That would be true, if that law ever had any actual teeth. The physical lines still remain in the hands of the same one cable company/one telephone company. The only "competition" that this law really helped was the satellite companies. Otherwise, unless you plan to lay all your own new cable (like FIOS and other small-scale operations), what difference does it make?
No, I listen to a wide variety of music. I just don't find Zep or the Stones to be anywhere near as "revolutionary" as people have made them out to be. To me they sound just like any number of other contemporary bands, not even slightly ahead of their time (much less revolutionary). Of course, every band draws on the work of their predecessors, but to hear some Zep fans talk, you would think that no one ever thought of playing an electric guitar before Jimmy Page picked one up (ditto for Stones fans and Mick Jagger--as if he invented the rock stage show).
It particularly irks me when people credit Zep as pioneers of heavy metal. There are a LOT of pioneers of heavy metal, and no one group deserves exclusive credit. And if one group *DID* deserve more credit than any number of others in that field, it would definitely be "Black Sabbath" and not Zep. Sabbath songs like "Children of the Grave" *were* actually ahead of their time, foreshadowing the trash sound that would become popular ten years later in the 80's. And even Sabbath drew on their predecessors and don't deserve the kind of hype given regularly to Zep and the Stones (hype that is echoed by the arrogant, self-centered egos of Page, Plant, Jagger, and Richards themselves).
The Torah and Talmud thump just as hard as the Christian "New Testament" and "Book of Mormon." And they all seem to want "Ten Commandments" statues on my courthouse lawn and in my schools.
The funny thing is that almost all of these ISP's (cable providers, telco's) already HAVE government-granted monopolies themselves. Time-Warner has certainly never objected when a city has granted them an exclusive monopoly to provide cable service to a city (such agreements cover close to 100% of their market), nor has AT&T ever been shy about their monopoly. If these companies were so serious about "leveling the playing field" how about they agree to lease those cable and phone lines to competitors and forgo those exclusive agreements with cities and counties?
The Republican Party hasn't had anything resembling a "big tent" since before Nixon. Arlen Spector, Christie Whitman, and other moderates fit in with the Republicans about as well as a war-mongering, bible-thumping Joe Lieberman fits in with the Democrats.
Okay, I know this is going to get me modded down into infinity here, but I'm sorry--those crickets have good taste. Those are the two most overrated bands in rock and roll history. If only their actual talent could have been even a fraction of the size of their egos, maybe you would have had something. But even the Beatles had more actual talent than those two. And I fucking hate the Beatles.
There's no "Linux Compatible" sticker on my Dell PC either, but I would be pretty pissed if Dell tried to sue a website for telling me how to put it on my PC anyway.
Don't forget the optional "Hot as shit" add-on heater (for experiencing the fun of an Iraqi summer right in your own home) and the "Bored as fuck" expansion pack (that just goes on-and-on-and-on in a dreary parade of day-after-day of the same boring crap, interspersed with a rare but terrifying bombing or firefight)
And it's for just this very kind of shit that I stopped watching CNN/Fox News/MSNBC/etc. some time ago. One hour of McNeil/Lehrer a day is just fine, thanks. And I never have to listen to 24-hour-non-stop coverage of the latest missing-white-girl or panic-of-the-moment ever again.
I seriously doubt a million videos of skaters doing faceplants, idiots who just THINK they can sing, and comedy bits devoid of any actual comedy are going to improve our image in the world.
Even *if* Apple did become a dominant player in the OS market, there is no reason to believe they would be any less abusive of that position than MS has been.
Yeah, I don't know why this is presented as a dichotomy. Why does the increasing popularity of casual games mean that hardcore games *have* to decline? Just because a bunch of new people are playing casual games, that doesn't mean there are necessarily LESS people playing hardcore games than there were before. So grandma wants to play her Wii Sports at the nursing home--how does that make *me* any less likely to buy Bioshock 2 or the latest Elder Scrolls game?
I hosted my first webpage on Geocities back in 1995. It was where I learned html back when Netscape 1.1 was still cutting edge. I imagine more than a few web designers cut their teeth on this service. So it may be tempting to mock it for its simplicity and general cheesiness, but in 1995 EVERYTHING on the internet was simple and cheesy. And, IIRC, there was nothing else at the time that offered such a great opportunity to poor, wannabe webmasters (that was back when paid web hosting cost a LOT more than a $6 a month GoDaddy account, and Geocities was offering space for FREE). The skills I learned at Goecities landed me several jobs, and put me miles ahead of the competition back when saying "Oh, and I can design webpages too" really set you apart from everyone else.
These are the same companies that scream "socialism" every time the government even HINTS at nationalizing anything, but the second they face any REAL competition they run screaming to the government to give them special protected status (with campaign donations and other bribes in hand). Their "free market" means "free for us to rape anyone we want market" and alternatives be damned.
The "investment" of a big-budget studio picture includes WAY more than just the production costs. All that advertising, promotion, distribution, and exhibition costs money (often times significantly more than the production costs). You think prints make themselves, ads are free, flying your stars around is free, the theater doesn't want a cut, etc.?
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That would be true, if that law ever had any actual teeth. The physical lines still remain in the hands of the same one cable company/one telephone company. The only "competition" that this law really helped was the satellite companies. Otherwise, unless you plan to lay all your own new cable (like FIOS and other small-scale operations), what difference does it make?
Oops, meant to type "thrash," not "trash." My apologies to 80's Metallica (90's Metallica deserves no apology, only my contempt).
No, I listen to a wide variety of music. I just don't find Zep or the Stones to be anywhere near as "revolutionary" as people have made them out to be. To me they sound just like any number of other contemporary bands, not even slightly ahead of their time (much less revolutionary). Of course, every band draws on the work of their predecessors, but to hear some Zep fans talk, you would think that no one ever thought of playing an electric guitar before Jimmy Page picked one up (ditto for Stones fans and Mick Jagger--as if he invented the rock stage show).
It particularly irks me when people credit Zep as pioneers of heavy metal. There are a LOT of pioneers of heavy metal, and no one group deserves exclusive credit. And if one group *DID* deserve more credit than any number of others in that field, it would definitely be "Black Sabbath" and not Zep. Sabbath songs like "Children of the Grave" *were* actually ahead of their time, foreshadowing the trash sound that would become popular ten years later in the 80's. And even Sabbath drew on their predecessors and don't deserve the kind of hype given regularly to Zep and the Stones (hype that is echoed by the arrogant, self-centered egos of Page, Plant, Jagger, and Richards themselves).
The Torah and Talmud thump just as hard as the Christian "New Testament" and "Book of Mormon." And they all seem to want "Ten Commandments" statues on my courthouse lawn and in my schools.
The funny thing is that almost all of these ISP's (cable providers, telco's) already HAVE government-granted monopolies themselves. Time-Warner has certainly never objected when a city has granted them an exclusive monopoly to provide cable service to a city (such agreements cover close to 100% of their market), nor has AT&T ever been shy about their monopoly. If these companies were so serious about "leveling the playing field" how about they agree to lease those cable and phone lines to competitors and forgo those exclusive agreements with cities and counties?
He pumps the water into his dickhead boss's office, of course.
The Republican Party hasn't had anything resembling a "big tent" since before Nixon. Arlen Spector, Christie Whitman, and other moderates fit in with the Republicans about as well as a war-mongering, bible-thumping Joe Lieberman fits in with the Democrats.
Okay, I know this is going to get me modded down into infinity here, but I'm sorry--those crickets have good taste. Those are the two most overrated bands in rock and roll history. If only their actual talent could have been even a fraction of the size of their egos, maybe you would have had something. But even the Beatles had more actual talent than those two. And I fucking hate the Beatles.
There's no "Linux Compatible" sticker on my Dell PC either, but I would be pretty pissed if Dell tried to sue a website for telling me how to put it on my PC anyway.
He was one of the comedy bits.
And I want my old jacket back.
Don't forget the optional "Hot as shit" add-on heater (for experiencing the fun of an Iraqi summer right in your own home) and the "Bored as fuck" expansion pack (that just goes on-and-on-and-on in a dreary parade of day-after-day of the same boring crap, interspersed with a rare but terrifying bombing or firefight)
Well, looks like it's back to killing faceless evil Nazis and dudes from Fictionalistan.
And it's for just this very kind of shit that I stopped watching CNN/Fox News/MSNBC/etc. some time ago. One hour of McNeil/Lehrer a day is just fine, thanks. And I never have to listen to 24-hour-non-stop coverage of the latest missing-white-girl or panic-of-the-moment ever again.
For the same reason that no gold miner was ever content with making a modest living as a merchant...because everyone dreams of the BIG strike.
I seriously doubt a million videos of skaters doing faceplants, idiots who just THINK they can sing, and comedy bits devoid of any actual comedy are going to improve our image in the world.
Here's your cookie.
Even *if* Apple did become a dominant player in the OS market, there is no reason to believe they would be any less abusive of that position than MS has been.
Probably about as many chicks as I've scored by telling them I have the first season of Battlestar Galactica on HD-DVD.
Yeah, I don't know why this is presented as a dichotomy. Why does the increasing popularity of casual games mean that hardcore games *have* to decline? Just because a bunch of new people are playing casual games, that doesn't mean there are necessarily LESS people playing hardcore games than there were before. So grandma wants to play her Wii Sports at the nursing home--how does that make *me* any less likely to buy Bioshock 2 or the latest Elder Scrolls game?
It worked on the Martians, didn't it?
Stupid native Martians. Always whining that people don't treat their ancestor's bones with respect.
I hosted my first webpage on Geocities back in 1995. It was where I learned html back when Netscape 1.1 was still cutting edge. I imagine more than a few web designers cut their teeth on this service. So it may be tempting to mock it for its simplicity and general cheesiness, but in 1995 EVERYTHING on the internet was simple and cheesy. And, IIRC, there was nothing else at the time that offered such a great opportunity to poor, wannabe webmasters (that was back when paid web hosting cost a LOT more than a $6 a month GoDaddy account, and Geocities was offering space for FREE). The skills I learned at Goecities landed me several jobs, and put me miles ahead of the competition back when saying "Oh, and I can design webpages too" really set you apart from everyone else.
RIP Geocities, from a former Athens resident.
These are the same companies that scream "socialism" every time the government even HINTS at nationalizing anything, but the second they face any REAL competition they run screaming to the government to give them special protected status (with campaign donations and other bribes in hand). Their "free market" means "free for us to rape anyone we want market" and alternatives be damned.
The "investment" of a big-budget studio picture includes WAY more than just the production costs. All that advertising, promotion, distribution, and exhibition costs money (often times significantly more than the production costs). You think prints make themselves, ads are free, flying your stars around is free, the theater doesn't want a cut, etc.?
Nope