"My understanding is that they are still using it because their deal with the record companies, who actually own the rights to the music, won't let them sell it without DRM. If some of the labels don't require DRM, then Apple should definitely not require it either, though."
Thanks, I was going to say approximately the same thing. Instead I'd like to ask that moderators mod the parent post up (I don't have mod points right now or I would have myself)!!
Because I didn't "convert" a couple of my GeoCities accounts into new-fangled Yahoo accounts, the two very first websites I ever made, in 1995, are lost forever. Yahoo!
sorry dude, slashdot messed with my post, I had [less-than symbol]= but looks like it parsed my less-than symbol as HTML (even though I selected "plain text" mode)..
Oh, I guess I misinterpreted "[Myspace] simply asked GoDaddy to remove a site that happened to archive a list of thousands of MySpace usernames and passwords, and GoDaddy complied," and "Myspace and GoDaddy Shut Down Security Site"... Misleading headlines and article text FTW!
Ummm.. All I have to ask is, why the hell would you host a security site through a hosting company as "mickey-mouse" as GoDaddy? Come on... You can tell just how much they appreciate their customers by how much they spam you with offers to buy more features and unneccesary "added value" bullshit while you are trying to just buy a simple domain name registration or the like.
"At least most pyramid schemes have some sort of actual product that moves around, rather than just a collection of bits on some hard drive somewhere."
The bits making your computer operable aren't considered actual product of any sort? I wonder how software companies can charge hundreds of dollars for their software??! It must be a pyramid scheme, selling off bits and bytes for exorbitant prices!
BTW, if people will pay money for something, it has value regardless of what it is. Spend a few minutes and search eBay for "warcraft" or "ultima" and you'll see that there are people on there making a huge amount of money selling bits (items, characters, gold, all entirely just a collection of bits on some hard drive somewhere) to unsuspecting victims of these illegal pyramid schemes!
No kidding. Just because their website looks ugly or breaks a ton of HTML/CSS/whatever standards doesn't mean it's okay for frivolous lawsuits to take place against them.
Come on, give me a break. This is just downright stupid.
I'm so sick of people freaking out about online social sites. Take legal action against the criminal.
People are able to meet people in a huge huge variety of ways. You can just stand on the street and meet people! Are we going to start suing our cities for offering a place for sexual predators to attack potential victims (parking lots, alley ways, etc.)?
It's so hard not to feel angry about this. Myspace is a completely legitimate site to meet people, socialize, check out some bands, etc. If you're meeting someone on Myspace (or ANY online social site) and choosing to meet them in person, sending them suggestive pictures, giving them your phone number, that is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. YOU are choosing to do all of these things.
I've been on Myspace since 2004, have been in contact with hundreds of hundreds of people, and it's damn easy for me to realize I shouldn't give out my phone number, address, or even real name. It's just common fucking sense! Unless you like getting prank called at 4AM in the morning, or worse, having some kind of predator type person showing up in the middle of the night, or whatever, keep your information private!
"the group of gameplay programmers is typically much larger than graphics programmers"
You forgot about gameplay designers. People who write the storyline, game universe and history, and design the overall feel and environment of the game. I assure you this team gets the least room to come up with innovative/new ideas due to companies' fear of the product not being a huge profit-maker.
Except that money-hungry corporations are only willing to expend the bare minimum to produce a game, we see this time and time again from companies like EA who just spew out Madden games every year. The only reason something as unique as Spore is coming from them is because Maxis made them rich with all the Sims-related franchises.
Oh, and I vote with my wallet. I believe the last game I bought was System Shock 2. I had downloaded a copy after a friend's recommendation (as I had never played before but it sounded quite interesting). I've been playing the game co-operatively with my girlfriend over TCP/IP and honestly it's one of the best games I've played in a damn long time. I managed to track down a store in Australia that still sells it online.
It's pretty rough when I'm so dissatisfied with recent games that I'm resorting to games from 8 years ago... It's even worse when I find myself constantly wondering "Why the hell aren't there any recent games like this?"
Spend more time developing depth of gameplay and backstory, universe/world development and so on.
I think we're at a point where we don't need to be pushing every last little bit of power out of our CPUs and graphics cards, and can lessen the pressure on that a bit while devoting some more resources towards games that are more immersive, interesting, and most importantly, fun!
Honestly, the graphics in games today are pretty damn amazing. I know people have been saying this regularly over the past many years, but we all know that games are getting amazingly realistic, to the point where people can easily mistake game screenshots for actual photographs of scenery.
The areas where games are NOT so impressive are primarily in the areas that require a lot more than just throwing $$$ into a bigger team of programmers - storyline, artificial intelligence, creativity not limited by conservativism (or the whole "Lowest common denominator" issue), and fresh ideas.
Unfortunately it's easier said than done, and when all the smaller more creative companies are being bought up immediately by larger companies like Take Two, EA and so on, unique talented individuals are made to work on games devised for the purpose of sheer profit, rather working towards the goal of some creative producer who could very well change the industry with his/her ideas.
Little sweaters and shoes and clothing accessories for your PC?? Or maybe we're talking about Hallowe'en costumes here? That brings a real fresh perspective on the idea of case modding... I think you're on to something here!
"Meanwhile there's an increasing bias in educational institutions against males"
Wow. I honestly think that's the first time I've heard someone say that. I was saying the same thing when I was in school, but apparently I was just whining because things weren't going my way, or something. That "Why boys can't be boys" hits bigtime fucking close to home about a ton of issues I experienced in school, expressed, and was told to "stop complaining", essentially. No one cared, and everyone just decided I was just "oversensitive" or overreacting...
Whatever, things aren't going to change though. I just thought I'd express my surprise (and almost relief) to hear someone else say what I've felt all along, even just a short sentence as you wrote.
People generally look down on females as IT people because the large majority of females tend not to grasp more complex IT-related concepts (or so people generally assume). My girlfriend (who ran linux with fluxbox wm as her main OS for quite a while) is the only one out of all the females I know who don't simply use their computer for The Sims, email, web surfing (myspace) and chat, if not even less than that.
As a result of people having this sort of stereotype in their head about females not knowing or caring about "techie stuff", any girl who IS adept with IT-related things is guaranteed to be met with total resistance, doubt and ignorance.
In fact, it's very simply narrowed down to the fact that when you do something that is uncommon or "different", people tend to approach that with caution, doubt, disbelief and/or hostility.
What you have described in your post is a type of situation essentially all people face constantly as the unique portions of their personalities collide against peoples' idea of "societal norms" and so on. Unfortunately, no matter how much you complain about it or get pissed off, people are going to keep doing it for the rest of their lives. I assure you I've experienced the same thing basically my entire life, and I'm sure pretty much all of the/.'ers here can relate.
"monitoring the communications of a person believed to be linked to al Qaeda or an associated terror group."
So he/she is possibly related to a group that is possibly associated with al Qaeda... I hope the evidence is a damn lot stronger than this half-hearted wording suggests.
Slashdot Mirror
"My understanding is that they are still using it because their deal with the record companies, who actually own the rights to the music, won't let them sell it without DRM. If some of the labels don't require DRM, then Apple should definitely not require it either, though."
Thanks, I was going to say approximately the same thing. Instead I'd like to ask that moderators mod the parent post up (I don't have mod points right now or I would have myself)!!
"Yahoo tried to pull this stunt almost two years ago, after it first acquired Flickr."
They also pulled the exact same "stunt" years ago when they acquired GeoCities in 1999.
Because I didn't "convert" a couple of my GeoCities accounts into new-fangled Yahoo accounts, the two very first websites I ever made, in 1995, are lost forever. Yahoo!
They also block incoming connections on port 80, 21, 110 and others for all connections other than "static IP subscribers".
sorry dude, slashdot messed with my post, I had [less-than symbol]= but looks like it parsed my less-than symbol as HTML (even though I selected "plain text" mode)..
F the RIAA
Oh, I guess I misinterpreted "[Myspace] simply asked GoDaddy to remove a site that happened to archive a list of thousands of MySpace usernames and passwords, and GoDaddy complied," and "Myspace and GoDaddy Shut Down Security Site"... Misleading headlines and article text FTW!
err, debugged:
;)
if ($userid = 4 digits)
{
FuckWith($user) = false;
}
I would imagine it was a list of phished emails/passwords which have all long-since been disabled or changed...
;)
Login/password lists like these exist all over the net, just search Google a bit, but make sure you turn off the "English results only" option.
Ummm.. All I have to ask is, why the hell would you host a security site through a hosting company as "mickey-mouse" as GoDaddy? Come on... You can tell just how much they appreciate their customers by how much they spam you with offers to buy more features and unneccesary "added value" bullshit while you are trying to just buy a simple domain name registration or the like.
"At least most pyramid schemes have some sort of actual product that moves around, rather than just a collection of bits on some hard drive somewhere."
The bits making your computer operable aren't considered actual product of any sort? I wonder how software companies can charge hundreds of dollars for their software??! It must be a pyramid scheme, selling off bits and bytes for exorbitant prices!
BTW, if people will pay money for something, it has value regardless of what it is. Spend a few minutes and search eBay for "warcraft" or "ultima" and you'll see that there are people on there making a huge amount of money selling bits (items, characters, gold, all entirely just a collection of bits on some hard drive somewhere) to unsuspecting victims of these illegal pyramid schemes!
Shit, I wish there was a convenience store on the way to my work that had eggs and sausage... cheese bagels no less?!?! Ahhhh I'm so missing out :(
And that, folks, was a value_added answer from your knowledgable dietician and /. friend, value_added!
No kidding. Just because their website looks ugly or breaks a ton of HTML/CSS/whatever standards doesn't mean it's okay for frivolous lawsuits to take place against them.
Come on, give me a break. This is just downright stupid.
I'm so sick of people freaking out about online social sites. Take legal action against the criminal.
People are able to meet people in a huge huge variety of ways. You can just stand on the street and meet people! Are we going to start suing our cities for offering a place for sexual predators to attack potential victims (parking lots, alley ways, etc.)?
It's so hard not to feel angry about this. Myspace is a completely legitimate site to meet people, socialize, check out some bands, etc. If you're meeting someone on Myspace (or ANY online social site) and choosing to meet them in person, sending them suggestive pictures, giving them your phone number, that is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY. YOU are choosing to do all of these things.
I've been on Myspace since 2004, have been in contact with hundreds of hundreds of people, and it's damn easy for me to realize I shouldn't give out my phone number, address, or even real name. It's just common fucking sense! Unless you like getting prank called at 4AM in the morning, or worse, having some kind of predator type person showing up in the middle of the night, or whatever, keep your information private!
Wow, all I have it say is... ouch.
That dude doesn't realize just how badly he burned himself by saying that!
"Yeah guys Mac OS X sucks ass, it hasn't even had any viruses! Jeez, what losers would ever want to run an OS like that??!"
"the group of gameplay programmers is typically much larger than graphics programmers"
You forgot about gameplay designers. People who write the storyline, game universe and history, and design the overall feel and environment of the game. I assure you this team gets the least room to come up with innovative/new ideas due to companies' fear of the product not being a huge profit-maker.
I guess.. Using the console's default controller as it was designed to be used doesn't really strike me as innovation....
Except that money-hungry corporations are only willing to expend the bare minimum to produce a game, we see this time and time again from companies like EA who just spew out Madden games every year. The only reason something as unique as Spore is coming from them is because Maxis made them rich with all the Sims-related franchises.
Oh, and I vote with my wallet. I believe the last game I bought was System Shock 2. I had downloaded a copy after a friend's recommendation (as I had never played before but it sounded quite interesting). I've been playing the game co-operatively with my girlfriend over TCP/IP and honestly it's one of the best games I've played in a damn long time. I managed to track down a store in Australia that still sells it online.
It's pretty rough when I'm so dissatisfied with recent games that I'm resorting to games from 8 years ago... It's even worse when I find myself constantly wondering "Why the hell aren't there any recent games like this?"
Spend more time developing depth of gameplay and backstory, universe/world development and so on.
I think we're at a point where we don't need to be pushing every last little bit of power out of our CPUs and graphics cards, and can lessen the pressure on that a bit while devoting some more resources towards games that are more immersive, interesting, and most importantly, fun!
Honestly, the graphics in games today are pretty damn amazing. I know people have been saying this regularly over the past many years, but we all know that games are getting amazingly realistic, to the point where people can easily mistake game screenshots for actual photographs of scenery.
The areas where games are NOT so impressive are primarily in the areas that require a lot more than just throwing $$$ into a bigger team of programmers - storyline, artificial intelligence, creativity not limited by conservativism (or the whole "Lowest common denominator" issue), and fresh ideas.
Unfortunately it's easier said than done, and when all the smaller more creative companies are being bought up immediately by larger companies like Take Two, EA and so on, unique talented individuals are made to work on games devised for the purpose of sheer profit, rather working towards the goal of some creative producer who could very well change the industry with his/her ideas.
"Make it costumizable"
Little sweaters and shoes and clothing accessories for your PC?? Or maybe we're talking about Hallowe'en costumes here? That brings a real fresh perspective on the idea of case modding... I think you're on to something here!
I guess you never played Postal (the original)....
"Meanwhile there's an increasing bias in educational institutions against males"
Wow. I honestly think that's the first time I've heard someone say that. I was saying the same thing when I was in school, but apparently I was just whining because things weren't going my way, or something. That "Why boys can't be boys" hits bigtime fucking close to home about a ton of issues I experienced in school, expressed, and was told to "stop complaining", essentially. No one cared, and everyone just decided I was just "oversensitive" or overreacting...
Whatever, things aren't going to change though. I just thought I'd express my surprise (and almost relief) to hear someone else say what I've felt all along, even just a short sentence as you wrote.
People generally look down on females as IT people because the large majority of females tend not to grasp more complex IT-related concepts (or so people generally assume). My girlfriend (who ran linux with fluxbox wm as her main OS for quite a while) is the only one out of all the females I know who don't simply use their computer for The Sims, email, web surfing (myspace) and chat, if not even less than that.
/.'ers here can relate.
As a result of people having this sort of stereotype in their head about females not knowing or caring about "techie stuff", any girl who IS adept with IT-related things is guaranteed to be met with total resistance, doubt and ignorance.
In fact, it's very simply narrowed down to the fact that when you do something that is uncommon or "different", people tend to approach that with caution, doubt, disbelief and/or hostility.
What you have described in your post is a type of situation essentially all people face constantly as the unique portions of their personalities collide against peoples' idea of "societal norms" and so on. Unfortunately, no matter how much you complain about it or get pissed off, people are going to keep doing it for the rest of their lives. I assure you I've experienced the same thing basically my entire life, and I'm sure pretty much all of the
"monitoring the communications of a person believed to be linked to al Qaeda or an associated terror group."
So he/she is possibly related to a group that is possibly associated with al Qaeda... I hope the evidence is a damn lot stronger than this half-hearted wording suggests.
He must really love Halloween... ;)