The main flaw of traditional encyclopedia articles is that they're often written by a single author, with only minimal editing and peer review. And so the resulting article will inevitably be biased toward the views of said author (however respected he may be), with no recourse for other scholars who may disagree with its points. At least Wikipedia, for all its flaws, allows for some recourse from those with a different perspective or different arguments.
I would personally love nothing better than to be able to cut the strings and ditch Windows myself. It's expensive and the target-of-choice for virtually every piece of malware, spyware, and virus. But every time I try, I always come back. Why?
Because Apple is even more expensive and just as proprietary as Windows, won't let me build my own system, and is poorly supported by software developers. If Apple dominated the market, there is every reason to believe they would be just as heavy-handed as MS, if not much worse.
Because doing anything in Linux ends up with me banging my head against my computer screen. Even Ubuntu, the most user-friendly distro so far, is an endless series of frustrations. "Why can't I just download a piece of software and double-click on it to install?!?!" "What is the difference between KDE and Gnome and why should it matter?!?!" "Why do I have to go to the command line interface to do even basic stuff?" Hell, until the latest release, Ubuntu wouldn't even let me attach a projector without a complicated edit to the Xorg config file. ARGHHHHH!!!
Windows may die one day, but it's going to take a *lot* more work before anyone else is going to slay that dragon.
If things get too hot, the RIAA will just pull some Congressmen out of their pocket and have them change whatever law they violated (with enough bribery maybe they can even get a retroactive change).
Did I ever tell you about the time Traffic James took me out to go get a drink with him? We go off looking for a bar and we can't find one. Finally Traffic takes me to a vacant lot and says, "Here we are." We sat there for a year and a half -- until sure enough, someone constructs a bar around us. Well, the day they opened he ordered a shot, drank it, and then burned the place to the ground. Traffic yelled over the roar of the flames, "Always leave things the way you found 'em!"
The TV show "The Lexx" was posited on the idea of a light universe (abandoned by humanity) and dark universe coexisting. The "multiverse" is, after all, a VERY old sci-fi trope.
A $150 DVD player in 2001 (about what they ran at the time, IIRC) when DVD began to approach the break even point with VHS, would cost you about $180 today if you adjusted for inflation.
On #1 they were wrong. I was an early DVD adopter (got my player when they first came out in 1997). And they were a huge improvement even on older coax TV's. I know that because I used that very setup for the first several months I had a DVD player (before I got a new TV). An RF Modulator would not trigger Macrovision, only VCR's (the VCR's actually have to have the Macrovision circuitry built in, and so it didn't even trigger on older VCR's made before Macrovision was adopted). And the picture quality difference was stunning, for three reasons:
1) MUCH better color than VHS
2) Significantly higher resolution even with a coaxial cable over VHS (about 240 lines of horizontal resolution on VHS vs. 380 lines via a DVD converted to coaxial)
3) No more analog noise or tracking noise
In fact, I was disappointed when I got my new Toshiba TV with s-video that it wasn't as great a leap from that coaxial setup (2 steps down in connection quality from s-video) as it had first been from VHS to DVD.
Point taken, but I feel obligated to point out that mini-discs are still good for low rent ADR recording for videographers. I've got some friends who still use them for their ultra-low-budget movies and weddings.
I like the fact that Netflix lets you prioritize your preferred formats too. So you can automate "If you have this in blu-ray, send it to me in that format. If not that, send it to me in HD-DVD. If not that, send it to me in DVD." It's a simple thing, but a nice feature to have.
I should also add that I'm not anti-bluray. I'm a longstanding early adopter who got into DVD in 1997 and HD-DVD and Blu-ray when they first came out. I love my blu-ray player and HDTV, but they're a long way from mainstream.
By the time DVD reached that kind of market share, the prices on players had dropped to the sub-$200 range and disc prices had dropped to the average $20 range.
Right now, the cheapest blu-ray players are still up around $400 and the discs still average (at most brick and mortar retailers) in the $30 range. Not to mention that DVD looked good on virtually any TV (even older legacy sets), wheras Blu-ray players will (for most people) require the purchase of a new, potentially very expensive, HDTV.
If you're going mainstream, you had damn sure better get those prices into the mainstream. Japan made be filled with technophiles who are willing to spend big money on the latest tech of the moment. But most of the rest of world isn't.
In its defense, it does make it hard to move, blocks your peripheral vision, and is hot as hell to wear on Tatooine.
In other words, it's just as stupid than any superhero costume. You think any real world vigilante would dress like Batman (unless he were looking to commit suicide)?
I will *not* thank Lucas for starting the Hollywood "backend" phenomenon. It's just this sort of thing that led to increasingly out-of-control budgets for "blockbuster" movies that have made them increasingly annoying over the decades. Now we're stuck with droves of movies that are filled with how-do-we-top-ourselves special FX, overpaid celebrity-of-the-moment-actors, extensive audience testing that relentlessly strips anything worthwhile from the original script, product placement that's gone beyond distracting and well into the realm of the surreal, multiplexes that have 800 screens all playing the same 5 movies, shameful tie-in promotions, and many other evils.
Guys like Lucas and Spielberg sucked the creativity right out of mainstream movies. Back in the 70's, movies like the Godfather could play in a mainstream cinema and even command a big budget. Now those kinds of movies are relegated to the arthouse, with tiny budgets, and with no room for them in multiplexes (that cater only to the Michael Bay movie of the moment).
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I stayed at a Best Western hotel last night, I can do anything.
The main flaw of traditional encyclopedia articles is that they're often written by a single author, with only minimal editing and peer review. And so the resulting article will inevitably be biased toward the views of said author (however respected he may be), with no recourse for other scholars who may disagree with its points. At least Wikipedia, for all its flaws, allows for some recourse from those with a different perspective or different arguments.
Who the fuck remembers Monty Hall? I'm pushing 40 and even I barely remember him. Might want to update that to "Howie Mandel" at least.
I think you meant "gunk" not "gank." As in "Spokehedz gunks on guy's backs in real life too."
Because Apple is even more expensive and just as proprietary as Windows, won't let me build my own system, and is poorly supported by software developers. If Apple dominated the market, there is every reason to believe they would be just as heavy-handed as MS, if not much worse.
Because doing anything in Linux ends up with me banging my head against my computer screen. Even Ubuntu, the most user-friendly distro so far, is an endless series of frustrations. "Why can't I just download a piece of software and double-click on it to install?!?!" "What is the difference between KDE and Gnome and why should it matter?!?!" "Why do I have to go to the command line interface to do even basic stuff?" Hell, until the latest release, Ubuntu wouldn't even let me attach a projector without a complicated edit to the Xorg config file. ARGHHHHH!!!
Windows may die one day, but it's going to take a *lot* more work before anyone else is going to slay that dragon.
If things get too hot, the RIAA will just pull some Congressmen out of their pocket and have them change whatever law they violated (with enough bribery maybe they can even get a retroactive change).
Did I ever tell you about the time Traffic James took me out to go get a drink with him? We go off looking for a bar and we can't find one. Finally Traffic takes me to a vacant lot and says, "Here we are." We sat there for a year and a half -- until sure enough, someone constructs a bar around us. Well, the day they opened he ordered a shot, drank it, and then burned the place to the ground. Traffic yelled over the roar of the flames, "Always leave things the way you found 'em!"
The TV show "The Lexx" was posited on the idea of a light universe (abandoned by humanity) and dark universe coexisting. The "multiverse" is, after all, a VERY old sci-fi trope.
Geez, that's like Dick Cheney talking to Osama Bin Laden.
Beer goggles are better anyway.
Hush you! Do you want to blow the whole scam?
They tried to call you and apologize but you didn't answer your phone.
A $150 DVD player in 2001 (about what they ran at the time, IIRC) when DVD began to approach the break even point with VHS, would cost you about $180 today if you adjusted for inflation.
1) MUCH better color than VHS
2) Significantly higher resolution even with a coaxial cable over VHS (about 240 lines of horizontal resolution on VHS vs. 380 lines via a DVD converted to coaxial)
3) No more analog noise or tracking noise
In fact, I was disappointed when I got my new Toshiba TV with s-video that it wasn't as great a leap from that coaxial setup (2 steps down in connection quality from s-video) as it had first been from VHS to DVD.
Point taken, but I feel obligated to point out that mini-discs are still good for low rent ADR recording for videographers. I've got some friends who still use them for their ultra-low-budget movies and weddings.
Hey if a radioactive spider can turn a geeky kid into Spiderman, anything is possible.
I like the fact that Netflix lets you prioritize your preferred formats too. So you can automate "If you have this in blu-ray, send it to me in that format. If not that, send it to me in HD-DVD. If not that, send it to me in DVD." It's a simple thing, but a nice feature to have.
I should also add that I'm not anti-bluray. I'm a longstanding early adopter who got into DVD in 1997 and HD-DVD and Blu-ray when they first came out. I love my blu-ray player and HDTV, but they're a long way from mainstream.
And what are you but a religious bigot?
Right now, the cheapest blu-ray players are still up around $400 and the discs still average (at most brick and mortar retailers) in the $30 range. Not to mention that DVD looked good on virtually any TV (even older legacy sets), wheras Blu-ray players will (for most people) require the purchase of a new, potentially very expensive, HDTV.
If you're going mainstream, you had damn sure better get those prices into the mainstream. Japan made be filled with technophiles who are willing to spend big money on the latest tech of the moment. But most of the rest of world isn't.
Because you expect them to respect you.
Sorry, I'm an American. Kylie who?
And my uncle Jim once met Richard Dawkins on a cruise.
In other words, it's just as stupid than any superhero costume. You think any real world vigilante would dress like Batman (unless he were looking to commit suicide)?
Guys like Lucas and Spielberg sucked the creativity right out of mainstream movies. Back in the 70's, movies like the Godfather could play in a mainstream cinema and even command a big budget. Now those kinds of movies are relegated to the arthouse, with tiny budgets, and with no room for them in multiplexes (that cater only to the Michael Bay movie of the moment).