My problem isn't with small playlists. I use them all the time. My problem is that these people have an mp3 player that costs hundreds of dollars and can hold 10, 20, even 40 gbs- and they only put 6 songs on the freaking thing. Even at a ridiculously high bitrate that's a miniscule fraction of the space available.
For example, a lot of people use it to go to work, for commuting. I found that they use the same music on a regular basis. They will often play the same half-dozen tunes for three months
I find this completely inane. Why would people buy such an expensive device if they're only going to listen to the same 6 songs over the course of 3 months? Maybe it's a little more confusing as a musician and serious music listener.
Personally I have a 40gb mp3 player, over 30 of those gigs taken up. I would go insane if my options were limited even in the slightest.
It's funny that you mention this. I actually would like a program that provides the functionality of Weatherbug but all of them seem to be spyware. Can anyone help? (and yes, I know I could just go to any decent weather site, but I like being able to see it in the system tray. Not to mention I'm lazy).
Thats why they are still illegally traiding music files on p2p! Its not like P2P users are stupid enough to open themselves to litigat..... Umm, wait a minute...
Okay, I see your point, but it's arguable that a person who signs up with the RIAA's amnesty program is much more likely to be the target of legal action than one of millions of Kazaa users, even if they're sharing thousands of files.
People aren't falling for the RIAA's line of bullshit. It's somewhat reassuring to know that only 1/1000th of one percent of the p2p using public aren't stupid enough to completely open themselves up to litigation. I wonder what kind of legal steps the RIAA might take after this development, though (increasing, decreasing prosecutions), and what might happen to those unfortunate 800-odd folks who did fall for it.
The CEO's make a much many more times the payrate than the workers than they did in the 70's (I think in the 70's it was about 10 times, now it's about 40 times).
Unfortunately, it's always been much worse than you said. According to
this article: "In 1980, CEOs made 42 times the pay of average factory workers. In 1990, they made 85 times as much. By 1999, CEOs made 475 times as much as workers."
I am grieving that the satellite exploring jupiter is dieing. How should I be happy with a satellite that is exploring saturn? I nominate Galelio for nobel prize in science.
You will understand if Galileo is unable to make it to the ceremony, I hope.
Some bright young lad offered your point at a Chomsky lecture, to which he replied "Well the quality of live for slaves leading up to the civil war improved, is that supposed to mean slavery is ok?"
I heard that one, and man, is Chomsky a tough debater. He was ruthless with that kid (whose opinions didn't sound very well thought-out to begin with), comparing his argument that rising standards of living justified capitalist inequality with actual arguments that were made for slavery and Stalinism.
Even if they were doing that, the source would be rendered moot if they prevented Joe Windows User from using p2p apps. The amount of people getting it from irc is miniscule compared to Kazaa, and they'll cripple most users' ability to download movies if they go after p2p since most will give up and go to the movies or the video store rather than learn an entirely different method of downloading. Doing this obviously won't get everyone but it'll be enough to satisfy the movie industry goons who don't know much about how these systems work anyway.
It's not really important to them where the actual source of the movies is. They realize it would be too expensive and complicated for them to go after anyone on IRC or Usenet. The average user (meaning almost everyone) who "pirates" movies is using a p2p program such as Kazaa, and that's who they aim to stop- those computer-literate enough to know how to download files from newsgroups or find them on IRC are enough of a fringe group not to warrant legal harassment. They're picking their battles just like the RIAA although they aren't shooting themselves in the foot like the record companies by suing everyone left and right.
How likely is it that the leaks came from the guys in those guilt-trip anti-piracy ads the MPAA is putting before movies now? Maybe some desperately needed the cash that the ads offered and felt like putting their studio's work up on p2p networks was penance for shilling for their bosses.
A great resource on the subject of media consolidation is The Media Monopoly by Ben Bagdikian. Also this site is an excellent collection of links related to this subject.
Okay, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be evasive, I just dislike them... they just bother me. I haven't really thought through what the reasons might be to be quite honest but just seeing them annoys me like a fly that won't quit hovering around me. If I ever manage to figure out what it is about them that pesters me I'll be perfectly happy to tell you.
When I posted previously they hadn't added the link describing the actual ads. Notice the original article didn't describe what the ads would be like- I just assumed they'd be your standard annoying ad banner for some unrelated product or service. It makes more sense to advertise related products, although admittedly it bothers me whether it's relevant or not.
Mandrake is considered the best/most common distro for beginners, right? Most people with any degree of computer literacy can tell you what adware is (good luck finding anyone who doesn't mind it, though). Wouldn't this simply turn the average user curious about Linux off from Mandrake and more into Lindows or any other alternative geared toward migrating Windows users? Or, even worse, possibly turn them off from switching altogether if they don't know there are any alternatives?
> I would hate to have to relive those all of those "You can enlarge your penis!!" moments, or once again be haunted by "Britney XXX HOT and young CAUGHT J-Lo action action!!".
Fortunately, none of those will be accepted. This'll leave room for the REALLY good stuff, like offers from Nigerians that'll make us millionaires!
I guess it's neat to have so much functionality in one little device (the criticisms of the review notwithstanding) but I find that that the stupid B+W games on my standard Nokia are more than enough distraction if I'm bored and I have my phone with me. In fact, I'm really addicted to Bantumi even though I can beat it easily. Sometimes that's all you need to pass the time.
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My problem isn't with small playlists. I use them all the time. My problem is that these people have an mp3 player that costs hundreds of dollars and can hold 10, 20, even 40 gbs- and they only put 6 songs on the freaking thing. Even at a ridiculously high bitrate that's a miniscule fraction of the space available.
I find this completely inane. Why would people buy such an expensive device if they're only going to listen to the same 6 songs over the course of 3 months? Maybe it's a little more confusing as a musician and serious music listener. Personally I have a 40gb mp3 player, over 30 of those gigs taken up. I would go insane if my options were limited even in the slightest.
It's funny that you mention this. I actually would like a program that provides the functionality of Weatherbug but all of them seem to be spyware. Can anyone help? (and yes, I know I could just go to any decent weather site, but I like being able to see it in the system tray. Not to mention I'm lazy).
Napster doesn't steal MP3s, I steal MP3s.
That was my point. A person who signs up for the "amnesty" list is far more likely to be the target of legal action than Joe Random User on Kazaa.
Okay, I see your point, but it's arguable that a person who signs up with the RIAA's amnesty program is much more likely to be the target of legal action than one of millions of Kazaa users, even if they're sharing thousands of files.
People aren't falling for the RIAA's line of bullshit. It's somewhat reassuring to know that only 1/1000th of one percent of the p2p using public aren't stupid enough to completely open themselves up to litigation. I wonder what kind of legal steps the RIAA might take after this development, though (increasing, decreasing prosecutions), and what might happen to those unfortunate 800-odd folks who did fall for it.
Unfortunately, it's always been much worse than you said. According to this article: "In 1980, CEOs made 42 times the pay of average factory workers. In 1990, they made 85 times as much. By 1999, CEOs made 475 times as much as workers."
You will understand if Galileo is unable to make it to the ceremony, I hope.
I heard that one, and man, is Chomsky a tough debater. He was ruthless with that kid (whose opinions didn't sound very well thought-out to begin with), comparing his argument that rising standards of living justified capitalist inequality with actual arguments that were made for slavery and Stalinism.
> By the inch?
Man, you give 'em an inch, they take a mile, don't they?
I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss what he says. If all music becomes as shitty as what the RIAA puts out, I'll fucking kill somebody.
"It's important to have a job that makes a difference, boys; that's why I manually masturbate caged animals for artificial insemination." - Clerks
Even if they were doing that, the source would be rendered moot if they prevented Joe Windows User from using p2p apps. The amount of people getting it from irc is miniscule compared to Kazaa, and they'll cripple most users' ability to download movies if they go after p2p since most will give up and go to the movies or the video store rather than learn an entirely different method of downloading. Doing this obviously won't get everyone but it'll be enough to satisfy the movie industry goons who don't know much about how these systems work anyway.
It's not really important to them where the actual source of the movies is. They realize it would be too expensive and complicated for them to go after anyone on IRC or Usenet. The average user (meaning almost everyone) who "pirates" movies is using a p2p program such as Kazaa, and that's who they aim to stop- those computer-literate enough to know how to download files from newsgroups or find them on IRC are enough of a fringe group not to warrant legal harassment. They're picking their battles just like the RIAA although they aren't shooting themselves in the foot like the record companies by suing everyone left and right.
What I'd like to know is what makes seven years such a significant milestone, as opposed to say 8 or 10 years.
How likely is it that the leaks came from the guys in those guilt-trip anti-piracy ads the MPAA is putting before movies now? Maybe some desperately needed the cash that the ads offered and felt like putting their studio's work up on p2p networks was penance for shilling for their bosses.
A great resource on the subject of media consolidation is The Media Monopoly by Ben Bagdikian. Also this site is an excellent collection of links related to this subject.
>>obviously not produced by an RIAA affiliate. >>Really. Name one cd with 5 good songs.
> Rush, Moving Pictures
Excellent choice.
I would've said Hemispheres but there's only 4 songs on that one...
Okay, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be evasive, I just dislike them... they just bother me. I haven't really thought through what the reasons might be to be quite honest but just seeing them annoys me like a fly that won't quit hovering around me. If I ever manage to figure out what it is about them that pesters me I'll be perfectly happy to tell you.
I meant if I were installing the software, it would personally bother me.
When I posted previously they hadn't added the link describing the actual ads. Notice the original article didn't describe what the ads would be like- I just assumed they'd be your standard annoying ad banner for some unrelated product or service. It makes more sense to advertise related products, although admittedly it bothers me whether it's relevant or not.
Mandrake is considered the best/most common distro for beginners, right? Most people with any degree of computer literacy can tell you what adware is (good luck finding anyone who doesn't mind it, though). Wouldn't this simply turn the average user curious about Linux off from Mandrake and more into Lindows or any other alternative geared toward migrating Windows users? Or, even worse, possibly turn them off from switching altogether if they don't know there are any alternatives?
> I would hate to have to relive those all of those "You can enlarge your penis!!" moments, or once again be haunted by "Britney XXX HOT and young CAUGHT J-Lo action action!!".
Fortunately, none of those will be accepted. This'll leave room for the REALLY good stuff, like offers from Nigerians that'll make us millionaires!
I guess it's neat to have so much functionality in one little device (the criticisms of the review notwithstanding) but I find that that the stupid B+W games on my standard Nokia are more than enough distraction if I'm bored and I have my phone with me. In fact, I'm really addicted to Bantumi even though I can beat it easily. Sometimes that's all you need to pass the time.