That's is just it it isn't trivial to setup. for most it costs tens of thousands of dollars.
Perhaps if you buy from Apple. Let's use a popular site like Newegg (I'm not affiliated, just providing a familiar link) and browse to the NAS section. There are many listings under $1000. Just how much data are you backing up? For large volumes you may want to consider tape.
Take drop box. Show me two apps one server and one client that uses the same client app across multiple platforms that allows for easy, secure syncing to not just one server, but any server I choose?
The functionality found in Rsync will handle this task across multiple platforms. Yes, there are GUIs written for it as well.
Show me an FTP client that works as seemlessly, or as securely as drop box.
Since you're comparing apples to oranges (FTP to Dropbox) look at WinSCP. Connection requirements, your credentials. Do your transactions over SSH instead of involving yet another 3rd party which can be subpoenaed.
The problem is techies don't want to, and can't think of how to make their software easy and safe for non techies to use
Secure systems by their vary nature are not convenient. As far as your claim about techies not wanting to, and can't think of how to make their software easy and safe, who do you think does that exactly? Management? Marketing? Do you consider the engineers who created Dropbox as non techies? If you want secure software, you need to pay for it. To many people "good enough" is sufficient, look at the popularity of the 'made in China' brand of goods as an analog.
Because I run a multi OS house there isn't a decent NAS for me. One that makes things like backup seemless.
You must be referring to client side software, client side software and NAS are two different things. Network Attached Storage by its very nature should be platform agnostic, as its providing access to a file system. There are a number of different solutions, perhaps you've heard of Samba?
I hate to support apple but Time Machine is how backups should have been done 20 years ago. Why wasn't it? why all the hassle?
HD docks exist and external storage has existed for quite some time, and are cheaper than ever. Backups aren't exactly a hassle, they're arguably time consuming. Remote storage has always been expensive, and remains so. If you're that concerned about sensitive information why not make backups locally and then store them at your safe deposit box? Some of the most precious things people lose in house fires aren't files off of their computers, but items like family pictures.
Note how I specifically mentioned "alphanumeric data" above. A hardware keyboard has definite advantages for programmers and users of alphabetic writing systems. But for users of writing systems that require up to thousands of unique symbols, a hardware keyboard with its fixed set of keys isn't that more efficient than having the on-screen ability to summon different sets of virtual keyboards.
Are you aware of how those systems with unique symbols operate? The fastest method by far is converting "alphabet" to symbol then using an autocomplete (or button on the keyboard) to compound the "word". The claim, that hunt n peck is not that less efficient than 10 fingers, is not based in reality. Lookups by radical or brushtroke are slow, and so is your solution with different sets of virtual keyboards which cater to this proposed solution.
Star Citizen raised over $6 million dollars ($2 million via kickstarter, $4 million via paypal). Since the campaign it has raised nearly $1 million dollars more (total $6.9 million).
Expect that figure to climb. Star Citizen is also much more tangible than what we've seen from Elite. They just released footage of what one of the space ports will look like. For the early adopters (people who invested prior to 11/26) all ships purchased will be insured for the life of the ship (the insurance transfers with title, hello second hand market value). In addition to that, additional ships may be purchased and accounts may be upgraded for the next 12 months. I wouldn't be surprised it if breaks $10mil. They've given this a lot of thought, one of the points raised was how will this prevent people from simply ramming ships? I recommend reviewing the link and giving the FAQ (and comments) a once over.
Some of the models they're releasing images of show the insides of the ships which players will be able to move around in. They've got a pirate style 2 man ship which enables the passenger to board a vessel. Very cool stuff if you're into that sort of thing. Now, about that Constellation...
If we shut off immigration, as the xenophobic fringe demands, we will look like Japan soon, with an aging population and not enough young people to support them.
We already are the world leader concerning immigration. The nearest country is france which has nearly a quarter of the amount immigrating as we do. Annually we're at over a million legal residents a year. So anything but upwards of what we're doing is xenophobic? LOL.
The USA was built by immigrants. It would be the height of folly to excessively limit immigration now when we most need it.
There are many issues at work here, but why don't we take care of the people already here, unless you're volunteering to tell that to the currently unemployed. We're facing record unemployment, levels not seen since before WW2. What jobs are these people going to do?
Not always true, you are making a huge assumption which anyone with knowledge knows is a false statement as given. Many apps will work sure, but not all of them. MS does care about backward compatibility, but it's not always possible. Maybe for games and such things will work, but higher end applications (generally with much higher price tags) will need to be re-purchased.
Compared to any other consumer operating system Microsoft wins with backwards compatibility, it is not absolute (nothing is) but Microsoft bends over backwards to support a massive library of software, especially compared to Apple. Are there edge cases? Absolutely, but that says more about the application developers than Microsoft.
Maybe for games and such things will work, but higher end applications (generally with much higher price tags) will need to be re-purchased.
You are making a huge assumption which anyone with knowledge knows is a false statement as given. You're claiming, as a fact, that you will need to rebuy it. Cinema 4D serial works for both platforms, invalidating your claim that you will need to rebuy it. Adobe will let you "cross grade" between platforms. AutoDesk does the same thing. Those are very popular software suites and these examples are in stark contrast to your claims, who is making the (arguably) sweeping statements?
The first point you mention is false. It took years for Apple to switch from PPC to X86. Portability of applications and making sure things work was the premier reason for the timing. You are trying to make it sound like Apple with just swap architectures without a care, which is a complete fabrication.
No where did I mention the speed of the transition, you inferred something which wasn't written. The fact remains that they've hopped architectures, if you've software written for the other architecture you are unable to use that, especially considering support for Rosetta has been removed. Legacy software support (and harware) is not one of Apple's strengths.
Even changing their architecture, how would that change their OS?
For one the way binaries are compiled, when a compiler generates code it does so with a particular architecture in mind. Are you able to run 6502 applications on a PPC (without an emulator!)? I'm sure other things will change, like how the scheduler works (sure the end result is similar but the nitty gritty will change) and other low level nuances. How memory is addressed is another concern (64 > 32) so there is that as well. For a more popular example look at the hoops developers jump through for supporting games written for various platforms like PS2, Xbox, Gamecube.
You are assuming 2 massive changes simultaneously, which again is a complete fabrication and FUD.
My intent wasn't to imply these happening at the same time, just that they can happen. You're looking into something I didn't write, if I had intended that perhaps I would've written "and" or used the world simultaneously. Ever think of that?
And if you want to bitch about not being able to run your IOS for PPC apps on IOS for X86, make sure you bitch about not being able to run Windows for DEC on your Windows for X86.
What the users of 10.8 are noticing is features are being removed and what is being added is more iOS like. No where did I claim I wasn't able to run iOS apps, I linked an article highlighting some valid grumblings. I'm not 'bitching', the only one here doing that is you with respect to your last line. Perhaps my posting history will illuminate my position about OS X/Windows/FreeBSD, why would I be concerned about something which doesn't affect me? Do you worry about supporting platforms your company doesn't
Windows 8 Storage Spaces is a great concept. A real world example, let's say you have lots of software installed, perhaps you use Steam? As your collection grows you might be unable to install all of it to a single volume. This would eliminate that issue by allowing the filesystem to span multiple disks.
Look, the commercials show a Apple knock off that relies on technology people generally don't have yet. The surface side of it may be interesting, but how many of us have touch displays at home?
This is a great point. Unfortunately Apple seems to be going this direction as well with features from iOS creeping in. There's also a potential for an architecture change. ARM 64 might be a candidate.
It prices me to an Apple system pretty quickly and what do I gain? Immature applications? Still the hassle of viruses and security? More lock in to a company that is shit? No thanks.
The Jury is still out on the benefits but if you move to another platform (you mentioned Apple) you'll need to include all the software, if it exists, too. The other thing windows has going for it is a massive library of software. Some vendors might be understanding and let you use your license on the other platform, others may not.
Consumers may generally be stupid, but they are not that stupid.
Are these the same consumers who are the voting public?
If people stopped bashing IE then it we could give corps a great reason to upgrade from crappy versions which benefit everyone as we want more HTML 5.
If people stopped bashing it then nobody would know its a crappy browser compared to the others in standards support. I'm referring to the vast deployment of the prior incarnations, IE10 is sliver of IEs market share. It's great they've got a brand new version of it, but it's like Android, a highly fragmented market where the vast majority use the old and/or busted versions.
IE 10 has a dual sandbox for not only ASLR, and DEP, but also heap spraying protection as well. It has not been integrated at all into the kernel since the days of IE 6. The only integrating that IE 10 does is the grapnics for smooth fluid scrolling and video in Direct X11.1 and WDDM 1.2 which explains why it is not on Windows 7 yet.
It would be really cool to see them make it a serious competitor and have it run on multiple platforms (non Windows) if they're that concerned about improving the web. Now if they could only get more people to use it and upgrade, users everywhere will rejoice and enjoy using shiny features that competing browsers have had, in some cases, for many years. It's not even fashionably late, it's like "I'll see you at the party in 3 years" kinda late. As a developer who has to support various applications, better late than never, though, right?
I agree that DRM free is the exception. Doesn't mean one has to go along with it. As for GOG, from what I understand they used use that as an acronym Good Old Games, but officially it's just GOG because there are some newer games available now on it (Alan Wake and ARMA 2 come to mind, along with a bunch of newer indie titles and some slightly older games like the newer Sam & Max series). So I wouldn't just class them as all about really old stuff anymore.
I am aware of the trend to feature new titles there, however, is the vast majority of their software new? No. See for yourself, select release date and choose prior to 1995, 1995-2005, and 2005+. If the majority of their software is pre 2005 it's not exactly not "all about really old stuff anymore". Anything older than a year is old in the entertainment world, not to say they can't be appreciated. It can be old and recent at the same time, I'll use Skyrim as an example. It's a year old and their most recent TES game. I enjoyed the Gemeni Rue game, if you're looking for something a little off beat, take a look at Proteus.
Heck no, that's not what I mean. Particularly about movies, I'm not saying not to watch newer movies, or even stick with older games. The problem is entirely in the DRM. I'd play more newer commercial games if they didn't use Steam/DRM, simple. It's just that the older games (either by virtue of GOG's modifications or just via their age) don't have DRM because it wasn't around at the time.
Thanks for the clarification. I firmly understand your stance with DRM and for many people the "lesson" hasn't been learned yet, or they simply don't care. Many people don't pick up titles from years ago and play them, some might accept that they probably won't work. Perhaps they liken it to enjoying something disposable. While not a solution, I think we'll see more things where the scene will release some variant of an emulator like dosbox, and patched executables. Still, most of the pirated stuff doesn't disable the DRM, or remove it. The patches in many cases are "simple" tricks, enough to get the game running. The trend with free to play stuff is that the games revolve around an account, this trend is rearing its head for console releases and in some cases affects the resale value.
The only downside of course is that people want their games and if given a choice between Steam DRM and Half-Life 3... fuck, actually now I'm not sure even I could hold onto my principles in that situation
You could always purchase a boxed copy and wrestle with a scene release. Then the whole convenience thing comes into play... nobody said sticking to your principles was easy, but at least you can sleep at night.
You're right. So just don't play them. You mean to tell me you have so much free time and no other hobbies that the selection of GOG is too limiting?
Who says I do? My point was that for the mainstream many titles are not DRM free, DRM free is the exception not the norm. GOG, which I am a fan of, keywords being old games (ones I've already purchased originally, that have nice boxes and the older titles (think 80s) have nice manuals, too) are not representative of many new titles. To illustrate this point look at the catalog differences between it and what is current (especially over the last 10 years). Are you telling me as someone whose been an avid gamer for over 20+ years that I should simply rebuy titles I already own? Using movies as an analogy, your argument boils down to not watch any new movies, since the back catalog is so vast? To the new comer this might be more appealing. That said, I enjoy many older movies (Big Trouble in Little China I'm looking at you), but I also like newer ones (Skyfall), and there is nothing wrong with that. I suppose you could simply come out and recommend using one of the open sourced Quake engines and play yet another rehash of that game from 1999 or earlier, why, when there are better engines like Source, Unreal 3, games like Skyrim and Minecraft both with awesome mods and vibrant communities?
I don't understand this though. On say GOG, you buy the game, you download the files, you create a folder and dump the installer files into said folder. Then, you can run and install the game at your leisure, and backup the installers for another time.
Obviously, catalog selection also plays an important role, otherwise, Amazon wouldn't be nearly as popular for many market segments. On top of that many people don't care since these are PC specific issues and because they get the titles on a console, they use what they use because their friends have it and they want to play with their friends. The functionality you're describing is also present in Steam, so what separates these two platforms in the eyes of a typical gamer is now catalog related.
The industry is extremely schizophrenic about modding lets face this fact, in the past you could just mod the damn game. Now there is all sorts of legal bullshit. Consider the legal quagmire starcraft 2 mods have now:
I completely agree about the industry being schizophrenic, but its not like every game in the past you could mod either. Only those with specific engines, much like today. It appears that many of today's gamers don't appreciate that option (since they support the yearly releases). Also there is a rise in multiplatform gaming, with consoles over represented.
Now there is all sorts of legal bullshit.
There has always been legal bullshit, especially with regards to trademarks.
At least with DRM-free games, I can keep the installers and not worry about what happens to the vendor in 5-10+ years time.
Not many AAA titles are DRM free these days, sadly. To top it off, many of these games get patches at release making the on disc version as awesome as a first edition Windows XP disc.
I'm only 29, and I don't see my opinions as being particularly of the grumpy-old-men level either. It seems to just be a fact that games make people drop their principles for DRM and justify it instead of staying away from it entirely and opting instead of DRM-free stuff like that from GOG.com. But unfortunately there are WAY too many Valve fanboys around who tend to drown out your opinion.
Convenience is a powerful thing. Look at the prevalence of passwordless SSH keys for an example in "our" domain.
I largely agree with your post and think you're spot on with several points.
They were there during game-modding golden years of Quake/duke/doom/etc that has been smothered (Supcom 2 was locked down and made difficult to mod at publisher request). Games like diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 have been increasingly fucked with because of publishers greed.
What has gone up since then? Complexity for one, this affects dev tool chains and narrows the talent pool, but the tools have never been better. How often do game editors get trailers? The guys who made the mods of yore have turned them into franchises. Games like Minecraft (10 million + sold) beg to differ about the modding scene. Look at WOW for crazy addons some of which become folded into the main client. Unreal 3 makes their dev tools extremely accessible and is one of the reasons for its popularity, and its cross platform. Try doing that with Quake, not to mention Quake has been open sourced and hacked to bits.
Just see this article here where the talk about 'engineering' psychological changes via PR campaigns for the acceptance of F2P / online DRM.
To me F2P is a response to piracy. Software as a service isn't new, we've been through this client server model before.
I dunno, I don't remember which I was hotter Johnie Lee Miller (Zero Cool) or Angelina Jolie (Acid Burn) in her first movie "Hackers".
She was in some other stuff prior to Hackers, Angelina Jolie's Films. Pretty crazy she was in Cyborg 2. Youtube it if you want a smile. I liked her in that movie but I'm not really a fan.
The proof is far more solid than any proofs given of the damage caused by piracy.
Solid proofs like titles not being released or an industry built around combating it? Game example: Gears of War PC sequels. The engine is the middleware and already cross platform (Unreal 3). Companies dedicated to the creation of antipiracy technology is another measuring stick for the prevalence of the issue.
There's only a small, finite number of movies in theaters at any one time - the article mentioned 1344. If each one were hosted once, that'd be 1344 files.
You're close. To those not aware movies and other large files frequently encountered from the scene are stored in archives (usually archives within archives) which range in size from 2,5,10,25,50,75,100+ megs for parity and convenience. If you'd like some sources for this peruse a tracker website sometime, do so with adblock at the very least. That being said, a single movie may have anywhere from 7 for the CDR sized DIVX encodes to close to 100 pieces for the 1080p variety, with the larger pieced out files typically encountered on the Megauploads of the world. On top of that there are different release groups, let's estimate that at about 5 for commonly accessible popular releases. There are many more than that especially if you include one off releases by non affiliated individuals like "MrMovieMagic Brave 720p", and then multiple releases of the same movie for different regions (English, Deutsch, Finnish, Russian, Spanish) etc. Remember this is loosely about 'cred'. Shifting the focus from encoded movies to DVD ISOs, music, software (think multigigabyte Autodesk or Adobe products, games etc.), ebooks, and you can imagine there is a lot of duplication involved. I'm not sure if you've done any work with version control, but I imagine the duplication of content on Megaupload in essence to be very similar to that of revision iterations. Oh look, another release due to encoding errors, random mislabeled files (you think that's %Language% you're getting, muhahaha), password protected junk (visit my site yo!), and down the rabbit hole it goes.
Therefore, it's possible that both are correct - most files were not piracy related, but there were some that did, and they may have had an effect on the market.
Or the crazy idea that free advertising works. Not that I think that is exactly what this is (many of these people have no intention of buying, ever.)
No my point was that the right to free speech is not an unless ticket to do whatever you want with you vocal cords and be immune from all legal action
So Security Clearances and NDAs are not contracts? Did you read the point I was replying to? He specifically said that there is no contract which you can sign away your rights with and I provided two examples. I'll list a 3rd, what do you call it when you sign up with the Military, the document you sign? It specifically prohibits what you're allowed to say (and do while in uniform), just like a security clearance, or an NDA (especially if you're doing work for the Government). Regardless what your stance is, these are contracts which limit your ability to speak out.
People just don't seem to realise how narrow their rights really are.
None of those things allow someone to know exactly where someone is located in real time.
You do realize that RFID has a limited range, measured in the 10s of feet, right? Are the hypothetical students with RFID readers going to know that they're at school, perhaps in the same class (or next to it?) If you're that concerned what are your thoughts on someone stealing the attendance sheet, is it no big deal since its not real time? I take it you're against children possessing a mobile phone because it broadcasts their location. This is a complete non issue. If you're worried about "criminals" locating students on campus, there are much larger issues to be addressed than the badge, such as someone wandering the halls.
Slashdot Mirror
That's is just it it isn't trivial to setup. for most it costs tens of thousands of dollars.
Perhaps if you buy from Apple. Let's use a popular site like Newegg (I'm not affiliated, just providing a familiar link) and browse to the NAS section. There are many listings under $1000. Just how much data are you backing up? For large volumes you may want to consider tape.
Take drop box. Show me two apps one server and one client that uses the same client app across multiple platforms that allows for easy, secure syncing to not just one server, but any server I choose?
The functionality found in Rsync will handle this task across multiple platforms. Yes, there are GUIs written for it as well.
Show me an FTP client that works as seemlessly, or as securely as drop box.
Since you're comparing apples to oranges (FTP to Dropbox) look at WinSCP. Connection requirements, your credentials. Do your transactions over SSH instead of involving yet another 3rd party which can be subpoenaed.
The problem is techies don't want to, and can't think of how to make their software easy and safe for non techies to use
Secure systems by their vary nature are not convenient. As far as your claim about techies not wanting to, and can't think of how to make their software easy and safe, who do you think does that exactly? Management? Marketing? Do you consider the engineers who created Dropbox as non techies? If you want secure software, you need to pay for it. To many people "good enough" is sufficient, look at the popularity of the 'made in China' brand of goods as an analog.
Because I run a multi OS house there isn't a decent NAS for me. One that makes things like backup seemless.
You must be referring to client side software, client side software and NAS are two different things. Network Attached Storage by its very nature should be platform agnostic, as its providing access to a file system. There are a number of different solutions, perhaps you've heard of Samba?
I hate to support apple but Time Machine is how backups should have been done 20 years ago. Why wasn't it? why all the hassle?
HD docks exist and external storage has existed for quite some time, and are cheaper than ever. Backups aren't exactly a hassle, they're arguably time consuming. Remote storage has always been expensive, and remains so. If you're that concerned about sensitive information why not make backups locally and then store them at your safe deposit box? Some of the most precious things people lose in house fires aren't files off of their computers, but items like family pictures.
Note how I specifically mentioned "alphanumeric data" above. A hardware keyboard has definite advantages for programmers and users of alphabetic writing systems. But for users of writing systems that require up to thousands of unique symbols, a hardware keyboard with its fixed set of keys isn't that more efficient than having the on-screen ability to summon different sets of virtual keyboards.
Are you aware of how those systems with unique symbols operate? The fastest method by far is converting "alphabet" to symbol then using an autocomplete (or button on the keyboard) to compound the "word". The claim, that hunt n peck is not that less efficient than 10 fingers, is not based in reality. Lookups by radical or brushtroke are slow, and so is your solution with different sets of virtual keyboards which cater to this proposed solution.
Star Citizen raised over $6 million dollars ($2 million via kickstarter, $4 million via paypal). Since the campaign it has raised nearly $1 million dollars more (total $6.9 million).
Expect that figure to climb. Star Citizen is also much more tangible than what we've seen from Elite. They just released footage of what one of the space ports will look like. For the early adopters (people who invested prior to 11/26) all ships purchased will be insured for the life of the ship (the insurance transfers with title, hello second hand market value). In addition to that, additional ships may be purchased and accounts may be upgraded for the next 12 months. I wouldn't be surprised it if breaks $10mil. They've given this a lot of thought, one of the points raised was how will this prevent people from simply ramming ships? I recommend reviewing the link and giving the FAQ (and comments) a once over.
Some of the models they're releasing images of show the insides of the ships which players will be able to move around in. They've got a pirate style 2 man ship which enables the passenger to board a vessel. Very cool stuff if you're into that sort of thing. Now, about that Constellation...
You mean like the fun you can have with $2 bills?
If we shut off immigration, as the xenophobic fringe demands, we will look like Japan soon, with an aging population and not enough young people to support them.
We already are the world leader concerning immigration. The nearest country is france which has nearly a quarter of the amount immigrating as we do. Annually we're at over a million legal residents a year. So anything but upwards of what we're doing is xenophobic? LOL.
The USA was built by immigrants. It would be the height of folly to excessively limit immigration now when we most need it.
There are many issues at work here, but why don't we take care of the people already here, unless you're volunteering to tell that to the currently unemployed. We're facing record unemployment, levels not seen since before WW2. What jobs are these people going to do?
there are NOT millions of them FLOODING into the country.
It depends is you count multiple years. Immigration to the United States puts the legal figure at over a million a year. How many are unaccounted for?
Not always true, you are making a huge assumption which anyone with knowledge knows is a false statement as given. Many apps will work sure, but not all of them. MS does care about backward compatibility, but it's not always possible. Maybe for games and such things will work, but higher end applications (generally with much higher price tags) will need to be re-purchased.
Compared to any other consumer operating system Microsoft wins with backwards compatibility, it is not absolute (nothing is) but Microsoft bends over backwards to support a massive library of software, especially compared to Apple. Are there edge cases? Absolutely, but that says more about the application developers than Microsoft.
Maybe for games and such things will work, but higher end applications (generally with much higher price tags) will need to be re-purchased.
You are making a huge assumption which anyone with knowledge knows is a false statement as given. You're claiming, as a fact, that you will need to rebuy it. Cinema 4D serial works for both platforms, invalidating your claim that you will need to rebuy it. Adobe will let you "cross grade" between platforms. AutoDesk does the same thing. Those are very popular software suites and these examples are in stark contrast to your claims, who is making the (arguably) sweeping statements?
The first point you mention is false. It took years for Apple to switch from PPC to X86. Portability of applications and making sure things work was the premier reason for the timing. You are trying to make it sound like Apple with just swap architectures without a care, which is a complete fabrication.
No where did I mention the speed of the transition, you inferred something which wasn't written. The fact remains that they've hopped architectures, if you've software written for the other architecture you are unable to use that, especially considering support for Rosetta has been removed. Legacy software support (and harware) is not one of Apple's strengths.
Even changing their architecture, how would that change their OS?
For one the way binaries are compiled, when a compiler generates code it does so with a particular architecture in mind. Are you able to run 6502 applications on a PPC (without an emulator!)? I'm sure other things will change, like how the scheduler works (sure the end result is similar but the nitty gritty will change) and other low level nuances. How memory is addressed is another concern (64 > 32) so there is that as well. For a more popular example look at the hoops developers jump through for supporting games written for various platforms like PS2, Xbox, Gamecube.
You are assuming 2 massive changes simultaneously, which again is a complete fabrication and FUD.
My intent wasn't to imply these happening at the same time, just that they can happen. You're looking into something I didn't write, if I had intended that perhaps I would've written "and" or used the world simultaneously. Ever think of that?
And if you want to bitch about not being able to run your IOS for PPC apps on IOS for X86, make sure you bitch about not being able to run Windows for DEC on your Windows for X86.
What the users of 10.8 are noticing is features are being removed and what is being added is more iOS like. No where did I claim I wasn't able to run iOS apps, I linked an article highlighting some valid grumblings. I'm not 'bitching', the only one here doing that is you with respect to your last line. Perhaps my posting history will illuminate my position about OS X/Windows/FreeBSD, why would I be concerned about something which doesn't affect me? Do you worry about supporting platforms your company doesn't
Windows 8 Storage Spaces is a great concept. A real world example, let's say you have lots of software installed, perhaps you use Steam? As your collection grows you might be unable to install all of it to a single volume. This would eliminate that issue by allowing the filesystem to span multiple disks.
Look, the commercials show a Apple knock off that relies on technology people generally don't have yet. The surface side of it may be interesting, but how many of us have touch displays at home?
This is a great point. Unfortunately Apple seems to be going this direction as well with features from iOS creeping in. There's also a potential for an architecture change. ARM 64 might be a candidate.
It prices me to an Apple system pretty quickly and what do I gain? Immature applications? Still the hassle of viruses and security? More lock in to a company that is shit? No thanks.
The Jury is still out on the benefits but if you move to another platform (you mentioned Apple) you'll need to include all the software, if it exists, too. The other thing windows has going for it is a massive library of software. Some vendors might be understanding and let you use your license on the other platform, others may not.
Consumers may generally be stupid, but they are not that stupid.
Are these the same consumers who are the voting public?
If people stopped bashing IE then it we could give corps a great reason to upgrade from crappy versions which benefit everyone as we want more HTML 5.
If people stopped bashing it then nobody would know its a crappy browser compared to the others in standards support. I'm referring to the vast deployment of the prior incarnations, IE10 is sliver of IEs market share. It's great they've got a brand new version of it, but it's like Android, a highly fragmented market where the vast majority use the old and/or busted versions.
IE 10 has a dual sandbox for not only ASLR, and DEP, but also heap spraying protection as well. It has not been integrated at all into the kernel since the days of IE 6. The only integrating that IE 10 does is the grapnics for smooth fluid scrolling and video in Direct X11.1 and WDDM 1.2 which explains why it is not on Windows 7 yet.
It would be really cool to see them make it a serious competitor and have it run on multiple platforms (non Windows) if they're that concerned about improving the web. Now if they could only get more people to use it and upgrade, users everywhere will rejoice and enjoy using shiny features that competing browsers have had, in some cases, for many years. It's not even fashionably late, it's like "I'll see you at the party in 3 years" kinda late. As a developer who has to support various applications, better late than never, though, right?
I agree that DRM free is the exception. Doesn't mean one has to go along with it. As for GOG, from what I understand they used use that as an acronym Good Old Games, but officially it's just GOG because there are some newer games available now on it (Alan Wake and ARMA 2 come to mind, along with a bunch of newer indie titles and some slightly older games like the newer Sam & Max series). So I wouldn't just class them as all about really old stuff anymore.
I am aware of the trend to feature new titles there, however, is the vast majority of their software new? No. See for yourself, select release date and choose prior to 1995, 1995-2005, and 2005+. If the majority of their software is pre 2005 it's not exactly not "all about really old stuff anymore". Anything older than a year is old in the entertainment world, not to say they can't be appreciated. It can be old and recent at the same time, I'll use Skyrim as an example. It's a year old and their most recent TES game. I enjoyed the Gemeni Rue game, if you're looking for something a little off beat, take a look at Proteus.
Heck no, that's not what I mean. Particularly about movies, I'm not saying not to watch newer movies, or even stick with older games. The problem is entirely in the DRM. I'd play more newer commercial games if they didn't use Steam/DRM, simple. It's just that the older games (either by virtue of GOG's modifications or just via their age) don't have DRM because it wasn't around at the time.
Thanks for the clarification. I firmly understand your stance with DRM and for many people the "lesson" hasn't been learned yet, or they simply don't care. Many people don't pick up titles from years ago and play them, some might accept that they probably won't work. Perhaps they liken it to enjoying something disposable. While not a solution, I think we'll see more things where the scene will release some variant of an emulator like dosbox, and patched executables. Still, most of the pirated stuff doesn't disable the DRM, or remove it. The patches in many cases are "simple" tricks, enough to get the game running. The trend with free to play stuff is that the games revolve around an account, this trend is rearing its head for console releases and in some cases affects the resale value.
The only downside of course is that people want their games and if given a choice between Steam DRM and Half-Life 3... fuck, actually now I'm not sure even I could hold onto my principles in that situation
You could always purchase a boxed copy and wrestle with a scene release. Then the whole convenience thing comes into play... nobody said sticking to your principles was easy, but at least you can sleep at night.
> open mailbox
You're right. So just don't play them. You mean to tell me you have so much free time and no other hobbies that the selection of GOG is too limiting?
Who says I do? My point was that for the mainstream many titles are not DRM free, DRM free is the exception not the norm. GOG, which I am a fan of, keywords being old games (ones I've already purchased originally, that have nice boxes and the older titles (think 80s) have nice manuals, too) are not representative of many new titles. To illustrate this point look at the catalog differences between it and what is current (especially over the last 10 years). Are you telling me as someone whose been an avid gamer for over 20+ years that I should simply rebuy titles I already own? Using movies as an analogy, your argument boils down to not watch any new movies, since the back catalog is so vast? To the new comer this might be more appealing. That said, I enjoy many older movies (Big Trouble in Little China I'm looking at you), but I also like newer ones (Skyfall), and there is nothing wrong with that. I suppose you could simply come out and recommend using one of the open sourced Quake engines and play yet another rehash of that game from 1999 or earlier, why, when there are better engines like Source, Unreal 3, games like Skyrim and Minecraft both with awesome mods and vibrant communities?
I don't understand this though. On say GOG, you buy the game, you download the files, you create a folder and dump the installer files into said folder. Then, you can run and install the game at your leisure, and backup the installers for another time.
Obviously, catalog selection also plays an important role, otherwise, Amazon wouldn't be nearly as popular for many market segments. On top of that many people don't care since these are PC specific issues and because they get the titles on a console, they use what they use because their friends have it and they want to play with their friends. The functionality you're describing is also present in Steam, so what separates these two platforms in the eyes of a typical gamer is now catalog related.
The industry is extremely schizophrenic about modding lets face this fact, in the past you could just mod the damn game. Now there is all sorts of legal bullshit. Consider the legal quagmire starcraft 2 mods have now:
I completely agree about the industry being schizophrenic, but its not like every game in the past you could mod either. Only those with specific engines, much like today. It appears that many of today's gamers don't appreciate that option (since they support the yearly releases). Also there is a rise in multiplatform gaming, with consoles over represented.
Now there is all sorts of legal bullshit.
There has always been legal bullshit, especially with regards to trademarks.
At least with DRM-free games, I can keep the installers and not worry about what happens to the vendor in 5-10+ years time.
Not many AAA titles are DRM free these days, sadly. To top it off, many of these games get patches at release making the on disc version as awesome as a first edition Windows XP disc.
I'm only 29, and I don't see my opinions as being particularly of the grumpy-old-men level either. It seems to just be a fact that games make people drop their principles for DRM and justify it instead of staying away from it entirely and opting instead of DRM-free stuff like that from GOG.com. But unfortunately there are WAY too many Valve fanboys around who tend to drown out your opinion.
Convenience is a powerful thing. Look at the prevalence of passwordless SSH keys for an example in "our" domain.
They were there during game-modding golden years of Quake/duke/doom/etc that has been smothered (Supcom 2 was locked down and made difficult to mod at publisher request). Games like diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 have been increasingly fucked with because of publishers greed.
What has gone up since then? Complexity for one, this affects dev tool chains and narrows the talent pool, but the tools have never been better. How often do game editors get trailers? The guys who made the mods of yore have turned them into franchises. Games like Minecraft (10 million + sold) beg to differ about the modding scene. Look at WOW for crazy addons some of which become folded into the main client. Unreal 3 makes their dev tools extremely accessible and is one of the reasons for its popularity, and its cross platform. Try doing that with Quake, not to mention Quake has been open sourced and hacked to bits.
Just see this article here where the talk about 'engineering' psychological changes via PR campaigns for the acceptance of F2P / online DRM.
To me F2P is a response to piracy. Software as a service isn't new, we've been through this client server model before.
> Go north
I dunno, I don't remember which I was hotter Johnie Lee Miller (Zero Cool) or Angelina Jolie (Acid Burn) in her first movie "Hackers".
She was in some other stuff prior to Hackers, Angelina Jolie's Films. Pretty crazy she was in Cyborg 2. Youtube it if you want a smile. I liked her in that movie but I'm not really a fan.
Of course the 'no questions asked' extradition treaty between the UK and USA is a one-way deal.
Another poster mentioned this, perhaps it'll cause you to reevaluate your understanding of the law, and your opinion stated as fact.
I think he lost the login details to his other account, ProfoundCaptObvious. I'd be upset if I lost that, when there are so many points to make, too.
The proof is far more solid than any proofs given of the damage caused by piracy.
Solid proofs like titles not being released or an industry built around combating it? Game example: Gears of War PC sequels. The engine is the middleware and already cross platform (Unreal 3). Companies dedicated to the creation of antipiracy technology is another measuring stick for the prevalence of the issue.
There's only a small, finite number of movies in theaters at any one time - the article mentioned 1344. If each one were hosted once, that'd be 1344 files.
You're close. To those not aware movies and other large files frequently encountered from the scene are stored in archives (usually archives within archives) which range in size from 2,5,10,25,50,75,100+ megs for parity and convenience. If you'd like some sources for this peruse a tracker website sometime, do so with adblock at the very least. That being said, a single movie may have anywhere from 7 for the CDR sized DIVX encodes to close to 100 pieces for the 1080p variety, with the larger pieced out files typically encountered on the Megauploads of the world. On top of that there are different release groups, let's estimate that at about 5 for commonly accessible popular releases. There are many more than that especially if you include one off releases by non affiliated individuals like "MrMovieMagic Brave 720p", and then multiple releases of the same movie for different regions (English, Deutsch, Finnish, Russian, Spanish) etc. Remember this is loosely about 'cred'. Shifting the focus from encoded movies to DVD ISOs, music, software (think multigigabyte Autodesk or Adobe products, games etc.), ebooks, and you can imagine there is a lot of duplication involved. I'm not sure if you've done any work with version control, but I imagine the duplication of content on Megaupload in essence to be very similar to that of revision iterations. Oh look, another release due to encoding errors, random mislabeled files (you think that's %Language% you're getting, muhahaha), password protected junk (visit my site yo!), and down the rabbit hole it goes.
Therefore, it's possible that both are correct - most files were not piracy related, but there were some that did, and they may have had an effect on the market.
Or the crazy idea that free advertising works. Not that I think that is exactly what this is (many of these people have no intention of buying, ever.)
No my point was that the right to free speech is not an unless ticket to do whatever you want with you vocal cords and be immune from all legal action
So Security Clearances and NDAs are not contracts? Did you read the point I was replying to? He specifically said that there is no contract which you can sign away your rights with and I provided two examples. I'll list a 3rd, what do you call it when you sign up with the Military, the document you sign? It specifically prohibits what you're allowed to say (and do while in uniform), just like a security clearance, or an NDA (especially if you're doing work for the Government). Regardless what your stance is, these are contracts which limit your ability to speak out.
People just don't seem to realise how narrow their rights really are.
I agree.
None of those things allow someone to know exactly where someone is located in real time.
You do realize that RFID has a limited range, measured in the 10s of feet, right? Are the hypothetical students with RFID readers going to know that they're at school, perhaps in the same class (or next to it?) If you're that concerned what are your thoughts on someone stealing the attendance sheet, is it no big deal since its not real time? I take it you're against children possessing a mobile phone because it broadcasts their location. This is a complete non issue. If you're worried about "criminals" locating students on campus, there are much larger issues to be addressed than the badge, such as someone wandering the halls.
Free speech and NDAs are two completely different things.
With respect to Security Clearances are those not contracts, too? Are you claiming you're also unable to enter into an NDA with the Government?
Just because you can be sued for breach of contract does not mean you will lose
True. Although how about avoiding breaking your word in the first place?