And the 60 year old is going to be an intelligent voter? They're not going to blindly vote for any asshole who promises "morality" and "the good old days"?
Face it, all ages of voters have the potential to be (and often are) stupid. Frankly, I've talked to some pretty damn thoughtful 12 year olds. I'm not saying that newborns should vote, but 18 sure as hell is an arbitrary line in the sand. Some people grow up before then, and some never do.
Ummm, are you comparing "hardcore games" to "thoughtful independent films"? Cause seriously, if that's your insight, you need to go back to the drawing board.
Videogames are meant to be fun - Nintendo is actually being innovative in finding new ways to be fun (as opposed to the "another CGI movie with talking hamsters" dig). It's Sony/Microsoft that are releasing yet another FPS/Madden game, again and again and again.
Why doesn't it work? DRM? Unimplemented (Vista is still a young OS)? User stupidity?
Assuming it's the first, then maybe we have something to talk about here (though not something too interesting, considering that between Youtube and Joost the writing is on the wall for cable TV).
It's not about whether you've personally had any problems. Frankly, it's a matter of principle, and since it only takes ten minutes of your time and less than $10 of your credit card to transfer, it's well worth it. Don't support companies that engage in these sorts of practices, because sooner or later your apathy will make you end up screwed.
"Frivolous litigation is a legal claim or defense presented even though the party and the party's legal counsel had reason to know that the claim or defense had no merit. A claim or defense may be frivolous because it had no underlying justification in fact, or because it was not presented with an argument for a reasonable extension or reinterpretation of the law."
Calling a lawsuit "frivolous" is not dismissing its possible impact (in fact, as you see my original comment did exactly the opposite). Rather, it is meaning that the claims on which it is based are specious. Of course, poor evidence is nothing a few good lawyers can't fix...
...doesn't mean Microsoft won't go through with them, and doesn't mean they won't be a major PITA for whoever ends up being the target. "Sue me first" is cute but an unwise idea. That said, I doubt it'll make any difference, as I'm sure their lawyers will line up whatever targets are strategically optimal (e.g. highest payoff with best chance of success), not random people on blogs who are asking for lawsuits.
As a budding academic the state of publications and intellectual property is quite depressing. This is a good writeup on it, pertinent excerpt:
I have an ingenious idea for a company. My company will be in the business of selling computer games. But, unlike other computer game companies, mine will never have to hire a single programmer, game designer, or graphic artist. Instead I'll simply find people who know how to make games, and ask them to donate their games to me. Naturally, anyone generous enough to donate a game will immediately relinquish all further rights to it. From then on, I alone will be the copyright-holder, distributor, and collector of royalties. This is not to say, however, that I'll provide no "value-added." My company will be the one that packages the games in 25-cent cardboard boxes, then resells the boxes for up to $300 apiece.
But why would developers donate their games to me? Because they'll need my seal of approval. I'll convince developers that, if a game isn't distributed by my company, then the game doesn't "count" -- indeed, barely even exists -- and all their labor on it has been in vain.
Admittedly, for the scheme to work, my seal of approval will have to mean something. So before putting it on a game, I'll first send the game out to a team of experts who will test it, debug it, and recommend changes. But will I pay the experts for that service? Not at all: as the final cherry atop my chutzpah sundae, I'll tell the experts that it's their professional duty to evaluate, test, and debug my games for free!
On reflection, perhaps no game developer would be gullible enough to fall for my scheme. I need a community that has a higher tolerance for the ridiculous -- a community that, even after my operation is unmasked, will study it and hold meetings, but not "rush to judgment" by dissociating itself from me. But who on Earth could possibly be so paralyzed by indecision, so averse to change, so immune to common sense?
I've got it: academics!
So yeah. Fair use in blogs is just the tip of the iceberg - the most egregious issue is that *we* are the ones who write, check, and prepare the documents, and then we have to pay again just to read them (and even if we don't pay directly you can be damned sure the libraries pass the costs down to us in the form of tuition and such).
No, it's not "high tech", by today's standards. Yes, it's low-res and monochrome. But you know what? It's the best damned calculator there is (well if you want to get a GX/GX+ or whatever for more memory that's fine too, though frankly not terribly necessary for most applications). It's got a steep learning curve (RPN and all that), but once you get over it you'll have the quickest and most useful device there is. It's built well (I've used mine for 12 years and it's doing just fine), feels good, and does the job right.
This is one realm where you want a tool, not a toy - if you want something flashy and shiny with a nice screen and pleasing UI, save your pennies for an iPhone or something. If you want something that does math, and does it damn well, buy an HP calculator.
PS - I guess this doesn't quite fit your answer as according to Wikipedia they stopped making them back in 2003, so it's not really "on the market" any more. They are currently selling HP-49 series, which is still better than TIs but just isn't built like the 48Gs (the tactile feel of the keys really does matter on a device where punching numbers is the main use). Still, I'm guessing that 30 seconds with eBay and you'll find 48G's...
Have you ever written a representative or senator? Ever gotten anything besides a standard intern-generated-and-stamped form letter? The only people who actually have access to politicians are big donors, and they're generally part of the system and part of the problem in the first place.
Petitions are nice, but the real way to raise awareness is to go to the people, not the politicians. If a game like this can raise awareness, more power to it. At the very least, it made some newspapers, and now Slashdot.
So don't dismiss it so quickly: I would say the creator of this game has already done more than you to bring about change. Awareness is important.
Though I fear of PA overload here at Slashdot, I feel that this particular cartoon is really worth a nod. Very much explains where BMX XXX (one of Acclaim's more ludicrous products, which they are likely auctioning off many copies of) may have come from...
The population of the country has increased. Sure, Bush got the most votes in history, but he also got the most votes against him of any incumbent president in history. Population and turnout were increased.
What matters is the percentage, and while Bush did clearly win it, the margin is still pretty close. Add in the fact that I'd bet many of the non-voters dislike Bush, and you have a president whom at least half of the country is unhappy with. Now I'm not saying he didn't win, but the fact that our system has come down to this seems indicative of a systemic problem.
Regarding the terrorists, yes they actually do the attacks, and they are wrong to do so, but it is still largely caused by the asinine and boorish foreign policies embraced by the Republican party.
Regarding the draft, well, the Republican party may say they don't want it, but those same foreign policies may necessitate it. The Dems who are pushing for it know they won't get it, they're trying to make a political point.
And you think we've established.5 of a democracy with Iraq? All we've established is a full quagmire.
Conservative judges actually look at the constitution? Damn, they must be missing that amendment that talks about "equal protection under the law"...
And while we shouldn't be accountable to the rest of the world, you might think something is awry when 80% of the world doesn't like what you're doing. Considering the thoughts of others doesn't mean you're cowtowing to them, it just means you're not an arrogant asshole.
Lastly, the whole "full of steaming hate" thing, well, yes, they're often frustrated and even hateful. But that's just ad hominem, you should decide based on the actual issues. And frankly, the frustration and hate is quite understandable, if you bothered to actually look at the issues.
Not every exchange online is between companies, it's often between private individuals, and Paypal makes it much easier for someone to accept credit card payments.
That said, I'm quite leery about Paypal and recognize the general lack of recourse and such, but it is a service that many people find useful.
You're right that in a one-on-one matchup, always defect would beat TfT. However, the point of TfT isn't that it would win every single one-on-one matchup but that it does extremely well versus any number of other strategies. Your "always defect" would beat TfT, but if you played Grim Trigger then you wouldn't do that well, whereas TfT would do very well playing with Grim Trigger (Grim Trigger is a strategy that cooperates until the opponent defects, and then it defects forever).
As has been stated in this thread, the claim isn't particularly that TfT is the best strategy of all time in all circumstances, but that it is an elegant and versatile strategy that fares well in a variety of situations.
...they'd likely fire you for directly linking to a 3mb movie file from the front page of Slashdot. I hope their bandwidth fees aren't too bad this month, we'll see how long it holds out before it's totally Slashdotted...
"Lucas: The special edition, that's the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it.... I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore. It's like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it. But I want it to be the way I want it to be. I'm the one who has to take responsibility for it. I'm the one who has to have everybody throw rocks at me all the time, so at least if they're going to throw rocks at me, they're going to throw rocks at me for something I love rather than something I think is not very good, or at least something I think is not finished."
Yeah. Suuuure. You're an artiste, and you must complete your work! That must be it. Nevermind that to most artists, integrity means keeping their original work untainted. And nevermind how your tweaks and changes, well, are largely either stupid glitz or just plain stupid. Han shoots first, damnit.
Please please please, don't reward Lucas's shenanigans by buying the DVDs.
I'd agree, except for the fact that they have messed up in the past (that 11 year old, grandmothers, etc.), so I wouldn't be surprised if they mess up in the future. I agree that "bloodwork" would be a good idea, but they seem to be throwing out so many lawsuits so haphazardly that I'm not sure they really are doing all this background checking you talk about.
I bet you'd be surprised. It's really more about convenience than "stealing" for many people. I personally know some wealthy folks, including a doctor, who "steals" music.
...who just happens to be a real successful lawyer or have a lot of friends in the EFF or something, and it'll be interesting. They keep on throwing these lawsuits out helter skelter, and it's obvious they're not doing a lot of research about it (remember when they sued an 11 year old or something?). Eventually they'll hit somebody who'll fight back.
"Religion is ignored in gaming, or if it is portrayed, it's wildly caricatured."
Insert *any* substantive intellectual or philosophical topic in place of "religion" and that sentence almost always holds true. They're *games*, they're not meant to provide truly rigorous analysis but rather to entertain.
The only game I can think of that has some rather sophisticated references to religious and philosophical concepts is Xenosaga (and presumably the prequel Xenogears, though I've not played it), but even then it's nowhere near as deep or intellectually stimulating as a good book.
So while this is not a hard and fast rule, I would say that the vast majority of games are, well, just entertainment. Very few games truly broach into what I would consider art or substantive dialogue.
...this seems to be almost exactly the same as the deals Napster has made with Penn State and the University of Rochester. As such, this story in and of itself doesn't really raise any truly new questions, it just proves that this Napster-university deal thing is likely to keep expanding.
And the reason is quite simple: universities are just covering their collective legal asses. It may not be the best way to do it (I go to UR and let the administration know that I felt a deal with iTunes would be superior, although even then I'd be skeptical that it would be used), but they're not doing this because they think it's really right or a good idea in and of itself. It's a simple cost/risk sort of calculation: the cost of this deal is like an insurance policy against the risk of lawsuits. Simple enough.
Slashdot Mirror
And the 60 year old is going to be an intelligent voter? They're not going to blindly vote for any asshole who promises "morality" and "the good old days"?
Face it, all ages of voters have the potential to be (and often are) stupid. Frankly, I've talked to some pretty damn thoughtful 12 year olds. I'm not saying that newborns should vote, but 18 sure as hell is an arbitrary line in the sand. Some people grow up before then, and some never do.
Ummm, are you comparing "hardcore games" to "thoughtful independent films"? Cause seriously, if that's your insight, you need to go back to the drawing board.
Videogames are meant to be fun - Nintendo is actually being innovative in finding new ways to be fun (as opposed to the "another CGI movie with talking hamsters" dig). It's Sony/Microsoft that are releasing yet another FPS/Madden game, again and again and again.
Why doesn't it work? DRM? Unimplemented (Vista is still a young OS)? User stupidity?
Assuming it's the first, then maybe we have something to talk about here (though not something too interesting, considering that between Youtube and Joost the writing is on the wall for cable TV).
http://www.zoneedit.com/
I was using them for free DNS service anyway, and they recently added domain registration so I figured I'd switch to them.
It's not about whether you've personally had any problems. Frankly, it's a matter of principle, and since it only takes ten minutes of your time and less than $10 of your credit card to transfer, it's well worth it. Don't support companies that engage in these sorts of practices, because sooner or later your apathy will make you end up screwed.
I suggest you have it transferred again.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frivolous
"Frivolous litigation is a legal claim or defense presented even though the party and the party's legal counsel had reason to know that the claim or defense had no merit. A claim or defense may be frivolous because it had no underlying justification in fact, or because it was not presented with an argument for a reasonable extension or reinterpretation of the law."
Calling a lawsuit "frivolous" is not dismissing its possible impact (in fact, as you see my original comment did exactly the opposite). Rather, it is meaning that the claims on which it is based are specious. Of course, poor evidence is nothing a few good lawyers can't fix...
...doesn't mean Microsoft won't go through with them, and doesn't mean they won't be a major PITA for whoever ends up being the target. "Sue me first" is cute but an unwise idea. That said, I doubt it'll make any difference, as I'm sure their lawyers will line up whatever targets are strategically optimal (e.g. highest payoff with best chance of success), not random people on blogs who are asking for lawsuits.
...I wanted to be... a LUMBERJACK!
So yeah. Fair use in blogs is just the tip of the iceberg - the most egregious issue is that *we* are the ones who write, check, and prepare the documents, and then we have to pay again just to read them (and even if we don't pay directly you can be damned sure the libraries pass the costs down to us in the form of tuition and such).
No, it's not "high tech", by today's standards. Yes, it's low-res and monochrome. But you know what? It's the best damned calculator there is (well if you want to get a GX/GX+ or whatever for more memory that's fine too, though frankly not terribly necessary for most applications). It's got a steep learning curve (RPN and all that), but once you get over it you'll have the quickest and most useful device there is. It's built well (I've used mine for 12 years and it's doing just fine), feels good, and does the job right.
This is one realm where you want a tool, not a toy - if you want something flashy and shiny with a nice screen and pleasing UI, save your pennies for an iPhone or something. If you want something that does math, and does it damn well, buy an HP calculator.
PS - I guess this doesn't quite fit your answer as according to Wikipedia they stopped making them back in 2003, so it's not really "on the market" any more. They are currently selling HP-49 series, which is still better than TIs but just isn't built like the 48Gs (the tactile feel of the keys really does matter on a device where punching numbers is the main use). Still, I'm guessing that 30 seconds with eBay and you'll find 48G's...
Have you ever written a representative or senator? Ever gotten anything besides a standard intern-generated-and-stamped form letter? The only people who actually have access to politicians are big donors, and they're generally part of the system and part of the problem in the first place.
Petitions are nice, but the real way to raise awareness is to go to the people, not the politicians. If a game like this can raise awareness, more power to it. At the very least, it made some newspapers, and now Slashdot.
So don't dismiss it so quickly: I would say the creator of this game has already done more than you to bring about change. Awareness is important.
Though I fear of PA overload here at Slashdot, I feel that this particular cartoon is really worth a nod. Very much explains where BMX XXX (one of Acclaim's more ludicrous products, which they are likely auctioning off many copies of) may have come from...
The population of the country has increased. Sure, Bush got the most votes in history, but he also got the most votes against him of any incumbent president in history. Population and turnout were increased.
What matters is the percentage, and while Bush did clearly win it, the margin is still pretty close. Add in the fact that I'd bet many of the non-voters dislike Bush, and you have a president whom at least half of the country is unhappy with. Now I'm not saying he didn't win, but the fact that our system has come down to this seems indicative of a systemic problem.
No, not quite.
.5 of a democracy with Iraq? All we've established is a full quagmire.
Regarding the terrorists, yes they actually do the attacks, and they are wrong to do so, but it is still largely caused by the asinine and boorish foreign policies embraced by the Republican party.
Regarding the draft, well, the Republican party may say they don't want it, but those same foreign policies may necessitate it. The Dems who are pushing for it know they won't get it, they're trying to make a political point.
And you think we've established
Conservative judges actually look at the constitution? Damn, they must be missing that amendment that talks about "equal protection under the law"...
And while we shouldn't be accountable to the rest of the world, you might think something is awry when 80% of the world doesn't like what you're doing. Considering the thoughts of others doesn't mean you're cowtowing to them, it just means you're not an arrogant asshole.
Lastly, the whole "full of steaming hate" thing, well, yes, they're often frustrated and even hateful. But that's just ad hominem, you should decide based on the actual issues. And frankly, the frustration and hate is quite understandable, if you bothered to actually look at the issues.
Not every exchange online is between companies, it's often between private individuals, and Paypal makes it much easier for someone to accept credit card payments.
That said, I'm quite leery about Paypal and recognize the general lack of recourse and such, but it is a service that many people find useful.
You're right that in a one-on-one matchup, always defect would beat TfT. However, the point of TfT isn't that it would win every single one-on-one matchup but that it does extremely well versus any number of other strategies. Your "always defect" would beat TfT, but if you played Grim Trigger then you wouldn't do that well, whereas TfT would do very well playing with Grim Trigger (Grim Trigger is a strategy that cooperates until the opponent defects, and then it defects forever).
As has been stated in this thread, the claim isn't particularly that TfT is the best strategy of all time in all circumstances, but that it is an elegant and versatile strategy that fares well in a variety of situations.
...they'd likely fire you for directly linking to a 3mb movie file from the front page of Slashdot. I hope their bandwidth fees aren't too bad this month, we'll see how long it holds out before it's totally Slashdotted...
Yeah, I hear they went to the same grammar school as Slashdot editors. I mean, it's really quite a "dilema"...
"Lucas: The special edition, that's the one I wanted out there. The other movie, it's on VHS, if anybody wants it. ... I'm not going to spend the, we're talking millions of dollars here, the money and the time to refurbish that, because to me, it doesn't really exist anymore. It's like this is the movie I wanted it to be, and I'm sorry you saw half a completed film and fell in love with it. But I want it to be the way I want it to be. I'm the one who has to take responsibility for it. I'm the one who has to have everybody throw rocks at me all the time, so at least if they're going to throw rocks at me, they're going to throw rocks at me for something I love rather than something I think is not very good, or at least something I think is not finished."
Yeah. Suuuure. You're an artiste, and you must complete your work! That must be it. Nevermind that to most artists, integrity means keeping their original work untainted. And nevermind how your tweaks and changes, well, are largely either stupid glitz or just plain stupid. Han shoots first, damnit.
Please please please, don't reward Lucas's shenanigans by buying the DVDs.
I'd agree, except for the fact that they have messed up in the past (that 11 year old, grandmothers, etc.), so I wouldn't be surprised if they mess up in the future. I agree that "bloodwork" would be a good idea, but they seem to be throwing out so many lawsuits so haphazardly that I'm not sure they really are doing all this background checking you talk about.
I bet you'd be surprised. It's really more about convenience than "stealing" for many people. I personally know some wealthy folks, including a doctor, who "steals" music.
...who just happens to be a real successful lawyer or have a lot of friends in the EFF or something, and it'll be interesting. They keep on throwing these lawsuits out helter skelter, and it's obvious they're not doing a lot of research about it (remember when they sued an 11 year old or something?). Eventually they'll hit somebody who'll fight back.
"Religion is ignored in gaming, or if it is portrayed, it's wildly caricatured."
Insert *any* substantive intellectual or philosophical topic in place of "religion" and that sentence almost always holds true. They're *games*, they're not meant to provide truly rigorous analysis but rather to entertain.
The only game I can think of that has some rather sophisticated references to religious and philosophical concepts is Xenosaga (and presumably the prequel Xenogears, though I've not played it), but even then it's nowhere near as deep or intellectually stimulating as a good book.
So while this is not a hard and fast rule, I would say that the vast majority of games are, well, just entertainment. Very few games truly broach into what I would consider art or substantive dialogue.
...this seems to be almost exactly the same as the deals Napster has made with Penn State and the University of Rochester. As such, this story in and of itself doesn't really raise any truly new questions, it just proves that this Napster-university deal thing is likely to keep expanding.
And the reason is quite simple: universities are just covering their collective legal asses. It may not be the best way to do it (I go to UR and let the administration know that I felt a deal with iTunes would be superior, although even then I'd be skeptical that it would be used), but they're not doing this because they think it's really right or a good idea in and of itself. It's a simple cost/risk sort of calculation: the cost of this deal is like an insurance policy against the risk of lawsuits. Simple enough.