I have a series of VHS. People come over to see my display of VHS tapes. People see me using my VHS tapes. Then we start conversing about VHS tapes. You don't need batteries to run a VHS player.
I have no idea why people see a bookshelf full of overpriced dead tree that continues to break apart when they read it as better than an e-ink reader. One person I met actually think published newspapers are a better source of news than the Internet.
One word (acronym, actually): DRM.
Given the choice between a non-DRMed e-book and a dead tree book, most of the time I'd go with the e-book. However, when DRM comes into the picture, the decision becomes more complicated.
Yes that's a valid claim I forgot. For some reason I feel like I can trust Amazon like Steam but this probably silly of me.
However the number of books you can torrent and read is also great, may lead to the same cycle that music online lead.
One thing I often do is go to Amazon as a form of a search engine for ebooks, but then afterwards go to the publisher's site to see if they offer it directly in a DRM-free format. So far this only seems to work for technical books (with O'Reilly being the #1 company who does this, though Pearson and Wrox have also gotten into the game), but it works often enough. Annoyingly, the DRM-free version is often pricier than the DRM version, although usually still cheaper than dead tree.
I do admit that I view Amazon as akin to Steam as "not super likely to completely screw you over with DRM," but it's always possible.
There are still comics/manga that I prefer having the physical than digital, especially art books and Kickstarter stuff. It's also useful when trading with friends who want to own it, but read it.
I can not pass the mental hurdle required to buy e-comics. Probably because the prices are so close.
One thing Amazon does do with music is give you immediate access to the mp3 files when you order a physical CD. I wish they could do that with books. I would pay the full retail price of a book if they included the ebook
I can not pass the mental hurdle required to buy e-comics. Probably because the prices are so close.
One thing Amazon does do with music is give you immediate access to the mp3 files when you order a physical CD. I wish they could do that with books. I would pay the full retail price of a book if they included the ebook
Some locations, they can almost do that - I was just listening to Giant Bomb, and they were talking about how one of them ordered an Xbox recently in the morning, and it arrived in the afternoon, same day. Though, it's only prime, only some products, and only some locations.
I find it interesting that they do that with CDs but not vinyl. When you order vinyl, you have to wait for it to show up, and then you get the MP3 download code that comes in the jacket -- if it even comes with one.
That's really weird. I mean, the code isn't different in any meaningful sense, other than the fact that it's a unique code per album. Is there maybe a packaging reason, or something? I've never bought a CD or a record from Amazon, so I don't quite know how it all works.
Fun facts - I actually bought Omnutia his first Vinyl record. I'm pretty sure it was Daft Punk's Discovery Album.
I only found out by accident. I ordered a CD and saw a link to get the mp3 files. When I followed it I also saw the mp3 files for the other CD I had recently ordered.
For those who are curious to two CDs are Mandatory Fun and Guardians of the Galaxy. These are the first two CDs I have purchased in close to 15 years.
Yes that's a valid claim I forgot. For some reason I feel like I can trust Amazon like Steam but this probably silly of me.
However the number of books you can torrent and read is also great, may lead to the same cycle that music online lead.
One thing I often do is go to Amazon as a form of a search engine for ebooks, but then afterwards go to the publisher's site to see if they offer it directly in a DRM-free format. So far this only seems to work for technical books (with O'Reilly being the #1 company who does this, though Pearson and Wrox have also gotten into the game), but it works often enough. Annoyingly, the DRM-free version is often pricier than the DRM version, although usually still cheaper than dead tree.
I do admit that I view Amazon as akin to Steam as "not super likely to completely screw you over with DRM," but it's always possible.
Technical books are what I generally buy in either drm free or paper format too. Plus there are some technical books where I find having a paper copy easier for flipping through.
Not really a "technical" book but recently I bought a copy of a programming interview book for brushing up on interview questions. I'd bought one around the time I graduated on my kindle and it was a pain in the ass. It was formatted poorly and it was difficult to transition between sections of the book. I've seen numerous complaints in amazon reviews on ebooks that are technical being poorly edited before too.
There are still comics/manga that I prefer having the physical than digital, especially art books and Kickstarter stuff. It's also useful when trading with friends who want to own it, but read it.
I don't include comics and manga there are over 300 trades and hard backs to my left as I write this. Anything art related I don't count.
Simply because format for art and comics is part of the medium (like some books I have have been drawn for a specific aspect ratio.
I didn't properly explain what I was thinking of, which was fiction novels printed in black and whiter and not needing colour.
I'm fine with having to buy technical books and stuff too (like my surgical and medical books) but if there is an app version (like my pharmaceutical book) I will always get that instead.
I find it interesting that they do that with CDs but not vinyl. When you order vinyl, you have to wait for it to show up, and then you get the MP3 download code that comes in the jacket -- if it even comes with one.
It's probably more hipster to have it printed on the jacket :P
It's getting incredibly questionable as to if I can get this cigar box guitar (Tentatively dubbed "The Shitbox") built before PAX rolls around. Gotta get my shit together, yo. I think one of the lads has a broken accoustic that I can rob some way-too-nice machine-heads from, which apart from the strings is the last part I'm missing.
I hung out with normal people yesterday. After six months of being surrounded by mental patients, aspiring musicians, and my closest friends (the recovering drug addict high school drop out who is currently my room mate, the active drug addict psychotic high school drop out, and the victim of an abusive mother, for instance), I wasn't quite sure how to interact with them. We didn't really share any common interests, and once something we had a shared experience around did come up, my stories about it were apparently way too fucked up for their sensibilities.
Perhaps more interesting is that they rejected the label of normal. They were thoroughly convinced that they were disaffected or corrupted somehow. I didn't try to convince them otherwise, because clearly they enjoyed identifying as part of a fringier culture, but I found that all their conversations and jokes were quite normal for people their age. I guess the special snowflake culture has made normal an insult.
When I say big, I mean Kirin, Sapporo, Asahi, etc. Their flagship beers are all very samey, but the seasonals they put out are great. Kikuchi (Hitachino) and Yo-Ho (Yona Yona Ale) do make good beer, but they cost at least 50% more than the big guys, and are much harder to find.
SO. 4chan has been spewing out a TON of nudes of big name celebs with more supposedly coming down the turnpike. Jennifer Lawrence, among them. The big media has been losing its collective shit. I checked out some of it. Looks legit.
I've come to the conclusion that if you ever see something on discount in the Sailor Moon 'verse, it's almost certainly a trap to steal your life energy or some shit. Steam sales must be a smorgasbord for the Dark Kingdom.
Magical girl shows have a tendency to make the even the most mundane things into supernatural events. There's an episode in Sailor Moon R where people are talking shit about Ami, and instead of this just being one of the cruelties of life that not everyone will like you, it turns out to be an evil plot by the Dark Kingdom. My favorite, though, is not from Sailor Moon, but is actually an episode of Cardcaptor Sakura, wherein they bake cakes for a cooking class (which they have in fourth grade in Japan apparently), and all the cakes are too sweet. Instead of the simple notion that maybe 10 year olds aren't the best chefs, it was in fact a Clow Card making the cakes too sweet.
SO. 4chan has been spewing out a TON of nudes of big name celebs with more supposedly coming down the turnpike. Jennifer Lawrence, among them. The big media has been losing its collective shit. I checked out some of it. Looks legit.
When will people learn that if you don't want your nudes leaked:
A. Don't make any. B. If you do don't put them on a remote system.
If the bleaker had waited a week they could have a huge impact on Apple's upcomming press event.
One interesting point about the leaks is that many smartphones automatically back up your photos to their cloud services by default. If you don't go digging into the privacy/backup settings of your phones (and, let's face it, how many non-techies do? Heck, how many techies do, for that matter?), everything you photograph will end up backed up to the cloud.
Granted, it doesn't do anything to deal with issue A, but yeah, it's possible that issue B came about because the celebs didn't realize their nudes were uploaded to the cloud.
So it's their fault for someone else breaking in to their accounts and stealing their private pictures? That's like telling someone it's their fault someone broke into their house and stole their television because they bought a television and because it was visible through their living room window.
Well considering there are such things as the paparazzi you think they'd have some understanding that people will literally stalk their movements for scandalous pictures. So if you are taking nude photos of yourself and don't understand your technology and its capabilities then they have to wonder if maybe it was worth taking that risk.
A lot of this falls into "yes, you shouldn't have to behave in a certain way, but because there are assholes in the world, you should be more cautious so as not to attract the attention of said assholes."
I mean, yeah, I should be able to walk in any neighborhood on the planet wearing expensive clothes and brandishing tons of bling in public without worrying about getting mugged. However, there are certain neighborhoods where I know it is fairly likely that there are people who will mug me if I walk there, so I either avoid those neighborhoods entirely or, if I must travel through them, don't wear fancy clothes and bling and try not to draw attention to myself.
Or to use the TV case, yeah, you have your fancy TV visible in your window, but you live in a shitty neighborhood and either didn't lock your door or have a pretty shitty lock on your door and you could've been more cautious.
This isn't to get the assholes off the hook either. Whether they're the iCloud account hackers, muggers, TV burglars, or worse, they should be apprehended and punished to the full extent of the law.
Note that I'm not going into the whole "she was doing X, so she was asking for Y, so it's her fault Y happened" thing here. That is absolutely not what I'm saying. It is never anyone's fault that horrible thing Y (whatever "Y" may be) happened to them as a result of doing reasonable/innocent/harmless/legal/etc. thing "X". What I am saying is that if you're traveling in a place where Y has been known to take place, you should either avoid that place entirely or be extra cautious if you must go there, even if it means not doing thing X, which would be fine to do anywhere else. The perpetrators of Y should be punished no matter what.
The internet as a whole should be viewed as the most wretched hive of scum and villainy on the planet, full of assholes who have nothing better to do than "mug" a tempting target. You should therefore try not to attract attention and do your best to "lock" all your "valuable stuff" with the best "locks" you can find if you're going to be traversing the internet.
"They shouldn't have stored them on the internet" is like the "she shouldn't have been wearing a short skirt" argument but for internet hacking.
Well companies with confidential information tend to avoid storing that info on the Internet. Having it stolen is still a crime, but putting faith in the Internet being secure is probably not such a great idea.
The internet as a whole should be viewed as the most wretched hive of scum and villainy on the planet, full of assholes who have nothing better to do than "mug" a tempting target. You should therefore try not to attract attention and do your best to "lock" all your "valuable stuff" with the best "locks" you can find if you're going to be traversing the internet.
Exactly, I mean, this isn't that well known outside of users like people on this forum. You can try and stop all the asshats on the Internet but it's probably more effective to educate people in best practices for cautions sake.
Comments
People come over to see my display of VHS tapes.
People see me using my VHS tapes.
Then we start conversing about VHS tapes.
You don't need batteries to run a VHS player.
The electric bulb is a device.
Given the choice between a non-DRMed e-book and a dead tree book, most of the time I'd go with the e-book. However, when DRM comes into the picture, the decision becomes more complicated.
For some reason I feel like I can trust Amazon like Steam but this probably silly of me.
However the number of books you can torrent and read is also great, may lead to the same cycle that music online lead.
I do admit that I view Amazon as akin to Steam as "not super likely to completely screw you over with DRM," but it's always possible.
One thing Amazon does do with music is give you immediate access to the mp3 files when you order a physical CD. I wish they could do that with books. I would pay the full retail price of a book if they included the ebook
Fun facts - I actually bought Omnutia his first Vinyl record. I'm pretty sure it was Daft Punk's Discovery Album.
For those who are curious to two CDs are Mandatory Fun and Guardians of the Galaxy. These are the first two CDs I have purchased in close to 15 years.
Not really a "technical" book but recently I bought a copy of a programming interview book for brushing up on interview questions. I'd bought one around the time I graduated on my kindle and it was a pain in the ass. It was formatted poorly and it was difficult to transition between sections of the book. I've seen numerous complaints in amazon reviews on ebooks that are technical being poorly edited before too.
Simply because format for art and comics is part of the medium (like some books I have have been drawn for a specific aspect ratio.
I didn't properly explain what I was thinking of, which was fiction novels printed in black and whiter and not needing colour.
I'm fine with having to buy technical books and stuff too (like my surgical and medical books) but if there is an app version (like my pharmaceutical book) I will always get that instead. It's probably more hipster to have it printed on the jacket :P
Perhaps more interesting is that they rejected the label of normal. They were thoroughly convinced that they were disaffected or corrupted somehow. I didn't try to convince them otherwise, because clearly they enjoyed identifying as part of a fringier culture, but I found that all their conversations and jokes were quite normal for people their age. I guess the special snowflake culture has made normal an insult.
A. Don't make any.
B. If you do don't put them on a remote system.
If the bleaker had waited a week they could have a huge impact on Apple's upcomming press event.
Granted, it doesn't do anything to deal with issue A, but yeah, it's possible that issue B came about because the celebs didn't realize their nudes were uploaded to the cloud.
Forbes actually has a pretty sane editorial on this 'controversy': Jennifer Lawrence Nude Photo Leak Isn't A 'Scandal.' It's A Sex Crime.
I mean, yeah, I should be able to walk in any neighborhood on the planet wearing expensive clothes and brandishing tons of bling in public without worrying about getting mugged. However, there are certain neighborhoods where I know it is fairly likely that there are people who will mug me if I walk there, so I either avoid those neighborhoods entirely or, if I must travel through them, don't wear fancy clothes and bling and try not to draw attention to myself.
Or to use the TV case, yeah, you have your fancy TV visible in your window, but you live in a shitty neighborhood and either didn't lock your door or have a pretty shitty lock on your door and you could've been more cautious.
This isn't to get the assholes off the hook either. Whether they're the iCloud account hackers, muggers, TV burglars, or worse, they should be apprehended and punished to the full extent of the law.
Note that I'm not going into the whole "she was doing X, so she was asking for Y, so it's her fault Y happened" thing here. That is absolutely not what I'm saying. It is never anyone's fault that horrible thing Y (whatever "Y" may be) happened to them as a result of doing reasonable/innocent/harmless/legal/etc. thing "X". What I am saying is that if you're traveling in a place where Y has been known to take place, you should either avoid that place entirely or be extra cautious if you must go there, even if it means not doing thing X, which would be fine to do anywhere else. The perpetrators of Y should be punished no matter what.
The internet as a whole should be viewed as the most wretched hive of scum and villainy on the planet, full of assholes who have nothing better to do than "mug" a tempting target. You should therefore try not to attract attention and do your best to "lock" all your "valuable stuff" with the best "locks" you can find if you're going to be traversing the internet.