is no fairer than allowing those with money to listen to music and denying the same pleasure to those without money
Well, actually, that's not true. There's nothing stopping an artist saying they don't want payment for their music, and so it becomes free to all (e.g. Creative Commons licensing, or a friend in my living room with a guitar). That's great, but it's the ARTISTS right to choose, not yours. In the same way it's the MANUFACTURERS right to decide how much to charge you for their car, or food, or whatever else. If the government decide that listening to the new Britney CD is an essential human right, like healthcare or food, then they can subsidize it for the poor. But it should be all of society that pays for such a subsidy (through taxes) not just the artist/manufacturer. That's not fair.
The Russian mob have no need to launder money, they have an entire government to do it for them.
Who said launder? I said fund. There's a world of difference.
Regardless of cost, or copyright, or anything else, I think it's fair that someone who created a piece of music and asked to be paid by people who want to listen to it should be paid. Just the same as someone who writes some code and puts it out under the GPL should have his or her decision to use the GPL respected. Simple as that.
Using allofmp3 is no better than just downloading from guntella - the artist makes no money from the sale, it all goes to the russian mob to finance their "activities".
Agreed, DPL-II sounds great with most standard stereo material. My amp also does 6-ch stereo (where all speakers on the left get left and all on the right get right) and while it's damn loud it doesn't sound anywhere near as good as DPL.
The first CD-R drive I ever bought (HP IIRC) cost something like $400, and that was from a discount box shifter. I'm sure the bulk price was over $300.
It's not as black-and-white as you paint it. There's a reason gambling is restricted in this country to a few designated places and it's PRECISELY to protect you from murder, rape, bodily assault, etc. YOU might be smart enough to to gamble away your life savings, but the government is trying to protect you from those that will and then resort to desperate measures.
Which would make perfect sense if the other countries of the world in which gambling is legal (hint: most of them) were more violent and dangerous than the US (hint: most are not). Even taking the US example, it would make sense if Atlantic City and Vegas were super dangerous violent places compared to cities with no gambling like LA, Detroit and Miami (hint: they're not).
I see no evidence for a causal relationship between gambling and widespread violent crime.
I was under the impression that prostitutes perform their services because they are in need of money and or drugs/alcohol.
Tell me - why do you do your job? Is it partly because you are in need of money? Thought so. Where do you get your internet connection? You pay for it, with that money? Wow.
It appears that you can't see the difference between a crack whore and a highly paid escort. They're both prostitutes, but one earns more than you ever will and probably runs their own website. There's a big wide world out there.
Sure it's illegal in most parts of the US (not all though, and it's legal in much of the ROTW). Does that mean they shouldn't be treated as human beings? Speeding is illegal - hell I bet you've done it once or twice. Is it OK to beat you up, criminal?
So how do the $1000/hour callgirls fit into your world view? They sure aren't short of a nickel, they probably make more than you or I. Equating all prostitutes with street walking crack whores is a gross over simplification of a complex situation. Whilst I have no desire to see people do unpleasant & dangerous work (of any kind) simply to make ends meet I also don't see what business it is of mine to tell someone what they can and can't do behind closed doors, given that no one else is being harmed. There are plenty of intelligent, educated, sane people working as prostitutes all over the world, and they do it because they want to not because they have to. More power to them.
It is not a rational commitment, and acting in accordance with a tradition that has become illogical is also irrational
Why on earth are you trying to apply a logic test to human relationships? That's completly irrational. If people applied economics to relationships they'd never date (bad risk/reward), never have kids (18 years+ of unrewarded expense) and only ever sleep with prostitutes (and cheap ones at that). However, most people have emotional needs which are worth far more to them than money. You're worried that you'll lose some portion of your wealth in a few years if your relationship goes south - I'd be perfectly willing to give it all up right now to be with my SO. YMMV and all that...
Well, there are a few reasons. Maybe one or both of you _want_ to be married - it may be a worthless piece of paper to you but some people like the tradition & commitment.
In my personal case, me & my (soon to be, hopefully!) fiance have different citizenships. Being married makes it _much_ easier for us to be together in whichever country we choose.
Anyway, I met her online (through online dating though, not a game) and today, after 2 years, I pop the question. Time will tell:)
Like many 8-bits (Sinclair, BBC, etc) the Amstrad CPC series was, as far as I know, completely unknown outside the UK. It was a great machine though - 64k RAM, built in tape drive and a trippy multi-coloured keyboard. I had previously written a little code on my stepfather's BBC but it was all go once I got the 464 (my crowning glory was a program which read audio from the tapedrive and plotted the waveform on the screen). Progressed onto an Atari ST a few years later, then the STE and Falcon030 before finally hitting my first PC during my first year of university.
I can understand (not agree with, but understand) your paranoia when it comes to wireless data comms. But how on earth is an RF tag less secure than a mag stripe? A mag card can be cloned with a $50 card writer, a barcode with a photocopier. RFID is (currently) not so easy to clone and the equipment nowhere near as easy to find.
Actually, you've got it a bit backwards. The exchange of money for cash is legal, what is illegal is solicitation by either party - in other words the exchange is legal but the advertising or negotiations leading up to it are illegal. It's also illegal to profit from such an exchange as a third party (i.e. pimping) and it's illegal to be in or own/run a brothel (defined as a place where more than one prostitutes work).
The guy who brings mail to my building has no-one watching him, and ample opportunity to steal anything he wants. There have been numerous cases of mail theft by the delivery people.
Where are the clerics denouncing the suicide bombers and those who send them?
Well, here are some and here are some more. The latter is particularly telling, it contains quotes from a group of over 500 clerics in the UK shortly after the London bombings:
"On behalf of over 500 clerics, scholars and Imams the British Muslim Forum issues the following religious decree:
Islam strictly, strongly and severely condemns the use of violence and the destruction of innocent lives.
There is neither place nor justification in Islam for extremism, fanaticism or terrorism. Suicide bombings, which killed and injured innocent people in London, are haram - vehemently prohibited in Islam, and those who committed these barbaric acts in London are criminals not martyrs.
Such acts, as perpetrated in London, are crimes against all of humanity and contrary to the teachings of Islam.
The Holy Koran declares:
"Whoever kills a human being, then it is as though he has killed all mankind; and whoever saves a human life, it is as though he had saved all mankind." (Koran, Surah al-Maidah (5), verse 32).
Islam teaches us to be caring towards all of Allah's (God's) creation, not just mankind. The Prophet of Islam who was described as "a mercy to the worlds" said: "All creation is the family of Allah and that person is most beloved to Allah who is kind and caring towards His family."
Islam's position is clear and unequivocal: murder of one soul is the murder of the whole of humanity; he who shows no respect for human life is an enemy of humanity.
We pray for the defeat of extremism and terrorism in the world.
We pray for peace, security and harmony to triumph in multicultural Great Britain."
I'd love to use them (I have a drawer full of unused flourescent bulbs) but they're useless for me - when I switch a light on I expect it to come on right away. Every one of these energy saving flourescent bulbs takes at least 10-20 minutes to reach decent brightness, and when first switched on it's amazingly dim.
Judging by the fact that out of the 15 or so launch titles, maybe 1 is decent
Err....which one would that be? PGR3, one of the best racing games ever (in my opinion, the best), or COD2, one of the best shooters ever? Or maybe it's Kameo, which while not genre defining is a lot of fun, or Q4 which is, well, Quake? Amped 3 was a lot of fun too. And while it wasn't really my cup of tea, I know a lot of people really like RR6. Condemned has also won a lot of praise from the survival horror crowd.
In fact, overall, Metacritic would suggest that quite a few of the launch titles are "decent" - with 9 titles getting 80% or higher average scores and 20 75% or higher.
I guess just like how we all own so many UMD movies and games
UMD movies are actually selling very well. No, I don't know why, but it's a fact.
with close to open development, low cost, quick development time, standard media
Even as an obvious Nintendo fanboy I'd hope you'd recognise that Xbox Live Arcade gives us all that already.
Slashdot Mirror
is no fairer than allowing those with money to listen to music and denying the same pleasure to those without money
Well, actually, that's not true. There's nothing stopping an artist saying they don't want payment for their music, and so it becomes free to all (e.g. Creative Commons licensing, or a friend in my living room with a guitar). That's great, but it's the ARTISTS right to choose, not yours. In the same way it's the MANUFACTURERS right to decide how much to charge you for their car, or food, or whatever else. If the government decide that listening to the new Britney CD is an essential human right, like healthcare or food, then they can subsidize it for the poor. But it should be all of society that pays for such a subsidy (through taxes) not just the artist/manufacturer. That's not fair.
The Russian mob have no need to launder money, they have an entire government to do it for them.
Who said launder? I said fund. There's a world of difference.
3. Have your music in a lossless format like flac and transcode to whatever the lossy flavour of the day is.
Regardless of cost, or copyright, or anything else, I think it's fair that someone who created a piece of music and asked to be paid by people who want to listen to it should be paid. Just the same as someone who writes some code and puts it out under the GPL should have his or her decision to use the GPL respected. Simple as that.
Using allofmp3 is no better than just downloading from guntella - the artist makes no money from the sale, it all goes to the russian mob to finance their "activities".
Agreed, DPL-II sounds great with most standard stereo material. My amp also does 6-ch stereo (where all speakers on the left get left and all on the right get right) and while it's damn loud it doesn't sound anywhere near as good as DPL.
Err, Iraq and Afghanistan weren't attacked specifically because Bush is a Christian
Really? What makes you so sure?
Well it's pretty obvious what his agenda was, and it seems he got what he wanted.
The first CD-R drive I ever bought (HP IIRC) cost something like $400, and that was from a discount box shifter. I'm sure the bulk price was over $300.
It's not as black-and-white as you paint it. There's a reason gambling is restricted in this country to a few designated places and it's PRECISELY to protect you from murder, rape, bodily assault, etc. YOU might be smart enough to to gamble away your life savings, but the government is trying to protect you from those that will and then resort to desperate measures.
Which would make perfect sense if the other countries of the world in which gambling is legal (hint: most of them) were more violent and dangerous than the US (hint: most are not). Even taking the US example, it would make sense if Atlantic City and Vegas were super dangerous violent places compared to cities with no gambling like LA, Detroit and Miami (hint: they're not).
I see no evidence for a causal relationship between gambling and widespread violent crime.
Wow. Just wow. Please let me know which "society" you consider yourself part of so I can do my best to avoid it.
I was under the impression that prostitutes perform their services because they are in need of money and or drugs/alcohol.
Tell me - why do you do your job? Is it partly because you are in need of money? Thought so. Where do you get your internet connection? You pay for it, with that money? Wow.
It appears that you can't see the difference between a crack whore and a highly paid escort. They're both prostitutes, but one earns more than you ever will and probably runs their own website. There's a big wide world out there.
Sure it's illegal in most parts of the US (not all though, and it's legal in much of the ROTW). Does that mean they shouldn't be treated as human beings? Speeding is illegal - hell I bet you've done it once or twice. Is it OK to beat you up, criminal?
So how do the $1000/hour callgirls fit into your world view? They sure aren't short of a nickel, they probably make more than you or I. Equating all prostitutes with street walking crack whores is a gross over simplification of a complex situation. Whilst I have no desire to see people do unpleasant & dangerous work (of any kind) simply to make ends meet I also don't see what business it is of mine to tell someone what they can and can't do behind closed doors, given that no one else is being harmed. There are plenty of intelligent, educated, sane people working as prostitutes all over the world, and they do it because they want to not because they have to. More power to them.
Two suggestions:
(a) Move to Germany
(b) Change your name to Uwe Boll
Thanks :)
It is not a rational commitment, and acting in accordance with a tradition that has become illogical is also irrational
Why on earth are you trying to apply a logic test to human relationships? That's completly irrational. If people applied economics to relationships they'd never date (bad risk/reward), never have kids (18 years+ of unrewarded expense) and only ever sleep with prostitutes (and cheap ones at that). However, most people have emotional needs which are worth far more to them than money. You're worried that you'll lose some portion of your wealth in a few years if your relationship goes south - I'd be perfectly willing to give it all up right now to be with my SO. YMMV and all that...
Well, there are a few reasons. Maybe one or both of you _want_ to be married - it may be a worthless piece of paper to you but some people like the tradition & commitment.
:)
In my personal case, me & my (soon to be, hopefully!) fiance have different citizenships. Being married makes it _much_ easier for us to be together in whichever country we choose.
Anyway, I met her online (through online dating though, not a game) and today, after 2 years, I pop the question. Time will tell
Like many 8-bits (Sinclair, BBC, etc) the Amstrad CPC series was, as far as I know, completely unknown outside the UK. It was a great machine though - 64k RAM, built in tape drive and a trippy multi-coloured keyboard. I had previously written a little code on my stepfather's BBC but it was all go once I got the 464 (my crowning glory was a program which read audio from the tapedrive and plotted the waveform on the screen). Progressed onto an Atari ST a few years later, then the STE and Falcon030 before finally hitting my first PC during my first year of university.
I can understand (not agree with, but understand) your paranoia when it comes to wireless data comms. But how on earth is an RF tag less secure than a mag stripe? A mag card can be cloned with a $50 card writer, a barcode with a photocopier. RFID is (currently) not so easy to clone and the equipment nowhere near as easy to find.
Actually, you've got it a bit backwards. The exchange of money for cash is legal, what is illegal is solicitation by either party - in other words the exchange is legal but the advertising or negotiations leading up to it are illegal. It's also illegal to profit from such an exchange as a third party (i.e. pimping) and it's illegal to be in or own/run a brothel (defined as a place where more than one prostitutes work).
The guy who brings mail to my building has no-one watching him, and ample opportunity to steal anything he wants. There have been numerous cases of mail theft by the delivery people.
No. All OTA broadcast TV will be digital.
OTA != All TV
Digital != HDTV
If you read the second article I linked to, you'll see that the text I quoted is from a Fatwah. So they've done exactly what you're asking them to do.
Where are the clerics denouncing the suicide bombers and those who send them?
Well, here are some and here are some more. The latter is particularly telling, it contains quotes from a group of over 500 clerics in the UK shortly after the London bombings:
"On behalf of over 500 clerics, scholars and Imams the British Muslim Forum issues the following religious decree:
Islam strictly, strongly and severely condemns the use of violence and the destruction of innocent lives.
There is neither place nor justification in Islam for extremism, fanaticism or terrorism. Suicide bombings, which killed and injured innocent people in London, are haram - vehemently prohibited in Islam, and those who committed these barbaric acts in London are criminals not martyrs.
Such acts, as perpetrated in London, are crimes against all of humanity and contrary to the teachings of Islam.
The Holy Koran declares:
"Whoever kills a human being, then it is as though he has killed all mankind; and whoever saves a human life, it is as though he had saved all mankind." (Koran, Surah al-Maidah (5), verse 32).
Islam teaches us to be caring towards all of Allah's (God's) creation, not just mankind. The Prophet of Islam who was described as "a mercy to the worlds" said: "All creation is the family of Allah and that person is most beloved to Allah who is kind and caring towards His family."
Islam's position is clear and unequivocal: murder of one soul is the murder of the whole of humanity; he who shows no respect for human life is an enemy of humanity.
We pray for the defeat of extremism and terrorism in the world.
We pray for peace, security and harmony to triumph in multicultural Great Britain."
I'd love to use them (I have a drawer full of unused flourescent bulbs) but they're useless for me - when I switch a light on I expect it to come on right away. Every one of these energy saving flourescent bulbs takes at least 10-20 minutes to reach decent brightness, and when first switched on it's amazingly dim.
Judging by the fact that out of the 15 or so launch titles, maybe 1 is decent
Err....which one would that be? PGR3, one of the best racing games ever (in my opinion, the best), or COD2, one of the best shooters ever? Or maybe it's Kameo, which while not genre defining is a lot of fun, or Q4 which is, well, Quake? Amped 3 was a lot of fun too. And while it wasn't really my cup of tea, I know a lot of people really like RR6. Condemned has also won a lot of praise from the survival horror crowd.
In fact, overall, Metacritic would suggest that quite a few of the launch titles are "decent" - with 9 titles getting 80% or higher average scores and 20 75% or higher.
I guess just like how we all own so many UMD movies and games
UMD movies are actually selling very well. No, I don't know why, but it's a fact.
with close to open development, low cost, quick development time, standard media
Even as an obvious Nintendo fanboy I'd hope you'd recognise that Xbox Live Arcade gives us all that already.