"Sure, burn 128kbps AAC to a CD, then rip it again (eta: 30+ minutes) and encode to FLAC so I can have the worst of both files..."
I don't get what point you're trying to make? Seems to me that downloading a 128kbps AAC was dumb to begin with. If you want to be the idiot and buy something DRM'd, restricted, sub-par quality, go right ahead! I don't think Apple is really out to scam any one out there, so I don't think government should get involved. If you want to be unrestricted, just buy the damn CD. If you want (for whatever reason) the convenience or whatever of the Apple (or any other online) system, go for it, it's your money. Hell, pay extra for the ringtone while you're at it. Me, I'd rather just vote with my wallet and not play into the RIAA's game.
Regardless, the Norwegian government needs to either go after the RIAA or get the fuck out of regulating a legitimate business. As far as I know, ALL DRM would be illegal under their new guidelines. They're just lawyer crazy now, out suing the most successful one. Instead, they should just encourage (or allow) their citizens to rip their own CDs if they choose. Banning the iTunes store makes no sense at all.
What you stated is certainly the case, but I would not call it a racket. I merely suggest that publishing is not done out of "greed". But if you're suggesting that publishing quality articles is a measure of competence, for which the rewards should include employment, promotion, raise, etc., then I agree.
Are you basing your opinion on some data? I only ask because you have chosen to make this a discussion on the merits of peer review. Do you have anything specific to contribute?
Wow, that's truly insulting to the many honest men and women who do academic research. I beg to differ with your assessment. People who peer review papers often look deep enough to catch significant issues, but the main goal is to assess the basic integrity of the data presented. Could and experiment have been done better? Are more controls needed? Do the conclusions not fit the results?
Those researchers and academics who are most outspoken and sure they are correct end up being considered as such. As long as you consistently deny that you're wrong and insist that you're correct, many fellow researchers and academics will believe you, even if you're completely full of shit. When such people are the peers reviewing your work, it's basically pointless to go through with the whole process. Shitty peer-reviewed literature is still shit.
Are you basing this on some kind of reality or is this your perception of what goes on? In the long run, there really is no room for "opinions" or "popularity" in science. Those who are the most outspoken can still be proven incorrect. If concrete data emerges that doesn't support some "famous" scientist's data, it will certain be well received. On the other hand, even "famous" scientists have to go through the peer review process. More often than not, they have done good consistent science for so long that they do not have much problems during the review process, but reviewers are not going to just let a paper fly through because of who wrote it.
Clearly your work was not well received by reviewers and you are pissed of as such. Please, get a username and join the discussion instead of flaming as an anonymous coward.
There is no monetary payment whatsover. The costs associated with publishing are typically paid for by advertising, and some journals with lower circulations may charge page costs as well. The authors never get payed royalties or anything for journal articles. It's an amazing thing really -- putting all your work out there for review (essentially before AND after publication), for the simple satisfaction that you have made a contribution to the knowledgebase. If your conclusions are erroneous, the community will figure it out eventually, and if your contributions are right on, you will be remembered as someone who had a positive impact on the field (you may even get rewarded). Scientists in academia are generally not the richest people in the world.
Where do they make their money, just out of curiosity? It can't be the console right? Each one is sold at a loss. Do they really get enough in licensing fees for game development to be *highly* profitable. Because you don't have to be losing money to call it quits -- you can just decide it's not profitable enough. It's happened to many consoles in the past.
Sigh. We always get these posts anytime a 3rd world country tries to expand its horizons. Posts like the parent, or posts referring to charities and such contributing to a country's technological development rather than helping alleviate poverty. I think its incredibly arrogant to dictate to the world's largest democracy what its priorities should be. Show me the country that has *completely* conquered poverty and malnutrition and I'll take your argument to be valid, instead of flamebait. Health care in the US is ranked 15th in the world while we spend enough in Iraq daily to easily alleviate most health care issues and poverty in this country. I don't think you can direct a country of over a billion people to one issue at a time. The nation will follow its course at its pace and we would hope it would do so in a peaceful manner. Space technology is a matter of national security. Much good it would do to be a well fed peaceful country that is constantly being attacked by Pakistani terrorists or under threat of Chinese expansionists tendencies (it's happened before). You act as though Indians are "OK" with the level of poverty and thus feel they can concern themselves with other things. The reality is more that there are many issues facing Indians, and poverty is just one of them. Having a space program is the sign of a decent education system -- though it may not cover everyone yet. Imagine if the Indians hadn't bother to upgrade their telecommunications and computer science experience (instead dumping cash into food every day? Where would the economy be now? I'm encouraged by your sentiment that the situation is heart-breaking, but frankly, your attitude is one of "they're such a primitive people, they should just concentrate on food and shelter." It's one I've seen way to many times here.
FTA: "Online Office Suites: The Winner Is Clear
In our hands-on review, one free Web-based Office alternative stands head and shoulders above the rest"
Unpleasantly enough, this is a poorly formatted article where despite their big bold title, you don't find out until page 4 who they think the winner is (ThinkFree). No summary/comparison table either. Bleh.
A nice game -- typically $50. Same game serialized into three episodes of $20 each = $60. I guess it works for them from a business point of view. Seems like a fleecing of the customer to me, though.
FTA: Compressive Sensing is an emerging field based on the revelation that a small group of non-adaptive linear projections of a compressible signal contains enough information for reconstruction and processing. We have developed algorithms and hardware to support a new theory of Compressive Imaging. Our approach is based on a new digital image/video camera that directly acquires random projections of the signal without first collecting the pixels/voxels. Our camera architecture employs a digital micromirror array to perform optical calculations of linear projections of an image onto pseudorandom binary patterns. Its hallmarks include the ability to obtain an image with a single detection element while measuring the image/video fewer times than the number of pixels --- this can significantly reduce the computation required for video acquisition/encoding. Because our system relies on a single photon detector, it can also be adapted to image at wavelengths that are currently impossible with conventional CCD and CMOS imagers.
Is this like interpolation? Stacking? Averaging? Can't figure out WTF they're talking about, but it sounds like you have a single pixel camera, but that it must acquire many readings (sequentially). The number of readings required will still be less than the final pixel could your image will end up at. Hmm... seems like it would have to make up some of the information that it did not actually acquire?
What is with the brainwashing baloney? It's like you're trying to flame bait. Your points are exactly along the lines of what I am saying -- that defining a communist government such as those in China and Cuba should immediately draw the distinction between those countries and the state of Kerala. My main point is that, de facto, using the term communism implies much of what Kerala is NOT. It was the intention of the original poster to use communism and literacy rate in an irrelevant and incorrect manner, designed just to incite this kind of flamewar.
To be frank, you're flat out wrong. It's not a matter of opinion, or some kind of "west vs east" brainwashing. It's a simple matter of definition. Cuba and China, two of the most prototypical communist nations, are most certainly democratic. I would willingly admit that the communism, as defined by those who derived from the theories of Karl Marx, is not the opposite of democracy. In practice, it certainly is. As it relates to this article, that is an important point. Kerala is not communist in any meaningful sense of the word. Most European nations are equally "socialist", but I don't think anyone would classify them as communist. Moreover, automatically assuming someone is brainwashed because you didn't bother to consider what communism really implies kind of detracts from whatever point you thought you were making.
Do a little homework. It's an Indian state. ALL of India is a democracy, politically. Where economy is concerned, Kerala operates under welfare based democratic socialism. They have a parliamentary system of representative democracy, just like most of the democratic world. A quick google/wiki search might help james.infidel avoid sounding like an ignorant in the future.
Agreed -- that's totally just bait for some. I doubt that communism or literacy rate have anything to do with it. All it does is draw attention to the concept that some Indian states have different forms of government, and that many of the poor there are illiterate. As the story itself points out, other Indian states have already embraced FOSS.
It's actually quite common for young kidnapping victims to (1) initially be too afraid to even attempt escape or indicate to other strangers that they are being held against their will, and (2) to eventually get accustomed to their kidnapper(s). Of course (2) can happen to anyone, e.g. the Stockholm syndrome. It doesn't necessarily imply that the kidnapped child was previously in a unhappy situation which he/she wanted to get away from. I'm not sure what you're implying by "hooked up", but it seems unreasonable for you to even be making these points now given that the man obviously kidnapped again, as you pointed out.
It seems you live in a haven for copyright violation, my friend. I'm still uncertain that what you have is something like permission to make or "obtain" digital copies, more like a loophole. I wonder though, I often post scientific artwork of my for educational purposes online (with a small copyright mark on the corner and my name). It's an image, and I'm not sure how I could say that it was DRM'd. It's clearly downloadable (anything on your computer screen has essentially been downloaded). I anticipate people view my illustrations for their educational purposes, or for help in teaching others, like in a class. I would hope that people would leave the image credit alone and not try to crop it out or something, but I don't have any "DRM" to prevent people from doing that. Nor can I really prevent someone from printing out the images and making posters of them and selling them (some of the artwork is quite nice)... So what happens in Hungary in this case? I'm certainly not asking any money for my images, but respecting my copyright would be nice. It seems that in Hungary that hey, if you can download it, then no questions asked.
Copyright fees are built-in in many countries around the world, including Canada. I hope you're not taking that as proof that what you are doing is legal. The built-in fees are there just for the illegal copying that is occuring. In my opinion, they are a scam. But, THAT is the law. Not your "version" of it. Where is your "solid" info on the hungarian law in this matter? Better yet, are you so confidant that what you are doing is legal, that you would be willing to publically announce you have a digital copy of the movie (without having any physical copy). Lets say you would not have to implicate any hosting site. No one could possibly get into trouble except for you. Are you so confidant that your acquisition of the digital download was legal? I seriously doubt it.
"Until it's proven otherwise that is."... Aye, there's the rub. Just because you may never get caught, doesn't mean it's "legal". What most people are doing is explicitly illegal, but they will not get caught or charged (hopefully) in Canada because the burden of proving you don't have the physical item is on the prosecutor there.
So... you're just a leecher? BTW, "gray area" is a more accurate term than "perfectly legal". Unless you own a copy of the HD-DVD, it's not "perfectly legal" to have a digital version.
You don't have to do everything first...you just have to do it better. As for your supposed feature list of things other devices do better, I suggest you wait until the iPhone is actually out and throughly tested. Also, try and compare it as a "bang for buck" rather than solely point-by-point. Can you get EVERYTHING the iPhone proposes to offer in the same form factor and equally appealing design? I've owned several PDAs (no smartphones, though), and I can say this will surpass them all. If you happen to live in Japan or S. Korea, then yes, perhaps you have really good options NOW. We don't here in the US.
Finally, going on about Apple "brainwashing" and "kool-aid" is just trolling. Grow up.
Just build a nice commuter car with fantastic mileage, that's what we really want.
Agreed. That's what we want. What we need is to commute less (telecommute part time where possible, work closer to our homes) and use more public transportation. These hybrids are great and I want one, but it's easier and cheaper to make a dent in our fossil fuel consumption by making manageable lifestyle changes.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't get what point you're trying to make? Seems to me that downloading a 128kbps AAC was dumb to begin with. If you want to be the idiot and buy something DRM'd, restricted, sub-par quality, go right ahead! I don't think Apple is really out to scam any one out there, so I don't think government should get involved. If you want to be unrestricted, just buy the damn CD. If you want (for whatever reason) the convenience or whatever of the Apple (or any other online) system, go for it, it's your money. Hell, pay extra for the ringtone while you're at it. Me, I'd rather just vote with my wallet and not play into the RIAA's game.
Regardless, the Norwegian government needs to either go after the RIAA or get the fuck out of regulating a legitimate business. As far as I know, ALL DRM would be illegal under their new guidelines. They're just lawyer crazy now, out suing the most successful one. Instead, they should just encourage (or allow) their citizens to rip their own CDs if they choose. Banning the iTunes store makes no sense at all.
What you stated is certainly the case, but I would not call it a racket. I merely suggest that publishing is not done out of "greed". But if you're suggesting that publishing quality articles is a measure of competence, for which the rewards should include employment, promotion, raise, etc., then I agree.
Are you basing your opinion on some data? I only ask because you have chosen to make this a discussion on the merits of peer review. Do you have anything specific to contribute?
Those researchers and academics who are most outspoken and sure they are correct end up being considered as such. As long as you consistently deny that you're wrong and insist that you're correct, many fellow researchers and academics will believe you, even if you're completely full of shit. When such people are the peers reviewing your work, it's basically pointless to go through with the whole process. Shitty peer-reviewed literature is still shit.
Are you basing this on some kind of reality or is this your perception of what goes on? In the long run, there really is no room for "opinions" or "popularity" in science. Those who are the most outspoken can still be proven incorrect. If concrete data emerges that doesn't support some "famous" scientist's data, it will certain be well received. On the other hand, even "famous" scientists have to go through the peer review process. More often than not, they have done good consistent science for so long that they do not have much problems during the review process, but reviewers are not going to just let a paper fly through because of who wrote it.
Clearly your work was not well received by reviewers and you are pissed of as such. Please, get a username and join the discussion instead of flaming as an anonymous coward.
There is no monetary payment whatsover. The costs associated with publishing are typically paid for by advertising, and some journals with lower circulations may charge page costs as well. The authors never get payed royalties or anything for journal articles. It's an amazing thing really -- putting all your work out there for review (essentially before AND after publication), for the simple satisfaction that you have made a contribution to the knowledgebase. If your conclusions are erroneous, the community will figure it out eventually, and if your contributions are right on, you will be remembered as someone who had a positive impact on the field (you may even get rewarded). Scientists in academia are generally not the richest people in the world.
Where do they make their money, just out of curiosity? It can't be the console right? Each one is sold at a loss. Do they really get enough in licensing fees for game development to be *highly* profitable. Because you don't have to be losing money to call it quits -- you can just decide it's not profitable enough. It's happened to many consoles in the past.
Sigh. We always get these posts anytime a 3rd world country tries to expand its horizons. Posts like the parent, or posts referring to charities and such contributing to a country's technological development rather than helping alleviate poverty. I think its incredibly arrogant to dictate to the world's largest democracy what its priorities should be. Show me the country that has *completely* conquered poverty and malnutrition and I'll take your argument to be valid, instead of flamebait. Health care in the US is ranked 15th in the world while we spend enough in Iraq daily to easily alleviate most health care issues and poverty in this country. I don't think you can direct a country of over a billion people to one issue at a time. The nation will follow its course at its pace and we would hope it would do so in a peaceful manner. Space technology is a matter of national security. Much good it would do to be a well fed peaceful country that is constantly being attacked by Pakistani terrorists or under threat of Chinese expansionists tendencies (it's happened before). You act as though Indians are "OK" with the level of poverty and thus feel they can concern themselves with other things. The reality is more that there are many issues facing Indians, and poverty is just one of them. Having a space program is the sign of a decent education system -- though it may not cover everyone yet. Imagine if the Indians hadn't bother to upgrade their telecommunications and computer science experience (instead dumping cash into food every day? Where would the economy be now? I'm encouraged by your sentiment that the situation is heart-breaking, but frankly, your attitude is one of "they're such a primitive people, they should just concentrate on food and shelter." It's one I've seen way to many times here.
Unpleasantly enough, this is a poorly formatted article where despite their big bold title, you don't find out until page 4 who they think the winner is (ThinkFree). No summary/comparison table either. Bleh.
A nice game -- typically $50. Same game serialized into three episodes of $20 each = $60. I guess it works for them from a business point of view. Seems like a fleecing of the customer to me, though.
Is this like interpolation? Stacking? Averaging? Can't figure out WTF they're talking about, but it sounds like you have a single pixel camera, but that it must acquire many readings (sequentially). The number of readings required will still be less than the final pixel could your image will end up at. Hmm... seems like it would have to make up some of the information that it did not actually acquire?
What is with the brainwashing baloney? It's like you're trying to flame bait. Your points are exactly along the lines of what I am saying -- that defining a communist government such as those in China and Cuba should immediately draw the distinction between those countries and the state of Kerala. My main point is that, de facto, using the term communism implies much of what Kerala is NOT. It was the intention of the original poster to use communism and literacy rate in an irrelevant and incorrect manner, designed just to incite this kind of flamewar.
correction -- should read Cuba and China -- NOT democratic.
To be frank, you're flat out wrong. It's not a matter of opinion, or some kind of "west vs east" brainwashing. It's a simple matter of definition. Cuba and China, two of the most prototypical communist nations, are most certainly democratic. I would willingly admit that the communism, as defined by those who derived from the theories of Karl Marx, is not the opposite of democracy. In practice, it certainly is. As it relates to this article, that is an important point. Kerala is not communist in any meaningful sense of the word. Most European nations are equally "socialist", but I don't think anyone would classify them as communist. Moreover, automatically assuming someone is brainwashed because you didn't bother to consider what communism really implies kind of detracts from whatever point you thought you were making.
Do a little homework. It's an Indian state. ALL of India is a democracy, politically. Where economy is concerned, Kerala operates under welfare based democratic socialism. They have a parliamentary system of representative democracy, just like most of the democratic world. A quick google/wiki search might help james.infidel avoid sounding like an ignorant in the future.
Agreed -- that's totally just bait for some. I doubt that communism or literacy rate have anything to do with it. All it does is draw attention to the concept that some Indian states have different forms of government, and that many of the poor there are illiterate. As the story itself points out, other Indian states have already embraced FOSS.
It's actually quite common for young kidnapping victims to (1) initially be too afraid to even attempt escape or indicate to other strangers that they are being held against their will, and (2) to eventually get accustomed to their kidnapper(s). Of course (2) can happen to anyone, e.g. the Stockholm syndrome. It doesn't necessarily imply that the kidnapped child was previously in a unhappy situation which he/she wanted to get away from. I'm not sure what you're implying by "hooked up", but it seems unreasonable for you to even be making these points now given that the man obviously kidnapped again, as you pointed out.
Agreed. Virtual Terminal? Viral Technology? Vindictive Tomato? Cuz if it was the tomato, I'm not sure I'd want that re-enabled.
It seems you live in a haven for copyright violation, my friend. I'm still uncertain that what you have is something like permission to make or "obtain" digital copies, more like a loophole. I wonder though, I often post scientific artwork of my for educational purposes online (with a small copyright mark on the corner and my name). It's an image, and I'm not sure how I could say that it was DRM'd. It's clearly downloadable (anything on your computer screen has essentially been downloaded). I anticipate people view my illustrations for their educational purposes, or for help in teaching others, like in a class. I would hope that people would leave the image credit alone and not try to crop it out or something, but I don't have any "DRM" to prevent people from doing that. Nor can I really prevent someone from printing out the images and making posters of them and selling them (some of the artwork is quite nice)... So what happens in Hungary in this case? I'm certainly not asking any money for my images, but respecting my copyright would be nice. It seems that in Hungary that hey, if you can download it, then no questions asked.
Copyright fees are built-in in many countries around the world, including Canada. I hope you're not taking that as proof that what you are doing is legal. The built-in fees are there just for the illegal copying that is occuring. In my opinion, they are a scam. But, THAT is the law. Not your "version" of it. Where is your "solid" info on the hungarian law in this matter? Better yet, are you so confidant that what you are doing is legal, that you would be willing to publically announce you have a digital copy of the movie (without having any physical copy). Lets say you would not have to implicate any hosting site. No one could possibly get into trouble except for you. Are you so confidant that your acquisition of the digital download was legal? I seriously doubt it.
"Until it's proven otherwise that is."... Aye, there's the rub. Just because you may never get caught, doesn't mean it's "legal". What most people are doing is explicitly illegal, but they will not get caught or charged (hopefully) in Canada because the burden of proving you don't have the physical item is on the prosecutor there.
So... you're just a leecher? BTW, "gray area" is a more accurate term than "perfectly legal". Unless you own a copy of the HD-DVD, it's not "perfectly legal" to have a digital version.
Finally, going on about Apple "brainwashing" and "kool-aid" is just trolling. Grow up.
Agreed. That's what we want. What we need is to commute less (telecommute part time where possible, work closer to our homes) and use more public transportation. These hybrids are great and I want one, but it's easier and cheaper to make a dent in our fossil fuel consumption by making manageable lifestyle changes.
dude, i don't have mod points right now, but props for cracking me up so early in the morning...that was fricking hilarious.
Oh yeah? Well I'll deploy my greaseape script to pwn your greasemonkey's ass!!