It's only natural that the weeds that have been surviving all the herbicide just come up stronger and stronger after each generation, to the point were the herbicide doesn't kill them anymore.
It's the way that living things behave: the stronger (or better adapted) survive, and the obstacles are slowly but steadily surpassed.
This is specially noticeable on living beings with a very low generation time (like bugs, plants, some small animals, etc), as the adaptations and mutations crop up relatively fast.
It's the way biology works, although some people like to have a "meddling god" to explain this all...
Part of the fault of this whole "downloading" mess rests on the "industry" shoulders, be it the music, movie or TV. Specifically the whole "region" concept.
Why, in this day and age, with globalization, internets and the like, do I have to wait MONTHS to catchup a TV series on my country (Portugal), after it broadcasts on the US? Why don't they just make it available straight away on iTunes, for me to *buy it*? Oh right. Because as of right now, I can't buy series or movies on iTunes Portugal, only music... Can someone explain me why?
Or why do I have to wait 6 (sometimes even more) months to get a movie on DVD, after it came out on the US? Granted, I can understand some delay related to localization costs (in the Portuguese case, only covers and subtitles, as we almost never dub movies, as the Spanish do). But even so, if I want to buy the whole English version of a movie, why can't I do it? Well, I can do it, I can order it from Amazon.com.... if I have a region 1 DVD player, of course.
In both these situations, I have two options: sit and wait months for the "region aproved" versions of the series or movies (if they ever get picked up by the local distributors, of course), or just fire up utorrent and have a Lost episode hours after it aired in the US.
My point is that I would gladly pay for DRM-free, "fresh", 0-day, English only media content. I don't mind waiting for a region 2 edition of a good movie, and buying it, and I have some original, payed-for box sets of my favorite TV shows. The problem is not exactly price. The problem is convenience. And artificial barriers. I still can't figure out why can't I buy my favorite shows on iTunes Portugal. Or why all of the sudden I can't watch The Daily Show on their website. Oh, the problem is add revenue, you say? It can't be free anymore? No problem, I would *pay* for episodes of the The Daily Show... If I had a place on the web to buy them!
The industry is still clinging to outdated business models, that don't make any sense in our age. Come on! In a few days, the Mac crowd will be able to enjoy Steam, and Valve's games! Talk about globalization and interoperability! But why can't I watch South Park or Lost or House, legally, in Portugal, after it broadcasts on the US?!
You see, the issue is not always price. My treasure can be the next man's garbage. The issue is convenience. Ever wondered why malls and big store conglomerates are so popular? Heck, ever wondered why Amazon is so popular? Convenience. When I want something, I want it in the fastest, most convenient way possible. Amazon delivers me books to my doorstep, in a matter of days. I've tried to do something similar with some "brick and mortar" stores here. Just forget about it. They told me I would have to wait for 2/3 weeks for a specific book that I wanted to order. I said to them "never mind then". I went to Amazon, and 3 days latter, I had the book. And it probably cost me a bit more than doing it locally. But I had the book *fast*, because I needed it.
So there you have it. Media industries, start to think about "costumer convenience" (this includes DRM-free stuff as well), even before the prices. If the convenience is there, even if the price is not the cheapest, the people that want it will pick it up.
Ahh Fighting Fantasy books! The books that got me into RPG, even before I knew what RPG ment...
I have very fond memories of reading them, playing them, even of getting out to buy a new one.
And what do you mean, "read a novel or two"?! I've finished, without cheating, at least 4 novels, although I had around 20 or something. Here in Portugal we didn't got all the 50+ books, but we got them translated to Portuguese, which for me was astounishing. No other books in Portuguese talked about wizards and sorcerers and trolls and combats and stuff like that. At least I wasn't aware of any at the time, which added to the charm of the FF books.
Nowadays, besides still having my 20+ Portuguese FF books, I have 5 or 6 of the new editions, in english, of a selected group of "classics". Oh and I have the 25th aniversary special edition of the "Warlock of Firetop Mountain", the first book of the series.
A simple, honest, question: is it worth it? I've used OpenOffice a couple of times in the past, but it didn't work for me. Seemed too slow, a bit "bloaty" (as for example you would find a java aplication to be "bloaty", not in the Microsoft "and-the-kitchen-sink!" way), and it seemed to be a bit basic (Excel look-alike, I'm looking at you).
I'm using Windows with Office 2007 (and Office 2010 Beta on my main machine), and I'm happy with those. No, I don't have "bluescreens", "problems", "errors" or "grief", except with 2010 which is beta. And the PC never "ate my paper", although I've done some stupid, data-losing stuff on my own. So you can cut that part of the FUD. I also use just the features I want to use (yes, I do a custom Office instalation and remove the stuff I don't use/care), and I don't find the "ribbon" to be the "anti-christ".
Anyways, I'm a "happy" Microsoft Office user, which doesn't have anything particularly bad to say about it. And yes, I have a legitimate, paid-for Office, so the "but it's free!" argument doesn't quite cut it. And no, something being "open source" doesn't make it the second coming of Jesus. I agree that "open source" has it's merits, but in the end, the "final word" belongs to the consumer, I would say. And since I'm in Windows, the "it's the next-best-thing" argument doesn't cut it either.
So, I'm asking: is it worth it to download OpenOffice, and play a bit around with it, or if I'm a "happy" Microsoft Office user, I can just "move along"?:) I'm a heavy Outlook, Word, Excel, Visio, OneNote user, and I've used to use Access more than I do today. I can't stand PowerPoint (but it's a necessary evil, presentations and stuff), and I've became fond of Project (although I'm sure I'm using it in the "look, I do letters in Excel!" kind of way:)
Seriously, and I don't want to flame-bait, it's an "honest-to-goodness" question.
I might be wrong, but I don't think that WAT works the same way as WGA.
I haven't RTFA (hey, this is slashdot afterall!), but from the sumary, I would say that WAT searches for something that indicates that an exploit was used to validade a pirate windows (ex. loaders, BIOS exploits, etc.).
So, for example, if WAT finds a certain system file with a version diferent than it should be, you're "grounded". Or if the windows system files say that you "have" a Dell OEM release, and it queries the BIOS and finds it's a non-Dell computer. Things like that. Or a game, after or even before an update, checking to see if it's the genuine release, by looking at the binaries. Ops, most of them already do that.
Although the principle makes some (twisted) sense (I'm pretty sure that checking to see if people hacked your precious DRM is valid), I don't quite agree with the whole "consumers are pirates/thiefs/crooks" anyway, so I'm keeping away from this update as long as I can. And yes, I have a genuine Windows 7. And no, even though I have "nothing to hide", I don't agree with manufacturers peeking inside my system, treating me as a potencial-criminal. Let me remind you that "pre-crime" or "thought-crime" doesn't exist yet. And I agree with *ONE* "call home" when I install the software. Apart from that, let Microsoft or EA come in person to my house and I'll show them the purchase receipts.
Oh, another example: the iPhone checking if its ROM (or BIOS or whatever) is intact, and you haven't "jailbreaked" your iPhone.
Indeed. Although I have a genuine Windows 7, I find this a bit too much. Now I know which update to hide and never see again.
Someone got it right (at least for old games)
on
Game Industry Vets On DRM
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· Score: 4, Informative
Well, since we are talking about DRM, I should mention Good Old Games.
Basically, they sell "old games", without any DRM whatsoever, and that are 7/Vista/XP compatible.
And although they have some fairly "recent" titles (Painkiller, for example), I don't recall seeing any of their games on the P2P networks. Or any cracks. Oh, right, they don't have anything to crack to begin with:)
Oh and the games are dirty cheap as well. And legal.
I think that the person that mention that this should be about beneficts for the legitimate client is right.
In the GOG case, I can install the game wherever I want, when I want, no activation or "phone-home" or whatsoever. And they really provide a "value added" service: some games aren't available anywere else (even P2P networks), and they have gone the extra step of making them playable on the modern versions of Windows.
So the publisher cashes in their older titles, instead of clinging on them and not doing anything with them (like actually selling the games) and/or chasing whoever dares to mess with it, i.e. fan-made remakes, reverse engineering and things like that, GOG cashes in with the nostalgia of the clients, and the quality of the majority of the offerings, and the clients cash in as well, being able to play quality games for low-low prices, and not having to worry about if SecureRom will break their Windows.
Just a quick mention of Steam. I like the concept, and they are doing some things right. But I hope they don't let the publishers run wild with the platform (the Bioshock 2 "protection" seems insane! DRM on top of Steam and validations?!).
I agreee. Besides, having the mobile carriers around tends to mess things. The manufacturer of the hardware (in this case, either Nintendo or Sony) would have to wrestle with the mobile carrier's problems, the share in the profits, perhaps exclusivity, etc, etc.
Nintendo and Sony would leave their present "top of the food chain" place, masters of their own hardware and have to "share" that spot with the telcos (more or less like what's happening to google, except that the "google mobile" is nothing but a "toy" for them, unlikely the DS and PSP, which are "food for the mouth" for Nintendo/Sony, and part of their business core).
I have a DS and I love it. I'm planing on getting a PSP one of these days, for all the portable-3D-juicy-games. But the though "hey, this would be great if I could do phonecalls as well!" never ever crossed my mind.
Although I believe that the ngage failed spectacularly due to some really poor design choices (side-talk?! remove the battery to switch games?!), I doubt it that even if it didn't have those flaws, people would race to buy it.
Nintendo has decades of experience in gaming (pretty much everything they touch turns to gold, they even got around the down moment that the N64 was), and Sony has a lot of back catalog, and has already cemented some solid 3rd party gaming relations (Enix-Square, I'm looking at you).
So if anyone wants to poke into the "mobile"/portable gaming market, they need to be either revolutionary, or have a strong 3rd-party support, with solid IP (or at least, quality games).
And no, grafting some half-assed gaming on a good mobile phone won't work.
Let me dare to say more: besides an awesome top-down Zelda (Link to the Past is still the best Zelda ever!), how about some good old fashioned top-down Final Fantasy?
I stopped caring about Final Fantasy after 7. But on the other hand, I have the "re-editions" of FF1, FF2, FF3, FF4, FF5 and FF6 for the GBA / Nintendo DS. I just love that old-school look!
I couldn't care less about teens/pre-teens romancing each other, while the world is on the brink of destruction (although the music from the FF series is always top notch).
I prefer exploring the glorious 2 dimensional maps, with a party of tiny cute dark mages;)
The same skill as with any addiction. Self-control. (...)
I don't see anything implying that gaming is only for kids, just that doing it excessively is harmful.
Well, I agree with you, it's about self-control indeed.
I just found it odd that she says explicitly "be successful in their adult lives". Why not just "be successful in their lives"? If the "clinic" if for adults only (+18), why the need to stress the "adult" bit?
It's almost as if videogame addiction is related to the "inability" to grow up in some way, and people need help to be sucessful in their "adult lives" (like some sort of "Peter Pan" syndrome).
I might be reading too much into this, but I tend to be suspicious of this kind of patronizing speech.
Do the people that are seeking help for their drinking and smoking and gambling habits are told that they are being helped to "be successful in their *adult* lives"?
Don't get me wrong, videogame addiction is something serious, as any other addiction, and people should get help. I just don't like it when people tend to "pidgin-hole" videogames as something for kids, and so, if someone is videogame addict, it's someone who needs help "growing up".
"(...) we're assessing to see what skills they are lacking so they can be successful in their adult lives (...)"
Does this mean that videogame addiction "sprouts" from the lack of some "skills" needed for "success" in "adult lives"? Is it just me, or are they trying to shoe-horn videogames as something "for kids" again? And if you play too much of them, does it mean automatically that you are "lacking some skills so you can be a successful adult" (i.e. you are a big kid)?
Does a smoking addiction sprouts from "lack of skills needed for success in adult lives" as well? How about achool addiction? What sort of skills might a person be "lacking" to "fall" into a smoking habit?
There is something odd here, but I can't quite put my finger on it...
I've been using MP3 since the dawn of the format (for some reason, I've never quite hook up with OGGs), and I don't intend to change it to anything else soon. I also use FLAC, for the lossless backups of my CD collection.
I couldn't care less about "value added" content. Heck, I don't even want lyrics on my music files! If I want "value added", I'll just go and watch the artists live. Now that's "value added".
Meanwhile, I'm sticking with MP3s and FLACs, and I can't think of a reason to switch to another format.
Don't forget the stories that go something like "OMG! New research found out that 100% of the people that died last year were previously alive! Being alive can lead to death!"
Seriously, I hate the panic waves that the media creates. Bird flu, swine flu, mad cow, bla bla bla. They blow it all so out of proportion that you either just ignore it all, or you will never leave that permanet panic state, waiting for the next "deadly thing".
That's why I've stoped watching news on the TV a longggggg time ago, and I just skim the Google News page, just as TFA describes.
I can even honestly say that I get more actual "news" during my daily blog reading time than when I read the "old school" media sites, either newspapers, TVs or whatnot.
excluding US ISP's, of course, who serve ads on non-existing domains for their users anyway
I guess you answered your own question:)
Seriously, I've started using OpenDNS when my lame ISP's DNS started folding for no apparent reason (yes, even the secondary). Net is connected, all up and running, but name resolution, nada...
So I'm an OpenDNS happy user:) However, I'll give Google's DNS a go:) I doubt my web browsing will be any faster, but I just have to try these new shiny services ehehehe
...in those cases, top management can be criminally responsible and spend jail time (up to 3 years) for pirated software. Don't laugh, I'm serious. The proverbial hammer doesn't just fall on the person responsible for IT, it falls straight into the manager/ceo/big fish of the company as well.
It was a really nice way to make the people with responsibility open the eyes for the problem, instead of just blaming the small guy.
If I ever need to draw attention to the problem of pirated software, and the "boss" just dismisses me, I can just whisper "3 years in jail for you if we are caught"... That should give full attention ehehehe
Considering that the RTM has been available for a few months now on MSDN and Technet, and that the public beta was available even before that, it's perfectly possible that 7 had 1,9% market share before it's "official" release.
Can I play a bit of devil's advocate? My guess is that the need to remove iTunes and Google toolbar might be related to compatibility issues (i.e., the version that the users have currently not being the "latest" one, or the one "100%" compatible with 7). Without any more concret info, like the version number for iTunes of all the machines involved, if 7 "demands" diferent things with the same version installed, etc, we can't really be sure what's the issue here, and assume it's for the best for the users (not having potentialy incompatible software installed on 7).
Now before someone says "but I've been using iTunes 2.0 with 7 since forever!!", well, I'm just speculating as much as the next guy:) Afterall, this is Slashdot, right?;)
Maybe I'm being div, but won't this imply that the machine should be online 100% of the time? What if I'm in the middle of nowere, can't I play a quick game of gnu-mines or something?:)
I love Opera and have been using it since version 3 or something:)
But about the "new" Turbo thingy... isn't this basically the kind of thing that those dial-up "accelerators" did? Like compressing pictures and stuff? Because when I activate Turbo on Opera, the quality on image files degrades quite a bit, so I don't know if this actually much diferent from those "accelerators" of old age:)
Slashdot Mirror
Exactly. One of the reasons I will never ever quit PC gaming for some "console" in any form, shape or color.
Tell me again, Mr. Big Console Manufacturer, why should I ever bother to buy your products...
...it's called "evolution".
It's only natural that the weeds that have been surviving all the herbicide just come up stronger and stronger after each generation, to the point were the herbicide doesn't kill them anymore.
It's the way that living things behave: the stronger (or better adapted) survive, and the obstacles are slowly but steadily surpassed.
This is specially noticeable on living beings with a very low generation time (like bugs, plants, some small animals, etc), as the adaptations and mutations crop up relatively fast.
It's the way biology works, although some people like to have a "meddling god" to explain this all...
This does raise a good question: What is a necessary amount of porn?
All of it?
Part of the fault of this whole "downloading" mess rests on the "industry" shoulders, be it the music, movie or TV. Specifically the whole "region" concept.
Why, in this day and age, with globalization, internets and the like, do I have to wait MONTHS to catchup a TV series on my country (Portugal), after it broadcasts on the US? Why don't they just make it available straight away on iTunes, for me to *buy it*? Oh right. Because as of right now, I can't buy series or movies on iTunes Portugal, only music... Can someone explain me why?
Or why do I have to wait 6 (sometimes even more) months to get a movie on DVD, after it came out on the US? Granted, I can understand some delay related to localization costs (in the Portuguese case, only covers and subtitles, as we almost never dub movies, as the Spanish do). But even so, if I want to buy the whole English version of a movie, why can't I do it? Well, I can do it, I can order it from Amazon.com.... if I have a region 1 DVD player, of course.
In both these situations, I have two options: sit and wait months for the "region aproved" versions of the series or movies (if they ever get picked up by the local distributors, of course), or just fire up utorrent and have a Lost episode hours after it aired in the US.
My point is that I would gladly pay for DRM-free, "fresh", 0-day, English only media content. I don't mind waiting for a region 2 edition of a good movie, and buying it, and I have some original, payed-for box sets of my favorite TV shows. The problem is not exactly price. The problem is convenience. And artificial barriers. I still can't figure out why can't I buy my favorite shows on iTunes Portugal. Or why all of the sudden I can't watch The Daily Show on their website. Oh, the problem is add revenue, you say? It can't be free anymore? No problem, I would *pay* for episodes of the The Daily Show... If I had a place on the web to buy them!
The industry is still clinging to outdated business models, that don't make any sense in our age. Come on! In a few days, the Mac crowd will be able to enjoy Steam, and Valve's games! Talk about globalization and interoperability! But why can't I watch South Park or Lost or House, legally, in Portugal, after it broadcasts on the US?!
You see, the issue is not always price. My treasure can be the next man's garbage. The issue is convenience. Ever wondered why malls and big store conglomerates are so popular? Heck, ever wondered why Amazon is so popular? Convenience. When I want something, I want it in the fastest, most convenient way possible. Amazon delivers me books to my doorstep, in a matter of days. I've tried to do something similar with some "brick and mortar" stores here. Just forget about it. They told me I would have to wait for 2/3 weeks for a specific book that I wanted to order. I said to them "never mind then". I went to Amazon, and 3 days latter, I had the book. And it probably cost me a bit more than doing it locally. But I had the book *fast*, because I needed it.
So there you have it. Media industries, start to think about "costumer convenience" (this includes DRM-free stuff as well), even before the prices. If the convenience is there, even if the price is not the cheapest, the people that want it will pick it up.
Ahh Fighting Fantasy books! The books that got me into RPG, even before I knew what RPG ment...
I have very fond memories of reading them, playing them, even of getting out to buy a new one.
And what do you mean, "read a novel or two"?! I've finished, without cheating, at least 4 novels, although I had around 20 or something. Here in Portugal we didn't got all the 50+ books, but we got them translated to Portuguese, which for me was astounishing. No other books in Portuguese talked about wizards and sorcerers and trolls and combats and stuff like that. At least I wasn't aware of any at the time, which added to the charm of the FF books.
Nowadays, besides still having my 20+ Portuguese FF books, I have 5 or 6 of the new editions, in english, of a selected group of "classics". Oh and I have the 25th aniversary special edition of the "Warlock of Firetop Mountain", the first book of the series.
Ahh sweet, sweet memories... :)
I think the industry should start giving random names to their products.
That way, we shouldn't be mislead by products with numbers in their names.
So, I'm off to get my Intel WLQKIE, and a Nvidia MSNDFS. They are way better than the AMD PLYORM and the Ati BFGVYR.
So, a swiss ADULT who might want to BUY a violent game will have to resort to torrent it?
Nice way to push the paying customer into the open arms of "piracy" ehehehehehe
A simple, honest, question: is it worth it? I've used OpenOffice a couple of times in the past, but it didn't work for me. Seemed too slow, a bit "bloaty" (as for example you would find a java aplication to be "bloaty", not in the Microsoft "and-the-kitchen-sink!" way), and it seemed to be a bit basic (Excel look-alike, I'm looking at you).
I'm using Windows with Office 2007 (and Office 2010 Beta on my main machine), and I'm happy with those. No, I don't have "bluescreens", "problems", "errors" or "grief", except with 2010 which is beta. And the PC never "ate my paper", although I've done some stupid, data-losing stuff on my own. So you can cut that part of the FUD. I also use just the features I want to use (yes, I do a custom Office instalation and remove the stuff I don't use/care), and I don't find the "ribbon" to be the "anti-christ".
Anyways, I'm a "happy" Microsoft Office user, which doesn't have anything particularly bad to say about it. And yes, I have a legitimate, paid-for Office, so the "but it's free!" argument doesn't quite cut it. And no, something being "open source" doesn't make it the second coming of Jesus. I agree that "open source" has it's merits, but in the end, the "final word" belongs to the consumer, I would say. And since I'm in Windows, the "it's the next-best-thing" argument doesn't cut it either.
So, I'm asking: is it worth it to download OpenOffice, and play a bit around with it, or if I'm a "happy" Microsoft Office user, I can just "move along"? :) I'm a heavy Outlook, Word, Excel, Visio, OneNote user, and I've used to use Access more than I do today. I can't stand PowerPoint (but it's a necessary evil, presentations and stuff), and I've became fond of Project (although I'm sure I'm using it in the "look, I do letters in Excel!" kind of way :)
Seriously, and I don't want to flame-bait, it's an "honest-to-goodness" question.
I might be wrong, but I don't think that WAT works the same way as WGA.
I haven't RTFA (hey, this is slashdot afterall!), but from the sumary, I would say that WAT searches for something that indicates that an exploit was used to validade a pirate windows (ex. loaders, BIOS exploits, etc.).
So, for example, if WAT finds a certain system file with a version diferent than it should be, you're "grounded". Or if the windows system files say that you "have" a Dell OEM release, and it queries the BIOS and finds it's a non-Dell computer. Things like that. Or a game, after or even before an update, checking to see if it's the genuine release, by looking at the binaries. Ops, most of them already do that.
Although the principle makes some (twisted) sense (I'm pretty sure that checking to see if people hacked your precious DRM is valid), I don't quite agree with the whole "consumers are pirates/thiefs/crooks" anyway, so I'm keeping away from this update as long as I can. And yes, I have a genuine Windows 7. And no, even though I have "nothing to hide", I don't agree with manufacturers peeking inside my system, treating me as a potencial-criminal. Let me remind you that "pre-crime" or "thought-crime" doesn't exist yet. And I agree with *ONE* "call home" when I install the software. Apart from that, let Microsoft or EA come in person to my house and I'll show them the purchase receipts.
Oh, another example: the iPhone checking if its ROM (or BIOS or whatever) is intact, and you haven't "jailbreaked" your iPhone.
Indeed. Although I have a genuine Windows 7, I find this a bit too much. Now I know which update to hide and never see again.
Well, since we are talking about DRM, I should mention Good Old Games.
Basically, they sell "old games", without any DRM whatsoever, and that are 7/Vista/XP compatible.
And although they have some fairly "recent" titles (Painkiller, for example), I don't recall seeing any of their games on the P2P networks. Or any cracks. Oh, right, they don't have anything to crack to begin with :)
Oh and the games are dirty cheap as well. And legal.
I think that the person that mention that this should be about beneficts for the legitimate client is right.
In the GOG case, I can install the game wherever I want, when I want, no activation or "phone-home" or whatsoever. And they really provide a "value added" service: some games aren't available anywere else (even P2P networks), and they have gone the extra step of making them playable on the modern versions of Windows.
So the publisher cashes in their older titles, instead of clinging on them and not doing anything with them (like actually selling the games) and/or chasing whoever dares to mess with it, i.e. fan-made remakes, reverse engineering and things like that, GOG cashes in with the nostalgia of the clients, and the quality of the majority of the offerings, and the clients cash in as well, being able to play quality games for low-low prices, and not having to worry about if SecureRom will break their Windows.
Just a quick mention of Steam. I like the concept, and they are doing some things right. But I hope they don't let the publishers run wild with the platform (the Bioshock 2 "protection" seems insane! DRM on top of Steam and validations?!).
I agreee. Besides, having the mobile carriers around tends to mess things. The manufacturer of the hardware (in this case, either Nintendo or Sony) would have to wrestle with the mobile carrier's problems, the share in the profits, perhaps exclusivity, etc, etc.
Nintendo and Sony would leave their present "top of the food chain" place, masters of their own hardware and have to "share" that spot with the telcos (more or less like what's happening to google, except that the "google mobile" is nothing but a "toy" for them, unlikely the DS and PSP, which are "food for the mouth" for Nintendo/Sony, and part of their business core).
I have a DS and I love it. I'm planing on getting a PSP one of these days, for all the portable-3D-juicy-games. But the though "hey, this would be great if I could do phonecalls as well!" never ever crossed my mind.
Although I believe that the ngage failed spectacularly due to some really poor design choices (side-talk?! remove the battery to switch games?!), I doubt it that even if it didn't have those flaws, people would race to buy it.
Nintendo has decades of experience in gaming (pretty much everything they touch turns to gold, they even got around the down moment that the N64 was), and Sony has a lot of back catalog, and has already cemented some solid 3rd party gaming relations (Enix-Square, I'm looking at you).
So if anyone wants to poke into the "mobile"/portable gaming market, they need to be either revolutionary, or have a strong 3rd-party support, with solid IP (or at least, quality games).
And no, grafting some half-assed gaming on a good mobile phone won't work.
I totally agree!
Let me dare to say more: besides an awesome top-down Zelda (Link to the Past is still the best Zelda ever!), how about some good old fashioned top-down Final Fantasy?
I stopped caring about Final Fantasy after 7. But on the other hand, I have the "re-editions" of FF1, FF2, FF3, FF4, FF5 and FF6 for the GBA / Nintendo DS. I just love that old-school look!
I couldn't care less about teens/pre-teens romancing each other, while the world is on the brink of destruction (although the music from the FF series is always top notch).
I prefer exploring the glorious 2 dimensional maps, with a party of tiny cute dark mages ;)
The same skill as with any addiction. Self-control. (...)
I don't see anything implying that gaming is only for kids, just that doing it excessively is harmful.
Well, I agree with you, it's about self-control indeed.
I just found it odd that she says explicitly "be successful in their adult lives". Why not just "be successful in their lives"? If the "clinic" if for adults only (+18), why the need to stress the "adult" bit?
It's almost as if videogame addiction is related to the "inability" to grow up in some way, and people need help to be sucessful in their "adult lives" (like some sort of "Peter Pan" syndrome).
I might be reading too much into this, but I tend to be suspicious of this kind of patronizing speech.
Do the people that are seeking help for their drinking and smoking and gambling habits are told that they are being helped to "be successful in their *adult* lives"?
Don't get me wrong, videogame addiction is something serious, as any other addiction, and people should get help. I just don't like it when people tend to "pidgin-hole" videogames as something for kids, and so, if someone is videogame addict, it's someone who needs help "growing up".
From the sumary:
"(...) we're assessing to see what skills they are lacking so they can be successful in their adult lives (...)"
Does this mean that videogame addiction "sprouts" from the lack of some "skills" needed for "success" in "adult lives"? Is it just me, or are they trying to shoe-horn videogames as something "for kids" again? And if you play too much of them, does it mean automatically that you are "lacking some skills so you can be a successful adult" (i.e. you are a big kid)?
Does a smoking addiction sprouts from "lack of skills needed for success in adult lives" as well? How about achool addiction? What sort of skills might a person be "lacking" to "fall" into a smoking habit?
There is something odd here, but I can't quite put my finger on it...
I've been using MP3 since the dawn of the format (for some reason, I've never quite hook up with OGGs), and I don't intend to change it to anything else soon. I also use FLAC, for the lossless backups of my CD collection.
I couldn't care less about "value added" content. Heck, I don't even want lyrics on my music files! If I want "value added", I'll just go and watch the artists live. Now that's "value added".
Meanwhile, I'm sticking with MP3s and FLACs, and I can't think of a reason to switch to another format.
Seriously, I can't.
Don't forget the stories that go something like "OMG! New research found out that 100% of the people that died last year were previously alive! Being alive can lead to death!"
Seriously, I hate the panic waves that the media creates. Bird flu, swine flu, mad cow, bla bla bla. They blow it all so out of proportion that you either just ignore it all, or you will never leave that permanet panic state, waiting for the next "deadly thing".
That's why I've stoped watching news on the TV a longggggg time ago, and I just skim the Google News page, just as TFA describes.
I can even honestly say that I get more actual "news" during my daily blog reading time than when I read the "old school" media sites, either newspapers, TVs or whatnot.
Batman the Movie, in the early 90s ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batman_(Sega_Mega_Drive)
It was quite nice, actually :)
...whatever happened to Half Life 2 Episode 3? ;)
(I know, I'm offtopic, sue me alread :P)
excluding US ISP's, of course, who serve ads on non-existing domains for their users anyway
I guess you answered your own question :)
Seriously, I've started using OpenDNS when my lame ISP's DNS started folding for no apparent reason (yes, even the secondary). Net is connected, all up and running, but name resolution, nada...
So I'm an OpenDNS happy user :) However, I'll give Google's DNS a go :) I doubt my web browsing will be any faster, but I just have to try these new shiny services ehehehe
...in those cases, top management can be criminally responsible and spend jail time (up to 3 years) for pirated software. Don't laugh, I'm serious. The proverbial hammer doesn't just fall on the person responsible for IT, it falls straight into the manager/ceo/big fish of the company as well.
It was a really nice way to make the people with responsibility open the eyes for the problem, instead of just blaming the small guy.
If I ever need to draw attention to the problem of pirated software, and the "boss" just dismisses me, I can just whisper "3 years in jail for you if we are caught"... That should give full attention ehehehe
Considering that the RTM has been available for a few months now on MSDN and Technet, and that the public beta was available even before that, it's perfectly possible that 7 had 1,9% market share before it's "official" release.
Can I play a bit of devil's advocate? My guess is that the need to remove iTunes and Google toolbar might be related to compatibility issues (i.e., the version that the users have currently not being the "latest" one, or the one "100%" compatible with 7). Without any more concret info, like the version number for iTunes of all the machines involved, if 7 "demands" diferent things with the same version installed, etc, we can't really be sure what's the issue here, and assume it's for the best for the users (not having potentialy incompatible software installed on 7).
Now before someone says "but I've been using iTunes 2.0 with 7 since forever!!", well, I'm just speculating as much as the next guy :) Afterall, this is Slashdot, right? ;)
Maybe I'm being div, but won't this imply that the machine should be online 100% of the time? What if I'm in the middle of nowere, can't I play a quick game of gnu-mines or something? :)
I love Opera and have been using it since version 3 or something :)
But about the "new" Turbo thingy... isn't this basically the kind of thing that those dial-up "accelerators" did? Like compressing pictures and stuff? Because when I activate Turbo on Opera, the quality on image files degrades quite a bit, so I don't know if this actually much diferent from those "accelerators" of old age :)