are you a criminal? if you can't quote copyright law, think twice before you answer

I reckon I am going to write a lot about copyright law. I studied it at uni from both the "good guys" angle and the "bad guys" angle and I have wavered between the two, but more often than not have favoured the "bad guys". This has nothing to do with a lack of appreciation for the people who create works that they copyright. I am happy to pay for a copyrighted work. I treasure creativity and I am always looking forward to new music, books, movies, art etc.

Like many religious institutions, commercial movie studios, most of the record industry and the big book and magazine publishers are stuck at a point in time regarding copyright that has been out of date for a very long time.

i think the existence of written language just proved that the world is my sick solipsist nightmare

I've come to the conclusion that i am a solipsist, in fact, let me put it another way. I think i suffer from solipsism. So "why write anything down?" you (whoever YOU could possibly be) might ask. Excellent question.

I've often thought, quite emphatically, that nobody reads anything. Ever! Writing, and therefore reading, form the cornerstone of my solipsist conundrum. All media contributes to my world view, but the written form is unique, as words are barely more than a series of symbols upon which we (or I) have bestowed a formula of meaning to be interpreted.

discussing your performance during probation on a new job

Whenever I sit down and chat with the boss on a new job to discuss how things are going, I'm always reminded of Bernard Black talking to Manny in the first season of Black Books.

Bernard: Manny, let's talk about how this trial day went.
Manny: Well, I think it went quite well.
Bernard: You sold a lot of books. And got on quite well with the customers.
Manny: (Pleased) Yes!
Bernard: I'm going to have to let you go.
Manny: But... I sold a lot of books! I got on well with the customers!
Bernard: It's not that kind of operation.