Before you install this beta release, back up all MP3 files that might be accessed by the computer, including those on removable media or shared network resources.
Meaning what exactly? Windows 7 takes it upon itself to make sure you're not pirating music by doing what? Erasing all your mp3s? Anyone know? I suppose I didn't really expect MS to come to their senses on DRM, but one could hope.
Windows 7, still Defective by Design.
It had some issues with MP3s with more than 1KB of meta-data (tags, etc), AFAIK. Accidentially deleting the first 2-3 seconds of such songs. A quick google will give you more details.
And why didn't you include a big rebate for your other games with my purchase? I'm sure you'd get some additional purchases if the email with the download link included "20% off on Kudos Rock Legend, Democracy 2 and Ancient Lux! And as you are a valued customer, for the next week you can download Kudos 1 and Democracy 1 for free here!." Naturally mentioning the offer again on the web site for the free downloads.
(Why: 1: Upselling is easier than selling. 2: Give someone something for free and they'll feel an urge to repay it. 3: Time limits increase the odds of people actually doing something.)
Btw, I'd suggest saving the game as "Demo Firstname Lastname" on demo time out and "To continue your life as Alex Murphy, buy the full game today". Should probably be able to keep more than 1 character from demo to full game.
Installing Kudos 2 when I already had Kudos 2 Demo installed got slightly confusing (there are now 2 shortcuts in my start menu called "Kudos") and would probably be more confusing for less experienced users.
So, my suggestion would be making the "real" Kudos installer uninstall the Kudos Demo and load the saved (timed out) games. "Do you want to continue your life as Marc Fergus. Jane Moosh or Start a New Game?". Well, either that or make the process of upgrading from demo to full edition not require any additional downloads but be done seamlessly from within the demo...
Oh, and some better integration with the Paypal API on your site would make the purchase process easier. (Why should I fill out my name/address when Paypal can tell you automatically? Why do I have to wait for an email when you could redirect me directly to the download as soon as I've placed my purchase?)
I've been waiting to buy this book for ages, but the co.uk edition of Amazon seems to have chosen not to stock the hardcover edition, rather holding out for the paperback edition due in june:-/
Honestly? Kudos 2 feels too high priced compared to the level of playability you get. Kinda like a text-only version of The Sims with a web interface, only done on the desktop;-P
But still, compared to most other indie games it's pretty cool, so you'll be the game dev I pay this xmas to pretend I still have some ethics in this pirate world;-)
But you don't really have much of a chance, no matter how "nice" you play. People have gotten used to piracy, it's just so damn simple.
Going to a torrent site and typing "Kudos 2" in the search field is way easier than filling out my details, logging in to paypal, checking my email and *then* downloading - to get the game the "official" way off your site.
But, as I said, this xmas you'll be my excuse, so Kudos 2 is on it's way down - the official way:-P
"Thomas Donaldson has argued that "death" based on cardiac arrest or resuscitation failure is a purely social construction used to justify terminating care of dying patients. In this view, legal death and its aftermath are a form of euthanasia in which sick people are abandoned."
"16. Why was this agreement limited to Google Book Search users within the
U.S.?
Because this agreement is the result of a U.S. lawsuit, it directly affects the Google
Book Search experience for those accessing the site in the U.S."
From the Press FAQ(PDF)
According to physorg: "A teenager hacker has admitted carrying out a cyber attack that crashed Church of Scientology websites as part of a campaign by a mysterious underground group, justice officials said Friday."
Heh. No drawbacks over a wheelchair? Speed for one. Ability to stop and relax anywhere. And have you ever seen a "pro" wheelchair user go down stairs? Those people give the skateboarder and rollerblader people a run for their money:p Up is a bit harder, but I've seen them do some amazing stuff there as well.
My point is: Wheelchair users are not a homogeneous group. This will definitively be an improvement for some users/situations, but not a generic wheelchair replacement.
Well, they've got something like 64 pixels for an artificial retina already, and several research projects are underway to improve this.
Here is a good list of articles about the University of Southern California Doheny Eye Institute's retinal implants.
There are also projects based on external cameras, new cameras being developed for artificial retina use, and so on.
Now imagine WoW with 20 years of hardware and software progress, as well as a direct neural interface;-)
At least one of the labels is seeing what the future holds: The end of the major music labels.
With an "ISP Tax" they can maintain their businesses as a more or less useless parasite on society, getting large amounts of income and still holding the power of saying who is to become a star and who is not.
Another problem is the small, independent labels, not to mention musicians who manage without a label. Think they'll get any money? Think again. The major labels have decades of experience lobbying government, so who do you think will end up administrating this?
It will also require registering and logging what music is downloaded, which will be a hard task in itself... unless music on the internet is centralized.
Project: Open Source System for automatic user-initiated translation of blogs/articles/etc. Add a "Read this in:" which is autotranslated to location (GeoIP, etc) and a "Translate this". Basic idea being ad-sharing as payment for translating blogs. Open Source project, because I mainly just want to see more content out there, and translated content is great. Wiki-based.
From the user's point of view: You enter a page, and see it in English. You're quite good at English in addition to Chinese, so you write a quick translation.
For the most part, however, women do mature to a point where a good provider is the best choice for her.
For feeding the kids, yeah. For making them she'll still turn to the 'bad boy' alpha male. In her fertile period, her taste in men changes at the most basic levels - big muscles, hairy chests and the like.
But look at the genetic statistics tests have shown sometime (google it, I'm too lazy to find it at the moment) sometime. There are amazing numbers of children whose fathers are not whom they think.
Although, in many ways this does not really matter. But if widespread testing of fatherhood becomes the norm, our society will pretty much collapse.
The footprints the first astronauts left on the moon 39 years ago is still preserved.
The moon lacking an atmosphere, and there as such being no weather, the moon dust is quite stable.
It only shifts when something (like an astronaut's boot or a meteorite) pushes it, so the odds of a mirror staying largely dust-free are pretty good.
As to spinning stuff in room temperature on the moon... That part sounds harder:p
Scenario: "I'm young, I'm idealistic. I haven't got a credit card, I haven't got paypal, but I do have a website with at least some few visitors. And I really like Wikipedia."
Think this is uncommon? I certainly don't.
So. How do we "monetize" this resource? Let them run ads generating income for Wikipedia.
Someone(tm) in Wikipedia, or some trustworthy foundation, should set up an account somewhere, and then volunteers will make a few widgets to easily add ads to your site, a Wordpress plugin, banner rotation so you can donate a certain percentage of page impressions... I'm sure more things will come up.
Slashdot Mirror
Grandparent clearly deserves it.
n/t
The item that I find troubling is this:
Before you install this beta release, back up all MP3 files that might be accessed by the computer, including those on removable media or shared network resources.
Meaning what exactly? Windows 7 takes it upon itself to make sure you're not pirating music by doing what? Erasing all your mp3s? Anyone know? I suppose I didn't really expect MS to come to their senses on DRM, but one could hope.
Windows 7, still Defective by Design.
It had some issues with MP3s with more than 1KB of meta-data (tags, etc), AFAIK. Accidentially deleting the first 2-3 seconds of such songs. A quick google will give you more details.
Citation needed. (And no, "Just fucking google it didn't work).
I'd just like to say thanks. This is one of the most insightful comments I have seen in recent Slashdot history.
:-)
And it certainly adds another piece to the puzzle that is IP in my mind.
And in more recent versions, middle click.
And why didn't you include a big rebate for your other games with my purchase? I'm sure you'd get some additional purchases if the email with the download link included "20% off on Kudos Rock Legend, Democracy 2 and Ancient Lux! And as you are a valued customer, for the next week you can download Kudos 1 and Democracy 1 for free here!." Naturally mentioning the offer again on the web site for the free downloads.
(Why: 1: Upselling is easier than selling. 2: Give someone something for free and they'll feel an urge to repay it. 3: Time limits increase the odds of people actually doing something.)
Btw, I'd suggest saving the game as "Demo Firstname Lastname" on demo time out and "To continue your life as Alex Murphy, buy the full game today". Should probably be able to keep more than 1 character from demo to full game.
Installing Kudos 2 when I already had Kudos 2 Demo installed got slightly confusing (there are now 2 shortcuts in my start menu called "Kudos") and would probably be more confusing for less experienced users.
So, my suggestion would be making the "real" Kudos installer uninstall the Kudos Demo and load the saved (timed out) games. "Do you want to continue your life as Marc Fergus. Jane Moosh or Start a New Game?". Well, either that or make the process of upgrading from demo to full edition not require any additional downloads but be done seamlessly from within the demo...
Oh, and some better integration with the Paypal API on your site would make the purchase process easier. (Why should I fill out my name/address when Paypal can tell you automatically? Why do I have to wait for an email when you could redirect me directly to the download as soon as I've placed my purchase?)
I've been waiting to buy this book for ages, but the co.uk edition of Amazon seems to have chosen not to stock the hardcover edition, rather holding out for the paperback edition due in june :-/
And what's the deal with the full Kudos 2 installer being smaller than the demo one?
Honestly? Kudos 2 feels too high priced compared to the level of playability you get. Kinda like a text-only version of The Sims with a web interface, only done on the desktop ;-P
But still, compared to most other indie games it's pretty cool, so you'll be the game dev I pay this xmas to pretend I still have some ethics in this pirate world ;-) :-P
But you don't really have much of a chance, no matter how "nice" you play. People have gotten used to piracy, it's just so damn simple.
Going to a torrent site and typing "Kudos 2" in the search field is way easier than filling out my details, logging in to paypal, checking my email and *then* downloading - to get the game the "official" way off your site.
But, as I said, this xmas you'll be my excuse, so Kudos 2 is on it's way down - the official way
This is so very true.
"Thomas Donaldson has argued that "death" based on cardiac arrest or resuscitation failure is a purely social construction used to justify terminating care of dying patients. In this view, legal death and its aftermath are a form of euthanasia in which sick people are abandoned."
Oh, and read up on Information theoretical death
n/t
For a recent example, compare Fallout 2 to Fallout 3. :-(
"16. Why was this agreement limited to Google Book Search users within the U.S.?
Because this agreement is the result of a U.S. lawsuit, it directly affects the Google Book Search experience for those accessing the site in the U.S." From the Press FAQ(PDF)
According to physorg: "A teenager hacker has admitted carrying out a cyber attack that crashed Church of Scientology websites as part of a campaign by a mysterious underground group, justice officials said Friday."
/b/tards are going to love this...
The
Heh. No drawbacks over a wheelchair? Speed for one. :p
Ability to stop and relax anywhere.
And have you ever seen a "pro" wheelchair user go down stairs? Those people give the skateboarder and rollerblader people a run for their money
Up is a bit harder, but I've seen them do some amazing stuff there as well.
My point is: Wheelchair users are not a homogeneous group. This will definitively be an improvement for some users/situations, but not a generic wheelchair replacement.
Well, they've got something like 64 pixels for an artificial retina already, and several research projects are underway to improve this.
;-)
Here is a good list of articles about the University of Southern California Doheny Eye Institute's retinal implants.
There are also projects based on external cameras, new cameras being developed for artificial retina use, and so on.
Now imagine WoW with 20 years of hardware and software progress, as well as a direct neural interface
At least one of the labels is seeing what the future holds: The end of the major music labels.
With an "ISP Tax" they can maintain their businesses as a more or less useless parasite on society, getting large amounts of income and still holding the power of saying who is to become a star and who is not.
Another problem is the small, independent labels, not to mention musicians who manage without a label. Think they'll get any money? Think again. The major labels have decades of experience lobbying government, so who do you think will end up administrating this?
It will also require registering and logging what music is downloaded, which will be a hard task in itself... unless music on the internet is centralized.
Yeah, so let's get access to some of that text.
Project: Open Source System for automatic user-initiated translation of blogs/articles/etc. Add a "Read this in:" which is autotranslated to location (GeoIP, etc) and a "Translate this". Basic idea being ad-sharing as payment for translating blogs. Open Source project, because I mainly just want to see more content out there, and translated content is great. Wiki-based.
From the user's point of view: You enter a page, and see it in English. You're quite good at English in addition to Chinese, so you write a quick translation.
For feeding the kids, yeah. For making them she'll still turn to the 'bad boy' alpha male. In her fertile period, her taste in men changes at the most basic levels - big muscles, hairy chests and the like.
But look at the genetic statistics tests have shown sometime (google it, I'm too lazy to find it at the moment) sometime. There are amazing numbers of children whose fathers are not whom they think.
Although, in many ways this does not really matter. But if widespread testing of fatherhood becomes the norm, our society will pretty much collapse.
The footprints the first astronauts left on the moon 39 years ago is still preserved. :p
The moon lacking an atmosphere, and there as such being no weather, the moon dust is quite stable.
It only shifts when something (like an astronaut's boot or a meteorite) pushes it, so the odds of a mirror staying largely dust-free are pretty good.
As to spinning stuff in room temperature on the moon... That part sounds harder
FreeBSD has more money than they know what to do with, IIRC.
Scenario: "I'm young, I'm idealistic. I haven't got a credit card, I haven't got paypal, but I do have a website with at least some few visitors. And I really like Wikipedia."
Think this is uncommon? I certainly don't.
So. How do we "monetize" this resource? Let them run ads generating income for Wikipedia.
Someone(tm) in Wikipedia, or some trustworthy foundation, should set up an account somewhere, and then volunteers will make a few widgets to easily add ads to your site, a Wordpress plugin, banner rotation so you can donate a certain percentage of page impressions... I'm sure more things will come up.