Sweet! I love this stuff. Of course, since my company hasn't blocked Wikipedia, looks like I'm not getting much work done! ;)
Say true, I've always through of Jesus in the same line as Hercules, Achilles and other mythic heroes. Think about it... Special birth, divine heritage, epitome of what is best in man... fits the mold nicely, I think. He was just a bit less militant and violent than those heroes. Was he real? Sure, why not. Was he all the things people reported about him? Dunno... but how can you take all those stories at face value and sneer at all the other? (not you personally, TheOldFart)
I think the reason we don't refer to Christianity as the Christian Myths is because it's still mainstream. I'd love to be able to peak a few thousand years ahead. :)
Damn... I was SO not going to get into this one. ~sigh~
Considering that the 'competition' is a religion that has a LONG history of burning, condemning, murdering, hating, preaching against, denouncing, and flat out DAMNING anything that resembles competition to their beliefs...
I can't take your statement very seriously.
All of the argument over creationism and intelligent design (same thing, really) in schools has been about the validity of creationism and ID as sciences, not as a hypothesis in and of themselves. Most scientists that I hear about (that aren't too far on the other extreme) don't say "creationism is wrong", they say "creationism isn't a scientific theory/hypothesis and shouldn't be taught alongside accepted science." And remember, the whole thing started with religious representatives not liking the competition of the theory of evolution ‘corrupting the minds of the youth.'
The simplification I was trying to make (and I think others agreed and said similar) is that we are all still free to research and read anywhere we want, even if Mike doesn't provide that link in his post.
It just struck me as odd that when Mike suggests that he chose a different link to provide - one that doesn't sit behind a pay-wall - it suddenly becomes him making choices for his readers. Again, as I said, he's not doing anything new. He's just changing one path for another... but a path is still being provided.
He's not really making decisions for his readers, Eriq. He's finding a free source for his readers to start getting more in-depth or alternative POV information on a story he's blogging.
If he continues linking to NYT, is he not making a simiar choice for us? By changing where he links, he's not suddenly making a choice where a choice wasn't before... he's just making a DIFFERENT choice. We still have the ability to use whatever source we want to for further research.
Now, if he were to 'stop making choices for us', he wouldn't link anywhere. He'd just say 'go look it up for yourself'.
Now, if I'm a NYT fan, and I feel that the NYT would give me the best information about a topic, I'll go there, log into my pay account, and start searching.
Me? I'll go to Google News and see who is carrying the story and paruse a few to get the info from as many sources as I can. If those sources ask me to pay, I'll move along to another free source.
Well, to clarify things... a monopoly is not determined by who owns the company. It's determined by how many separate competitors there are out there. The fact that VZ Communications owns their FiOS and DSL does not make them a monopoly. The defense that VZ does not have a monopoly comes from the fact that Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile, MetroPCS, Boost, et al are all separate providers. Unfortunately they all universally suck ;)
It "clearly says 'billing password'", but you yourself said you weren't sure why they used that term. So, as a past VZ employee (unless there's a second Woadan here), you found it odd that they asked for a 'password'. Which is my point. The fact that it's a PIN makes much more sense. It may be semantics, but it's what lead to my concern. Overall, I wasn't accusing some evil VZ employee of a plot to take over this guy's account. I just found it odd and wanted to see if anyone else agreed. No need to condescend.
And, by the way, not be a grammar nazi... but I think you misused 'conflate'. I wasn't bringing two different texts or ideas together into a whole. I was making a completely separate point. Cheers!
Um... am I the only one that found them asking for your password wierd? Whatever happened to "employees will never ask for your password"?
I have Verizon, but haven't bothered with the IM support (they can't get stuff straight over the phone, why would I want to hamper them further by removing voice inflection?), so I don't have a basis of what thier standard practice is, but it really seems odd to me. Anyone else?
INNOVATION FTW! Hey, if all these universities and sports teams are going to take advantage (abuse?) the system, why shouldn't the people who are being penalized by this abuse?
Sean, don't forget to copyright the "DVD Hat" so you can make your money on them ;)
Exactly... I haven't put music on a CD in a LOOOOONG time. In the world of iPods, Zunes, et al, who puts music on CDs anymore? I know that not everyone has digital audio players, but the majority of the proposed "pirates" have mp3 players of some type.
So you're taxing people and accusing them of being criminals-in-waiting and they AREN'T EVEN THE PEOPLE DOING THE "STEALING"! Your strategy is made of FAIL! When even the RIAA looks at you and chuckles...
Re: The US Constitution, 1st amendment clearly states that
"Congress" shall make no law....
This is a state law. It would be up to the parties injured by this law to elevate the case to the supreme court to have the law ruled as unconstitutional.
For the most part, you're right tho... The law should not stop you from saying what you think. However, that's why libel and slander are usually (as Mike points out) a civil issue. The law can't stop you from lying about me to hurt my character, but I can sue you if those lies cause damage. Which is Mike's point. It's not the government's place to enforce civil morality (don't tell lies)... it's our place to do so amongst ourselves. The law should only serve to give us the structured forum to settle these injuries peacefully.
is the free market at work. The game stores are doing nothing more than providing a service to thier customers. You bring a game in that you don't play any more and we'll give you money for it. Don't want to pay what you consider to be a rediculous price for a new game? Here's a pre-owned copy that's a bit cheaper. And if it doesn't work, bring it back in and we'll give you another pre-owned copy free.
Now, in my opinion, this whole thing is a rape... but a rape we all seem to be willing to endure. I get, what $5 for a game that I can look over on the shelf an see a copy of the exact same thing for over $20? Basically, we become the suppliers of cheap resources for these stores to undercut the manufacturer.
I saw the same thing when I was in college for text books. If we sold them back to the book store, we wouldn't get squat. We found a great solution for this tho. Someone with a bit of HTML skills and a bit of time on thier hands created a networking site where we could post books for sale and contact each other to arrange trades. Why can't we do the same thing for video games? I mean other than e-Bay. Make it a bit more localized so that you can trade with gamers you can trust (or at least live within driving distance so you can go kick thier a$$ if they rip you off), and maybe even make some more gaming buddies.
Hmm... I might just do this now. Damn. Thanks guys! Inspiration strikes again!
Never mind the fact that, statistically, you're just as likely on your first try to get it right with "11111111111111111111" as you are with "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz". The only plus side is that as you get more and more wrong, the remaining choices are more and more likely to be correct. So your likelyhood of getting things right make a nice pretty accelleration curve.
Or, you could just buy the damned game, take the extra (yes, annoying) minute or two and enter the 1 extra digit.
Re: Re: Don't rush to judgement (like a moron in a hurry)
Yeah, I'm with Sean on this one. It looks like for the most part, the suit is about other companies using stripes that really are "too similar" to Adidas' logo. Not being a shoe fanatic, if I were to try to go out and buy shoes (for someone else, I don't care about brand myself), I could see myself thinking "sweet! wholesale prices for the same shoe!" because they look confusingly alike.
Without knowing all of the logos being grouped into this supposed infringement, it's hard to say how far into the realm of stupid this one goes.
I do think that Mike's general views about overuse of Trademark law is further validated by this case though. I know that Comment 10 by Brian is hyperbole and sarcastic, but there are plenty of ridiculous suits out there that make us think that way. And because of the sheer number of those suits, our first inclination is to assume this one is at that level too. Because the real morons in a hurry are the lawyers who take the ridiculous cases, the (possibly) legitimate ones are overlooked and lumped in with the rest.
Sorry for the previous blank comment... finger slipped.
Anyway... Not to mention the basic fact here: "Winning" this case simply shows that Tanya Anderson successfully proved her innocence. It does not address the legality or morality [sic] of the RIAA's tactics... let alone the legality of file sharing.
When a judge awards huge punitive damages against the RIAA because if its tactics... that'll be a great day for freedom! or at least for the cause.
On the post: Planet Declared As 100% Likely To Have Life... Now Can't Even Be Found
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: To quote Peter Walker
Say true, I've always through of Jesus in the same line as Hercules, Achilles and other mythic heroes. Think about it... Special birth, divine heritage, epitome of what is best in man... fits the mold nicely, I think. He was just a bit less militant and violent than those heroes. Was he real? Sure, why not. Was he all the things people reported about him? Dunno... but how can you take all those stories at face value and sneer at all the other? (not you personally, TheOldFart)
I think the reason we don't refer to Christianity as the Christian Myths is because it's still mainstream. I'd love to be able to peak a few thousand years ahead. :)
On the post: Planet Declared As 100% Likely To Have Life... Now Can't Even Be Found
Re: Re:
On the post: Planet Declared As 100% Likely To Have Life... Now Can't Even Be Found
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: To quote Peter Walker
Just don't ask me which ones... Humanities was a LONG time ago.
On the post: Planet Declared As 100% Likely To Have Life... Now Can't Even Be Found
Re: Re: Re: Flame on!
And go read up on string theory... pretty convincing explanation 'where' gravity comes from.
On the post: Planet Declared As 100% Likely To Have Life... Now Can't Even Be Found
Re: Bypass
On the post: Planet Declared As 100% Likely To Have Life... Now Can't Even Be Found
Re: Re: Flame on!
Considering that the 'competition' is a religion that has a LONG history of burning, condemning, murdering, hating, preaching against, denouncing, and flat out DAMNING anything that resembles competition to their beliefs...
I can't take your statement very seriously.
All of the argument over creationism and intelligent design (same thing, really) in schools has been about the validity of creationism and ID as sciences, not as a hypothesis in and of themselves. Most scientists that I hear about (that aren't too far on the other extreme) don't say "creationism is wrong", they say "creationism isn't a scientific theory/hypothesis and shouldn't be taught alongside accepted science." And remember, the whole thing started with religious representatives not liking the competition of the theory of evolution ‘corrupting the minds of the youth.'
On the post: New York Times Insists It Can Stay Part Of The Conversation With 'First Click Free'
Re:
It just struck me as odd that when Mike suggests that he chose a different link to provide - one that doesn't sit behind a pay-wall - it suddenly becomes him making choices for his readers. Again, as I said, he's not doing anything new. He's just changing one path for another... but a path is still being provided.
On the post: New York Times Insists It Can Stay Part Of The Conversation With 'First Click Free'
Re:
If he continues linking to NYT, is he not making a simiar choice for us? By changing where he links, he's not suddenly making a choice where a choice wasn't before... he's just making a DIFFERENT choice. We still have the ability to use whatever source we want to for further research.
Now, if he were to 'stop making choices for us', he wouldn't link anywhere. He'd just say 'go look it up for yourself'.
Now, if I'm a NYT fan, and I feel that the NYT would give me the best information about a topic, I'll go there, log into my pay account, and start searching.
Me? I'll go to Google News and see who is carrying the story and paruse a few to get the info from as many sources as I can. If those sources ask me to pay, I'll move along to another free source.
On the post: Verizon Wireless Math Strikes Again: Pay Much More For Less!
Re: Re: Monopoly pricing
On the post: Verizon Wireless Math Strikes Again: Pay Much More For Less!
Re: Re: Password
And, by the way, not be a grammar nazi... but I think you misused 'conflate'. I wasn't bringing two different texts or ideas together into a whole. I was making a completely separate point. Cheers!
On the post: Verizon Wireless Math Strikes Again: Pay Much More For Less!
Password
I have Verizon, but haven't bothered with the IM support (they can't get stuff straight over the phone, why would I want to hamper them further by removing voice inflection?), so I don't have a basis of what thier standard practice is, but it really seems odd to me. Anyone else?
On the post: IBM Patents Dividing The Number 60 By Your Car's Speed
Re: Re: Re: Re: Patent Workaround
On the post: University Of Miami Demanding ESPN Documentary About University Of Miami Football Remove Its Logo
Re: Re: Bah
Sean, don't forget to copyright the "DVD Hat" so you can make your money on them ;)
On the post: Couple Claims That Merely Talking About A Photo Is Copyright Infringement
Soooo,..
On the post: Canadian Blank CD Levy To Increase By Another 38%
Re: not only music
So you're taxing people and accusing them of being criminals-in-waiting and they AREN'T EVEN THE PEOPLE DOING THE "STEALING"! Your strategy is made of FAIL! When even the RIAA looks at you and chuckles...
On the post: Does It Make Sense To Have Libel Be A Criminal Offense?
Re: The US Constitution, 1st amendment clearly states that
This is a state law. It would be up to the parties injured by this law to elevate the case to the supreme court to have the law ruled as unconstitutional.
For the most part, you're right tho... The law should not stop you from saying what you think. However, that's why libel and slander are usually (as Mike points out) a civil issue. The law can't stop you from lying about me to hurt my character, but I can sue you if those lies cause damage. Which is Mike's point. It's not the government's place to enforce civil morality (don't tell lies)... it's our place to do so amongst ourselves. The law should only serve to give us the structured forum to settle these injuries peacefully.
On the post: Video Game Exec Claims Used Games Defraud The Industry
What we have here...
Now, in my opinion, this whole thing is a rape... but a rape we all seem to be willing to endure. I get, what $5 for a game that I can look over on the shelf an see a copy of the exact same thing for over $20? Basically, we become the suppliers of cheap resources for these stores to undercut the manufacturer.
I saw the same thing when I was in college for text books. If we sold them back to the book store, we wouldn't get squat. We found a great solution for this tho. Someone with a bit of HTML skills and a bit of time on thier hands created a networking site where we could post books for sale and contact each other to arrange trades. Why can't we do the same thing for video games? I mean other than e-Bay. Make it a bit more localized so that you can trade with gamers you can trust (or at least live within driving distance so you can go kick thier a$$ if they rip you off), and maybe even make some more gaming buddies.
Hmm... I might just do this now. Damn. Thanks guys! Inspiration strikes again!
On the post: EA Plays 'Guess The Serial Number' With Customers
Re: Re: Re: Free Time
Or, you could just buy the damned game, take the extra (yes, annoying) minute or two and enter the 1 extra digit.
On the post: Can You Own Stripes?
Re: Re: Don't rush to judgement (like a moron in a hurry)
Without knowing all of the logos being grouped into this supposed infringement, it's hard to say how far into the realm of stupid this one goes.
I do think that Mike's general views about overuse of Trademark law is further validated by this case though. I know that Comment 10 by Brian is hyperbole and sarcastic, but there are plenty of ridiculous suits out there that make us think that way. And because of the sheer number of those suits, our first inclination is to assume this one is at that level too. Because the real morons in a hurry are the lawyers who take the ridiculous cases, the (possibly) legitimate ones are overlooked and lumped in with the rest.
On the post: Bad Day For The RIAA: Two High Profile Cases Go Against RIAA
Re: "Awarding" may not mean "won"
Anyway... Not to mention the basic fact here: "Winning" this case simply shows that Tanya Anderson successfully proved her innocence. It does not address the legality or morality [sic] of the RIAA's tactics... let alone the legality of file sharing.
When a judge awards huge punitive damages against the RIAA because if its tactics... that'll be a great day for freedom! or at least for the cause.
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