"Forensic review..."
Hmm...knowing the approximate level of technical expertise of most university admin-types, I can definitely believe words like that coming out of their mouths.
What it means is either they're gonna hand it over to some university network tech who will spend a total of 5 minutes searching for "*.mp*", then go back to playing Unreal Tournament until 5, or some university cop is gonna spend a hours figuring outhow to do the same thing...or they're going to send the thing to some outside business, maybe data recovery service or something, who will laugh their asses off and cash the entirely too-large check they will receive from the university or the RIAA.
Quick trip to radio shack, huh?
Maybe we'll end up needing licenses to buy electronics parts.
"Excuse me, sir, do you have a permit for that soldering iron?"
Which is why it would be a better example than Super Mario World. Having a program run on a particularly picky platform can be an indication that it is likely to work on ones that are less so. (And having a particularly picky program run on a platform can be an indication that less picky ones will work)
No, it's like saying "Street Fighter Alpha 2 worked when CmdrTaco tried it on SNES9x for Linux!" Not every program for a platform works in all emulators of that platform.
If they can make Mac-only software run on x86 platforms, they've got a viable OS...because there's a killer app. That's right, Escape Velocity. The hordes of chronically deprived PC users will finally discover what a real game is.
Oh, most of them (me included, although I almost never download anything from the RIAA...just my own tastes at work, that) are definitely violating copyright law. (However fucked up and insane a lot of it might be) The issue is whether Napster (the company, not the users) is violating it.
You're getting performance THAT bad on Half Life? I've got almost the same setup as you, but 80 megs, and I'm getting playable performace (Software or OpenGL) at 500 and something by 300 and something. (My video card, which I got for X-wing Collector Series, doesn't agree with half-life, so I have to use Software for TFC, though...well, it's playable)
My FPS jumped up a bit when I reinstalled windows (I'd been running the same install for 3 years). You might try that. Also, make sure you kill as many other tasks as you can. Search the web for "pview95.exe" if you don't already have it. Kill anything that doesn't crash that machine before you try running half-life.
The entire concept of the WWW? Hardly. Any search engine which isn't reviewed by people to remove "offending" links, however, sure. (Seriously, how is Google really any different from Napster or a page linking to DeCSS....hell, it's both rolled into one! Well, with more noise thrown in, anyhow.)
Emulators may make it possible to play pirated game CDs (hasn't Bleem! been hacked for that?), but unlike DeCSS, they don't make it any easier to copy and distribute the things to begin with. (Because they're already in realistically stored/transmitted sizes). Not that DeCSS is NEEDED for movie piracy, but it has helped some people do it.
Speaking of internet piracy on the net, why the hell are the MPAA so up in arms about DeCSS because of the quality it allows (good rips more easily), when it hasn't been any worse than bootlegs taken in theaters with video cameras? Jeez, been on IRC, lately? Hardly anyone bothering with DVD rips, compared to all the movie-theater bootlegs. The quality doesn't seem to bother people, because the experience is already pretty degraded watching it on a computer screen. (So long as it isn't absolutely terrible)
Really, has DeCSS made a practical difference to internet movie pirates (like me?)
Re:No console competes with the genre of games for
on
Salon on the XBox
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· Score: 1
Plots for all games are normally shallow. Not many games can be played for the plot, seriously.
Oh, does this mean I'll never have to go to ALL THAT TROUBLE of looking at an INDEX to find something again?
Hmm...well, considering that textbook authors seem to be (at least in the texts I've had in the last few years...mostly business and liberal arts:P) unwilling to WRITE a decent index, maybe that's a good thing. (Not that it ever bothered me, I can scan text myself with pretty decent speed)
A company isn't a single hive-mind or something. It is perfectly possible when dealing with that many people who don't all have EXACTLY the same goal, for them to do things that are in conflict with one another. If the link isn't removed immediately, though, I can see how the company's lawyers could be called hypocrites.
Non-native resolutions should look better like this. If you're changing resolutions a lot (IOW, playing games:P) this could be really nice. Otherwise...well, how does 1024 by 768 look on one of these puppies?
It is easier to install. If the windows version is more than 6 months newer than all of your hardware, chances are you just hit return a few times during the installation, and you're done. I have never successfully installed linux with X (Debian, Redhat 5.something, redhat 6.0) because I've always had some hardware incompatibility (usually video). At least with windows, you're almost guaranteed to get it working at 640 by 480...Xfree86 couldn't even do that with my monitor (10 year old NEC POS).
The problem is that it takes for fucking EVER. At least my failed Linux installations were (not counting time I spent looking up the exact identity and specs where neccesary of my hardware) lightning-quick. A windows installation in less than 30 minutes is miraculous.
When I see someone on Napster with a LOT of files, and claiming a slow connection, I try it out. See what kind of speed I get. Then, if it turns out that their claimed connection speed COULD NOT be for real, I suck them dry. Punish the liars.
Regardless, I can understand someone with a slow connection not sharing at all, or severely limiting it. But if you've got a fat pipe, share it! (since you're probably leeching more than everyone else, too)
Slashdot Mirror
If this is some private web-based chat, GOOD! Those all invariably suck! If it's IRC, anyone know what network the RIAA is lurking around in most?
"Forensic review..." Hmm...knowing the approximate level of technical expertise of most university admin-types, I can definitely believe words like that coming out of their mouths. What it means is either they're gonna hand it over to some university network tech who will spend a total of 5 minutes searching for "*.mp*", then go back to playing Unreal Tournament until 5, or some university cop is gonna spend a hours figuring outhow to do the same thing...or they're going to send the thing to some outside business, maybe data recovery service or something, who will laugh their asses off and cash the entirely too-large check they will receive from the university or the RIAA.
He said Penthouse LETTERS.
Quick trip to radio shack, huh? Maybe we'll end up needing licenses to buy electronics parts. "Excuse me, sir, do you have a permit for that soldering iron?"
The DMCA happened to it. Or may happen to it, depending on exactly how bought-and-sold the courts are at the moment.
Which is why it would be a better example than Super Mario World. Having a program run on a particularly picky platform can be an indication that it is likely to work on ones that are less so. (And having a particularly picky program run on a platform can be an indication that less picky ones will work)
No, it's like saying "Street Fighter Alpha 2 worked when CmdrTaco tried it on SNES9x for Linux!" Not every program for a platform works in all emulators of that platform.
If they can make Mac-only software run on x86 platforms, they've got a viable OS...because there's a killer app. That's right, Escape Velocity. The hordes of chronically deprived PC users will finally discover what a real game is.
If it's possible to violate the spirit of the law while obeying the letter of the law, there's something wrong with the letter of the law.
Oh, most of them (me included, although I almost never download anything from the RIAA...just my own tastes at work, that) are definitely violating copyright law. (However fucked up and insane a lot of it might be) The issue is whether Napster (the company, not the users) is violating it.
You're getting performance THAT bad on Half Life? I've got almost the same setup as you, but 80 megs, and I'm getting playable performace (Software or OpenGL) at 500 and something by 300 and something. (My video card, which I got for X-wing Collector Series, doesn't agree with half-life, so I have to use Software for TFC, though...well, it's playable)
My FPS jumped up a bit when I reinstalled windows (I'd been running the same install for 3 years). You might try that. Also, make sure you kill as many other tasks as you can. Search the web for "pview95.exe" if you don't already have it. Kill anything that doesn't crash that machine before you try running half-life.
There's something wrong when people think their customers should be OBLIGATED to do things the company's way.
They aren't monitoring your every move. Just your browser settings and your purchases. (Still, the potential to be OBNOXIOUS with that is tremendous!)
GNUcat
The entire concept of the WWW? Hardly. Any search engine which isn't reviewed by people to remove "offending" links, however, sure. (Seriously, how is Google really any different from Napster or a page linking to DeCSS....hell, it's both rolled into one! Well, with more noise thrown in, anyhow.)
Emulators may make it possible to play pirated game CDs (hasn't Bleem! been hacked for that?), but unlike DeCSS, they don't make it any easier to copy and distribute the things to begin with. (Because they're already in realistically stored/transmitted sizes). Not that DeCSS is NEEDED for movie piracy, but it has helped some people do it.
Speaking of internet piracy on the net, why the hell are the MPAA so up in arms about DeCSS because of the quality it allows (good rips more easily), when it hasn't been any worse than bootlegs taken in theaters with video cameras? Jeez, been on IRC, lately? Hardly anyone bothering with DVD rips, compared to all the movie-theater bootlegs. The quality doesn't seem to bother people, because the experience is already pretty degraded watching it on a computer screen. (So long as it isn't absolutely terrible)
Really, has DeCSS made a practical difference to internet movie pirates (like me?)
Plots for all games are normally shallow. Not many games can be played for the plot, seriously.
Oh, does this mean I'll never have to go to ALL THAT TROUBLE of looking at an INDEX to find something again? Hmm...well, considering that textbook authors seem to be (at least in the texts I've had in the last few years...mostly business and liberal arts :P) unwilling to WRITE a decent index, maybe that's a good thing. (Not that it ever bothered me, I can scan text myself with pretty decent speed)
Jeez... any students who don't wanna play Escape Velocity are getting screwed on this deal.
A company isn't a single hive-mind or something. It is perfectly possible when dealing with that many people who don't all have EXACTLY the same goal, for them to do things that are in conflict with one another. If the link isn't removed immediately, though, I can see how the company's lawyers could be called hypocrites.
Non-native resolutions should look better like this. If you're changing resolutions a lot (IOW, playing games :P) this could be really nice. Otherwise...well, how does 1024 by 768 look on one of these puppies?
It'll probably cause cancer :P
It is easier to install. If the windows version is more than 6 months newer than all of your hardware, chances are you just hit return a few times during the installation, and you're done. I have never successfully installed linux with X (Debian, Redhat 5.something, redhat 6.0) because I've always had some hardware incompatibility (usually video). At least with windows, you're almost guaranteed to get it working at 640 by 480...Xfree86 couldn't even do that with my monitor (10 year old NEC POS).
The problem is that it takes for fucking EVER. At least my failed Linux installations were (not counting time I spent looking up the exact identity and specs where neccesary of my hardware) lightning-quick. A windows installation in less than 30 minutes is miraculous.
It is by default in Napster. Most users therefore already have that setup. My fserve is set up the same way.
When I see someone on Napster with a LOT of files, and claiming a slow connection, I try it out. See what kind of speed I get. Then, if it turns out that their claimed connection speed COULD NOT be for real, I suck them dry. Punish the liars.
Regardless, I can understand someone with a slow connection not sharing at all, or severely limiting it. But if you've got a fat pipe, share it! (since you're probably leeching more than everyone else, too)