Didn't Serenity get a lot of votes because of its fan-base as well?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379786/ (the film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_(Firefly_vessel) (from the TV show) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_(film)
Probably not so much because of: http://www.serenity-band.com/ (the Austrian Metal band)
While the relief a toilet can enable, and that quiet time alone (hopefully it's a room with a view of the planet) could be described as Serenity, I doubt that is what voters were thinking.
I check games carefully before purchasing them now and avoid all those that require the use of the Steam service. This comes after purchasing a few games that became unusable after a few weeks (or less than a day) with errors about invalid serial numbers. Perhaps region coding incompatible with my Geographically Canadian IP, perhaps the misfortune of matching with one of the warez distributions or key-gens. But all unresolvable without me delivering images of the retail receipt and manual / number card to Steam. As there is no reason to save the receipt for software purchase as opened packages are non-returnable, this was impossible.
Individually cryptographically signed executables is absolutely DRM. It, like every other copy-protection scheme, will only be relevant for online play, or if single player games require a handshake with some server system before use. (Which would limit their lifespan.) The best way to discourage piracy is to lower prices. You may not reduce the number of unlicensed copies around the world, but you will assuredly increase the number of customers you have.
Evidence leading to conviction? Google remembers: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/11/01/vuong-guilty.html which resulted in five people being charged under the Elections Act.
(Also some suggestions of impropriety in a NHL All-Stars election, and the scandal of a UBC Jr. Prom Queen election in 1935.)
Canadian elections use a paper ballot that is marked by the voter, folded to keep the choice private, then placed in a ballot box. When the poll closes, these votes are counted by a committee of electoral volunteers. If a ballot is not clearly marked, it is not counted. This process takes from less than one to several hours depending on how active the poll was and how efficient the poll workers are at opening and counting the ballots. Still, the election results are available before the morning papers print their front pages.
The argument against this system in the USA is one of scale, it would take days to tabulate.
I think an appropriate solution to the problem with certification would be to move the process away from the hands of companies like SysTest ( http://www.systest.com/news/97-systest-labs-redefines-voting-systems-testing-protocols-for-the-21st-century ) and into Universities, funded federally.
The queue seems to be modeled after a civic licensing bureau... After waiting in a queue of 20k to get the plug-in, I get to line up again in a queue of 30k to login.
With the "Y2K bug" already fading from memory and the earth having survived yet another solar flare, the collective known as Slashdot continues to dissect the news and current events of the world they define by reinforced perception narrowing. "I don't need to actually read the article before commenting," said Anonymous Coward, "Nobody knows who I really am, I could be halfway across the planet or your next door neighbour!" Experts agree that the community formed by geeks of all persuasions will be instramental in forming the core of a new interconnected world, where your comments are ranked by people you will never meet, and read by few who will admit to interacting on the physical plane.
As others have mentioned, this isn't a brand new innovation, and to quell some of the anti-hype I thought I should mention that there was a display of 3D Flat Panel LCD screens at the CN-Tower in Toronto a couple of years ago, back when they had Q-Zar in the basement.
Unfortunatly I can't remember the name/logo that was stuck on them, but I wouldn't be suprised if it was Honda. (Seriously) Could just as easily been Hitachi or Sony or any of the other tech firms that value R&D.
To echo a few of the other comments, they were of a "polarized" design, where the angle between your eyes gave each one a slightly shifted field of view. The best image was obtained by standing a short distance away and being centered on the display.
I was impressed, the video that was used as a demo included white-water rafting, the illusion only spoiled when water droplets hit the case containing the cameras as they were too "close" so the "depth" perception was distorted.
Slashdot Mirror
Didn't Serenity get a lot of votes because of its fan-base as well?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379786/ (the film)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_(Firefly_vessel) (from the TV show)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serenity_(film)
Probably not so much because of:
http://www.serenity-band.com/ (the Austrian Metal band)
While the relief a toilet can enable, and that quiet time alone (hopefully it's a room with a view of the planet) could be described as Serenity, I doubt that is what voters were thinking.
I check games carefully before purchasing them now and avoid all those that require the use of the Steam service. This comes after purchasing a few games that became unusable after a few weeks (or less than a day) with errors about invalid serial numbers. Perhaps region coding incompatible with my Geographically Canadian IP, perhaps the misfortune of matching with one of the warez distributions or key-gens. But all unresolvable without me delivering images of the retail receipt and manual / number card to Steam. As there is no reason to save the receipt for software purchase as opened packages are non-returnable, this was impossible.
Individually cryptographically signed executables is absolutely DRM. It, like every other copy-protection scheme, will only be relevant for online play, or if single player games require a handshake with some server system before use. (Which would limit their lifespan.) The best way to discourage piracy is to lower prices. You may not reduce the number of unlicensed copies around the world, but you will assuredly increase the number of customers you have.
Evidence leading to conviction? Google remembers: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/11/01/vuong-guilty.html which resulted in five people being charged under the Elections Act.
(Also some suggestions of impropriety in a NHL All-Stars election, and the scandal of a UBC Jr. Prom Queen election in 1935.)
Canadian elections use a paper ballot that is marked by the voter, folded to keep the choice private, then placed in a ballot box. When the poll closes, these votes are counted by a committee of electoral volunteers. If a ballot is not clearly marked, it is not counted. This process takes from less than one to several hours depending on how active the poll was and how efficient the poll workers are at opening and counting the ballots. Still, the election results are available before the morning papers print their front pages.
The argument against this system in the USA is one of scale, it would take days to tabulate.
I think an appropriate solution to the problem with certification would be to move the process away from the hands of companies like SysTest ( http://www.systest.com/news/97-systest-labs-redefines-voting-systems-testing-protocols-for-the-21st-century ) and into Universities, funded federally.
After letting it tick away all day, I now stand at number 42912 in the line. Any /.ers playing yet?
The queue seems to be modeled after a civic licensing bureau... After waiting in a queue of 20k to get the plug-in, I get to line up again in a queue of 30k to login.
MSN is offered in Canada.
http://sympatico.msn.ca/
"Freedom" (SM Owned by ZeroKnowledge Systems)
Why not just call it "LiGNUx"?
With the "Y2K bug" already fading from memory and the earth having survived yet another solar flare, the collective known as Slashdot continues to dissect the news and current events of the world they define by reinforced perception narrowing. "I don't need to actually read the article before commenting," said Anonymous Coward, "Nobody knows who I really am, I could be halfway across the planet or your next door neighbour!" Experts agree that the community formed by geeks of all persuasions will be instramental in forming the core of a new interconnected world, where your comments are ranked by people you will never meet, and read by few who will admit to interacting on the physical plane.
As others have mentioned, this isn't a brand new
innovation, and to quell some of the anti-hype
I thought I should mention that there was a display of 3D Flat Panel LCD screens at the CN-Tower in Toronto a couple of years ago, back
when they had Q-Zar in the basement.
Unfortunatly I can't remember the name/logo that
was stuck on them, but I wouldn't be suprised if
it was Honda. (Seriously) Could just as easily
been Hitachi or Sony or any of the other tech
firms that value R&D.
To echo a few of the other comments, they were
of a "polarized" design, where the angle between
your eyes gave each one a slightly shifted field
of view. The best image was obtained by standing
a short distance away and being centered on the
display.
I was impressed, the video that was used as a demo included white-water rafting, the illusion only
spoiled when water droplets hit the case containing the cameras as they were too "close"
so the "depth" perception was distorted.