"but I do think the reign of music as a commodity made only by professionals might be winding down. The imminent demise of the large record companies as gatekeepers of the world's popular music is a good thing, for the most part."

Can I have some of what this guy is smoking?

Copernicus called. Turns out David Byrne isn't the center of the Universe.

I'll be honest. I think of all humans as cockroaches. And that's not necessarily a bad thing (that's not necessarily a good thing, either, but I digress).

Simon @ 12:

Actually, that's not the only one. I do believe that several other genericized trademarks out there.

That is *so* cool! Best. Headline. EVAH!

@ #1:

Exactly. Pay money to add something frivolous that could potentially hurt you.

Not to mention the fact that it would get in the way (what happens when you need to take a couple of books out?).

-shakes head-

@ Underrat (#99)

The minor's SPOUSE? That's just creepy.

Why? Given the amount of teen pregnancies, a lot of people do get married before they are eighteen. Hell, look in the country and you'll see what I mean.

In those cases, the spouse could be a minor, and the other person not.

Did you really think that we want those laws to be observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against - then you'll know that this is not the age for beautiful gestures. We're after power and we mean it. You fellows were pikers, but we know the real trick, and you'd better get wise to it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of law-breakers - and then you cash in on guilt. Now, that's the system, Mr. Rearden, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with.

How about using a client that lets you write rules? Create folders (or tags) and write rules to sort them. Hell, I had that going with Pine back in the day.

I know, it's far out, but just a thought.

The things that puzzles / fascinates me is, how do you get the word out to exactly the 400 people who don't have anything better to do on that Sunday afternoon, and have the right mix exhibitionism, herd instinct, non-conformism and anti-bourgeois urge.

HAHAHA! You owe me a drink.

Reminds me of something that I read somewhere -

"There's nothing more ironic than 20,000 people singing in chorus, 'We don't need no thought control.'"

It sounds from the various comments like returning Texas to Mexico might solve quite a few problems.

Why? What do you have against Mexicans?! =)

On a more serious note, Texas has the largest oil field in the contiguous states. Giving up Texas would be a death-knell for the US.

@ Agent 86

Three major possibilities emerge from this data: speculative trading is causing price increases, corporate greed is causing price increases, or that as refineries approach 100% capacity, production costs rise exponentially.

Or the OPEC is being a cartel and is profiteering from the increased oil prices, which drives up speculation.

I'd tell you what to do about that, but then I guess I'll be stereotyped and branded, especially on BB. So, I'll refrain.

I'll give you a clue, though - look up the list of countries that belong to OPEC.

@ Oskar

Let's talk scale, shall we? I'm typing this from Dallas, Texas. Wikipedia tells me that the area of Sweden is 173,732 sq mi. It also tells me that the area of Texas is 268,820 sq mi. The area of the US, on the other hand, is 3,794,066 sq mi. That's 3 million, in case you'd missed. I could argue on, but I'll leave it at that.

Secondly, you use population density as a big magic number. Here's the deal. Population density doesn't mean jack. If most of your population lives in the urban areas, you can provide public transportation to just those areas and satisfy a large portion of your population. If you have most of your population scattered in the country, suburbs and in urban sprawls, then the amount of effort that it takes to cater to your population is much higher.

Talk to me about coverage versus population, and we'll get somewhere.

And then, if you took a collection of all possible routes within Sweden and within Texas and plotted a graph, you'll realize that the number of routes within the US is much, much higher (due to the fact that the population is spread out) than in Sweden. Even significantly high taxes will have trouble sustaining that level of roads or public transportation.

I mean, if you must, compare apples to apples. Compare Sweden with Germany or something and feel all nice and happy, but comparing the US with Sweden is an exercise in futility.

Countries don't scale that way, especially not a large and diverse one like the US.

@ Oskar -

I know you were being flip, but there are a few points to consider.

First off, Sweden is a tiny little country compared to the US. Combined with the lack of a viable public transport infrastructure (unlike Sweden), the price of gas in the US begins to make more sense.

Now, should the US have built public transportation to offset this? Yes and no.

No because until recently, it was simply not worth it - gas was inexpensive enough and population density was low enough that investment into a large public transportation would not have been worth the returns in most of the country (urban centers are an exception, and most urban areas have some form of decent public transportation system anyway).

Yes because it was lacking in foresight not to have seen this day coming. But hey, better late than never etc.

@ Oxymoron69

> Cory, When are you going to run
> for public office?

Oh yeah. Just what you need. If anything, someone like Cory running for public office will only do more to further the damage to the cause.

It's bad enough that people think that anyone with a liberal view on intellectual property is a left-wing nut job. Having someone like Cory represent the side will (if anything) only serve to confirm their doubts.

You might have better luck with someone like John Young, even. Now Bruce Perens - there's a thought.

> I know for one, I don't need nor
> want some bible thumper or business
> type operating for either their or
> some organizations benefit.

There is nothing wrong in self-service. There is something wrong when doing so is detrimental to progress, rather than not.

> If the system is setup to only
> allow lawyers and others of their
> ilk **shudder** to rule us...
> how can we change the system?

You could start by not generalizing people and throwing them into stereotypical buckets.

Understanding the fundamental business reasons behind the actions of politicians, and seeking to teach them that those actions are rather detrimental to business and profits is the way to go about this. Blind arm-flailing and accusatory remarks will only serve to have the other side think that your justifications are full of nonsense (and that you are a nut-job).

> It's heroism calling; do you
> accept the charges?

How's that drool-aid looking?

I can understand all the physicists, mathematicians, chemists and biologists - but what the hell is a sociologist doing on the list? Or a psychologist?

Gee.

@ Michael Brutsch:

That is so 20th-century. In this post-9/11 world...

That is so 20th century. In this 21st century world...

On a serious note, weapons and war have always been the front-runners of technology. They advance our capabilities, create new economic conditions and new social orders (and consequently, new legal and moral complications).

I'd be worried of living in a world where this did not happen.

Should we fire someone for incompetence, or should it be negligence?

What about stupidity? No?

If you must use the exact text from the article, either have the entire text or please ignore hanging sentences that look incomplete without the text following them.

Cheers.