EverCrack is popular because of its mindlessly addictive level-up nature (honed by psychologists remember?) combined with the amount of content and size of community.
The MMORPG to grow more popular than EverCrack (or Lineage) will be the kind that is open to user modification and governance so it can take on a life of its own. Depending on a central crackdaddy for content can't compete with the promise of a dynamic Metaverse.
I ask you, "I've got the colon down pat, but my problem is joining clauses with semicolons; I can't seem to use them in the 'right' places -- because I suck (badly) at punctuation, but I still abuse it because I know that so few will be able to see through me.":)
establish a second numerical "value" to a particular good beyond its price.
No store would ever place a "true value" tag on anything they sell. In order to get a price with all the externalities factored in, you'd need augmented vision to overlay it. That'll be a while still.
So when this new opportunity comes along-- be it nanotech, biotech, whatever is next-- what insures that Americans won't lose it to foreigners?
Molecular manufacturing will completely change the world economy so profoundly that economic equality could conceivably be added to the list of human rights (but not likely, because of our inherently selfish genes).
A global economy of abundance, without any old fashioned manufacturing or distribution, will be massively disruptive, and powerful interests will fight hard to keep the status quo -- like the RIAA does now -- but eventually matter will flow like data, and the gap between the haves and have-nots will narrow to nothing.
The inevitability of molecular manufacturing is one of the only bright spots on the dark horizon I look forward to in the next 10 - 20 years.
So we need more room, the island won't cut it for long.
So build more floating islands instead. 70% of Earth's wet surface area hasn't been claimed.
Okay folks, here's the plan: we live on the island until we perfect space travel and terraforming, then we go grab one of those other planets that no one's using right now.
And here's my plan, Oh Great Leader: we live on the island AS technology continues to advance exponentially anyway, thanks to ~6 billion interconnected minds feeding off each other ("IP" anti-progress be damned), then we move to a self-sufficient, offplanet island as soon as possible in order to minimize the chances of the The Great Filter wiping everyone out. In the unlikely event that planetside humanity doesn't wipe itself out, then tech will continue to advance to Singularity in short order, otherwise, progress will come to a standstill and we'll be spam in space island cans for quite a long while until we screw like rabbits to get our brain-count back up.
You don't go into Sears and steal it. Apparently this is simply because to do so means running a high risk of getting caught.
No. It's because most people have a gut feeling that taking a physical object from someone else deprives the owner of the object, but making a copy of an intangible thing, at zero marginal cost, leaves the original untouched, and doesn't appear to deprive anyone of anything. Fear of punishment doesn't really factor in, because if I could make near-free molecular copies of Sears' products, I WOULD, because it would just feel right to break the law of artificial scarcity.
Still, most people understand that the artists who create the intangible need to eat and might need an added financial incentive if they're going to create more (expensive) works, and so they'll gladly support them by going to unique movies, unique concerts, buying scarce merchandise, by directly donating/patronizing, by buying celebrity endorsed products, etc.
Record label: "The volume is GREAT, but how about we jack up the prices now? I don't want to have to downsize mansions again and give up the crack habit."
Walmart: "I'm sorry, but we need to offer our customers a better value every year. If you can't do it for 38 cents, we can find someone who will."
People have the right (and should have the right) to decide what happens to the things they create.
And that's where a lot of people, including "real" artists, disagree with you. They don't have a selfish control-freak mentality, or hold The Law up as holy scripture set in stone, but they still manage to make a nice living without trying to enforce artificial scarcity or restrict people from standing on their shoulders.
The fact is that "intellectual property" is only something that can be owned as long as you NEVER let it out of its cage to infect other minds and culture. If it does get out, then the creation will only be respected in so far as society respects you and/or the old social contract (perpetual copyright).
"The economy of the future will be based on relationship rather than possession. It will be continuous rather than sequential." -- John Perry Barlow, co-founder of the EFF
Well, carbon nanotubes do exist, just not in sufficient quantity or length yet.
elevators have limited life, tend to be cut by micrometeorites and space junk and are going to be more expensive than rockets
Space junk isn't such a huge problem if you design with redundancy; what are the odds of all, say, 3 ribbons being severed at the same time? And only the first elevator would cost an arm and a leg.
Building a space elevator won't take any more "international red tape" than any other major space venture.
I was comparing the "personal rocket" ideal that the XPrize embodies (IMO), that you could conceivably fly from your independent backyard, to a space elevator elevator, that has to be built and shared in international space.
I love the privateer spirit behind the X-Prize contest as much as the next guy, but I gotta say that ultimately, chemical rocket powered flight out of Earth's gravity well will never get cheap enough to bootstrap a new age of space exploration. Be it a non-profit, for-profit, or negative-profit beaurocracy, rocket propulsion is inherently energy wasteful and dangerous.
When we finally see sub-$1 per kg "launch" costs, it will be because we've finally built a series of space elevators around the equator, and that (unfortunately) takes a metric buttload of international redtape.
I admit that explosive phallic rockets are more exciting to dream about, though. I mean, who wants to take a cheap, practical, slow, silent maglev ride up a stationary elevator to geo, instead of blasting off scream'n "yeehaw!" all the way?
Don't you want to be able to receive legitimate e-mail from people you haven't met yet?
I'd love to be contacted by strangers, depending on the distributed reputation of the person or machine contacting me.
If "James T. Kirk" sends me a message, and the fringes of my weighted Six Degrees of Separation net have never seen him before (newly generated cert for spam), or have seen him but say that he's a spammer (or maybe just an asshole in general), then I'll just ignore him.
If "Juicy Jane" sends me a message, and a few friends of friends trust her, even just a little bit, I'll give her the time of day.
Slashdot Mirror
The MMORPG to grow more popular than EverCrack (or Lineage) will be the kind that is open to user modification and governance so it can take on a life of its own. Depending on a central crackdaddy for content can't compete with the promise of a dynamic Metaverse.
The games that currently come closest to this ideal game world are A Tale in the Desert, and, Second Life.
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So, do your part to fight terrorism by helping the economy by BUYING THE BOOK. BUY IT! NOW! Or the terrorists have already won. :)
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I ask you, "I've got the colon down pat, but my problem is joining clauses with semicolons; I can't seem to use them in the 'right' places -- because I suck (badly) at punctuation, but I still abuse it because I know that so few will be able to see through me." :)
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No store would ever place a "true value" tag on anything they sell. In order to get a price with all the externalities factored in, you'd need augmented vision to overlay it. That'll be a while still.
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Molecular manufacturing will completely change the world economy so profoundly that economic equality could conceivably be added to the list of human rights (but not likely, because of our inherently selfish genes).
A global economy of abundance, without any old fashioned manufacturing or distribution, will be massively disruptive, and powerful interests will fight hard to keep the status quo -- like the RIAA does now -- but eventually matter will flow like data, and the gap between the haves and have-nots will narrow to nothing.
The inevitability of molecular manufacturing is one of the only bright spots on the dark horizon I look forward to in the next 10 - 20 years.
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So build more floating islands instead. 70% of Earth's wet surface area hasn't been claimed.
Okay folks, here's the plan: we live on the island until we perfect space travel and terraforming, then we go grab one of those other planets that no one's using right now.
And here's my plan, Oh Great Leader: we live on the island AS technology continues to advance exponentially anyway, thanks to ~6 billion interconnected minds feeding off each other ("IP" anti-progress be damned), then we move to a self-sufficient, offplanet island as soon as possible in order to minimize the chances of the The Great Filter wiping everyone out. In the unlikely event that planetside humanity doesn't wipe itself out, then tech will continue to advance to Singularity in short order, otherwise, progress will come to a standstill and we'll be spam in space island cans for quite a long while until we screw like rabbits to get our brain-count back up.
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Good luck; the eco-nuts have a done a very good job scaring the public away from nuke-u-lar-anything. Perception == Reality.
I feel so much safer choking on coal, gas, and oil.
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No. It's because most people have a gut feeling that taking a physical object from someone else deprives the owner of the object, but making a copy of an intangible thing, at zero marginal cost, leaves the original untouched, and doesn't appear to deprive anyone of anything. Fear of punishment doesn't really factor in, because if I could make near-free molecular copies of Sears' products, I WOULD, because it would just feel right to break the law of artificial scarcity.
Still, most people understand that the artists who create the intangible need to eat and might need an added financial incentive if they're going to create more (expensive) works, and so they'll gladly support them by going to unique movies, unique concerts, buying scarce merchandise, by directly donating/patronizing, by buying celebrity endorsed products, etc.
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Record label: "The volume is GREAT, but how about we jack up the prices now? I don't want to have to downsize mansions again and give up the crack habit."
Walmart: "I'm sorry, but we need to offer our customers a better value every year. If you can't do it for 38 cents, we can find someone who will."
Record label: "And I thought I was evil."
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Best of 2003:
Worst of '03:
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Samwise (Sean Astin) also starred in that movie as a kid. Coincidence? I think not!
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And that's where a lot of people, including "real" artists, disagree with you. They don't have a selfish control-freak mentality, or hold The Law up as holy scripture set in stone, but they still manage to make a nice living without trying to enforce artificial scarcity or restrict people from standing on their shoulders.
The fact is that "intellectual property" is only something that can be owned as long as you NEVER let it out of its cage to infect other minds and culture. If it does get out, then the creation will only be respected in so far as society respects you and/or the old social contract (perpetual copyright).
IMNSHO, progress won't slow one bit just because it's no longer possible to enforce artificial scarcity.
"The economy of the future will be based on relationship rather than possession. It will be continuous rather than sequential." -- John Perry Barlow, co-founder of the EFF
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Assign weights to each as you deem fit.
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Well, carbon nanotubes do exist, just not in sufficient quantity or length yet.
elevators have limited life, tend to be cut by micrometeorites and space junk and are going to be more expensive than rockets
Space junk isn't such a huge problem if you design with redundancy; what are the odds of all, say, 3 ribbons being severed at the same time? And only the first elevator would cost an arm and a leg.
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I was comparing the "personal rocket" ideal that the XPrize embodies (IMO), that you could conceivably fly from your independent backyard, to a space elevator elevator, that has to be built and shared in international space.
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When we finally see sub-$1 per kg "launch" costs, it will be because we've finally built a series of space elevators around the equator, and that (unfortunately) takes a metric buttload of international redtape.
I admit that explosive phallic rockets are more exciting to dream about, though. I mean, who wants to take a cheap, practical, slow, silent maglev ride up a stationary elevator to geo, instead of blasting off scream'n "yeehaw!" all the way?
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I'd love to be contacted by strangers, depending on the distributed reputation of the person or machine contacting me.
If "James T. Kirk" sends me a message, and the fringes of my weighted Six Degrees of Separation net have never seen him before (newly generated cert for spam), or have seen him but say that he's a spammer (or maybe just an asshole in general), then I'll just ignore him.
If "Juicy Jane" sends me a message, and a few friends of friends trust her, even just a little bit, I'll give her the time of day.
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And the level editor for ET (and many other games) also runs fine. Get a copy of GtkRadiant and start making your own (mediocre) maps.
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