Voterless voting machines. No longer will the average american be burdened with the inconvience or respnosibility of voting. Simply register and you're done. Diebold will even see that you get to have a say in elections after you're dead. Field tested last year in Ohio the system is now ready for widespread use just in time for congrssional elections next year. Sit at home in comfort and watch the results to see who you voted for election night.
I see on t.v. that are so sickening, and am I correct to say that the U.S. army actually helped make it or am I mistaken?
Actually the CIA is working on a game to raise funds for covert ops. It's called Abu Grab Ass. You can either play as a guard or a prisoner. You get points for stacking the most naked Iraqs in a human pyramid. Instead of shooting you point and laugh to score points.
The Irish have known about superfluids for centuries we just refer to them by different names. There's Ale, Lager, Stout and some consider Pilsner a superfuild but not me personally. Some superfuilds can be entangled into my personal favorite, the Black and Tan. It's nice to see the rest of the world catching up in this fascinating science. I plan to do a little personal research at the corner lab/pub shortly.
Given the high suicide rate in Japan I'd avoid real people personality prototypes. An army of Marvin styled robots could double the suicide rate overnight. Even overly enthusiastic robotic doors could add considerable. I still remember the first cars with voices back in the 80s. About the third time it told me the door was ajar when I was opening it I nearly took an axe to the thing.
It was apparently one hell of a flood given it not only managed to mimic sedimentary layers hundreds of million to billion years old but there were apparently volcanos errupting during the flood since there have been a number of bones found in volcanic ash. Also apparently the earth was really really crowded before the flood.
Now this flood deal, the science of Waterworld aside, where did all that water go? If the earth has been realitively unchanged in the last six thousand years as they claim where did it go? The water tied up in all the glaciers would raise the oceans a couple of hundred feet. Not even enough to cover the majority of the US. A number of states would even be high and dry. According to the bible even the highest mountains were covered. Everest is nearly 30,000 feet above sea level. Any event that could remove that much water from the surface would sterilize the planet and leave a comet the size of the moon. There isn't enough ground water to account for it either.
Untruths are easy to spot they tend to be houses of cards with easily found holes. The difference between Intellegent Design and Evolution is whatever holes there are in Evolution they are slowly being filled. They same holes will still be there in a thousand years that there are now in Intellegent Design.
The timing was political but nessaccary. After a hundred years of accepted fact Evolution was being questioned. People needed to be reminded that Evolution isn't a theory but an established fact and there is a difference. Intellegent Design doesn't even qualify as a theory.
The biggest news to me was labs reproducing all the basic components of a cell with materials and conditions that would have existed 4.5 billion years ago. Utimately the real argument isn't Evolution but origin of life. I had a debate with a bible thumping cousin. All he could do was spout the party line about gaps in the theory and such. I pointed out that there have been complete evolutionary histories for animals, Whales being the first. By the end I had him douting what he had been told. The real problem is lack of education. That's the very reason they want to dilute what education there is. If you can create doubt about Evolution you can open people up to the myth of Intellegent Design.
Unfortunately Congress is just ignorant enough about how the internet works to pass a bill that will have a devastating affect on Ecommerce. They'll figure it out eventually but only after the damage is done. Most small businesses will have to ignore the law or simply go out of business. Many of the businesses are working on tight margins and given shipping costs are often offset by the lack of a sales tax they simply won't be viable. The convience is nice but there's always risk ordering off-line. If the costs are the same or higher than a local store I might as well buy locally. In some cases the States may see this as a win win but it'll harm the consumer and businesses. The internet is Federal so any tax has to be Federal in origin. It would be like each State setting up it's own import tariffs. The money would have to be pooled and paid out based on percentage of sales each state had. It's too complex to administer any other way.
If you are trying to test for human behavior in a robot pour hot coffee on one. If it's first reaction is to call it's lawyer I think we have a winner.
There's no doubt it had a fan base but it wasn't large enough to support the production costs. If it could have been produced for half or less it might have survived but it wouldn't have been the show people loved.
It's a big reason why piracy concerns me. It hits the genre shows and movies hardest because they have somewhat higher production costs for a smaller fan base. Shows like Lost and Survivor are cheap to produce as are talking heads shows, sitcoms and such. Yet the irony is they appeal to a more general audience and have higher numbers. Direct marketing to the fans won't help because the production costs are still the same. Simply producing the show for X dollars isn't the issue it's can you make a profit doing it? The networks are going to stick to profitable shows so genre is always going to be challenged when it comes to competing in the free market. Computer effects have improved things but as capibilities have gone up so have expectations. Remember the original Star Trek was considered an effects show yet it had hardly any effects and some episodes had virtually none except for stock space shots. Serenity's biggest problem was it cost too much for the fan base. If they had produced it for 15 mill it would have been profitable and they'd be talking sequels. Without DVD sales Serenity didn't even come close to breaking even. Remember the studio only gets around half the box office money. Expectations have to come down or revenues have to go up for smaller market shows like Firefly/Serenity. There simply aren't any other options.
Tesla sold Hearst on backing his power transmition system by telling him it was a way for mass communications. The communications were secondary to Tesla who was more interested it providing free power. Hearst pulled backing and had the tower demolished when he found out what Tesla was really up to. It was much like radio. Tesla designed the equipment for remote control and considered communications a secondary issue.
I'm far more impressed with a kid that spends his free time raising money for charity than a multibillionaire that gives away excess cash. He should give back because he's taken so much. He only started after some one pointed out what a cheapskate he was. It's still about ego, he's out to prove them wrong. Where's the nobility in that?
I read it over. They aren't after pitch ideas but formal proposals. That includes detailed cost projections, translated how the money will be spent. You're applying for a grant not throwing ideas out there to win a prize. If you've never applied for a grant it's a waste of your time and theirs. That said it's amazing they are opening wide for grant proposals.
The explaination is headlights from UFOs? What a let down. Surprised it turned out to be something so mundane. Now how do we get the little green buggers to use their low beams?
"People don't kill people, books kill people". Gee where do I start. Not all religions even have written records let alone holly books. So you're dead wrong there. Ideas are dangerous is what prompted every book burning there has ever been. Who is to judge what is dangerous? The Bible was banned at times. Attitudes change. We aren't talking about books on how to blow up your school they are texts on morality. A dangerous concept if I ever heard one! Ever read the Koran? I have. Not that different than the Bible, they had the same origins. Ignorance is what's dangerous not knowledge. People can distort any religion to their purposes. Christianity has been the excuse for many atrocities throughout history. I don't fear books I fear people that embrace ignorance.
When you're older son we'll tell you. It's what peopled used before they discovered hard drives and monitors, not to mention store bought software. Remember working off a TV? Good times, good times.
"Methinks doth protest too much." Rationalize much do we? I'm stealing from the record companies who steal from the artist. Stealing from a thief is okay in your book. Well got news for you if you steal a stereo from a thief some one still lost a stereo and you still own a stolen one. In your senerio the artist doesn't get paid a small amount they get nothing. The artist looses yet again only bigger this time since it's a total loss. Repeat after me, I am not a thief, I am not a thief. Keep it up. You might actually believe it one day.
Apparently you drunk the kool aide and I assume you voted for the SOB. You don't "have" to support a President that is abusing power. We here back in 1776 call in a democracsy and people have the right to support who they want not who they are told they have to support. I support the country and I support the troops. I do not support Bush and I do not support the war. Bush is a facist that makes jokes about how much easier it'd be if it was a dictatorship. Not sure how much easier he wants it given he gets pretty much everything he wants as it is. Haliburton and others are raping this country and Bush and his cronies are holding us down while we are gang rapped. Our rights have been taken away and yet studies have shown we aren't really any safer. Making us safer was never the issue. This is about power and robbing us blind. He deserves to be impeached. They impeached Clinton for lying about cheating on his wife. Bush is breaking laws that affect us all and has killed tens of thousands of people doing it, over two thousand americans. He's killed nearly as many americans as the terrorist and the war is still going on. What standard do you have for impeachment? "Well first they have to be a Democart" apparently. I'm not a Democrat, I don't like either party. Just how much lying cheating and stealing can go on before we do impeach him? He was making a case for invading Iran until some one pointed out to him that we don't have any troops to spare. If we really did get attacked now we'd be in a desperate situation. All our forces are aimed at Iraq. They've even been pulling them out of Europe to support the war. He says we'll pull out 30,000 this year. Well he sent 15,000 more last summer and the fighting hasn't slowed. Welcome to Viet Nam II the sequel. Funny a lot of us saw it coming. Wonder why he didn't?
You know why we are doomed to fail as a culture? This kind of thinking. "What we need are bigger dumps". Most of our plans don't even allow for the next hundred years. No wonder everyone is obsessed with the end of the world. We're obsessed with making it happen. Primative cultures survived thousands of years you we can't hardly with all our technology keep one together for a single lifetime. We've got to start thinking longer rang. We're stuck here folks and we better learn to live with that. We can't keep doubling the population every forty or fifty years and we can't burn through resources much longer. Oil will likely run out in my life time, it'll stop supporting need in fifteen to twenty years. That ain't long folks. Shooting everything into the sun makes no sense as soon rocket scientist always suggests, is not only impractical, vast amounts of energy expended even with a functioning space elevator. People forget it's easy to put something into orbit. It's very hard to reach escape velocity. Also we need those resources. In two hundred years trust me the garbage dumps of today are the gold mines of tomorrow. When resources start to run out recycling will be a massive industry and garbage dumps will be seen as a resource.
Look at all the waste heat in a radiator. Redesign the engine to use engine heat to power the steam system not just exhaust heat. You might double of more the power produced and get a cooler engine ontop of it extending engine life.
One downside to these systems would be during the winter in the northern states. Most of the engine's heat would be lost to the cold so I'm not sure how much gain there would be. With smaller cars on really cold days there isn't even enough excess heat to heat the interior of the car let alone produce steam.
The real issue isn't how many downloads there were from his system but if he was the source of that version of the film being made availible for download. It's the old geometric progression. Say only ten people downloaded it but those ten set it up for download and ten people downloaded and so on. Remember the old trick of doubling a penny every day for a month, you wind up rich. Only a handful of copies may have been downloaded from his system but if he's the source of a hundred thousand downloads then it's a very big issue. If people are ripping crap like Coach Carter to the web then they aren't taking the legality of it very seriously so there is a problem. If it was just the blockbusters it would be less scary to the studios. A lot of bread and butter is in their libraries. Ted Turner made a fortune reissuing the MGM library. If they loose that revenue stream they are in a lot of trouble. The problem with the web is once a film gets uploaded it's potentially there for all time, translated the life of the current form of the web. The person might have even nievely said what harm can a couple of downloads do not realizing it got loaded onto half a dozen popular boards and got downloaded tens of thousands of times without his knowledge. It's kind of like say there's a pen full of a thousand cattle. Some one feels sorry for this one calf and opens the gate and lets the one calf out but leaves the gate open. A thousand cattle wander out but in this case once they are out of the gate there's no practical way to recover them. Gee he only let out one calf what's the big deal? Well he cost the farmer a thousand cattle which is a big deal.
I always find I'm arguing against the party line on this issue but I have to ask why people are downloading? Is it to avoid paying? If so isn't this inherently wrong? There's all sorts of arguments about overpriced music and films but it's called free market. If you don't like the music or film don't buy it. Don't down load it for free and claim you're striking a blow for liberty. It's a gross rationalization. Is it okay to sneak into a film without paying? What if they sell ten tickets to the film and yet the theater is full? There's a premium others wind up paying. Software is a good example. I have licenses on all my software but most of the people I know download bootlegs of the expensive software. Software is expensive to write so if the majority download it's up to those that actually pay for it to cover the costs of developement. If more people paid rather than downloaded the costs would drop. Several of my softwares have dropped in price over the years because of an increased user base so it does happen. Why don't I just download it like everyone else? I want the companies to succeed and continue to upgrade and improve the software and that takes money. That's actually the secondary reason. The primary one being it's wrong. If you want to preview a software, a valid reason, most do have demo versions. I just downloaded a demo that had a full 30 day license. I fell in love with the software imediately and plan to buy the perminate license. The market is trying to adjust to demand, demo softwares being a way it's doing that, but simply avoiding paying hurts the companies and worse yet harms the ones that wind up having to pay extra because large numbers aren't paying and the money has to come from somewhere.
And the farmers time isn't? It costs the farmer $.50 to make the apples but the all you can eat guy is only willing to pay $.10 each. The only market left which is paying money is the all you can eat guy so the farmer either some how produces the apples for $.05 each or goes out of business. The end result is really bad apples from a handful of factory farmers able to produce them on such low margins. Much like what has happened to other forms of manufacture. It's rarely a simple solution and quality costs and if no one will pay for it quality suffers. I'm more concerned with film personally. Everyone likes the 200 mill effects epics but they are expensive. If piracy gets as bad in film as music the films like Kong that everyone wants to see simply won't be made. The good fairy don't make them money makes them. I agree about the bad quality of the product but simply not paying for the product is no solution. If quality is bad now imagine when budgets get cut by 75%. Can't happen? Independent film used to get most of it's revenue from foreign sales. South east asia has already died as a market because of piracy. All films sold are pirate and they sell for $1 each. Say wow that's great. Well it's driving the independents out of business. I sold a film a couple of years ago and got it in as the markets dried up. Now the same film is worth half as much. If I had made it five years earlier I could have made two to four times as much. Things are changing and not for the better. The big boys will survive but quality won't. You get what you pay for and if you don't want to pay much you ain't gettin' much. Sadly those of us who are willing to pay suffer the most. I own licenses for all my software but most I know don't. I wind up paying more because others won't. If twice as many paid prices would drop. You say fool, why pay? Guess what, software costs money to write. I want the upgrades and to see the companies succeed so I pay and I pay a premium because others are too cheap to pay.
You got a vendor on one side of the street selling apples for $.99 but across the street a vendor is giving them away. Doesn't take long for most people to say to hell with it and walk across the street for the free apples. The bad part is the guy giving them away isn't paying the farmer for the apples.
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Isn't it about time Bush got a lifetime achievement award? A golden foot in mouth would look great on the mantel in the oval office.
Voterless voting machines. No longer will the average american be burdened with the inconvience or respnosibility of voting. Simply register and you're done. Diebold will even see that you get to have a say in elections after you're dead. Field tested last year in Ohio the system is now ready for widespread use just in time for congrssional elections next year. Sit at home in comfort and watch the results to see who you voted for election night.
Actually the CIA is working on a game to raise funds for covert ops. It's called Abu Grab Ass. You can either play as a guard or a prisoner. You get points for stacking the most naked Iraqs in a human pyramid. Instead of shooting you point and laugh to score points.
The Irish have known about superfluids for centuries we just refer to them by different names. There's Ale, Lager, Stout and some consider Pilsner a superfuild but not me personally. Some superfuilds can be entangled into my personal favorite, the Black and Tan. It's nice to see the rest of the world catching up in this fascinating science. I plan to do a little personal research at the corner lab/pub shortly.
Given the high suicide rate in Japan I'd avoid real people personality prototypes. An army of Marvin styled robots could double the suicide rate overnight. Even overly enthusiastic robotic doors could add considerable. I still remember the first cars with voices back in the 80s. About the third time it told me the door was ajar when I was opening it I nearly took an axe to the thing.
Now this flood deal, the science of Waterworld aside, where did all that water go? If the earth has been realitively unchanged in the last six thousand years as they claim where did it go? The water tied up in all the glaciers would raise the oceans a couple of hundred feet. Not even enough to cover the majority of the US. A number of states would even be high and dry. According to the bible even the highest mountains were covered. Everest is nearly 30,000 feet above sea level. Any event that could remove that much water from the surface would sterilize the planet and leave a comet the size of the moon. There isn't enough ground water to account for it either.
Untruths are easy to spot they tend to be houses of cards with easily found holes. The difference between Intellegent Design and Evolution is whatever holes there are in Evolution they are slowly being filled. They same holes will still be there in a thousand years that there are now in Intellegent Design.
The biggest news to me was labs reproducing all the basic components of a cell with materials and conditions that would have existed 4.5 billion years ago. Utimately the real argument isn't Evolution but origin of life. I had a debate with a bible thumping cousin. All he could do was spout the party line about gaps in the theory and such. I pointed out that there have been complete evolutionary histories for animals, Whales being the first. By the end I had him douting what he had been told. The real problem is lack of education. That's the very reason they want to dilute what education there is. If you can create doubt about Evolution you can open people up to the myth of Intellegent Design.
Unfortunately Congress is just ignorant enough about how the internet works to pass a bill that will have a devastating affect on Ecommerce. They'll figure it out eventually but only after the damage is done. Most small businesses will have to ignore the law or simply go out of business. Many of the businesses are working on tight margins and given shipping costs are often offset by the lack of a sales tax they simply won't be viable. The convience is nice but there's always risk ordering off-line. If the costs are the same or higher than a local store I might as well buy locally. In some cases the States may see this as a win win but it'll harm the consumer and businesses. The internet is Federal so any tax has to be Federal in origin. It would be like each State setting up it's own import tariffs. The money would have to be pooled and paid out based on percentage of sales each state had. It's too complex to administer any other way.
If you are trying to test for human behavior in a robot pour hot coffee on one. If it's first reaction is to call it's lawyer I think we have a winner.
It's a big reason why piracy concerns me. It hits the genre shows and movies hardest because they have somewhat higher production costs for a smaller fan base. Shows like Lost and Survivor are cheap to produce as are talking heads shows, sitcoms and such. Yet the irony is they appeal to a more general audience and have higher numbers. Direct marketing to the fans won't help because the production costs are still the same. Simply producing the show for X dollars isn't the issue it's can you make a profit doing it? The networks are going to stick to profitable shows so genre is always going to be challenged when it comes to competing in the free market. Computer effects have improved things but as capibilities have gone up so have expectations. Remember the original Star Trek was considered an effects show yet it had hardly any effects and some episodes had virtually none except for stock space shots. Serenity's biggest problem was it cost too much for the fan base. If they had produced it for 15 mill it would have been profitable and they'd be talking sequels. Without DVD sales Serenity didn't even come close to breaking even. Remember the studio only gets around half the box office money. Expectations have to come down or revenues have to go up for smaller market shows like Firefly/Serenity. There simply aren't any other options.
Tesla sold Hearst on backing his power transmition system by telling him it was a way for mass communications. The communications were secondary to Tesla who was more interested it providing free power. Hearst pulled backing and had the tower demolished when he found out what Tesla was really up to. It was much like radio. Tesla designed the equipment for remote control and considered communications a secondary issue.
I'm far more impressed with a kid that spends his free time raising money for charity than a multibillionaire that gives away excess cash. He should give back because he's taken so much. He only started after some one pointed out what a cheapskate he was. It's still about ego, he's out to prove them wrong. Where's the nobility in that?
I read it over. They aren't after pitch ideas but formal proposals. That includes detailed cost projections, translated how the money will be spent. You're applying for a grant not throwing ideas out there to win a prize. If you've never applied for a grant it's a waste of your time and theirs. That said it's amazing they are opening wide for grant proposals.
The explaination is headlights from UFOs? What a let down. Surprised it turned out to be something so mundane. Now how do we get the little green buggers to use their low beams?
"People don't kill people, books kill people". Gee where do I start. Not all religions even have written records let alone holly books. So you're dead wrong there. Ideas are dangerous is what prompted every book burning there has ever been. Who is to judge what is dangerous? The Bible was banned at times. Attitudes change. We aren't talking about books on how to blow up your school they are texts on morality. A dangerous concept if I ever heard one! Ever read the Koran? I have. Not that different than the Bible, they had the same origins. Ignorance is what's dangerous not knowledge. People can distort any religion to their purposes. Christianity has been the excuse for many atrocities throughout history. I don't fear books I fear people that embrace ignorance.
When you're older son we'll tell you. It's what peopled used before they discovered hard drives and monitors, not to mention store bought software. Remember working off a TV? Good times, good times.
"Methinks doth protest too much." Rationalize much do we? I'm stealing from the record companies who steal from the artist. Stealing from a thief is okay in your book. Well got news for you if you steal a stereo from a thief some one still lost a stereo and you still own a stolen one. In your senerio the artist doesn't get paid a small amount they get nothing. The artist looses yet again only bigger this time since it's a total loss. Repeat after me, I am not a thief, I am not a thief. Keep it up. You might actually believe it one day.
In related news scientist hope to resurrect Dinosaurs to fill ecological gaps.
Apparently you drunk the kool aide and I assume you voted for the SOB. You don't "have" to support a President that is abusing power. We here back in 1776 call in a democracsy and people have the right to support who they want not who they are told they have to support. I support the country and I support the troops. I do not support Bush and I do not support the war. Bush is a facist that makes jokes about how much easier it'd be if it was a dictatorship. Not sure how much easier he wants it given he gets pretty much everything he wants as it is. Haliburton and others are raping this country and Bush and his cronies are holding us down while we are gang rapped. Our rights have been taken away and yet studies have shown we aren't really any safer. Making us safer was never the issue. This is about power and robbing us blind. He deserves to be impeached. They impeached Clinton for lying about cheating on his wife. Bush is breaking laws that affect us all and has killed tens of thousands of people doing it, over two thousand americans. He's killed nearly as many americans as the terrorist and the war is still going on. What standard do you have for impeachment? "Well first they have to be a Democart" apparently. I'm not a Democrat, I don't like either party. Just how much lying cheating and stealing can go on before we do impeach him? He was making a case for invading Iran until some one pointed out to him that we don't have any troops to spare. If we really did get attacked now we'd be in a desperate situation. All our forces are aimed at Iraq. They've even been pulling them out of Europe to support the war. He says we'll pull out 30,000 this year. Well he sent 15,000 more last summer and the fighting hasn't slowed. Welcome to Viet Nam II the sequel. Funny a lot of us saw it coming. Wonder why he didn't?
You know why we are doomed to fail as a culture? This kind of thinking. "What we need are bigger dumps". Most of our plans don't even allow for the next hundred years. No wonder everyone is obsessed with the end of the world. We're obsessed with making it happen. Primative cultures survived thousands of years you we can't hardly with all our technology keep one together for a single lifetime. We've got to start thinking longer rang. We're stuck here folks and we better learn to live with that. We can't keep doubling the population every forty or fifty years and we can't burn through resources much longer. Oil will likely run out in my life time, it'll stop supporting need in fifteen to twenty years. That ain't long folks. Shooting everything into the sun makes no sense as soon rocket scientist always suggests, is not only impractical, vast amounts of energy expended even with a functioning space elevator. People forget it's easy to put something into orbit. It's very hard to reach escape velocity. Also we need those resources. In two hundred years trust me the garbage dumps of today are the gold mines of tomorrow. When resources start to run out recycling will be a massive industry and garbage dumps will be seen as a resource.
Damn I just had a scary nightmare about cereal boxes demanding I buy them. I'm putting a pad and pen beside my bed. Come on lottery numbers!
One downside to these systems would be during the winter in the northern states. Most of the engine's heat would be lost to the cold so I'm not sure how much gain there would be. With smaller cars on really cold days there isn't even enough excess heat to heat the interior of the car let alone produce steam.
I always find I'm arguing against the party line on this issue but I have to ask why people are downloading? Is it to avoid paying? If so isn't this inherently wrong? There's all sorts of arguments about overpriced music and films but it's called free market. If you don't like the music or film don't buy it. Don't down load it for free and claim you're striking a blow for liberty. It's a gross rationalization. Is it okay to sneak into a film without paying? What if they sell ten tickets to the film and yet the theater is full? There's a premium others wind up paying. Software is a good example. I have licenses on all my software but most of the people I know download bootlegs of the expensive software. Software is expensive to write so if the majority download it's up to those that actually pay for it to cover the costs of developement. If more people paid rather than downloaded the costs would drop. Several of my softwares have dropped in price over the years because of an increased user base so it does happen. Why don't I just download it like everyone else? I want the companies to succeed and continue to upgrade and improve the software and that takes money. That's actually the secondary reason. The primary one being it's wrong. If you want to preview a software, a valid reason, most do have demo versions. I just downloaded a demo that had a full 30 day license. I fell in love with the software imediately and plan to buy the perminate license. The market is trying to adjust to demand, demo softwares being a way it's doing that, but simply avoiding paying hurts the companies and worse yet harms the ones that wind up having to pay extra because large numbers aren't paying and the money has to come from somewhere.
And the farmers time isn't? It costs the farmer $.50 to make the apples but the all you can eat guy is only willing to pay $.10 each. The only market left which is paying money is the all you can eat guy so the farmer either some how produces the apples for $.05 each or goes out of business. The end result is really bad apples from a handful of factory farmers able to produce them on such low margins. Much like what has happened to other forms of manufacture. It's rarely a simple solution and quality costs and if no one will pay for it quality suffers. I'm more concerned with film personally. Everyone likes the 200 mill effects epics but they are expensive. If piracy gets as bad in film as music the films like Kong that everyone wants to see simply won't be made. The good fairy don't make them money makes them. I agree about the bad quality of the product but simply not paying for the product is no solution. If quality is bad now imagine when budgets get cut by 75%. Can't happen? Independent film used to get most of it's revenue from foreign sales. South east asia has already died as a market because of piracy. All films sold are pirate and they sell for $1 each. Say wow that's great. Well it's driving the independents out of business. I sold a film a couple of years ago and got it in as the markets dried up. Now the same film is worth half as much. If I had made it five years earlier I could have made two to four times as much. Things are changing and not for the better. The big boys will survive but quality won't. You get what you pay for and if you don't want to pay much you ain't gettin' much. Sadly those of us who are willing to pay suffer the most. I own licenses for all my software but most I know don't. I wind up paying more because others won't. If twice as many paid prices would drop. You say fool, why pay? Guess what, software costs money to write. I want the upgrades and to see the companies succeed so I pay and I pay a premium because others are too cheap to pay.
You got a vendor on one side of the street selling apples for $.99 but across the street a vendor is giving them away. Doesn't take long for most people to say to hell with it and walk across the street for the free apples. The bad part is the guy giving them away isn't paying the farmer for the apples.