This company decides what we all listen to, and plays the exact same thing on every station across the country.
You have got to check out KEXP Seattle: public radio that is dedicated to music (not talk). Their taste in music (the DJs choose) is both diverse and surprisingly good. They stream in WMA, Real, MP3 (the WMA is 1.4 Mbps uncompressed). Plus they have a pretty fully featured website, including two weeks of the broadcast archived with playlists + many more special events / shows, etc. If you are fed up with 99% of radio, like I was, I recommend you try it. Sure, they still play misses here and there, but unlike most radio stations, they play some real gems, too.
Couldn't reducing destabilization be considered a form of stabilization?
No, but it might make you feel better if the ground is only rushing at you 100 mph instead of 200 mph
Why stop at 100mph? If we reduce the speed of fall to 0 mph the ground is no longer coming any closer. If we define a pre-destabilized environment "stable" then a reduction of destabilization is sufficient to maintain stability. Regardless, reducing destabilization now alters the projection of stability in the future for the better. If I am already falling, damn straight I'll feel better to fall at as slow of a rate as possible.
One thing seems clear to me though (Warning! Warning! Incoming opinion. Get a grip), while man may well be able to destablize environment, he is absolutely powerless to stablize it.
Couldn't reducing destabilization be considered a form of stabilization?
You know, pronouncing nuclear as nucular is still wrong, even if everyone does it.
Dammit man, I cannot understand this "modern English" garbage language you are speaking in. I don't care if everyone uses modern English today - Proto-Indo-European is still the true tongue and every word you speak is a crime against language purity. Oh yeah, and get off my lawn!
The same could be said of something that can be infinitely reproduced at no cost.
Not from the user's perspective. As I mentioned in a different post, the value of, say Microsoft XP is the ability to check your email, play games, etc. Pirated or not, your copy of Microsoft XP allows you to do that, and is therefore valuable. Currency in itself has no value, it is only useful for trading for goods with value. With pirated software you don't have a voucher for something of value, you already have the fully functional real deal.
And a pirated version of Windows XP was created via the same process that legitimate versions were, namely with the blood and sweat of Microsoft programmers. The OS is the product - not the distribution medium, the holographic discs, etc. If somebody steals a car, it's still a genuine car - just a stolen one. If somebody steals, bit by bit, Microsoft XP, it's still a genuine Microsoft XP - just a stolen one. Now if a bunch of Chinese pirates sit in a basement and code a Windows knock-off and sell it labeled "Windows XP" - that is counterfeit. If the same pirates sell you a copy of Windows XP, with all its features and functionality, it's not counterfeit - it's simply selling stolen merchandise - stolen genuine merchandise.
If you steal the plates, paper, and inks that make 100 dollar bills and you roll off several thousand of them for yourself, are those bills genuine or counterfeit?
I would argue that software and currency are fundamentally different things. Currency is essentially symbolic, and it's only value comes from its authenticity. Software, like a car, is functional. Its value to the average user comes not from being blessed by Microsoft, but from its ability to let the user check his/her email, write papers, play games, etc. Therefore, an exact copy with someone else's genuine cd key has the same value to the end user as a legitimate copy - except, as the author points out, to the extent that Microsoft intentionally diminishes its value, by denying technical support, upgrades, etc. It is analogous to a rebel Ford plant producing a few cars outside of Ford's knowledge or authorization, and selling them on the side. The car will be of identical quality and function to authorized cars, and whose value will be diminished only by Ford refusing to honor warranties, etc. There is nothing inherently inferior about these products: if Microsoft and Ford honored warranties, upgrades etc then they would be indistinguishable to "blessed" software, and for all intents and purposes, "genuine."
Anyway, linguistics is a descriptive (not prescriptive!) study, and this author studied general usage of the term "genuine" outside of and inside of Microsoft's anti-piracy campaign. I'm sure he welcomes your interpretation, though I think your last sentence (questioning his intellectual rigor) was a little misguided.
Do you see painters giving all of their best paintings away for free
Except a painter would have to paint each and every painting that he/she gave away, unlike you, who makes it once for some fixed cost and then distribution is free. The painter has O(N) cost, while yours is O(1).*
Now I know many musicians feel entitled to O(N) profits, which is understandable because the industry has been set up to work like that thus far (for better or worse). I respect your ability to make that decision for yourself, and accordingly, I do not download copyrighted music.
Having said that, as a potential customer, I'd much rather pay to go to a live show for an artist/band that I know I like than be nickled and dimed for every shiny little disc from artists/bands who can't figure out how to break out of the old business model. Don't underestimate the appreciation of fans who get tossed a bone here and there. If you really like what you're doing, and you really are good at it, you will be okay even if you don't play scrooge with your mp3s.
I like the visual of three executioners confused and in a huddle, desperately trying to figure out what the hell it means to segfault someone.
Re:BTW: The article is by SF writer David Brin
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Why Johnny Can't Code
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I thought it sounded like bad dialogue for a moment there:
"Say, Dad, didn't you write your first novel on one of those?" he asked.
"Actually, my second. 'Startide Rising.' On an Apple II with Integer Basic and a serial number in five digits. It got stolen, pity. But my first novel, 'Sundiver,' was written on this clever device called a typewrit --"
Secondly, it was a Seattle PI report on a supposed NYT report. Why is this a good source?
It's a NYT article published in the Seattle PI. Nintendo's US headquarters is in Redmond, WA. Why shouldn't a Seattle paper post an article of relevance to the local community? I'm not saying that I personally have any facts to support or contradict the content of the article, just that nothing seems inherently fishy about it.
I tried Digg for a while but ultimately gave up - and I think it is because they trust the user too much. Though the average Slashdot discussion is well short of, say, an academic journal, even the worst Slashdot discussion I've read was better than the best Digg one. I'm not trying to troll: I'll explain. Allowing everybody to moderate every post of every discussion, in my experience, results in a discussion that reflects the views of the majority by silencing the views of the minority. You may disagree, but I find that Slashdot moderators put more thought into how they shape the discussion - I know that I will mark a post insightful if it shows insight, regardless of whether I agree. Furthermore, leaving the majority of Slashdot posts remain unmoderated allows more room for both sides of the debate to be heard. I know, I know, proper tweaking of settings on both Digg or Slashdot can reduce some of these problems, but in the balance between trusting the user with too much control over the conversation and too little, I think Slashdot is a lot closer to optimal.
I found windows crashes to be due to poor hardware.
Well, I would have to agree with you for the most part. However, I still have had one problem that I cannot fully explain...
A few years back I purchased the components for a new machine. I promptly assembled the part, installed XP and fired up a game of Age of Empires. Within minutes the machine rebooted. Then it happened during a virus scan. Then for no good reason at all. I thought for sure it was a hardware problem: usually it rebooted when the CPU usage was high, and it occured much more frequently during the summer than the winter (reported CPU/MB temperatures were warm but not alarmingly so). I ended up narrowing it down to the MB or CPU, scoured their FAQs/forums, kept my BIOS and drivers up to the date, but no luck. After over two years of suffering this problem (I was too lazy to ship the parts back to Newegg) - I gave in and bought new parts to put together my current machine.
I was just about to throw the old CPU and MB away, but then decided to throw Gentoo Linux on it just for kicks. I thought for sure it would crumble under hours of compiling the system... but no. To this day I have never had it reboot, and have had uptimes of nearly a year (gotta update the kernel sometime). So Windows XP tickles something Gentoo Linux doesn't. I am thinking it was all an unpatched (2-years!) buggy driver somewhere, but I still don't really know. Maybe the collective expertise of Slashdot can shine a light on this problem?
It's funny how this was modded "Troll", while the retard who doesn't have a handle on the English language is modded "Interesting." I guess that's what is to be expected from a bunch of basement-dwelling Linux fanboys.
Yeah... however could that have come about? *tapping finger to forehead, mutters "think... think"* Hmm, sorry, I'm stumped.
Re:which means you have to build off a franchise
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Can Anyone Beat WoW?
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Watch for a big name title to go MMO...
Wait - I've got it: Duke NukemOnline Forever
*head explodes*
Slashdot Mirror
got vim?
Anyway, linguistics is a descriptive (not prescriptive!) study, and this author studied general usage of the term "genuine" outside of and inside of Microsoft's anti-piracy campaign. I'm sure he welcomes your interpretation, though I think your last sentence (questioning his intellectual rigor) was a little misguided.
Now I know many musicians feel entitled to O(N) profits, which is understandable because the industry has been set up to work like that thus far (for better or worse). I respect your ability to make that decision for yourself, and accordingly, I do not download copyrighted music.
Having said that, as a potential customer, I'd much rather pay to go to a live show for an artist/band that I know I like than be nickled and dimed for every shiny little disc from artists/bands who can't figure out how to break out of the old business model. Don't underestimate the appreciation of fans who get tossed a bone here and there. If you really like what you're doing, and you really are good at it, you will be okay even if you don't play scrooge with your mp3s.
* For N copies distributed.
I like the visual of three executioners confused and in a huddle, desperately trying to figure out what the hell it means to segfault someone.
Daily Nintendo trivia: Nintendo is also the majority owner of the Seattle Mariners.
The pinnacle of the Vote or Die compaign.
I tried Digg for a while but ultimately gave up - and I think it is because they trust the user too much. Though the average Slashdot discussion is well short of, say, an academic journal, even the worst Slashdot discussion I've read was better than the best Digg one. I'm not trying to troll: I'll explain. Allowing everybody to moderate every post of every discussion, in my experience, results in a discussion that reflects the views of the majority by silencing the views of the minority. You may disagree, but I find that Slashdot moderators put more thought into how they shape the discussion - I know that I will mark a post insightful if it shows insight, regardless of whether I agree. Furthermore, leaving the majority of Slashdot posts remain unmoderated allows more room for both sides of the debate to be heard. I know, I know, proper tweaking of settings on both Digg or Slashdot can reduce some of these problems, but in the balance between trusting the user with too much control over the conversation and too little, I think Slashdot is a lot closer to optimal.
I dare you to mod me informative
A few years back I purchased the components for a new machine. I promptly assembled the part, installed XP and fired up a game of Age of Empires. Within minutes the machine rebooted. Then it happened during a virus scan. Then for no good reason at all. I thought for sure it was a hardware problem: usually it rebooted when the CPU usage was high, and it occured much more frequently during the summer than the winter (reported CPU/MB temperatures were warm but not alarmingly so). I ended up narrowing it down to the MB or CPU, scoured their FAQs/forums, kept my BIOS and drivers up to the date, but no luck. After over two years of suffering this problem (I was too lazy to ship the parts back to Newegg) - I gave in and bought new parts to put together my current machine.
I was just about to throw the old CPU and MB away, but then decided to throw Gentoo Linux on it just for kicks. I thought for sure it would crumble under hours of compiling the system
I guess I should clarify that none of those links have anything to do with Google's system - just that this sort of "spyware" wouldn't be new.
Any abuse of this system could get pretty sinister, but it wouldn't be the first such abuse:3 9123379,00.htm o jan_case/ i n+Spain/2100-7348_3-5541974.html
http://software.silicon.com/malware/0,3800003100,
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/02/28/webcam_tr
http://news.com.com/Webcam+virus+writer+arrested+
The length to content ratio of the Reuters/InfoWorld article is way too high. Here's a more succinct version:
The phone, the thief, his wife and a Chihuahua?
September 01, 2006
(Reuters) - "Me too!" said Web designer Ben Clemens.
Duke Nukem Online Forever
*head explodes*