some nutcase is going to take advantage of the situation. Young, often naive travellers who nobody will miss for weeks... Slurp! Yum!
KTHX, dad. Seriously, this level of paranoia is unnecessary. The "what if I meet a serial killer" fear can be applied to any situation, at any time, and in any place - including the supermarket and the restroom. Leaving the itinerary with a friend is always a good idea, and as long as you pay attention to the "weird-o-meter" and have a plan B, you'll be fine.
I've helped build two electric conversion cars as an undergrad project, and I can attest that it is a _HUGE_ undertaking, even with a full garage at your disposal. Lots of welding and bolt-turning required. The result is hugely rewarding though. One of our conversions can do about 15 miles a day completely on the mounted solar panels:
http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/838
The other one is just a complete gas (no pun intended) to drive:
http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/837
Funny, DRM doesn't stop wholesale infringement. It never will - if the content can be seen or heard, it can be copied and distributed. It's worse than useless, since treating all customers as thieves = bad for business.
Here's a suggestion anyway: Offer quality content.
That includes good music, but other things as well - fantastic package art, fanclub memberships, entries in contests, points that could be redeemed for concerts, concert tickets themselves, ringtones, apparel, books, and things of that nature. Make the media more than the audio recording, and people will buy it.
Crippling the audio recording only penalizes those who stay legit. Those who cheat bareley even notice it.
I suggested preserving the human race, not evacuating the damn planet.
As for liveable conditions, find a solar system body with water, and establish an underground colony. Not easy, not cheap, but possible without terraforming.
Let me know when you've got a working plan to save the environment (how many decades just to slow down our current rate of consumption of nonrenewables?), gramps, and we can discuss this again.
Then, of course, there's the argument that if we don't get off this rock and colonize other (planets, moons), some day those problems you just mentioned will seem trivial compared to the immenent extinction of the human race.
Just sayin'.
I'd pay a fair price for a movie download if I could play it however I wanted. I will never, however, purchase DRM-infected files unless there's a sure way to clean them.
Hope FairUse4WM stays 1-up on the "patches." Might follow you to Vongo if they do.
The Commodore Amiga 1000 is the only Commodore machine on the list, at number 7. However, feel free to post a direct link that says otherwise, if you are able.
Many people who have read this wonder why the Commodore 64 and the VIC 20 were cut out. I think that the biggest excuse the authors may use is that those two machines were not breakthroughs in technology, but breakthroughs in affordability. I still believe that this is an incomplete argument though, especially in light of the huge popularity of the 64 and the resulting massive available software and reference rag libraries. In the United States, the 64 jump-started the home computing craze by being flexible enough to be a do-it-all machine: productivity suites, games and scientific tools were all available.
A friend who used to work at Lockheed told me how they once developed a communications bus that worked on the 64's parallel port and allowed the computers to be used as a multi-node supercomputer. They used the rig to calculate "safe" trajectories and orientations for a stealth fighter jet when flying through hostile radar zones. They bought the machines at Toys R Us.
I think you've answered your own question. You don't get "paid leave" to fight a civil case, and thus probably can't keep up with the bills if you're like most Americans, living paycheck to paycheck. As for writers, time is money, and writing for a living requires lots of constant work (except for a select few blockbusting authors).
Got a significant other, or family member who can support you during the case? I can see that working, though it would probably put a strain on the relationship. And like the other poster mentioned, good luck representing yourself if you're not a lawyer by trade.
As you sort of pointed out, a defendant in a civil suit does not get a court-appointed lawyer, no matter what. Ever tried representing yourself in a civil court against a team of professional asshol^H^H^H^H^H^H lawyers? You can be effectively buried financially in civil courts long before receiving a legal outcome for the case. Further, they've been telling people "If you pay X thousand dollars, we won't pursue this." That's extortion (with shitty, questionable leverage), any way you cut it. They're using the civil court system as their tire iron to try and intimidate everyday citizens, and calling their bluff requires lots of free time and / or money.
Personally, I haven't bought CDs or DVDs in almost six years anyway, and I don't want any part of copying it. The content flat out sucks.
You might get out of it after a nice friendly chat with an FBI agent, but you might find yourself fighting criminal charges.
Or, you could find yourself whisked away to a secret CIA prison in Poland, tortured until you 'confess' and left to rot in a 5'x5' windowless cell while no one you once knew has any idea of what happened to you.
Red Bull has a Cobra helicopter they use for promotional events. They bought it off of a Southern Californian who built it from military scrap, just as a previous poster mentioned. Apparently those suckers are a real problem to maintain.
The record cartel (RIAA members) are quite clearly evil. Indescriminately suing 12-year olds, senior citizens and welfare-moms has sealed their judgement in my mind. Eroding personal rights and freedoms for the sake of pure greed doesn't hurt either. Musicians stupid enough to sign with an RIAA member deserve no listeners, no profit, and no airtime.
Don't buy RIAA member CDs, make music mixes for friends and support the indie scene. If someone chides you about filesharing, tell them to get stuffed.
MUTE functions in such a way that it is excessively difficult to tell what user is sharing which files, but is still possible to get reasonably fast downloads.
Common sense ("street smarts") and raw IQ intelligence are definately two separate things. Many of the world's greatest scientific minds lack a solid grasp of the world around them. Think autism.
Slashdot Mirror
Vote out incumbents. If we keep shifting out the hatemongering idiots every two years, perhaps some of them will get a clue.
I've helped build two electric conversion cars as an undergrad project, and I can attest that it is a _HUGE_ undertaking, even with a full garage at your disposal. Lots of welding and bolt-turning required. The result is hugely rewarding though. One of our conversions can do about 15 miles a day completely on the mounted solar panels: http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/838 The other one is just a complete gas (no pun intended) to drive: http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/837
There goes any final, lingering reason I had to purchase DVDs. F--- you, Hollywood.
The highway patrol and the DMV will nail your hide TO THE WALL with dull forks for doing this if you get caught.
On the other hand, failing a smog test has a similar hassle attached to it.
OS? Linux. Distro? Slack. Of course, if they _do_ figure that one out, you may end up wishing you stuck with a dumbed-down OS. *g*
Funny, DRM doesn't stop wholesale infringement. It never will - if the content can be seen or heard, it can be copied and distributed. It's worse than useless, since treating all customers as thieves = bad for business.
Here's a suggestion anyway: Offer quality content.
That includes good music, but other things as well - fantastic package art, fanclub memberships, entries in contests, points that could be redeemed for concerts, concert tickets themselves, ringtones, apparel, books, and things of that nature. Make the media more than the audio recording, and people will buy it.
Crippling the audio recording only penalizes those who stay legit. Those who cheat bareley even notice it.
Since when did "anti-DRM" start meaning "pirate?"
LAME.
I suggested preserving the human race, not evacuating the damn planet.
As for liveable conditions, find a solar system body with water, and establish an underground colony. Not easy, not cheap, but possible without terraforming.
Let me know when you've got a working plan to save the environment (how many decades just to slow down our current rate of consumption of nonrenewables?), gramps, and we can discuss this again.
I'm sick of this cynical old-fartism.
Then, of course, there's the argument that if we don't get off this rock and colonize other (planets, moons), some day those problems you just mentioned will seem trivial compared to the immenent extinction of the human race. Just sayin'.
Here, here.
I'd pay a fair price for a movie download if I could play it however I wanted. I will never, however, purchase DRM-infected files unless there's a sure way to clean them.
Hope FairUse4WM stays 1-up on the "patches." Might follow you to Vongo if they do.
Pluto's orbit is far more eccentric than Neptune's.
The Commodore Amiga 1000 is the only Commodore machine on the list, at number 7. However, feel free to post a direct link that says otherwise, if you are able.
Many people who have read this wonder why the Commodore 64 and the VIC 20 were cut out. I think that the biggest excuse the authors may use is that those two machines were not breakthroughs in technology, but breakthroughs in affordability. I still believe that this is an incomplete argument though, especially in light of the huge popularity of the 64 and the resulting massive available software and reference rag libraries. In the United States, the 64 jump-started the home computing craze by being flexible enough to be a do-it-all machine: productivity suites, games and scientific tools were all available.
A friend who used to work at Lockheed told me how they once developed a communications bus that worked on the 64's parallel port and allowed the computers to be used as a multi-node supercomputer. They used the rig to calculate "safe" trajectories and orientations for a stealth fighter jet when flying through hostile radar zones. They bought the machines at Toys R Us.
I think you've answered your own question. You don't get "paid leave" to fight a civil case, and thus probably can't keep up with the bills if you're like most Americans, living paycheck to paycheck. As for writers, time is money, and writing for a living requires lots of constant work (except for a select few blockbusting authors).
Got a significant other, or family member who can support you during the case? I can see that working, though it would probably put a strain on the relationship. And like the other poster mentioned, good luck representing yourself if you're not a lawyer by trade.
As you sort of pointed out, a defendant in a civil suit does not get a court-appointed lawyer, no matter what. Ever tried representing yourself in a civil court against a team of professional asshol^H^H^H^H^H^H lawyers? You can be effectively buried financially in civil courts long before receiving a legal outcome for the case. Further, they've been telling people "If you pay X thousand dollars, we won't pursue this." That's extortion (with shitty, questionable leverage), any way you cut it. They're using the civil court system as their tire iron to try and intimidate everyday citizens, and calling their bluff requires lots of free time and / or money.
Personally, I haven't bought CDs or DVDs in almost six years anyway, and I don't want any part of copying it. The content flat out sucks.
Just sayin'...
If I cover my lens with ceran wrap or a plastic bag...then what?
My guess is that most Americans are more concerned about the "American Idol" voting mix-up than any domestic spying.
Red Bull has a Cobra helicopter they use for promotional events. They bought it off of a Southern Californian who built it from military scrap, just as a previous poster mentioned. Apparently those suckers are a real problem to maintain.
Don't buy RIAA member CDs, make music mixes for friends and support the indie scene. If someone chides you about filesharing, tell them to get stuffed.
http://www.downhillbattle.org/ http://www.eff.org/ http://www.riaaradar.com/
MUTE functions in such a way that it is excessively difficult to tell what user is sharing which files, but is still possible to get reasonably fast downloads.
The MUTE project: http://mute-net.sourceforge.net/
Nice. You shall be quoted.
Common sense ("street smarts") and raw IQ intelligence are definately two separate things. Many of the world's greatest scientific minds lack a solid grasp of the world around them. Think autism.