When I was trying to book a ticket on NorthWest airlines I found that to even look at their reservations you had to register so I went to fill in Mr. Fuck You and found that almost every varation on fuck or shit or piss had been taken. I imagine that the addresses are the same. So that means that all these consumer databases are full of shit and piss and motherfuckers! What a crack-up, gives new meaning to "data mining"!
These people fall under fair use and thus IDG's tactics constitute simple harassment. If it was just a single letter that would be one thing but a series of threatening letters is another. Add to this that they have the gall to ask people to send them money to cover their legal fees and there is no reason to "give them a fucking break". I can't believe that your idiotic corporate suck up comment (maybe you work for IDG) got moderated to 5 when it is clear that you don't understand how this works. Maybe Slashdot need to publish "Moderating for Dummies".
Likely this is just part of their plan to devise their own punishment before the DOJ slaps them. Of course it will be called Windows Open Source 2000 and we will actually see it in 2003..... I wonder if anyone is going to go for this nonsense and also if anyone really wants to see this code. It could make millions break down and cry while the rest laugh. Will they remove those naughty messages and things that have caused them so much pain in the past?
If a large amount of the "firepower" is to be directed at other projects, I wonder how much committment they have to the OS? There is a difference twixt update and UPDATE after all. Perhaps I am just reading into this but it would seem a shame if this were allowed to languish. Especially since it seems that I hear more about Be than ever.......
Why is it that so often when people like Katz speak outside of their area of expertise they sound so dumb? In this case, it's two parts Technocrat to one part cluelessness. I don't know what planet you exist on, but there are still not only plenty of record stores out there but also plenty of vinyl around. So that vinyl era that you obviously know nothing about may be marginalized, but hasn't passed. As someone who spent the last 12 years working in various record stores(though not any longer), I don't know where you think this plays out like the 50's but then I guess I shouldn't expect you to think through what you are writing about. Just go on making sweeping generalizations about things you nothing about. I have sold an awful lot of vinyl over those years and I bet Micheal Fremer of Stereophile would be surprised to find out that vinyl was a "long ago and far away age'. Even major labels still release limited edition vinyl.
MP3's are fairly useless for those of us who want complete albums and something other than bootleg Mariah Carey singles or obscure electronica cuts. I don't know any record collectors who would dream of playing music through their computer. The sound sucks. This is where the technocrat problem comes into play. Those who exist in a world of technology sometimes assume that the rest of planet is as enamored of the technology du jour as they are. Just because Jeffy in the cartoon Family Affair makes a joke about checking his e-mail, doesn't mean that the nation at large has sold all their LP's and CD's and is living in the "MP3 era". Even most geeks I know (I'm referring to computer geeks here) buy and listen to mainly CD's. They might use MP3's to check something out but the RIAA and Katz nothwithstanding, we still live in the era of CD's.
As others here have pointed out, there are still plenty of record stores out there, some with knowledgeable (and sometimes arrogant) employees, not that I was ever arrogant. I may have been a little impatient with some customers STUPID FSCKING QUESTIONS!!! but I always tried to help. Which is why I no longer work in records (that and the money sucks and the era of getting decent promos is past).
Anyway, I am looking forward to this movie to relive a little bit of my RECENT past. I look forward to Katz's review of a movie sure to be made at some point about a group of crazy sys admins and their wacky shenanigans as they work the help desk at a major internet e-tailer. Perhaps that time, he will get it right.
LETCHHAUSEN
"I've got more Cramps bootlegs in this room than most people have records in their entire collections" - Byron Coley
I would say that the responses you received to the Stanford article are as skewed as you allege the article itself is. The typical Slashdot poster is hardly indicative of the average net user. I would caution using the geeks whose chosen social milieu the net is, as indicators.
Since there is a difference between physical reality and the net I bet that Grandma would rather get a visit than an e-mail and I be that no amount of dirty messages is going to replace seeing that girlfriend..
Though no one made the claim that the net is a replacement for these things, remember that we are inherently lazy beings. Why visit or call when I can e-mail? Of course the net is no match for that which is far worse for alienating us and which has been at it far longer, television. Why talk to family or neighbors when I can bask in the warm embrace of TV? This is a running joke on the Simpsons and its so bitter and funny 'cause its true.
In light of the hysteria generated by the DoS attacks on major shopping sites it's obvious how serious the gov't and the media take this area. You would of thought that there was some sort of major disaster that killed thousands the way this played out. Last I heard the death toll was zero and no major property damage. So some advertisers on Yahoo didn't get to count click throughs on some banner, big deal. Of course the box that keeps all the smart people (who don't watch TV) inside was threatened. FBI better get on the case.
And watch out that when you do disconnect someday that you don't find that all your civil rights are gone and the suburbs are in "lockdown" while you were surfing your life away. And when you are done with that spending spree and do need something today, maybe you will find that the little brick and mortar establishment that used to have the cool stuff is gone and all you're left with is all Wal-Mart all the time, baby.
Myself, I can hardly wait for the Springer episodes "I didn't pay attention to my daughter till I saw her naked on the internet and now it's too late".
I do think that the internet is great for a lot of things. I admit that I was too lazy to send more than the occasional paper letter and I am much better about contacting through e-mail. Of course those letters were longer and more reflective than the quips I shoot around these days. It's all about time and this "e-pace" just adds to the attention deficit disorder that constitutes the modern experience.
Besides I feel much like Bukowski, I don't hate people but I sure feel better when they are not around. Also, any culture that makes Mariah Carey a mega-star and Titanic the largest grossing movie of all time, deserves whatever it gets. And I hope Katz drowns in Grisham since that chump thinks that higher culture is elitist. There is plenty of sewage at the bottom pal and I hope you drown in it. Good thing for you it's all virtual all the time.
Kill! Kill! Kill! For inner peace and mental health!-The Baader Meinhopf
There you go again with your half-assed judgements about what others can or can't do. Why are those who choose certain paths idiots? I suppose you know the one true and only way?
Since many CD's sound so shitty to begin I guess you never get even one play out of them. I would say that LP's are good for a lot more than one play. The sonic difference between one and many plays still provides a warmth and immediacy that most CD's just don't have, though they are getting there.
As I pointed out before there's lots of records that are not going to make it to CD. How is digital going to help that get to a wider audience?
What I sneer at is people who judge others as idiots when it's so apparent they themselves are clueless.
One other thing, since the playback room is not a recording studio (nor a concert hall), and since we live in a time when music is mostly enjoyed in the home, then it makes sense that for your listening session that you would want the best experience possible. One is only limited in what one can afford. Different priorities for different folks. It makes more sense to me to spend a jillion bucks on a listening room than to collect vintage cars. But I would never jeer at those who do.
You would, but then you post as an anonymous coward.
Once again we have some talking trash about that which he knows not of. If you have the money who is to say that it's brainless to spend it on that which you enjoy? Obviously someone who jumps to conclusions without thinking things through. I might not have the interest in fashion to spend 30k on designer clothing but I don't quibble with those who do.
You seem to have more mouth than brains.
IMHO vinyl as always kicked ass over CD's even to the extent that a Muddy Waters Mobile Fidelity Gold Cd versus the Mo-Fi (R.I.P.) vinyl wasn't even close, and the CD had the advantage of being played on a 30k well-matched system against my 5k home LP setup. Neil Young and a host of others truly believe that the sterile sound of CD's is horrible. There is constantly evolving technology to improve digital sound to where it will approach the analog experience. And it is an analog experience, ours ears don't hear ones and zeroes.
Since a decent Rockport setup can cost like 30k and I think the Forsell is even more, this laser turntable falls in the neighbirhood of the best high-end equipment. Allow for the fact that there are tons of records that are just not ever going to be pressed on CD and the best one can do is get a vinyl copy. Many Collectors already have a significant investment in thousands of LP's and so a way to protect that investment without wear on the records makes the price less outrageous.
I know computer geeks that spend thousands on multiple systems and videophiles that drop 10k on HDTV. Fabio spent 250k for specially built speakers. I spend all of my money on books and records (which isn't much). I think that we all put our money where our interest is and the only difference is that some poor sap such as yourself feels the need to judge those who spend more than you do. I bet there is some dirt poor family somewhere who would find your spending habits extravagant and ridiculous.
I'll probably never be able to afford one of these laser 'tables new, but in a few years maybe I'll get used older model for 2-3k and be happy as a clam.
Those aren't Bugs, those are prizes. Microsoft is following the lead of chance composers like John Cage by bringing us a software package where anything can happen.
Ever read the book 'Diceman" by Luke Rhinehart? As Mark E. Smith of the Fall said "Listen to our song, it's much safer". The premise of the book is that a shrink gives his Psychoanalysis technique a jolt by bringing in "Diceplay" where you roll the dice and follow pre-set options. It soon sweeps America as people get to explore new sides of their identities through "Dice Therapy".
Microsoft is applying similar theories to this exciting new software package where these "bugs" should be seen as zen-like chance options wherein we get to explore exciting new mileus. These lessons of patience and resourcefulness will teach us to be like Caine of the old "Kung-Fu" series.
So turn that frown upside down and explore an exciting new era in operating systems!!
Does this mean that VA reserves the right to make decisions about the other 10%?????
In that case please save these necrophiliacs from their nostagic Star Wars worship!!!!
Episode 1 was one of the worst movies ever made and it can only go downhill from there. I understand the desire to lay with that with which you are familiar (it keeps a lot of crappy marriages together and it keeps the Rolling Stones in a career) but lets put an end to lame "news" about Star Wars. I have utterly grave doubts about VA buying Andover and by default Slashdot, but if ever there were a case where the benevolent tyranny of VA could help these guys out, it is now!
Save Slashdot from wasting more headline space with inconsequential items about satanic George Lucas' attempt to turn our brains into mush!!!!
Man you are stupid. It's always the way that people in power grab and misuse it is to make it seem like there is a reason and as long as you are a law abiding citizen everything is okay. But after you give up your civil fights and they change the laws, then what are you going to do?
Oh remember? You gave up your right to complain when you gave up your right to free speech. Hey it's okay as long as your are a christian and a republican. Oh you are not? Well we have a data entry prison for you built with your tax dollars, it's called The Microsoft Reform Center, co-funded with all that money that Bill Gate$ donated to the Republicans......
I'm not so sure that the writer's take on "Nature" leaves it out as something that we can't talk about. She should read Matt Ridley's "The Red Queen", then she wouldn't leave it out. We as a species have certain biological imperatives and this influences many of our actions whether we want it to or not. THere is some old hard-coding that makes woman look for a secure situation within which to bear children and men go out and provide. Even within the two career couple the children come about. Society has for a long time supported this has the appropriate structure and I think that as we move away (as we have been) from this we will have more "geek chicks".
Why is it that when I go to experimental music shows there are so few woman? My graduate philosophy courses have been male dominated. My work place has far more male programmers though there are females on the teams. I think that what I offered above is part of it but not all. Sex is the other part and not just in the familial sense. Most woman I have met are serial daters moreso than most men that I know. Woman I think, are far more inundated with social/sexual interest than men are. Perhaps its not the interest they want, but it is time consuming. I'm also not saying that they are lucky for this or that its even desirable. Also this is a generality that takes into account the fact that there are many good looking guys that are inundated with womanly interest. I think this evens out at the "geek levels" where there is less female interest. Most programmers I know are more intimate with the animated woman of their computers games than with real females.
I know a woman who is a recruiter/HR for a large tech company who says that she is asked out by every 'single' male she comes into contact with at the company. They perceive her as attactive and into the same stuff that they are because of where she works. She can't date these guys because of her job but wouldn't because she doesn't date geeks. She only dates "rich jocks" as she puts it. Most woman in my company are in marketing or management or secreterial positions.
I think a recent Salon article dealt with the dating issue but it also provides some insight into what woman are doing with their time.
I think that some of the posts here posit that male geeks want there to be more female geeks is not because of the "different perspective" it would provide but because it would widen the dating pool. We all want to meet someone who is interested in the things that we are. I think that society is somewhere between the "woman on the outside" of her husband's business (ala the 50's) and the true partnership that I think that we are moving towards today.
There will always be a battle of form against substance but hopefully it will shake out enough of those of substance both male and female.
When I lived in New York I had female friends who had graduated from Parson (or wherever) and when I would visit them at work at the Design studios that they worked for I was delighted to see that were female dominated. This was prior to my Silicon Valley and Seattle experiences (and to my own involvement in the computer industry) and I remember thinking that it was cool that there were so many woman in the computer industry. Boy, did I get turned around fast.
I knew a couple once where the guy was a sys admin and she was a graphics designer (actually I've met a few) and he would bitch about fixing her MAc and she would make fun of the instability of NT. Sounds like a match made in heaven to me and probably to a lot of other geeks as well. I guess she doesn't qualify as a "geek" cause she's not "hacking the kernel" but perhaps that's where the definition needs to get flexible as suggested by the author of the Freshmeat article.
Hell, at this point I'd settle for woman who cared about books and music. As I plow through my thirties I find that outside of college it gets harder and harder to meet those as well(or at least those that aren't married, damn, knew I should of jumped on that marriage bandwagon when I was younger).
As for having colleagues that are woman, that's always good, because diversity is always good. It would also be healthy to see more "geek chicks" just to show that we are reaching equality in society. In some ways that is the desirable goal. Not just for romance but for equilibrium in ideas as a people.
One of the main questions I have of VA is why did they do this? Last year Slashdot turned them down in favor of Andover to be bought and here they are throwing their money around in a buyout. Didn't they get it the first time? To be owned by a Linux site comprimises/. (according to/.).
On this site we have seen negative reporting of Micro$oft and it's monopolistic attitudes, as well as a call to arms over AOL/Time Warner etc. Now it happens in our community and I'm surprised that more of you aren't up in arms. Maybe this won't have a negative repercussion on/. but it's the principle of the thing. I thought that at the heart of this movement were certain ideas and now as we see them collapse when challenged, shouldn't we call bullshit on this?
While offensive to some maybe, you are on to something here and I am slightly amazed that the Linux community isn't tearing up this board with vitriol. It ought to. Time and again we see something enter the world and say "This is Change!" and time and again we see the sell out. Sure it seems harmeless because it's our pals, VA Linux. But why are our pals using $$$ tactics to do this? How does this benefit the community?
Fame and money? Power corrupts? You bet. It's just business, but I thought that there was more than businesss at stake here. The Salon article pointed out how Slashdot had rejected VA before, why does VA not respect that decision?
I find the lack of real questioning here to be troublesome. Did you guys get the same POD that those Apple worshipers get with their macs to put under their beds to become "One of Us"?
Where does Linux want to go today? Obviously to bed with it's incestuous self.
NASA scientists have merged the programmable robot technology with the "Real Doll" (see http://www.realdoll.com/) and have finally solved what has become known in Psychology circles as the "Geek Date Syndrome". The programming interface and the variety of body styles offered by the Real Doll company have finally made the dreams of Geeks everywhere come true!
"Why my gal, Priss, loves to play Quake with me for hours and hack the Linux kernel!!!" said one enthusiastic beta tester of the new technology.
The downside for many college students and others who may wish to purchase their own 'Dream Date"TM is that the high cost means that only those with the high salaries and stock options of computer programmers will be able to afford them.
It's easy to slam out at the less salient points but what was said about the benchmarks is what should be examined. From what I have seen anybody can use a set of abstract tests to show that anything is faster. Remember how much faster than Linux Window is?
Ars Technica did a "real world" review of the G3 and it sucked against Intel in Mac's own domain; Photoshop. Their reasoning is that the OS is a performance killer. In light of this what is it going to take to Run OS X? Quad G4's a a gig of RAM?
I bought a G3 400 last year and am totally disappointed with it's performance. Not to mention that I think that Steve Jobs should be forced at gunpoint to type the complete works of Shakespeare and the Encyclopedia Brittanica using that crappy mini-keyboard that they give you. Bastards. What I don't get is why they can screw over people like they did last fall, shrug their shoulders and bask in the blind worship of all these users? Did I not get a pod with my unit to turn me into "one of them". I hate Apple and will never buy from them again. Of course I realize that I coulda, shoulda gone Linux and am going there now, so I share the blame for my folly.
I find the Apple OS to be as buggy and weird as any Micro$oft product. I can hardly wait to see the messes that Aqua will give to users since every Mac magazine that I see announces the latest patches to OS 9 screwups.
The reality check here should be that anyone stupid enough to believe the Fed's figures on crime is dumber than they say Mitnick is. Statistics at the local level are far lower than the ones you quote. I guess that I feel sorry for anyone who has been railroaded through our justice system since whether they were guilty or not falls in the cracks of their violated civil rights. When society behaves worse than the criminals the lines of right and wrong fall away.
The terms of his parole may not be onerous or typical to you but does that make it effective? Often times the parole setup is what drives people back to crime and this is no exception. Just because our lame legal system does it, doesn't make it right.
Since I personally view Episode 1 as a crime against culture and humanity I see George Lucas as a more dangerous threat than Mitnick. After all Lucas stands to poison the minds of millions with his idiot tripe and make money in the deal. Considering the amount of attention paid to Lucas on Slashdot I would prefer an interview with someone who was involved with the technology beyond the level of providing a fantasy world for losers everywhere. At least Mitnick used the technology and the systems in interesting ways.
If the byline really is News for Nerds then I guess Kevin qualifies. Moreso than the deified Lucas. The amount of posts here show that it matters.
I can't believe post after post about this utterly horrible film! Cultural meme or not it doesn't warrant this attention. It's right up there with Titanic in the negative hype to content ratio where the more hype the less content. This whole posting scenario is starting to make the "News for nerds" matter more than the "Stuff that matters" part. I know that geeks can be as clueless as the rest of mainstream Amerikka about the excrement that they will allow the consumer marketing groups to shovel into their whiny little mouths but I sure wish the editors would show a little restraint with these nonsensical posts.
I got a story for you, "George Lucas takes a shit, post on Slashdot at eleven". Then we can have 373 posts on whether this event warrants release on DVD (though the spycam in his bathroom means that many of you already have illegal bootleg copies of this blessed event).
Wow you really are clueless! Playboy has made a mint on playing up to all the things that "men" are into and technology has been one of the favorites since the beginning. At first it was tech as the accoutrement of the privileged "Bachelor", but that position has changed as tecnology has become the tool of the richest bachelors today: computer programmers. Playboy has always had tons of articles and as a result, the smallest ratio of pix to text of all the "Mens" mags out there. It' s wimpy (read chaste) pictorials have also left in it a somewhat no-man's land until with videos and a emphasis on "Men's Lifestyle's" (along with a more conservative constituency) it has regained prominence as the magazine that you don't have to be embarrassed to leave on a coffeetable.
Actually it's surprising that it took them this long to do an article on Linux since so much mainstream press already has and Playboy is very up on what is hip in the mainstream. Not that I would ever read such tripe, I get my news from the news and my porn from the internet and don't think that I need such lame publications as this to "define my lifestyle". Many do, however, though if porn is your game, there are far randier and more honest alternatives both in print and on the net.
I bet if there were numbers for how many Slashdot readers were arriving from XXX sites we'd all be smiling guiltily.
Hopefully the above will get moderated up. Now this is a review! More than merely reporting on what was seen and offering a generalized opinion, it is insightful and brings up the history of the work. I appreciated the comments on the subtelties of the acting, though this is not something that american audiences are familiar with. Though I am familiar with the existence of the French film mentioned I have never seen it but probably see it instead of the hollywood version. The French are so much better at shading characters and also have no fear of portraying a character as 'unlikeable'. The same sort of ambiguity pervades Bressson's "Pickpocket". Now back to the making of my new movie titled, "I killed Christgau, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates with my Big Fucking Dick". Proving that I at least, appreciate subtelty.
Before he makes any more crappy movies and he we have to hear it about it on Slashdot. The only recent movie I can think of that was more overly hyped, poorly written and woodenly acted was Titanic. Get a life.
Actually the sad part is that this did get people's objections about the WTO noticed. How often when there is some calm civil protest do you hear anything on the news other than "expected violence did not happen"? In this particular situation I think people are going to wonder what the specifics were that warranted such stong reactions, what got labor and environmentalists marching together. As Plato, Machiavelli, and on down to the movie "Wag the Do" will tell you, appearances are everything. Especially in our news de-sensitized era. McDonald's and Niketown took it the worst in damages and considering the track record of those two organizations it almost seems karmic.
Though many are going to wave the letter of the law about, remember that you are living in a country that was founded through looting, burning and fighting. As much as the New World Order is coming, this shows that there is still life in the old girl yet. The people of Seattle didn't want this show, it was foisted upon them, and there were many who joined in with the protestors who came from out of town. After being tear gassed on my way home from work, where my only crime was trying to cross the street, I ended up marching with a drum band on my way to a different route home. The bruised and bloody faces I witnessed around me gave testament that those who posted saying that there was no police violence were either watching far away up in their high-rise condos, or their Range Rovers as they lined up for the freeway. Once I got around the tear gas I ran into a crowd of police in full riot gear tearing down on the crowd and as I am allergic to tear gas, got out just as the first shots were being fired. The crowd was only provoking by standing their ground. Sometimes it's all we have left and I applaud though who do. Though in this instance my previous encounter with the gas made discretion the better part of valour. Ironic that the issue with chemical weapons was made so well with, uh, chemical weapons. Anyone trying to get out of downtown also got a snootful of the gas but maybe they deserved it for not following the gov't workers who took the week off.So it wasn't like it was specific targets that were getting it, and at that point the curfew was still 90 minutes away.
It's obvious that the WTO is not wanted here and I guess this did effectively disrupt the opening of the conference. Mission accomplished. Yes, it is nice that we live in a country where we can protest still and suffer only minor injuries. I suggest we cherish it now. It's not going to last and the WTO is probably a negative part of that future. And yes, it's too bad that we live in such apathetic times that it has to come to this. If the tenor of the times now existed 200 years ago we'd have a queen instead of a president.
God, this is ugly. Is the template of the future? It looks like zdnet and shopper, yahoo, etc. Is there something about America where interesting design loses out to load time again and again? I love Euro sites for their interesting graphics and layout. If this is the is the result of Redhat's IPO and their desire to make the site into more of a viable e-commerce look, then "hooray for capitalism!" as Austin Powers once said. Of course the flipside is "Down with good design!". Alexis de Tocqueville's critique of the homogenizing effect of our nation in his book "Democracy in America" is borne out yet again. I work in e-commerce and though I understand the concept of sucking the life out of graphics and simple layout to improve load time, it is not an excuse for poor design. I'm glad that I split my Linux twixt SuSe and PPC. I'd rather have 'business simple' or 'amateur look' over e-commerce genericism any day. Letch
Actually the true power of the slugbot will only become obvious when the folks at Realdoll combine it with their product. Then we have Priss from Bladerunner except that she recharges herself on slugs at night. The attachment of the males of this society to their SlugDolls is what enabled robots to take over society. Soon Aibo has us fetching, and the flybots watch our every move. Being macho men who aren't about to take orders from Fembots and dogs we set off the nukes. This is the plot for Episode 1: The Realdoll Menace.
Slashdot Mirror
When I was trying to book a ticket on NorthWest airlines I found that to even look at their reservations you had to register so I went to fill in Mr. Fuck You and found that almost every varation on fuck or shit or piss had been taken. I imagine that the addresses are the same. So that means that all these consumer databases are full of shit and piss and motherfuckers! What a crack-up, gives new meaning to "data mining"!
These people fall under fair use and thus IDG's tactics constitute simple harassment. If it was just a single letter that would be one thing but a series of threatening letters is another. Add to this that they have the gall to ask people to send them money to cover their legal fees and there is no reason to "give them a fucking break". I can't believe that your idiotic corporate suck up comment (maybe you work for IDG) got moderated to 5 when it is clear that you don't understand how this works. Maybe Slashdot need to publish "Moderating for Dummies".
Likely this is just part of their plan to devise their own punishment before the DOJ slaps them. Of course it will be called Windows Open Source 2000 and we will actually see it in 2003..... I wonder if anyone is going to go for this nonsense and also if anyone really wants to see this code. It could make millions break down and cry while the rest laugh. Will they remove those naughty messages and things that have caused them so much pain in the past?
If a large amount of the "firepower" is to be directed at other projects, I wonder how much committment they have to the OS? There is a difference twixt update and UPDATE after all. Perhaps I am just reading into this but it would seem a shame if this were allowed to languish. Especially since it seems that I hear more about Be than ever.......
MP3's are fairly useless for those of us who want complete albums and something other than bootleg Mariah Carey singles or obscure electronica cuts. I don't know any record collectors who would dream of playing music through their computer. The sound sucks. This is where the technocrat problem comes into play. Those who exist in a world of technology sometimes assume that the rest of planet is as enamored of the technology du jour as they are. Just because Jeffy in the cartoon Family Affair makes a joke about checking his e-mail, doesn't mean that the nation at large has sold all their LP's and CD's and is living in the "MP3 era". Even most geeks I know (I'm referring to computer geeks here) buy and listen to mainly CD's. They might use MP3's to check something out but the RIAA and Katz nothwithstanding, we still live in the era of CD's.
As others here have pointed out, there are still plenty of record stores out there, some with knowledgeable (and sometimes arrogant) employees, not that I was ever arrogant. I may have been a little impatient with some customers STUPID FSCKING QUESTIONS!!! but I always tried to help. Which is why I no longer work in records (that and the money sucks and the era of getting decent promos is past).
Anyway, I am looking forward to this movie to relive a little bit of my RECENT past. I look forward to Katz's review of a movie sure to be made at some point about a group of crazy sys admins and their wacky shenanigans as they work the help desk at a major internet e-tailer. Perhaps that time, he will get it right.
LETCHHAUSEN
"I've got more Cramps bootlegs in this room than most people have records in their entire collections" - Byron Coley
Since there is a difference between physical reality and the net I bet that Grandma would rather get a visit than an e-mail and I be that no amount of dirty messages is going to replace seeing that girlfriend..
Though no one made the claim that the net is a replacement for these things, remember that we are inherently lazy beings. Why visit or call when I can e-mail? Of course the net is no match for that which is far worse for alienating us and which has been at it far longer, television. Why talk to family or neighbors when I can bask in the warm embrace of TV? This is a running joke on the Simpsons and its so bitter and funny 'cause its true.
In light of the hysteria generated by the DoS attacks on major shopping sites it's obvious how serious the gov't and the media take this area. You would of thought that there was some sort of major disaster that killed thousands the way this played out. Last I heard the death toll was zero and no major property damage. So some advertisers on Yahoo didn't get to count click throughs on some banner, big deal. Of course the box that keeps all the smart people (who don't watch TV) inside was threatened. FBI better get on the case.
And watch out that when you do disconnect someday that you don't find that all your civil rights are gone and the suburbs are in "lockdown" while you were surfing your life away. And when you are done with that spending spree and do need something today, maybe you will find that the little brick and mortar establishment that used to have the cool stuff is gone and all you're left with is all Wal-Mart all the time, baby.
Myself, I can hardly wait for the Springer episodes "I didn't pay attention to my daughter till I saw her naked on the internet and now it's too late".
I do think that the internet is great for a lot of things. I admit that I was too lazy to send more than the occasional paper letter and I am much better about contacting through e-mail. Of course those letters were longer and more reflective than the quips I shoot around these days. It's all about time and this "e-pace" just adds to the attention deficit disorder that constitutes the modern experience.
Besides I feel much like Bukowski, I don't hate people but I sure feel better when they are not around. Also, any culture that makes Mariah Carey a mega-star and Titanic the largest grossing movie of all time, deserves whatever it gets. And I hope Katz drowns in Grisham since that chump thinks that higher culture is elitist. There is plenty of sewage at the bottom pal and I hope you drown in it. Good thing for you it's all virtual all the time.
Kill! Kill! Kill! For inner peace and mental health!-The Baader Meinhopf
Since many CD's sound so shitty to begin I guess you never get even one play out of them. I would say that LP's are good for a lot more than one play. The sonic difference between one and many plays still provides a warmth and immediacy that most CD's just don't have, though they are getting there.
As I pointed out before there's lots of records that are not going to make it to CD. How is digital going to help that get to a wider audience?
What I sneer at is people who judge others as idiots when it's so apparent they themselves are clueless.
One other thing, since the playback room is not a recording studio (nor a concert hall), and since we live in a time when music is mostly enjoyed in the home, then it makes sense that for your listening session that you would want the best experience possible. One is only limited in what one can afford. Different priorities for different folks. It makes more sense to me to spend a jillion bucks on a listening room than to collect vintage cars. But I would never jeer at those who do.
You would, but then you post as an anonymous coward.
You seem to have more mouth than brains.
IMHO vinyl as always kicked ass over CD's even to the extent that a Muddy Waters Mobile Fidelity Gold Cd versus the Mo-Fi (R.I.P.) vinyl wasn't even close, and the CD had the advantage of being played on a 30k well-matched system against my 5k home LP setup. Neil Young and a host of others truly believe that the sterile sound of CD's is horrible. There is constantly evolving technology to improve digital sound to where it will approach the analog experience. And it is an analog experience, ours ears don't hear ones and zeroes.
Since a decent Rockport setup can cost like 30k and I think the Forsell is even more, this laser turntable falls in the neighbirhood of the best high-end equipment. Allow for the fact that there are tons of records that are just not ever going to be pressed on CD and the best one can do is get a vinyl copy. Many Collectors already have a significant investment in thousands of LP's and so a way to protect that investment without wear on the records makes the price less outrageous.
I know computer geeks that spend thousands on multiple systems and videophiles that drop 10k on HDTV. Fabio spent 250k for specially built speakers. I spend all of my money on books and records (which isn't much). I think that we all put our money where our interest is and the only difference is that some poor sap such as yourself feels the need to judge those who spend more than you do. I bet there is some dirt poor family somewhere who would find your spending habits extravagant and ridiculous.
I'll probably never be able to afford one of these laser 'tables new, but in a few years maybe I'll get used older model for 2-3k and be happy as a clam.
There are plenty of ISP's that have phone numbers everywhere that HateOL shouldn't even have to be mentioned here.
Ever read the book 'Diceman" by Luke Rhinehart? As Mark E. Smith of the Fall said "Listen to our song, it's much safer". The premise of the book is that a shrink gives his Psychoanalysis technique a jolt by bringing in "Diceplay" where you roll the dice and follow pre-set options. It soon sweeps America as people get to explore new sides of their identities through "Dice Therapy".
Microsoft is applying similar theories to this exciting new software package where these "bugs" should be seen as zen-like chance options wherein we get to explore exciting new mileus. These lessons of patience and resourcefulness will teach us to be like Caine of the old "Kung-Fu" series.
So turn that frown upside down and explore an exciting new era in operating systems!!
In that case please save these necrophiliacs from their nostagic Star Wars worship!!!!
Episode 1 was one of the worst movies ever made and it can only go downhill from there. I understand the desire to lay with that with which you are familiar (it keeps a lot of crappy marriages together and it keeps the Rolling Stones in a career) but lets put an end to lame "news" about Star Wars. I have utterly grave doubts about VA buying Andover and by default Slashdot, but if ever there were a case where the benevolent tyranny of VA could help these guys out, it is now!
Save Slashdot from wasting more headline space with inconsequential items about satanic George Lucas' attempt to turn our brains into mush!!!!
Larry, Stop these stories now!!!!!
Oh remember? You gave up your right to complain when you gave up your right to free speech. Hey it's okay as long as your are a christian and a republican. Oh you are not? Well we have a data entry prison for you built with your tax dollars, it's called The Microsoft Reform Center, co-funded with all that money that Bill Gate$ donated to the Republicans......
Why is it that when I go to experimental music shows there are so few woman? My graduate philosophy courses have been male dominated. My work place has far more male programmers though there are females on the teams. I think that what I offered above is part of it but not all. Sex is the other part and not just in the familial sense. Most woman I have met are serial daters moreso than most men that I know. Woman I think, are far more inundated with social/sexual interest than men are. Perhaps its not the interest they want, but it is time consuming. I'm also not saying that they are lucky for this or that its even desirable. Also this is a generality that takes into account the fact that there are many good looking guys that are inundated with womanly interest. I think this evens out at the "geek levels" where there is less female interest. Most programmers I know are more intimate with the animated woman of their computers games than with real females.
I know a woman who is a recruiter/HR for a large tech company who says that she is asked out by every 'single' male she comes into contact with at the company. They perceive her as attactive and into the same stuff that they are because of where she works. She can't date these guys because of her job but wouldn't because she doesn't date geeks. She only dates "rich jocks" as she puts it. Most woman in my company are in marketing or management or secreterial positions.
I think a recent Salon article dealt with the dating issue but it also provides some insight into what woman are doing with their time.
I think that some of the posts here posit that male geeks want there to be more female geeks is not because of the "different perspective" it would provide but because it would widen the dating pool. We all want to meet someone who is interested in the things that we are. I think that society is somewhere between the "woman on the outside" of her husband's business (ala the 50's) and the true partnership that I think that we are moving towards today.
There will always be a battle of form against substance but hopefully it will shake out enough of those of substance both male and female.
When I lived in New York I had female friends who had graduated from Parson (or wherever) and when I would visit them at work at the Design studios that they worked for I was delighted to see that were female dominated. This was prior to my Silicon Valley and Seattle experiences (and to my own involvement in the computer industry) and I remember thinking that it was cool that there were so many woman in the computer industry. Boy, did I get turned around fast.
I knew a couple once where the guy was a sys admin and she was a graphics designer (actually I've met a few) and he would bitch about fixing her MAc and she would make fun of the instability of NT. Sounds like a match made in heaven to me and probably to a lot of other geeks as well. I guess she doesn't qualify as a "geek" cause she's not "hacking the kernel" but perhaps that's where the definition needs to get flexible as suggested by the author of the Freshmeat article.
Hell, at this point I'd settle for woman who cared about books and music. As I plow through my thirties I find that outside of college it gets harder and harder to meet those as well(or at least those that aren't married, damn, knew I should of jumped on that marriage bandwagon when I was younger).
As for having colleagues that are woman, that's always good, because diversity is always good. It would also be healthy to see more "geek chicks" just to show that we are reaching equality in society. In some ways that is the desirable goal. Not just for romance but for equilibrium in ideas as a people.
On this site we have seen negative reporting of Micro$oft and it's monopolistic attitudes, as well as a call to arms over AOL/Time Warner etc. Now it happens in our community and I'm surprised that more of you aren't up in arms. Maybe this won't have a negative repercussion on /. but it's the principle of the thing. I thought that at the heart of this movement were certain ideas and now as we see them collapse when challenged, shouldn't we call bullshit on this?
"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss..."
While offensive to some maybe, you are on to something here and I am slightly amazed that the Linux community isn't tearing up this board with vitriol. It ought to. Time and again we see something enter the world and say "This is Change!" and time and again we see the sell out. Sure it seems harmeless because it's our pals, VA Linux. But why are our pals using $$$ tactics to do this? How does this benefit the community?
Fame and money? Power corrupts? You bet. It's just business, but I thought that there was more than businesss at stake here. The Salon article pointed out how Slashdot had rejected VA before, why does VA not respect that decision?
I find the lack of real questioning here to be troublesome. Did you guys get the same POD that those Apple worshipers get with their macs to put under their beds to become "One of Us"?
Where does Linux want to go today? Obviously to bed with it's incestuous self.
"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss!"
I guess we did get fooled again.
NASA scientists have merged the programmable robot technology with the "Real Doll" (see http://www.realdoll.com/) and have finally solved what has become known in Psychology circles as the "Geek Date Syndrome". The programming interface and the variety of body styles offered by the Real Doll company have finally made the dreams of Geeks everywhere come true!
"Why my gal, Priss, loves to play Quake with me for hours and hack the Linux kernel!!!" said one enthusiastic beta tester of the new technology.
The downside for many college students and others who may wish to purchase their own 'Dream Date"TM is that the high cost means that only those with the high salaries and stock options of computer programmers will be able to afford them.
Get yours today!
Ars Technica did a "real world" review of the G3 and it sucked against Intel in Mac's own domain; Photoshop. Their reasoning is that the OS is a performance killer. In light of this what is it going to take to Run OS X? Quad G4's a a gig of RAM?
I bought a G3 400 last year and am totally disappointed with it's performance. Not to mention that I think that Steve Jobs should be forced at gunpoint to type the complete works of Shakespeare and the Encyclopedia Brittanica using that crappy mini-keyboard that they give you. Bastards. What I don't get is why they can screw over people like they did last fall, shrug their shoulders and bask in the blind worship of all these users? Did I not get a pod with my unit to turn me into "one of them". I hate Apple and will never buy from them again. Of course I realize that I coulda, shoulda gone Linux and am going there now, so I share the blame for my folly.
I find the Apple OS to be as buggy and weird as any Micro$oft product. I can hardly wait to see the messes that Aqua will give to users since every Mac magazine that I see announces the latest patches to OS 9 screwups.
Apple? Rotten to the motherfscking core.
Where's my abacus?
The terms of his parole may not be onerous or typical to you but does that make it effective? Often times the parole setup is what drives people back to crime and this is no exception. Just because our lame legal system does it, doesn't make it right.
Since I personally view Episode 1 as a crime against culture and humanity I see George Lucas as a more dangerous threat than Mitnick. After all Lucas stands to poison the minds of millions with his idiot tripe and make money in the deal. Considering the amount of attention paid to Lucas on Slashdot I would prefer an interview with someone who was involved with the technology beyond the level of providing a fantasy world for losers everywhere. At least Mitnick used the technology and the systems in interesting ways.
If the byline really is News for Nerds then I guess Kevin qualifies. Moreso than the deified Lucas. The amount of posts here show that it matters.
I got a story for you, "George Lucas takes a shit, post on Slashdot at eleven". Then we can have 373 posts on whether this event warrants release on DVD (though the spycam in his bathroom means that many of you already have illegal bootleg copies of this blessed event).
Get a life! Please!
Actually it's surprising that it took them this long to do an article on Linux since so much mainstream press already has and Playboy is very up on what is hip in the mainstream. Not that I would ever read such tripe, I get my news from the news and my porn from the internet and don't think that I need such lame publications as this to "define my lifestyle". Many do, however, though if porn is your game, there are far randier and more honest alternatives both in print and on the net.
I bet if there were numbers for how many Slashdot readers were arriving from XXX sites we'd all be smiling guiltily.
Hopefully the above will get moderated up. Now this is a review! More than merely reporting on what was seen and offering a generalized opinion, it is insightful and brings up the history of the work. I appreciated the comments on the subtelties of the acting, though this is not something that american audiences are familiar with. Though I am familiar with the existence of the French film mentioned I have never seen it but probably see it instead of the hollywood version. The French are so much better at shading characters and also have no fear of portraying a character as 'unlikeable'. The same sort of ambiguity pervades Bressson's "Pickpocket". Now back to the making of my new movie titled, "I killed Christgau, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates with my Big Fucking Dick". Proving that I at least, appreciate subtelty.
Before he makes any more crappy movies and he we have to hear it about it on Slashdot. The only recent movie I can think of that was more overly hyped, poorly written and woodenly acted was Titanic. Get a life.
Though many are going to wave the letter of the law about, remember that you are living in a country that was founded through looting, burning and fighting. As much as the New World Order is coming, this shows that there is still life in the old girl yet. The people of Seattle didn't want this show, it was foisted upon them, and there were many who joined in with the protestors who came from out of town. After being tear gassed on my way home from work, where my only crime was trying to cross the street, I ended up marching with a drum band on my way to a different route home. The bruised and bloody faces I witnessed around me gave testament that those who posted saying that there was no police violence were either watching far away up in their high-rise condos, or their Range Rovers as they lined up for the freeway. Once I got around the tear gas I ran into a crowd of police in full riot gear tearing down on the crowd and as I am allergic to tear gas, got out just as the first shots were being fired. The crowd was only provoking by standing their ground. Sometimes it's all we have left and I applaud though who do. Though in this instance my previous encounter with the gas made discretion the better part of valour. Ironic that the issue with chemical weapons was made so well with, uh, chemical weapons. Anyone trying to get out of downtown also got a snootful of the gas but maybe they deserved it for not following the gov't workers who took the week off.So it wasn't like it was specific targets that were getting it, and at that point the curfew was still 90 minutes away.
It's obvious that the WTO is not wanted here and I guess this did effectively disrupt the opening of the conference. Mission accomplished. Yes, it is nice that we live in a country where we can protest still and suffer only minor injuries. I suggest we cherish it now. It's not going to last and the WTO is probably a negative part of that future. And yes, it's too bad that we live in such apathetic times that it has to come to this. If the tenor of the times now existed 200 years ago we'd have a queen instead of a president.
Letch
God, this is ugly. Is the template of the future? It looks like zdnet and shopper, yahoo, etc. Is there something about America where interesting design loses out to load time again and again? I love Euro sites for their interesting graphics and layout. If this is the is the result of Redhat's IPO and their desire to make the site into more of a viable e-commerce look, then "hooray for capitalism!" as Austin Powers once said. Of course the flipside is "Down with good design!". Alexis de Tocqueville's critique of the homogenizing effect of our nation in his book "Democracy in America" is borne out yet again. I work in e-commerce and though I understand the concept of sucking the life out of graphics and simple layout to improve load time, it is not an excuse for poor design. I'm glad that I split my Linux twixt SuSe and PPC. I'd rather have 'business simple' or 'amateur look' over e-commerce genericism any day. Letch
Actually the true power of the slugbot will only become obvious when the folks at Realdoll combine it with their product. Then we have Priss from Bladerunner except that she recharges herself on slugs at night. The attachment of the males of this society to their SlugDolls is what enabled robots to take over society. Soon Aibo has us fetching, and the flybots watch our every move. Being macho men who aren't about to take orders from Fembots and dogs we set off the nukes. This is the plot for Episode 1: The Realdoll Menace.