Disqus - Latest Comments for zahooee

Re: Sister Claire - Book 3: Chapter 9 - pg. 294

zahooee — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 08:29:49 -0000

Nope...no potential for horror here....

my lord those eyes

Re: Acts of badassery guaranteed to boost your t cell count (19 photos)

zahooee — Sat, 08 Dec 2018 12:34:19 -0000

#16 Welcome to a life of travel-related strip searches...

Re: Lighter Than Heir - Lighter than Heir - 640- Next port

zahooee — Thu, 18 Oct 2018 23:51:11 -0000

That huge (and, apparently, ineffectual) sneeze and nobody said "Gesundheit" before he fell onto the water.

Re: 6 Gun Mage - Page 52-13

zahooee — Wed, 26 Sep 2018 07:06:21 -0000

Well, she *is* resting the barrel on the nape of the little girl's neck.

That has to help a little. Right?

Re: Harpy Gee - ch4_134

zahooee — Sun, 29 Apr 2018 17:34:43 -0000

Burro’s just hoping that someone remembers they owe him a scarf.

Re: Spotify again attacks Apple for its gatekeeper-like policies

zahooee — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 23:28:22 -0000

You know a conversation has run its course when it devolves into tax politics.

Given that no one in this conversation has put up any numbers as to what it actually costs to run Apple's infrastructure, nor the value of their pre-existing user base, nor the value of their app distribution network, nor the cost fo the security around that system (PCI, etc.) nor the value of their AR functions, nor how much margin is actually left; I can't say that any of use can say if it's too much or not.

We *can* say that 30% has been the going rate since the beginning of the app economy, and that enough people have seen the value in the services provided that the app store contains literally millions of apps, many of which offer subscriptions.

I'll go back to my point above: Just because you have a car at home, doesn't mean you don't have to pay for your Uber.

Re: Spotify again attacks Apple for its gatekeeper-like policies

zahooee — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 17:48:34 -0000

I think that's against terms of service, but...

Not to add fuel to the fire, but Spotify actually charges a 30% "premium" to people who subscribe through the app. ($12.99 per month versus $9.99 per month) supposedly to cover the "Apple surcharge."

Makes the whole argument a little disingenuous if you ask me.

(Nobody did, but...)

Re: Spotify again attacks Apple for its gatekeeper-like policies

zahooee — Wed, 13 Dec 2017 17:32:38 -0000

I've never understood this complaint about Apple "taking" 30%. Is it too much? That's arguable.

However, when I get billed every month (or year) for my subscriptions:

I'm billed by Apple.
I get my receipt from Apple.
Apple takes my money (and presumably pays 70% or more to Company X).
If my payment method is invalid (due to card expiration, etc.) Apple deals with it.

If Apple is acting as your Accounts Receivable, I think they've earned a cut.

Re: 6 Gun Mage - Page 43-13

zahooee — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 07:48:32 -0000

So...a whole town of "Wonko the Sanes?"

Re: 6 Gun Mage - Page 43-8

zahooee — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 07:27:17 -0000

Gee...now Sierra's sharp warning to Kylie seems a lot less b!tchy and a lot more friendly.

Re: A funny batch of lowbrow images that will make you smile wide : theCHIVE

zahooee — Tue, 27 Jun 2017 20:51:37 -0000

#33 was actually a little more fun before they updated the sign to prevent letter theft. https://uploads.disquscdn.c...
http://cdn.thechivemobile.c...

Re: 6 Gun Mage - Page 39-6

zahooee — Mon, 29 May 2017 01:57:02 -0000

Since I do not desire a prolonged, long-winded argument, I will simply state that the support for your argument came across as an anti-American diatribe that really had nothing to do with your argument to begin with. I came across as simply a vehicle for you to express your thinly-veiled disagreement with the American right to keep and bear arms that you chose to refer to as Constitution worship. (That, and the completely unnecessary tangent into Christianity, which left me scratching my head because it was so out of place.)

I could continue--and rival your manifesto in length--explaining how very wrong you are, but, as I said, all you really demonstrated was that you simply didn't understand what you were writing about. I'll leave it at that.

Re: 6 Gun Mage - Page 39-6

zahooee — Mon, 29 May 2017 01:14:21 -0000

Not to put too fine a point on it, but--despite the large number of words you used to demonstrate your superiority--all you've managed to do is demonstrate that you don't understand a thing.

Re: 6 Gun Mage - Page 39-4

zahooee — Wed, 24 May 2017 07:30:18 -0000

Uh...sweetie? Your gun is on fire...

Re: Harpy Gee - ch4_013

zahooee — Sat, 25 Feb 2017 12:40:56 -0000

I don't think Cowhorns and the cloak had anything to do with this. Remember that magic doesn't have any effect on Harpy, so I doubt Cowhorns would have even tried to send her a cloak that would do this to her.

Also, it seems that (without digging through he archives to confirm it) Humphrey's new "abilities" seem to become manifest when he is in a emotional/angsty state.

Could be wrong, though...

Re: 6 Gun Mage -

zahooee — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 07:25:58 -0000

I don't know why, but the phrase "murder mannequin" kinda made me smile.

Re: 6 Gun Mage -

zahooee — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 07:50:20 -0000

Looks like Renault got caught monologuing. That places him square in the villain camp. (If there was ever any doubt.)

Re: 6 Gun Mage -

zahooee — Mon, 07 Apr 2014 07:46:23 -0000

I kind of want to feel bad for the poor bastard. He's just a tool dying in confusion. Then I remember his attitude at the bar, and think "good riddance."

Re: Another Rogue Government Agency Revealed

zahooee — Tue, 06 Aug 2013 12:11:43 -0000

At least you can give them credit for giving the division an appropriate TLA...

Re: ‘First They Nudge . . . Then They Shove . . . Then They Shoot’

zahooee — Mon, 05 Aug 2013 11:04:06 -0000

When you use these "nudge" tactics on the enemy, it's called "propaganda."

Re: Juan Williams Sees It: Liberals Don’t Like Herman Cain Because He’s Off the Leftist Plantation

zahooee — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 23:55:22 -0000

Minor correction: White "Racists don’t support non-white candidates."

Other racists aren't so easy to identify, unless you look up. They tend towards high horses...

Re: Trading the Pump for a Plug

zahooee — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:39:39 -0000

On important thing that Nissan is doing here is that they sell the car, but lease the batteries. That way, the consumer isn't stuck when the batteries fail (which they will do,) but also when the lease expires the customer will get the new battery technology on the renewal. I would expect a 200 mile battery next year, and even better after that.

Re: Success in the Music (or any) Business

zahooee — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 22:02:13 -0000

I agree completely. I also agree with Mr. Boland, at least in content, if possibly not intent.

You are a success in any endeavor whether it's business, artistic, or even personal, if you achieve the goals you set out for yourself. In many cases, we may have those goals set for us by others, but that is success by their measure, not ours.

Too often, we can find ourselves measuring our own success by somebody else's ruler. Sometimes we need to do that. I work in sales, that's what I was *hired* to do. If I don't meet that goal, I have failed. It doesn't make me a failure. I may be unemployed, but I'm not a failure.

What Mr. Boland said is right on the mark. If Matthew is reaching his own goals, he is being successful. If he hasn't, he needs to keep at it. (Personally, I want him to keep at it, but that's because I'm selfish that way and I want to keep enjoying the fruits of his labor.) That doesn't mean that he's failed. Goals are simply steps on a staircase. If you reach one, there had better be another one above it. If not, you are at the top of a fairly short staircase.

What I take umbrage in with Mr. Boland's comment is what I take as his assumption that *he* gets to set the goals.

As Matthew said so much more eloquently than me. This isn't 1985. The venue has changed. It doesn't work the same way any more. Sure "successful" acts still pack arenas and stadiums. To be sure, it's really good for those musicians. That's mostly because the proceeds from those concerts are the bulk of their income. The "industry" takes the rest for most of them. They *may* see a dime (more likely a fraction of a cent) for that CD you bought.

Matthew and others like him are at the forefront of a new business model. Some may say that Apple started it. They did, at least they were largely responsible for legitimizing it. Music consumers have more choice and say in what they "consume" than ever before, and artists like Matthew Ebel have a greater insight into and a stronger connection to their "consumers" (or fans) and what they want as well. That insight and connection probably hasn't been as strong since the days of sponsors and patrons during the Renaissance.

That brings me back to goals. In recent years, "successful" musicians have the ones that allowed their goals to be set by "The Industry." This is very much like my boss setting a sales goal or quota for me. (Too much like that, in fact...eerily similar.) "Success," by that measure, is usually all about the numbers. How many "records" did you sell. Where are you on "the charts."

In Matthew's case, he gets to set his own goals. He has his fans and sponsors. His fans can be rabid (in more ways than one.) that is something that "the suits" will never measure. He's been eating, he's been getting exposure. Unlike Mr. Boland, I don't pretend to know what his goals are. I just know that he works hard to achieve them. *I* think he's a success, even if he does still have work to do. More important, though, is if Matthew sees his own success. Given what he's written I'd guess he does.

In the future, I think we are going to begin seeing more of these new measures of success. The "Music Business" is changing. Somebody ought to tell the "Music Industry," but I doubt they'd believe it. They're too busy suing Grandma.

Re: SellaBand Changes (For The Better)

zahooee — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 16:09:31 -0000

Very cool. I was beginning to worry that not much would come of the Sellaband experience.

Re: Every Bird’s Dream

zahooee — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:25:57 -0000

So very, very cool... Talented people truly fascinate me.