It's unfortunate this sort of thing is so difficult to legislate. I imagine, much like spam, only the worst offenders will be prosecuted. And, even then, only if we're lucky. : )
I think the solution is going to have to be a mix of user education and reliable consumer oriented safe-computing technology (read, NOT Palladium)...
Speaking of which, I wonder if someone could make money running a software registry? Think VeriSign/Thawte for software.
Sure, for the more part, ignorance is a poor excuse at best. Yet, as long as people/businesses are permitted -- scratch that... entirely un-deterred from wrong doing -- the unscrupulous will take advantage of the "ignorant".
It's unfortunate this case is about the legality of presenting competitive pop-ups through "spyware", rather than the legality (morality) of spy-ware. It'll be even more unfortunately if a precedent is set in favor of spy ware... all in the name of allowing consumer "choice".
The fact is, no agreement which is entered into in poor faith should ever mean a damn thing!
Folks who attempt to run "legitimate businesses" by preying on the non-savvy, unsuspecting (internet user) should be hung in the street by their worthless hides.
I could never be a judge... I care about what is right and not a ounce for the "law".
Would Linus feel particularly hurt if a worm went around that attacked kernel v0.94 ???
Wonder if he'd feel bad (jump in front of a train) if there were security patches every other week?
This issue is not black and white. There is not simple, fair answer.
Bottom-line, any company which uses credit checks as criteria for employment needs take the procedure one step further, and do the right thing, in being open to an explanation of circumstance before making a hasty, discriminatory decision. No matter how practical such a policy may (or may not be), it's morally reprehensible to deny employment to an otherwise qualified individual, simply because of bad credit.
For myself , I would feel comfortable allowing a potential (or current) employer access to my credit history AS long as it would be NOT grounds for denial of employment. Simply because I've learned some lessons the hard way, I've made mistakes along the way, doesn't mean that I'm not dedicated, hard-working, and honest.
Of course, as is usually the case, there is a valid flip side. It is an unfortunate reality that there is still to much dishonesty in modern capitalist society. As long as this is the case, as long as we live in a world of Enron's and MCI's, it makes sense for businesses to perform pre-employment background checks, including credit history if need be, and even to perform regular psychological evaluations.
I'm sure we'd all agree there continues to be a great need for corporate honesty/morality (far above the bottom-dollar). Hell, in it's most useful goal, this is the purpose of government agencies such as the SEC. Yet, it would seem that such regulatory/governing bodies should be a little more heavy-handed, and while businesses have the right to protect themselves, the rights of the employee need not be discarded.
In a perfect world, trust and respect would always be assumed until proven unwarranted. In the world we live in, trust and respect need be earned. As I see it, a good step towards that more perfect world, will always be assuming the best.
Plain and simple, the movie was borrible. It would have made a mediocre episode. As is, it certainly shouldn't have been "made" into a full feature. Come on! What we they (not) thinking... killing off Data is unexcuseable! They should have thought long and hard B4 they released that crap. : (
Hollywood... Florida. Still appropriate for a religious cult claiming to understand science.
What funny news this morning. Religious clones (do we really need more?) and a town -- wait, more like a few shacks and a backhoe -- sells for over $1.6 million on eBay!
Wonder what I could sell my clone for on eBay!? : P
To make the analogy more apt, one would have to imagine if car manufactures made money not only from selling the car, but also (or even more similar in analogy, only from) selling the various roads on which the car is driven. If that were the case, car manufactures would have a much greater concern in regulating how, when, where you drive AND what you pay. As is, auto manufactures are little like console manufactures as this article's analogy attempts.
The unfortunately legitimate concerns of copyright holders is that the backup devices sold by companies such as lik-sang allow people to steal other products as their primary function.
Don't get me wrong, as long as there are some honest folks who will use the slim-jim or the console backup device for fair-use purposes, then those devices should be sold legally. No questions asked. This is freedom. Companies need to come up with other ways, reasonable pricing anyone, of preventing piracy.
Isn't it funny that a business can flurish when selling a device that negates the need for consumers to purchase most of the other products that business sells? Tells you something, doesn't it?
The problem here is not that people are thieves by nature, but that our current form of capitalism makes us want more and more while subsequently denying the vast majority (legal/moral) means to acquire the degree of wealth offered.
Gotta love laws intended for no better purpose than to further cripple freedom. Especially when it's in the name of ungodly rich corporation(s) meeting their bloody shareholders expectations. Sad, sad. It's the worst parts of capitalism run amuck! : (
That article seems without merit and unecesarily inflamatory. I'm surprised it was posted on slashdot. It's as if the poster didn't both to read the article or wanted to start a silly debate about why linux should be nothing at all like windows. Right?
I mean, when it comes down to it, what linux really needs is to be _more_ like windows. Linux needs to emulate the aspecs of windows that work -- snapy user interface, vast software (game) support, stability (ever try windows 2k or XP?) AND ease of use -- ALL while retaining the aspecs that make linux superior. Right?
Doh! Look, I fell for the bait. Damn. Atleast we could have found a respecable article to center a debate on what makes windows and linux work so well. : P
Custom built macs ain't any less spendy
on
Build Your Own Mac
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Yikes, that's a lot of money for that puppy! Guess they're gonna have to run YellowDog or it's ilk on that box... after laying down all the extra green.
But, seriously, I look forward to the day when I can run OSXX (not a typo) on my P4-7Ghz. Ah, the longing for the 'nix platform with a stable, polished (snappy) GUI (that doesn't leave you all M$ gooey)... some day. : )
> I've always regretted not to have seen it in a proper theatre to begin with.
That is a great point.
I was just going to post how silly I thought this person was for not "risking" $1 to see if it actually was a _good_ copy of The Two Towers. Now, I see that the risk would NOT have been paying $1 for a DVD copy of some LotR movie trailers, but rather would be in not being able to resist watching the whole movie, if indeed it was the whole movie, in anything less than DVD quality.
I like seeing movies, games, etc before they are released, however, being a recent SWG beta tester, I'm finding myself wishing I had of waited until the game is done.
How green the grass is not!? How much is a lack of patience a curse? : P
I am SysAdmin for a 150+ PC corporate environment. After a fair bit of research, we concluded that the savings garnered from shutting down PCs at night was well worth the effort. Sure, it's taken some convincing, to unlearn/reteach folks who were used to leaving their systems on at night (24/7, for network backups - replaced with daytime, open file capable backups), but ever little bit (of savings) helps. I've oft used the argument that we don't leave our office or home lights on when we leave, so why not shut down our PCs?
As for running distributed computing clients, at home or at work, I'll admit that one of my concerns is where is the profit from this donated CPU cycles will go? Sure, the noblest of intentions are going to pure science/research. But, I have a hard time thinking that someone is not going to be making bucks off of these things in the end. Hate to be such a cynical bastard, but this is one more thing to add to the dilemma. To donate spare cycles or not to "donate"?
My home theater -- as nice as it is (big screen, HDTV, Dolby Digital ES 7.1... no THX... yet), until I can install a dedicated (sound proofed, like my movies loud enough to _feel_ the sounds) -- is not the same as a cinema.
Sure, there are inconveniences in going out to see movies. But, for me, watching movies on a full screen, sound, and all, is worth the few bothers (rising ticket prices hardly withstanding).
Hate to say it gang, by I actually prefer most of the WinCE PDAs that I've seen (despite their clunky sizes). I say this becuase the lack of a 1/2" strip dedicated to handwriting really make sense to me.
I currently use a Palm V and while I love it's small size (thickness) it would be SO much better with out all that space wasted (hell, same goes even for the buttons).
My ideal PDA would have come with a very thin footprint, hi-rez color, and all screen... as big as they're going to make these things, why not get down to the business of letting us view, read, type, watch things on the _whole_ PDA?!?*
*Of course... wireless, tons of memory (slot upgrade), and good quality sound are also desired (in as small of a package as possible). : )
This is a non sequitur. You can't compare a game such as magic (which I shudder to mention, has much to do with luck) to a MMORG, which has much to do with either skill and/or time. Sure, in a card game, in which players can buy their way into more power (decks), money does tip the scales of balance. However, in a online RPG, skill and time do not equate. That is, many players who lack skill (who more than make up in obscene amounts of free time) can hit the game level caps.
Hell, if you want to make a MMORPG based on player skill, many manners of defeating the leveling treadmill (leveling methods based on tactics) would actually remain past a game's launch. Unfortunately, this is not the norm. Most MMORGs (EQ and DAoC to name a few) remove most elements of skill so that all players must level at the same painful slow pace... often, again, I think this is because of those who lack skill but have the crazy amounts of free time complain that some (actually skillful) players are capable of leveling at a reasonable pace (or at least more quickly)! : P
At any rate, if it mostly comes down to a bunch of unskilled players running around at high levels, who have purchased their characters rather than treadmill... what will you have there? More fodder for the skilled players. What will you have lost? The satisfaction of getting your own character to a high level through days and weeks on doing the same tedious action over and over? How does someone else, who may not enjoy the same type of game play, diminish your own game experience because they want to play the later (MMORG) game??
Ok, admittedly, there are some problems with letting every person with a checkbook into the high-level "elite", but I for one think the benefits of allowing the more casual game to experience the higher level aspects of a game far outweigh the downfalls. Just my two cents.
I love the idea of buying premade, high level characters. "Purists" who want to spend months in front of a computer "leveling" one character be damned.
Currently, I play the MMO Dark Age of Camelot (DAoC). This game has a considerable "buy-in" time in order to reach level 50 (currently the highest) with one character. I'd estimate 8-10 DAYS played for the most proficient of power levelers. On the other hand, most "average" gamers must be closer to 20-30 days (in game), just to get to level 50. I see this as a big problem because after a few DAYS of leveling, I want to move on to the real meat and potatoes of this game (and probably most games of this type to come... and for most players) which is the Player vs. Player. Furthermore, with a class based system such as DAoC, in which there are a variety of entirely different characters one could play, I (and probably most players) would love the opportunity to play the high level game (the real game) as at least a few of the different characters classes (types). I for one, as much as I have come to thoroughly enjoy this type of game, specifically look forward to playing in the awesome PvP environment. Yet, I have little desired to go through the painfully repetitive level "treadmilling" in order to develop other characters to an acceptable PvP level (which for me, and any one else who wants to fight on an even leveled basis, is the highest level in a given (level-based) game).
So, there you have it. As much as I have recently found how much I love the MMO style of game, the greatest detractor seems to be the businesses need to be a business. I say this because I think it's mostly the business's need to retain paying customers, those who are willing and accepting of the grossly long amounts of time to reach the highest levels these games have to offer. Sure, there are a fair share of those who enjoy toiling to reach those high levels. Often, and I'll go out on a limb here, this enjoyment is for those players who have significant ammounts of time to devote. At any rate, if a business can remain viable by selling premium accounts to folks who do NOT enjoy the leveling treadmill, more power to them. Those businesses (developers) who are able to work this _feature_ into their _service_ will earn my business. I am sorry if they end up loosing some business (and respect) of purists, those who want all high level characters to be painfully earned, but I am a paying customer and a casual gamer who wants to experience all a good MMO has to offer. I for one, don't think that leveling should be mandatory to fully enjoy a game of this type. I hope that more developers (and business models) take gamers such as myself into consideration. Along these lines, I am very much looking forward to the recent DAoC State of the Game addres in which Mythic suggested they might be taking a similar route in allowing players who've already reached 50 with one character to start new characters out at level 20+. Personally, I'm hoping for insta 45+ characters (on all servers of an account with one level 50). For me, the minimum 24 hours of play time to reach the highest level (from 45 to 50, currently in DAoC) is plenty to ensure my sense of accomplishment in any given character. I just hope that the purists can let us enjoy the game as much as they do, in our own way, without crying their own experience has been so diminished. I will never understand such mentality in a game. In real life, yes... hard work should pay off. In a game, playing should be fun! If we have to work in real life, to be able to afford a little more fun in the games we love, bring it on!
"Scottish Hydro-Electric are launching a trial _scheme_ which brings broadband..."
Don't think that word means what you think it means.
All levity aside, I am hoping this technology proves to be incredibly successful. As I imagine many of this threads post point out, rural capable broadband (and urban competetion)...
Unfortunate. This this sort of agressive, overt advertising would turn me off from any show, no mater how much I enjoy it. This is to say nothing of advertisers who chose to go that route...
Always nice to see the first post read exactly as I wanted to say. Also, many good posts. However, I do think that the important point of looking for other (job) opportunities is being missed.
Looking for another job does not always have to do with satisfaction of current employment. People often look for around because: A) They know they are worth more (Read; their skills are yielding higher pay elsewhere), B) They want to find out if there are more attractive employment opportunities out there (in terms of money or other benefits), C) They want to push their current employer over the hump (and get that extra cash that the employer is willing to pay for their valuable skills).
It is important to keep in mind that looking for better pay has little to do with, in of itself, job satisfaction or loyalty. Furthermore, employers who are _worth_ working for, will often realize that job shopping is good business! Just as companies manage their capital, such as delaying costs (not offering the raise they know you're worth), so should any intelligent, motivated worker be on the look out to better their situation.
While a bigger paycheck is not the get-all, end all, it sure can be nice. As I see it, having addition funds to enjoy off-time hobbies, being able to put more money into savings and investments, is worth a bit of leg work, even if it means taking a new job or reminding your current employer what you are worth to them.
When the Xbox is truly as hackable as the dreamcast (as any pc hardware set), then it will most certainly gain more attention with causal hackers and hardware enthusiasts. However, being able to watch some obscure (to most people) video format, which requires either a computer and/or knowledgeable friends with tech-savy/hacker tendencies, is NOT going cause a surge in sales or interest for the xbox in any circles other than those who were already interested in hacking their PCs, consoles, calculators and toasters.
Sorry, interesting news, but hardly worth a discussion of the ramifications of this _minor_ xbox hack.
Hmm, I wonder. How sneaky are those Hollywood big-wigs? What if they finally decided to offer/agree upon a method of copy protection that would _supposedly_ allow one copy only, but then later reneged and once a particular popular format (and hardware) supported that one-copy-only flag become mainstream, they then turned that off all together, allowing no copies?
Slashdot Mirror
Nice post!
It's unfortunate this sort of thing is so difficult to legislate. I imagine, much like spam, only the worst offenders will be prosecuted. And, even then, only if we're lucky. : )
I think the solution is going to have to be a mix of user education and reliable consumer oriented safe-computing technology (read, NOT Palladium)...
Speaking of which, I wonder if someone could make money running a software registry? Think VeriSign/Thawte for software.
I don't buy this analogy.
Sure, for the more part, ignorance is a poor excuse at best. Yet, as long as people/businesses are permitted -- scratch that... entirely un-deterred from wrong doing -- the unscrupulous will take advantage of the "ignorant".
It's unfortunate this case is about the legality of presenting competitive pop-ups through "spyware", rather than the legality (morality) of spy-ware. It'll be even more unfortunately if a precedent is set in favor of spy ware... all in the name of allowing consumer "choice".
The fact is, no agreement which is entered into in poor faith should ever mean a damn thing!
Folks who attempt to run "legitimate businesses" by preying on the non-savvy, unsuspecting (internet user) should be hung in the street by their worthless hides.
I could never be a judge... I care about what is right and not a ounce for the "law".
Would Linus feel particularly hurt if a worm went around that attacked kernel v0.94 ??? Wonder if he'd feel bad (jump in front of a train) if there were security patches every other week?
I guess, in some circumstances, cheating is a good thing. :}
This issue is not black and white. There is not simple, fair answer.
Bottom-line, any company which uses credit checks as criteria for employment needs take the procedure one step further, and do the right thing, in being open to an explanation of circumstance before making a hasty, discriminatory decision. No matter how practical such a policy may (or may not be), it's morally reprehensible to deny employment to an otherwise qualified individual, simply because of bad credit.
For myself , I would feel comfortable allowing a potential (or current) employer access to my credit history AS long as it would be NOT grounds for denial of employment. Simply because I've learned some lessons the hard way, I've made mistakes along the way, doesn't mean that I'm not dedicated, hard-working, and honest.
Of course, as is usually the case, there is a valid flip side. It is an unfortunate reality that there is still to much dishonesty in modern capitalist society. As long as this is the case, as long as we live in a world of Enron's and MCI's, it makes sense for businesses to perform pre-employment background checks, including credit history if need be, and even to perform regular psychological evaluations.
I'm sure we'd all agree there continues to be a great need for corporate honesty/morality (far above the bottom-dollar). Hell, in it's most useful goal, this is the purpose of government agencies such as the SEC. Yet, it would seem that such regulatory/governing bodies should be a little more heavy-handed, and while businesses have the right to protect themselves, the rights of the employee need not be discarded.
In a perfect world, trust and respect would always be assumed until proven unwarranted. In the world we live in, trust and respect need be earned. As I see it, a good step towards that more perfect world, will always be assuming the best.
/spoiler warning
Plain and simple, the movie was borrible. It would have made a mediocre episode. As is, it certainly shouldn't have been "made" into a full feature. Come on! What we they (not) thinking... killing off Data is unexcuseable! They should have thought long and hard B4 they released that crap. : (
Hollywood... Florida. Still appropriate for a religious cult claiming to understand science.
What funny news this morning. Religious clones (do we really need more?) and a town -- wait, more like a few shacks and a backhoe -- sells for over $1.6 million on eBay!
Wonder what I could sell my clone for on eBay!? : P
To make the analogy more apt, one would have to imagine if car manufactures made money not only from selling the car, but also (or even more similar in analogy, only from) selling the various roads on which the car is driven. If that were the case, car manufactures would have a much greater concern in regulating how, when, where you drive AND what you pay. As is, auto manufactures are little like console manufactures as this article's analogy attempts.
The unfortunately legitimate concerns of copyright holders is that the backup devices sold by companies such as lik-sang allow people to steal other products as their primary function.
Don't get me wrong, as long as there are some honest folks who will use the slim-jim or the console backup device for fair-use purposes, then those devices should be sold legally. No questions asked. This is freedom. Companies need to come up with other ways, reasonable pricing anyone, of preventing piracy.
Isn't it funny that a business can flurish when selling a device that negates the need for consumers to purchase most of the other products that business sells? Tells you something, doesn't it?
The problem here is not that people are thieves by nature, but that our current form of capitalism makes us want more and more while subsequently denying the vast majority (legal/moral) means to acquire the degree of wealth offered.
Gotta love laws intended for no better purpose than to further cripple freedom. Especially when it's in the name of ungodly rich corporation(s) meeting their bloody shareholders expectations. Sad, sad. It's the worst parts of capitalism run amuck! : (
That article seems without merit and unecesarily inflamatory. I'm surprised it was posted on slashdot. It's as if the poster didn't both to read the article or wanted to start a silly debate about why linux should be nothing at all like windows. Right?
I mean, when it comes down to it, what linux really needs is to be _more_ like windows. Linux needs to emulate the aspecs of windows that work -- snapy user interface, vast software (game) support, stability (ever try windows 2k or XP?) AND ease of use -- ALL while retaining the aspecs that make linux superior. Right?
Doh! Look, I fell for the bait. Damn. Atleast we could have found a respecable article to center a debate on what makes windows and linux work so well. : P
Yikes, that's a lot of money for that puppy! Guess they're gonna have to run YellowDog or it's ilk on that box... after laying down all the extra green.
But, seriously, I look forward to the day when I can run OSXX (not a typo) on my P4-7Ghz. Ah, the longing for the 'nix platform with a stable, polished (snappy) GUI (that doesn't leave you all M$ gooey)... some day. : )
Keep up the fight!
> I've always regretted not to have seen it in a proper theatre to begin with.
That is a great point.
I was just going to post how silly I thought this person was for not "risking" $1 to see if it actually was a _good_ copy of The Two Towers. Now, I see that the risk would NOT have been paying $1 for a DVD copy of some LotR movie trailers, but rather would be in not being able to resist watching the whole movie, if indeed it was the whole movie, in anything less than DVD quality.
I like seeing movies, games, etc before they are released, however, being a recent SWG beta tester, I'm finding myself wishing I had of waited until the game is done.
How green the grass is not!? How much is a lack of patience a curse? : P
Ayeeee! There's no reason to pay twice the money to get half the performance with far less than half the application/game support!
I couldn't agree more!!
I am SysAdmin for a 150+ PC corporate environment. After a fair bit of research, we concluded that the savings garnered from shutting down PCs at night was well worth the effort. Sure, it's taken some convincing, to unlearn/reteach folks who were used to leaving their systems on at night (24/7, for network backups - replaced with daytime, open file capable backups), but ever little bit (of savings) helps. I've oft used the argument that we don't leave our office or home lights on when we leave, so why not shut down our PCs?
As for running distributed computing clients, at home or at work, I'll admit that one of my concerns is where is the profit from this donated CPU cycles will go? Sure, the noblest of intentions are going to pure science/research. But, I have a hard time thinking that someone is not going to be making bucks off of these things in the end. Hate to be such a cynical bastard, but this is one more thing to add to the dilemma. To donate spare cycles or not to "donate"?
My home theater -- as nice as it is (big screen, HDTV, Dolby Digital ES 7.1... no THX... yet), until I can install a dedicated (sound proofed, like my movies loud enough to _feel_ the sounds) -- is not the same as a cinema.
Sure, there are inconveniences in going out to see movies. But, for me, watching movies on a full screen, sound, and all, is worth the few bothers (rising ticket prices hardly withstanding).
Hate to say it gang, by I actually prefer most of the WinCE PDAs that I've seen (despite their clunky sizes). I say this becuase the lack of a 1/2" strip dedicated to handwriting really make sense to me.
I currently use a Palm V and while I love it's small size (thickness) it would be SO much better with out all that space wasted (hell, same goes even for the buttons).
My ideal PDA would have come with a very thin footprint, hi-rez color, and all screen... as big as they're going to make these things, why not get down to the business of letting us view, read, type, watch things on the _whole_ PDA?!?*
*Of course... wireless, tons of memory (slot upgrade), and good quality sound are also desired (in as small of a package as possible). : )
This is a non sequitur. You can't compare a game such as magic (which I shudder to mention, has much to do with luck) to a MMORG, which has much to do with either skill and/or time. Sure, in a card game, in which players can buy their way into more power (decks), money does tip the scales of balance. However, in a online RPG, skill and time do not equate. That is, many players who lack skill (who more than make up in obscene amounts of free time) can hit the game level caps.
... what will you have there? More fodder for the skilled players. What will you have lost? The satisfaction of getting your own character to a high level through days and weeks on doing the same tedious action over and over? How does someone else, who may not enjoy the same type of game play, diminish your own game experience because they want to play the later (MMORG) game??
Hell, if you want to make a MMORPG based on player skill, many manners of defeating the leveling treadmill (leveling methods based on tactics) would actually remain past a game's launch. Unfortunately, this is not the norm. Most MMORGs (EQ and DAoC to name a few) remove most elements of skill so that all players must level at the same painful slow pace... often, again, I think this is because of those who lack skill but have the crazy amounts of free time complain that some (actually skillful) players are capable of leveling at a reasonable pace (or at least more quickly)! : P
At any rate, if it mostly comes down to a bunch of unskilled players running around at high levels, who have purchased their characters rather than treadmill
Ok, admittedly, there are some problems with letting every person with a checkbook into the high-level "elite", but I for one think the benefits of allowing the more casual game to experience the higher level aspects of a game far outweigh the downfalls. Just my two cents.
I love the idea of buying premade, high level characters. "Purists" who want to spend months in front of a computer "leveling" one character be damned.
Currently, I play the MMO Dark Age of Camelot (DAoC). This game has a considerable "buy-in" time in order to reach level 50 (currently the highest) with one character. I'd estimate 8-10 DAYS played for the most proficient of power levelers. On the other hand, most "average" gamers must be closer to 20-30 days (in game), just to get to level 50. I see this as a big problem because after a few DAYS of leveling, I want to move on to the real meat and potatoes of this game (and probably most games of this type to come... and for most players) which is the Player vs. Player. Furthermore, with a class based system such as DAoC, in which there are a variety of entirely different characters one could play, I (and probably most players) would love the opportunity to play the high level game (the real game) as at least a few of the different characters classes (types). I for one, as much as I have come to thoroughly enjoy this type of game, specifically look forward to playing in the awesome PvP environment. Yet, I have little desired to go through the painfully repetitive level "treadmilling" in order to develop other characters to an acceptable PvP level (which for me, and any one else who wants to fight on an even leveled basis, is the highest level in a given (level-based) game).
So, there you have it. As much as I have recently found how much I love the MMO style of game, the greatest detractor seems to be the businesses need to be a business. I say this because I think it's mostly the business's need to retain paying customers, those who are willing and accepting of the grossly long amounts of time to reach the highest levels these games have to offer. Sure, there are a fair share of those who enjoy toiling to reach those high levels. Often, and I'll go out on a limb here, this enjoyment is for those players who have significant ammounts of time to devote. At any rate, if a business can remain viable by selling premium accounts to folks who do NOT enjoy the leveling treadmill, more power to them. Those businesses (developers) who are able to work this _feature_ into their _service_ will earn my business. I am sorry if they end up loosing some business (and respect) of purists, those who want all high level characters to be painfully earned, but I am a paying customer and a casual gamer who wants to experience all a good MMO has to offer. I for one, don't think that leveling should be mandatory to fully enjoy a game of this type. I hope that more developers (and business models) take gamers such as myself into consideration. Along these lines, I am very much looking forward to the recent DAoC State of the Game addres in which Mythic suggested they might be taking a similar route in allowing players who've already reached 50 with one character to start new characters out at level 20+. Personally, I'm hoping for insta 45+ characters (on all servers of an account with one level 50). For me, the minimum 24 hours of play time to reach the highest level (from 45 to 50, currently in DAoC) is plenty to ensure my sense of accomplishment in any given character. I just hope that the purists can let us enjoy the game as much as they do, in our own way, without crying their own experience has been so diminished. I will never understand such mentality in a game. In real life, yes... hard work should pay off. In a game, playing should be fun! If we have to work in real life, to be able to afford a little more fun in the games we love, bring it on!
"Scottish Hydro-Electric are launching a trial _scheme_ which brings broadband..."
Don't think that word means what you think it means.
All levity aside, I am hoping this technology proves to be incredibly successful. As I imagine many of this threads post point out, rural capable broadband (and urban competetion)...
Unfortunate. This this sort of agressive, overt advertising would turn me off from any show, no mater how much I enjoy it. This is to say nothing of advertisers who chose to go that route...
Slightly offtopic, but I can't help but sharing this awesome little utility that helps me avoid so much of the obnoxious, invasive flash on the web.
Check out www.flashswitch.com
Or for a great web filter, that catches just about everything other than flash, try www.webwasher.com.
I can't bear to surf with out them.
Always nice to see the first post read exactly as I wanted to say. Also, many good posts. However, I do think that the important point of looking for other (job) opportunities is being missed.
Looking for another job does not always have to do with satisfaction of current employment. People often look for around because:
A) They know they are worth more (Read; their skills are yielding higher pay elsewhere),
B) They want to find out if there are more attractive employment opportunities out there (in terms of money or other benefits),
C) They want to push their current employer over the hump (and get that extra cash that the employer is willing to pay for their valuable skills).
It is important to keep in mind that looking for better pay has little to do with, in of itself, job satisfaction or loyalty. Furthermore, employers who are _worth_ working for, will often realize that job shopping is good business! Just as companies manage their capital, such as delaying costs (not offering the raise they know you're worth), so should any intelligent, motivated worker be on the look out to better their situation.
While a bigger paycheck is not the get-all, end all, it sure can be nice. As I see it, having addition funds to enjoy off-time hobbies, being able to put more money into savings and investments, is worth a bit of leg work, even if it means taking a new job or reminding your current employer what you are worth to them.
When the Xbox is truly as hackable as the dreamcast (as any pc hardware set), then it will most certainly gain more attention with causal hackers and hardware enthusiasts. However, being able to watch some obscure (to most people) video format, which requires either a computer and/or knowledgeable friends with tech-savy/hacker tendencies, is NOT going cause a surge in sales or interest for the xbox in any circles other than those who were already interested in hacking their PCs, consoles, calculators and toasters.
Sorry, interesting news, but hardly worth a discussion of the ramifications of this _minor_ xbox hack.
Hmm, I wonder. How sneaky are those Hollywood big-wigs? What if they finally decided to offer/agree upon a method of copy protection that would _supposedly_ allow one copy only, but then later reneged and once a particular popular format (and hardware) supported that one-copy-only flag become mainstream, they then turned that off all together, allowing no copies?
Wouldn't that be funny.