Synthetic economies perform useful resource-allocation and entertainment roles within MUDs. They also interact with the Earth economy. US dollar markets for synthetic-economy goods, currency, and services may be observed at online auction sites such as Ebay (search "Ultima Online", or "DAoC" for Dark Age of Camelot) and PlayerAuctions.com (search "EQ" for EverQuest).
According to standard conceptions of economic value (see the subjective theory of value), the goods and services of synthetic economies are endowed with real value. The value of a good is determined by its users, and is measured by their willingness to give up resources to obtain it. MUD users are willing to devote both time and Earth currency to obtaining synthetic goods, making these digital assets as real as any assets on Earth.
Then why does Kazaa want to do this? If they feel the future is in paid-for file transfers, they betray the principles they had in launching the software (they don't approve of transferring copyright materials--Please!). Do they honestly expect to make money off this? Or are they suddenly filled with conscience and a yearing for industry respect?
I think they're doing it so they can say (if/when brought to court) that they tried in good faith to bargain with the industry...that it's NOT just about piracy.
Perhaps someone else has said this (I haven't taken the time to look through all the replies), but what about if a rival company did something like the following:
$20 gets you (up to) 20 movies a month. You can only have 3 out, and you have to mail each one in (like you do w/Netflix), so obviously there's no way you can really watch that many. At the end of each month, your credit *vanishes*. It does NOT roll over to the next month.
Would this model conflict w/the patent? There is no subscription rental, but rather a fixed price per DVD rential. Functionally, however, it would be the same.
Actually, I hold the minority view here on/.--I fully support proprietary *closed* software, and (believe it or not) fully support MS's quest to integrate IE, close their source code, and engage in flat out anti-competitive practices. I'm skeptical of the viability of this model in the long run, but I support their right to do it w/o the DOJ prosecuting them.
Maybe...just maybe...my post was done with a certain irony. Consider it a poke at how petty most of the criticism is around here. Or perhaps a jab at how most posters here on slashdot talk big, but in the end, do little more than extend an angry ASCII middle finger.
FROM: GEORGE WALKER BUSH 202.456.1414 / 202.456.1111 FAX: 202.456.2461
Dear Sir / Madam,
I am GEORGE WALKER BUSH, son of the former president of the United States of America George Herbert Walker Bush, and currently serving as President of the United States of America. This letter might surprise you because we have not met neither in person nor by correspondence. I came to know of you in my search for a reliable and reputable person to handle a very confidential business transaction, which involves the transfer of a huge sum of money to an account requiring maximum confidence.
I am writing you in absolute confidence primarily to seek your assistance in acquiring oil funds that are presently trapped in the republic of iraq. My partners and I solicit your assistance in completing a transaction begun by my father, who has long been actively engaged in the extraction of petroleum in the United States of America, and bravely served his country as director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.
In the decade of the nineteen-eighties, my father, then vice-president of the United States of America, sought to work with the good offices of the President of the Republic of Iraq to regain lost oil revenue sources in the neighboring islamic republic of Iran. This unsuccessful venture was soon followed by a falling-out with his Iraqi partner, who sought to acquire additional oil revenue sources in the neighboring emirate of Kuwait, a wholly-owned U.S.-British subsidiary.
My father re-secured the petroleum assets of Kuwait in 1991 at a cost of sixty-one billion u.s. dollars ($61,000,000,000). Out of that cost, thirty-six billion dollars ($36,000,000,000) were supplied by his partners in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other persian gulf monarchies, and sixteen billion dollars ($16,000,000,000) by German and Japanese partners. But my father's former Iraqi business partner remained in control of the republic of Iraq and its petroleum reserves.
My family is calling for your urgent assistance in funding the removal of the President of the Republic of Iraq and acquiring the petroleum assets of his country, as compensation for the costs of removing him from power. unfortunately, our partners from 1991 are not willing to shoulder the burden of this new venture, which in its upcoming phase may cost the sum of 100 billion to 200 billion dollars ($100,000,000,000 - $200,000,000,000), both in the initial acquisition and in long-term management.
Without the funds from our 1991 partners, we would not be able to acquire the oil revenue trapped within Iraq. That is why my family and our colleagues are urgently seeking your gracious assistance. Our distinguished colleagues in this business transaction include the sitting vice-president of the United States of America, Richard Cheney, who is an original partner in the Iraq venture and former head of the Halliburton oil company, and Condoleeza Rice, whose professional dedication to the venture was demonstrated in the naming of a Chevron oil tanker after her.
I would beseech you to transfer a sum equaling ten to twenty-five percent (10-25 %) of your yearly income to our account to aid in this important venture. The internal revenue service of the United States of America will function as our trusted intermediary. I propose that you make this transfer before the fifteenth (15th) of the month of April.
I know that a transaction of this magnitude would make anyone apprehensive and worried. But I am assuring you that all will be well at the end of the day. A bold step taken shall not be regretted, I assure you. Please do be informed that this business transaction is 100% legal. If you do not wish to co-operate in this transaction, please contact our intermediary representatives to further discuss the matter.
You compared Nmap to P2P tools in having a "negative stigma". In both cases, one effective way to fight the stigma is to limit your own use to "legitimate" purposes. Use BitTorrent to download RedHat ISOs, but not Matrix Reloaded. Use Nmap to secure and monitor your computers, but not to attack other networks. And if you decide to attack other networks anyway, please be courteous and set the evil bit.
Yeah...I'm sure that all the people who submitted pics of Trinity's use of nmap did so without using BitTorrent to pirate Matrix Reloaded.
While funny (and applicable), that story is bogus.
Claim: Questioned about the wisdom of teaching Boy Scouts to use firearms, a US General points out the difference between being equipped to do something and doing it.
Status: False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 1999]
This is an extract of an National Public Radio (NPR) interview between a female broadcaster and US Army Lieutenant General Reinwald about sponsoring a Boy Scout Troop on his military installation.
Interviewer: "So, LTG Reinwald, what are you going to do with these young boys on their adventure holiday?"
LTG Reinwald: "We're going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery, and shooting."
Interviewer: "Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it?"
LTG Reinwald: "I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the range."
Interviewer: "Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?"
LTG Reinwald: "I don't see how, we will be teaching them proper range discipline before they even touch a firearm."
Interviewer: "But you're equipping them to become violent killers."
LTG Reinwald: "Well, you're equipped to be a prostitute, but you're not one, are you?"
End of the interview
Origins: As great a tale as this is, it's pure fabrication. It began life in 1999, purportedly about an "LTG Reinwald" of the US Army. In 2001 it reappeared, this time attributed to "Marine Corps General Reinwald."
The U.S. Army denies that there is a Lieutenant General Reinwald and chalks the whole thing up as a hoax. (Which is as logic dictated all along; if an armed forces spokesperson ever gave voice to a sexist remark likening a female interviewer to a prostitute, that officer would soon be called upon to make a very public apology as well as face charges within ranks for conduct unbecoming.)
National Public Radio had this to say about the matter:
We are aware of an erroneous story posted on the Free Republic Website, and possibly elsewhere, which mentions a supposed interview between an unnamed NPR reporter and a U.S Army Lieutenant General Reinwald. The story is false -- the dialogue mentioned was not an NPR interview, and it never aired on any NPR program.
Those who like their guns and who believe responsible gun ownership begins with teaching young people the right way to handle firearms at an early age have a great fondness for this story. As well they should, because this anecdote illustrates in a humorous way the difference between having the ability to do something and that ability dictating life choices.
The "Reinwald" story existed as a joke as far back as October 1997 when it appeared on a number of web pages in the following form:
Excerpt from a recent live radio interview on one of the regional Welsh stations:
A female newscaster is interviewing the leader of a Youth club:
Interviewer: So, Mr. Jones, what are you going to do with these children on this adventure holiday?
Mr Jones: We're going to teach them climbing, abseiling, canoeing, archery, shooting...
Interviewer: Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible isn't it?
Jones: I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on the range.
Interviewer: Don't you admit that this is a terribly dangerous activity to be teaching children?
Jones: I don't see how, we will be teaching them proper range discipline before they even touch a firearm.
Interviewer: But you're equipping them to become violent killers.
Jones: Well, you're equipped to be a prostitute but you're not one are you?
Needless to say, the interview was terminated almost immediately.
Notice the differences that have taken place between the two tellings:
* "Abseiling" has been taken out of the Americanized version (probably because whoever altered the text didn't know it was a r
Slashdot Mirror
I know that's what I feel like doing when my computer crashes.
For that comment, he deserves another pie in the face by Noel Godin.
Then is it fair to lump you in with other hard core users?
I think they're doing it so they can say (if/when brought to court) that they tried in good faith to bargain with the industry...that it's NOT just about piracy.
Making sure that they're non-obvious, for one.
All we know (from the article) is that the "patent that covers its online subscription-based DVD rental service."
If that means its web interface, the *specific* way that movies are distributed to others in the queue, etc, then I wouldn't have a problem.
If that means not letting others rent DVDs by mail, then I think that's ridiculous.
$20 gets you (up to) 20 movies a month. You can only have 3 out, and you have to mail each one in (like you do w/Netflix), so obviously there's no way you can really watch that many. At the end of each month, your credit *vanishes*. It does NOT roll over to the next month.
Would this model conflict w/the patent? There is no subscription rental, but rather a fixed price per DVD rential. Functionally, however, it would be the same.
LAME POST ENCOUNTERED...removing "Dark Lord Seth" from friends list
With a bigass note that says (drum roll please)
CHANGE YOUR WAYS!!!
Sure, there's a learning curve, but IMO it's well worth it.
Maybe...just maybe...my post was done with a certain irony. Consider it a poke at how petty most of the criticism is around here. Or perhaps a jab at how most posters here on slashdot talk big, but in the end, do little more than extend an angry ASCII middle finger.
Yo Bill! Here is my "patch".
PATCH THIS"
Subject: FW: IMMEDIATE ATTENTION NEEDED: HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL
URGENT ASSISTANCE - FROM USA
IMMEDIATE ATTENTION NEEDED : HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL
FROM: GEORGE WALKER BUSH
202.456.1414 / 202.456.1111
FAX: 202.456.2461
Dear Sir / Madam,
I am GEORGE WALKER BUSH, son of the former president of the United States of America George Herbert Walker Bush, and currently serving as President of the United States of America. This letter might surprise you because we have not met neither in person nor by correspondence. I came to know of you in my search for a reliable and reputable person to handle a very confidential business transaction, which involves the transfer of a huge sum of money to an account requiring maximum confidence.
I am writing you in absolute confidence primarily to seek your assistance in acquiring oil funds that are presently trapped in the republic of iraq. My partners and I solicit your assistance in completing a transaction begun by my father, who has long been actively engaged in the extraction of petroleum in the United States of America, and bravely served his country as director of the United States Central Intelligence Agency.
In the decade of the nineteen-eighties, my father, then vice-president of the United States of America, sought to work with the good offices of the President of the Republic of Iraq to regain lost oil revenue sources in the neighboring islamic republic of Iran. This unsuccessful venture was soon followed by a falling-out with his Iraqi partner, who sought to acquire additional oil revenue sources in the neighboring emirate of Kuwait, a wholly-owned U.S.-British subsidiary.
My father re-secured the petroleum assets of Kuwait in 1991 at a cost of sixty-one billion u.s. dollars ($61,000,000,000). Out of that cost, thirty-six billion dollars ($36,000,000,000) were supplied by his partners in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other persian gulf monarchies, and sixteen billion dollars ($16,000,000,000) by German and Japanese partners. But my father's former Iraqi business partner remained in control of the republic of Iraq and its petroleum reserves.
My family is calling for your urgent assistance in funding the removal of the President of the Republic of Iraq and acquiring the petroleum assets of his country, as compensation for the costs of removing him from power. unfortunately, our partners from 1991 are not willing to shoulder the burden of this new venture, which in its upcoming phase may cost the sum of 100 billion to 200 billion dollars ($100,000,000,000 - $200,000,000,000), both in the initial acquisition and in long-term management.
Without the funds from our 1991 partners, we would not be able to acquire the oil revenue trapped within Iraq. That is why my family and our colleagues are urgently seeking your gracious assistance. Our distinguished colleagues in this business transaction include the sitting vice-president of the United States of America, Richard Cheney, who is an original partner in the Iraq venture and former head of the Halliburton oil company, and Condoleeza Rice, whose professional dedication to the venture was demonstrated in the naming of a Chevron oil tanker after her.
I would beseech you to transfer a sum equaling ten to twenty-five percent (10-25 %) of your yearly income to our account to aid in this important venture. The internal revenue service of the United States of America will function as our trusted intermediary. I propose that you make this transfer before the fifteenth (15th) of the month of April.
I know that a transaction of this magnitude would make anyone apprehensive and worried. But I am assuring you that all will be well at the end of the day. A bold step taken shall not be regretted, I assure you. Please do be informed that this business transaction is 100% legal. If you do not wish to co-operate in this transaction, please contact our intermediary representatives to further discuss the matter.
I pray that you understand our plight. My fam
MD5 : 115D1A2554DB4490BDF97B9862DF5A24
Calculation took 0.320 seconds
is what I got on
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/blogs/gems/home/wa
Yeah...I'm sure that all the people who submitted pics of Trinity's use of nmap did so without using BitTorrent to pirate Matrix Reloaded.
Just curious. Anyone know how long that would take?
I've used just about everyone scanning tool out there, but they've always been a relatively few addresses. (And I never really timed them)