Comment Re:Culture (Score -1) 257
Isn't it possible that those 'creative-thinkers' might have been "bred-out" of the population?
Thanks, Lysenko Jr. I think they are just glad they are not from Kentucky.
Comment Re:Funny this. (Score -1) 451
In the end, I've opted not to buy this gadget, because ultimately, it's just not as satisfying or lasting as having a book. I have books given to me by my grandparents that they had as teenagers, what do you think the odds are that a Kindle or the formats it supports will last even two decades? I'm going to stick to my dead trees, thank you.
"After reading books and the like, it is best to burn them or throw them away."
- the Hagekure
Comment In Post-Soviet Russia, (Score -1) 600
Putin judo throws YOU!
Comment work is for serfs (Score 1, Funny) 354
Work?? Perish the thought! I live off the backs of the enslaved peon masses beneath me. Capitalism rules!!
sincerely,
your landlord
sincerely,
your landlord
Comment Re:File a police report _now_. (Score -1, Offtopic) 931
This is called theft, there is no other word for it. File a police report immediately.
Nonsense!
Property is theft in the first place. Haven't you read Proudhon??
And yeah, yeah, man, go narc to the pigs!!
What a square.
China Makes Arrests To Stop Internet Porn 204
thefickler writes "The Chinese Government is expanding a crackdown on Internet pornography. Xinhua news agency, which is owned by the government and can safely be used for reporting in China, says the campaign to scrub the country's Internet of 'vulgar' content has so far resulted in 29 criminal cases. Police have ordered the removal of 46,000 pornographic and other 'harmful' items from websites. The latest crackdown comes after official warnings of rising social unrest as the economy slows. It's no coincidence that this year is the twentieth anniversary of Tiananmen Square, or, to use the acceptable nomenclature, 'the June 4th incident.'"
Report Claims 95% of Music Downloads Are Illegal 331
Un pobre guey writes "The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) press release claims that 95% of music file downloads in 2008, an estimated 40 billion files, were illegal. Oddly enough, digital music sales are up: 'The digital music business internationally saw a sixth year of expansion in 2008, growing by an estimated 25 per cent to US$3.7 billion in trade value. Digital platforms now account for around 20 per cent of recorded music sales, up from 15 per cent in 2007. Recorded music is at the forefront of the online and mobile revolution, generating more revenue in percentage terms through digital platforms than the newspaper (4%), magazine (1%) and film industries (4%) combined... Despite these developments, the music sector is still overshadowed by the huge amount of unlicensed music distributed online. Collating separate studies in 16 countries over a three-year period, IFPI estimates over 40 billion files were illegally file-shared in 2008, giving a piracy rate of around 95 per cent.'"
Comment ah but you forget.. (Score 1) 341
In Korea, only old people rehash old slashdot memes.
Comment Re:Not quite your average artist (Score 1) 292
So Michaelangelo should have done the Sistine Chapel for free?
The Sistine Chapel is more a piece of religious propaganda than a work of art so it makes since that he'd be a mere paid lackey.
I have to agree with the parent, and further add that there are NO inborn inalienable rights whatsoever. Give me a scientific proof that there are. It's all hogwash.
Musicians have the right to make money on their music only in so far as they have the ability to enforce payment. If they can forcibly keep it out of people's possession, then perhaps they can earn something from it. Although with the millions of options there are to get free music nowadays, it's going to be a tough market.
Comment Re:Immortality is scary (Score 1) 359
Oh, please. We'd be too busy stabbing each other in the back, fighting for what little scraps they do leave us, to ever do them much harm. Much as it has always been.
Ever heard of the French revolution? How about the Soviet revolution? Chinese revolution? Cuban?
Maybe if IT people weren't so busy turning their noses up at the "liberal arts", you might know a few things about history and how things work on this planet, and maybe, just maybe, you won't become the underpaid lackey of some jackass who went to b-school and believes that the earth was "created" 5000 years ago.
The fact is that peasant revolutions have been causing regular upheavals in the social order for millenia.
