Moderation definitely is key. To think that free blogs will die out is completely absurd as the idea of the 'paperless office' (well at least for the next 20-30 years or so).
But why do people try so hard to block ads? Why does it work so well in newspapers? Think about online ads. The more flashy, loud (figuratively and literally) and annoying they are, the more clicks they get. I think the market is just getting pushed too far. I never had a newspaper ad jump from the coupons page on top of the article I was reading on the front page (ie, popup), and i never saw any distracting movement, and certainly none making noise.
There will always be a market for ads, and I seriously doubt any browser will be powerful enough to stop them completely.
Take Spam for example. Hundreds (probably thousands or more) of programs have been written to reduce spam, and legislation has been passed to stop it, but it still works, and people still do it.
I think online advertising has just hit or is starting to hit a peak. I personally do not mind a stangant image on the side of a page, or even better a line of text in google's searches. I think over an extended period of time, public tolerance for annoying ads will invite enough ad blockers to get rid of 'shoot the monkey' and Savenow, but will still leave plenty of room for ads like Google.
The end is definitely not near, I just think there will be some settling point where people can be happy with a couple relevant, non-obnoxious ads on a pleasant article.
This is perfect! It'll be just as effective as the Interstate Commerce Act was to prevent short-haul railroads from charging unreasonable prices! I wonder if there's any phrase more general and less effective than "deceptive arts and practices."
If you don't mind the extra weight, you always can use a second battery. Black and Decker had the right idea with their rechargeable batteries that worked in the screwdriver, drill, etc. Too bad they weren't very effective, hence never caught on.
I use an Apple Powerbook, and I get about 3 hours out of a charge as long as I'm not playing a DVD or anything particularly high-drain. Even better, the laptop has an internal battery that can put out enough power for a couple minutes when the laptop's asleep, even with no battery.
Basically, I can (er.. 'could hypothetically') close the lid (put to sleep), replace drained battery with a fresh one, and open it back up without even having to restart.
Personally, I seldom run out my whole battery without having power available, so extra batteries ($80-90 even on ebay, more from Apple store) aren't very economical for me.
On the other hand, if you regularly run through your whole battery cycle, I would definitely suggest getting another battery (ebay, computer show for your particular model). Not only will you have a 10-second-long 100% charge time, but on average you'll only run through about half the cycles on each battery, so they'll both last longer if you take care of them.
stripped of their commercials, something not easily done with VCRs
well that's funny... my VCR has (..had) a Fast Forward button. Not like any company's really going to market to me at 4x with no sound.
On top of that, for my favorite movies that I grabbed from TV, I always taped a copy (via 2nd VCR), and I skipped over the recordings to make a them commercial free myself.
I don't like ads and never did. Right now, I use Firefox with Ad-blocker, so I view the web without ads. Similarly, I took content that was delivered to me anyway, and I removed parts that I didn't like.
Here's a quick recap:
Yesterday: -tape from TV, tape from tape -requires lots of hardware/cables and paying-attention time
Today: -download from bittorrent using bandwidth I pay for anyway -ads are already stripped for me, so I waste less time
Yeah, I go out of my way to not have to see commercials over and over again, but I always have. Now it just takes less time. But who says I never watch the ads in the first place? Almost every TV show I have on my computer I've seen on real TV at least once or twice (live, with ads). I always watch my favorite shows when they come on (ie Simpsons, sunday@8:00, live with commercials). Hell, I made an effort to watch the Super Bowl commercials, because I like them.
So what if I download lots of copyrighted material? Who says I'm doing this instead of buying it? Maybe I already saw the content with commercials (they get their cut), and I just want to watch it again without being solicited with the same crap, that they might not even sell anymore? I have a hard drive full of free movies, but then again, I have a drawer full of DVDs that I paid for.
So exactly who's complaining here? The advertisers have their money (I usually see commercials at least once, and buy their crap if it's worth it), MPAA gets their cut of my DVDs and movie tickets, and RIAA has their money from the pile of scratched CDs in my car.
The way I see it, Bittorrent is a tool to help me do the things I do anyway, but in less time, and more conveniently. Overall, it helps me enjoy the content more, which only encourages me to support the industry. Furthermore, I use Bittorrent to download legitimate files, such as anime, new linux distros, etc, so it has legitimate uses, not just ones that make me happy. Go Grokster!
So if a bunch of kids are getting up to 15 years in jail under the patriot act for pointing a single little dot at an airplane... what's the penalty for a whole ad banner?
Actually, while Hydrogen does replace gasoline in your car, calling it 'fuel' is somewhat misleading.
Perhaps I should start by defining 'fuel', at least for the purposes used here. I consider 'fuel' a source of useful energy in the Earth. The absolute, indisputable answer here is oil. Other notable sources are Geothermal, Hydroelectric, Wind power, and solar power. Biomass (burning wood, or burning oils extracted from plants like peanuts) is another source.
For the purposes of cars, it is more preferable to think of Hydrogen as a 'battery', a portable energy source, not necessarily available from earth. Current 'batteries' are gasoline for gasoline engines, and chemical batteries (Alkaline, Nickel-Metal Hydride, car batteries), and others. Although AA batteries are not exactly found in nature, they're clean (on the consumer end), and very portable. However, no battery currently in existance is light, small, and cheap enough to really power cars with enough range and power to be widespread useful. That's why 99.999% of car owners don't have electric cars.
Anyway, having a hydrogen engine/reactor, and a tank full of Hydrogen is a much better source of portable energy than a traditional battery, and emissions from Hydrogen cars are MUCH cleaner than gasoline cars.
Here is where I get to the root of your question. The Hydrogen does have to come from somewhere. It's not readily available in any equivalent of an oil well, so it has to be produced. The #1 method of producing Hydrogen, or producing the electricity necessary to produce it, sadly.... is Oil.
However, there are advantages to producing the Hydrogen in a single-site plant as opposed to burning oil in cars everywhere. It will eliminate being stuck next to a tractor/trailor or bus emitting sickening/cancer-causing fumes. Toll collectors and most anyone that lives in the city should have cleaner air.
However, the ultimate goal here is to eliminate the oil as the fuel at the start of it all. Hopefully, sometime in the future, most or all of our energy needs will be satisfied exclusively by solar energy, hydroelectric power, geothermal, and the like.
Biomass poses an interesting potential for fuel. Biodiesel engines can run on crop-based oils, such as peanut oil, and soybean oil. Perhaps one day, excess crop land can be used to produce 'oil' instead of food. One can only wonder. Or write a science-fiction novel.
Exactly where/when do you claim macs running OSX 'randomly rebooting'? I've been running OSX for well over a year, and I've never had one of these 'random reboots?' Occasionally, when I let my computer sleep, unplugged for an extended period of time on low battery, when I plug it back in, I have to hold the power down to get it to boot up, presumably because of loss of power to memory. However, I have a windows laptop that does the exact same thing.... it's not a mac-specific problem.
Not once has my entire computer ever crashed in the middle of operation. I assume by random reboot, you mean something along the lines of a blue-screen, which I haven't seen/heard of since.
Next is ignorant users. Actually, Mac users know a lot more about using their computers than most windows users. Granted they're more detached from the actual computer operations, but who cares? They're much better using applications, which is what the concept of a GUI is based on. Ever heard the phrase "I just click on the e" or "my computer is slow maybe it'll go faster if I defrag it (for the 3rd time this week)"?
$100 for security holes? Dumbass. The upgrades are for extended features and bug fixes. Windows did this as Windows 98, and Windows ME. No new features, just bug fixes (and new bugs). Oh yeah, and no Time Commando.
Security Holes, my friend, are updated and patched automatically, similar to windows update, only much less frequent and urgent (due to OS being much more stable and having many fewer security holes), aa well as having smaller download sizes.
Mac OS being 'crash free' isn't quite accurate, but it's unquestionably the best OS out there. I ran Red Hat 8 for a while, and even the integrated Shoot-em-up game and the Penguin game crashed within a few minutes. Oh sorry, the applications disappeared. OpenOffice still has some miles to go until it can sync well with MS Office, and I wouldn't consider that bug-free either.
As for Windows, famous of IE and Outlook Express, I think I've said enough.
All in all, OS X is by far the most stable operating system there is. The only applications that crash more than once a month or so are IE, Powerpoint, and random beta versions.
Before you pretend you're better than any Mac User, I suggest you do some homework.
Has anyone seen that new poster advertising the IP Addresses of everyone they sued? Keep in mind they're getting at least a couple thousand dollars from each of those IP's, and there are quite a few of them.
All it really takes is a shitty-ass lawyer to take a couple hours (10 at very most) of his time to print some data, send a nasty letter to an ISP, send a nasty letter home, and BOOM, 3-4 figures of instant revenue.
Although the amount of simultaneous p2p users may not have been affected that much, I'd say they're doing a pretty decnet job of scaring a good nuumber of people.
But alas, let's pretend they're not scaring anyone. They're still suing a ton of teenagers for what is more or less their life savings or more, and that just goes to cash in the bank. The RIAA is not collapsing and it's not being threatened. For whoever hasn't noticed, CD sales are up this year.
The majority of the Losers List is companies/products that failed miserably and dumped a lot of money into something that's not paying off. RIAA seems to be excelling quite well. I'm probably preaching to the choir, but support your bands, buy theiir mp3's online, but STOP BUYING RECORDS.
Well, by calling them 'hogs', you imply these large video-file hosting clients are taking up more than their fair share of bandwidth. Maybe you don't realize that the people that run these servers PAY for the bandwidth. If they didn't use nearly the limit, they would choose another company or service with less limits and is cheaper.
Naturally, everyone chooses the lowest plan that fits their needs, so basically, by your definition, the only customers that really AREN'T hogs are the typical joe-user AOL Top-Speed Technology that only uses it to check his email.
Bottom line: hogs are paying customers. Bigger hogs are bigger paying. And uh, let's not forget that NO ONE that runs questionable servers would likely patronize an ISP that sells them out as little shits. Any questions?
Believe me, Speakeasy suing you is the least of your worries. Really, what can they do? Sue for damages? Maybe you made them lose $40 a month off of 12 people for a year? It's definitely a bite in the ass, but it's nothing to lose your house over.
However, you DO have much, much more to worry about. I wouldn't bet on your ISP sending hitmen to your house, but that's more than can be said for the MPAA or RIAA. All it takes is a couple people uploading a couple gigs worth of movies and music. If you can't track 'em down (and prove exactly who it is), your are F*CKED, my friend.
Of course, you would probably keep good records of who's using how much bandwidth, etc, but keep in mind you're a civilian, not a government agency or even a lawyer. Tracking down information of specific computers without any search warrants can be VERY difficult, and if you can't come up with them, chances are you're going to be writing a VERY LARGE check to a nasty 4-letter acronym.
Why is everyone so hardcore against getting these free iPods? Ok, so you pay your time instead of money. No one's fooling me, but what's wrong with it?
Fine, I made an email address specifically to receive spam from these companies. You know what? I don't even get spam from them. I get more spam from Barnes and Noble than I ever got from Gratis or their affiliates.
You sign up for an offer you don't want, and you cancel and it doesn't cost you anything! Boo freaking hoo, what are you whining about. Get your friends to do the same, and you get some free hardware. Don't bitch about the macroscopic scale how do they make money.... The point is, if you do your part, they do theirs. I've personally seen people with devices they've received. It's not a scam, and they're not fooling me.
Fine, it's not free, it's a legitimate business trade. You generate commissions for other people, and they generate hardware for you.
If you want to learn more,
click her for and xbox or click here.
It's a great system, give it a whirl
I'm surprised there wasn't a Zelda demo on the site. Whenever there was a room of those Jumping guys that turned into bats when you stab them, the system would lag like hell if you made too many bats. Also if I remember correctly, those pancake guys (?) that ate your shields never did much for the framerate either....Finally, a better solution to killing those guys than the Magic Sword
-yeah my bad, forgot you could save $150 on your PC hardware by getting a better OS....
-sorry to say, but yeah, Macs still come stantard with Safari and internet explorer. IE's homepage is set to msn.com
Never mention your competitor? I don't think competitor is quite the word here. IE vs. Firefox is not really a competition either. The reason Coke sells better than Pepsi is because people have tried both, and they think "I like Coke better." The reason 90% or so (the vast majority) of poeple use Internet Explorer isn't because they think "I tried both and weighing the featurs of each, I choose IE."
It's much more of a matter of people (A) not hearing about Firefox, and (B) not using it because they don't know how. Both can easily be solved with a 5-minute download and 30 seconds of explaining "popup blocker" and "safe browsing".
Back to 'never mention your competitor in advertising' is usually a bad idea because:
1) It recognizes the competition, implies that they are viable competitors, and creates awareness of them. 2) It credits/merits the competition, almost suggests there's a reason to choose their product.
I really don't feel that either of the two apply here.
A) IE is very recognized. I don't think there is anyone that uses the internet that doesn't know what it is. B) Nobody 'chooses' IE. It is spoon-fed to everyone and most people either don't know better or don't care.
C) "Implies your product won't/can't stand up on its own merits" --Well, in a way it can't. The biggest problem with other browsers is lack of awareness. If you don't represent Firefox as 'an alternative to IE' you will not be likely to influence anyone but attuned computer users.
D) As for "= you have LOST" -- Either that, or 'are losing' or 'are behind'. EVERY PC and Mac comes standard with IE, and EVERY PC has it currently installed. The vast majority of people who use the internet use IE. Firefox has a long way to go.
All in all, Firefox is the best browser available. If you don't believe me, then you probably don't have The AdBlock Extention installed. For now, yell as loud as you can, "INTERNET EXPLORER SUCKS, USE FIREFOX". Seems to work pretty well for me.
Here's a great tool [plugin] to disable Pesky Flash on Firefox. It replaces the flash area with a white box with a button. If you really, really want to play the object, just click on it.
Quality Product that eliminates distracting ads while still letting you play the movie if you really want to see it.
Yes. Good advice. Now convince the millions of retards that still click yes when promted "do you want to install and run..." and can't figure out how to use Ad-Aware.
Welcome to the world of getting through to dense people.
I think the words "Proven Wrong" are a bit strong in this case.
A hard drive crash doesnt erase my collection.
You mention "The main reason I buy cds is that when I rip them, there are no pops, none of my tracks are cut short, there are no duplicates, and the tags are 100% correct." Uh, last I checked, a hard drive crash would erase the music collection on your computer. I think you fail to realize what a gigantic task ripping can be with a lot of CDs.
Burned cd's, backups, what have you get scratched, and aren't reliable. My factory made cd's will last much longer.
Heh, yeah, I'm sure. Try giving one of your extra advanced, armor-plated factory-coated CDs to your little sister for the day. She'll make short work of it. And Backups not reliable? Eh, might want to double-check the definition of backup, cause I can burn stuff to DVDs, put them in a safe case and give them to my friend, so even if my house burns down, my data is fine.
Well, but then again I guess you have your fire-resistant "factory made" CDs.
stealing their cds instead of buying really does affect them.
First of all, who said anything about instead? I download a lot of music, but last I checked, "downloading" does not equal "not buying". In fact, if it weren't for downloading, I wouldn't even like half the bands I do today. I don't know where you find all your music, but last time I was at Circuit City and Best Buy, they didn't have much underground punk for sale.
Second, don't fail to consider that there are other ways to support your favorite group than buying their CD. Buying the CD gives a ton of money to big execs in New York, New York, and a small number of pennies to the band. You care about the band? Grab some mp3's from iTunes or buy concert tickets. They'll see a much better percentage of your money, and that will definetly affect them.
5: The main reason I buy cds is that when I rip them, there are no pops, none of my tracks are cut short, there are no duplicates, and the tags are 100% correct. I can put them in a database, and magically all the songs by the same artist end up together.
Oh please. I could show you a couple thousand mp3's on my computer with no pops, breaks, blah blah, with perfect tags. When you buy cds, you get much better quality.
. In conclusion, I beg to differ.
Slashdot Mirror
the rule of doing it in moderation
Moderation definitely is key. To think that free blogs will die out is completely absurd as the idea of the 'paperless office' (well at least for the next 20-30 years or so).
But why do people try so hard to block ads? Why does it work so well in newspapers? Think about online ads. The more flashy, loud (figuratively and literally) and annoying they are, the more clicks they get. I think the market is just getting pushed too far. I never had a newspaper ad jump from the coupons page on top of the article I was reading on the front page (ie, popup), and i never saw any distracting movement, and certainly none making noise.
There will always be a market for ads, and I seriously doubt any browser will be powerful enough to stop them completely.
Take Spam for example. Hundreds (probably thousands or more) of programs have been written to reduce spam, and legislation has been passed to stop it, but it still works, and people still do it.
I think online advertising has just hit or is starting to hit a peak. I personally do not mind a stangant image on the side of a page, or even better a line of text in google's searches. I think over an extended period of time, public tolerance for annoying ads will invite enough ad blockers to get rid of 'shoot the monkey' and Savenow, but will still leave plenty of room for ads like Google.
The end is definitely not near, I just think there will be some settling point where people can be happy with a couple relevant, non-obnoxious ads on a pleasant article.
This is perfect! It'll be just as effective as the Interstate Commerce Act was to prevent short-haul railroads from charging unreasonable prices! I wonder if there's any phrase more general and less effective than "deceptive arts and practices."
They need so expand this to Drug Wars!
Which raises a question: if I'm selling fake drugs for real money, is this considered "drug money?"
A) Expiration of license to be determined by licenser at any time, but may be prematurely terminated by the licensee.
B) Extensive use of drugs or long periods of inactivity may void the software.
C) For optimal software performance, hardware should be kept at a temperature of 37 degrees C.
If you don't mind the extra weight, you always can use a second battery. Black and Decker had the right idea with their rechargeable batteries that worked in the screwdriver, drill, etc. Too bad they weren't very effective, hence never caught on.
I use an Apple Powerbook, and I get about 3 hours out of a charge as long as I'm not playing a DVD or anything particularly high-drain. Even better, the laptop has an internal battery that can put out enough power for a couple minutes when the laptop's asleep, even with no battery.
Basically, I can (er.. 'could hypothetically') close the lid (put to sleep), replace drained battery with a fresh one, and open it back up without even having to restart.
Personally, I seldom run out my whole battery without having power available, so extra batteries ($80-90 even on ebay, more from Apple store) aren't very economical for me.
On the other hand, if you regularly run through your whole battery cycle, I would definitely suggest getting another battery (ebay, computer show for your particular model). Not only will you have a 10-second-long 100% charge time, but on average you'll only run through about half the cycles on each battery, so they'll both last longer if you take care of them.
But I pay for HBO and Cinemax. It's only $10 a month.
stripped of their commercials, something not easily done with VCRs
well that's funny... my VCR has (..had) a Fast Forward button. Not like any company's really going to market to me at 4x with no sound.
On top of that, for my favorite movies that I grabbed from TV, I always taped a copy (via 2nd VCR), and I skipped over the recordings to make a them commercial free myself.
I don't like ads and never did. Right now, I use Firefox with Ad-blocker, so I view the web without ads. Similarly, I took content that was delivered to me anyway, and I removed parts that I didn't like.
Here's a quick recap:
Yesterday:
-tape from TV, tape from tape
-requires lots of hardware/cables and paying-attention time
Today:
-download from bittorrent using bandwidth I pay for anyway
-ads are already stripped for me, so I waste less time
Yeah, I go out of my way to not have to see commercials over and over again, but I always have. Now it just takes less time. But who says I never watch the ads in the first place? Almost every TV show I have on my computer I've seen on real TV at least once or twice (live, with ads). I always watch my favorite shows when they come on (ie Simpsons, sunday@8:00, live with commercials). Hell, I made an effort to watch the Super Bowl commercials, because I like them.
So what if I download lots of copyrighted material? Who says I'm doing this instead of buying it? Maybe I already saw the content with commercials (they get their cut), and I just want to watch it again without being solicited with the same crap, that they might not even sell anymore? I have a hard drive full of free movies, but then again, I have a drawer full of DVDs that I paid for.
So exactly who's complaining here? The advertisers have their money (I usually see commercials at least once, and buy their crap if it's worth it), MPAA gets their cut of my DVDs and movie tickets, and RIAA has their money from the pile of scratched CDs in my car.
The way I see it, Bittorrent is a tool to help me do the things I do anyway, but in less time, and more conveniently. Overall, it helps me enjoy the content more, which only encourages me to support the industry. Furthermore, I use Bittorrent to download legitimate files, such as anime, new linux distros, etc, so it has legitimate uses, not just ones that make me happy. Go Grokster!
Get a brand new PC!
For mp3s, games, instant messeging and an occasional paper!
[Honorable mention: porn]
So if a bunch of kids are getting up to 15 years in jail under the patriot act for pointing a single little dot at an airplane... what's the penalty for a whole ad banner?
Could this be considered Libel? It's not exactly written down. Oh well, another way to "Enhance your pen1s size!"
Actually, while Hydrogen does replace gasoline in your car, calling it 'fuel' is somewhat misleading.
Perhaps I should start by defining 'fuel', at least for the purposes used here. I consider 'fuel' a source of useful energy in the Earth. The absolute, indisputable answer here is oil. Other notable sources are Geothermal, Hydroelectric, Wind power, and solar power. Biomass (burning wood, or burning oils extracted from plants like peanuts) is another source.
For the purposes of cars, it is more preferable to think of Hydrogen as a 'battery', a portable energy source, not necessarily available from earth. Current 'batteries' are gasoline for gasoline engines, and chemical batteries (Alkaline, Nickel-Metal Hydride, car batteries), and others. Although AA batteries are not exactly found in nature, they're clean (on the consumer end), and very portable. However, no battery currently in existance is light, small, and cheap enough to really power cars with enough range and power to be widespread useful. That's why 99.999% of car owners don't have electric cars.
Anyway, having a hydrogen engine/reactor, and a tank full of Hydrogen is a much better source of portable energy than a traditional battery, and emissions from Hydrogen cars are MUCH cleaner than gasoline cars.
Here is where I get to the root of your question. The Hydrogen does have to come from somewhere. It's not readily available in any equivalent of an oil well, so it has to be produced. The #1 method of producing Hydrogen, or producing the electricity necessary to produce it, sadly.... is Oil.
However, there are advantages to producing the Hydrogen in a single-site plant as opposed to burning oil in cars everywhere. It will eliminate being stuck next to a tractor/trailor or bus emitting sickening/cancer-causing fumes. Toll collectors and most anyone that lives in the city should have cleaner air.
However, the ultimate goal here is to eliminate the oil as the fuel at the start of it all. Hopefully, sometime in the future, most or all of our energy needs will be satisfied exclusively by solar energy, hydroelectric power, geothermal, and the like.
Biomass poses an interesting potential for fuel. Biodiesel engines can run on crop-based oils, such as peanut oil, and soybean oil. Perhaps one day, excess crop land can be used to produce 'oil' instead of food. One can only wonder. Or write a science-fiction novel.
Have any of you (guys presumably) played Dead or Alive? I swear to god that is the most horrible, pointless, and retarded game ever.
On the other hand, it sold relatively well. And it did grab my attention for a considerable amount of time...
Exactly where/when do you claim macs running OSX 'randomly rebooting'? I've been running OSX for well over a year, and I've never had one of these 'random reboots?' Occasionally, when I let my computer sleep, unplugged for an extended period of time on low battery, when I plug it back in, I have to hold the power down to get it to boot up, presumably because of loss of power to memory. However, I have a windows laptop that does the exact same thing.... it's not a mac-specific problem.
Not once has my entire computer ever crashed in the middle of operation. I assume by random reboot, you mean something along the lines of a blue-screen, which I haven't seen/heard of since.
Next is ignorant users. Actually, Mac users know a lot more about using their computers than most windows users. Granted they're more detached from the actual computer operations, but who cares? They're much better using applications, which is what the concept of a GUI is based on. Ever heard the phrase "I just click on the e" or "my computer is slow maybe it'll go faster if I defrag it (for the 3rd time this week)"?
$100 for security holes? Dumbass. The upgrades are for extended features and bug fixes. Windows did this as Windows 98, and Windows ME. No new features, just bug fixes (and new bugs). Oh yeah, and no Time Commando.
Security Holes, my friend, are updated and patched automatically, similar to windows update, only much less frequent and urgent (due to OS being much more stable and having many fewer security holes), aa well as having smaller download sizes.
Mac OS being 'crash free' isn't quite accurate, but it's unquestionably the best OS out there. I ran Red Hat 8 for a while, and even the integrated Shoot-em-up game and the Penguin game crashed within a few minutes. Oh sorry, the applications disappeared. OpenOffice still has some miles to go until it can sync well with MS Office, and I wouldn't consider that bug-free either.
As for Windows, famous of IE and Outlook Express, I think I've said enough.
All in all, OS X is by far the most stable operating system there is. The only applications that crash more than once a month or so are IE, Powerpoint, and random beta versions.
Before you pretend you're better than any Mac User, I suggest you do some homework.
Has anyone seen that new poster advertising the IP Addresses of everyone they sued? Keep in mind they're getting at least a couple thousand dollars from each of those IP's, and there are quite a few of them.
All it really takes is a shitty-ass lawyer to take a couple hours (10 at very most) of his time to print some data, send a nasty letter to an ISP, send a nasty letter home, and BOOM, 3-4 figures of instant revenue.
Although the amount of simultaneous p2p users may not have been affected that much, I'd say they're doing a pretty decnet job of scaring a good nuumber of people.
But alas, let's pretend they're not scaring anyone. They're still suing a ton of teenagers for what is more or less their life savings or more, and that just goes to cash in the bank. The RIAA is not collapsing and it's not being threatened. For whoever hasn't noticed, CD sales are up this year.
The majority of the Losers List is companies/products that failed miserably and dumped a lot of money into something that's not paying off. RIAA seems to be excelling quite well. I'm probably preaching to the choir, but support your bands, buy theiir mp3's online, but STOP BUYING RECORDS.
Well, by calling them 'hogs', you imply these large video-file hosting clients are taking up more than their fair share of bandwidth. Maybe you don't realize that the people that run these servers PAY for the bandwidth. If they didn't use nearly the limit, they would choose another company or service with less limits and is cheaper.
Naturally, everyone chooses the lowest plan that fits their needs, so basically, by your definition, the only customers that really AREN'T hogs are the typical joe-user AOL Top-Speed Technology that only uses it to check his email.
Bottom line: hogs are paying customers. Bigger hogs are bigger paying. And uh, let's not forget that NO ONE that runs questionable servers would likely patronize an ISP that sells them out as little shits. Any questions?
Believe me, Speakeasy suing you is the least of your worries. Really, what can they do? Sue for damages? Maybe you made them lose $40 a month off of 12 people for a year? It's definitely a bite in the ass, but it's nothing to lose your house over.
However, you DO have much, much more to worry about. I wouldn't bet on your ISP sending hitmen to your house, but that's more than can be said for the MPAA or RIAA. All it takes is a couple people uploading a couple gigs worth of movies and music. If you can't track 'em down (and prove exactly who it is), your are F*CKED, my friend.
Of course, you would probably keep good records of who's using how much bandwidth, etc, but keep in mind you're a civilian, not a government agency or even a lawyer. Tracking down information of specific computers without any search warrants can be VERY difficult, and if you can't come up with them, chances are you're going to be writing a VERY LARGE check to a nasty 4-letter acronym.
Why is everyone so hardcore against getting these free iPods? Ok, so you pay your time instead of money. No one's fooling me, but what's wrong with it?
Fine, I made an email address specifically to receive spam from these companies. You know what? I don't even get spam from them. I get more spam from Barnes and Noble than I ever got from Gratis or their affiliates.
You sign up for an offer you don't want, and you cancel and it doesn't cost you anything! Boo freaking hoo, what are you whining about. Get your friends to do the same, and you get some free hardware. Don't bitch about the macroscopic scale how do they make money.... The point is, if you do your part, they do theirs. I've personally seen people with devices they've received. It's not a scam, and they're not fooling me.
Fine, it's not free, it's a legitimate business trade. You generate commissions for other people, and they generate hardware for you.
If you want to learn more, click her for and xbox
or click here. It's a great system, give it a whirl
I'm surprised there wasn't a Zelda demo on the site. Whenever there was a room of those Jumping guys that turned into bats when you stab them, the system would lag like hell if you made too many bats. Also if I remember correctly, those pancake guys (?) that ate your shields never did much for the framerate either. ...Finally, a better solution to killing those guys than the Magic Sword
-yeah my bad, forgot you could save $150 on your PC hardware by getting a better OS.... -sorry to say, but yeah, Macs still come stantard with Safari and internet explorer. IE's homepage is set to msn.com
Never mention your competitor? I don't think competitor is quite the word here. IE vs. Firefox is not really a competition either. The reason Coke sells better than Pepsi is because people have tried both, and they think "I like Coke better." The reason 90% or so (the vast majority) of poeple use Internet Explorer isn't because they think "I tried both and weighing the featurs of each, I choose IE."
It's much more of a matter of people (A) not hearing about Firefox, and (B) not using it because they don't know how.
Both can easily be solved with a 5-minute download and 30 seconds of explaining "popup blocker" and "safe browsing".
Back to 'never mention your competitor in advertising' is usually a bad idea because:
1) It recognizes the competition, implies that they are viable competitors, and creates awareness of them.
2) It credits/merits the competition, almost suggests there's a reason to choose their product.
I really don't feel that either of the two apply here.
A) IE is very recognized. I don't think there is anyone that uses the internet that doesn't know what it is.
B) Nobody 'chooses' IE. It is spoon-fed to everyone and most people either don't know better or don't care.
C) "Implies your product won't/can't stand up on its own merits" --Well, in a way it can't. The biggest problem with other browsers is lack of awareness. If you don't represent Firefox as 'an alternative to IE' you will not be likely to influence anyone but attuned computer users.
D) As for "= you have LOST" -- Either that, or 'are losing' or 'are behind'. EVERY PC and Mac comes standard with IE, and EVERY PC has it currently installed. The vast majority of people who use the internet use IE. Firefox has a long way to go.
All in all, Firefox is the best browser available. If you don't believe me, then you probably don't have The AdBlock Extention installed. For now, yell as loud as you can, "INTERNET EXPLORER SUCKS, USE FIREFOX". Seems to work pretty well for me.
Here's a great tool [plugin] to disable Pesky Flash on Firefox. It replaces the flash area with a white box with a button. If you really, really want to play the object, just click on it. Quality Product that eliminates distracting ads while still letting you play the movie if you really want to see it.
Yes. Good advice. Now convince the millions of retards that still click yes when promted "do you want to install and run ..." and can't figure out how to use Ad-Aware.
Welcome to the world of getting through to dense people.
Instructions:
1. Fill bathtub with water
2. Get in bathtub
3. Make sure laptop is plugged into A/C outlet
4. Put laptop on lap.
Water will remain cool enough to cool laptop and lap, but be warm enough for comfortable bath water.
Now all we need is a little laser to intercept them right before launch, then we'll be all set!
I think the words "Proven Wrong" are a bit strong in this case.
A hard drive crash doesnt erase my collection.
You mention "The main reason I buy cds is that when I rip them, there are no pops, none of my tracks are cut short, there are no duplicates, and the tags are 100% correct." Uh, last I checked, a hard drive crash would erase the music collection on your computer. I think you fail to realize what a gigantic task ripping can be with a lot of CDs. Burned cd's, backups, what have you get scratched, and aren't reliable. My factory made cd's will last much longer.
Heh, yeah, I'm sure. Try giving one of your extra advanced, armor-plated factory-coated CDs to your little sister for the day. She'll make short work of it. And Backups not reliable? Eh, might want to double-check the definition of backup, cause I can burn stuff to DVDs, put them in a safe case and give them to my friend, so even if my house burns down, my data is fine.
Well, but then again I guess you have your fire-resistant "factory made" CDs.
stealing their cds instead of buying really does affect them.
First of all, who said anything about instead? I download a lot of music, but last I checked, "downloading" does not equal "not buying". In fact, if it weren't for downloading, I wouldn't even like half the bands I do today. I don't know where you find all your music, but last time I was at Circuit City and Best Buy, they didn't have much underground punk for sale.
Second, don't fail to consider that there are other ways to support your favorite group than buying their CD. Buying the CD gives a ton of money to big execs in New York, New York, and a small number of pennies to the band. You care about the band? Grab some mp3's from iTunes or buy concert tickets. They'll see a much better percentage of your money, and that will definetly affect them. 5: The main reason I buy cds is that when I rip them, there are no pops, none of my tracks are cut short, there are no duplicates, and the tags are 100% correct. I can put them in a database, and magically all the songs by the same artist end up together.
Oh please. I could show you a couple thousand mp3's on my computer with no pops, breaks, blah blah, with perfect tags.
When you buy cds, you get much better quality. . In conclusion, I beg to differ.