tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post112805689218396205..comments2024-03-18T17:09:55.964-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: On Copyright, Royalties, and The New EconomyDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1128129199730266252005-09-30T18:13:00.000-07:002005-09-30T18:13:00.000-07:00I get by with off-the-shelf readers. My issue is ...I get by with off-the-shelf readers. My issue is that some of us don't have time to ponder where things are, what's new and what's not.<BR/><BR/>When I commented I was feeling touchy and shouldn't have written. For me the issue is about communication, and about making it as easy as possible for people to consider a position. Ben Franklin moved people to reconsider their positions though specific changes in his "debate" style, and "sold" people on ideas they would otherwise reject wholesale because he learned to couch his "argument" in ways that improved communication.<BR/><BR/>I believe that Dr. Brin has things to say that need to be read/heard, and anything done to diminish the odds of that are fixable speed-bumps. Entropy and misunderstanding don't need help. Wooly-thinkers are quite good at avoiding rational reflection. If even fans have trouble (in my case an inconvenience) accessing the valuable content then how much less likely will it be for opponents to encounter the ideas?<BR/><BR/>Dr. Brin has less time than I do, so his being unable to spend much time or thought on streamlining the website make sense. Declaring the motivation of disallowing improvements in accessibility to be a disregard for "casual" participation did not wash with me. My comment was to try to encourage a reconsideration of broadening the reach of the message rather than narrowing it. If a qualified person or group wants to repackage the information for clarity ... why not?<BR/><BR/>Now I go back to reading/lurking....Authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06647452176926681840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1128123343473653372005-09-30T16:35:00.000-07:002005-09-30T16:35:00.000-07:00Yes. I'll email you a reference.Yes. I'll email you a reference.Rob Perkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13115249244056328076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1128121434185137102005-09-30T16:03:00.000-07:002005-09-30T16:03:00.000-07:00Rob, do you know anyone who could implement such a...Rob, do you know anyone who could implement such a techno phantasmagory for me on the cheap?David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1128109180948394512005-09-30T12:39:00.000-07:002005-09-30T12:39:00.000-07:00David,I think the basic layout of your home page i...David,<BR/><BR/>I think the basic layout of your home page is more like a "site map" page than a home page. <BR/><BR/>What I might suggest doesn't really change the layout of the page. Rather, make use of a technology like "cascading style sheets" and offer a large-print version of the page to those who want it. That would mean using specific fonts instead of the graphics picture buttons for the menu entries.<BR/><BR/>Another approach is to bring the page to life a little bit by collapsing those menus on the left and using a bit of trickery to display submenus with the topics when a user goes over them with the mouse. <BR/><BR/>That sort of thing lets you maintain the front-page density you want, without overwhelming someone at first blush.Rob Perkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13115249244056328076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1128099786085423882005-09-30T10:03:00.000-07:002005-09-30T10:03:00.000-07:00@ Rob PerkinsThe Democrats out-raised the Republic...@ Rob Perkins<BR/><BR/><I>The Democrats out-raised the Republicans for the '04 cycle, didn't they? With more money raised from very wealthy donors than the Republicans could manage, whose bulk came from medium and small businesses?</I><BR/><BR/>The biggest story last election was the growth of small donors. Largely through the Internet. That's what powered Howard Dean's campaign. And then it converted over to the actual election, too. <A HREF="http://www.cfinst.org/pr/100404.html" REL="nofollow">This</A> is analysis of the funding from after the conventions. Let me quote a bit.<BR/><BR/>"Aside from the sheer volume of cash, the big story of 2004 was the growth in small (under $200) contributions. The candidates raised $205 million in small amounts in 2003-04, more than four times as much as the $50 million that their predecessors of 2000 had raised in small gifts.<BR/><BR/>...<BR/><BR/># Democrats’ under-$200 contributions rose from $11 million to $127 million, or from 17% to 36% of all of their contributions from individuals.<BR/># Republican candidates’ small donations as whole went up less, from $43 million to $78 million, or from 28% to 31%. However, President Bush’s small donations went up from $15 million to $78 million, or 16% of his total contributions from individuals in 2000 to 31% in 2004."<BR/><BR/>Kerry did slightly out-fundraise Bush, I think, but he had to spend some of that on the primaries, and didn't spend quite a bit of it that well. (Seriously. Democrats? NEVER hire Bob Shrum to run a campaign again. He's lost the last what, six that he's been the campaign manager for.)<BR/><BR/>Most of the money for both parties comes from wealthy donors and big businesses. That's the way it's been for years, and the Republicans have actually had leads on that for a while. Probably because their policies are "business-friendly" while the Democrats used to get money because they were the ones in power. And most wealthy people and big companies are going to bribe both sides, to make sure whoever's in charge knows who their friends are. And who they owe their job to.<BR/><BR/>I'm sure there's after-election statistics of exactly how much both parties and candidates got from where, but most of the ones I found weren't easy to glance over.<BR/><BR/><BR/>And for the days of Napster. Not so much because it was free, though that was part of it, but because you could find ANYTHING on it. None of the record label sanctioned networks have everything and the file-sharing networks have been broken up and scattered so there's no one place to go find everything.<BR/><BR/>Dr. Brin, it's not just movie scripts. How many actual movies do the studios have lying around in their vaults that they don't think it's worth converting to DVD? Just old celluloid, breaking down. And there's thousands, maybe millions of books, artwork, poetry, and so on, that are "orphaned". The company that held the copyrights went out of business and nobody's sure who owns it now. More expensive to track down the actual owners than could be made reprinting it. (sometimes)<BR/><BR/>All this stuff just rotting, and nobody's allowed to preserve it, remix it, rewrite it, or so on, for eternity in increments of two years. All to protect Mickey Mouse.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1128099736211035402005-09-30T10:02:00.000-07:002005-09-30T10:02:00.000-07:00To those complaining about the size of text -- ple...To those complaining about the size of text -- please note that any browser will allow you to increase/decrease the text size easily. View->TextSizeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1128099288002397172005-09-30T09:54:00.000-07:002005-09-30T09:54:00.000-07:00Rik: a growing middle class almost defines the "d...Rik: a growing middle class almost defines the "diamond shaped society", tho it is also healthiest when:<BR/> ALL boats rise, <BR/>when today's poor are richer than past kings, <BR/>when the rich only get privileges bigger and sooner, not differences in KIND<BR/>when greater wealth/power is accompanied by greater accountability<BR/>when being born into a portion of the diamond only has a small influence over which part you occupy thirty years later.<BR/><BR/>Patriot-X, I never meant to insult you. But I really do need to show the full range of ideas on my entry page. As my eyes fade with age, I buy bigger monitors... (two is better!)... and there are 2X tricks in some programs.<BR/><BR/>But maybe I should have an "Easy Viewing" Optional entry page, hmmm? Anyone care to design that for me? Something that would distill the RANGE of topic/interest areas for people at a glance? I could offer that option pretty easily.<BR/><BR/>Thanks Thane. I'll look up Phillips.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1128098907003104972005-09-30T09:48:00.000-07:002005-09-30T09:48:00.000-07:00Rik,Income inequality helps to foster the destruct...Rik,<BR/><BR/>Income inequality helps to foster the destruction of the middle class - that's why you should care about it. The problem is, once you reach a certain level of wealth, there's not much else to do with that wealth but gather more around yourself - usually by stripping it from others, via whatever means you can pay for.<BR/><BR/>The book I mentioned earlier (Wealth and Democracy) does an excellent job of describing why and how this happens, and what (Usually collapse, followed by revolution) comes next.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1128090363150631752005-09-30T07:26:00.000-07:002005-09-30T07:26:00.000-07:00David,On the increasing divide between rich and po...David,<BR/><BR/>On the increasing divide between rich and poor, I cannot recommend highly enough the book <A HREF="http://www.wealthanddemocracy.com/" REL="nofollow"><I>Wealth and Democracy</I></A> by Kevin Phillips. A former economist for the Nixon administration, he has changed his tune and now makes a very effective case that large concentrations of wealth are in fact poisonous to the ideals of democracy and freedom. When I talk to others, and I tell them of the books that shaped my political philosophy, I name two books: Wealth and Democracy, and The Transparent Society.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1128087876047549942005-09-30T06:44:00.000-07:002005-09-30T06:44:00.000-07:00"I want the range of fun to be clear to the eye, e..."I want the range of fun to be clear to the eye, even if you have to squint! This is a place for serious, not casual visitors."<BR/><BR/>I'm a 50 year old diabetic with slowly "softening" vision. I recently elected to start university for a bachelor's degree (so I can better keep up with, and one day contribute to, "egg head" dialogue about vital issues). I continue to work part-time while experimenting with the undergrad system for 9 course hours in my first-ever semester. I rob from my schedule for school, work and health (sleep, diet, exercise, etc.) to visit my handful of blogs, etc., every other day or so.<BR/><BR/>I'm serious, not casual. Keep me in mind next time you make design decisions that obscure your message and information as a "challenge" to the sincerity of your audience. Thanks.Authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06647452176926681840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1128059974404737002005-09-29T22:59:00.000-07:002005-09-29T22:59:00.000-07:00David,You can have content wealth without homepage...David,<BR/><BR/>You can have content wealth without homepage spew. It's possible, but it takes... a well-trained web designer. <BR/><BR/>I am Not That Designer. HTML makes me think of Perl, and I hate Perl quite a lot for the mess it can make. But consider that you might be hampering access to interested parties because your site is hard to get through. <BR/><BR/>Peggy Noonan arises from time to time as my Heroine in print. She never overdoes conservatism. More of her. Less of Ann Coulter. And please, please, someone like her from the Democrats. (Hint: Maureen Dowd is not what I mean.)<BR/><BR/>iTunes needs to lower some prices to $0.49, for songs which are not that popular, unless it can be shown that the artists are being paid most of that money, IMO. And, naturally, the stuff I'm *really* interested in still isn't available on iTunes. (I go in for some pretty obscure stuff, that used to be popular in Europe in the late '80's. If you've heard of Rondo Veneziano and have a source for them, do let me know.)<BR/><BR/>Re movie studios sequestering unproduced scripts... I thought the WGA had clauses that left rights to republishing scripts firmly in the hands of writers. J. Michael Straczinski, who wrote most of the scripts for his TV series, Babylon 5, for example, is releasing them in print form this year, and for a pretty good price, because he has those rights. <BR/><BR/>Is the picture different for scripts written for the feature film industry? <BR/><BR/>The Democrats out-raised the Republicans for the '04 cycle, didn't they? With more money raised from very wealthy donors than the Republicans could manage, whose bulk came from medium and small businesses? <BR/><BR/>(It's what I heard, and thought I'd verified from source data. I'm very pleased to be wrong about it. If you can prove it.)<BR/><BR/>I don't have many positive things to say about campaign finance, which absolutely didn't get fixed before '04 (and IMO made the problem worse, with the 527's and so forth), but one of the things I *do* have to say is that while reprehensible, the only thing that made them more effective than the Dems was a unified organization the Dems didn't appear to have. <BR/><BR/>I think they have something like it, now. Say what you will about Terry McCauliffe, he *did* get them organized.Rob Perkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13115249244056328076noreply@blogger.com