File sharing doesn't hurt record sales. Apparently a study was done to prove what I've been saying for years.
I only buy albums that I want to buy. Whether or not I can download it does not figure into my purchasing decision making process.
If anything the record companies can thank file sharing for introducing me to acts I would not have normally had a chance to listen to. In some cases it resulted in me shelling out money for a CD by a band I would never have found in my local record shop.
Note to record companies: People will pay for music they like. If what you produce is garbage, you sales will decline.
andre
The BBC is putting its vast archives on-line for free download. Not only that - but people can do whatever they want with the content provided that it's non commercial.
This is exciting news. Open source content. I'd heard about the BBCs plans some time ago - and there was great debate about whether or not they were going to go forward with it. Now it turns out they will.
This will be a pilot project - but if it works out perhaps, maybe just maybe, it will prove once and for all that there is more benfits to humanity as a whole by loosening the grip on intellectual property and content.
andre
Have you ever wondered what is found at Latitude and Longitude confluence points around the globe?.... check out confluence.org.
When I read this article my first thought was "nothing". Turns out I was right.
While there may be 6,000,000,000+ human beings on this planet - the truth is that it is a really big place... and with all really big places - there's a whole lot of nothing.
Don't get me wrong- there is plenty of natural beauty - and that's the point really. Even in a world full of people - there are many places untouched by man.
While visiting the confluence website I noted that Cuba was not very well documented. So I sent an email to the Cuban Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment to see if the cuban government might get on board.
andre
I played with a couple of more on-line tests to pass some time... One was called the The Multiphasic Personality Inventory... apparently testing how 'normal' you are compared to the answers of others.
"your score is 6% consistent with a normal personality profile. You're least like others in the area of extroversion. "
I'm guessing that I'm a little more extroverted than others (based on other test results).
So - I'm not normal. What a relief. I think I'd go nuts if my test came back telling me I was a sheep.
andre
This past weekend it was my girlfriends birthday. So I decided to make her a present. I decided to make her a ring.
The materials used in this project were - modeling clay - sculpy - liquid latex rubber - smooth-on 325 - nickel silver metal powder.
1) I sketched out the design of the ring on paper.
2) Made a 'finger' out of modeling clay - for proper ring size
3) Built a sculpy ring on the finger.
4) Sculpted the ring.
5) Made a latex rubber mould of the completed sculpted ring
6) Used the mould to cold cast the ring
7) Finished the ring with some work with the dremel.
Piece of cake -
I guess you can now add - Jewelery desgin to my resume.
andre
Its with great pleasure that I provide this link.
Its another anti George Bush site.
Its great that this stuff is out there - but I wonder what, if any, good it does. Those that hate bush will send these kinds of links to their fellow bush hating friends. Those that dig bush - likely will never see these things - and if they do - will dismis them out of hand. Ah well - here's to hoping it changes at least one mind.
andre
Took some tests on-line. This is what they said about me:
"I am: Creative and Analytical
You're a visionary in many people's eyes — able to think outside of the box to come up with your own solutions. You're creative not necessarily in the artistic sense, but because you can expand your mind to do things differently from others.
It might take a while for colleagues to recognize and reward for your entrepreneurial spirit and abilities. That could be because they envy you, or because they find your ideas slightly rebellious — willing to go against the current.
All in all, you make it hard for people to pigeon hole you. That is why you, more than others, need a job that allows you to play to your strengths, break out of the mold, and truly excel."
"My IQ score is 138
This number is based on a scientific formula that compares how many questions you answered correctly on the Classic IQ Test relative to others.
Your Intellectual Type is Facts Curator. This means you are highly intelligent and have picked up an impressive and unique collection of facts and figures over the years. You've got a remarkable vocabulary and exceptional math skills — which puts you in the same class as brainiacs like Bill Gates. And that's just some of what we know about you from your test results. "
"You're a Skydiver!
Your personality is actually determined by two personality sub-types - your primary, or dominant sub-type, and your secondary sub-type. You are a Skydiver which means you are a Seeker / Golden Your primary sub-type is defined by "Seeker" characteristics and your secondary sub-type is defined by "Golden" characteristics.
That means you're open minded, extroverted, free-spirited, and independent. Chances are you're pretty liberal. You're like a magnet for love and affection. People adore you. And, thanks to that healthy dose of self-confidence, you're super-flexible.
How do we know all this? How do we know you're a great leader at work? Or that you're a self-starter and will always volunteer to take on a job? How could we have divined that you're an excellent communicator and tend to spread your enthusiasm to others?
Because while you were taking the test, you answered four different types of questions — questions that measured confidence, apprehension, willingness to take risks, and your focus on experience versus appearance — the primary traits that determine your personality. Based on your responses, we determined your personality type, Skydiver.
And that's just scratching the surface."
"Sparky, your subconscious mind is driven most by Peace
You have a deeply-rooted desire to make peace in the world. Whether through subtle interactions with loved ones, or through getting involved in social causes, it is important to you to be able to influence the world in a positive way.
You have a deep respect for humankind. You care about the future of the world, even beyond your own involvement in it, and you inspire others to feel the same way. Your innate drive toward peace guides you in daily life towards decisions that are respectful toward yourself and others. "
I've long been a fan of William Gibson. Tonight I got a chance to watch "William Gibson: No Maps for These Territories."
It is a documentary film now available on DVD. It is about 90 minutes (+70 additional minutes of footeage on the DVD) of Gibson talking while being driven around in a car.
For anyone into technology, media, networks (cyberspace) etc. Gibson is the guy you want to listen and talk to.
I'm a little too lazy to write a full blow review - but I checked out this one - and it does a pretty good job of describing the film.
Yes the film is a 'wank fest'. It is completely aware of itself as a film. It touches on all the things you would expect it to touch on. And as the reviewer above said "If the terms "Ballardian," "Chandlerian," and "posthuman" have no place in your lexicon, then you might just end up asleep on the couch when the show is over. "
andre
It seems as though I have caught google doing its dance. Within minute of my first noticing my drop in rank - i have rocketed 4 pages to page 6 in the results.
A few more minutes and I may soon reclaim top spot.
andre
I did a vanity search on google and for some silly reason I've been dropped to the 10th page of results.
You would think that an uncommon search phrase like "andre molnar" would put "andremolnar.com" in the top slot (as it certainly had my site placed for quite some time).
*shrug* this could be a temporary shuffle as google re-indexes. Lord help us if it isn't. What could be more relevant than andre molnar's site about andre molnar. And what does it say about google's results if a site about andre molnar doesn't show up on the first page of results when someone actually searches for the words andre molnar.
andre
There are a lot of nut bar politicians that will argue until they are blue in the face that climate change has nothing to do with burning fossil fuels. "CO2? bah! nothing to worry about," they say as they rush off to a fundraiser attended by BP and Exxon shareholders.
Something will have to happen to change their minds in order for them to legislate real changes to our environmental policies. So what is that thing that must happen? The best thing that can 'happen' in order to sway a politician is a big campaign contribution. But who out there with deep pockets and a lot to gain would want to sway politicians to take up the climate change issue?
Reading this month's wired magazine I think I figured it out. Bruce sterling wrote a piece about the threats to the earth. In it he mentions that there has been a marked increase in insurance payouts to policy holders struck by natural disasters which are on the rise as a result of climate change.
We all know insurance companies have money. We all know insurance companies don't like to pay out money to policy holders. We all know that natural disasters will get worse with climate change. We all know that natural disasters cost insurance companies a lot of money.
Connecting those dots we can only hope that the insurance companies start lobbying hard for 'radical' changes to environmental policy.
Sadly - I think insurance companies are more likely to not insure against natural disasters rather than try and change the world for the better. I hope I'm wrong.
andre
Well, my bingo simulator is done for now.
Check it out:
http://www.andremolnar.com/playground/bingo.php
It doesn't do much - and its not interactive - but it works.
If anyone can think of a practicle application for this sort of thing let me know.
andre
I've said it before I will say it again. People are stupid.
Some poor folks in California fell for a hoax. Dihydrogen Monoxide (H2O) or more commonly known as water is indeed a dangerous substance, but only those on D-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (C20H25N3O) would be stupid enough to ban its use.
andre
Back to some programming.
My girlfriend often calls me NORBERT. The term is used lovingly, but it indicates to me that I am being particularly nerdy or I am caught in the act of thinking about nerdy things.
Today I am definatly norbert. A couple of nights ago I somehow got thinking about BINGO as a game. I got thinking about how the odds of winning are constantly changing with the number of balls called and the number of squares dabbed on a bingo card.
Not being particularly good at math I didn't know of a way to represent the way the odds change in a game with each ball being called. I'm sure there is a tidy little function that shows the relationship of odds at any stage in a bingo game - but I have no idea how to figure that out.
So, as a matter of curiosity (and to sharpen my PHP programming skills) I decided that I would write a BINGO simulator and track the odds as each ball is called in the game. From that I figured that I could come up with some sort of visual representation of the odds throughout a bingo game.
Why? 1) I could answer my own question about the odds changing. 2) I thought it would be a fun program to write. 3) I figured that the exercise would take me down a new path of ZEN learning.
Sure enough it did take me down a new path. PHP has a million array funtions and I am getting a chance to try a lot of them while building this particular program.
I figure that I will post the BINGO sim when its done. I will also likely mod the original program and turn it into an interactive on-line game.
Check back for my BINGO sim.
andre
Here's a link to an article I am finding handy in storing dates in MySQL..
It addresses the precise question I had about how best to insert date/times into an MySQL database from a PHP application seeing as they handle dates in different ways.
andre
The single minded, anti human rights and anti women's rights group, cheered the defeat of former heritage minister Sheila Copps in a Liberal riding nomination.
In their there is reference to Catholic Bishop Henry Ford (a person high up in the hierarchy of an organization responsible for the crusades and that has been in scandals related to child molestation) talking about how Jean Chretien endangered his immortal soul by his stance on homosexual "marriage". The article took issue with Copp's defending same sex marriage because they did not share her view that it was a fundamental issue of human rights.
On an unrelated note Bishop Henry Ford supports a union of church and state and once wanted to excommunicate Joe Clarke.
What am I going on about? I'm just frustrated with the use of language in pseudo journalistic sites such as lifesite.net. Can anyone cram more of their agenda in their writings? And for God's sake, could they at least get their facts straight.
At least its obvious that I am being satirical. I wish that lifesite.net was a satire. I could at least have a good laugh about their content. Sadly they are deadly serious about what they write.
andre
I was just writing a program that required some date functions - and was reading the documentation. It said that:
"The valid range of a timestamp is typically from Fri, 13 Dec 1901 20:45:54 GMT to Tue, 19 Jan 2038 03:14:07 GMT. (These are the dates that correspond to the minimum and maximum values for a 32-bit signed integer). On Windows this range is limited from 01-01-1970 to 19-01-2038."
I asked myself - what happens after that? is this Y2K all over again? I remember hearing something about another Y2K bug when I was working as a Y2K compliance officer - but was too busy with the task at hand to bother with things 38 years in the future?
So I googled Y2K38 (a name that made sense in my head) and got all sorts of results. This is one from slashdot.
andre
I recently decided that sooner or later I would have to get a new computer. Not because my computer doesn't do the job - its just that I need one that can do the job wherever I am - not just at my desk.
Yes - I have resisted portable computing for long enough. I need a laptop.
So I started doing some research and someone (Derek) mentioned a Ferrari Red Acer (The Farrari 3000). I'd seen them listed, but was intrigued enough to want to find out more. So a couple of google's later I found an article about that acer notebook.
Why do I bring all this up? Its not because I want to tell the world about my need for a notebook. Its not because there is a Ferrari Red notebook available. Its because Rob Enderle who wrote the article about the notebook amazed me by being so cliche.
In the article Rob actually wrote the following lines:
"One impressive piece of execution is that when you fire the machine up it plays a WAV file of a Ferrari race car revving its engine. That alone is worth the relatively low $1,899 price of admission. (I found it priced as low as $1,725 at PCVideoOnline.) Even when I'm in a meeting, I don't turn the sound off because of the unbridled envy that seems to show up in the eyes of my, granted mostly male, co-attendees. So far no one has complained. "
I had to double check the date the article was written... yup - January 2004. In the year 2004 there is a man that thinks other men envy his 'sports car' laptop computer and the Vroom Vroom noises it makes.
*sigh*
Ah well.
andre
Digital rights managment is always a hot topic. Content providers want people to pass laws to protect their content (think disney and record companies). They lobby hard and often get what they want. Bills are introduced that, in some cases, would give record companies the right to hack into your computer if they suspect you of sharing files.
Well, a group in the states has voiced its opinion on the matter - saying what consumers have been saying for a long time: the legislation being introduced is hastily writen and could have far reaching unintended consequences.
Yeah - thats what we all need. 15 years from now Disney has the right to break into their competition's computer system because one employee uploaded Francis Bean's latest hit single from the movie Toy Story 4.
andre
Finally got around to tackling a bug on the site. As I've said before the site is not 100%. In part this whole thing is an excercise in learning PHP development as well as some movable type blogging.
I've done a bit of monkeying with the default template - and I've mused on how to include some PHP into the templates and allow for some added functionality. Today I put some of that into practice to take care of a bug on the site.
I changed the template to show all comments right under the original news item. I wanted a way to seperate the comments from the original post so I added a heading that said "comments". The problem was that this "comments" heading would show up whether or not there was actually any comments.
To fix this it was a matter of including a simple conditional statement in the template using a bit of PHP. It went something like this.
<?PHP if(<$MTEntryCommentCount$> > 0) echo 'Comments
'?>
How does it work: The MT template tag is processed as the page is being built. The page output by the template includes the PHP code. The line is evaluated when the page is requested - and the 'comment' heading is either shown or not depending on whether there are any comments.
Is there a better way? Let me know. I'm sure there is. But this was a quick and dirty way to take care of something that was bugging me.
andre