I don't mean to knock anyones music here, but it's mostly mainstream over-produced (IMO) albums that have this 3-good-songs-per-album balance. Nearly every CD I buy is a) not played on the radio and b) contains a few sub-par tracks instead of a few top quality tracks. If just a few songs on there are stinkers, and the rest are good, I'd MUCH rather pay full price and get the artwork and silver disc.
Don't assume that because you only want a handful of tracks that the rest of us don't want the whole album.
Before the concept of purchasing an album electronically can work, someone has to iron out the DRM technology to let me a) make a backup, b) stream it to any network-attached device I have, c) download it again at no cost, and d) transfter it to an SDMI (Secure Digital Music Interface) compliant portable audio player.
This is like delivering the automobile with no gas stations. It has to fail because once you get the audio file you can't put it anywhere - unless you turn it into a.wav and then you can convert to any format you like. It's still not secure, and it never will be.
I think David Bowies recent interview summed it all up - Music is going to be free, and it's the physical media, the packaging, and most importantly TOURING that are going to make the money.
Thats what separates the best players from the rest though. The best players know how to manage their units at a finer level, respond when they hear that a peon is done building something.
I'd be more worried about Unit AI such as getting from point A to point B once you've told them to. Dragoons were horrible about that in Starcraft, Goliaths too.
If you just want to watch your forces 'do the right thing', then you only want 1/2 of the RTS. Directin them in battle is just as important as directing them to battle.
Might not be worth 97$, but the Rio Receiver controls whats playing, and your patch cable won't do that. You'll have to manipulate the PC that the other end of the cable is connected to.
You know, you're right. Music (mainstream at least) sucks. Big labels are doomed to failure because they don't promote anything interesting, it's all lowest-common-denominator artists being spoon-fed to the masses, while any artist with a promising sound is either left aside or told to assimilate.
I'm close-minded about over-produced teeny-pop music.
Seriously, they're selling records in large part because of promotion from their label and MTV. Corporations may not have made this band, but they damn sure made them popular.
Well, Blizzards previously un-announced project turned out to be World Of Warcraft, an MMORPG. So thats yet another Blizz project that ISN'T Starcraft2. Blizzard North is taking on World Of Warcraft after successfully releasing both Diablo2 and it's expansion, while Blizzard main is working on Warcraft3. Since they only have two teams, you can be assured that Starcraft2 isn't currently in development.
Blizzard's stance previously was that they had no plans for Starcraft2, but that it was a universe they would like to explore again.
You are allowed to modify GPL code for your own use, so long as you don't distribute/sell it under any other license. If you keep it to yourself, there's no harm.
Not to mention, you CAN write closed-source code that runs on an open-source OS. There's no restriction in the GPL that says you can't run closed-source apps on GNU/Linux or similar.
The really appropriate thing here is that a new install is virgin. It's not officially f#@%ed until you've USED it for a short while.
The solution to any Windows-related problem is one of two things: Re-install, or upgrade. Both painful. Want DirectX 7 back? Want USB support (real USB, not hacked like 98 non-SE)? Want a new FEATURE (aka bug fix) in Office? Reinstall for the first, upgrade for second. Can't uninstall DirectX with a first-party MS software.
Now, if you do either, you're forced to go through telephone activation. It may stop piracy, it may have 24 hour support, it's still a stupid way to enforce it. WPA has secured my move to Linux, even though I had bought Windows liscenses before (NT4 and 2KPro).
What happens to people who want to build their systems piece at a time? Base system initially, then add sound later, DVD decoder after that, etc?
This is obviously a simple copy-protection for the normal OEM PC that never gets upgraded, and has all of two non-Motherboard devices (although NIC and/or Modem on MB is getting more common, esp in corporate desktop). For PC's like that, your system fingerprint doesn't change. For DIY'ers, we're screwed unless you stick to a hardware set from install on.
On top of the hassle parts of it, I for one believe that MS has engineered it to gather system configs about their users. Maybe they don't tie it to your name/etc, but they will know more about the average PC configuration than anyone else, and probably not at the full knowledge of their users. I'm just not comfortable with forced disclosure here.
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There's also a Kinokuniya in Seattle at 5th Ave S and Weller Street, in the Uwajimaya grocery building. It's pretty fricking huge.
Then there's a japanese video rentals store on 5th and Jackson as well; it's easy to spot with the pikachu and Rei Ayanami murals on the windows.
I don't mean to knock anyones music here, but it's mostly mainstream over-produced (IMO) albums that have this 3-good-songs-per-album balance. Nearly every CD I buy is a) not played on the radio and b) contains a few sub-par tracks instead of a few top quality tracks. If just a few songs on there are stinkers, and the rest are good, I'd MUCH rather pay full price and get the artwork and silver disc.
.wav and then you can convert to any format you like. It's still not secure, and it never will be.
Don't assume that because you only want a handful of tracks that the rest of us don't want the whole album.
Before the concept of purchasing an album electronically can work, someone has to iron out the DRM technology to let me a) make a backup, b) stream it to any network-attached device I have, c) download it again at no cost, and d) transfter it to an SDMI (Secure Digital Music Interface) compliant portable audio player.
This is like delivering the automobile with no gas stations. It has to fail because once you get the audio file you can't put it anywhere - unless you turn it into a
I think David Bowies recent interview summed it all up - Music is going to be free, and it's the physical media, the packaging, and most importantly TOURING that are going to make the money.
What will the last guy do with 0.98 of an idea?
Thats what separates the best players from the rest though. The best players know how to manage their units at a finer level, respond when they hear that a peon is done building something.
I'd be more worried about Unit AI such as getting from point A to point B once you've told them to. Dragoons were horrible about that in Starcraft, Goliaths too.
If you just want to watch your forces 'do the right thing', then you only want 1/2 of the RTS. Directin them in battle is just as important as directing them to battle.
Might not be worth 97$, but the Rio Receiver controls whats playing, and your patch cable won't do that. You'll have to manipulate the PC that the other end of the cable is connected to.
You know, you're right. Music (mainstream at least) sucks. Big labels are doomed to failure because they don't promote anything interesting, it's all lowest-common-denominator artists being spoon-fed to the masses, while any artist with a promising sound is either left aside or told to assimilate.
I'm close-minded about over-produced teeny-pop music.
Seriously, they're selling records in large part because of promotion from their label and MTV. Corporations may not have made this band, but they damn sure made them popular.
Well, Blizzards previously un-announced project turned out to be World Of Warcraft, an MMORPG. So thats yet another Blizz project that ISN'T Starcraft2. Blizzard North is taking on World Of Warcraft after successfully releasing both Diablo2 and it's expansion, while Blizzard main is working on Warcraft3. Since they only have two teams, you can be assured that Starcraft2 isn't currently in development.
Blizzard's stance previously was that they had no plans for Starcraft2, but that it was a universe they would like to explore again.
You are allowed to modify GPL code for your own use, so long as you don't distribute/sell it under any other license. If you keep it to yourself, there's no harm.
Not to mention, you CAN write closed-source code that runs on an open-source OS. There's no restriction in the GPL that says you can't run closed-source apps on GNU/Linux or similar.
The really appropriate thing here is that a new install is virgin. It's not officially f#@%ed until you've USED it for a short while. The solution to any Windows-related problem is one of two things: Re-install, or upgrade. Both painful. Want DirectX 7 back? Want USB support (real USB, not hacked like 98 non-SE)? Want a new FEATURE (aka bug fix) in Office? Reinstall for the first, upgrade for second. Can't uninstall DirectX with a first-party MS software. Now, if you do either, you're forced to go through telephone activation. It may stop piracy, it may have 24 hour support, it's still a stupid way to enforce it. WPA has secured my move to Linux, even though I had bought Windows liscenses before (NT4 and 2KPro). What happens to people who want to build their systems piece at a time? Base system initially, then add sound later, DVD decoder after that, etc? This is obviously a simple copy-protection for the normal OEM PC that never gets upgraded, and has all of two non-Motherboard devices (although NIC and/or Modem on MB is getting more common, esp in corporate desktop). For PC's like that, your system fingerprint doesn't change. For DIY'ers, we're screwed unless you stick to a hardware set from install on. On top of the hassle parts of it, I for one believe that MS has engineered it to gather system configs about their users. Maybe they don't tie it to your name/etc, but they will know more about the average PC configuration than anyone else, and probably not at the full knowledge of their users. I'm just not comfortable with forced disclosure here.