Obama's "ZuneGate" 608
theodp writes "Barack Obama supporters were left shaking their heads after a report surfaced that the president-elect was using a Zune at the gym instead of an iPod. So why would Mac-user Obama be Zune-ing out? Could be one of those special-edition preloaded Zunes that Microsoft bestowed on Democratic National Convention attendees, suggests TechFlash, nixing the idea that the soon-to-be Leader of the Free World would waste time loading Parallels or Boot Camp in OS X just to use a Zune."
so? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:so? (Score:5, Insightful)
You took the words right out of my mouth.
An MP3 player is an MP3 player - you don't have to use an Ipod. Me, I use an Insignia that I got for free from Best Buy and it works just fine.
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Re:so? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Apart from the fact that iPod bought after summer 2007 can't load Rockbox, there's a bazzilion players out there that play Ogg Vorbis and FLAC right out of the box.
Are there? I can't find any here in Italy.
Re:so? (Score:5, Informative)
The Samsung YP-U[123] (BTW, don't import one from the US; the US firmware has no support for Ogg Vorbis) devices seems to be quite easy to get hold of all over Europe; I bet you can find that one in Italy as well. But I'd recommend trying to find a Cowon iAudio instead (possibly by ordering it online). Less bugs in the Ogg Vorbis support plus support for Ogg FLAC.
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The Cowons are excellent - I've had both the M3L and the X5L from petty much right after their release. Excellent sound, battery life, and support for just about every audio format I could throw at it and both took daily abuse for years (the X5s video support is a bit of a joke). The M3L was stolen in NYC (why I got the X5L) and the X5L now stays at work. Unfortunately, they haven't really come out with a successor with larger capacity, which is why I move to the Archos 5 but it annoys me with the number of
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BTW, the Zune works fine with Songbird, so the Zune can be used natively on any platform.
Correction: The Zune works fine with Songbird under Windows, so the Zune can be used natively on Windows. Songbird is available for other platforms, but MTP support is only available in the Windows build for some reason.
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Re:so? (Score:5, Insightful)
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Neither does Obama - which is probably why he doesn't care if he's listening to an Ipod, a Zune, an Insignia, a Sony Walkman, or some other generic brand.
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Hmm... the iPod is probably the most expensive mp3 player that you can load Rockbox onto, isn't it? :)
I know that Rockbox was created for many other players, and the iPod just got added to it.
So I'd rather go with a player that does the same for less money.
But I already have a mobile phone (one of those that are made to play music, and therefore have better a/d converters), and I have my own good headphones.
I never understood why anyone would want an overpriced, too large player, that can't be used as an US
Re:so? (Score:5, Insightful)
I thought this was
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Unfortunately, good audio quality does not seem to matter for most people. ;)
Oh, and "good audio quality" and "mp3" are direct opposites.
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Which is such bullshit.
I had an iAudio, iRiver, no name and iPod, and the audio quality of ogg vs mp3 isn't particularly important if you rip at high bit rates. It's the ear-phones that matter most, followed by the players DA converter, followed by the bit-rate, followed by the format.
Having said that, the music first needs to be good.
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Every ipod I've ever used can create an on-the-go playlist on the fly.
And I don't know if I've ever seen a cable remote that has a clickwheel. The Apple FM Radio remote certainly doesn't.
I stopped caring about directory structure when I started using iTunes' smart playlists. Why do I care where the file is stored, if I can hit all its criteria with a query?
And I find iTunes really good at batch-updating id3 tags.
Good luck with your search.
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Here's where I call you a fanboy to cover up my lame inadequacies and ignore reality...
Fixed that for you.
No, the clickwheel is still annoying to operate inside a pocket, especially in tight pockets, even when both thumbs are fully functional.
Uh, no. The screen is on the top of the device, with the clickwheel at the bottom. Once know which side is up (a .0002 second operation for a non-putz), you have up (menu), down (pause), left (back), right (next) and center (select). If that's too hard for you, you
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Hm. Sure. And an iPod does all those.
Now I bought an iPod because it builds a very good IDv3 tag database in the device, allowing me to search my music in customizable ways. So I ripped almost 800 albums, which resulted in 11.000 songs on my 80 GB Classic. If I had my iAudio still, I would not be enjoying my music like I do today.
Because the iAudio didn't do Genres, Compilations, Search, Artist or Album select. The iAudio could only walk through directory structures or randomly play songs. Furthermore, the
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What vastly outsells iPods? Last I checked, the iPod brand still had about 85 percent market share.
Assuming that's true (*), that's almost certainly by market value, not units sold- that is, a £200 iPod Touch counts way more than a £15 no-name player.
Important perhaps from a business perspective, but from the point of view of what player a given person is likely to be using, definitely misleading in favour of the higher-priced iPod range.
(*) And even for a market leader it sounds very high; I'm sure the headline figure hides a more complex picture.
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
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Yes, since muggers in areas heavy with gun nuts announce their intentions 500 yards in advance, so the gun nut has enough time to get out his weapon, cock it, and take the safety off.
Re:so? (Score:5, Informative)
If you don't mind a small "REFURB" engraved in the case, consider something like a refurbished Sandisk Sansa C2xx or E2xx, likely among the cheapest Rockbox compatible players out there. Regardless of what an mp3 player is designed for, if it can run Rockbox (and is not an Archos) it will play Ogg Vorbis and mp3 files, as well as a number of other file formats [rockbox.org]. Woot [woot.com] features players like this often enough that it has become a sort of running joke; if you're patient you might get a good deal there. I got my refurbished 2GB Sansa C250 at Woot for $15 + $5 shipping, then added a 2GB MicroSD card I had picked up elsewhere for around $5.
Rockbox, on any supported player, allows far more customization than the built-in software. You can even write your own programs (plugins) to run on it, or modify the Rockbox software itself, if you're so inclined. Rockbox is open source.
Re:so? (Score:5, Insightful)
Our top story tonight... Obama: To Apple or not to Apple, that is the question posed to our team as rumours surface about major Mac user President Obama using a Microsoft Zune to listen to his music. We bring you the detailed analysis after this commercial for iPods.
Re:so? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Grow a set, pick a side and prepare for war!
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Or... (was: Re:so?) (Score:4, Funny)
Re:so? (Score:5, Funny)
I am absolutely thrilled that the dumbest thing this president has done so far is use a Microsoft product. Dubya had already planned to blow up half of the world by now.
Re:so? (Score:4, Funny)
He's quite clearly an Apple guy, and like all their fanbois he is a religous zealot, who will do his hardest once president to push to ensure the spirit of the Mac leader does not die. After all, he has pledged to create 2.5 million Jobs - I just hope they've ordered a load of black turtlenexk sweaters for all those clones.
More pop culture (Score:4, Insightful)
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I would only care about this if... nope. Can't think of a reason to care about this at all.
If Obama were to use all F/OSS, I might sit up and take notice. If we could somehow convince this incoming administration to concern himself with what he does rather than what brands he endorses while doing it, we might be able to see some interesting things happen in government IT.
I have submitted multiple messages to that change.gov site to that end... perhaps we could get a few more people to submit their opinion
Rich, delicious irony (Score:3, Insightful)
What does it matter if he's an apple or windows guy? It's not linux, so why does it matter?
The irony of these two sentences back to back is so deliciously rich.
Stupid Apple fanboys -- why won't people praise Linux more!?
Re:Why not use a phone (Score:4, Insightful)
- Because I'd like to avoid shooting my mobile's battery to hell through constant use for music.
- Because despite the propaganda from various cell phones makers, there's more and more evidence coming out that tends to show it's not very healthy to carry one over you for long stretches of time.
- Because I'll never again bind myself with another 12/24/36 months contract to have the latest 'ooh, shiny' and I much prefer buying a cheap phone with no strings attached which will last me at least a couple of years. That way I can change provider whenever I feel like it.
That's thinking about it for a couple of minutes. I'm pretty sure different people could find other reasons easily enough.
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*rolls eyes*
and what might that be? If you say radiation, hand in your geek card and get the fuck out.
Re:Why not use a phone (Score:5, Informative)
Considering the battery is there for running a moderate output transmitter, its not surprising that playing music pretty much has bugger all effect on battery life if you are involved in a call a day. (My W350's battery is barely scratched by playing music as opposed to normal standby).
If you read the GSM spec, you'll find when your phone is idle its transmitter is switched off. It listens to the closest towers, and when it notices its switched area (as in group of towers) it wakes up, notifys the BSC and goes back to sleep. Considering then its mainly a non-transmitting device like an iPod - I doubt the health issues are from anything but hippies. (I mean come on, its got a tiny battery - just how much energy can it deliver to your balls without flattening it? :P)
Me too. Thats why I bought outright every phone I have owned.
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If you read the GSM spec, you'll find when your phone is idle its transmitter is switched off. It listens to the closest towers, and when it notices its switched area (as in group of towers) it wakes up, notifys the BSC and goes back to sleep.
This is unequivocally wrong. Just put your "idle" phone next to a clock radio for 20 minutes. When it goes "dit dit dit" over the radio speaker, you'll know the transmitter is on. It generally checks in with the tower a couple times a hour, even when not switching towers.
In this it's tough to dismiss health concerns out of hand, especially with GSM. Name another device you have that frequently causes interference with nearly any device that has an audio amplifier? It's clear the RF energy characteristics of
Re:Why not use a phone (Score:4, Informative)
Well, yes in a certain very distorted sense of the word there is more evidence coming out that carrying a cell phone isn't very healthy, I mean as time passes we do see more studies claiming connections between negative health outcomes and cell phone use. However, we also see more studies disputing this link.
Could cell phones be somewhat unhealthy? Sure, but there are some careful studies [arstechnica.com] suggesting the opposite and most importantly any theoretical basis for the supposed effect is at best pretty speculative [arstechnica.com].
First of all ask yourself if you were a cell phone company would it make sense to go out and suppress the science with some organized cover up? For starters given that lots of smart people who have read the research aren't convinced it's likely that your biases as a cell phone exec would virtually guarantee that you didn't believe the health claims. But in that case you would want to fund the most reputable scientists and perform the most respectable study possible rather than funding less influential rent-a-studies. Even if these execs have been convinced of the link by a unpublished stream of compelling evidence the lawsuit against the tobacco companies should have taught them that you shouldn't cover up the science and risk liability when you can just use advertising to associate your product with healthy living in the mind of the public despite the science.
I mean let's be serious, the idea that the cell phone companies are engaged in some intentional plan to cover up the evidence about cell phone harm just isn't plausible. But while it isn't as sexy we know that publication bias exists and can have a substantial effect. Scientists want to spend their time on papers that will bring recognition, grants and employment not ones that say "we didn't find any statistically significant correlation in the groups we examined." This means we are a lot more likely to hear about data sets showing a link than those that don't. After all 5% of studies should end up with an effect at a 95% significance.
Moreover, it's hugely difficult to run a randomized trial for this kind of claim meaning that any effect could be nothing more than an unrecognized prior cause. People who use cell phones are far more likely to use a wide range of other products and probably correlates with a ton of genetic and socio-economic factors. Even studies linking which ear people used for their phone to later cancer occurrence aren't definitive. It's certainly plausible that our dominant hemisphere is more active/different and thus runs a greater risk of cancer.
The truth is that these sort of weak statistical links between an item an ill health effects are frequently wrong and need to be examined carefully. If, as we see in the cell phone study, not only do the studies go both ways but the more careful positive studies show a weaker effect and we lack any firm theoretical foundation for expecting an effect we should conclude it's probably just an artifact of publication bias or common causation.
Of course given that people are so conviced radiation is evil that they falsely convince themselves it makes them sick [arstechnica.com] I don't expect this kind of reasoned consideration to have much impact on the public at large. However, if you are that afraid of "radiation" you should find another website.
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Every now and then you will get a flight attendant that makes up their own rules on this stuff and that is annoying, but in 120K of miles this year I've only had that happen once.
In other news... (Score:5, Insightful)
Obama is said to have been wearing Fruit of the Loom underwear instead of his usual Hanes...
WTF...*this* is news for nerds? I could care less what any politician uses to listen to his or her music.
Re:In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
Yeah, but if it turned out he was listening to c64 sid music, I'd wet my pants ;-)
Re:In other news... (Score:5, Funny)
Note to self: Remember never to allow Albert sit on the couch without plastic seat covers.
-
Re:In other news... (Score:5, Insightful)
If the presidential choice of MP3 player seriously matters to you, kill yourself. With all of the problems facing the US and indeed the entire planet, this is the most trivial of matters, and people reporting on it should be ashamed of themselves.
Next we'll be hearing about Obama getting a hangnail. Just shut up.
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Right. So obviously nobody has modded your post +5 insightful yet.
But they should. I mean seriously. Jesus H. Christ on a popsicle stick. Who cares? In other news, he might wear string underwear, use hugo boss suits and play the banjo in his spare time too... And I still ask myself "who cares?"
All of these bloggers, newsmen, execs and /. editors ought to get something that at least resembles a life. Really. Seriously.
It reminds me of a Cake Song:
Shut the Fuck up
Ok
All right
Oh no
This one, this one, this one
Heads of state who ride and wrangle
Who look at your face from more than one angle
Can cut you from their bloated budgets
Like sharpened knives through chicken mcnuggets
Now, heads of state who ride and wrangle
Who look at your face from more than one angle
Can cut you from their bloated budgets
Like sharpened knives through chicken mcnuggets
(Shut the fuck) up
Yo, shut the fuck up
(Shut the fuck)
Right, right, learn to buck up
(Shut the fuck)
Right, shut the fuck up, hey, ho
(Shut the fuck)
Now, now learn to buck up
(1, 2, a-1, 2, 3, 4!)
Now, nimble fingers that dance on numbers
Will eat your children and steal your thunder
While heavy torsos that heave and hurl
Will crunch like nuts in the mouths of squirrels
Now, nimble fingers that dance on numbers
Will eat your children and steal your thunder
While heavy torsos that heave and hurl
Will crunch like nuts in the mouths of squirrels
(Shut the fuck) up
Yo, shut the fuck up
(Shut the fuck)
Right now learn to buck up
(Shut the fuck)
Right, shut the fuck up yeah, ho! Yow!
(Shut the fuck) Yow! Yow! Yow!
Learn to buck up
Now, simple feet that flicker like fire
And burn like candles in smokey spires
Do more to turn my joy to sadness
Than somber thoughts of burning planets
Now, clever feet that flicker like fire
And burn like candles in smokey spires
Do more to turn my joy to sadness
Than somber thoughts of burning planets
(Shut the fuck)
All right
Ok
I don't(Shut the fuck) wanna
I don't wanna hear it that's right
(Shut the fuck)
Oh no, ok, I don't wanna
(Shut the fuck)
I don't wanna
(Shut the fuck)
Yeeaahh, ho, yow!
(Shut the fuck)
I don't wanna...I don't wanna...
Ooooh ooh oooooooh ooh ooooooohhh ooh
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This is important. This news suggests that he's at least somewhat immune to the RDF and stupid trendy shit in general. He also appears to be a smoker. I must say all this is pleasantly surprising, quite unlike his cabinet nominations.
You guys (Score:5, Funny)
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oh my god (Score:5, Funny)
He is one of those f*** bastards who use the tool that best fits him (for example being free, if it is really a gift from microsoft) instead of "what he should use"!
(or better)
He is one of those f*** bastards who only want to listen mp3 ignoring how stylish is his player!!
Impeachment now!!
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1. Build spook data center next to MS data center.
2. Give Obama zune...
Do I really need to spell it out?
God help us. (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe he cares more about the music he's listening to rather than the make/model of the player.
If I did n't have an mp3 player and got a zune for free, as long as it played my mp3s correctly I'd use it. Sometimes I wonder if Apple is a religion or just some company that makes tech products.
Re:God help us. (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe he's found out about how Apple make it impossible to use third party hardware with the iPod classic, or maybe he got one of the crippled EU ones with a volume limiter which precludes the use of a lot of high end headphones. Or maybe he doesn't like the fact many iPods have problems with batteries, or the effort Apple goes to to thwart people's attempts to use their own software or firmware in the Apple so you can't play ogg/flac etc format files. Apple's successes with the iPod are chiefly marketing related, not technological. They're like Microsoft - they adopt other people's work and stick it inside fancy cases. There's no reason why Obama should use Apple instead of Microsoft stuff - it means nothing.
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Yah, I have been trying to get rid of my 160g classic for exactly that reason: I want to go back to the 80g model I had before (forget which generation) so I could hack it and play FLAC.
Nobody wants to buy the damned thing :\
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I'll give you $10 for it. :D
Reality Check Needed (Score:5, Insightful)
I can't believe that some people care more about which MP3 player he uses than what policies he's going to implement.
Can I get a reality check to aisle S, please?
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It is not exclusive. Most people can concern themselves with more than one matter at a time, an amazing feat, I realise.
The funny thing is that I see loads of stories here that nobody care about, and they get no comments. Then there is the odd story that bring out the people who feel the need to inform everyone of how little they care about the story, by actually posting on it.
It is like the people who don't care about something, but really feel the need to make you understand that they don't care about it.
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Did I actually say any of that?
It's like people who reply to your posts because they have their own point to make and end up completely ignoring everything you said.
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How about that this is taking up actual news space on several sites I read which could be taken up with something important? That there has been massive 'outrage' about this from people who traditionally say nothing about Obama or his policies?
Just because you didn't see anybody say it, that doesn't mean that nobody has said it. Capiche?
Jesus... (Score:5, Insightful)
Holy Christ! Our president to be is using "such and such" as his mp3 player!? Holy Christ! Some one please tell me what popular Hollywood celebrity is dating what Hollywood celebrity right now as well because this is all totally fucking relevant to my life!
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Actually, I didn't mean to repeat "holy Christ" twice in the same post. I'm very sorry everybody. I'm very sorry Slashdot is posting tabloid bullshit.
Re:Jesus... (Score:5, Funny)
Actually, I didn't mean to repeat "holy Christ" twice in the same post. I'm very sorry everybody.
That's ok, you actually have to call his name three times in order for him to...oh wait, I think that was the other guy...
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Hastur?
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Re:Jesus... (Score:5, Funny)
Beetlejuice.
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Good save there, but wasn't it Betelgeuse? :)
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Oh what the hell.
Hastur.
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Well, that wasn't so ba
Great (Score:5, Insightful)
As MAC user with a Zune, he will be able to experience the true value of DRM. I hope he'll remember that the next time some DRM lobbyist asks for a favor...
Re:Great (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm pretty sure our current president has had these issues, he's an ipod listener, but I also guess he probably has his staff do everything for him and doesn't really care if his staff have to infringe on copyright while they are working on his behalf or violate the terms of the license to listen to the songs by moving them amongst un-authorized computers.
I don't care! (Score:5, Funny)
I'm posting to let you all know that I don't care!
Impeach Him! (Score:4, Funny)
Watergate is a God Damned Hotel You Turds (Score:5, Insightful)
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Yeah, and the real "watergate" is the tidewater lock [mcmullans.org] at the end of the 180-mile-long C&O Canal, which guess what, sits right across the street from the Watergate Hotel.
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THANK YOU. I would be the president of your fan club.
Slapping "Gate" on everything annoys the fuck out of me, as well. First, it's not a fucking suffix, it's half the hotel name. Second, Watergate was Nixon's thing; stop being lazy fucking journalists and make up your own damn titles.
If you need me, I'll be in the Angry Dome. Rrrrrrr...
Apple (Score:2, Interesting)
What's the issue?
Why do you want to use the proprietary apple stuff and be part of the product hype.
I am happy with my Samsung mp3 player because it plays OGG Vorbis.
Geek or Apple? This is a confession.
Using a Zune is kool.
Soo... (Score:5, Funny)
Was it a brown one?
Doesn't matter (Score:5, Insightful)
This is classic (Score:4, Insightful)
It's one of those "what a product represents" things. The Zune is immediately uncool at slashdot because Microsoft, newsflash- Microsoft make some decent products. Rated Excellent at cnet- http://reviews.cnet.com/mp3-players/microsoft-zune-120gb-third/4505-6490_7-33259222.html?tag=mncol;lst [cnet.com] . Reality check, this is a good mp3 player that he got free, I'd be concerned if he went out and spent $250 just for a different make.
Huh. (Score:2)
After the last articles about whether or not he'd get to keep his Blackberry, would any other device with non-volatile memory mean anything?
Not to go tinfoil hat, but shouldn't we be just a bit concerned about donated devices to the politically influential that may phone home? (Sure, who cares what the recipients listen to, but if any of these are personally identifiable, it wouldn't be a huge technological leap to read just a little extra info during a the next firmware update check.)
I'd guess that this ha
Zune sighted in real world! (Score:5, Funny)
You guys are all missing the point! The "news, things that matter" part of this isn't that Obama is using a Zune, but that a Zune has actually been seen being used by someone. Happens to be the president-elect, that's just the bonus celebrity factor. But have you ever seen a Zune outside a store? See, now you know why this is news. :-)
Re:Zune sighted in real world! (Score:5, Informative)
F*ck your right, I think we all missed that one.
An other observation: it seems he got it for free, so this one had never seen the inside of a store.
Conclusion: no1 buys these things.
for the record (Score:4, Insightful)
I dont care to know any of the following about Obama's preferences:
1. Ipod or Zune
2. Apple or PC
3. Charmin or Scott
4. Missionary or Doggy
5. Chevy or Ford
Folks get over it - Obama is not the second coming and he's not the Antichrist -
What really happened (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe because Zune Pass is a great deal? (Score:5, Interesting)
iTunes Store: millions of songs. Download and keep any song for $1.
Zune Pass: millions of songs. For a flat rate of $15/month, download as many as you want, for use on up to three Zunes and three computers. Each month, you get to designate 10 of these as permanent. If you cancel your subscription, you keep the ones you designated as permanent, and the rest go away.
I have two iPods and an iPhone, and I'm sorely tempted to get a Zune for Zune Pass. That's a fantastic deal.
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...I'm sure the band won't be willing to play for a sweaty president for the amount of money he could pay.
However, it could conceivably make for some most excellent marketing.
(NB: I am only reading this non-story because I'm waiting for a build to finish, iPods suck, I already have coffee, and there seem to be no hot babes walking past my building at the present time. So there!)
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Who the hell said anything about paying anyone? Make em play or toss em in gitmo! Don't stand there like we didn't let the Executive branch grow its power exponentially over the last 8 years...
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Re:"soon-to-be Leader of the Free World" (Score:5, Insightful)
As a Dutch citizen I have the perfect freedom to:
- get abortions
- do soft drugs of various kinds
- drink alcohol from the age of 16
- get serviced by a hooker
- get euthanasia
- get married whether I'm gay, bi or straight
- get divorced
- speak my mind
- drink on a sunday
- have sex in public places so long as it's not visible from the street
- go where I please (we don't need visa for 99% of the planet)
None of which are freedoms I've seen Americans enjoy.
So I second that motion. Obama will be president of the USA. Calling him "Leader of the Free World" pisses me off too since he sure as shit don't rule my country.
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Many of the freedoms you list are not universally permitted/denied (alcohol, abortion,divorce). Also, maybe you missed the news when your government decided to ban the sale of magic mushrooms [bbc.co.uk]. But, I'm sure you're too busy to read the news, what with all your travels around the world via your Visa trumping Dutch citizenship. *cough*bullshit*cough*
It's also interesting that you claim you don't need a Visa to visit 99% of the planet, yet those who want to visit YOU, do need one [minbuza.nl].
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As a fellow dutchy it ticks me off that my government is doing this. But I do see degration in most governments around the world, so you folks are not better off. Thus I've not found any other place I wanted to move to. Also I wanted to say, they may take away the magic mushrooms, but they are also talking about the local government growing there own marijuana. So we lose one, gain something else.
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You mean we still have those freedoms. But right now we are ruled by an unholy coalition of moralist christians and meddlesome left-wingers (funny, in the US it seems to be a choice between these two, but we get them both at the same time). All the freedoms on your list have already been und
Re:"soon-to-be Leader of the Free World" (Score:5, Funny)
- get married whether I'm gay, bi or straight
Americans can get married whether gay, bi or straight... as long as they marry someone of the opposite gender!
Take that cloggie!
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- go where I please (we don't need visa for 99% of the planet)
I can get into most countries quite easily on the strength of my US passport (only exception I can think of is China which requires a visa - although Hong Kong and Macau don't).
And since I actually live in Sweden, I enjoy most of the other freedoms you mention as well - or can be in Denmark or the Netherlands in a couple of hours to the enjoy the few that I can't here.
(Except possibly the hookers... Unless I'd like permission from the gf to enjoy the freedom of sleeping alone.)
Re:"soon-to-be Leader of the Free World" (Score:5, Insightful)
As a Dutch citizen I have the perfect freedom to: - get abortions
Legal in the US
- get serviced by a hooker
Well you can do that in Nevada. Its not like the Dutch have NO restrictions on prostitution, (no street hookers)
- get divorced
You can't get divorced in the US?
- speak my mind
We can't do this in the US?
- drink on a sunday
WTF? Have you been to the US since 1950? Their are some states that have prohibitions on where/when alcohol can be sold, I don't know of of any state that prohibits consumption in a private residence.
- go where I please (we don't need visa for 99% of the planet)
Getting a visa is going to largely depend on the *other* country, not your own.
Re:"soon-to-be Leader of the Free World" (Score:4, Informative)
In the interest of full disclosure: I'm dutch.
Yeah, I'm afraid you have a point. Dutch tolerance is more a sort of institutionalised indifference.
However, you must take into account that right up until the 1950's, most Dutch people had only seen foreigners as pictures in a book. Even I at 27 years can recall watching TV in primary school, and half the class starting to scream and yell profanities because the announcer was black.
That's not an excuse, it's just how it is: people that are "different" are scary. In the Netherlands it used to be the Turkish Dutch, now it's the Moroccan Dutch. In the US it's the gays and potheads.
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
The usa just voted in its first black president, in the netherlands people went nuts when rotterdam recently got its first morrocan born mayor. Dutch tolerance is a myth.
Make that "European tolerance is a myth" and you're closer. I've lived in Europe and all around the US. Germans, Brits and the rest of Europe are some of the most openly racist people I've ever met. The only place I've lived that was worse for racism is Japan.
But then many stereotypes are blown away if you actually pay attention. A close
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Oh crap, it's been revealed that I don't know what I'm talking about!
Oh well. Here's some more clueless blather to indicate that I think you're either a moron or a fool who can be easily distracted by words!
FTFY
He sure as hell isn't my leader. (Score:3, Funny)
Do you have oil? if so I'd watch what I say.