From my personal experience (I study in Amsterdam), it seems the problem is not as bad here as it is in the US.
Many of my classes use books that are a few years old allowing me to find second hand text books at much lower prices. On the other hand, there are a number of classes that do require you to buy the books new (or if I can't find it in the secondary market), and it pains me to pay ridiculously high prices for them.
As others have mentioned, the changes between editions seem to be trivial at best, and with the extent of consumer protection in Europe, I'm surprised the publishers have not been prohibited from doing this.
its all about the consequences of your actions, cause and effect. free speech or not free speech is really just a sideshow to the real issue: responsibility
people are always clamoring for their rights... and promptly shut up when the subject matter of their responsibilities comes up. guess what folks? if no one takes responsibility, there are no rights in this world. rights and responsibilities are fused at the hip. for every right you are granted, you are also, implicitly or explicitly, describing a responsibility you take ownership of as well
explicit right: freedom of speech. implicit, unmentioned responsibility: you are responsible for the consequences of what you say. nothing protects you from that reponsibility. nothing. well, something DOES protect you from that responsibility... in a society that has no right to freedom of speech at all. if you have no rights, you also have no responsibilities. so exercise your fucking responsibilities in this world if you want to retain your precious rights
if you avoid responsibility, you weaken the entire right to freedom of speech, as you have demonstrated that you, at least, are incapable of maintaining the social environment in which your rights work. if you do not exercise your responsibilities, you add fuel to the argument that you don't deserve the rights you cherish. no, we all deserve the right to free speech, we just need a big wake the fuck up to the morons who don't know that freedom of speech carries with it a burden: responsibility for the consequences of what you say
if someone says gw bush is a douchebag, a zealot would say that terrorists gain support when this kind of dissent is demonstrated, and therefore, this kind of speech should be censored. which is of course completely bullshit cause and effect. the holes in that "logic" are like swiss cheese
but if someone picks on 1. one specific 2. mentally unstable 3. minor for 4. months on end, a clueless "free speech defender" would say what the woman did has nothing to do with the teenager's suicide, and therefore the woman shouldn't be punished. fucking bullshit. the woman psychologically tortured and harassed the poor girl to death. the cause and effect is obvious and real
avoid responsibility, and you erode your rights. remember that
I only read about these techniques a month or so ago, and was surprized at how easy it is... Even thought many would say that its good to release this type of information into the public domain, I would say this isn't allways the case. Before I had ready anything about this topic I assumed that it was not easy, and that one requires training/experience/tools, etc. and I think that most people think the same way. Now that articles/videos like this are all over the internet, many more casual internet users will find out how easy it is. Usually, a big lock (no matter how unsecure) will deter a common criminal, but knowing how easy it is to exploit it will mean more criminals will have an easier time braking in to homes, etc. Even though I agree that (similarly to computer vulnerabilities), information like this should be realeased so that products can be improved, the sheer amount of un safe locks means that this might not be a good idea in this case.
Slashdot Mirror
From my personal experience (I study in Amsterdam), it seems the problem is not as bad here as it is in the US. Many of my classes use books that are a few years old allowing me to find second hand text books at much lower prices. On the other hand, there are a number of classes that do require you to buy the books new (or if I can't find it in the secondary market), and it pains me to pay ridiculously high prices for them. As others have mentioned, the changes between editions seem to be trivial at best, and with the extent of consumer protection in Europe, I'm surprised the publishers have not been prohibited from doing this.
its all about the consequences of your actions, cause and effect. free speech or not free speech is really just a sideshow to the real issue: responsibility
people are always clamoring for their rights... and promptly shut up when the subject matter of their responsibilities comes up. guess what folks? if no one takes responsibility, there are no rights in this world. rights and responsibilities are fused at the hip. for every right you are granted, you are also, implicitly or explicitly, describing a responsibility you take ownership of as well
explicit right: freedom of speech. implicit, unmentioned responsibility: you are responsible for the consequences of what you say. nothing protects you from that reponsibility. nothing. well, something DOES protect you from that responsibility... in a society that has no right to freedom of speech at all. if you have no rights, you also have no responsibilities. so exercise your fucking responsibilities in this world if you want to retain your precious rights
if you avoid responsibility, you weaken the entire right to freedom of speech, as you have demonstrated that you, at least, are incapable of maintaining the social environment in which your rights work. if you do not exercise your responsibilities, you add fuel to the argument that you don't deserve the rights you cherish. no, we all deserve the right to free speech, we just need a big wake the fuck up to the morons who don't know that freedom of speech carries with it a burden: responsibility for the consequences of what you say
if someone says gw bush is a douchebag, a zealot would say that terrorists gain support when this kind of dissent is demonstrated, and therefore, this kind of speech should be censored. which is of course completely bullshit cause and effect. the holes in that "logic" are like swiss cheese
but if someone picks on 1. one specific 2. mentally unstable 3. minor for 4. months on end, a clueless "free speech defender" would say what the woman did has nothing to do with the teenager's suicide, and therefore the woman shouldn't be punished. fucking bullshit. the woman psychologically tortured and harassed the poor girl to death. the cause and effect is obvious and real
avoid responsibility, and you erode your rights. remember that
Very well put!
I only read about these techniques a month or so ago, and was surprized at how easy it is... Even thought many would say that its good to release this type of information into the public domain, I would say this isn't allways the case. Before I had ready anything about this topic I assumed that it was not easy, and that one requires training/experience/tools, etc. and I think that most people think the same way. Now that articles/videos like this are all over the internet, many more casual internet users will find out how easy it is. Usually, a big lock (no matter how unsecure) will deter a common criminal, but knowing how easy it is to exploit it will mean more criminals will have an easier time braking in to homes, etc. Even though I agree that (similarly to computer vulnerabilities), information like this should be realeased so that products can be improved, the sheer amount of un safe locks means that this might not be a good idea in this case.