Luckily George Lucas has proven me wrong, as he's apparently come up with a whole brand new line of action figures and other merchandise to bolster flagging Star Wars merchandise sales. Where would the universe be without the genius of George Lucas? Plus we get two brand new two-hour commercials as well!
I'm so happy I could fuck an Ewok. Two!
This is what it's all about (and trust me, because I'm an expert, just like the RIAA's expert witness from MediaSentry, in that I have no certification and next to no knowledge on a broad range of subjects)...it's all about the Benjamins. It's always about the Benjamins when it comes to the RIAA. Hundreds of millions of people in this country have them, and the RIAA wants them.
So the plan now is this: while still suing ten year old girls, disabled people who haven't been able to actually move for years, sick grandmothers, people without computers, poor students, dead people and so, the RIAA and MPAA will branch out into a new line, where they set up Internet accounts in the names of a long list of people (purchased from data farms, telemarketers, phishers, botnet owners, and the like), which they will then set up to act as automated downloaders, probably using software built on the GPL (or, alternatively, KaaZaa or the like, because they're familiar with that.) When the downloaders download various parts of their list of MP3 files, the RIAA's crack squadron of attack lawyers will then, evidence of illegal activity in hand, sue the people whose names are those accounts, first offering them the extortion plan, and then, if they don't buy that, suing them for $1.3 trillion dollars as they did with allofmp3.com.
It's their greatest plan ever! Sue everybody in the United States and its protectorates, screw every soon to be former consumer of music for everything they have, and even pretend they're hornt fourteen eyar old chat room queens while they're doing it!
iTunes will indeed convert unprotected.wma files to your choice of AAC or MP3, using the quality levels you set for CD ripping. There's also a number of conversion utilities around that will do the job as well.
I'll be shocked if Microsoft abandons their PlaysForShit scheme altogether. If that happens it might have a cascade effect and cause all but the monthly fee setups (such as Napster and Rhapsody) to follow suit -- after all, who wants to see their sales go completely to shit because nobody wants to buy DRM crippled tracks?
It could also be good for eMusic. It might make more labels willing to license their catalogs through them. I wouldn't be surprised to see eMusic add a new level, if that's the case, where specific albums command a higher price point, while the majority of back catalog travels under their current (raised) pricing.
It's a partial win, given that the tracks ar ebeing sold at a higher price and it seems the cheaper versions will still be DRM-crippled. As it's EMI who's taking point, I'd guess that this will be in the nature of an experiment, and may not last.
And they left out the Beatles catalog. Which is a shameful, self-limiting move, as that's what a lot of people would have immediately gravitated towards. Apple Corps (the Beatles operation) obviously haven't gotten it through their thick skulls that the entire Beatles catalog has been ripped and disseminated sixty ways over P2P...including all of the bootleg stuff.
The Killer App for Vista? Hell, let's get some of the major apps running well on Vista first. In fact, let's get the majority of tools used by people every day to run at all on Vista. I know my writing and music tools will run on XP without too many hitches, but many of those die horribly when it comes to Vista.
More than needing a killer app, Vista needs to stop being an app killer.
They're just blocking out the horror to save their sanity. "Stargate Infinity" tended to promote self-service lobotomies performed with rusty sporks.
Well, they're well on their way to demonstrating what it took to beat the Star Trek franchise to a bloody pulp. "Atlantis" is the "Voyager" of the franchise; "Universe" may well be their "Enterprise." If they hire Scott Bakula...run. away as fast as you can, before they nail you with a sappy theme song.
**And since when does the RIAA get to act like feds and be part of a raid?**
They've been doing it for years, unfortunately -- I came within minutes of an RIAA backed raid on a record show in Bell, CA, where they were going after bootleg albums; basically they came in with trucks, heavily armed cops, and guys in the RIAA jackets, and carted away merchandise by the ton -- no differentiation between the obvious boots and the apparently legitimate stuff; they were also taking dealers away in cuffs. That was a pretty typical situation, and they're likely still doing it -- it's just not particularly newsworthy.
Ten or fifteen minutes earlier, and I'd have been caught in the raid as well, and had my whole day really trashed -- they kept everyone in the building until they were done, which took hours.
The MPAA has also set up raids on science fiction and comics conventions in the past, although they've tended, from what I've heard, to be a more focused when it comes to the dealers they take down.
The RIAA/MPAA crowd really need to focus on the area that hurts them most -- physical sales of pirated goods. They won't take on the pipeline that goes from physical plants in China to street vendors in NYC and elsewhere, though, because tackling *that* at the root is dangerous to them...maybe not as potentially bloody as going after the roots of the drug trade, but nasty enough...and they know they'll get less law enforcement backing than would be good for them. Going after grandmothers and children for P2P is much safer, as is making a big show of raiding record shows and DJ mix studios.
A fundamental piece of enabling technology? Does that mean they're going to eliminate all of the DRM so that the OS actually stands a chance of working in a half-arsed manner?
I'm one of those people who are sensitive to the output of fluorescents -- I can stand being under them for a little while, but being in nothing but fluorescent light causes me to become physically ill. If specialized tubes are used (designed to output a close-to-natural-light spectrum) i can usually last a bit longer, but even so, I still have trouble.
My personal preference is actually halogen light bulbs -- good for dealing with Seasonal Affective Disorder amongst other things -- but they're hideously expensive and not particularly efficient either.
You know, what I need is a couple of dozen blocks of Slow Glass....
By their hardware failing to produce the intended results because one link or another is causing the DRM to hiccup and constrain the output. HDCP provisions are causing major issues even without full implementation of the content protection specification. Users are also being made to bear additional costs. This obviously doesn't only apply to Windows Vista, but the focus of the article is on Vista, and the beartraps therein.
The idea that any image constraint needs to be applied other than matching the output to the specs of the available hardware is a specious one at best. Legitimate users get punished, and it's unlikely to affect the illegitimate users in the slightest. Even if there's no spill effect on user-created and managed content (such as the hypothetical medtech or audio/video pro) there's still the ticking time bomb of constraint, revocation issues, and even post-hoc restrictive changes to EULAs to consider. Right now user-generated content might be unaffected for the most part by spillover...that can be changed with one shot of code. Note that the code to cause major issues in this area does *not* have to come from Microsoft...but Microsoft is going to take the hit for it when it happens.
It's been a given that any electromagnetically launched spacecraft would be equipped with maneuvering rockets -- indeed, most of the catapult designs that have been floated around have the vehicle firing rockets relatively soon after launch. It's basically an issue of payload -- the railgun will fire fairly lightweight projectiles at very high speed; adapting the technology for a multi-k-kilo vehicle should be possible, but there are going to be huge tradeoffs in terms of velocity and secondary propulsion requirements.
And. as you note, some way of applying delta-V once at the preferred altitude.
Trust me, if you managed to get through STV: The Final Insult, Nemesis is no problem whatsoever.
The prequel has JJ Abrams in charge. This does not bode well.
Well, if you have the DVD you do have the original version of Kirk's second death, so, stretching the technicalities, you do get Kirk killed three times in Generations.
Mind you, if you go back and watch The Final Frontier you realize that killing Kirk three times is still far from enough.
Well, I could rattle on about syndication and so on, but the thing here is that Desilu (which actually produced the series) was swallowed up by Paramount, which itse;f was swallowed up variously by Gulf & Western and eventually Viacom, which also owns CBS.
The episodes aren't being shown on the CBS network though. They're running in syndicated slots on a number of stations, some of which are former UPN outlets -- such as KTTU in Tucson, AZ.
Slashdot Mirror
Moore's been saying for a while that things have moved into the third and final act with the show.
Luckily George Lucas has proven me wrong, as he's apparently come up with a whole brand new line of action figures and other merchandise to bolster flagging Star Wars merchandise sales. Where would the universe be without the genius of George Lucas? Plus we get two brand new two-hour commercials as well! I'm so happy I could fuck an Ewok. Two!
...US Government brought down by chili farts. Pictures at eleven.
So the plan now is this: while still suing ten year old girls, disabled people who haven't been able to actually move for years, sick grandmothers, people without computers, poor students, dead people and so, the RIAA and MPAA will branch out into a new line, where they set up Internet accounts in the names of a long list of people (purchased from data farms, telemarketers, phishers, botnet owners, and the like), which they will then set up to act as automated downloaders, probably using software built on the GPL (or, alternatively, KaaZaa or the like, because they're familiar with that.) When the downloaders download various parts of their list of MP3 files, the RIAA's crack squadron of attack lawyers will then, evidence of illegal activity in hand, sue the people whose names are those accounts, first offering them the extortion plan, and then, if they don't buy that, suing them for $1.3 trillion dollars as they did with allofmp3.com.
It's their greatest plan ever! Sue everybody in the United States and its protectorates, screw every soon to be former consumer of music for everything they have, and even pretend they're hornt fourteen eyar old chat room queens while they're doing it!
iTunes will indeed convert unprotected .wma files to your choice of AAC or MP3, using the quality levels you set for CD ripping. There's also a number of conversion utilities around that will do the job as well.
I'll be shocked if Microsoft abandons their PlaysForShit scheme altogether. If that happens it might have a cascade effect and cause all but the monthly fee setups (such as Napster and Rhapsody) to follow suit -- after all, who wants to see their sales go completely to shit because nobody wants to buy DRM crippled tracks?
It could also be good for eMusic. It might make more labels willing to license their catalogs through them. I wouldn't be surprised to see eMusic add a new level, if that's the case, where specific albums command a higher price point, while the majority of back catalog travels under their current (raised) pricing.
It's a partial win, given that the tracks ar ebeing sold at a higher price and it seems the cheaper versions will still be DRM-crippled. As it's EMI who's taking point, I'd guess that this will be in the nature of an experiment, and may not last. And they left out the Beatles catalog. Which is a shameful, self-limiting move, as that's what a lot of people would have immediately gravitated towards. Apple Corps (the Beatles operation) obviously haven't gotten it through their thick skulls that the entire Beatles catalog has been ripped and disseminated sixty ways over P2P...including all of the bootleg stuff.
The Killer App for Vista? Hell, let's get some of the major apps running well on Vista first. In fact, let's get the majority of tools used by people every day to run at all on Vista. I know my writing and music tools will run on XP without too many hitches, but many of those die horribly when it comes to Vista. More than needing a killer app, Vista needs to stop being an app killer.
They're just blocking out the horror to save their sanity. "Stargate Infinity" tended to promote self-service lobotomies performed with rusty sporks. Well, they're well on their way to demonstrating what it took to beat the Star Trek franchise to a bloody pulp. "Atlantis" is the "Voyager" of the franchise; "Universe" may well be their "Enterprise." If they hire Scott Bakula...run. away as fast as you can, before they nail you with a sappy theme song.
When it comes to the RIAA, Death Does Not Release You.
Paging Edward Woodward! Well, he did a pretty decent job of smugglign people out of the UK in the TV series 1990....
Lars von Trier will adore you for it.
**And since when does the RIAA get to act like feds and be part of a raid?** They've been doing it for years, unfortunately -- I came within minutes of an RIAA backed raid on a record show in Bell, CA, where they were going after bootleg albums; basically they came in with trucks, heavily armed cops, and guys in the RIAA jackets, and carted away merchandise by the ton -- no differentiation between the obvious boots and the apparently legitimate stuff; they were also taking dealers away in cuffs. That was a pretty typical situation, and they're likely still doing it -- it's just not particularly newsworthy. Ten or fifteen minutes earlier, and I'd have been caught in the raid as well, and had my whole day really trashed -- they kept everyone in the building until they were done, which took hours. The MPAA has also set up raids on science fiction and comics conventions in the past, although they've tended, from what I've heard, to be a more focused when it comes to the dealers they take down. The RIAA/MPAA crowd really need to focus on the area that hurts them most -- physical sales of pirated goods. They won't take on the pipeline that goes from physical plants in China to street vendors in NYC and elsewhere, though, because tackling *that* at the root is dangerous to them...maybe not as potentially bloody as going after the roots of the drug trade, but nasty enough...and they know they'll get less law enforcement backing than would be good for them. Going after grandmothers and children for P2P is much safer, as is making a big show of raiding record shows and DJ mix studios.
A fundamental piece of enabling technology? Does that mean they're going to eliminate all of the DRM so that the OS actually stands a chance of working in a half-arsed manner?
I'm one of those people who are sensitive to the output of fluorescents -- I can stand being under them for a little while, but being in nothing but fluorescent light causes me to become physically ill. If specialized tubes are used (designed to output a close-to-natural-light spectrum) i can usually last a bit longer, but even so, I still have trouble. My personal preference is actually halogen light bulbs -- good for dealing with Seasonal Affective Disorder amongst other things -- but they're hideously expensive and not particularly efficient either. You know, what I need is a couple of dozen blocks of Slow Glass....
By their hardware failing to produce the intended results because one link or another is causing the DRM to hiccup and constrain the output. HDCP provisions are causing major issues even without full implementation of the content protection specification. Users are also being made to bear additional costs. This obviously doesn't only apply to Windows Vista, but the focus of the article is on Vista, and the beartraps therein.
The idea that any image constraint needs to be applied other than matching the output to the specs of the available hardware is a specious one at best. Legitimate users get punished, and it's unlikely to affect the illegitimate users in the slightest. Even if there's no spill effect on user-created and managed content (such as the hypothetical medtech or audio/video pro) there's still the ticking time bomb of constraint, revocation issues, and even post-hoc restrictive changes to EULAs to consider. Right now user-generated content might be unaffected for the most part by spillover...that can be changed with one shot of code. Note that the code to cause major issues in this area does *not* have to come from Microsoft...but Microsoft is going to take the hit for it when it happens.
It's been a given that any electromagnetically launched spacecraft would be equipped with maneuvering rockets -- indeed, most of the catapult designs that have been floated around have the vehicle firing rockets relatively soon after launch. It's basically an issue of payload -- the railgun will fire fairly lightweight projectiles at very high speed; adapting the technology for a multi-k-kilo vehicle should be possible, but there are going to be huge tradeoffs in terms of velocity and secondary propulsion requirements. And. as you note, some way of applying delta-V once at the preferred altitude.
Trust me, if you managed to get through STV: The Final Insult, Nemesis is no problem whatsoever. The prequel has JJ Abrams in charge. This does not bode well.
Well, if you have the DVD you do have the original version of Kirk's second death, so, stretching the technicalities, you do get Kirk killed three times in Generations. Mind you, if you go back and watch The Final Frontier you realize that killing Kirk three times is still far from enough.
Britain is not a democracy. It's a Monarchy. Then again the United States isn't a democracy either. It's a republic.
Well, I could rattle on about syndication and so on, but the thing here is that Desilu (which actually produced the series) was swallowed up by Paramount, which itse;f was swallowed up variously by Gulf & Western and eventually Viacom, which also owns CBS. The episodes aren't being shown on the CBS network though. They're running in syndicated slots on a number of stations, some of which are former UPN outlets -- such as KTTU in Tucson, AZ.