No, no, and no. He didn't ask for the money for maintaining the site. That implies he wanted to BEGIN RECEIVING payment. It would be well within his rights to do so. What he did was three years worth of work then decided he wanted $300,000 or he was going to pull the plug on the site. No, he isn't obligated to provide service to anyone for free just as the county is not obligated to pay someone for work THEY AGREED TO DO FOR FREE.
Best case for the sherriff, they have more evidence that this guy is an extortionist tool than the newspaper does and he gets his ass tossed in jail for a while.
By saying to the Sherriff's office "Give me $300,000 for doing work I agreed to do for free or I will take down your website." he DID try to extort them. I have no sympathy for this dumbass. He should have known better than this.
Boohoofuckingwah. His point was that the going rate for a webmonkey is lower than that of a similarly skilled programmer. Any programmer could easily get into how difficult it is to do all the things you mentioned, but they don't get their undies in a twist anytime someone talks shit about their profession. I suggest laying off the caffeine and taking a vacation. You sound like you need one.;)
Considering that it is undisputed that this guy donated nearly 3 years of his time to this county before asking for anything, I find it much more likely that his side of the story is more accurate. You don't see greedy/selfish people work selflessly for 3 years with no return on investment.
It's entirely possible he planned to do this from the start. If he'd come to the sherriff's office and told them he wanted to start receiving payment and they told him to fuck off, I'd be on your side. But this guy did three years worth of work, then decided to BACKCHARGE them for $300,000. This guy acted like a dumbass, and he's getting no sympathy from me.
More than likely it was the amount of money he was demanding as backpay that made them decide it was extortion. If he'd come to them and said he wanted $XXX per month to run the site now, and they didn't pay him, that's one thing. But trying to backcharge for $300,000, THEN taking down their website when they don't pay? Sounds like extortion to me.
Well, YES. On the long shot you can get a REPUTABLE company to do some work for free, if they decide that they want to start charging you they will NOT try to backcharge you. Saying, completely out of the blue, "Pay me this money or I will take down your site" is either fraud or extortion. There was no monetary agreement, so it's not like they missed a payment and he can kick their ass out.
Also, just for a moment, consider that it is entirely possible he planned this all along.
Flip some burgers. Wash some cars. Paint some houses. Mow some lawns. It's not that difficult to make money, you just have to get off your ass and find it instead of trying to search for that one perfect opportunity that in all likelyhood will turn your ass down anyway.
The Win 3.1/OSX comparison is really quite fair if you use Photoshop or Gimp for more than photoresizing and color correction. PS just has a FAR deeper and more robust toolset. It's not better at everything (Gimps interface is faster on my systems than PS, I like some of Gimps tools better), but over all it is a much better package.
Actually, you know what? A better comparison would be Win95 to WinXP. Everything is vaguely the same, but Win95 just doesn't feel as FINISHED as XP.
To quote from another part of the same discussion where I answered this question, because you're apparently in the segment of the population that can't read:
"Grandfather clause. I read Slashdot before I read SA so it came before my knowledge of gay sex fan fiction.
Something Awful needs to be bitchslapped for ruining my fragil little mind."
Because unlike Slashdot, they know their website is full of putrid shit-ridden musings masquerading as 'content', and tend to point it out on a constant basis.
Good point, but the front page commentary has been a bit more smack-talking than the comics have. Going as far as to call Infinium's CEO a 'huckster'. The LSD and dog kill orgasm (WOW, good band name...) things are obvious parody, but not everything they're saying is.
I wouldn't be surprised if they got to wherever they were going to be shown the console and were then handed NDA's. Knowing those guys, they'd probably laugh their asses off and tell the Infinium dudes to lick Dave.
Under basic business sense you don't want to piss off your target audience by screwing with websites they frequent. That's another reason why Infinium wouldn't want to go after PA, because PA has a LARGE readership and every one of them is a potential customer. HardOCP, on the other hand, is geared more toward computer hardware than consoles (I am aware they cover consoles too, but it's mainly about computers).
The comics PA does are one thing. There is very little you can say in a comic that isn't parody or protected somehow, that much is true, but the front page which usually harbors some more biting commentary is probably open season as far as libel is concerned.
It's not the law that conjures up images. It's the slash part. If you read sites like Something Awful or portalofevil.com enough, you'll eventually run across something called 'slash' which is gay sex fan fiction. Slashlaw ends up sounding like slash for lawyer shows. *SHUDDER*
Yes, by retracting some ambiguous statements and replacing them with some quite specific statements that basically were even more annoying than the originals, and completely in line with what Infinium was demanding.
Notice how Infinium hasn't bothered to call Penny Arcade on their numerous articles on the Phantom. They probably know how big PA was and don't want to fuck with them. They probably had no clue about HardOCP and figured they'd be an easy target. Good guess, but wrong.
I dunno. As reader of Something Awful and peruser of many of their Awful Links of the Day, anytime I hear the term 'slash' I immediately think of gay sex fanfic. Slashlaw just brings to mind images of those guys from the Practice getting it on, and that's just not a pretty picture.
During the heyday of adventure games (Monkey Island, Sam and Max, Loom, and so on) making games was cheap and easy. What few people were using home computers were just happy that they could get some cool pictures on their 286 and were bloody ecstatic when they finally got a sound card and could hear the BOOP BOOP BOOP noises as the developers intended (provided it was Sound Blaster compatible, of course.;) ). Now gamers demand that practically everything be super mega shiny bump mapped LOD mip-mapped triliner-filtered 3d goodness and adventure games just don't look good in 3d (no, not even Grim Fandango). Factor in the rising cost of developing even the simplest of games and the COMPLETE lack of interest in adventure games from the general public, and you have a damn good reason to cancel it.
American Greetings is a HUGE FUCKING COMPANY with assloads of cash. Infinium is basically two guys and a hamster chilling on Miami beach. Big difference.
Dude, have you EVER been in a truck stop? Take a trip in Texas anywhere west of Abilene and you're going to end up in a few, as I have. When truckers stop, they STOP. Usually for a couple of hours for food, sleep, and gas(oline). Truckers aren't high-tech dudes. Why do you think CB radios are still so popular among them?
It depends on what format you're going to. Going out to cassette is going to sound like ass, probably. Going out to another computer's Line In won't lose enough quality for any but the most anal audiophiles to notice.
Slashdot Mirror
Dude, fuck off. You're demanding logical explanations for something that was a fucking joke to begin with. Seriously, I implore you, get a life.
No, no, and no. He didn't ask for the money for maintaining the site. That implies he wanted to BEGIN RECEIVING payment. It would be well within his rights to do so. What he did was three years worth of work then decided he wanted $300,000 or he was going to pull the plug on the site. No, he isn't obligated to provide service to anyone for free just as the county is not obligated to pay someone for work THEY AGREED TO DO FOR FREE.
Best case for the sherriff, they have more evidence that this guy is an extortionist tool than the newspaper does and he gets his ass tossed in jail for a while.
By saying to the Sherriff's office "Give me $300,000 for doing work I agreed to do for free or I will take down your website." he DID try to extort them. I have no sympathy for this dumbass. He should have known better than this.
Boohoofuckingwah. His point was that the going rate for a webmonkey is lower than that of a similarly skilled programmer. Any programmer could easily get into how difficult it is to do all the things you mentioned, but they don't get their undies in a twist anytime someone talks shit about their profession. I suggest laying off the caffeine and taking a vacation. You sound like you need one. ;)
It's entirely possible he planned to do this from the start. If he'd come to the sherriff's office and told them he wanted to start receiving payment and they told him to fuck off, I'd be on your side. But this guy did three years worth of work, then decided to BACKCHARGE them for $300,000. This guy acted like a dumbass, and he's getting no sympathy from me.
More than likely it was the amount of money he was demanding as backpay that made them decide it was extortion. If he'd come to them and said he wanted $XXX per month to run the site now, and they didn't pay him, that's one thing. But trying to backcharge for $300,000, THEN taking down their website when they don't pay? Sounds like extortion to me.
Well, YES. On the long shot you can get a REPUTABLE company to do some work for free, if they decide that they want to start charging you they will NOT try to backcharge you. Saying, completely out of the blue, "Pay me this money or I will take down your site" is either fraud or extortion. There was no monetary agreement, so it's not like they missed a payment and he can kick their ass out.
Also, just for a moment, consider that it is entirely possible he planned this all along.
Flip some burgers. Wash some cars. Paint some houses. Mow some lawns. It's not that difficult to make money, you just have to get off your ass and find it instead of trying to search for that one perfect opportunity that in all likelyhood will turn your ass down anyway.
The Win 3.1/OSX comparison is really quite fair if you use Photoshop or Gimp for more than photoresizing and color correction. PS just has a FAR deeper and more robust toolset. It's not better at everything (Gimps interface is faster on my systems than PS, I like some of Gimps tools better), but over all it is a much better package.
Actually, you know what? A better comparison would be Win95 to WinXP. Everything is vaguely the same, but Win95 just doesn't feel as FINISHED as XP.
To quote from another part of the same discussion where I answered this question, because you're apparently in the segment of the population that can't read:
"Grandfather clause. I read Slashdot before I read SA so it came before my knowledge of gay sex fan fiction. Something Awful needs to be bitchslapped for ruining my fragil little mind."
TV's have always had that. It's called a POWER button.
Because unlike Slashdot, they know their website is full of putrid shit-ridden musings masquerading as 'content', and tend to point it out on a constant basis.
Good point, but the front page commentary has been a bit more smack-talking than the comics have. Going as far as to call Infinium's CEO a 'huckster'. The LSD and dog kill orgasm (WOW, good band name...) things are obvious parody, but not everything they're saying is.
I wouldn't be surprised if they got to wherever they were going to be shown the console and were then handed NDA's. Knowing those guys, they'd probably laugh their asses off and tell the Infinium dudes to lick Dave.
Under basic business sense you don't want to piss off your target audience by screwing with websites they frequent. That's another reason why Infinium wouldn't want to go after PA, because PA has a LARGE readership and every one of them is a potential customer. HardOCP, on the other hand, is geared more toward computer hardware than consoles (I am aware they cover consoles too, but it's mainly about computers).
The comics PA does are one thing. There is very little you can say in a comic that isn't parody or protected somehow, that much is true, but the front page which usually harbors some more biting commentary is probably open season as far as libel is concerned.
It's not the law that conjures up images. It's the slash part. If you read sites like Something Awful or portalofevil.com enough, you'll eventually run across something called 'slash' which is gay sex fan fiction. Slashlaw ends up sounding like slash for lawyer shows. *SHUDDER*
Grandfather clause. I read Slashdot before I read SA so it came before my knowledge of gay sex fan fiction.
Something Awful needs to be bitchslapped for ruining my fragil little mind.
Considering that the parent was right, I'd say that 5 was deserved.
Yes, by retracting some ambiguous statements and replacing them with some quite specific statements that basically were even more annoying than the originals, and completely in line with what Infinium was demanding.
Notice how Infinium hasn't bothered to call Penny Arcade on their numerous articles on the Phantom. They probably know how big PA was and don't want to fuck with them. They probably had no clue about HardOCP and figured they'd be an easy target. Good guess, but wrong.
I dunno. As reader of Something Awful and peruser of many of their Awful Links of the Day, anytime I hear the term 'slash' I immediately think of gay sex fanfic. Slashlaw just brings to mind images of those guys from the Practice getting it on, and that's just not a pretty picture.
During the heyday of adventure games (Monkey Island, Sam and Max, Loom, and so on) making games was cheap and easy. What few people were using home computers were just happy that they could get some cool pictures on their 286 and were bloody ecstatic when they finally got a sound card and could hear the BOOP BOOP BOOP noises as the developers intended (provided it was Sound Blaster compatible, of course. ;) ). Now gamers demand that practically everything be super mega shiny bump mapped LOD mip-mapped triliner-filtered 3d goodness and adventure games just don't look good in 3d (no, not even Grim Fandango). Factor in the rising cost of developing even the simplest of games and the COMPLETE lack of interest in adventure games from the general public, and you have a damn good reason to cancel it.
American Greetings is a HUGE FUCKING COMPANY with assloads of cash. Infinium is basically two guys and a hamster chilling on Miami beach. Big difference.
Except that unless you're lucky enough to fall ass-backwards into getting Jack to work right for once, it's completely useless.
Dude, have you EVER been in a truck stop? Take a trip in Texas anywhere west of Abilene and you're going to end up in a few, as I have. When truckers stop, they STOP. Usually for a couple of hours for food, sleep, and gas(oline). Truckers aren't high-tech dudes. Why do you think CB radios are still so popular among them?
Hey, you just described how it's ALWAYS been. Records, then tapes, then CD's. Every 10-15 years a new technology comes along to usurp the old.
It depends on what format you're going to. Going out to cassette is going to sound like ass, probably. Going out to another computer's Line In won't lose enough quality for any but the most anal audiophiles to notice.