Virtual girlfriend could end dating woes
HONG KONG, China (AP) -- She needs to be coddled with sweet talk and pampered with gifts, but you'll never see her in the flesh, says a Hong Kong company that's developing a "virtual girlfriend" for new cell phones with video capability.
Artificial Life, Inc.'s electronic love interest will appear as an animated figure on a telephone screen. But she'll require a lot of attention, involving virtual flowers and diamonds, company spokeswoman Ada Fong said on Monday.
The gifts will keep the relationship going from one level to the next -- and even though it's all made up of cold, hard data, suitors will have to pay cold, hard cash for the gifts.
The amounts have yet to be determined, Fong said.
Users of so-called third-generation, or 3G, cell phones who subscribe to the game can send text messages to the virtual woman, who'll respond by voice, Fong said.
If she's neglected, "she'll be unhappy and she won't talk to you," she added.
The game doesn't allow interactions of a sexual nature, Fong said, calling it "suitable for all ages."
The company hopes to develop a virtual boyfriend for women by early next year.
The virtual girlfriend is similar to the popular Tamagotchi "pet" concept developed by Japan's Bandai Co., Fong said.
Artificial Life hopes to launch the service in the English, Japanese and Korean languages in late November. No 3G operators have agreed to offer it yet, she said.
sure, but I'd much rather use a pre-packaged program that does everything with the click of a single button. I've tried using the combo solutions and it was more of a pain in the ass then needed. fast dvd copy let me make one copy with the trial version and it couldn't have been simpler.
I one thing that was a disappointment to me when 321 studios started working on this was that I was just switching to mac and they were only supporting windows based systems. however, there is now an option for mac users.fast dvd copy 2 is awesome. MacWorld just gave it 3 1/2 mouse rating in the latest issue.
just two weeks ago at the 2600 hope conference in NY, Steve Wozniak was using the proper form of the word hacker and highly suggested that people should hack often and use it as a tool for learning. what real did was to try and bypass something to profit off of it because apple wouldn't let them in on a market that apple is basically controlling right now. real is trying to steal something they don't have any rights to. this is not hacking!
10. HOW WILL THE LAWYERS FOR THE CLASS BE PAID?
From the inception of the litigation in early 2002 to the present, Class Counsel have not received any payment for their services in prosecuting the case, nor have they been reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses. If the Court approves the proposed settlement, Class Counsel will make a motion to the Court for an award of attorneys' fees of up to $3,332,500 and reimbursement of expenses of up to $135,000, to be paid from the $9.25 million settlement fund. Class Counsel will also seek reimbursement from the settlement fund on behalf of certain of the named plaintiffs in the litigation for reimbursement of their expenses related to their service as class representatives in the litigation, in an aggregate amount not to exceed $15,000. The motion will be heard at the settlement hearing described below in Section 11.
Class Counsel's motion for an award of attorneys' fees and reimbursement of expenses is based on various factors that include the benefits obtained for the class through litigation. These benefits include the $9.25 million cash settlement and PayPal's agreement to the injunctive relief requirements. In addition, certain changes to PayPal's business practices are attributable in part to this litigation, including PayPal's decision to undertake to return to its customers approximately $5.1 million in those accounts to which access was limited for 180 days or more; modifications to PayPal's arbitration provision in its User Agreement and its replacement with a clause that limits PayPal's ability to compel arbitration where the total amount of the award sought is $10,000 or greater; and various other changes in PayPal's business practices during the pendency of the litigation.
Class Counsel submitted their proposed request for attorneys' fees to the Magistrate Judge who had previously presided over discovery and settlement discussions. Class Counsel's request for attorneys' fees is equal to the amount recommended by the Magistrate Judge.
The specs the $799 Mac are roughly the same as a $399 PC here (the Mac has Firewire, probably a more robust processor, and faster memory, while the PC has built-in ethernet, a *much* higher clock speed, and a memory reader). When most people consider their computer an appliance (versus a performance machine), saving $400 for a 'mundane' PC is a big deal.
Also, the person who spends $2,000+ on a PC is either a geek who's putting together an amazingly fast machine themself, or an average person who has the money to buy a top of the line pre-built PC. Neither fall into the category of someone looking for a budget computer.
Missing details:
PC: Monitor sold separately, the emac has a built in 17" sony flat screen- takes much less space this way
Mac: also has built-in ethernet
Mac: if used as an 'appliance' will be much more useful since it's a single piece that can be moved from room to room more easily
PC: memory card reader- for mac just plug the camera, mp3 player or other device directly into the emac and it automatically mounts and opens the neccessary software- no drivers needed
I'm not going to argue clock speed, but if you've used a mac you'll know why I don't need to.
I have a client that was looking to pay $500 for a new home office pc without the monitor and they wanted an lcd monitor, which would have ran them another $500. I was able, without much effort, to convince them that the emac would fit their needs for less and when the company has more money in the next year or two it would be the perfect computer to hand down to their kids. They're buying it this weekend!
I recently moved and kept covad as my provider, but the process was total bullshit and took over two months total.
here were the problems:
they charged me a $250 cancellation fee even though the order for the new address was placed at the same time.
they would not allow me to keep my active static ip (I moved less then a mile away and use the same CO)
the line has been active but not working for over a month of that time, since I'm rarely at the location it made it very difficult to troubleshoot the exact issue.
I have asked repeatedly if I would have to change the internal router settings and they've said no- just move the network and equipment and it will work automatically at the new location. total lies.
I'm leaving them as soon as my contract is up. this was total bullshit.
did they admit they hadn't read it- they could have at least read it before they ended up in court, but I do have to agree that if you don't take the time to read the privacy disclosure then you probably don't really care about it until you know that it was clearly breached.
on a similar note: you always have a right to bitch about politics, but I'm not paying any attention to you if you don't bother to vote and actually partake in the system yourself.
the company should pay the price of the fines, it should not be turned back to the customers. maybe a price increase is just what's needed to get those thinking about other options to just go out and implement them sooner. sounds like a pretty pathetic plan to me.
this is just the cost of doing questionable business, and it's not like they can even begin to say 'we didn't know we couldn't do that'. it's just fucking rediculous what these asshats are trying to get away with.
no. itms is still king and will probably remain so as long as the record companies are kept at bay regarding their desire to increase the cost of each song- then it will all just revert back to the whatever the best p2p software is at the time.
yeah, well a good friend of mine's username is humbucker69 and his password is so simple I can't even givve details about it here without somebody hacking it.
He knows damn well that I know it too and hasn't ever bother to change it for years. oh well.....
Especially in the USA where the whole of society is based on the assumption that you have a car to the point where you'd be unable to live without one.
This is a myth. I'm 35 and have lived in 5 cities since I was of driving age and have never needed a car to live. It's not that hard to get around in the US, even in small suburban towns.
Slashdot Mirror
governor bush said something very similar recently
....
and it scares the shit out of me that the supposed leader of the free world would say something like that
here
Virtual girlfriend could end dating woes
HONG KONG, China (AP) -- She needs to be coddled with sweet talk and pampered with gifts, but you'll never see her in the flesh, says a Hong Kong company that's developing a "virtual girlfriend" for new cell phones with video capability.
Artificial Life, Inc.'s electronic love interest will appear as an animated figure on a telephone screen. But she'll require a lot of attention, involving virtual flowers and diamonds, company spokeswoman Ada Fong said on Monday.
The gifts will keep the relationship going from one level to the next -- and even though it's all made up of cold, hard data, suitors will have to pay cold, hard cash for the gifts.
The amounts have yet to be determined, Fong said.
Users of so-called third-generation, or 3G, cell phones who subscribe to the game can send text messages to the virtual woman, who'll respond by voice, Fong said.
If she's neglected, "she'll be unhappy and she won't talk to you," she added.
The game doesn't allow interactions of a sexual nature, Fong said, calling it "suitable for all ages."
The company hopes to develop a virtual boyfriend for women by early next year.
The virtual girlfriend is similar to the popular Tamagotchi "pet" concept developed by Japan's Bandai Co., Fong said.
Artificial Life hopes to launch the service in the English, Japanese and Korean languages in late November. No 3G operators have agreed to offer it yet, she said.
I'm not trying to deny anyone the right to vote for whoever they want, but I don't think most of us can stand "four more years".
I think you're a little mistaken here because if anyone is going to prevent us from living "four more years", it's bush.
so if you want "four more years", please vote for Kerry. I think that's what you meant.
;)
sure, but I'd much rather use a pre-packaged program that does everything with the click of a single button. I've tried using the combo solutions and it was more of a pain in the ass then needed. fast dvd copy let me make one copy with the trial version and it couldn't have been simpler.
I one thing that was a disappointment to me when 321 studios started working on this was that I was just switching to mac and they were only supporting windows based systems.
however, there is now an option for mac users.fast dvd copy 2 is awesome. MacWorld just gave it 3 1/2 mouse rating in the latest issue.
just two weeks ago at the 2600 hope conference in NY, Steve Wozniak was using the proper form of the word hacker and highly suggested that people should hack often and use it as a tool for learning.
what real did was to try and bypass something to profit off of it because apple wouldn't let them in on a market that apple is basically controlling right now. real is trying to steal something they don't have any rights to. this is not hacking!
direct from the email
10. HOW WILL THE LAWYERS FOR THE CLASS BE PAID?
From the inception of the litigation in early 2002 to the present, Class Counsel have not received any payment for their services in prosecuting the case, nor have they been reimbursed for any out-of-pocket expenses. If the Court approves the proposed settlement, Class Counsel will make a motion to the Court for an award of attorneys' fees of up to $3,332,500 and reimbursement of expenses of up to $135,000, to be paid from the $9.25 million settlement fund. Class Counsel will also seek reimbursement from the settlement fund on behalf of certain of the named plaintiffs in the litigation for reimbursement of their expenses related to their service as class representatives in the litigation, in an aggregate amount not to exceed $15,000. The motion will be heard at the settlement hearing described below in Section 11.
Class Counsel's motion for an award of attorneys' fees and reimbursement of expenses is based on various factors that include the benefits obtained for the class through litigation. These benefits include the $9.25 million cash settlement and PayPal's agreement to the injunctive relief requirements. In addition, certain changes to PayPal's business practices are attributable in part to this litigation, including PayPal's decision to undertake to return to its customers approximately $5.1 million in those accounts to which access was limited for 180 days or more; modifications to PayPal's arbitration provision in its User Agreement and its replacement with a clause that limits PayPal's ability to compel arbitration where the total amount of the award sought is $10,000 or greater; and various other changes in PayPal's business practices during the pendency of the litigation.
Class Counsel submitted their proposed request for attorneys' fees to the Magistrate Judge who had previously presided over discovery and settlement discussions. Class Counsel's request for attorneys' fees is equal to the amount recommended by the Magistrate Judge.
The specs the $799 Mac are roughly the same as a $399 PC here (the Mac has Firewire, probably a more robust processor, and faster memory, while the PC has built-in ethernet, a *much* higher clock speed, and a memory reader). When most people consider their computer an appliance (versus a performance machine), saving $400 for a 'mundane' PC is a big deal.
Also, the person who spends $2,000+ on a PC is either a geek who's putting together an amazingly fast machine themself, or an average person who has the money to buy a top of the line pre-built PC. Neither fall into the category of someone looking for a budget computer.
Missing details: PC: Monitor sold separately, the emac has a built in 17" sony flat screen- takes much less space this way
Mac: also has built-in ethernet
Mac: if used as an 'appliance' will be much more useful since it's a single piece that can be moved from room to room more easily
PC: memory card reader- for mac just plug the camera, mp3 player or other device directly into the emac and it automatically mounts and opens the neccessary software- no drivers needed
I'm not going to argue clock speed, but if you've used a mac you'll know why I don't need to.
I have a client that was looking to pay $500 for a new home office pc without the monitor and they wanted an lcd monitor, which would have ran them another $500. I was able, without much effort, to convince them that the emac would fit their needs for less and when the company has more money in the next year or two it would be the perfect computer to hand down to their kids. They're buying it this weekend!
Buying a $2500+ laptop is no joke
so just buy a $1099 laptop that kicks ass and is very competitive with the pc laptop market for what you get.
the ibooks are brilliant little machines!
for your country
even have one on their site
I recently moved and kept covad as my provider, but the process was total bullshit and took over two months total.
here were the problems:
they charged me a $250 cancellation fee even though the order for the new address was placed at the same time.
they would not allow me to keep my active static ip (I moved less then a mile away and use the same CO)
the line has been active but not working for over a month of that time, since I'm rarely at the location it made it very difficult to troubleshoot the exact issue.
I have asked repeatedly if I would have to change the internal router settings and they've said no- just move the network and equipment and it will work automatically at the new location. total lies.
I'm leaving them as soon as my contract is up. this was total bullshit.
I'm not kidding!
did they admit they hadn't read it- they could have at least read it before they ended up in court, but I do have to agree that if you don't take the time to read the privacy disclosure then you probably don't really care about it until you know that it was clearly breached.
on a similar note: you always have a right to bitch about politics, but I'm not paying any attention to you if you don't bother to vote and actually partake in the system yourself.
familiar
it's still #8 in the hall of fame
RMS, is that you?
considering 3 of those locations are not in the city and another one is danm near not even in the state.
yeah, they need to just call it cHUmpUSA
but it's a whole lot better with junkmatcher central
the company should pay the price of the fines, it should not be turned back to the customers. maybe a price increase is just what's needed to get those thinking about other options to just go out and implement them sooner. sounds like a pretty pathetic plan to me.
this is just the cost of doing questionable business, and it's not like they can even begin to say 'we didn't know we couldn't do that'. it's just fucking rediculous what these asshats are trying to get away with.
GOTO 10
itunes
norton antivirus
ws_ftp
putty
open office
editpad
netscape
nero
quicken
acrobat
no. itms is still king and will probably remain so as long as the record companies are kept at bay regarding their desire to increase the cost of each song- then it will all just revert back to the whatever the best p2p software is at the time.
yeah, well a good friend of mine's username is humbucker69 and his password is so simple I can't even givve details about it here without somebody hacking it.
He knows damn well that I know it too and hasn't ever bother to change it for years. oh well.....
Especially in the USA where the whole of society is based on the assumption that you have a car to the point where you'd be unable to live without one.
This is a myth. I'm 35 and have lived in 5 cities since I was of driving age and have never needed a car to live. It's not that hard to get around in the US, even in small suburban towns.