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Comment: Re:Copyright protection (Score 1) 307

by AugstWest (#42701905) Attached to: Jonathan Coulton Song Used By <em>Glee</em> Without Permission

Yeah, seriously, Sir Mixalot should be PISSED.

Let's get some perspective here, folks -- this is an arrangement of a song that Coulton himself didn't even write.

It's like when Led Zeppelin sued Pearl Jam for releasing a song that they thought sounded too much like Going To California -- when Led Zeppelin had been ripping off American blues artists for decades without paying a penny for it. Robert Plant's always been known for the line "squeeze my lemon 'til the juice runs down my leg," which he stole from Robert Johnson.

Enough with the OUTRAGE. Music belongs to everyone. Once it's out of your mouth, it no longer belongs to you.

+ - Using crowdfunding for medical/health research?

Submitted by AugstWest
AugstWest writes "It can be difficult to get some things approved or legalized in the the US because of their lack of patentability — Stevia, a natural, non-caloric sweetener comes to mind, as do things like therapeutic MDMA research, cannabis research, etc. In a world of FUD, would it be possible to crowdfund real research that would be trusted by the FDA and their ilk? Is there a way to drive this sort of research through existing laboratories, or would new infrastructure need to be built?"

Comment: Hi, my name is Anecdotal Evidence. (Score 4, Informative) 505

by AugstWest (#41196063) Attached to: The True Challenges of Desktop Linux

I was a Linux user beginning with Redhat 3. I went through Redhat, Mandrake, Fedora, Gentoo and Ubuntu. I've also used Solaris for a daily workstation.

Then I was assigned a Mac at a new job (running Tiger), and have never used anything else for a desktop since. I've had no reason to. I still keep an Ubuntu box in the house, but it's a server.

My name is Anecdotal Evidence, it's true, but whatever. I went Mac, and never looked back.

Comment: 15 years of crap phone operating systems... (Score 0) 1027

by AugstWest (#40327323) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What's Your Beef With Windows Phone?

...doesn't lead one to even want to try it.

MS has proven for well over a decade that they have no idea how to build a useful portable device. I've tried one of every iteration except this latest, and even owned a few over the years, and had nothing but disdain for the entire experience. My first HP Jornada lasted 3 days before I had my boss return it. I kept my Palm.

I finally gave in and tried again with the Tilt upon a friend's recommendation, and eventually backed over it out of spite.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, three times, four times, you're on your own.

I want nothing to do with it.

Comment: Re:Irony alert! (Score 1) 264

by AugstWest (#40203637) Attached to: DirecTV CEO Scoffs At Competition From Apple TV

Also, DirecTV's DVR is like an exercise in "How Not To Build An Interface."

I quit the DAY that my 2-year contract was up. It wasn't that the programming was bad, or the cost or anything, it was that the interface was a constant source of annoyance. It really is THAT bad.

They don't give a shit what they hand the customer, and even when they add something nice, like DLNA abilities, they wrap them in a UI that makes you want to set fire to the hardware.

It's pretty much the polar opposite of Apple. They *should* be scared.

Comment: Re:That's why I like the basic Kindle (Score 1) 418

by AugstWest (#39254459) Attached to: The eBook Backlash

I use my iPad for everything from checking my email to composing classical music, from playing games to using it onstage to improvise a funk Hammond B3 solo.

That said, I have never in my life read as much as I have since I picked it up. I've burned through more books than I did when I was a Literature major.

As an ADD person, getting to the library to get books was hard enough -- returning them on time was nigh impossible. Getting to the bookstore would never happen. But buying books that I want to read as soon as I hear about them? Win.

I don't get the argument here. I mean, I understand it, but I've never had that issue. All the arguments for e-ink are bunk for me, I have no problem reading on my ipad for hours. Barth, Pynchon, even Faulkner.

Battery life's never been an issue, I've never gotten a headache, all this FUD is pretty lame, IMHO. I'm glad you like your paper book, I'm glad you like your old-school Kindle, I'm in favor of anything that gets people to read more, but really -- it's a non-argument to me.

Comment: Garbage is unappetizing. (Score 3, Informative) 514

by AugstWest (#38385598) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Protecting Tech Gear From Smash-and-Grab Theft?

I drive a Jeep Wrangler, which is as secure as a tent. Basically, it IS a tent.

So the passenger's side floor is pretty much always full of Dunkin Donuts trash. I slide my laptop bag under it all, throw a few empty coffee cups on top, and noone's going to think there's anything interesting to steal.

Out-of-sight, out-of-mind works very well.

The plot was designed in a light vein that somehow became varicose. -- David Lardner

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