It's true though.. here's my take on game piracy protections which are in many ways like DRM.
When you buy a game, you have a sticker on a jewelcase that has a serial number and you have a CD that you have to pray doesn't get scratched. The CD better not get scratched because the game requires you have the CD in your computer every single time you wish to play and you aren't able to make a backup because the game uses something like SafeDisk. And since you have a lot of jewelcases, you tend to lose some of them. And if you play the game a lot, the CD gets more wear and tear.
I think this is a stupid system. CD keys and requiring the CD to be in the drive in actuality only make it harder for the legit customers. Here's a few scenarios about why mistrusting game customers is only bad for the customers:
1) Windows took a crap, the third time in the past year. When you go to install the game, you take the CD out of your cd wallet. But because your CD has revolved a few million revolutions too many (in the process of you playing your game or changing CDs so you can play another game), you're out of luck because the CD is damaged where installation files are, and the installer is going to crap out 80% into the installation.
2) Windows took a crap, the third time in the past year. After you grab your CD wallet and find the CD, you inspect the side that the computer reads. Phew, it looks fine. After saying a quick thank-you prayer, you put in the CD and fire up the installer. Uh-oh, it wants a CD key. You've got the dammed original CD with all the SafeDisk crap on it but that doesn't make a difference because you need your CD key.
3) Windows has been running fine for the past year, because you've made a resolution not to use Internet Explorer or Outlook. You try to be as much of a goody-two-shoes computer user as you possibly can. Therefore, you keep your game cds in their original jewelcases so you won't be one of the many users who suffer from that "gotcha!". You feel like playing your favorite game, so you go to your huge cd case rack, and look for the case. You take the case back to the computer, and take the CD out. You put the CD in, and try to play the game, but instead of your favorite game coming up, you get some message box saying something along the lines of "Cannot verify disc. Please make sure your CD is in the drive". Since CD jewel cases are worse for CDs than cd wallets, you've managed to scratch your CD on the wrong sector.
Now, lets compare the experiences of a legit customer and an "evil" pirate...
Legit User: Works hard for his/her money, spends roughly 1 hour going to the store to get the game and installing it.
Pirate: With some help from www.thepiratebay.org, the user has found the cd image for the desired game and started the download in 1 minute flat. He/she starts the download right before going to sleep, and when the user wakes up, the download is complete. In other words, the pirate only requires 1 minute and a good night's sleep - compared to what a legit user goes through. Perhaps game companies should re-examine their distribution methods.
Legit user: Better not lose that CD jewel case or CD!!! Otherwise you're out $60!
Pirate: CD image and keygen are stored on the computer. Easy as that.
Legit user: The CD surface deteriorates, gets scuffed, and might make the user incur the wrath of CD "protection", such as SafeDisk. i.e. "Please make sure the Play Disc is in the drive".
Pirate: Thanks to free software (don't even have to pirate it) such as Daemon Tools, all major CD protections are emulated so the game is fooled into thinking an image file is the real deal. There is no degradation, and even if you delete the image file, you can always redownload it.
Pretty much, if you pirate the game, it's much easier than buying it in just about every way. Theoretically, only multiplayer components of games can be effectively "secured" from pirates, if a system is used where the game host ch
Maybe this is a troll getting me to bite but most places in the US which take credit cards also take ATM. I don't really see any difference except that ATMs won't let you spend more money than you have in your bank account.
Blame it on the "left" as much as you wish, but good ol' Governator Arnold is a Republican and he's the one who signed the bill into law.
And as someone else pointed out, left and right usually refer to economic systems. For some reason, a lot of Americans think of awful communist dictatorships when they hear "left wing", but don't associate the phrase "right wing" with fascist dictatorships such as Nazi Germany.
I've played many games, and GTA: San Andreas is probably one of the best games I've played (and not because it has a sex scene if you mod it). I liked the other GTA games but not nearly as much as SA. The main characters acted like characters in a movie, not cheesy NPCs with artificial pathing. It felt like you were in a movie and in control. The characters also had a whole lot of gestures too - these weren't all characters that could only walk/stop with blank looks on their faces. At least in my book, that game stands with the classics.
As a college student living in America, I simply cannot afford to see a doctor, dentist, etc for even a checkup. Haven't seen a dentist in like 5 years nor a doctor in 3 (and that was for just a physical). Even with a "good economy", there are many teens, young adults, and poor people who are prohibited by such a healthcare system from receiving even the most basic care. Sure, we have the most advanced medical techniques, equipment, drugs or what not, but with such high costs, many can't afford it. I guess only the wealthy deserve to live.
While you can often get an idea of what someone is thinking/feeling by their nonverbals, it's unreliable. Often, people think one thing and say another. And that is sometimes a good thing, as some thoughts are just not meant to be explained to someone else.
Recently, as a passing fancy, I decided to guess how many steps were between two buildings at my college and then count my steps. A friend crossed my path and asked me what was wrong. Took me a second to get unfrustrated that I lost count, figure out why he was asking me, then figure out how to answer him. So when I said "nothing" after a couple seconds of thinking, he persisted. My insistance that nothing was wrong only fed curiosity.
Situations like this happen to me from time to time, and I'm sure similar situations happen to everyone. I'm not completely "dismiss[ing] non-verbal cues as unimportant" however I think that they should definitely not be relied upon. So if I ask someone if something is wrong and they tell me there isn't, I believe them.
Earlier I was commenting on how such a (similar) system would be nice. I didn't think it would ever happen for a long time (if ever) because of a pessimistic view of entertainment industry politics. Fortunately, it seems I was wrong.
I got that message and a friend of mine got that message as well.
I noticed that in the EULA the service is only to be used by people 21 or over. It didn't specifically say I or my friend was too young (I'm 20). Just seems kind of weird that eharmony is 0/3 with a 4 in 5 chance.
"When will people learn that your right to free speech doesn't exist in MY house"
Replace "MY house" with "Planet Earth". With this, YOUR right to free speech doesn't exist in your house either. At least not with a coworker. I could see banning fraternizing on the company grounds, after all that fits with the employer using the "MY house" argument. But this ruling is a step further - "MY house" now applies to anywhere on Earth.
Corporations are artificial. Government is responsible for creating/empowering corporate systems. You say that our rights mean nothing when a corporation is involved, because of something about an employment contract or whatever. But the corporate system is a creation/establishment of government and law - just like the FBI, IRS, Navy, etc. You "freely enter into an agreement" with the IRS when you decide to make enough money to have to pay taxes. So by that token, the IRS should be able to dictate to you who you talk to off the clock, just like your employer. Right?
In today's society, making money is a necessity. Millions of U.S. citizens HAVE to work at corporations otherwise society as we know it would collapse. So saying that employers should be able to take first amendment rights away willy-nilly because of employment agreements is a bit of a slippery slope. The way I see it, if there really was any distinction between big corporations and government, that distinction disappeared the moment corporations got the power to say who workers may associate with off-the-clock.
I wish that the government/corps would at least be a little more honest in the way they names stuff.
For example: "protect Intellectual Property Rights" (from ch 15) Digital Rights Management Digital Millenium Copyright Act Patriot Act
All of these sound positive based on the names. A purposeful shortage of rights should not be called "rights", it should be called "restrictions". For example, "Digital Restrictions Management". Or "copyrestriction" laws. Though it is a bit cowardly, they use tricky names because they know that they could not get support any other way. It's pitiful, but no senator or organization want's to be seen as "anti-rights" or "anti-patriotic".
I suggest that we call such laws/bills/technology what they really are. "Intellectual Property Restrictions", "Copyrestriction law", "Digital Restricitons Management", etc etc. If they are going to take our rights, they should at least do it without the guise that they are giving us more rights when in reality they are doing the exact opposite.
You will probably be able to download the patch if you agree to be probed by Windows Genuine Advantage (TM). I can see it now: "With Windows Genuine Advantage, your computer will now be able to make Daylight Savings Time adjustments on the correct day! Just install this ActiveX program with your browser and click here to send all the information we want!"
Actually though, I think that Windows XP machines by default synchronize with time.windows.com. However, I think that without a patch, Windows will try to adjust DST on the wrong day.
Google has smart people. Those people are smart enough to know that Google indexes copyrighted material. I could see a lawyer for a major label arguing that Google knows that copyrighted content is indexed on a regular basis - intentional or not Google is helping people find whatever copyrighted material people want to find.
I imagine this would actually be easier to argue in a court than the mentioned case, now that hyperlinking to "bad" sites is a no-no.
If I were running a search engine company and this started happening on a semi-regular basis, I'd probably say screw it and put up a special page for Australian IPs telling the people they need to do something about their laws. I'll bet if Australia scares off Google people are going to take notice and put some heat on their representatives. I mean come on, even a company the size of Google can't be expected to filter the entire Internet of any possible copyrighted content that is displayed on public web sites.
It's infringing on "intellectual property", not stealing! You are not really depriving them of their property - all you need to do is take a sample and grow more. The loss in volume would be neglegable.
// throw out lower place values temp = temp / pwr(2,i);
// throw out higher place values temp = temp % pwr(2,i);
// see if remaining bit is equal, if so increase vote count if (temp == pwr(2,i)) votes++; } if (votes >= 2) result = result + pwr(2,i); } return result; }
Sweet! I love our justice system, it is so fair and just.
Evil students trying to install AOL Instant Messenger? Lock 'em up 'till they're 25 and take away their entire college savings fund while they are at it. The Department of Corrections will correct them well and convert them to good citizens.
(And for the record, when it comes to child pornographers, there can be no punishment too severe.)
Though this may be somewhat O/T, I believe this needs to be addressed. I believe criminal justice attitudes such as these to be one of the main causes for the dysfunction of our society. Don't get me wrong, child pornography is sick and should be strongly deterred. But we need to ask ourselves what role should our CJ system play.
I think too many people are too vengeful (in general, not necessarily not you personally). I could think up a punishment for child pornography that is too severe (for example, dismembering the criminal, his parents, and his children while still alive). Seriously though, we need to figure out if our CJ system should exist to deter and correct criminal behavior or if it should exist to fulfil humanity's lust to inflict suffering upon others.
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More like standing around giving pictures away to anyone who asks for a copy.
And then abruptly dragging someone they willfully gave a picture to through the legal system.
It's true though.. here's my take on game piracy protections which are in many ways like DRM.
When you buy a game, you have a sticker on a jewelcase that has a serial number and you have a CD that you have to pray doesn't get scratched. The CD better not get scratched because the game requires you have the CD in your computer every single time you wish to play and you aren't able to make a backup because the game uses something like SafeDisk. And since you have a lot of jewelcases, you tend to lose some of them. And if you play the game a lot, the CD gets more wear and tear.
I think this is a stupid system. CD keys and requiring the CD to be in the drive in actuality only make it harder for the legit customers. Here's a few scenarios about why mistrusting game customers is only bad for the customers:
1) Windows took a crap, the third time in the past year. When you go to install the game, you take the CD out of your cd wallet. But because your CD has revolved a few million revolutions too many (in the process of you playing your game or changing CDs so you can play another game), you're out of luck because the CD is damaged where installation files are, and the installer is going to crap out 80% into the installation.
2) Windows took a crap, the third time in the past year. After you grab your CD wallet and find the CD, you inspect the side that the computer reads. Phew, it looks fine. After saying a quick thank-you prayer, you put in the CD and fire up the installer. Uh-oh, it wants a CD key. You've got the dammed original CD with all the SafeDisk crap on it but that doesn't make a difference because you need your CD key.
3) Windows has been running fine for the past year, because you've made a resolution not to use Internet Explorer or Outlook. You try to be as much of a goody-two-shoes computer user as you possibly can. Therefore, you keep your game cds in their original jewelcases so you won't be one of the many users who suffer from that "gotcha!". You feel like playing your favorite game, so you go to your huge cd case rack, and look for the case. You take the case back to the computer, and take the CD out. You put the CD in, and try to play the game, but instead of your favorite game coming up, you get some message box saying something along the lines of "Cannot verify disc. Please make sure your CD is in the drive". Since CD jewel cases are worse for CDs than cd wallets, you've managed to scratch your CD on the wrong sector.
Now, lets compare the experiences of a legit customer and an "evil" pirate...
Legit User: Works hard for his/her money, spends roughly 1 hour going to the store to get the game and installing it.
Pirate: With some help from www.thepiratebay.org, the user has found the cd image for the desired game and started the download in 1 minute flat. He/she starts the download right before going to sleep, and when the user wakes up, the download is complete. In other words, the pirate only requires 1 minute and a good night's sleep - compared to what a legit user goes through. Perhaps game companies should re-examine their distribution methods.
Legit user: Better not lose that CD jewel case or CD!!! Otherwise you're out $60!
Pirate: CD image and keygen are stored on the computer. Easy as that.
Legit user: The CD surface deteriorates, gets scuffed, and might make the user incur the wrath of CD "protection", such as SafeDisk. i.e. "Please make sure the Play Disc is in the drive".
Pirate: Thanks to free software (don't even have to pirate it) such as Daemon Tools, all major CD protections are emulated so the game is fooled into thinking an image file is the real deal. There is no degradation, and even if you delete the image file, you can always redownload it.
Pretty much, if you pirate the game, it's much easier than buying it in just about every way. Theoretically, only multiplayer components of games can be effectively "secured" from pirates, if a system is used where the game host ch
Maybe this is a troll getting me to bite but most places in the US which take credit cards also take ATM. I don't really see any difference except that ATMs won't let you spend more money than you have in your bank account.
Hmm, I don't know. Perhaps further study is in order.
Blame it on the "left" as much as you wish, but good ol' Governator Arnold is a Republican and he's the one who signed the bill into law.
And as someone else pointed out, left and right usually refer to economic systems. For some reason, a lot of Americans think of awful communist dictatorships when they hear "left wing", but don't associate the phrase "right wing" with fascist dictatorships such as Nazi Germany.
I've played many games, and GTA: San Andreas is probably one of the best games I've played (and not because it has a sex scene if you mod it). I liked the other GTA games but not nearly as much as SA. The main characters acted like characters in a movie, not cheesy NPCs with artificial pathing. It felt like you were in a movie and in control. The characters also had a whole lot of gestures too - these weren't all characters that could only walk/stop with blank looks on their faces. At least in my book, that game stands with the classics.
As a college student living in America, I simply cannot afford to see a doctor, dentist, etc for even a checkup. Haven't seen a dentist in like 5 years nor a doctor in 3 (and that was for just a physical). Even with a "good economy", there are many teens, young adults, and poor people who are prohibited by such a healthcare system from receiving even the most basic care. Sure, we have the most advanced medical techniques, equipment, drugs or what not, but with such high costs, many can't afford it. I guess only the wealthy deserve to live.
While you can often get an idea of what someone is thinking/feeling by their nonverbals, it's unreliable. Often, people think one thing and say another. And that is sometimes a good thing, as some thoughts are just not meant to be explained to someone else.
Recently, as a passing fancy, I decided to guess how many steps were between two buildings at my college and then count my steps. A friend crossed my path and asked me what was wrong. Took me a second to get unfrustrated that I lost count, figure out why he was asking me, then figure out how to answer him. So when I said "nothing" after a couple seconds of thinking, he persisted. My insistance that nothing was wrong only fed curiosity.
Situations like this happen to me from time to time, and I'm sure similar situations happen to everyone. I'm not completely "dismiss[ing] non-verbal cues as unimportant" however I think that they should definitely not be relied upon. So if I ask someone if something is wrong and they tell me there isn't, I believe them.
I certainly hope the industry backs this.
Earlier I was commenting on how such a (similar) system would be nice. I didn't think it would ever happen for a long time (if ever) because of a pessimistic view of entertainment industry politics. Fortunately, it seems I was wrong.
We don't know if the kid knew about game ratings. At that age, I knew, but then again not all 12 year olds are nerds.
I got that message and a friend of mine got that message as well.
I noticed that in the EULA the service is only to be used by people 21 or over. It didn't specifically say I or my friend was too young (I'm 20). Just seems kind of weird that eharmony is 0/3 with a 4 in 5 chance.
"When will people learn that your right to free speech doesn't exist in MY house"
Replace "MY house" with "Planet Earth". With this, YOUR right to free speech doesn't exist in your house either. At least not with a coworker. I could see banning fraternizing on the company grounds, after all that fits with the employer using the "MY house" argument. But this ruling is a step further - "MY house" now applies to anywhere on Earth.
Corporations are artificial. Government is responsible for creating/empowering corporate systems. You say that our rights mean nothing when a corporation is involved, because of something about an employment contract or whatever. But the corporate system is a creation/establishment of government and law - just like the FBI, IRS, Navy, etc. You "freely enter into an agreement" with the IRS when you decide to make enough money to have to pay taxes. So by that token, the IRS should be able to dictate to you who you talk to off the clock, just like your employer. Right?
In today's society, making money is a necessity. Millions of U.S. citizens HAVE to work at corporations otherwise society as we know it would collapse. So saying that employers should be able to take first amendment rights away willy-nilly because of employment agreements is a bit of a slippery slope. The way I see it, if there really was any distinction between big corporations and government, that distinction disappeared the moment corporations got the power to say who workers may associate with off-the-clock.
I wish that the government/corps would at least be a little more honest in the way they names stuff.
For example:
"protect Intellectual Property Rights" (from ch 15)
Digital Rights Management
Digital Millenium Copyright Act
Patriot Act
All of these sound positive based on the names. A purposeful shortage of rights should not be called "rights", it should be called "restrictions". For example, "Digital Restrictions Management". Or "copyrestriction" laws. Though it is a bit cowardly, they use tricky names because they know that they could not get support any other way. It's pitiful, but no senator or organization want's to be seen as "anti-rights" or "anti-patriotic".
I suggest that we call such laws/bills/technology what they really are. "Intellectual Property Restrictions", "Copyrestriction law", "Digital Restricitons Management", etc etc. If they are going to take our rights, they should at least do it without the guise that they are giving us more rights when in reality they are doing the exact opposite.
You will probably be able to download the patch if you agree to be probed by Windows Genuine Advantage (TM). I can see it now: "With Windows Genuine Advantage, your computer will now be able to make Daylight Savings Time adjustments on the correct day! Just install this ActiveX program with your browser and click here to send all the information we want!"
Actually though, I think that Windows XP machines by default synchronize with time.windows.com. However, I think that without a patch, Windows will try to adjust DST on the wrong day.
I noticed the other day that you can search for the length of a movie and Google will tell you before any search results.
Example: search for charlie chocolate factory movie duration
Google has smart people. Those people are smart enough to know that Google indexes copyrighted material. I could see a lawyer for a major label arguing that Google knows that copyrighted content is indexed on a regular basis - intentional or not Google is helping people find whatever copyrighted material people want to find.
I imagine this would actually be easier to argue in a court than the mentioned case, now that hyperlinking to "bad" sites is a no-no.
If I were running a search engine company and this started happening on a semi-regular basis, I'd probably say screw it and put up a special page for Australian IPs telling the people they need to do something about their laws. I'll bet if Australia scares off Google people are going to take notice and put some heat on their representatives. I mean come on, even a company the size of Google can't be expected to filter the entire Internet of any possible copyrighted content that is displayed on public web sites.
Aaaargh, people keep using the word "steal"!!
It's infringing on "intellectual property", not stealing! You are not really depriving them of their property - all you need to do is take a sample and grow more. The loss in volume would be neglegable.
For those who were wondering what a solution might be (I saw some attempts but didn't care much for them)..
// if this ends up as 2 or 3, we will turn place value bit on
// throw out lower place values
// throw out higher place values
// see if remaining bit is equal, if so increase vote count
#include <cmath>
using namespace std;
DWORD Vote (DWORD storedvalue[3])
{
DWORD result = 0;
for (int i = 31; i >= 0; i--)
{
int votes = 0;
for (int j = 0; j < 3; j++)
{
DWORD temp = storedvalue[j];
temp = temp / pwr(2,i);
temp = temp % pwr(2,i);
if (temp == pwr(2,i))
votes++;
}
if (votes >= 2)
result = result + pwr(2,i);
}
return result;
}
Sweet! I love our justice system, it is so fair and just.
Evil students trying to install AOL Instant Messenger? Lock 'em up 'till they're 25 and take away their entire college savings fund while they are at it. The Department of Corrections will correct them well and convert them to good citizens.
Your wrong.
Though this may be somewhat O/T, I believe this needs to be addressed. I believe criminal justice attitudes such as these to be one of the main causes for the dysfunction of our society. Don't get me wrong, child pornography is sick and should be strongly deterred. But we need to ask ourselves what role should our CJ system play.
I think too many people are too vengeful (in general, not necessarily not you personally). I could think up a punishment for child pornography that is too severe (for example, dismembering the criminal, his parents, and his children while still alive). Seriously though, we need to figure out if our CJ system should exist to deter and correct criminal behavior or if it should exist to fulfil humanity's lust to inflict suffering upon others.
I can see the future now.. nerds with nuclear laptops. As if we didn't already have a big enough roadblock to procreation.. jeez.
... and the problem continues when big businesses brib^H^H^H^Hhelps finance the campaigns of those who will support them.
Nope. They will simply be trustworthy and loyal to the media industry.