I saw Tron Legacy over the weekend and the plot had a lot of interesting little avenues that were just dead ends. The son of Dillinger does...nothing. Tron shows up for 5 minutes and does...basically nothing. They bring a program from the machine world into the human world and they do...nothing. If you want a good read from a great author that really expounds on a lot of interesting ideas predating the Matrix, Tron Legacy, and others, check out Roger Zelazny and Jane Linskold's Donnerjack. It does a great job of exploring the ideas of humans going into a virutal computer world, bringing a program back into the real world, having a child with that program and then the child being able to cross back and forth physically between worlds. As a bonus, the virtual gods are trying to take over the real world and Death gets cheated a couple of times. Lots of fun and a neat look at something that had to have influenced a lot of the writers making these flicks.
I don't know that Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) really fits the description, but I've found the model to be very interesting. Basically, you can download the basic game for free and create two online characters from a limited number classes. If you want additional content, characters, bank slots, potions, etc, you can buy them at the online store. If you want to pay the monthly subscription fee to get it all, you can do that too. The game is pretty cool too. To give it a try, go to www.ddo.com.
After 20 years of being married to a non-geek, there are some things I remember going through that might be helpful.
Stay employed, preferably both of you. That way you will have plenty of money to do what you want. We pooled our money instead of having separate accounts. Make sure you talk about this before you get married. If what you decided isn't working, don't be afraid to discuss a change. In the end, marriage ends up being more of a financial arrangement than a sex or passion thing. You will fight over money and the things you want to spend it on (or foolishly spent it on) more than anything else. Think about what major purchases you may make and have a plan. Absolutely do not sign anything you are not sure of. My wife really didn't like our house when we bought it but signed the papers to buy it anyway. Now she is stuck there and likes to let me hear about it once in a while. This has also happened with a couple of cars. You need to both agree that if you have any doubts about major purchases like this that you will not just sign it to please the other one because they like it so much.
Set a spending limit and try to stick to it. We have a $50 rule. If it is over $50, you have to ask the other one if you can get it. This helps to avoid those huge fights over money.
Make sure to go hang out with your friends. Her friends don't have to be yours, just make sure you have somewhere to go once in a while to hang out or play games or whatever. It is good to be away from each other once in a while. When I first started living with my wife and would go to play D&D with my buddies, she would literally cry at the door and tell me I loved them more than her. Just keep going and she will get used to it. It might take 10 years, but eventually she will understand.
Remember that being married is like being on a diet...you can read the menu, but you can't eat. Don't cheat on your spouse. You will get caught. You will regret it. Most likely it will turn out to be the most expensive sex you've ever had.
Don't try to do everything together. Don't take up knitting just to spend more time with her. Do you really want her taking up your hobbies and ruining your private time?
Be nice to her mom.
Help out around the house. Even if you are the only one working.
Save your money, use the library. Don't go berserk collecting stuff you can access legally for free.
Lastly, choose your battles. Do you really care what color the towels are? Unless it is something that is really important to you, don't make a mountain out of a mole hill.
While that sounds good, it really isn't a realistic or technically feasible. The grid was not originally designed to handle the huge amounts of electricity that are currently being transferred between entities. The power pools must have some way to manage the flow of electricity across the wires to keep the system from being overloaded and brought down. It is also necessary to monitor the flows to collect the tariffs that are charged.
For example, if Company A in Oklahoma City sells electricity to Company B in Des Moines, the power pools must be able to verify that there is capacity on the lines in between, whose lines the electricity will be travelling across so that they can maintain the stability of the grid, and collect the tariff paid to all the intervening transmission line owners. Without these systems being connected via computers, there is no way to accurately maintain and monitor the current system.
As the Northeast blackout of a few years ago pointed out, lack of visibility into these systems can result in a devastating cascade of blackouts. If the Chinese or Russions actually do have Trojan Horses planted in these systems, they could literally bring us to our knees and shut down the country. It is really not that far-fetched since many of the smaller electric companies are locally owned co-ops or run by small cities with little or no budgets for security infrastructure or staff. The NERC CIP standards are certainly a step in the the right direction, but require a huge investment in time and manpower many of these smaller companies can't really afford.
What it really comes down to in the end is continually increasing rates as customers demand reliability from their electricity provider. This reliability comes in the form of better computer controls of the electric system along with increases in the security around those systems. It is no longer feasible from a cost perspective to have a human being at each substation and switch gear with a walkie talkie. Utilities are trying to keep the rates down by automating the systems. Unfortunately, that introduces a new kind of risk. The risk that they are hacked, not only by the simple hacker, but by the nation state that views having a backdoor into our systems as a type of insurance in the event of war.
From the Terms link at the bottom of the CNN main page (check out the bold part for some interesting stuff):
By submitting material to any public area of CNN Interactive, Subscriber automatically grants, or warrants that the owner of such material has expressly granted CNN the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate and distribute such material (in whole or in part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed for the full term of any copyright that may exist in such material. Subscriber also permits any other Subscriber to access, view, store or reproduce the material for that Subscriber's personal use. Subscriber hereby grants CNN the right to edit, copy, publish and distribute any material made available on CNN Interactive by Subscriber.
and with regards to changing their terms:
CNN shall have the right at any time to change or modify the terms and conditions applicable to Subscriber's use of CNN Interactive, or any part thereof, or to impose new conditions, including, but not limited to, adding fees and charges for use. Such changes, modifications, additions or deletions shall be effective immediately upon notice thereof, which may be given by means including, but not limited to, posting on CNN Interactive, or by electronic or conventional mail, or by any other means by which Subscriber obtains notice thereof. Any use of CNN Interactive by Subscriber after such notice shall be deemed to constitute acceptance by Subscriber of such changes, modifications or additions.
I recently bought a used copy of Hellgate: London for $6.99 at a local shop. While the game installed fine with the key code from the manual, I could not create a multiplayer account because the previous owner had used the code to create the account. I contacted EA support and asked them for a new key. They asked for my personal information, screenshots and I even sent them a scan of my reciept and the manual with the key on it. After days of back and forth, they finally told me they could not identify me as the owner of the key. Really, what a surprise. They wanted me to send them my manual or game disc and $10 to get a new key, just so I could create a multiplayer account. Glad I didn't do it now that the multiplayer is being shut down.
I have been able to play the single player game and thought repetitive, it has been enjoyable. It is really not very challenging as I have only died once. The levels also seem to be very repetitive. Essentially it is Diablo from a first person perspective with swords, guns and spells.
This is one of the reasons PC gaming is dying. No LAN multiplayer capability and dependent on a third party for providing the multiplayer support just so they can enforce their DRM. This game is a prime example of one that will die a sudden death and really piss off people who spend $29.99 or less to buy it from a bargain bin only to find out they can't play multiplayer at all.
Great, but how about clicking and carpal tunnel?
on
Blizzcon 2008 Wrap-Up
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Don't get me wrong, I loved Diablo and Diablo2. Unfortunately, I had to give up the hardcore playing because clicking the mouse like a maniac for hours killed my hand. Have they done anything to tone down the insane amount of mouse clicks needed to play the game?
The most successful game that left DRM off its disc recently was Oblivion. It will be interesting to see how Bethesda handles this issue with the release of Fallout 3. To be honest, I got a copy of Oblivion and was so blown away, I've now bought the PS3 and PC versions. If any game of the past 10 years has shown how unnecessary DRM is, it was Oblivion. Make a good game, have a decent manual/map in the box and they will buy it, that's the bottom line.
I would highly recommend all of the Dr. Who Novelizations, especially from the early Doctors that dealt with a lot of historical content from the Aztecs to the Trojan Horse. The newer ones are a little more racy/violent, but the early ones are definitely G - PG material. Check your local library as I've found them there.
Other recommendations from what I was reading at that age include:
The Riddle Master trilogy by Patricia McKillip
The Sword of Shanara trilogy by Terry Brooks
The Best of Jack Williamson
The Best of Frederick Pohl
You might also check your local library for when they are going to have their annual/semi-annual Friends of the Library book sale. I've found that on the last day you can usually get a ton of old Sci-Fi paperbacks cheap on bag day.
Sure, I'm trolling, but I couldn't resist. But really, when it came down to how I was going to spend my hard earned money, PS3 or 360, the 80GB PS3 won hands down. I have had zero issues with it over the past year, the Blu-Ray has turned out to be the dominant HD format, it connects to TVersity on my PC for streaming movies and music, it is just a superior piece of equipment. You sure don't hear anything about 1 in 3 PS3 failures like you do the 360. Just give the finger to MS and switch!
My group has been playing for the past 25 years or so and comfortably settled into 2nd edition AD&D. My futile attempts to move them into the present so I can finally play that dwarf monk have all failed. How do you suggest that I get my group to even try moving to 4th edition, let alone 3.5?
If Wizards of the Coast can do it with Magic the Gathering cards in Magic Online, surely Amazon could do it. This would make the DRM pallatable for me. You could have a book trade chat room interface on Amazon and make it happen fairly easily. Each party clicks ok to approve the trade and voila, it's erased from your Kindle and downloaded to mine.
Thanks to everyone that clarified my questions. As a long-time Magic and Magic Online player, it surprises me that they have not brought Magic Online to the PS3 or 360. They could certainly use the same program they already have and you could buy virtual cards just like you do now. I would really love to play Magic Online on my 50" plasma. Guess I'll just have to hook my computer up to it one of these days. Personally, this sounds too gimicky to last.
One last question. Do you need a starter deck to play or can you just buy some boosters and not worry about playing on the PS3?
Is it possible to re-use a single card in multiple decks registered online?
Is there any mechanism online for managing your collection?
Is there any mechanism online for trading?
If you trade a card to someone else, can they register it?
Do you both then have the card registered online?
Could you just share your cards with your friends and all have the same cards registered? I ask because of my kids and if they could have their own accounts with the same cards.
How many cards do you actually get in the box with the game?
How many cards are in a booster pack?
How many boosters would you say you need to buy in order to be competitive online?
How does the game play offline vs. online? Is it as fun?
Don't you wonder why they didn't just do a Magic Online or use their existing IP?
I think the first few posters had the right idea. If you spend your time making the product fantastic instead of worrying about your mediocre product being copied, it will sell. Look at Bethesda's Oblivion. It was a fantastic product and they obviously spent a lot of time making it. What they didn't do was copy protect the PC version. You can make a straight DVD copy of the disk and it will play just as well as the original without having to use any fancy software to break the copy protection. Bethesda still sold millions and I actually own copies for both PC and PS3. As they said, spend your time making it a killer product and they will be happy to pay.
Since you can get entire 3.0 and 3.5 book collections in PDF on Bit Torrent, it only makes sense for them to make some changes. Most D&D geeks are also computer nerds these days, so their revenue stream from the books has probably died out. Time for a change so people who are hooked feel compelled to buy the new stuff. It would be nice if they would start releasing adventures in a computer format so the DM could just set their laptop in front of them and run the game. Have all the dice tools, tables with quick links, etc. I think games would run a lot smoother than having everyone grab their books and spending five minutes looking up some obscure reference. They should put out a Wiki on CD with all the rules.
The relevant part of the act that you are missing is whether or not they used a device "primarily marketed" for the purpose of copying digital materials and the requisite media to go along with it (e.g. one on which a the royalty tax has been paid). Making copies on these devices appears to be completely legal as long as you are not distributing them and they are for your own personal use. I believe that giving a copy to a family memeber would be considered for personal use in the spirit of the law. If they used a computer CD burner, that would not be legal as the royalty tax is not paid on these. If they used a CD-R, it would be illegal as the tax is not paid on those either.
My father-in-law was like you, never used a bank, didn't believe in insurance and always did everything in cash. Now this was 10 years ago, so it was easier to do then. The problem was that he kept all his money at home. He even had an ancient postal safe out on the screened in porch where he kept his cash, guns and other trinkets. When their house caught on fire (or was torched as I believe), they lost everything. There was no insurance and the house and its contents burnt to the ground. We couldn't get to the safe during the fire and when we came back the next day the door of the safe was wide open and all the cash gone. Either someone had come back and pried open the door or the safe was not as fire proof as he had believed. Regardless, they now had nothing, nada, zip. Oh yeah, whoever got the cash out of the safe left a few guns, they are harder to spend.
I guess that my point is that doing basic transactions in cash works fine up to a point. As other posters have said, at some point you will want to buy a car, house, boat, whatever that will cost a lot of money. While you may find some people willing to sell you these things using cash, the vast majority of these transactions require a credit check (of which you have none) and a loan or, at the very least, a certified cashier's check. Get a bank account and quit whining.
I happen to work at one of the companies in the bottom 25% of the list. I must say that it is the best IT job I've had yet. My boss is great nad the pay is more than adequate with what has been a good yearly bonus so far. There is plenty of MEANINGFUL work to do and we have a lot of high quality people. Of course, you've got your malcontents everywhere and some of the manager's are suspect, but right now I must say it's a hell of a lot better than some of the other IT jobs I've had.
Apparently you've never heard of Snaptune One. It will record the streaming audio for you, go out and identify songs and then you can import them into iTunes or use something like SoundForge to convert them to the format of your choice. The song identification needs some work and takes time, but you can always identify them yourself. Take a look. I think you will like it. Oh yeah and it's free!
You can also combine it with an usb FM tuner to record local programs. I used to record our local college hoops games from the radio when I couldn't watch or listen and then import them to my ipod and listen later.
I've been into music for a LONG time. And when I say into it, I mean I've dropped tens of thousands of dollars on 8 tracks, LPs, cassettes, CDs, DVDs, I've shoplifted as a teen, I've downloaded as an adult, I've swapped CD's with friends and borrowed from the library to make a tape or CD. That doesn't even count the thousands spent on audio equipment to play it on. I've just had to have it. It is a part of my life. I know I'm not alone.
What I really want to share is a conversation I had with a mid-western independent record store owner last weekend. Whenever I happen to be in this little town where I was, I always try to stop in and patronize his store. He has got cool stuff you can't find anywhere else (read Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, etc) and it's organized so things are pretty easy to find. He also carries a large selection of smoking paraphenelia - try finding that at your local big box, lol.
Anyway, I asked him straight up how downloads had affected his business. "Not much really. It's Target that's killing me", he replied. "Not Wal-Mart?" I asked. He told me that, "Wal-Mart doesn't carry the explicit versions, but Target does. They can sell it for less than I can buy it. We used to have a good crowd on release Tuesdays, but now they all go to Target."
"So the downloaders aren't hurting you at all?" I asked again. "They don't have any money to buy CD's with anyway, so I really haven't seen much impact from downloading", he stated matter of factly. And you know, as he added up the total for the 6 CD's I was purchasing, I realized he was absolutely correct. The total was $105. Now I have a pretty good job and can afford to splurge on some CD's once in a while, but the average joe college, high school kid or even single mom could never afford what I just dropped on 6 CDs.
It was then that I realized what I had bought and why. I bought one of my favorite LP's, Pretenders II which has been remastered and a live disc added. So now I have the LP, the CD and the remastered CD. Chrissie deserves my money though and it sounds much better, so I don't begrudge that one. But the point is, here we go again, they are selling me the same thing over and over in a different format. Next it will be some DRMd DVD thing that I won't be able to put on my iPod. It is really getting old.
Three of the other CD's were stuff I had downloaded and wanted the CD. The other was actually the new Stooges CD. I guess the point here is that instead of prices going down, they seem to be going up (except at Target). The specialty retailer is a dying breed as price becomes a much bigger factor in the purchasing decision than selection, customer service and just having someone to talk to about music in general. Ever try to have a conversation with a Target or Best Buy salesperson about the time you saw the Scorpions and Iron Maiden on the same bill? Think they'd stand around for even a few sentences.
So what's the inconvenient truth revealed here? It's that downloads aren't killing the retail music business. The music business is killing the music business. You want to sell more product, price it competitively. $105 for 6 CD's is outrageous to me and I only bought them because I want the store to be there when I come back to that town in a few months and pay them another visit. It was the least I could do. Now, I've got to go to the library and see what's on hold for me there. Thank god for the library!
There was a spot in Hordes of the Underdark just prior to the finale where you run into some of the henchmen you could have adventured with as well as some of the notable bad guys you killed. They had all ended up on the plane of hell you were stuck on and wanted to exact a little revenge. I think it took us 20 hours to figure out how to get past them over the course of a month. Very frustrating, but ultimately a few Time Stops smashed through that wall.
Slashdot Mirror
I saw Tron Legacy over the weekend and the plot had a lot of interesting little avenues that were just dead ends. The son of Dillinger does...nothing. Tron shows up for 5 minutes and does...basically nothing. They bring a program from the machine world into the human world and they do...nothing. If you want a good read from a great author that really expounds on a lot of interesting ideas predating the Matrix, Tron Legacy, and others, check out Roger Zelazny and Jane Linskold's Donnerjack. It does a great job of exploring the ideas of humans going into a virutal computer world, bringing a program back into the real world, having a child with that program and then the child being able to cross back and forth physically between worlds. As a bonus, the virtual gods are trying to take over the real world and Death gets cheated a couple of times. Lots of fun and a neat look at something that had to have influenced a lot of the writers making these flicks.
I don't know that Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) really fits the description, but I've found the model to be very interesting. Basically, you can download the basic game for free and create two online characters from a limited number classes. If you want additional content, characters, bank slots, potions, etc, you can buy them at the online store. If you want to pay the monthly subscription fee to get it all, you can do that too. The game is pretty cool too. To give it a try, go to www.ddo.com.
For example, if Company A in Oklahoma City sells electricity to Company B in Des Moines, the power pools must be able to verify that there is capacity on the lines in between, whose lines the electricity will be travelling across so that they can maintain the stability of the grid, and collect the tariff paid to all the intervening transmission line owners. Without these systems being connected via computers, there is no way to accurately maintain and monitor the current system.
As the Northeast blackout of a few years ago pointed out, lack of visibility into these systems can result in a devastating cascade of blackouts. If the Chinese or Russions actually do have Trojan Horses planted in these systems, they could literally bring us to our knees and shut down the country. It is really not that far-fetched since many of the smaller electric companies are locally owned co-ops or run by small cities with little or no budgets for security infrastructure or staff. The NERC CIP standards are certainly a step in the the right direction, but require a huge investment in time and manpower many of these smaller companies can't really afford.
What it really comes down to in the end is continually increasing rates as customers demand reliability from their electricity provider. This reliability comes in the form of better computer controls of the electric system along with increases in the security around those systems. It is no longer feasible from a cost perspective to have a human being at each substation and switch gear with a walkie talkie. Utilities are trying to keep the rates down by automating the systems. Unfortunately, that introduces a new kind of risk. The risk that they are hacked, not only by the simple hacker, but by the nation state that views having a backdoor into our systems as a type of insurance in the event of war.
50 Wall-E's should be just what they need.
By submitting material to any public area of CNN Interactive, Subscriber automatically grants, or warrants that the owner of such material has expressly granted CNN the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate and distribute such material (in whole or in part) worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or hereafter developed for the full term of any copyright that may exist in such material. Subscriber also permits any other Subscriber to access, view, store or reproduce the material for that Subscriber's personal use. Subscriber hereby grants CNN the right to edit, copy, publish and distribute any material made available on CNN Interactive by Subscriber.
and with regards to changing their terms:
CNN shall have the right at any time to change or modify the terms and conditions applicable to Subscriber's use of CNN Interactive, or any part thereof, or to impose new conditions, including, but not limited to, adding fees and charges for use. Such changes, modifications, additions or deletions shall be effective immediately upon notice thereof, which may be given by means including, but not limited to, posting on CNN Interactive, or by electronic or conventional mail, or by any other means by which Subscriber obtains notice thereof. Any use of CNN Interactive by Subscriber after such notice shall be deemed to constitute acceptance by Subscriber of such changes, modifications or additions.
That's why you go with Raid0 baby. Full speed ahead. Who needs backups anyway.
I recently bought a used copy of Hellgate: London for $6.99 at a local shop. While the game installed fine with the key code from the manual, I could not create a multiplayer account because the previous owner had used the code to create the account. I contacted EA support and asked them for a new key. They asked for my personal information, screenshots and I even sent them a scan of my reciept and the manual with the key on it. After days of back and forth, they finally told me they could not identify me as the owner of the key. Really, what a surprise. They wanted me to send them my manual or game disc and $10 to get a new key, just so I could create a multiplayer account. Glad I didn't do it now that the multiplayer is being shut down.
I have been able to play the single player game and thought repetitive, it has been enjoyable. It is really not very challenging as I have only died once. The levels also seem to be very repetitive. Essentially it is Diablo from a first person perspective with swords, guns and spells.
This is one of the reasons PC gaming is dying. No LAN multiplayer capability and dependent on a third party for providing the multiplayer support just so they can enforce their DRM. This game is a prime example of one that will die a sudden death and really piss off people who spend $29.99 or less to buy it from a bargain bin only to find out they can't play multiplayer at all.
Don't get me wrong, I loved Diablo and Diablo2. Unfortunately, I had to give up the hardcore playing because clicking the mouse like a maniac for hours killed my hand. Have they done anything to tone down the insane amount of mouse clicks needed to play the game?
The most successful game that left DRM off its disc recently was Oblivion. It will be interesting to see how Bethesda handles this issue with the release of Fallout 3. To be honest, I got a copy of Oblivion and was so blown away, I've now bought the PS3 and PC versions. If any game of the past 10 years has shown how unnecessary DRM is, it was Oblivion. Make a good game, have a decent manual/map in the box and they will buy it, that's the bottom line.
Other recommendations from what I was reading at that age include:
The Riddle Master trilogy by Patricia McKillip
The Sword of Shanara trilogy by Terry Brooks
The Best of Jack Williamson
The Best of Frederick Pohl
You might also check your local library for when they are going to have their annual/semi-annual Friends of the Library book sale. I've found that on the last day you can usually get a ton of old Sci-Fi paperbacks cheap on bag day.
Sure, I'm trolling, but I couldn't resist. But really, when it came down to how I was going to spend my hard earned money, PS3 or 360, the 80GB PS3 won hands down. I have had zero issues with it over the past year, the Blu-Ray has turned out to be the dominant HD format, it connects to TVersity on my PC for streaming movies and music, it is just a superior piece of equipment. You sure don't hear anything about 1 in 3 PS3 failures like you do the 360. Just give the finger to MS and switch!
My group has been playing for the past 25 years or so and comfortably settled into 2nd edition AD&D. My futile attempts to move them into the present so I can finally play that dwarf monk have all failed. How do you suggest that I get my group to even try moving to 4th edition, let alone 3.5?
If Wizards of the Coast can do it with Magic the Gathering cards in Magic Online, surely Amazon could do it. This would make the DRM pallatable for me. You could have a book trade chat room interface on Amazon and make it happen fairly easily. Each party clicks ok to approve the trade and voila, it's erased from your Kindle and downloaded to mine.
http://tera-3.ul.cs.cmu.edu/ULIBHelp.htm#faqBkMark
One last question. Do you need a starter deck to play or can you just buy some boosters and not worry about playing on the PS3?
Is there any mechanism online for managing your collection?
Is there any mechanism online for trading?
If you trade a card to someone else, can they register it?
Do you both then have the card registered online?
Could you just share your cards with your friends and all have the same cards registered? I ask because of my kids and if they could have their own accounts with the same cards.
How many cards do you actually get in the box with the game?
How many cards are in a booster pack?
How many boosters would you say you need to buy in order to be competitive online?
How does the game play offline vs. online? Is it as fun?
Don't you wonder why they didn't just do a Magic Online or use their existing IP?
Thanks for taking the time to answer!
I think the first few posters had the right idea. If you spend your time making the product fantastic instead of worrying about your mediocre product being copied, it will sell. Look at Bethesda's Oblivion. It was a fantastic product and they obviously spent a lot of time making it. What they didn't do was copy protect the PC version. You can make a straight DVD copy of the disk and it will play just as well as the original without having to use any fancy software to break the copy protection. Bethesda still sold millions and I actually own copies for both PC and PS3. As they said, spend your time making it a killer product and they will be happy to pay.
Since you can get entire 3.0 and 3.5 book collections in PDF on Bit Torrent, it only makes sense for them to make some changes. Most D&D geeks are also computer nerds these days, so their revenue stream from the books has probably died out. Time for a change so people who are hooked feel compelled to buy the new stuff. It would be nice if they would start releasing adventures in a computer format so the DM could just set their laptop in front of them and run the game. Have all the dice tools, tables with quick links, etc. I think games would run a lot smoother than having everyone grab their books and spending five minutes looking up some obscure reference. They should put out a Wiki on CD with all the rules.
The relevant part of the act that you are missing is whether or not they used a device "primarily marketed" for the purpose of copying digital materials and the requisite media to go along with it (e.g. one on which a the royalty tax has been paid). Making copies on these devices appears to be completely legal as long as you are not distributing them and they are for your own personal use. I believe that giving a copy to a family memeber would be considered for personal use in the spirit of the law. If they used a computer CD burner, that would not be legal as the royalty tax is not paid on these. If they used a CD-R, it would be illegal as the tax is not paid on those either.
I guess that my point is that doing basic transactions in cash works fine up to a point. As other posters have said, at some point you will want to buy a car, house, boat, whatever that will cost a lot of money. While you may find some people willing to sell you these things using cash, the vast majority of these transactions require a credit check (of which you have none) and a loan or, at the very least, a certified cashier's check. Get a bank account and quit whining.
I happen to work at one of the companies in the bottom 25% of the list. I must say that it is the best IT job I've had yet. My boss is great nad the pay is more than adequate with what has been a good yearly bonus so far. There is plenty of MEANINGFUL work to do and we have a lot of high quality people. Of course, you've got your malcontents everywhere and some of the manager's are suspect, but right now I must say it's a hell of a lot better than some of the other IT jobs I've had.
You can also combine it with an usb FM tuner to record local programs. I used to record our local college hoops games from the radio when I couldn't watch or listen and then import them to my ipod and listen later.
What I really want to share is a conversation I had with a mid-western independent record store owner last weekend. Whenever I happen to be in this little town where I was, I always try to stop in and patronize his store. He has got cool stuff you can't find anywhere else (read Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, etc) and it's organized so things are pretty easy to find. He also carries a large selection of smoking paraphenelia - try finding that at your local big box, lol.
Anyway, I asked him straight up how downloads had affected his business. "Not much really. It's Target that's killing me", he replied. "Not Wal-Mart?" I asked. He told me that, "Wal-Mart doesn't carry the explicit versions, but Target does. They can sell it for less than I can buy it. We used to have a good crowd on release Tuesdays, but now they all go to Target."
"So the downloaders aren't hurting you at all?" I asked again. "They don't have any money to buy CD's with anyway, so I really haven't seen much impact from downloading", he stated matter of factly. And you know, as he added up the total for the 6 CD's I was purchasing, I realized he was absolutely correct. The total was $105. Now I have a pretty good job and can afford to splurge on some CD's once in a while, but the average joe college, high school kid or even single mom could never afford what I just dropped on 6 CDs.
It was then that I realized what I had bought and why. I bought one of my favorite LP's, Pretenders II which has been remastered and a live disc added. So now I have the LP, the CD and the remastered CD. Chrissie deserves my money though and it sounds much better, so I don't begrudge that one. But the point is, here we go again, they are selling me the same thing over and over in a different format. Next it will be some DRMd DVD thing that I won't be able to put on my iPod. It is really getting old.
Three of the other CD's were stuff I had downloaded and wanted the CD. The other was actually the new Stooges CD. I guess the point here is that instead of prices going down, they seem to be going up (except at Target). The specialty retailer is a dying breed as price becomes a much bigger factor in the purchasing decision than selection, customer service and just having someone to talk to about music in general. Ever try to have a conversation with a Target or Best Buy salesperson about the time you saw the Scorpions and Iron Maiden on the same bill? Think they'd stand around for even a few sentences.
So what's the inconvenient truth revealed here? It's that downloads aren't killing the retail music business. The music business is killing the music business. You want to sell more product, price it competitively. $105 for 6 CD's is outrageous to me and I only bought them because I want the store to be there when I come back to that town in a few months and pay them another visit. It was the least I could do. Now, I've got to go to the library and see what's on hold for me there. Thank god for the library!
There was a spot in Hordes of the Underdark just prior to the finale where you run into some of the henchmen you could have adventured with as well as some of the notable bad guys you killed. They had all ended up on the plane of hell you were stuck on and wanted to exact a little revenge. I think it took us 20 hours to figure out how to get past them over the course of a month. Very frustrating, but ultimately a few Time Stops smashed through that wall.