September 2006
Monthly Archive
Social Bookmarking September 29th, 2006 by HMTKSteve
The Digg Effect Part 4: Netscape vs. Digg vs. Stumbleupon
I recently posted a link back to my blog on both Digg and Netscape to see what would happen. The results were not as shocking as you might think... until you factor in StumbleUpon!
The entry I linked to with both news aggregators was The Three Letters. I did not know what sort of result to expect but I was overwhelmed by the response of the Diggers and underwhelmed by the response of the 'Scapers.
Once the story hit the front page on Digg I was seeing over a thousand hits per hour. The story has gotten well over 1,000 Diggs since then yet, on Netscape, the same story has only ever received 1 vote, mine!
I wasn't exactly surprised by this turn of events. Everyone knows that Digg is the big dog in terms of social book marking sites and that Netscape is nothing more than a cheap attempt at riding on Digg's coattails but... not a single vote on Netscape?
At then end of the week I checked my web server statistics to see where my traffic came from in regards to this and I saw something very interesting:
Day One: Digg 15K hits, Netscape 3 hits, StumbleUpon 898 hits.
Day Two: Digg 8K hits, Netscape 1 hit, StumbleUpon 1,205 hits.
Day Three Digg: 1K hits, Netscape 0 hits, StumbleUpon 1,423 hits.
This trend continued until after a week’s time I was averaging below 100 hits from Digg and 1K hits from Stumbleupon. This led me to a very interesting conclusion:
Digg brings in the hits, but StumbleUpon has the legs.
In the end, Digg had brought in the highest number of hits, but they were fleeting. A massive wave of people will go from Digg, to your blog and then never return. Netscape? Do I even need to linger on that one? StumbleUpon... there be the long tail for a blogger!
I'm not going to go into anything to do with advertising revenue in this article so don't expect a treatise on how StumbleUpon effects your advertising revenue!
I do not know if this story would have gotten the legs it acquired if it had not appeared on Digg. I do not know who first gave the link a thumbs up and thereby caused the Stumble stampede. The only thing I do know is that Digg and StumbleUpon are a great team!
Just as MS has been recently known to say that you should ignore the PS3 and buy an X-Box 360 and a Wii I must say to ignore Netscape and go with the powerhouse of Digg and StumbleUpon!
Stories September 28th, 2006 by HMTKSteve
The oldest mathematician joke…
This is a very old joke, but still funny...
A Mathematician is on a boat and someone falls overboard.
"Help me, help me," cries a woman in the water.
The mathematician quickly grabs a life preserver and throws it to the woman. Once she grabs a hold of it, he pulls her in. Grateful at being rescued, she gives him a big hug.
The very next day the same woman falls overboard and begins to yell, "Help me, help me!"
The mathematician runs over, sees that it is the same woman and mumbles, "I've already solved this problem," as he walks away...
General September 25th, 2006 by HMTKSteve
Do police have jurisdiction on a private road?
An interesting question has come up in regards to a woman charged with DUI (Driving Under the Influence of alcohol) in Brookfield CT.
Peg Roth, a 41 year old resident of Brookfield CT, was charged in 2005 for DUI while driving on Orchard Drive, which is part of a private lakeside community in Danbury CT.
Her lawyer is appealing the conviction based on an interesting legal point. He contends that the area in which Roth was arrested is part of the Pleasant Acres Homeowners’ Association and is not a public road! The prosecutor and jury agreed, at trial, that it was a public road.
Her lawyer states that in order for a road to be considered a “public road” it must fall under the control of the state, town or other “political subdivision” of the state. The road on which Roth was arrested lies under the control of Pleasant Acres, not the state or city and thusly he hopes to prove that the police had no jurisdiction in arresting his client.
Not only that but… She was arrested in a *parked* car while *sleeping* ! The road on which she was arrested also bears no speed limit sign and according to state statute, “in order for a DUI to apply it has to be a public road or a private road with the posted speed.”
I would be remiss to not tell you that the woman charged does have a history of DUI. It is also important to note that when the police arrived the car was running with it’s lights on. The woman also refused to take a breathalyzer test and was still charged with DUI .
The core of this case is not as to whether or not Roth was guilty but as to whether or not the police have jurisdiction to arrest someone for DUI when they are on a “private” road.
Source - New Milford News Times
Internet September 25th, 2006 by HMTKSteve
Google convicted in case brought by Belgian press
Earlier this week a Belgian court ruled that Google News could not use material from "Belgian publishers of the French- and German-speaking daily press" without paying a copyright fee. The ruling followed a case brought by Copiepresse, an association of French- and German-language newspaper editors in Belgium, challenging the right of Google to run their news aggregator under the current copyright laws.
Source - wikinews.org
I’m not sure I understand this one.
Several media outlets in Europe sued Google for including their news articles and photographs in Google News. Google only puts up the first sentence or two and a photograph and then allows the reader to go directly to the media outlet’s web site.
The media companies claim that even putting a single sentence on Google News is a violation of copyright law.
In response to this Google now displays the following message when a user searches for news from these media sites:
"In response to a legal request submitted to Google, we have removed 1260 result(s) from this page. If you wish, you may read more about the request at ChillingEffects.org."
It is also important to note that Google offers all media companies an "opt-out" option if they do not want their articles to show up on Google News.
The real question is why? Why would a media company not want to have it's articles on Google News? It has been said that many news sites get between 40% and 60% of their hits from news sites such as Google News. It will be intersting to see how the drop from Google News affects this Belgian company.
The heart of the matter looks to be about money. The media company is looking for Google to pay a "copyright fee" to be able to link to the media company's articles. In the court room, Google News was given the status of a portal site rather then a search site. Google has pointed out that it does not profit from Google News as it does not put any advertising on Google News.
Google can obviously not pay this "copyright fee" for if it did, it would have to pay every news site it linked to a "copyright fee" or put Google News to rest.
I'm not familiar enough with European copyright laws but I do know in the USA we still have *some* elements of *Fair Use* which allows for excerpting from materials that are under copyright. It is *Fair Use* that allows book and movie critics to write their reviews.
You can read the english translation of the court order Here.
Apple September 22nd, 2006 by HMTKSteve
Hey Apple! Why did you break my iPod?
I have a 30GB video iPod that I got late last year. I love it! I take it everywhere with me and use it for listening to music and podcasts. Heck, I've even purchased a few videos for it and have the link cable to watch them on my TV!
Recently, Apple did something to earn my disdain...
What did Apple do? Why they forced me to upgrade my version of iTunes and to upgrade the firmware on my iPod!
I am the type of person who does not upgrade until several months pass by. I like to let others experience the bugs of new software upgrades. This time, Apple would not let me wait.
It started simple enough with the usual "There is a new version of iTunes, want to upgrade" message popping up when I ran iTunes. These are easy enough to ignore and I did so.
Then, one day, I was trying to transfer a video podcast to my iPod and I got a new message, "the firmware on your iPod is to old for this media. Please upgrade."
That got my attention! Especially since I was putting some files *back* onto my iPod that had previously resided there with no problems!
So, being the fool, I upgraded iTunes and the iPod firmware. Everything seemed to be OK and I could now put the video podcast back onto the iPod...
Everything went well for a few days as I caught up on recent podcasts then... I tried to play a podcast I had put on my iPod *after* the upgrade and it crashed and rebooted!
I tried again, same thing. I thought, "well, maybe it was a bad download?" but even after downloading the file again I still had the problem of the iPod crashing...
This is when I started searching the 'net for answers. what I found was a lot of people complaining of bugs with the new iTunes...
I'm running the 1.2 version firmware on my iPod now and here is a short list of feature "changes" I have experienced:
1) Certain podcast mp3 files, when played, cause my iPod to crash.
2) All my photos are suddenly gone.
3) All of my "recently xxx" play lists are gone.
I did find a fix for number one. It involves going into the info section of your mp3 file and telling iTunes to start the track at 00:01 rather then 00:00. Annoying, but it now works.
I do not know why number two erased all my photos, but I do not use that feature much anyways...
Number three is the most annoying one to me, and really bugs me.
I have used the "recently xxx" play lists since I got my iPod. I rely on these play lists so that when I add some new songs I can quickly find them! I listen to a ton of podcasts and have a ton of singles from various artists so the only way to find what I have added (in regards to music) is by using the "recently added" play list... Now it's gone...
What's the deal Apple? And, as long as I'm on the subject, why is it that if I add an mp3 file that is from a podcast, but do not add it via the podcast tab using the "update podcast" method it does not get added to the podcast page?
When I was trying to figure out if I had downloaded corrupted version of my podcast files I deleted the one that were in the podcast page and download them fresh to my hard drive. when I went to add them into iTunes they ended up under music! I have no idea how to get them to appear on the podcast tab... A little help anyone?
Pokemon September 20th, 2006 by HMTKSteve
Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: What Pokemon are You?
NOTE: If you are looking for information on the new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game than you want to read the What Pokemon are you: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of time and Explorers of Darkness article.
Well, I got my copy of Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team last night, my daughter gets her copy of Blue Rescue Team today and later on I will publish an article about what questions to answer to get each of the different starting pokemon.
=========================================================================
=== POKEMON MYSTERY DUNGEON - PERSONALITY TEST GUIDE ===
=========================================================================
v1.00
by Terence Fergusson
Pokemon Copyright 1995-2006 Nintendo/Creatures Inc./GAME FREAK inc.
Mystery Dungeon Copyright 1993-2006 CHUNSOFT.
This document is entirely my work, and was written and is owned by me,
Terence Fergusson. All copyrights and trademarks are acknowledged where not
specifically mentioned. If you wish to reproduce this document AS IS, you
may do so without having to ask my permission, providing that the entire
document including this copyright notice is left intact, preferably in ASCII
text format, and is done so for non-profit purposes. I do, however, reserve
the right to revoke permission and ask for it to be taken down should I feel
it necessary.
Please do not e-mail me about this guide. If you have questions or
submissions to the knowledge base, please post on the GameFAQs message board;
the information will get to the correct people quicker this way, and you
have a far better chance of getting an answer expediently.
=============================================================================
V E R S I O N H I S T O R Y
=============================================================================
v1.00 : 20/09/06 : Original Conversion of Fushigi no Dungeon Guide
into English
=============================================================================
A B O U T T H E T E S T
=============================================================================
To determine your starting Pokemon, you will be given a personality test.
This will involve a random question from 8 out of 14 Categories, with each
Category leaning towards a particular personality type. Once you have been
asked the full eight questions, you will be given a final question that
simply asks for your gender. Once this has been answered, the results are
all tallied and your final personality and resulting Pokemon is determined.
You will be given a Pokemon relating to the personality type you scored
highest in. In the event of a tie between multiple personality types, one
will be chosen randomly out of those you scored highest in. Finally, your
choice of gender dictates which of two Pokemon you will get for that
personality.
Male Female
Hardy: #004 Charmander #025 Pikachu
Docile: #001 Bulbasaur #152 Chikorita
Brave: #066 Machop #004 Charmander
Jolly: #007 Squirtle #158 Totodile
Impish: #025 Pikachu #104 Cubone
Naive: #158 Totodile #133 Eevee
Timid: #155 Cyndaquil #258 Mudkip
Hasty: #255 Torchic #300 Skitty
Sassy: #252 Treecko #255 Torchic
Calm: #258 Mudkip #001 Bulbasaur
Relaxed: #054 Psyduck #007 Squirtle
Lonely: #104 Cubone #054 Psyduck
Quirky: #052 Meowth #252 Treecko
Note that this gives a choice of 16 possible Pokemon, with 6 of them unique
to a particular gender. Cyndaquil, Machop and Meowth are only available to
males, while Chikorita, Eevee and Skitty are only available to females.
Once your Pokemon has been chosen, you will be given a choice of partner.
The available partners are:
Bulbasaur Charmander Squirtle
Chikorita Cyndaquil Totodile
Treecko Torchic Mudkip
Pikachu
You are unable to choose a partner that matches the Type of your own Pokemon.
Hence, Bulbasaur, Chikorita and Treecko cannot choose a Grass Type partner;
Charmander, Cyndaquil and Torchic cannot choose a Fire Type partner; and
Squirtle, Totodile, Mudkip and Psyduck cannot choose a Water Type partner.
Furthermore, if you get Pikachu as a result of the personality test, you
obviously cannot also choose Pikachu as your partner.
=============================================================================
S T R A T E G Y
=============================================================================
If you're looking to try to get a particular Pokemon, you should keep the
following in mind:
* Remember that six of the 16 possible Pokemon are available to one
gender only - you will not be able to get them if you pick the
wrong gender.
* Keep in mind the personality of the Pokemon you're trying to get.
You want to always answer questions that increase that personality
trait.
* When you're asked a question that doesn't have an answer for your
chosen personality, pick answers that increase traits you haven't
answered for yet and have low increases. It's often better to
answer a question with something that increases a bunch of traits
by 1 instead of an answer that increases a single trait by 2 or
even 3.
If you can increase your chosen trait high enough and keep the rest below
that, then it's not so difficult to get your chosen Pokemon. Don't be
discouraged if it doesn't work the first time however - there is some luck
involved with which questions you will be asked.
=============================================================================
T H E Q U E S T I O N S
=============================================================================
Remember that you will only be asked one question out of any Category chosen,
unless your answer to a question deliberately redirects you to another
question within that category. You will also only be asked questions from
8 Categories maximum before you are given the final question to determine
your gender.
Category #01 - Hardy
====================
Question #1 A test is coming up.
How do you study for it?
Answers: Study hard.
+2 Hardy
At the last second.
+2 Relaxed
Ignore it and play.
+2 Impish
Question #2 Can you focus on something you like?
Answers: Yes.
+2 Hardy, +1 Docile
No.
+2 Quirky
Question #3 When the going gets tough, do you get
going?
Answers: Yes.
+2 Hardy, +2 Brave
No.
+2 Sassy, +2 Quirky
Question #4 There is a bucket. If you put
water in it, how high will you fill it?
Answers: Full.
+2 Hardy
Half.
+2 Calm
A little.
+2 Quirky
Category #02 - Docile
=====================
Question #1 You are offered a choice of two gifts.
Which one will you take?
Answers: Big box.
+2 Docile, +1 Naive
Small box.
+2 Timid, +1 Calm
Question #2 You broke a rotten egg in your room!
What will you do?
Answers: Open a window right away.
+2 Docile, +1 Hasty
Take a sniff first.
+2 Naive, +1 Relaxed
Question #3 A friend brought over something you'd
forgotten.
How do you thank your friend?
Answers: Say thank you regularly.
+2 Docile
Say thanks with a joke.
+1 Naive, +1 Lonely
Say thanks, but be cool.
+2 Sassy
Question #4 There is a wallet at the side of a road.
Answers: Turn it in to the police!
+2 Docile
Yay! Yay!
+2 Naive
Is anyone watching...?
+2 Impish
Category #03 - Brave
====================
Question #1 You're going bungee jumping for the first
time.
Since it's scary, you decide to test the
jump with a doll...
And the bungee cord snaps!
Will you still try to make a jump anyway?
Answers: Yes.
+3 Brave, +1 Impish
No.
+2 Docile, +1 Timid
Question #2 There is an alien invasion!
What will you do?
Answers: Fight.
Do Question #2b
Run.
+2 Timid
Ignore it.
+2 Relaxed
Question #2b You valiantly fight the aliens...
But, you are defeated...
An alien says to you...
"YOU HAVE IMPRESSED US.
IT WAS A PLEASURE TO SEE.
JOIN US, AND TOGETHER WE SHALL
RULE THE WORLD."
What will you do?
Answers: Rule with the aliens.
+1 Sassy, +1 Relaxed
Refuse.
+4 Brave
Question #3 There is a scream from behind a door!
How will you react?
Answers: Yank open the door.
+1 Hardy, +2 Brave
Scream in unison.
+2 Naive
Question #4 A delinquent is hassling a girl on
a busy city street!
What will you do?
Answers: Help without hesitation.
+3 Brave
Help, even if scared.
+2 Hardy, +2 Brave
Call the police.
+1 Docile, +1 Timid, +1 Relaxed
Do nothing out of fear.
+2 Timid
Category #04 - Jolly
====================
Question #1 Are you a cheerful personality?
Answers: Yes.
+2 Jolly, +1 Naive
No.
+1 Sassy, +1 Quirky
Question #2 Do you like to noisily enjoy yourself
with others?
Answers: Yes.
+2 Jolly, +1 Lonely
No.
+1 Timid
Question #3 It's the summer holidays!
Where would you like to go?
Answers: The beach!
+2 Jolly
Spas.
+2 Calm
Anywhere.
+2 Quirky
Question #4 A foreign person has started up a
conversation with you.
To be honest, you don't have a clue what
this fellow is saying.
How do you reply?
Answers: Haha! Yes. Very funny!
+3 Jolly
Um... Could you say that again?
+2 Hardy
Right... Well, I gotta go.
+2 Timid
Category #05 - Impish
=====================
Question #1 Have you ever made a pitfall trap?
Answers: Yes.
+2 Impish, +1 Lonely
No.
+2 Calm
Question #2 Do you like pranks?
Answers: Yes.
+2 Impish
No.
+1 Docile, +1 Relaxed
Question #3 Are there many things that you would like
to do?
Answers: Yes.
+1 Hardy, +2 Impish
No.
+1 Sassy, +2 Quirky
Question #4 Your friend is being bullied!
What do you do?
Answers: Face up to the bully.
+3 Brave
Caution the bully from afar.
+2 Timid
Heckle the bully from behind.
+2 Impish
Category #06 - Naive
====================
Question #1 Do you like groan-inducing puns?
Answers: Love them!
+1 Impish, +3 Naive
A little.
+2 Jolly
Spare me.
+2 Sassy
Question #2 Do you tend to laugh a lot?
Answers: Yes.
+1 Docile, +2 Naive
No.
+2 Quirky
Question #3 Do others often call you childish?
Answers: Yes.
+1 Jolly, +2 Naive
No.
+2 Calm
Question #4 Do you like to imagine things for your
amusement?
Answers: Yes.
+2 Naive
No.
+2 Hasty
Category #07 - Timid
====================
Question #1 A human hand extends out of a toilet!
What would you do?
Answers: Scream and run.
+2 Timid
Close the lid without a word.
+1 Hardy, +2 Calm
Shake hands with it.
+2 Brave, +1 Impish, +1 Naive
Question #2 Grab any digit on your left hand with your
right hand.
Which digit did you grab?
Answers: Thumb.
+2 Timid
Index finger.
+2 Hasty
Middle finger.
+2 Jolly
Ring finger.
+2 Sassy
Little finger.
+2 Lonely
Question #3 You are suddenly locked inside a
pitch-black room!
What do you do?
Answers: Kick the door.
+2 Timid
Cry.
+2 Lonely
Clean it.
+2 Impish, +1 Quirky
Question #4 Can you go into a haunted house?
Answers: No problem!
+3 Brave
Uh... N-no...
+2 Timid
With someone I like.
+2 Sassy
Category #08 - Hasty
====================
Question #1 You receive a gift!
But you don't know what's in it.
You're curious, so what do you do?
Answers: Open it now.
+2 Hasty
Open it later.
+2 Calm
Get someone to open it.
+2 Timid
Question #2 You win a lottery!
What do you do with the money?
Answers: Spend it now.
+2 Jolly, +1 Hasty
Save it.
+1 Hardy, +1 Calm
Give it away.
+2 Brave, +2 Quirky
Question #3 You come across a treasure chest!
What do you do?
Answers: Open it right away!
+2 Hasty
No... Could be a trap...
+2 Timid
It's going to be empty...
+2 Sassy
Question #4 Your friend fails to show up for a meeting
at the promised time.
What do you do?
Answers: Become irritated.
+1 Docile, +2 Hasty
Wait patiently.
+2 Relaxed
Get angry and bail.
+3 Hasty
Category #09 - Sassy
====================
Question #1 Your country's leader is in front of you.
How do you speak to him or her?
Answers: Speak calmly.
+2 Hardy
Speak nervously.
+2 Docile
WHATEVER!!
+2 Sassy
Question #2 Do others tell you to watch what you say?
Answers: Yes.
+1 Impish, +2 Sassy
No.
+2 Calm
Question #3 Do you think you are cool?
Be honest.
Answers: Yes.
+2 Sassy
No.
+2 Relaxed
Question #4 Can you sincerely thank someone when you
feel grateful?
Answers: Yes.
+2 Docile, +1 Calm
No.
+2 Sassy, +1 Quirky
Category #10 - Calm
===================
Question #1 Do you occasionally consider yourself
dull and overly cautious?
Answers: Yes.
+2 Calm, +1 Lonely
No.
+2 Hardy
Question #2 Do you dream of lounging around idly
without much excitement?
Answers: Yes.
+2 Calm
No.
+2 Impish
Question #3 Do you like to fight?
Answers: Yes.
+1 Impish, +2 Timid
No.
+2 Calm, +1 Lonely
Question #4 Do you often yawn?
Answers: Yes.
+2 Calm, +1 Relaxed
No.
+1 Hardy, +2 Hasty
Category #11 - Relaxed
======================
Question #1 Are you often late for school or meetings?
Answers: Yes.
+1 Sassy, +2 Relaxed
No.
+2 Hardy, +1 Hasty
Question #2 Do you get the feeling that you've slowed
down lately?
Answers: Yes.
+2 Relaxed
No.
+1 Impish, +2 Hasty
Question #3 It is a pleasant day at the beach.
How do you feel?
Answers: This feels great!
+2 Jolly
Snore...
+2 Relaxed
I want to go home soon!
+2 Hasty
Question #4 Do you fall asleep without noticing?
Answers: Yes.
+1 Calm, +2 Relaxed
No.
+2 Hardy
Category #12 - Lonely
=====================
Question #1 Do you feel lonesome when you are alone?
Answers: Yes.
+1 Timid, +2 Lonely
No.
+2 Sassy
Question #2 Do you hate to be the last person to leave
class at the end of a school day?
Answers: Yes.
+1 Timid, +2 Lonely
No.
+3 Brave, +1 Relaxed
Question #3 What do you do with your room's light
when you're going to bed at night?
Answers: Leave it on.
+1 Timid, +2 Lonely
Turn it off.
+2 Calm
Question #4 It's a weekend, but no one will play
with you...
What do you do?
Answers: Go on a trip.
+1 Jolly, +1 Lonely
Hang around vacantly.
+1 Calm, +2 Relaxed
Huddle in a corner.
+1 Timid, +3 Lonely
Category #13 - Quirky
=====================
Question #1 Do you sometimes run out of things to do
all of a sudden?
Answers: Yes.
+2 Quirky
No.
+2 Hardy
Question #2 How quickly do you respond to an e-mail?
Answers: Reply right away.
+1 Hardy, +1 Hasty
May reply, may not.
+2 Quirky
Too much trouble.
+2 Sassy
Question #3 There is a person you like...
But there's no opportunity to get close.
What do you do?
Answers: Bravely declare my love.
+1 Hardy, +3 Brave
Might say hello...
+2 Quirky
Pull a prank to get attention.
+2 Impish
Look from afar.
+2 Timid
Question #4 The road forks to the right and left.
You are told there is a treasure on the
right side. What do you do?
Answers: Instantly go right.
+2 Docile
It's a trap! Go left.
+2 Sassy
Choose either side.
+2 Quirky
Category #14 - Miscellaneous
============================
Question #1 On vacation outings, you want to...
Answers: Go alone.
+1 Hasty, +1 Quirky
Go with others.
+1 Jolly, +1 Lonely
Question #2 It's the summer festival!
Do you like carnivals?
Answers: Love them!
+2 Jolly
Don't care.
+1 Sassy, +1 Quirky
Question #3 Somebody calls you "weird but funny."
How does that make you feel?
Answers: Happy!
+1 Naive, +1 Lonely
Not happy.
+1 Hasty, +1 Sassy
Final Question - Gender
=======================
Question Are you a boy or a girl?
Answers: Boy.
Male
Girl.
Female
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pokemon Dungeon - Personality Test Guide, copyright 2005 Terence Fergusson
UPDATE: Evolution
A lot of people have been asking about evolution in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.
In order to evolve your Pokemon you must first defeat Rayquaza. After he is beaten a new area will open up in Whiscash's pool. This area allows for evolving Pokemon.
General September 19th, 2006 by HMTKSteve
Fan-Subs - good for anime or bad?
I admit it, I watch anime. Not only do I watch anime but I even look for the fan-subs of current anime so I will know what I want to buy when it hits the American DVD market.
Some people wonder about the legality of fan-subs and in this article I will discuss the pros and cons of the fan-sub grey market.
Since anime began to air on Japanese TV there have been fan-subs. In the early days of fan-subbing it was often the case of watching a VHS tape of an anime while you read a translated script. This was not much fun for anyone as while you were reading the script you were missing the action on the tape.
Later, people began to use subtitling equipment to subtitle those same VHS tapes. Although this was a huge improvement in the fan-sub culture there was still the issue of the copies being on VHS tape. This meant it was a real pain to make copies for your friends as you had to copy each tape, one at a time. Each copy also looked worse then the original and after a while all copies looked like crap.
The only way to get fan-sub copies was to either know someone in Japan, live in New York City or go to the very few anime conventions in existence.
This carried on in the same fashion until the rise of peer-to-peer Internet file sharing. Once broadband Internet entered the equation it became possible to get HD quality fan-subs on your computer. Each copy was an exact digital copy of the previous one. Great days had arrived! No more swapping tapes and watching grainy shows!
it has become possible (with devices such as the sling box) to get Japanese anime into the fan-sub market just hours after airing in Japan. The Japanese companies who own the shows are in a bit of a bind over this for several reasons:
1) They make no money off of shared copies.
2) They do not want their Japanese customers getting "free" hi-quality copies instead of purchasing the DVD.
At the same time the fan-sub market is a boon for them as it allows for a wide distribution of their product AND if enough interest appears in the fan-sub market an American importer will approach the Japanese company to discuss importing their series into the American DVD market.
See, the fan-sub market continues to perform a very valuable service for the anime creators, it gets their product into the super-market of American consumers. Unlike those who share music and movies on peer-to-peer file sharing networks, the fan-sub market has been known to have the rare quality of honor.
They are honorable in that most sites will drop an anime once it hits the American DVD market.
That's right! Once an anime gets licensed for wide release in the USA the file sharers stop sharing the episodes!
So, to me, the fan-sub market is a win-win for everyone involved for the following reasons:
1) American anime fans get to see the new shows (with subtitles) as soon as they air.
2) American importers can track interest in a show to be sure they don't import any duds (though they still sometimes do.)
3) Anime creators get to see if their show will make it in the American market.
4) Once an anime enters the American DVD market it gets dropped by the sharing sites.
Your comments on this issue are always welcome.
Postscript: Perhaps the MPAA/RIAA should look at this model? They could provide a few new songs for an upcoming album for free via a peer-to-peer service and then see how well received the band and it's songs are. From this they could decide whether or not to release an album of the band's material.
The Podcast Geek Nights Recently ran an episode where they talked about the origins of the anime fan-sub culture in America. you can find it here
General and Stories September 17th, 2006 by HMTKSteve
The Asbestos Story
This story takes place in the late 1980's, while I was in High School. At that time, in the USA, there was a mad rush in asbestos abatement jobs. Everyone was getting asbestos removed from their buildings and it was all over the news. In more recent times we have seen an emergence of asbestos related lawsuits.
This story is more comical then that though, enjoy!
One thing all kids who grew up in the 1980's remember is the big “asbestos scare.” Yeah, kids in the 50's had the “red scare,” those in the 60's had the “draft scare,” even the kids of the 70's remember the “gas scare” with the OPEC embargo. There is one big difference that made the asbestos scare different from all the others... Schools hired consultants to come in and talk to the kids about it!
That's right, they hired consultants to tell the kids, “don't eat or breathe in the asbestos dust.”
Well, it wasn't quite as simple as that, they also had to answer questions from the students in large auditoriums. That must have been tough for some of those speakers, after all, you can't use the old “imagine your crowd in their underwear” technique on these crowds! Well, you could, but I think everyone would look at you funny if you talked about it...
So, to give you a little bit of background, in my school we had a few cliques. The one involved in this story is “the Kerry's.” No, no, no, I'm not talking about John Kerry! I'm talking about a group of four girls who were all named Kerry and hung out together. There were the occasional “non-Kerry” hanger-ons but the core group was all named Kerry.
I belonged to a group of three Steve's. We weren't really a clique, we just hung out together and made “Steve” jokes.
Back to the story!
The Asbestos Abatement company hired by the town was in full swing on our high school. No one wanted to wait for the summer break to do the work so it was ongoing while we were in class. Looking back on this I have to wonder if that was really a good idea? I mean, they were doing the removal work while we were in the building! If something had gone wrong a lot of us kids might now be hiring mesothelioma lawyers!
One afternoon the entire student body was sent to the auditorium to listen to the consultant talk about asbestos and asbestos abatement.
Most of the discussion was dull and boring. We learned what asbestos is, where it came from and why it was used.
As a side note, in the 1980's G.I. Joe cartoon series, at the end of each episode they did a little PSA bit. In one of them, a flame thrower type G.I. Joe guy specifically mentioned putting on his “asbestos underwear.” I don't remember what year it aired and they may have edited it since then but it did happen!
OK, where was I? Oh yes, the auditorium...
A lot of the kids asked questions about the removal process, what the dangers were, how long it would take. Just a bunch of very basic questions. Then one of the Kerry's spoke up...
“So, like, what do you do with this stuff after you take it out? Do you, like, burn it or something?”
I have to say that the speaker was stunned. I don't think she had ever encountered this question in any of her speeches In fact, she was left speechless for ten seconds. I saw her glancing around for the Candid Camera crew, but it was not a TV show she was on.
Then one of the other kids commented from the back, “What are you, stupid? Asbestos doesn't burn!”
The speaker tried to handle it politely from this point but, how do you answer a question like that? We were all thinking what the other kid said, and I'm sure the speaker on stage was too!
At any rate, the line, “let's go burn some asbestos” became a code word for anything to do with the Kerry's. It's meaning changed based on the context of events surrounding it's utterance but it was on par with the current saying of, “Let's go freak some squares” just more directed to one group of people.
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