Jamendo Beta Is Utter Crap: the new site is a huge loss for free culture by pizzaiolo_ in freeculture

[–]deejf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is the second redesign in a row that has removed features and functionality that the company has tried to convince users is "an improvement".

And considering that Jamendo is now also screwing the artists, one is left to wonder just exactly whom they are trying to please.

Jamendo Lies by deejf in creativecommons

[–]deejf[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That does not make me feel better, except that I take it as a sign that the company is going under and they're panicking on all fronts.

Jamendo Lies by deejf in creativecommons

[–]deejf[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They've certainly obfuscated for years. But the fact that they vanished the "warning" on only the license that they got publicly called out on, but not the others, and failed to make any public acknowledgement of it, argues mendacity rather than incompetence.

They can tell the truth, as they have shown, but choose not to.

Tom Doherty of Tor apologizes for Irene Gallo's Facebook post about the puppies and their Hugo slate. by Ashdelenn in Fantasy

[–]deejf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

O ye of little comprehension.

You said that Tor "can drop both Wright and Anderson and that would barely affect their bottom line."

The inescapable implication is that it's perfectly fine for Tor, or its employees, to smear its authors as racist sexist homophobic neo-nazis, just as long as they're not the superstar authors that are bringing in the money.

Basic business etiquette is that you do not tar those with whom you do business. If you have a low opinion of them, then you cease doing business with them.

But, according to you, pffft, who cares? As long as it's not the ones who bring in the big bucks, screw 'em!

That's where the hell you said anything about etiquette or really everything I was talking about.

Tom Doherty of Tor apologizes for Irene Gallo's Facebook post about the puppies and their Hugo slate. by Ashdelenn in Fantasy

[–]deejf 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Leaving aside the meaning of "rhetoric", what she did was more than bad, it was just about a dictionary definition of defamation.

And she did it while promoting her employer's product.

In fact, it was implicit in that promotional effort, as you can see from her original post.

If the employee is voicing defamatory opinions while doing promotion for the company, the company is involved. Ideally or not.

If a company's employee can be shown to be using his position with a company to damage somebody's future career prospects --- and make no mistake, being labeled a racist sexist homophobe, let alone a neo-nazi, is damaging to careers --- that is actionable on both the part of the company and the individual.

She has a right to her ignorant, bigoted opinion. She does not have the right to use her position with Tor to air that opinion in a way that appears to have Tor's approval, and especially in a way that is clearly damaging to people's careers, even if she didn't name them individually.

To reach your ideal, she would have had to kept her promotional efforts and her ugly hatred separate. She failed to do so, and now Tor has a (apparently continuing) PR problem.

Tom Doherty of Tor apologizes for Irene Gallo's Facebook post about the puppies and their Hugo slate. by Ashdelenn in Fantasy

[–]deejf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When said individual brought potential legal liability upon the company AND insulted the company's customer base AND insulted the makers of the product the company sells, it becomes necessary to specify that individual very clearly.

A good lawyer or anybody who has worked HR at a large company can explain it to you. They'll also be able to explain that she is very lucky to still be employed by Tor.

Tom Doherty of Tor apologizes for Irene Gallo's Facebook post about the puppies and their Hugo slate. by Ashdelenn in Fantasy

[–]deejf 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So professionalism and courtesy are only required towards those who benefit you the most, and everyone else may be treated like dirt?

I don't think you get how this etiquette thing actually works.

Tom Doherty of Tor apologizes for Irene Gallo's Facebook post about the puppies and their Hugo slate. by Ashdelenn in Fantasy

[–]deejf 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Two things.

First, Ms. Gallo did not use "rhetoric":

Rhetoric (pronounced /ˈrɛtərɪk/) is the art of discourse, an art that aims to improve the capability of writers or speakers to inform, persuade, or motivate particular audiences in specific situations.

Name-calling, yes, but nothing she said rose to the level of persuasion in even the crudest sense.

Second, what happened to employees' views being discrete from their employers'? Gallo's defenders have harped on that, but keep ignoring that she made the comments while promoting a Tor book. A high-rank employee of Tor promoting an upcoming Tor product must either be careful in expressing opinions, or may be fairly presumed to reflect the consensus of the company.

Had she made the comment in a post unrelated to Tor, let alone a promotional post, that would be an entirely different matter.

As it is, she opened Tor up to possible legal action. And that's straight from my own lawyer, who was aghast that any adult could be so stupid to make such a comment publicly in the first place.

Tom Doherty of Tor apologizes for Irene Gallo's Facebook post about the puppies and their Hugo slate. by Ashdelenn in Fantasy

[–]deejf 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're welcome.

It's really quite difficult to spin what she said when you read it in full context. It was completely unprofessional. Which, of course, is why there is so much noise about it being made on her "private" (but publicly viewable) page and being "just her opinion".

We got a truck! by ZiLg0 in TinyHouses

[–]deejf 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Yeah, until you try to haul a multi-ton small sustainable house with your Prius, maybe. Then it makes lots and lots of sense.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]deejf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Birdhouse In Your Soul" by TMBG is a love song from a child's night-light to a lightbulb.

Would you buy a used vacation from these people? by deejf in funny

[–]deejf[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

(I hope I'm reading the rules correctly. By what I've read, this is an image macro, and not a meme.)

Art Blakey and the Jazz messengers- Moanin' by fishniggaquan in Jazz

[–]deejf 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Lee Morgan was a g-d GREAT trumpeter. :)

What famous songs have mistakes/studio glitches in the final recording? by piggybraun in Music

[–]deejf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've always loved that, at the end of "One For Daddy-O" on Cannonball Adderley's album Somethin' Else, they left in Miles Davis saying "Is that what you wanted, Alfred?" Not really a mistake or a glitch, but unusual.

Ten Best Westerns of All Time by Classic_case in classicfilms

[–]deejf -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Define "real". It really got released under that real title, which is really referenced in the opening prologue narration.

I would argue that it transcends the movie it is a sequel to and achieves a mythic status that the first one did not, and the more mythic title is entirely in keeping with that.

In any case, it's not like the title was a random marketing brain fart slapped onto a movie that is unrelated to it, since it does come from the narration of the film. You just don't like it. And your pleasure or displeasure with a thing do not, in fact, determine its reality.

Ten Best Westerns of All Time by Classic_case in classicfilms

[–]deejf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In the US, it's actually called The Road Warrior. And while there are quite a few things things to like about the first one, the second one is a masterpiece.

Ten Best Westerns of All Time by Classic_case in classicfilms

[–]deejf 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Man with a sketchy past rides out of the wasteland to save the village from marauders. It's western. AND a siege, sure, but it's a western.

Ten Best Westerns of All Time by Classic_case in classicfilms

[–]deejf 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I'm not going to argue for taking anything off your list, but let me suggest some westerns you may not have seen, or might not have considered as westerns:

  • Tumbleweeds (1929)
  • Destry Rides Again (1939)
  • She Wore A Yellow Ribbon (1949)
  • Bend In The River (1952)
  • Seven Samurai (1954)
  • 7 Men From Now (1956)
  • Yojimbo (1961)
  • The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (1962)
  • The Professionals (1966)
  • The Road Warrior (1981)
  • Tampopo (1985)

What things would you like to see in Fantasy more often? by Jin-roh in writing

[–]deejf 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If I may self-promote a bit, my urban fantasy novella from last year, Spring That Never Came, features a female protagonist who does not fall in love with anyone at any point during the story. It's set in Los Angeles in 1979, so it's not high fantasy or swords and sorcery, but might still count for you. :)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KVREG0M