Guy Berger

By the same rationale, one shouldn't sell used CDs. Guy I disagree, because the artist knows that's part of the bargain he's made at the time he signs his contract. The artist also knows that there will be some CD-R copying. Perhaps I am not understanding your point. Guy

Well, a used copy only resulted in compensation on its original sale -- the same thing with a CD-R copy. 1) Who said we are talking about indiscriminate burning? I assume we are talking about someone burning a copy or two for his friends. I agree that indiscriminate anything -- burning, sharing online, or used CD sales -- will be harmful to the income of an artist. 2) The artist received compensation for the original sale of the music -- just as they did with a used CD. Maybe compensation for each copy is owed to the artists in some sort of mystical, metaphysical sense. But the only thing that matters to the artist's income is compensation for each sale. Guy

By the same rationale, one shouldn't sell used CDs. Guy

From the artist's perspective, how is this different from a used CD sale? Guy Because it is more akin to flooding the market with cheap used cds then selling your only copy to your friend. Not necessarily. It is flooding if you share it on an online network with a lot of people. (Though as I stated, the amount of displaced sales is much smaller than the number of circulating free copies.) It's not flooding if you only make one or two copies for your friends. Guy

I disagree. In the case of burning a cd, you have created a new copy of that music for which the artist/producer etc has never been paid what's due. 2 copies of the music, artist paid once. There is a difference between that and the used cd, which DID pay whatever money was due. 1 copy of music, artist paid once. I don't see why the number of copies in existence is relevant in terms of outcomes -- all the artist/label/copyright holder should care about is the number of (potential) new copy purchases. I'm not sure why they would care about an abstraction. (I'd be curious if you'd explain why you disagree with this statement.) N copies of one original CD cause some new copy purchases to be foregone. N used CD purchases cause some (probably more) new copy purchases to be foregone. Guy

But now your friend is getting an illegal copy of that music, for which the artists etc received no compensation. Your original copy is fine and legitimate. Don't you get that? From the artist's perspective, how is this different from a used CD sale? Guy

Chewy -- is it named after the song by Traffic? Guy

I can't believe the Warriors lost to the Lakers sans Kobe. This is going to be a long season. Guy

Erik, This is a good point on the abstract ethics of the situation, but I don't see it having any bearing on the actual outcome: are any actual sales (and therefore artist income) displaced? As I said, as far as the artist/label is concerned, a single CD-R copy is less harmful than a used CD purchase. As Jim S. points out, yourmusic/BMG purchases are probably also worse than CD-R copies (though not as bad as used CD purchases). As far as prescriptive ethics I don't have much to say except: if you know that you would never actually buy a new copy of a CD, you can burn a copy with a clear conscience. (If you feel guilty send a few bucks to the label.) Guy Guy

I had an odd thought in a discussion about the ethics and economics of used CD sales and CD burning. Generally we think of buying used CDs as a more ethically sound behavior than burning copies of CDs. When you think of the economics, things reverse. A person burning a CD copy (and paying presumably $1 or whatever for the price of the blank) is less likely to be willing to pay the full price of the new CD than the person buying a used CD (and paying, say, 50% of the list price). In other words, a single used CD sale is more likely to be "income foregone" for the artist/label than a single CD-R copy. Guy

The race for 1st place in the central is going to be tought this year -- Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland are all going to be really good. I think the ranking will be Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland. LeBron will get better but he needs a lot of help -- the rest of his team isn't good. Go Warriors! Guy

So what's the answer they wanted? Another nomination for 5050 - sum. Epithet -- that is the answer the bastards expected. If you want I will forward your resume. Guy

There is no "other dollar". The $2 comes out of the $27. Guy

Yikes. The Bulls are going to be really, really good this year. Guy

Mainly the saint, maybe the band ... also a Horace Silver tune on "Blowin' the Blues Away" named after the saint (or was it the disease?) The song is named after the disease, I think. Guy

I've always been curious about that one. Maybe it's a translation issue. Guy

Can't. No babysitter. Have you thought of hiring Aric as your babysitter? Guy

I'm with you Moose, that stuff is disgusting. OTOH, Jolly Ranchers are almost enough to make me go trick-or-treating again. Guy

I'm listening to piano concerto #25. I haven't really connected with all of the concertos yet but damn, this is superb music. I still like the last few symphonies better, but perhaps I will change my mind in time. Guy

I think that is an excellent guess! Guy

The "one number is missing" method obviously won't work (2 + 4 = 1 + 5) but I'd still employ it... Missing: 70, 13 5050 - 4967 = 83 -> missing numbers < 83 Finde one missing number: 82, 81, 80, ... 70 83 - 70 = 13 Missing numbers: 70, 13 Can't come up with an elegant algorithm. Do you know one? Well, there is an "elegant" algorithm. (I put elegant in quotes because only mathematicians would think it so. The rest of us would just go through the numbers one by one and do it more quickly.) Calculate 100 factorial. Then calculate the product of all 98 numbers on the list. The quotient is the product of the two missing numbers. Now you have a system of two equations in two variables and you can easily solve for the missing numbers. How did I fail to come up with this idea in my interview? J Larsen -- this was in fact an interview for a consulting firm. Randy and Hot Ptah -- I enjoyed your stories! Guy

Yikes -- this "cheapie" cost me $22! (And the "expensive" CDs cost 23EUR!) But I bet the music will be great! Guy

Slap it on a spreadsheet and sort it. Look for missing number. Or maybe something like (n*(n+1))/2 - sum of the given numbers (one missing)? Good answer. Now let's say I give you 98 numbers. How do you figure which two are missing? I think calculating the number of gas stations in Canada would be doable as long as only a "reasonable" answer was expected. Guy

Happy birthday Greg. Guy

So today I go into an interview. The first half goes great. Then the guy decides to offer me some choice brain-teasers. "Let's say I give you 99 numbers between 1 and 100. How do you figure out which one is missing?" "Calculate the probability that in a group of 20 people, at least two have the same birthday." etc. I got every. single. one. of. them. wrong. Alright, maybe that wasn't that funny but I was laughing after I left. Guy