If push comes to shove, IBM. They have a very similar product in their Likeminds recommendation engine, which they bought from Macromedia in 2000. Likeminds has been around since, I think, 1998. I think they've got a pretty good prior art case on their hands.
People bomb abortion clinics and kill those doctors.
People grab an innocent man who was in a bar in Wyoming, beat him, tie him to a fence and leave him to die.
These people are extremists, yet you seem to think that only people committing acts of terror under the guise of Islam are Extremists.
I'm not standing up for them, but I'm sick and tired of racism being disguised as patriotism. In addition, I don't mean to insinuate that you are a racist. I just try to nip things like that in the bud whereever I see them.
Just my beliefs, not to claim that mine are superiors to yours.
Well, at least where I am, abortion isn't illegal. But yes, I speed. I turn right on red, sometimes illegally. I don't run red lights, so the cameras don't bother me. I know you weren't looking for specific issues, but I wanted to make the point that I'm not some golden boy.
In all those cases, and in any case like that, if I get stopped and ticketed, or whatever the punishment is, I don't fight it unless I know I'm innocent. I know I messed up, and I have to deal with the consequences.
As for your questioning my blanket statement, I understand that. I do my best to choose my words carefully so that I don't come across as a hypocrite. If I make a blanket statement, there's a good chance that I mean exactly what I say.
I totally agree with you, and it causes me no small amount of internal strife when I must balance the belief of the right to privacy and the right for copyright owners to protect those copyrights. They're obviously not mutually exclusive, even if under our current system, enforcing them might be.
Call me an idealist here, but that's why you have elected officials (you do have elected officials in Canada, right?) If you're so upset about the tax, write your elected official and work to have the taxes repealed.
You can say that it doesn't matter, that the industry holds too much sway, but if you're pissed about something, take action. Don't just whine about it.
That's the most blatant straw-man argument I've ever seen.
They aren't defending it ANY way they please. If they were, why wouldn't they just shoot the people sharing music with a sniper rifle? Because that doesn't make a damn bit of sense. They are acting within their legal system. If you're right, and copyrights are "wrong" then they'll lose. If not, deal with it, or move to a Communist country.
Frankly, I think piracy is the worst thing to happen to computing. Ever. I'm all for fair use, but piracy isn't fair use. If it weren't for piracy, the US Government wouldn't be trying to put DRM on every computer created.
Go ahead, CRIA. Sue away. Get some of the crap music off the Internet. One less bratty 16 year old sharing Britney Spears.
I know piracy will never end, and that it will be the first true test of every new medium--it always is--but it still sucks, and it's ruining it for the law-abiding citizens out there.
Why would it be wrong to want to protect something into which you've invested a lot of money, in the case of the label, and in the case of the artist, emotion, hard work, and time?
I couldn't agree more with this sentiment. It is irrelevant whether or not you think CDs cost too much--if you pirate music, you're breaking the law, and it doesn't matter whether or not you knew that. Ignorance isn't an excuse.
If you break the law, don't get pissed if you get caught.
Well, it could be that as purchaser for his branch, he is buying the CDs from a main corporate distributor for the store, and it has already added its standard markup.
That's just a guess though. It could also be that, like you say, there are spikes and dips - mostly a function of the artist and how much the label believes they can suck you for. Most big chains don't have that spike or dip phenomenon, and may simply even out their prices.
Again, these are just guesses.
The reason you can purchase them much cheaper at places like Best Buy and Target is because they're actually losing money on CD sales. Their philosophy is simple, and in my opnion, genius: if we offer a hot commodity (cheap tunes), they will purchase other crap from us, too.
I have a friend that is purchasing manager for the local branch of a chain record store. He told me that dreck like Eminem and 50 Cent cost the STORES approximately $15 per disc.
So you can see how big chains lose money on CD sales, and why they are willing to do so. Well, from everything I've heard, *were* willing to do. I've heard rumors (granted, nothing more, but from trusted sources) that Best Buy (and one can extrapolate other chains from this argument) are worried that they're losing SO much money, that they're going to stop selling CDs. Again, that is just rumor mills.
It doesn't affect me, personally, because I refuse to purchase music from any band on an RIAA label because a) I disagree with their litigation process, and b) they put out shit in CD form. Pure, unfiltered, still-steaming-fresh-from-the-cow's-asshole-to-you r-plate fecal matter.
The problem is IBM only hires the top 5% of any given graduating class. Basically if you don't have a 3.75+ GPA, forget about it.
I beg to differ. I graduated with a 2.97 GPA and I'm doing all right as a Software Engineer at IBM.
Slashdot Mirror
care to predict who exactly is going to do this?
If push comes to shove, IBM. They have a very similar product in their Likeminds recommendation engine, which they bought from Macromedia in 2000. Likeminds has been around since, I think, 1998. I think they've got a pretty good prior art case on their hands.
People bomb abortion clinics and kill those doctors. People grab an innocent man who was in a bar in Wyoming, beat him, tie him to a fence and leave him to die. These people are extremists, yet you seem to think that only people committing acts of terror under the guise of Islam are Extremists. I'm not standing up for them, but I'm sick and tired of racism being disguised as patriotism. In addition, I don't mean to insinuate that you are a racist. I just try to nip things like that in the bud whereever I see them. Just my beliefs, not to claim that mine are superiors to yours.
Marvelous! 3.78 Gold Stars for you.
Well, at least where I am, abortion isn't illegal. But yes, I speed. I turn right on red, sometimes illegally. I don't run red lights, so the cameras don't bother me. I know you weren't looking for specific issues, but I wanted to make the point that I'm not some golden boy.
In all those cases, and in any case like that, if I get stopped and ticketed, or whatever the punishment is, I don't fight it unless I know I'm innocent. I know I messed up, and I have to deal with the consequences.
As for your questioning my blanket statement, I understand that. I do my best to choose my words carefully so that I don't come across as a hypocrite. If I make a blanket statement, there's a good chance that I mean exactly what I say.
I totally agree with you, and it causes me no small amount of internal strife when I must balance the belief of the right to privacy and the right for copyright owners to protect those copyrights. They're obviously not mutually exclusive, even if under our current system, enforcing them might be.
In that case, I'll always fight for privacy.
Call me an idealist here, but that's why you have elected officials (you do have elected officials in Canada, right?) If you're so upset about the tax, write your elected official and work to have the taxes repealed.
You can say that it doesn't matter, that the industry holds too much sway, but if you're pissed about something, take action. Don't just whine about it.
That's the most blatant straw-man argument I've ever seen. They aren't defending it ANY way they please. If they were, why wouldn't they just shoot the people sharing music with a sniper rifle? Because that doesn't make a damn bit of sense. They are acting within their legal system. If you're right, and copyrights are "wrong" then they'll lose. If not, deal with it, or move to a Communist country. Frankly, I think piracy is the worst thing to happen to computing. Ever. I'm all for fair use, but piracy isn't fair use. If it weren't for piracy, the US Government wouldn't be trying to put DRM on every computer created. Go ahead, CRIA. Sue away. Get some of the crap music off the Internet. One less bratty 16 year old sharing Britney Spears. I know piracy will never end, and that it will be the first true test of every new medium--it always is--but it still sucks, and it's ruining it for the law-abiding citizens out there.
Why would it be wrong to want to protect something into which you've invested a lot of money, in the case of the label, and in the case of the artist, emotion, hard work, and time?
I couldn't agree more with this sentiment. It is irrelevant whether or not you think CDs cost too much--if you pirate music, you're breaking the law, and it doesn't matter whether or not you knew that. Ignorance isn't an excuse. If you break the law, don't get pissed if you get caught.
Wrong administration for THAT argument, bucko.
In related news, the US Government changes the official resolution of all desktops to 640x480, 256 colors.
Taxing email makes baby Jesus cry. You don't want to do that, now do you Senator?
Ah, the joys of calling from your neighbors' phones.
"Excuse me, could I borrow a cup of sugar and use your phone for a second? It's toll-free, don't worry."
Well, it could be that as purchaser for his branch, he is buying the CDs from a main corporate distributor for the store, and it has already added its standard markup. That's just a guess though. It could also be that, like you say, there are spikes and dips - mostly a function of the artist and how much the label believes they can suck you for. Most big chains don't have that spike or dip phenomenon, and may simply even out their prices. Again, these are just guesses.
The reason you can purchase them much cheaper at places like Best Buy and Target is because they're actually losing money on CD sales. Their philosophy is simple, and in my opnion, genius: if we offer a hot commodity (cheap tunes), they will purchase other crap from us, too.
u r-plate fecal matter.
I have a friend that is purchasing manager for the local branch of a chain record store. He told me that dreck like Eminem and 50 Cent cost the STORES approximately $15 per disc.
So you can see how big chains lose money on CD sales, and why they are willing to do so. Well, from everything I've heard, *were* willing to do. I've heard rumors (granted, nothing more, but from trusted sources) that Best Buy (and one can extrapolate other chains from this argument) are worried that they're losing SO much money, that they're going to stop selling CDs. Again, that is just rumor mills.
It doesn't affect me, personally, because I refuse to purchase music from any band on an RIAA label because a) I disagree with their litigation process, and b) they put out shit in CD form. Pure, unfiltered, still-steaming-fresh-from-the-cow's-asshole-to-yo
The problem is IBM only hires the top 5% of any given graduating class. Basically if you don't have a 3.75+ GPA, forget about it. I beg to differ. I graduated with a 2.97 GPA and I'm doing all right as a Software Engineer at IBM.