Slashdot Mirror

Oblig PA

A bit like when a game developer responds to bad review scores by saying "our game isn't intended for critics".

Point of Parliamentary Procedure: you're liking thinking of Penny Arcade's take on Kevin Smith's defence of Jersey Girl .

That's not all it does...

Better link (sorry about that, reader from the world of tomorrow!)

Obligatory...

Hey Iran. I got a better virus for you.

STARS!!!!!

Really, sometimes these guys are too easy...

So PJ is your sacred cow, is she? Even if she is wrong she is right? We have a description of that, it is called fanaticism and I would argue it is one of the fundamental failings of the Linux community, in that Linus himself can basically Goatse you and admits in his own words there is NO plan for the kernel (which is why your drivers break constantly, and if YOU tried that shit on a million dollar project you would be FIRED) and yet the community just bends over and says "please sir, may I have another?"

But if you are a thinking individual and not a slobbering fanatic, see for yourself. type in "groklaw Psystar" and see for your self. And isn't it funny how guys like you can ONLY attack the messenger and NOT the message? While I give PJ credit for SCO I'm also not so blinded by fanboyism that I think she walks on water or can't be full of shit now. Go on read it, then you come back here and tell me with a straight face you believe Psystar was secretly "being bankrolled by the evil M$ to kill the GPL". Because THAT is what PJ was trying to sell, and if you believe that I have some tasty koolaid for you.

As for what I've done? I'm a thinking individual that can read and doesn't stick my fingers in my ears and go "la la la" when someone points out a sacred cow has gone from just reporting facts to pure paranoia, which is sadly more than I can say for YOU. And if you TRULY believe that MSFT would waste time with some rinky dinky Hackentosh outfit so that OSX could be made CHEAPER for the masses, thus helping kill Windows on the low end? Well then all I have to say is, to quote an old joke, here's your sign.

On a related note, http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/4/6/

Or as Penny Arcade put it: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/12/5/ (sorry for replying to my own post, I forgot to include that link)

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/1/2/

watch me kick virtual ass in Mortal Kombat 2015 by doing actual martial-arts moves on my living-room carpet.

I can't pull off fatalities with a decent control, you want me to try with my actual body? These new-fangled motion-sensing controls are all well and good for party games and the like, but they are no match for good old hard buttons. Sorry for going offtopic.

First of all, for those that write M$? Well here's your sign. Now as for Linux infringing patents? I'm sure I'll get hate for pointing this out, but they probably do. that is what happens when you allow software patents in the first place, as there is only so many efficient ways to figure an equation so whomever files on that equation first gets the patents and the others do it the hard way or cut a check.

This also ignores the fact that MSFT typically offers RAND for any and all of their patents, unlike patent trolls that are looking for the big fat check. How many articles did we see here on the TomTom case that pointed out MSFT offered the same RAND license they offered everyone else and got the bird in return?

So this comes down to NSTAAFL and just because YOU want to offer YOUR product as "free as in beer" does NOT mean those that own patents on things you may need for your free as in beer product HAVE TO give it to you. Frankly I believe if the F/OSS movement continues on the "free as in beer" path they will end up "free as in worthless" as R&D today costs billions and NO Linux foundation currently has the $$$ required to compete with MS Research or Apple ATM.

Be that as it may here are the facts: Is Linux infringing? I have no doubt, it is simply too big a code base with so many patents handed out yearly for it NOT to be. Currently with software patents it is like tap dancing blindfolded in a minefield, sooner or later BOOM! That's your ass Mr Postman. Could they be worked around? Possibly if you don't mind Linux sucking hard, as all the efficient algos have been patented, and you'd certainly have to do without most sound and video as that has patents up the wazoo.

So let us ALL hope MSFT actually wins this one, as ANYTHING that makes it easier to invalidate software patents is a good thing for all. But unless you get SCOTUS to invalidate software patents (unlikely) then sooner or later your product, free as in beer or not, WILL come across a patent in a core module that simply can't be replaced without killing it. What then? Will you give up free as in beer, or will you take some horrible kludge workaround like having to use 30 digit numbers to arrive at 2 while everyone else can use 1+1 thanks to RAND? It will be interesting to see what happens when that day arrives.

While M$ may prevail in this case, the case itself ironically can be used to invalid many of M$'s own patents.

Don't cry foul when what you wish for come back to take a big bite at your ass, Micro$oft !

Microsoft might be many things, but a patent troll isn't usually one of them. That's one reason that Apple and Google are siding with them on this issue, the other being that these big technology companies are the primary targets for genuine patent trolls like i4i.

The entire patent system is in need of serious reform. Microsoft pushing to make it easier to invalidate all the completely stupid and pointless patents the USPTO has gotten into the habit of granting is only a good thing. It's the first step in (hopefully) bringing some sanity back into the system, and I don't care if it's Microsoft, Apple, or ScumSoft doing the legwork and footing the bill.

PS: That doesn't help your "argument".

Additionally, from Penny Arcade... http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/10/19/

Better still, a twitter feed

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/11/5/

All of what you say is entirely reasonable (with the possible exception of $ony), but it discounts the context; Hotz said, when taking donations: "...this case isn't about me. Clearly I am not being sued because of something I have that Sony wants, I am being sued in order to send a message that Sony is not to be messed with. But if I(and all codefendants likewise) actually win this, we have the power to send a much stronger message back. That consumers have rights, and we aren't afraid to stand up for them." and "My attempts at humor aside, I do take this whole matter very seriously. Again, it's not about me, I was on the verge of quitting this stuff last June, and I would hate to be the one who sets a reputation for hackers that all a company has to do is sue us and we back down. In fact, I want the opposite reputation set, that the more a company tries to abuse the legal system, the harder we rally back.".

He talked big, he took money, and then he shied away when he realised that Sony could quite possibly crush him. I think it's disgusting that they can do so, and I think it's quite understandable that he didn't want to take the risk, but the fact remains that he was fairly misleading in what he said. It wasn't "please help me survive until I can make Sony leave me alone" it was "fuck them, I'm fighting back, I'll make them pay, and I want you to help". I don't really blame him for backing down, but I do think those who donated have a reasonable right to feel aggrieved, and some level of apology and explanation from Hotz would probably be appropriate.

I happened to catch one of the live streams about 1hr ago, where a guy from the hak5 podcast was setting up for a show and answering questions.

He quickly grew frustrated and stopped answering questions, concluding "well, the live comments have turned into YouTube comments, so I'm going to focus on setting up". Once again proving Gabe's GIFT.

Obligatory Penny Arcade. The original XBox controllers were terrible.

Damn, my mod points just expired or I'd give you a +1 Insightful. Instead I'll just leave this right here:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19/

That would be The Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory in a nutshell.

Twitter seems limited to 2 major applications: announcements and ideas. If you have a large no of people (or bots) you need to broadcast an announcement to, then it fits the bill pretty well. The idea seems to be that the message should be short and sweet, or a short summary with a link to another page providing more detail. It's a pity that Twitter requires you to host that page on a seperate server though - they should have intergrated it or at least provided their own URL shortening service. The other application is ideas, or to be more specific, any random concept/idea/piece of info that goes through your mind and you think is interesting enough to share with other people. It's essentially a blog except the entries are much shorter (and consequently suffers from the same problem as blogs -most people don't have anything interesting to say). This is more dependant on the quality of the poster - one feed might containing generally insightful tweets about the state of Linux on ARM, while another may have more inane posts.

I'm the same way. I joined Twitter about a year and some ago, because I was moving 3 hours away and thought it would be a good way to keep in touch. I immediately followed about 20 in-real-life friends. And almost as quickly, I unfollowed most of them.

There are 2 main issues I have with these people:

1. They thought it was cool to connect their Twitter feed to Facebook. So now I see exactly the same thing on Facebook as Twitter whenever they update their status.

2. They post completely random shit, all the fucking time. It's like listening to an ADD child without his Ritalin, on a sugar high. Every minor thought that runs through their head, every article they see (usually Lifehacker for some reason), every time they go out for a drink, that totally awesome burger, that bad-for-you dessert ... it all ends up on Twitter. Seriously, I wouldn't be surprised to see one of them Tweet "poop is coming out now."

The worst offenders are those that choose to live-Tweet things. I'm glad you're enjoying the game, but you've completely owned my Twitter feed, thanks. You're off the list now.

Not to mention the re-Tweets. I know the purpose of the RT is to share interesting stuff from someone else, and thereby maybe you'd want to follow that other person. But when it's used to excess, I just don't care. It is basically noise to me.

I've finally stabilized on how I use Twitter now. I have a small circle of people that I follow, and they don't update too frequently. Almost all of those people are actual IRL friends, too - but they post different stuff than on FB, so it's a different view.

I'm going to side with Penny Arcade on this one. If the NGP had a price point anywhere close to the 3DS, Sony would have made mention of that when they announced it. They certainly would have said something before the 3DS launched, to try and convince some people to hold off buying Nintendo's handheld until they could compare it to Sony's.

But beyond that, this seems like a rehash of the previous generation. Sony's supporters were slamming the DS for having inferior hardware, but the DS ended up winning by a wide margin. And it also continues that wonderful Sony trend of initially saying a technology is crap, and then showing up late to the party with it's own version. (see motion controls, rumble, wand controllers, and now touchscreens)

No no no, you wouldn't fear a pointed stick...you'd fear the fruit fucker! Seriously, that thing is creepy...

Yes, it uses a ground breaking container format which is fully 3D.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/3/28/

> A good hat dog is as illusive as it is tasty.

That's a fact, but it can be a head cover or food, not both!

You must be talking about this: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/5/15/

I'm for whichever party does the mouth-shooting.

A lot of the MS-haters on Slashdot tried to write off the Kinect as a nice bit of third-party hardware with a crappy MS-made driver. I wonder how they'll respond to this. Microsoft has really outdone themselves here. I think Penny Arcade put it best. If only they could apply this sort of innovation to their more important products, they'd be back on top in no time.

Yeah, what did we do before the Internet?

A slight reprieve, perhaps?.

And there's that controversial part of CoD...

...we don't end up with these.

Gabe, is that you?

This seems relevant: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2010/8/11/

If you don't understand why: http://webcomicoverlook.com/2010/08/17/penny-arcade-and-jokes-about-rape/

Apparently few made the connection to: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Dick%20Wolf

You are absolutely right in theory and absolutely wrong in practice.

Oblig: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/10/1/

Just like what Warcraft did to the Warhammer world. At this point they're pretty divergent, but I'm never sure whether to be said or just bemused every time someone accuses a Warhammer game of ripping of Warcraft's world/setting/creatures/etc. Even heard it once in reference to Warhammer miniatures.

Ob Penny Arcade

I like it. I'm not one of these people, so maybe my opinion doesn't matter here, but it runs at least as fast as Chrome on my system and is giving me quite a bit of screen real estate to work with. Having said that, the back button seems cut off by the bookmarks bar, which is really annoying.

I'll let Penny Arcade give you a short overview: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/7/16/

You DO realize there is a reason why people use phrases like "freetard" and completely ignore everything you say when you insist on acting like a loonie yes?

Repeat after me: Microsoft is NOT Sauron, and Redmond is NOT in Mordor...see how easy that was? I mean do you really want to come off in conversations as this guy after you've gone to all the trouble to actually type a thoughtful reply?

Now as for your replay simply realize you now have NO RIGHT to complain when companies refuse to give you specs or drivers since you have just admitted the Linux community doesn't "vote with their dollars" but instead strictly based on convenience, which if that is all you wanted, why not run Windows where all the games are?

It is really simple: if a company does everything the community asks and you still refuse to buy even after they went to all the trouble and expense to do what you asked, why bother? They can stick with Windows and have ZERO hoop jumping as well as writing a single driver that'll work for a decade without fiddling. And why should Nvidia give you source or specs if you'll buy from them even when they ignore your philosophy? Answer: they shouldn't as the increased costs don't return increased sales. It really is business 101 friend and a good reason why so few bother with Linux support, the effort just doesn't see returns worth bothering with.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/10/30/

You've just fallen victim to John Gabriel's Greater Internet Fuckwad Theory.

Is Meow Skywalker coming next?

It's unfortunate that the theory doesn't link to the original Penny Arcade comic. Linking UrbanDictionary.com as a credible source, really? Penny Arcade. On the plus side at least you didn't link your own blog with a link to the reference...

Obligatory PA ref -

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/12/12/

I believe Penny Arcade said it correctly. Anonymity + Audience.

In this case, people are getting hit with the reality that they aren't really that anonymous (or private) on the internet.

Sucks to be you I get over $100/hr programming in *gasp* PHP and no I don't live in California or NYC.

Hahahahahahahaha.

Oh, and this one's for you.