That's just it - that's NOT encryption. That's changing the filename. Saying that's encryption is like saying that writing "no money in this" on a bag of cash is making it safe.
And guess what. Go find any MP3. Rename it to MPZ or pretty much anything else.
Open it in WinAmp.
*gasp*
It PLAYS!
You open the file, and it plays! If it doesn't know what the file extension means, it checks the format for itself.
I especially liked the answer to the second question on the second page.
Oh yeah, the insight into what happened was nice too.
Blizzard will go on without them (though maybe not quite "business as usual" for awhile), and they'll go on to hopefully work on the quality projects they were accustomed to at Blizzard.
Uh...... I highly doubt the "game-addicted geeks" will jump ship, just BECAUSE of the software issue. Frankly, games are about the only reason I still use an x86 PC instead of a PPC.
And you know what? The article made the very same point you're trying to right now (see page 4, subheading "The Future", the point marked as "3) No more need for speed" - it's near the bottom), but did it better. It doesn't limit the definition of performance to mean the speed of the processor.
I spent about 1 afternoon picking up parts, and maybe an hour at most putting the PC together. Burned MAYBE 2 hours pricing, most of which was done by looking at ads for local stores while I looked through a local computer mag.
As for knowing what to get, I read hardware reviews anyway.
Even at $50 an hour for my labour, I still saved a lot of money. Include the cost of gas for getting around, and the story is still the same.
And really, can you really factor in the cost of your own labour if you weren't going to be doing anything else anyway? If you were just going to sit there and watch TV? Surf the net? Troll on Slashdot? Charging for labour assumes that the time it took is valuable.
I've been using the same homebrew "piece of crap" for over 3 years now. I've added..... let's see...... hard drives. Also, a video card to replace the one I kept from my last machine, which was already 3 years old at the time (still works fine, I might add). The video card and 1 of 4 hard drives happen to be the only pieces of the entire computer that are under 2 years old. Everything else is 2 (CPU, RAM, motherboard) to 6(NIC) years old.
See, that's what happens you don't use the lowest priced parts (everything is mid to high end), and actually THINK about what goes into it. You get a PC that isn't a piece of crap that stops working after a year or two, and you DON'T have to sink $500 into it every year to keep it running. Of course, for that, you need to have some concept of what you're doing when building a computer. But then, I said that the first time around.
I, for one, either get my machine custom-order from a local comp shop, or buy it piecemeal and build it myself (more the latter).
Which, if you know what you're doing, you can get the computer cheaper than you could at Dell (or others), as well as minimizing wasteage (IE: ATA133 drive with only ATA100 controller, PC-133 RAM running on a 100MHz bus, etc).
It's REALLY hard for Apple match the value of a well-built homebrew PC. Also, you're probably hard pressed to find a new Mac to put Linux on where you aren't already paying for OSX, giving another reason why Apple has a hard time competing on hardware prices alone for people who plan on using Linux.
Anti-piracy measures should increase revenue, not decrease it; otherwise, why use them at all? If anything, the prices should come down as a result of less piracy (I mean, isn't piracy forcing companies to raise prices? That's what I've always been told).
Well, there's the added cost of the anti-piracy measures. First, they add that price.
But you expect them to drop the expected piracy % based on new anti-piracy techniques? No, they're going to keep that estimate at the same level (as far as pricing is concerned), and then wait to see how well the new measures work, and adjust the expected % for the next release with those measures.
I mean, with how long most DRM technologies have held up lately (lasting months is impressive, most last days or weeks), I wouldn't be so quick to put enough faith in them to risk a profit line. And really, if they were to remove the "padding" in the price for piracy, they'd be risking just that.
One tipoff is generally price. $10 and there PROBABLY isn't a major label involved. $20, there is. $15 could go either way.
Another option would be to use sites like Indie Pool, who sell indie music (that one's only Canadian stuff, but there's bound to be sites like that for pretty much any area), and Indie Music which lists the websites of independant artists and labels.
Or just buy the CDs directly from the band, after a show. When's the last time you saw someone from a major label doing that?
Don't buy CDs? That's just DUMB. Buy CDs, but don't buy any from the major labels. Track down the independants who sell CDs off their websites and out of guitar cases when they play a bar.
Support the artists, not the industry.
But don't buy CDs? That's like saying to not pay for software (be it shareware, off the shelf or oss through donations) because of Microsoft.
Umm........ v1.07, the expansion release version, is only about 2 years old RIGHT NOW. There have been 2 major revisions since, and a larger number of minor revisions.
Did that person say that the best thing is to shelter children? Er... no, they didn't.
Nor did (s)he say that you should play with your kids ALL the time. There's a big difference between letting kids sit infront of the computer or TV all day unsupervised (what they said) and being there with them all day (what you said). There is a middle ground here, maybe you should look for it instead of nothing but extremes.
Really, there are a lot fo similarities in how people act in MMORPGs to how mafia members are portrayed in TV and movies.
But really, most of the similar attributes seem to be GOOD things. Loyalty to guild/friends, word-of-mouth as to who can/can't be trusted.
I mean, I didn't really see any mafia similarities mentioned that are particularily BAD.
No extortion, blackmail, etc.
Though I'm sure it could happen to someone who's far too attached to their characters, I doubt it could ever be as widespread as these other "symptoms".
Slashdot Mirror
If they were poking around bored in confidential records (at a bank, hospital, etc), they deserved to get fired.
One of the points is to catch somebody who has a legitimate reason to access the system abusing that access.
Accessing it isn't proof of guilt, but it is evidence to follow up on.
That's just it - that's NOT encryption. That's changing the filename. Saying that's encryption is like saying that writing "no money in this" on a bag of cash is making it safe.
And guess what. Go find any MP3. Rename it to MPZ or pretty much anything else.
Open it in WinAmp.
*gasp*
It PLAYS!
You open the file, and it plays! If it doesn't know what the file extension means, it checks the format for itself.
Yeah, and intentionally mis-spelling song and artist names got Napster off the hook when songs got through the filters the courts made them put in.
If you think that would stand up in court, you're dreaming.
I especially liked the answer to the second question on the second page.
Oh yeah, the insight into what happened was nice too.
Blizzard will go on without them (though maybe not quite "business as usual" for awhile), and they'll go on to hopefully work on the quality projects they were accustomed to at Blizzard.
Uh...... I highly doubt the "game-addicted geeks" will jump ship, just BECAUSE of the software issue. Frankly, games are about the only reason I still use an x86 PC instead of a PPC.
And you know what? The article made the very same point you're trying to right now (see page 4, subheading "The Future", the point marked as "3) No more need for speed" - it's near the bottom), but did it better. It doesn't limit the definition of performance to mean the speed of the processor.
I'm no expert on this, but every NCA I've ever seen has been limited to a 6-month period immediately after employment.
I spent about 1 afternoon picking up parts, and maybe an hour at most putting the PC together. Burned MAYBE 2 hours pricing, most of which was done by looking at ads for local stores while I looked through a local computer mag.
As for knowing what to get, I read hardware reviews anyway.
Even at $50 an hour for my labour, I still saved a lot of money. Include the cost of gas for getting around, and the story is still the same.
And really, can you really factor in the cost of your own labour if you weren't going to be doing anything else anyway? If you were just going to sit there and watch TV? Surf the net? Troll on Slashdot? Charging for labour assumes that the time it took is valuable.
I've been using the same homebrew "piece of crap" for over 3 years now. I've added..... let's see...... hard drives. Also, a video card to replace the one I kept from my last machine, which was already 3 years old at the time (still works fine, I might add). The video card and 1 of 4 hard drives happen to be the only pieces of the entire computer that are under 2 years old. Everything else is 2 (CPU, RAM, motherboard) to 6(NIC) years old.
See, that's what happens you don't use the lowest priced parts (everything is mid to high end), and actually THINK about what goes into it. You get a PC that isn't a piece of crap that stops working after a year or two, and you DON'T have to sink $500 into it every year to keep it running. Of course, for that, you need to have some concept of what you're doing when building a computer. But then, I said that the first time around.
How many geeks do you know that buy from Dell?
I, for one, either get my machine custom-order from a local comp shop, or buy it piecemeal and build it myself (more the latter).
Which, if you know what you're doing, you can get the computer cheaper than you could at Dell (or others), as well as minimizing wasteage (IE: ATA133 drive with only ATA100 controller, PC-133 RAM running on a 100MHz bus, etc).
It's REALLY hard for Apple match the value of a well-built homebrew PC. Also, you're probably hard pressed to find a new Mac to put Linux on where you aren't already paying for OSX, giving another reason why Apple has a hard time competing on hardware prices alone for people who plan on using Linux.
"Video Surveillance in use" or "Smile! You're on candid camera!"
I know most of the EA sports games USED to allow 2 players (or 4, or even 5 back with the SNES) to play on the same team.
I see no reason why they wouldn't still. NHL 2002 for PC still does.
Well, there's the added cost of the anti-piracy measures. First, they add that price.
But you expect them to drop the expected piracy % based on new anti-piracy techniques? No, they're going to keep that estimate at the same level (as far as pricing is concerned), and then wait to see how well the new measures work, and adjust the expected % for the next release with those measures.
I mean, with how long most DRM technologies have held up lately (lasting months is impressive, most last days or weeks), I wouldn't be so quick to put enough faith in them to risk a profit line. And really, if they were to remove the "padding" in the price for piracy, they'd be risking just that.
One tipoff is generally price. $10 and there PROBABLY isn't a major label involved. $20, there is. $15 could go either way.
Another option would be to use sites like Indie Pool, who sell indie music (that one's only Canadian stuff, but there's bound to be sites like that for pretty much any area), and Indie Music which lists the websites of independant artists and labels.
Or just buy the CDs directly from the band, after a show. When's the last time you saw someone from a major label doing that?
Don't buy CDs? That's just DUMB. Buy CDs, but don't buy any from the major labels. Track down the independants who sell CDs off their websites and out of guitar cases when they play a bar.
Support the artists, not the industry.
But don't buy CDs? That's like saying to not pay for software (be it shareware, off the shelf or oss through donations) because of Microsoft.
Umm........ v1.07, the expansion release version, is only about 2 years old RIGHT NOW. There have been 2 major revisions since, and a larger number of minor revisions.
I'd suggest an old standard, but it's too small for a fish tank...
Well, maybe a fish tank for microbiotic sea life...
Perhaps some form of "3 strikes" approach? Small fine the first time, big fine the second time, jail time the third?
I mean, if it's just a fine, and they manage to pressure most into settling out of court, it's still financially sound for them.
Did that person say that the best thing is to shelter children? Er... no, they didn't.
Nor did (s)he say that you should play with your kids ALL the time. There's a big difference between letting kids sit infront of the computer or TV all day unsupervised (what they said) and being there with them all day (what you said). There is a middle ground here, maybe you should look for it instead of nothing but extremes.
Really, there are a lot fo similarities in how people act in MMORPGs to how mafia members are portrayed in TV and movies.
But really, most of the similar attributes seem to be GOOD things. Loyalty to guild/friends, word-of-mouth as to who can/can't be trusted.
I mean, I didn't really see any mafia similarities mentioned that are particularily BAD.
No extortion, blackmail, etc.
Though I'm sure it could happen to someone who's far too attached to their characters, I doubt it could ever be as widespread as these other "symptoms".
Now I could be wrong, but I think he was referring to how with fewer numbers of units shipped, QC efficiency should be higher.
The larger your QC department gets, generally the higher the percentage of bad machines that slip through, theoretically.
It WAS subtle - for an action movie.
Remember, they have to pay for the bandwidth their servers use, generally.
I think that'd probably be engineering physics, not software engineering.
Maybe with some electrical engineers to actually build them after Eng Phys figures it out.
Way back with a Mac Classic.... that brings back memories. I thought that was the coolest thing when I stumbled across it when I was 10 :)
Never knew the name "Fred" though.
It's a simple matter that in most areas, engineers are liable (criminally liable in cases) for a failure of anything they've signed off on.
Would any MCSEs be willing to be liable for problems in their code? Open to lawsuits for failures, regardless of any EULAs?
There's a reason for laws like this, and that's because of the legal responsibility and liability that comes with being an practicing engineer.