It's Slashdot so I feel a Star Trek slant might be in order:)
In Star Trek we live in a world of tolerance - where all nations and cultures get along just fine, and the persuit of wealth and power is "no longer the force that guides us". We only work to improve/enrich ourselves according to capt. Picard.
Yeah right!
At the first sign of trouble they'd start digging into my holodeck records and would judge me based upon what they find there (yeah so I'd have created and shagged just about every ST babe that ever existed from Joan Collins to Jeri Ryan - who wouldn't?)
That's no problem in Star Trek because the person making the judgement has a great deal of integrity, knows you personally, is of sound character and always does the right thing. But it's all fiction of course.
Until the people in government demonstrate the same moral integrity that they do in Star Trek (it'll never happen), I'd prefer to keep everything I say and do as private as possible - regardless of how mundane it is....apart from letting slip all my secret Star Trek fantasies on Slashdot for all to see./just got back from pub.
Some will take "bribes" for sure, but the lack of integrity in reviews can also be put down to lazyness. In my experience, if you write the "review" for them they'll just print it pretty much word-for-word, which leaves the journo more time to spend in the pub.
The documentary wasn't broadcast by the BBC. It was broadcast by Channel4 (known for more controversial and speculative content). Many of the scientists interviewed in that programme have since complained that they were grossly mis-represented in it.
I've spent a fair bit of time in China and the concept of intellectual property is completely alien to most of the common folk. The street stall price in Shanghai or Guangzhou etc is probably the most they'd pay anyway.
The Chinese are very pragmatic people who recognise a rip off a mile away. If you tried selling a DVD in China for $20, I'd wager that out of 1.3 billion potential customers, you'd sell maybe two copies......outside the nuthouse.
In the West, ordinary people are just starting to get a handle the TRUE market value of music and movies - thanks to the internet. Turns out that it's value is nowhere NEAR the price we're being charged for it - hence all the piracy.
Oh and, all the t-shirts I've ever bought in China over the past five years are still as good as new! They only ship the crap stuff to us - there's no market for sub-standard clothing in China;-)
For someone who had never seen Star Trek, Enterprise was probably quite entertaining in it's own right.
However, the Star Trek brand carries with it SO much baggage, it was never going to succeed. It would have been so much better if it had been called something else - WITHOUT the Star Trek branding. It could have appealed to all those folks who rave about BSG now. Or better still, it could have been a cross between Battlestar Galactica and Space: Above and Beyond(one of the most underrated sci-fi series IMO)...maybe with a hint of 24 thrown in;-) Capt. Jack Bauer drilling holes in the sensitive body parts of space terrorists. Yeah
I live in the UK and my local government is looking to spend an obscene amount of money to ensure that the special religious needs of children are met in schools. How much of that money could have been spent on science equipment?
As religion gets bigger, science gets smaller. I guess the reverse is also true, but that's just not the trend these days is it? With science you justify your existence by getting results. Sooner or later it's no results, no money.
With religion, results are not required - and your funding continues.
Sorry, I'm new to the internets. Please can someone tell me what DRM is?
According to Google it's short for Digital Rectal Massage and scientists can win Nobel prizes with it.
Haier is a fairly arrogant company to start with. I once found a critical safety defect in one of their refrigerators, yet they wouldn't accept it until I'd sent them a video demonstrating the obvious defect. That was a few years ago when I was inexperienced at dealing with Chinese companies.
What I didn't know back then was that Chinese businessmen will often make bold statements knowing full well that it's bullshit. He knows that YOU know it's bullshit too - yet it's considered rude to call him on it.
I think there's an element of that in the statement about using their own DVD format. It's just a spot of chest beating IMO. Many Chinese business people that I've spoken to seem to think that pretty much all disc formats will be dead in a few years anyway.
In my case, the dear old DVD is merely a way of transporting the movie from the store to my hard drive. Once it's on there I never open the DVD case again. As hard drives get bigger and cheaper it's easy to imagine more people storing/viewing their movies this way.
What was that saying? If you lie down with dogs you get fleas? If people download RealPlayer and realise it's crap, won't they also regard the progs that were bundled with it as crap also?
Besides. RealPlayer is a dead end format used by dusty old porn sites.
...and create exact replicas of long-dead historical figures...
Quote 2
Mova has run into problems with facial captures, even with its older motion-capture system, when actors have recently had Botox injections, which can immobilize sections of the face
those two quotes seem to be at odds with each other. Come on guys, can you bring dead people back to life or not?;)
As I understand it, a singularity is state where the numbers suddenly go off the scale. At least to a point where predicting behavior is fairly pointless.
Those seeking free music use a combination of Google and file hosting services like Rapidshare. Go to Google and type the title of the album in quotes, followed by 'rapidshare.de/files' and bingo. Most of the time the result returns at least one link to a rar file containing the album you searched for.
It's a short step from cool to compulsory.
But aside from any other concerns, would it actually contribute anything to your quality of life? It's hard to imagine any scenario where it would.
Slashdot Mirror
I know how he feels
...against many people. balanced with one huge crime against one person. sort of makes sense?
It's Slashdot so I feel a Star Trek slant might be in order :)
...apart from letting slip all my secret Star Trek fantasies on Slashdot for all to see. /just got back from pub.
In Star Trek we live in a world of tolerance - where all nations and cultures get along just fine, and the persuit of wealth and power is "no longer the force that guides us". We only work to improve/enrich ourselves according to capt. Picard.
Yeah right!
At the first sign of trouble they'd start digging into my holodeck records and would judge me based upon what they find there (yeah so I'd have created and shagged just about every ST babe that ever existed from Joan Collins to Jeri Ryan - who wouldn't?)
That's no problem in Star Trek because the person making the judgement has a great deal of integrity, knows you personally, is of sound character and always does the right thing. But it's all fiction of course.
Until the people in government demonstrate the same moral integrity that they do in Star Trek (it'll never happen), I'd prefer to keep everything I say and do as private as possible - regardless of how mundane it is.
l8r, m8, 1337 h4x0r etc.
It's either maths or it's English - not both!
But I don't mind the other words. It's just another culture establishing it's own language. Isn't that how most languages and dialects develop?
Some will take "bribes" for sure, but the lack of integrity in reviews can also be put down to lazyness. In my experience, if you write the "review" for them they'll just print it pretty much word-for-word, which leaves the journo more time to spend in the pub.
After seeing the McBain movie trailer..
Shop guy: So would you like to rent the movie, sir?
Homer: Why? I just saw the best part!
The documentary wasn't broadcast by the BBC. It was broadcast by Channel4 (known for more controversial and speculative content). Many of the scientists interviewed in that programme have since complained that they were grossly mis-represented in it.
It's still an interesting programme though.
I've spent a fair bit of time in China and the concept of intellectual property is completely alien to most of the common folk. The street stall price in Shanghai or Guangzhou etc is probably the most they'd pay anyway.
...outside the nuthouse.
;-)
The Chinese are very pragmatic people who recognise a rip off a mile away. If you tried selling a DVD in China for $20, I'd wager that out of 1.3 billion potential customers, you'd sell maybe two copies...
In the West, ordinary people are just starting to get a handle the TRUE market value of music and movies - thanks to the internet. Turns out that it's value is nowhere NEAR the price we're being charged for it - hence all the piracy.
Oh and, all the t-shirts I've ever bought in China over the past five years are still as good as new! They only ship the crap stuff to us - there's no market for sub-standard clothing in China
For someone who had never seen Star Trek, Enterprise was probably quite entertaining in it's own right.
...maybe with a hint of 24 thrown in ;-) Capt. Jack Bauer drilling holes in the sensitive body parts of space terrorists. Yeah
However, the Star Trek brand carries with it SO much baggage, it was never going to succeed. It would have been so much better if it had been called something else - WITHOUT the Star Trek branding. It could have appealed to all those folks who rave about BSG now. Or better still, it could have been a cross between Battlestar Galactica and Space: Above and Beyond(one of the most underrated sci-fi series IMO)
I live in the UK and my local government is looking to spend an obscene amount of money to ensure that the special religious needs of children are met in schools. How much of that money could have been spent on science equipment?
As religion gets bigger, science gets smaller. I guess the reverse is also true, but that's just not the trend these days is it? With science you justify your existence by getting results. Sooner or later it's no results, no money.
With religion, results are not required - and your funding continues.
How can DRM be a bad thing?
Haier is a fairly arrogant company to start with. I once found a critical safety defect in one of their refrigerators, yet they wouldn't accept it until I'd sent them a video demonstrating the obvious defect. That was a few years ago when I was inexperienced at dealing with Chinese companies.
What I didn't know back then was that Chinese businessmen will often make bold statements knowing full well that it's bullshit. He knows that YOU know it's bullshit too - yet it's considered rude to call him on it.
I think there's an element of that in the statement about using their own DVD format. It's just a spot of chest beating IMO. Many Chinese business people that I've spoken to seem to think that pretty much all disc formats will be dead in a few years anyway.
In my case, the dear old DVD is merely a way of transporting the movie from the store to my hard drive. Once it's on there I never open the DVD case again. As hard drives get bigger and cheaper it's easy to imagine more people storing/viewing their movies this way.
I read that as "tentacle rap"
Now that's something I'd like to see.
The US Military announced their new weapon in the war on terror.
GOLDFISH WITH FREAK'N LASERS!
;-)
What was that saying? If you lie down with dogs you get fleas?
:)
If people download RealPlayer and realise it's crap, won't they also regard the progs that were bundled with it as crap also?
Besides. RealPlayer is a dead end format used by dusty old porn sites.
Or so I'm er.. told
As I understand it, a singularity is state where the numbers suddenly go off the scale. At least to a point where predicting behavior is fairly pointless.
;)
I could be wrong though - it has been known
Bang that crayon a little further up my nose, Moe. Woo hoo! AOL! How can I lose?
Those seeking free music use a combination of Google and file hosting services like Rapidshare. Go to Google and type the title of the album in quotes, followed by 'rapidshare.de/files' and bingo. Most of the time the result returns at least one link to a rar file containing the album you searched for.
:)
Works with movies too.
Not that one should ever condone such a thing
Place left hand on mouse. ...few minutes later....
Place right hand on 'tube'.
Internet solution!
The RIAA thinks exactly the same thing...
It's a short step from cool to compulsory. But aside from any other concerns, would it actually contribute anything to your quality of life? It's hard to imagine any scenario where it would.