"With the increasing popularity of Firefox, Opera needed to do something to try to reverse its shrinking marketshare"
Shrinking market share? They are reporting record downloads, dude. And it's on its way to dominating the mobile browser market. Minimo is trying to keep up, unsuccessfully.
Please, just because Firefox is doing well, that doesn't mean that Opera is dying. Opera has always been the underdog. It's survived as one for ten years. You are reading too many anti-Opera FUD posts on Slashdot.
Huh? Opera died? Whatever gave you that idea. Apparently they are making more money than ever. You seem to have bought into the anti-Opera Slashdot FUD.
Firefox is irrelevant, unfortunately, since it can't be used on mobile phones. Opera can, and it's dominating the mobile browser market. Minimo can't compete there either, unfortunately.
"So... what were those truck leaving with in such a hurry whenever weapons inspors arrived at a site?"
I guess they were carrying entire dismantled WMD factories! That's right, they must have had inflatable factories and equipment so that they could just deflate it whenever they showed up unannounced!
Even the CIA said that there were no WMDs in Iraq. Face it. Accept it. Bush lied.
They were right, you know. Blix and his weapons inspectors. Saddam had killed off his WMD programs. He didn't have any WMDs, and didn't plan on having any either.
"Sure, but people just don't think along these lines when they aquire a browser. Do you? Personally, I would rather use the best browser for my purposes, and I think most people would."
Yes, but Firefox doesn't cover everyone's needs. And just trust me on that. There's a lot of focus on Firefox right now. Fine. But let's not forget that there are other browsers, and they do something better than Firefox. Firefox is not perfect.
"Your example is a portrait of a perfect world avoiding spyware, malware etc., but what about standards? Surely you would now have to make sure your webpage displays well in four different browsers, which results in a lot more testing. Yes, I know - you should code to standards, but browsers will always have their little quirks, and so you still need to do testing."
Very true, but in such a world, the browsers would probably be more aligned. The problem is that Microsoft have been doing everything their way for so long. But standards compliant browsers generally do the same things.
Well, Netscape was killed in the late nineties, and nothing has even come close to threatening IE, until now. So IE has definitely been one huge, solid target for crackers. The only viable one, really.
Sometimes it sounds like the new browser war is between Internet Explorer and Firefox, and only those. But people often forget that there are other browsers out there, such as Opera and Safari/Konqueror (when will we get a decent KHTML browser for Windows?).
If the market is indeed split into two major parts, this is actually a bad thing, because it gives you only two huge targets. That makes it easier and less expensive to create viruses, or take over computers for monetary purposes.
What we need is several browsers that each have a significant part of the market. Not just IE and Firefox/Gecko based browsers, but also Opera and KHTML based browsers. Maybe there would be room for even more as well.
It is good that an alternative browser is growing rapidly, but monoculture or duoculture makes life easier for virus makers. With four browsers, it would take four times the effort to get as much "bang for your buck" for virus authors looking to make money by infecting people.
I know he's frustrated and all, but Paypal is keeping his money for 180 days in case of fraud. They are just protecting themselves from lawsuits. If this guy was a fraudster, he would have a problem in this case.
I do understand his frustration of having his account closed because PayPal deemed in "inappropriate", though. This is a silly policy, and I'll be spreading that link whenever I can.
I also fired off an e-mail to PayPal expressing my pleasure at finding the site, and listening to the nice MP3 file.
"Sorry, but few brave sites don't make difference to me. Theyll be shut down soon enought, no matter how they laugh."
I'm not sure what you mean by "few brave sites". Like other sites out there that provide links and not files (eDonkey sites), BT sites basically do the same. And even though a couple of sites went down, there are several major ones left. And at least one of the sites that disappeared, SuprNova, wasn't shut down because of legal threats, but because the owner sold out to the Exeem people.
"Y know, greatest offensive on whole torrent sites is for me that it devalues torrent as legal way to distribute files and that IT GOES AGAINST WISHES AND INTENTIONS OF ITS CREATOR"
So basically, you are saying that BT is dying, not because it is, but because you think it should?
"thus based on above i as avid downloaders and p2per say that illegal torrents are dying, are destined to die and should die"
I'm sorry, but I can't quite see this happening. The biggest sites with their own tracker are still up, and if you look at The Pirate Bay, they even publish the legal threats they receive and laugh out loud. Apparently, they even have lawyers covering their asses.
"You both overestimate the intelligence of "a squillion Slashdotters". Certainly overestimate their ability to read directions on a software install."
And there you have it again. If thousands of geeks can't figure it out, how do you expect Joe Average to figure out how he can play his game while Steam is down?
Re:For Christ's Sake, a Little Frickin' Perspectiv
on
Steam Users Steamed
·
· Score: 1
"If you can't disagree without throwing in every insult you can think of, you're just not worth my time, fuckhead."
I rest my case, hypocrite.
Re:For Christ's Sake, a Little Frickin' Perspectiv
on
Steam Users Steamed
·
· Score: 1
"Ad hominem, in that you resort to personal attacks."
And you invite them by being an idiot, with that demeaning and insulting tone of yours. You are talking about things that are completely irrelevant to the topic at hand. Just because there are other serious things going on doesn't mean that we cannot discuss other matters as well.
By your twisted and evil logic, we can't worry about anything but the very worst disasters in the world, otherwise our priorities are wrong.
Sorry, but that's bullshit, and you deserve to be insulted for being such a socialist/communist idiot.
"Straw man, in that I never based my argument on time management, but criticizing people's priorities."
Who are you to criticize people's priorities? And what are you doing on Slashdot, when you should be out there helping people in need. You are a fucking hypocrite. Time to start practicing what you preach.
"Of course you are right. There must be some other reason why they bought HL2 and didn't pirate it like the other games. How foolish of me to think otherwise."
Foolish indeed, since there's less hassle with the warez versions.
"BTW, I looked at a couple of the HL2 cracks recently, in light of the recent Valve server problems. "Too much hassle" was definitely an accurate description of the ones I saw."
Too much hassle? You install the game and run it. I'd hardly call that "too much hassle".
You are trying to use some lame anecdotal evidence to prove that Valve's "copy protection" works. It doesn't. As a matter of fact, this DRM crap has caused me and many others not to buy the game. Just read the comments here at Slashdot and in many gaming forums.
You obviously work for Valve. Your arguments are illogical and wrong. The anti-piracy crap didn't work, and it's easier to play the game if you pirate it than if you actually bought it.
Because of you, maybe I should consider burning a copy of HL2 to everyone I know who hasn't bought the game yet, but are thinking about it. Just to prevent them from supporting your corrupted company with their money. That way, they can at least play the game.
The copy protection had no effect what so ever. Apart from convincing me and many others that we should no longer support Valve, and therefore, we will never buy another game from Valve. I did buy Half-Life. I won't make the same mistake again.
You just lost a customer. And judging by other comments, there are many like me.
Re:For Christ's Sake, a Little Frickin' Perspectiv
on
Steam Users Steamed
·
· Score: 1
Logical fallacies all the way here.
"In other news, people are dying and others are losing family members in Iraq, or dealing with them coming home either with missing limbs or scarred souls; homeless people in cities all over the country are wondering where their next meal is coming from, and hoping they can stay warm through the night; and that's not even counting the thousands with cancer and other lifethreatening injuries."
"Your game network's down? Go pick up a book, and be glad you've got a hand to do it with and aren't facing sniper fire while you do it. Jeez."
I don't know about you, but I can do several things in one day, such as helping people in need, and later I may choose to play a gamle of HL2, but hold on... I can't relax with the game after a hard day of work because Valve screwed up!
Judging from your post, all you ever do is to worry about people all over the world, and you do everything in your power to help them.
So what the fuck are you doing on Slashdot? Shouldn't you be out there somewhere, polishing your guilty conscience?
You are whining about people whining about Valve's useless copy protection crap. How lame is that? Get a life.
You are nothing but a lame hypocrite who uses logical fallacies to make excuses for Valve's fuckups.
Artists? Con-men who rip off their customers and make their lives miserable, more like. The pirated release is actually easier to install and faster to play.
Why are you replying without reading what you are replying to? His point still stands:
"If a squillion Slashdotters can't work that out, how do you expect anyone not even remotely technical and who just likes to play games to work it out?"
How "clearly" is it stated when "a squillion Slashdotterss" can't figure it out?
Re:Offline games require online reporting = BOGUS
on
Steam Users Steamed
·
· Score: 1
"If you aren't going to pay them for their effort"
So any effort needs a reward? Even if it's a terrible effort?
And what efforts are you referring to? The ones where Valve makes the game unplayable to paying customers, while the pirates are happily playing it whether Steam is down or not?
"When HL2 came out, almost all of them just bought it. I believe this to be a combination of the fact that they thought it would be a good game and the fact that they knew about Steam/authentication etc."
Are you serious? The authentication crap was cracked the day HL2 was released to stores. Now there are several working cracks, with all sorts of different approaches. And yes, the cracked versions have online play as well.
"Anecdotal, certainly, but it qualifies for your 'in the slightest' criterion."
Not at all. You are wrong about "too much hassle", so your anecdotal evidence is worthless.
Face it, the "copy protection" crap isn't working. At all. In fact, it is more convenient to pirate the game than to buy it, since the pirated version doesn't need online activation and similar nonsense.
What makes you think no one has asked Valve already?
And what's with the street musician analogy? Are you seriously suggesting that the musician should profit even when he's not at work playing his music? That, unlike everyone else who works every day to make money, he can play his song once, and profit for eternity?
Doesn't sound right to me. If the street musician wants to make money, he damn well better do what everyone else does: Work for it. Every day.
And he was not stolen from. Stealing means physically taking something away from someone. And even if someone steals something of mine, that doesn't mean that I'm supposed to get filthy rich. If something is stolen, I get it replaced, but I'm not going to get lots of money just because something I own was stolen.
How does that help the hundreds or thousands of paying customers that are penetrated in the rear while those who pirated it are happily playing away?
"Steam actually gives you something (install and play on multiple computers without media, takes care of updates, anti-cheat) - other protections just take away."
Let's see... Play on any computer, as long as you download several GB of data. No thanks, I'll stick with CDs/DVDs.
And Steam gives me something? You mean like hoops to jump through if I'm a paying customer?
Re:Offline games require online reporting = BOGUS
on
Steam Users Steamed
·
· Score: 1
"And got hit a lot harder by piracy."
Says who? Source?
Re:Let me beat you with this cluestick for a minut
on
Steam Users Steamed
·
· Score: 1
Well put. He also doesn't realize that the only people going through this crap are legitimate customers. The warez people are doing their stuff without ever worrying. I even hear there are lots of servers up that allow you to play online with the warezed version, and something called "Steam-down" (or similar), which lets you download and decrypt Steam data absolutely for free.
Customer loses, pirate wins. Valve are treating their customers badly. We need to speak up about this before DRM, copy protection, etc. is further shoved down our throats. Insulting those who raise these issues is misguided at best.
Slashdot Mirror
Please, just because Firefox is doing well, that doesn't mean that Opera is dying. Opera has always been the underdog. It's survived as one for ten years. You are reading too many anti-Opera FUD posts on Slashdot.
Firefox is irrelevant, unfortunately, since it can't be used on mobile phones. Opera can, and it's dominating the mobile browser market. Minimo can't compete there either, unfortunately.
Even the CIA said that there were no WMDs in Iraq. Face it. Accept it. Bush lied.
Even the CIA told Dubya that. But nooooo.
Off-topic: What's with the [tt] thingy? I see it every now and then, but what on earth does it mean?
Well, Netscape was killed in the late nineties, and nothing has even come close to threatening IE, until now. So IE has definitely been one huge, solid target for crackers. The only viable one, really.
If the market is indeed split into two major parts, this is actually a bad thing, because it gives you only two huge targets. That makes it easier and less expensive to create viruses, or take over computers for monetary purposes.
What we need is several browsers that each have a significant part of the market. Not just IE and Firefox/Gecko based browsers, but also Opera and KHTML based browsers. Maybe there would be room for even more as well.
It is good that an alternative browser is growing rapidly, but monoculture or duoculture makes life easier for virus makers. With four browsers, it would take four times the effort to get as much "bang for your buck" for virus authors looking to make money by infecting people.
I do understand his frustration of having his account closed because PayPal deemed in "inappropriate", though. This is a silly policy, and I'll be spreading that link whenever I can.
I also fired off an e-mail to PayPal expressing my pleasure at finding the site, and listening to the nice MP3 file.
By your twisted and evil logic, we can't worry about anything but the very worst disasters in the world, otherwise our priorities are wrong.
Sorry, but that's bullshit, and you deserve to be insulted for being such a socialist/communist idiot.
Who are you to criticize people's priorities? And what are you doing on Slashdot, when you should be out there helping people in need. You are a fucking hypocrite. Time to start practicing what you preach.You are trying to use some lame anecdotal evidence to prove that Valve's "copy protection" works. It doesn't. As a matter of fact, this DRM crap has caused me and many others not to buy the game. Just read the comments here at Slashdot and in many gaming forums.
Because of you, maybe I should consider burning a copy of HL2 to everyone I know who hasn't bought the game yet, but are thinking about it. Just to prevent them from supporting your corrupted company with their money. That way, they can at least play the game.
The copy protection had no effect what so ever. Apart from convincing me and many others that we should no longer support Valve, and therefore, we will never buy another game from Valve. I did buy Half-Life. I won't make the same mistake again.
You just lost a customer. And judging by other comments, there are many like me.
TellarHK appears to be a Valve employee...
Judging from your post, all you ever do is to worry about people all over the world, and you do everything in your power to help them.
So what the fuck are you doing on Slashdot? Shouldn't you be out there somewhere, polishing your guilty conscience?
You are whining about people whining about Valve's useless copy protection crap. How lame is that? Get a life.
You are nothing but a lame hypocrite who uses logical fallacies to make excuses for Valve's fuckups.
Artists? Con-men who rip off their customers and make their lives miserable, more like. The pirated release is actually easier to install and faster to play.
"If a squillion Slashdotters can't work that out, how do you expect anyone not even remotely technical and who just likes to play games to work it out?"
How "clearly" is it stated when "a squillion Slashdotterss" can't figure it out?
And what efforts are you referring to? The ones where Valve makes the game unplayable to paying customers, while the pirates are happily playing it whether Steam is down or not?
Face it, the "copy protection" crap isn't working. At all. In fact, it is more convenient to pirate the game than to buy it, since the pirated version doesn't need online activation and similar nonsense.
And what's with the street musician analogy? Are you seriously suggesting that the musician should profit even when he's not at work playing his music? That, unlike everyone else who works every day to make money, he can play his song once, and profit for eternity?
Doesn't sound right to me. If the street musician wants to make money, he damn well better do what everyone else does: Work for it. Every day.
And he was not stolen from. Stealing means physically taking something away from someone. And even if someone steals something of mine, that doesn't mean that I'm supposed to get filthy rich. If something is stolen, I get it replaced, but I'm not going to get lots of money just because something I own was stolen.
And Steam gives me something? You mean like hoops to jump through if I'm a paying customer?
Customer loses, pirate wins. Valve are treating their customers badly. We need to speak up about this before DRM, copy protection, etc. is further shoved down our throats. Insulting those who raise these issues is misguided at best.
The post deserved to be modded down.