As others have said, the biggest issue that we have to deal with isn't the spyware itself, but the end-users who "just have to have" whatever the associated programs are. And these programs don't just slow their computers down, it also affects the network by adding unnecessary traffic to the pipe.
What are the worst offenders? Those programs offering either "cute" or "informative". Desktop wallpaper, custom cursors, so many toolbars and geegaws to make your browser look like CNN's Headline News. A time updater. A date updater. A weather notifier. Hate to tell you, but I have a watch, a calendar, a radio, and a window. Between these four things, I think I'll know what the day/time is and what weather is coming.
What would these same users do if they drove up to a street corner and there was somebody waiting to plaster their car with a flashy bumper sticker in exchange for their friends' email addresses? I would hope that these folks would just drive away. So why does it work on a computer screen?
Hell, half the problems business have could be solved if companies just banned access to all the websites that produce these programs. Can't download Weatherbug or Webshots if you can't get to the websites in the first place. No need to visit each individual computer if you can use the firewall to do your job for you. Anyone have a list of those evil IP addresses they'd like to share? (and by "evil" I mean, well, "evil")
I used to use Lavasoft's AdAware but after it wasn't updated for a while someone recommended Spybot which I've stuck with.
Ad Aware was updated a few weeks ago to version 6.181 (?) and does a better job of getting rid of stuff (including CWS) than the current version of Spybot. Normally, I would run Ad Aware then Spybot to finish cleaning stuff that Ad Aware left behind, but now I've found that I have to run Spybot first followed by Ad Aware. This may be temporary, but still...
I think it has to do with some of these spyware/virus programs deactivating these sweeper programs or munging the hosts file so they can't get the updates. At least with a download of Ad Aware (without the latest update), you can get the bulk of things cleaned up enough to be able to access the update sites afterwards for a second pass with your favorite spy-removal tool.
You're right: A cell phone IS a mandatory kid-accessory.
But you're wrong about kids wanting the Nokia N-Gage. It's way too big. Kids want something that they can slip into their pocket, and with today's fashions, those pockets are getting smaller (and lower) every day.
It's one reason why those Virgin Mobile slide-phones are popular with kids.
I'd guess that the phones would have their batteries isolated to prevent the phones from responding to any pre-purchase scanning. Once you uncork the can, you pull a clear plastic tab out of the battery compartment to activate the phone (similar to the way all those noisy electronic toys displayed on store shelves work).
Or maybe the battery is only activated when the user holds in the Big Red Button on the front of the phone.
I can't imagine that Coca-Cola didn't think of all the ways to cheat the system after the McDonald's contest fiasco from a few years ago.
I partially blame EA for the current boring state of today's video game market.
When EA first blazed onto the scene, they were creative and innovative. They took chances by releasing boutique titles (like the aforementioned Seven Cities and Theme Hospital, Archon) without regard for whether there would be mass appeal to them or not.
Now, all EA does is take an existing concept (FPS, any sport) and rework the graphics and stats engine every year. Certainly, the *quality* of the products that they release is top-notch. They are widely considered the leader in whatever sports title they produce, and almost always rightly so. But many of their titles are missing that original creative spark that drove the company back in the day. How many more FPS do we need? There's only so much that can be done to improve a football game year after year.
Granted, part of this is also due to today's need to appeal to the mass-market gamer instead of the techno-nerd. But even movie studios release smaller films that will appeal to limited audiences every once in a while. Why can't game publishers do the same and take a chance once in a while?
This past year, Sony took a chance with the Eyetoy (and now, Eyetoy Groove). Konami released Karaoke Revolution (and this summer, Karaoke Revolution 2). Both games that have limited audience appeal as hardcore gamers didn't flock to these titles, but these titles have proved themselves to be excellent party games, especially for those folks not normally interested in playing video games... and apparently profitable, as their sequels show. Sure, these titles won't sell in the millions as Madden does every year, but at least these companies are offering gameplay options that stray from the norm.
Sure, perhaps MSFT has had a lack of XBox exclusive games since they launched when compared to the GC or PS2. And let's go along with the assumption that the games listed in the article ARE being released exclusively for the XBox (contrary to what others have already pointed out).
That being said, as the XBox is closing on it's life cycle (as evident by the flurry of activity surrounding XBox Next -- or whatever it will be called -- and the recent price drops/promotions) does exclusivity on new games really matter? If the price drops didn't get non-XBoxers to rush out and buy a system, what makes them think that DOOM3 will make 'em go out and buy a console now?
Let's suppose that there are DOOM (to pick a game for use in the example) fans out there who DON'T already have an XBox. And let's say that all those fanboys rush out and buy the XBox just to play DOOM3. Not only is MSFT going to lose money on this overall transaction, but I'm guessing that the reason fanboy never bought an Xbox in the first place was because he just didn't care about the other games on the system enough to buy one, exclusive or otherwise.
YES, at launch and during the first year or two of a console's existence, there are HUGE reasons why being the exclusive home to a title or series is important to building a customer base. Late in the console's lifecycle after you've already started cutting prices multiple times to also build marketshare? Not so much.
For some reason, TiVo thinks that I have a James Bond obsession. I don't deny this -- especially when TiVo finds programs like JAMES BOND'S GADGETS on The History Channel.
While there are one or two other Bond-related shows on A&E / Discovery / History / etc, I believe it was this particular show that spent time with the guy who now owns the speedboat from one of Brosnan's outings, a history of the Rocketman pack and how it works (and what they're doing now), and one or two other "real world" items used in the films.
Then again, TiVo also automatically recorded last week's "Secrets of the Human Cannonball" on TLC, so who knows?
If the new criteria for the "2003 E3 Best of Show" award goes to the booth/game that draws the biggest crowd, then that would have to be for Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson showing up to pimp the AMERICAN IDOL game. Huge crowd, plus Access Hollywood and CNN (okay, and me) grabbing "Dawg" for interviews. Couldn't push through the masses to get through to the press desk for demos, but you could hear the cheers from across the room.
And we pretty much know where THAT game has ended up this year, right?
The article I read this morning refered to the "first time Darth Vader walked onto the set", and the filmed reactions of everyone involved seeing the character/costume for the first time. The article said it was a 'once in a lifetime' moment that could never be recreated.
The preview offers a first glimpse of the new Vader costume, too. "What we want to do is give people a sense of what it was like when Darth Vader steps back on the set again," says Lucasfilm's Jim Ward. "It's one of those moments that happens only once in the lifetime of a saga."
So if it's behind-the-scenes stuff, that could be kinda neat. Just saying.
I don't know what you're reading, but UCLA has a DCMA Copyright Policy listed that states UCLA meets the DMCA general eligibility requirements for Liability Shelter as a qualified provider of online services, including accommodating and not interfering with standard technical measures used to identify and protect copyrighted works, and adopting and implementing a policy that provides for the termination of services to persons who are repeat infringers.
In fact, UCLA has even published a letter to their students directly addressing file-sharing which states We are writing to alert the campus community - students, faculty and staff - to the personal risks involved with illegal file-sharing. It is important that you understand these risks, not only because of the possibility of disciplinary action, but also to protect yourself against criminal prosecution and the initiation of civil litigation by copyright holders. We would like you to be very aware that initiation of legal action by copyright holders is becoming more of a reality every day..
With ample notification of monitoring and a termination policy in place, why should UCLA need to explicitly state that they are turning on a new monitoring system any more than they would notify students that their P2P bandwidth was being throttled by something like Packetshaper?
Sure it could work, just like renting a pool table or shuffleboard game at Dave & Busters.
You hand in your driver's license and/or leave an imprint of your credit card. The host then walks you over to the game unit and unlocks it, sets it up, and takes your initial drink order.
When you're done playing, you go back to the desk and get your card back. The place marks off how much time you've spent playing and charges you accordingly, and the host then wanders off to make sure the game was powered down correctly and the area is cleaned up for the next gamer.
I've attended a number of press screenings over the years, and I'm not surprised at all that theatres AND the studios are starting to crack down. On the other hand, 50% of the audience for any given press screening is typically always the same people and either have no interest in taping the film in the first place, or wouldn't risk doing it because they value being able to see the movies in the first place.
The first time we really saw a huge security detail was for the screening of Minority Report. The studio had hired police to scan/wand everybody coming in, but they also had posted a security guy to sit with the copy of the film in the projection booth. All that, along with the guys walking up-and-down the aisles during the film while wearing the night-vision goggles.
Now, it appears to be up to the theatre's discretion. One popular theatre for screeners always has police present doing a patdown (along with banning camera phones and periodic night-vision scanning), while a different theatre that is also used for screeners may or may not have security visibly present.
For those of you paying attention (hey, Brad!), the date that this article was posted (the 14th) is NOT the anniversary day, at least not according to the various 'spam history' articles online.
"Ten years ago today..." should have read "Ten years ago on April 12th"
(or 20 years, or 15 years, or whatever the number of years is that the rest of you were discussing)
Yes, you certainly have a right to free speech. You just don't have a right to say it wherever you choose, nor do you have right to force people to listen to you.
Using recent radio cases, like Howard Stern's banning from various Clearchannel stations as an example, this spyware company would prefer to have their radio DJs say/do anything that they would like -- including airing obscene material -- and at the same time, make your radio tuning knob be inactive for the length of time that the DJ is talking (allowing you to change the station only while music is playing). And all of that is under the guise of "it's free speech!".
Re:Insight, no.... Programming Yes
on
Those Eureka Moments
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· Score: 2, Informative
You could always work your way up the NYTimes Crossword Puzzle chain. The Monday puzzle is supposed to be the easiest of the week, and the Saturday's is the most difficult. I think the Sunday one falls slightly below the Saturday one in overall difficulty, but it makes up for toughness in size (memory fails on specifics right now).
While I know some of the folks who create the NYTimes Crosswords (and other published puzzles) and have spoken with Will Shortz on occasion, I do know that there are plenty of crossword fans that abhore the NYTimes puzzles of late. They would prefer puzzles that don't have the 'cutsie/theme' clues and simply rely on good old-fashioned "words on a grid" that don't require knowledge of jokes/puns/pop culture in order to guess the answer.
Those of you who are really into puzzles and games may want to join the National Puzzlers League. While they do know the answer to the ubiquitious "what words end in -ngy other than HUNGRY and ANGRY?" question, they also pride themselves on being among the first to play many of the latest/newest board games as well.
Piece of cake -- incorporate that into the Google toolbar that everyone has already downloaded.
(unless Yahoo's toolbar has a pending patent on the concept, in which case you're on your own)
Has nobody mentioned the wonderful mood music that George "Fat Man" and the rest of Team Fat created for 7th Guest, 11th Hour, and Wing Commander, not to mention the various Putt-Putt titles? Apparently they're now doing movie soundtracks and casino audio.
The electronic board on the roulette tables is nothing more than a way to entice folks to gamble. "Past results do not guarantee future wins", or in other words -- just because you flipped a coin and it came up heads ten times in a row does not mean that it is more likely to come up heads on the 11th flip.
Casinos want you to think that the wheel will remember past winning numbers or otherwise recognize streaks when no real streaks exist in a truly random roulette wheel. It's one reason why the wheels are reviewed and replaced on a regular basis, to remove any bias that could show up.
In the recent book about MIT students beating various casinos in blackjack, this very topic/observation was made by one of the students on his first trip to Vegas. On the plane they saw another tourist with a deck of cards and an intro book on card counting. The students' comments on this were that the casinos LOVED having all the amatuer card counters come out and try what was printed in the books. It was the pro card counters that casinos were scared of.
The key point to note here is that the main issue the casinos have with the 3 folks arrested for "clocking the wheel" is that they used external electronic devices to help them "cheat". Similarly, card counters who use devices embedded in their shoes, watching for card reflections in mirrors/glassware, or marking the cards -- all are subject to arrest and prosecution because they're using external devices.
On the other hand, card counters and wheel clockers and other folks who only use their brains to observe/calculate odds cannot be arrested. They may be banned from a casino or asked to leave, but using one's brain is not illegal. In fact, if a card counter is thought to be at a particular table, there's nothing stopping the casino from arbitrarily changing the rules regarding when to shuffle the deck or lowering the maximum bet allowed... all in order to bring the house edge back in their favor.
I agree -- a few months back they had a few extended commericials from Best Buy starring two retro-80's "brothers". Hysterical commercials, watched some a few times, even shared one with other folks.
Even prompted me to visit the "brothers" website for more information, which sadly - was not as entertaining as the commercials were, in part because the content was MORE limited on the website than what was on the TiVo. Go figure.
Give me a thumbs-up for commercials, but also get other stations to throw the "Click ThumbsUp to Record" logo on the screen when their promos run. I know why I only see it on NBC's schedule, but anything that can suggest programs for users to record should be looked at as a good thing, right? (And wouldn't it be in NBC's best interest to throw that graphic onto their promos that air nationally so folks without TiVo can wonder what it means? You know - to generate watercooler talk?)
Now, I liked what PBS did as they had interviews with Nolan Bushnell and others that gave some great insight into what was happening in game development at the time.
But they had to resort to reenactments -- that weren't labelled as such -- of key moments which really threw me off.
An example: they showed "film" of when Nolan and company first put PONG into a local bar in the late '70's. They showed all the people playing the game and how it broke because there were too many quarters stuck in the box. Unfortunately, they had the PONG machine placed next to a 1996 Bally Safecracker pinball machine (which just happens to be one of the best pinball machines ever made). The least they could have done was put it next to a Fireball or something from the same general PONG timeframe. It was like watching Gladiator and noticing that Russell Crowe was wearing a watch. Ruined the rest of the show for me.
but when I'm at college the firewall keeps my download speeds nice and slow
Don't feel like you're being singled out. Universities have been paying through the nose for bandwidth over the last 2-4 years because of college students who feel that it is their unalienable right to freely download whatever they want. Putting bandwidth limits in place is the least of your concerns... be happy that they didn't shut down your ability to use P2P on their network at all.
You could try talking with your university IT folks and see if they'll up the bandwidth limits during off-peak hours (say, 9pm-6am). On the other hand, depending on the size of your college, it may not be the IT folks limiting you -- it could be hundreds of your fellow students all P2P'ing (or not uninstalling spyware) at the same time sucking your precious bandwidth away.
At Disney's shareholders meeting in Philadelphia today (at about 3hrs 10mins through 3hours 15mins into the meeting for those of you who want to listen at Disney Investors) they announced that Kingdom Hearts 2 is coming in 2005 for the PS2 and a version of Kingdom Hearts for Gameboy coming out later this year. No mention of a version for PSP or PS3.
...from back in the day. For the most part, the focus has moved entirely away from creating a good game to creating an "immersive player experience". Some of this was touched in the earlier/. thread about 25 years of gaming.
Yes, there was a time when arcade players loved being able to play forever on a single quarter. How many levels could you go on Donkey Kong? Could you get the high score on Galaga? Did SpyHunter ever end? Sure the levels became repetitive and often insane, but you could play as long as you could survive.
Games today have morphed into ones with 20 different "missions" or time runs with limited long-play appeal. Granted, there are specific games where this makes some sense because of the nature of the game (you reached the bottom of the mountain) but there's no reason why all games have had to go that route. Don't you love going to Jillians/D&B and blowing $0.75 for 1 minute of entertainment, as is the case with practically all arcade games these days? It's a shame that kids today don't appreciate pinball (what few pinball machines there are anyway), where skilled play usually awards players with a replay.
Of course home consoles with the ability to save your location have changed games considerably, but (as an example) SSX3 did an admirable job of taking the "race to the bottom of the mountain" concept and throw it on its ear. Lots of variety and ease of going back to the top to rerace as part of the game (instead of having to start over from the main menu) make it seem as if you're continuing one run.
Publishers need to take into consideration that there are some gamers who don't want games that end. Mission-based games, side-scrollers, and the like are only a subset. The Sims (and various Tycoon/sim games) is popular on the PC because the game is continually changing and infinitely replayable.
The original MYST was a huge seller for various reasons, one of which was that it took so long to figure out exactly what/how to do *anything*. With the Internet now and all the cracks/cheats/walkthroughs, MYST probably wouldn't have the same sales rate now as it did 6 years ago.
Should games have difficulty levels to make games harder for more skilled players? Sure. But GOOD games shouldn't need skill levels, cracks, cheats to make the games interesting to all players.
If NASA's Mars Exploration Mission team discovers conclusive evidence that an oceanic body of water currently exists or previously existed on the planet Mars, and an Official Declaration of such existence is made on or before February 29, 2004, Long John Silver's will offer every person in the United States the opportunity to obtain one (1) free Giant Shrimp (Approximate Retail Value of $0.79) ("Free Giant Shrimp") at participating Long John Silver's(R) restaurants in the United States.
If only they could have booked the conference room for the press conference 2 days ago instead of using it to hold Jerry's retirement party.
'cause I *really* wanted to have that free jumbo shrimp.
Slashdot Mirror
What are the worst offenders? Those programs offering either "cute" or "informative". Desktop wallpaper, custom cursors, so many toolbars and geegaws to make your browser look like CNN's Headline News. A time updater. A date updater. A weather notifier. Hate to tell you, but I have a watch, a calendar, a radio, and a window. Between these four things, I think I'll know what the day/time is and what weather is coming.
What would these same users do if they drove up to a street corner and there was somebody waiting to plaster their car with a flashy bumper sticker in exchange for their friends' email addresses? I would hope that these folks would just drive away. So why does it work on a computer screen?
Hell, half the problems business have could be solved if companies just banned access to all the websites that produce these programs. Can't download Weatherbug or Webshots if you can't get to the websites in the first place. No need to visit each individual computer if you can use the firewall to do your job for you. Anyone have a list of those evil IP addresses they'd like to share? (and by "evil" I mean, well, "evil")
Ad Aware was updated a few weeks ago to version 6.181 (?) and does a better job of getting rid of stuff (including CWS) than the current version of Spybot. Normally, I would run Ad Aware then Spybot to finish cleaning stuff that Ad Aware left behind, but now I've found that I have to run Spybot first followed by Ad Aware. This may be temporary, but still...
I think it has to do with some of these spyware/virus programs deactivating these sweeper programs or munging the hosts file so they can't get the updates. At least with a download of Ad Aware (without the latest update), you can get the bulk of things cleaned up enough to be able to access the update sites afterwards for a second pass with your favorite spy-removal tool.
But you're wrong about kids wanting the Nokia N-Gage. It's way too big. Kids want something that they can slip into their pocket, and with today's fashions, those pockets are getting smaller (and lower) every day.
It's one reason why those Virgin Mobile slide-phones are popular with kids.
Or maybe the battery is only activated when the user holds in the Big Red Button on the front of the phone.
I can't imagine that Coca-Cola didn't think of all the ways to cheat the system after the McDonald's contest fiasco from a few years ago.
When EA first blazed onto the scene, they were creative and innovative. They took chances by releasing boutique titles (like the aforementioned Seven Cities and Theme Hospital, Archon) without regard for whether there would be mass appeal to them or not.
Now, all EA does is take an existing concept (FPS, any sport) and rework the graphics and stats engine every year. Certainly, the *quality* of the products that they release is top-notch. They are widely considered the leader in whatever sports title they produce, and almost always rightly so. But many of their titles are missing that original creative spark that drove the company back in the day. How many more FPS do we need? There's only so much that can be done to improve a football game year after year.
Granted, part of this is also due to today's need to appeal to the mass-market gamer instead of the techno-nerd. But even movie studios release smaller films that will appeal to limited audiences every once in a while. Why can't game publishers do the same and take a chance once in a while?
This past year, Sony took a chance with the Eyetoy (and now, Eyetoy Groove). Konami released Karaoke Revolution (and this summer, Karaoke Revolution 2). Both games that have limited audience appeal as hardcore gamers didn't flock to these titles, but these titles have proved themselves to be excellent party games, especially for those folks not normally interested in playing video games... and apparently profitable, as their sequels show. Sure, these titles won't sell in the millions as Madden does every year, but at least these companies are offering gameplay options that stray from the norm.
Sure, perhaps MSFT has had a lack of XBox exclusive games since they launched when compared to the GC or PS2. And let's go along with the assumption that the games listed in the article ARE being released exclusively for the XBox (contrary to what others have already pointed out).
That being said, as the XBox is closing on it's life cycle (as evident by the flurry of activity surrounding XBox Next -- or whatever it will be called -- and the recent price drops/promotions) does exclusivity on new games really matter? If the price drops didn't get non-XBoxers to rush out and buy a system, what makes them think that DOOM3 will make 'em go out and buy a console now?
Let's suppose that there are DOOM (to pick a game for use in the example) fans out there who DON'T already have an XBox. And let's say that all those fanboys rush out and buy the XBox just to play DOOM3. Not only is MSFT going to lose money on this overall transaction, but I'm guessing that the reason fanboy never bought an Xbox in the first place was because he just didn't care about the other games on the system enough to buy one, exclusive or otherwise.
YES, at launch and during the first year or two of a console's existence, there are HUGE reasons why being the exclusive home to a title or series is important to building a customer base. Late in the console's lifecycle after you've already started cutting prices multiple times to also build marketshare? Not so much.
While there are one or two other Bond-related shows on A&E / Discovery / History / etc, I believe it was this particular show that spent time with the guy who now owns the speedboat from one of Brosnan's outings, a history of the Rocketman pack and how it works (and what they're doing now), and one or two other "real world" items used in the films.
Then again, TiVo also automatically recorded last week's "Secrets of the Human Cannonball" on TLC, so who knows?
And we pretty much know where THAT game has ended up this year, right?
In fact, UCLA has even published a letter to their students directly addressing file-sharing which states We are writing to alert the campus community - students, faculty and staff - to the personal risks involved with illegal file-sharing. It is important that you understand these risks, not only because of the possibility of disciplinary action, but also to protect yourself against criminal prosecution and the initiation of civil litigation by copyright holders. We would like you to be very aware that initiation of legal action by copyright holders is becoming more of a reality every day..
With ample notification of monitoring and a termination policy in place, why should UCLA need to explicitly state that they are turning on a new monitoring system any more than they would notify students that their P2P bandwidth was being throttled by something like Packetshaper?
You hand in your driver's license and/or leave an imprint of your credit card. The host then walks you over to the game unit and unlocks it, sets it up, and takes your initial drink order.
When you're done playing, you go back to the desk and get your card back. The place marks off how much time you've spent playing and charges you accordingly, and the host then wanders off to make sure the game was powered down correctly and the area is cleaned up for the next gamer.
The first time we really saw a huge security detail was for the screening of Minority Report. The studio had hired police to scan/wand everybody coming in, but they also had posted a security guy to sit with the copy of the film in the projection booth. All that, along with the guys walking up-and-down the aisles during the film while wearing the night-vision goggles.
Now, it appears to be up to the theatre's discretion. One popular theatre for screeners always has police present doing a patdown (along with banning camera phones and periodic night-vision scanning), while a different theatre that is also used for screeners may or may not have security visibly present.
"Ten years ago today..." should have read "Ten years ago on April 12th"
(or 20 years, or 15 years, or whatever the number of years is that the rest of you were discussing)
Yes, you certainly have a right to free speech. You just don't have a right to say it wherever you choose, nor do you have right to force people to listen to you.
Using recent radio cases, like Howard Stern's banning from various Clearchannel stations as an example, this spyware company would prefer to have their radio DJs say/do anything that they would like -- including airing obscene material -- and at the same time, make your radio tuning knob be inactive for the length of time that the DJ is talking (allowing you to change the station only while music is playing). And all of that is under the guise of "it's free speech!".
While I know some of the folks who create the NYTimes Crosswords (and other published puzzles) and have spoken with Will Shortz on occasion, I do know that there are plenty of crossword fans that abhore the NYTimes puzzles of late. They would prefer puzzles that don't have the 'cutsie/theme' clues and simply rely on good old-fashioned "words on a grid" that don't require knowledge of jokes/puns/pop culture in order to guess the answer.
Those of you who are really into puzzles and games may want to join the National Puzzlers League. While they do know the answer to the ubiquitious "what words end in -ngy other than HUNGRY and ANGRY?" question, they also pride themselves on being among the first to play many of the latest/newest board games as well.
Piece of cake -- incorporate that into the Google toolbar that everyone has already downloaded. (unless Yahoo's toolbar has a pending patent on the concept, in which case you're on your own)
Has nobody mentioned the wonderful mood music that George "Fat Man" and the rest of Team Fat created for 7th Guest, 11th Hour, and Wing Commander, not to mention the various Putt-Putt titles? Apparently they're now doing movie soundtracks and casino audio.
Casinos want you to think that the wheel will remember past winning numbers or otherwise recognize streaks when no real streaks exist in a truly random roulette wheel. It's one reason why the wheels are reviewed and replaced on a regular basis, to remove any bias that could show up.
The key point to note here is that the main issue the casinos have with the 3 folks arrested for "clocking the wheel" is that they used external electronic devices to help them "cheat". Similarly, card counters who use devices embedded in their shoes, watching for card reflections in mirrors/glassware, or marking the cards -- all are subject to arrest and prosecution because they're using external devices.
On the other hand, card counters and wheel clockers and other folks who only use their brains to observe/calculate odds cannot be arrested. They may be banned from a casino or asked to leave, but using one's brain is not illegal. In fact, if a card counter is thought to be at a particular table, there's nothing stopping the casino from arbitrarily changing the rules regarding when to shuffle the deck or lowering the maximum bet allowed... all in order to bring the house edge back in their favor.
Even prompted me to visit the "brothers" website for more information, which sadly - was not as entertaining as the commercials were, in part because the content was MORE limited on the website than what was on the TiVo. Go figure.
Give me a thumbs-up for commercials, but also get other stations to throw the "Click ThumbsUp to Record" logo on the screen when their promos run. I know why I only see it on NBC's schedule, but anything that can suggest programs for users to record should be looked at as a good thing, right? (And wouldn't it be in NBC's best interest to throw that graphic onto their promos that air nationally so folks without TiVo can wonder what it means? You know - to generate watercooler talk?)
Now, I liked what PBS did as they had interviews with Nolan Bushnell and others that gave some great insight into what was happening in game development at the time.
But they had to resort to reenactments -- that weren't labelled as such -- of key moments which really threw me off.
An example: they showed "film" of when Nolan and company first put PONG into a local bar in the late '70's. They showed all the people playing the game and how it broke because there were too many quarters stuck in the box. Unfortunately, they had the PONG machine placed next to a 1996 Bally Safecracker pinball machine (which just happens to be one of the best pinball machines ever made). The least they could have done was put it next to a Fireball or something from the same general PONG timeframe. It was like watching Gladiator and noticing that Russell Crowe was wearing a watch. Ruined the rest of the show for me.
You could try talking with your university IT folks and see if they'll up the bandwidth limits during off-peak hours (say, 9pm-6am). On the other hand, depending on the size of your college, it may not be the IT folks limiting you -- it could be hundreds of your fellow students all P2P'ing (or not uninstalling spyware) at the same time sucking your precious bandwidth away.
At Disney's shareholders meeting in Philadelphia today (at about 3hrs 10mins through 3hours 15mins into the meeting for those of you who want to listen at Disney Investors) they announced that Kingdom Hearts 2 is coming in 2005 for the PS2 and a version of Kingdom Hearts for Gameboy coming out later this year. No mention of a version for PSP or PS3.
Yes, there was a time when arcade players loved being able to play forever on a single quarter. How many levels could you go on Donkey Kong? Could you get the high score on Galaga? Did SpyHunter ever end? Sure the levels became repetitive and often insane, but you could play as long as you could survive.
Games today have morphed into ones with 20 different "missions" or time runs with limited long-play appeal. Granted, there are specific games where this makes some sense because of the nature of the game (you reached the bottom of the mountain) but there's no reason why all games have had to go that route. Don't you love going to Jillians/D&B and blowing $0.75 for 1 minute of entertainment, as is the case with practically all arcade games these days? It's a shame that kids today don't appreciate pinball (what few pinball machines there are anyway), where skilled play usually awards players with a replay.
Of course home consoles with the ability to save your location have changed games considerably, but (as an example) SSX3 did an admirable job of taking the "race to the bottom of the mountain" concept and throw it on its ear. Lots of variety and ease of going back to the top to rerace as part of the game (instead of having to start over from the main menu) make it seem as if you're continuing one run.
Publishers need to take into consideration that there are some gamers who don't want games that end. Mission-based games, side-scrollers, and the like are only a subset. The Sims (and various Tycoon/sim games) is popular on the PC because the game is continually changing and infinitely replayable.
The original MYST was a huge seller for various reasons, one of which was that it took so long to figure out exactly what/how to do *anything*. With the Internet now and all the cracks/cheats/walkthroughs, MYST probably wouldn't have the same sales rate now as it did 6 years ago.
Should games have difficulty levels to make games harder for more skilled players? Sure. But GOOD games shouldn't need skill levels, cracks, cheats to make the games interesting to all players.
Crap. Fine print says...
If only they could have booked the conference room for the press conference 2 days ago instead of using it to hold Jerry's retirement party.'cause I *really* wanted to have that free jumbo shrimp.
dammit.