The Official Social Thread V2.0

This thread is for users to:

-Talk about everything off-topic
-Have fun and socialize with other board members

This thread is NOT for:

-Needlessly raising your post count
-Requesting warez
-film bashing

The TOS is *still* in effect here. Flaming, swearing, baiting, and all other offenses earn just as harsh a punishment when commited here.

Now that i've gotten that downer out of the way, i will remind everyone:

Keep it clean, but keep it fun!

-Chris


First Reply. Woohoo!

-Matt

Edit: I BEAT DORKMAN TO IT!

 

Dammit. I was in this thread before it got stickied and I forgot to get first reply.

M. Scott

 

Good idea to make it sticky.

Hmmm... would this by chance be in opposition to a certain UNofficial social thread made?


Anyway... we need to talk about something.

What's everyone's favorite kind of monkey? Mine is the white-faced capuchin. Discuss.


Rick McCallum loves you!

 

This thread is NOT for:

-Needlessly raising your post count
-warez discusiion
-film bashing

Umm, you told Fig to bring his locked thread about warez into discussion here. I was about to reply there, but it was locked. Can I reply here without getting into trouble?

 

Clarification: I meant looking for warez or promoting warez. Sorry. Talking about the moral and ethical implications is okay.

-Chris

 

I want to be one of the first's to reply, but well, I have nothing to say A social thread 2? Why?

EDIT: Does anybody have a clue of why star wars.com is so slow??? I can't browse through the databank....

 

Fig's thread in which my reply is to.

Is this why it took you so long to reply to my IM, you were typing this thread?

Anyway.

Is it illegal to have the access software to the site... is it illegal to download or just to use or just to sell?

Illegal to use.

Is the whole "stealing" thing a moral issue or a factual legal issue?

Both, in my opinion.

Is downloading a thousand Mp3's any different than downloading Premiere, or FCP, or Primatte, or, hell, RenderMan?

MP3's sometimes get people to get a taste of the music, and go out and buy it, as WD's said.... even though you can get audio samples on Amazon.com. However, I, as well as many others, hate RealPlayer, which Amazon used to use. (I don't know if they still use it, either way, they used to use it.) Otherwise, yes.



Whenever I get into this argument with friends, these two come up:

There is WAY too much government!

Um... too much government or not, we should NOT discard copyrights.

Well, these people have enough money anyway. (In referral to music/movies.)

That is absolutely absurd. I don't care if they have enough money. If they want, they will give money away LEGALLY.

Copyright:

If I have a copyright, it does not mean nobody can copy whatever I have copyrighted. It simply means that I have the RIGHT to who can COPY it.

Note: my father is a patent lawyer.

P.S.

In regards to the beginning of your post, here's an anology: People have drugs, despite their illegality.

EDIT: A social thread 2? Why?

The original was locked due to posts' defiance of the reasons it was originally created.

 

Blah, AWB beat me to it. Again.

I basically agree with him on all the points, too.

Just to add my two cents...

I used to have over 2GBs of music and videos. Most of that collection is gone now...several months ago, I went through and deleted everything that was illegal. This had nothing to do with being worried about being caught, since that's still highly unlikely.

Rather, like many other people on this board, I'm a creative. I love to create, to write, to draw, to film, to design, to express myself in every way I can. So I can relate to others--from musicians to filmmakers to software developers--who put effort into their own creative works. I often choose to have what I make available more or less freely to others. Many people choose to sell it. That's their decision, often for very practical reasons (these people have families to feed, guys), and as the creators, their choices for their work ought to be honored.

 

I need to point out this article, which scares me:

Senator Endorses Destroying Downloaders' Computers

-Chris

 

Yeah. No hard feelings, Chris.

The Formula is still one of my favorite movies ever, so, you're forgiven.

---

Can they really do that kind of damage to your computer of the internet?

:::Slaps face, and says, "Duh, you idiot.":::

Reminds me of the diskette bomb from the good ol' Anarchist's Cookbook.

 

Anarchist's Cookbook, who hasn't downloaded that.

 

I doubt, at this moment, that they can. I'm sure in time they could figure out a way...

...if it were ever a sane option.

He's just trying to cause a stir, i'm thinking.

-Chris

 

He's just trying to cause a stir, i'm thinking.

Yeah. Because, if they did it, how would they do it? Through a file embedded in P2P files? If that was the case, people could probably isolate the file and put it on the net, and we have another COSTLY problem. I feel that this is not the way to handle this problem.

EDIT: EDIT: Does anybody have a clue of why star wars.com is so slow??? I can't browse through the databank....

It is slow for me, but I can still browse through the databank. Are you on 56K?

 

Jesus, guys! This is TFN!!!!

By the way, funny story for yall.

I finally got a LAN/Cable connection IN MY ROFOOM, right, but here was several steps to get here.

A. We got a new computer for downstairs.

B. We got a cable modem.

C. We got a router.

D. We connected the computer.

E. We connected the cable modem.

F. We connected the router.

G. Nothing worked for the obligatory hour.

H. Several hours later, nothing was working still.

I. I consult the manual, looking for troubleshooting on "If you cannot for your life gain an internet connection."

J. It gave me a customer service website URL.

ARGH!!!!!

DO THEY HAVE HELP-LINES IN THE TELEPHONE MANUAL?!?!?

 

Well, I think you made the right choice in locking the first social thread. Someone had to do it.

Anyway, now that that's behind us, lets just move on to more off-topic things. Today, we used our video capture card to connect the X-box to the computer and play it. With it, we can have Xbox and Gamecube both going at once, with the Gamecube going on the TV.

Also, we can play networked Xbox with this now. 8 player Halo is freakin sweet.

 

It is slow for me, but I can still browse through the databank. Are you on 56K?

Cable

 

It is slow for me, but I can still browse through the databank. Are you on 56K?

Cable

Ah, same here. I wish I had cable when I was 11.





Anyone wanna hear the PC upgrades I'll be saving for/performing sometime relatively soon?

 

I'm gonna upgrade my Ram, harddisc, soundcard, and gonna buy a microphone - gotta waste that $$$ kaplinky somehow

Anyway, I saw a pretty decent looking camera-stand; tripod at wallmart for $46 canadian. I don't think that's some luxury, probablly something that'll brake after first use....
Anything I should keep my eye on?

 

Well, it's possible that hyperspace visitors are more than a few.

 

"MP3's sometimes get people to get a taste of the music, and go out and buy it, as WD's said."

I have to say that that is not a very solid argument, as it can be applied to any software. People can think that they love the software, but don't want the demo because it is too limiting, and so they try out the full version until they can buy it. I think that that is a rational counterargument.

Your friends' two arguments are terrible, as you said.

Too much government? What? "Let's stick it to the man by stealing a programmer's work! The government will surely think twice about being in abundance again!"

They have a lot of money? That's just ludicrous. They didn't aim to make a finite amount of money and then stop and give away their software; they made it to be a continuous source of income. If everyone decided that they had too much money, the company would have no money to show for all it's work after a while.

This is an interesting discussion, and THANK YOU for making this a sticky finally. I hated seeing it floating around the boards. It was ridiculous.

~Neszis~

 

Today, we used our video capture card to connect the X-box to the computer and play it.

Was that an analog capture card or a video card with analog capturing abilities? I'm getting the latter sometime soon.

I'm gonna upgrade my Ram, harddisc, soundcard, and gonna buy a microphone - gotta waste that $$$ kaplinky somehow

DO NOT WASTE FOR THE SAKE OF WASTING. If you do, you'll hate yourself later.

I have to say that that is not a very solid argument, as it can be applied to any software.

I agree. I was not arguing, I was just saying that some people use that excuse. I don't buy much music anyway, so it's all good with me.

They have a lot of money? That's just ludicrous. They didn't aim to make a finite amount of money and then stop and give away their software; they made it to be a continuous source of income. If everyone decided that they had too much money, the company would have no money to show for all it's work after a while.

I agree. Horrible argument. But I said they talk that way about downloading music and movies. (EDIT) Still a horrible argument. (/EDIT)

Anyhow, as for my PC upgrades:

1. WD2000JB 200 GB Hard Drive.
2. DVR-105 DVD Burner... may change to DVR-A05 if necessary (the same burner, but retail instead of OEM)
3. Radeon 9600 Pro Video Card
4. Xaser III V1420A chassis
5. P4P800 Motherboard... unless I see reasoning to spend $60 more for the P4C800, I will not.
6. 2.8GHz 800MHz FSB CPU
7. 512 MB DDR RAM, will upgrade to 2 GB DDR RAM later on

So, those upgrades add up to like $1220. Wow. But, prices on the Hard drive, DVD burner, and video card go down gradually, I don't imagine the Xaser III going down much if any, same thing with all the other items except for the CPU. The CPU will go down on June 23rd and beyond then the 3.2GHz CPU comes out. That will cost too much, though.... $640. (The 3.2, that is.)

 

[loud cowboy voice] Yahoo!!! Soc. thread v2.0!!!! Yippy kyiay!!![/loud cowboy voice]

w00t!

 

This is exciting!

 

THANK YOU for making this a sticky finally. I hated seeing it floating around the boards. It was ridiculous.

Thank DorkmanScott, it was he that suggested it to me.

-Chris

 

// hugs Dorkman


Rick McCallum loves you!