Hi ROss,

On Thu 2037-Jun-04 09:13, Ross Cassell (1:123/456) wrote to Ross Sauer:

RC> All stores have a cost structure in order to do business, the cost
RC> of the bags they use, maintaining shopping carts, utility costs,
RC> payroll, rent, business taxes etc, they normally build all that into
RC> the retail prices of their merchandise.

OF course, and I"m sure this is factored in some sort of way .


RC> I think states that tax the shit out of tobacco to offset health
RC> costs are fiscally stupid, if the tax forces people to quit or get
RC> their tobacco elsewhere, then what they budgetted for the health
RC> programs suffer. 

AGreed.  I"m close enough to the border that after Tennessee pulled
that BS I just make a run down to MIssissippi where
they haven't been so stupid once a month and buy my tobacco
products there.

A can of TOp cigarette tobacco, contains enough tobacco for
approx a carton of smokes.  Price before the recent
increase:  $9.98 approximately, less with the $2 off coupons they put on
the cans occasionally.

PRice after the recent tax increase:  $21.98.

cOst of a carton of plain end no big name smokes, already
manufactured for one in MIssissippi at the shop I use:
$21.98.

WHo lost?


RC> If they were to budget the extra revenue to pay on state debt, that
RC> would be another thing that could have a friendlier side affect on
RC> the states health care budgets.

OF course, but why bother to pay down that debt when you're
just gonna go make more?

RC> A tax I would favor is one on CD/DVD media, maybe like 2cent per
RC> disk on CD and 5cent per disk on DVD. Canada and the EU do this,
RC> part of the generated revenue goes back to the entertainment
RC> industry in return for that industry not going after the citizens
RC> for using such media to copy music or movies. 

CAn understand that one.  I don't do bootlegging, but I
provide product to clients on them occasionally.  My clients in these cases
are the very industry that would benefit from the tax.  Maybe they'd
benefit, maybe only sOny BMG would
benefit.

BUt, I"d still think it would be a bit better, if it
trickles to artists.  I know a lot of others in my business
would try to find a way to beat it, but "beating" such a tax for
people in our business would mean having to register
ourselves somewhere else and jump through more hoops.

we prefer to deliver multi track audio on a hard drive, use
an hd caddy which can allow us to connect to a usb port,
transfer the files from our proprietary file format drives
to broadcast .wav files with timestamps and move said .wav
files to client's drive.  cd or dvd-r is too labor
intensive, and too many disks to load a multi-track session
back in at the client's chosen post production facility.

But, two track audio or finished products, yes we'll deliver a cd-r.  Other
than backups, etc. that means a spindle is
going to last me awhile .

RC> Sound radical? Not really for a 100 pack spindle, its only and extra
RC> $2 to $5. 

WHich I"m going to pass along to the clients.  NOT just do I factor in
the cost of the disk, but the time it took me to
make a redbook compatible audio cd, the trip to FEdEx or
UPS, the mailing container, etc.
IF I record directly to an audio cd recorder and hand them
the disk when the performance is done of course I don't
factor in the mailing label and the trip to the shipper .

RC> Where I work, I sell these and trust me the majority of what I sell
RC> is to bootleggers and where I live the majority of them are blacks..

I can believe that.
would you pay for that hip hop stuff?  THat market and the
karaoke market are why I'm not in the sound reinforcement
business anymore.

sTrange as it may seem, the hip hop rappers and dj types are also the most
abusive to sound reinforcement equipment,
often provided by others.  I'm not the only one that refuses to work with
them because of this.
Btw it's the white rappers and dj types too, so it isn't a
race thing.

RC> We also specialize in computer optimizations and virus removal, the
RC> majority of my black customers are the ones infected with trojans or
RC> rogue security applications, nearly everyone had:

RC> * Bear Share
RC> * Limewire
RC> * Bit Torrent

RC> Helper magnets for the malware.

OF course they did, and too dumb to know that those
so-called services invite that stuff in.  Hope you charge a
real good price for that service, and explain to them why
they keep coming back to pay you for it.


RC> A tax on this media would help keep the entertainment industry off
RC> of us and the DRM shit to a minimum.

drm is bad business for everybody.  IT has been since its
first incarnation, which was scms back when digital audio
tape first hit the scene in the late '80's.  FOr years I
used SOny dat machines, just because I could manage the scms much easier.

still remember accidentally engaging scms when doing a
mixdown for a client.  POor guy sent it to one of the big cd replicators
out in CAlifornia and then got an extra charge
on the bill for his run of disks because they had to strip
the scms code from the bitstream before they could do a
glass master.  I ate the cost for that one, my fault.


Regards,
           Richard
... A word to the wise isn't necessary. It's the dumb ones that need it.
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+