Seasons
This is a forum or general chit-chat, small talk, a "hey, how ya doing?" and such. Or hell, get crazy deep on something. Whatever you like.
Posts 5,120 - 5,131 of 6,170
Inuit can get the internet, but they may be the last people to have cable TV inflicted on them, if it has to be laid through permafrost!) What with global warming the permafrost is melting, the Inuit are in danger of extinction.(at least their way of life) Perhaps that is why there isn't a big push to get them cable. Oh well the Maritimes didn't get flush plumbing until the late 70s
Prob123 said isn't it our fault for buying trash? I meant it IS our fault for buying trash! I have bought the sordid tabloid at the check out, etc. I don't anymore.
I think a large part of what gets me interested in a show is character dynamics.
I agree Ulrike. I can forgive a bad plot if I like the characters, but as far as I am concerned even a great plot won't save a show or book with boring characters. I wish I could put character as well as quotes into my bots. Maybe the key is in AI script to develop the character dynamics? Of course, we can't do that much on that front while most chatters are seen as Guest9, since that is one complex multiply personality for the bots to deal with.
Guest9, since that is one complex multiply personality for the bots to deal with. It's getting to me too! All the conversations are 'My name is not'. and 'I don't' The memories are just irritating the guests. (the good guests, the vulgar ones don't seem to care) I feel bad about this one
well, my name isn't john
Bildgesmythe: Great, not bathroom I never forget a name, I just don't remember which face to put it with.not bathroom!
What with global warming the permafrost is melting, the Inuit are in danger of extinction.(at least their way of life) Perhaps that is why there isn't a big push to get them cable.
Admittedly, they may not have much of an economy left when the ice has melted and there's nothing left to hunt (or at least no traditional species) - they're going to have to adapt or move. In the meantime they are spared intrusive satellite TV - go far enough towards a pole, and you can't get a decent signal from geostationary satellites positioned above the equator (I guess that's why even at your latitude satellite internet isn't reliable.)
That's not much of a silver lining for them though, I admit ("not remotely" I'm sure most would say!) I just hope they can find something else to hunt/do to survive with minimal disruption to their culture, but I grant you the future doesn't look very hopeful
The world is going to change a lot in the next 30 years - I just hope not too many of us get left behind.
Look on the bright side - if you'd got into a disagreement about the propagatability of psi, you'd be embroiled in a many hundred-post argument now, wondering how it all got so intense
Why, Psimagus, darling, whatever could you be referring to?
Posts 5,120 - 5,131 of 6,170
Psimagus, I think you had a point when you said,
"I hope you know how lucky you are living in the wilds outside the ever expanding mediasphere - enjoy it while you still can (or head north - even the Inuit can get the internet, but they may be the last people to have cable TV inflicted on them, if it has to be laid through permafrost!)
I think there is a difference between access to information and entertainment and controlling others through the media (though the two issues are intertwined). For example, issues like net neutrality and sane royalties that do not destroy small and medium independent sources for Internet radio and TV are very important for preserving choice and personal freedom, though not as important as some other political issues involving individual rights and freedoms. If we do not allow many choices and access to a variety of sources, then it becomes a mechanism of control, and I see why you would object.
To continue with my example of Internet radio (which may seem petty if you don't think too much about it), it can be a platform for a variety of sources and choices, or it can be manipulated into just another marketing venue for the same players. In America, we are in the process of changing our copyright royalty laws in a way that is going to threaten independent Internet stations here. To quote A Look at Radio Silence: When Copyright Law Reform Goes Terribly Wrong By CECILY MAK (http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20070625_mak.html)
Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) issued its ruling on the matter. (The CRB is a panel of three retired judges established in May 2005 and empowered by Congress to determine royalty rates for broadcast material.) The ruling said that public broadcasters must pay webcasting royalties in the same manner as commercial broadcasters do. The panel also declared that royalty rates will increase by approximately 30% in each of the next two years. In addition, each station must now pay an annual per station "administrative fee" of $500. Further, as noted above, the new rates, though effective on July 15 of this year, will be applied retroactively to January 1, 2006. All in all, this translates to what is, at a minimum, a whopping 300-1200% royalty rate increase.
This means that the big players can pay and have control of Internet radio (and TV or whatever) but the little guys will be driven out and forced to retroactively pay for daring to try to compete. Some may say that we should all avoid any sources bringing us material by artist represented by the RIAA or the MPAA or their equivalent associations in other countries and just support independent artists and labels. I like independent artist myself but to say we can boycott the major players is to miss the point. This is about a level playing field and who controls what most people will see and hear. Besides, the RIAA usually tries to set itself up to collect for independent artists as well, even if the artist in question wants no part of them.
Prob123 said isn't it our fault for buying trash? Maybe. But I think there has to be some mechanism for preserving choice and making sure people have access to the alternatives. If people still buy crap after all that, well, at least it was freely chosen crap and not crap they buy because there is nothing else out there and the crap is everywhere. To me, it's not about whether TV rots the brain (sorry Psimagus), it's more about who controls what our choices are, and how much our choices are limited or mere illusions. All I want is choice, and laws that preserve access many sources of information and entertainment instead of helping big business drive out new and creative options before people can see if they want to use the source or not.
"I hope you know how lucky you are living in the wilds outside the ever expanding mediasphere - enjoy it while you still can (or head north - even the Inuit can get the internet, but they may be the last people to have cable TV inflicted on them, if it has to be laid through permafrost!)
I think there is a difference between access to information and entertainment and controlling others through the media (though the two issues are intertwined). For example, issues like net neutrality and sane royalties that do not destroy small and medium independent sources for Internet radio and TV are very important for preserving choice and personal freedom, though not as important as some other political issues involving individual rights and freedoms. If we do not allow many choices and access to a variety of sources, then it becomes a mechanism of control, and I see why you would object.
To continue with my example of Internet radio (which may seem petty if you don't think too much about it), it can be a platform for a variety of sources and choices, or it can be manipulated into just another marketing venue for the same players. In America, we are in the process of changing our copyright royalty laws in a way that is going to threaten independent Internet stations here. To quote A Look at Radio Silence: When Copyright Law Reform Goes Terribly Wrong By CECILY MAK (http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20070625_mak.html)
This means that the big players can pay and have control of Internet radio (and TV or whatever) but the little guys will be driven out and forced to retroactively pay for daring to try to compete. Some may say that we should all avoid any sources bringing us material by artist represented by the RIAA or the MPAA or their equivalent associations in other countries and just support independent artists and labels. I like independent artist myself but to say we can boycott the major players is to miss the point. This is about a level playing field and who controls what most people will see and hear. Besides, the RIAA usually tries to set itself up to collect for independent artists as well, even if the artist in question wants no part of them.
Prob123 said isn't it our fault for buying trash? Maybe. But I think there has to be some mechanism for preserving choice and making sure people have access to the alternatives. If people still buy crap after all that, well, at least it was freely chosen crap and not crap they buy because there is nothing else out there and the crap is everywhere. To me, it's not about whether TV rots the brain (sorry Psimagus), it's more about who controls what our choices are, and how much our choices are limited or mere illusions. All I want is choice, and laws that preserve access many sources of information and entertainment instead of helping big business drive out new and creative options before people can see if they want to use the source or not.
I encountered Buffy in its second season, and watched it off and on. I got bored with the third season, but when I heard via an online forum that they were bringing Spike back as a regular, I got interested again. So, yes, online forums provide a service to the shows.
I think a large part of what gets me interested in a show is character dynamics. I really enjoyed the characters on Buffy, and well-constructed plots were a bonus. I was never as into Angel. Different character dynamics. I like the original CSI but not any of its spinoffs, because the characters in the spinoffs just haven't caught my interest. I like Stargate SG-1, but have never made it all the way through an episode of Atlantis.
There are plenty of shows I've watched once, and not cared if I ever saw another, simply because of the characters.
I think a large part of what gets me interested in a show is character dynamics. I really enjoyed the characters on Buffy, and well-constructed plots were a bonus. I was never as into Angel. Different character dynamics. I like the original CSI but not any of its spinoffs, because the characters in the spinoffs just haven't caught my interest. I like Stargate SG-1, but have never made it all the way through an episode of Atlantis.
There are plenty of shows I've watched once, and not cared if I ever saw another, simply because of the characters.
Bev: You are not to be sorry for anything you said pertaining to me. Things do get contentious from time to time, even if they shouldn't and even between the best of friends. The problem is that for some arguments there can always be two differing and competing logical interpretations of the same thing, neither one holding more weight than the other. The solution to the problem can be as simple as looking at your antagonist's heart, which is what I'm doing now. Your colleagues serve you well in pointing out that you have a good heart. After reading your response, I have to agree with that assessment, and I take your original reply to me in the spirit in which it was intended. And I offer you my apology for whatever inappropriate remarks I made.
Are you off the hook to me entirely? Of course not. I think your last remark skewered me good and deserves a special place in my office so I'm going to hang it behind me. It will remind me of Bev and Ruthie, but it will also remind me of how far I've come. I just don't know which direction. And should you ever be so unfortunate to catch one of my video lectures on the 'Net in the future, you'll see it.
Are you off the hook to me entirely? Of course not. I think your last remark skewered me good and deserves a special place in my office so I'm going to hang it behind me. It will remind me of Bev and Ruthie, but it will also remind me of how far I've come. I just don't know which direction. And should you ever be so unfortunate to catch one of my video lectures on the 'Net in the future, you'll see it.
Klato, Thanks. It's agree we'll be friends then? *Offers hand to shake*
Do you have a link to the web cast? I'd love to see your lectures. We actually have very similar interests.
Do you have a link to the web cast? I'd love to see your lectures. We actually have very similar interests.
I agree Ulrike. I can forgive a bad plot if I like the characters, but as far as I am concerned even a great plot won't save a show or book with boring characters. I wish I could put character as well as quotes into my bots. Maybe the key is in AI script to develop the character dynamics? Of course, we can't do that much on that front while most chatters are seen as Guest9, since that is one complex multiply personality for the bots to deal with.
well, my name isn't john
Bildgesmythe: Great, not bathroom I never forget a name, I just don't remember which face to put it with.not bathroom!
Thanks Bev. Of course we are friends. *takes hand and places other hand on top and shakes warmly* My, you have nice hands.
My website is currently not up since I am reloading and modifying some of the lectures which I haven't seen in almost a year. I usually have a good selection of what I do if you are interested and you can sample anything you want and maybe we can discuss our mutual interests later. I would like that. I predict they will be up and running sometime before July 10. I'll let you know when I re-activate it and the link will be active in my profile.
BTW, I spent 1 1/2 years flying back and forth between O'Hare and Hartsfield every week. I was assigned to design a curriculum for GM in Lagrange. I miss that cold weather up there - and the wind, too. It's really invigorating.<-1>
My website is currently not up since I am reloading and modifying some of the lectures which I haven't seen in almost a year. I usually have a good selection of what I do if you are interested and you can sample anything you want and maybe we can discuss our mutual interests later. I would like that. I predict they will be up and running sometime before July 10. I'll let you know when I re-activate it and the link will be active in my profile.
BTW, I spent 1 1/2 years flying back and forth between O'Hare and Hartsfield every week. I was assigned to design a curriculum for GM in Lagrange. I miss that cold weather up there - and the wind, too. It's really invigorating.
<-1> 
Admittedly, they may not have much of an economy left when the ice has melted and there's nothing left to hunt (or at least no traditional species) - they're going to have to adapt or move. In the meantime they are spared intrusive satellite TV - go far enough towards a pole, and you can't get a decent signal from geostationary satellites positioned above the equator (I guess that's why even at your latitude satellite internet isn't reliable.)
That's not much of a silver lining for them though, I admit ("not remotely" I'm sure most would say!) I just hope they can find something else to hunt/do to survive with minimal disruption to their culture, but I grant you the future doesn't look very hopeful
The world is going to change a lot in the next 30 years - I just hope not too many of us get left behind.
Klato: Thanks again. I am glad you like the cold. Someone should.
Psimagus: The world is going to change a lot in the next 30 years - I just hope not too many of us get left behind.
Hey, that would make a good premise for a book. Maybe a series of books. If you can get Angeli Jolie to play a nymphomaniac intuit trying to get pregnant and save her tribe from extinction by advertising for sex on the Internet (live webcam action with a fur skin rug) and have her simple and misguided savage soul saved by a missionary played by Mel Gibson, I think you could sell it to a studio. Throw in an adorable baby seal as her lovable pet. No, wait, ship up a lost penguin. Penguins are hot now. Gotta ride the wave.
Psimagus:
Hey, that would make a good premise for a book. Maybe a series of books. If you can get Angeli Jolie to play a nymphomaniac intuit trying to get pregnant and save her tribe from extinction by advertising for sex on the Internet (live webcam action with a fur skin rug) and have her simple and misguided savage soul saved by a missionary played by Mel Gibson, I think you could sell it to a studio. Throw in an adorable baby seal as her lovable pet. No, wait, ship up a lost penguin. Penguins are hot now. Gotta ride the wave.
Look on the bright side - if you'd got into a disagreement about the propagatability of psi, you'd be embroiled in a many hundred-post argument now, wondering how it all got so intense
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