Actually the ONLY way they can get away with it and NOT lose the lawsuit is to have said throughout the story "the young, 15 year old girl's blog CLAIMS that... etc etc."
If they said "and in related news, etc mansion was host to a party and etc got high, knocked up and smashed a TV" that's libel/defamation. Claims have to be attributed as such. Only verified information can be claimed to be true. I wager most newssources wouldn't verify shit they run anymore than most consumers of said news sources would actually VERIFY the news sources reports.
Prime example. Remember Die Hard 4? Remember the scene where everyone watches the bad guys take out the capitol? (or was it the white house?) Remember how the people near there go outside and see it is okay and still standing? What about all the other poor bastards who have no way of verifying or cannot be bothered or have had their government run communications get taken out? (Hence why i recommend everyone have a CB radio or ham rig in their home, even without repeaters, the chain effect works enough to cover a whole region of concerned individuals.)
Verification, personal inquiry are both important factors of stories, and journalists have discovered that yellow journalism works. Why report a "claim" as a "claim"? Because it keeps the libel cases away from your door.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. Tabloids occasionally print the truth. And they occasionally do fact checking... more than can be said for the "establishment" mouthpieces that are the newspapers and media "outlets" of today. All they reprint is the "government press release" because we know they never lie to anyone, right?
Yep, lets see... you go to a cattle pen with a whole bunch of cattle chewing their cud peacefully. A few (read: minority) of the cows are dreadfully eyeing the room into which all cows that go never come out (read: butcher block). The rest don't care and think the few are "paranoid".
Eventually those paranoid ones find a way to escape or avoid being sent to that room (they're never to be found when the rancher is out, or go live free on the range, as the case may be.)
The rest of the cows think they're crazy to be worried about that room since they damn well know that its "impossible to be in danger in such a high density herd such as theirs" and that the minority are paranoid."
They continue to think so until their turn on the block comes, or they get sent to the conveyor belt to listen as their fellows are killed up ahead to end up as the rancher's steak and burger. Listen until their turn comes up to be someone's burger.
As an aside, i wager you didn't read the article? I'm fairly sure you didn't.
Just one question to ask, and I ask this of any individual perceiving himself or herself as anything more than just a production node / serf for a "greater society" or "greater purpose".
"Since when does a free man require someone else to recognize his rights or grant them unto him. An enemy is always one who infringes upon your rights. When they intrude on your mind or body, and all your efforts to keep them out are not recognized, there is ONE more way to keep them out. Unfortunately the question is, are you willing to destroy any and all who would infringe upon you at the time of their attempted infringement? Are you willing to NOT engage in said infringement yourself?"
The question more aptly asked is "Are you willing to own yourself and let others own themselves?" It all comes down to ownership, self ownership that is. Which is why governments and their schools stress 'sharing all things' so much. Of course they want sharing, the involuntary kind. Because the moment you are "shared" by them, you are owned by them. That's why "property" has become such a dirty word among so many. Because they hate all property (thanks to their schooling) but are unable to see that they themselves are property (and willingly so, as long as they participate in oppression) and thus hate themselves.
It should be quite eye opening. Read it with an open mind... I believe that's what used to describe geeks... "open minds"... let us see if geeks still have that, or if it is merely a pretense when their favorite not so popular topics are broached.
Heh, and the problem with most MBA's is that what.... yes, they haven't ever started a business from ground level up. All they learned is how to operate a huge business and operate in an existing bureaucracy. Starting a business from the ground up requires different skills than those of an MBA. MBA's are good for liquidating the assets of a business and turning a viable long term idea into a quick cash cow.
Kind of reminds me of our current president in the USA, doesn't it? He's an MBA too. I'd LOL this again, if I wasn't already laughing out loud.
The problem, as with medicine, is that there's too many business graduates and not enough actual BUSINESS MEN.
Take Arcanum. Arcanum took me 3 rebuilds of my system to find a configuration that would not crash outright for some strange reason. How many "gamers" are also system builders and can tell when a crash is caused by memory or driver error or have the resources (read: spare hardware) to test until they find out what causes the problem with a certain game? How many had the same or similar configs as I did which chose not to work ONLY on Arcanum?
You obviously also did not play Gothic 3. If Diablo II and the others shipped with 300+ bugs you fixed, tell me then... which ones stopped the game from being A) playable B) finishable C) fun?
Gothic 3 is the prime example of a superb storyline (Gothic 1 and 2) and a superb universe (Gothic 1 and 2) with superb everything. In Gothic 3, they threw it all down the drain releasing an incomplete, fully buggy game. I mean BUGGY. Sure it was huge... but that isn't what bothered me. What bothered me is that the game CRASHED A LOT. Quests were finishable, things were doable. The problem was elsewhere entirely. See, the game required 3 years worth of patches to be playable... finishable, etc. Playbalance was off too (they only did half animations for a lot of animals which resulted in instant stunlock/death if the player was hit by one. Given how well implemented the deadly animals were in 1 and 2 (wolves didn't have half animation, they were just damn tough and hit damn hard. In 3, they just slaughter you without a chance to fight back, or flee or anything.
Very disappointing. Played my way through Doom 1 2 3, Quake 1 2 3 4, Heretic 1 2, Hexen 1 2, Diablo 1 2, Warcraft 1 2 3... Gothic 1 and 2 NO PROBLEMS... games were FUN, and Finishable. THAT is the key word. That Blizzard also hired you to make sure that their games were polished is a good idea. Regardless their corporate politics, they should release a polished, working product. Its good manners and keeps people like me buying instead of finding better things to do, and people a little less like me, buying instead of pirating.
Ever play a little "fringe" game called Tachyon: The Fringe? Very good game. Probably one of my all time favorite space shooters right up there with Privateer 2.
Zork was text based. If you liked that, may I suggest you google Dragon Realms, its a small text MUD/MMORPG. Probably the best one I ever played. I think the Ultima online folks got some ideas from them for skill growth, but didn't do half as good a job on the skill system. You may like it. I thought it was great, but I needed to expend my time on a few other things so I shut down my account:)
Actually, I am amazed that bnetd was shut down. It shows just how insanly pro coorporate and anti free market the US is when providing an alternative connection service is made illegal.
Actually judges run their own courtrooms as they see fit.
On several constitutional issues (taxation, property seizure/eminent domain and gun control among others), when the actual Constitution was brought up... the judges in question are quoted as having said something to the effect of "I will not have that law brought up in my courtroom." Whether absolutely true or not I'll never know since I wasn't there, but it explains a lot. Most people don't even know that they have THIS historical right www.fija.org (Fully Informed Jury) and that the jury doesn't just judge the facts but ALSO the law in question, and whether it is right, wrong, abusive or not, or even if it is constitutional.
The Constitution IS just a piece of paper. I would wager that the Declaration is more important, and given that people, even during the rule of those lovely statists "FDR" and "Woodrow Wilson" administrations were being imprisoned for having dared to read the Declaration out loud. They were called "subversives". To tell you how "enlightened" or "educated" Americans are, most were scared and called the police when they heard the Declaration of Independence being read out loud in public. Yes indeed, even today... most Americans cannot recognize their true founding document anymore than they can recognize their second and third (second was Articles of Confederation and third was the actual Constitution + Bill of Rights.
What is happening has nothing to do with the government being hijacked, it is government doing what it was designed to do. Amass power for the few over the many and make it as permanent as possible.
Or, you could just govern yourselves at the locality level or the individual level, abstain from inflicting your personal views onto the minority through majority rule, and even *gasp* stop infringing on other's rights.
No I'm neither a "leftie" nor a "rightie". I find both choices disgusting, as with any other tax fed parasite. Your mileage may vary.
I would still be willing to BUY games (I don't pirate them, I just haven't found much to interest me, console OR desktop alike).
Again, I would still be willing to BUY games if they would stop rehashing half witted half finished games. So few companies really release good games, and everyone expects insane growth. Always "growth". Perhaps some retards somewhere forgot that you can only grow so much before your body either collapses under its own weight or you evolve into something else. Otherwise, no luck.
Blizzard always releases late. People understand them. Why? Because Blizzard, ID, Ravensoft and no others I can think of, have managed to release a bug free or complete product. Most of their fixes, in my memory, have been playbalancing, rare bugs on rare configs, etc. But their games WORK. Other people's games... often hit and run.
Why is it that so FEW companies actually put out workable, GOOD products? Perhaps if more of them did, and if shoddy products were to be refunded in FULL, then perhaps better products would "revitalize" the market.
Games don't need to be free. Shitty ones and incomplete ones should be. The "no return if opened" policy is bullshit. It just allows a company to sell a shitty game and get away with it. It allows a store to carry a non tested product and get away with it. But hell, if pharmaceutical companies and electronics and even car companies can get away with shoddy products, why not the software industry? If the customers keep waiting for governments to step in and save them, they ought to realize that it is MUCH easier to buy off bureaucrats and politicians than ten thousand pissed off freemen customers, some of whom might be willing and able to use their rights (from the vocal to the physical) when other means fail to extract remedy for shoddy product and vaporware sold as an actual, complete product. Fraud of this sort should be held accountable by the victims, the customers. Until the customers demand quality, and stand by that remark... and demand refunds on shitty products, until that occurs... well, nothing's gonna change.
Heh, people kept voting for the idiot who promised them more largesse and more "safety" programs. Well, the safest place in our world is strapped to a bed in a concrete bunker without anything nearby that can be "harmful" or "potentially harmful". As a result, you people get what you vote for, what you beg for, and what you desire. Safety. If you don't want safety, then its best to stop voting and start living. I'm sure I've beaten this horse to death.
Regarding paying for the internet, no buddy, I more than returned the favor. In fact, I am sick of "returning the favor". Regarding the natural resources being "denied" to you. Were you there first? Did you make those resources usable yourself? Well? Do you even know how, or are you simply going to copycat whoever came up with the idea and not give them an ounce of credit? Note, I'm not backing up corporations here, since they do not exist, they're paper in a lawyer's drawer. Only the people who use those papers exist. You do business with them, not with corporations. Corporations are the fiction by which you've let yourself be cheated by people who are afraid to be responsible for their actions. Individuals do as they please, groups exist only to enslave themselves to a stronger will.
The problem with those utopias I mentioned is that eventually the time comes to pay the piper... mostly because all of this is borrowed from the next generation (that next generation being ours.) We'll pay a heavier price than just monetary. Well, some of "us", not all. Some don't care about the group, as the group didn't care about "us".
Allowing us all identify with the $GOOD_GUYS and our opponents with $BAD_GUYS. It's the same shit once again; I wonder if you were trying to be sarcastic, or if you truly don't realize how ironic it is to berate "us vs. them" mentality and then immediately describe your version of it.
Amusing. You spent a whole page of quoting and "refuting" my thoughts with those implanted in your head by others (lovely idea actually) and then you FINALLY get it, there, at the end.
Not that I'm being mean, but who pays for your "financial" safety net? And since your beloved government pays for it out of what they take from you (albeit at a much higher value than they give back, due to their own imposed monetary inflation) but that'd be like explaining to the FDR fanatics as to why that man robbed their children and their children's children of a future. Today's insolvent government spending sprees are directly due to his "elastic currency" utopia... read utopia as in "not here, not now, not ever" kind of utopia.
Like I said, it isn't an "us versus them". Its us with us and them versus them. Get it straight. See, the upside is suckers like you who want someone else to "keep you safe" will always pay the ultimate price for that folly. Why? Simple. You want someone else to live your life for you, preferably all the hard parts. Which is fine, since you, by your vote to confiscate from others what you feel is rightfully yours (obviously, how dare other people not conform and give you part of what they make?) are performing an act of aggression against those people. Know what the fun part is? You dig your own grave, because while digging theirs you miss the part where you will end up just as fleeced as they. Done slowly over time, it is nearly imperceptible. Quite brilliant... IMHO.
However, when I hear "someone should do something about this" or "they should pass a law to..." or "why aren't they helping us" crap, I find it hard to respect people whose opinions are derived from the various propaganda establishments.
Or "tell me, what should I do?"
Everytime I hear that question, I know for a fact it is ONLY asked as a "shut the fuck up or say something that I can disagree with."
In a world of only individuals, I fail to respect the collectives. The only thing I have for collectives is distaste. I have respect for individuals. I know a few. They were hard to find in this morass we call 'society'. Very much worth it, as friends, however.
Interesting. I never said it was me versus average Joe. Average Joe is the guy who still votes, expecting to take my profits (actually a part of ALL my "income" regardless of whether it is profit or breaking even) and Average Joe gets what he deserves. So do I, in fact. That's the fun part, I've already secured my money and I'm waiting for the economy to tank. See, I will do fine when the economy tanks further thanks to the help of your loving central planners. But then again, they're doing what the average Joe wants. They're further fucking with a naturally self repairing system... and the system continues to fail further because, well, that's what happens when you're "fixing" an economy that isn't broken... merely trying to recover from governmental/institutional stupidity.
I don't get it, you're still missing the point. Its parasites versus producers. And none of your three parties to vote for is a producer. All they produce is their own consumption of your resources. If you work for money, then you are a lifeblood provider for the parasites. They give you a choice to vote or not vote, but make it sound like the choice is between all of them.
Suppose you walk into a store that sells poison. You are asked what you would like to consume today. They offer Cyanide, Arsenic, Mercury and a lovely high grade version of Sodium Fluoride (as in, enough to actually kill you outright.) You don't realize that the choice is "consume their product or not", you instead think the choice is between the toxins offered. I can see where it can be tough to understand.
"Meesa propose to giva' Senator Palpatine immediately emergency powaz!"
Somehow, I did not fail to see the sarcasm in the new Star Wars movies. Of course, the "death" of the Old Republic, happened when the North conquered the South, in a war of aggression (not sure why they call it a civil war, since it was two federations fighting each other, one to conquer and subjugate, the other to maintain the right of its member states to be independent, and the "nation of freedom" was stillborn even in 1791, for the most part because those who created its "founding document" did it with intentional flaws built in. Why, one asks? Well obviously, men who want government, want it only because it benefits them, they love power... but the power is all the more addictive when given up willingly by the dupes who think they need someone else to do their thinking for them. These people were no different. And they WERE the government, and they were fairly certain their progeny would continue to run the show (as they have).
The average plebe, regardless of where, is still just a mindless drone who hates money, hates thinking and most above all, hates getting out of his mental box (or hers, ladies I haven't forgotten about your ability to be equal to men in the endeavor of willful ignorance.) Actually judging by my observations of the "average Joe", I would wager that perhaps people DO need someone else to do some of their thinking for them, since obviously the vast majorities are unwilling to think past the divisive slogans and political campaigns.
The majority of stupid people in this country see no problem with the "us vs them" mentality because they are thinking "americans vs arabs" or "democrats vs republicans"... they don't realize its "parasites versus producers". As it has always been. Too many producers are too busy blaming other producers for their problems, while calling for more parasites, to realize that the parasites aren't necessary. As to which is which I leave it as an exercise to each reader to decide who are the producers and who are the parasites.
Or I could be entitled to a "working" operating system? Nah, I don't need entitlement... I've already fixed the issue, but thanks for caring. (Not really.)
I agree, no written contract, indeed a problem. Secondly, since there is no written contract, it also means that I don't need to buy their next product again.
I love voting with my wallet.:) Best voting there is. Especially when an operating system sold "in good faith" (we presume it was) turns out to be a 30 day dud because the company crippled it on purpose and then stopped providing the missing component which they themselves removed from their otherwise workable product.
We used to call shit like that crippleware. Peculiar, but not impossible to sidestep. Frankly, I just pity the poor suckers stuck with it as their ONLY OS. Ye gods that must suck.
If they wanted to regain me as a user (and perhaps buyer of future microsoft products, though I highly doubt it given their track record of shit customer support) I would suggest that since they've deliberately crippled XP and Vista, the next time they move on and discontinue support for an OS they SELL to people, they should, perhaps, like a GOOD producer, unlock the old product, perhaps a tweak, perhaps a program that disables the "disable" feature for the 30 day "activation wizard" counter.
Since their phone support and internet activation options will not activate a legit product, and its impossible to get one of those damn tech support monkeys to actually stay on the line instead of making excuses to put one on hold, I would wager that they won't pull an ID software thing and release the product, either fully, or just plain DE-cripple it... nope. Well that's fine and dandy... the few Windows games I wish to play can easily be played on 98 or 2000. Which basically means that once I'm done with those, I can even wipe the 2000 rig.
Not a bad deal. Especially given that the two games I'm looking forward to, Starcraft II and Diablo III, will both likely run natively in Linux (okay so one can hope) or, like Warcraft II, III, Starcraft, Diablo I, II, and WoW, will probably run flawlessly in WINE. Again, less and less reasons to ever stay on Windows as a primary OS, or even a secondary one at that.
Not that I mind. Their support was always crap, but now, in a downturned economy, crap support at a price is NOT enticing. To me at least. Your mileage may vary.
Technically, if they break the use of the product it is THEM that broke it. For example, if you take a car to a dealership for an oil change, and they break your transmission, the auto company/dealership is NOT immune to a lawsuit because "hey, you got usage out of the transmission".
In fact, they will have to get you the FULL value of the transmission / replace it with a fully working one. See the whole issue is that a remedy to a broken contract is supposed to set you off AS WELL OR BETTER THAN BEFORE THE DAMAGE WAS INCURRED!
Pay attention to the caps... there's a reason for them. That was originally the whole point of contracts, fulfillments and remedies in case of broken contracts. Seems that companies that deal in software are permitted to break the product and the client is to blame. Strange that. Nowhere nearly as strange as the fact that you seem to think that such things are perfectly fine. Amazing. Nothing short thereof.
Not that I care. It was one more reason why I stopped using XP period. Guess what. Unless they give me a copy of Vista FREE, I don't plan to ever go back either. Hell, since I stopped gaming I've had more spare time than I've been able to waste with a conscious effort:)
Nah, XP no longer installs anyways. Seems Microsoft has disabled the "activation software" when you call in. They keep you on hold eternally. If you call in, and the indian tech support schmuck asks to put you on hold while "validating your key" do NOT accept him to do so, since once you're on hold, they no longer pick it up. Obviously if it was pirated they would tell you. Since my copy is legit (retail pack) its impossible for them to not activate it. Thus they have basically robbed me of the price of one professonal edition Windows XP, since it is a product I can no longer use. Technically they owe me, and anyone else who cannot activate their legit version, about 300 bucks plus tax... nevermind reimbursing us for inflation loss on that 300 bucks plus tax.
I could see a remarkably awesome lawsuit coming out of this. I just don't have the desire to enable the state apparatus... so I'll find another way, preferably using the market.
Slashdot Mirror
Actually the ONLY way they can get away with it and NOT lose the lawsuit is to have said throughout the story "the young, 15 year old girl's blog CLAIMS that... etc etc."
If they said "and in related news, etc mansion was host to a party and etc got high, knocked up and smashed a TV" that's libel/defamation. Claims have to be attributed as such. Only verified information can be claimed to be true. I wager most newssources wouldn't verify shit they run anymore than most consumers of said news sources would actually VERIFY the news sources reports.
Prime example. Remember Die Hard 4? Remember the scene where everyone watches the bad guys take out the capitol? (or was it the white house?) Remember how the people near there go outside and see it is okay and still standing? What about all the other poor bastards who have no way of verifying or cannot be bothered or have had their government run communications get taken out? (Hence why i recommend everyone have a CB radio or ham rig in their home, even without repeaters, the chain effect works enough to cover a whole region of concerned individuals.)
Verification, personal inquiry are both important factors of stories, and journalists have discovered that yellow journalism works. Why report a "claim" as a "claim"? Because it keeps the libel cases away from your door.
We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. Tabloids occasionally print the truth. And they occasionally do fact checking... more than can be said for the "establishment" mouthpieces that are the newspapers and media "outlets" of today. All they reprint is the "government press release" because we know they never lie to anyone, right?
Yep, lets see... you go to a cattle pen with a whole bunch of cattle chewing their cud peacefully. A few (read: minority) of the cows are dreadfully eyeing the room into which all cows that go never come out (read: butcher block). The rest don't care and think the few are "paranoid".
Eventually those paranoid ones find a way to escape or avoid being sent to that room (they're never to be found when the rancher is out, or go live free on the range, as the case may be.)
The rest of the cows think they're crazy to be worried about that room since they damn well know that its "impossible to be in danger in such a high density herd such as theirs" and that the minority are paranoid."
They continue to think so until their turn on the block comes, or they get sent to the conveyor belt to listen as their fellows are killed up ahead to end up as the rancher's steak and burger. Listen until their turn comes up to be someone's burger.
As an aside, i wager you didn't read the article? I'm fairly sure you didn't.
Just one question to ask, and I ask this of any individual perceiving himself or herself as anything more than just a production node / serf for a "greater society" or "greater purpose".
"Since when does a free man require someone else to recognize his rights or grant them unto him. An enemy is always one who infringes upon your rights. When they intrude on your mind or body, and all your efforts to keep them out are not recognized, there is ONE more way to keep them out. Unfortunately the question is, are you willing to destroy any and all who would infringe upon you at the time of their attempted infringement? Are you willing to NOT engage in said infringement yourself?"
The question more aptly asked is "Are you willing to own yourself and let others own themselves?" It all comes down to ownership, self ownership that is. Which is why governments and their schools stress 'sharing all things' so much. Of course they want sharing, the involuntary kind. Because the moment you are "shared" by them, you are owned by them. That's why "property" has become such a dirty word among so many. Because they hate all property (thanks to their schooling) but are unable to see that they themselves are property (and willingly so, as long as they participate in oppression) and thus hate themselves.
I would strongly recommend this... http://www.silverbearcafe.com/private/7.08/hymntomoney.html
It should be quite eye opening. Read it with an open mind... I believe that's what used to describe geeks... "open minds"... let us see if geeks still have that, or if it is merely a pretense when their favorite not so popular topics are broached.
My mistake. Can't edit posts, figured most would get it :)
Are you sure you read the ENTIRE comment?
Heh, and the problem with most MBA's is that what.... yes, they haven't ever started a business from ground level up. All they learned is how to operate a huge business and operate in an existing bureaucracy. Starting a business from the ground up requires different skills than those of an MBA. MBA's are good for liquidating the assets of a business and turning a viable long term idea into a quick cash cow.
Kind of reminds me of our current president in the USA, doesn't it? He's an MBA too. I'd LOL this again, if I wasn't already laughing out loud.
The problem, as with medicine, is that there's too many business graduates and not enough actual BUSINESS MEN.
Take Arcanum. Arcanum took me 3 rebuilds of my system to find a configuration that would not crash outright for some strange reason. How many "gamers" are also system builders and can tell when a crash is caused by memory or driver error or have the resources (read: spare hardware) to test until they find out what causes the problem with a certain game? How many had the same or similar configs as I did which chose not to work ONLY on Arcanum?
You obviously also did not play Gothic 3. If Diablo II and the others shipped with 300+ bugs you fixed, tell me then... which ones stopped the game from being A) playable B) finishable C) fun?
Gothic 3 is the prime example of a superb storyline (Gothic 1 and 2) and a superb universe (Gothic 1 and 2) with superb everything. In Gothic 3, they threw it all down the drain releasing an incomplete, fully buggy game. I mean BUGGY. Sure it was huge... but that isn't what bothered me. What bothered me is that the game CRASHED A LOT. Quests were finishable, things were doable. The problem was elsewhere entirely. See, the game required 3 years worth of patches to be playable... finishable, etc. Playbalance was off too (they only did half animations for a lot of animals which resulted in instant stunlock/death if the player was hit by one. Given how well implemented the deadly animals were in 1 and 2 (wolves didn't have half animation, they were just damn tough and hit damn hard. In 3, they just slaughter you without a chance to fight back, or flee or anything.
Very disappointing. Played my way through Doom 1 2 3, Quake 1 2 3 4, Heretic 1 2, Hexen 1 2, Diablo 1 2, Warcraft 1 2 3... Gothic 1 and 2 NO PROBLEMS... games were FUN, and Finishable. THAT is the key word. That Blizzard also hired you to make sure that their games were polished is a good idea. Regardless their corporate politics, they should release a polished, working product. Its good manners and keeps people like me buying instead of finding better things to do, and people a little less like me, buying instead of pirating.
Ever play a little "fringe" game called Tachyon: The Fringe? Very good game. Probably one of my all time favorite space shooters right up there with Privateer 2.
Zork was text based. If you liked that, may I suggest you google Dragon Realms, its a small text MUD/MMORPG. Probably the best one I ever played. I think the Ultima online folks got some ideas from them for skill growth, but didn't do half as good a job on the skill system. You may like it. I thought it was great, but I needed to expend my time on a few other things so I shut down my account :)
Actually, I am amazed that bnetd was shut down. It shows just how insanly pro coorporate and anti free market the US is when providing an alternative connection service is made illegal.
You and I are in total agreement on that one.
Actually judges run their own courtrooms as they see fit.
On several constitutional issues (taxation, property seizure/eminent domain and gun control among others), when the actual Constitution was brought up... the judges in question are quoted as having said something to the effect of "I will not have that law brought up in my courtroom." Whether absolutely true or not I'll never know since I wasn't there, but it explains a lot. Most people don't even know that they have THIS historical right www.fija.org (Fully Informed Jury) and that the jury doesn't just judge the facts but ALSO the law in question, and whether it is right, wrong, abusive or not, or even if it is constitutional.
The Constitution IS just a piece of paper. I would wager that the Declaration is more important, and given that people, even during the rule of those lovely statists "FDR" and "Woodrow Wilson" administrations were being imprisoned for having dared to read the Declaration out loud. They were called "subversives". To tell you how "enlightened" or "educated" Americans are, most were scared and called the police when they heard the Declaration of Independence being read out loud in public. Yes indeed, even today... most Americans cannot recognize their true founding document anymore than they can recognize their second and third (second was Articles of Confederation and third was the actual Constitution + Bill of Rights.
What is happening has nothing to do with the government being hijacked, it is government doing what it was designed to do. Amass power for the few over the many and make it as permanent as possible.
Or, you could just govern yourselves at the locality level or the individual level, abstain from inflicting your personal views onto the minority through majority rule, and even *gasp* stop infringing on other's rights.
No I'm neither a "leftie" nor a "rightie". I find both choices disgusting, as with any other tax fed parasite. Your mileage may vary.
I would still be willing to BUY games (I don't pirate them, I just haven't found much to interest me, console OR desktop alike).
Again, I would still be willing to BUY games if they would stop rehashing half witted half finished games. So few companies really release good games, and everyone expects insane growth. Always "growth". Perhaps some retards somewhere forgot that you can only grow so much before your body either collapses under its own weight or you evolve into something else. Otherwise, no luck.
Blizzard always releases late. People understand them. Why? Because Blizzard, ID, Ravensoft and no others I can think of, have managed to release a bug free or complete product. Most of their fixes, in my memory, have been playbalancing, rare bugs on rare configs, etc. But their games WORK. Other people's games... often hit and run.
Why is it that so FEW companies actually put out workable, GOOD products? Perhaps if more of them did, and if shoddy products were to be refunded in FULL, then perhaps better products would "revitalize" the market.
Games don't need to be free. Shitty ones and incomplete ones should be. The "no return if opened" policy is bullshit. It just allows a company to sell a shitty game and get away with it. It allows a store to carry a non tested product and get away with it. But hell, if pharmaceutical companies and electronics and even car companies can get away with shoddy products, why not the software industry? If the customers keep waiting for governments to step in and save them, they ought to realize that it is MUCH easier to buy off bureaucrats and politicians than ten thousand pissed off freemen customers, some of whom might be willing and able to use their rights (from the vocal to the physical) when other means fail to extract remedy for shoddy product and vaporware sold as an actual, complete product. Fraud of this sort should be held accountable by the victims, the customers. Until the customers demand quality, and stand by that remark... and demand refunds on shitty products, until that occurs... well, nothing's gonna change.
Heh, people kept voting for the idiot who promised them more largesse and more "safety" programs. Well, the safest place in our world is strapped to a bed in a concrete bunker without anything nearby that can be "harmful" or "potentially harmful". As a result, you people get what you vote for, what you beg for, and what you desire. Safety. If you don't want safety, then its best to stop voting and start living. I'm sure I've beaten this horse to death.
Regarding paying for the internet, no buddy, I more than returned the favor. In fact, I am sick of "returning the favor". Regarding the natural resources being "denied" to you. Were you there first? Did you make those resources usable yourself? Well? Do you even know how, or are you simply going to copycat whoever came up with the idea and not give them an ounce of credit? Note, I'm not backing up corporations here, since they do not exist, they're paper in a lawyer's drawer. Only the people who use those papers exist. You do business with them, not with corporations. Corporations are the fiction by which you've let yourself be cheated by people who are afraid to be responsible for their actions. Individuals do as they please, groups exist only to enslave themselves to a stronger will.
The problem with those utopias I mentioned is that eventually the time comes to pay the piper... mostly because all of this is borrowed from the next generation (that next generation being ours.) We'll pay a heavier price than just monetary. Well, some of "us", not all. Some don't care about the group, as the group didn't care about "us".
You'll get it in time. If you ever look.
Allowing us all identify with the $GOOD_GUYS and our opponents with $BAD_GUYS. It's the same shit once again; I wonder if you were trying to be sarcastic, or if you truly don't realize how ironic it is to berate "us vs. them" mentality and then immediately describe your version of it.
Amusing. You spent a whole page of quoting and "refuting" my thoughts with those implanted in your head by others (lovely idea actually) and then you FINALLY get it, there, at the end.
Not that I'm being mean, but who pays for your "financial" safety net? And since your beloved government pays for it out of what they take from you (albeit at a much higher value than they give back, due to their own imposed monetary inflation) but that'd be like explaining to the FDR fanatics as to why that man robbed their children and their children's children of a future. Today's insolvent government spending sprees are directly due to his "elastic currency" utopia... read utopia as in "not here, not now, not ever" kind of utopia.
Like I said, it isn't an "us versus them". Its us with us and them versus them. Get it straight. See, the upside is suckers like you who want someone else to "keep you safe" will always pay the ultimate price for that folly. Why? Simple. You want someone else to live your life for you, preferably all the hard parts. Which is fine, since you, by your vote to confiscate from others what you feel is rightfully yours (obviously, how dare other people not conform and give you part of what they make?) are performing an act of aggression against those people. Know what the fun part is? You dig your own grave, because while digging theirs you miss the part where you will end up just as fleeced as they. Done slowly over time, it is nearly imperceptible. Quite brilliant... IMHO.
Hmm, I respect individuals.
However, when I hear "someone should do something about this" or "they should pass a law to..." or "why aren't they helping us" crap, I find it hard to respect people whose opinions are derived from the various propaganda establishments.
Or "tell me, what should I do?"
Everytime I hear that question, I know for a fact it is ONLY asked as a "shut the fuck up or say something that I can disagree with."
In a world of only individuals, I fail to respect the collectives. The only thing I have for collectives is distaste. I have respect for individuals. I know a few. They were hard to find in this morass we call 'society'. Very much worth it, as friends, however.
Interesting. I never said it was me versus average Joe. Average Joe is the guy who still votes, expecting to take my profits (actually a part of ALL my "income" regardless of whether it is profit or breaking even) and Average Joe gets what he deserves. So do I, in fact. That's the fun part, I've already secured my money and I'm waiting for the economy to tank. See, I will do fine when the economy tanks further thanks to the help of your loving central planners. But then again, they're doing what the average Joe wants. They're further fucking with a naturally self repairing system... and the system continues to fail further because, well, that's what happens when you're "fixing" an economy that isn't broken... merely trying to recover from governmental/institutional stupidity.
I don't get it, you're still missing the point. Its parasites versus producers. And none of your three parties to vote for is a producer. All they produce is their own consumption of your resources. If you work for money, then you are a lifeblood provider for the parasites. They give you a choice to vote or not vote, but make it sound like the choice is between all of them.
Suppose you walk into a store that sells poison. You are asked what you would like to consume today. They offer Cyanide, Arsenic, Mercury and a lovely high grade version of Sodium Fluoride (as in, enough to actually kill you outright.)
You don't realize that the choice is "consume their product or not", you instead think the choice is between the toxins offered. I can see where it can be tough to understand.
"Meesa propose to giva' Senator Palpatine immediately emergency powaz!"
Somehow, I did not fail to see the sarcasm in the new Star Wars movies. Of course, the "death" of the Old Republic, happened when the North conquered the South, in a war of aggression (not sure why they call it a civil war, since it was two federations fighting each other, one to conquer and subjugate, the other to maintain the right of its member states to be independent, and the "nation of freedom" was stillborn even in 1791, for the most part because those who created its "founding document" did it with intentional flaws built in. Why, one asks? Well obviously, men who want government, want it only because it benefits them, they love power... but the power is all the more addictive when given up willingly by the dupes who think they need someone else to do their thinking for them. These people were no different. And they WERE the government, and they were fairly certain their progeny would continue to run the show (as they have).
The average plebe, regardless of where, is still just a mindless drone who hates money, hates thinking and most above all, hates getting out of his mental box (or hers, ladies I haven't forgotten about your ability to be equal to men in the endeavor of willful ignorance.) Actually judging by my observations of the "average Joe", I would wager that perhaps people DO need someone else to do some of their thinking for them, since obviously the vast majorities are unwilling to think past the divisive slogans and political campaigns.
The majority of stupid people in this country see no problem with the "us vs them" mentality because they are thinking "americans vs arabs" or "democrats vs republicans"... they don't realize its "parasites versus producers". As it has always been. Too many producers are too busy blaming other producers for their problems, while calling for more parasites, to realize that the parasites aren't necessary. As to which is which I leave it as an exercise to each reader to decide who are the producers and who are the parasites.
Or I could be entitled to a "working" operating system? Nah, I don't need entitlement... I've already fixed the issue, but thanks for caring. (Not really.)
I agree, no written contract, indeed a problem. Secondly, since there is no written contract, it also means that I don't need to buy their next product again.
I love voting with my wallet. :) Best voting there is. Especially when an operating system sold "in good faith" (we presume it was) turns out to be a 30 day dud because the company crippled it on purpose and then stopped providing the missing component which they themselves removed from their otherwise workable product.
We used to call shit like that crippleware. Peculiar, but not impossible to sidestep. Frankly, I just pity the poor suckers stuck with it as their ONLY OS. Ye gods that must suck.
If they wanted to regain me as a user (and perhaps buyer of future microsoft products, though I highly doubt it given their track record of shit customer support) I would suggest that since they've deliberately crippled XP and Vista, the next time they move on and discontinue support for an OS they SELL to people, they should, perhaps, like a GOOD producer, unlock the old product, perhaps a tweak, perhaps a program that disables the "disable" feature for the 30 day "activation wizard" counter.
Since their phone support and internet activation options will not activate a legit product, and its impossible to get one of those damn tech support monkeys to actually stay on the line instead of making excuses to put one on hold, I would wager that they won't pull an ID software thing and release the product, either fully, or just plain DE-cripple it... nope. Well that's fine and dandy... the few Windows games I wish to play can easily be played on 98 or 2000. Which basically means that once I'm done with those, I can even wipe the 2000 rig.
Not a bad deal. Especially given that the two games I'm looking forward to, Starcraft II and Diablo III, will both likely run natively in Linux (okay so one can hope) or, like Warcraft II, III, Starcraft, Diablo I, II, and WoW, will probably run flawlessly in WINE. Again, less and less reasons to ever stay on Windows as a primary OS, or even a secondary one at that.
Not that I mind. Their support was always crap, but now, in a downturned economy, crap support at a price is NOT enticing. To me at least. Your mileage may vary.
Technically, if they break the use of the product it is THEM that broke it. For example, if you take a car to a dealership for an oil change, and they break your transmission, the auto company/dealership is NOT immune to a lawsuit because "hey, you got usage out of the transmission".
In fact, they will have to get you the FULL value of the transmission / replace it with a fully working one. See the whole issue is that a remedy to a broken contract is supposed to set you off AS WELL OR BETTER THAN BEFORE THE DAMAGE WAS INCURRED!
Pay attention to the caps... there's a reason for them. That was originally the whole point of contracts, fulfillments and remedies in case of broken contracts. Seems that companies that deal in software are permitted to break the product and the client is to blame. Strange that. Nowhere nearly as strange as the fact that you seem to think that such things are perfectly fine. Amazing. Nothing short thereof.
Not that I care. It was one more reason why I stopped using XP period. Guess what. Unless they give me a copy of Vista FREE, I don't plan to ever go back either. Hell, since I stopped gaming I've had more spare time than I've been able to waste with a conscious effort :)
Nah, XP no longer installs anyways. Seems Microsoft has disabled the "activation software" when you call in. They keep you on hold eternally. If you call in, and the indian tech support schmuck asks to put you on hold while "validating your key" do NOT accept him to do so, since once you're on hold, they no longer pick it up. Obviously if it was pirated they would tell you. Since my copy is legit (retail pack) its impossible for them to not activate it. Thus they have basically robbed me of the price of one professonal edition Windows XP, since it is a product I can no longer use. Technically they owe me, and anyone else who cannot activate their legit version, about 300 bucks plus tax... nevermind reimbursing us for inflation loss on that 300 bucks plus tax.
I could see a remarkably awesome lawsuit coming out of this. I just don't have the desire to enable the state apparatus... so I'll find another way, preferably using the market.
"Uninstall Internet Explorer 8? Are you sure? Yes/Yes"
Perfect security tool, IMHO.