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User: Bruce+McBruce

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Comments · 86

  1. Re:Translation: on Microsoft Apologizes For Cavalier 'Always-Online' DRM Tweets · · Score: 1

    I think you take a very reasonable position on commenting on organisational matters. Orth should know better and it's inconceivable to me that Microsoft (which takes an extremely reserved stance on public commentary as a matter of course) wouldn't have briefed Orth on its policy. At the very least it indicates a troubling ignorance to the internet ecosystem coupled with losing control of himself in a fit of childish spite. Someone who represents an entire creative dev team (who probably shouldn't actually be involved in determining DRM issues anyway) should know not to grossly antagonise half of his company's North American customer base (and more of Microsoft's overseas customer base).

    This guy should have learned from Paul Christoforo and I can't help but think he should be canned for an unapologetic reel of spiteful crap directed at consumers.

  2. Re:Translation: on Microsoft Apologizes For Cavalier 'Always-Online' DRM Tweets · · Score: 3

    Defending a business direction is one thing. Lashing out at customers is another. Guy deserves his career to be crucified because that's just stupid and unacceptable behaviour for a corporation to allow. The DRM issue is totally irrelevant to the problem.

  3. Re:I think I saw Halo? on Microsoft's Future of the Living Room Starring SuperTuxKart · · Score: 1

    Yep, Halo: CE made an apperance. Couldn't tell if it was Anniversary, but it was specifically Master Chief in the campaign to the original Halo: Combat Evolved, I think in Assault on the Control Room.

  4. Um. on UK Man Jailed For 'Offensive Tweets' · · Score: 1

    Who the hell decided that it would be an appropriate use of public funding to hold a trial for some asshole who said something racist on the internets? Because seriously, if they wanted to uphold that for every birt who does, they'd be broke within a week. Also, they'd run out of prison space real quick and need a new country... hey, this is sounding really familiar.

  5. Modifications. on DIY Augmented Reality Heads-Up Display · · Score: 2

    1. Make mountable earpiece with technician one-ear headset.
    2. Link lens to single eyepiece.
    3. HUD app.
    4. Make deliberately fragile and cheap.
    5. Infinite business as geeks the world over keep buying them to crush while screaming that it's over 9000.

  6. Re:Well... on Microsoft Taking Aggressive Steps Against Linux On ARM · · Score: 2

    A reason not to buy Windows 8? How about the fact that Win 7 is just now picking up real steam, works great and doesn't need an Ubuntu-style Metro layer over the top of it to make it an excellent OS?

  7. Re:All power to China on China Cuts 'Excessive Entertainment' From TV · · Score: 1

    Yeah, retrospectively my joke post about him being an idiot would have worked a little better if I'd replied to the right comment. The irony adds a nice twist, though.

  8. Re:All power to China on China Cuts 'Excessive Entertainment' From TV · · Score: 1

    No wonder over 90% of the American high school graduates can't even pinpoint their own country - the United States of America - on the world map.

    Where exactly did you pluck that statistic from, and what relevance does it have to a comment made by someone who hasn't directly stated their nationality? In case you haven't noticed, reality TV isn't exclusive to the US. For instance, China seems to be having a rash of it. I challenge both your uncited statistic and your reason for a reference to one specific nation, sir. You are justifying unscholarly personal assertions with pseudo-intellectualism and I'll have none of it.

  9. So... on IBM Granted Your-Paychecks-Are-What-You-Eat Patent · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In essence, they just patented a concept of deciding that thin employees get paid more and fat employees get paid less, and indeed judging their personal lives? Sounds like they're cornering the supermodel engineer market.

  10. Ugh. on Australian Court Blocks Sales of Samsung Galaxy Tablet · · Score: 1

    This judgement delivered by JudgeBuddy for iPad. This is ridiculous. Singling out 5-10 patents which Apple Claims Samsung's infringing on, which are guaranteed to be covered by "prior art" with the hope of delaying a rival product until it's no longer saleable. Antitrust much?

  11. Re:Android iPhone on Samsung Seeking Ban of iPhone 4S in Europe · · Score: 1

    iPhone is good. Android is also good, but much cheaper. Android market share > iPhone market share. Apple market share > any other smartphone vendor market share. One truly killer device = Apple in trouble.

  12. Re:What, no Starbucks? on Patent Troll Says Anyone Using Wi-Fi Infringes · · Score: 1

    Starbucks and McDonalds have the means and cause to defend themselves against such ludicrous litigation, and they'll make face while they're at it for not a whole lot of capital. The patent troll isn't going to dare take on anyone who can adequately defend themselves and have good reason to.

  13. Disgusting. on Mass Piracy Lawsuits Come To Australia · · Score: 1
    “Everybody knows that the Internet is the ultimate unkillable beast,” he said. (Walker)

    That's pretty much the entertainment industry's view on the internet. It's this big scary beast which steals profit from them, and they should make no attempt to reconcile that by making property available at a rate which people will pay for. There's no good faith here, and there's no good will. Australia's the obvious target because the companies are smaller and the law is less geared towards the people. Nice little test site to set an international precedent, no?

  14. I haven't read all the comments, but... on Maine School District Gives iPad To Every Kindergartner · · Score: 1
    Is anyone else missing the elephant in the room of these ipads being given out to improve low test scores in small children?

    Seriously, this shit is getting ridiculous. Has anyone stopped to wonder if putting so much pressure on young children to perform at some standard designated by a bunch of people older and more obsessed with themselves might be contributing to the problem? I sure remember the moment I lost interest in reading: when it became a fucking chore.

    Maybe instead of distributing expensive objects no-one in their right mind would trust a kindergartener with to kindergarteners, they should reach out and try to change their apparently-shitty teaching methods.

  15. Convergence. on Power Demand From US Homes Expected To Fall For a Decade · · Score: 1

    It probably helps to some extent that we're seeing something of a shift towards devices which join multiple technologies in the one object. Our phones are also our daily cameras, our music players, our portable gaming consoles, etc. Instead of charging a crapton of different things, we're charging one little smartphone. Same goes for TV's, especially as they're working on energy efficiency pretty heavily lately.

  16. Re:This Doesn't Make Sense on Anonymous Claims Responsibility For WikiLeaks Attack · · Score: 1

    Uh, have you ever seen Anonymous? Attacking their own site seems exactly like something they'd do. That's one part of all this I've got no trouble with processing whatsoever.

  17. Truly breaking news. on Wikileaks Reveals BitTorrent Lawsuit Background · · Score: 0

    In other news, fish swim, horses eat hay and I'm posting this comment through use of a computer. Or is it news when what we already knew about a case is proven to be totally correct?

  18. Something's wrong. on Steve Jobs Resigns As Apple CEO · · Score: 1

    I feel a great disturbance in the internets, as if millions of fanboys suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced.

  19. Re:The length of time? on Coming Soon, Shorter Video Games · · Score: 1

    Don't get me wrong. I absolutely loathe the dungeon crawl that serves no purpose other than to increase a number, and by extension several other numbers. Fallout 3 and New Vegas were, in my mind, reasonable executions of the RPG genre because the games weren't just a tedious serious of crawls through a few caves. I'm more looking at Final Fantasy and the majority of WRPGs we're seeing these days, and how they're critiqued. It's a travesty that game developers feel the need to pad out good games with the conceptual diarrhea that is grinding, to give their products a longer play time. But for whatever reasons, games that aren't filled with that shit get torn to shreds. As far as RDR goes, I finished it. I played a fair bit of the side-quests, and it's the only Rockstar game I've ever finished, period. It's also the only one I'll ever finish in the conceivable future. I had too much time on my hands, and I got the game for free. Those are the only two excuses I have.

  20. Re:The length of time? on Coming Soon, Shorter Video Games · · Score: 1

    And immediately whatever game gets made like that gets a hugely negative rep for being too easy, and core gamers stay right away from it. We've been conditioned to grind in RPG's, and the distinct lack of trawling through a dungeon to make sure you're at the highest level you can tolerate to play to leaves us feeling as unsatisfied as our girlfriends on those weekend nights we're playing. Shooters, while they've never actually been my favourite, don't ever require a worthless grind but there remains a semblance of skill that leaves players satisfied. It's no wonder they dominate the market these days.

  21. Re:Civil war? on Anonymous Under Civil War? · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Or ponies. This is nothing new, Anonymous turns on itself on an hourly basis if not more frequently.

  22. It's a fair point. on Is the Gaming Industry Moving Online Too Fast? · · Score: 2

    I tend to agree with this. There's quite a few problems with digital distribution that still need to be ironed out - not least of which is actual bandwidth consumption in non-US countries. Not everyone has an unlimited download connection, and with games getting larger and larger these days it does raise the concern that it'll cut into the ability to feasibly get it to potential consumers.

    In Microsoft's case, their digital distribution of most games cost as much if not more than what it costs to buy the game in a store, with no potential for resale. They're pricing things all wrong, and it's a huge download. I can't say I know about what Sony and Steam are doing as far as that goes, but I am aware that there's been a few pretty large bungles as far as DRM has gone.

    Until this kind of problem gets fixed, I'm all for keeping physical copies of my games.

  23. Uh. on Science Channel Buys Rights To Firefly · · Score: 1

    I guess the only news here is that it kind of puts a dent in Nathan Fillion and co's plans to buy the rights to Firefly and distribute it online.

    Though I guess with recentl-purchased IP comes the outside possiblity of another series.

  24. Re:Looking slightly dangerous for Rudd on Australian Government Delays Internet Filter Legislation · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I'd like to agree with you on the notion of trying to vote in the Greens, but that just wouldn't happen.

    I'd be more inclined to vote Liberal on the grounds that they've historically been far more concerned with staying in power and they've done that by keeping the people happy enough. Labor went in with some good ideas and a far superior approach to the election... they've just made some really awful decisions.

    Best outcome I could see would be Labor getting the House of Representatives majority, then Labor and the Coalition around tied for reps in the Senate so the Greens and other independent reps would have a more important say. Labor's ideaology is generally more progressive, but the Libs have a rather useful tendency to sit back and wait for what the Nation has to say about it instead of acting like bullheaded idiots and pushing seriously bad legislation.

  25. No, but... on Should We Just Call Dog Breeds a Different Species? · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I just knew this article would include some comparison of Chihuahuas to some breed of large dog (in this case, Mastiffs). So I'm going to go ahead and make a similar comparison of a 600-pound caucasian female to a 110-pound asian male. The male may have just as much trouble with the process as does the Chihuahua, but we'll still call the result be a human. Similarly, we'll call the spawn of a Chihuahua and a Mastiff a dog. Because it looks like a dog and it barks.