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Comment Totally true (Score 1) 398

by SnapperHead (#26531567) Attached to: 17,000 Downloads Does Not Equal 17,000 Lost Sales

Also, how many digital downloads were done to restore a lost or broken CD. I can't tell you how many times I have purchased the same "The Doors" CD only to have it stolen from my car or what not. After a while I gave up and downloaded it. After buying it like 10 times over (at least), I feel I am entitled to download it.

A large portion of the stuff I download, I download because I want that 1 song and you can't just purchase that 1 song. Why ? Well, because they are a 1 hit wonder and you can't just buy the single of it. The record companies know that people wouldn't buy the entire album if they didn't have to. iTunes also makes it "Album only". So, guess what ... download it is.

Now, there has been a crap ton of stuff I have purchased *after* I downloaded it. Downloaded it, listened to it .. liked it, so I went out and purchased the remaining albums. Did I honestly buy that same album I downloaded ? Well, no ... however, I did purchase a few more albums and they got more money from me then they would have otherwise.

The record industry needs to realize that it needs to embrace new technology and advertising means. Issuing a DMCA against a Youtube video to take down a video that some kid put together using some semi popular song only pisses off customers. I have found a lot of music I like this way and if the industry doesn't want my money, then fine I will go back to downloading.

The more difficult they make it for me to legally obtain and keep music the greater the chance I will download it. Face it, I am lazy and I don't like to leave the house. I *HATE* going to music stores, I don't like the environment or sales people. By making it easier for me to get it online that only means more sales. I am not going to go to a brick and mortar store to get it, it just won't happen. They are way too over priced anyway. Why the hell do we even need these stores anymore ?!

Comment I want to see a blind study (Score 1) 432

by SnapperHead (#26378347) Attached to: Hippies Say WiFi Network Is Harming Their Chakras

With so many people claiming sickness from wifi we really need some blind studies.

Take a group of people far into the wilderness with some wifi equipment. Leave them out there for a few days and don't tell them if they equipment is on or off.

Ask them if they have any headaches or other BS they are claiming. I am willing to bet, in a blind study you will find out that the claims are ridiculous.

*IF* after a few studies they find it to be true then I would agree with it until then I call BS and ask them to STFU already. :)

Comment Re:MS is an oil tanker (Score 1) 376

by SnapperHead (#26260667) Attached to: InfoWorld's Crystal Ball Predicts the Future of Microsoft

Microsoft has been pissing off their customers in a fun product called Vista. Using your tanker analogy, Microsoft has a huge gaping hole on the side of the ship. Its not going to stop them, it will slow them over time but its them bleeding customers.

People are starting to look for alternatives. I couldn't believe it when I saw 2 friends of mine, who have next to no technical knowledge purchased a laptop and installed Ubuntu on it. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw it.

There are also lots of people switching to Mac or wanting to switch to Mac. Lets face it, Apple is more expensive because they don't have a low end machine. They don't want to fork out the money right now, so they are just waiting. Will they switch ? No idea, but the ones who have made the switch haven't been happier. Hell, I am one of them.

There are alternatives and many people are eye balling them. If Microsoft drops the ball on Windows 7, that hole in the side of the tanker is only going to get bigger. Don't get me wrong, I totally agree that it would take a major event for that hole to sink the ship.

Comment Anyone suprised ?? (Score 1) 314

by SnapperHead (#26259959) Attached to: Amazon.com Reporting This Holiday Season Their "Best Ever"

Besides the obvious economy being in the crapper, why would someone spend $36 for a Bluray at Best Buy when you can get the same Bluray from Amazon for $22. Pretty much anything you buy at Best Buy amazon has for far less. A few months back, I looked at 500GB drives at Best Buy. They wanted like $250 for it, when I purchased it at Newegg for $150. Amazon had the same price, however I will buy from someone else before I go to Amazon. I really can't stand their CEO so I try to avoid them. But, when push comes to shove, I will buy from them.

Maybe this economy will get some brick and mortar stores to re-think their pricing strategy.
 
Software

Submission + - Company Sells Open-Source Software As Its Own (zabbix.com) 4

Submitted by
teknopurge
teknopurge writes: "After using the software for years I was shocked to find that one of my favorite open-source projects, Zabbix, had its code stolen, rebranded and sold for profit as Firescope. Touting thier product as "revolutionary", Firescope has apparently copied the Zabbix repository and themed the interface without adhering to the GPL that Zabbix is distributed with. Is this not the worst fear of every open source project?"
Technology (Apple)

Submission + - Apple Tops Innovative Company List

Submitted by
SnapperHead
SnapperHead writes: "Businessweek compiled their 2007 list of the 50 most innovative companies.

Apple leads the pack for the third year in a row. As our first-place innovator for the third year in a row, Apple reigns again. The iPod creator is a master of superb product, store, and experience design. Now that it's invading the living room and the cell-phone market, will it continue the winning streak?

The list was compiled based on volunteer surveys sent to executives of the 1,500 largest global corporations.

Meanwhile, it was recently revealed by Forbes that despite an official $1/year salary, Apple's Steve Jobs is the highest compensated CEO in America this year at $646 million."

Exploding Robots May Scout Hazardous Asteroids 120

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the things-that-asplode dept.
An anonymous reader writes to mention NewScientist is reporting that a small force of robots designed to explode could help reveal an asteroid's inner structure. This could in turn allow scientists a better understanding of how to divert a rogue asteroid on a collision course with Earth. From the article: "The main spacecraft would stay a few dozen kilometers away, perhaps nudging the probes towards the asteroid using springs. Once on the surface, the protective spherical shell of each probe would open to allow the probe to scan the surface nearby. To reduce complexity and costs, the probes lack solar panels and run on battery power, limiting their lifetime to a few days. But each probe could still cover a lot of ground in that time, as they could be fitted with small thrusters to let them hop across the surface. Eventually the probes could detonate onboard explosives, sacrificing themselves for science one by one. Probes that had not yet detonated would listen for any seismic waves sent rippling out from the explosion, and the main spacecraft could observe the craters left behind. That would tell scientists about the asteroid's strength and internal structure."
Operating Systems

Submission + - Why do we use x86 CPUs?

Submitted by bluefoxlucid
bluefoxlucid writes: With Apple having now switched to x86 CPUs, I've been wondering for a while why we use the x86 architecture at all. The Power architecture was known for its better performance per clock; and still other RISC architectures such as the various ARM models provide very high performance per clock as well as reduced power usage, opening some potential for low-power laptops. Compilers can also deal with optimization in RISC architectures more easily, since the instruction set is smaller and the possible scheduling arrangements are thus reduced greatly. With Just-in-Time compilation, legacy x86 programs could be painlessly run on ARM/PPC by translating them dynamically at run time, similar to how CIL and Java work. So really, what do you all think about our choice of primary CPU architecture? Are x86 and x86_64 a good choice; or should we have shot for PPC64 or a 64-bit ARM solution?
Sony

Submission + - New Sony Blu-ray Player, Disc Incompatible

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In a continued comedy errors, Sony last week released 'The Descent' on Blu-ray disc, but consumers who gave the swanky new disc a spin in the same company's standalone Blu-ray player (Sony's BDP-S1) were met with only a blank screen. The disc comes with the format's first-ever supplements authored in the BD-Java environment, enabling whiz-bang extras such as picture-in-picture video commentary. But early adopters who bought the $1,000 Sony player have discovered that the BDP-S1 doesn't yet support BD-Java, making the disc incompatible. Sony promises a firmware upgrade for the player sometime early this year (ironically, the comparitively less expensive PlayStation 3 plays back the disc just fine).

An Overview of Virtualization 119

Posted by kdawson from the next-big-old-thing dept.
IndioMan writes to point us to an overview of virtualization — its history, an analysis of the techniques used over the years, and a survey of Linux virtualization projects. From the article: "Virtualization is the new big thing, if 'new' can include something over four decades old. It has been used historically in a number of contexts, but a primary focus now is in the virtualization of servers and operating systems. Much like Linux, virtualization provides many options for performance, portability, and flexibility."
Patents

Nobel Laureate Attacks Medical Intellectual Property 449

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the corporate-bottom-line-is-red dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz, who was fired by the World Bank blasted drug patents in an editorial in the British Medical Journal titled 'Scrooge and intellectual property rights.' 'Knowledge is like a candle, when one candle lights another it does not diminish its light.' In medicine, patents cost lives. The US patent for turmeric didn't stimulate research, and restricted access by the Indian poor who actually discovered it hundreds of years ago. 'These rights were intended to reduce access to generic medicines and they succeeded.' Billions of people, who live on $2-3 a day, could no longer afford the drugs they needed. Drug companies spend more on advertising and marketing than on research. A few scientists beat the human genome project and patented breast cancer genes; so now the cost of testing women for breast cancer is 'enormous.'"
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - Inside Apple's iPhone

Submitted by DECS
DECS writes: Despite CNET's wild claims, Apple's market position and recent performance show the company has the ability, capacity, and interest in shaking up the mobile phone industry, something that service providers, manufacturers, and consumers desperately need. Here's why. Inside Apple's iPhone
Emulation (Games)

Submission + - Sonys Official PSone Emulator Cracked

Submitted by Croakyvoice
Croakyvoice writes: PSP Hackers have cracked Sonys protection of its PSOne Emulator for the PSP, the emulator requires you to download the Game to your PS3 then to your PSP, but now with a new Custom Firmware released and a small converting tool you can now play any Playstation game on the PSP at full speed.

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