Yeah but the Japanese are supposed to be rational, intelligent people. I thought they were more intelligent than to abandon Nuclear
I don't know whether the people of Japan are noticeably more rational than other peoples. However, considering they are the only nation to have nuclear weapons used against them, I am reluctant to judge them too harshly for being overly nervous when it comes to nuclear technology.
Maybe... but it's like air travel. It might be statistically safer, but when it goes wrong it can really go wrong. It's hard to overcome that psychologically, even if it isn't rational.
If you are going to make a comparison between copyright and murder civil trials (which the GP, not I, did) then you are going to get comparisons between those cases. There are no ordinary civil murder trials.
It's a dumb comparison. The amount of the judgement against OJ in the wrongful death suit was due to his fame and status, and that 33 Million amount that was stated is far above the usual amount. Additionally, the cases were high profile circuses. I am not going to argue whether or not there exists "ordinary civil murder trials", but the OJ trial is certainly among those that stray far outside the norms.
On the other hand, Thompson is not rich, famous, a celbrity, and (unfortunately) someone of little interest to mainstream culture. While the amount of the judgement against Thompson is both obscene and absurd to anyone sane, it is based on intepretation of the laws alone, not based on what the actual damages were or based on Thompson's status in society.
Only a small subset of people would ever incur a 33 Million dollar subset, but what has been happening to Thompson could have happened to anyone. Trying to create a ratio based on the crime alone, without context of fame, wealth, status, and high profile nature of the case is absurd.
If the professors are requiring that the students log in to some part of the text book publishers website to actually view a homework assignment, then that is very much the professors fault.
Writing assignments is not that hard. And I say that having just finished preparing the tutorial and assignment for the class I'm teaching tomorrow.
Until the time comes where a teacher writing their own assignments (instead of using the ones that are unlocked by the registration code) is seen as circumventing content protection technologies, and they incur the wrath of the DMCA?
How long until all of the media we consume is locked to a single person? To a single device?
As someone who is a bit of a technology enthusiast, my friends and family often assume that I will be an early adopter of digital distribution. They are surprised when I have so many reservations, and often dismiss my concerns regarding content being "licensed", non-transferable, and sometimes device-locked as paranoia. In my opinion, this development indicates that I was not paranoid enough; I falsely assumed printed media would be immune to these problems.
Maybe I've just become too cynical, but I think it will only get worse. The problem is, most American consumers don't care. We have been trained to accept that culture is disposable. We are trained to think that classics are dull and boring, and we have to indulge in the latest fads. Nobody will care if they can no longer access their Macarena MP3.
On the rare occasion that the average person is negatively affected by these new models of registering or licensing media, we continue to see these as annoying corner cases. We continue to be apathetic or dismissive.
I wonder how long it will be before this case of the textbook will become a textbook case.
That is true for the home market, but not the corporate.
I was responding to the statement referencing "professionals and power users", and was only addressing "power users". I've (unfortunately) dealt with many HPs and Dells in my professional life.
Sort of but it's probably not a good idea to download that data or you will be considered a criminal and end up in jail.
So really you have no way of checking if your data has been leaked without breaking the law.
I imagine that numerous helpful sites will pop up that will allow you to enter your name and account number, and they will tell you if it has been breached.
Of course, the answer will probably always be yes.
The republicans are not the ones trying to mandate whether contraceptives have to be covered.
And if your employer was from a cult that believed that all healing should come from Jesus, and that the practice of medicine was a sin, are we infringing on their religious freedom by saying that the health insurance plan they provide to their employees must actually be based on actual medicine, and not prayer meetings only?
Nobody is forcing anyone to take birth control, but right does an employer have to enforce their values onto their employees? You aren't talking about religious freedom, you are talking about allowing religious employers to put restrictions on their employees. Does the freedom of religion not matter to the employees?
The republicans are not the ones trying to get the government involved in all marriages.
Outlawing gay marriage is not getting involved? If nobody was getting "involved" with marriage, protections and laws explicitly allowing it wouldn't have to be made in the first place.
The republicans are not the ones trying to destroy religious freedom.
Let me fix that for you...
The republicans are not the ones trying to destroy religious freedom for those that believe the same a republicans.
Republicans have a value system that makes everyone else into a "them". If you aren't one of them, then you aren't just wrong, you are evil and amoral. The Republican party is part of a huge propaganda engine. Haven't you ever noticed how they tend to use the words "Muslim", "homosexual", "atheist", "science", and "liberal" as if they were curse words, or as if they have something terrible tasting in their mouth?
I'm not a democrat, I'm just anti-republican. I'm an atheist. I'm pro-choice. And unlike many people on the other side of the fence, I don't really care what you believe. If you are a pro-choice, Bible Thumping heterosexual, that's fine. If you think gay marriage and contraceptives are bad, then that's fine too... don't do them.
Just don't be a dick and try to block others that believe different than you, or pretend that if you aren't allowed to victimize others, then your freedoms are being infringed upon.
I usually summarize it as a cooperative storytelling game, with rules to help create dramatic tension and resolve conflicts. Styles of game vary greatly among different groups, but generally tend to frequently resemble characteristics of board games, other storytelling games or exercises, improv theater, acting, or video games (I usually focus on a reference point that is most familiar to the person I am speaking to in order to compare and contrast).
I tell them that each player, except one usually, makes the decisions for one character in this story. This other player will be a "Game Master" (whether D&D or not, I suggest not using the word "Dungeon Master", or other silly game-themed title) who will act as a narrator (or director, emcee, referee, etc).
I tell them that these stories take place in specific settings. For Fantasy, Lord of the Rings (which nearly everyone is familiar with the movies) is often a good example for setting. Though, I tell them that if you can find a genre in film or books, then there will be a role-playing niche for it too.
Sometimes I give a disclaimer that there is a huge variety in the way the games are played, and that while some examples of the stereotypes do exist, that it is by no means universal. In any given subculture, whether based on interest, hobby, profession, religion, or politics) there will always be members that will make the rest of the group look bad...
But most importantly... Try not to have this talk within ear-shot of one of those gamers that make gamers look bad... On more than one occasion, I have had someone show interest in role-playing games, but then get immediately turned off because some overly-opinionated gamer who decides to chime in with his opinion regarding some gaming holy war...
I have to agree. I don't really like this on principal, but I don't think Microsoft is doing this to intrude on your privacy. I think they are motivated by trying to improve the quality of their own products.
Face it, many of the criticisms that Microsoft and their products receive are really rooted in software (or malware) that comes from sources outside of themselves. It might be overstepping, and should not be opted in by default, but I don't think there are any diabolical intentions here.
I may be critical of Microsoft in many areas, but I have to acknowledge that goals of security, freedom, and ease of use are sometimes in opposition to one another.
Same here. I remember the first time that I did this for a mobo and video card... While a PC was running (with the case off), I accidentally spilled a smoothie right on top of it! After pulling the power, then using hand-cleaning and a dishwasher on both the video card and mobo, I used both for at least a couple more years.
I can sympathize with your feelings, and I can completely understand your reaction. I've considered Android development also, and this concern has made me hesitant. However, I think that you overlooking some things and overestimating the impact (just as many publishers do).
The simple truth is, the reason that so many people pirate your game is because they can. Trying to stop it from happening is like playing whack-a-mole. It will continue popping up elsewhere (or maybe even in the same place). You are far outnumbered.
There are many pirates, many flavors of pirates, and many different motivations for piracy. But there is one thing that many will have in common... they probably wouldn't have bought your game anyway.
I would guess the majority of pirates fall in these categories:
Digital Hoarders: Many pirates download and hoard as much data as they can get their hands on. They often download far more media than they could possibly ever use. There are pirates like this that could easily exceed their actual income in pirated content. If it makes you feel any better, not only could these types not been able to afford to pay for all the content they have, but they only ever use a fraction of it. Very likely not a loss.
Kids / Students (including College): They likely have a tight income and are looking for ways to make their money go further. If they couldn't pirate your app, they would probably be buying Ramen Noodles and Beer instead anyway. Probably not a loss.
Tourists: Casual Pirates that might just check things out because they can get them for free. They might try piracy just out of curiosity. These might have bought it if piracy wasn't an option, or might not have. It is hard to say (just like it is hard to say if they will buy it even after pirating it).
Cheap Asses: He might be able to afford it, but he's not paying anything if he doesn't have to... and if he has to, he will probably just go without. Probably not a loss.
Internationals: It might not seem like much in America, but both the costs and payment options could be prohibitive in some other countries. Probably not a loss.
Test Drivers: These types are willing to buy, but given how much crappy software is out there, and how often even good software can cause instability on some devices, they might just assume to pirate software and test it out a while before buying it. If they like it, and think they will continue using it, they may buy it. If the software is of poor quality, or it is something where the appeal will wear off quickly, they won't. Whether or not it is a loss probably depends on the quality of the software more than the person.
Curmudgeons: Maybe not old, but angry and bitter about being burned on software they've bought before. Now they say "screw it, I"ll just pirate the apps."
Sure, it would be nice if 1/3 of pirates bought your software, but I think that is grossly overestimating how many pirates would have bought your app if piracy wasn't an option. I think that 1/10 would be overoptimistic. Additionally, reduced piracy also could mean reduced exposure.
At least, that's how I see the issue...
Though I do wish that more people felt more awareness of the fact that these apps take a lot of time and sacrifice to develop before pirating them.
Somehow they never propose criminalizing felines though.
Quick! Everyone tell your congressmen about the original story that linked cats to cancer, before they hear it was wrong!
And on a similar note... can we keep this story on the down-low? I would like to continue using the original study as an excuse not to have cats around when I move in with my girlfriend.
Now it seems to me that could make quite a useful interrogation tool, and I'd be therefore very surprised if such things are not already in use by constabulary forces.
I don't see us being anywhere close to this yet, but it's yet another reason to fight to defend 5th Amendment rights (for Americans in the audience).
Technology-enabled telepathy is actually what I call cellphones today : you hold a talisman, another talisman rings and transmits speech. Just implant it if you want, but the magic is already done.
You misunderstand the meaning of the word. Telepathy is transference of thought or experience. It isn't simply the transfer of voice, words, or even expression of ideas. The roots would be "tele" and "pathe", which would translate as "distant" and "experience" respectively. For your cell phone, I think "distant voice" would be far more accurate, or "telephone"...
Though, smart phones with cameras might also fall under "distant sight", or... "television".
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah but the Japanese are supposed to be rational, intelligent people. I thought they were more intelligent than to abandon Nuclear
I don't know whether the people of Japan are noticeably more rational than other peoples. However, considering they are the only nation to have nuclear weapons used against them, I am reluctant to judge them too harshly for being overly nervous when it comes to nuclear technology.
Maybe... but it's like air travel. It might be statistically safer, but when it goes wrong it can really go wrong. It's hard to overcome that psychologically, even if it isn't rational.
you realize that the atheists and politicians are doing this same type of crap, right?
Evil is evil and needs no particular reasoning to justify itself, religious, political, financial, or otherwise.
When has an atheist ever committed an act of terrorism in the name of atheism? Or murdered?
If you are going to make a comparison between copyright and murder civil trials (which the GP, not I, did) then you are going to get comparisons between those cases. There are no ordinary civil murder trials.
It's a dumb comparison. The amount of the judgement against OJ in the wrongful death suit was due to his fame and status, and that 33 Million amount that was stated is far above the usual amount. Additionally, the cases were high profile circuses. I am not going to argue whether or not there exists "ordinary civil murder trials", but the OJ trial is certainly among those that stray far outside the norms.
On the other hand, Thompson is not rich, famous, a celbrity, and (unfortunately) someone of little interest to mainstream culture. While the amount of the judgement against Thompson is both obscene and absurd to anyone sane, it is based on intepretation of the laws alone, not based on what the actual damages were or based on Thompson's status in society.
Only a small subset of people would ever incur a 33 Million dollar subset, but what has been happening to Thompson could have happened to anyone. Trying to create a ratio based on the crime alone, without context of fame, wealth, status, and high profile nature of the case is absurd.
Sure. The OJ Simpson trials were of a completely ordinary sort, completely representative of ordinary American trials.
New Slogan: "Everything is deader in Texas"
Seeing the quality of your post... the fact that Slashdot tried to filter it out seems like it is attempting to work as intended.
Or use your recently severed head? Of course... he could just force you to look at it without severing it, but Joe's an asshole.
Seeing the quality of this post, I'm not sure the karma and site are the problem...
In the future, there will be a Legend of Zelda game where the Wooden Shield will be the best shield, rather than the starting shield.
If the professors are requiring that the students log in to some part of the text book publishers website to actually view a homework assignment, then that is very much the professors fault.
Writing assignments is not that hard. And I say that having just finished preparing the tutorial and assignment for the class I'm teaching tomorrow.
Until the time comes where a teacher writing their own assignments (instead of using the ones that are unlocked by the registration code) is seen as circumventing content protection technologies, and they incur the wrath of the DMCA?
How long until all of the media we consume is locked to a single person? To a single device?
As someone who is a bit of a technology enthusiast, my friends and family often assume that I will be an early adopter of digital distribution. They are surprised when I have so many reservations, and often dismiss my concerns regarding content being "licensed", non-transferable, and sometimes device-locked as paranoia. In my opinion, this development indicates that I was not paranoid enough; I falsely assumed printed media would be immune to these problems.
Maybe I've just become too cynical, but I think it will only get worse. The problem is, most American consumers don't care. We have been trained to accept that culture is disposable. We are trained to think that classics are dull and boring, and we have to indulge in the latest fads. Nobody will care if they can no longer access their Macarena MP3.
On the rare occasion that the average person is negatively affected by these new models of registering or licensing media, we continue to see these as annoying corner cases. We continue to be apathetic or dismissive.
I wonder how long it will be before this case of the textbook will become a textbook case.
That is true for the home market, but not the corporate.
I was responding to the statement referencing "professionals and power users", and was only addressing "power users". I've (unfortunately) dealt with many HPs and Dells in my professional life.
What power users buy HP and Dell machines? I've built my own systems since my first PC around 20 years ago.
How close?
If only there were some way to know... such as reading the damned article.
Sort of but it's probably not a good idea to download that data or you will be considered a criminal and end up in jail.
So really you have no way of checking if your data has been leaked without breaking the law.
I imagine that numerous helpful sites will pop up that will allow you to enter your name and account number, and they will tell you if it has been breached.
Of course, the answer will probably always be yes.
The republicans are not the ones trying to mandate whether contraceptives have to be covered.
And if your employer was from a cult that believed that all healing should come from Jesus, and that the practice of medicine was a sin, are we infringing on their religious freedom by saying that the health insurance plan they provide to their employees must actually be based on actual medicine, and not prayer meetings only?
Nobody is forcing anyone to take birth control, but right does an employer have to enforce their values onto their employees? You aren't talking about religious freedom, you are talking about allowing religious employers to put restrictions on their employees. Does the freedom of religion not matter to the employees?
The republicans are not the ones trying to get the government involved in all marriages.
Outlawing gay marriage is not getting involved? If nobody was getting "involved" with marriage, protections and laws explicitly allowing it wouldn't have to be made in the first place.
The republicans are not the ones trying to destroy religious freedom.
Let me fix that for you...
The republicans are not the ones trying to destroy religious freedom for those that believe the same a republicans.
Republicans have a value system that makes everyone else into a "them". If you aren't one of them, then you aren't just wrong, you are evil and amoral. The Republican party is part of a huge propaganda engine. Haven't you ever noticed how they tend to use the words "Muslim", "homosexual", "atheist", "science", and "liberal" as if they were curse words, or as if they have something terrible tasting in their mouth?
I'm not a democrat, I'm just anti-republican. I'm an atheist. I'm pro-choice. And unlike many people on the other side of the fence, I don't really care what you believe. If you are a pro-choice, Bible Thumping heterosexual, that's fine. If you think gay marriage and contraceptives are bad, then that's fine too... don't do them.
Just don't be a dick and try to block others that believe different than you, or pretend that if you aren't allowed to victimize others, then your freedoms are being infringed upon.
That's similar to how I describe it to people.
I usually summarize it as a cooperative storytelling game, with rules to help create dramatic tension and resolve conflicts. Styles of game vary greatly among different groups, but generally tend to frequently resemble characteristics of board games, other storytelling games or exercises, improv theater, acting, or video games (I usually focus on a reference point that is most familiar to the person I am speaking to in order to compare and contrast).
I tell them that each player, except one usually, makes the decisions for one character in this story. This other player will be a "Game Master" (whether D&D or not, I suggest not using the word "Dungeon Master", or other silly game-themed title) who will act as a narrator (or director, emcee, referee, etc).
I tell them that these stories take place in specific settings. For Fantasy, Lord of the Rings (which nearly everyone is familiar with the movies) is often a good example for setting. Though, I tell them that if you can find a genre in film or books, then there will be a role-playing niche for it too.
Sometimes I give a disclaimer that there is a huge variety in the way the games are played, and that while some examples of the stereotypes do exist, that it is by no means universal. In any given subculture, whether based on interest, hobby, profession, religion, or politics) there will always be members that will make the rest of the group look bad...
But most importantly... Try not to have this talk within ear-shot of one of those gamers that make gamers look bad... On more than one occasion, I have had someone show interest in role-playing games, but then get immediately turned off because some overly-opinionated gamer who decides to chime in with his opinion regarding some gaming holy war...
I have to agree. I don't really like this on principal, but I don't think Microsoft is doing this to intrude on your privacy. I think they are motivated by trying to improve the quality of their own products.
Face it, many of the criticisms that Microsoft and their products receive are really rooted in software (or malware) that comes from sources outside of themselves. It might be overstepping, and should not be opted in by default, but I don't think there are any diabolical intentions here.
I may be critical of Microsoft in many areas, but I have to acknowledge that goals of security, freedom, and ease of use are sometimes in opposition to one another.
Same here. I remember the first time that I did this for a mobo and video card... While a PC was running (with the case off), I accidentally spilled a smoothie right on top of it! After pulling the power, then using hand-cleaning and a dishwasher on both the video card and mobo, I used both for at least a couple more years.
I can sympathize with your feelings, and I can completely understand your reaction. I've considered Android development also, and this concern has made me hesitant. However, I think that you overlooking some things and overestimating the impact (just as many publishers do).
The simple truth is, the reason that so many people pirate your game is because they can. Trying to stop it from happening is like playing whack-a-mole. It will continue popping up elsewhere (or maybe even in the same place). You are far outnumbered.
There are many pirates, many flavors of pirates, and many different motivations for piracy. But there is one thing that many will have in common... they probably wouldn't have bought your game anyway.
I would guess the majority of pirates fall in these categories:
Sure, it would be nice if 1/3 of pirates bought your software, but I think that is grossly overestimating how many pirates would have bought your app if piracy wasn't an option. I think that 1/10 would be overoptimistic. Additionally, reduced piracy also could mean reduced exposure.
At least, that's how I see the issue...
Though I do wish that more people felt more awareness of the fact that these apps take a lot of time and sacrifice to develop before pirating them.
Somehow they never propose criminalizing felines though.
Quick! Everyone tell your congressmen about the original story that linked cats to cancer, before they hear it was wrong!
And on a similar note... can we keep this story on the down-low? I would like to continue using the original study as an excuse not to have cats around when I move in with my girlfriend.
I've never been on Reddit.. but someone sure seems to have rubbed your fur the wrong way.
Your words have caused me to give paws.
Now it seems to me that could make quite a useful interrogation tool, and I'd be therefore very surprised if such things are not already in use by constabulary forces.
I don't see us being anywhere close to this yet, but it's yet another reason to fight to defend 5th Amendment rights (for Americans in the audience).
Technology-enabled telepathy is actually what I call cellphones today : you hold a talisman, another talisman rings and transmits speech. Just implant it if you want, but the magic is already done.
You misunderstand the meaning of the word. Telepathy is transference of thought or experience. It isn't simply the transfer of voice, words, or even expression of ideas. The roots would be "tele" and "pathe", which would translate as "distant" and "experience" respectively. For your cell phone, I think "distant voice" would be far more accurate, or "telephone"...
Though, smart phones with cameras might also fall under "distant sight", or... "television".