So, basically, what we're looking at is the manufacturer's ability to add hardware DRM to every component of our PC. We need to fight this tooth and nail, folks, or we can say goodbye to all our "illegal" format shifting and document sharing.
Before flaming me for being apparently anti-P2P, please note the quotes around "illegal" in the above statement, and take them for the sarcasm they are.
Mice and keyboards? Been there, done that, got the dead batteries and incomplete mess
I'd just like to point out that there are several successful wireless input devices. Typically, they incorporate a charger and multiple batteries, and while I hate proprietary solutions, I love my Logitech G7 mouse... changing the battery feels much like swapping the clip in a handgun, and lends itself admirably to my FPS experience (dodge around the corner, drop the dead battery, slap in the new one, bounce back around the corner with gun(s) blazing). The proprietary battery pack is more expensive to replace, but has more than paid for itself in gaming satisfaction - changing the battery takes about 3 seconds from "blinking light, battery's gonna die" to "fresh battery installed, ready to rock".
Long story short, if you have battery issues with your wireless input devices, you aren't spending enough money on them. Sometimes, quality just costs more.
It does explain why MIT agreed that a student wearing a shirt with LEDs should be treated like a terrorist, though, no one in Boston knew about LEDs.
That might explain their thinking on some other subjects, too... ATHF Terrorist Weapon Light Brights, if i recall correctly? Or am I thinking of the wrong city?
... and if I'm not, WTF IS WRONG WITH THE PEOPLE IN BOSTON?!?
120,000 licenses out of 11 million paying players isn't too bad.
120,000 software purchases != 120,000 bots.
I don't have any idea what your experience with cheaters is, but I have a confession. I used to cheat, for a very limited time, and in a very limited fashion, in an online game. Not WoW, it was an FPS that was popular several years ago. The mindset of a cheater is that one is entitled to the rewards, without having to invest any time or effort.
Therefore, piracy is simply rampant. After all, why should one's friends have to pay for something that you have already acquired? And once the pirate package has been created, there's simply no reason whatsoever to not give it away for free to anyone else who asks, or even those who don't. After all, it didn't cost you anything to cheat at this game, why should it cost your friends?
I would guess that a large portion, perhaps 10%, of WoW subscriptions are gold farmers and bots (Glider-type bots, and advertising bots). Yes, this is an order of magnitude larger than Glider's apparent sales. Yes, I'm fabricating numbers out of thin air. I feel that the ranks of WoW players have been infiltrated heavily by people out to make a quick buck, or gain some rep without actually having to do anything. These people have little or no compunction about ruining a perfectly decent game through their efforts to "one-up" themselves.
On the bright side, bots ruin ones' ability to play effectively without them. Don't believe me? Try an aimbot for a few days in your favorite FPS, and watch your shots/hits ratio go to hell when you remove it again. You'll find yourself waiting for the aimbot to "zero in" on your target, instead of doing it reflexively yourself. Cheating just trains you into the mindset that you can't function without the "crutch" of your computer-aided skillset, and makes you become even more of a failure than if you had never cheated, and just sucked at the game.
(As an aside, the various "info-mods" cause a similar "dependence" effect. For instance, I find it very difficult to play without my MetaHUD, as my warlock has a hard time balancing mana and health usage when I have to look at the top-left corner of the screen to see it, rather than looking at the action in the center of the screen.)
The upshot to all of this is that those who are botting will leave sooner than those who actually enjoy playing, even grinding. Mindless farming behavior is common in my WoW playing, because I'm typically just giving my fingers something to do while I talk to my friends and family on the phone, or via VOIP. It's fun to shout "ding!" into the phone when I hit level 26 while farming murlocs in Menethil, just for something to do while I chat with my wife (she's currently in another state, and we farm together to feel like we are not so far apart).
The issue is that I didn't notice him implying that. And he certainly didn't SAY it. So it would seem that the concept is entirely your interpretation.
No interpretation required. If you didn't see the poster say
I probably would too if it was allowed by Blizzard.
then either you didn't read the same post as everyone else, or your reading comprehension is abysmal.
Personally, I'd like to just see a system that says that for any new character you create, you can either choose to start at level 1 if you like, OR, you have the option of starting them at 85% of the level of your highest level character. So if I have a level 80 mage, I can start a priest at level 68. That would give people enough time to learn the class, but wouldn't put them through so much repetitive content to try a new class or role.
Might I interest you in Guild Wars, then...? You can make a PvE Toon, and level it from 1 to 20 (max level), and then continue beating quests and mobs, exploring the game, earning new skills, etc. As an alternative, you can make a PvP character, start at level 20, and use the skills and weapons you've unlocked on the PvE side.
Sure, Guild Wars sucks as compared to WoW, but nobody said it was perfect. The lack of ability to jump, the lack of a Z axis entirely, the lack of variety in costuming, the lack of ability to use more than 8 skills in any given session... the list goes on. I just wanted to point out that what you asked for already exists.
This is not a third world country, and genital mutilation should be illegal here.
/applaud
I've been saying this for years. The same people who will loudly denounce the genital manipulation practiced in third-world countries (clitorectomy, anyone?) will just as loudly argue that it was "the right thing to do" to chop off the most sensitive portion of the most sensitive portion of their anatomy. No, that was not a typo. Circumcision typically involves the removal of up to 90% of the nerve tissue, along with the foreskin. Look it up, be amazed, get pissed at your parents.
Because it removes up to 90% of the nerve tissue in the affected region. Imagine how much better your life could have been.
Also, it's decidedly unpleasant, and I would imagine extremely painful and traumatic. I have no recollection of the event, but my mother says I didn't walk for nearly a year afterwards.
uce@ftc.gov is no longer in service. The above link describes the new email address, spam@uce.gov Before you blast me for telling you about this new development, take a look at the date on the announcement (July 28, 2004).
Hmm. Last I checked, Foster's was brewed in Canada. Apparently, they are now bottling the stuff right here in the USA, in Fort Worth, Texas. My joke is now broken. Bummer.
It would be trivial to set up a 54mb network all over the place. If every geek in the country bought 3 wireless routers, and added them to their LAN (at the end of some really long cat5), there'd be FREE 54mb (assuming 802.11g) internet all over the place. Ok, so it's technically not "54mb internet", but still... a network is a network, and if it's there, people will use it.
I'm already doing this in my house with a wireless router plugged into my linux router. I've given it the SSID "FreeInternet", and blocked the router's (static) IP from accessing my local network (iptables rules to drop packets from the wireless router's ip to 192.168.0.0/16 (except for 53 (DNS) which is pointed at the "real" router) seems to work quite nicely.) My LAN is safe from lurking WiFi Demons, and I'm providing a free service to my neighborhood. I'll add some more access points later this year, on opposite ends of really long cables to maximize my wireless footprint.
The downside, of course, is that no one who doesn't know me knows that it's actually safe to use the "unsecured" "FreeInternet" WiFi, and that it's not one of those "honeypot" systems designed to trick people into connecting so that they can try to break into your system while you're surfing porn in your hotel room.
If anyone has any ideas on how best to implement a splash screen (like the ones you'll see if you fire up your wifi-enabled laptop's web browser while standing in the lobby of a hotel), feel free to respond.
My goal is to allow "unauthenticated" access to port 80 (and 53, of course, although 443 can go hang - if it's untrusted, it sure ain't secure) without requiring a login, and to allow "registered" users to access the entire port range (or maybe just common services, secure communications, etc. - it depends on whether I want to get into logging IP addresses and mapping them to credentials. There's sticky legal bits about sharing out my 'net, ya dig? I don't want to watch my traffic, but I do want to be able to give a list of connected users if the gub'mint decides to come down on me cuz someone was pirating on my "unsecured" wifi).
I have 8mbps down, 1mbps up. I pay US$49.95/month. They came out and put a filter on my line so that I can't receive television signals on my cable, because I opted out of receiving television with my internet service.
In other words, I'm already seeing the 8mbps for under $50 a month. I'd love to switch to FIOS, and as soon as it's available in this area, I'll cheerfully double my internet bill to increase my net speed by more than an order of magnitude.
I dunno where you're submitting from, so your numbers are pretty much meaningless. I'm in Louisiana, USA.
But we should do something about those who send junk, that is completely defective machines that aren't of any use whatsoever.
Yes, we should be upset that we are handing them raw materials. If it were me, and I was hungry, and I understood that plants grow, and can be cultivated, but I could not afford a shovel... I'd be overjoyed to be handed a 20-year-old mid-tower. Since I don't have electricity anyways (or if I do, it's for the TV), I can use the casing to make a shovel, a hoe, or a rake, with nothing more than a hammer (this heat sink might do the trick, in a pinch) and a stick. No, I can't eat it, and I sure as hell won't be hooking that 486 to the net, but what do I care? It didn't work anyway, and now I can make a garden in my yard... And I bet that home-made shovel will make my neighbor think twice about stealing my tomatoes.
To make a long story short... does it matter that they're receiving junk? After all, "One man's trash is another's treasure."
By taxing 'luxury' goods like cell phones and computers they're taxing the 'rich' and not taxing the starving masses.
Don't you mean something along the lines of "By taxing the 'luxury' items like cell phones and computers, they're keeping them 'luxuries' instead of allowing everyone to have convenient communication"?
Uhm. You're in Utah, and having a hard time finding craft supplies?
Sorry, I don't buy it.
Assuming you're not a Mormon...
Next time the Relief Society ladies stop at your door, ask them where they like to get their craft supplies. The local sewing circle probably has a list the length of your arm of local places to get crafting supplies, whether you're looking for yarn, cloth, dowels, clay, widgets, or what have you. Just because you're not Mormon doesn't mean you shouldn't speak to those who are, even if their choice of underwear creeps you out.
If you are a Mormon, then I *really* don't buy it.
If you were a libertarian, you would realize that people paid Apple for a product that they now rightfully own. Apple instead has decided to control this product and restrict the owners from doing with it as they wish. In essence, Apple has deprived the owners of iPhones their essential rights of ownership.
I'm sorry, were you speaking of the apps, or the iPhones?
Slashdot Mirror
Bandwidth reservation?
Sounds more and more like an end-run on network neutrality.
I'll stick with your wording, I think it suits my viewpoint best.
Fuck that.
So, basically, what we're looking at is the manufacturer's ability to add hardware DRM to every component of our PC. We need to fight this tooth and nail, folks, or we can say goodbye to all our "illegal" format shifting and document sharing.
Before flaming me for being apparently anti-P2P, please note the quotes around "illegal" in the above statement, and take them for the sarcasm they are.
This has been a public service announcement.
Mice and keyboards? Been there, done that, got the dead batteries and incomplete mess
I'd just like to point out that there are several successful wireless input devices. Typically, they incorporate a charger and multiple batteries, and while I hate proprietary solutions, I love my Logitech G7 mouse... changing the battery feels much like swapping the clip in a handgun, and lends itself admirably to my FPS experience (dodge around the corner, drop the dead battery, slap in the new one, bounce back around the corner with gun(s) blazing). The proprietary battery pack is more expensive to replace, but has more than paid for itself in gaming satisfaction - changing the battery takes about 3 seconds from "blinking light, battery's gonna die" to "fresh battery installed, ready to rock".
Long story short, if you have battery issues with your wireless input devices, you aren't spending enough money on them. Sometimes, quality just costs more.
It does explain why MIT agreed that a student wearing a shirt with LEDs should be treated like a terrorist, though, no one in Boston knew about LEDs.
That might explain their thinking on some other subjects, too... ATHF Terrorist Weapon Light Brights, if i recall correctly? Or am I thinking of the wrong city?
Respect for the retraction.
That is all.
120,000 licenses out of 11 million paying players isn't too bad.
120,000 software purchases != 120,000 bots.
I don't have any idea what your experience with cheaters is, but I have a confession. I used to cheat, for a very limited time, and in a very limited fashion, in an online game. Not WoW, it was an FPS that was popular several years ago. The mindset of a cheater is that one is entitled to the rewards, without having to invest any time or effort.
Therefore, piracy is simply rampant. After all, why should one's friends have to pay for something that you have already acquired? And once the pirate package has been created, there's simply no reason whatsoever to not give it away for free to anyone else who asks, or even those who don't. After all, it didn't cost you anything to cheat at this game, why should it cost your friends?
I would guess that a large portion, perhaps 10%, of WoW subscriptions are gold farmers and bots (Glider-type bots, and advertising bots). Yes, this is an order of magnitude larger than Glider's apparent sales. Yes, I'm fabricating numbers out of thin air. I feel that the ranks of WoW players have been infiltrated heavily by people out to make a quick buck, or gain some rep without actually having to do anything. These people have little or no compunction about ruining a perfectly decent game through their efforts to "one-up" themselves.
On the bright side, bots ruin ones' ability to play effectively without them. Don't believe me? Try an aimbot for a few days in your favorite FPS, and watch your shots/hits ratio go to hell when you remove it again. You'll find yourself waiting for the aimbot to "zero in" on your target, instead of doing it reflexively yourself. Cheating just trains you into the mindset that you can't function without the "crutch" of your computer-aided skillset, and makes you become even more of a failure than if you had never cheated, and just sucked at the game.
(As an aside, the various "info-mods" cause a similar "dependence" effect. For instance, I find it very difficult to play without my MetaHUD, as my warlock has a hard time balancing mana and health usage when I have to look at the top-left corner of the screen to see it, rather than looking at the action in the center of the screen.)
The upshot to all of this is that those who are botting will leave sooner than those who actually enjoy playing, even grinding. Mindless farming behavior is common in my WoW playing, because I'm typically just giving my fingers something to do while I talk to my friends and family on the phone, or via VOIP. It's fun to shout "ding!" into the phone when I hit level 26 while farming murlocs in Menethil, just for something to do while I chat with my wife (she's currently in another state, and we farm together to feel like we are not so far apart).
The issue is that I didn't notice him implying that. And he certainly didn't SAY it. So it would seem that the concept is entirely your interpretation.
No interpretation required. If you didn't see the poster say
I probably would too if it was allowed by Blizzard.
then either you didn't read the same post as everyone else, or your reading comprehension is abysmal.
--
If at first you do not succeed, you fail.
Personally, I'd like to just see a system that says that for any new character you create, you can either choose to start at level 1 if you like, OR, you have the option of starting them at 85% of the level of your highest level character. So if I have a level 80 mage, I can start a priest at level 68. That would give people enough time to learn the class, but wouldn't put them through so much repetitive content to try a new class or role.
Might I interest you in Guild Wars, then...? You can make a PvE Toon, and level it from 1 to 20 (max level), and then continue beating quests and mobs, exploring the game, earning new skills, etc. As an alternative, you can make a PvP character, start at level 20, and use the skills and weapons you've unlocked on the PvE side.
Sure, Guild Wars sucks as compared to WoW, but nobody said it was perfect. The lack of ability to jump, the lack of a Z axis entirely, the lack of variety in costuming, the lack of ability to use more than 8 skills in any given session... the list goes on. I just wanted to point out that what you asked for already exists.
This is not a third world country, and genital mutilation should be illegal here.
/applaud
I've been saying this for years. The same people who will loudly denounce the genital manipulation practiced in third-world countries (clitorectomy, anyone?) will just as loudly argue that it was "the right thing to do" to chop off the most sensitive portion of the most sensitive portion of their anatomy. No, that was not a typo. Circumcision typically involves the removal of up to 90% of the nerve tissue, along with the foreskin. Look it up, be amazed, get pissed at your parents.
How exactly is circumcision harmful?
Because it removes up to 90% of the nerve tissue in the affected region. Imagine how much better your life could have been.
Also, it's decidedly unpleasant, and I would imagine extremely painful and traumatic. I have no recollection of the event, but my mother says I didn't walk for nearly a year afterwards.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/07/newspamemail.shtm
uce@ftc.gov is no longer in service. The above link describes the new email address, spam@uce.gov
Before you blast me for telling you about this new development, take a look at the date on the announcement (July 28, 2004).
Hmm. Last I checked, Foster's was brewed in Canada. Apparently, they are now bottling the stuff right here in the USA, in Fort Worth, Texas. My joke is now broken. Bummer.
I thought FEMA was part of DHS, no?
Foster's: Canadian for Australian Beer.
I think the system needs to be fixed.
Now that's funny! Too bad most moderators will only hear the "whooshing" as it goes way over their heads...
It would be trivial to set up a 54mb network all over the place. If every geek in the country bought 3 wireless routers, and added them to their LAN (at the end of some really long cat5), there'd be FREE 54mb (assuming 802.11g) internet all over the place. Ok, so it's technically not "54mb internet", but still... a network is a network, and if it's there, people will use it.
I'm already doing this in my house with a wireless router plugged into my linux router. I've given it the SSID "FreeInternet", and blocked the router's (static) IP from accessing my local network (iptables rules to drop packets from the wireless router's ip to 192.168.0.0/16 (except for 53 (DNS) which is pointed at the "real" router) seems to work quite nicely.) My LAN is safe from lurking WiFi Demons, and I'm providing a free service to my neighborhood. I'll add some more access points later this year, on opposite ends of really long cables to maximize my wireless footprint.
The downside, of course, is that no one who doesn't know me knows that it's actually safe to use the "unsecured" "FreeInternet" WiFi, and that it's not one of those "honeypot" systems designed to trick people into connecting so that they can try to break into your system while you're surfing porn in your hotel room.
If anyone has any ideas on how best to implement a splash screen (like the ones you'll see if you fire up your wifi-enabled laptop's web browser while standing in the lobby of a hotel), feel free to respond.
My goal is to allow "unauthenticated" access to port 80 (and 53, of course, although 443 can go hang - if it's untrusted, it sure ain't secure) without requiring a login, and to allow "registered" users to access the entire port range (or maybe just common services, secure communications, etc. - it depends on whether I want to get into logging IP addresses and mapping them to credentials. There's sticky legal bits about sharing out my 'net, ya dig? I don't want to watch my traffic, but I do want to be able to give a list of connected users if the gub'mint decides to come down on me cuz someone was pirating on my "unsecured" wifi).
I have 8mbps down, 1mbps up. I pay US$49.95/month. They came out and put a filter on my line so that I can't receive television signals on my cable, because I opted out of receiving television with my internet service.
In other words, I'm already seeing the 8mbps for under $50 a month. I'd love to switch to FIOS, and as soon as it's available in this area, I'll cheerfully double my internet bill to increase my net speed by more than an order of magnitude.
I dunno where you're submitting from, so your numbers are pretty much meaningless. I'm in Louisiana, USA.
But we should do something about those who send junk, that is completely defective machines that aren't of any use whatsoever.
Yes, we should be upset that we are handing them raw materials. If it were me, and I was hungry, and I understood that plants grow, and can be cultivated, but I could not afford a shovel... I'd be overjoyed to be handed a 20-year-old mid-tower. Since I don't have electricity anyways (or if I do, it's for the TV), I can use the casing to make a shovel, a hoe, or a rake, with nothing more than a hammer (this heat sink might do the trick, in a pinch) and a stick. No, I can't eat it, and I sure as hell won't be hooking that 486 to the net, but what do I care? It didn't work anyway, and now I can make a garden in my yard... And I bet that home-made shovel will make my neighbor think twice about stealing my tomatoes.
To make a long story short... does it matter that they're receiving junk? After all, "One man's trash is another's treasure."
By taxing 'luxury' goods like cell phones and computers they're taxing the 'rich' and not taxing the starving masses.
Don't you mean something along the lines of "By taxing the 'luxury' items like cell phones and computers, they're keeping them 'luxuries' instead of allowing everyone to have convenient communication"?
They want their article back.
The article you linked to contains the following dateline: "Published: October 28, 1988"
Way to keep up with current events.
Always glad to bring a smile to someone's face.
--
"Some people are like Slinkies; Not much good for anything, but it brings a smile to your face to see them pushed down a flight of stairs."
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=640275&cid=24528355
Uhm. You're in Utah, and having a hard time finding craft supplies?
Sorry, I don't buy it.
Assuming you're not a Mormon...
Next time the Relief Society ladies stop at your door, ask them where they like to get their craft supplies. The local sewing circle probably has a list the length of your arm of local places to get crafting supplies, whether you're looking for yarn, cloth, dowels, clay, widgets, or what have you. Just because you're not Mormon doesn't mean you shouldn't speak to those who are, even if their choice of underwear creeps you out.
If you are a Mormon, then I *really* don't buy it.
Is that you, Arioch?
If you were a libertarian, you would realize that people paid Apple for a product that they now rightfully own. Apple instead has decided to control this product and restrict the owners from doing with it as they wish. In essence, Apple has deprived the owners of iPhones their essential rights of ownership.
I'm sorry, were you speaking of the apps, or the iPhones?