Peter Lyons

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since Sep 12, 2000
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Recent posts by Peter Lyons

Just go get the AC adapter and plug it into a wall outlet.
21 years ago
Back in high school I took a lot of pride in being balanced. In fact, I was the balancing point of my class. (271st out of 541) Not too high, not too low... right? Just a nice, even, 2.5 GPA.
For some reason, my Dad, Mr. High-School-Valedictorian-Bachelor's-Degree-With-Honors-Master's-Degree-From-MIT-In-One-Year was less than impressed.
21 years ago

my point is noone is being harmed by me getting free songs from the internet.


I may not be physically harmed when someone pirates my software, but I am financially harmed. Whether or not they go on to sell that pirated software to others is only a matter of degree.
I've read a particular story a number of times, and have seen it attributed to any number of different people, so I have no idea who deserves credit:
"Once upon a time, a man said to a woman, 'Would you sleep with me for a million dollars?' She said, 'Yes, I would.' He said, 'Would you sleep with me for $20?' She said, 'Of course not! What kind of woman do you think I am?' He said, 'We've already established that. Now we're merely haggling over the price.'"
I don't include that to change the topic, but only to illustrate my point that stealing music for personal use only versus stealing it and selling copies is only a matter of degree.
Secondly, Randall, you argue that you wouldn't have bought the CD anyway. That's fine! That's supposed to be one of your options! You need to consider how badly you want the CD, balance that against the cost, and make a decision whether or not to buy it. If theft is justifiable in cases where you don't like the music enough to spend $16 on it, then why not always steal the CD? Is it that you think the performer's royalties are merely some sort of gratuity - a tip - which is for you to decide to pay or not pay?
And by the way, how do you know you would never buy the CD? Certainly if you've stolen it, you'll never again even consider buying it - your desire to own the CD, however small, has been satisfied. Let's pretend, though, that you hadn't stolen it. After a few weeks, one or two new tracks from the disk are released for radio play. You like them. Your desire grows, and along with it, your willingness to pay a higher price to obtain it. Just then, you notice a Best Buy ad in the paper - the CD is on sale for $11.99. Desire for the CD and cost have intersected, you make a legal purchase, you're happy with the deal you got, and the performer, their agent, their studio, their producer, Best Buy, etc, all earned their share in the deal. That's how it's supposed to work!
There's more that can be said, but it's dinner time!
Later everyone.
Peter
21 years ago

personally i think file sharing is ok because i wont buy the CD anyway...they are lucky i want to listen to it


Randall?
Hello?
Here are some equally ridiculous parallel statements...
...offered as justification for stealing a car:
"I'm not going to buy a Lamborghini anyway - they should just be glad I want to drive one!"
...offered as justification for stealing groceries:
"$4.00 for hot dogs!? I'll just take the five-fingered discount on these, thanks. They should just be glad I want to eat them!"
...offered as justification for pirating software you've written:
"Yeah, like I'm gonna pay for this. Randall should just be glad I want to use it! (he's probably filthy rich anyway.)"
I'll bet you don't steal cars or groceries. Why do you make an exception for music? Because it's easy and you're not likely to get caught? Maybe because you think intellectual property has no real value - you didn't steal anything material? The same is true of the software most of us make a living writing. Obviously, we can make a living doing this because most of our users pay for the product rather than stealing it.
I'm suspect this has been thoroughly covered in the Intellectual Property thread mentioned above, which I haven't read... but I had to say something.
Peter <--- not trying to piss anyone off... but, come on, man!
21 years ago
I guess $20 a year doesn't seem so bad for a permanent e-mail address, and I'm thinking of paying it to be able to use my yahoo address using Outlook. Incidentally, the account is still free, it's POP3 access you pay for - after April - I forget the date. I've been using this account for years and it is on pretty much every resume I have in circulation. Plus, free of charge, every day I get tons of information on who can refinance my home, what marijuana substitutes work just great, where to buy Viagra, where to see "hot babes", how to lose 100 pounds a month with no exercise... and Lord knows, I can't afford to cut myself off from all of that!
The jury is still out on this one.
Fundamentally, I don't have a huge issue with paying for this - they are providing a service of some value to me, and $20 bucks/yr. is hardly exorbitant, and I'm getting pretty good at writing rules to filter out the crap.
I just like the permanence of it!
21 years ago

Originally posted by herb slocomb:
Some of the events in that book also seem to be lacking sufficient evidence. Remember, extraordinary claims should have extraordinary proof. Otherwise with all the crackpot ideas out there, we might eventaully regress back to ignorant superstitution.


Of course, we should be cautious of "ignorant superstition" and not believe something just because a complete stranger says it's the truth. Of all the events in the Bible which you feel "lack sufficient evidence", go ahead and pick one or two the most extraordinary, and I'll see what, if any, extraordinary evidence I can find to support the claims.
22 years ago
You'll never see an ad where a company states a preference for somebody with no experience at all.
When I was searching as an entry-level candidate, I responded to anything asking for 2 or fewer years of experience, and I did get interviews. Eventually, the job I landed was one I never saw advertised at all - it was a referral. Always ask the "no's" for a referral!
22 years ago

Originally posted by Eager Beaver:
How much of your early childhood can you recollect? Going by your assumption that belief in past-life should be corroborated by mental images of that period....you never lived as an infant....which is absurd.


Of course, just because you can no more remember a past life than you can remember your infancy, does not constitute proof or even evidence that you did have a past life.
(nor am I suggesting that Eager Beaver meant it that way. )
22 years ago
The fact that you don't remember anything from a past life does not exclude the possibility of life after death.
22 years ago
By far my favorite and most-used desk reference is Teach Yourself SQL in 10 Minutes. I love thin books, and it tells me just about all I need to know for most situations I encounter.
I only wish Sam's would publish something like it, only tailored specifically for Oracle. They've done it for SQL Server... why not Oracle?
22 years ago
Great movie, by the way...
22 years ago
oh, is this just a budget issue?
then to your original recipe, and all your other recipies, just add...
Ramen Noodles.
You can subsist on nothing but Ramen for about $5.00 a week, and, of course, you can liven it up some by tossing in whatever - like beancurd, sliced carrots, or dried baby fish.
Mmmmmm...
sounds tasty!
22 years ago
If I were you I'd just forget it and order a pizza.
22 years ago
There are several states with no state income taxes. Florida is one, as several people have verified. Washington state is another. The state of Alaska actually pays you to live there - it's some amount based on the number of people in your family. Of course, they take that money from the oil companies, so guess who ultimately pays for that?
Also, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, and Wyoming.
http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/ind_inc.html
22 years ago