I call bullshit. What is your monthly cell bill? I'd love to have a pay-by-the-minute plan that didn't expire. I'd get a cellphone. Name of your provider please?
Besides, my POTS doesn't drop calls, doesn't give weird busy signals, and doesn't garble the signal.
I used to think I'd drop my POTS when cellphones were $20/month unlimited or I could find a prepaid plan that doesn't expire, but it seems every generation of cellphones has worse voice quality and less reliable service. At this point I hate using someone's cellphone. I have to repeat myself, ask others to do the same, hit redial over and over, and in general get frustrated with something that's really damn simple. I'm certain that my first experiences with analog cellphones were superior to current average city cell service.
Oh and you think cellphones aren't regulated? Let me introduce you to the FCC.
I don't like the broken clock analogy. If an analog clock is broken so that it spins super-fast then it is right thousands of times a day. If it is broken so that it spins just slower than normal it is right a couple of times a week. Broken digital clocks can be correct never, or once a day, or many other possibilities. Then you have the whole am/pm indicator issue. It makes me cringe every time I read it.
I think Dvorak is broken like a talking digital alarm clock that announces random times, you can't shut off and it keeps blabbing irritating repetitive "information" that you're better off without. This type of clock is correct once in a while, but you probably aren't paying attention anymore. Once a clock says "*BEEP* It's Five Seventy-Eleven AM" I stop listening and put it under a pillow in a closet and go back to sleep.
I happen to agree with your reasoning, but it raises some problems for the concept of an unchanging God, moral absolutes, and the relevancy and authority of the Bible. If we're going to use human compassion, the moral context and logic to determine ethics than why do we even need the bible any more?
Part of the reason I'm no longer a Christian is this exact issue. I couldn't understand how we could use this book as an authority when it was filled with irrelevant rules like these. If it is our job to distill it down to the rules that actually apply to us than it is a meaningless book. We'll end up with people fixated on subjugating women or blacks persecuting queers using the bible to their own unchristlike ends.
Fundamentally, learning that the bible was not the inerrant and unchanging word of God created the first cracks in my faith. Later I was interested to find out that biblical scholars have very high rates of crises of faith. It made sense to me; that would be a very difficult profession for a believer.
I'm disgusted by waste as much as you are, but if/when we achieve cheap renewable power it won't matter anymore. People can waste power with very little impact. I'll still turn lights off and keep my thermostat set reasonably, but it won't matter anymore.
I try to enjoy my life, it is a precious thing. I try to live by an ethical code, and I think I do pretty well at that. If there is a god, and so far there is zero evidence that there is, I am hopeful that this alleged god will admire the fact that I enjoyed my life and tried to do right. I'd be pretty tired of pinched, bitter hypocrites who hate all the good things in life right around now. If by some retarded fluke there is the christian god of the bible, who will put Haggert in heaven and Sagan in hell, I'd prefer hell.
Any god worth his improbability would reserve a special place in hell for bastards that have "fire insurance" faith. Besides, do you have any idea how many religions there are? You'd be nearly certain to pick the wrong one.
People have been smugly quoting that verse for 2,000 years, fully expecting the end times in their lifetime. It just never gets old somehow, even though every person who has quoted it has been wrong.
Quoting scripture as your entire response isn't a conversation. I made some good points and you ignored them. Oh well, I guess I still have room to lower my opinion of Christians a bit further. Hiding behind scripture, ignoring valid points, unwillingness to think and self-satisfaction are among the reasons I rejected Christianity.
People have been predicting the end of the world since the beginning of time. Every generation of believers thinks the end times will happen in their lifetime.
They've all been wrong.
It's hard to comprehend that when one dies the world will go on anyway. But it will.
I write software, and I used to dream about coming up with an application that would support me indefinately with no further work. I've sold several programs over the years. I'd LOVE it to get money for nothing forever, but it's not viable. I've realized that a better way to make money is to charge for maintenance contracts, or to charge for customization, or for actual services. These are not possible to copy. If I can do it, any creative person can do it.
I'm not equating easy with right. I'm adapting to changing technology. I don't think it is smart to hope/legislate/bully people into respecting oppressive copyright laws when it is easier to come up with things to sell that aren't copyable.
We'll see how things develop. I think 2 types of futures are possible, a fascist copyright world with strict laws and crippled equipment and megacorps collecting trillions in royalties and a lax copyright world where creative works flow freely and the creators are paid for actual interaction or products. I personally would prefer the latter. I think it would be more creative and interactive. Everyone is different, though. Some people would prefer big corporations to own and control everything and keep manufacturing megastars.
Copyright is not some god-given right. It is a deal between society and creative producers, and is supposed to benefit both. I wouldn't mind a return to the way things were before technology made all this possible. Actors and musicians would be paid for performances, and would have to perform to make money. Software companies would be paid for maintenance contracts, customization, that kind of thing. I can already see some adaptation, like WoW subscriptions and changing price structures for software and maintenance. Why do you have such a problem with that? It makes good sense to me.
Judging from some of the certified people I've met they can't be very hard to pass. Why not check out a book from the library and shell out the couple hundred bucks to get your cert? I'd do the same if it was interfering with finding a good job.
Slashdot is full of pirates. I'm a pirate. A filthy, swashbuckling pirate.
I'll support bands by going to their concerts. I'll support movies by going to the movies. All the rest is fair game.
All the photographers I know make their rent by doing weddings, portraits, and baby pictures. Nobody is pirating those. They fulfill their artistic inclinations by making huge, museum-quality prints of really good negatives. Nobody is pirating those.
If you're smart, try to find a way to do things that are tough to pirate. If you're such a poor photographer that all you can do is web-quality stock photos, I don't predict a rosy future. If your musical career is based on never doing concerts you don't deserve to make millions.
Technology has changed, and there's no putting it back. Copyrighted digital material will be easy to copy forever. Our laws are unfair and outdated and nobody should depend on them indefinately. There are lots of great ways to make money without oppressive eternal copyright.
Copyright is a deal between society and an artist. The deal has been soured beyond stomaching, and is based on obsolete distribution details.
I spent 5 years without knowhing how to type properly, but they were very formative 10-15 years old. I took a typing class and had an easier time than people who'd never seen a keyboard before. At least I knew where the keys were. I'm very glad I did it. I can type over 100wpm now if I'm in my groove.
You should go to your community college and take typing class. It'll be the best hundred bucks you've ever spent. You'll save ten times that much on carpal tunnel savings alone.
1 : of, relating to, or characteristic of Draco or the severe code of laws held to have been framed by him
2 : CRUEL; also : SEVERE (draconian littering fines)
It says the code of laws, not the punishment for violating the laws. Seems like a strange distinction anyway. You don't think strict rules are characteristic of Draco?
Bah, whitelists. If I can't find what I'm looking for as easily or I can't do what I need to do then the punishment is worse than the disease. The weird techblog or manufacturer's site or vendor is not going to be in the whitelist. Adding some stupid site I'll use once is retarded. And if your whitelist is so big "I'll never have a problem" then you aren't filtering much are you?
You wouldn't put a whitelist on your phones would you? Or what addresses your mailroom can send mail to?
I think productivity is higher and morale is better if you secure your systems and trust your users.
If you're a sadist though, go ahead. Stick it to the little man! The frustration and delays are a small price to pay to make people feel unappreciated!
Ugh, I hope that isn't the way we're headed. I guess I've been lucky. Every audio device I've dealt with plays mp3s just fine. I haven't bought a new one in a while though.
Before I get depressed about the future of portable audio, I just want to say how happy I am to have low-power no moving part devices. I'd never go back to portable CD players or cassette decks. I used to blow through 4 AAs a day, more for rechargeables. All those motors and belts broke down a lot. Now one AAA and I'm good for several days, and I have never had an mp3 player stop working. There is the 64MB one with no display that I don't use anymore, but it still works. Heh, I paid $60 for that and thought it was a steal.
He signed a bill created by a republican congress. Now we have a democratic congress. Can you understand why people might hope a different party would tend to draft different bills? Hell, if it's a popular bill Bush, a republican, might even sign it.
Not that I have much faith in either party to look out for our rights.
Boy, they really need to bring back civics classes. Presidents don't create bills. Legislature does, and both houses were controlled by republicans back then. Can you understand why someone might hope that a different party controlling both houses might come up with different bills? Why are you talking about Clinton? He signed plenty of bad bills, some backed by republicans, some backed by democrats.
Congress doesn't sign bills. Presidents do. You should really make an effort to learn about how US government works.
Some people think that a democratic party controlled congress will be more sympathetic to fair use rights. I have my doubts, since both parties seem to be growing increasingly corporatist. The republicans at the FCC have been busy conglomerating power for media companies for some time now, so it is understandable to think that a democratic congress might be different. We'll see.
I like 128k mp3 AND either high-bitrate mp3 or flac. Even on a modem a 128k mp3 is downloadable and they sound ok. If it's really good I like to see a high quality option. You'll probably lose some interest if people have to download 50MB just to see if they like it. I don't care about 5.1 surround. Too much music I already have is stereo.
I used to prefer ogg on principle, but frankly I'm too lazy. I have a swim-proof mp3 player and anything can play mp3s. I got tired of fighting $5 mp3 players, mp3 players in cars, and mp3-only device categories.
Alternatively, I would like some mid-quality stream with a high quality download option. If you're setting up a streaming server anyway why not have 2 or 3 quality settings?
Slashdot Mirror
I call bullshit. What is your monthly cell bill? I'd love to have a pay-by-the-minute plan that didn't expire. I'd get a cellphone. Name of your provider please?
Besides, my POTS doesn't drop calls, doesn't give weird busy signals, and doesn't garble the signal.
I used to think I'd drop my POTS when cellphones were $20/month unlimited or I could find a prepaid plan that doesn't expire, but it seems every generation of cellphones has worse voice quality and less reliable service. At this point I hate using someone's cellphone. I have to repeat myself, ask others to do the same, hit redial over and over, and in general get frustrated with something that's really damn simple. I'm certain that my first experiences with analog cellphones were superior to current average city cell service.
Oh and you think cellphones aren't regulated? Let me introduce you to the FCC.
I don't like the broken clock analogy. If an analog clock is broken so that it spins super-fast then it is right thousands of times a day. If it is broken so that it spins just slower than normal it is right a couple of times a week. Broken digital clocks can be correct never, or once a day, or many other possibilities. Then you have the whole am/pm indicator issue. It makes me cringe every time I read it.
I think Dvorak is broken like a talking digital alarm clock that announces random times, you can't shut off and it keeps blabbing irritating repetitive "information" that you're better off without. This type of clock is correct once in a while, but you probably aren't paying attention anymore. Once a clock says "*BEEP* It's Five Seventy-Eleven AM" I stop listening and put it under a pillow in a closet and go back to sleep.
Elephants?!? Heresy!
It's turtles all the way down.
I happen to agree with your reasoning, but it raises some problems for the concept of an unchanging God, moral absolutes, and the relevancy and authority of the Bible. If we're going to use human compassion, the moral context and logic to determine ethics than why do we even need the bible any more?
Part of the reason I'm no longer a Christian is this exact issue. I couldn't understand how we could use this book as an authority when it was filled with irrelevant rules like these. If it is our job to distill it down to the rules that actually apply to us than it is a meaningless book. We'll end up with people fixated on subjugating women or blacks persecuting queers using the bible to their own unchristlike ends.
Fundamentally, learning that the bible was not the inerrant and unchanging word of God created the first cracks in my faith. Later I was interested to find out that biblical scholars have very high rates of crises of faith. It made sense to me; that would be a very difficult profession for a believer.
I'm disgusted by waste as much as you are, but if/when we achieve cheap renewable power it won't matter anymore. People can waste power with very little impact. I'll still turn lights off and keep my thermostat set reasonably, but it won't matter anymore.
I try to enjoy my life, it is a precious thing. I try to live by an ethical code, and I think I do pretty well at that. If there is a god, and so far there is zero evidence that there is, I am hopeful that this alleged god will admire the fact that I enjoyed my life and tried to do right. I'd be pretty tired of pinched, bitter hypocrites who hate all the good things in life right around now. If by some retarded fluke there is the christian god of the bible, who will put Haggert in heaven and Sagan in hell, I'd prefer hell.
Any god worth his improbability would reserve a special place in hell for bastards that have "fire insurance" faith. Besides, do you have any idea how many religions there are? You'd be nearly certain to pick the wrong one.
That sounds like a good program, but couldn't they come up with a better name than "weeeireland?" That's just plain ugly.
There are recycling places that sell and donate old equipment. Check this one out.
I'd say that any recycling place will set aside anything with resale value.
People have been smugly quoting that verse for 2,000 years, fully expecting the end times in their lifetime. It just never gets old somehow, even though every person who has quoted it has been wrong.
Quoting scripture as your entire response isn't a conversation. I made some good points and you ignored them. Oh well, I guess I still have room to lower my opinion of Christians a bit further. Hiding behind scripture, ignoring valid points, unwillingness to think and self-satisfaction are among the reasons I rejected Christianity.
Father Jack posts on slashdot? That explains the mess.
People have been predicting the end of the world since the beginning of time. Every generation of believers thinks the end times will happen in their lifetime.
They've all been wrong.
It's hard to comprehend that when one dies the world will go on anyway. But it will.
I write software, and I used to dream about coming up with an application that would support me indefinately with no further work. I've sold several programs over the years. I'd LOVE it to get money for nothing forever, but it's not viable. I've realized that a better way to make money is to charge for maintenance contracts, or to charge for customization, or for actual services. These are not possible to copy. If I can do it, any creative person can do it.
I'm not equating easy with right. I'm adapting to changing technology. I don't think it is smart to hope/legislate/bully people into respecting oppressive copyright laws when it is easier to come up with things to sell that aren't copyable.
We'll see how things develop. I think 2 types of futures are possible, a fascist copyright world with strict laws and crippled equipment and megacorps collecting trillions in royalties and a lax copyright world where creative works flow freely and the creators are paid for actual interaction or products. I personally would prefer the latter. I think it would be more creative and interactive. Everyone is different, though. Some people would prefer big corporations to own and control everything and keep manufacturing megastars.
Copyright is not some god-given right. It is a deal between society and creative producers, and is supposed to benefit both. I wouldn't mind a return to the way things were before technology made all this possible. Actors and musicians would be paid for performances, and would have to perform to make money. Software companies would be paid for maintenance contracts, customization, that kind of thing. I can already see some adaptation, like WoW subscriptions and changing price structures for software and maintenance. Why do you have such a problem with that? It makes good sense to me.
Judging from some of the certified people I've met they can't be very hard to pass. Why not check out a book from the library and shell out the couple hundred bucks to get your cert? I'd do the same if it was interfering with finding a good job.
Slashdot is full of pirates. I'm a pirate. A filthy, swashbuckling pirate.
I'll support bands by going to their concerts. I'll support movies by going to the movies. All the rest is fair game.
All the photographers I know make their rent by doing weddings, portraits, and baby pictures. Nobody is pirating those. They fulfill their artistic inclinations by making huge, museum-quality prints of really good negatives. Nobody is pirating those.
If you're smart, try to find a way to do things that are tough to pirate. If you're such a poor photographer that all you can do is web-quality stock photos, I don't predict a rosy future. If your musical career is based on never doing concerts you don't deserve to make millions.
Technology has changed, and there's no putting it back. Copyrighted digital material will be easy to copy forever. Our laws are unfair and outdated and nobody should depend on them indefinately. There are lots of great ways to make money without oppressive eternal copyright.
Copyright is a deal between society and an artist. The deal has been soured beyond stomaching, and is based on obsolete distribution details.
So what? Every country is somebody's Mexico.
Except Santa's Workshop. North Pole, bitches!
I spent 5 years without knowhing how to type properly, but they were very formative 10-15 years old. I took a typing class and had an easier time than people who'd never seen a keyboard before. At least I knew where the keys were. I'm very glad I did it. I can type over 100wpm now if I'm in my groove.
You should go to your community college and take typing class. It'll be the best hundred bucks you've ever spent. You'll save ten times that much on carpal tunnel savings alone.
Bombarding a computer with alpha particles is a user error.
You'd have to have an independently-evolved AI robot bombard the computer with alpha particles.
It says the code of laws, not the punishment for violating the laws. Seems like a strange distinction anyway. You don't think strict rules are characteristic of Draco?
Bah, whitelists. If I can't find what I'm looking for as easily or I can't do what I need to do then the punishment is worse than the disease. The weird techblog or manufacturer's site or vendor is not going to be in the whitelist. Adding some stupid site I'll use once is retarded. And if your whitelist is so big "I'll never have a problem" then you aren't filtering much are you?
You wouldn't put a whitelist on your phones would you? Or what addresses your mailroom can send mail to?
I think productivity is higher and morale is better if you secure your systems and trust your users.
If you're a sadist though, go ahead. Stick it to the little man! The frustration and delays are a small price to pay to make people feel unappreciated!
Ugh, I hope that isn't the way we're headed. I guess I've been lucky. Every audio device I've dealt with plays mp3s just fine. I haven't bought a new one in a while though.
Before I get depressed about the future of portable audio, I just want to say how happy I am to have low-power no moving part devices. I'd never go back to portable CD players or cassette decks. I used to blow through 4 AAs a day, more for rechargeables. All those motors and belts broke down a lot. Now one AAA and I'm good for several days, and I have never had an mp3 player stop working. There is the 64MB one with no display that I don't use anymore, but it still works. Heh, I paid $60 for that and thought it was a steal.
He signed a bill created by a republican congress. Now we have a democratic congress. Can you understand why people might hope a different party would tend to draft different bills? Hell, if it's a popular bill Bush, a republican, might even sign it.
Not that I have much faith in either party to look out for our rights.
Boy, they really need to bring back civics classes. Presidents don't create bills. Legislature does, and both houses were controlled by republicans back then. Can you understand why someone might hope that a different party controlling both houses might come up with different bills? Why are you talking about Clinton? He signed plenty of bad bills, some backed by republicans, some backed by democrats.
Now THAT is some lossy compression!
Congress doesn't sign bills. Presidents do. You should really make an effort to learn about how US government works.
Some people think that a democratic party controlled congress will be more sympathetic to fair use rights. I have my doubts, since both parties seem to be growing increasingly corporatist. The republicans at the FCC have been busy conglomerating power for media companies for some time now, so it is understandable to think that a democratic congress might be different. We'll see.
I like 128k mp3 AND either high-bitrate mp3 or flac. Even on a modem a 128k mp3 is downloadable and they sound ok. If it's really good I like to see a high quality option. You'll probably lose some interest if people have to download 50MB just to see if they like it. I don't care about 5.1 surround. Too much music I already have is stereo.
I used to prefer ogg on principle, but frankly I'm too lazy. I have a swim-proof mp3 player and anything can play mp3s. I got tired of fighting $5 mp3 players, mp3 players in cars, and mp3-only device categories.
Alternatively, I would like some mid-quality stream with a high quality download option. If you're setting up a streaming server anyway why not have 2 or 3 quality settings?