Yeah, most people I know who used to be all against software piracy are getting pissed at copy protection and have asked me for no-cd cracks for games and so on. It's pretty bad when "legitimate" users are cracking the fucking software they paid for. It's not even just bad, it's pathetic, and downright stupid.
Of course, I've only bought something like 2 pieces of software in the last 5 years, other than a couple games I bought as gifts for others. I started getting more and more reluctant as games required online authentication and cd-key checking. Come on, I just bought your fucking game, give me a break. Just makes me that much more reluctant the next time I'm considering a purchase.
"Just like when the Xbox's were kicking people off of XBL when people had replaced their HD's"
Er, opening your Xbox is against the MS terms of use and instantly voids your warranty, so they legally have every right to ban you from XBL, considering the moment you open the box you are potentially installing any sort of undetectable mod chip, or any other plethora of hardware changes that subvert MS' security and networking model.
Of course, there is documentation all over the place on how to swap in a new drive (or even soft-mod to play pirated games) but still play on XBL with no problems at all, so I have no sympathy for anyone who does Xbox hardware changes and gets unexpectedly banned from the network.;)
Well, I bought The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion the other day - the first computer game I've bought for myself in a few years. Of course, I didn't purchase it from Wal-Mart, even though they had 4 copies the last time I was dragged there.:)
You may recall that Oblivion's ESRB rating was increased from "T" to "M" a few months ago (see here)...
If your statement above is true (If your rating is changed after the release, and Walmart pulls every single copy of your game off their shelves and sends them all back to you (at your expense)), then I'm that much more glad to have purchased my copy of Oblivion from a different retailer.
I think it's important to discuss & explain the difference between a "casual" playthrough and "100%" playthrough, to any parties involved in the decision-making process...
At work I have to regularly explain complex technical things to people who don't really care and likely never will. I still have to figure out a way to make them understand the importance of whatever point I'm making, regardless of whether or not they previously had any damn clue what I was talking about.
This is a similar kind of situation where, the people "authoring the bills" need to have someone reasonably explain to them the critical points of video game structure (for lack of a better word) and how small details can easily be missed by a casual "play through", etc.
I think the parent post has just far too many instances of the word "bundle"... now I can't read it without laughing... it just sounds hilarious! "Hey man, help me unbundle this bundled software, eh?"... "Dude did you hear they unbundled IE for the new Windows release?"... bundle.
I would want an early beta!..;) I ran OS 8.2d8 on my Performa 5260/120 because I was so excited to try the new/supposedly-great OS 8.5... heh.. I also tried Copland, the original failed attempt at OS 8... I couldn't believe how much it sucked after all the totally awesome stuff I had read about in MacWorld etc. - it's no wonder they scrapped it..
I tried quite a few Mac OS betas over the years.. I was just always really interested to see the new features (mostly because previous versions of Mac OS were often touted as the next greatest thing ever, or so I perceived)!;)
Yes, I do exactly the same thing! My external HD is just loaded up with stupid little "funny" movie clips off the net, you know all those lame video clips on joke sites your friends send you, or in my case a lot of music/gear-related videos etc., along with mp3s and music videos I don't even like much anymore (but I "might want to see at some later time")...
Sometimes I go through my disk to free up space and I find files and wonder "Why the hell is this still on here?"... old files from 3 years ago that I only downloaded "temporarily" yet are still there, taking up space...
I said major DRM players, not major digital music players. Apple aren't using hardcore DRM on every single thing they touch, in refreshing contrast with the likes of Microsoft and their draconian ilk...
Err... why single out Apple? They have the most fair DRM sceheme I've ever witnessed (not that that is saying a lot). If someone is going to get all up in arms about DRM, let's take a look at some of the major DRM players. Microsoft, Sony, for example...
What if you use Myspace as a networking tool for your university class, and you need to retrieve some information from some messages on there from a classmate?
I know that's not the most likely situation, BUT, first off, libraries are ideally supposed to be pretty politically neutral with no "ulterior motives" (like irrational censorship) affecting patrons' perusal of library services. Secondly, libraries are generally the type of place you should be able to conduct research on a lot of topics. Additionally, all of these things are supposed to be available "to the masses". Suddenly implementing filtering, censorship etc. completely defeats the purpose of all of these things, and lessens the possibility for the above goals to be met.
This is hilarious! My coworker and I just sat here laughing and coming up with other great ideas for having fun with hijackers' browsing experience:
-Occasionaly replace images with random google-image-searched images -Translate any text on a web page on the fly into some very English-like language but different enough to make the pages impossible to understand -Translate text on the fly into languages with non-arabic characters -The obligatory replacing all images with random porn images -Keep the first/last letters of every word the same, but jumble the letters in between. You have seen this site, haven't you?;) -Invert the colors of all images on the web pages -Convert all graphics to grayscale, or 16-color
etc. etc.
The possibilities are obviously pretty extensive... I think after hearing about this I'll be a little more careful with my usage of other peoples' wireless networks!;)
Whoa, so now we discover that even the dictionaries have been partaking in the sacrilegious verbing of innocent & defenseless nouns and adjectives, potentially as early as 1913? This terroristic activity must be stopped at any cost!!...;)
It's great for making the initial connection with a local band/promoter/fan which you can then follow up in person by going to a show where you can meet the relevant person/people. We've met sooo many people thanks to Myspace... it really does make that much of a different (as long as you make the effort to look around for local people on the site of course).
Completely true.. we've networked like HELL via Myspace, and hooked up with a shit ton of local bands, promoters and of course fans... Honestly it's garnered us more promotion and networking than we would EVER have attained through simply going to clubs, shows, etc. (we do that too though). Of course, one important element to keep in mind is that even though you can have 50,000 friends on Myspace, it's important to make those connections "IRL" and make an effort to meet these online "friends" in person if possible... receiving private messages (or viewing blog posts) on a website only has so much significance to a person.;)
"Their reasons are complicated and range from the philosophical to the criminal"...
I don't know about the people specifically referred to in this article but most reasoning behind dislike of DRM is quite simple in nature. For example, being able to listen to a song on more than one brand of audio-playing device, or being able to watch a movie on more than one brand of device. There are also the cases where it's simply a matter of being able to burn a copy of a piece of software, or a movie.
That was exactly the first thing I thought of when I heard about this push for RFID tags in passports..
How about our soldiers in Iraq (or any other future potentially hostile location)? A group of them walking along a patrol route when *BOOM* landmine blows away the entire group, even though local citizens have been walking back and forth over this same mine for weeks. The mine simply detected a US/Canadian/British RFID identification of some kind or another.
Slashdot Mirror
"one of the top ranked pyros"
Dude, that's like saying you're one of the richest homeless people..
Hmm.. exactly 450,000 machines eh?
What are the chances? Damn.
Yeah, most people I know who used to be all against software piracy are getting pissed at copy protection and have asked me for no-cd cracks for games and so on. It's pretty bad when "legitimate" users are cracking the fucking software they paid for. It's not even just bad, it's pathetic, and downright stupid.
Of course, I've only bought something like 2 pieces of software in the last 5 years, other than a couple games I bought as gifts for others. I started getting more and more reluctant as games required online authentication and cd-key checking. Come on, I just bought your fucking game, give me a break. Just makes me that much more reluctant the next time I'm considering a purchase.
"Just like when the Xbox's were kicking people off of XBL when people had replaced their HD's"
;)
Er, opening your Xbox is against the MS terms of use and instantly voids your warranty, so they legally have every right to ban you from XBL, considering the moment you open the box you are potentially installing any sort of undetectable mod chip, or any other plethora of hardware changes that subvert MS' security and networking model.
Of course, there is documentation all over the place on how to swap in a new drive (or even soft-mod to play pirated games) but still play on XBL with no problems at all, so I have no sympathy for anyone who does Xbox hardware changes and gets unexpectedly banned from the network.
Well, I bought The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion the other day - the first computer game I've bought for myself in a few years. Of course, I didn't purchase it from Wal-Mart, even though they had 4 copies the last time I was dragged there. :)
You may recall that Oblivion's ESRB rating was increased from "T" to "M" a few months ago (see here)...
If your statement above is true (If your rating is changed after the release, and Walmart pulls every single copy of your game off their shelves and sends them all back to you (at your expense)), then I'm that much more glad to have purchased my copy of Oblivion from a different retailer.
I think it's important to discuss & explain the difference between a "casual" playthrough and "100%" playthrough, to any parties involved in the decision-making process...
At work I have to regularly explain complex technical things to people who don't really care and likely never will. I still have to figure out a way to make them understand the importance of whatever point I'm making, regardless of whether or not they previously had any damn clue what I was talking about.
This is a similar kind of situation where, the people "authoring the bills" need to have someone reasonably explain to them the critical points of video game structure (for lack of a better word) and how small details can easily be missed by a casual "play through", etc.
"Intelligence is like terrorism (or pornography)"
;) I guess it's already in its proper place right here on /. though...
OK, someone needs to post this on bash.org or something... hehehe...
Trust me dude, having 8 CPUs in your workstation is BIG news, not to mention fucking cool as hell.
I think the parent post has just far too many instances of the word "bundle"... now I can't read it without laughing... it just sounds hilarious! "Hey man, help me unbundle this bundled software, eh?" ... "Dude did you hear they unbundled IE for the new Windows release?" ... bundle.
Neither. The network cancelled their airing of the show. It wasn't the choice of the SG-1 team.
1 i_will_go_on.shtml
See here for more info: http://www.gateworld.net/news/2006/08/cooper_isg-
I would want an early beta!.. ;) I ran OS 8.2d8 on my Performa 5260/120 because I was so excited to try the new/supposedly-great OS 8.5 ... heh.. I also tried Copland, the original failed attempt at OS 8... I couldn't believe how much it sucked after all the totally awesome stuff I had read about in MacWorld etc. - it's no wonder they scrapped it..
;)
I tried quite a few Mac OS betas over the years.. I was just always really interested to see the new features (mostly because previous versions of Mac OS were often touted as the next greatest thing ever, or so I perceived)!
Yes, I do exactly the same thing! My external HD is just loaded up with stupid little "funny" movie clips off the net, you know all those lame video clips on joke sites your friends send you, or in my case a lot of music/gear-related videos etc., along with mp3s and music videos I don't even like much anymore (but I "might want to see at some later time")...
... old files from 3 years ago that I only downloaded "temporarily" yet are still there, taking up space...
Sometimes I go through my disk to free up space and I find files and wonder "Why the hell is this still on here?"
I said major DRM players, not major digital music players. Apple aren't using hardcore DRM on every single thing they touch, in refreshing contrast with the likes of Microsoft and their draconian ilk...
Err... why single out Apple? They have the most fair DRM sceheme I've ever witnessed (not that that is saying a lot). If someone is going to get all up in arms about DRM, let's take a look at some of the major DRM players. Microsoft, Sony, for example...
"Furthermore, two study patients were still alive nearly three years after the treatment."
;)
You could also interpret this as "furthermore, sixteen study patients died within three years of treatment"...
No kidding.
What if you use Myspace as a networking tool for your university class, and you need to retrieve some information from some messages on there from a classmate?
I know that's not the most likely situation, BUT, first off, libraries are ideally supposed to be pretty politically neutral with no "ulterior motives" (like irrational censorship) affecting patrons' perusal of library services. Secondly, libraries are generally the type of place you should be able to conduct research on a lot of topics. Additionally, all of these things are supposed to be available "to the masses". Suddenly implementing filtering, censorship etc. completely defeats the purpose of all of these things, and lessens the possibility for the above goals to be met.
This is hilarious! My coworker and I just sat here laughing and coming up with other great ideas for having fun with hijackers' browsing experience:
;)
;)
-Occasionaly replace images with random google-image-searched images
-Translate any text on a web page on the fly into some very English-like language but different enough to make the pages impossible to understand
-Translate text on the fly into languages with non-arabic characters
-The obligatory replacing all images with random porn images
-Keep the first/last letters of every word the same, but jumble the letters in between. You have seen this site, haven't you?
-Invert the colors of all images on the web pages
-Convert all graphics to grayscale, or 16-color
etc. etc.
The possibilities are obviously pretty extensive... I think after hearing about this I'll be a little more careful with my usage of other peoples' wireless networks!
Whoa, so now we discover that even the dictionaries have been partaking in the sacrilegious verbing of innocent & defenseless nouns and adjectives, potentially as early as 1913? This terroristic activity must be stopped at any cost!! ... ;)
Wow.
"the puzzles on exhibit are stored each night in drawers -- that must be puzzled open by the first visitors the following morning"
"Puzzled open"? What? So now "puzzle" has become a verb that is essentially a redundant synonym for.... "solve"? *sigh*
People hack DRM for the same reasons they dislike it, as far as I've ever observed.
For sure, check out my comment about the same thing ;) http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=192008&cid=157 70641
It's great for making the initial connection with a local band/promoter/fan which you can then follow up in person by going to a show where you can meet the relevant person/people. We've met sooo many people thanks to Myspace... it really does make that much of a different (as long as you make the effort to look around for local people on the site of course).
Completely true.. we've networked like HELL via Myspace, and hooked up with a shit ton of local bands, promoters and of course fans... Honestly it's garnered us more promotion and networking than we would EVER have attained through simply going to clubs, shows, etc. (we do that too though). Of course, one important element to keep in mind is that even though you can have 50,000 friends on Myspace, it's important to make those connections "IRL" and make an effort to meet these online "friends" in person if possible... receiving private messages (or viewing blog posts) on a website only has so much significance to a person. ;)
"Their reasons are complicated and range from the philosophical to the criminal"...
I don't know about the people specifically referred to in this article but most reasoning behind dislike of DRM is quite simple in nature. For example, being able to listen to a song on more than one brand of audio-playing device, or being able to watch a movie on more than one brand of device. There are also the cases where it's simply a matter of being able to burn a copy of a piece of software, or a movie.
That was exactly the first thing I thought of when I heard about this push for RFID tags in passports..
How about our soldiers in Iraq (or any other future potentially hostile location)? A group of them walking along a patrol route when *BOOM* landmine blows away the entire group, even though local citizens have been walking back and forth over this same mine for weeks. The mine simply detected a US/Canadian/British RFID identification of some kind or another.
...just as any issue with a Mac not have game #x available is viewed as an opportunity to evangelize windows.
Exactly the first thing I thought as reading dfghjk's comment.