Re:a Rose by any other name is still full of crap
on
IsoHunt Shut Down?
·
· Score: 1
And you, my friend SamSim the writer, have you ever created anything 100% original? No cultural references, no standing on the shoulders of giants?
If you base a part of your work on other people's ideas, which were freely available to you, how can you claim to "own" the result and have the right to limit its distribution?
Copyright is a complex social construct originally meant to help enrich society by giving people such as yourself incentives to create, not "ownership". Once the balance tips to the point that society does not benefit from it anymore, it's time to tear it down.
They also require, more importantly, they you do not press claims you know to be frivilous or a non-good faith extension, modification, or reversal of an existing law. See rule 3.1
Tons of lawyers who should be sanctioned for this, aren't. However, if you ever accidentally mix client funds, you will be disbarred.
And what are you, as a lawyer, doing to fix this state of affairs?
Or is it easier to just be a part of a corrupt organization (*) and quietly reap the benefits?
(*) Any organization that has the power to sanction corrupt members but chooses not to do so is, by definition, corrupt.
> Without decent video processing also tend to make standard (low definition) TV look horrific and seem to make MPEG artifacts look much more noticeable.
So what displays look good with an SD (NTSC) signal as well as HD?
Taiyo Yuden All the way. They are great for copying PSX/PS2 games (seriously) where media quality makes a difference between burning out a laser or playing your back-up game, as well as DVD Movies.
The only drawback is that you can only order them from the Internet. I do not know of any retail store who actually sells the brand outright nor do I know of any brand (like Sony, Memorex, Fujifilm) who sells rebranded Taiyo Yuden discs.
Also, the Taiyo brand is more expensive than any other brand.
Recently, Taiyo Yuden disks have serious bonding problems.
Here's what the "Digital Dolphin" recommends:
Maxell BQ Series 8x DVD-R Emtec Gold 4x DVD+R (these 2 may change places, but are close) (big quality gap) Verbatim Ultralife Gold 8x DVD-R (maybe? jury is still out on this one) Maxell Plus Series (made by Maxell) Verbatim (Made by CMC) Verbatim (Made by MBIL) Taiyo Yuden Verbatim (Made by Prodisc)
Not likely to ever go on the quality list: Ritek/RiData DVD-R Prodisc DVD±R Princo pretty much anything made in China or Hongkong
This marvel of modern technology can only be programmed via the web, so in order to use it, you have to set up an account.
Creating an account requires you to accept Logitech's "Terms of Use". If you don't agree, you cannot create an account. Congratulations: you got an expensive Harmony paperweight.
The "Terms of Use" include the following Gems:
You further acknowledge that Logitech may establish other limits regarding your access to the Resources including the Member Site.
Translation: you are at our mercy.
Logitech may terminate these Terms of Use, or terminate or suspend your access to the Resources at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice.
Translation: Better be nice to us, or you'll have a paperweight on your hands.
Logitech reserves the right, at any time, and from time to time, to update, revise, supplement or otherwise modify these Terms of Use and to impose new or additional rules, policies, terms, or conditions on your use of the Resources. Such [...] ("Additional Terms") will be effective immediately and incorporated into these Terms of Use. Your continued use of the Resources will be deemed to constitute your acceptance and agreement to any and all such Additional Terms and the amendment of these Terms of Use to incorporate such Additional Terms. You are responsible for regularly reviewing the Terms of Use and any Additional Terms posted on the Member Site. Your continued use of the Resources affirms Your agreement to the Terms of Use and any Additional Terms.
Translation: We can change the contract terms without telling you and if you accessed the site without checking first, tough luck.
When you buy the remote, you are not told that your ability to use it may be restricted or that you are required to agree to a license in order to use it. You only discover it AFTER YOU PAY.
The punching cop should be immediately suspended without pay pending an immediate hearing for his permanent removal from the force. It should then be followed by a punitive civil suit to both the cop and the department.
If a pair of civilians were to hold down a person with a knee on his throat while punching him in the face, they would not be suspended from their jobs, they would be charged under the criminal law and spend some time in prison (not to mention have a criminal record).
Policemen (or any other authority figures) should face at least the same consequences. Probably even more serious because the temptation to use that excessive force is quite high.
Ask ANYONE who does customer service how hard it is to not punch the occasional customer's face in, let alone not yell at people or tell them to fuck off (in all fairness, I've heard that this is just a Canadian thing. Other cultures frown much more strongly on casual, friendly usage of the phrase "fuck off". What can I say, we love our casual profanity).
Do they ever do it? Almost never, and if they did they would lose their job as the absolutely best-case scenario. More likely, they get fired, get sued, never work again, and have to spend the rest of their life giving handjobs to support their crack addiction. What makes cops think they're above that? Firing cops who abuse their power is the very least that should happen to them.
The difference is that policemen are a part of a system that protects itself.
Cops know that. They know that if they behave like dicks on a power trip, most of the time it's your word against theirs and judges will take a cop's word over yours any day of the week (if it ever gets to a judge, that is). They know that even if there's some evidence against them, their buddies will lie to protect them or the prosecutors will recommend to close the case. And in the worst case, if they are proven to be guilty, the "punishment" will be laughable.
If I put some guy in traction because he was "disrespectful" to me, I can expect to spend a lot of my free time in a small isolated cell and have a criminal record for the rest of my life. If a cop does the same, probably the worst they can expect is having a "note in their record".
So yes, a lot of people will become little dick-tators in this kind of situation.
Politicians are the same. If I made you a promise that if you nominate me to the "best neighbour" award, I'd mow your lawn and then reneged on it, you could sue me for breach of contract -- especially if this promise was made to a lot of people and publicized in the media. Unfortunately, political campaign promises are exempt.
Why?
Because people know which side the of bread is buttered.
My solution: Any breach of the law that was made while abusing a position of authority (a) must be prosecuted, and (b) upon conviction, double the maximum penalty prescribed in the law must be applied.
For plenty of Nethack fatalities, check out rec.games.roguelike.nethack, and search for either YASD (Yet Another Stupid Death) or YAAD (Yet Another Annoying Death).
For added geekiness, check the rec.games.roguelike.nethack posts by "Raisse the Thaumaturge" (a.k.a Irina Rempt). She ends her posts by a pseudo-sig "Raisse, killed by..." where the reason is an actual Nethack death message chosen to be somewhat relevant to the post.
It should not be the state's job to ban certain substances just because little Jessica may get addicted to them. It is the job of her parents to ensure that she does not travel that path.
When I can track down and kill the drug dealers legally, I'll accept your argument. In the meantime, when the state makes it illegal for me to protect my daughter, you're wrong.
(Disclaimer: I have a daughter)
Protecting your daughter, in this context, would mean making sure that, even if she gets access to harmful substances, she will not misuse them and if she is unsure, she'll come to you for help and advice. This usually requires education, building of trust and a lot of other things that fall under the umbrella of "parenting". Yes, much more inconvenient then killing perceived threats but usually works better in the long run.
Did you know that alcohol and nicotine are physically addictive and have been known to ruin lives and health? Would you like a carte blanche to shoot your neighbourhood convenience store owner too? Or ban those substances altogether? (I addressed the topic of making it illegal to sell those to minors in the post that you replied to).
What if some kid in a party introduces your daughter to glue sniffing? Would you like to kill him too? What if she reads/hears about the practice in the news and decides to try? Who would you kill then?
As much as I hate to step on the toes on someone advocating civil liberties there is a thing I would like to argue with you about.
You seem to be saying that all drugs are harmless. Tell this to any father whose daughter has been introduced to drugs like Cocaine at a party, gotten addicted, travelled down the path to where she has to do unspeakable things for money to buy more, and then eventually died from an overdose or suicide. I think you'll have an argument on your hands. I've seen this happen. It's horrid. You can't group all drugs in the same backet. Drug pushers destroy lives for their own profit, and they have some pretty devastating, instantly addictable weapons in their arsenal that they use to draw young people, particulary girls, into their net.
I guess you could say that people should be allow to make the choice about whether to be enslaved by drugs, but often young people don't understand the nature of the enslavement until it's too late. Experience is often something you get after you needed it.
Ah, the usual cries of "think of the children".
It should not be the state's job to ban certain substances just because little Jessica may get addicted to them. It is the job of her parents to ensure that she does not travel that path.
I'd like to offer tobacco laws in some countries (USA and Canada included) as a case in point: it is illegal to sell them to minors bot otherwise - feel free to kill yourself.
The marginal tax rate does not tell the whole story. Consider the following contrived example of tax rates: $0 - $9,999,999: 0% tax $10,000,000 and up: 99% tax.
What is the total disposable income for various salaries? What is the cost-of-living adjustment, if any? Etc., etc., etc.
Slashdot Mirror
And you, my friend SamSim the writer, have you ever created anything 100% original? No cultural references, no standing on the shoulders of giants?
If you base a part of your work on other people's ideas, which were freely available to you, how can you claim to "own" the result and have the right to limit its distribution?
Copyright is a complex social construct originally meant to help enrich society by giving people such as yourself incentives to create, not "ownership". Once the balance tips to the point that society does not benefit from it anymore, it's time to tear it down.
> After finding that the United Way had a reputation for inefficiency
Do they?
Source please.
And what are you, as a lawyer, doing to fix this state of affairs?
Or is it easier to just be a part of a corrupt organization (*) and quietly reap the benefits?
(*) Any organization that has the power to sanction corrupt members but chooses not to do so is, by definition, corrupt.
> Oh, I agree. I was just wondering, since it's very close - but not quite right.
> A state constitution, maybe.
It's from the Constipation.
Or maybe from the Prostitution.
> Without decent video processing also tend to make standard (low definition) TV look horrific and seem to make MPEG artifacts look much more noticeable.
So what displays look good with an SD (NTSC) signal as well as HD?
That's OK, since about 4% don't distinguish between good and bad either.
Recently, Taiyo Yuden disks have serious bonding problems.
Here's what the "Digital Dolphin" recommends: Maxell BQ Series 8x DVD-R
Emtec Gold 4x DVD+R
(these 2 may change places, but are close)
(big quality gap)
Verbatim Ultralife Gold 8x DVD-R (maybe? jury is still out on this one)
Maxell Plus Series (made by Maxell)
Verbatim (Made by CMC)
Verbatim (Made by MBIL)
Taiyo Yuden
Verbatim (Made by Prodisc)
Not likely to ever go on the quality list:
Ritek/RiData DVD-R
Prodisc DVD±R
Princo
pretty much anything made in China or Hongkong
Or Hang gliding, perhaps?
Obviously you are a necro-pedo-zoophile. And before you say prove it, you prove you are not.
They hired Uma Thurman as a consultant.
This marvel of modern technology can only be programmed via the web, so in order to use it, you have to set up an account.
Creating an account requires you to accept Logitech's "Terms of Use". If you don't agree, you cannot create an account. Congratulations: you got an expensive Harmony paperweight.
The "Terms of Use" include the following Gems:
Translation: you are at our mercy.
Translation: Better be nice to us, or you'll have a paperweight on your hands.
Translation: We can change the contract terms without telling you and if you accessed the site without checking first, tough luck.
When you buy the remote, you are not told that your ability to use it may be restricted or that you are required to agree to a license in order to use it. You only discover it AFTER YOU PAY.
Smooth.
Real Smooth.
The post you quoted was my only contribution to the discussion.
My point was that the US of A has no problem invading countries if they think that it is in their financial interests to do so.
If a pair of civilians were to hold down a person with a knee on his throat while punching him in the face, they would not be suspended from their jobs, they would be charged under the criminal law and spend some time in prison (not to mention have a criminal record).
Policemen (or any other authority figures) should face at least the same consequences. Probably even more serious because the temptation to use that excessive force is quite high.
The difference is that policemen are a part of a system that protects itself.
Cops know that. They know that if they behave like dicks on a power trip, most of the time it's your word against theirs and judges will take a cop's word over yours any day of the week (if it ever gets to a judge, that is). They know that even if there's some evidence against them, their buddies will lie to protect them or the prosecutors will recommend to close the case. And in the worst case, if they are proven to be guilty, the "punishment" will be laughable.
If I put some guy in traction because he was "disrespectful" to me, I can expect to spend a lot of my free time in a small isolated cell and have a criminal record for the rest of my life. If a cop does the same, probably the worst they can expect is having a "note in their record".
So yes, a lot of people will become little dick-tators in this kind of situation.
Politicians are the same. If I made you a promise that if you nominate me to the "best neighbour" award, I'd mow your lawn and then reneged on it, you could sue me for breach of contract -- especially if this promise was made to a lot of people and publicized in the media. Unfortunately, political campaign promises are exempt.
Why?
Because people know which side the of bread is buttered.
My solution: Any breach of the law that was made while abusing a position of authority (a) must be prosecuted, and (b) upon conviction, double the maximum penalty prescribed in the law must be applied.
Unfortunately, no one would pass such a law.
Ignoring for the moment your admission of guilt, how did you make that $20k/day?
Who was paying you?
It's a simple typo.
The original intent was to mark the stories "itscrap", which is perfectly legitimate, as most SlashDot stories are.
For added geekiness, check the rec.games.roguelike.nethack posts by "Raisse the Thaumaturge" (a.k.a Irina Rempt).
She ends her posts by a pseudo-sig "Raisse, killed by
Tell the class about the times when the hunters/gatherers would sit around the fire and swap stories songs and music for free.
Speaking of which, I believe many aboriginal societies still do so.
(Disclaimer: I have a daughter)
Protecting your daughter, in this context, would mean making sure that, even if she gets access to harmful substances, she will not misuse them and if she is unsure, she'll come to you for help and advice.
This usually requires education, building of trust and a lot of other things that fall under the umbrella of "parenting".
Yes, much more inconvenient then killing perceived threats but usually works better in the long run.
Did you know that alcohol and nicotine are physically addictive and have been known to ruin lives and health?
Would you like a carte blanche to shoot your neighbourhood convenience store owner too? Or ban those substances altogether?
(I addressed the topic of making it illegal to sell those to minors in the post that you replied to).
What if some kid in a party introduces your daughter to glue sniffing? Would you like to kill him too?
What if she reads/hears about the practice in the news and decides to try? Who would you kill then?
Ah, the usual cries of "think of the children".
It should not be the state's job to ban certain substances just because little Jessica may get addicted to them.
It is the job of her parents to ensure that she does not travel that path.
I'd like to offer tobacco laws in some countries (USA and Canada included) as a case in point: it is illegal to sell them to minors bot otherwise - feel free to kill yourself.
If you prefer to abdicate your parental responsibilities to a nanny state, you should campaign for banning glue, shoe polish, gasoline, correction pens and other inhalants.
The marginal tax rate does not tell the whole story.
Consider the following contrived example of tax rates:
$0 - $9,999,999: 0% tax
$10,000,000 and up: 99% tax.
What is the total disposable income for various salaries?
What is the cost-of-living adjustment, if any?
Etc., etc., etc.
> As an Eagle Scout, I can say first-hand that the Boy Scouts DOES teach scouts how to obey the law.
Just out of curiosity, do they also teach the scouts that there are cases where you should disobey the law?
> What is wrong with TV executives? Most TV writing is appallingly bad - and they pick a fight with the best writer they've got?
I'm still upset about the treatment of these people.