Personnaly I find the Gimp to be better for me than Photoshop. Mind you, I'm doing web design and 3-d textures, if I was a photographer I'd most likely prefer PS.
I am a musician, and one of the reasons I switched to Linux was because of greater flexibility in the audio area. Rosegarden, Audacity, Ardour, Timdity ++, Jack, and Stompboxes, along with a few other apps, have more than replaced Cubase for me, and work with significantly less latency.
While Freecraft may have been "cease and desisted" by Blizzard, the source is still out there on various "cease and desisted software" sites.
Excel is not a part of Works, it's part of Office, which is almost never bundled anymore (except for 30 day trial versions).
There is spreadsheet software in Works, however the saved files can only be opened in Works. Since his work comp will have Office installed, not works, he won't be able to use the home PC to do homework because Office and Works won't open each others files. That way he gets to buy a copy of Office, to do stuff he already has the software to do, just to handle file compatibity. Brilliant!
What marketing genius! Con him into paying extra for Works (even though it's not itemized so he thinks he's getting it free), then force him into paying for Office too!
No, most computers do not come with Office. Many come with a trial version of Office. Go ahead and use it. After thirty days be prepared to pay Microsoft a few hundred dollars to ransom your saved files.
Worse yet are the PCs that come with MS Works, as it's default filetypes for saving are exclusive - they won't open under any other app, even Office.
Several of my relatives (Aunts, Uncles, Cousins) bought their PC's back when they actually did bundle full versions of Office. They continually send my mom their.doc files and absolutely insist that "all computers can open these". After all, theirs can and they didn't "pay extra" for software (or so they think, since it wasn't itemized.)
I've found my mother frustrated to tears, literally, trying to open a heavily formatted Word document on her E-Mac. Her brothers insist she must be doing something wrong, or else she'd be able to open that file. In truth, Apple Writer can't open those picture-laden over-formatted messes they send her. Open Office manages, barely, and then I convert to PDF so she can view them again when she wants. [/rant]
My point is, most computers sold today do NOT have a real version of Office. A few years ago, maybe, but not any more. A 30 day trial, maybe. BTW most likely the Norton/McAffee AV that "comes with" your new computer is just a 30 day trial also. What a bargain! $700 now to buy the PC, and next month I can shell out another $300 - $400 just to keep the functionality I had when I took it out of the box! [/sarcasm]
The product you are referring to is "Crossover Office", a commercial fork of WINE. I'm not sure about any legal issues, it may be a violation of the EULA for MS Office, but I don't think so. I've read that you won't be able to update Office under WINE (or Crossover Office) though, MS's update service checks specifically for WINE and blocks updates when it finds it. Tommy
Whenever I test a supposedly user friendly Linux distribution, I always try to do it like a Windows user first.
There's part of the problem. Linux isn't Windows and shouldn't be expected to always work the exact same way. There have been quite a few studies that show people with no computer experience find Windows the hardest system to operate. While many older users will cling to the familiar (Windows), younger people, and new users, with open minds will choose the better/easier alternative. Which according to the studies is a Mac, but unless Apple releases Markon (or whatever they call OSX on iX86) Linux will be the choice for the most popular hardware platform. Nobody said Linux would take over tomorrow.
"Okay. I want to remove a device driver.
Why? Device drivers in Linux don't get added to the kernel tree untill they are stable. My ATI card works fine in Linux, all features enabled. Under Windows, however, I have to choose between two different drivers. One gives full support for hardware acceleration, but no TV tuner, and the other lets me watch TV, but only works with hardware acceration turned completely off. I'm glad Windows makes it somewhat easy (and a GUI isn't always easier than a CLI. Seriously, it's easier to modprobe than to navigate to the correct window to remove a Windows driver, and I don't have to reboot) to change drivers, but that's a feature I simply don't need in Linux.
Admittedly, there is hardware that isn't easy to get working on Linux, but the majority of it simply works. Just plug it in and the distro's hardware detection app will load the correct modules for you (unless you're compiling your own kernel, which your sister probably won't be). How is it easier to have to go online to find the latest version of the driver, download it, run the installer, and hope it works?
Linux and Windows have two very different approaches to many things, which is better is a matter of opinion and varies from issue to issue. Any blanket statement that one is better than the other shows a closed mind and limited understanding, and is inherently erroneous.
Do you happen to know about a Linux distribution that lets me actually do system configuration without having to use the command line?
Most modern distros can do most of the system configuration with a GUI such as Gnome's Configuration Editor. The few things you still need the CLI for are things that are over the typical users head even with a GUI. Much like most people won't ever use regedit in Windows, and shouldn't since they don't know what they're doing.
A very few rich people had their taxes lowered. I wouldn't call it a "crushing tax burden" though, if it were so onerous I doubt those people would have been the richest 10% in America. For your information, I was making about $20k a year back then, an my taxes went UP, as did the majority of Americans.
It's only the top 5 to 10 percent richest people who benefit under Republicans. It always amazes me when average people applaud them. I have news for you folks, unless you're pulling down about a few million a year, you aren't one of those 10 percent.
Of course, only the bottom 10% really benefit from Democrats. That leaves 80 percent of use to get screwed and pay the bills for everyone
A landlord, who rents out part (or all) of his building, may not have the right to drop in unexpected. But if I allow you to live on my property, rent and lease free, I CAN just drop by anytime I want. In every state.
The right to reasonable privacy and not have your landlord drop in on a whim is part of what you pay for when renting, that's a buisiness transaction
While Max may be rather blunt, his point is valid. If you don't like his attitude, you probably shouldn't go to his house, but there's nothing else you can do about it.
Actually, things like this is why we should introduce digital id cards with a whole HEAP of information on them. You would then be able to only reveal what ever is needed for a particular scenario (e.g. a cop could verify you have a valid driver's license, with no outstanding warrants, etc, without finding out your age or address).
You're kidding, right? History has proven, and will continue to prove, that some (but not all, or even most) police officers will abuse any authority they can get. There have been cops accused to using the national law enforcement databases to get home addresses of attractive women and then stalking them, among other abuses.
In spite of our constitutional right to privacy in our own home, police are allowed to monitor your cordless and cellular phones WITHOUT A WARRANT, even if you use them only in your home, if they can recieve the signal without entering your property. They can use signal amplifiers and directional antennas. There has been at least one case where this was done, and the resulting tapes given to the victem's (who was running for office) political opponent.
Not to mention what could happen if you lost your ID card and it fell into the wrong hands.
The less info that's on my ID, the happier, and safer, I am
The theory is that a 16 year old is more likely to sympathize with, and sell to, another 16 year old. And as juvenilles, they haven't as much to loose if caught, since misdemeanor arrest records are ussually "hidden" after you turn 18.
You could try using a different port, since traffic shaping looks for activity targeted a specific ports only. If you're using the default Bittorent port you'll likely be slowed, but pick a port that's commonly used for something else that they don't throttle. For instance, if you're not using bt while also playing Quake III, set your Bittorent client to use port 27960. Most ISP's don't throttle the gamer's ports because that's the only reason a lot of people get broadband to begin with.
I think it's important to remember that the RIAA and the MPIAA are not the same. While they are similar in their zeal to protect "company assets", they have a significant difference. The MPIAA members (movie studios) don't face the same risk as the RIAA members (record labels).
The real risk that P2P distribution poses to the RIAA isn't that people won't buy music. The risk is that artists will no longer need labels. The only real function that a Label provides to the artist is distribution. With out a label, you can't:
1. Get airtime on commercial radio, so people don't know you exist.
2. Produce enough discs and get them placed in all the stores.
While it used to be that albums had to be recorded in quality (expensive) studios, and artists needed the label to "front" the money for the studio and producer (to be paid back from the artist's share, typically 3 to 5 percent of sales) this is no longer true. These days there are thousands of small, inexpensive studios with first rate equipment where you can record a disc for about five grand. For instance Nirvana's Nevermind was recorded at Smart Studios in Madison Wisconsin (owned by Butch Vig, of Garbage). They have both analog and full digital equipment, and you can cut a demo for about $500 if you go during "off hours". Moby recorded his first album on his own computer, and didn't have to pay for a studio at all.
File sharing is the "new radio", a great way for a band to gain exposure. Most people who like your music will not be satisfied with a low quality MP3 and will order a disc. Since you don't need to put 10 copies in every record store, you can start with a much smaller first pressing. You could just sell.wav versions of the music online and let people burn their own - and not have to invest thousands in the discs at all.
In short, electronic distribution makes the record labels obsolete, and totally uneeded. They will no longer be able to steal music from the artists with unfair contracts, which until now the artists have been forced into because only the labels could get you on the radio and in the stores. They will no longer get to keep almost all of the profits, while paying the creators of the product pennies on the dollar. The label executives (and major shareholders) won't be able to buy new mansions and Mercedes while the artist struggles to pay rent, and rides a bus.
The movie studios don't share this. It takes a lot of money to make a movie, even a "budget" film costs quite a few thousand dollars. You've got writers, directors, actors, set builders, cameramen, etc to pay. Even if you shoot the movie on your camcorder and edit it on your PC, you'll be stuck doing "straight to video" stuff. After all, to get into the theatre you need your movie to be on 35mm film, at $3000 to $5000 per, and you'll need at least a couple thousand copies. The theatre I work at finally got a copy of Million Dollar Baby just last week. It was the soonest we could get it and we have "first run" status with that studio, but they only made about three thousand prints so there just weren't enough to go around.
In short, the movie studios are worried about losing sales, the record companies are worried about survival.
Seems to me that the South Koreans might be better off upgrading their fences and perimeters (proven technology)
Proven to be vulnerable to anyone with a wire cutter. The border between North and South is rather long, and goes through some pretty rough terrain. Believe me, I've patrolled it. There are an incredible amount of other fortifications also. Things like huge concrete tank traps, and huge walls (and where the road goes through the walls there are massive cement blocks above the roadway with explosives to drop them should need be). There's thousands, if not millions of mines. Even so, North Korean special units cross the border on a regular basis. A passive defense (like a fence, electric and alarmed or not) simply doesn't cut it.
Of course, with the North Korean penchant for digging HUGE tunnels (while I was there in '83 - '84 one was discovered that was big enough to allow an armored battalion every 10 minutes, it was a three lane superhighway under the ground) even these robots won't really stop an invasion.
That may have been true in the days of swords and horses, but even then technology counted. The Huns kicked Roman but because they had a technology (the stirrup) that the Romans didn't.
These days, the richest countries have better/more technology, and (as the US invasion of Iraq proves) while it may be hard to conquer a people, governments are fairly easy prey.
Had you hovered over the link in the posting and checked your status bar, you'ld have seen it was a mailto link to a user named ddf. I'd guess that the floor has it's own username on the computer, the way much software that needs realtime or daemon status does. Therefor it may even have it's own/home directory. If so, it could easily have a./maildir and be capable of recieving e-mail. It's possible that they have/could set it up to be able to get patterns programed that way.
The parent comment was at +3 when I began writing this comment. Now it is at -1. Did a Slashdot employee moderate it down? Was there a kind of censorship?
More likely there were more people modding it down than up. It is, after all, completely plagarized from an earlier topic (and originally written by someone else). You can remove your tinfoil hat now, there's no conspiracy here.
The GPL gives you rights you would not have had without a license.
Not exactly. Without a license, you have the right to do anything you wish with the software. The GPL doesn't give you rights, it prevents others from taking them away from you.
It's much like the American "Bill of Rights". It states that there are "certain rights to be self-evident" and God given. It's not about the government giving you the right of free speech (for example), it's about the government not being able to take that right away from you.
I take it you haven't been in a studio lately. It's all digital before it even gets to the mixing board anymore. The recording engineer and maybe the producer are the only non-bandmembers needed. The label execs are just leeches with no real purpose anymore.
There's no misuse there, except in the minds of people who think they are somehow deserve to get money even though they didn't do any additional work past the initial act of creation to deserve it.
I love the way you make it sound so easy. Being an artist means years of self sacrifice (for the vast majority of us, anyway) before we see any kind of profit. It may only take a half hour to actually write a song, but it can take years to accumulate the experiences that inspire it. It absolutely will take years to aquire sufficient skill on a musical instrument to be considered professional quality. "Paying the dues" isn't just a saying - it's a fact of life for a musician. And it takes something else - raw talent - and that's a limited comodity. Not many people are truly talented, as is evidenced by the lack of talent in todays mass market music (where the real talent is in the PR and Marketing departments - not on stage).
While raw talent is a gift, you have to work hard at developing the skills to make use of that talent. Forget about getting a career and making decent money while you learn - you need to be dovoted and focused so much you simply can't get a regular job with a decent pay rate. You'll be stuck with a low paying, part time job (don't forget you'll be needing to practice 4 to 8 hours EVERY DAY to make it big) that allows you to take extra days off so you can play shows out of town, often at relatively short notice. No health or dental plan for you, the kind of job that provides benefits expects a level of commitment you've already made to your music.
Let's not forget about the thousands of dollars you've spent out of your own pocket for instruments, lessons, and studio time. By the time you're releasing your first demo disc you'll have well over 10 grand invested, and you'll end up giving almost all of them away in "promo packs". Everyone else expects to get a return on an investment, why shouldn't musicians. You won't be getting rich off your shows either, at 3 to 5 dollars per head cover charge you're lucky if you can pay for the gas, sound guy, and the band's bar tab.
If it's so easy to write/record a good song, why don't you have a gold record on your wall. Don't be so disrespectfull of people who's jobs you neither understand or could fill.
Not that some musicians don't get greedy. I heard tickets to the Cream reunion shows with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker cost $241 US. They arent worth it - nobody's worth that much to see play for a couple hours (if that, what with starting late and long breaks - I've seen ol' slowhand before.)
Just keep in mind that musicians don't get 401k plans, for most of those guys residual royalties are the only pension plan they can get.
The artist has the right to charge (a reasonable fee) for his work if he wants to. If you don't want to pay for the music you listen to, then listen to the musicians who have chosen NOT to charge, don't just steal the product of someone's heart. There's plenty of good music that is legally free for the asking, listen to that and quit whining that you can't get everything you want for free.
I agree with this absolutely. I am a "contemporary folk" (at least that's what the review guy at the local newspaper called me) musician, with about zero chance of a major label contract. My music appeals mostly to Deadheads (pretty much a dying breed now that the Grateful Dead are no longer), and a couple songs to potheads in general. My music has almost no commercial value, and to be honest I kinda suck.
The only way I could ever make a living at music is by giving away enough music that I build a grass roots type following who pressure local bars into giving me gigs, and sell merchandise (T-Shirts, possibly rolling papers cuz I know where I can good hemp papers with my own brand name on them, and it ties into my most popular song).
My intention is to offer ALL my music for free, and while I may have a disc (the someday-to-be-released "Tommy Roach - Live, Unsedated" album) for sale eventually, people will always be able to download all the music on it for free. I will eventually (when I save up enough cash from the day job to buy a "starter stock") offer merchandise, and CG animation videos of some of the song.
Will I get rich? Fat chance! I'll be thrilled if I make enough to pay my bills without a day job. I'd settle for enough to buy a nicer guitar and pay my bar tab. Maybe the occasional sack of the good weed.
My point is, that's how musicians should do it these days. If, unlike me, you play the type of music lots of people want to listen to and have actual talent, you should be able to make a darn good living that way. After all, if you are really a musician (and not just a wannabee sell-out) that's what should matter. You should want to make music, not millions.
And a small request to the people out there - boycott musicians who charge hundreds of dollars for a concert. Nobody is worth paying more than $30 - $40 US. The only reason bands like the Eagles and Cream charge so much is that there are idiots who will pay it. Stop rewarding greed - see a local band instead. You might even like them more than the "famous" band, and they usually charge 0$ to 7$ US.
Tommy
P.S. I just tossed up a quick and really ugly page with a couple (poorly recorded) songs - if you're a Deadhead you might like them - nobody else will, though. (That means don't download just for the hell of it - this is my only computer and if you bastards slashdot me...)
Even the patched ones, actually, if your using anything older than XP. It MAY have been fixed (I simply don't use IE at all anymore, in fact I haven't even booted Windows in about 6 months, so I don't know for sure) in XP SP2, but many people still haven't installed that because it breaks so many apps, and a lot of them don't have SP2 compatible updates.
That's why about 80 percent of office desktops still don't have SP2, and since soon MS son't allow SP2 blocking many people will end up disabling automatic updates (and then not doing manual ones). That ought to be great for the malware authors - they're going to have a field day.
Why do some people feel a need do defend Windows when they don't know what they're talking about? Maybe it's BECAUSE they don't know?
I found Mandrake to be much easier than Windows. With Windows (XP Pro) the basic install was simple, if lengthy, just fill out a little user info, password, timezone and stuff. But then I had to mess with getting it to recognize the broadband connection, visit Windows Update about a dozen times (rebooting after eaach visit) download and install newer versions of all the hardware drivers (rebooting after each), install a security suite (Norton AV, Zone Alarm, Spybot, Adaware, Finjan's Surfin Guard Pro (which catches all the crap the others don't)), and of course a few pieces of software like Flashget (download utility), Textpad (a notepad replacement with syntax highlighting for many languages including C/C++, python, html,XML, Renderman Interface Bytestream and shader language, etc), Mozilla, Open Office, and a couple others. Total time = 6 1/2 hours.
Compare that to the last time I installed Mandrake (10.0). The install was easy, answer a few questions about the user, passwords, timezone, and select the type of computer (desktop, workstation, or server). Mandrake picked up on the broadband during the install and updated itself DURING the install. Drivers are built in (as kernel modules). Reboot ONCE. Done (with compareable software already installed. Total time = 38 minutes.
Pretty obvious to me which wins.
Now I run Gentoo - Total install = 4 days, but that's another story altogether;)
How the bloody hell do you Linux people know for sure you're not all compromised?
More or less the same way competent Windows users do. Netstat, tripwire, checkrootkit, etc.
Exploits for Linux aren't completely unheard of, just harder to find
Actually, it's rather easy to detect a compromised Linux system, using only the tools that virtually every distro comes with "out of the box". Sure, you have to learn to use those tools, but I'm sure you weren't born knowing how to secure a Windows system.
I get a little tired of Windows users saying "Linux is hard to use" when what they really mean is "It doesn't work like the system I know how to use and I'm too damn lazy to learn another", conveniently forgeting how long it took them to learn Windows in the first place.
Most of the people I've met who didn't like Linux tell me the same thing. "I tried (insert long since obsolete version of redhat, usually 4 or 5 point something) for a couple days and didn't like it." Give it a chance - it'll take a few weeks of heavy use before you break out of the Windows mindset. Until you can break out of the Windows habits you'll never be able to appreciate the power and flexibility of Linux, and for Pete's sake download a RECENT distro. Comparing Redhat 5 to Win XP simply isn't fair. Comparing it to Windows 3.2, maybe.
And it always amazes me how many Windows powerusers think nothing of reformating and throwing on a fresh install every six months just to "keep things fast" because the registry gets too much crap in it. Any website you visit can write to the registry unless you've installed a third party blocker like Finjan's Surfin Guard Pro. Your Antivirus/firewall/antispyware combo probably isn't preventing it - very few antispyware apps (and no firewalls or AVs that I'm aware of) will prevent registry writes. What a joke. If you don't believe me - get Surfinguard and watch the warnings pop up. Since people learned how to delete cookies many sites now use the registry to keep permanant tabs on you (and not just pr0n sites, either - CNN used to, among others).
Interesting, I was talking about aother group who is commonly referred to as CERT. Apparently they are US-CERT to be precise, I didn't know about the Carnagie Mellon group so I simply didn't think to add the US part
In fact, the Carnegie site directly references the US CERT site. I wouldn't be suprised if the Carnegie CERT was the brains behind the stuff on the US CERT site, US CERT certainly is a government agency and even has the.gov tld to "prove" it (like that really means much, I'm sure Verisign would sell me a.gov domain if I bribed, er, paid them enough)
I stand, perhaps not fully corrected, but certainly better informed. Thanks, Doc. I'll try to remember to double check my acronyms in the future.
In the US at least, the dealer is required by law to remove options you don't want, such as stereos. You will get a lower price, it varies by how much. Less than $70 for a normal stereo, but Ford has been known to knock off a couple hundred for the bose systems. Of course, you are required to do this at the time of purchase, not after, so it's a discount, not a refund.
A note to all you youngsters on/. Learn the laws before you blow all your money on stuff you don't have to buy (because the salesman sure isn't going to tell you that).
Slashdot Mirror
Personnaly I find the Gimp to be better for me than Photoshop. Mind you, I'm doing web design and 3-d textures, if I was a photographer I'd most likely prefer PS.
I am a musician, and one of the reasons I switched to Linux was because of greater flexibility in the audio area. Rosegarden, Audacity, Ardour, Timdity ++, Jack, and Stompboxes, along with a few other apps, have more than replaced Cubase for me, and work with significantly less latency.
While Freecraft may have been "cease and desisted" by Blizzard, the source is still out there on various "cease and desisted software" sites.
TommyExcel is not a part of Works, it's part of Office, which is almost never bundled anymore (except for 30 day trial versions).
There is spreadsheet software in Works, however the saved files can only be opened in Works. Since his work comp will have Office installed, not works, he won't be able to use the home PC to do homework because Office and Works won't open each others files. That way he gets to buy a copy of Office, to do stuff he already has the software to do, just to handle file compatibity. Brilliant!
What marketing genius! Con him into paying extra for Works (even though it's not itemized so he thinks he's getting it free), then force him into paying for Office too!
TommyNo, most computers do not come with Office. Many come with a trial version of Office. Go ahead and use it. After thirty days be prepared to pay Microsoft a few hundred dollars to ransom your saved files.
Worse yet are the PCs that come with MS Works, as it's default filetypes for saving are exclusive - they won't open under any other app, even Office.
Several of my relatives (Aunts, Uncles, Cousins) bought their PC's back when they actually did bundle full versions of Office. They continually send my mom their .doc files and absolutely insist that "all computers can open these". After all, theirs can and they didn't "pay extra" for software (or so they think, since it wasn't itemized.)
I've found my mother frustrated to tears, literally, trying to open a heavily formatted Word document on her E-Mac. Her brothers insist she must be doing something wrong, or else she'd be able to open that file. In truth, Apple Writer can't open those picture-laden over-formatted messes they send her. Open Office manages, barely, and then I convert to PDF so she can view them again when she wants. [/rant]
My point is, most computers sold today do NOT have a real version of Office. A few years ago, maybe, but not any more. A 30 day trial, maybe. BTW most likely the Norton/McAffee AV that "comes with" your new computer is just a 30 day trial also. What a bargain! $700 now to buy the PC, and next month I can shell out another $300 - $400 just to keep the functionality I had when I took it out of the box! [/sarcasm]
TommyThe product you are referring to is "Crossover Office", a commercial fork of WINE. I'm not sure about any legal issues, it may be a violation of the EULA for MS Office, but I don't think so. I've read that you won't be able to update Office under WINE (or Crossover Office) though, MS's update service checks specifically for WINE and blocks updates when it finds it.
Tommy
There's part of the problem. Linux isn't Windows and shouldn't be expected to always work the exact same way. There have been quite a few studies that show people with no computer experience find Windows the hardest system to operate. While many older users will cling to the familiar (Windows), younger people, and new users, with open minds will choose the better/easier alternative. Which according to the studies is a Mac, but unless Apple releases Markon (or whatever they call OSX on iX86) Linux will be the choice for the most popular hardware platform. Nobody said Linux would take over tomorrow.
"Okay. I want to remove a device driver.Why? Device drivers in Linux don't get added to the kernel tree untill they are stable. My ATI card works fine in Linux, all features enabled. Under Windows, however, I have to choose between two different drivers. One gives full support for hardware acceleration, but no TV tuner, and the other lets me watch TV, but only works with hardware acceration turned completely off. I'm glad Windows makes it somewhat easy (and a GUI isn't always easier than a CLI. Seriously, it's easier to modprobe than to navigate to the correct window to remove a Windows driver, and I don't have to reboot) to change drivers, but that's a feature I simply don't need in Linux.
Admittedly, there is hardware that isn't easy to get working on Linux, but the majority of it simply works. Just plug it in and the distro's hardware detection app will load the correct modules for you (unless you're compiling your own kernel, which your sister probably won't be). How is it easier to have to go online to find the latest version of the driver, download it, run the installer, and hope it works?
Linux and Windows have two very different approaches to many things, which is better is a matter of opinion and varies from issue to issue. Any blanket statement that one is better than the other shows a closed mind and limited understanding, and is inherently erroneous.
Do you happen to know about a Linux distribution that lets me actually do system configuration without having to use the command line?Most modern distros can do most of the system configuration with a GUI such as Gnome's Configuration Editor. The few things you still need the CLI for are things that are over the typical users head even with a GUI. Much like most people won't ever use regedit in Windows, and shouldn't since they don't know what they're doing.
TommyA very few rich people had their taxes lowered. I wouldn't call it a "crushing tax burden" though, if it were so onerous I doubt those people would have been the richest 10% in America. For your information, I was making about $20k a year back then, an my taxes went UP, as did the majority of Americans.
It's only the top 5 to 10 percent richest people who benefit under Republicans. It always amazes me when average people applaud them. I have news for you folks, unless you're pulling down about a few million a year, you aren't one of those 10 percent.
Of course, only the bottom 10% really benefit from Democrats. That leaves 80 percent of use to get screwed and pay the bills for everyone
TommyA landlord, who rents out part (or all) of his building, may not have the right to drop in unexpected. But if I allow you to live on my property, rent and lease free, I CAN just drop by anytime I want. In every state.
The right to reasonable privacy and not have your landlord drop in on a whim is part of what you pay for when renting, that's a buisiness transaction
While Max may be rather blunt, his point is valid. If you don't like his attitude, you probably shouldn't go to his house, but there's nothing else you can do about it.
TommyBecause it's rather more difficult to kill thousands of people by crashing a train into a building?
TommyYou're kidding, right? History has proven, and will continue to prove, that some (but not all, or even most) police officers will abuse any authority they can get. There have been cops accused to using the national law enforcement databases to get home addresses of attractive women and then stalking them, among other abuses.
In spite of our constitutional right to privacy in our own home, police are allowed to monitor your cordless and cellular phones WITHOUT A WARRANT, even if you use them only in your home, if they can recieve the signal without entering your property. They can use signal amplifiers and directional antennas. There has been at least one case where this was done, and the resulting tapes given to the victem's (who was running for office) political opponent.
Not to mention what could happen if you lost your ID card and it fell into the wrong hands.
The less info that's on my ID, the happier, and safer, I am
TommyThe theory is that a 16 year old is more likely to sympathize with, and sell to, another 16 year old. And as juvenilles, they haven't as much to loose if caught, since misdemeanor arrest records are ussually "hidden" after you turn 18.
Tommy
You could try using a different port, since traffic shaping looks for activity targeted a specific ports only. If you're using the default Bittorent port you'll likely be slowed, but pick a port that's commonly used for something else that they don't throttle. For instance, if you're not using bt while also playing Quake III, set your Bittorent client to use port 27960. Most ISP's don't throttle the gamer's ports because that's the only reason a lot of people get broadband to begin with.
TommyI think it's important to remember that the RIAA and the MPIAA are not the same. While they are similar in their zeal to protect "company assets", they have a significant difference. The MPIAA members (movie studios) don't face the same risk as the RIAA members (record labels).
The real risk that P2P distribution poses to the RIAA isn't that people won't buy music. The risk is that artists will no longer need labels. The only real function that a Label provides to the artist is distribution. With out a label, you can't:
1. Get airtime on commercial radio, so people don't know you exist.
2. Produce enough discs and get them placed in all the stores.
While it used to be that albums had to be recorded in quality (expensive) studios, and artists needed the label to "front" the money for the studio and producer (to be paid back from the artist's share, typically 3 to 5 percent of sales) this is no longer true. These days there are thousands of small, inexpensive studios with first rate equipment where you can record a disc for about five grand. For instance Nirvana's Nevermind was recorded at Smart Studios in Madison Wisconsin (owned by Butch Vig, of Garbage). They have both analog and full digital equipment, and you can cut a demo for about $500 if you go during "off hours". Moby recorded his first album on his own computer, and didn't have to pay for a studio at all.
File sharing is the "new radio", a great way for a band to gain exposure. Most people who like your music will not be satisfied with a low quality MP3 and will order a disc. Since you don't need to put 10 copies in every record store, you can start with a much smaller first pressing. You could just sell .wav versions of the music online and let people burn their own - and not have to invest thousands in the discs at all.
In short, electronic distribution makes the record labels obsolete, and totally uneeded. They will no longer be able to steal music from the artists with unfair contracts, which until now the artists have been forced into because only the labels could get you on the radio and in the stores. They will no longer get to keep almost all of the profits, while paying the creators of the product pennies on the dollar. The label executives (and major shareholders) won't be able to buy new mansions and Mercedes while the artist struggles to pay rent, and rides a bus.
The movie studios don't share this. It takes a lot of money to make a movie, even a "budget" film costs quite a few thousand dollars. You've got writers, directors, actors, set builders, cameramen, etc to pay. Even if you shoot the movie on your camcorder and edit it on your PC, you'll be stuck doing "straight to video" stuff. After all, to get into the theatre you need your movie to be on 35mm film, at $3000 to $5000 per, and you'll need at least a couple thousand copies. The theatre I work at finally got a copy of Million Dollar Baby just last week. It was the soonest we could get it and we have "first run" status with that studio, but they only made about three thousand prints so there just weren't enough to go around.
In short, the movie studios are worried about losing sales, the record companies are worried about survival.
TommyProven to be vulnerable to anyone with a wire cutter. The border between North and South is rather long, and goes through some pretty rough terrain. Believe me, I've patrolled it. There are an incredible amount of other fortifications also. Things like huge concrete tank traps, and huge walls (and where the road goes through the walls there are massive cement blocks above the roadway with explosives to drop them should need be). There's thousands, if not millions of mines. Even so, North Korean special units cross the border on a regular basis. A passive defense (like a fence, electric and alarmed or not) simply doesn't cut it.
Of course, with the North Korean penchant for digging HUGE tunnels (while I was there in '83 - '84 one was discovered that was big enough to allow an armored battalion every 10 minutes, it was a three lane superhighway under the ground) even these robots won't really stop an invasion.
TommyThat may have been true in the days of swords and horses, but even then technology counted. The Huns kicked Roman but because they had a technology (the stirrup) that the Romans didn't.
These days, the richest countries have better/more technology, and (as the US invasion of Iraq proves) while it may be hard to conquer a people, governments are fairly easy prey.
TommyHad you hovered over the link in the posting and checked your status bar, you'ld have seen it was a mailto link to a user named ddf. I'd guess that the floor has it's own username on the computer, the way much software that needs realtime or daemon status does. Therefor it may even have it's own /home directory. If so, it could easily have a ./maildir and be capable of recieving e-mail. It's possible that they have/could set it up to be able to get patterns programed that way.
Tommy
More likely there were more people modding it down than up. It is, after all, completely plagarized from an earlier topic (and originally written by someone else). You can remove your tinfoil hat now, there's no conspiracy here.
TommyNot exactly. Without a license, you have the right to do anything you wish with the software. The GPL doesn't give you rights, it prevents others from taking them away from you.
It's much like the American "Bill of Rights". It states that there are "certain rights to be self-evident" and God given. It's not about the government giving you the right of free speech (for example), it's about the government not being able to take that right away from you.
TommyI take it you haven't been in a studio lately. It's all digital before it even gets to the mixing board anymore. The recording engineer and maybe the producer are the only non-bandmembers needed. The label execs are just leeches with no real purpose anymore.
I love the way you make it sound so easy. Being an artist means years of self sacrifice (for the vast majority of us, anyway) before we see any kind of profit. It may only take a half hour to actually write a song, but it can take years to accumulate the experiences that inspire it. It absolutely will take years to aquire sufficient skill on a musical instrument to be considered professional quality. "Paying the dues" isn't just a saying - it's a fact of life for a musician. And it takes something else - raw talent - and that's a limited comodity. Not many people are truly talented, as is evidenced by the lack of talent in todays mass market music (where the real talent is in the PR and Marketing departments - not on stage).
While raw talent is a gift, you have to work hard at developing the skills to make use of that talent. Forget about getting a career and making decent money while you learn - you need to be dovoted and focused so much you simply can't get a regular job with a decent pay rate. You'll be stuck with a low paying, part time job (don't forget you'll be needing to practice 4 to 8 hours EVERY DAY to make it big) that allows you to take extra days off so you can play shows out of town, often at relatively short notice. No health or dental plan for you, the kind of job that provides benefits expects a level of commitment you've already made to your music.
Let's not forget about the thousands of dollars you've spent out of your own pocket for instruments, lessons, and studio time. By the time you're releasing your first demo disc you'll have well over 10 grand invested, and you'll end up giving almost all of them away in "promo packs". Everyone else expects to get a return on an investment, why shouldn't musicians. You won't be getting rich off your shows either, at 3 to 5 dollars per head cover charge you're lucky if you can pay for the gas, sound guy, and the band's bar tab.
If it's so easy to write/record a good song, why don't you have a gold record on your wall. Don't be so disrespectfull of people who's jobs you neither understand or could fill.
Not that some musicians don't get greedy. I heard tickets to the Cream reunion shows with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker cost $241 US. They arent worth it - nobody's worth that much to see play for a couple hours (if that, what with starting late and long breaks - I've seen ol' slowhand before.)
Just keep in mind that musicians don't get 401k plans, for most of those guys residual royalties are the only pension plan they can get.
The artist has the right to charge (a reasonable fee) for his work if he wants to. If you don't want to pay for the music you listen to, then listen to the musicians who have chosen NOT to charge, don't just steal the product of someone's heart. There's plenty of good music that is legally free for the asking, listen to that and quit whining that you can't get everything you want for free.
TommyThe only way I could ever make a living at music is by giving away enough music that I build a grass roots type following who pressure local bars into giving me gigs, and sell merchandise (T-Shirts, possibly rolling papers cuz I know where I can good hemp papers with my own brand name on them, and it ties into my most popular song).
My intention is to offer ALL my music for free, and while I may have a disc (the someday-to-be-released "Tommy Roach - Live, Unsedated" album) for sale eventually, people will always be able to download all the music on it for free. I will eventually (when I save up enough cash from the day job to buy a "starter stock") offer merchandise, and CG animation videos of some of the song.
Will I get rich? Fat chance! I'll be thrilled if I make enough to pay my bills without a day job. I'd settle for enough to buy a nicer guitar and pay my bar tab. Maybe the occasional sack of the good weed.
My point is, that's how musicians should do it these days. If, unlike me, you play the type of music lots of people want to listen to and have actual talent, you should be able to make a darn good living that way. After all, if you are really a musician (and not just a wannabee sell-out) that's what should matter. You should want to make music, not millions.
And a small request to the people out there - boycott musicians who charge hundreds of dollars for a concert. Nobody is worth paying more than $30 - $40 US. The only reason bands like the Eagles and Cream charge so much is that there are idiots who will pay it. Stop rewarding greed - see a local band instead. You might even like them more than the "famous" band, and they usually charge 0$ to 7$ US.
Tommy
P.S. I just tossed up a quick and really ugly page with a couple (poorly recorded) songs - if you're a Deadhead you might like them - nobody else will, though. (That means don't download just for the hell of it - this is my only computer and if you bastards slashdot me...)
Even the patched ones, actually, if your using anything older than XP. It MAY have been fixed (I simply don't use IE at all anymore, in fact I haven't even booted Windows in about 6 months, so I don't know for sure) in XP SP2, but many people still haven't installed that because it breaks so many apps, and a lot of them don't have SP2 compatible updates.
That's why about 80 percent of office desktops still don't have SP2, and since soon MS son't allow SP2 blocking many people will end up disabling automatic updates (and then not doing manual ones). That ought to be great for the malware authors - they're going to have a field day.
Why do some people feel a need do defend Windows when they don't know what they're talking about? Maybe it's BECAUSE they don't know?
Tommy
I found Mandrake to be much easier than Windows. With Windows (XP Pro) the basic install was simple, if lengthy, just fill out a little user info, password, timezone and stuff. But then I had to mess with getting it to recognize the broadband connection, visit Windows Update about a dozen times (rebooting after eaach visit) download and install newer versions of all the hardware drivers (rebooting after each), install a security suite (Norton AV, Zone Alarm, Spybot, Adaware, Finjan's Surfin Guard Pro (which catches all the crap the others don't)), and of course a few pieces of software like Flashget (download utility), Textpad (a notepad replacement with syntax highlighting for many languages including C/C++, python, html,XML, Renderman Interface Bytestream and shader language, etc), Mozilla, Open Office, and a couple others. Total time = 6 1/2 hours.
;)
Compare that to the last time I installed Mandrake (10.0). The install was easy, answer a few questions about the user, passwords, timezone, and select the type of computer (desktop, workstation, or server). Mandrake picked up on the broadband during the install and updated itself DURING the install. Drivers are built in (as kernel modules). Reboot ONCE. Done (with compareable software already installed. Total time = 38 minutes.
Pretty obvious to me which wins.
Now I run Gentoo - Total install = 4 days, but that's another story altogether
Tommy
More or less the same way competent Windows users do. Netstat, tripwire, checkrootkit, etc.
Exploits for Linux aren't completely unheard of, just harder to findActually, it's rather easy to detect a compromised Linux system, using only the tools that virtually every distro comes with "out of the box". Sure, you have to learn to use those tools, but I'm sure you weren't born knowing how to secure a Windows system.
I get a little tired of Windows users saying "Linux is hard to use" when what they really mean is "It doesn't work like the system I know how to use and I'm too damn lazy to learn another", conveniently forgeting how long it took them to learn Windows in the first place.
Most of the people I've met who didn't like Linux tell me the same thing. "I tried (insert long since obsolete version of redhat, usually 4 or 5 point something) for a couple days and didn't like it." Give it a chance - it'll take a few weeks of heavy use before you break out of the Windows mindset. Until you can break out of the Windows habits you'll never be able to appreciate the power and flexibility of Linux, and for Pete's sake download a RECENT distro. Comparing Redhat 5 to Win XP simply isn't fair. Comparing it to Windows 3.2, maybe.
And it always amazes me how many Windows powerusers think nothing of reformating and throwing on a fresh install every six months just to "keep things fast" because the registry gets too much crap in it. Any website you visit can write to the registry unless you've installed a third party blocker like Finjan's Surfin Guard Pro. Your Antivirus/firewall/antispyware combo probably isn't preventing it - very few antispyware apps (and no firewalls or AVs that I'm aware of) will prevent registry writes. What a joke. If you don't believe me - get Surfinguard and watch the warnings pop up. Since people learned how to delete cookies many sites now use the registry to keep permanant tabs on you (and not just pr0n sites, either - CNN used to, among others).
TommyInteresting, I was talking about aother group who is commonly referred to as CERT. Apparently they are US-CERT to be precise, I didn't know about the Carnagie Mellon group so I simply didn't think to add the US part
In fact, the Carnegie site directly references the US CERT site. I wouldn't be suprised if the Carnegie CERT was the brains behind the stuff on the US CERT site, US CERT certainly is a government agency and even has the .gov tld to "prove" it (like that really means much, I'm sure Verisign would sell me a .gov domain if I bribed, er, paid them enough)
I stand, perhaps not fully corrected, but certainly better informed. Thanks, Doc. I'll try to remember to double check my acronyms in the future.
TommyIn the US at least, the dealer is required by law to remove options you don't want, such as stereos. You will get a lower price, it varies by how much. Less than $70 for a normal stereo, but Ford has been known to knock off a couple hundred for the bose systems. Of course, you are required to do this at the time of purchase, not after, so it's a discount, not a refund.
/. Learn the laws before you blow all your money on stuff you don't have to buy (because the salesman sure isn't going to tell you that).
A note to all you youngsters on
Tommy