Hire bounty hunters? Drag people out of their country against their will? Charging people for crimes that are not, in fact, crimes where the act in question was comitted? And all of this over satellite TV signals?
The familiar argument: I don't switch from windows because all of the software I own (including many games, and other things that are non-trivial to port), as well as all of the software I've ever written, is Windows based. Of course, this is a common lament. I hate the security flaws, the nanny interface, the bloatware, and the constant bugs... but not enough to throw out all of my software, give up 95% of the games I've ever played, and switch to another OS.
Apple has, for years, made the mistake of thinking they could win by making the best OS. They can't, because that isn't how this game is played. You need to run the MOST software, not the BEST.
So here is the problem: You could design WINE (or something in OS X, or whatever) to run Windows apps, handle DirectX apps, etc. When you're done, everyone can switch over to your OS. Yay! But, in copying the behavior of the Windows OS you'll probably also have to copy the behavior that makes it an un-secure, bug-ridden mess. You can either be secure and stable.... or you can be compatible.
Why havn't we stormed Redmond? After we sacked the castle and slew the monster, who would write our OS?
I will just build my computers from scratch, and then when I am done with them I can just dump the used machines in some wetlands, or leave it in an empty playground or something.
Joking aside, this sounds simple, but enforcing this would be more trouble than most people anticipate.
* $10 a machine is arbitrary. For PC it is so little money that it won't affect behavior. For smaller stuff (like a cellphone or GameBoy) it is a larger portion of the price, and will encourage people to attempt to dodge the fee. (like buying overseas) This is countrproductive, since it's the PC's are much larger and heavier, and are the obviously the targets of this.
* Not just WHAT is a computer, but WHEN is it a computer? If I buy a barebones system (motherboard and case), is that going to incur the $10? What about when I add a harddrive and memory? CD player? Speakers? What about a monitor? If I build one at home, do I have to fill out a form and tell the gov't I've created one, and mail them $10? What about small-time mom-and-pop computer companies? New paperwork for them too?
* $10 a person isn't much, but it adds up for schools buying in bulk, particularly if every PC, monitor, printer and router incurs a seperate $10 fee. Think of the children!
* If I take two broken computers and RECYCLE some of the parts by building one decent computer, how do I get my $10 back? What if I sell this refurbished system? Do I need to add YET ANOTHER $10 onto the price? What forms will I need to fill out to make sure I don't become a criminal when I do this?
* As with all taxes: collecting it, keeping track of who has paid, tracking down tax evaders, and prosecuting them costs a lot of money. Chump change taxes like this probably cost more than they bring in if you bother to enforce them. What is wrong with all of the hundreds of little nickle-and-dime piranna taxes we already have? Can't you just raise one of them and save us the paperwork?
* "... tack on a $10 administrative fee to the sale price of computers and monitors to fund recycling efforts" Are you kidding me? Fund recycling efforts? This money will go into the big cannibal pot of cash (like all taxes do), and be spent the same way all the rest of the money is spent, so please don't pretend I'm helping to save the world by giving you $10.
* Why are we worrying about computers in landfills? Have you SEEN how big and heavy cars are?
* Dear lawmakers: Not all problems can be solved via the levying of taxes. I know that when you're a hammer, every problem looks like a nail, but don't you have anything better to do?
It's a shame that this is what society, especially in America, has come to.
I cannot remember the last time when a/. thread did not eventually come to someone saying "this is the result of such-and-such IN AMERICA". For fuck's sake, this is a software problem. What's more, this is a software problem coming from an Australian-based company.
Not every shift in technology happens in order to reinforce our preconceptions about the USA. Sometimes software doesn't work and sometimes people are jerks. This is a universal truth that does not recognize international borders.
I went to the Steam page and it looks like they updated this on 1/14. The old process involved grabbing some file that steam created at log-in and making a backup copy to use when offline. This is no longer the case.
I'm glad to see they made this more user-friendly, but this is like someone using a belt instead of a hammer to give you a beating. Nice, but I'm supposed to be grateful?
Here is the updated process for offline mode.
Notice the "unplug from the network" instructions? WTF? Any software that requires me to unplug my network cable to work is a hack, IMO.
Here is a re-run post from the LAST time we went through this. This was orginally posted Nov 31. Nice to see nothing has changed:
My problem with steam is, once you pay for the game and bring it home...
* It REQUIRES YOU to create a steam account just to install. They were honest and revealed in the EULA that they required an email and that they would share "some information" with third parties. So... You just gave them over $50 and they are now trying to hustle you for an email so they can sell it for a nickel?
* Once the game is "installed", you must "unlock" it in order to play. On my system, this took bloody ages. This is in addition to the usual business of typing in CD keys the size of nuclear launch codes just to prove to the software you own the game.
* You must be online to play the game so steam can log in and "verify" blah blah. Note that this is for a SINGLE PLAYER game you must be on line, just to make sure you're legit. If Steam goes down, you can't play. (Okay, there is an "offline" mode, but its more of a hack than a feature, as it involves copying files around just to trick Steam into acting like you're signed on)
* Steam runs in the background, updating stuff, ALL THE TIME (unless you disable it). Imagine if everyone did this. Your system tray would cover half of your desktop, and a large portion of your system memory and bandwidth would be consumed by all these busybody apps running in the background, updating, and bringing "special offers" to your attention.
* Despite all this security, the game STILL REQUIRES that you have the CD in the drive.
* Just for fun, go to Steam's website and try to figure out how to submit a bug. Last night (Nov 30) Steam stopped working while the patch came out. I couldn't play my game. I went to the website to find out why, and there was no way to let them know I was having a problem. No email links, no bug report form, and the forums were down.
* All of this hassle, and Steam really doesn't offer ANYTHING for the end user. If you download the game, they don't even give you a break on the price. In fact, if you download the game, you can't get a refund for any reason. All of this, and what's in it for us?
So yeah, I do hope the hackers are able to crack the game. Then I can download the crack and play the game without needing to use Steam. The LAST THING I want to see is other game companies following Valve's example.
Wal-Mart could nearly eliminate shoplifting (which I'm sure costs them millions) if they just frisked everyone as they came out of the store. Yet they don't. Steam is the software equivalent of giving you a pat-down when you leave the store with your paid-for merchandise. They need to knock it off.
Tell that to post-WWII France. Or Germany. In fact, most of the democratic nations in the world today became democrcies via force. People in power tend to protect that power.
I'm not really trying to support the war. There are many reasons not to like the Iraq war. I'm just pointing out that the reasons you are giving are lazy and poorly articulated.
If you're going to open up this can of worms yet again, the very least you could do is know what the fuck you're talking about before you start with the anti-Bush, anti-US stuff that you're trying to pass off as an argument here.
America: Let's give those Iranians some American freedoms.
Um, the country you're thinking of is the United States. The US government didn't have anything to do with shutting off this website.
First,, we'll bomb you, then give you it.
The country they bombed was IRAQ, not IRAN.
Iranians: Um, we don't want yuor freedoms, we're happy being Iranians.
How can "having freedom" mean "no longer being yourself"? Is "lack of freedom" their defining characteristic?
, Whatever happened to you respecting the rights of others? America: How dare you Iranians speak your own mind, we don't want the likes of you dictating to yourselves what you want.
To sum up: tyranny enforced by locals is better than freedom enforced by foreigners? It should be noted that the PEOPLE want to be free, versus the GOVERNMENT that doesn't want them to have freedom. This is quite different from the people themselves saying "we don't want freedom." This is a handful of mullas saying "we don't want the people to be free".
We're going to cut you of at the mouth by not allowing you to speak for yourselves.
The US government was never involved in this case. Even if they were, how is this "not allowing them to speak for themselves"? A website was taken down. That's it. Happens every day over at Tripod.
Iranians: Fuck off you dim-witted cunts, yuo thikn the rest of the world are as stupid as Bush followers?
I missed this part of the article where your hypothetical Iranian (or Iraqi) told the US to fuck off.
Also, it makes me giggle when you have the nerve to call someone ELSE dim-witted and stupid. You have no grasp whatsoever of the original article OR about the subject to which you are attempting to thread-jack.
It's like trusting a redneck buffoon with the presidency of the United States...oh wait...
I should point out that this comment could actually apply to at least the last TWO presidents. People on the right derided "president bubba" as a redneck as well.
And if Bush 2 is a redneck, then it stands to reason that Bush 1 was as well.... so we've had a redneck running the country since '88.
This is a saying we used to have at my company: "Anyone can sue you at anytime, for anything."
It is true, and while they may not even have a viable case against you, they can file motions and demand documents and force you into court to defend yourself. They bury you in legal paperwork and wait you out. The goal of such cases is not to win, but to get the other side to stop doing something they don't like. If the defendant can't afford the legal fees required to defend themselves, they have no choice but to give in and stop doing whatever it is that the other party doesn't like.
It is a very thugish abuse of the system, and AFAIK, there is no way to defend against it if you don't have the cash.
During the civil rights movement in the US, there was a similar attempt to take away the right of blacks to vote. All voters were required to take a test (or something else that required literacy), and those that couldn't do were not able to vote. Since blacks were (at the time) not predominantly literate, this denied most of them the right to vote. This was struck down as un-constitutional.
You can make the argument that this is what is happening with guns. If you make guns so expensive and unreliable that most people can't afford them or can't use them properly, then you have infringed on their right to bear arms.
Someone busts into my house, my wife takes out my gun, and the fucking thing doesn't work for her, because the gun is "mine".
The article claims they have 90% reliability? MY gun shoots every single time I pull the trigger. So now we have:
* A gun I cannot loan to a friend on the range
* A gun which is going to be more expensive, due to all those fancy features, yet will be harder to SELL, even to another law-abiding citizen, because of the added difficulty in "transfering" the gun to the person so they can use it.
* A gun that is far less reliable
* A gun that is mandated by law (in New Jersey)as the only sort of gun I'm allowed to have
* A gun with complex electronic parts that will be much less durable, and will probably require some sort of energy source (such as batteries).
* A gun that will weigh more
* A gun that criminals WILL NOT USE. They will bypass the security of stolen guns, or just trade in "non-secure" guns. So, only law-abiding people will be stuck with these crappy things.
Why is it these lawmakers trust technology more than the people they represent?
So the Chineese govt.
murders 800-2600 peaceful protesters
in Tiananmen Square in Peking in 1989. They fobid women from having more than one child and force millions of Chineese women to have abortions. They support various thug leaders around the globe and insist they own Tiawan.
I know! Let's put pressure on them to put people in jail for stealing software.
Piracy is rampant in China and the problem is real, but it isn't killing anyone. Do any of these rotten bastards have any sense of proportion?
I also agree, karma be damned. You don't have to love us. You don't even have to like us, but would it KILL you US-haters to admit once in a while when we Do The Right Thing.
I don't expect to change anyone's mind on the war, but does the gigantic pile of cash we're giving to South Asia (and the UN and other places in need of aid) at least suggest we aren't trying to Blow Up and Invade And Pollute The World? Maybe we really do care about the rest of the world, we just disagree on specifics? Maybe? No?
As I've always understood it, "Vaporware" refers to products that do not exist, and are thus all "vapor" and hype. Once you show a demo or have a working model that does what you claimed it would do from the outset, it ought not be called Vaporware, even if it has been delayed.
DNF is a great example, since after a decade we havn't even seen a working demo, a gameplay video, or even any (recent) screenshots. I think labeling products as "vaporware" when they are just late is a bit unfair. Many products miss ship dates and experience delays, but it takes a special kind of bastard to start a marketing campaign before they've even written a line of code or built a prototype.
The annotations really missed the mark for me here:
Why would Apple want to switch from making $100 off the sale of a computer, to $10 off the sale of an OS? Their market- and mind-share would have to instantly increase by ten times just to break even on that move. Linux is downloadable for free -- why would any company deliberately compete with that? Even Microsoft is bailing out into other markets, as fast as it can.
This person doesn't understand the difference between selling hardware and software. When you sell hardware, you have to buy all of the parts to build each and every machine, pay someone to assemble those parts, test the machines, box them up, and ship those heavy-ass boxes all over the planet. Thus, you have a lot of expenses to cover when you sell a machine.
Software, on the other hand, is a whole different business. It costs you millions to develop a large piece of software, and that cost is fixed. It doesn't matter if you sell one copy or a million copies of the software, you still have to pay that initial up-front cost.
However, once you have the software written, it's all gravy. You stamp out CD's for 40 cents each and send them in air-filled boxes for just a few cents more, yet consumers are often willing to pay over $100 for that box.
Not only does MS sell more units (than any given hardware company, including Apple) but they make a much larger percentage than a hardware company because they can churn out additional units for nearly nothing. This is why Microsoft makes so much damn money. They've never been foolish enough to get into the hardware business. They stick to software, because that's where the money is.
Saying "if you don't like it, change the channel" is like saying, "if you don't want to watch me hump this goat, don't look your your front window." Or "If you don't want to hear me screaming 'fuck' though this megaphone, leave the window closed".
The TV doesn't know if I (or my kids) want to see something until it appears on the screen and I hit the channel button. Just like you can't hump that goat in a public place, you can't show certain things on public airwaves.
Geeze, you got cable, tv, sattelite, pay-per-view, video & DVD rentals... you can hear and see all the fuck you want at any time. Is it really too much to ask that Television stays as it is?
Many other people have pointed out that this story is a bit odd, that spammers don't manage their lists, so for most people shutting down the server wouldn't produce the effect described in the article. However, even if this DID work, once people started using it, the spammers would adapt.
If people shut down mail servers for three days to get off of the list, the spammers will compensate by waiting four days before really taking you off the list. You can respond by leaving your email off for even longer, with the knowledge that this is, like spam itself, hurting you WAY more than it is hurting the spammer.
You are right. As someone who paid for the game, I do feel a certain level of guilt over supporting this awful beast. The only excuse I can give is that the game (when Steam "allows" you to play it) really is fantastic. However, I'd rather spend $100 for a Steam-free version of the game than give $50 to Valve and encourage more of this.
If someone had done this with ANY other game - even DOOM 3 - I bet the public would have rejected it, and sales would have suffered.
Instead, they attach it to HL2, and everyone buys it anyway. People have waited a very long time for this game, and giving it up because of Steam would be a bitter way for things to turn out for most of us.
Instead: We bitch. We moan. We get used to it. Pretty soon every damn game on the shelf will have something like this. I doubt it will reduce piracy by much, but it does give publishers that "hook" - that one app that they get to run on your system, collect data, sell you stuff, update software at their leisure, and generally cause problems for end users.
I can't speak for everyone, but here is one possible reason people are behind the hackers:
Once you pay for the game and bring it home...
* It REQUIRES YOU to create a steam account just to install. They were honest and revealed in the EULA that they required an email and that they would share "some information" with third parties. So... You just gave them over $50 and they are now trying to hustle you for an email so they can sell it for a nickel?
* Once the game is "installed", you must "unlock" it in order to play. On my system, this took bloody ages. This is in addition to the usual business of typing in CD keys the size of nuclear launch codes just to prove to the software you own the game.
* You must be online to play the game so steam can log in and "verify" blah blah. Note that this is for a SINGLE PLAYER game you must be on line, just to make sure you're legit. If Steam goes down, you can't play. (Okay, there is an "offline" mode, but its more of a hack than a feature, as it involves copying files around just to trick Steam into acting like you're signed on)
* Steam runs in the background, updating stuff, ALL THE TIME (unless you disable it). Imagine if everyone did this. Your system tray would cover half of your desktop, and a large portion of your system memory and bandwidth would be consumed by all these busybody apps running in the background, updating, and bringing "special offers" to your attention.
* Despite all this security, the game STILL REQUIRES that you have the CD in the drive.
* Just for fun, go to Steam's website and try to figure out how to submit a bug. Last night (Nov 30) Steam stopped working while the patch came out. I couldn't play my game. I went to the website to find out why, and there was no way to let them know I was having a problem. No email links, no bug report form, and the forums were down.
* All of this hassle, and Steam really doesn't offer ANYTHING for the end user. If you download the game, they don't even give you a break on the price. In fact, if you download the game, you can't get a refund for any reason. All of this, and what's in it for us?
So yeah, I do hope the hackers are able to crack the game. Then I can download the crack and play the game without needing to use Steam. The LAST THING I want to see is other game companies following Valve's example.
Wal-Mart could nearly eliminate shoplifting (which I'm sure costs them millions) if they just frisked everyone as they came out of the store. Yet they don't. Steam is the software equivalent of giving you a pat-down when you leave the store with your paid-for merchandise. They need to knock it off.
I can't imagine how this could be useful. To anyone. Either this law will be a bunch of redundant nonsense (like don't drop boosters in populated areas, which is already illegal, inviting lawsuits, and bad for business) or it will be standards for design and construction to ensure "safety".
Here is a hint: people going into space are pioneers. If they cared about safty they would stay home and play nerf ping-pong instead of launching themselvs into the deadly void of space atop a massive firework.
I say let the courageous among us take the plunge, and make the way safe for the rest of us. I am amazed that lawmakers might think they know better than the engineers how to design a rocket.
Just because the government is passing a "law for your own good" doesn't mean the law is good for you.
This is one of Bush's most strident foes, making an announcement that puts him in a negative light in the run-up to the election. But, since it just reinforces what we already want to think, we can just embrace it as truth, right?
Sure, Saddam Hussein is in jail, the torture chambers are empty, the children are out of prison, the flow of money to suicide bombers from Saddam is stopped, Lybia has folded, and the mass graves are no longer being filled... But hey let's keep some perspective and remember that Allawi might not have written the speech!
If Bush had walked accros a river on his way to a children's hospital and then healed all of the children, I'm sure we would be having this little flame war under the heading of:
Now that we've spent about 400 posts debating who is and is not a facist (have we sorted that one out yet?) I'd like to point out that even if this sort of firewall came to exist, it wouldn't do anyone any good.
Every morning your email box would still be stuffed with 100 emails promising "Y0U G0TTA 5EE TH1S UND3RAG3 5LUT5 WAN7 Y0UR C0X C0ME 5EE N0W 4 FR33!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
It won't do anything for the people who engage in child porn or who plague the internet with popups and such trying to snare people who aren't even LOOKING for porn. They will get through the firewall because, like spammers, they don't care about the law and will work hard to circumvent it.
However, this law would keep honest, and (otherwise) law-abiding citizens from getting their hands on porno that they DO want, in the privacy of their own home.
I feel safer already.
The only thing worse than a rights-infringing law is a rights-infringing law that doesn't even accomplish the goal for which it was created.
I hasten to add....
I don't think the unibomber's religion proves anything one way or the other in this discussion. I don't really want to get involved in the "You're a facist", no "YOUR'RE a facist" debate here.
It's just that.. well.. you dared me to name one.
Slashdot Mirror
Can you provide some links to document this?
The familiar argument: I don't switch from windows because all of the software I own (including many games, and other things that are non-trivial to port), as well as all of the software I've ever written, is Windows based. Of course, this is a common lament. I hate the security flaws, the nanny interface, the bloatware, and the constant bugs... but not enough to throw out all of my software, give up 95% of the games I've ever played, and switch to another OS.
Apple has, for years, made the mistake of thinking they could win by making the best OS. They can't, because that isn't how this game is played. You need to run the MOST software, not the BEST.
So here is the problem: You could design WINE (or something in OS X, or whatever) to run Windows apps, handle DirectX apps, etc. When you're done, everyone can switch over to your OS. Yay! But, in copying the behavior of the Windows OS you'll probably also have to copy the behavior that makes it an un-secure, bug-ridden mess. You can either be secure and stable.... or you can be compatible.
Why havn't we stormed Redmond? After we sacked the castle and slew the monster, who would write our OS?
Joking aside, this sounds simple, but enforcing this would be more trouble than most people anticipate.
* $10 a machine is arbitrary. For PC it is so little money that it won't affect behavior. For smaller stuff (like a cellphone or GameBoy) it is a larger portion of the price, and will encourage people to attempt to dodge the fee. (like buying overseas) This is countrproductive, since it's the PC's are much larger and heavier, and are the obviously the targets of this.
* Not just WHAT is a computer, but WHEN is it a computer? If I buy a barebones system (motherboard and case), is that going to incur the $10? What about when I add a harddrive and memory? CD player? Speakers? What about a monitor? If I build one at home, do I have to fill out a form and tell the gov't I've created one, and mail them $10? What about small-time mom-and-pop computer companies? New paperwork for them too?
* $10 a person isn't much, but it adds up for schools buying in bulk, particularly if every PC, monitor, printer and router incurs a seperate $10 fee. Think of the children!
* If I take two broken computers and RECYCLE some of the parts by building one decent computer, how do I get my $10 back? What if I sell this refurbished system? Do I need to add YET ANOTHER $10 onto the price? What forms will I need to fill out to make sure I don't become a criminal when I do this?
* As with all taxes: collecting it, keeping track of who has paid, tracking down tax evaders, and prosecuting them costs a lot of money. Chump change taxes like this probably cost more than they bring in if you bother to enforce them. What is wrong with all of the hundreds of little nickle-and-dime piranna taxes we already have? Can't you just raise one of them and save us the paperwork?
* "... tack on a $10 administrative fee to the sale price of computers and monitors to fund recycling efforts" Are you kidding me? Fund recycling efforts? This money will go into the big cannibal pot of cash (like all taxes do), and be spent the same way all the rest of the money is spent, so please don't pretend I'm helping to save the world by giving you $10.
* Why are we worrying about computers in landfills? Have you SEEN how big and heavy cars are?
* Dear lawmakers: Not all problems can be solved via the levying of taxes. I know that when you're a hammer, every problem looks like a nail, but don't you have anything better to do?
I cannot remember the last time when a /. thread did not eventually come to someone saying "this is the result of such-and-such IN AMERICA". For fuck's sake, this is a software problem. What's more, this is a software problem coming from an Australian-based company.
Not every shift in technology happens in order to reinforce our preconceptions about the USA. Sometimes software doesn't work and sometimes people are jerks. This is a universal truth that does not recognize international borders.
Jeeze.
I'm glad to see they made this more user-friendly, but this is like someone using a belt instead of a hammer to give you a beating. Nice, but I'm supposed to be grateful?
Here is the updated process for offline mode. Notice the "unplug from the network" instructions? WTF? Any software that requires me to unplug my network cable to work is a hack, IMO.
Here is a re-run post from the LAST time we went through this. This was orginally posted Nov 31. Nice to see nothing has changed:
My problem with steam is, once you pay for the game and bring it home...
* It REQUIRES YOU to create a steam account just to install. They were honest and revealed in the EULA that they required an email and that they would share "some information" with third parties. So... You just gave them over $50 and they are now trying to hustle you for an email so they can sell it for a nickel?
* Once the game is "installed", you must "unlock" it in order to play. On my system, this took bloody ages. This is in addition to the usual business of typing in CD keys the size of nuclear launch codes just to prove to the software you own the game.
* You must be online to play the game so steam can log in and "verify" blah blah. Note that this is for a SINGLE PLAYER game you must be on line, just to make sure you're legit. If Steam goes down, you can't play. (Okay, there is an "offline" mode, but its more of a hack than a feature, as it involves copying files around just to trick Steam into acting like you're signed on)
* Steam runs in the background, updating stuff, ALL THE TIME (unless you disable it). Imagine if everyone did this. Your system tray would cover half of your desktop, and a large portion of your system memory and bandwidth would be consumed by all these busybody apps running in the background, updating, and bringing "special offers" to your attention.
* Despite all this security, the game STILL REQUIRES that you have the CD in the drive.
* Just for fun, go to Steam's website and try to figure out how to submit a bug. Last night (Nov 30) Steam stopped working while the patch came out. I couldn't play my game. I went to the website to find out why, and there was no way to let them know I was having a problem. No email links, no bug report form, and the forums were down.
* All of this hassle, and Steam really doesn't offer ANYTHING for the end user. If you download the game, they don't even give you a break on the price. In fact, if you download the game, you can't get a refund for any reason. All of this, and what's in it for us?
So yeah, I do hope the hackers are able to crack the game. Then I can download the crack and play the game without needing to use Steam. The LAST THING I want to see is other game companies following Valve's example.
Wal-Mart could nearly eliminate shoplifting (which I'm sure costs them millions) if they just frisked everyone as they came out of the store. Yet they don't. Steam is the software equivalent of giving you a pat-down when you leave the store with your paid-for merchandise. They need to knock it off.
Tell that to post-WWII France. Or Germany. In fact, most of the democratic nations in the world today became democrcies via force. People in power tend to protect that power.
I'm not really trying to support the war. There are many reasons not to like the Iraq war. I'm just pointing out that the reasons you are giving are lazy and poorly articulated.
If you're going to open up this can of worms yet again, the very least you could do is know what the fuck you're talking about before you start with the anti-Bush, anti-US stuff that you're trying to pass off as an argument here.
America: Let's give those Iranians some American freedoms.
Um, the country you're thinking of is the United States. The US government didn't have anything to do with shutting off this website.
First,, we'll bomb you, then give you it.
The country they bombed was IRAQ, not IRAN.
Iranians: Um, we don't want yuor freedoms, we're happy being Iranians.
How can "having freedom" mean "no longer being yourself"? Is "lack of freedom" their defining characteristic?
, Whatever happened to you respecting the rights of others? America: How dare you Iranians speak your own mind, we don't want the likes of you dictating to yourselves what you want.
To sum up: tyranny enforced by locals is better than freedom enforced by foreigners? It should be noted that the PEOPLE want to be free, versus the GOVERNMENT that doesn't want them to have freedom. This is quite different from the people themselves saying "we don't want freedom." This is a handful of mullas saying "we don't want the people to be free".
We're going to cut you of at the mouth by not allowing you to speak for yourselves.
The US government was never involved in this case. Even if they were, how is this "not allowing them to speak for themselves"? A website was taken down. That's it. Happens every day over at Tripod.
Iranians: Fuck off you dim-witted cunts, yuo thikn the rest of the world are as stupid as Bush followers?
I missed this part of the article where your hypothetical Iranian (or Iraqi) told the US to fuck off.
Also, it makes me giggle when you have the nerve to call someone ELSE dim-witted and stupid. You have no grasp whatsoever of the original article OR about the subject to which you are attempting to thread-jack.
I should point out that this comment could actually apply to at least the last TWO presidents. People on the right derided "president bubba" as a redneck as well.
And if Bush 2 is a redneck, then it stands to reason that Bush 1 was as well.... so we've had a redneck running the country since '88.
It is true, and while they may not even have a viable case against you, they can file motions and demand documents and force you into court to defend yourself. They bury you in legal paperwork and wait you out. The goal of such cases is not to win, but to get the other side to stop doing something they don't like. If the defendant can't afford the legal fees required to defend themselves, they have no choice but to give in and stop doing whatever it is that the other party doesn't like.
It is a very thugish abuse of the system, and AFAIK, there is no way to defend against it if you don't have the cash.
You can make the argument that this is what is happening with guns. If you make guns so expensive and unreliable that most people can't afford them or can't use them properly, then you have infringed on their right to bear arms.
The article claims they have 90% reliability? MY gun shoots every single time I pull the trigger. So now we have:
* A gun I cannot loan to a friend on the range
* A gun which is going to be more expensive, due to all those fancy features, yet will be harder to SELL, even to another law-abiding citizen, because of the added difficulty in "transfering" the gun to the person so they can use it.
* A gun that is far less reliable
* A gun that is mandated by law (in New Jersey)as the only sort of gun I'm allowed to have
* A gun with complex electronic parts that will be much less durable, and will probably require some sort of energy source (such as batteries).
* A gun that will weigh more
* A gun that criminals WILL NOT USE. They will bypass the security of stolen guns, or just trade in "non-secure" guns. So, only law-abiding people will be stuck with these crappy things.
Why is it these lawmakers trust technology more than the people they represent?
So the Chineese govt. murders 800-2600 peaceful protesters in Tiananmen Square in Peking in 1989. They fobid women from having more than one child and force millions of Chineese women to have abortions. They support various thug leaders around the globe and insist they own Tiawan.
I know! Let's put pressure on them to put people in jail for stealing software.
Piracy is rampant in China and the problem is real, but it isn't killing anyone. Do any of these rotten bastards have any sense of proportion?
I don't expect to change anyone's mind on the war, but does the gigantic pile of cash we're giving to South Asia (and the UN and other places in need of aid) at least suggest we aren't trying to Blow Up and Invade And Pollute The World? Maybe we really do care about the rest of the world, we just disagree on specifics? Maybe? No?
Bah.
As I've always understood it, "Vaporware" refers to products that do not exist, and are thus all "vapor" and hype. Once you show a demo or have a working model that does what you claimed it would do from the outset, it ought not be called Vaporware, even if it has been delayed.
DNF is a great example, since after a decade we havn't even seen a working demo, a gameplay video, or even any (recent) screenshots. I think labeling products as "vaporware" when they are just late is a bit unfair. Many products miss ship dates and experience delays, but it takes a special kind of bastard to start a marketing campaign before they've even written a line of code or built a prototype.
Software, on the other hand, is a whole different business. It costs you millions to develop a large piece of software, and that cost is fixed. It doesn't matter if you sell one copy or a million copies of the software, you still have to pay that initial up-front cost.
However, once you have the software written, it's all gravy. You stamp out CD's for 40 cents each and send them in air-filled boxes for just a few cents more, yet consumers are often willing to pay over $100 for that box.
Not only does MS sell more units (than any given hardware company, including Apple) but they make a much larger percentage than a hardware company because they can churn out additional units for nearly nothing. This is why Microsoft makes so much damn money. They've never been foolish enough to get into the hardware business. They stick to software, because that's where the money is.
The TV doesn't know if I (or my kids) want to see something until it appears on the screen and I hit the channel button. Just like you can't hump that goat in a public place, you can't show certain things on public airwaves.
Geeze, you got cable, tv, sattelite, pay-per-view, video & DVD rentals... you can hear and see all the fuck you want at any time. Is it really too much to ask that Television stays as it is?
Many other people have pointed out that this story is a bit odd, that spammers don't manage their lists, so for most people shutting down the server wouldn't produce the effect described in the article. However, even if this DID work, once people started using it, the spammers would adapt.
If people shut down mail servers for three days to get off of the list, the spammers will compensate by waiting four days before really taking you off the list. You can respond by leaving your email off for even longer, with the knowledge that this is, like spam itself, hurting you WAY more than it is hurting the spammer.
You are right. As someone who paid for the game, I do feel a certain level of guilt over supporting this awful beast. The only excuse I can give is that the game (when Steam "allows" you to play it) really is fantastic. However, I'd rather spend $100 for a Steam-free version of the game than give $50 to Valve and encourage more of this.
If someone had done this with ANY other game - even DOOM 3 - I bet the public would have rejected it, and sales would have suffered. Instead, they attach it to HL2, and everyone buys it anyway. People have waited a very long time for this game, and giving it up because of Steam would be a bitter way for things to turn out for most of us.
Instead: We bitch. We moan. We get used to it. Pretty soon every damn game on the shelf will have something like this. I doubt it will reduce piracy by much, but it does give publishers that "hook" - that one app that they get to run on your system, collect data, sell you stuff, update software at their leisure, and generally cause problems for end users.
And I just gave them $50 to make it all happen.
I can't speak for everyone, but here is one possible reason people are behind the hackers:
Once you pay for the game and bring it home...
* It REQUIRES YOU to create a steam account just to install. They were honest and revealed in the EULA that they required an email and that they would share "some information" with third parties. So... You just gave them over $50 and they are now trying to hustle you for an email so they can sell it for a nickel?
* Once the game is "installed", you must "unlock" it in order to play. On my system, this took bloody ages. This is in addition to the usual business of typing in CD keys the size of nuclear launch codes just to prove to the software you own the game.
* You must be online to play the game so steam can log in and "verify" blah blah. Note that this is for a SINGLE PLAYER game you must be on line, just to make sure you're legit. If Steam goes down, you can't play. (Okay, there is an "offline" mode, but its more of a hack than a feature, as it involves copying files around just to trick Steam into acting like you're signed on)
* Steam runs in the background, updating stuff, ALL THE TIME (unless you disable it). Imagine if everyone did this. Your system tray would cover half of your desktop, and a large portion of your system memory and bandwidth would be consumed by all these busybody apps running in the background, updating, and bringing "special offers" to your attention.
* Despite all this security, the game STILL REQUIRES that you have the CD in the drive.
* Just for fun, go to Steam's website and try to figure out how to submit a bug. Last night (Nov 30) Steam stopped working while the patch came out. I couldn't play my game. I went to the website to find out why, and there was no way to let them know I was having a problem. No email links, no bug report form, and the forums were down.
* All of this hassle, and Steam really doesn't offer ANYTHING for the end user. If you download the game, they don't even give you a break on the price. In fact, if you download the game, you can't get a refund for any reason. All of this, and what's in it for us?
So yeah, I do hope the hackers are able to crack the game. Then I can download the crack and play the game without needing to use Steam. The LAST THING I want to see is other game companies following Valve's example.
Wal-Mart could nearly eliminate shoplifting (which I'm sure costs them millions) if they just frisked everyone as they came out of the store. Yet they don't. Steam is the software equivalent of giving you a pat-down when you leave the store with your paid-for merchandise. They need to knock it off.
Here is a hint: people going into space are pioneers. If they cared about safty they would stay home and play nerf ping-pong instead of launching themselvs into the deadly void of space atop a massive firework.
I say let the courageous among us take the plunge, and make the way safe for the rest of us. I am amazed that lawmakers might think they know better than the engineers how to design a rocket.
Just because the government is passing a "law for your own good" doesn't mean the law is good for you.
1) Article makes assertion
2) Poster challenges the validity or relevance of said assertion
3) Poster is whacked for flamebaiting
Sure, Saddam Hussein is in jail, the torture chambers are empty, the children are out of prison, the flow of money to suicide bombers from Saddam is stopped, Lybia has folded, and the mass graves are no longer being filled... But hey let's keep some perspective and remember that Allawi might not have written the speech!
If Bush had walked accros a river on his way to a children's hospital and then healed all of the children, I'm sure we would be having this little flame war under the heading of:
Bush evades bridge toll on way to photo-op
Every morning your email box would still be stuffed with 100 emails promising "Y0U G0TTA 5EE TH1S UND3RAG3 5LUT5 WAN7 Y0UR C0X C0ME 5EE N0W 4 FR33!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" It won't do anything for the people who engage in child porn or who plague the internet with popups and such trying to snare people who aren't even LOOKING for porn. They will get through the firewall because, like spammers, they don't care about the law and will work hard to circumvent it.
However, this law would keep honest, and (otherwise) law-abiding citizens from getting their hands on porno that they DO want, in the privacy of their own home.
I feel safer already.
The only thing worse than a rights-infringing law is a rights-infringing law that doesn't even accomplish the goal for which it was created.
I hasten to add.... I don't think the unibomber's religion proves anything one way or the other in this discussion. I don't really want to get involved in the "You're a facist", no "YOUR'RE a facist" debate here. It's just that.. well.. you dared me to name one.