There is plenty of anonymity in real life. You can publish anonymous pamphlets and you can stand up in public and speak without dropping your docs.
The loss of anonymity in those cases occurs only when you don't go to lengths to protect yourself. If your picture is plastered all over your Facebook page and you appear in public, someone somewhere is going to put the two together, but if you have a low-profile presence online, it's practical to maintain that anonymity offline.
Unless you're dealing with the government, in which case you're screwed.
In fact, I am becoming more in favor of making everyone use their real name, all the time, to lessen the ridiculous-ness, the hateful content, the juvenile, spiteful posts, that we regularly see on forums.
You first. Papers, citizen! Stop hiding behind your nick!
RMS was angered when a printer manufacturer wouldn't supply the source code to the printer driver, IIRC.
And what most people miss about this story is not just that the manufacturer wouldn't provide the driver. It was that they refused to provide the driver so that rms could modify it so that MIT could use the hardware in the way that they pleased after paying for it.
The device was a shiny new laser printer. rms wanted to add a feature to the driver - notifying someone when (not if) the printer jammed so that print jobs wouldn't get backed up when the printer jammed without having to have someone babysit the printer. The printer maker (I believe it was Xerox, but I could be wrong on this part) didn't want to give up the source because they were afraid that it contained trade secrets because they were the only game in town for laser printing.
The refusal of source code for drivers goes on today, mainly from wireless manufacturers (with the added point that they feel they might be liable if someone violates an FCC reg because they tweaked the driver) and the video card makers.
I think they should effectively come up with a better way to watermark the copy of the dvds and send a bot to monitor torrents and such, then the watermark (of the original dvd) could then be used to track down the owner, and say if 20,000 copies showed up on the net or on the black market, you could easily know who was responsible.
No. You know which DVD was copied. You still don't know who did the actual copying. A friend borrows your DVD, rips it, and puts it on the Internet then the MPAA and cops will come after you and you can bet they won't give a shit if you say you lent it to a friend. Same when your DVD collection is stolen. Thief makes the copies, you do the time.
The studios went to DVD partially out of consumer demand but also because it was a process that in the long run is much cheaper. It costs pennies to stamp out a DVD, but it takes much more equipment and time to dub a videocassette. This cost savings is a double-edged sword - digital, in most cases, is easier to copy for the people receiving the product. Much easier than dubbing a copy onto videocassette for both the producer and the consumer.
Even if your logic weren't flawed (see the other response), there is nothing illegal about having a monopoly over a market. You've only broken the law if you unduly use your monopoly status (or near monopoly status) to weed out competitors, for example, by dumping a product on the market below market value, or by illegally tying products and services.
You've just described Ubuntu Netbook Remix. By default, it provides a netbook interface, but it's a trivial change to switch the a normal desktop. It's a standard Ubuntu install under that.
Apple never appealed to business, the needs of which really drive innovation. You can appreciate a personal computer as you would a Stradivarius, but that's not a need. Business had a real need for an electronic spreadsheet.
Apparently you've never heard of VisiCalc. The Apple II had the original spreadsheet.
Companies bought IBM because they were "the computer company", and many large companies likely had IBM mainframes. Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM. That being said, Lotus 1-2-3 was a better spreadsheet than VisiCalc.
Part of the CDA was struck down, primarily the parts of the CDA dealing with protecting children from indecent speech. The CDA was amended by Congress to remove the sections the court found unconstitutional.
With nothing to aim for or look forward to, life gets boring pretty quickly.
Imagine how much more enjoyment someone who had to work months/years to afford their car gets out of it than someone who was born into an incredibly rich family and has everything handed to them on a plate.
It's. Just. A. Game.
Here's what I look forward to: getting married, starting a family, being able to pay off my bills, a promotion, several more pranks from/to my friends, and so forth. Not getting 100% in Super Hyper Sequel Roster Update 2010 Mark IV.
If you are the type of gamer that feels they must unlock and earn everything, that is perfectly fine. However, all gamers are not like you. I have a day job that's 8-10 hours a day. I have friends that want to go out into the real world for drinking, driving fast cars, golf, shooting, pranking, talking with girls, more than talking with girls, and generally being social while not being behind a headset or a controller. This leaves a small amount of time for me to play video games, and, consequently, cuts into my ability to unlock things.
However, you'll note, that I paid the exact same amount of money for the game as you did. I bought the exact same content that you did. Our discs are likely identical at the bit level. I already worked to afford the game - I worked hard and saved my money to hand over for the disc. This is why a game that already has everything unlocked is not like getting an expensive car without working - I already worked to buy the game!
If anything, having things locked without the option to put in a cheat code to unlock them is akin to working for years to buy that shiny new car, paying for it, driving it home, and finding out that until you've spent another $4,000, you can't go any faster than 45. Make the full unlock option be a cheat code, and then color the icon of the save to, say, red instead of blue. If you have a blue save, then you haven't unlocked everything with the code (and have done it through your hard work).
And yes, I'm specifically talking Tastunoko vs Capcom. And Monster Hunter Tri. How these games came to be released for the Wii over the PS3 I'll never understand.
Easy answer: size of market. There are 8.09 million Wii consoles sold in Japan. There have been 3.22 million PS3 consoles sold in Japan. So it's a no-brainer - you go with the market that's twice the size. If, by some chance, you can get some hardcore gamers turned on to the Wii and you can get some programmers with their head not located up their ass to use some good controls (and the Classic Controller/GameCube controller), you might actually help the Wii market.
It's also instructive to note that the arcade cabinet for Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is a Wii-based cabinet. Whether it was chosen that way because it's cheaper to develop for, made home porting easier, or because Nintendo execs and Capcom execs like to get drunk together is unknown.
Congratulations to SourceForge for their triumphant acquisition of Ohloh.net. Have some delicious and moist cake to celebrate with those of us still alive!
There's a difference between a just war and a legal war. A war need not be just for it to be legal, and it need not be legal for it to be just. In the United State, a legal war is a war declared by the United States Congress. Read the United States Constitution:
Article I - Section 8 - Powers of Congress: [...] To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; [...]
No other branch of the government has the right to declare war, regardless of the popularity of said war.
Then it's simple - have an international NGO mirror the root servers and at the first sign of any tomfoolery, announce that people should use their root servers. Bonus points if they can keep from censoring.
But if we're talking about fair and right, then it really should be handled by the UN rather than any single country.
Is that the same UN that always has its actions paralyzed by the US, China, France, UK, and Russia? The same UN that allows countries to send illiterate and untrained peace keeping troops in exchange for money? Or is it the one whose peacekeepers have a history of rape and murder? Or the one that's standing idly by while the Chechens are being slaughtered by Russia, the Palestinians being slaughtered by Israel, or the massacre in Darfur is going on?
I'm not saying the US is the shining example of what is right and good (torture, rendition, illegal wars, warrentless wiretapping). I'm just saying that the UN has its problems as well.
That means that by the time the FCC directionalizes the signal and shows up at your door, they already have probably cause and could get a warrant.
Then let them get a warrant. Bush & Company tried a similar thing with FISA and they were crucified in the media for it. Let's not let the FCC get away with the same.
Your only recourse is to either not use Paypal or to limit Paypal's access to your funds.
Which is why I use my PayPal account sparingly, and only with a credit card. They do not have access to a bank account, and never will. I can chargeback with the credit card company.
I dont think legally theres any difference between taking money illigitimately WITH a payment system or without one.
Then you would be wrong. Taking money illegitimately without a payment system is intent to commit wire fraud and taking money illegitimately without a payment system could just be a billing error. Intent is important, especially when bringing criminal charges.
Nintendo has done a good job with making their back catalog available
They were pretty strong in the beginning. Yes, you can play Gamecube games on the Wii, but what about some of their older classics? The last time a NES game was released on the Virtual Console (in the US) was February 16th. The last time a N64 game was released on the Virtual Console was November 2008! In all of this, where is Final Fantasy? Dragon Warrior? Majora's Mask? The original Smash Brothers? Goldeneye? Earthbound? Mario Paint?
The console has been out since 2006. They've had plenty of time. I'm sure that some of these games are tied up in legal hell, and I'm sure we're not going to see some of them, but without them, can you really say that Nintendo has done a good job of getting their back catalog out there?
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain And like the fair maiden tankgirl, rise again.
Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken Or life about to end. No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend, Like the fair maiden tankgirl, rise again.
Slashdot Mirror
I don't think I could have put that more eloquently. Thank you.
In RL, there is no anonymity.
You must be kidding me or still be in college.
There is plenty of anonymity in real life. You can publish anonymous pamphlets and you can stand up in public and speak without dropping your docs.
The loss of anonymity in those cases occurs only when you don't go to lengths to protect yourself. If your picture is plastered all over your Facebook page and you appear in public, someone somewhere is going to put the two together, but if you have a low-profile presence online, it's practical to maintain that anonymity offline.
Unless you're dealing with the government, in which case you're screwed.
In fact, I am becoming more in favor of making everyone use their real name, all the time, to lessen the ridiculous-ness, the hateful content, the juvenile, spiteful posts, that we regularly see on forums.
You first. Papers, citizen! Stop hiding behind your nick!
RMS was angered when a printer manufacturer wouldn't supply the source code to the printer driver, IIRC.
And what most people miss about this story is not just that the manufacturer wouldn't provide the driver. It was that they refused to provide the driver so that rms could modify it so that MIT could use the hardware in the way that they pleased after paying for it.
The device was a shiny new laser printer. rms wanted to add a feature to the driver - notifying someone when (not if) the printer jammed so that print jobs wouldn't get backed up when the printer jammed without having to have someone babysit the printer. The printer maker (I believe it was Xerox, but I could be wrong on this part) didn't want to give up the source because they were afraid that it contained trade secrets because they were the only game in town for laser printing.
The refusal of source code for drivers goes on today, mainly from wireless manufacturers (with the added point that they feel they might be liable if someone violates an FCC reg because they tweaked the driver) and the video card makers.
I think they should effectively come up with a better way to watermark the copy of the dvds and send a bot to monitor torrents and such, then the watermark (of the original dvd) could then be used to track down the owner, and say if 20,000 copies showed up on the net or on the black market, you could easily know who was responsible.
No. You know which DVD was copied. You still don't know who did the actual copying. A friend borrows your DVD, rips it, and puts it on the Internet then the MPAA and cops will come after you and you can bet they won't give a shit if you say you lent it to a friend. Same when your DVD collection is stolen. Thief makes the copies, you do the time.
The studios went to DVD partially out of consumer demand but also because it was a process that in the long run is much cheaper. It costs pennies to stamp out a DVD, but it takes much more equipment and time to dub a videocassette. This cost savings is a double-edged sword - digital, in most cases, is easier to copy for the people receiving the product. Much easier than dubbing a copy onto videocassette for both the producer and the consumer.
Even if your logic weren't flawed (see the other response), there is nothing illegal about having a monopoly over a market. You've only broken the law if you unduly use your monopoly status (or near monopoly status) to weed out competitors, for example, by dumping a product on the market below market value, or by illegally tying products and services.
You've just described Ubuntu Netbook Remix. By default, it provides a netbook interface, but it's a trivial change to switch the a normal desktop. It's a standard Ubuntu install under that.
Unless (until) someone leaks a copy of the finished game that's just hanging around for a few more months just waiting.
Apple never appealed to business, the needs of which really drive innovation. You can appreciate a personal computer as you would a Stradivarius, but that's not a need. Business had a real need for an electronic spreadsheet.
Apparently you've never heard of VisiCalc. The Apple II had the original spreadsheet.
Companies bought IBM because they were "the computer company", and many large companies likely had IBM mainframes. Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM. That being said, Lotus 1-2-3 was a better spreadsheet than VisiCalc.
Part of the CDA was struck down, primarily the parts of the CDA dealing with protecting children from indecent speech. The CDA was amended by Congress to remove the sections the court found unconstitutional.
Holy totally missing the point!
With nothing to aim for or look forward to, life gets boring pretty quickly.
Imagine how much more enjoyment someone who had to work months/years to afford their car gets out of it than someone who was born into an incredibly rich family and has everything handed to them on a plate.
It's. Just. A. Game.
Here's what I look forward to: getting married, starting a family, being able to pay off my bills, a promotion, several more pranks from/to my friends, and so forth. Not getting 100% in Super Hyper Sequel Roster Update 2010 Mark IV.
If you are the type of gamer that feels they must unlock and earn everything, that is perfectly fine. However, all gamers are not like you. I have a day job that's 8-10 hours a day. I have friends that want to go out into the real world for drinking, driving fast cars, golf, shooting, pranking, talking with girls, more than talking with girls, and generally being social while not being behind a headset or a controller. This leaves a small amount of time for me to play video games, and, consequently, cuts into my ability to unlock things.
However, you'll note, that I paid the exact same amount of money for the game as you did. I bought the exact same content that you did. Our discs are likely identical at the bit level. I already worked to afford the game - I worked hard and saved my money to hand over for the disc. This is why a game that already has everything unlocked is not like getting an expensive car without working - I already worked to buy the game!
If anything, having things locked without the option to put in a cheat code to unlock them is akin to working for years to buy that shiny new car, paying for it, driving it home, and finding out that until you've spent another $4,000, you can't go any faster than 45. Make the full unlock option be a cheat code, and then color the icon of the save to, say, red instead of blue. If you have a blue save, then you haven't unlocked everything with the code (and have done it through your hard work).
All this and more can be avoided by being original and not just posting memes!
Originality - it's fun and fundamental!
2.5 (out of 10) from the East German judge.
Seriously, if you're going to use this meme, at least please use it right. The original line is:
"In America, you can always find a party. In Soviet Russia, party finds you!"
Therefore, the correct mutation of the above meme is:
"In America, you can always find Internet Czar. In Imperial Russia, Czar finds YOU".
Thanks for playing!
And yes, I'm specifically talking Tastunoko vs Capcom. And Monster Hunter Tri. How these games came to be released for the Wii over the PS3 I'll never understand.
Easy answer: size of market. There are 8.09 million Wii consoles sold in Japan. There have been 3.22 million PS3 consoles sold in Japan. So it's a no-brainer - you go with the market that's twice the size. If, by some chance, you can get some hardcore gamers turned on to the Wii and you can get some programmers with their head not located up their ass to use some good controls (and the Classic Controller/GameCube controller), you might actually help the Wii market.
It's also instructive to note that the arcade cabinet for Tatsunoko vs. Capcom is a Wii-based cabinet. Whether it was chosen that way because it's cheaper to develop for, made home porting easier, or because Nintendo execs and Capcom execs like to get drunk together is unknown.
Congratulations to SourceForge for their triumphant acquisition of Ohloh.net. Have some delicious and moist cake to celebrate with those of us still alive!
There's a difference between a just war and a legal war. A war need not be just for it to be legal, and it need not be legal for it to be just. In the United State, a legal war is a war declared by the United States Congress. Read the United States Constitution:
No other branch of the government has the right to declare war, regardless of the popularity of said war.
But everybody wants a rock to wind a piece of string around!
Then it's simple - have an international NGO mirror the root servers and at the first sign of any tomfoolery, announce that people should use their root servers. Bonus points if they can keep from censoring.
But if we're talking about fair and right, then it really should be handled by the UN rather than any single country.
Is that the same UN that always has its actions paralyzed by the US, China, France, UK, and Russia? The same UN that allows countries to send illiterate and untrained peace keeping troops in exchange for money? Or is it the one whose peacekeepers have a history of rape and murder? Or the one that's standing idly by while the Chechens are being slaughtered by Russia, the Palestinians being slaughtered by Israel, or the massacre in Darfur is going on?
I'm not saying the US is the shining example of what is right and good (torture, rendition, illegal wars, warrentless wiretapping). I'm just saying that the UN has its problems as well.
That means that by the time the FCC directionalizes the signal and shows up at your door, they already have probably cause and could get a warrant.
Then let them get a warrant. Bush & Company tried a similar thing with FISA and they were crucified in the media for it. Let's not let the FCC get away with the same.
Only after they speak with my lawyers Smith & Wesson.
Your only recourse is to either not use Paypal or to limit Paypal's access to your funds.
Which is why I use my PayPal account sparingly, and only with a credit card. They do not have access to a bank account, and never will. I can chargeback with the credit card company.
I dont think legally theres any difference between taking money illigitimately WITH a payment system or without one.
Then you would be wrong. Taking money illegitimately without a payment system is intent to commit wire fraud and taking money illegitimately without a payment system could just be a billing error. Intent is important, especially when bringing criminal charges.
The original AdBlock extension had this feature. I don't know where it went in AdBlock Plus.
Nintendo has done a good job with making their back catalog available
They were pretty strong in the beginning. Yes, you can play Gamecube games on the Wii, but what about some of their older classics? The last time a NES game was released on the Virtual Console (in the US) was February 16th. The last time a N64 game was released on the Virtual Console was November 2008! In all of this, where is Final Fantasy? Dragon Warrior? Majora's Mask? The original Smash Brothers? Goldeneye? Earthbound? Mario Paint?
The console has been out since 2006. They've had plenty of time. I'm sure that some of these games are tied up in legal hell, and I'm sure we're not going to see some of them, but without them, can you really say that Nintendo has done a good job of getting their back catalog out there?
And you, to whom adversity has dealt the final blow
With smiling bastards lying to you everywhere you go
Turn to, and put out all your strength of arm and heart and brain
And like the fair maiden tankgirl, rise again.
Rise again, rise again - though your heart it be broken
Or life about to end.
No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend,
Like the fair maiden tankgirl, rise again.
And at $1,270.99, it's an absolute steal!
Unless he's making hundreds/thousands of patch cables, I think the original poster is better off buying a commercially made cable.