Okay, somebody needs to do a posting series where the more they post, the stupider they be typin CAUSE ALL THIS eMAILING MAKE ME STOOPID AND SLASHDOT IS KEW COZ I GOT KARMA NAD MAKE FIRST POOPY^H^H^HPOST!
The whole point of the tariffs were to collect funding based upon implied piracy. (IE tariff's on blank video tapes because blank tapes were used to "illegally" copy movies and broadcast NFL games and such)
But, at least in the case of iTunes, you're already PAYING for the product. So there's no need to tariff it because the product is being legitimately purchased.
(Of course, that won't stop your friendly government from figuring out how to tax you...)
Once I've purchased ANYTHING the prevailing law is that I am free to *consume* it as I want.
For instance, I'm allowed to buy Campbell's Alphabet vegetarian soup and strain it of the alphabet letters.
I'm allowed to pick off the cheese from a Quarter Pounder with Cheese.*
I'm allowed to place EMI filtering devices on my power line to alter the incoming flow.
I don't have to read the slick glossy advertising supplement that comes with my Sunday paper... It goes straight into my trash can.
That's why it's STILL LEGAL to transfer DVDs to video tapes for personal use.
Now, if they don't want to sell their devices to me unless I agree to their demands them they're welcome to try and be on their way to oblivion (Divx anyone? Not the format, the player! They're still around... right? So successful? yeaaaahhh...)
Don't even THINK about buying into the brainwashing people...
*(go ahead... try to order a PLAIN Quarter Pounder without cheese. It's nigh impossible. Not because you're not allowed, but because the social "software" just doesn't work. If you order a "Quarter Pounder", you'll get it with cheese. If you order a "Quarter Pounder without cheese", you'll get it with cheese even if the cashier will acknowledge you said "without" the cashier will still think you meant "with". You have to phrase it "Quarter Pounder with cheese, but NO cheese." That works.)
No I'm not... I said this when they first implemented this monstrosity back when I was working in the game industry.
"Oh.. we only want to help parents to make an educated CHOICE... we don't want to censor anything."
Look it up, those were the "pro" arguments for such a system.
And now we have attempts at laws to ban shops from even displaying M rated games (unless you go into that back room) and AO is right out.
Meanwhile the game industry is playing the same game as the movie industry is. R rated movies (M games) sell better than the PG stuff. (Of course that's been changing since the crackdown of theaters to actually ID people for R rated movies... My friend laments that the Ring 2 was PG-13. How scary can it be in PG-13?!)
Not that I'm disparaging parents from making an educated decision. It's a double edged sword.
"Julie Miller, an Intuit spokeswoman, said hundreds of thousands of returns are typically submitted daily during the last few days before each year's deadline (which is Friday, for those of you in deep denial).
The company is offering its Free File program at taxfreedom.com. Nowhere on the welcoming screen or at any point in the filing process is it disclosed that Web bugs are being used. "
The implication being this is their "web" client. Not the boxed one.
(Not that my data is anymore safe.. Quicken likes to try to "force" me to upload my savings and checking account information to their website for "my" convenience.)
the boxed version? The article doesn't appear to say and I'm not quite sure why "web bugs" would be used to collect data on the boxed version. (y'know, like... when you could just capture the keystrokes?)
Though the heft and size is about right, the D-Pad is horrific for playing fighting games. I don't get good response back from the disc. (I had the same complaints about the Dreamcast pad too) Plus, my friends have gone through 2 controllers each due to wear and tear after 2 years of use. I find the MadCatz controllers have a better response for that. (But break down far more often)
Those same friends are still using the stock Playstation 2 controllers and only went through one set of the Super Nintendo controllers (after playing hours upon hours of Street Fighter).
Oddly, I kinda like the Nintendo 64 controller the best. It looks goofy, I never used the left side, but it always felt comfortable for analog play.
I had read that they were going to *announce* at E3 and made the assumption that they were going to release at Christmas as well (to go head to head with X2).
Unless the reason for the XBox shortage they had over Christmas was because they had stopped XBox development and were building X2's I don't think they'll have 3 million built by Christmas either. (They couldn't meet demand last Christmas... I talked my uncle into getting one and we went to 5 stores in a major city and they were all empty.)
Okay, seriously. if they have them in STOCK this year and Sony's PS/3 doesn't come out at the same time, then maybe. But it took almost 6 months to reach the million mark for PS/2's.
Try going back and watching Star Trek: The Animated Series. I had fond memories of seeing that in my jammies on Saturday morning with a bowl of cereal. Life just didn't get any better.
Then I watched a few episodes recently. Oooh boy. There are actually some decent stories but the production values are just...blech...
(On a side note, anyone seen the Flash Gordon animation series by Filmation floating around on the net? I've been wanting to see that again, but I can't turn it up anywhere)
From my experience the Windows Firewall puts itself at the front of the line with the default of everything blocked (except some popular programs including Microsoft programs)
I was using Norton Internet Security and it continued to run and monitor program activity and port usage, but *behind* Windows' Firewall. After installation you have to shut off Windows Firewall and tell Windows that's okay and that you're running NIS.
(Or you could download the patch from Symantec that does that for you and notifies Windows that it's the Preferred Firewall vendor.)
I'm not too surprised actually. Microsoft has been pushing hard and listening to what the Japanese developers want. (And probably throwing alot of money around as well)
In that sense, I'm all for it. Microsoft's generally pretty good when competing.
I'm worried, though, what happens if Microsoft "wins" the market.
I meant Linux vs. Windows in the "which operating system do you run as a company". In that case "open source" definitely saves you money for almost the same functionality (unless, y'know you gotta run Clippy or something...)
I'm well aware you can write a closed-source app on Linux and an open source app on Windows. Open source is great up to the point where you want to SELL your software. For something like game software, this is certain death. Especially if I have to release my game engine back into the public. Now, the content can stay copyrighted, but it's too easy for someone to make a knock off with new content... and at LESS cost than it cost you to conceive the idea. (IE If you make Katamari Damacy with GPL'd code and release the engine back to the public, you're going to have clones coming out of your ears that may actually do a BETTER job at their implementation because they had the hindsight of your first attempt.)
Linux over Windows will greatly reduce your startup costs, not just for your PCs but for your development kits as well.
But if you're a software technology shop, it's not easy to base your company on a foundation that may be ripped out from under you and developed by a competitor who takes your source and repackages it under their brand.
Surely there are many companies that are using the open source code out there, putting it into their systems and then not releasing the fixes/changes back into the open domain. (I know of several companies doing that). So yeah, you can make money that way.. but it's not exactly following the GPL.
I'm not sure where I'm going exactly with this post. I just know I'm not sure how you can make it "work" with existing business models.
I agree that it was done to make people feel safe. But I'm not so sure that it increased business. Maybe in the short term, but definitely not in the long run.
You can't prove a negative. So in this case, yeah, the absence of evidence means a crime has not been committed.
I'm not saying the TSA didn't screw up. I am implying that it's not the great cataclysm that it's being made out to be.
My local grocery store has more information on me than the TSA possibly could and they're not legally restricted at all (nor do they care about my privacy).
I don't LIKE the TSA I don't LIKE having to stand in line for hours of security and getting the "special" treatment because I inadvertently left a quarter in my pocket (beep... step over here sir and take off your shoes and clothes. "Oh, it's a quarter, let me put that back and run through the detector ag..." step over here sir... "It's a federally issued monetary instru... oh fine...")
You want to know the rights *I* want back?!
I want the right to get to the airport 10 minutes before the flight with my boarding pass in hand and run right to security with my 2 carry on bags. I want to throw both bags into the X-ray machine and walk through the detector with my shoes and belt on and my keys and cell phone in the doggy dish tossed to the security person who tosses them right back to me on the other side. Then I grab my bags without them being opened and examined and having my underwear selections held up for all to see and sprint to the gate just as the doors are closing.
And at NO time do I have to show picture ID, explain my reasons for travelling one-way or get poked and prodded and patted down for "weapons" (when I'm wearing shorts and a tank top) because I had a quarter in my pocket.
I want THOSE rights back because that's far more an infringement on my privacy rights than knowing I like chicken dinners and pay with an American Express card!
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Okay, somebody needs to do a posting series where the more they post, the stupider they be typin CAUSE ALL THIS eMAILING MAKE ME STOOPID AND SLASHDOT IS KEW COZ I GOT KARMA NAD MAKE FIRST POOPY^H^H^HPOST!
"...and a little bit more pop action than the dark trailer that gave me hope"
:)
So should we be calling Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, "A New Hope"?
It's a "tariff", which means the government gets ahold of the money first and eventually gets around to doleing it out for its proper use.
The government is getting its cream out from this, at the very least charging the collectives for doing the work for them.
The whole point of the tariffs were to collect funding based upon implied piracy. (IE tariff's on blank video tapes because blank tapes were used to "illegally" copy movies and broadcast NFL games and such)
But, at least in the case of iTunes, you're already PAYING for the product. So there's no need to tariff it because the product is being legitimately purchased.
(Of course, that won't stop your friendly government from figuring out how to tax you...)
Once I've purchased ANYTHING the prevailing law is that I am free to *consume* it as I want.
For instance, I'm allowed to buy Campbell's Alphabet vegetarian soup and strain it of the alphabet letters.
I'm allowed to pick off the cheese from a Quarter Pounder with Cheese.*
I'm allowed to place EMI filtering devices on my power line to alter the incoming flow.
I don't have to read the slick glossy advertising supplement that comes with my Sunday paper... It goes straight into my trash can.
That's why it's STILL LEGAL to transfer DVDs to video tapes for personal use.
Now, if they don't want to sell their devices to me unless I agree to their demands them they're welcome to try and be on their way to oblivion (Divx anyone? Not the format, the player! They're still around... right? So successful? yeaaaahhh...)
Don't even THINK about buying into the brainwashing people...
*(go ahead... try to order a PLAIN Quarter Pounder without cheese. It's nigh impossible. Not because you're not allowed, but because the social "software" just doesn't work. If you order a "Quarter Pounder", you'll get it with cheese. If you order a "Quarter Pounder without cheese", you'll get it with cheese even if the cashier will acknowledge you said "without" the cashier will still think you meant "with". You have to phrase it "Quarter Pounder with cheese, but NO cheese." That works.)
In the top 20, there are 2.
Finding Nemo and Lion King.
(and on an intersting side note, both movies involved show the horrific and traumatic death of a parent!)
No I'm not... I said this when they first implemented this monstrosity back when I was working in the game industry.
"Oh.. we only want to help parents to make an educated CHOICE... we don't want to censor anything."
Look it up, those were the "pro" arguments for such a system.
And now we have attempts at laws to ban shops from even displaying M rated games (unless you go into that back room) and AO is right out.
Meanwhile the game industry is playing the same game as the movie industry is. R rated movies (M games) sell better than the PG stuff.
(Of course that's been changing since the crackdown of theaters to actually ID people for R rated movies... My friend laments that the Ring 2 was PG-13. How scary can it be in PG-13?!)
Not that I'm disparaging parents from making an educated decision. It's a double edged sword.
"Julie Miller, an Intuit spokeswoman, said hundreds of thousands of returns are typically submitted daily during the last few days before each year's deadline (which is Friday, for those of you in deep denial).
The company is offering its Free File program at taxfreedom.com. Nowhere on the welcoming screen or at any point in the filing process is it disclosed that Web bugs are being used. "
The implication being this is their "web" client. Not the boxed one.
(Not that my data is anymore safe.. Quicken likes to try to "force" me to upload my savings and checking account information to their website for "my" convenience.)
the boxed version? The article doesn't appear to say and I'm not quite sure why "web bugs" would be used to collect data on the boxed version. (y'know, like... when you could just capture the keystrokes?)
Though the heft and size is about right, the D-Pad is horrific for playing fighting games. I don't get good response back from the disc. (I had the same complaints about the Dreamcast pad too) Plus, my friends have gone through 2 controllers each due to wear and tear after 2 years of use. I find the MadCatz controllers have a better response for that. (But break down far more often)
Those same friends are still using the stock Playstation 2 controllers and only went through one set of the Super Nintendo controllers (after playing hours upon hours of Street Fighter).
Oddly, I kinda like the Nintendo 64 controller the best. It looks goofy, I never used the left side, but it always felt comfortable for analog play.
I had read that they were going to *announce* at E3 and made the assumption that they were going to release at Christmas as well (to go head to head with X2).
Unless the reason for the XBox shortage they had over Christmas was because they had stopped XBox development and were building X2's I don't think they'll have 3 million built by Christmas either. (They couldn't meet demand last Christmas... I talked my uncle into getting one and we went to 5 stores in a major city and they were all empty.)
And pigs might fly out my butt.
Okay, seriously. if they have them in STOCK this year and Sony's PS/3 doesn't come out at the same time, then maybe. But it took almost 6 months to reach the million mark for PS/2's.
Try going back and watching Star Trek: The Animated Series. I had fond memories of seeing that in my jammies on Saturday morning with a bowl of cereal. Life just didn't get any better.
Then I watched a few episodes recently. Oooh boy. There are actually some decent stories but the production values are just...blech...
(On a side note, anyone seen the Flash Gordon animation series by Filmation floating around on the net? I've been wanting to see that again, but I can't turn it up anywhere)
Now Space Academy... THERE was s show...
I don't think I need to add anything further...
He's making "liberal TV" But he says he's not.
I mean, it's not like he's going to show Star Trek on it...
is he?
We can already do those...
Where's the friggin' VERITECHS!?!?!
From my experience the Windows Firewall puts itself at the front of the line with the default of everything blocked (except some popular programs including Microsoft programs)
I was using Norton Internet Security and it continued to run and monitor program activity and port usage, but *behind* Windows' Firewall. After installation you have to shut off Windows Firewall and tell Windows that's okay and that you're running NIS.
(Or you could download the patch from Symantec that does that for you and notifies Windows that it's the Preferred Firewall vendor.)
You will be assimilated.
I'm not too surprised actually. Microsoft has been pushing hard and listening to what the Japanese developers want. (And probably throwing alot of money around as well)
In that sense, I'm all for it. Microsoft's generally pretty good when competing.
I'm worried, though, what happens if Microsoft "wins" the market.
I meant Linux vs. Windows in the "which operating system do you run as a company". In that case "open source" definitely saves you money for almost the same functionality (unless, y'know you gotta run Clippy or something...)
I'm well aware you can write a closed-source app on Linux and an open source app on Windows. Open source is great up to the point where you want to SELL your software. For something like game software, this is certain death. Especially if I have to release my game engine back into the public. Now, the content can stay copyrighted, but it's too easy for someone to make a knock off with new content... and at LESS cost than it cost you to conceive the idea.
(IE If you make Katamari Damacy with GPL'd code and release the engine back to the public, you're going to have clones coming out of your ears that may actually do a BETTER job at their implementation because they had the hindsight of your first attempt.)
Linux over Windows will greatly reduce your startup costs, not just for your PCs but for your development kits as well.
But if you're a software technology shop, it's not easy to base your company on a foundation that may be ripped out from under you and developed by a competitor who takes your source and repackages it under their brand.
Surely there are many companies that are using the open source code out there, putting it into their systems and then not releasing the fixes/changes back into the open domain. (I know of several companies doing that). So yeah, you can make money that way.. but it's not exactly following the GPL.
I'm not sure where I'm going exactly with this post. I just know I'm not sure how you can make it "work" with existing business models.
Grant me mercy!
Please for the love of humanity stop it!
That one I almost wish was true...
I agree that it was done to make people feel safe. But I'm not so sure that it increased business. Maybe in the short term, but definitely not in the long run.
You can't prove a negative. So in this case, yeah, the absence of evidence means a crime has not been committed.
I'm not saying the TSA didn't screw up. I am implying that it's not the great cataclysm that it's being made out to be.
My local grocery store has more information on me than the TSA possibly could and they're not legally restricted at all (nor do they care about my privacy).
I don't LIKE the TSA I don't LIKE having to stand in line for hours of security and getting the "special" treatment because I inadvertently left a quarter in my pocket (beep... step over here sir and take off your shoes and clothes. "Oh, it's a quarter, let me put that back and run through the detector ag..." step over here sir... "It's a federally issued monetary instru... oh fine...")
You want to know the rights *I* want back?!
I want the right to get to the airport 10 minutes before the flight with my boarding pass in hand and run right to security with my 2 carry on bags. I want to throw both bags into the X-ray machine and walk through the detector with my shoes and belt on and my keys and cell phone in the doggy dish tossed to the security person who tosses them right back to me on the other side. Then I grab my bags without them being opened and examined and having my underwear selections held up for all to see and sprint to the gate just as the doors are closing.
And at NO time do I have to show picture ID, explain my reasons for travelling one-way or get poked and prodded and patted down for "weapons" (when I'm wearing shorts and a tank top) because I had a quarter in my pocket.
I want THOSE rights back because that's far more an infringement on my privacy rights than knowing I like chicken dinners and pay with an American Express card!