It also points out one of the problems with purchasing DRM'd media files. Since you are locked into a certain format, what do you do when technology changes and you can't convert your media into the new format or the company behind the DRM folds and there's no way to port the authentication system to a new system?
My parents dubbed their records onto tapes. And recently I've helped my mom convert records and her old tapes into MP3 format. Something that couldn't be done if DRM existed then.
When looking at running homebrew, you need to stick with adapters like the M3 or the GBAMP that use CF cards for storage. Right now many homebrew apps are unable to save or load files from SD or Mini-SD based adapters. I'm sure this will change in the future, but it leaves me unable to play Sam & Max on ScummVM DS as its can't read my M3 MiniSD. I can still play games, but I have to combine them via a.zip file with the emulator which limits the file size to 32 megs total, and you need more than that for the games with talking. If I had a CF I wouldn't have this problem. And this affects almost all homebrew, not just ScummVM.
In this case it was his stepson. So provided he was the legal guardian of his stepson, he is responsible for the civil damages\fines incurred by his stepson.
Having worked in customer service, I can tell you a lot of people will refuse to accept that response from a vendor. Particularly if they didn't make the changes themself. Maybe it was a friend, that kid down the street who helped them set up their network, or a third party who decided your hardware makes a good platform for his solution, and he just buys your product and loads his code on it.
The point is, they'll see your company's name on the housing, your 800 number on the label, and they'll demand you support it. People who are upset when something doesn't work, especially if its high tech and they don't under how it works, are not the most rational people in the world.
I've seen first hand people slamming a company I worked for on message boards and their blog for something we had no control over. They were using our hardware to connect to a third party service (the hardware was provided by the service). The service provider was having some problems and they called us, not the service provider. But because we couldn't fix their problem (our hardware was working fine), they took it out on us, and it didn't matter how many times we explained to them it wasn't the hardware's problem and they needed to contact the service provider. I've experienced first hand many tirades for simliar situations.
In the end it hurts your company, because now you've got someone pissed off at you, even though you aren't the source of the problem.
I believe that applies to Nintendo and Sony products. I'm not sure it applied to the original X-Box or to the new 360 yet. Microsoft's X-Box division has only had 1 or 2 profitable quarters since the launch of the division. Sure a lot of their expense is marketing and R&D, but I think you'll also find the profit margins on their console are much lower (if there at all) compared to competing game systems.
You are also forgetting something else, the client device explicity requests permission to use the network and must get permission from the AP/router.
This is just like using Slashdot. To read slashdot it uses their system resources, however I'm not stealing their service when I read it, why? Because the reader does the same thing a wireless client does when connecting to a wireless network. It knocks on the web server door, says "Hi, I view this URL?" and the webserver will either give permission or deny it.
Otherwise before we could go to any website we'd have to contact the website owners first and get permission in writing or else you'd be guilty of unauthorized network/computer access for viewing any website.
You've got two problems you've overlooked. If someone uses your connection for illegal activity (downloading Meet the Fockers, kiddie porn) it will be your IP address that the RIAA/MPAA/FBI will trace. Good luck convincing them it wasn't you. You might be able to do it, but it will take up time and money (lawyers) to clear your name. And in the case of kiddie porn or other criminal act, expect every computer, PDA, and cell phone in your home to be confiscated to be analyized for incriminating data.
The second problem is you are allowing strangers access to not only your Internet connection, but also your LAN. I have multiple computers and put files in shared folders so I can access them from different machines. I don't want some strange to have access to those files, or worse, have their computer be infected with a worm/virus that propogates across the network.
Your router is giving them permission to associate, is providing them with an IP address, and is allowing them to pass traffic. Heck, I'm guessing your AP is even broadcasting its SSID and telling people its available for them to connect to. When the client associates it acts just like a web page request, it says "Hey, can I connect here?" and if your router replies with a "Sure thing!", then as far as I'm concerned you've given them permission to use your network.
If you don't want strangers using your Internet, you've got TONS of options, turn off DHCP, use WEP, use WPA, limit access only to those MAC addresses you approve, turf off SSID broadcast. Obviously some of these offer better security than others, but ANY of these will prevent a casual user from using your network.
Actually 3DR has been doing quite well. Not only did they liscense Duke for a variety of other games for just about every platform out there (Even a cart racing game!), they are also behind Max Payne which raked in a ton of money.
At some point the stock holders are going to want the X-Box division to actually turn a profit, not just increase gross revenue. It can't just bleed money forever, and right now its not just bleeding, its gushing money.
So the question is, does Microsoft actually have any plans to make any money on the X-Box? It seems they don't.
But the cut scenes are horrible. I agree, skip them and you have no idea what's going on, but they are so painful to sit through. Long, tedious, and for the most part with horrible voice acting and writing. I wish there was a way to turn off the voiceovers and just have the text pop up on screen where I could accelerate it by hitting X. In all honestly, they'd be much more bearable if the pacing of the cut scenes was sped up a tad. I often find myself waiting tearing out my hair as I wait for the fricken camera angle to change or whatever before someone responds to someone else.
What are you talking about? TellTale did not "throw out" S&M2. They're working on it right now. They bought the rights to the characters, they did not buy the rights to the work that had already been done. That's why they're not finishing the Lucasarts version (Which was not finished).
I'm going to take a stab at this and say its the same reason I find myself playing less (or one of the two main reasons). There's just not much new out there I want to play. I haven't been excited by a game release since GTA:SA, and even that was muted since I knew it was more of the same. I have no plans to by a 360 or a PS3 (I own both companies current gen systems), because I don't see any reason to own them. It looks like more of the same, but with better graphics. The only system that I'm even paying any attention to is the Revolution, just because it seems to be the only one that has any potential for "new" games.
Heck, I just installed Baldur's Gate II on my PC to play (never played it before) since there was nothing out there that I wanted to spend $40-60 on.
I think this is a real problem for the industry. There's nothing truely new on the horizon, and there's a HUGE back-catalog of games for much less to choose from, that besides graphics, offer essentially the same gameplay and what's coming out.
Actually you are wrong. Patent holders can go after not just the makers of an infringing product, but also the users. This recently (last 1-2 years) came up with a company claiming to have a patent on the idea of redirecting hotspot users to a log-in page. The patent was rather dubious, so rather than sue the makers (who have money to defend themselves) they decided to target small hotel chains who used gateways with redirection built-in, demanding a "liscense fee" based on location size. In most cases the quarterly liscense fee was higher than the price of the hardware in the first place. All rather silly, but until the patent gets invalidated, perfectly in line with the law.
Most politicians are lawyers. Hence lawyers write the laws. Most judges are former laywers. Hence lawyers interpret and enforce the laws. Most lawyers are paid by the hour.
So basically since lawyers run the show, they're able to set things up in such a manner as to make themselves the most money at the cost of everyone else. They've also made sure its nearly impossible for anyone to go to court without a lawyer.
The evil Republicans, tired of Bob being funded with taxpayer money have stolen all of Bob's paint. Help Bob get his paint back! You control Bob through 27 levels of platforming fun, dodging right wing kooks, NRA members, and the religious right while collecting every color of paint under the rainbow.
Keep in mind this is the same SOE that refused to participate with the Child's Play charity because one of the Penny Arcade guys publically criticized their Art of Everquest book.
I worked at a.com startup that was like this. Each of the original founders was taking home more money each month that I was given to run the entire web development team. Again, we were a.com startup so our entire business was web development. So our entire budget (salaries + software + hardware) for the entire development team was less than the paycheck for one of the original founders. And by the way, only one of the "founders" was actually actively involved in the company. I remember one month the "travel expenses" of one of the founders was more than his monthly salary. Any wonder we didn't last much more than a year?
What I want is a MMORPG that lets me solo and play for short periods of time. I normally drop out of an MMORPG about the time I *have* to start teaming to gain any experience. Don't get me wrong, I love to interact with others and enjoy team gameplay. But in all honesty I have a very busy life and more often than not I don't have several hours at a time to sit down, try and find a good group, wait while everyone stocks up on regeants or whatever, debates where to hunt, and then goes there to do their thing. It just takes too long. Its fun on the weekend when I've got more time, but I want something I can just log into for 30-45 minutes and actually make some progress/have some fun every night before bed.
The "new gameboy" is already out, it's called the Micro. Really. Nintendo at the launch of the DS said the DS would not replace the Gameboy Advance and they were planning a new gameboy. Note, they never said they planned a new gameboy platform. So after the DS they launched the Gameboy Micro as the "new" gameboy. Same hardware platform, new smaller package.
I've been thinking about buying one, but was scared off by all the complaints about the poor joystick control.
Apparently the microswitches are set up in such a way that it is very hard to send a straight up/down/left/right signal, instead favoring diagnal input.
Slashdot Mirror
It also points out one of the problems with purchasing DRM'd media files. Since you are locked into a certain format, what do you do when technology changes and you can't convert your media into the new format or the company behind the DRM folds and there's no way to port the authentication system to a new system? My parents dubbed their records onto tapes. And recently I've helped my mom convert records and her old tapes into MP3 format. Something that couldn't be done if DRM existed then.
When looking at running homebrew, you need to stick with adapters like the M3 or the GBAMP that use CF cards for storage. Right now many homebrew apps are unable to save or load files from SD or Mini-SD based adapters. I'm sure this will change in the future, but it leaves me unable to play Sam & Max on ScummVM DS as its can't read my M3 MiniSD. I can still play games, but I have to combine them via a .zip file with the emulator which limits the file size to 32 megs total, and you need more than that for the games with talking. If I had a CF I wouldn't have this problem. And this affects almost all homebrew, not just ScummVM.
In this case it was his stepson. So provided he was the legal guardian of his stepson, he is responsible for the civil damages\fines incurred by his stepson.
I still have no idea what the heck Zango is.
The point is, they'll see your company's name on the housing, your 800 number on the label, and they'll demand you support it. People who are upset when something doesn't work, especially if its high tech and they don't under how it works, are not the most rational people in the world.
I've seen first hand people slamming a company I worked for on message boards and their blog for something we had no control over. They were using our hardware to connect to a third party service (the hardware was provided by the service). The service provider was having some problems and they called us, not the service provider. But because we couldn't fix their problem (our hardware was working fine), they took it out on us, and it didn't matter how many times we explained to them it wasn't the hardware's problem and they needed to contact the service provider. I've experienced first hand many tirades for simliar situations.
In the end it hurts your company, because now you've got someone pissed off at you, even though you aren't the source of the problem.
I believe that applies to Nintendo and Sony products. I'm not sure it applied to the original X-Box or to the new 360 yet. Microsoft's X-Box division has only had 1 or 2 profitable quarters since the launch of the division. Sure a lot of their expense is marketing and R&D, but I think you'll also find the profit margins on their console are much lower (if there at all) compared to competing game systems.
This is just like using Slashdot. To read slashdot it uses their system resources, however I'm not stealing their service when I read it, why? Because the reader does the same thing a wireless client does when connecting to a wireless network. It knocks on the web server door, says "Hi, I view this URL?" and the webserver will either give permission or deny it.
Otherwise before we could go to any website we'd have to contact the website owners first and get permission in writing or else you'd be guilty of unauthorized network/computer access for viewing any website.
You've got two problems you've overlooked. If someone uses your connection for illegal activity (downloading Meet the Fockers, kiddie porn) it will be your IP address that the RIAA/MPAA/FBI will trace. Good luck convincing them it wasn't you. You might be able to do it, but it will take up time and money (lawyers) to clear your name. And in the case of kiddie porn or other criminal act, expect every computer, PDA, and cell phone in your home to be confiscated to be analyized for incriminating data. The second problem is you are allowing strangers access to not only your Internet connection, but also your LAN. I have multiple computers and put files in shared folders so I can access them from different machines. I don't want some strange to have access to those files, or worse, have their computer be infected with a worm/virus that propogates across the network.
Your router is giving them permission to associate, is providing them with an IP address, and is allowing them to pass traffic. Heck, I'm guessing your AP is even broadcasting its SSID and telling people its available for them to connect to. When the client associates it acts just like a web page request, it says "Hey, can I connect here?" and if your router replies with a "Sure thing!", then as far as I'm concerned you've given them permission to use your network. If you don't want strangers using your Internet, you've got TONS of options, turn off DHCP, use WEP, use WPA, limit access only to those MAC addresses you approve, turf off SSID broadcast. Obviously some of these offer better security than others, but ANY of these will prevent a casual user from using your network.
Actually 3DR has been doing quite well. Not only did they liscense Duke for a variety of other games for just about every platform out there (Even a cart racing game!), they are also behind Max Payne which raked in a ton of money.
At some point the stock holders are going to want the X-Box division to actually turn a profit, not just increase gross revenue. It can't just bleed money forever, and right now its not just bleeding, its gushing money. So the question is, does Microsoft actually have any plans to make any money on the X-Box? It seems they don't.
But the cut scenes are horrible. I agree, skip them and you have no idea what's going on, but they are so painful to sit through. Long, tedious, and for the most part with horrible voice acting and writing. I wish there was a way to turn off the voiceovers and just have the text pop up on screen where I could accelerate it by hitting X. In all honestly, they'd be much more bearable if the pacing of the cut scenes was sped up a tad. I often find myself waiting tearing out my hair as I wait for the fricken camera angle to change or whatever before someone responds to someone else.
Damn I wish I had mod points.
What are you talking about? TellTale did not "throw out" S&M2. They're working on it right now. They bought the rights to the characters, they did not buy the rights to the work that had already been done. That's why they're not finishing the Lucasarts version (Which was not finished).
I'm going to take a stab at this and say its the same reason I find myself playing less (or one of the two main reasons). There's just not much new out there I want to play. I haven't been excited by a game release since GTA:SA, and even that was muted since I knew it was more of the same. I have no plans to by a 360 or a PS3 (I own both companies current gen systems), because I don't see any reason to own them. It looks like more of the same, but with better graphics. The only system that I'm even paying any attention to is the Revolution, just because it seems to be the only one that has any potential for "new" games. Heck, I just installed Baldur's Gate II on my PC to play (never played it before) since there was nothing out there that I wanted to spend $40-60 on. I think this is a real problem for the industry. There's nothing truely new on the horizon, and there's a HUGE back-catalog of games for much less to choose from, that besides graphics, offer essentially the same gameplay and what's coming out.
Actually you are wrong. Patent holders can go after not just the makers of an infringing product, but also the users. This recently (last 1-2 years) came up with a company claiming to have a patent on the idea of redirecting hotspot users to a log-in page. The patent was rather dubious, so rather than sue the makers (who have money to defend themselves) they decided to target small hotel chains who used gateways with redirection built-in, demanding a "liscense fee" based on location size. In most cases the quarterly liscense fee was higher than the price of the hardware in the first place. All rather silly, but until the patent gets invalidated, perfectly in line with the law.
Most politicians are lawyers. Hence lawyers write the laws. Most judges are former laywers. Hence lawyers interpret and enforce the laws. Most lawyers are paid by the hour. So basically since lawyers run the show, they're able to set things up in such a manner as to make themselves the most money at the cost of everyone else. They've also made sure its nearly impossible for anyone to go to court without a lawyer.
The evil Republicans, tired of Bob being funded with taxpayer money have stolen all of Bob's paint. Help Bob get his paint back! You control Bob through 27 levels of platforming fun, dodging right wing kooks, NRA members, and the religious right while collecting every color of paint under the rainbow.
Ha! Ha! You got 0wned by a Fark cliche!!!!111!
Looks like Gabe took it down, but you can see how it started.
I worked at a .com startup that was like this. Each of the original founders was taking home more money each month that I was given to run the entire web development team. Again, we were a .com startup so our entire business was web development. So our entire budget (salaries + software + hardware) for the entire development team was less than the paycheck for one of the original founders. And by the way, only one of the "founders" was actually actively involved in the company. I remember one month the "travel expenses" of one of the founders was more than his monthly salary. Any wonder we didn't last much more than a year?
What I want is a MMORPG that lets me solo and play for short periods of time. I normally drop out of an MMORPG about the time I *have* to start teaming to gain any experience. Don't get me wrong, I love to interact with others and enjoy team gameplay. But in all honesty I have a very busy life and more often than not I don't have several hours at a time to sit down, try and find a good group, wait while everyone stocks up on regeants or whatever, debates where to hunt, and then goes there to do their thing. It just takes too long. Its fun on the weekend when I've got more time, but I want something I can just log into for 30-45 minutes and actually make some progress/have some fun every night before bed.
How do you explain DUI checkpoints?
The "new gameboy" is already out, it's called the Micro. Really. Nintendo at the launch of the DS said the DS would not replace the Gameboy Advance and they were planning a new gameboy. Note, they never said they planned a new gameboy platform. So after the DS they launched the Gameboy Micro as the "new" gameboy. Same hardware platform, new smaller package.
I've been thinking about buying one, but was scared off by all the complaints about the poor joystick control. Apparently the microswitches are set up in such a way that it is very hard to send a straight up/down/left/right signal, instead favoring diagnal input.