Well, at the time they came up with 0-k, they thought so as well, as that is the point that atomic motion stopped. Then they went and discovered that while atomic motion stopped at that temp, sub atomic motion did not. They went on further to discover that they could 'cool' things further and reduce/stop some of the sub-atomic motion. I think they have given up on a true absolute-zero at this point, and simply use it as an arbitrary point where one is needed. Until they can find the smallest bit that makes up what we call reality and see what temp it stops at, we'll never know the true absolute-zero, and I think scientists are finally getting tired enough of looking like fools for shouting to the world they have found it, then some one else getting even farther a few years later. Took a while, but pattern recognition seems to be setting in. There is little that scientists seem to love more then showing up each other, and making a claim of finding an absolute anything that can not be passed or gotten around is a bit like visiting a wolf pen while wrapped in fresh raw steak.
I wouldn't think so. At least not any more then a speaker can be considered to create negative sound when it is used for phase cancellation in noise canceling headphones. Or that one truck can be said to have a negative velocity when it impacts an other truck heading in the other direction and they both stop dead. But then this is just my personal opinion YMMV.
May want to look into it more then. Freezing to death is one of the more pleasant ways to go. It does suck for a bit as you start getting too cold, but then after a while you start to feel warm again. At this point you start to feel rather detached and dreamy. Most people that have been brought back from cold water drownings or hypothermia report the same things. Having nearly frozen to death on a hike I can confirm just how pleasant it was, up to the point that it finally sank into my head I was freezing to death and managed to get to warmth. Now, I'm not recommending it to folks, even if I do know a few that would benefit from it... But, as far as death goes, it is one of the more comfortable ones.
Interesting analogy. Frankly, I do feel that way if a film I pay to see turns out to be crap. I lost the money I could have put to better use and I lost time that could also have been better used. That's why I seldom see a movie opening day and wait to hear if it's worth seeing or worth missing. What i find most interesting is that the people that 'lost' the money/ships aren't whining about it for the most part. How many other things in life have you seem the group of people that could claim to have been screwed looking on and saying 'Wow, that sucks. Ah well, guess we'll use a different tactic next time, see you soon.' rather then whining and pitching a fit? That's why I rather enjoy Eve, it has a much higher percentage of mature players that take responsibility for them selves. Sure, there are a few whining, but read the posts. I've noticed that most of the folks that seem to be whining here, and on the Eve sites, are people that didn't take part and are just trying to provoke a reaction, ie, trolls. It's a rather refreshing thing after reading about other MMOs and how the people in them act.
Personally, I found that I could make a diff in a battle by the first month. And now that I know what I am doing, I could make a new CHR and make that diff a positive one for my side;). I took a group of new players, 1 to 4 months in the game, and with just 2 weeks of helping them pick skills and learn to work as a team, a group of 4 noobies were able to annihilate a 3 year old player in a tech 3 ship using tech 2 fittings. On your own as a new person, it's ruff. But, get together and a hand full of new folks can hand one or two older folks their heads, quite unexpectedly. CCP did some amazing things in the balancing of the game. It's true you'll need an older player to point it out and organize, but new players are far from powerless and can do far more then I see in other MMOs. As for favoring BoB, that was a few bad folks in CCP, and folks got fired over it. Sadly, there are bad people in every corp and every game, it happens. It is good to know that on average the Eve players are adult enough to know that and be able to deal with it. Fly safe.
Quite right. Any one that/wants/ a political office is by definition exactly the sort you don't want in the office. They pay is not great, the hours are ludicrous as while the office hours aren't bad you are likely to be hounded 24/7 by lobbyists. You have to cater to a group uninformed loudmouths that all want different things and either try to suck up to you or blame you for everything they dislike about life depending on who they are talking to. What advantages are there? Power, the ability to control other people's lives and prevent some folks from messing with your own. Any one that wants power over others will use it for their own ends not yours. The lottery idea I saw mentioned looks like a reasonable option. Sadly I think it's the only one likely to change the corruption, short of giving miss use of political office a mandatory death sentence that must be carried out with in 1 week of conviction. Figure with the 1 week rule it'll prevent the courts being tied up forever by appeals. Though perhaps forfeiture of all rights, property and public humiliation could be adequate for those that dislike the death penalty. But frankly, it is high treason and should be treated as such. So long as it's accepted it will continue.
I hear you and feel your pain. I'm still looking for a way around grinding IRL. Get up, eat, go to work, come home, eat, get a little time to play and have fun, then sleep so I can get up and grind out the next day. Can't even find a good macro for it. I'm starting to suspect that grind is rather hard to get out of anything that permits improving in any way. But if a way is ever found, it'll make a lot of cash.
You know, there is a way to address some of the culture concerns. I'm in the US, though I have traveled a lot of the world. I for one would/love/ to see local shows from all over the world accessible through the net. Want your culture to get support and be known? Open it up and show the world. It looks like NZ may be doing this by their local TV corps putting their shows on-line, I just hope they don't lock it to local viewers only. Canada offers many of it's local shows as well, but sadly locked them to prevent non Canadians from seeing them and learning your culture. The US is swamping the world with our culture because we are spewing it out at a level that makes it nearly impossible to avoid, despite the actions of the RIAA and MPAA. I think the entire world would benefit from all countries opening up their local entertainment for the world to see and share in the way that we used to do, rather then following the self isolating and self destructive examples we have been displaying of late. I love my country and I love my culture, and I am fully aware that both came into being only because of the people and culture that came from other countries. It's an interesting world, don't let corporate greed and fear get in the way of discovering it.
Well, some times it is. There's no telling what folks will put in to cut drugs, that's why there is so much risk. Prohibition showed how well it works to try to block what people want. It simply doesn't work, and ends up putting money in the hands of those you don't want to have money, and hurting far more people then if it was legal.
You seem to have a high opinion of your self there. To assume that any one that thinks differently couldn't have looked at the same thing you have is not exactly solid footing for your argument. The fact is, they removed some possesses from start up and basically reniced some of the start up so that you get priority rather then the BG getting it, so that you can start using it sooner. This is hardly new to systems, other then Windows. All quite good steps, but hardly a 'new OS'. Windows 7 is what Vista was supposed to be on launch, which allows for quite a bit of improvement but doesn't make it a different OS. As for your comment about them fooling folks, from what I see, not many folks are being fooled. They are still throwing money at good reviews by people that they payed last time for good reviews. The only real difference at all is that finally, some of those reviews are correct. Though with the cloud of distrust, and their clear attempt to delude people as to what it is, one must ask if finally making good on their promises will be enough. Then there are all the people that did buy Vista and got shafted, how will they feel at seeing MS finally releasing what they said Vista was, and asking them to pay again? MS had best offer a near free upgrade for them or there will be a lot of ill will.
It's simple as to why folks are looking at Windows 7 as just a patched Vista. The installation for it claims it's Vista if you look in the info windows, it's being rolled out in the same formats as Vista, basic, home, yadda yadda, and it uses almost all of the same code as vista. This makes it reasonable to assume that it is Vista, with a few patches added. The idea that they are suddenly changing their normal beta patterns indicates that it has already gotten quite a bit more testing that is accounted for, unless you work from the point of, it's vista with a service patch and dome new eye candy. When you look at it like that, it make perfect sense to skip much of the normal beta steps as it was done long ago.
Heh, I remember that time. Way back in the days of 'What? It installed perfectly the first time? Take it out and try again, something went wrong and you just missed it.'. Ah, those were the days, back when a real geek could chant the ones and zeros at about the same speed the modem sent them. Linux and even Windows has come a long way since then. Honestly, my true biggest complaint about windows is that MS keeps trying to lock the user/owner out of the system. More and more you use it only at their sufferance and if you don't like it, too bad. MS could serve the masses and the geeks, but they chooses only to serve the masses and put quite a bit of effort into locking the geeks out. You can do more with a Vista system from the computer next to it then you can at it's keyboard. The local user is the one they want to control and limit, while the remote user is unbothered by much of the security. Yes, this is because the remote user hacked in to the backdoors MS has left for them selves and the police, but still, many of the attacks can only be used remotely and fail if used locally. That seems rather odd to me. It reminds me of an other bit of humor from back in the day 'Root is a security risk, we need to remove that account'. Seems MS is working on it.
Um, not true in Germany, as I understand it. I seem to recall a story here about law firms taking legal action on behalf of companies they had no relations or contact with, and were able to do so under German law even though the company holding the rights had no interest in legal action. I suspect that any law firm in Germany can do the same things for this, and make a tidy profit for them selves, and some for OO.o as well.
If this is so, then please explain to me why it is simpler to fix highjackers and other malware by hacking Vista from outside then from doing it at the keyboard? From what I have seen Vista security is aimed, primarily, at the person at the keyboard. It stops the owner from doing things that are trivial to do remotely. I hear a lot of folks whining about the UAC, and rather side with you on it. Honestly, it's not that different from having to sudo things in Linux and is one of the few security things I think MS got close to right. Sadly, they screwed the rest up big time and even only did the UAC half way. In MS's defense, the users want simple, powerful and secure at the same time, but you only get two. For the average home user MS has to lie about one of them, and since the users understand security the least and it's the harder to implement, it's the one they lie about. I also have issue with any OS, or anything else for that matter, that tries to protect me from my self. Let me fall, let me break my system, and let me chose to learn to fix it my self or chose to pay some one else to do it. But hay, that's why I do not run Vista and why I recommend that others don't use it either.
Maybe it could be, and maybe Xenu will return to put you in a volcano? Likely, not so much. I have found more malware in the form of rootkits and invasive DRM in the programs sold then in the bootleg copy. Also, the virii and malware that does some times turn up in bootlegs tends to be far simpler to identify and block/remove then say, the sony rootkit, or starforce CP to name two. Nice try at the FUD though, what if the person letting you legitimately use what you pay for is really a demon tempting you to hell? Better not risk it and just submit to what ever the corps feel is best for you riiiiight...
You know, I rather side with you on this, but note one problem. Clearly the securom/didn't/ prevent him from pirating it. morally, you are quite right, in reality he has the more valid point. If it did work and stopped the folks from bootlegging the game then I wouldn't have issue, but it doesn't work. Honestly, can you name even ONE copy protection system on a game that has stopped any one/but/ the person that payed for the game? As noted above the CP will be cracked before it even hits the shelf and once again only those that pay for the game will suffer and the bootleggers will play on free of the problems you payed for. Personally, I tend to straddle the line, I'll pay for the software, but I'll install the cracked version. Why should I get an inferior copy simply because I am honest enough to pay for it? It comes down the the same thing proven time and time again, people/will/ get what they want. Try to get in the way all you like, make draconian laws to stop it and it still does nothing. You can not stop it, and the harder you try the more you hurt only the honest people. How many times do you have to pay for programs that won't work on your system before you start using the cracked versions? How long after that before you stop paying for the crippled programs in the first place? There may be a good answer out there to the problem of bootlegging, but this sort of thing isn't it and history has proven it every single time.
Well, remember the story a while back about MS using Linux for some things? I think we just found where they use it. Storing their logs in/dev/nul is the most likely way they deal with 650 GB of logs.
Ok, I was going to stay out of it, but this one I have to reply to. If it did help then you would have a point. How ever, you are forgetting all the people that were consenting, just not seen as adults that end up on these lists. Had sex when you were under age? Congrats, you should be on those lists as should your partner, branded for life, denied places to live, the ability to get a good job or any other way of becoming a useful part of society. Nice justice there, 'eh? What do people do when shunned by society? Do they get better and become model citizens? No, they are forced to the fringes and have no choice but to prey on the society that has cast them out. There is/no/ justice in those lists, only hate and fear mongering. You say that they are more likely to repeat the offense? More likely then who? More likely then a car thief, a drug dealer, an abusive spouse? Look at the data and see where the greatest number of repeat offenders is, one source cited above and linked to the report shows 5% for rapists, most of the other crimes are 10% to 20%. No, these lists are there because people over react to buzz words and want to live in fear. Yea, not want/us/ to live in fear, but because/they/ want to live in fear. Fear sells, fear gets attention, and so the media caters to those people spending the money, the ones that want to live in fear. I for one am solidly against such lists, they are nothing but target lists and ensure that the people on them can/never/ integrate into society. And for the record,/I/ was one of those children raped that these lists are supposed to protect. A list wouldn't have changed anything. Kill them, jail them for life, but for gods sake/don't/ force them to become even more desperate and criminal once they are free from jail.
Um, well, me. I learned early on that few of my friends had my level of understanding with computers. Frankly, when it comes to files I subscribe to the Paranoia mind set 'Trust no one. Stay alert. Keep your anti-virus handy'. I also keep my laser handy, but have found it to be less effective against attachments. I still do this, even though I have dumped windows and use Linux. Figure I'd rather not be one of the first folks to get infected with a Linux capable virus when spammers and script kiddies start using them.
We still do the same in the US, and you're starting to hear about people making the effort to crack down. Just because they can't enforce it today doesn't mean they won't find a way to enforce it tomorrow.
To be perfectly honest, I/like/ the text installs. I explore a number of distros and never go back to the ones with out a text installer. My thought is, if you assume that the user is too stupid to use the system, then much of what you will get as users are people that are too stupid to use the system. Linux is starting to drift in to that MS way of thinking, toss out the old, clunky, but solid ways of doing things in favor of eyecandy. I like to work with old low end systems as my cash flow is not as nice as I would like, lock me into a graphical installer and many of these systems can't handle it. You may say 'Well use a decent system' to which my answer is 'I use Linux because it doesn't need a powerful system. It's not normally bloated with graphics and eyecandy like Windows'. biggest problem (IMHO)with MS is Bill forgot where he came from. He wants to put computers into the hands of the masses, which is all well and good. Problem is, in the proses of doing this he is taking the computers away from the geeks and trying to ensure that no one else ever has the chance to do what he did. Simplicity and ease of use are good, but not at the cost of locking the user out from control of the system.
While the response you give is not unheard of, it is also not the norm. Certainly some will play 'hardball', so you simply don't quit the job you have to go work for such a company. How ever, you clearly would be amazed at what you can do if you just ask questions. I worked for Gateway 2000 for four years and was the only person in the center to not have a NDA or a non-competition contract with them. To be honest I didn't even try to avoid it. I simply said I wanted to review it and neglected to bring it up again out of procrastination. They never thought to ask again that I sign it, so I was free to do as I wished. One thing I have found is that the simpler you make it for some one to screw you, the more likely they are to do so. Just a question at the right time can head off most of the BS. If you look like a mark and act like a mark, don't be surprised at being treated as a mark. It's sad that it is that way in the US, but it's still what we have to deal with.
You're glad they are only breaking one right and not an other? How long do you think it takes a goverment to go from taking your right to privacy to taking your right to life? Go ahead and look around, there are many case-studies of that in the world. Look at countries where the goverment gets total control and see what happened there, you won't likely enjoy the things you learn. Base line is, power corupts. The more powerful any group gets the more power it wants, and sooner or later some one gets into control of the group that is not ethical with how they get or use the power. History may show it's not 100 percent certain to happen, but around 98 percent certain to happen is more then I care to risk, though you may feel differently. FYI, I can't show the numbers and did pull them out of my *ss. But I am giving the benifit of the doubt to the idea that some where out there is proof that it doesn't happen 100 percent of the time, even though I haven't found it. I may be overly optimistic in that, but it leaves room for some hope at least.
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Sweet, got any room in your group? I have my own dice, mustaches and beard, though sadly lacking women for some reason.
Well, at the time they came up with 0-k, they thought so as well, as that is the point that atomic motion stopped. Then they went and discovered that while atomic motion stopped at that temp, sub atomic motion did not. They went on further to discover that they could 'cool' things further and reduce/stop some of the sub-atomic motion. I think they have given up on a true absolute-zero at this point, and simply use it as an arbitrary point where one is needed. Until they can find the smallest bit that makes up what we call reality and see what temp it stops at, we'll never know the true absolute-zero, and I think scientists are finally getting tired enough of looking like fools for shouting to the world they have found it, then some one else getting even farther a few years later. Took a while, but pattern recognition seems to be setting in. There is little that scientists seem to love more then showing up each other, and making a claim of finding an absolute anything that can not be passed or gotten around is a bit like visiting a wolf pen while wrapped in fresh raw steak.
I wouldn't think so. At least not any more then a speaker can be considered to create negative sound when it is used for phase cancellation in noise canceling headphones. Or that one truck can be said to have a negative velocity when it impacts an other truck heading in the other direction and they both stop dead. But then this is just my personal opinion YMMV.
May want to look into it more then. Freezing to death is one of the more pleasant ways to go. It does suck for a bit as you start getting too cold, but then after a while you start to feel warm again. At this point you start to feel rather detached and dreamy. Most people that have been brought back from cold water drownings or hypothermia report the same things. Having nearly frozen to death on a hike I can confirm just how pleasant it was, up to the point that it finally sank into my head I was freezing to death and managed to get to warmth. Now, I'm not recommending it to folks, even if I do know a few that would benefit from it... But, as far as death goes, it is one of the more comfortable ones.
Interesting analogy. Frankly, I do feel that way if a film I pay to see turns out to be crap. I lost the money I could have put to better use and I lost time that could also have been better used. That's why I seldom see a movie opening day and wait to hear if it's worth seeing or worth missing. What i find most interesting is that the people that 'lost' the money/ships aren't whining about it for the most part. How many other things in life have you seem the group of people that could claim to have been screwed looking on and saying 'Wow, that sucks. Ah well, guess we'll use a different tactic next time, see you soon.' rather then whining and pitching a fit? That's why I rather enjoy Eve, it has a much higher percentage of mature players that take responsibility for them selves. Sure, there are a few whining, but read the posts. I've noticed that most of the folks that seem to be whining here, and on the Eve sites, are people that didn't take part and are just trying to provoke a reaction, ie, trolls. It's a rather refreshing thing after reading about other MMOs and how the people in them act.
Personally, I found that I could make a diff in a battle by the first month. And now that I know what I am doing, I could make a new CHR and make that diff a positive one for my side ;). I took a group of new players, 1 to 4 months in the game, and with just 2 weeks of helping them pick skills and learn to work as a team, a group of 4 noobies were able to annihilate a 3 year old player in a tech 3 ship using tech 2 fittings. On your own as a new person, it's ruff. But, get together and a hand full of new folks can hand one or two older folks their heads, quite unexpectedly. CCP did some amazing things in the balancing of the game. It's true you'll need an older player to point it out and organize, but new players are far from powerless and can do far more then I see in other MMOs. As for favoring BoB, that was a few bad folks in CCP, and folks got fired over it. Sadly, there are bad people in every corp and every game, it happens. It is good to know that on average the Eve players are adult enough to know that and be able to deal with it. Fly safe.
Quite right. Any one that /wants/ a political office is by definition exactly the sort you don't want in the office. They pay is not great, the hours are ludicrous as while the office hours aren't bad you are likely to be hounded 24/7 by lobbyists. You have to cater to a group uninformed loudmouths that all want different things and either try to suck up to you or blame you for everything they dislike about life depending on who they are talking to. What advantages are there? Power, the ability to control other people's lives and prevent some folks from messing with your own. Any one that wants power over others will use it for their own ends not yours. The lottery idea I saw mentioned looks like a reasonable option. Sadly I think it's the only one likely to change the corruption, short of giving miss use of political office a mandatory death sentence that must be carried out with in 1 week of conviction. Figure with the 1 week rule it'll prevent the courts being tied up forever by appeals. Though perhaps forfeiture of all rights, property and public humiliation could be adequate for those that dislike the death penalty. But frankly, it is high treason and should be treated as such. So long as it's accepted it will continue.
I hear you and feel your pain. I'm still looking for a way around grinding IRL. Get up, eat, go to work, come home, eat, get a little time to play and have fun, then sleep so I can get up and grind out the next day. Can't even find a good macro for it. I'm starting to suspect that grind is rather hard to get out of anything that permits improving in any way. But if a way is ever found, it'll make a lot of cash.
You know, there is a way to address some of the culture concerns. I'm in the US, though I have traveled a lot of the world. I for one would /love/ to see local shows from all over the world accessible through the net. Want your culture to get support and be known? Open it up and show the world. It looks like NZ may be doing this by their local TV corps putting their shows on-line, I just hope they don't lock it to local viewers only. Canada offers many of it's local shows as well, but sadly locked them to prevent non Canadians from seeing them and learning your culture. The US is swamping the world with our culture because we are spewing it out at a level that makes it nearly impossible to avoid, despite the actions of the RIAA and MPAA. I think the entire world would benefit from all countries opening up their local entertainment for the world to see and share in the way that we used to do, rather then following the self isolating and self destructive examples we have been displaying of late. I love my country and I love my culture, and I am fully aware that both came into being only because of the people and culture that came from other countries. It's an interesting world, don't let corporate greed and fear get in the way of discovering it.
Well, some times it is. There's no telling what folks will put in to cut drugs, that's why there is so much risk. Prohibition showed how well it works to try to block what people want. It simply doesn't work, and ends up putting money in the hands of those you don't want to have money, and hurting far more people then if it was legal.
Not a bad idea... Cource, the #1 password would then become 'TINSTAAFL'.
You seem to have a high opinion of your self there. To assume that any one that thinks differently couldn't have looked at the same thing you have is not exactly solid footing for your argument. The fact is, they removed some possesses from start up and basically reniced some of the start up so that you get priority rather then the BG getting it, so that you can start using it sooner. This is hardly new to systems, other then Windows. All quite good steps, but hardly a 'new OS'. Windows 7 is what Vista was supposed to be on launch, which allows for quite a bit of improvement but doesn't make it a different OS. As for your comment about them fooling folks, from what I see, not many folks are being fooled. They are still throwing money at good reviews by people that they payed last time for good reviews. The only real difference at all is that finally, some of those reviews are correct. Though with the cloud of distrust, and their clear attempt to delude people as to what it is, one must ask if finally making good on their promises will be enough. Then there are all the people that did buy Vista and got shafted, how will they feel at seeing MS finally releasing what they said Vista was, and asking them to pay again? MS had best offer a near free upgrade for them or there will be a lot of ill will.
It's simple as to why folks are looking at Windows 7 as just a patched Vista. The installation for it claims it's Vista if you look in the info windows, it's being rolled out in the same formats as Vista, basic, home, yadda yadda, and it uses almost all of the same code as vista. This makes it reasonable to assume that it is Vista, with a few patches added. The idea that they are suddenly changing their normal beta patterns indicates that it has already gotten quite a bit more testing that is accounted for, unless you work from the point of, it's vista with a service patch and dome new eye candy. When you look at it like that, it make perfect sense to skip much of the normal beta steps as it was done long ago.
Heh, I remember that time. Way back in the days of 'What? It installed perfectly the first time? Take it out and try again, something went wrong and you just missed it.'. Ah, those were the days, back when a real geek could chant the ones and zeros at about the same speed the modem sent them. Linux and even Windows has come a long way since then. Honestly, my true biggest complaint about windows is that MS keeps trying to lock the user/owner out of the system. More and more you use it only at their sufferance and if you don't like it, too bad. MS could serve the masses and the geeks, but they chooses only to serve the masses and put quite a bit of effort into locking the geeks out. You can do more with a Vista system from the computer next to it then you can at it's keyboard. The local user is the one they want to control and limit, while the remote user is unbothered by much of the security. Yes, this is because the remote user hacked in to the backdoors MS has left for them selves and the police, but still, many of the attacks can only be used remotely and fail if used locally. That seems rather odd to me. It reminds me of an other bit of humor from back in the day 'Root is a security risk, we need to remove that account'. Seems MS is working on it.
Um, not true in Germany, as I understand it. I seem to recall a story here about law firms taking legal action on behalf of companies they had no relations or contact with, and were able to do so under German law even though the company holding the rights had no interest in legal action. I suspect that any law firm in Germany can do the same things for this, and make a tidy profit for them selves, and some for OO.o as well.
If this is so, then please explain to me why it is simpler to fix highjackers and other malware by hacking Vista from outside then from doing it at the keyboard? From what I have seen Vista security is aimed, primarily, at the person at the keyboard. It stops the owner from doing things that are trivial to do remotely. I hear a lot of folks whining about the UAC, and rather side with you on it. Honestly, it's not that different from having to sudo things in Linux and is one of the few security things I think MS got close to right. Sadly, they screwed the rest up big time and even only did the UAC half way. In MS's defense, the users want simple, powerful and secure at the same time, but you only get two. For the average home user MS has to lie about one of them, and since the users understand security the least and it's the harder to implement, it's the one they lie about. I also have issue with any OS, or anything else for that matter, that tries to protect me from my self. Let me fall, let me break my system, and let me chose to learn to fix it my self or chose to pay some one else to do it. But hay, that's why I do not run Vista and why I recommend that others don't use it either.
Maybe it could be, and maybe Xenu will return to put you in a volcano? Likely, not so much. I have found more malware in the form of rootkits and invasive DRM in the programs sold then in the bootleg copy. Also, the virii and malware that does some times turn up in bootlegs tends to be far simpler to identify and block/remove then say, the sony rootkit, or starforce CP to name two. Nice try at the FUD though, what if the person letting you legitimately use what you pay for is really a demon tempting you to hell? Better not risk it and just submit to what ever the corps feel is best for you riiiiight...
You know, I rather side with you on this, but note one problem. Clearly the securom /didn't/ prevent him from pirating it. morally, you are quite right, in reality he has the more valid point. If it did work and stopped the folks from bootlegging the game then I wouldn't have issue, but it doesn't work. Honestly, can you name even ONE copy protection system on a game that has stopped any one /but/ the person that payed for the game? As noted above the CP will be cracked before it even hits the shelf and once again only those that pay for the game will suffer and the bootleggers will play on free of the problems you payed for. Personally, I tend to straddle the line, I'll pay for the software, but I'll install the cracked version. Why should I get an inferior copy simply because I am honest enough to pay for it? It comes down the the same thing proven time and time again, people /will/ get what they want. Try to get in the way all you like, make draconian laws to stop it and it still does nothing. You can not stop it, and the harder you try the more you hurt only the honest people. How many times do you have to pay for programs that won't work on your system before you start using the cracked versions? How long after that before you stop paying for the crippled programs in the first place? There may be a good answer out there to the problem of bootlegging, but this sort of thing isn't it and history has proven it every single time.
Well, remember the story a while back about MS using Linux for some things? I think we just found where they use it. Storing their logs in /dev/nul is the most likely way they deal with 650 GB of logs.
Ok, I was going to stay out of it, but this one I have to reply to. If it did help then you would have a point. How ever, you are forgetting all the people that were consenting, just not seen as adults that end up on these lists. Had sex when you were under age? Congrats, you should be on those lists as should your partner, branded for life, denied places to live, the ability to get a good job or any other way of becoming a useful part of society. Nice justice there, 'eh? What do people do when shunned by society? Do they get better and become model citizens? No, they are forced to the fringes and have no choice but to prey on the society that has cast them out. There is /no/ justice in those lists, only hate and fear mongering. You say that they are more likely to repeat the offense? More likely then who? More likely then a car thief, a drug dealer, an abusive spouse? Look at the data and see where the greatest number of repeat offenders is, one source cited above and linked to the report shows 5% for rapists, most of the other crimes are 10% to 20%. No, these lists are there because people over react to buzz words and want to live in fear. Yea, not want /us/ to live in fear, but because /they/ want to live in fear. Fear sells, fear gets attention, and so the media caters to those people spending the money, the ones that want to live in fear. I for one am solidly against such lists, they are nothing but target lists and ensure that the people on them can /never/ integrate into society. And for the record, /I/ was one of those children raped that these lists are supposed to protect. A list wouldn't have changed anything. Kill them, jail them for life, but for gods sake /don't/ force them to become even more desperate and criminal once they are free from jail.
Um, well, me. I learned early on that few of my friends had my level of understanding with computers. Frankly, when it comes to files I subscribe to the Paranoia mind set 'Trust no one. Stay alert. Keep your anti-virus handy'. I also keep my laser handy, but have found it to be less effective against attachments. I still do this, even though I have dumped windows and use Linux. Figure I'd rather not be one of the first folks to get infected with a Linux capable virus when spammers and script kiddies start using them.
We still do the same in the US, and you're starting to hear about people making the effort to crack down. Just because they can't enforce it today doesn't mean they won't find a way to enforce it tomorrow.
To be perfectly honest, I /like/ the text installs. I explore a number of distros and never go back to the ones with out a text installer. My thought is, if you assume that the user is too stupid to use the system, then much of what you will get as users are people that are too stupid to use the system. Linux is starting to drift in to that MS way of thinking, toss out the old, clunky, but solid ways of doing things in favor of eyecandy. I like to work with old low end systems as my cash flow is not as nice as I would like, lock me into a graphical installer and many of these systems can't handle it. You may say 'Well use a decent system' to which my answer is 'I use Linux because it doesn't need a powerful system. It's not normally bloated with graphics and eyecandy like Windows'. biggest problem (IMHO)with MS is Bill forgot where he came from. He wants to put computers into the hands of the masses, which is all well and good. Problem is, in the proses of doing this he is taking the computers away from the geeks and trying to ensure that no one else ever has the chance to do what he did. Simplicity and ease of use are good, but not at the cost of locking the user out from control of the system.
While the response you give is not unheard of, it is also not the norm. Certainly some will play 'hardball', so you simply don't quit the job you have to go work for such a company. How ever, you clearly would be amazed at what you can do if you just ask questions. I worked for Gateway 2000 for four years and was the only person in the center to not have a NDA or a non-competition contract with them. To be honest I didn't even try to avoid it. I simply said I wanted to review it and neglected to bring it up again out of procrastination. They never thought to ask again that I sign it, so I was free to do as I wished. One thing I have found is that the simpler you make it for some one to screw you, the more likely they are to do so. Just a question at the right time can head off most of the BS. If you look like a mark and act like a mark, don't be surprised at being treated as a mark. It's sad that it is that way in the US, but it's still what we have to deal with.
You're glad they are only breaking one right and not an other? How long do you think it takes a goverment to go from taking your right to privacy to taking your right to life? Go ahead and look around, there are many case-studies of that in the world. Look at countries where the goverment gets total control and see what happened there, you won't likely enjoy the things you learn. Base line is, power corupts. The more powerful any group gets the more power it wants, and sooner or later some one gets into control of the group that is not ethical with how they get or use the power. History may show it's not 100 percent certain to happen, but around 98 percent certain to happen is more then I care to risk, though you may feel differently. FYI, I can't show the numbers and did pull them out of my *ss. But I am giving the benifit of the doubt to the idea that some where out there is proof that it doesn't happen 100 percent of the time, even though I haven't found it. I may be overly optimistic in that, but it leaves room for some hope at least.