his character 2.5 books (of 6) early. That's bullshit, and Lee should be pissed off. We all should be. I hate to be a geek about this, but this isn't just about the elves showing up where they shouldn't, this alters the whole point and potency of the story.
Look, the scouring of the Shire is the anchor of the story. Without the normalcy of the Shire for the Hobbits (with whom we are obviously meant to identify) to bask in, the story grows so much darker. And it rings truer. As others have pointed out, it's a very dramatic, and "suck you right back in" sequence. It's a surprise the first time your read the book, and it completes the maturation of the hobbits into leaders and demonstrates true character growth. More to the point for the residents of the Shire, it shows the wrath and reach of war.
But what concerns Christopher Lee is that it shows what a crafty, sneaky and evil old guy Saruman really is. He quickly finds a bunch of cronies, travels a long distance and enslaves a new people, all within, what, a couple of months? As far as despotic rulers go, this guy is the pimp. Imagine if Saddam Hussein had a new (secret) full-on dictatorship goin' in a small country already! Saruman is a major character (and well established as such by Jackson) and he deserves to be in the third movie, along with the scouring of the Shire.
This omission will be remembered as the largest goof Peter Jackson made during the creation of these movies...or just the singular: movie. It's a horrible mistake, but his other ones weren't too bad. I can deal with dream sequences, beefed up women's roles (let's face it, Tolkien spends about as much time writing about women as the average slashdot poster), gratuitous burning eyeball shots and inexplicably appearing elves, but this mistake will mar the series. I just hope the scouring is in the DVDs, but it doesn't seem like it.
Other than that, I'm sure the movie will be cool, with lots of explosions and fire, and orcs shooting into the sky, but I miss the subtleties. I wish filmmakers wouldn't dumb down shit like this. If people don't get it the first time....that's okay, ya know? I'm fine with not completely knowing what I just witnessed. That's what DVDs are for; not for adding scenes that should've been in the wide release cut. I like movies that you can peel thru like an onion, finding new and deeper layers of meaning. It's not easy to do, but, damn it's enjoyable when somebody does it.
Jet: 250K Wulans?! That won't even pay for the damage you did to the ship last time, Spike,
Spike: We've got Ed on the case, it should take 10 minutes.
What would a universal gate do to the theory of a closed universe?
It would mean that a guy named Gozer can come through a gateway, ask you if you're a god and then send out a fifty-foot marshmellow to kick your ass. Obviously.
So the abundance of fat is really just a scarcity of exercise, or of motivation/time.
The abundance of spam, would be, what, a scarcity of spam-blocking tools? A scarcity of scruples in the spammers, perhaps?
In my experience, when there's a scarcity of something in one person (money, resources), then it's because somebody else has an abundance. The seem to work in a dichtomous relationship, orbiting around each other like gyres.
So, what does this guy think about overpopulation?
Oh...MY....GOD! Napster is like, so 1999! Give...me... a.... break!
Even ditzes know iTunes has Napster by the short and curlies. However, I will withhold judgment until I see the new Napster in action....iTunes is gonna be tough to beat, though.
This is not just a trivial issue about browser "preference" and such. This is about complete market domination. And with domination comes submission. In case the implication wasn't obvious, we'll be the ones doing the submitting.
Yes, maybe I'm bitter. I've created a website that works fine in every other browser that I've tested it on, but sucks in IE. So I'm maybe not your average surfer, but I think this topic is much more important than surfing for porn or stock quotes (or stock quotes of porn companies).
I couldn't help but think of the not-so-distant future when reading this topic. I'd say the web is an important part of my life now, but in the future, the web could be extremely important to everyone's life. It could bind cultures and peoples together or tear them apart. It is becoming our main source of information and communication. It is changing the way we think, do business, and approach our world.
If Microsoft continues to set the standards for the web, there is absolutely no doubt that they will abuse their position. They are right now, by not innovating, and ceasing in their bug-squashing efforts (chortle). Soon, there will be no standards-compliant HTML, there will be only Microsoft-compliant HTML. Apparently, CSS will never work right. The W3C will be a joke. People without IE will be locked out of important sites, and alternate platforms will be totally screwed, since development has stopped for the Mac, and there isn't IE for Linux, to my knowledge.
We need to view this as a war, 'cause it is. If we cede this battle, we've lost. We're at the breaking point right now, since Micro$oft has almost complete market dominance. We can't turn to the courts. The business world sees monoculture as a good thing, and IE as a defacto standard. They haven't been burned by it; yet.
I think guerrilla warfare is the only way. Any successful geurrilla movement must win the hearts and minds of the villagers/people. That means we must be honorable with them, and calmly educate them about the dangers of our mutual oppressors. But what are the dangers? Do they care about monoculture and standards? Probably not; that's a web developer bitch. Most web developers will sympathize with our plight. How then, do we win over the common people?
Features.
Microsoft has given us an opening, and we must take it. Since they've slowed down work on their browser, now is the time to redouble our efforts. We need browsers with cool features beyond popup-blocking. Innovative browsers, that work. Microsoft has given Apple a free pass. Safari rocks; I'm using it right now. Firebird is another great browser, and it works on every major platform. We need to support these browsers and get people to change over. When people check their site and see less than 80% of their users are using IE, then they will have to design for and support other browsers. Only idiots and crazy people can afford to lose 20% of their business.
Increased speed, and lots of features will be great, but nobody will know about it unless we spread the word. Get your Windoze-using friends to switch to Firebird or any other browser. Even better, get them to switch to Linux or the Mac. But we need to get the word out and convince people to change, one person at a time. I think we'll find there's a lot of discontent out there.
Anyway, sorry about this long-ass rant. But I feel strongly that something must be done about Microsoft's crappy-yet-dominant browser. Don't even get me started on their OSes.
Strange as it sounds, I remember hearing and deducing pretty much the same thing. I think the approach of this mysterious object will usher in an era of great change. It may seem like the end of the world, but it's probably just a major transition. Hopefully we won't get it too bad.
As far as I remember, this mythical tenth planet was called Niburu. It would be our link to the stars. I believe much of the talk about it can be credited to Zecharia Sitchin. According to this site Niburu will be back in 2012 or so, near the end of the Mayan calander.
If you're right and the authorities know about this and aren't inclined to tell us, that could be very bad indeed. Let's hope that they come clean with us. I must say, our leaders are smart to be laying the groundwork for a one-world government now, so when something bad happens they can implement their vision right away, and remake the world in their dark image. No doubt the lives of billions of "ignorant masses" is not too high on their list of priorities.
I think there will be more strife between the people and their government. Hopefully nationalism is dying a messy death. However, conflicts occurring between sane people and religious fanatics are likely to become more common as fundamentalism grips larger and larger amounts of people.
I'm not too worried about giant rocks flying into, or closeby us. If it happens, it happens. If shit hits the fan, I believe all the good people in the world will pull together, and then pull through. Was it an old Chinese curse?...
I've been recording my band for a couple of years now. I have a Digidesign ProTools setup, with my Digi 001 doing all the I/O. It's got 8 tracks, which is more than enough for most of our stuff. Eventually, we will have to upgrade since I could use 8 mics on the drumkit alone and we like to record live.
Still, I just love being able to lay down 8 tracks (at 24 bit, 48 kHz) at time (I think I can have 24 or 32 total tracks with ProTools LE 6.1) for about $800. And that was a few years ago! Now, you don't even need a PCI slot since FireWire has really matured to the point where it's all you need for connectivity. I believe most FireWire systems are still using 400 megabit ports, too, since 800 really isn't necessary unless you have more tracks.
Now the biggest problem we have to worry about is just where in the hell we're going to practice/record. We're kind of loud, so not just anywhere will do. So far I've been getting away with the cardinal sin of recording with the Mac in the same room, and it doesn't sound too bad as long as we're appropriately thunderous, but I must admit that a PowerBook would be handy for its near-silence.
Practice space is expensive where I live (Minneapolis/St. Paul), running at around $200 a month for a decent space. I'm poor as piss and I just don't know what to do. I'm glad I can record anywhere I can drag my Mac, but a band still needs space to play - my bedroom ain't cutting it. In that sense, I think recording studios still have a role to play, if only because they are designed for good acoustics, they're soundproofed so the neighbors don't get pissed, and they have full control boards, often with powered faders (sweeeeeet...). Still, they're too expensive for practice, and if you have some recording gear like me, why bother? I'm wondering if anybody knows of a new hybrid I've been lusting after - basically a recording studio style space at a practice space cost (preferrably with a small control room). That, I think, is what bands need nowadays; most of us are living in apartment buildings where recording live drums is just not an option. I wonder if anybody has any experience/ideas on this matter.
Wow. My prayers have been answered. I was hoping for a web comic from Berke, but this is good news; damn good news!
I read through all my old Bloom County and Outland books recently and I think they've held up amazingly well, especially with all the topical references. Outland, didn't do as well, tho. I think Berke was burned out at that point, and he needed to just give it a rest. I'm glad he's back and ready to rock.
Ya know, this might be the only good thing to result from the Bush administration; it's gotten Berke so pissed off that he's got the fire in his belly again.
I'm gonna have to pinch myself. It hasn't really sunk in yet? Is this just a dream? Old school Bloom County is pound-for-pound, the best comic in the world. I love C&H and Far Side, too, but Opus and the boys have always had a special draw for me.
Ya know, the comics page isn't actually that depressing any more. I've really been enjoying Zits, the Boondocks, Pickles, and Get Fuzzy. It's good to see that daily comics are not a lost art. It's just a bit dazed and confused.
Glad to have you back, Berke! I can't wait to see Opus back in print! God, I hope the Star Trib carries it!
Haven't you ever heard of "art?" Not that dude, Art Garfunkel, but the process of expressing yourself creatively?
I, for one, think this is a brilliant idea, and is much better than sitting around on your computer, bitching to "a bunch of random strangers" about something which has no point, and is not supposed to have a point. It's fun! Perhaps you've heard of it?
While I'll grant that this country has a shitload of problems, including a ton you didn't mention, one of the root causes of our general malaise is (wait for it)... isolation.
Now, I know I'm preaching to the choir on this one. Let's face it, we/.'ers spend much of our day hunched over a computer, which we then use to "converse" with "random strangers" about the fact that our computer is A. not fast enough or B. not slow, like in the good ol' days.
It's been remarked that big cities are among the loneliest places on earth. It seems counterintuitive, but it makes sense when you take into account the cultural barriers that have somehow been erected over the centuries. If you want to make the world a better place, make some more friends. Those friends will lead to new friends, and so on.
Personally, I'll try anything once, and if flashmobs are a step towards a more spontaneous and less rigidly-controlled future, then I'm all for 'em. Nowadays, you can get arrested for looking "suspicious" in a public place. Weirdness is under attack. And I am a weirdo. There's no doubt about it, and I rejoice in gathering together with my fellow freaks. That's just one reason why I love Wookie Foot.
My advice to you? Free your mind from cynicism and isolation. It helps no one, least of all yourself. Not to say I've got life all figured out, but I know one thing; having fun and expressing yourself is.... well.... it just is.
I get into this "Freak out the squares!" type of stuff. As a lowly unemployed student, this sounds like the type of thrilling activity upon which my precious hours of freetime would be well spent.
I've signed up for the Minneapolis Mob since I've got nothing better to do. I find this sort of social interaction fascinating. Plus, one day it could be extremely useful. I also think that if we neglect to exercise our rights (i.e. freedom of assembly) we will lose them to atrophy.
I try to counteract the omnipresent corporate media (by not watching TV for one thing) by balancing out their spin with that of non-corporate media. I'm not sure if you are aware of Independent Media Center and AlterNet, but if not, you should definitely spend some time surfing their respective sites. Yes, they're on that internet thingy, but I'm pretty sure that paper does not have any special deception-repelling powers.
Independent Media Center is amazing in it that anyone can submit a story. This is much more likely to be read on the local versions; there are dozens of locals Centers, spread around the globe. IndyMedia has proved to be an important organizing tool for progressive groups in third world countries.
AlterNet, on the other hand, is more of a news analysis site, where the headlines of the day are tackled from different angles and where you can find information that the mainstream media "forgot" to report.
Slashdot Mirror
Not true. Microsoft gives you plenty of options. For instance, if you don't like using their buggy, worm-ridden software in a work environment, you have the option to go fuck yourself.
Actually, I think that OpenOffice is really the "option" in question here. Especially since it can open some .doc files.
I really hope that OO makes some inroads because I'm sick and tired of using Micro$oft's crappy excuse for products. The thing they work best at is keeping you trapped in their upgrade cycle.
There's an undercurrent of desperate fascism in your post. You're essentially saying "the believers must be reprogrammed! We can't allow them to think differently!"
Fuck that. People are gonna believe in what they want to believe. I accept the fact that you don't believe in aliens, despite the small-minded, self-centered, delusional logical leaps you must take to reach that conclusion. The idea that there is no more life in the universe than us is absolutely preposterous to me. It borders on inconceivable. If you need me to explain that to you, I don't think I can. You need to fit the universe in your brain to understand how much space there is out there. A shitload, to say the least. Look how many stars are up in the sky. And now imagine that there's a billion galaxies, each filled with billions of stars. And NONE of these has life? NONE?!?!!!! The idea is fucking madness. Especially when you consider all the possibilities for life in our own tiny solar system.
Now, I'm not saying I agree with everything Hoagland says, but I sure as hell don't believe the Powers That Be. Believing them is dangerous to your health, and your mind. I come to my own conclusions. You are entitled to your beliefs, but I don't think I should have to put on a tinfoil hat just to talk about the possibility of life existing elsewhere. Who knows, maybe we are not the first advanced human civilization to arise on this planet. Maybe we colonized Mars and Venus millions of years ago, before utterly annihilating ourselves. Both planets look like they were decimated, either through warfare or really bad weather. ;-)
Anyway, I urge you to keep an open mind. I know /. is practically the skeptic's Mecca, but some of us still dare to dream "crazy" ideas. Doesn't mean we don't need evidence, but if I had your attitude, I wouldn't bother to look. Hope is what will take us out and into the stars.
So you want to surf the web, dad? WELL TOO BAD!! I'm in charge now! Mohahahahaaaa!!! Who's the boss now?! Huh?! Huh?!!!!
Oh, uh, sorry.
Man, I've gotta get outa my parents' basement more....
So trampling the Constitution is helping your family somehow? I'm confused, why did you feel accused by his (IMO) accurate insight that many Americans are not concerned with such abstract concepts as "rights." Many people, I'm sad to say, are not exactly staunch defenders of our 1st ammendment rights.
Are you implying that you are helping your family while bettering yourself by somehow trampling our rights? If that's the case, then screw you. If this is just a misunderstanding, then perhaps you should read posts more carefully and take them less personally.
Oh, hello. You must be from 1904. Here in 2004 the corporations control almost everything, with aid from their friends in the government. In fact, whole government agencies such as the FCC and FDA are in the business of protecting business. Ostensibly they are supposed to protect the public from unethical corporations, but that's now thought of as a really funny joke. Boy, we really fell for that one!
Censorship happens all the time, especially when corporations and the government both agree that something is "controversial" (translation: damaging to their public image). I don't know much about 1904, but I'm pretty sure the corporations were starting to run amok during that time, peaking during the roaring 20's (you'll love that decade, but the following one is like one really bad hangover. Don't even ask me about the 40's).
I suggest you pay more attention to the way corporate interests are protected by the government and vice versa. They are in a symbiotic relationship, which means that they scratch each other's back when necessary. That's very kind of them, but unfortunately, when giants frolick in the forest it's the trees and the grass that suffer.
As far as "editorial control" goes, that's a code word for "printing/playing what we like" with the obvious implication that what they don't like doesn't get any air time. Who knows why the government does the things it does, but we all feel the effects of it. During the 30's they will move to make cannabis sativa (a.k.a. "marijuana") illegal because a rich newspaper baron bought a bunch of tree-filled land. His competitors were starting to use hemp, which is a kind of cannabis. So the baron, William Randolph Hearst, paid his friends in the government to see things his way and used his many newspapers to scare the public by saying marijuana is a demon-drug used by those filthy Mexicans who like to get high and rape our daughters. Of course, cannabis was soon illegal to buy or sell (except for during WW2, when they needed all the hemp they could get - hemp is an amazingly useful plant) and everybody just assumed that it was a horrible drug that made people go insane, a la Reefer Madness, but in the 60's this turned out not to be the case. Still, the drug remains illegal.
Why do I bring this up? Well, because the White House will air an ad during the SuperBowl claiming that pot-users are in fact terrorists, or supporting terrorists, just like they were previously communists, nazis and Mexicans. Surely this is a somewhat "controversial" idea? Surely accusing the 40%+ part of the population who've used pot of supporting terrorism is a controversial claim? Surely CBS could exercise their editorial control and refuse to run that ad?
Funny how that works. Tell me, how do things work in 1904?
It could be a wise play for Apple. If they didn't get there first Microsoft would've been all over it with their infernal Media Center. Still, letting them slap the HP logo on iPods? ...Isn't that desecration?
Ideally, I see this as a risky play by Apple, like reaching into a hornet's nest for a gem, that could pay off with big time dividends. They could end up stealing a lot of customers with this wager. Microsoft will move aggressively to counter them, so they'll have to act fast. Microsquash has been paying more attention to it's other foe lately; open source. I wonder if Bill Gates underestimated Jobs. I just hope Steve knows what he's doing. I don't want to live in some sort of subscription-based Microsoft-branded universe, beholden to Gates and his pals.
I say, support the artists you like any way you can. If you like a bunch of songs on an album, buy it. See them live when they come to your town. But don't shed a tear when the labels cry about their profit margins shrinking from 20% to 15%. I also don't think they're going away anytime soon, precisely because of their massive margins (but I don't know what they really are because they've hidden their profits so well). However, I do think there is hope from a new generation of internet-based labels, like CD Baby, who are willing to treat artists fairly (gasp! what a concept!). I'm eager to see how this plays out. I hope Jobs will allow smaller labels (like the one I'd like to start in my bedroom) onto iTunes. This will piss of the majors, but...who gives a fuck about them? They've been screwing over artists and consumers for years. Viva la revolution!
Such is the dry smugness of a Mac user.
Really, this is a big problem, though. Companies seem to be taking more and more liberties with users' computers. I, for one, am disturbed by the recent push towards cataloging each of us in massive databases so they can understand our buying patterns and market goods directly to us. I consider such invasive advertising to be boarding on threatening; it gets my blood up.
Perhaps I'm overreacting, but our capitalist system seems to be changing from one of the free market towards one you might call the "compulsory market." We are being coerced into buying things we don't need to "improve the economy." Screw that, I never see any of those fat corporate profits from the recent productivity increases. It's not just about money, it's about realizing that there are more important things than money and market share and commerce in general. When will advertisers realize that methods like telemarketing and spyware are going too far and pissing off more potential customrers than can be made up by the suckers who pad their bottom line by biting at the hook? We have to protest not only spyware, spam and telemarketing but also firms that associate with known offenders, which Dell is trending perilously close to doing.
Well, please excuse me if I don't believe everything I hear on Slashdot. It's hard to tell who has inside information, and who's just spreading FUD. Be that as it may, I have heard conflicting information stating that every scene was filmed, just in case. This is probably not true (either?), so I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
I'm still not over this, though. Something about this omission really pisses me off. I can't fully explain my frustration and disappointment... I guess it's because it looked like the movies were gonna be so damn cool.
I would be pissed, too. Think about it; Christopher Lee is witnessing the complete desecration of his character. Peter Jackson is assassinating his character 2.5 books (of 6) early. That's bullshit, and Lee should be pissed off. We all should be. I hate to be a geek about this, but this isn't just about the elves showing up where they shouldn't, this alters the whole point and potency of the story.
Look, the scouring of the Shire is the anchor of the story. Without the normalcy of the Shire for the Hobbits (with whom we are obviously meant to identify) to bask in, the story grows so much darker. And it rings truer. As others have pointed out, it's a very dramatic, and "suck you right back in" sequence. It's a surprise the first time your read the book, and it completes the maturation of the hobbits into leaders and demonstrates true character growth. More to the point for the residents of the Shire, it shows the wrath and reach of war.
But what concerns Christopher Lee is that it shows what a crafty, sneaky and evil old guy Saruman really is. He quickly finds a bunch of cronies, travels a long distance and enslaves a new people, all within, what, a couple of months? As far as despotic rulers go, this guy is the pimp. Imagine if Saddam Hussein had a new (secret) full-on dictatorship goin' in a small country already! Saruman is a major character (and well established as such by Jackson) and he deserves to be in the third movie, along with the scouring of the Shire.
This omission will be remembered as the largest goof Peter Jackson made during the creation of these movies ...or just the singular: movie. It's a horrible mistake, but his other ones weren't too bad. I can deal with dream sequences, beefed up women's roles (let's face it, Tolkien spends about as much time writing about women as the average slashdot poster), gratuitous burning eyeball shots and inexplicably appearing elves, but this mistake will mar the series. I just hope the scouring is in the DVDs, but it doesn't seem like it.
Other than that, I'm sure the movie will be cool, with lots of explosions and fire, and orcs shooting into the sky, but I miss the subtleties. I wish filmmakers wouldn't dumb down shit like this. If people don't get it the first time....that's okay, ya know? I'm fine with not completely knowing what I just witnessed. That's what DVDs are for; not for adding scenes that should've been in the wide release cut. I like movies that you can peel thru like an onion, finding new and deeper layers of meaning. It's not easy to do, but, damn it's enjoyable when somebody does it.
Can Peter Jackson do it? Time will tell.
AAAHHHAAhhahahahaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!
suckers! Noik.
Jet: 250K Wulans?! That won't even pay for the damage you did to the ship last time, Spike,
Spike: We've got Ed on the case, it should take 10 minutes.
Oh Lord, when did I become such a geek?
It would mean that a guy named Gozer can come through a gateway, ask you if you're a god and then send out a fifty-foot marshmellow to kick your ass. Obviously.
Uh, if tomorrow's the apocalypse, it's been a good run, y'all. It's been a lotta fun.
"Since the dawn of time, man has yearned to destroy the sun!" - Mr. Burns.
Now it looks like the sun will destroy us! I'll shield my computer with my ashen body so that it might survive.
So the abundance of fat is really just a scarcity of exercise, or of motivation/time.
The abundance of spam, would be, what, a scarcity of spam-blocking tools? A scarcity of scruples in the spammers, perhaps?
In my experience, when there's a scarcity of something in one person (money, resources), then it's because somebody else has an abundance. The seem to work in a dichtomous relationship, orbiting around each other like gyres.
So, what does this guy think about overpopulation?
...is that I don't have enough of it.
If this isn't the beginning of the end, then we may be in for a long period of tribulation.
Oh...MY....GOD! Napster is like, so 1999! Give...me... a .... break!
Even ditzes know iTunes has Napster by the short and curlies. However, I will withhold judgment until I see the new Napster in action....iTunes is gonna be tough to beat, though.
Yes, maybe I'm bitter. I've created a website that works fine in every other browser that I've tested it on, but sucks in IE. So I'm maybe not your average surfer, but I think this topic is much more important than surfing for porn or stock quotes (or stock quotes of porn companies).
I couldn't help but think of the not-so-distant future when reading this topic. I'd say the web is an important part of my life now, but in the future, the web could be extremely important to everyone's life. It could bind cultures and peoples together or tear them apart. It is becoming our main source of information and communication. It is changing the way we think, do business, and approach our world.
If Microsoft continues to set the standards for the web, there is absolutely no doubt that they will abuse their position. They are right now, by not innovating, and ceasing in their bug-squashing efforts (chortle). Soon, there will be no standards-compliant HTML, there will be only Microsoft-compliant HTML. Apparently, CSS will never work right. The W3C will be a joke. People without IE will be locked out of important sites, and alternate platforms will be totally screwed, since development has stopped for the Mac, and there isn't IE for Linux, to my knowledge.
We need to view this as a war, 'cause it is. If we cede this battle, we've lost. We're at the breaking point right now, since Micro$oft has almost complete market dominance. We can't turn to the courts. The business world sees monoculture as a good thing, and IE as a defacto standard. They haven't been burned by it; yet.
I think guerrilla warfare is the only way. Any successful geurrilla movement must win the hearts and minds of the villagers/people. That means we must be honorable with them, and calmly educate them about the dangers of our mutual oppressors. But what are the dangers? Do they care about monoculture and standards? Probably not; that's a web developer bitch. Most web developers will sympathize with our plight. How then, do we win over the common people?
Features.
Microsoft has given us an opening, and we must take it. Since they've slowed down work on their browser, now is the time to redouble our efforts. We need browsers with cool features beyond popup-blocking. Innovative browsers, that work. Microsoft has given Apple a free pass. Safari rocks; I'm using it right now. Firebird is another great browser, and it works on every major platform. We need to support these browsers and get people to change over. When people check their site and see less than 80% of their users are using IE, then they will have to design for and support other browsers. Only idiots and crazy people can afford to lose 20% of their business.
Increased speed, and lots of features will be great, but nobody will know about it unless we spread the word. Get your Windoze-using friends to switch to Firebird or any other browser. Even better, get them to switch to Linux or the Mac. But we need to get the word out and convince people to change, one person at a time. I think we'll find there's a lot of discontent out there.
Anyway, sorry about this long-ass rant. But I feel strongly that something must be done about Microsoft's crappy-yet-dominant browser. Don't even get me started on their OSes.
As far as I remember, this mythical tenth planet was called Niburu. It would be our link to the stars. I believe much of the talk about it can be credited to Zecharia Sitchin. According to this site Niburu will be back in 2012 or so, near the end of the Mayan calander.
If you're right and the authorities know about this and aren't inclined to tell us, that could be very bad indeed. Let's hope that they come clean with us. I must say, our leaders are smart to be laying the groundwork for a one-world government now, so when something bad happens they can implement their vision right away, and remake the world in their dark image. No doubt the lives of billions of "ignorant masses" is not too high on their list of priorities.
I think there will be more strife between the people and their government. Hopefully nationalism is dying a messy death. However, conflicts occurring between sane people and religious fanatics are likely to become more common as fundamentalism grips larger and larger amounts of people.
I'm not too worried about giant rocks flying into, or closeby us. If it happens, it happens. If shit hits the fan, I believe all the good people in the world will pull together, and then pull through. Was it an old Chinese curse?...
"May you live in interesting times."
Indeed.
Still, I just love being able to lay down 8 tracks (at 24 bit, 48 kHz) at time (I think I can have 24 or 32 total tracks with ProTools LE 6.1) for about $800. And that was a few years ago! Now, you don't even need a PCI slot since FireWire has really matured to the point where it's all you need for connectivity. I believe most FireWire systems are still using 400 megabit ports, too, since 800 really isn't necessary unless you have more tracks.
Now the biggest problem we have to worry about is just where in the hell we're going to practice/record. We're kind of loud, so not just anywhere will do. So far I've been getting away with the cardinal sin of recording with the Mac in the same room, and it doesn't sound too bad as long as we're appropriately thunderous, but I must admit that a PowerBook would be handy for its near-silence.
Practice space is expensive where I live (Minneapolis/St. Paul), running at around $200 a month for a decent space. I'm poor as piss and I just don't know what to do. I'm glad I can record anywhere I can drag my Mac, but a band still needs space to play - my bedroom ain't cutting it. In that sense, I think recording studios still have a role to play, if only because they are designed for good acoustics, they're soundproofed so the neighbors don't get pissed, and they have full control boards, often with powered faders (sweeeeeet...). Still, they're too expensive for practice, and if you have some recording gear like me, why bother? I'm wondering if anybody knows of a new hybrid I've been lusting after - basically a recording studio style space at a practice space cost (preferrably with a small control room). That, I think, is what bands need nowadays; most of us are living in apartment buildings where recording live drums is just not an option. I wonder if anybody has any experience/ideas on this matter.
I read through all my old Bloom County and Outland books recently and I think they've held up amazingly well, especially with all the topical references. Outland, didn't do as well, tho. I think Berke was burned out at that point, and he needed to just give it a rest. I'm glad he's back and ready to rock.
Ya know, this might be the only good thing to result from the Bush administration; it's gotten Berke so pissed off that he's got the fire in his belly again.
I'm gonna have to pinch myself. It hasn't really sunk in yet? Is this just a dream? Old school Bloom County is pound-for-pound, the best comic in the world. I love C&H and Far Side, too, but Opus and the boys have always had a special draw for me.
Ya know, the comics page isn't actually that depressing any more. I've really been enjoying Zits, the Boondocks, Pickles, and Get Fuzzy. It's good to see that daily comics are not a lost art. It's just a bit dazed and confused.
Glad to have you back, Berke! I can't wait to see Opus back in print! God, I hope the Star Trib carries it!
I, for one, think this is a brilliant idea, and is much better than sitting around on your computer, bitching to "a bunch of random strangers" about something which has no point, and is not supposed to have a point. It's fun! Perhaps you've heard of it?
While I'll grant that this country has a shitload of problems, including a ton you didn't mention, one of the root causes of our general malaise is (wait for it)... isolation.
Now, I know I'm preaching to the choir on this one. Let's face it, we /.'ers spend much of our day hunched over a computer, which we then use to "converse" with "random strangers" about the fact that our computer is A. not fast enough or B. not slow, like in the good ol' days.
It's been remarked that big cities are among the loneliest places on earth. It seems counterintuitive, but it makes sense when you take into account the cultural barriers that have somehow been erected over the centuries. If you want to make the world a better place, make some more friends. Those friends will lead to new friends, and so on.
Personally, I'll try anything once, and if flashmobs are a step towards a more spontaneous and less rigidly-controlled future, then I'm all for 'em. Nowadays, you can get arrested for looking "suspicious" in a public place. Weirdness is under attack. And I am a weirdo. There's no doubt about it, and I rejoice in gathering together with my fellow freaks. That's just one reason why I love Wookie Foot.
My advice to you? Free your mind from cynicism and isolation. It helps no one, least of all yourself. Not to say I've got life all figured out, but I know one thing; having fun and expressing yourself is .... well.... it just is.
I've signed up for the Minneapolis Mob since I've got nothing better to do. I find this sort of social interaction fascinating. Plus, one day it could be extremely useful. I also think that if we neglect to exercise our rights (i.e. freedom of assembly) we will lose them to atrophy.
Independent Media Center is amazing in it that anyone can submit a story. This is much more likely to be read on the local versions; there are dozens of locals Centers, spread around the globe. IndyMedia has proved to be an important organizing tool for progressive groups in third world countries.
AlterNet, on the other hand, is more of a news analysis site, where the headlines of the day are tackled from different angles and where you can find information that the mainstream media "forgot" to report.
The importance of sites like these is that they allow you to see a different side of an issue. In a world controlled by the right-wing corporate media machine, this can be seen as a very good thing©.