british telecom was not something that needed to operate in the same way as the bbc. They don't make for a good comparison. It was also a monolith (well ok, it still is, but at least now it turns the odd buck).
ITV was, and remains, a privatelly owned company, not publically owned. They operate in a very different way to the bbc.
Not that all publically owned companies were good. I happen to think that we benefitted from the sale or closure of many, not because it was nice to do, it wasn't, but because it closed a massive drain on the public purse, England was fast going bankrupt in the 70's and early eighties. The BBC has always kept its head above water financially.
ITV are also stuck with mandatory elements, a certain obligation for news programs on their main channels (aside from a seperate news channel that is). Unlike the bbc that's never pleased them.
The bbc isn't actually a private company that can be sold. It's a state owned (but not state controlled) organisation with a charter to serve the public, that also fulfills, as part of it's charter, essential services, shipping forecasts, world service etc.
It's not like other tv companies, certainly not like american tv companies. The term company isn't apropriate either. There is no way microsoft could assure the uk public that they could or would maintain these services, some of them make no money at all, they are required services that the bbc has no choice but to provide, not that it wouldn't. Can you imagine microsoft coping without advertising revenue?
Plus it's funded directly by tv licences. The uk public would be very angry if microsoft were given that revenue, it would be an election loser in a very real sense.
Are we talking people who went out and upgraded their processors here, or people who bought amd equipped machines?
if the latter, then it's down to manufacturers not favoring the chip, not consumers as such.
most of the people I know who regulerly upgrade bits in the box (ah yes, bask in the technical terms...) have only recently (last year or so) purchased AMD XP 64 chips, at some considerable cost. It's not like buying candy you know, people generally like to get some use out of stuff before upgrading, not just buying because new stuff is out.
It takes a while for new tech to drop in price, and then there's mindshare, how well aware are people of the product in question?
If your mates have a particuler chip, chances are you will get that one, and not everyone's flush with money, so it won't be top of the range that gets bought.
the chip I bought, an AMD64 4000 jobbie, will do me for a few years now. probably longer, since the machine will be relegated to server duty while I buy spiffy new bits for my next desktop.
I am just completing a research phd, and beleive me, it was very hard indeed. The idea of doing a phd that had involved just learning the current state of the art didn't appeal at first, but they get you educated to the required level, and they're easier.
Doing original work is painful, stessful, and frankly scares the shit out of you at times. I'm lucky (well, I worked my ass off), I managed to acheive my stated goals. A 'book report' thesis, as you describe it is still hard, but you at least know it can be finished if you work hard enough.
I can certainly see why people do them. It has another huge advantage over research as well. My knowledge covers a very small domain at the moment, albeit to a very high level. I've now got to 'prove' that I can do other things because of acheiving so much in my current field, which is a problem I hadn't considered. A student who doesn't do original research doesn't have that problem to such an extent.
Whichever type you do, you still need to conduct research afterwards to stay current. After a while it all levels out.
However, even if DRM wasn't an issue, which it sounds like it isn't (to the extent I'd thought) I still wouldn't, because I consider an mp3 player to be a high risk of losing item. I'd rather have something cheap that I could handle dropping/losing. I've got the one I use, one in a drawer ready to use, and another still in it's packet. Each is 1gb, and altogether they cost me £90. That's less then an iPod Nano costs over here (england).
My backups are the original cd's, however, I suppose, given the time it took to burn them, that backups of the mp3s probably wouldn't be a bad idea.
My opinion personally is that DRM exists solely because of file sharers. I'd heard all the arguments by the p2p advocates, and I say it's a load of dingo's kidneys. They don't pay for it, and they should, end of story. I don't like the idea that music I might buy online would be drm'd becaause someone else has routinelly stolen it. That's an entirely different rant though.
I have a huge collection of mp3s and audiobooks that cost a thousand pounds at least, probably more. I buy a lot of audiobooks at £25 a pop.
Therefore the music I play neither has, nor requires any form of DRM, or a player capable of handling it. I'd worry about even the *slightest* possibility that my tunes would be re-edited by a player to include drm, _whether_or_not_ it's a fact now.
They took a long time to convert to mp3, and I wouldn't relish the thought of their being messed with. I don't see the point either, I bought it, I want to listen to it, and if someone else wants to have a listen I'll let them, then say 'you like it? Buy it then...' Just like we did when it was mostly vinyl. Amazingly enough the world didn't implode.
I therefore would not buy a player with DRM, no matter how cheap or 'convenient'. There will always be a market for the small mp3 player with no frills. Anyone who uses a player that inserts rights code, temporarily or not for *any reason* or requires it's use for music purchased online, is being silly I think.
What happens if, in a few years time, the DRM landscape has changed and your music is unavailable? I've still got my Cd's and my non drm mp3's, and I've got a couple of spare cheap ass mp3 players too.
I give it a week at most before the ufo/alien/conspiracy crowd produce their own 'optimised/cleaned up' version of these images that reveal not only the face, but the scaffolding left over from the aliens who built it, and the fossilised remains of their packed lunches.
I recall that some nut managed to 'decifer' an entire city region buried around the so called face.
I remember the very first time this image appeared (yes, I'm that old), there was a very interesting comment in the magazine at the time, being 'if you turn this image of a mountain in partial shadow around, you can make it look like a face'. It was meant as a joke at the time.
It amused me to see the ever more detailed pictures appearing over the years, improving as image manipulation methods for joe public improved. Some even had eyebrows.
All that said, these are very nice pictures, social context aside. I'm still amazed by the fact that we can get images from the surface of mars at all.
It's a pretty familier story, and essential for the advancement of science.
The standard candle was a theory, one that worked well, and now it's in doubt, indicating either that its wrong, or it's incomplete. I'd vote for the latter personally. That's usually a safe bet...
That's how things move forward. I shortcut this process. I proved one of my hypothesis wrong even though it had withstood initial tests which indicated correctness. It probably saved a lot of time, but lost me a conference trip, dammit.
The North Polar region was apparently temperate when the dinosours were about (I do seem to recall it was positivelly tropical at one stage).
Cooler then the rest of the world, yes, but warm enough for dinosours. Since it now seems they were warm blooded, and probably covered in feathers, this seems less improbable to me.
I'm 'barely relevent' and I aprove of this message......
Man do I get sick of trying to close documents in other applications with:wq
I even tried to close firefox with that a few weeks back.
For me though, programming without vim would be horrific. I've used Vim for so many years that I probably couldn't use another editor.
I tried Kedit, because some of my students were using it and I thought I should have a go, but I found it too krufty.
Since 90% of my programming is console based (the other 10% being shitty text only websites created in Vim, and slightly more funky opengl, written with guess what..), I use the console mode vim a lot. Although I am partial to gvim when a gui presents itself.
I get embaressingly lost in guis though, usually when someone is asking me to help them with something. I'm pretty much used to bash only.
One day I may try Emacs, but once you get used to the minimalist aproach, the bloat of emacs doesn't appeal.
I tried once to drum up interest for a Community created new engine for TA, in 2000, but couldn't get others interested, and the project folded, so I just got on with my degree instead (I'm nowt to do with TAspring btw).
I'll be cropping up again with Supreme Commander though. I have plans...
I've got a £30 1gb mp3 player. It works perfectly, supports mp3 and wma, and I'm not especially worried if I lose it.
A Zune, a Zen, or an iPod are all very expensive, and I'd worry about lazing on a beach with them, or doing something that risks damaging them, like jogging (what with me being clumsy and all). Hence my sticking with cheap players.
What interests me is the idea of a disposable mp3 player that I can buy in packs of ten and chuck when they get ragged or worn out in some way, or just not care if I lose them.
Besides, I'd be willing to bet that a disposable mp3 player would pretty soon have analogues of the most populer features of these expensive players.
By splitting up the article they probably reduce the incidence of people being served the entire article who'd never make it past the intro. That must save some tube space...
Slashdot Mirror
wow, there's always someone hanging about in these here interweb tubes that knows the answer :-)
british telecom was not something that needed to operate in the same way as the bbc. They don't make for a good comparison. It was also a monolith (well ok, it still is, but at least now it turns the odd buck).
ITV was, and remains, a privatelly owned company, not publically owned. They operate in a very different way to the bbc.
Not that all publically owned companies were good. I happen to think that we benefitted from the sale or closure of many, not because it was nice to do, it wasn't, but because it closed a massive drain on the public purse, England was fast going bankrupt in the 70's and early eighties. The BBC has always kept its head above water financially.
ITV are also stuck with mandatory elements, a certain obligation for news programs on their main channels (aside from a seperate news channel that is). Unlike the bbc that's never pleased them.
Couldn't happen.
The bbc isn't actually a private company that can be sold. It's a state owned (but not state controlled) organisation with a charter to serve the public, that also fulfills, as part of it's charter, essential services, shipping forecasts, world service etc.
It's not like other tv companies, certainly not like american tv companies. The term company isn't apropriate either.
There is no way microsoft could assure the uk public that they could or would maintain these services, some of them make no money at all, they are required services that the bbc has no choice but to provide, not that it wouldn't. Can you imagine microsoft coping without advertising revenue?
Plus it's funded directly by tv licences. The uk public would be very angry if microsoft were given that revenue, it would be an election loser in a very real sense.
that's not the original music is it? I don't remember it being that jazzed up. Shame, otherwise I'd archive it.
Are we talking people who went out and upgraded their processors here, or people who bought amd equipped machines?
if the latter, then it's down to manufacturers not favoring the chip, not consumers as such.
most of the people I know who regulerly upgrade bits in the box (ah yes, bask in the technical terms...) have only recently (last year or so) purchased AMD XP 64 chips, at some considerable cost. It's not like buying candy you know, people generally like to get some use out of stuff before upgrading, not just buying because new stuff is out.
It takes a while for new tech to drop in price, and then there's mindshare, how well aware are people of the product in question?
If your mates have a particuler chip, chances are you will get that one, and not everyone's flush with money, so it won't be top of the range that gets bought.
the chip I bought, an AMD64 4000 jobbie, will do me for a few years now. probably longer, since the machine will be relegated to server duty while I buy spiffy new bits for my next desktop.
I am just completing a research phd, and beleive me, it was very hard indeed.
The idea of doing a phd that had involved just learning the current state of the art didn't appeal at first, but they get you educated to the required level, and they're easier.
Doing original work is painful, stessful, and frankly scares the shit out of you at times. I'm lucky (well, I worked my ass off), I managed to acheive my stated goals. A 'book report' thesis, as you describe it is still hard, but you at least know it can be finished if you work hard enough.
I can certainly see why people do them. It has another huge advantage over research as well. My knowledge covers a very small domain at the moment, albeit to a very high level. I've now got to 'prove' that I can do other things because of acheiving so much in my current field, which is a problem I hadn't considered. A student who doesn't do original research doesn't have that problem to such an extent.
Whichever type you do, you still need to conduct research afterwards to stay current. After a while it all levels out.
You'd be right, I wouldn't buy an iPod, or a Zune
However, even if DRM wasn't an issue, which it sounds like it isn't (to the extent I'd thought) I still wouldn't, because I consider an mp3 player to be a high risk of losing item. I'd rather have something cheap that I could handle dropping/losing. I've got the one I use, one in a drawer ready to use, and another still in it's packet. Each is 1gb, and altogether they cost me £90. That's less then an iPod Nano costs over here (england).
My backups are the original cd's, however, I suppose, given the time it took to burn them, that backups of the mp3s probably wouldn't be a bad idea.
My opinion personally is that DRM exists solely because of file sharers. I'd heard all the arguments by the p2p advocates, and I say it's a load of dingo's kidneys. They don't pay for it, and they should, end of story.
I don't like the idea that music I might buy online would be drm'd becaause someone else has routinelly stolen it. That's an entirely different rant though.
I have a huge collection of mp3s and audiobooks that cost a thousand pounds at least, probably more. I buy a lot of audiobooks at £25 a pop.
Therefore the music I play neither has, nor requires any form of DRM, or a player capable of handling it. I'd worry about even the *slightest* possibility that my tunes would be re-edited by a player to include drm, _whether_or_not_ it's a fact now.
They took a long time to convert to mp3, and I wouldn't relish the thought of their being messed with. I don't see the point either, I bought it, I want to listen to it, and if someone else wants to have a listen I'll let them, then say 'you like it? Buy it then...'
Just like we did when it was mostly vinyl. Amazingly enough the world didn't implode.
I therefore would not buy a player with DRM, no matter how cheap or 'convenient'. There will always be a market for the small mp3 player with no frills. Anyone who uses a player that inserts rights code, temporarily or not for *any reason* or requires it's use for music purchased online, is being silly I think.
What happens if, in a few years time, the DRM landscape has changed and your music is unavailable? I've still got my Cd's and my non drm mp3's, and I've got a couple of spare cheap ass mp3 players too.
vaccum in this context is a region of an ecosystem not currently being exploited by an organism.
well, that's what it would tend to mean.
that's what it sounds like to me.
but then why am I joining in, I'd not buy one anyway. I prefer my cheap, almost disposable 1gb mp3 player. It cost £30, and works just fine.
Radio 1 was staffed by former pirate radio bods anyway.
the lion ones makes me think of some wird thing in the clouds saying 'simba...'
I give it a week at most before the ufo/alien/conspiracy crowd produce their own 'optimised/cleaned up' version of these images that reveal not only the face, but the scaffolding left over from the aliens who built it, and the fossilised remains of their packed lunches.
I recall that some nut managed to 'decifer' an entire city region buried around the so called face.
I remember the very first time this image appeared (yes, I'm that old), there was a very interesting comment in the magazine at the time, being 'if you turn this image of a mountain in partial shadow around, you can make it look like a face'. It was meant as a joke at the time.
It amused me to see the ever more detailed pictures appearing over the years, improving as image manipulation methods for joe public improved. Some even had eyebrows.
All that said, these are very nice pictures, social context aside. I'm still amazed by the fact that we can get images from the surface of mars at all.
Absolutelly. After all, without China taking the lead, how would another Firefly season get made?
Well at least if it went wrong in the lab there wouldn't be anyone left to complain....
It's a pretty familier story, and essential for the advancement of science.
The standard candle was a theory, one that worked well, and now it's in doubt, indicating either that its wrong, or it's incomplete. I'd vote for the latter personally.
That's usually a safe bet...
That's how things move forward.
I shortcut this process. I proved one of my hypothesis wrong even though it had withstood initial tests which indicated correctness. It probably saved a lot of time, but lost me a conference trip, dammit.
The North Polar region was apparently temperate when the dinosours were about (I do seem to recall it was positivelly tropical at one stage).
Cooler then the rest of the world, yes, but warm enough for dinosours. Since it now seems they were warm blooded, and probably covered in feathers, this seems less improbable to me.
I'm 'barely relevent' and I aprove of this message......
'it looks like you're writing a c++ file!'
Noooooooooooooo......
Man do I get sick of trying to close documents in other applications with :wq
I even tried to close firefox with that a few weeks back.
For me though, programming without vim would be horrific. I've used Vim for so many years that I probably couldn't use another editor.
I tried Kedit, because some of my students were using it and I thought I should have a go, but I found it too krufty.
Since 90% of my programming is console based (the other 10% being shitty text only websites created in Vim, and slightly more funky opengl, written with guess what..), I use the console mode vim a lot. Although I am partial to gvim when a gui presents itself.
I get embaressingly lost in guis though, usually when someone is asking me to help them with something. I'm pretty much used to bash only.
One day I may try Emacs, but once you get used to the minimalist aproach, the bloat of emacs doesn't appeal.
FuHQuake, now that's where it's at.
All these years, and quake is still my DM game of choice, thanks to the FuH.
Zigurat Vertigo for teh win. I don't think that level has ever been equalled for pure high-larious fun.
I plan to really jump in and start modding when SC comes out. I never really stopped liking TA, but it has aged, and no-one else I know plays it.
:-)
:-)
I've not used TAspring much. tbh I don't like it much, but I didn't like to say unless you turned out to be a dev
Sounds like TA has been changing a lot though. I wonder what all these modders will do with SC's features
I tried once to drum up interest for a Community created new engine for TA, in 2000, but couldn't get others interested, and the project folded, so I just got on with my degree instead (I'm nowt to do with TAspring btw).
I'll be cropping up again with Supreme Commander though. I have plans...
I've got a £30 1gb mp3 player. It works perfectly, supports mp3 and wma, and I'm not especially worried if I lose it.
A Zune, a Zen, or an iPod are all very expensive, and I'd worry about lazing on a beach with them, or doing something that risks damaging them, like jogging (what with me being clumsy and all). Hence my sticking with cheap players.
What interests me is the idea of a disposable mp3 player that I can buy in packs of ten and chuck when they get ragged or worn out in some way, or just not care if I lose them.
Besides, I'd be willing to bet that a disposable mp3 player would pretty soon have analogues of the most populer features of these expensive players.
you may have hit the nail on the head there.
By splitting up the article they probably reduce the incidence of people being served the entire article who'd never make it past the intro. That must save some tube space...
because they can place more adverts in the article that way.