The RIAA uses a ridiculous method of determining damages per violation. They value damages at $750/song. If the defendants use similar inflation, the RIAA could be accountable for a lot. Anyone know how many people they've accused? And how many songs? I hope the courts don't store damages in a 32-bit float.
it can't rely on 13-year-old pimple-faced kids to promote its agenda. The real problem is that 90% of people out there think that's who gamers are. Video games aren't just for kids. Most of the people I know who game are 18-30. I'm just about to turn 28 and I can't see myself stopping any time soon. People see a game with violence or nudity in it and think it should be banned because kids "might" play it. That shouldn't be the case.
If you look at movies, just because kids watch movies doesn't mean -only- kids watch movies. Some movies are made for adults. The same goes for games. Just because kids play games doesn't mean -only- kids play games. Some games are made for adults.
To the people with their panties in a bunch,
I'm not going to play the My Little Pony video game so you don't have to worry about your precious little snowflake playing a game with nudity or violence. If they do, it's your failing as a parent. The games industry makes games for me. They rate them "M" so you know they aren't kids games. Don't buy them for your 10 year old. Pay attention to what your kids are doing and try being a parent instead of expecting the government to do it for you.
The problem we've had here at the college I work at (where we have a site license for most things MS) is that the TCO on Office has jumped considerably with the last version. IMO the ribbon isn't a bad idea, but it causes our (many) computer illiterate faculty and staff no end of headaches trying to figure out where stuff is now. For the moment we're holding off on Office 2007 because of it, and it could be a good time for a competing office suite like OpenOffice to sneak in.
For the most part you can run the games in offline mode if steam can't connect, as long as you logged in successfully the last time it -could- connect.
Steam is by far the best executed "DRM" I've seen. 99% of the time it doesn't get in my way (and often has benefits), so the 1% of the time it is an issue I'm willing to deal with.
If I wipe my computer, I just install steam and log in. All my games are accessible (I do have to re-download them). If I have two computers steam lets me install my stuff on both, just not run it on both at the same time, which is reasonable.
If media DRM worked like this, I'd be happy. Unfortunately you hear the stories about people reformatting their computer and no longer having access to their media, or changing hardware and being blocked from viewing it, or only being able to view it on the machine on which it was downloaded. These are the things that piss off consumers and force them to pirate to get the flexibility they should have in the first place.
This make me feel nervous, because if they start monitoring the internet all the stuff we like on it will be gone. Somehow the idea of a guy at the FCC having to watch 2 girls 1 cup in order to impose regulations makes it worth it in the end.
Actually it would stop if windows didn't still follow the "EVERYTHING runs as root" philosophy.
Both the server hack (using SQL injection) and the client hack (using browser scripting to exploit a Realplayer vulnerability) SHOULD NOT have access to do things outside of their intended purpose. Is it still possible SQL injection would do damage including loss if information? Yes. Is it still possible a browser script could screw up your browser or something similar? Yes. But gaining control of the machine wouldn't be an issue.
Why did the software industry play out this way? Other professions have much harsher standards. Primarily because software was in an exponential expansion phase, any work was regarded as better than no work (perhaps falsely), and industry couldn't afford to reduce the talent pool by demanding actual talent. This seems to be the case in my (limited) experience. Things need to get done, not necessarily done right, so the skill of the programmer isn't even a question to management. I've noticed it more in the realm of security than low level programming concepts though. Try to tell management that a project needs to be delayed a month for security testing. They don't know what SQL injection is and don't care unless it becomes a problem.
That doesn't excuse the schools from not teaching it, but it's a cyclical problem. Industry needs to be demanding entry level people have those basic skills. As soon as alumni employment rate drops because students got turned away on the based on the lack of these skills, you'll see the schools push it harder.
That's exactly what the college I work at does. We order joe blow PC from Dell which likely now comes with Vista, but we have a site license for MS products so they get imaged with XP Pro before they go to the faculty/labs. We have 1800+ PCs in the college and a 3-4 year turn over on them.
I assume we'll move to Vista in the future, but until then there's a lot of Vista sales getting recorded for us that, well... aren't.
Not necessarily. If what they say is true, they could/should still get something along the lines of reckless endangerment. Sure they couldn't have known a helicopter would get in the way, but they -should- have known it was a bad idea to fling the beam around without considering the consequences.
Back in those days they picked a few with passion, practical knowledge and zeal for their jobs, isolated them in think tank labs devoid of suits and dead weight brass. They spent a lot more effort on small team management. If they needed something made, it was just made or farmed out to another small team of juniors. Very clear pecking orders and no juniors wagging the dog. They were focused on what mattered and the pride showed. Today it is just a herd of people most of which know squat about what they are doing but play good politics. Simply put, top heavy with too many incompetents. It's funny but you just described pretty much all modern business/industry, not just aerospace engineering. Automobile, IT, you name it, are having the same problems. Too many incompetent people combined with too much incompetent management.
It would be great if that was what they were doing, but it's not. They're telling people "That old Mustang really sucks because it's easy to break into. You should buy our Festiva instead." Without mentioning that the Festiva sucks ass too, just for different reasons.
Did XP have security issues? Yes. Has Vista fixed some of them? Yes (kind of). It's also a huge decrease in performance, handicaps media playback, etc. etc. If they were acknowledging XPs security flaws in order to adress them, I'd agree with you. Instead they're highlighting its flaws hoping you don't notice the slew of Vista flaws you'll get if you upgrade. Administrative access is a 5 second fix. The performance decrease and annoying UAC are not.
I think movies have in general been pretty good (contrast with the music industry) and the prices are for the most part fair (although theater tickets could stand to be $2-3 cheeper).
And the popcorn could stand to be $8-9 cheaper
And they could stand to turn the volume to a reasonable level
And guarantee a comfortable seat
And a decent viewing angle
And guarantee that I won't be beside people who:
Talk through the whole movie
Have bad BO
Leave their cell phones on
Throw things or otherwise act childish
But they don't. Those are only a few of the reasons why people choose their homes over the cinema.
So then, why do they choose to download over renting? Convenience. If they could offer home viewing for a decent price with the convenience of downloading they'd be cooking with fire. Netflix and services like it are close, but not quite there yet. The downloading services I've seen are so loaded with DRM or restrictive that it completely negates any convenience advantage over driving to the nearest Blockbuster.
YouTube is increasingly a resource people consult for health information, including vaccination. Ummm... what? Youtube? Is this for real? In what world is this a likely scenario:
"Hun, I have a really bad rash on my testicles. What should I do?"
"I don't know. Look it up on Youtube."
If they know it's going to hurt the industry, it's the studios responsibility to not take that check. They're the ones living off the industry, so it's their job to make sure it's sustained. If they repeatedly shoot themselves in the leg for (relatively) small kickbacks, they can't be surprised when they hit an artery.
They don't need to play David. Look at the amount of consumer unrest with wireless carriers in the media (and online)recently. This is especially the case for cell data access and "hidden" surcharges that cell companies feel it's their right to charge. If google wins the bidding and can come out with something even remotely competitive, there are a lot of people who will hop on that bandwagon.
Yeap. Music was around (and people made a living off of it) long before it was an "industry." Really though, if you look at how they get paid not much is going to change for the artists. They'll still get most of their money from doing concerts and live performances. They may actually be better off if the big labels die. Life will go on.
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Maybe the points are for getting as close to Godwin's law as possible without actually invoking it?
I don't know... people who go outside maybe?
Is the research taking place on a secluded island?
The RIAA uses a ridiculous method of determining damages per violation. They value damages at $750/song. If the defendants use similar inflation, the RIAA could be accountable for a lot. Anyone know how many people they've accused? And how many songs? I hope the courts don't store damages in a 32-bit float.
If you look at movies, just because kids watch movies doesn't mean -only- kids watch movies. Some movies are made for adults.
The same goes for games. Just because kids play games doesn't mean -only- kids play games. Some games are made for adults.
To the people with their panties in a bunch,
I'm not going to play the My Little Pony video game so you don't have to worry about your precious little snowflake playing a game with nudity or violence. If they do, it's your failing as a parent. The games industry makes games for me. They rate them "M" so you know they aren't kids games. Don't buy them for your 10 year old. Pay attention to what your kids are doing and try being a parent instead of expecting the government to do it for you.
Is there a contact page where you could ask them for more question marks and caps so it would be more intuitive for you?
The problem we've had here at the college I work at (where we have a site license for most things MS) is that the TCO on Office has jumped considerably with the last version. IMO the ribbon isn't a bad idea, but it causes our (many) computer illiterate faculty and staff no end of headaches trying to figure out where stuff is now. For the moment we're holding off on Office 2007 because of it, and it could be a good time for a competing office suite like OpenOffice to sneak in.
For the most part you can run the games in offline mode if steam can't connect, as long as you logged in successfully the last time it -could- connect.
Steam is by far the best executed "DRM" I've seen. 99% of the time it doesn't get in my way (and often has benefits), so the 1% of the time it is an issue I'm willing to deal with.
If I wipe my computer, I just install steam and log in. All my games are accessible (I do have to re-download them). If I have two computers steam lets me install my stuff on both, just not run it on both at the same time, which is reasonable.
If media DRM worked like this, I'd be happy. Unfortunately you hear the stories about people reformatting their computer and no longer having access to their media, or changing hardware and being blocked from viewing it, or only being able to view it on the machine on which it was downloaded. These are the things that piss off consumers and force them to pirate to get the flexibility they should have in the first place.
So true. It feels like they're just making up numbers at this point.
Actually it would stop if windows didn't still follow the "EVERYTHING runs as root" philosophy.
Both the server hack (using SQL injection) and the client hack (using browser scripting to exploit a Realplayer vulnerability) SHOULD NOT have access to do things outside of their intended purpose. Is it still possible SQL injection would do damage including loss if information? Yes. Is it still possible a browser script could screw up your browser or something similar? Yes. But gaining control of the machine wouldn't be an issue.
That's exactly what the college I work at does. We order joe blow PC from Dell which likely now comes with Vista, but we have a site license for MS products so they get imaged with XP Pro before they go to the faculty/labs. We have 1800+ PCs in the college and a 3-4 year turn over on them. I assume we'll move to Vista in the future, but until then there's a lot of Vista sales getting recorded for us that, well... aren't.
Ha! I was just about to post this. Glad I'm not the only one who was thinking it.
(a/b+3.5)*2^10 = Get off your cell phone and stop tailgating.
Not necessarily. If what they say is true, they could/should still get something along the lines of reckless endangerment. Sure they couldn't have known a helicopter would get in the way, but they -should- have known it was a bad idea to fling the beam around without considering the consequences.
... And there's still no cure for cancer...
It would be great if that was what they were doing, but it's not. They're telling people "That old Mustang really sucks because it's easy to break into. You should buy our Festiva instead." Without mentioning that the Festiva sucks ass too, just for different reasons.
Did XP have security issues? Yes. Has Vista fixed some of them? Yes (kind of). It's also a huge decrease in performance, handicaps media playback, etc. etc. If they were acknowledging XPs security flaws in order to adress them, I'd agree with you. Instead they're highlighting its flaws hoping you don't notice the slew of Vista flaws you'll get if you upgrade. Administrative access is a 5 second fix. The performance decrease and annoying UAC are not.
I'll keep an eye out for an xo with a "Vista Capable" sticker and let you know...
- And the popcorn could stand to be $8-9 cheaper
- And they could stand to turn the volume to a reasonable level
- And guarantee a comfortable seat
- And a decent viewing angle
- And guarantee that I won't be beside people who:
- Talk through the whole movie
- Have bad BO
- Leave their cell phones on
- Throw things or otherwise act childish
But they don't. Those are only a few of the reasons why people choose their homes over the cinema.So then, why do they choose to download over renting? Convenience. If they could offer home viewing for a decent price with the convenience of downloading they'd be cooking with fire. Netflix and services like it are close, but not quite there yet. The downloading services I've seen are so loaded with DRM or restrictive that it completely negates any convenience advantage over driving to the nearest Blockbuster.
"Hun, I have a really bad rash on my testicles. What should I do?"
"I don't know. Look it up on Youtube."
This boggles my mind...
If they know it's going to hurt the industry, it's the studios responsibility to not take that check. They're the ones living off the industry, so it's their job to make sure it's sustained. If they repeatedly shoot themselves in the leg for (relatively) small kickbacks, they can't be surprised when they hit an artery.
They don't need to play David. Look at the amount of consumer unrest with wireless carriers in the media (and online)recently. This is especially the case for cell data access and "hidden" surcharges that cell companies feel it's their right to charge. If google wins the bidding and can come out with something even remotely competitive, there are a lot of people who will hop on that bandwagon.
Yeap. Music was around (and people made a living off of it) long before it was an "industry." Really though, if you look at how they get paid not much is going to change for the artists. They'll still get most of their money from doing concerts and live performances. They may actually be better off if the big labels die. Life will go on.