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Comment: Audiophiles don't listen to music. (Score 5, Insightful) 449

I think what perhaps critics donâ(TM)t appreciate is that there is a lot of luck in getting a good sound. It's not all about the equipment, spectral response and compressing. It's all about the quality of the musicianship, the songwriting and the sound reaching the microphone ... that's crucial. It's often been said, "garbage in means garbage out," so if that's the case you wonâ(TM)t get a good sound.

All true, Mr. Parsons, and entirely beside the point. Music lovers care about the music, but they're listening to you because you're exceptionally talented. They love your music so much they're even willing listen to put up with crappy 128kbps encodes on YouTube.

But we're not talking about music lovers here, we're talking about audiophiles.

Audiophiles don't use their equipment to listen to your music. Audiophiles use your music to listen to their equipment.

Comment: He Still Doesn't Get It (Score 5, Interesting) 523

by Tackhead (#38968899) Attached to: RIAA Chief Whines That SOPA Opponents Were "Unfair"
From TFA:

But what the Google and Wikipedia blackout showed is that itâ(TM)s the platforms that exercise the real power. Get enough of them to espouse Silicon Valleyâ(TM)s perspective, and tens of millions of Americans will get a one-sided view of whatever the issue may be, drowning out the other side.

Cary Sherman still thinks this is a battle between "Google and Wikipedia" vs "Media Companies". And that the only reason his companies lost is because the other companies had better PR.

He still doesn't get that what happened was the people who consume the content - content linked to by GOOG, content distributed by Wikipedia, and content licensed by RIAA and MPAA - who finally got off their duffs and exercised their rights as citizens to demand that their elected representatives actually represent them.

I can't be too hard on him. When I ask "Who does Sen. or Rep. X represent", my answer is typically a company or group of companies that funded his/her campaign, and/or hired the lobbyists to write the bills that the politicians sponsor.

To put it in language that Sherman can understand, it's not that Rep./Sen. X changed from (R/D - MPAA) to (R/D - GOOG). It's that, this being an election year, and there being tens of millions of active internet users who are also eligible voters, Rep./Sen X represented (R/D - wishes of their constituents as tallied by their staffers, regardless of donation size).

Comment: Late-Breaking News from the Council... (Score 1) 67

by Tackhead (#38847543) Attached to: Mars-Bound Probe Serves As Radiation Guinea Pig
Fellow Citizens, as we draw close to the Fourth Anniversary of the Invasion of the Twins and the ensuing Battle for the Plains, let us not forget the words of K'Breel, Speaker for the Council:

The last remnant of the invading force sickens us with its decadent, passive, lackadaisical attitude. Even as one of its bastard progeny spirals inward to a fiery doom in the toxic atmosphere of the blue world, and its nuclear-powered cousin bakes in the radiation of a solar flare, the last so-called warrior still actually infesting our world sits idle, with an apparent intention to spend the entire winter sunbathing.

If sunbathing is what passes for war amongst these blueworlders, so be it. Rejoice with your podmates! Wriggle your gelsacs in gleeful anticipation! If the enemy wishes to sunbathe, we shall give this newest inbound invader a sunburn it shall not soon forget!

When a junior reporter inquired as to the absence of gleeful wriggling from the general direction of Citizen #64226, K'Breel had only this to say: "...and would that be nuked or fried?"

Government

White House Chief Technology Officer Steps Down->

Submitted by
Krazy Kanuck
Krazy Kanuck writes "The WH is running a story on their OSTP blog that Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra, is stepping down after being nominated tot he post by President Obama in 2009. There is some mention of him returning to his home state of Virginia, and the Washington Post is all running a story on a possible bid as lieutenant governor"
Link to Original Source
Censorship

The ACTA Fight Returns: What Is At Stake & What You Can Do 82

Posted by Soulskill
from the sopa-was-a-warmup dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The reverberations from the SOPA fight continue to be felt in the U.S. and elsewhere, but it is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement that has captured increasing attention this week. Several months after the majority of ACTA participants signed the agreement, most European Union countries formally signed the agreement yesterday (notable exclusions include Germany, the Netherlands, Estonia, Cyprus and Slovakia). Michael Geist has a full rundown on what is at stake and what you can do, wherever you live."
HP

Chief WebOS Evangelist Rubinstein Leaves HP->

Submitted by FrankPoole
FrankPoole writes "CRN reports that Jon Rubenstien, the chief evangalist for WebOS and one of Silicon Valley's most renowned engineers, has left HP. Rubenstien, who helped design the iPod while at Apple, became expendable after HP made the mobile OS an open source project.

CRN spoke with new HP CEO Meg Whitman recently, who addressed Rubenstein's departure.
"I've got a lot of respect for Jon. But as you know, Palm didn't work out the way he had hoped. Obviously, the [TouchPad] tablets didn’t work out the way he had hoped. That team has been through a lot, as you might imagine," Whitman said."

Link to Original Source
Space

DARPA Chooses Leader for 100-Year Starship Project

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes "With Nasa scaling back its manned space programs, the idea of a manned trip to the stars may sound audacious, but the 100 Year Starship (100YSS) study is an effort seeded by DARPA to develop a viable and sustainable model for persistent, long-term, private-sector investment into the myriad of disciplines needed to make long-distance space travel practicable and feasible. The goal is not to have the government fund the actual building of spacecraft destined for the stars, but rather to create a foundation that can last 100 years in order to help foster the research needed for interstellar travel. Now DARPA has provided $500,000 in seed money to help jumpstart the effort and chosen Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman to go into space, to lead 100YSS. Jemison, who is also a physician and engineer, left NASA in 1993 after a six-year stint in which she served as science mission specialist aboard space shuttle Endeavour, becoming the first black woman to fly in space. Since leaving the space agency, she has been involved in education and outreach efforts and technology development. Rounding out her resume, Jemison also served as a medical aofficer for the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone and Liberia, is a professionally trained dancer, speaks Russian, Swahili and Japanese, and was the first real astronaut to make a cameo in an episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Jemison won the contract with her proposal titled "An Inclusive Audacious Journey Transforms Life Here on Earth & Beyond.""
Government

Lawmakers Intent On Approving SOPA, PIPA->

Submitted by
snydeq
snydeq writes "U.S. Congress appears likely to move forward with SOPA and PIPA, despite widespread opposition, IDGNS reports. The U.S. Senate is expected to begin floor debate on PIPA shortly after senators return to D.C. on Jan. 23, and supporters appear to have the votes to override a threatened filibuster. Some opponents of the bills hold out hope: 'We're optimistic that if members really understood the Internet architecture and cybersecurity measures, they would not support SOPA as written. Instead, members who are really committed to combatting online piracy would look for effective ways to do that without compromising cybersecurity or the open architecture of the Internet,' said a CCIA spokesperson. Others remain doubtful that Congress will come to this understanding."
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Politics

Pirate Party UK - Looking forward to 2012. ->

Submitted by
Ajehals
Ajehals writes "The UK Pirate Party new years message suggests a new sense of direction for the party, with a focus on policy and politics beyond what was seen as the party's norm, single issue position of copyright reform. Hoping to learn from and emulate the German Pirate Party's success in Berlin, Partly Leader Loz Kay is looking back over 2011 and to the future."
Link to Original Source

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