Thanks for replying... the reason I wrote all that was not because you incited me or anything, it's just that the context in which you put ghetto gangtsters in was a bit ambiguous so I wanted to point out my thoughts in case someone might get the wrong idea.
Thanks for writing what you said, and I agree it's hard to get straight if you're from a rough place or even if you have a rap sheet.. any small thing can get you a criminal record and keep you out of anything but gas station jobs (not that there's anything wrong with that, I worked at one for a while, but it's really low paying and you get treated like crap).
I just tend to be a bit pro-active when it comes to this topic if only to try my own feeble attempt at countering all of the people that don't understand or don't care.:)
Whether it's just a slap on the wrist and probation or death by hanging, the people committing this "crime" are not ghetto gang members who don't care about another sheet in their file.
Just to clarify, the only reason gang members don't care about another sheet in their file is because they have much bigger things to worry about, such as people shooting up their house, stealing their stuff, kidnapping their family members, and feeding their family. It has to do with escalation in the sense that it is self perpetuating, people are "protecting their neighbourhood." The problem comes in when there isn't that much of an opportunity for a good education or good jobs. A lot of families don't grow up with enough money to send their kids to school and they barely have enough to feed themselves. A father might steal to feed his baby. Kids might drop out to start working early.
Temptations such as drugs and drinking are very strong in hard times like these, and if someone isn't 100% vigilant about maintaining their composure they can easily become depressed or angry and turn to drugs and drinking even to take their mind off. Temptations to join up with friends who are in the same situation and have opportunities for making money are high. Temptations to SELL drugs are high because it brings in much more money than the jobs you can get without a good education, or the jobs (and the amount they pay you) you DO get in that neighbourhood even if you have an excellent education. Sometimes people get so fed up of their situation and they want to have at least one nice thing and they steal. It's tempting to move out, but then how do you help the community? By putting money back in? Shouldn't everyone be contributing? Shouldn't the government step in?
Look, it's easy to stereotype gang members, but to think people go out and murder for no reason whatsoever is putting it lightly to say the least. There's a saying, "Get it how you live", and often, that's just how these situations start.
Could I just offer up a $16,000 bounty as well? 'Cause there's plenty of money to be made with 0day flaws.
Anyone can discover them, so it's plausible that two people can know the same flaw. So one party gets the flaw and gives the $16,000, then communicates the exploit to a third party who hacks in and gets trade secrets (or teh g0ld) and sells those, or whatever.
Actually, Linux can play all media formats, and convert between them easily. All media players support all formats in Linux. Compare this to Windows, where certain players will only play certain formats, and every player wants you to convert music into their format, and some even require you to pay for the conversion and burning features.
and games spring to mind
On Windows I can't play games from a few years ago, let alone the classic PC games I have. On Linux, I can still play all the old games, and OSS emulators provide methods to play old games from other systems (dosbox, scummvm, agi, qemu). Games that require 3D acceleration just work, and don't require fiddling around and tons of patches. Linux may not have all games running native, but it's clear that when a game is made for Linux, it works superior compared to when a game is made for any other OS.
not to mention a decent-looking UI
Well, obviously that's subjective. But then again, you can customize it to your heart's content on Linux. Not only that but you can choose between different major UIs that are each well supported and tailored to different users. And yes, you can tweak it to look/act just like Windows.
and great desktop performance
I don't recall having to reinstall Linux every 6 months to get rid of system cruft, or having to restart to get rid of dead applications or memory leaks. I've never had to shut down because an application stopped responding. When I uninstall applications, they remove cleanly and completely.
Applications don't try to steal priority over other applications, and don't try to take over each other (i.e., some toolbars that come with applications, applications stealing each others' file associations, applications trying to launch themselves on startup and won't let you turn them off). Applications don't expire without warning and force you to download a new version that may or may not even support your version of operating system. Not to mention that I can even run Linux on older computers that currently supported Windows versions choke on. I can save my home folder to easily back up all my settings and personally installed programs, they're not scattered all over the filesystem. Other users can't mess up my files by default, but I can easily give them permissions to look at, edit select files, or share their own files with me.
I can copy my hard disk install and move it to another computer and it will work fine, and if I upgrade I don't have to reinstall my operating system (the other day I moved one system from an Athlon 64 to an Athlon 64 X2, totally different motherboard, video card, expansion cards, hard drive, audio, etc. I copied the Linux installation over onto the new one and when I started it up, you wouldn't even know anything had changed. Not a single dialog box nagging me that this and that was found, and this is changed, where is that driver, etc). All the required drivers come with my system and I don't need to install every hardware vendor's custom applet to sit near my clock and nag me about updates, promotions, or even just take up space.
If I have a printer, the interface for switching settings and viewing ink levels are the same as every other printer. I don't need to learn anything new to learn how to use my new printer, it just works the same. My sound card doesn't have a billion stupid custom applications that I don't want to use but have to install anyway because the driver updates require that they be there.
It's about what THEY can do... i.e., they would not release the media unless DRM/DCE was enabled. No. They'd just keep the movies to themselves forever and never let anyone watch them, never making any money ever! Brilliant, yes?
The Wii is the system creaming the competition, how about offering this on the Wii? The article states: "...a release of these products simultaneously on all three platforms (PS3, Xbox 360 and PC) including the two next generation platforms..." -- That's a pretty curious omission of the Wii... It's definitely possible to scale down the graphics and offer the same exact game on the Wii, a system even more powerful than the original XBox, which could handle Half Life 2.
I'm sorry for stating this so bluntly, but: that was a very poor review. It doesn't mention what Beryl does apart from the title, which mentions that it's a cool looking window manager. The article doesn't even have any screenshots or descriptions of how it improves the UI. The author doesn't expound on any features since they don't even mention any of them. It doesn't mention development of beryl, where they intend to go with it, how beryl compares to other similar routes to a 3D desktop on Linux, how it compares to desktops on other OSes, or any advantages to be gained from the functionality of using beryl for every day work. This is material for a message board post, basically.
OK, it's easy to criticize, so I'll do my part. Beryl (wiki) is a desktop compositing manager and window manager that takes advantage of 3D acceleration. Essentially it draws each window separately, allowing them to refresh and paint independantly and then puts it all together into the desktop you see. This allows graphical effects due to the fact that each window can be manipulated as a separate element by the 3D card and mapped as a texture to 3D objects, to which shaders and other geometry-altering effects can be applied, allowing for effects such as wobbling windows and water ripples.
Beryl accepts plugins for extra effects and features. The functionality Beryl provides can be extended to control the transparency of windows, allowing you to reference other windows while you make changes in the current one. Plugins are provided that organize your windows in front of you, allowing easy task switching. An enhanced alt+tab task switcher shows picture-in-picture previews of windows you can switch to, while highlighting the window you are currently selecting. Beryl can provide zoom and contrast features to make your desktop easier to see in certain situations.
There are many ways in which Beryl can be extended to provide helpful tools for every day desktop use, but since it is in its infancy (being on version 0.2.0 as of this writing), many additional features may be incorporated into the main release, and who knows how developers and users will enhance the desktop with Beryl's feature set.
It doesn't really change the feel of using applications under Gnome or KDE, but you feel a lot more aware of what's going on because new animations represent your actions visually and you see smoother transitions between actions such as opening menus, switching, minimizing, maximizing, and dragging windows. I haven't used any other 3D accelerated desktop, so I can't comment on how it compares to those. I have no idea how it compares to Windows Vista, or OS X. Feel free to reply with your experiences and comparisons.
The news has to reign in viewers too to make money. If it's more of a soap opera, or if every time you see an update for the news you have to stay tuned because there's something really really horrifying and important, you'll probably be too scared to ignore it and miss being made aware of the crisis and be told how we can avert it.
From Samsung's perspective, it is simple: these deals ensure it can sell products using Linux without facing a suit from the Redmond-based corporation.
Yeah, but what's the upside? First, there's no evidence that MS has any property in Linux, so this changes nothing for Samsung, they could have easily sold products using Linux before (so did others, such as the Cowon A2, or the Tivo DVR, and MS never complained... I bet they'd love to have a few bucks any time someone used a Tivo, especially since it competes with MCE). All this does is ensure that MS can sell stuff using patents from Samsung, Novell, and Fuji Xerox, and that the others will not have access to as many patents as MS does. All this does is increase MS's immunization from further patent litigation, while ensuring that Samsung, Novell, and Fuji all make products that cannot be integrated as easily with OSS. A win for MS.
Why should (most)people care about plastic discs anymore?
You won't see ANY compression artifacts on blu-ray, even in fast-moving scenes. This is enough to get me off DVD... It really makes DVD look like VHS. Maybe those buying superbit won't care but everyone else will.
Um, in Ubuntu you're NOT always admin. There is no way to log in as root in Ubuntu. The first user you create gets sudo priveledges automatically, and the "root" account inherits the password of the first user account you create. From then on, any user you create does not have any escelated priveledges whatsoever. The idea behind this is that you use the first account you created to administer, therefore enforcing the idea that you should never log in as root or run anything unnecessary as root, and then you use your other accounts for normal work/play. The reason behind this is that novices are used to the idea of logging in under a seperate account to admin stuff, and so that other users do not have a method of doing any of this stuff, even accidentally.
Kids these days are too familiar with marketing terms and it allows consumers to actually understand and question, and therefore sort out the bullshit from, the product marketing. Throwing terms like "SKU" out there will hopefully once again baffle consumers and get them to buy crap they don't want for reasons that aren't true.
Exactly, don't buy Vista at all, and maybe it'll send the message to Microsoft that this is not what people want in an operating system. Maybe now they're trying to force people off Windows 2000 and XP, but they may have to provide longer support if enough people send the message that they're not going to buy the new product. Will MS really only support 10-25% of their customers and leave the rest in the cold if it came to that?
And when you reply based on false assumptions, you're almost always badly wrong. For the record, I am a black guy.
So why state that for the record? Is that supposed to lead me to make assumptions about your stance on rap, or your views, or whatever?
I know rap. Knowing it doesn't mean liking it.
Fine, you don't have to like any given depiction made by an MC, but just because you don't like it doesn't mean you should ignore it. Me, I'll still be listening to all kinds of rap when I'm on my deathbed because I know it'll reflect on things that people think, and even if my grandkids (or whatever) aren't telling me everything that's going on in their lives, at least I'll have an understanding about what could be happening to them, and then I'll be able to help them or teach them about those situations, and not just the conclusions (i.e. saying "You're wrong, do this instead") but all the hows, whys, and everything in between.
I've seen how those thoughts and concepts affect many of the teenagers I've come in contact with. How it influences their contact with peer females, how it affects their life outlook.
Yeah, maybe they don't understand what they're listening to, but I do. Then I can put it all in context for them and help them out. Putting a ban on it will not make it go away, it'll only make it seem more enticing to youths. They like to explore things that are taboo or banned or censored if only to uncover why. They're curious minds. Help give them the tools and understanding they need if they choose to seek out this type of entertainment.
By the time it filters down to the radio, much of the original 'message' [...] is lost
Agreed, but TV and radio do that, big media does that. We have to get into what our kids are into, and understand it. TV shows, music, anything in life.
Please get off the 'rap = thought and understanding' train. Rap = money. Exactly the same as music in the 60's. "Oh, it has a message, blah blah..." Bullshit. I've watched kids with a significant contemporary message transform that message to match what sells. Ultimately, only what sells gets noticed.
Yes, entertaining = money, but it just so happens that what's real is entertaining. It's not like rap was always popular, and even last year it was rare to see an album go platinum. Yes, you have those like Diddy, D4L, Dem Franchize Boyz, all those pop and club rap artists. But you've also got Mos Def, De La Soul, Dead Prez (stic.man and his other collabos too), Common [Sense], Joe Budden, and a lot of others who put out a message and challenge others to think critically. Like anything, you need a rounded picture to even begin to think about drawing any conclusions. You can't just sample a bit of it and think that's the whole story.
Anyway, my view is that ignoring this is only going to hurt people because they won't walk away with a complete understanding, and there won't be others around who can show them the way. Badmouthing a perfectly legitimate art form that gives us insight into what those beyond the generation gap think is not going to help make things better. Understanding is the key.
And hey, everyone has to make money. Things that make it into the public probably make someone money somewhere. Should we discount everything that anyone with a buck says? Anyway, that's enough. Thanks for replying, though, I'm glad you noticed my post and thought it was worth replying to (and I thought the same of yours).
Meanwhile, rapper DMX uses lyrics such as "what these bitches want from a nigga", and "I fuck with these hoes from a distance", and we hear cash registers.
OK, you're not taking it in context, and you probably don't know a lot about rap. First, rap is used to communicate perspectives. Real people saying real thoughts they had at any given time. The news in the media tries to bring us stories, but bias and spin gets put on them, or other important stories don't make it, censorship happens, whatever. With rap, individuals try to get inside the minds of others and express what they think, or they speak on what they themselves have done, they may speak of things they thought of doing but never did. In any case, these are real thoughts and feelings from real people communicated in a raw manner. There doesn't have to be an excuse for this; if you find a problem with what you are hearing then this allows you the opportunity to realize the actual perspective of the person communicating, and if you have an argument yourself, then stand up against it and speak on it yourself.
Frequently in rap there are controversies, and different rappers go back and forth on the same subject, analysing different aspects and perspectives, allowing the listener to see all of these perspectives and come up with their own conclusions. Other times artists release concept albums, such as The RZA's Birth of a Prince, which chronicles the RZA's thinking as he went from a younger and foolish-thinking individual (this alter ego being referred to as Bobby Digital, from Robert Diggs, which is RZA's name) to who he is now (RZA). Even he frowns upon the thinking displayed in his earlier songs, but he shows understanding in that he represents this in its raw form and tries to show his evolution, his way of thinking.
Should he hide that just because he thinks differently now? Being true to himself, he expresses who he was and his reasons behind his actions, which is invaluable as many others try and hide this, hide the part of themselves they don't like or hide parts that others don't like. But if you're a kid and you have a problem, who are you supposed to identify with? Are you supposed to feel alone and think that you can't talk to anyone or reflect on your thoughts in any way except in your own mind? Are you supposed to never express these thoughts?
I believe that rappers are doing us a service in bringing whatever perspectives they can to our consciousness. Every MC represents what they think as honestly as they can (unless you're looking at pop rap (see Nas' Hip-Hop is Dead), and tries to capitalize on the aesthetics of rap without actualy contributing to it as an art form). This is invaluable to humanity and promotes understanding among individuals who choose to look at rap with an understanding eye, and who try to identify with it instead of criticizing it at face value. Now let's take a look at your lyrics:
Aiyyo!! Dog, I meet bitches, discrete bitches
Street bitches, slash, Cocoa Puff sweet bitches (WHAT?)
Make you wanna eat bitches, but not me
Y'all niggaz eat off the plate all you want but not D (UHH)
I fuck with these hoes from a distance
The instant they start to catch feelings
I start to stealin they shit
then I'm out just like a thief in the night
I sink my teeth in to bite
You thinkin life, I'm thinkin more like - whassup tonight?
This is about someone who only wants to get lightly involved with women, who doesn't want deep commitment, and is only looking for a fun time. You can't tell me only rappers think this, that nobody normal ever thinks this in their life. Plenty of people do, and it's also depicted in movies, on TV, etc. There are also movies and TV shows that try to show the other side of this, when the person is hurt, etc. Check out
Your comment like saying "Nobody would PAY for Cable Television. It makes no sense. Few people are willing to shell out money for television that stops playing when they stop paying"
I get your point, but the difference between music & TV shows is that you don't really have to catch up on music like you would a TV show. This means I can buy an album, listen to it for a few weeks, lend it to a friend for a while, borrow some of theirs, make a copy, etc. I don't have to buy every single album I want to listen to, and there's no pressing urge to listen to the music as soon as it hits the street so I can take my time to sort out what I really want or not. After I decide I want the album that much I can go out and buy it.
In the end, I'd probably pay as much for hard copies of the albums as I would for the subscription service, but with the added ability to make mixtapes for friends, transfer the music to my game system for soundtrack (like Excitetruck on Wii), transfer to my MP3 player, have a copy in the home jukebox, and I've also got the printed booklet and nice looking CD copy that I bought.
Believe it or not, there are many places you can use CDs that people won't allow you to bring in or use MP3 players (working in a controlled environment), or where they simply won't fit (i.e. if you want to listen to it in your car but don't have an audio in and don't want to use a radio transmitter because you have to fiddle to get the right frequency and sometimes still get static).
With the subscription model, you're tethered to a few devices and are limited in how you can manipulate or share the content, and you can't burn CDs. This doesn't fit well into many peoples' lives, unless you're the type that only wants to have one gadget or just doesn't care. It would seem fine for casual listeners that just want to hear the flavour of the month right away and can't wait, but that's not me.
It's a lot of money to -- essentially -- veg out. We'd rather spend time together, or read, or go exercise, or do something worthwhile.
Hm, well maybe some people just use it to veg out and others find it worthwhile. For example, I like having the internet at my fingertips because any topic I'm interested in and come across I can look up right away (strike while the iron's hot; that is, while you're inspired). Same if I watch TV, I have the closed captioning on, so that if there's ever a word I feel don't know or simply use by rote, then I can look it up. There are tons of ways to keep your mind active while you do everyday monotonous things (showering with eyes closed to exercise your memory and rely on other senses, etc), you just have to be a little creative.
If it's not secure and doesn't work the way they want, shouldn't they find another product, and shouldn't Microsoft be responsible for identifying and fixing these problems and not the government with our tax dollars?
Where's the huge story every time they have to post a retraction in the media? It's not like Wikipedia's the only place that has errors anyway. Sometimes publications run false information and never correct it, sometimes they put spin on it, sometimes it's biased.
Tinfoil hat: Big media also has a vested interest in trying to discredit Wikipedia, because they have to make their own information seem real and be taken seriously even when it's not. If they discredit Wikipedia, it's harder for Joe Six to find some alternative viewpoints from big media that people put a lot of stake in. Also, those who lobby cannot bend Wikipedia with money, but big media will always cave in. Nobody but the people really stands to gain from Wikipedia, right?
He addresses why they went multiplayer, and why people shouldn't be worried about it being downloadable.
I didn't see the part about where you could transfer ownership to someone else after you purchase it. Then again, they did say "I would agree. I mean, speaking hypothetically [smiles], I think there's a much bigger opportunity -- it's more than just high quality titles." so maybe they acknowledge the raping they can give consumers' wallets with this. Games you can never re-sell, that you can never bring over to a friends' house, that you can never lend... Sony will make money because of the way they inconvenience people.
So is there any word if you can put downloadable games on a memory card and bring them to someone else's house and play them on their PS3? You can't even do this on the Wii... because even though you can put the game on a memory card, it's married to the Wii that downloaded it so you can never play it on another machine.
Slashdot Mirror
Thanks for replying... the reason I wrote all that was not because you incited me or anything, it's just that the context in which you put ghetto gangtsters in was a bit ambiguous so I wanted to point out my thoughts in case someone might get the wrong idea.
:)
Thanks for writing what you said, and I agree it's hard to get straight if you're from a rough place or even if you have a rap sheet.. any small thing can get you a criminal record and keep you out of anything but gas station jobs (not that there's anything wrong with that, I worked at one for a while, but it's really low paying and you get treated like crap).
I just tend to be a bit pro-active when it comes to this topic if only to try my own feeble attempt at countering all of the people that don't understand or don't care.
You mean just like the EULA you agree to? Or just like the distribution agreements companies agree to with Microsoft?
Whether it's just a slap on the wrist and probation or death by hanging, the people committing this "crime" are not ghetto gang members who don't care about another sheet in their file.
Just to clarify, the only reason gang members don't care about another sheet in their file is because they have much bigger things to worry about, such as people shooting up their house, stealing their stuff, kidnapping their family members, and feeding their family. It has to do with escalation in the sense that it is self perpetuating, people are "protecting their neighbourhood." The problem comes in when there isn't that much of an opportunity for a good education or good jobs. A lot of families don't grow up with enough money to send their kids to school and they barely have enough to feed themselves. A father might steal to feed his baby. Kids might drop out to start working early.
Temptations such as drugs and drinking are very strong in hard times like these, and if someone isn't 100% vigilant about maintaining their composure they can easily become depressed or angry and turn to drugs and drinking even to take their mind off. Temptations to join up with friends who are in the same situation and have opportunities for making money are high. Temptations to SELL drugs are high because it brings in much more money than the jobs you can get without a good education, or the jobs (and the amount they pay you) you DO get in that neighbourhood even if you have an excellent education. Sometimes people get so fed up of their situation and they want to have at least one nice thing and they steal. It's tempting to move out, but then how do you help the community? By putting money back in? Shouldn't everyone be contributing? Shouldn't the government step in?
Look, it's easy to stereotype gang members, but to think people go out and murder for no reason whatsoever is putting it lightly to say the least. There's a saying, "Get it how you live", and often, that's just how these situations start.
Could I just offer up a $16,000 bounty as well? 'Cause there's plenty of money to be made with 0day flaws.
Anyone can discover them, so it's plausible that two people can know the same flaw. So one party gets the flaw and gives the $16,000, then communicates the exploit to a third party who hacks in and gets trade secrets (or teh g0ld) and sells those, or whatever.
Please check your fanboyism at the door
Please take your own advice...
multimedia
Actually, Linux can play all media formats, and convert between them easily. All media players support all formats in Linux. Compare this to Windows, where certain players will only play certain formats, and every player wants you to convert music into their format, and some even require you to pay for the conversion and burning features.
and games spring to mind
On Windows I can't play games from a few years ago, let alone the classic PC games I have. On Linux, I can still play all the old games, and OSS emulators provide methods to play old games from other systems (dosbox, scummvm, agi, qemu). Games that require 3D acceleration just work, and don't require fiddling around and tons of patches. Linux may not have all games running native, but it's clear that when a game is made for Linux, it works superior compared to when a game is made for any other OS.
not to mention a decent-looking UI
Well, obviously that's subjective. But then again, you can customize it to your heart's content on Linux. Not only that but you can choose between different major UIs that are each well supported and tailored to different users. And yes, you can tweak it to look/act just like Windows.
and great desktop performance
I don't recall having to reinstall Linux every 6 months to get rid of system cruft, or having to restart to get rid of dead applications or memory leaks. I've never had to shut down because an application stopped responding. When I uninstall applications, they remove cleanly and completely.
Applications don't try to steal priority over other applications, and don't try to take over each other (i.e., some toolbars that come with applications, applications stealing each others' file associations, applications trying to launch themselves on startup and won't let you turn them off). Applications don't expire without warning and force you to download a new version that may or may not even support your version of operating system. Not to mention that I can even run Linux on older computers that currently supported Windows versions choke on. I can save my home folder to easily back up all my settings and personally installed programs, they're not scattered all over the filesystem. Other users can't mess up my files by default, but I can easily give them permissions to look at, edit select files, or share their own files with me.
I can copy my hard disk install and move it to another computer and it will work fine, and if I upgrade I don't have to reinstall my operating system (the other day I moved one system from an Athlon 64 to an Athlon 64 X2, totally different motherboard, video card, expansion cards, hard drive, audio, etc. I copied the Linux installation over onto the new one and when I started it up, you wouldn't even know anything had changed. Not a single dialog box nagging me that this and that was found, and this is changed, where is that driver, etc). All the required drivers come with my system and I don't need to install every hardware vendor's custom applet to sit near my clock and nag me about updates, promotions, or even just take up space.
If I have a printer, the interface for switching settings and viewing ink levels are the same as every other printer. I don't need to learn anything new to learn how to use my new printer, it just works the same. My sound card doesn't have a billion stupid custom applications that I don't want to use but have to install anyway because the driver updates require that they be there.
Anyway, 'nuff said.
It's about what THEY can do... i.e., they would not release the media unless DRM/DCE was enabled. No. They'd just keep the movies to themselves forever and never let anyone watch them, never making any money ever! Brilliant, yes?
The Wii is the system creaming the competition, how about offering this on the Wii? The article states: "...a release of these products simultaneously on all three platforms (PS3, Xbox 360 and PC) including the two next generation platforms..." -- That's a pretty curious omission of the Wii... It's definitely possible to scale down the graphics and offer the same exact game on the Wii, a system even more powerful than the original XBox, which could handle Half Life 2.
I'm sorry for stating this so bluntly, but: that was a very poor review. It doesn't mention what Beryl does apart from the title, which mentions that it's a cool looking window manager. The article doesn't even have any screenshots or descriptions of how it improves the UI. The author doesn't expound on any features since they don't even mention any of them. It doesn't mention development of beryl, where they intend to go with it, how beryl compares to other similar routes to a 3D desktop on Linux, how it compares to desktops on other OSes, or any advantages to be gained from the functionality of using beryl for every day work. This is material for a message board post, basically.
OK, it's easy to criticize, so I'll do my part. Beryl (wiki) is a desktop compositing manager and window manager that takes advantage of 3D acceleration. Essentially it draws each window separately, allowing them to refresh and paint independantly and then puts it all together into the desktop you see. This allows graphical effects due to the fact that each window can be manipulated as a separate element by the 3D card and mapped as a texture to 3D objects, to which shaders and other geometry-altering effects can be applied, allowing for effects such as wobbling windows and water ripples.
Beryl accepts plugins for extra effects and features. The functionality Beryl provides can be extended to control the transparency of windows, allowing you to reference other windows while you make changes in the current one. Plugins are provided that organize your windows in front of you, allowing easy task switching. An enhanced alt+tab task switcher shows picture-in-picture previews of windows you can switch to, while highlighting the window you are currently selecting. Beryl can provide zoom and contrast features to make your desktop easier to see in certain situations.
There are many ways in which Beryl can be extended to provide helpful tools for every day desktop use, but since it is in its infancy (being on version 0.2.0 as of this writing), many additional features may be incorporated into the main release, and who knows how developers and users will enhance the desktop with Beryl's feature set.
It doesn't really change the feel of using applications under Gnome or KDE, but you feel a lot more aware of what's going on because new animations represent your actions visually and you see smoother transitions between actions such as opening menus, switching, minimizing, maximizing, and dragging windows. I haven't used any other 3D accelerated desktop, so I can't comment on how it compares to those. I have no idea how it compares to Windows Vista, or OS X. Feel free to reply with your experiences and comparisons.
A feature spotlight is available on the home page, and you can download additional Beryl window manager themes.
The news has to reign in viewers too to make money. If it's more of a soap opera, or if every time you see an update for the news you have to stay tuned because there's something really really horrifying and important, you'll probably be too scared to ignore it and miss being made aware of the crisis and be told how we can avert it.
From Samsung's perspective, it is simple: these deals ensure it can sell products using Linux without facing a suit from the Redmond-based corporation.
Yeah, but what's the upside? First, there's no evidence that MS has any property in Linux, so this changes nothing for Samsung, they could have easily sold products using Linux before (so did others, such as the Cowon A2, or the Tivo DVR, and MS never complained... I bet they'd love to have a few bucks any time someone used a Tivo, especially since it competes with MCE). All this does is ensure that MS can sell stuff using patents from Samsung, Novell, and Fuji Xerox, and that the others will not have access to as many patents as MS does. All this does is increase MS's immunization from further patent litigation, while ensuring that Samsung, Novell, and Fuji all make products that cannot be integrated as easily with OSS. A win for MS.
Why should (most)people care about plastic discs anymore?
You won't see ANY compression artifacts on blu-ray, even in fast-moving scenes. This is enough to get me off DVD... It really makes DVD look like VHS. Maybe those buying superbit won't care but everyone else will.
Very close to how the stock market works.
Um, in Ubuntu you're NOT always admin. There is no way to log in as root in Ubuntu. The first user you create gets sudo priveledges automatically, and the "root" account inherits the password of the first user account you create. From then on, any user you create does not have any escelated priveledges whatsoever. The idea behind this is that you use the first account you created to administer, therefore enforcing the idea that you should never log in as root or run anything unnecessary as root, and then you use your other accounts for normal work/play. The reason behind this is that novices are used to the idea of logging in under a seperate account to admin stuff, and so that other users do not have a method of doing any of this stuff, even accidentally.
Kids these days are too familiar with marketing terms and it allows consumers to actually understand and question, and therefore sort out the bullshit from, the product marketing. Throwing terms like "SKU" out there will hopefully once again baffle consumers and get them to buy crap they don't want for reasons that aren't true.
Exactly, don't buy Vista at all, and maybe it'll send the message to Microsoft that this is not what people want in an operating system. Maybe now they're trying to force people off Windows 2000 and XP, but they may have to provide longer support if enough people send the message that they're not going to buy the new product. Will MS really only support 10-25% of their customers and leave the rest in the cold if it came to that?
And when you reply based on false assumptions, you're almost always badly wrong. For the record, I am a black guy.
So why state that for the record? Is that supposed to lead me to make assumptions about your stance on rap, or your views, or whatever?
I know rap. Knowing it doesn't mean liking it.
Fine, you don't have to like any given depiction made by an MC, but just because you don't like it doesn't mean you should ignore it. Me, I'll still be listening to all kinds of rap when I'm on my deathbed because I know it'll reflect on things that people think, and even if my grandkids (or whatever) aren't telling me everything that's going on in their lives, at least I'll have an understanding about what could be happening to them, and then I'll be able to help them or teach them about those situations, and not just the conclusions (i.e. saying "You're wrong, do this instead") but all the hows, whys, and everything in between.
I've seen how those thoughts and concepts affect many of the teenagers I've come in contact with. How it influences their contact with peer females, how it affects their life outlook.
Yeah, maybe they don't understand what they're listening to, but I do. Then I can put it all in context for them and help them out. Putting a ban on it will not make it go away, it'll only make it seem more enticing to youths. They like to explore things that are taboo or banned or censored if only to uncover why. They're curious minds. Help give them the tools and understanding they need if they choose to seek out this type of entertainment.
By the time it filters down to the radio, much of the original 'message' [...] is lost
Agreed, but TV and radio do that, big media does that. We have to get into what our kids are into, and understand it. TV shows, music, anything in life.
Please get off the 'rap = thought and understanding' train. Rap = money. Exactly the same as music in the 60's. "Oh, it has a message, blah blah..." Bullshit. I've watched kids with a significant contemporary message transform that message to match what sells. Ultimately, only what sells gets noticed.
Yes, entertaining = money, but it just so happens that what's real is entertaining. It's not like rap was always popular, and even last year it was rare to see an album go platinum. Yes, you have those like Diddy, D4L, Dem Franchize Boyz, all those pop and club rap artists. But you've also got Mos Def, De La Soul, Dead Prez (stic.man and his other collabos too), Common [Sense], Joe Budden, and a lot of others who put out a message and challenge others to think critically. Like anything, you need a rounded picture to even begin to think about drawing any conclusions. You can't just sample a bit of it and think that's the whole story.
Anyway, my view is that ignoring this is only going to hurt people because they won't walk away with a complete understanding, and there won't be others around who can show them the way. Badmouthing a perfectly legitimate art form that gives us insight into what those beyond the generation gap think is not going to help make things better. Understanding is the key.
And hey, everyone has to make money. Things that make it into the public probably make someone money somewhere. Should we discount everything that anyone with a buck says? Anyway, that's enough. Thanks for replying, though, I'm glad you noticed my post and thought it was worth replying to (and I thought the same of yours).
Meanwhile, rapper DMX uses lyrics such as "what these bitches want from a nigga", and "I fuck with these hoes from a distance", and we hear cash registers.
OK, you're not taking it in context, and you probably don't know a lot about rap. First, rap is used to communicate perspectives. Real people saying real thoughts they had at any given time. The news in the media tries to bring us stories, but bias and spin gets put on them, or other important stories don't make it, censorship happens, whatever. With rap, individuals try to get inside the minds of others and express what they think, or they speak on what they themselves have done, they may speak of things they thought of doing but never did. In any case, these are real thoughts and feelings from real people communicated in a raw manner. There doesn't have to be an excuse for this; if you find a problem with what you are hearing then this allows you the opportunity to realize the actual perspective of the person communicating, and if you have an argument yourself, then stand up against it and speak on it yourself.
Frequently in rap there are controversies, and different rappers go back and forth on the same subject, analysing different aspects and perspectives, allowing the listener to see all of these perspectives and come up with their own conclusions. Other times artists release concept albums, such as The RZA's Birth of a Prince, which chronicles the RZA's thinking as he went from a younger and foolish-thinking individual (this alter ego being referred to as Bobby Digital, from Robert Diggs, which is RZA's name) to who he is now (RZA). Even he frowns upon the thinking displayed in his earlier songs, but he shows understanding in that he represents this in its raw form and tries to show his evolution, his way of thinking.
Should he hide that just because he thinks differently now? Being true to himself, he expresses who he was and his reasons behind his actions, which is invaluable as many others try and hide this, hide the part of themselves they don't like or hide parts that others don't like. But if you're a kid and you have a problem, who are you supposed to identify with? Are you supposed to feel alone and think that you can't talk to anyone or reflect on your thoughts in any way except in your own mind? Are you supposed to never express these thoughts?
I believe that rappers are doing us a service in bringing whatever perspectives they can to our consciousness. Every MC represents what they think as honestly as they can (unless you're looking at pop rap (see Nas' Hip-Hop is Dead), and tries to capitalize on the aesthetics of rap without actualy contributing to it as an art form). This is invaluable to humanity and promotes understanding among individuals who choose to look at rap with an understanding eye, and who try to identify with it instead of criticizing it at face value. Now let's take a look at your lyrics:
Aiyyo!! Dog, I meet bitches, discrete bitches
Street bitches, slash, Cocoa Puff sweet bitches (WHAT?)
Make you wanna eat bitches, but not me
Y'all niggaz eat off the plate all you want but not D (UHH)
I fuck with these hoes from a distance
The instant they start to catch feelings
I start to stealin they shit
then I'm out just like a thief in the night
I sink my teeth in to bite
You thinkin life, I'm thinkin more like - whassup tonight?
This is about someone who only wants to get lightly involved with women, who doesn't want deep commitment, and is only looking for a fun time. You can't tell me only rappers think this, that nobody normal ever thinks this in their life. Plenty of people do, and it's also depicted in movies, on TV, etc. There are also movies and TV shows that try to show the other side of this, when the person is hurt, etc. Check out
Really, Drink or Die is putting a router in space? Is this part of some off-planet hosting scheme?
Your comment like saying "Nobody would PAY for Cable Television. It makes no sense. Few people are willing to shell out money for television that stops playing when they stop paying"
I get your point, but the difference between music & TV shows is that you don't really have to catch up on music like you would a TV show. This means I can buy an album, listen to it for a few weeks, lend it to a friend for a while, borrow some of theirs, make a copy, etc. I don't have to buy every single album I want to listen to, and there's no pressing urge to listen to the music as soon as it hits the street so I can take my time to sort out what I really want or not. After I decide I want the album that much I can go out and buy it.
In the end, I'd probably pay as much for hard copies of the albums as I would for the subscription service, but with the added ability to make mixtapes for friends, transfer the music to my game system for soundtrack (like Excitetruck on Wii), transfer to my MP3 player, have a copy in the home jukebox, and I've also got the printed booklet and nice looking CD copy that I bought.
Believe it or not, there are many places you can use CDs that people won't allow you to bring in or use MP3 players (working in a controlled environment), or where they simply won't fit (i.e. if you want to listen to it in your car but don't have an audio in and don't want to use a radio transmitter because you have to fiddle to get the right frequency and sometimes still get static).
With the subscription model, you're tethered to a few devices and are limited in how you can manipulate or share the content, and you can't burn CDs. This doesn't fit well into many peoples' lives, unless you're the type that only wants to have one gadget or just doesn't care. It would seem fine for casual listeners that just want to hear the flavour of the month right away and can't wait, but that's not me.
microsoft could give a flying fark where you run their os, as long as you buy one.
Yeah... unless... now you decide you won't be buying their next one, or any of their software in the future.
It's a lot of money to -- essentially -- veg out. We'd rather spend time together, or read, or go exercise, or do something worthwhile.
Hm, well maybe some people just use it to veg out and others find it worthwhile. For example, I like having the internet at my fingertips because any topic I'm interested in and come across I can look up right away (strike while the iron's hot; that is, while you're inspired). Same if I watch TV, I have the closed captioning on, so that if there's ever a word I feel don't know or simply use by rote, then I can look it up. There are tons of ways to keep your mind active while you do everyday monotonous things (showering with eyes closed to exercise your memory and rely on other senses, etc), you just have to be a little creative.
If it's not secure and doesn't work the way they want, shouldn't they find another product, and shouldn't Microsoft be responsible for identifying and fixing these problems and not the government with our tax dollars?
Where's the huge story every time they have to post a retraction in the media? It's not like Wikipedia's the only place that has errors anyway. Sometimes publications run false information and never correct it, sometimes they put spin on it, sometimes it's biased.
Tinfoil hat: Big media also has a vested interest in trying to discredit Wikipedia, because they have to make their own information seem real and be taken seriously even when it's not. If they discredit Wikipedia, it's harder for Joe Six to find some alternative viewpoints from big media that people put a lot of stake in. Also, those who lobby cannot bend Wikipedia with money, but big media will always cave in. Nobody but the people really stands to gain from Wikipedia, right?
If you're looking for a portable video/audio player with a long battery life and more space (30GB) then check the Cowon A2
He addresses why they went multiplayer, and why people shouldn't be worried about it being downloadable.
I didn't see the part about where you could transfer ownership to someone else after you purchase it. Then again, they did say "I would agree. I mean, speaking hypothetically [smiles], I think there's a much bigger opportunity -- it's more than just high quality titles." so maybe they acknowledge the raping they can give consumers' wallets with this. Games you can never re-sell, that you can never bring over to a friends' house, that you can never lend... Sony will make money because of the way they inconvenience people.
So is there any word if you can put downloadable games on a memory card and bring them to someone else's house and play them on their PS3? You can't even do this on the Wii... because even though you can put the game on a memory card, it's married to the Wii that downloaded it so you can never play it on another machine.