'Here were these contracts being awarded based on their ability to keep the data safe.'"
Diversion wrapped in a diversion cloaked in a diversion. I bet the spies who read the contracts went out of their ways to break the procedures outlined in them, wasting precious time and resources instead of just getting em on the cheap in Africa. Where is your Isser Dzerzhinsky now?
I've found it kinda crashy with some of the apps I need. I assume it is the apps' fault, but, well, stuff crashes in ways it doesn't on xfce, otherwise I would've stuck with it.
That, and also -- while there is a huge wealth of desktop environments on linux, most of the development on most of them stops right about the time they start to get useful. At that point, the developer community loses interest and switches to something else, leaving an excellent prototype, but a worthless product; and a difficult transition path for users who have spent time to get used to the old framework and now have to switch to the new one, which, often, doesn't have the two or three features that made working on that environment a pleasure.
At least I was lucky to stomp on windowmaker and xfce, which are a pleasant exception to that rule. And I would have stayed with windowmaker had development not stalled some years ago:(
Propaganda and convenience. Hollywood's been manufacturing the propaganda for the US gubermint for a long time. Small wonder the gubermint will throw them a bone back when asked. And covering it under "national security" totally removes any need to _work_ to justify the law.
Because I can't use a browser without the vimperator extension anymore:) Being able to surf the web without a mouse has been a big relief for my shoulder pain.
I'd agree with your point that vocal proponents of the status quo change on slashdot could be harsher towards people who pirate from companies doing the "right" thing. I'll remember that.
However, whatever harsh words I have for pirating, these pale with what comes to mind when I see the current state of the world in which copyright and related rights and punishments for violating those get extended beyond any reasonable measure is squarely with the industry.
And, if any kind of, well, reconciliation is to happen, both sides should take a step back.
Too bad I have already posted, and I can't mod you up though, your argument should have gotten more eyeballs.
While I'm playing devil's advocate to a degree, I do download something occasionally, and I find the download "services" to be much more convenient and user-friendly than every other "legal" alternative I have used, at least for films. So I hope the "legal" services approach similar level of user-friendliness some day.
Besides, "legal" by itself isn't much of a virtue. "Illegal" downloads have so far been more a force for good than evil. If file sharers hadn't created the economic incentives that hit the music copyright owners repeatedly and drove the message "adapt or die" home, we wouldn't have seen the Apple music store.
The people on the other side aren't pure evil either. But for things to work out, both sides have to approach each other, and I don't see the "legal" side making a lot of moves in that direction.
Not really. Information only wants to be cheap enough, and that includes transaction costs.
I don't watch that many films, but when I do, my requirements are as follows: I don't want to decide early on what I want to watch (ideally, I want to make up my mind at dinner, and watch it after the coffee), I don't want to spend more time on getting what I want then the time spent deciding what to see (i.e. buh-bye shop), and I want to be able to have at least two alternatives for the evening, in case I get bored with my first choice.
So, in my heart and mind the situation looks like this:
(a) I can download legally: There is little choice in services, they have various requirements for software (meaning it is limited to OS and browser I don't use), they have ridiculously little choice, half of that without language support I require and the price for what is available is also kind of high (a movie download cost about $20-ish last I bothered to check).
(b) I can downloading illegally: I can choose OS and player as I see fit, the availability of content is unsurpassed, even rare films, which will never make it legally here, or have been out of commercial circulation for decades are available; and there is usually someone helpful who has provided subtitles in my language, and in the language of the significant other, for even the weirdest movie and language. besides, it is really fast.
So, again, why should I bother with the "legal" downloads? Why should I put up with crappy customer service? Just because someone bribed some politico types and bought themselves a monopoly? It isn't like the "legal" provider cannot do for me for the same $20 what any private tracker does for free. If they would, I'd be happy to subscribe. I'd be even happier to watch for $5, or (less happy probably) for a fixed monthly subscription of sorts.
It is so simple to win my heart and mind, that I am at a huge loss as to why it is still unwon. The problem isn't it is hard. The problem is no one wants to win me. Well, if you suck, I'll damn right go where they treat me better.
Nope, it is not a differing view on "society", but rather a differing view on "good".
For the society outside of the corporations, "good" is, generally, more creativity, i.e. less copyright. Less copyright means less monopoly, and less monopoly provides generally a better allocation of the resources of society. Of course, it'll make those lawyers, who want to succeed in the creative business work harder, but ain't that the American way anyway? Incidentally, this freedom may make people who invest in art more focused on the art itself as opposed to taking the easy way out -- owning copyrights and doing a failed remake after remake.
For the corporations, "good" is exactly the opposite. A corporation doesn't give a damn about what is good for society, as long as it benefits the corporate bottom line. Monopoly is the best way to insure a bottom line, especially in the view of the corporate owners (see, e.g. concepts like "economic moat"). So, a corporation will allocate resources not for new art, but for protection of lucrative copyrights, and for politics. Neither of which is good for art, or society.
If you take a look, you'll see that's exactly what's been happening in the decades since the ifpies and the wipos of the world came about.
Also, spooks could be more motivated to win a competition run by NSA compared to the people who have the citizenship and background to compete for a job instead.
True observation, but the *AA companies are a part of the propaganda arm of the big scary government, just as the big weapons manufacturers are a part of the war machine of the same government. They are not "better" or "worse", they are the same thing;)
What's the problem? Your hands, unlike your weener are more likely to get dirty, and less likely to contract a disease -- unlike the lining of the pee hole, the hands don't have mucous membrane to let bacteria and what not get through. Besides, your urine is sterile (some recommend you dress wounds with it if nothing else is available). So, ideally, while you should wash before and after, before seems more important.
As for anecodotes -- I know someone who got a handjob from a girlfriend with a dirty hand once on a trip.
When the party got to a doctor 2 days later, he was swollen, in pain, and needed a long and invasive treatment to get well.
In my neighborhood I have a last-mile fiber provided by a government-regulated monopoly, to which I pay a government-established fee (small).
The monopoly cannot provide uplink services; these are provided by a ton of ISPs over the monopoly's fiber. I know of about 5-6 such ISPs, and I am sure there are at least a few dozens.
I am paying a total of about $40 a month for 100Mbps.
BTW, a cuecat-like technology (2D barcodes) are alive and well in Japan. All mobile phones support them, you can scan them off all kinds of stuff, and then go to a URL (if the code encodes a URL).
Not sure how is the rest of the world outside doing wrt 2D barcodes, but they are definitely commonplace here, and very useful.
Slashdot Mirror
'Here were these contracts being awarded based on their ability to keep the data safe.'"
Diversion wrapped in a diversion cloaked in a diversion. I bet the spies who read the contracts went out of their ways to break the procedures outlined in them, wasting precious time and resources instead of just getting em on the cheap in Africa. Where is your Isser Dzerzhinsky now?
I've found it kinda crashy with some of the apps I need. I assume it is the apps' fault, but, well, stuff crashes in ways it doesn't on xfce, otherwise I would've stuck with it.
I'll give the beta a try, I hope it works for me.
Etoile is ... well, different :)
In case someone's interested, it is available free here:
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2009/06/19/0904101106.abstract
Also, I meant stumble upon, not stomp ;)
Don't want to leave you folks with the impression that I am somehow responsible for the state of the linux desktop.
That, and also -- while there is a huge wealth of desktop environments on linux, most of the development on most of them stops right about the time they start to get useful. At that point, the developer community loses interest and switches to something else, leaving an excellent prototype, but a worthless product; and a difficult transition path for users who have spent time to get used to the old framework and now have to switch to the new one, which, often, doesn't have the two or three features that made working on that environment a pleasure.
At least I was lucky to stomp on windowmaker and xfce, which are a pleasant exception to that rule. And I would have stayed with windowmaker had development not stalled some years ago :(
Propaganda and convenience. Hollywood's been manufacturing the propaganda for the US gubermint for a long time. Small wonder the gubermint will throw them a bone back when asked. And covering it under "national security" totally removes any need to _work_ to justify the law.
Emacs sucks :)
Why? I run a very small custom linux off a read-only flash on a very-very old panasonic notebook whose HDD burned accidentally.
I like it because it is still smaller than a netbook, has a touch screen, and the battery lasts 7 hours.
I couldn't care less if someone compromises my current session (even if they could), as I'll be starting afresh from the flash rom next time anyway.
Besides, I could very well be running root with UID 1000 instead of 0, how would you know?
Anyway, back on topic, the new firefox isn't the memory hog it used to be, at least on my system.
Because I can't use a browser without the vimperator extension anymore :)
Being able to surf the web without a mouse has been a big relief for my shoulder pain.
Well, and here's mine, after half a day of heavy usage:
PID USER PR NI VIRT RES SHR S %CPU %MEM TIME+ COMMAND
8745 root 20 0 267m 106m 22m S 9.3 10.6 2:38.87 firefox-bin
5242 root 19 -1 334m 24m 8540 S 1.3 2.4 0:36.26 X
5405 root 20 0 37520 11m 8408 S 0.0 1.1 0:01.16 xfdesktop
5400 root 20 0 19468 10m 6964 S 0.0 1.0 0:02.72 xfce4-panel
5398 root 20 0 18600 9272 6696 S 0.0 0.9 0:00.80 xfwm4
Well, I dare you then. Post your address, and let's see what happens ;)
I'd agree with your point that vocal proponents of the status quo change on slashdot could be harsher towards people who pirate from companies doing the "right" thing. I'll remember that.
However, whatever harsh words I have for pirating, these pale with what comes to mind when I see the current state of the world in which copyright and related rights and punishments for violating those get extended beyond any reasonable measure is squarely with the industry.
And, if any kind of, well, reconciliation is to happen, both sides should take a step back.
Too bad I have already posted, and I can't mod you up though, your argument should have gotten more eyeballs.
While I'm playing devil's advocate to a degree, I do download something occasionally, and I find the download "services" to be much more convenient and user-friendly than every other "legal" alternative I have used, at least for films. So I hope the "legal" services approach similar level of user-friendliness some day.
Besides, "legal" by itself isn't much of a virtue. "Illegal" downloads have so far been more a force for good than evil. If file sharers hadn't created the economic incentives that hit the music copyright owners repeatedly and drove the message "adapt or die" home, we wouldn't have seen the Apple music store.
The people on the other side aren't pure evil either. But for things to work out, both sides have to approach each other, and I don't see the "legal" side making a lot of moves in that direction.
Not really. Information only wants to be cheap enough, and that includes transaction costs.
I don't watch that many films, but when I do, my requirements are as follows: I don't want to decide early on what I want to watch (ideally, I want to make up my mind at dinner, and watch it after the coffee), I don't want to spend more time on getting what I want then the time spent deciding what to see (i.e. buh-bye shop), and I want to be able to have at least two alternatives for the evening, in case I get bored with my first choice.
So, in my heart and mind the situation looks like this:
(a) I can download legally: There is little choice in services, they have various requirements for software (meaning it is limited to OS and browser I don't use), they have ridiculously little choice, half of that without language support I require and the price for what is available is also kind of high (a movie download cost about $20-ish last I bothered to check).
(b) I can downloading illegally: I can choose OS and player as I see fit, the availability of content is unsurpassed, even rare films, which will never make it legally here, or have been out of commercial circulation for decades are available; and there is usually someone helpful who has provided subtitles in my language, and in the language of the significant other, for even the weirdest movie and language. besides, it is really fast.
So, again, why should I bother with the "legal" downloads? Why should I put up with crappy customer service? Just because someone bribed some politico types and bought themselves a monopoly? It isn't like the "legal" provider cannot do for me for the same $20 what any private tracker does for free. If they would, I'd be happy to subscribe. I'd be even happier to watch for $5, or (less happy probably) for a fixed monthly subscription of sorts.
It is so simple to win my heart and mind, that I am at a huge loss as to why it is still unwon. The problem isn't it is hard. The problem is no one wants to win me. Well, if you suck, I'll damn right go where they treat me better.
Oh, but they don't lie. They maximize investor value. It is not a disease, it is corporate responsibility :)
Nope, it is not a differing view on "society", but rather a differing view on "good".
For the society outside of the corporations, "good" is, generally, more creativity, i.e. less copyright. Less copyright means less monopoly, and less monopoly provides generally a better allocation of the resources of society. Of course, it'll make those lawyers, who want to succeed in the creative business work harder, but ain't that the American way anyway? Incidentally, this freedom may make people who invest in art more focused on the art itself as opposed to taking the easy way out -- owning copyrights and doing a failed remake after remake.
For the corporations, "good" is exactly the opposite. A corporation doesn't give a damn about what is good for society, as long as it benefits the corporate bottom line. Monopoly is the best way to insure a bottom line, especially in the view of the corporate owners (see, e.g. concepts like "economic moat"). So, a corporation will allocate resources not for new art, but for protection of lucrative copyrights, and for politics. Neither of which is good for art, or society.
If you take a look, you'll see that's exactly what's been happening in the decades since the ifpies and the wipos of the world came about.
"Punished"? And I thought it was about "leadership" and "taking responsibility".
Also, spooks could be more motivated to win a competition run by NSA compared to the people who have the citizenship and background to compete for a job instead.
True observation, but the *AA companies are a part of the propaganda arm of the big scary government, just as the big weapons manufacturers are a part of the war machine of the same government. They are not "better" or "worse", they are the same thing ;)
What's the problem? Your hands, unlike your weener are more likely to get dirty, and less likely to contract a disease -- unlike the lining of the pee hole, the hands don't have mucous membrane to let bacteria and what not get through. Besides, your urine is sterile (some recommend you dress wounds with it if nothing else is available). So, ideally, while you should wash before and after, before seems more important.
As for anecodotes -- I know someone who got a handjob from a girlfriend with a dirty hand once on a trip.
When the party got to a doctor 2 days later, he was swollen, in pain, and needed a long and invasive treatment to get well.
Wife's folks live in a rural area and have about the same choice -- fiber or DSL -- as we have.
Japan, but the model would work anywhere.
In my neighborhood I have a last-mile fiber provided by a government-regulated monopoly, to which I pay a government-established fee (small).
The monopoly cannot provide uplink services; these are provided by a ton of ISPs over the monopoly's fiber. I know of about 5-6 such ISPs, and I am sure there are at least a few dozens.
I am paying a total of about $40 a month for 100Mbps.
Man, you try too hard. I tried the simple "what time is it" and I got:
"Wolfram|Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input.Tips for good results Â"
Tips for good results: cut down the hype.
BTW, a cuecat-like technology (2D barcodes) are alive and well in Japan. All mobile phones support them, you can scan them off all kinds of stuff, and then go to a URL (if the code encodes a URL).
Not sure how is the rest of the world outside doing wrt 2D barcodes, but they are definitely commonplace here, and very useful.