Okay, so maybe it's not your traditional MMORPG, but Kingdom of Loathing has been free to play and has offered special items in return for cash donations for quite a while, now.
I'm sorry, but I respectfully disagree. To quote you:
Mr. Limbaugh stated on-air that he thought Michael Fox had exaggerated his Parkinson's symptoms in a political ad, and that he had done so for theatric benefit. And later:
Fox later admitted that he purposely skips his medication before public events like this so people will see his worst case symptoms. Rush accused Fox of exaggerating his symptoms -- like he's waving around and shaking on purpose and faking it all. Fox admitted he skipped his medications so people could see what Parkinson's does to a person. These are completely different things as far as I'm concerned.
I really hope you never have to deal with Parkinson's yourself. I watched my grandfather change from a confident, erudite, decorated World War II veteran to somebody who could barely hold a fork because of what the disease had done to his nerves. For Rush to accuse Fox of faking his symptoms for sympathy was at best ignorant and at worst inhuman, and it is just as insulting to turn it around and claim that Rush was somehow on the side of the truth like some sort of crystal bastion of justice.
You have it backwards. The vote was to strike the part of the bill granting telecom immunity. Thus, Obama's vote was against granting immunity, McCain's was for granting immunity, and Clinton's was to cower in a corner and make sure she doesn't say anything that might upset anybody who potentially might be a voter.
It's not like they were downloading music or movies or anything. Why, I bet those jihadists didn't even remember to copyright their hate material! How do they expect to profit that way?
Quiz time - You just bought a cool black anodized aluminum high-powered flashlight, with a huge ugly orange sticker on the handle warning you not to look at the beam. Do you:
B) Remove that sucker before you even put in the batteries, I, too, worry about the aesthetic and artistic coordination of my tools at the expense of safety. Why, just last night I was peeling the warning labels off of my table saw because they didn't match the metallic blue post-industrial motif I was really aiming for.
Why shouldn't it have a shit load of warning labels?
Well, because anyone paying $300 for the world's brightest flashlight didn't buy it just so they can find their way to the electric panel after a breaker blows. They bought it because it can melt plastic. Thus, telling them as much merely insults us all, rather than providing any potential safety to the end user. Because there's no possible way that this 4100 lumen torch, which looks like an ordinary Mag-Lite, might make its way into the hands of somebody who didn't purchase it himself and doesn't know what it is?
A warning label saying "Caution: This beverage might be HOT" is stupid. A warning label saying "Caution: THIS IS NOT ACTUALLY A MAG-LITE AND WILL CAUSE THINGS YOU POINT IT AT TO SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST" is not.
I disagree. If he was found having 10000+ files on his hard drive, then he would be screwed. A single file with no documentation would not be a big deal.
If that were applicable, then Wal-Mart could accuse me of being a shoplifter and sieze all my assets and I'd be liable for all the items that I don't have reciepts for that they stock. If Wal-Mart had the kind of lobbyists and owned as many congresspeople as the RIAA does, you would be liable.
A little late for me to be replying, but you are correct, and I apologize for the error. I had not realized the OpenCable name covered such a wide range of technologies. And you're also right about the specifications; the NDA is required for certain DOCSIS and test plan documents. I should have read their website more thoroughly.
It may be a lofty goal, but it is my responsibility as a "future" parent to do what I can for my child. First off, congratulations! Ours is over nine months old now. I certainly plan to do whatever I possibly can to teach her how to handle money responsibly, participate in the community, think critically, et cetera. Above all, I want her to be able to examine all the facts and make informed decisions for herself.
I'm curious -- when you talk about survival in most any climate, are you talking actual "survivalist" methods? Hunting, growing your own food, building shelter and fires, et cetera? Like many computer geeks, I've never been much of an outdoorsman, so I could probably use some brushing up on those sorts of things too. Maybe we can learn together as she gets older.
Not that I really think society is going to collapse or whatnot... but they would definitely be some good skills to know.
Yes, because moving out of a country is totally the way to try and improve it.
As little as it might help, I vote in every single election, based on the candidates' views and records rather than the party they belong to. I've written letters to congresspeople when they make decisions I'm opposed to. I plan to donate to the EFF once my tax rebate comes in this year.
My anger comes from the fact that I am trying to do something about it, and it doesn't seem to help, when the winners of elections are decided by who looks prettiest and has the most money to pay for smear ads with. How do we citizens get a big enough lever, when the lever is measured in "millions of dollars given as corporate brib-- er, 'donations?'"
AT&T will simply purchase a new law from Congress stating "communications providers are allowed to monitor everything you do and turn you over to the government, but if they happen to miss anything, they are absolutely indemnified." They'll make arguments like "Hey, if the police aren't able to stop a murder from happening, but are shown to be putting forth their best effort to prevent murders, you don't hold the police officer responsible -- so why should we be held responsible if we miss some illegal content?"
And all the legislators will nod their heads and murmur to each other "hey, yeah, they've got a point," while a bag of money passes quietly underneath their tables, and voila, they're allowed -- hell, probably required by the government -- to monitor all traffic and report any and all Violations of the Right to Corporate Profit, and completely immune from prosecution if they happen to miss something.
It'll happen, and the typical "America, Fuck Yeah" voter will grin and gleefully agree that it's for the Good of the Nation, and if you're innocent you should have nothing to hide anyway, so what's the big deal?
The legislators who draft and vote for the bill, meanwhile, will be hailed as patriots and re-elected, again and again, for Protecting the Motherland while simultaneously paying lip-service to smaller government and less federal intrusion into our private lives.
I abhor the fact that my daughter is going to grow up in this pathetic shell that America is today.
No sooner did I hit post than I realized I had forgot the ones being tattooed onto fruits and vegetables with edible dyes, the ones painted on the sides and roofs of buildings, and the ones overhead in train and subway cars.
The fact is, if anybody sat and brainstormed for about a half-hour he or she could probably come up with at least a dozen or two more.
And it works, you fall for it too. How else do you know it was a SHELL gas station? If you were imune to it and not a sheep you would just tank at any gas station. (but without any advertising whatsoever, how would you know it is a gas station?) You obviously saw Shells adversting, yes even the sign that says Shell is part of advertising.
So feel all high and mighty, the advertisers know your kind and they target you most succesfully. Hmmm, let me check my dictionary... no, wait, I'm sorry, I don't see "piss the fuck out of me so much that I consciously remember which gas station this is so I can avoid it like the plague, even if it means driving five miles out of my way" as a definition for "successful". You must be using some sort of mystical marketing dictionary.
As for saving cards, good don't use them. Supermarkets are sure to care that they do not have to give you that discount. Teach them a lesson, pay more! Me: "Oh, I'm sorry, I seem to have forgotten my card at home!"
Clerk: "Don't worry, I got it." *keys in the "store card"*
I have only once had a clerk who wouldn't give me the discount anyway. Even better, fill out several applications for savings cards, putting the most ridiculous crap you can think of on there, and choose one card at random each time you shop. There's nothing saying you have to provide them with accurate statistical data.
Finally! I was getting sick of only experiencing advertisements on television, radio, newspapers, magazines, websites, video games, Tivo menus, Xbox 360 menus, Comcast guide screens, airplane TVs, billboards, T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, movies, movie theater lobbies, stock cars, buses, bus stops, park benches, taxicabs, license plate holders, restrooms, posters on airport and train station walls, checkout lanes, grocery carts*, and shaved into the back of the occasional head.
Thank GOD somebody has found a way to exploit this obvious adver-hole in our lives. But this is only the beginning, dammit. I want my dishwasher to leave streaks on my dishes in the shape of a Whirlpool logo. Red traffic lights should be replaced with reminders that Goodyear tires would help you stop more quickly, and green with reminders to buy Amoco Ultimate gasoline. Each light bulb should cast the logo and name of a popular pharmaceutical against the floor, ceiling, or wall (talk to your doctor about it!). When I'm calling somebody on the phone, I shouldn't have to listen to some boring "ring" sound -- not when I could hear about the virtues of Domino's pizza! We must not rest until every single person is being sold something every second of every minute of every hour of every day from every square meter of the globe. Together, we can do it.
My mistake; I was seeing "contract" but thinking "bill". I hadn't realized you could sign up month-by-month with used equipment, though -- that's good to know if I decide to go back to DirecTV in the future.
As for DirecTV or Dish Network, you can purchase used stuff off of Ebay, install it yourself and skip the contracts. This is a little more difficult to do with the HD stuff, and quite a bit more expensive, but just a thought. For standard def stuff you could own your own DirecTivo, DIY for less than $150.00 and no contracts. The non-dvr receivers are a dime a dozen. Where are you getting this from? Nothing on either DirecTV or Dish Network is unencrypted; you need a valid access card to watch anything, and you have to pay monthly for that access card. You can't just buy a valid access card off of eBay; the card will be invalidated by the receiver as soon as it grabs data off the satellite.
Unless you were talking about *ahem* quasi-legal methods of getting around the access card issue, in which case knock yourself out.
No way. CableLabs would never open up their protocol specifications for open-source use. They're trying to make this a standard so they can totally dominate the market. Interoperability? Please. What they want is for every single manufacturer using "tru2way" technology to pay out the nose to be "Tru2Way Certified" or compliant or compatible or whatever the hell the cute little sticker on the front of the appliance will say. They need complete and utter control over every aspect of the hardware and software, or their DRM won't work, see?
I guess I should point out that I work for Comcast(As a drone in sector 7G), but I honestly find this an impressive device coming next year: http://www.comcast.com/ces/anyplay.aspx A device which would kick ass if not for the fact that content providers will be able to choose exactly what you're "allowed" to take on the road, and how long it can sit on your portable box before automatically expiring.
As usual, kickass technology is hobbled by greedy little shits who want to make sure you have to lease all of your content through them, in perpetuity.
Tru2Way is the new name for what was formerly "OpenCable," the standard which is not open as you need to register with CableLabs and sign an NDA just to see many of the specifications.
The protocol involves a sophisticated DRM system which can allow content providers to dictate which content you are allowed to move or copy and when (see section 6, Security, of the OpenCable Unidirectional Reciever Specification, OC-SP-OCUR-I04-060622).
I'm guessing "Tru2Rape" was just too truthful of a name for them to use.
The manufacturers of HDFury say that it is a totally legal conversion device, but they're either ignorant, or lying. The specifications for HDCP-protected content state that it is up to the content provider whether analog outputs on the device are enabled. Something tells me they're not exactly honoring what the content provider tells them to do.
The consumer is not bound by the HDCP specs - only the licensee is (who signed the licence requiring them to follow the spec). Okay... so the makers of HDFury are breaking the law. But if the device isn't honoring the rights management settings that the content is telling it to, I'd bet some lawyer out there could successfully argue that it violates the DMCA, as it is a device being used to defeat a method of encryption. That would make the device illegal.
And lest you think I agree with this, let me state that the DMCA is complete and unadulterated bullshit, so much so that it would probably improve crop yields if the full text were printed out and buried in a field.
This case is baseless, groundless, and sure to get paid to go away. I wish I could go around making baseless, groundless claims, and get paid to go away. Sounds like a sweet deal.
Slashdot Mirror
Okay, so maybe it's not your traditional MMORPG, but Kingdom of Loathing has been free to play and has offered special items in return for cash donations for quite a while, now.
I really hope you never have to deal with Parkinson's yourself. I watched my grandfather change from a confident, erudite, decorated World War II veteran to somebody who could barely hold a fork because of what the disease had done to his nerves. For Rush to accuse Fox of faking his symptoms for sympathy was at best ignorant and at worst inhuman, and it is just as insulting to turn it around and claim that Rush was somehow on the side of the truth like some sort of crystal bastion of justice.
You have it backwards. The vote was to strike the part of the bill granting telecom immunity. Thus, Obama's vote was against granting immunity, McCain's was for granting immunity, and Clinton's was to cower in a corner and make sure she doesn't say anything that might upset anybody who potentially might be a voter.
But I'm waiting for the bill that grants retroactive immunity to assassins who take out anybody deemed to be anti-patriotic and/or subversive.
It's not like they were downloading music or movies or anything. Why, I bet those jihadists didn't even remember to copyright their hate material! How do they expect to profit that way?
I figure anybody with a phone running Android will quickly become the Commander of Data. ...Anybody? Anybody? Data? ...
Try the veal!
B) Remove that sucker before you even put in the batteries, I, too, worry about the aesthetic and artistic coordination of my tools at the expense of safety. Why, just last night I was peeling the warning labels off of my table saw because they didn't match the metallic blue post-industrial motif I was really aiming for.
Well, because anyone paying $300 for the world's brightest flashlight didn't buy it just so they can find their way to the electric panel after a breaker blows. They bought it because it can melt plastic. Thus, telling them as much merely insults us all, rather than providing any potential safety to the end user. Because there's no possible way that this 4100 lumen torch, which looks like an ordinary Mag-Lite, might make its way into the hands of somebody who didn't purchase it himself and doesn't know what it is?
A warning label saying "Caution: This beverage might be HOT" is stupid. A warning label saying "Caution: THIS IS NOT ACTUALLY A MAG-LITE AND WILL CAUSE THINGS YOU POINT IT AT TO SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST" is not.
If that were applicable, then Wal-Mart could accuse me of being a shoplifter and sieze all my assets and I'd be liable for all the items that I don't have reciepts for that they stock. If Wal-Mart had the kind of lobbyists and owned as many congresspeople as the RIAA does, you would be liable.
Ballgames! I can't believe I forgot that one.
A little late for me to be replying, but you are correct, and I apologize for the error. I had not realized the OpenCable name covered such a wide range of technologies. And you're also right about the specifications; the NDA is required for certain DOCSIS and test plan documents. I should have read their website more thoroughly.
I'm curious -- when you talk about survival in most any climate, are you talking actual "survivalist" methods? Hunting, growing your own food, building shelter and fires, et cetera? Like many computer geeks, I've never been much of an outdoorsman, so I could probably use some brushing up on those sorts of things too. Maybe we can learn together as she gets older.
Not that I really think society is going to collapse or whatnot... but they would definitely be some good skills to know.
...Or ourselves, since their goal seems to make even innocent baby bath photos illegal.
"Hey, what are you in for?"
"I had the gall to look at my own child while bathing her."
"FOR SHAME!"
Yes, because moving out of a country is totally the way to try and improve it.
As little as it might help, I vote in every single election, based on the candidates' views and records rather than the party they belong to. I've written letters to congresspeople when they make decisions I'm opposed to. I plan to donate to the EFF once my tax rebate comes in this year.
My anger comes from the fact that I am trying to do something about it, and it doesn't seem to help, when the winners of elections are decided by who looks prettiest and has the most money to pay for smear ads with. How do we citizens get a big enough lever, when the lever is measured in "millions of dollars given as corporate brib-- er, 'donations?'"
AT&T will simply purchase a new law from Congress stating "communications providers are allowed to monitor everything you do and turn you over to the government, but if they happen to miss anything, they are absolutely indemnified." They'll make arguments like "Hey, if the police aren't able to stop a murder from happening, but are shown to be putting forth their best effort to prevent murders, you don't hold the police officer responsible -- so why should we be held responsible if we miss some illegal content?"
And all the legislators will nod their heads and murmur to each other "hey, yeah, they've got a point," while a bag of money passes quietly underneath their tables, and voila, they're allowed -- hell, probably required by the government -- to monitor all traffic and report any and all Violations of the Right to Corporate Profit, and completely immune from prosecution if they happen to miss something.
It'll happen, and the typical "America, Fuck Yeah" voter will grin and gleefully agree that it's for the Good of the Nation, and if you're innocent you should have nothing to hide anyway, so what's the big deal?
The legislators who draft and vote for the bill, meanwhile, will be hailed as patriots and re-elected, again and again, for Protecting the Motherland while simultaneously paying lip-service to smaller government and less federal intrusion into our private lives.
I abhor the fact that my daughter is going to grow up in this pathetic shell that America is today.
No sooner did I hit post than I realized I had forgot the ones being tattooed onto fruits and vegetables with edible dyes, the ones painted on the sides and roofs of buildings, and the ones overhead in train and subway cars.
The fact is, if anybody sat and brainstormed for about a half-hour he or she could probably come up with at least a dozen or two more.
So feel all high and mighty, the advertisers know your kind and they target you most succesfully. Hmmm, let me check my dictionary... no, wait, I'm sorry, I don't see "piss the fuck out of me so much that I consciously remember which gas station this is so I can avoid it like the plague, even if it means driving five miles out of my way" as a definition for "successful". You must be using some sort of mystical marketing dictionary. As for saving cards, good don't use them. Supermarkets are sure to care that they do not have to give you that discount. Teach them a lesson, pay more! Me: "Oh, I'm sorry, I seem to have forgotten my card at home!"
Clerk: "Don't worry, I got it." *keys in the "store card"*
I have only once had a clerk who wouldn't give me the discount anyway. Even better, fill out several applications for savings cards, putting the most ridiculous crap you can think of on there, and choose one card at random each time you shop. There's nothing saying you have to provide them with accurate statistical data.
Finally! I was getting sick of only experiencing advertisements on television, radio, newspapers, magazines, websites, video games, Tivo menus, Xbox 360 menus, Comcast guide screens, airplane TVs, billboards, T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, movies, movie theater lobbies, stock cars, buses, bus stops, park benches, taxicabs, license plate holders, restrooms, posters on airport and train station walls, checkout lanes, grocery carts*, and shaved into the back of the occasional head.
Thank GOD somebody has found a way to exploit this obvious adver-hole in our lives. But this is only the beginning, dammit. I want my dishwasher to leave streaks on my dishes in the shape of a Whirlpool logo. Red traffic lights should be replaced with reminders that Goodyear tires would help you stop more quickly, and green with reminders to buy Amoco Ultimate gasoline. Each light bulb should cast the logo and name of a popular pharmaceutical against the floor, ceiling, or wall (talk to your doctor about it!). When I'm calling somebody on the phone, I shouldn't have to listen to some boring "ring" sound -- not when I could hear about the virtues of Domino's pizza! We must not rest until every single person is being sold something every second of every minute of every hour of every day from every square meter of the globe. Together, we can do it.
This message brought to you by The Association of National Advertisers. Raping your eyes and ears, over and over, and you can't stop it.(tm)
* Static photos already there -- obviously insufficient
My mistake; I was seeing "contract" but thinking "bill". I hadn't realized you could sign up month-by-month with used equipment, though -- that's good to know if I decide to go back to DirecTV in the future.
Unless you were talking about *ahem* quasi-legal methods of getting around the access card issue, in which case knock yourself out.
No way. CableLabs would never open up their protocol specifications for open-source use. They're trying to make this a standard so they can totally dominate the market. Interoperability? Please. What they want is for every single manufacturer using "tru2way" technology to pay out the nose to be "Tru2Way Certified" or compliant or compatible or whatever the hell the cute little sticker on the front of the appliance will say. They need complete and utter control over every aspect of the hardware and software, or their DRM won't work, see?
As usual, kickass technology is hobbled by greedy little shits who want to make sure you have to lease all of your content through them, in perpetuity.
Tru2Way is the new name for what was formerly "OpenCable," the standard which is not open as you need to register with CableLabs and sign an NDA just to see many of the specifications.
The protocol involves a sophisticated DRM system which can allow content providers to dictate which content you are allowed to move or copy and when (see section 6, Security, of the OpenCable Unidirectional Reciever Specification, OC-SP-OCUR-I04-060622).
I'm guessing "Tru2Rape" was just too truthful of a name for them to use.
The consumer is not bound by the HDCP specs - only the licensee is (who signed the licence requiring them to follow the spec). Okay... so the makers of HDFury are breaking the law. But if the device isn't honoring the rights management settings that the content is telling it to, I'd bet some lawyer out there could successfully argue that it violates the DMCA, as it is a device being used to defeat a method of encryption. That would make the device illegal.
And lest you think I agree with this, let me state that the DMCA is complete and unadulterated bullshit, so much so that it would probably improve crop yields if the full text were printed out and buried in a field.