I think we should stop referring to the big, bad RIAA whenever possible. One of the reasons this organization exists is to funnel bad press away from specific companies (e.g. oh I dunno, Capitol) and toward an organization that doesn't really do anything on its own. Saying "the RIAA is suing somebody" doesn't really tell me anything.
If, instead, we referred to the actual company(-ies) involved, it would let people know who is really filing these lawsuits. I realize that it's mostly the Big Four who are doing this, but I feel that just slapping the RIAA label onto everything clouds the discussion.
Comparing prices also gets subsidies (especially corn subsidies, but also renewable energy subsidies) involved.
You forgot to add "especially subsidies to petroleum companies, and the various tax and other loopholes they exploit". For some reason, it seems that corn subsidies are always mentioned in these discussions, yet there are times when nothing is said of the corporate welfare provided to the established oil/gas industry..
I did not know that there was a "rule" for when to pronounce "the" with a schwa and when to pronounce it with an [i] ("ee").
I'm pretty sure I remember learning this in elementary school (USA). If I remember correctly, when the following word begins with a vowel, you use the "ee".
I hope this doesn't mean I went to a horrible elementary school/had bad teachers/etc.
I don't mean to sound rude, but: dude, where have you been? The Xbox has a feature that lets you rip your CDs to its hard drive, and game developers can hook into this by allowing "custom soundtracks" (i.e. whatever music you rip). The Xbox versions of GTA support this. The 360 adds copy-from-MP3 player and LAN streaming to this.
That rusting Chevy has what, five quarts of oil in the engine? If this amount of oil leaked out over a decade, how bad of an environmental impact would it have?
In the city, I've never seen people burning their own garbage
Have you ever heard of this device called an "incinerator"?
In the city, I've never seen a barn that is just left to rot and collapse for a few winters, leaving a fire hazard that's filled with tetanus-risky nails and whatever else was in there.
In the country, I've never seen a factory/warehouse/housing project that is just left to rot and collapse for a few winters, leaving a fire hazard that's filled with tetanus-risky nails and whatever else was in there.
Perhaps I can offer some insight as to why the companies are going out of business or packing up shop.
Oh, OK.
I lived in the rust belt for 7 years but thankfully have escaped. The problem with the mid west is: the work force. They all think they are entitled to make 2 or 3 times as much as the average North American worker (who also posses more formal education) earns to do menial labor. It seems to be ingrained in the culture. Their mom and dad worked for Chrysler so its communicated to the next generation "I don't need good grades I can get stupidly drunk every weekend and scrape my way though high school or community college because they will get me in at the plant!". Worst yet they somehow they can manage to have this cognitive dissonance thing going on where they think that even know they make 3x as much in their organized labor job that they are somehow looking out for the man on the street and want to remind everyone how many other jobs each auto job supports (usually by spouting whatever made up number the union tells them (and the number inexplicably triples every year). Good riddance the faster they clods drag the big three down...
This is not reasoned analysis. This is a rant, based on your (I'm guessing negative) experience living in the midwest. Perhaps ironically, you are "polluting" the conversation:).
Your comment here assumes the OP was indeed deferring to "authority". I challenge your assertion, as to me the OP appears to be making a statement something like:
I have followed the EFF throughout the years, and have agreed with the positions they have taken. Because of this, their endorsement of a bill signals to me that it is one I agree with.
Additionally, your comment is reaching pretty far:
This bill changes the very foundation of our governmental structure.
The "foundation" of the United States' "governmental structure" is defined in its Consitution. Is this bill a constitutional amendment? Oh right, it isn't. Also:
It is the structures that have to protect us, not the people.
Are you aware that this country was founded not through some "governmental structure" but rather through a "war" that involved "people"?
Oh right, because you, Mr. dharbee, certainly know me very well. It's not as if you're an anonymous commenter jumping in on someone else's conversation. No sir.
Did you sleep through high school civics class? Let me step you through this: the FBI is an agency of the Department of Justice. The DoJ is part of the Executive Branch of the United States Federal Government. George W. Bush and his Administration have controlled this branch of government from 2001 until now.
Now will you retract your statement, or are you going to (perhaps) try and wriggle out of admitting you were wrong?
(In my opinion) The problem with Clear Channel-like control over media is that it allows a very small group of people enormous influence over a society. The way they operate destroys and/or highly inhibits the growth of things like "culture" and "political discourse".
I say this because I feel that such top-down control of broadcasting is antithetical to how, for example, musical acts should gain recognition. My ideal way would be for all radio stations to be locally owned and operated, with competing stations in all places possible. They would scout the local music scene for good acts and give their stuff a try, and/or share it with other stations who would also decide whether to play it. People would call in to request songs, giving the stations a metric on the popularity of the music. In this system, bands would naturally rise and fall based on popularity. It would also allow regional influence over music, e.g. an area that doesn't have many fans of country music wouldn't hear as much of it.
Bring back a couple of Cuban cigars and most likely, no one's going to notice it. Try bringing back a case and, at best it can be confiscated. At worst, you're looking at potential fines and prosecution.
Yet you still do not provide any data from (reputable) sources on this phenomenon. I refuse to believe an (essentially) anonymous poster on the Internet that "if you go to Cuba, the guv'mnt is gonna get you". Unless you can provide me with some hard data about the number of people getting charged/fined/arrested for this, I will continue to refuse to believe you.
PS: I know customs takes their job seriously. I got grilled by two different agents about whether I had any reindeer meat in my bags. Apparently lots of people coming back from Norway do that.
This sounds like an urban legend. No real names, dates, or links to references are given. All there is is some anecdotal hearsay ("people I know") and a boogeyman ("the government").
Good job, though. You got pretty close to fooling my bullshit detector.
Intel beat Nvidia/ATI to market with the new "unified shader architecture" hotness. Sure, the part itself isn't fast, but it sounds like some interesting things may be developing with Intel and their graphics parts.
The real question is whether or not significant wage increases for menial laborers in the US would hurt the economy...
Disclaimer: I am not an economist. That said...I seriously doubt that paying unskilled labor a bit more would hurt the US economy in any way. I agree with your point about aid and social services, but keep in mind many using these are not illegals, rather they are citizens who can't make ends meet.
As for wage levels, here are some things I rarely see brought up on Slashdot:
I'm not an Apple evangelist, but I think comparing Apple's online store to Dell's is useful here. Sure, some of the Apple store simplicity comes from having a small product line, but I think Dell could probably improve things. For example, naming a computer something like "E502" doesn't give a customer much at-a-glance information.
Here's a radical idea: maybe Sony aren't losing money on PS3s. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but there has never been any confirmed report from inside Sony about how much the PS3 costs to make. Also, it is absolutely stupid to not take into consideration what the manufacturing cost is now, compared to at launch.
I get very tired of people repeating this over and over, with no confirmation to back it up.
Personally, I've always enjoyed when the Super Secret Apple Keynote Announcement is something nobody expects. To illustrate, compare the IPhone announcement (where everyone was expecting it) to this one, which made people go:
I must ask here.... what the fuck!?
I dunno, I probably enjoy them mostly for the reactions of the fanboys/anti-fanboys.
Slashdot Mirror
This is a website that focuses on computing/engineering/science. Engineer-speak comes as part of the deal.
I think we should stop referring to the big, bad RIAA whenever possible. One of the reasons this organization exists is to funnel bad press away from specific companies (e.g. oh I dunno, Capitol) and toward an organization that doesn't really do anything on its own. Saying "the RIAA is suing somebody" doesn't really tell me anything.
If, instead, we referred to the actual company(-ies) involved, it would let people know who is really filing these lawsuits. I realize that it's mostly the Big Four who are doing this, but I feel that just slapping the RIAA label onto everything clouds the discussion.
Can you show me examples of where Slashdot users have misused the term?
The point is not that people misuse the term; the point is that marketing-speak is annoying as fuck to read.
Comparing prices also gets subsidies (especially corn subsidies, but also renewable energy subsidies) involved.
You forgot to add "especially subsidies to petroleum companies, and the various tax and other loopholes they exploit". For some reason, it seems that corn subsidies are always mentioned in these discussions, yet there are times when nothing is said of the corporate welfare provided to the established oil/gas industry..
some of the more obscure drivers.
Well, this is probably the source code equivalent of walking through a minefield.
Heh, I have that for my Dreamcast...
I did not know that there was a "rule" for when to pronounce "the" with a schwa and when to pronounce it with an [i] ("ee").
I'm pretty sure I remember learning this in elementary school (USA). If I remember correctly, when the following word begins with a vowel, you use the "ee".
I hope this doesn't mean I went to a horrible elementary school/had bad teachers/etc.
I don't mean to sound rude, but: dude, where have you been? The Xbox has a feature that lets you rip your CDs to its hard drive, and game developers can hook into this by allowing "custom soundtracks" (i.e. whatever music you rip). The Xbox versions of GTA support this. The 360 adds copy-from-MP3 player and LAN streaming to this.
I call your 'SKU' and raise you a 'price point'.
(GRR marketroids)
Yay counterexamples!
rusting Chevy left to rot and leak oil
That rusting Chevy has what, five quarts of oil in the engine? If this amount of oil leaked out over a decade, how bad of an environmental impact would it have?
In the city, I've never seen people burning their own garbage
Have you ever heard of this device called an "incinerator"?
In the city, I've never seen a barn that is just left to rot and collapse for a few winters, leaving a fire hazard that's filled with tetanus-risky nails and whatever else was in there.
In the country, I've never seen a factory/warehouse/housing project that is just left to rot and collapse for a few winters, leaving a fire hazard that's filled with tetanus-risky nails and whatever else was in there.
Perhaps I can offer some insight as to why the companies are going out of business or packing up shop.
...
:).
Oh, OK.
I lived in the rust belt for 7 years but thankfully have escaped. The problem with the mid west is: the work force. They all think they are entitled to make 2 or 3 times as much as the average North American worker (who also posses more formal education) earns to do menial labor. It seems to be ingrained in the culture. Their mom and dad worked for Chrysler so its communicated to the next generation "I don't need good grades I can get stupidly drunk every weekend and scrape my way though high school or community college because they will get me in at the plant!". Worst yet they somehow they can manage to have this cognitive dissonance thing going on where they think that even know they make 3x as much in their organized labor job that they are somehow looking out for the man on the street and want to remind everyone how many other jobs each auto job supports (usually by spouting whatever made up number the union tells them (and the number inexplicably triples every year). Good riddance the faster they clods drag the big three down
This is not reasoned analysis. This is a rant, based on your (I'm guessing negative) experience living in the midwest. Perhaps ironically, you are "polluting" the conversation
Much of the code in the kernel could win IOCCC hands down.
Which parts?
Additionally, your comment is reaching pretty far:
The "foundation" of the United States' "governmental structure" is defined in its Consitution. Is this bill a constitutional amendment? Oh right, it isn't. Also:
Are you aware that this country was founded not through some "governmental structure" but rather through a "war" that involved "people"?
Oh right, because you, Mr. dharbee, certainly know me very well. It's not as if you're an anonymous commenter jumping in on someone else's conversation. No sir.
Oh, you're right! I'm totally wrong! The Democrats have controlled that committtee all these years Bush has been in office!!!
Minority Party
Did you sleep through high school civics class? Let me step you through this: the FBI is an agency of the Department of Justice. The DoJ is part of the Executive Branch of the United States Federal Government. George W. Bush and his Administration have controlled this branch of government from 2001 until now.
Now will you retract your statement, or are you going to (perhaps) try and wriggle out of admitting you were wrong?
Who leaves code on a publicly accessible server?
Richard Stallman, Linus Torvalds, etc.
It's not like you can ever tune both stations.
This isn't really the problem.
(In my opinion) The problem with Clear Channel-like control over media is that it allows a very small group of people enormous influence over a society. The way they operate destroys and/or highly inhibits the growth of things like "culture" and "political discourse".
I say this because I feel that such top-down control of broadcasting is antithetical to how, for example, musical acts should gain recognition. My ideal way would be for all radio stations to be locally owned and operated, with competing stations in all places possible. They would scout the local music scene for good acts and give their stuff a try, and/or share it with other stations who would also decide whether to play it. People would call in to request songs, giving the stations a metric on the popularity of the music. In this system, bands would naturally rise and fall based on popularity. It would also allow regional influence over music, e.g. an area that doesn't have many fans of country music wouldn't hear as much of it.
Bring back a couple of Cuban cigars and most likely, no one's going to notice it. Try bringing back a case and, at best it can be confiscated. At worst, you're looking at potential fines and prosecution.
Yet you still do not provide any data from (reputable) sources on this phenomenon. I refuse to believe an (essentially) anonymous poster on the Internet that "if you go to Cuba, the guv'mnt is gonna get you". Unless you can provide me with some hard data about the number of people getting charged/fined/arrested for this, I will continue to refuse to believe you.
PS: I know customs takes their job seriously. I got grilled by two different agents about whether I had any reindeer meat in my bags. Apparently lots of people coming back from Norway do that.
This sounds like an urban legend. No real names, dates, or links to references are given. All there is is some anecdotal hearsay ("people I know") and a boogeyman ("the government").
Good job, though. You got pretty close to fooling my bullshit detector.
Intel beat Nvidia/ATI to market with the new "unified shader architecture" hotness. Sure, the part itself isn't fast, but it sounds like some interesting things may be developing with Intel and their graphics parts.
The real question is whether or not significant wage increases for menial laborers in the US would hurt the economy...
Disclaimer: I am not an economist. That said...I seriously doubt that paying unskilled labor a bit more would hurt the US economy in any way. I agree with your point about aid and social services, but keep in mind many using these are not illegals, rather they are citizens who can't make ends meet.
As for wage levels, here are some things I rarely see brought up on Slashdot:
I'm not an Apple evangelist, but I think comparing Apple's online store to Dell's is useful here. Sure, some of the Apple store simplicity comes from having a small product line, but I think Dell could probably improve things. For example, naming a computer something like "E502" doesn't give a customer much at-a-glance information.
Here's a radical idea: maybe Sony aren't losing money on PS3s. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but there has never been any confirmed report from inside Sony about how much the PS3 costs to make. Also, it is absolutely stupid to not take into consideration what the manufacturing cost is now, compared to at launch.
I get very tired of people repeating this over and over, with no confirmation to back it up.
Personally, I've always enjoyed when the Super Secret Apple Keynote Announcement is something nobody expects. To illustrate, compare the IPhone announcement (where everyone was expecting it) to this one, which made people go:
I must ask here.... what the fuck!?
I dunno, I probably enjoy them mostly for the reactions of the fanboys/anti-fanboys.