I'm a still a fan of tabletop gaming, RPGs included. I don't think the risk is in losing the diehard fans because it looks like the current strategy is to segment game editions based on gamer type. Example, Hasbro is steering its "vintage collection" line to diehards and older gamers, while offering the modern, more relevant, editions to the younger crowd. It can be jarring. I don't really like Monopoly Here and Now for several reasons; and I'm not alone, so Hasbro will keep making a classic Monopoly. The new modern Clue and Risk games look pretty good, and I'll easily buy those both; get disenchanted with something, and then go back and rebuy the classic versions.
Incidentally, have you played the "Escape from New York" board game, or the Kojak board game? If not, eBay is your friend. I love rediscovering the old crap.
You're absolutely right that table top game companies are having to throw more resources into their games, at the risk of diminishing returns. I have been collecting the History Channel branded CCG "ANACHRONISM". Those are some of the finest quality cards I have ever seen. And I think I'm one of the few people who bought into it.
The traditional RPG community is still managing to survive. I'm still surprised at the production values in Wizards of the Coast and White Wolf products. They are a far cry from my original TSR, Palladium, and R Talsorian games. I wonder how long Hasbro and WoTC will be able to keep pushing $40 full color game books. It's here where I see that risk about losing diehard fans. I only ever touched a 3rd edition D&D product twice: to review the DMG and to play Bioware's Neverwinter Nights.
None of the big CCG turned video games have seemed to live up to the promise. I'm still curious about Magic Online however. Would appreciate any Slashdotter's experience with it.
On the upside, the indie tabletop market, though small, is proving to be a great place to find innovation. There are some very innovative indie RPGs out there that you can buy as PDFs online, and there are some real good table top board games as well. What's sad is the lack of independent game retailers who can support the little guys. When my sister wanted to play a board game, she hit her neighborhood megastore (Target, Wal-Mart) and bought whatever Hasbro product was on the shelves.
I think the only exception is really old games that were made with NTSC and curved CRTs in mind. I've tried enjoying emulated arcade and 1st -> 3rd gen consoles games on a computer with LCD display, and visually these games aren't as enjoyable for me.
For the current gen, PC is surely better, but that said, I enjoy being able to just drop the disc in and play whenever I want without dealing with drivers, specs, and OS issues.
For the GP's comment about PC games dying off. I don't believe they are. I believe we're just going to see an increase in the number of dual PC and console game releases. I'm still very much a fan of smaller indie games like Diner Dash, point & click mystery games, and RT/TB strategy games like Starcraft and Europa Universalis. Those games are inherently better on a PC. Maybe the new Red Alert on PS3 will prove otherwise, dunno. I suppose it's the FPS games that are shrinking on the PC?
I suppose it was marked troll because Dreamweaver is a full graphical IDE with drag and drop operations, and if I'm not mistaken, code completion, at the very least. VIM is a text editor -- a very good one -- but still a text editor. Just asking the question presupposes that VIM is somehow an equal if not more preferable website (not just page) development tool... I guess.
In any case, a designer doesn't use Dreamweaver because he doesn't know the underlying structures; he does it in order to visually create the page in a quick and efficient manner. And since most web designers are visual artists, Dreamweaver (which can also do code view) gives the designer a more native perspective on design. I prefer scripting using a text editor, doing no positioning in my HTML source and using a healthy amount of IDs, classes, and divs; but I'm clearly would not be considered a web "designer"
Not me personally, but that's a risk that happens to many guys. The key thing to remember is that if she's seeing you off-hours, and taking days off, and living a normal life with you, and going to do normal things with you, and you're having normal discussions about the mundane things couples talk about; then she's for real. There is what's called "the hustle", and I've met some good hustlers that can really make you think you're special; but they're selling fantasy, and you're buying. That's my original point. It's fantasy, not actuality. Thus, assuming that just any stripper with perform a sex act for you cause she likes you or cause you'll tip better, is wrong.
Yes, strippers are on autopilot when they're on the stage and circling the room. But they are human beings. It's like this chick I met today working the counter at McDonald's. She's a McDrone sure, and do I believe she really would like me to have a nice day? I doubt it, but I know she's a person capable of honest human emotions.
Hell, even a computer scientist can show honest human emotion on occasion, so can't a stripper? *ducks*
I don't think it's right to say "most" There's still many dancers out there I haven't seen yet. But yeah, I know a lot of these sociopathic ones too. And I've been told the stories from my GF about girls tanking up throughout the day or doing drugs. Makes you wonder if it's the job itself or just them. The most sociopathic strippers I've ever met are the ones who have been doing this gig for going on a decade. They know the ins and outs of the financial side of the business and could teach a college course on it. If you ever go to stripperweb.com, there's a lot of dancers like that there. They're mostly burn-outs in my opinion. Let's face it, if they had another marketable skill that was in demand, they'd be doing that rather than risking house fees on a piss poor thursday day shift.
But again, I've known many, many chicks with daddy issues, some that were druggies, and many that were sociopaths. Of course, I call them college freshmen.;-)
Sure, I get what you're saying; and you're right, it's somewhat about local customs. I've frequented clubs in large cities: Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando, Phoenix, etc. And yeah, I can name clubs where you can be pretty sure extras are being performed. It's just that from my experience, as I said, it's the seedier places where the likelihood is strong. Of course, it's an individual basis. As you said, even at high end clubs you might find some that will do it. I imagine she'd at least play her cards close to her chest and only offer extras to regulars. It is a problem for other dancers who don't perform extras. Some say it's the competition, but many more have commented that it's about the assumption that customers will make that all girls will do extras. It can create a pretty negative atmosphere quickly. Actually just today, my friend was telling me that the manager fired a girl last night on the strength of one of the local old timer dancers merely suggesting that the girl was performing extras. Considering the layout of the specific club, it's really unlikely anything happened, but then, girls do get catty.
The techniques you mentioned are pretty sound I would say, although I don't know how often you'd get to negotiate anything about VIP while at the tables since most places (I've been to) have a 2 or 3 song max for the girls sitting. Personally, I still prefer for that stuff to be taken off-premises. It's better for the other dancers and for the club, and I won't have to worry about sitting on a "dirty" couch back in the champagne room.:D
He only yelled at you from his car using a megaphone? That's nothing. At least you weren't driving through the nation's largest speed trap, North Carolina, on out of state plates. They give you tickets with the expectation that being out of state, you won't challenge them in court.
Are you certain, craigslist is totally free? I've heard talk within the context of escorting about there being fees for placing ads, and about how law enforcement want payment to be made by credit card so that the poster is trackable. Just noise maybe?
Seriously, so what? Sex work happens. Consensual and non-consensual; and it will keep happening. Sites like Craigslist put it in the open, and it gives law enforcement the opportunity to find the worst perpetrators -- you know, the kind where we really ought to "think about the children." Law enforcement has long been following sex work sites such as The Erotic Review. Personally, I can see where vice cops would be pissed at a sheriff going off the reservation and doing something stupid like trying to prevent Craigslist from allowing such posts. The fact is, craigslist and dedicated sex work sites have served as a tool in the LE arsenal.
As for craigslist profiting from human trafficking, it's a horrible thing. But guess what, got a kid who likes GAP or Abercrombie & Fitch? Then you've got a kid who's profiting from slave labor *and* sexual slavery. Google "Saipan exploitation". I'm not trying to be a dick. The fact is, human trafficking touches so many business transactions; it's heartbreaking. Interfering with Craigslist doesn't stop the exploitation and the crime; it merely puts it out of the eyes of the American public. And really, most Americans are content with knowing that things like this happen they just don't want to see it.
I don't know if you've been following the Chris Brown/Rhianna situation (both are popular R&B singers). Chris Brown allegedly beat Rhianna to an unconscious pulp. Actually, there's no "allegedly" about it as he did in fact do it. The response on sites like MTV.com have been by and large, pro Chris Brown, with many people (surprisingly women) saying that Rhianna deserved to get beaten up. She "asked for it", she wouldn't get out of his car, she "gave him an STD" (of which there is not even anecdotal evidence of this). MTV was so stunned and saddened by the response that the network commissioned a documentary to address domestic violence. It's really only been in the last 20 years that we've acknowledged women's issues like domestic violence and sex work.
The reality is that in the US, women don't amount to much. They have to be protected from themselves. Their worth as human beings is tied directly to their virginity and their ability to birth sons; so much of our morality laws were designed to reign in attempts by women to control their sexuality.
Wow, that sounded very feminist of me. Ending my rant now.:D
Recently in Phoenix, a prosecutor made a charge that asian massage parlors that were performing sex work weren't committing a victimless crime because the money from the sex work was often going to drugs and smuggling operations. To put it in context, many escorts alternately advertise themselves online as providers of erotic massages, and many work out of established massage parlors. And specific to asian massage parlors is the problem of human trafficking and sexual slavery. The smuggling talk was in reference to the problem of gun running. Maybe Illinois will try to accuse the Craigslist and the Internet of facilitating drug running since it's well-established that prostitutes spend their money on drugs and smuggled guns.:D
The stereotype annoys me too. I go to the clubs, and I'm personal friends with a quite a few dancers, and I've dated dancers. These girls aren't whores, and I've seen idiot customers make that mistake on many occasions. If you want to mistreat and mishandle the girls, it's not the bouncers you need to worry about. They're only going to toss you out on your ass; it's that dancer looking at you with the "fuck me" eyes, sexy smile, and the steel posted stilettos -- cause she's the one who's going to show you what she learned in kickboxing.
Sex doesn't happen in the champagne/VIP room. And the expenses for getting back into the room *is* for house fee + champagne + whatever the girl charges for her time. It's a risky proposition for the club owners and workers to have sex on the premise. Not only that, it ruins the girls' legitimate hustle, and so it's not tolerated. A good customer can spend nearly a grand or more on a favorite girl. A $200 sex act by another girl risks that. Now, there are some clubs there sex happens on-premise. In my experience they have always been "one-on-one clubs" which aren't strip clubs in the traditional sense; or real dives -- the kinds of places where the two drink minimum comes with a free STD and you might get stabbed and robbed by one of the hookers working the crowd. Are there exceptions? Of course, but I've gone through more clubs than the typical slashdotter has linux distributions.
And of course, there are some dancers who do "extras" but they take that business outside the club for the reasons I gave before. Strip clubs sell fantasy, and for most sensible people, fantasy is enough. Incidentally, I know more business school and law school grads who have done "extras" to make it at their workplace than dancers who have. And my former dancer girlfriend is an amazing woman with a better moral compass than most people I've met.
Shall we agree then that hiring managers, like most human resource management people, are barely useful lumps of stupid skin that will never hope to amass the qualifications of the applicants they screen, and who lack the moral compass to decide that there are some things they shouldn't do even if it is legally excusable? Therefore we should all google them and create Blogspot blogs that connect -- not them, but someone with the exact same name and general geographic location -- to Nazi child molesters?
Meh, didn't like Assassin's Creed. I loved the Crusades era setting, but I hated being pulled from that setting into the modern world. Really destroyed my suspension of disbelief. I couldn't feel fully immersed by the world.
Heavenly Sword, on the other hand, had a good ending that didn't seem to leave room for a sequel -- maybe a prequel. And that game wasn't really a failure either.
Quantum Leap's finale definitely remains my favorite. But I'd like to add to that: Babylon 5 and Angel. Both productions had advance notice that the series were ending. In "Babylon 5", J. Michael Straczynski closed a major story arc and gave us a chance to watch some core characters remember the past in a very respectful way. It was actually a bit of a tear jerker for me. In "Angel" Joss Whedon ended on a cliffhanger, but it went out in style, leading you to believe that there was no way for the protagonists to win, and yet you were free to imagine that they could and did. I can't remember, but I think the "West Wing" story arc came to a natural conclusion as well.
I read a few posts from George Riddick, III is an Ass! A couple of statements stood out, namely: his collection of bitmap clip art is vastly out-dated crap that no one in their right mind apart from the odd backwater church community or primary school would ever nowadays use. and George, you are not losing out because of piracy. You're losing out because no one wants to buy your rubbish drawings any more, get over it! and stop pestering everyone and wasting people's time with your petty and hate-fuelled quest.
Personally, I've always despised clip art. If even 10% of the clip art in the world were to disappear as a result of Riddick's efforts, I would do a little irish jig. However, it seems that the thesis to blogs like this is that Riddick is bitter at being a forgotten part of computing culture, and that he is predatory not just litigious; going after "weak and defenseless" people. Moreover, he's committing the cardinal sin in computer culture of holding on viciously to "out-dated" dead technologies and accomplishments which have no value in the modern world except as nostalgia. Since we live in a world of sub-$100 300 dpi+ color inkjet printers, WYSISYG desktop publishing, and vector graphics freeware/shareware; Riddick going after clip art users is maybe like Thom Henderson going after people for using ZIP... okay, maybe that's a stretch?
As you said, if he can prove his assertions, he's definitely within his rights. He isn't *obligated* to release his old work into public domain, and he shouldn't have his work forced into PD. And of course, he has a right to be a total dick in life (if he indeed is). He is however seeking huge damages from shallow pocket, ordinary people who have come to rely on clip art being, at the very least, 2 cent art pieces, if not public domain. Basically, his copyrights appear to be totally diluted. Just to be fair to him, another Slashdotter has pointed out that he worked with Riddick and Riddick was an honorable employer. If he is "evil", maybe it's cause of who he's going after. I am a little sympathetic to the guy, but personally, I'm for freeing up old technologies.
Additionally, there are counter accusations that some of Riddick's work which he claims infringement upon are actually trademark violations in themselves (national flags, UN emblem, depictions of the Sydney Opera House, etc.)
Maybe Disney would still go after the buyers of those discs anyway. There's probably not much parity in the example I'm about to give, but I remember many years ago that Disney went after several independently owned daycare centers and home daycare businesses which used depictions of Disney characters on walls. Sometimes these depictions were painted, but often the depictions were vinyl or wooden cut-outs presumably purchased from a source licensed to use the images.
If they come up with a way to restore the tightness of the joints in my GI Joe and Star Wars action figures, then we'll be in business. I've been using those thin rubber bands used in packaging produce.
Just to add, I remember the Video Toaster fondly. Granted, it was a niche platform; not something that would really propel the Amiga into homes in the '90s, but by '94-96 when I and many others were using 3D Studio (later 3DS Max) and Lightwave on the PC, there was less of a need to rely on the Amiga. As utterly craptacular as the IBM-PC was, once the DOS and Windows software base boomed, there just wasn't a need for my Amiga. I ended up using it for enjoying demos and games.
I doubt it's a troll. It might even be a larger commentary on the value we often place on legal analyses made by techies, and arrogant assumptions often made by techies in re legal issues. Surely, if I am a computer scientist or an engineer, I have the capability of understanding legal theory. After all, most lawyers began as drunken poli-sci majors. I understand fractals, therefore I also understand the Kantian theory of retribution. I can write proper technical documentation; therefore I understand the difference between a brief and a memorandum. I understand the GPL and the BSD licenses fluently; therefore, I can easily explain the varying traditions of the Napoleonic Code in the US vis-a-viz English common law.
I can referee a Magic the Gathering tournament; therefore I can easily understand the legal theories underlying the federal rules of civil procedure... okay, I tossed that one in to be cheeky.
Is the iPhone much bigger than the current gen iPod Touch? I own the latter, and it's easily pocketable. it's just that I have to tack on one of those protective silicone slip covers in order to keep it from sliding out of my pockets when I sit.
I just bought an LG Env2; clamshell type that opens up like a miniature laptop. Very good phone. Love it, except that the speaker phone/speaker setup is less than optimal. It's small though, in the ballpark of the Blackberry Pearl, just shorter. Maybe look into that. Definitely not Razr territory, but it's not a phone you'd have to worry about snapping in half either.
I wouldn't mind more gTLDs, but perhaps it's for the wrong reason that I want them. A ".radio" would be very useful, but just having more gTLDs out there would allow me and others in the same boat a chance to register the domains we want now that the big three (.com,.net,.org) are so crowded. Of course, squatters and competition-adverse companies alike will rush to sweep up domains on new gTLDs, but hey at least I might get a day or two.
I don't know about Facebook. My experience with it had me feeling very isolated. Unlike myspace. Myspace got pretty demanding between the friends' blogs, bulletins, reciprocating the love they show you in your profile comments with a corresponding photo of goatse on their profile. I deleted my account, but admittedly, I was just finding it more tiresome in general.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm a still a fan of tabletop gaming, RPGs included. I don't think the risk is in losing the diehard fans because it looks like the current strategy is to segment game editions based on gamer type. Example, Hasbro is steering its "vintage collection" line to diehards and older gamers, while offering the modern, more relevant, editions to the younger crowd. It can be jarring. I don't really like Monopoly Here and Now for several reasons; and I'm not alone, so Hasbro will keep making a classic Monopoly. The new modern Clue and Risk games look pretty good, and I'll easily buy those both; get disenchanted with something, and then go back and rebuy the classic versions.
Incidentally, have you played the "Escape from New York" board game, or the Kojak board game? If not, eBay is your friend. I love rediscovering the old crap.
You're absolutely right that table top game companies are having to throw more resources into their games, at the risk of diminishing returns. I have been collecting the History Channel branded CCG "ANACHRONISM". Those are some of the finest quality cards I have ever seen. And I think I'm one of the few people who bought into it.
The traditional RPG community is still managing to survive. I'm still surprised at the production values in Wizards of the Coast and White Wolf products. They are a far cry from my original TSR, Palladium, and R Talsorian games. I wonder how long Hasbro and WoTC will be able to keep pushing $40 full color game books. It's here where I see that risk about losing diehard fans. I only ever touched a 3rd edition D&D product twice: to review the DMG and to play Bioware's Neverwinter Nights.
None of the big CCG turned video games have seemed to live up to the promise. I'm still curious about Magic Online however. Would appreciate any Slashdotter's experience with it.
On the upside, the indie tabletop market, though small, is proving to be a great place to find innovation. There are some very innovative indie RPGs out there that you can buy as PDFs online, and there are some real good table top board games as well. What's sad is the lack of independent game retailers who can support the little guys. When my sister wanted to play a board game, she hit her neighborhood megastore (Target, Wal-Mart) and bought whatever Hasbro product was on the shelves.
I think the only exception is really old games that were made with NTSC and curved CRTs in mind. I've tried enjoying emulated arcade and 1st -> 3rd gen consoles games on a computer with LCD display, and visually these games aren't as enjoyable for me.
For the current gen, PC is surely better, but that said, I enjoy being able to just drop the disc in and play whenever I want without dealing with drivers, specs, and OS issues.
For the GP's comment about PC games dying off. I don't believe they are. I believe we're just going to see an increase in the number of dual PC and console game releases. I'm still very much a fan of smaller indie games like Diner Dash, point & click mystery games, and RT/TB strategy games like Starcraft and Europa Universalis. Those games are inherently better on a PC. Maybe the new Red Alert on PS3 will prove otherwise, dunno. I suppose it's the FPS games that are shrinking on the PC?
I suppose it was marked troll because Dreamweaver is a full graphical IDE with drag and drop operations, and if I'm not mistaken, code completion, at the very least. VIM is a text editor -- a very good one -- but still a text editor. Just asking the question presupposes that VIM is somehow an equal if not more preferable website (not just page) development tool... I guess.
In any case, a designer doesn't use Dreamweaver because he doesn't know the underlying structures; he does it in order to visually create the page in a quick and efficient manner. And since most web designers are visual artists, Dreamweaver (which can also do code view) gives the designer a more native perspective on design. I prefer scripting using a text editor, doing no positioning in my HTML source and using a healthy amount of IDs, classes, and divs; but I'm clearly would not be considered a web "designer"
Not me personally, but that's a risk that happens to many guys. The key thing to remember is that if she's seeing you off-hours, and taking days off, and living a normal life with you, and going to do normal things with you, and you're having normal discussions about the mundane things couples talk about; then she's for real. There is what's called "the hustle", and I've met some good hustlers that can really make you think you're special; but they're selling fantasy, and you're buying. That's my original point. It's fantasy, not actuality. Thus, assuming that just any stripper with perform a sex act for you cause she likes you or cause you'll tip better, is wrong.
Yes, strippers are on autopilot when they're on the stage and circling the room. But they are human beings. It's like this chick I met today working the counter at McDonald's. She's a McDrone sure, and do I believe she really would like me to have a nice day? I doubt it, but I know she's a person capable of honest human emotions.
Hell, even a computer scientist can show honest human emotion on occasion, so can't a stripper? *ducks*
I don't think it's right to say "most" There's still many dancers out there I haven't seen yet. But yeah, I know a lot of these sociopathic ones too. And I've been told the stories from my GF about girls tanking up throughout the day or doing drugs. Makes you wonder if it's the job itself or just them. The most sociopathic strippers I've ever met are the ones who have been doing this gig for going on a decade. They know the ins and outs of the financial side of the business and could teach a college course on it. If you ever go to stripperweb.com, there's a lot of dancers like that there. They're mostly burn-outs in my opinion. Let's face it, if they had another marketable skill that was in demand, they'd be doing that rather than risking house fees on a piss poor thursday day shift.
But again, I've known many, many chicks with daddy issues, some that were druggies, and many that were sociopaths. Of course, I call them college freshmen. ;-)
Sure, I get what you're saying; and you're right, it's somewhat about local customs. I've frequented clubs in large cities: Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando, Phoenix, etc. And yeah, I can name clubs where you can be pretty sure extras are being performed. It's just that from my experience, as I said, it's the seedier places where the likelihood is strong. Of course, it's an individual basis. As you said, even at high end clubs you might find some that will do it. I imagine she'd at least play her cards close to her chest and only offer extras to regulars. It is a problem for other dancers who don't perform extras. Some say it's the competition, but many more have commented that it's about the assumption that customers will make that all girls will do extras. It can create a pretty negative atmosphere quickly. Actually just today, my friend was telling me that the manager fired a girl last night on the strength of one of the local old timer dancers merely suggesting that the girl was performing extras. Considering the layout of the specific club, it's really unlikely anything happened, but then, girls do get catty.
The techniques you mentioned are pretty sound I would say, although I don't know how often you'd get to negotiate anything about VIP while at the tables since most places (I've been to) have a 2 or 3 song max for the girls sitting. Personally, I still prefer for that stuff to be taken off-premises. It's better for the other dancers and for the club, and I won't have to worry about sitting on a "dirty" couch back in the champagne room. :D
Hopefully... otherwise a Cook County, Illinois sheriff might try to sue Slashdot for creating a public nuisance. Wait, what?
He only yelled at you from his car using a megaphone? That's nothing. At least you weren't driving through the nation's largest speed trap, North Carolina, on out of state plates. They give you tickets with the expectation that being out of state, you won't challenge them in court.
But yes, Colorado does suck.
Are you certain, craigslist is totally free? I've heard talk within the context of escorting about there being fees for placing ads, and about how law enforcement want payment to be made by credit card so that the poster is trackable. Just noise maybe?
So what?
Seriously, so what? Sex work happens. Consensual and non-consensual; and it will keep happening. Sites like Craigslist put it in the open, and it gives law enforcement the opportunity to find the worst perpetrators -- you know, the kind where we really ought to "think about the children." Law enforcement has long been following sex work sites such as The Erotic Review. Personally, I can see where vice cops would be pissed at a sheriff going off the reservation and doing something stupid like trying to prevent Craigslist from allowing such posts. The fact is, craigslist and dedicated sex work sites have served as a tool in the LE arsenal.
As for craigslist profiting from human trafficking, it's a horrible thing. But guess what, got a kid who likes GAP or Abercrombie & Fitch? Then you've got a kid who's profiting from slave labor *and* sexual slavery. Google "Saipan exploitation". I'm not trying to be a dick. The fact is, human trafficking touches so many business transactions; it's heartbreaking. Interfering with Craigslist doesn't stop the exploitation and the crime; it merely puts it out of the eyes of the American public. And really, most Americans are content with knowing that things like this happen they just don't want to see it.
I don't know if you've been following the Chris Brown/Rhianna situation (both are popular R&B singers). Chris Brown allegedly beat Rhianna to an unconscious pulp. Actually, there's no "allegedly" about it as he did in fact do it. The response on sites like MTV.com have been by and large, pro Chris Brown, with many people (surprisingly women) saying that Rhianna deserved to get beaten up. She "asked for it", she wouldn't get out of his car, she "gave him an STD" (of which there is not even anecdotal evidence of this). MTV was so stunned and saddened by the response that the network commissioned a documentary to address domestic violence. It's really only been in the last 20 years that we've acknowledged women's issues like domestic violence and sex work.
The reality is that in the US, women don't amount to much. They have to be protected from themselves. Their worth as human beings is tied directly to their virginity and their ability to birth sons; so much of our morality laws were designed to reign in attempts by women to control their sexuality.
Wow, that sounded very feminist of me. Ending my rant now. :D
Recently in Phoenix, a prosecutor made a charge that asian massage parlors that were performing sex work weren't committing a victimless crime because the money from the sex work was often going to drugs and smuggling operations. To put it in context, many escorts alternately advertise themselves online as providers of erotic massages, and many work out of established massage parlors. And specific to asian massage parlors is the problem of human trafficking and sexual slavery. The smuggling talk was in reference to the problem of gun running. Maybe Illinois will try to accuse the Craigslist and the Internet of facilitating drug running since it's well-established that prostitutes spend their money on drugs and smuggled guns. :D
The stereotype annoys me too. I go to the clubs, and I'm personal friends with a quite a few dancers, and I've dated dancers. These girls aren't whores, and I've seen idiot customers make that mistake on many occasions. If you want to mistreat and mishandle the girls, it's not the bouncers you need to worry about. They're only going to toss you out on your ass; it's that dancer looking at you with the "fuck me" eyes, sexy smile, and the steel posted stilettos -- cause she's the one who's going to show you what she learned in kickboxing.
Sex doesn't happen in the champagne/VIP room. And the expenses for getting back into the room *is* for house fee + champagne + whatever the girl charges for her time. It's a risky proposition for the club owners and workers to have sex on the premise. Not only that, it ruins the girls' legitimate hustle, and so it's not tolerated. A good customer can spend nearly a grand or more on a favorite girl. A $200 sex act by another girl risks that. Now, there are some clubs there sex happens on-premise. In my experience they have always been "one-on-one clubs" which aren't strip clubs in the traditional sense; or real dives -- the kinds of places where the two drink minimum comes with a free STD and you might get stabbed and robbed by one of the hookers working the crowd. Are there exceptions? Of course, but I've gone through more clubs than the typical slashdotter has linux distributions.
And of course, there are some dancers who do "extras" but they take that business outside the club for the reasons I gave before. Strip clubs sell fantasy, and for most sensible people, fantasy is enough. Incidentally, I know more business school and law school grads who have done "extras" to make it at their workplace than dancers who have. And my former dancer girlfriend is an amazing woman with a better moral compass than most people I've met.
Shall we agree then that hiring managers, like most human resource management people, are barely useful lumps of stupid skin that will never hope to amass the qualifications of the applicants they screen, and who lack the moral compass to decide that there are some things they shouldn't do even if it is legally excusable? Therefore we should all google them and create Blogspot blogs that connect -- not them, but someone with the exact same name and general geographic location -- to Nazi child molesters?
Okay, maybe I'm alone in my fury?
Meh, didn't like Assassin's Creed. I loved the Crusades era setting, but I hated being pulled from that setting into the modern world. Really destroyed my suspension of disbelief. I couldn't feel fully immersed by the world.
Heavenly Sword, on the other hand, had a good ending that didn't seem to leave room for a sequel -- maybe a prequel. And that game wasn't really a failure either.
Quantum Leap's finale definitely remains my favorite. But I'd like to add to that: Babylon 5 and Angel. Both productions had advance notice that the series were ending. In "Babylon 5", J. Michael Straczynski closed a major story arc and gave us a chance to watch some core characters remember the past in a very respectful way. It was actually a bit of a tear jerker for me. In "Angel" Joss Whedon ended on a cliffhanger, but it went out in style, leading you to believe that there was no way for the protagonists to win, and yet you were free to imagine that they could and did. I can't remember, but I think the "West Wing" story arc came to a natural conclusion as well.
I read a few posts from George Riddick, III is an Ass! A couple of statements stood out, namely: his collection of bitmap clip art is vastly out-dated crap that no one in their right mind apart from the odd backwater church community or primary school would ever nowadays use. and George, you are not losing out because of piracy. You're losing out because no one wants to buy your rubbish drawings any more, get over it! and stop pestering everyone and wasting people's time with your petty and hate-fuelled quest.
Personally, I've always despised clip art. If even 10% of the clip art in the world were to disappear as a result of Riddick's efforts, I would do a little irish jig. However, it seems that the thesis to blogs like this is that Riddick is bitter at being a forgotten part of computing culture, and that he is predatory not just litigious; going after "weak and defenseless" people. Moreover, he's committing the cardinal sin in computer culture of holding on viciously to "out-dated" dead technologies and accomplishments which have no value in the modern world except as nostalgia. Since we live in a world of sub-$100 300 dpi+ color inkjet printers, WYSISYG desktop publishing, and vector graphics freeware/shareware; Riddick going after clip art users is maybe like Thom Henderson going after people for using ZIP... okay, maybe that's a stretch?
As you said, if he can prove his assertions, he's definitely within his rights. He isn't *obligated* to release his old work into public domain, and he shouldn't have his work forced into PD. And of course, he has a right to be a total dick in life (if he indeed is). He is however seeking huge damages from shallow pocket, ordinary people who have come to rely on clip art being, at the very least, 2 cent art pieces, if not public domain. Basically, his copyrights appear to be totally diluted. Just to be fair to him, another Slashdotter has pointed out that he worked with Riddick and Riddick was an honorable employer. If he is "evil", maybe it's cause of who he's going after. I am a little sympathetic to the guy, but personally, I'm for freeing up old technologies.
Additionally, there are counter accusations that some of Riddick's work which he claims infringement upon are actually trademark violations in themselves (national flags, UN emblem, depictions of the Sydney Opera House, etc.)
Maybe Disney would still go after the buyers of those discs anyway. There's probably not much parity in the example I'm about to give, but I remember many years ago that Disney went after several independently owned daycare centers and home daycare businesses which used depictions of Disney characters on walls. Sometimes these depictions were painted, but often the depictions were vinyl or wooden cut-outs presumably purchased from a source licensed to use the images.
If they come up with a way to restore the tightness of the joints in my GI Joe and Star Wars action figures, then we'll be in business. I've been using those thin rubber bands used in packaging produce.
Just to add, I remember the Video Toaster fondly. Granted, it was a niche platform; not something that would really propel the Amiga into homes in the '90s, but by '94-96 when I and many others were using 3D Studio (later 3DS Max) and Lightwave on the PC, there was less of a need to rely on the Amiga. As utterly craptacular as the IBM-PC was, once the DOS and Windows software base boomed, there just wasn't a need for my Amiga. I ended up using it for enjoying demos and games.
I doubt it's a troll. It might even be a larger commentary on the value we often place on legal analyses made by techies, and arrogant assumptions often made by techies in re legal issues. Surely, if I am a computer scientist or an engineer, I have the capability of understanding legal theory. After all, most lawyers began as drunken poli-sci majors. I understand fractals, therefore I also understand the Kantian theory of retribution. I can write proper technical documentation; therefore I understand the difference between a brief and a memorandum. I understand the GPL and the BSD licenses fluently; therefore, I can easily explain the varying traditions of the Napoleonic Code in the US vis-a-viz English common law.
I can referee a Magic the Gathering tournament; therefore I can easily understand the legal theories underlying the federal rules of civil procedure... okay, I tossed that one in to be cheeky.
Is the iPhone much bigger than the current gen iPod Touch? I own the latter, and it's easily pocketable. it's just that I have to tack on one of those protective silicone slip covers in order to keep it from sliding out of my pockets when I sit.
I just bought an LG Env2; clamshell type that opens up like a miniature laptop. Very good phone. Love it, except that the speaker phone/speaker setup is less than optimal. It's small though, in the ballpark of the Blackberry Pearl, just shorter. Maybe look into that. Definitely not Razr territory, but it's not a phone you'd have to worry about snapping in half either.
I wouldn't mind more gTLDs, but perhaps it's for the wrong reason that I want them. A ".radio" would be very useful, but just having more gTLDs out there would allow me and others in the same boat a chance to register the domains we want now that the big three (.com, .net, .org) are so crowded. Of course, squatters and competition-adverse companies alike will rush to sweep up domains on new gTLDs, but hey at least I might get a day or two.
I don't know about Facebook. My experience with it had me feeling very isolated. Unlike myspace. Myspace got pretty demanding between the friends' blogs, bulletins, reciprocating the love they show you in your profile comments with a corresponding photo of goatse on their profile. I deleted my account, but admittedly, I was just finding it more tiresome in general.
And from the cat's perspective:
Humans are property. The human is merely a tool fluffy uses to open the tin.