I'm throwing down $500 and guessing that games produced by MTV - which, for those that have forgotten, stands for Music Television - will have absolutely nothing to do with music.
When's the last time you saw a music video on MTV?
When it came time for me to pick up Windows 98, I pre-ordered it from a Staples store close to where I lived. I paid a $5 down-payment on the software upgrade, which was (if I recall correctly) around $100. Maybe slightly more.
The time came when the OS was released, and I - as a doe-eyed 14-year-old - walked up to customer service to pick up my copy. The girl behind the counter probably couldn't count to 98, much less bring up the appropriate pre-order, and ignored the fact Staples was offering up five pieces of additional (bargain bin) software along with it.
The manager caught wind of this and came to our rescue, explaining to the cashier how much she'd screwed up and getting us our additional free software. Turns out she thought we were trying to buy a new copy, despite the fact that it's not normal to hand your cashier a sale's receipt before you actually purchase anything.
She scanned the box and told us what we owed her. "Eighty-three, please."
"Dollars?"
"No... cents."
As my father and I walked at the store, I turned to him giggling, but as I went to open my mouth to share my exuberance regarding the whole affair, he said, "SHUT UP!" and shoved me out the door. That's how I secured my perfectly-legal copy of Windows 98 for the price of an Extra Value Meal at McDonalds.
But knowing Microsoft, this is probably classified as piracy on some level.
"Welcome, everyone. We're going to start off the bidding today on Britney Spears for $10. $10 for Britney Spears, comes with two mentally-scarred children and a wig. Do I hear $10? $10? $9? Anybody have some room in their back seat?
What about Mariah Carey for $20? She comes with her own cage."
Ok, maybe auctioning off their assets wouldn't be such a great idea...
Just out of curiosity, does Microsoft even use Windows Vista at their offices? I have yet to hear of any place that made the upgrade. Or survived the upgrade, at least.
Actually, what the hell am I saying? They probably use Linux in Redmond. Or they just bought a bunch of iMacs.
Anyone else more excited about the mention of the $70 "every game that id developed" Pack that can be purchased on Steam, more so than the Rage demonstration?
It's a very odd marketing tactic. They have web banners using the tagline "EVERYONE DIES" on various Internet sites.
But, the bigger question - which applies to all cold-hearted marketing drones - can we trust them?
I saw the movie last Sunday. The tagline and the campaign aren't as cut-and-dry as they appear. The movie, however, is quite unfortunately the victim of a beautiful universe and an intriguing scenario hampered by a drier-than-sandpaper script and a "jump the shark" moment about 2/3 through the movie that will make everyone in the theater shake their heads disapprovingly.
Until somebody figures out a way to grind pirated games into a fine powder to be snorted or smoked that causes hallucinations, birth defects, and profuse, acute, addictive behavior, I'm going to stick with the side that says drug dealing is the more destructive industry to the well-being of humanity.
And if software giants have a problem with this, tell them to chill out and smoke some weed.
My ratio of outgoing-to-incoming calls must be like 20:1. Considering I don't care if my cell phone plays music, takes pictures, downloads games, slices, dices, and doubles as a stun gun, I'd be all over this phone, especially if the ads are only with incoming calls and text messages.
The businesses that attract illegal aliens aren't multi-billion dollar industries that provide the government with juicy tax dollars. Piracy hurts development revenues, which thereby hurts tax revenues.
Illegal aliens should start working for gaming companies. They'd kill two birds with one stone.
You'd rather we had a separate identifier for every separate institution that we're a part of? What ties it all together? How do we know the John Smith trying to take out a $500,000 mortgage isn't the same John Smith that still owes $200,000 in student loans? If organizations are allowed to cross-reference their records with the records of other organizations, how is that any safer than using SSNs?
All-in-one cell phones are selling rather well, considering - if it gets stolen - you lose your music, your movies, your games, your documents, and your personal information... not to mention the ability to, you know, send and receive calls. Whether you have one ID number, 500 ID numbers, or none whatsoever, identity theft is still going to be possible, and it's almost always going to be the result of carelessness; either on the part of the victim, or the Leaders of Tomorrow (tm) like the guy in this article.
If we didn't use SSN as our "national ID number" and instead just imposed a new "national ID" system, that would just become the new target of identity thieves.
As long as we're doing business remotely, there's always going to be a way to steal and spoof someone's identity.
Of course, it would be very Bush-like to say something along the lines of, "Due to the dramatic rise in the number of identity thefts catalyzed by the theft of social security numbers, the administration has decided to dissolve the Social Security system and use all assets accumulated to this point to send Michael Moore to the moon."
Though this may sound sarcastic, I'm asking an honest question.
Why would a closed spectrum discourage innovation? I would think not forcing people to "lease" portions of the spectrum to higher powers would curb the high cost that hinders most of the world's greatest minds.
Wasn't Microsoft nailed a few years back for sending free copies of their new versions of Office to company heads?
They'd install their free version of Office, produce multitudes of documents using the updated format (which was illegible by all previous versions of Office), and force the company to upgrade hundreds of other licenses just so they could read what their superiors were sending them.
This "die before you buy" technique doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
Have you ever been to Europe? You know what gasoline prices are like over there?
Europe pays the equivalent of about $6/gallon of gas. You see the signs and say to yourself, "Wow... that's cheap!" until you realize that it's the price per liter and not per gallon. Oops. Interestingly enough, to deal with high gas prices, you see more European families cruising around with smaller family cars, hatchbacks, and the like. Not to mention that public transportation in any region with a reasonable population density has an extensive public transportation that generally isn't half bad.
The United States pays... what is it now? $3/gallon? That's higher than it used to be, but it's still half the price of what Europeans pay. And rising gas prices haven't done much to curb our car-usage habits. I still see more SUVs on the road than I do Hybrids. Through it all, public transportation gets the shaft in terms of funding and usage. I live in Philadelphia, whose public transportation system is in the middle of a transitional period where fares are increasing sharply and services are being "simplified", which is a pretty way of saying that it's being reduced.
Our country wants its citizens to be dependent on fuels like gasoline. Why else would they decide to hand out drivers licenses two years earlier than the rest of the world? They want that dependency to begin as early as possible. If ten-year-olds had the motor skills (and the height) to operate a car properly, what'd stop them from starting as early as then? It's similar to how McDonald's and company uses clowns to push their product, which - naturally - contributes to our country's health epidemic.
Every time gas prices go up, it's a step in the right direction. Last summer, we experienced a price hike much like this one. For a week, I actually saw people trying to drive less and consume less gas in the process. That's the sort of mentality we need to always experience. Our expenditure of gasoline increases our reliance on other countries' fossil fuel supplies and contributes to the pollution problem, which thereby affects numerous other domestic and global issues. The only people this dependency actually benefits is our government, who reap the rewards of an economy that rewards shareholders over consumers. And if you don't believe that, you can hear it straight from the horse's mouth: the CEO of ExxonMobil admitted it on national television.
So, pardon me for the Michael Moore moment, but the only reason why everyone hates gas price hikes is because they're so damn dependent on it in the first place. The higher-ups need to put aside their selfishness for a moment and contribute to the greater good. Sure, increase the price of gas, but use the larger profit margins to improve alternative fuel technology, or finance a public transportation system that's actually useful and well-maintained. Don't shove it in your pocket, or worse yet, use it to pay off a politician.
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I'm throwing down $500 and guessing that games produced by MTV - which, for those that have forgotten, stands for Music Television - will have absolutely nothing to do with music.
When's the last time you saw a music video on MTV?
...Actually, when's the last time you saw MTV?
Unrelated, but I'm going to post it anyway...
When it came time for me to pick up Windows 98, I pre-ordered it from a Staples store close to where I lived. I paid a $5 down-payment on the software upgrade, which was (if I recall correctly) around $100. Maybe slightly more.
The time came when the OS was released, and I - as a doe-eyed 14-year-old - walked up to customer service to pick up my copy. The girl behind the counter probably couldn't count to 98, much less bring up the appropriate pre-order, and ignored the fact Staples was offering up five pieces of additional (bargain bin) software along with it.
The manager caught wind of this and came to our rescue, explaining to the cashier how much she'd screwed up and getting us our additional free software. Turns out she thought we were trying to buy a new copy, despite the fact that it's not normal to hand your cashier a sale's receipt before you actually purchase anything.
She scanned the box and told us what we owed her. "Eighty-three, please."
"Dollars?"
"No... cents."
As my father and I walked at the store, I turned to him giggling, but as I went to open my mouth to share my exuberance regarding the whole affair, he said, "SHUT UP!" and shoved me out the door. That's how I secured my perfectly-legal copy of Windows 98 for the price of an Extra Value Meal at McDonalds.
But knowing Microsoft, this is probably classified as piracy on some level.
"Welcome, everyone. We're going to start off the bidding today on Britney Spears for $10. $10 for Britney Spears, comes with two mentally-scarred children and a wig. Do I hear $10? $10? $9? Anybody have some room in their back seat?
What about Mariah Carey for $20? She comes with her own cage."
Ok, maybe auctioning off their assets wouldn't be such a great idea...
Just out of curiosity, does Microsoft even use Windows Vista at their offices? I have yet to hear of any place that made the upgrade. Or survived the upgrade, at least.
Actually, what the hell am I saying? They probably use Linux in Redmond. Or they just bought a bunch of iMacs.
Verizon technical workers are careless and unqualified?
I'm shocked!
I don't suppose the RIAA would consider charging us 10% of current album prices considering we're not getting 90% of the music.
...They won't?
Didn't think so.
SP2c turned me into a newt. ...I got better.
Anyone else more excited about the mention of the $70 "every game that id developed" Pack that can be purchased on Steam, more so than the Rage demonstration?
Maybe I'm just getting old...
"Hi, I'm Johnny Knoxville, and this is a homemade laser."
I think we've just witnessed the birth of Java.applet.Pringles.
Once you pop, you can't stop!
It's a very odd marketing tactic. They have web banners using the tagline "EVERYONE DIES" on various Internet sites.
But, the bigger question - which applies to all cold-hearted marketing drones - can we trust them?
I saw the movie last Sunday. The tagline and the campaign aren't as cut-and-dry as they appear. The movie, however, is quite unfortunately the victim of a beautiful universe and an intriguing scenario hampered by a drier-than-sandpaper script and a "jump the shark" moment about 2/3 through the movie that will make everyone in the theater shake their heads disapprovingly.
Until somebody figures out a way to grind pirated games into a fine powder to be snorted or smoked that causes hallucinations, birth defects, and profuse, acute, addictive behavior, I'm going to stick with the side that says drug dealing is the more destructive industry to the well-being of humanity.
And if software giants have a problem with this, tell them to chill out and smoke some weed.
My ratio of outgoing-to-incoming calls must be like 20:1. Considering I don't care if my cell phone plays music, takes pictures, downloads games, slices, dices, and doubles as a stun gun, I'd be all over this phone, especially if the ads are only with incoming calls and text messages.
The businesses that attract illegal aliens aren't multi-billion dollar industries that provide the government with juicy tax dollars. Piracy hurts development revenues, which thereby hurts tax revenues.
Illegal aliens should start working for gaming companies. They'd kill two birds with one stone.
It's only a matter of time before Homeland Security gets in on the act, too, raiding the homes of 11-year-old importers looking for WMDs.
WMDs... Weapons of Mass Duplication
You'd rather we had a separate identifier for every separate institution that we're a part of? What ties it all together? How do we know the John Smith trying to take out a $500,000 mortgage isn't the same John Smith that still owes $200,000 in student loans? If organizations are allowed to cross-reference their records with the records of other organizations, how is that any safer than using SSNs?
All-in-one cell phones are selling rather well, considering - if it gets stolen - you lose your music, your movies, your games, your documents, and your personal information... not to mention the ability to, you know, send and receive calls. Whether you have one ID number, 500 ID numbers, or none whatsoever, identity theft is still going to be possible, and it's almost always going to be the result of carelessness; either on the part of the victim, or the Leaders of Tomorrow (tm) like the guy in this article.
If we didn't use SSN as our "national ID number" and instead just imposed a new "national ID" system, that would just become the new target of identity thieves.
As long as we're doing business remotely, there's always going to be a way to steal and spoof someone's identity.
Of course, it would be very Bush-like to say something along the lines of, "Due to the dramatic rise in the number of identity thefts catalyzed by the theft of social security numbers, the administration has decided to dissolve the Social Security system and use all assets accumulated to this point to send Michael Moore to the moon."
In that case, I feel really sorry for Mrs. Jobs.
"I'm sorry, honey, but they're just unintuitive blemishes."
How many more years until UMD gets added to this list?
Then again, you can't really call it a "Format War" since UMD is just uniquely sucky regardless of what you compare it to.
Though this may sound sarcastic, I'm asking an honest question.
Why would a closed spectrum discourage innovation? I would think not forcing people to "lease" portions of the spectrum to higher powers would curb the high cost that hinders most of the world's greatest minds.
I didn't realize IT companies weren't allowed to hire American workers.
Coming soon... Sony PSP + TV with Component Input! Only $1200 US.
(Component video cable not included.)
Wasn't Microsoft nailed a few years back for sending free copies of their new versions of Office to company heads?
They'd install their free version of Office, produce multitudes of documents using the updated format (which was illegible by all previous versions of Office), and force the company to upgrade hundreds of other licenses just so they could read what their superiors were sending them.
This "die before you buy" technique doesn't surprise me in the slightest.
Have you ever been to Europe? You know what gasoline prices are like over there?
Europe pays the equivalent of about $6/gallon of gas. You see the signs and say to yourself, "Wow... that's cheap!" until you realize that it's the price per liter and not per gallon. Oops. Interestingly enough, to deal with high gas prices, you see more European families cruising around with smaller family cars, hatchbacks, and the like. Not to mention that public transportation in any region with a reasonable population density has an extensive public transportation that generally isn't half bad.
The United States pays... what is it now? $3/gallon? That's higher than it used to be, but it's still half the price of what Europeans pay. And rising gas prices haven't done much to curb our car-usage habits. I still see more SUVs on the road than I do Hybrids. Through it all, public transportation gets the shaft in terms of funding and usage. I live in Philadelphia, whose public transportation system is in the middle of a transitional period where fares are increasing sharply and services are being "simplified", which is a pretty way of saying that it's being reduced.
Our country wants its citizens to be dependent on fuels like gasoline. Why else would they decide to hand out drivers licenses two years earlier than the rest of the world? They want that dependency to begin as early as possible. If ten-year-olds had the motor skills (and the height) to operate a car properly, what'd stop them from starting as early as then? It's similar to how McDonald's and company uses clowns to push their product, which - naturally - contributes to our country's health epidemic.
Every time gas prices go up, it's a step in the right direction. Last summer, we experienced a price hike much like this one. For a week, I actually saw people trying to drive less and consume less gas in the process. That's the sort of mentality we need to always experience. Our expenditure of gasoline increases our reliance on other countries' fossil fuel supplies and contributes to the pollution problem, which thereby affects numerous other domestic and global issues. The only people this dependency actually benefits is our government, who reap the rewards of an economy that rewards shareholders over consumers. And if you don't believe that, you can hear it straight from the horse's mouth: the CEO of ExxonMobil admitted it on national television.
So, pardon me for the Michael Moore moment, but the only reason why everyone hates gas price hikes is because they're so damn dependent on it in the first place. The higher-ups need to put aside their selfishness for a moment and contribute to the greater good. Sure, increase the price of gas, but use the larger profit margins to improve alternative fuel technology, or finance a public transportation system that's actually useful and well-maintained. Don't shove it in your pocket, or worse yet, use it to pay off a politician.
Bill Gates to the world: "I think I'll call him... Mini-Me!"