Maam, my certification expired last year & they've updated the technique, I could actually end up killing your husband.
*SLAP*
Sorry maam, don't know what I was thinking.
one 1000, two...
Thank you for saving my husband! Oh, by the way, we're suing you. My husband suffered excess brain damage that we believe could have been prevented had you used the proper 30:1 ratio rather than 15:1.
Exactly. They keep pumping out crap games (industry wide) then blame pirating for low sales.
If they are "crap games" why do people still copy them?
This industry has not been able to adapt itself to the new internet economy so instead they blame everyone but themselves for their sale losses.
Same thing can be said about workers complaining about outsourcing. At the end of the day, people or businesses see a threat to the status quo and they react against it, often missing the possible opportunities.
Basically it comes down to there are good companies, there are bad companies. Individually owned companies can be just as corrupt and greedy as corporations; even moreso since there is less oversight.
While I am concerned about the future of our planet and our species' place upon it, I am growing increasingly sceptical of the wild claims surrounding a looming global warming catastrophe.
I find most discussions focus too much on the end of humanity scenario, and too little on the geopolitical effects of climate change. Change is being detected man-made or not. Rather than the "is-not-is-so-is-not" arguements, we should take a hard look at what such a change would do to economies and international politics.
Should the US and other large CO2 producers cut down on emissions, not because there is clear data that links it to environmental change, but rather as insurance to prevent possible legal action. For example a country hit by an inordinate amount of hurricanes may try to sue the US through the WTO for causing the damage. What countries are at risk for instability or conflict with their neighbors due to shortages of resources?
I doubt humanity is going to end because of a slight change in global temperature, I do think that slight changes can lead to instability, war, and economic damage.
Only relatively recently. A great deal of software was developed before it became established that copyright would be considered applicable to it. If you're implying that software would be lacking were it not for copyright, I disagree.
Since 1980 software has boomed. There were many developers before that time fearful that copyright did not apply, and they worked under the assumption that it did.
Is it? In fact, it may be, in certain jurisdictions, and it definitely is not, in other jurisdictions. And sharing that mp3 file once made is certainly illegal in most jurisdictions, yet the same argument for it's legitimacy applies.
There have been supreme court rulings specifically stating the user has the right to time/media shifting. In fact acquiring copyrighted material is also legal (kinda a grey area). It is distribution that is illegal. That is why the RIAA goes after people for sharing files.
While I hope that a heavy and hefty lawsuit comes of this
My prediction - Best Buy will settle a class action lawsuit for $500M. The class action lawyers will receive $200M, while 30M former Best Buy customers will receive $10 gift cards.
Perhaps they should consider doing what the Star Wars MMO did with Jedi.
You mean leave it out in the first place hoping nobody discovers how to actually become one. Then when enough people get bored and complain introduce a system that lets them mindlessly macro grind for months through a bunch of professions they don't care about. When they finally jump through all those hoops they discover that the profession is unfinshed. Finally everything gets scrapped a few years later and just make it a regular profession.
He did what was expected of the job and made you feel better, but by your standards, he was a lesser being for not sitting through boring lectures for years of his life.
He did a good job, but I would still question whether he did the right job. Just because I feel good about the back surgery doesn't mean it was done correctly, or if it was even necessary in the first place. Did the "doctor" do the least invasive procedure, is there physical therapy available?
Or you go back to the basics. Go for gameplay and not glitz, or big names, or huge marketing. IIRC, Doom was profitable in one month. It had something engaging and new, and did away with all the crap big game businesses did. In time, the next id, the next Maxis will appear.
That makes sense for the PC world, but the console world is different. The install base is smaller, distribution is more expensive, and shelf space is limited.
Recording and distribution, some decades back, were capital-intensive ventures, but even those aspects require no great investment today, so even if one accepts your contention here the argument above in the thread would not follow.
True, but much of the reason costs for recording have gone down is because of software, that itself is copyrighted.
Making a copy of a CD I bought, either to another CD, or to mp3s for my computer or ipod or whatever to play, comes under the heading of peacefull, honest enjoyment of my own property.
And it is protected under copyright law as fair use.
There's plenty of alternatives to government issued monopolies, which are less susceptible to abuse and chronyism.
Such as?
Patents take so long to be issued these days that they provide no investment protection - unless time-to-market is reduced - which has even worse impact on investment.
Which is why the USPTO needs to be streamlined (do away with algorithmic patents and return to only issue patents on implementations). As for time-to-market, it has been reduced. Product lifecycles are measured in years now, not decades.
Copyright, patent and other government issued monopolies such as spectrum assignments should immediately be abolished.. the resulting "chaos" will be good for consumers and ultimately good for everyone.
Which consumers? Large numbers of people being laid off doesn't sound good. My cell phone not working because the guy next door is blasting his own radio station on that channel doesn't sound good. No more innovative start-ups, since as soon as they create a product a mega-corp will just mass produce it for less.
When the dust settles after the "chaos" you'll just transform the intellectual property market into a services market. So instead of licensing technology/software/entertainment, individual business will contract services. Contracts will ensure exclusivity, so instead of government issued monopolies issued for a limited-time, there will be private monopolies for an unlimited-time. As for the individual consumer, there will be less access since they won't be able to afford to contract services. There will be no off-the-shelf solutions, everything will be custom made and more expensive.
Patents are government issued monopolies... that's more than "broken", that's wrong.
Why? Just because it's a monopoly that equals evil? Government issued monopolies can have a place. They reduce risk to encourage investment. Profit motive spurs investment, and investment accelerates development. The key idea of patents is allow an inventor reasonable time to be profitable so they will invest.
The patent system is hurting innovation now because it hasn't adjusted to take into account faster development times (too many patents overloading the USPTO); faster time to market (patents remain beyond the useful lifecycle); and overly broad interpretation of what can be patented (blame the courts).
The summary implies maintaining status quo, when really what is being stated is maintaining the framework, with tweaks to improve the process. Patents are not broken, the system for issuing them is. From reading the article there are many benificial changes that are being looked at. The most important IMHO is more open review:
Allowing third-party information to be contributed to patent cases is another of the area of improvement at the front end. "We want to give third parties the opportunity to give information to the USPTO," Dudas said, "so the examiner has information from their own research, the applicant and from third parties. When examiners have all information, they almost always make the right choice."
I've been waiting for this for a long time. Maybe we can get something besides yet another sequel, a movie spin-off, or a blatant rip-off of another game. Perhaps they'll have to settle for plot and gameplay (or at least just gameplay) instead of stunning graphics and no substance
Actually the opposite is true. There will be more focus on sequels/licensed games because those are the only ones that can support the volumes needed for profitability..
But there's no scarcity of Picasso *prints* mind you. There was, at one time, but the market is pretty well supplied now. Since the prints are no longer so valuable, does it follow that the printers are doing something wrong, that they should be enjoined from making so many prints, to keep the supply artificially scarce and the price artificially high?
No artificial scarcity does not need to be kept indefinately. But for things that require large investments, there needs to be a period where things are kept scarce for a period long enough to recover the investment. Hence the limited time for copyrights (though the period should be much less than it is now).
Perhaps the economy would do better if we made half as many cars, half as many shoes, half as much food?
Those are material goods where the cost to produce can be recovered as part of the distribution. Intangible goods cost to produce, but are free to distribute. Just because I can make 1000 copies of a song, doesn't make it any less expensive to make in the first place. What is a good alternative to copyright? Do we just say anybody can use and distribute anything they find, and even claim ownership?
How many Picassos were actually painted by El Myr? No one knows, probably no one ever will know, and it doesn't really matter.
However, if there were millions of identical Picassos indistiguishable from the original, it would make a huge difference. Most of the things in the world have little intrinsic value, rarity is what makes things hold value. When rarity disappears, investment goes away and what you end up with is something like what's posted on Youtube. A bunch of creativity that suffers from extremely low quality.
"Piracy" is simply people using making use of their own property, peacefully, without interfering with anyone else.
"Piracy" is basically counterfeiting. Just because you don't prevent anybody else from using their copy, doesn't mean it doesn't have a material impact on the value.
However, keep in mind that the "name" is going to be on your resume, and perhaps your office wall, for the rest of your life. With a name like MIT on your degree, you won't ever have a problem getting your foot in the door.
Getting in the front door is fine if you are in your 20's. As you mentioned, past that, it doesn't really matter what school you went to. Your work experience, accomplishments, and most importantly your professional network are what gets you hired.
My background: I was also an honors kid in high school looking at top tier schools, ended up going to a state school on a scholarship, ended up not doing so well there (I mean not poorly, but nothing exceptional), but I am currently working at a top tier investment banks working on front office trading systems.
I come from a similar background. State school, mediocre GPA (I never went to class), and am now working in R&D for a top tier electronics manufacturer. The most important thing I've found is to gain the respect of those you meet; from there the opportunties will follow.
Sony Online Entertainment saved the game from bankruptcy, and released it when the schedule said to and not a moment later. In Elysium's mind, this sets up a really, really bad precedent
I can't imagine it was any worse than SWG, pretty much everything was broken at launch. MMO's have notoriously launched in a less than stable state (to say the least). The dev post on the SWG beta boards in response to the beta tester outcry when the launch date was announced, was something to the effect of "the game is in a state comparable to other MMOs at launch."
First of all: Terrorists are a quite minor thread to your life
If you look at my previous post in the thread I stated that.
Second of all: If we would wage war on every potential killer of yours, we would have to concentrate the forces first on you, then on your mother, then on your stepfather (if you have one), then your biological father. Those four persons are the most probable to take your life. They are responsible for about 50% of all homicides.
Actually, homicide (by whoever) isn't even in the top 10 threats to my life. That's why we are waging a war on heart disease and a war on cancer. But as I previously stated, we should not stop there. We should extend our war effort to viruses!
Third: There is no direct relation between cause and effect in terrorist attacks. The most recent attempt to a terrorist attack in Germany I know of was a man who planned to carbomb a bank. Not for political reasons, but because of bad service. What's next? Battle against the Customer?
I think that's being done by outsourcing customer service:) Seriously, if you had read my first reply in the thread, I was pointing out that "just keeping your nose out of people's business" does not insulate you from the threat of terrorism. How we respond to the threat is a different deal; in that regard I agree with you, the US is overreacting with panic.
Being threatened is not the same as being attacked. I'd be surprised to find out if there was a single country who has never been threatened by terrorists, and am also fairly certain that the majority of countries who have been threatened by Muslim fundamentalists have not been attacked.
I'm not saying that the US doesn't have a big bullseye on it's chest for escalating violence in the middle east. But I am saying keeping a distance from the situation doesn't necessarily insulate you from possible terrorism.
I'd be surprised to find out if there was a single country who has never been threatened by terrorists, and am also fairly certain that the majority of countries who have been threatened by Muslim fundamentalists have not been attacked.
It's very difficult to confirm without a list. I would say there are many countries that have been attacked. Though, many attacks occur against places that are not secure (eg embassies & tourist locales in unstable regions).
Slashdot Mirror
Oh, by the way, we're suing you. My husband suffered excess brain damage that we believe could have been prevented had you used the proper 30:1 ratio rather than 15:1.
Same thing can be said about workers complaining about outsourcing. At the end of the day, people or businesses see a threat to the status quo and they react against it, often missing the possible opportunities.
Basically it comes down to there are good companies, there are bad companies. Individually owned companies can be just as corrupt and greedy as corporations; even moreso since there is less oversight.
Should the US and other large CO2 producers cut down on emissions, not because there is clear data that links it to environmental change, but rather as insurance to prevent possible legal action. For example a country hit by an inordinate amount of hurricanes may try to sue the US through the WTO for causing the damage.
What countries are at risk for instability or conflict with their neighbors due to shortages of resources?
I doubt humanity is going to end because of a slight change in global temperature, I do think that slight changes can lead to instability, war, and economic damage.
There have been supreme court rulings specifically stating the user has the right to time/media shifting. In fact acquiring copyrighted material is also legal (kinda a grey area). It is distribution that is illegal. That is why the RIAA goes after people for sharing files.
And it is protected under copyright law as fair use.
Which is why the USPTO needs to be streamlined (do away with algorithmic patents and return to only issue patents on implementations). As for time-to-market, it has been reduced. Product lifecycles are measured in years now, not decades.
Which consumers? Large numbers of people being laid off doesn't sound good. My cell phone not working because the guy next door is blasting his own radio station on that channel doesn't sound good. No more innovative start-ups, since as soon as they create a product a mega-corp will just mass produce it for less.
When the dust settles after the "chaos" you'll just transform the intellectual property market into a services market. So instead of licensing technology/software/entertainment, individual business will contract services. Contracts will ensure exclusivity, so instead of government issued monopolies issued for a limited-time, there will be private monopolies for an unlimited-time.
As for the individual consumer, there will be less access since they won't be able to afford to contract services. There will be no off-the-shelf solutions, everything will be custom made and more expensive.
The patent system is hurting innovation now because it hasn't adjusted to take into account faster development times (too many patents overloading the USPTO); faster time to market (patents remain beyond the useful lifecycle); and overly broad interpretation of what can be patented (blame the courts).
From reading the article there are many benificial changes that are being looked at. The most important IMHO is more open review:
Those are material goods where the cost to produce can be recovered as part of the distribution.
Intangible goods cost to produce, but are free to distribute. Just because I can make 1000 copies of a song, doesn't make it any less expensive to make in the first place.
What is a good alternative to copyright? Do we just say anybody can use and distribute anything they find, and even claim ownership?
Most of the things in the world have little intrinsic value, rarity is what makes things hold value. When rarity disappears, investment goes away and what you end up with is something like what's posted on Youtube. A bunch of creativity that suffers from extremely low quality.
I come from a similar background. State school, mediocre GPA (I never went to class), and am now working in R&D for a top tier electronics manufacturer.
The most important thing I've found is to gain the respect of those you meet; from there the opportunties will follow.
Actually, homicide (by whoever) isn't even in the top 10 threats to my life. That's why we are waging a war on heart disease and a war on cancer. But as I previously stated, we should not stop there. We should extend our war effort to viruses!
I think that's being done by outsourcing customer service
Seriously, if you had read my first reply in the thread, I was pointing out that "just keeping your nose out of people's business" does not insulate you from the threat of terrorism.
How we respond to the threat is a different deal; in that regard I agree with you, the US is overreacting with panic.
It's very difficult to confirm without a list. I would say there are many countries that have been attacked. Though, many attacks occur against places that are not secure (eg embassies & tourist locales in unstable regions).
We must fight the virus in the lab, so we don't have to fight them in our bodies!