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Comment Libraries to Go Extinct (Score 1) 158

Here in Florida almost the first thing to get cut in tough times are library hours and budgets. The vast majority of library users are aging out. Many libraries are trying to move to multimedia and electronic content sharing but copyright holders are destroying the buy-once, share-infinite model that libraries thrive on. If a library has to buy a new ebook for every eight times a book use "loaned" then they are doomed. Google books, Project Gutenberg, Amazon and BN are your new libraries.

Comment The King is Dead? (Score 1) 389

From chasing their tails to chasing Apple's tail. Not a good sign. I had hopes for MS till I heard about this walled garden approach and I tried Win 8. The future does not look good for Microsoft. I'm not anti-MS by any means. I love their Office suite and Visio and Project and many other applications. Kinect and XBox Live are great. My kid loves his Zune. Lately they seem to be making all the wrong decisions though. They should be embracing the future, not trying to force consumers and developers into walled gardens. Like it or not, in the past MS has been very open with their OS and allowing Developers to exploit their products. This is a huge step in the wrong direction.

Comment Honest/Dishonest Vine Reviewers (Score 1) 201

I am also a Vine reviewer. Not sure how I wound up on the list other than the fact that I reviewed stuff before I was a Vine member. As you can see my reviews are across the board. Some of my reviews are judged useful and others are not. I can't see any incentive for lying unless they someday pull my Vine status. The only "influence" I could see is if folks felt beholden to Amazon for the free stuff to review. As a reviewer I do notice that few people appreciate reviews critical of the product and people reading book reviews prefer reviews with spoilers in them. Like other venues, the first review have the most influence and the same goes for the first video reviews.

Comment Whitewashing History (Score 1) 1073

In the last few months I have read numerous Jack London and Henry Rider Haggard novels and the prevalence of racism is frequent and shocking to modern sensibilities. On the one hand it angers me but on the other it helps you really understand how deeply rooted racism was even in popular literature. Censoring those works would impair the ability of future generation to really understand what the world was like at that time.

Comment A FEW POINTS (Score 4, Informative) 146

YOUTUBE: About two years ago YouTube redesigned their trove system to make it almost impossible for small acts to be found. Try it. You are pretty much stuck with the mainstream stuff they sort to the top in each category. You pretty much have to accidentally find indie acts on youtube.

BARS AND CAFES: As a cafe owner can attest that BMI and ASCAP make it almost impossible to play indie acts. The fees are just too high for small businesses. Even i you make bands sign papers stating they are unsigned acts playing only there own music, BMI and ASCAP still go after you. The first six months we were open we had live music 1-2 nights a week. The minute we posted notices on MySpace we had BMI and ASCAP twisting our arms to buy a annual license. License fees that were far too high to make it even remotely sensible from a business perspective. I would happily support local bands but the system is rigged.

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