Actually, that's not a bad idea. If you do collect them though, don't you have the right to make a backup copy anyway?
Seems like the copyright issues wouldn't be a big deal here, if you owned a copy of the original cartridge (now selling for 22 cents on ebay!) and then run it on an emulator.
Are there programs out there, that let you get the stuff off the ROM though? I'm not too lazy to look, but I'm not too interested to find out, either. Just curious.:)
Douglas Lowenstein, head of game-industry trade group the Entertainment Software Association, said his organization focuses on immediate legal and regulatory issues such as copyrights and piracy. It simply hasn't yet put a priority on preserving the industry's history, which he said would be a huge undertaking. Nor does he know of any other efforts in the industry.
Stuff like this really ticks me off. Of *course* the gaming industry isn't gonna say, "Hey, don't forget to add in a few (some amount) bucks so we can preserve our history.
Gaming companies, or any company, really, has little interest in supporting games where there is 1) no more money to be had, and 2) it would seem a lack of investment.
That doesn't mean there isn't a solution though. The Internet at large is picking up the slack on its own. The geeks who want to support these games so they don't die out, will, and it won't cost the "industry" any more than letting go of their pride, and in some cases, just creating a link somewhere on their page that says "Download this deprecated, unsupported, game that is now freeware, available to all."
At least that way, the game is alive and kicking, and it would be even better if they released the source code.
This can't be a serious issue, either. When they release patches on a regular basis that are 40+ megs or so, how is a 46k file going to cost them *anything* comparable in bandwidth?
It doesn't take much to support one game, by one fanatic fiend out there on the web. Throw up a homepage, post your memories, screenshots, and the game. Gee, that'll really kill Geocities.
The gaming industry is just too lazy, but if they got their act together, it would be a great PR move for them. "Wow, Company A is so cool, becuase they released their old 80's computer game on the web!!!" Seems to me, that something like that would generate a bit of brand loyalty, and actually *stop* pirating in the process, because then people would respect their decisions, instead of circumventing the law solely to preserve history.
Apple doesnt even offer native support to QuickTime for OGGs.
Their ad for QuickTime Pro boasts compatablitiy with over "200 digital media capabilities and components"... so why do they leave out the free-to-implement, open source audio OGG Vorbis?
Well, to be more detailed, part of the services we offer online on our website require that use IE because it doesnt work in Mozilla/Netscape.. yet.
So, if they tell me they're using AOL's browser, now I have to figure out if they're using Netscape or IE. That's not so much a problem in itself -- just do Help, About.. etc. But if they are using AOL's mail client, and can't figure out how to setup their SMTP settings, I sure as heck don't have a clue how to do it, because I've never used AOL myself.
Even then, that shouldn't be too hard to figure out... so this is kinda a moot point on my part. Oh well.
But, you're still right. I shouldn't be a jerk about it.
I wonder, how is this going to affect AOL's other markets now?
With Netscape, they had AIM support built right-in. All MSIE has is a little taskbar button for Messenger (I dunno if they have one for AIM, too). I'm pretty sure it won't be as easy to create a Netscape profile using your AIM login at the same time though.
And what about Real Player? IE integrates pretty well with Media Player. Actually, if Real Player up and died, it would be no big loss, but I wonder how AOL is still gonna push that stuff, if they don't push Netscape anymore that comes with it all.
Well, not like they were really pushing Netscape anyway. They just made it the default browser, and I'm sure the average AOLer didn't notice anyway. Without Netscape though, I imagine that the other two might have a harder time standing on their own.
It's a real shame how AOL killed off Netscape completely, even from the start. Thank goodness that all the talent and programming broke off from the technology site turned idiot portal into Mozilla.
I fondly remember the day (late 90s) when the ONLY reason I would use MSIE was when I had to go and download Netscape.
I have to wonder what the future of the browser/company once known as Netscape is now. It would be interesting if AOL sold it off as a subsidiary since obviously THEY'RE not going to use it anymore.
Oh well, this comes as no surprise, really. The real question here is, I have to wonder if AOLers even *know* what browser they're using. I love getting those tech support calls at work, and when I ask them what browser or e-mail client they're using, they just say, "AOL."
Re:FOR PARENTS WHO ARE DRUGGING THEIR CHILDREN
on
Working with ADHD?
·
· Score: 1
Yah, and most people who post this stuff are usually selling vitamin-alternatives.
Re:ADHD is not as funny as you jerks think it is.
on
Working with ADHD?
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
Agreed.
My psychology professor said it best when he said "People with ADHD just have a lot of difficulties in life."
In my case of severity, I'd say it's not disabling enough that I could be labeled "handicapped" but it certainly is enough that I have difficulty with almost every normal aspect of life.
Most people don't realize how much effort it takes to do things when you have ADHD. Medication has changed my life completely. It doesn't take away the problems, but it lets me deal with them rationally. I save hundreds of $$$ from not impulse buying, alone.
I do love ADHD though. There are so many great benefits. I lost the link I was looking for, too. Oh well. Organization is not one of my strong points.:)
I work at a small company (only 12 employees, 3 of em are my bosses), and I've found its the perfect setting for me. I work at my own desk, but share the room with one other co-worker. There's a couple of things that I've found that helps me a lot:
Work in the morning -- I get up at 6 a.m. every morning, and get there at work at 7. The other programmers don't come in usually til around 11 or so, so I get a lot of free time to myself without any distractions. It's when I get my best work done. By the time everyone else shows up, it's easier to get distracted and chat with everyone or something else. The other thing I like a lot about coming in so early, is that it's never a problem if I want to take off early in the afternoon. I leave for the day anywhere between 2p and 6p, and it's all good -- by that time, I've already put in a good chunk of working hours.
Take your meds regularly - It doesn't do any good to take your meds on your own schedule. I tried it once with one day on, one day off to see what would happen, and it really screwed me up. Half the week I was really productive, and the other half I couldn't focus as well. It left a lot of gaps. I find it's better (if I'm running low on meds, and you know how it is with getting around to get a refill) to stay regularly medicated, and then if you run out, even then the results last sometimes up to two weeks, with a slow degrade. It's better than the confusing alternative.
Don't eat chocolate -- I know that sounds obvious, but don't do anything to provoke you to be even more stimulated, nervous or excited. Cutting down on sweets makes me less jittery. I always have to be munching on something at work though, and I'd recommend fruit or something small other than Double Stuff Oreos and chocolate chip cookies.
Go for a walk -- I can't sit still, especially when a problem is bugging me. I find it's easier to take my mind off things (and relieve stress) by just wandering around a bit whenever I can't focus. There are times, though, when no matter what you do there's just no way I can get my mind back on the work at hand, and I just let it slide. I'll sit around and read Slashdot from top to bottom, but won't charge my boss for the hours wasted. Even though I'm inproductive/distracted at times, it's generally the exception, and I'm able to crank out a few days worth of work at a time that lets me catch up fine.
I've been really fortunate to have a job where the boss realizes that I phase out from time to time, but in the end I get all the work done. As a result, they sometimes have to push me when it comes to important deadlines, but I always do a good job because I can focus when I get in the mood. There's lots of pros and cons, but you just have to learn to live with them and realize your limits. Don't push yourself or you'll just stress out and break down and not be able to do much of anything.
Is it just me, or is the US Patent Office totally worthless? Well, maybe not worthless, but you have to wonder if they even bother to think about the implications that these broadly described processes may affect, or whether you should be able to lay claim to something so general in the first place.
It seems like there's been a whole slew of stupid patents running across Slashdot's front page the past while, and it just boggles my mind each time I see a new one, how open-ended all of these are.
Is the purpose of a patent really supposed to be able to provide rights to a general way of doing things, or is it's purpose supposed to be relative to an actual invented way of doing things?
I could see MS's approved patent making more sense (in my mind) if they actually invented the infrastructure, and the methods, and the technology. But it seems to me they're just saying, "Oh, that's a good idea -- we'll patent it!"
I dunno... what is the point of patents, anyway? I thought it was originally created to help small inventors protect their ideas from corporations. But now it seems like its become a cash cow for the government and big business.
sure, you could use to to share illegal stuff, but it's really no different in that respect to email, icq, whatever.
Which makes me think... why don't they ever go after IRC servers? P2P was practically *born* there. Or, at least, it's been there much much longer before it became mainstream popular.
Then again, maybe the *AA is the reason DAL.NET is always down... Hmm.
While Powell said he values public input on the rules, it ultimately will be of little help in crafting ownership laws that stand up in court.
"You don't govern just by polls and surveys," he said. "We have to exercise difficult judgments and abide by the law. If all of our rulemaking was just a case of put them out and take a referendum, things would be a lot easier."
referendum
\Ref`er*en"dum\, n.; pl. -da. [Gerundive fr. L. referre. See Refer.] The principle or practice of referring measures passed upon by the legislative body to the body of voters, or electorate, for approval or rejection...
democracy
\De*moc"ra*cy\, n.; pl. Democracies. [F. d['e]mocratie, fr. Gr. dhmokrati`a; dh^mos the people + kratei^n to be strong, to rule, kra`tos strength.] 1. Government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is retained and directly exercised by the people.
I was thinking the same thing.. it doesn't make sense that they'd give you so little hard disk space, but one reason I can see now is because of bandwidth.
Assume they give you 250 megs of HD space. If you are using that much online, then that's potentially a lot of bandwidth that is going to hit their server, assuming everything you upload is for a website.
I don't think people tend to store their files on a hosting service in general, and that's why its so spendy. Everything you upload is potentially "public domain" and going to be availabe, sometime, for download.
My hosting company gives me only 200 megs, but 4 gigs of bandwidth, which I use almost every month (averaging about 100+/- megs downloaded a day)
Goto a thrift store. There's always at least 20 just sitting on the shelf, all for under $20.
My other suggestion would go to a university and beg for one. When something breaks, they just sit it on top of a filing cabinet and let it collect dust.
"We believe that procurement decisions should be based on the overall merits and value of the software under consideration," said Alex Mercer, a Microsoft spokeswoman.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually, that's not a bad idea. If you do collect them though, don't you have the right to make a backup copy anyway? Seems like the copyright issues wouldn't be a big deal here, if you owned a copy of the original cartridge (now selling for 22 cents on ebay!) and then run it on an emulator. Are there programs out there, that let you get the stuff off the ROM though? I'm not too lazy to look, but I'm not too interested to find out, either. Just curious. :)
Stuff like this really ticks me off. Of *course* the gaming industry isn't gonna say, "Hey, don't forget to add in a few (some amount) bucks so we can preserve our history.
Gaming companies, or any company, really, has little interest in supporting games where there is 1) no more money to be had, and 2) it would seem a lack of investment.
That doesn't mean there isn't a solution though. The Internet at large is picking up the slack on its own. The geeks who want to support these games so they don't die out, will, and it won't cost the "industry" any more than letting go of their pride, and in some cases, just creating a link somewhere on their page that says "Download this deprecated, unsupported, game that is now freeware, available to all."
At least that way, the game is alive and kicking, and it would be even better if they released the source code.
This can't be a serious issue, either. When they release patches on a regular basis that are 40+ megs or so, how is a 46k file going to cost them *anything* comparable in bandwidth?
It doesn't take much to support one game, by one fanatic fiend out there on the web. Throw up a homepage, post your memories, screenshots, and the game. Gee, that'll really kill Geocities.
The gaming industry is just too lazy, but if they got their act together, it would be a great PR move for them. "Wow, Company A is so cool, becuase they released their old 80's computer game on the web!!!" Seems to me, that something like that would generate a bit of brand loyalty, and actually *stop* pirating in the process, because then people would respect their decisions, instead of circumventing the law solely to preserve history.
I'd buy a copy at the bookstore, but then I'd have to go outside.
Welcome to MUDs.
Their ad for QuickTime Pro boasts compatablitiy with over "200 digital media capabilities and components" ... so why do they leave out the free-to-implement, open source audio OGG Vorbis?
If you really want to, you can always put the host in your /etc/hosts file so you won't have to see em again.
Or, just use this: http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.txt
Well, to be more detailed, part of the services we offer online on our website require that use IE because it doesnt work in Mozilla/Netscape .. yet.
So, if they tell me they're using AOL's browser, now I have to figure out if they're using Netscape or IE. That's not so much a problem in itself -- just do Help, About .. etc. But if they are using AOL's mail client, and can't figure out how to setup their SMTP settings, I sure as heck don't have a clue how to do it, because I've never used AOL myself.
Even then, that shouldn't be too hard to figure out... so this is kinda a moot point on my part. Oh well.
But, you're still right. I shouldn't be a jerk about it.
With Netscape, they had AIM support built right-in. All MSIE has is a little taskbar button for Messenger (I dunno if they have one for AIM, too). I'm pretty sure it won't be as easy to create a Netscape profile using your AIM login at the same time though.
And what about Real Player? IE integrates pretty well with Media Player. Actually, if Real Player up and died, it would be no big loss, but I wonder how AOL is still gonna push that stuff, if they don't push Netscape anymore that comes with it all.
Well, not like they were really pushing Netscape anyway. They just made it the default browser, and I'm sure the average AOLer didn't notice anyway. Without Netscape though, I imagine that the other two might have a harder time standing on their own.
I just hope WinAmp doesn't get the axe, too.
I fondly remember the day (late 90s) when the ONLY reason I would use MSIE was when I had to go and download Netscape.
I have to wonder what the future of the browser/company once known as Netscape is now. It would be interesting if AOL sold it off as a subsidiary since obviously THEY'RE not going to use it anymore.
Oh well, this comes as no surprise, really. The real question here is, I have to wonder if AOLers even *know* what browser they're using. I love getting those tech support calls at work, and when I ask them what browser or e-mail client they're using, they just say, "AOL."
Yah, and most people who post this stuff are usually selling vitamin-alternatives.
Agreed.
:)
My psychology professor said it best when he said "People with ADHD just have a lot of difficulties in life."
In my case of severity, I'd say it's not disabling enough that I could be labeled "handicapped" but it certainly is enough that I have difficulty with almost every normal aspect of life.
Most people don't realize how much effort it takes to do things when you have ADHD. Medication has changed my life completely. It doesn't take away the problems, but it lets me deal with them rationally. I save hundreds of $$$ from not impulse buying, alone.
I do love ADHD though. There are so many great benefits. I lost the link I was looking for, too. Oh well. Organization is not one of my strong points.
Ah, here it is: Fifty (or so) Great Things About ADD
I work at a small company (only 12 employees, 3 of em are my bosses), and I've found its the perfect setting for me. I work at my own desk, but share the room with one other co-worker. There's a couple of things that I've found that helps me a lot:
Work in the morning -- I get up at 6 a.m. every morning, and get there at work at 7. The other programmers don't come in usually til around 11 or so, so I get a lot of free time to myself without any distractions. It's when I get my best work done. By the time everyone else shows up, it's easier to get distracted and chat with everyone or something else. The other thing I like a lot about coming in so early, is that it's never a problem if I want to take off early in the afternoon. I leave for the day anywhere between 2p and 6p, and it's all good -- by that time, I've already put in a good chunk of working hours.
Take your meds regularly - It doesn't do any good to take your meds on your own schedule. I tried it once with one day on, one day off to see what would happen, and it really screwed me up. Half the week I was really productive, and the other half I couldn't focus as well. It left a lot of gaps. I find it's better (if I'm running low on meds, and you know how it is with getting around to get a refill) to stay regularly medicated, and then if you run out, even then the results last sometimes up to two weeks, with a slow degrade. It's better than the confusing alternative.
Don't eat chocolate -- I know that sounds obvious, but don't do anything to provoke you to be even more stimulated, nervous or excited. Cutting down on sweets makes me less jittery. I always have to be munching on something at work though, and I'd recommend fruit or something small other than Double Stuff Oreos and chocolate chip cookies.
Go for a walk -- I can't sit still, especially when a problem is bugging me. I find it's easier to take my mind off things (and relieve stress) by just wandering around a bit whenever I can't focus. There are times, though, when no matter what you do there's just no way I can get my mind back on the work at hand, and I just let it slide. I'll sit around and read Slashdot from top to bottom, but won't charge my boss for the hours wasted. Even though I'm inproductive/distracted at times, it's generally the exception, and I'm able to crank out a few days worth of work at a time that lets me catch up fine.
I've been really fortunate to have a job where the boss realizes that I phase out from time to time, but in the end I get all the work done. As a result, they sometimes have to push me when it comes to important deadlines, but I always do a good job because I can focus when I get in the mood. There's lots of pros and cons, but you just have to learn to live with them and realize your limits. Don't push yourself or you'll just stress out and break down and not be able to do much of anything.
Is it just me, or is the US Patent Office totally worthless? Well, maybe not worthless, but you have to wonder if they even bother to think about the implications that these broadly described processes may affect, or whether you should be able to lay claim to something so general in the first place.
It seems like there's been a whole slew of stupid patents running across Slashdot's front page the past while, and it just boggles my mind each time I see a new one, how open-ended all of these are.
Is the purpose of a patent really supposed to be able to provide rights to a general way of doing things, or is it's purpose supposed to be relative to an actual invented way of doing things?
I could see MS's approved patent making more sense (in my mind) if they actually invented the infrastructure, and the methods, and the technology. But it seems to me they're just saying, "Oh, that's a good idea -- we'll patent it!"
I dunno... what is the point of patents, anyway? I thought it was originally created to help small inventors protect their ideas from corporations. But now it seems like its become a cash cow for the government and big business.
I thought even a pirated copy can get all the patches except the new SP1? - another Steve
Oh, that's okay... I never bother reading them anyway.
Now I've finally got a reason to buy a Mac! I wonder if I this will work on those Apple IIe's from the thrift store..
Do a search for a file called hosts. I dunno if win98 has it or not.
One other thing, anytime you make changes to it, you have to close all your browser windows or you won't see the difference.
When are we gonna see a Gentoo icon for Slashdot, like the other Linux distros have?
Which makes me think... why don't they ever go after IRC servers? P2P was practically *born* there. Or, at least, it's been there much much longer before it became mainstream popular.
Then again, maybe the *AA is the reason DAL.NET is always down ... Hmm.
"You don't govern just by polls and surveys," he said. "We have to exercise difficult judgments and abide by the law. If all of our rulemaking was just a case of put them out and take a referendum, things would be a lot easier."
referendum
\Ref`er*en"dum\, n.; pl. -da. [Gerundive fr. L. referre. See Refer.] The principle or practice of referring measures passed upon by the legislative body to the body of voters, or electorate, for approval or rejection...
democracy
\De*moc"ra*cy\, n.; pl. Democracies. [F. d['e]mocratie, fr. Gr. dhmokrati`a; dh^mos the people + kratei^n to be strong, to rule, kra`tos strength.] 1. Government by the people; a form of government in which the supreme power is retained and directly exercised by the people.
I never would have noticed.
notepad c:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
127.0.0.1 casino.bonzi.com
127.0.0.1 download.bonzi.com
127.0.0.1 images.bonzi.com
127.0.0.1 www.bonzi.com
127.0.0.1 www.bonzibuddy.com
Assume they give you 250 megs of HD space. If you are using that much online, then that's potentially a lot of bandwidth that is going to hit their server, assuming everything you upload is for a website.
I don't think people tend to store their files on a hosting service in general, and that's why its so spendy. Everything you upload is potentially "public domain" and going to be availabe, sometime, for download.
My hosting company gives me only 200 megs, but 4 gigs of bandwidth, which I use almost every month (averaging about 100+/- megs downloaded a day)
Your employees will undoubtedly spend way too much time there, and its full of a bunch of opinionated, undereducated tech geeks anyway!
Goto a thrift store. There's always at least 20 just sitting on the shelf, all for under $20. My other suggestion would go to a university and beg for one. When something breaks, they just sit it on top of a filing cabinet and let it collect dust.
"We believe that procurement decisions should be based on the overall merits and value of the software under consideration," said Alex Mercer, a Microsoft spokeswoman.
In other words, go with open source.