Pfeh, I wish it was still that easy to delete your account - I tried to delete my Hotmail/live account this morning, but apparently I do not have the correct combinations of runes and chicken bones required.
Optus are utilising the same basic tactics that the Tobacco industry uses - they flagrantly dodge strict advertising laws, but all they ever get is a slap on the wrist.
Even if Optus only got a thousand new subscribers with that campaign, then they'll still make a long-term profit if they get fined by the ACCC.
I'm happy to hear that Chrome is on the up and up.
I'm not sure that anybody could really be shocked by this news. Internet Explorer has been grabbing at straws since IE5. They continue to implement other companies ideas in a very poor way. The current IE is a complete farce, I don't understand how anybody could use it, unless you were forced to by restrictions at work.
I know it would be impossible to glean, but the amount of people using various versions of IE while at work would be interesting.
The main problem with Bing is that you can't really use the world as a verb like you can with Google. Think about it - you can't say you're going to "bing" something, it just sounds gross.
Re:Micro-Transactions and game balance
on
The Future of MMOs
·
· Score: 1
I agree with what you're saying here 100%. Look at the way that Nexon do their micro-transactions, especially with their flagship game Maplestory. The items that you buy don't give you huge stat boosts or give you "magic bullet" weapons. about 90% of them items give you different cosmetic options which are not available to people who pay to play. At best, it gives you an annoying tag along who does nothing more than pick up items and demand resources, or allow you to reset certain stats. With regards to he latter, considering the amount of time spent grinding at high levels, this item is fair enough. One accidental mis-click when leveling and your whole build could get thrown off.
You can twink how your character looks up the wazoo, but you still gotta grind and do jump quests. Well done, Nexon.
That being said, I'm not 100% for micro transactions anyway. It's no secret or surprise that Nexons games are targeted at a younger audience. I'd say, as an ex-player, that the average age on Maple Global is between 10 to 13 years old. Considering that the only way to get Nexon points when the system was rolled out was to pay via credit card over the internet...Well, you get the picture. I'm not saying that kids should spend their money on certain toys and not others. Hell, I remember pleading to get a Tamagotchi when they had first come out, among other things. Kids will always beg and plead for the hottest new product. However, going just off credit cards doesn't sit right with me.
This is really quite fascinating. I speak to between ten and thirty CIO's every day as part of my job. The exact number, obviously, depends on how generous their PA's are feeling, and their availability. Part of my job involves speaking to these executives to find out about their current priorities for the department over the course of the next financial year. After reading this, it's frankly astonishing how many of the individuals I've spoken to are guilty of these. Obviously, you can't qualify all of the points discussed in the article through one phone call.
The one which stands forward most clearly in my mind was the CIO who crowed at me for a couple of minutes about what his budgets were like, and how he'd just cleared his server room to six blade servers because he'd virtualised so much of the infrastructure and blah blah blah.
I spoke to his GM of Infrastructure, who told me that the CIO in question spent almost all of his time in the office, door closed, and would only pop his head out of the office to go to vendor meets or crow about who he was playing golf with that weekend. This GM was doing more of the IT to Business communication that the executive that he directly reported to was doing.
I hear stories like this all the time.
Re:Good advice...
on
Hardening Linux
·
· Score: 2, Informative
"...for when keeping your box in a safe, cut off from the outside world, isn't an option..."
Exactly. The most secure box in the world, irregardless of OS or Distro, is the one that hasn't yet, isn't currently, and never will be connected to the internet. But, unfortunatly, that isn't always a practical solution.
I'll look out for this one.
Thats the smartest thing you could do, other than changing your Distro. It's well documented that many Debian users tend to insult people (The former Debian users excluded =) that are new, or have questions, which is quite a shame.
Slashdot Mirror
So the appropriate response to being censored now is to roll over? No fight whatsoever?
A+++++++++
WOULD READ AGAIN
*points to user name*
I would have been up for playing games with you guys whenever - you just had to ask!!!
Pfeh, I wish it was still that easy to delete your account - I tried to delete my Hotmail/live account this morning, but apparently I do not have the correct combinations of runes and chicken bones required.
Very, very yes. Did the exact same thing.
I blocked off the tail end of the headline and showed my wife, who also nearly flipped her shit.
Optus are utilising the same basic tactics that the Tobacco industry uses - they flagrantly dodge strict advertising laws, but all they ever get is a slap on the wrist.
Even if Optus only got a thousand new subscribers with that campaign, then they'll still make a long-term profit if they get fined by the ACCC.
There was no true color anywhere
Tinfoil much?
I'm happy to hear that Chrome is on the up and up.
I'm not sure that anybody could really be shocked by this news. Internet Explorer has been grabbing at straws since IE5. They continue to implement other companies ideas in a very poor way. The current IE is a complete farce, I don't understand how anybody could use it, unless you were forced to by restrictions at work.
I know it would be impossible to glean, but the amount of people using various versions of IE while at work would be interesting.
I agree! Stick it to 'em, Dev Monkeys. You're worth double what you want.
The main problem with Bing is that you can't really use the world as a verb like you can with Google. Think about it - you can't say you're going to "bing" something, it just sounds gross.
Which is....ummmm.......
Can I get back to you?
The OP is an IBM plant! I called it!
I agree with what you're saying here 100%. Look at the way that Nexon do their micro-transactions, especially with their flagship game Maplestory. The items that you buy don't give you huge stat boosts or give you "magic bullet" weapons. about 90% of them items give you different cosmetic options which are not available to people who pay to play. At best, it gives you an annoying tag along who does nothing more than pick up items and demand resources, or allow you to reset certain stats. With regards to he latter, considering the amount of time spent grinding at high levels, this item is fair enough. One accidental mis-click when leveling and your whole build could get thrown off.
You can twink how your character looks up the wazoo, but you still gotta grind and do jump quests. Well done, Nexon.
That being said, I'm not 100% for micro transactions anyway. It's no secret or surprise that Nexons games are targeted at a younger audience. I'd say, as an ex-player, that the average age on Maple Global is between 10 to 13 years old. Considering that the only way to get Nexon points when the system was rolled out was to pay via credit card over the internet...Well, you get the picture. I'm not saying that kids should spend their money on certain toys and not others. Hell, I remember pleading to get a Tamagotchi when they had first come out, among other things. Kids will always beg and plead for the hottest new product. However, going just off credit cards doesn't sit right with me.
This is really quite fascinating. I speak to between ten and thirty CIO's every day as part of my job. The exact number, obviously, depends on how generous their PA's are feeling, and their availability. Part of my job involves speaking to these executives to find out about their current priorities for the department over the course of the next financial year. After reading this, it's frankly astonishing how many of the individuals I've spoken to are guilty of these. Obviously, you can't qualify all of the points discussed in the article through one phone call. The one which stands forward most clearly in my mind was the CIO who crowed at me for a couple of minutes about what his budgets were like, and how he'd just cleared his server room to six blade servers because he'd virtualised so much of the infrastructure and blah blah blah. I spoke to his GM of Infrastructure, who told me that the CIO in question spent almost all of his time in the office, door closed, and would only pop his head out of the office to go to vendor meets or crow about who he was playing golf with that weekend. This GM was doing more of the IT to Business communication that the executive that he directly reported to was doing. I hear stories like this all the time.
...How long it'll be until somebody hacks one of these things so they only display goatse, or screamers, no matter what you push?
These features seem familiar somehow.... Could it be because Opera has had them for ages??? Worst. Release. Ever.
The red thing's connected to my...wristwatch. Uh oh.
1. Build fake sun 2. ??? 3. Profit!
*coughs* I smell an advertisement! Seriously now, since when has this sort of crap passed as news?
No, you like apple.
Oooooold neeeewwwwwsss!
"...for when keeping your box in a safe, cut off from the outside world, isn't an option..." Exactly. The most secure box in the world, irregardless of OS or Distro, is the one that hasn't yet, isn't currently, and never will be connected to the internet. But, unfortunatly, that isn't always a practical solution. I'll look out for this one.
Or a tall guy with a bad haircut wearing a bandanna? [Ha-ha! Thinly veiled references!]
I was envisioning something from the Battlestar: Galactica series "For 20 years, the Cylons didn't come...."
Thats the smartest thing you could do, other than changing your Distro. It's well documented that many Debian users tend to insult people (The former Debian users excluded =) that are new, or have questions, which is quite a shame.