In short, the government has laws in place to protect those who live around you from your own selfishness/general stupidity.
Want to convert your house into a bar? Good idea for you, bad idea for the neighbors, and the government has zoning laws in place to insure this doesn't happen without their approval/support.
How does this apply to consoles? Who are you hurting with a modchip? People? No. Gaming companies? Possibly.
I buy imported (Japanese, in my case) games, like many other people. I'm certainly not about to go out and buy a native console for every region.
Am I hurting Sony? I already own an US version PS2, so not really.
If anything, I'm *helping* gaming companies.
I have some friends "down under". They never got a lot of the PSX and other console games that we did here in the states. Are they hurting gaming companies for modding their consoles and buying imports? No.
Modchips have their place, as niche as it may be, but there is a "good" (legal?) use.
It's a good thing that the ruling stopped short of outlawing modchips altogether, though, or I would miss out on a lot of great games. ..if I moved to the UK.
I have a flip-top case on my PS2, so I can pop it open, drop in a swap disc, and play my imported games. It can also be used for "back-ups", though (never tried it, personally). Would such a system also be ruled illegal? I'd assume so, but there's no physical "modification" except for replacing the case.
There's also another little swap disk solution which involves removing the CD cover and using a little plastik hook to force the drive open. No "modification" there, just a bit of removal. Still illegal?
I'd be quite interesting to know the court's thoughts on these.
Yeah.. but did you actually read the license before downloading it? I mean, read and understand it? Did it affect your choice? Likely not, like most users.
I wonder what would happen if the PHP license suddenly changed so that any code written for it could no longer be released without express permission/paying a fee to use their license. How many users would know, or care?
I have Speakeasy's OSDN Plan. 6Mb down. I always get a kick out of it, as they offer usenet service along with it. A gig per e-mail account unless you upgrade with some rip-off prices.:) Luckily, they throw around eight mailboxes, but it's still a hassle to switch over every few minutes for batch leechings.
Last I checked, Speakeasy claims not to allow you to run any background services. I would assume most users would want such processes running to bounce their IRC traffic, rather than ssh'ing in run a text-based client.
Aside from that, I honestly don't see a use for it -- maybe checking your mail from a public terminal? Then again, who doesn't have a Gmail account these days?
I have to agree, though. Adding a (dedicated) SSH box onto your network is the way to go.
You know, my fear is that some people might actually switch to Linux. You know, the ones who think that somehow switching will automagically make them secure. Now, what happens when they get rooted? All of a sudden, instead of a pitiful 'dows box that could easily be cleaned by a number of apps, you're stuck with a luser that has no clue anything is wrong with his box, and even if told, doesn't have the slightest clue as to how to "fix" it.
Sure, you and I know to back up our data (including logs to know what to fix), format, change our passwords on the new install, and patch up whatever needs to be done. Lesson learned for us, but what about them?
Now, think about spam for a moment. Is it easier for a clueless Windows user or Linux user to keep the said thing from happening?
Just don't blame me when your Gmail inbox fills up. I've told all my non-tech-savvy from to stay the heck away from it!:)
My sister has a young child, two or thereabouts now. I've ended up watching many hours of childrens programming these days.
Dora the Explorer especially disturbs me when it comes to the whole lack-of-attention-span thing. In case you haven't seen it, here's how it works. Dora asks a question and then pauses for so of seconds. The pause is for the children to yell out at the screen the answer to the question. Dora then goes on to say how they got the answer right and did a good job.
Could it be that this program is creating loud, yelling, people in need of attention? No attention span because they'll soon expect instant gratification for everything they do?!
Oh, but how many more management-types do we need in this world? We's clearly rolling downhill, and quite out of control.
I watch my anime subtitled and wouldn't have it any other way. I usually watch a decent amount of shows/episodes per day, and end up reading quite a lot.
I've never, never liked reading books, though. The heck if I know why, but since I was a child I've generally avoided them. Too time consuming? General lack of interest to pick up and read? Laziness of not wanting to flip the stupid page every minute or two?
I couldn't agree more. It sounds as though they're marketing this towards children! I'm sorry, but I just don't want my desktop to be fulled with very bad puns -- get enough of those right here at/.
That and various other reasons keep me with Gnome. At least it's a bit harder to make a Good pun with g's. Or is it? Maybe it's time for fluxbox...
In short, the government has laws in place to protect those who live around you from your own selfishness/general stupidity.
.if I moved to the UK.
Want to convert your house into a bar? Good idea for you, bad idea for the neighbors, and the government has zoning laws in place to insure this doesn't happen without their approval/support.
How does this apply to consoles? Who are you hurting with a modchip? People? No. Gaming companies? Possibly.
I buy imported (Japanese, in my case) games, like many other people. I'm certainly not about to go out and buy a native console for every region.
Am I hurting Sony? I already own an US version PS2, so not really.
If anything, I'm *helping* gaming companies.
I have some friends "down under". They never got a lot of the PSX and other console games that we did here in the states. Are they hurting gaming companies for modding their consoles and buying imports? No.
Modchips have their place, as niche as it may be, but there is a "good" (legal?) use.
It's a good thing that the ruling stopped short of outlawing modchips altogether, though, or I would miss out on a lot of great games. .
Some links to the said items.
http://www.success-hk.com/review/ps2fliptop/
http://www.success-hk.com/review/ps2slidetool/
I have a flip-top case on my PS2, so I can pop it open, drop in a swap disc, and play my imported games. It can also be used for "back-ups", though (never tried it, personally). Would such a system also be ruled illegal? I'd assume so, but there's no physical "modification" except for replacing the case.
There's also another little swap disk solution which involves removing the CD cover and using a little plastik hook to force the drive open. No "modification" there, just a bit of removal. Still illegal?
I'd be quite interesting to know the court's thoughts on these.
Don't worry, this is only /., and we are all very understanding geeks! No one will ridicule you here. ;)
Dose anyone have any suggestions or experience in finding a better collage?
Yeah.. but did you actually read the license before downloading it? I mean, read and understand it? Did it affect your choice? Likely not, like most users.
I wonder what would happen if the PHP license suddenly changed so that any code written for it could no longer be released without express permission/paying a fee to use their license. How many users would know, or care?
I use Gentoo on my toaster, you insensitive clod! Six hours to reheat muffins... and don't even ask about toast...
*cries*
All of the s(p||c)ammers are signing up now. . .or would, but they want the ISP to sign up for their escrow service. :/
I have Speakeasy's OSDN Plan. 6Mb down. I always get a kick out of it, as they offer usenet service along with it. A gig per e-mail account unless you upgrade with some rip-off prices. :) Luckily, they throw around eight mailboxes, but it's still a hassle to switch over every few minutes for batch leechings.
...to share and get along with others?
Don't like the foreign users? Ignore them or move on.
It is very dark...
...wait...
You are likely to be eaten by a Gwu.
(a bit late, but ohh well)
Kind of like the Google Toolbar, eh?
Ohh, wait...
I vote for this "Anonymous Coward" guy. He always gets on my nerves! ;~)
Last I checked, Speakeasy claims not to allow you to run any background services. I would assume most users would want such processes running to bounce their IRC traffic, rather than ssh'ing in run a text-based client.
Aside from that, I honestly don't see a use for it -- maybe checking your mail from a public terminal? Then again, who doesn't have a Gmail account these days?
I have to agree, though. Adding a (dedicated) SSH box onto your network is the way to go.
...but it's no fun unless you can launch your DDoS^H^H^H^Hirc client from someone else's box?
You must be slow. ;) I would suggest backing up any custom changes you want/need and merging them into your new install.
That, or quit "upgrading" and start updating your packages instead?
..people actually watch PBS?
I mean, other than children?
You know, my fear is that some people might actually switch to Linux. You know, the ones who think that somehow switching will automagically make them secure. Now, what happens when they get rooted? All of a sudden, instead of a pitiful 'dows box that could easily be cleaned by a number of apps, you're stuck with a luser that has no clue anything is wrong with his box, and even if told, doesn't have the slightest clue as to how to "fix" it.
:)
Sure, you and I know to back up our data (including logs to know what to fix), format, change our passwords on the new install, and patch up whatever needs to be done. Lesson learned for us, but what about them?
Now, think about spam for a moment. Is it easier for a clueless Windows user or Linux user to keep the said thing from happening?
Just don't blame me when your Gmail inbox fills up. I've told all my non-tech-savvy from to stay the heck away from it!
...but it's his job to answer the door bell?
My sister has a young child, two or thereabouts now. I've ended up watching many hours of childrens programming these days.
Dora the Explorer especially disturbs me when it comes to the whole lack-of-attention-span thing. In case you haven't seen it, here's how it works. Dora asks a question and then pauses for so of seconds. The pause is for the children to yell out at the screen the answer to the question. Dora then goes on to say how they got the answer right and did a good job.
Could it be that this program is creating loud, yelling, people in need of attention? No attention span because they'll soon expect instant gratification for everything they do?!
Oh, but how many more management-types do we need in this world? We's clearly rolling downhill, and quite out of control.
I've never, never liked reading books, though. The heck if I know why, but since I was a child I've generally avoided them. Too time consuming? General lack of interest to pick up and read? Laziness of not wanting to flip the stupid page every minute or two?
Who knows...
[Insert praise of E-books here]
Congratulations! Every /.'er who reads your post is going to sign you up for some p3n1s 3nl4rg3rz mails. ;)
I couldn't agree more. It sounds as though they're marketing this towards children! I'm sorry, but I just don't want my desktop to be fulled with very bad puns -- get enough of those right here at /.
That and various other reasons keep me with Gnome. At least it's a bit harder to make a Good pun with g's. Or is it? Maybe it's time for fluxbox...