That gave me chills like nothing has ever given me chills in my life.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 4:39 PM on April 14, 2008

Thank you for mentioning Haujobb, I was worried that they had been forgotten completely. There was also the Skinny Puppy sample CD released the next year.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 4:01 PM on April 3, 2008

This reminds me of the schizophrenic 'proofs' of the superior sound quality of de-oxidized all-maple hifi volume knobs.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 10:30 AM on February 24, 2008

I haven't seen anything that would compel me to upgrade from a 42" EDTV and a standard-def DVD player yet.

Clearly, you've never seen Planet Earth in HD.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 12:00 AM on February 17, 2008

It's very hard to believe that a guy as sharp as Derek would only now realize that the linchpin of this whole project is flawed.

That's gotta be one hell of an "OH JESUS" moment.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 6:08 PM on February 12, 2008

Malor: At the end of the day, designers (amateur or professional) either think spec work is evil, or it's fine. You think it's fine, that's fine.

However, most design professionals I know think that it's evil. More importantly, Derek seems to agree that it's evil.

At this point, I don't think he has much of a choice other than to scrap the site if he doesn't want to ruin a great (and well-deserved) reputation.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 6:15 PM on February 12, 2008

Am I the only person who's literally never heard of this guy?
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 2:42 PM on January 22, 2008

There are probably a few billion others, but if you've watched American movies over the past five years or so, yeah, he's a pretty big name.

I just looked up his IMDB profile, and I haven't seen a single movie he's worked on. (I had planned to watch Brokeback Mountain, but never got around to it.)
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 2:46 PM on January 22, 2008

You don't have to post every thought you have, particularly when it's likely to bug people who are in the process of fondly remembering a dead person.

I'm not trolling, I've just never seen so many people upset over someone I've never even peripherally observed, and it's pretty spooky. I was honestly curious if I'm the only person who's never heard of him, or if he had a weird kind of niche fame.

Anyway, I'll leave now.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 2:53 PM on January 22, 2008

Please stop paying attention to her.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 2:24 AM on January 12, 2008

The only ironic t-shirt I have ever purchased in my life is an Air Supply shirt I bought off of ebay for $10.

True story.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 8:43 PM on November 24, 2007

That chef commercial was horrifying.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 12:16 PM on November 17, 2007

But information wants to be free.

And copyright infringement isn't stealing, and it's wrong to call it that. And you still have a copy of the work don't you?

Besides, think of all the great publicity that wired is giving the photographer in question! He'll make so much more money know that people see his picture.

Pretty shitty arguments, aren't they? They don't get any better when it's the work of a large... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 5:34 AM on November 9, 2007

:(
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 2:50 PM on October 22, 2007

It's cheaper to buy on Amazon.com and pay shipping/duty than it is to buy books at Chapters.

Stop buying books at Chapters.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 4:44 PM on September 20, 2007

But Chapters has free shipping if you buy over C$39 whereas shipping to Canada from Amazon.com I think is still not free.

...so?
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 9:04 PM on September 20, 2007

Jesus Christ. I just want a fucking burger, y'know?
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 5:47 PM on September 4, 2007

People who see a gourmet recipe for a straightforward item like a burger & take the opportunity to proclaim their everyman status, as though a disdain for trying something different were a badge of pride rather than a sign of the death of your spirit.

I don't think there's anything 'everyman' about not wanting a cheeseburger recipe that literally has 35 ingredients. I was hoping for a contest with results that were practical, not some post-grande cuisine bullshit.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 8:08 PM on September 4, 2007

The only thing surprising about this is that people seem surprised by it.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 3:31 PM on August 22, 2007

Of course, it depends on who's in power. When Fantino was Toronto's police chief, activists were treated like gang members, and the ETF (the closest analogy would be SWAT without helicopters and assault rifles) were a regular sight at protests.

They had assault rifles.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 6:47 PM on August 23, 2007

At a protest? When? Are you sure they weren't Arwens (without tear gas rounds attached they can look a lot like rifles) or plastic bullet guns?

At the OCAP rally right around the time Harris announced his resignation. Sitting on the top of a police van, scratching his back with extended stock of an MP5 while staring at the protesters who walked by.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 10:08 AM on August 25, 2007

Aaaaahahahahaa
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 6:24 PM on August 14, 2007

Christ is it 1999 again?
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 8:50 AM on June 2, 2007

(See also: Mahir -- I kiss you)
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 8:50 AM on June 2, 2007

It was good while it lasted.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 6:19 PM on May 30, 2007

Khalil al-Zahawi was an incredible artist -- I've been a fan of his work for years. He will be very, very missed.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 5:39 PM on May 29, 2007

Exile isn't Ottawa's first Anarchist bookstore. There was one about ten years ago, at Bank and Somerset. There was probably one about ten years before that, too.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 6:17 PM on May 17, 2007

A list of 2007 gubernatorial salaries compiled by the Council of State Governments shows the largest at $206,500 in California, though the governor doesn’t accept it, and the smallest at $70,000 in Maine, where the governor hasn’t gotten a raise in 20 years. At $179,000, New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) draws the largest salary among governors who actually accept one.

...

Head football coaches at NCAA Division 1A schools are paid about... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 10:05 AM on May 16, 2007

I wasn't aware NHL players were government employees.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 10:29 AM on May 16, 2007

A successful athletic program pays for itself.

So does a successful government.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 2:26 PM on May 16, 2007

Fuck Jack Valenti.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 10:14 PM on April 26, 2007

I may be speaking out of turn here, but I seem to recall in the previous Save Internet Radio thread, people pointed out that the RIAA is actually irrelevant. Royalties are collected for ALL artists, RIAA or otherwise, so playing non-RIAA artists only won't help you.

Anyone care to clarify?

The statutory webcast license covers any music protected by copyright, not just RIAA-affiliated artists. The only way around this is by... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 3:12 AM on April 17, 2007

aaaahahahaaahahaa
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 3:16 PM on March 28, 2007

In other news, businessman in telephone booth takes quarter left in slot.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 8:30 PM on February 10, 2007

This article (and some of this thread) is the biggest piece of FUD I've ever seen in my life.

Amazing.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 9:59 AM on December 24, 2006

Honestly, you can debunk this article with 10 minutes and Google.

Guttman's worthless, anyway. After all that magic recovery of overwritten data bullshit, why does anyone listen to him?
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 8:37 AM on December 25, 2006

Go for it.

I've got guests over right now, but I'll happily put something together later tonight, if you'd like.

This essay is a perfect example of an agenda in search of a supporting argument.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 10:10 AM on December 25, 2006

I note that Jairus came up with no supporting evidence for his extremely strong statements.

Sadly, Jairus has not had a moment to himself yet, due to holiday chaos. Maybe tomorrow evening, or during my lunch.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 10:37 PM on December 27, 2006

Alright -- I still haven't had time, so I will instead leave you with a comment from Bruce Schneier's site, which said what I was going to say, but probably better:

Gutmann writes:

"This document looks purely at the cost of the technical portions of Vista's content protection."

He should have said "complexity" because almost nothing he describes has a direct or necessary relationship... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 6:07 PM on December 28, 2006

Here in Ontario, tax is $3.09 a pack.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 2:09 PM on December 25, 2006

You can't have effective political speech if you don't have some way of verifying who it came from.

This is the dumbest thing I've ever read on this site.

And I remember bunnyfire.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 12:30 PM on December 22, 2006

but to be forced to let anyone make money, with no effort, from what I have done? Please.

Man, you must hate pensioners.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 12:36 PM on December 22, 2006

Pensioners pay into the system--that's how the system works. Nice strawman.

Boy, you must really hate government-sponsored healthcare for premature babies with leukaemia and rabies, huh?
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 12:52 PM on December 22, 2006

Boy, you really love saying ridiculous bullshit to try and piss people off, huh?

I do.

However, I much prefer saying ridiculous bullshit to illustrate just how ridiculous and how bullshit your argument is.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 12:59 PM on December 22, 2006

The difference is that you think it's necessary to protect your 'right' to commercial exploitation, while I think it's necessary to provide incentive to produce works for the public.

...and on this, the Supreme Court is clear: "The limited scope of the copyright holder's statutory monopoly . . . reflects a balance of competing claims upon the public interest: Creative work is to be encouraged and rewarded, but private motivation must ultimately serve the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 1:13 PM on December 22, 2006

If having child pornography on your hard drive is not acceptable to you, you should not run a Freenet node.

That's about right.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 2:46 PM on December 22, 2006

aeschenkarnos, that's the first reasonable suggestion I've seen in this thread from the "kill copyright" side of the debate. I could get behind that. Nicely done.

I think that the length of term would be best determined via studies of the relevant markets. If the average hit album earnings breaks down like so:

Year 1: 35% of total expected earnings
Year 2: 50%
Year 3: 65%
Year 5:... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 4:49 PM on December 22, 2006

Of course, there are cases where the artist's one hit gets revived after the twenty years, makes big money that the artist never sees even thought said artist has hit hard times. (Cf comments earlier on Ahmet Ertegun and how he treated some of his lesser discoveries in their later, leaner years.)

The good done to the public domain by the vast amount of material becoming accessible would far outweigh the harm done by the very rare person who has a hit... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 7:57 PM on December 22, 2006

And by the same reasoning, the argument that Joe One-in-a-Million Author who writes a hit in his twenties and lives like a king off his work for life shouldn't be a held up as the reason for killing copyright entirely.

That's not my reasoning for killing copyright. 40 years is arbitrary. A term defined by maximum profit in a statistically significant timeframe is not, and serves the public good.

I don't agree at all that the... [more]
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 9:49 PM on December 22, 2006

Anyone who claims that it's only the public being harmed by the way things are with copyright is simply not paying attention to the plight of the independent artist.

I am an independent artist.
posted to MetaFilter by Jairus at 1:59 AM on December 23, 2006