It's not jus Al, or Paramount, or Holleywood not understanding the meaning of "Monetize". This has been a buzz-word for quite a few years now that means something similar to capitalize, or more like "squeeze every penny out of something".
You just made me wonder.. Did he fuck his career on any and all possible TV, Movie, and/or Radio gigs? Not that he had much anyway, but I wonder how that is used as leverage in cases like this? The movie execs are known to be mafia like in their mentality and treatment of those that try to buck the system. I'd be curious as to the amount of hate mail, death threats, etc.. he is getting from the Holleywood crowd..
Great article. I'll save the media production bashing to those already on the trail and go to what I thought was an interesting theory by Lewis CK. "The key to success is being polite, awesome, and human".
I don't think the first one makes that much difference. Lewis Black makes me laugh so hard I cry, and he's not polite. He is awesome, and to me funny. Steven Write is polite and human, but not what I would call awesome. Monotone is something that many people just can't handle.
Anyway, I think that being human is probably the biggest factor. Glad to see something positive coming out of all this!
Buying the code base is not buying the patents. Do you have any information showing that they actually purchased the patents for Netscape Directory Server or Netscape Proxy Server for example?
The full product line from Sun has that same code base, which is why I'm pretty sure it was just licensing for the patents that both Redhat and Sun purchased. For example, Sun Directory server version 5.x still used "ns" as their directory structure and most of the tools were prefixed with ns. It was version 6 where Sun finally cleaned up the tree and made it look like a full fledged Sun product. Redhat for a long time only had the original code base that included "ns" directories. They added some of the OpenLDAP tools to the tree, but it was obvious to anyone that knew Netscape code that the tree was pretty much still just Netscape.
Before Netscape was bought by AOL, there was pretty much a full dump of every piece of code they had which included all of these server products. This was after the license deal with Sun and Redhat.
The AV software for Apple is the same as it was for Unix and Linux. It was not that PC viruses could infect *nix. Microsoft, Norton, and McCaffee, were using propaganda marketing telling people that *nix file servers could not clean up viruses like a NT file server could and were dangerous since they could house viruses causing Windows to become infected. Since most VPs are dumb enough not to understand the unimportance of that marketing ploy, a lot of AV products sprung up for *nix and iOS.
Many of the vendors still produce AV software for OSes that don't really need it for that reason. I'll bet you can still find iOS AV software for a fee, the PT Barnum theory works as well today as it did when he was alive.
Would only happen if some politicians were strapped for cash. They would call the DOJ to get funding from Microsoft, then drop the case when they felt they had enough. Super-PAC legalization has done away with some of that need.
I may be wrong, but the way I read those Netscape deals with both Sun and Redhat was that they bought licenses to use, not the actual patents. Redhat's base trees were the same source I had, at least when I first saw them, which were the same as Sun Microsystems. Could be, and probably were, many deals I was not aware of. At the same time, Sun's product line using Netscape was pretty much the same as Redhat's. Netscape could not sell the same patents to both companies. Redhat acquired a lot of technology after Netscape open sourced most of their code base, was it 1999/ 2000 maybe?. (Sorry, I'm go lazy to go fishing for it now)
Assuming AOL bought out the Netscape portfolio and had extensions done with every single patent, we are now in 2012. Those patent's can't have much life left in them. What ever Microsoft is planning to do with them would have to be done very quickly.
Thanks for that link, if people have not stopped to read it.. shame on you. If you have, welcome to the real world. The only way for us to maintain some semblance of freedom is to be vocal when things are being done to stifle that freedom. Stop SOPA is a prime example of what needs to be happening. Sadly, companies like Wiki and Google can't do that crap every friggin day. It's up to us, the Netizens of the world, to educate and inform everyone around us.
I know most people only think of Netscape with browsers, but I have most of the original Source from the various Netscape projects somewhere.
Netscape back then had an impressive LDAP server, Identity Management Server, Application server, Key servers, Proxy servers, as well as the framework for the web browser. Netscape was huge, and in to lots of technical areas that most people think of as standard services. Netscape was literally the gateway for SunOne Directory server for example.
The age of the patents has to put them close to expiration. This is the first "WTF" when talking about paying such a high price for AOL patents. The next WTF is that most of the Netscape patents were open sourced long long ago. Meaning that the patents have no value (Assuming that UC vs. AT&T would be considered valid case law example, which it has been repeatedly.). I fail to find value in what they bought, at least that goes beyond a year or two.
I'm not a fortune teller, but here is what I see. Microsoft is going to start trying to sue everyone. They see the writing on the wall, hell even our Windows guys at work say "Microsoft will be out of business in 4-5 years" and are trying to learn Linux. Zune was way to late, WinPhone is something nobody wants, XBox is still a huge money sink, and people have no desire to keep buying the same OS and Office products for way more money than they are worth from them.
I see this is a drowning company flailing in the water. I hope they prove me wrong, but then again we in the business know how they have been since day 1.
I believe the point is more that there is really only 1 option for many people.
In this day of technology, and being connected, it's very sad that the only option for months is to spend $25.00 per person and 3-4 hours on average to see a movie.
Here comes the "nuh uh, it's not 3-4 hours", so I'll stop you ahead of time.
Arrive at the movie at advertised time, you can't get in because the lines are to long or the tickets are sold out. Get there 1/2 hour early, wait in line.. finally get tickets and go in to theater. 30 minutes of advertising and previews later, the movie starts. Movies generally run 2 hours. That's 3 hours of my day.
That does not include drive time, so easily tack on another hour.
Look, everyone else gets it. I can get a 5 course meal delivered to my door if I wanted, or send an email to Olive Garden for take out. A movie company can not give anyone even a lower quality viewing of a movie at a cost "On Demand?" Wholly shit, the service is already designed. All they have to do is say "yeah, okay you can do it" and charge me 10 bucks.
Now, why won't they do that? Simple: They currently force me and my family to spend 25 bucks a person to visit their theater if I really want to see something. They leach off that for as long as they can. Depending on how long they can leach top dollar for, the DVD sits and waits. They get 30 minutes of free advertising as you sit and wait for the start time.
So don't have 4 hours of time and 100 bucks for a family of 4? Good, go F yourself! You are not good enough to watch our movie. We don't care!"
This is why so many people hate the MPAA and RAA. This is also why in a shit economy many people don't have a choice but to borrow a DVD or download a torrent to see a movie. They are not making it any better, because they don't care about anything but the $$.
While this project may yield a lot of data it still won't be able to answer most of the fundamental questions. I know they have to advertise that way in order to receive sponsorship and grants, but dang it I'm tired of hearing it.
We still won't have a clue about what Dark matter is, or even if it exists. It's still a hypothesis that makes big bang models work and gives us the idea that we understand gravity.
We still won't know what the Universe was just before the big bang, or what caused it.
Visiting when things are calm is a nice thing. I very much enjoy Downtown Detroit when it's mellow.
Do you think your visit may have been different if something like Rodney King happened somewhere in the US the day before your visit?
It's kind of like in Detroit, when things are not mellow.. you learn to stay away from certain areas, crowds. When either of the 2 Revs mentioned visit it becomes best to stay away. When there is talk of political corruption, even if the Mayor is found guilty (Go ahead and Google Detroit and Corruption, I dare you). When racist events make national media.
It is very easy, and common to say "oh, it must be you", but do you really believe that it's only white people that can be racist? I don't mean the common reference to it, I mean the definition.
Having grown up in Detroit, I know very well the perils of being the wrong race in the wrong area. I have been the victim, and know many people who were also victims of simply being white in the wrong neighborhood (car broke down, made a wrong turn down the wrong block, etc...). A real problem is, that you can't talk about that problem (racism against whites) without being declared a racist. Minorities that have been the victims of legal racism seem to want retribution much more than equality?
Now with that said, I read through the article. Some statements match the way things are, street wise, for a guy that grew up in a city that is largely anti-white. Other statements seem to be something from a Klan rally. I can see why he was canned and why there was backlash.
Seeing this is rather sad. Why? Play "Steam" much? How about any EA game that requires Origin? Wait, how about Windows having to phone home in order to function? Go ahead, upgrade your memory and see if it warns you that you changed your system and have X more changes before you are invalid to run Windows.
Was Sony right in what it did? No
Do you pay for and allow much worse? Yes, though you will say "nuh uh, Steam does not use my information for marketing."
The US has the same issues as the UK, which has the same issues as Europe. In the US, there was a report last year about how many companies moved their HQ to a PO box overseas, I believe mostly to Ireland. This was reportedly done to avoid paying US taxes. Of course even though this was shown to be true, the media later stated that it was anti-business hype and not a real problem. As of course the US goes further and further in to debt, public services are cut more and more, and the top 1% earners increase their wealth by incredible amounts each year.
Now we see similar stories from the UK, and right in the article it's seemingly excusing the businesses and vilify the protestors. (Sound like OWS?)
HSBC has joined the least desirable club in the business world. The bank yesterday became the latest target of a sudden surge in public fury over tax avoidance, as a guerrilla group of demonstrators under the elusive banner UK Uncut planned to occupy branches in London and Liverpool.
Baker says he is worried that the kind of street protests led by UK Uncut could "morph" into a more serious anti-business movement, though he admits some firms give the corporate world a bad name by over-exploiting loopholes.
So if you complain, you have to be anti-business.. you can't be right.
So the UK is as messed up as the US.. I'm not sure that makes me feel any better. Used to be, we were kind of the check and balance for each others corruption. The more of this kind of stuff I read about, the more I have to think that many of those conspiracy theories may be true.
If he had not disclosed names which does put people at risk, I would have no problem with what he did. That one thing makes a huge difference, and for that reason it's difficult to defend him.
Exposing the activity alone should have been enough to open an investigation. Let the courts find the names relevant. He could have waited until a Grand Jury was opened, and exposed all the names he thought important to the courts.
I'm not trying to imply that the right people would have been prosecuted under those circumstances. Just that since he put people at risk by giving names to media the whole things gets a big question mark.
but that he was 'not going to go into more detail because obviously if I do, it becomes counterproductive.
That in itself tells you where their minds are. Their way, or the highway. And damn it they will spend what ever it takes to buy off politicians and make it their way!
You either miss the point or extend the concept way to far, I'm not sure which. I'm not talking about pornography, but that we see certain types of relationships from the time we are very young. No matter what your personal belief is, seeing a man and woman in a relationship should not be offensive.
I don't personally find other (non hetero) relationships offensive myself. I can however stand back and see why others might. Since their beliefs come from large long standing Religious institutions it becomes improbable that they will change their mind.
Now, should that prevent EA from making and selling a game targeting LGBT crowds? Not at all, but a game should be advertised and sold warning of the content. Or as I stated above, allow users to control whether or not they wish to see that type of content (with my Sims example).
Maybe one day lesbian and gay will be a society normal, but looking a history I find it hard to believe it will be. We have been waging a war against racial bias for what.. 150 years now? Things are better now than they were 20 years ago, but does anyone believe it's a done issue?
For aamcf, I personally agree with both of your points. That does not make any headway with Society as a whole though.
Interesting comments, but I will say that there is enough difference to see "straight" in common scenarios and not the other way around. We grow up knowing that procreation requires a certain type of relationship. Because we know this, and see this regularly it does not come as a shock to anyone no matter what their (for lack of better simple terms) lifestyle.
Even if you are homosexual and despise straight couples, you would know that it takes both sexes to create offspring. (Though lesbian couples could adopt other methods of introducing sperm to the egg than natural methods.)
I can not say the same about a gay couple. Things are getting better, we see more on TV and read more about them, but it's not enough yet to be ready for everyone.
Lastly, I'm not sure LGBT ever will be or can be mainstream, since many Religions consider gay a sin. For that reason, It becomes much harder or impossible to get main stream. On the other direction, there is no main stream Religion that believes "Straight" is an offense. Someone could of course make a Religion, but would it ever become mainstream?
For the record, I have no prejudice at all. Lesbian, Gay, Trans, Bi.. do your thing! I am only trying to point out the social issues.
Actually you are not alone, I'll side with you. You bring up a point I did not think much about.
In the "The Sims #" games, one has to add mods for homosexual relationships, I think this is the avenue of thought I had. I have no problem with EA building this in so that no mod is needed. It would let people play in a style they are comfortable with, and could relate to their life style natively.
Player controlled is always different than built in to the game.
Valid point regarding the known testing. The known test would also be able to provide details on where and what other card data was being stored, if any was being stored. It is logical that if the Card # is being stored, other details are stored as well. Much harder to find a 4 digit date stamp and 3 digit CVV though, so would really need a way of expanding the test immensely. It would be pretty costly, but possible.
1. Boot system, patch, power down, dd drive1-snapa.
2. Enter details, register, CC numbers, etc..
3. Log in and play a few games "registered".
4. Power down, dd drive1-snapb
5. Diff drive1-snapa drive1-snapb
The way I read the report, the complete card number was validated not just the first 4 digits. It sounded like the team was well aware of false positives. They blanked out most of the string, and showed the prefix and who the owner was, but stated that the full string was validated.
Come on now, what you stated originally is that Microsoft would be subject to audits so would have to comply. What you point to is the industry standard practices which can be found pretty much anywhere.
The fact is, that Xbox is not audited any more than your home PC,Smart Phone, or favorite web browser is audited.
Now if you want to show me a report from the FTC that shows the XBox listing as a financial device that is subject to audits like an ATM, I'll apologize for saying that you are full of shit.
Just a side note, I'm not sure if you read the full PDF. The research is very credible, and very thorough. They show a lot of the data being cache, not just credit card data.
If the research was just a bash with no merit I would probably just agree with you.
Slashdot Mirror
It's not jus Al, or Paramount, or Holleywood not understanding the meaning of "Monetize". This has been a buzz-word for quite a few years now that means something similar to capitalize, or more like "squeeze every penny out of something".
South Park had an episode and beat up on Carlos Mencia for it (Fish Sticks joke). I hate all 3 of them, so even if they stole I would not know.
You just made me wonder.. Did he fuck his career on any and all possible TV, Movie, and/or Radio gigs? Not that he had much anyway, but I wonder how that is used as leverage in cases like this? The movie execs are known to be mafia like in their mentality and treatment of those that try to buck the system. I'd be curious as to the amount of hate mail, death threats, etc.. he is getting from the Holleywood crowd..
Great article. I'll save the media production bashing to those already on the trail and go to what I thought was an interesting theory by Lewis CK. "The key to success is being polite, awesome, and human".
I don't think the first one makes that much difference. Lewis Black makes me laugh so hard I cry, and he's not polite. He is awesome, and to me funny. Steven Write is polite and human, but not what I would call awesome. Monotone is something that many people just can't handle.
Anyway, I think that being human is probably the biggest factor. Glad to see something positive coming out of all this!
Buying the code base is not buying the patents. Do you have any information showing that they actually purchased the patents for Netscape Directory Server or Netscape Proxy Server for example?
The full product line from Sun has that same code base, which is why I'm pretty sure it was just licensing for the patents that both Redhat and Sun purchased. For example, Sun Directory server version 5.x still used "ns" as their directory structure and most of the tools were prefixed with ns. It was version 6 where Sun finally cleaned up the tree and made it look like a full fledged Sun product. Redhat for a long time only had the original code base that included "ns" directories. They added some of the OpenLDAP tools to the tree, but it was obvious to anyone that knew Netscape code that the tree was pretty much still just Netscape.
Before Netscape was bought by AOL, there was pretty much a full dump of every piece of code they had which included all of these server products. This was after the license deal with Sun and Redhat.
The AV software for Apple is the same as it was for Unix and Linux. It was not that PC viruses could infect *nix. Microsoft, Norton, and McCaffee, were using propaganda marketing telling people that *nix file servers could not clean up viruses like a NT file server could and were dangerous since they could house viruses causing Windows to become infected. Since most VPs are dumb enough not to understand the unimportance of that marketing ploy, a lot of AV products sprung up for *nix and iOS.
Many of the vendors still produce AV software for OSes that don't really need it for that reason. I'll bet you can still find iOS AV software for a fee, the PT Barnum theory works as well today as it did when he was alive.
Would only happen if some politicians were strapped for cash. They would call the DOJ to get funding from Microsoft, then drop the case when they felt they had enough. Super-PAC legalization has done away with some of that need.
I may be wrong, but the way I read those Netscape deals with both Sun and Redhat was that they bought licenses to use, not the actual patents. Redhat's base trees were the same source I had, at least when I first saw them, which were the same as Sun Microsystems. Could be, and probably were, many deals I was not aware of. At the same time, Sun's product line using Netscape was pretty much the same as Redhat's. Netscape could not sell the same patents to both companies. Redhat acquired a lot of technology after Netscape open sourced most of their code base, was it 1999/ 2000 maybe?. (Sorry, I'm go lazy to go fishing for it now)
Assuming AOL bought out the Netscape portfolio and had extensions done with every single patent, we are now in 2012. Those patent's can't have much life left in them. What ever Microsoft is planning to do with them would have to be done very quickly.
Thanks for that link, if people have not stopped to read it.. shame on you. If you have, welcome to the real world. The only way for us to maintain some semblance of freedom is to be vocal when things are being done to stifle that freedom. Stop SOPA is a prime example of what needs to be happening. Sadly, companies like Wiki and Google can't do that crap every friggin day. It's up to us, the Netizens of the world, to educate and inform everyone around us.
I know, most of you /.ers do that anyway right?
off my soap box, carry on with your day.
I know most people only think of Netscape with browsers, but I have most of the original Source from the various Netscape projects somewhere.
Netscape back then had an impressive LDAP server, Identity Management Server, Application server, Key servers, Proxy servers, as well as the framework for the web browser. Netscape was huge, and in to lots of technical areas that most people think of as standard services. Netscape was literally the gateway for SunOne Directory server for example.
The age of the patents has to put them close to expiration. This is the first "WTF" when talking about paying such a high price for AOL patents. The next WTF is that most of the Netscape patents were open sourced long long ago. Meaning that the patents have no value (Assuming that UC vs. AT&T would be considered valid case law example, which it has been repeatedly.). I fail to find value in what they bought, at least that goes beyond a year or two.
I'm not a fortune teller, but here is what I see. Microsoft is going to start trying to sue everyone. They see the writing on the wall, hell even our Windows guys at work say "Microsoft will be out of business in 4-5 years" and are trying to learn Linux. Zune was way to late, WinPhone is something nobody wants, XBox is still a huge money sink, and people have no desire to keep buying the same OS and Office products for way more money than they are worth from them.
I see this is a drowning company flailing in the water. I hope they prove me wrong, but then again we in the business know how they have been since day 1.
I believe the point is more that there is really only 1 option for many people.
In this day of technology, and being connected, it's very sad that the only option for months is to spend $25.00 per person and 3-4 hours on average to see a movie.
Here comes the "nuh uh, it's not 3-4 hours", so I'll stop you ahead of time.
Arrive at the movie at advertised time, you can't get in because the lines are to long or the tickets are sold out. Get there 1/2 hour early, wait in line.. finally get tickets and go in to theater. 30 minutes of advertising and previews later, the movie starts. Movies generally run 2 hours. That's 3 hours of my day.
That does not include drive time, so easily tack on another hour.
Look, everyone else gets it. I can get a 5 course meal delivered to my door if I wanted, or send an email to Olive Garden for take out. A movie company can not give anyone even a lower quality viewing of a movie at a cost "On Demand?" Wholly shit, the service is already designed. All they have to do is say "yeah, okay you can do it" and charge me 10 bucks.
Now, why won't they do that? Simple: They currently force me and my family to spend 25 bucks a person to visit their theater if I really want to see something. They leach off that for as long as they can. Depending on how long they can leach top dollar for, the DVD sits and waits. They get 30 minutes of free advertising as you sit and wait for the start time.
So don't have 4 hours of time and 100 bucks for a family of 4? Good, go F yourself! You are not good enough to watch our movie. We don't care!"
This is why so many people hate the MPAA and RAA. This is also why in a shit economy many people don't have a choice but to borrow a DVD or download a torrent to see a movie. They are not making it any better, because they don't care about anything but the $$.
While this project may yield a lot of data it still won't be able to answer most of the fundamental questions. I know they have to advertise that way in order to receive sponsorship and grants, but dang it I'm tired of hearing it.
We still won't have a clue about what Dark matter is, or even if it exists. It's still a hypothesis that makes big bang models work and gives us the idea that we understand gravity.
We still won't know what the Universe was just before the big bang, or what caused it.
Cool, but I'll ignore the hype.
Visiting when things are calm is a nice thing. I very much enjoy Downtown Detroit when it's mellow.
Do you think your visit may have been different if something like Rodney King happened somewhere in the US the day before your visit?
It's kind of like in Detroit, when things are not mellow.. you learn to stay away from certain areas, crowds. When either of the 2 Revs mentioned visit it becomes best to stay away. When there is talk of political corruption, even if the Mayor is found guilty (Go ahead and Google Detroit and Corruption, I dare you). When racist events make national media.
It is very easy, and common to say "oh, it must be you", but do you really believe that it's only white people that can be racist? I don't mean the common reference to it, I mean the definition.
Having grown up in Detroit, I know very well the perils of being the wrong race in the wrong area. I have been the victim, and know many people who were also victims of simply being white in the wrong neighborhood (car broke down, made a wrong turn down the wrong block, etc...). A real problem is, that you can't talk about that problem (racism against whites) without being declared a racist. Minorities that have been the victims of legal racism seem to want retribution much more than equality?
Now with that said, I read through the article. Some statements match the way things are, street wise, for a guy that grew up in a city that is largely anti-white. Other statements seem to be something from a Klan rally. I can see why he was canned and why there was backlash.
Seeing this is rather sad. Why? Play "Steam" much? How about any EA game that requires Origin? Wait, how about Windows having to phone home in order to function? Go ahead, upgrade your memory and see if it warns you that you changed your system and have X more changes before you are invalid to run Windows.
Was Sony right in what it did? No
Do you pay for and allow much worse? Yes, though you will say "nuh uh, Steam does not use my information for marketing."
The US has the same issues as the UK, which has the same issues as Europe. In the US, there was a report last year about how many companies moved their HQ to a PO box overseas, I believe mostly to Ireland. This was reportedly done to avoid paying US taxes. Of course even though this was shown to be true, the media later stated that it was anti-business hype and not a real problem. As of course the US goes further and further in to debt, public services are cut more and more, and the top 1% earners increase their wealth by incredible amounts each year.
Now we see similar stories from the UK, and right in the article it's seemingly excusing the businesses and vilify the protestors. (Sound like OWS?)
HSBC has joined the least desirable club in the business world. The bank yesterday became the latest target of a sudden surge in public fury over tax avoidance, as a guerrilla group of demonstrators under the elusive banner UK Uncut planned to occupy branches in London and Liverpool.
Baker says he is worried that the kind of street protests led by UK Uncut could "morph" into a more serious anti-business movement, though he admits some firms give the corporate world a bad name by over-exploiting loopholes.
So if you complain, you have to be anti-business.. you can't be right.
So the UK is as messed up as the US.. I'm not sure that makes me feel any better. Used to be, we were kind of the check and balance for each others corruption. The more of this kind of stuff I read about, the more I have to think that many of those conspiracy theories may be true.
Really, this is a troll? Wholly fuck mods.
If he had not disclosed names which does put people at risk, I would have no problem with what he did. That one thing makes a huge difference, and for that reason it's difficult to defend him.
Exposing the activity alone should have been enough to open an investigation. Let the courts find the names relevant. He could have waited until a Grand Jury was opened, and exposed all the names he thought important to the courts.
I'm not trying to imply that the right people would have been prosecuted under those circumstances. Just that since he put people at risk by giving names to media the whole things gets a big question mark.
I like this quote myself.
but that he was 'not going to go into more detail because obviously if I do, it becomes counterproductive.
That in itself tells you where their minds are. Their way, or the highway. And damn it they will spend what ever it takes to buy off politicians and make it their way!
You either miss the point or extend the concept way to far, I'm not sure which. I'm not talking about pornography, but that we see certain types of relationships from the time we are very young. No matter what your personal belief is, seeing a man and woman in a relationship should not be offensive.
I don't personally find other (non hetero) relationships offensive myself. I can however stand back and see why others might. Since their beliefs come from large long standing Religious institutions it becomes improbable that they will change their mind.
Now, should that prevent EA from making and selling a game targeting LGBT crowds? Not at all, but a game should be advertised and sold warning of the content. Or as I stated above, allow users to control whether or not they wish to see that type of content (with my Sims example).
Maybe one day lesbian and gay will be a society normal, but looking a history I find it hard to believe it will be. We have been waging a war against racial bias for what.. 150 years now? Things are better now than they were 20 years ago, but does anyone believe it's a done issue?
For aamcf, I personally agree with both of your points. That does not make any headway with Society as a whole though.
Interesting comments, but I will say that there is enough difference to see "straight" in common scenarios and not the other way around. We grow up knowing that procreation requires a certain type of relationship. Because we know this, and see this regularly it does not come as a shock to anyone no matter what their (for lack of better simple terms) lifestyle.
Even if you are homosexual and despise straight couples, you would know that it takes both sexes to create offspring. (Though lesbian couples could adopt other methods of introducing sperm to the egg than natural methods.)
I can not say the same about a gay couple. Things are getting better, we see more on TV and read more about them, but it's not enough yet to be ready for everyone.
Lastly, I'm not sure LGBT ever will be or can be mainstream, since many Religions consider gay a sin. For that reason, It becomes much harder or impossible to get main stream. On the other direction, there is no main stream Religion that believes "Straight" is an offense. Someone could of course make a Religion, but would it ever become mainstream?
For the record, I have no prejudice at all. Lesbian, Gay, Trans, Bi.. do your thing! I am only trying to point out the social issues.
Actually you are not alone, I'll side with you. You bring up a point I did not think much about.
In the "The Sims #" games, one has to add mods for homosexual relationships, I think this is the avenue of thought I had. I have no problem with EA building this in so that no mod is needed. It would let people play in a style they are comfortable with, and could relate to their life style natively.
Player controlled is always different than built in to the game.
Valid point regarding the known testing. The known test would also be able to provide details on where and what other card data was being stored, if any was being stored. It is logical that if the Card # is being stored, other details are stored as well. Much harder to find a 4 digit date stamp and 3 digit CVV though, so would really need a way of expanding the test immensely. It would be pretty costly, but possible.
1. Boot system, patch, power down, dd drive1-snapa.
2. Enter details, register, CC numbers, etc..
3. Log in and play a few games "registered".
4. Power down, dd drive1-snapb
5. Diff drive1-snapa drive1-snapb
The way I read the report, the complete card number was validated not just the first 4 digits. It sounded like the team was well aware of false positives. They blanked out most of the string, and showed the prefix and who the owner was, but stated that the full string was validated.
Come on now, what you stated originally is that Microsoft would be subject to audits so would have to comply. What you point to is the industry standard practices which can be found pretty much anywhere.
The fact is, that Xbox is not audited any more than your home PC,Smart Phone, or favorite web browser is audited.
Now if you want to show me a report from the FTC that shows the XBox listing as a financial device that is subject to audits like an ATM, I'll apologize for saying that you are full of shit.
Just a side note, I'm not sure if you read the full PDF. The research is very credible, and very thorough. They show a lot of the data being cache, not just credit card data.
If the research was just a bash with no merit I would probably just agree with you.