OK, and how do those corporations get so much consumer money, then?
Corporations, in general have to care about consumers. If they don't, then they go elsewhere. But, when government starts meddling in free markets, then they start giving favouritism to some corporations, and then the consumer gets screwed by the corporation.
one thing almost every culture has in common is everyone wanting to pay the cheapest possible price for an item, regardless of any more subtle drawbacks (like lack of warranty, risk of fire as well as any possible cultural side-effects).
So, some people are willing to take a risk for a cost-saving. Isn't that their choice?
No. In this case it's "If Sony don't like the buyer, they should not sell to them". Sony sold someone some goods, and those people want to sell it on. Who, where and what price they sell it on at have nothing to do with Sony once they take the cash.
If Sony sell some hardware to a distributor, that's the end of Sony's involvement with that product. If I buy a PSP and then choose to smash it up, burn it or spray paint it orange, then it's none of Sony's business.
In Europe, where work weeks are often quite less than the 40 hour minimum common here, and vacations begin at multiple weeks each year. In intentional communities, where a balance between work and life and family is central to the overall design of the environment.
And how's unemployment doing in say, France and Germany?
The main reason that there's such a "work-life balance" in France is because of the state imposition of a 35 hour week. Someone got taken to caught for working more. He wanted to work it, his boss wanted him to work it, but the state didn't.
The problem with all of this is that anyone starting a business is going to avoid those countries that give less flexibility. So, the UK (who has less restrictive labour laws) gets a whole lot more inward investment than say, France.
And don't spout off about HAVING to work late, you don't have to do anything. I used to work 12 hours a day, and I never got promoted until I stopped being a slave to the job. Why is it us programmers can't do simple division and figure out that a big paycheck divided by 80 hours a week is no better than a manager a burger king.
I worked with someone who got a higher performance grade for all his extra work. Then he found out how much extra it was (0.75%). He reckoned that he'd have been better off doing a an evening in a couple of evenings a month in his local bar.
I'm staggered that people work huge amounts of extra hours for free.
I think that it could end up being a bit like Twister. Anyone can join in with the fun. I can see people getting into the Wii because of things like Christmas that you could have the whole family join in playing Wii Tennis.
The xbox 360 is more about the hardcore gamer and that's fine. I don't see why the two can't co-exist.
Give it 20 years, marijuana will no longer be criminal. The generation that is frightened of it will be far outweighed in jury rooms by people who know smokers, object to the law and will gladly set a man free.
The thing is that Hilary Clinton will be a member of the last group that were not exposed to video games in their youth.
To her and her elders, video games are like Rock and Roll was to her parents generation. Likely to corrupt and bring down society. The UK now has a prime minister who is open and proud about the fact that he played in a band in his youth. Thirty years ago, that would counted against him.
The balance of those who are OK with video games will tip slowly away from those who are against. Give it 10 or 15 years and the issue will no longer be an issue.
As someone who basically avoids sending docs, and prefers Open Document above all, I don't support this move by Adobe.
Printing to PDF is already supported by printer drivers and by things like OOo saving natively. Adobe basically put the specs out, and then allowed a competitor of Microsoft's to freely use their functionality, but they don't like Microsoft doing so.
Re:Proof we are not capitalist
on
Death By DMCA
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· Score: 1
First off, free-market capitalism is not the same thing as giving concessions to particular businesses. It's actually counter free-market.
A lot of pro-capitalist economists are very much against things like software patents because they restrict markets. They allow a company to become a monopolist.
In the case of the DMCA, should someone be able to restrict someone from doing something which is not desired by the creator. Well, in terms of breaking copyright, then yes. But, not all copying breaks copyright. In effect, the DMCA is anti-private property and anti-freedom, and therefore anti-market.
The bottom line is that people have to care about this shit, and sadly not enough people do anything. If you care enough, stop feeding the people who hire the lobbyists. Alternatively, write to your congressman and tell them it's a vote issue for them. It doesn't matter how much they get paid to pass these laws, the final power rests with the voters.
Re:This is why DRM will work
on
Death By DMCA
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· Score: 1
People always find a way.
I'm not a huge fan of Cory Doctorow, but he did a speech about copy protection (check it out here).
I'm paraphrasing, but one thing he basically says is that copy protection will always be broken, and that in the process it can lead people to places you wouldn't want them to go.
Can't fast-forward ads? People found a way around that. But now, they don't ever see your ads, not even the odd-one where they're vegged out and can't
be bothered picking up the remote. Because they grabbed it off a P2P network and watched it from there instead.
Re:Smuggling opportunities
on
Death By DMCA
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· Score: 1
The Danish city of Copenhagen used to be full of Swedes on weekends, because in their puritanical attempt to keep people from drinking, they raised the duty to a ludicrous level.
So expensive, that Swedes got on the boat to Copenhagen and got pissed there instead.
I don't think it's about graphics, but about gameplay.
The real problem is when the thing is beautifully done, but the gameplay sucks. I personally like the C&C/Total Annihilation games, but my favourite is Total Annihilation, even though it's older. The graphics/game segments in the more advanced C&C are better, but TA has, for me, the better gameplay. It's much better balanced.
Opera recently released something called Opera Mini (Google for it) which trounces the browser on my S60.
It's fast, and not only that, it pre-prepares the content via a server, so that if you visit a page, you aren't getting all sorts of stuff that the browser can't render, speeding up the operation.
Taxpayers should be able to go to an event at a venue that their tax dollars built for the advertized ticket price, not the advertized price +50% in "fees" to a middleman.
Sounds like a valid complaint.
So, what you are really saying here is that the people running the venue paid for by tax dollars are stiffing you by using Ticketmaster as the agent? Maybe, you should speak to someone in government about the misuse of taxpayers money?
Personally, for quick and dirty databases, I use MS Access. It's not fantastic, but it gives you a proper relational database, and is far superior to Excel for complex querying.
Great. Even more users have a reason for thinking they can create their own little unstructured spreadsheets residing on their machines, with no backups. Which later can't be used for things like statistical analysis, because there's 101 ways of saying "Account Closed" instead of it being defined and validated data.
Spreadsheets were originally about financial analysis. That people could run projections and the like. And they serve that purpose well. Otherwise, there's this thing called a database.
If you're going to be a tool, at least get an argument that isn't stupid. What I don't want to do is come in and buy a rump roast steak at the advertized rump roast price and walk out having paid fillet prices, and then some. Especially when I get charged a fee to do Ticketmaster the favor of printing my own ticket and saving them all of their printing and labor costs.
So, at what point in the checkout process did you not see the full Ticketmaster price? I bought some tickets recently, and quit out when I saw the ludicrous "fees".
No, you DON'T have a choice. If you want to go to just about any concert in any sized arena, or just about any sports game, you have no choice but to use Ticketmaster
There's your choice. Go or don't go. Obviously, the people putting the event on are happy to use them, even if you are not. You don't need to go and see a major sports game, any more than I need fine burgundy. There are plenty of ways to be entertained.
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OK, and how do those corporations get so much consumer money, then?
Corporations, in general have to care about consumers. If they don't, then they go elsewhere. But, when government starts meddling in free markets, then they start giving favouritism to some corporations, and then the consumer gets screwed by the corporation.
So, some people are willing to take a risk for a cost-saving. Isn't that their choice?
If Sony sell some hardware to a distributor, that's the end of Sony's involvement with that product. If I buy a PSP and then choose to smash it up, burn it or spray paint it orange, then it's none of Sony's business.
And how's unemployment doing in say, France and Germany?
The main reason that there's such a "work-life balance" in France is because of the state imposition of a 35 hour week. Someone got taken to caught for working more. He wanted to work it, his boss wanted him to work it, but the state didn't.
The problem with all of this is that anyone starting a business is going to avoid those countries that give less flexibility. So, the UK (who has less restrictive labour laws) gets a whole lot more inward investment than say, France.
I worked with someone who got a higher performance grade for all his extra work. Then he found out how much extra it was (0.75%). He reckoned that he'd have been better off doing a an evening in a couple of evenings a month in his local bar.
I'm staggered that people work huge amounts of extra hours for free.
I think that it could end up being a bit like Twister. Anyone can join in with the fun. I can see people getting into the Wii because of things like Christmas that you could have the whole family join in playing Wii Tennis.
The xbox 360 is more about the hardcore gamer and that's fine. I don't see why the two can't co-exist.
Give it 20 years, marijuana will no longer be criminal. The generation that is frightened of it will be far outweighed in jury rooms by people who know smokers, object to the law and will gladly set a man free.
To her and her elders, video games are like Rock and Roll was to her parents generation. Likely to corrupt and bring down society. The UK now has a prime minister who is open and proud about the fact that he played in a band in his youth. Thirty years ago, that would counted against him.
The balance of those who are OK with video games will tip slowly away from those who are against. Give it 10 or 15 years and the issue will no longer be an issue.
Printing to PDF is already supported by printer drivers and by things like OOo saving natively. Adobe basically put the specs out, and then allowed a competitor of Microsoft's to freely use their functionality, but they don't like Microsoft doing so.
A lot of pro-capitalist economists are very much against things like software patents because they restrict markets. They allow a company to become a monopolist.
In the case of the DMCA, should someone be able to restrict someone from doing something which is not desired by the creator. Well, in terms of breaking copyright, then yes. But, not all copying breaks copyright. In effect, the DMCA is anti-private property and anti-freedom, and therefore anti-market.
The bottom line is that people have to care about this shit, and sadly not enough people do anything. If you care enough, stop feeding the people who hire the lobbyists. Alternatively, write to your congressman and tell them it's a vote issue for them. It doesn't matter how much they get paid to pass these laws, the final power rests with the voters.
I'm not a huge fan of Cory Doctorow, but he did a speech about copy protection (check it out here).
I'm paraphrasing, but one thing he basically says is that copy protection will always be broken, and that in the process it can lead people to places you wouldn't want them to go.
Can't fast-forward ads? People found a way around that. But now, they don't ever see your ads, not even the odd-one where they're vegged out and can't be bothered picking up the remote. Because they grabbed it off a P2P network and watched it from there instead.
So expensive, that Swedes got on the boat to Copenhagen and got pissed there instead.
The real problem is when the thing is beautifully done, but the gameplay sucks. I personally like the C&C/Total Annihilation games, but my favourite is Total Annihilation, even though it's older. The graphics/game segments in the more advanced C&C are better, but TA has, for me, the better gameplay. It's much better balanced.
People stand outside and talk to other people, and overhear things elsewhere in the department/company.
I've weighed up the downsides, and decided I'd rather be less well informed, though.
I'm all for protecting users from their own stupidity, but in the end, there's a point where people stop having any power at all.
I only ever saw it on video, and then went when the Director's Cut came around.
I'm not sure many people saw it on the cinema. It was something of a sleeper hit that grew on video (like The Terminator).
They still make good books, but I might be less keen on parting with money, and just browse articles for what I need instead.
It's fast, and not only that, it pre-prepares the content via a server, so that if you visit a page, you aren't getting all sorts of stuff that the browser can't render, speeding up the operation.
Sounds like a valid complaint.
So, what you are really saying here is that the people running the venue paid for by tax dollars are stiffing you by using Ticketmaster as the agent? Maybe, you should speak to someone in government about the misuse of taxpayers money?
Most people who don't buy new machines will ignore it.
The beta should be about finding the odd thing that the dev team didn't spot.
When I hear people saying "but that feature may get into the final release", then I consider it as another slide in software development standards.
Using Excel for a database is moronic.
Great. Even more users have a reason for thinking they can create their own little unstructured spreadsheets residing on their machines, with no backups. Which later can't be used for things like statistical analysis, because there's 101 ways of saying "Account Closed" instead of it being defined and validated data.
Spreadsheets were originally about financial analysis. That people could run projections and the like. And they serve that purpose well. Otherwise, there's this thing called a database.
So, at what point in the checkout process did you not see the full Ticketmaster price? I bought some tickets recently, and quit out when I saw the ludicrous "fees".
No, you DON'T have a choice. If you want to go to just about any concert in any sized arena, or just about any sports game, you have no choice but to use Ticketmaster
There's your choice. Go or don't go. Obviously, the people putting the event on are happy to use them, even if you are not. You don't need to go and see a major sports game, any more than I need fine burgundy. There are plenty of ways to be entertained.