From what I've read, Blizzard wants to transition its bnet base into a more fee based infrastrature that future games will leverage. By locking out anybody else from being to act as a server for their games, they would be ensuring customers would have no other choice than to poney up when such a time came.
Additionally, I mentionned the EFF because, if you were to read the website the link in the article points to, you would see that the EFF has taken up their cause and defending them. This obviously is with good reason as I doubt they can afford taking on superfluous cases.
You are correct that Blizzard 'made' the game. There is much precedent for custom game servers. The biggest example that comes to mind is Ultima Online-- which has seen a number of different custom server made for it. Some were in fact rather successful. OSI Inc. never liked those custom servers, this much is probably true. But neither did they unfurl their lawyers at them either.
You argue that Blizzard's desire to control how and where people play their online games is acceptable... it's 'their' game right?...they can do what they want.. etc..etc.. Personally, I find that rather sad.
At stake here, in my mind, is a fundamental and larger principle of interoperability: is it legal for a company to mandate through a EULA that their software can only interoperate with their systems.
If that doesn't smack of corporate calleousness I don't know what does.
I'm going to support the eff. I won't be buying Warcraft III. There are TONS of excellent games out there to buy folks, so if you support the eff, show it by not buying Warcraft III and spend your money on another game.
It is a standard that defines the expectation of people receiving software products from a company.
There is a ton of variety in the world of GNU/Linux with a multitude of different vendors competing for the attention of Linux users. It is, in fact, the monoculture that Microsoft causes its products to exist in (by making interopability as difficult as possible) that is at the root of the discontent we are seeing around the world that is shifting the momentum away from Microsoft. In fact, open source is the opposite of what you argue. By following standards, open source guarantees its users they will continue to have choices.
"But Apple knows that Linux users, as a rule, don't buy software. No third party would license QuickTime for Linux, because they couldn't make any money on their product. So there's zero motivation for Apple to port QuickTime to Linux."
I am a professional. If I need a tool, I evaluate the pros and cons of each solution offered; price is only a factor. Every other professional I know does this too. That is all.
I've bought a number of Linux software products and in each case it was because I felt the commercial solution matched my requirements best.
This comment is just FUD.
Change the data: change the conclusion
on
Data Quality Act
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· Score: 2
Since a conclusion is derived from the originating data, it follows that it should be fairly easy disrupt the conclusion by making changes to the said data.
With all the flaws bureaucracy has, I would still trust a bureaucrat to be considerably more reliable and truthful in an analysis that affected the viability of any particular product or industry than any of the proponents of said industry.
Rememeber, at the end of the day, a civil servant is there to serve us. A business man serves the almighty dollar and the stockholders of his/her business.
Generally, I've liked the QuietKey keyboard series from Dell. It's too bad you can't order them seperatly as all they have available online are inane offerings from MS and Logitech with all kind of useless keys and functions. So I resort to stealing them when a new server comes in.
I also absolutely need a good wrist pad and mouse pad. I highly recommend the Fellowes products for this. I rest the base of my hands on the wrist-pad and my fingers reach accross the keyboard in a fairly natural position.
I'm also very picky about the kind of mouse I use. In particular, I prefer the optical mice that focus on a light form.
The Happy Hacker keyboard was nice too, I appreciate it for the quality of the key feel, but eventually had to ditch it for a lack of number pad and function keys.
I recommend switching the caps-lock and ctrl keys around too. Makes editing and just general functions much easier to perform.
perhaps, though of late, the number of such preposterous posts seems to have gone up exponentially. In this case it appears
he believes this.
More to the point, there are enough people out there who actually believe Microsoft is the raison d'être of PC computing (and I deal with them frequently) that I've started to respond to disinformation a lot more vigorously.
Nobody else claims their browser is a key component of the operating system-- that it cannot be removed because its functionality is so interwoven into the operation of the system.
Of course people are going to flame Microsoft for designing such a product with so many critical security holes which compromise their computer, making it part of the OS and then arrogantly refusing to give people the ability to remove it. At least I can un-install every other browser if I decide it doesn't suit me.
You complain about people flaming Microsoft. I submit to you that if that corporation wasn't so arrogant, pushing its views and way of doing things onto everyone else then stifling the innovation of others, that people would be a lot more forgiving of mistakes.
I have no sympathy. Not for this corporation. Microsoft made this bed, it can sleep it in now.
What is with the freaks twisting a well defined, and widely understood, concept so that they can feel better about the way their favorite OS does things.
Security through obscurity defines the act of concealing flaws in the hope that since 'nobody' knows about them an expoit won't we found by crackers. This well established Microsoft practice has done little to shield them from the major exploitation of the security problems that plague Windows whilst the open approach of such systems as Linux have yielded very robust and securable platforms.
I must assume you are trolling in the hopes of either gathering attention or spreading FUD. I hope you enjoy looking like a moron.
While I don't begrudge the desire of wanting
on
The Stallman Factor
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· Score: 2
GNU's contribution to Linux recognized, properly recognizing all of the equally deserving contributors to the platform in this fashion seems a trifle silly.
In fact, since some Linux distributions come bundled with none-free software, I would argue it is almost missleading to call it GNU/Linux unilaterely.
In fact, personally I could see calling it FreeOS or OSLibre as being more on the mark.
Politics is such a tiresome burden on technology at times.
wanting free rides in our use of purchased media, complaining vigorously about the perceived lost dollars the legitamit exercise of personal use costs them... these people are now turning around and wanting a free-ride with my personal data?
I think not. Let me take the time to personally assure any politicians who happen to read Slashdot that a their support for this kind of initiative wil gurantee them my lost support, regardless of party, in their next bid for re-election.
Nothing is more irritating than having to enter an email address, username and password. I can't count the number of times I've permanently chosen the competition to a product just because they insist on getting contact information that, despite their promises, ends up getting my precious email address on "penile enlargement spammer lists".
Symantec, Real and Mcaffee, amongst others, probably have at least two dozen or so bug@off.com email entries from me. Those three can take their crappy VBOX software that doesn't remove itself properly, doesn't document what changes it makes to the system, and stays stored and taking up place in a fairly obscure system folder and shove it.
Enough already, gimme 90 days, if I like it, I'll buy it. Leave me the hell alone otherwise and stop trying to get free marketing information from me.
"If IE's Windows integration is a monopoly, then I'm all for the removal of Konqueror from KDE."
Let me assure you that the irony of you posting this drivel in a discussion thread about the latest exploit for IE has escaped no one. You are making quite the fool of yourself.
Every patent is the grant of a privilege of exacting tolls from the public. The Framers plainly did not want those monopolies freely granted. The invention, to justify a patent, had to serve the ends of science - to push back the frontiers of chemistry, physics, and the like; to make a distinctive contribution to scientific knowledge. That is why through the years the opinions of the Court commonly have taken "inventive genius" as the test. * It [340 U.S. 147, 155] is not enough that an article is new and useful. The Constitution never sanctioned the patenting of gadgets. Patents serve a higher end - the advancement of science. An invention need not be as startling as an atomic bomb to be patentable. But it has to be of such quality and distinction that masters of the scientific field in which it falls will recognize it as an advance.
One is left to sadly wonder why things have fallen so low.
Oh come now, how hard is it to imagine that number quickly being used to other purposes.
Again, my dispute is with this kind of a system that universally identifies me in some manner and then allows the identifier to be obtainable on demand by anybody who wishes it.
We've got enough problems with social security number management, credit card numbers, and other such innocuous numbers. Nobody would want to steal those right?
Do you currently walk around with your driver's license, health insurance and every other piece of personal information helpfully pasted accross your clothes for anybody who cares to read?
The problem with this chip concept is that anybody with the appropriate device can read the information without your consent because it broadcasts it. I quote: ...the VeriChip has been marketed as a medical aid which would allow hospital workers to access patients' health records with a simple wave of the wand, or reader...
yes yes.... it's for medical purposes only.. it'll never ever be used to id/track/monitor/control people.. our ethical policians are there to protect our rights. The system will prevent abuses. Are you hiding something?
Riiight... I strongly oppose any system that can broadcast sensitive personal data without my consent. Such a device is dangerous and undesirable in my mind.
Next thing you know, your employer will insist you carry these things so they can monitor your productivity.
Record year for April fools jokes?
on
CPAN Shifts Focus
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· Score: 2
It's pretty funny stuff, but there sure does seem to be a whole ton of nicely baited hooks floating around in cyberspace this April. I'm still waiting for the full Bill Gates confessional about his secret love affair with Larry Ellison.
"The establishment wouldn't care about DRM or anything like that if all people did with mp3's was to rip 'em and listen to them off their hard drives."
riiigght... thats pretty funny. Or are you an April's fool?
OS from a company that thinks that the media player is a core part of the system that cannot be removed? I never realized Microsoft thought the ability to play mp3 music should be an integral part of any server functionality-- maybe that's why Windows Datacenter isn't selling very well.
Slashdot Mirror
From what I've read, Blizzard wants to transition its bnet base into a more fee based infrastrature that future games will leverage. By locking out anybody else from being to act as a server for their games, they would be ensuring customers would have no other choice than to poney up when such a time came.
Additionally, I mentionned the EFF because, if you were to read the website the link in the article points to, you would see that the EFF has taken up their cause and defending them. This obviously is with good reason as I doubt they can afford taking on superfluous cases.
You are correct that Blizzard 'made' the game.
There is much precedent for custom game servers. The biggest example that comes to mind is Ultima Online-- which has seen a number of different custom server made for it. Some were in fact rather successful. OSI Inc. never liked those custom servers, this much is probably true. But neither did they unfurl their lawyers at them either.
You argue that Blizzard's desire to control how and where people play their online games is acceptable... it's 'their' game right?...they can do what they want.. etc..etc.. Personally, I find that rather sad.
At stake here, in my mind, is a fundamental and larger principle of interoperability: is it legal for a company to mandate through a EULA that their software can only interoperate with their systems.
I most certainly hope this is not the case.
If that doesn't smack of corporate calleousness I don't know what does.
I'm going to support the eff. I won't be buying Warcraft III. There are TONS of excellent games out there to buy folks, so if you support the eff, show it by not buying Warcraft III and spend your money on another game.
It is a standard that defines the expectation of people receiving software products from a company.
There is a ton of variety in the world of GNU/Linux with a multitude of different vendors competing for the attention of Linux users. It is, in fact, the monoculture that Microsoft causes its products to exist in (by making interopability as difficult as possible) that is at the root of the discontent we are seeing around the world that is shifting the momentum away from Microsoft.
In fact, open source is the opposite of what you argue. By following standards, open source guarantees its users they will continue to have choices.
Your two examples:
A company with fraud & management problems.(Loki)
A company with fraud & management problems.(Corel)
These fine examples are why you have concluded that you can't sell software to people who use Linux?
Excuse me while I go and laugh my head off.
"But Apple knows that Linux users, as a rule, don't buy software. No third party would license QuickTime for Linux, because they couldn't make any money on their product. So there's zero motivation for Apple to port QuickTime to Linux."
I am a professional. If I need a tool, I evaluate the pros and cons of each solution offered; price is only a factor. Every other professional I know does this too. That is all.
I've bought a number of Linux software products and in each case it was because I felt the commercial solution matched my requirements best.
This comment is just FUD.
Since a conclusion is derived from the originating data, it follows that it should be fairly easy disrupt the conclusion by making changes to the said data.
With all the flaws bureaucracy has, I would still trust a bureaucrat to be considerably more reliable and truthful in an analysis that affected the viability of any particular product or industry than any of the proponents of said industry.
Rememeber, at the end of the day, a civil servant is there to serve us. A business man serves the almighty dollar and the stockholders of his/her business.
maps, pictures, and birthday cards (I maky my own as it adds that extra personal touch).
Color adds a lot to printed documents and can help a long ways to making printed text more relaxing to read.
Anyways, keep your grey world if you want. I appreciate color in mine.
Generally, I've liked the QuietKey keyboard series from Dell. It's too bad you can't order them seperatly as all they have available online are inane offerings from MS and Logitech with all kind of useless keys and functions. So I resort to stealing them when a new server comes in.
I also absolutely need a good wrist pad and mouse pad. I highly recommend the Fellowes products for this. I rest the base of my hands on the wrist-pad and my fingers reach accross the keyboard in a fairly natural position.
I'm also very picky about the kind of mouse I use. In particular, I prefer the optical mice that focus on a light form.
The Happy Hacker keyboard was nice too, I appreciate it for the quality of the key feel, but eventually had to ditch it for a lack of number pad and function keys.
I recommend switching the caps-lock and ctrl keys around too. Makes editing and just general functions much easier to perform.
perhaps, though of late, the number of such preposterous posts seems to have gone up exponentially. In this case it appears he believes this.
More to the point, there are enough people out there who actually believe Microsoft is the raison d'être of PC computing (and I deal with them frequently) that I've started to respond to disinformation a lot more vigorously.
"Lindows was originally a Microsoft product, and Linux was just a spin-off of that ..."
pbfft *sound of coffee spraying over desk*
Microsoft needs to recruit slightly more informed people to post on Slashdot. This current lot they've hired is rather abysmal.
*shuffles off to find a napkin*
Nobody else claims their browser is a key component of the operating system-- that it cannot be removed because its functionality is so interwoven into the operation of the system.
Of course people are going to flame Microsoft for designing such a product with so many critical security holes which compromise their computer, making it part of the OS and then arrogantly refusing to give people the ability to remove it. At least I can un-install every other browser if I decide it doesn't suit me.
You complain about people flaming Microsoft. I submit to you that if that corporation wasn't so arrogant, pushing its views and way of doing things onto everyone else then stifling the innovation of others, that people would be a lot more forgiving of mistakes.
I have no sympathy. Not for this corporation. Microsoft made this bed, it can sleep it in now.
"When will they learn that these memos always come back to haunt them"
Hopefully never.
What is with the freaks twisting a well defined, and widely understood, concept so that they can feel better about the way their favorite OS does things.
Security through obscurity defines the act of concealing flaws in the hope that since 'nobody' knows about them an expoit won't we found by crackers. This well established Microsoft practice has done little to shield them from the major exploitation of the security problems that plague Windows whilst the open approach of such systems as Linux have yielded very robust and securable platforms.
I must assume you are trolling in the hopes of either gathering attention or spreading FUD. I hope you enjoy looking like a moron.
GNU's contribution to Linux recognized, properly recognizing all of the equally deserving contributors to the platform in this fashion seems a trifle silly.
In fact, since some Linux distributions come bundled with none-free software, I would argue it is almost missleading to call it GNU/Linux unilaterely.
In fact, personally I could see calling it FreeOS or OSLibre as being more on the mark.
Politics is such a tiresome burden on technology at times.
May they spend the rest of eternity having to listen to Oral Roberts sermons
wanting free rides in our use of purchased media, complaining vigorously about the perceived lost dollars the legitamit exercise of personal use costs them... these people are now turning around and wanting a free-ride with my personal data?
I think not. Let me take the time to personally assure any politicians who happen to read Slashdot that a their support for this kind of initiative wil gurantee them my lost support, regardless of party, in their next bid for re-election.
but I'm saying it again:
Nothing is more irritating than having to enter an email address, username and password. I can't count the number of times I've permanently chosen the competition to a product just because they insist on getting contact information that, despite their promises, ends up getting my precious email address on "penile enlargement spammer lists".
Symantec, Real and Mcaffee, amongst others, probably have at least two dozen or so bug@off.com email entries from me. Those three can take their crappy VBOX software that doesn't remove itself properly, doesn't document what changes it makes to the system, and stays stored and taking up place in a fairly obscure system folder and shove it.
Enough already, gimme 90 days, if I like it, I'll buy it. Leave me the hell alone otherwise and stop trying to get free marketing information from me.
with that asinine Konqueror troll.
"If IE's Windows integration is a monopoly, then I'm all for the removal of Konqueror from KDE."
Let me assure you that the irony of you posting this drivel in a discussion thread about the latest exploit for IE has escaped no one. You are making quite the fool of yourself.
Every patent is the grant of a privilege of exacting tolls from the public. The Framers plainly did not want those monopolies freely granted. The invention, to justify a patent, had to serve the ends of science - to push back the frontiers of chemistry, physics, and the like; to make a distinctive contribution to scientific knowledge. That is why through the years the opinions of the Court commonly have taken "inventive genius" as the test. * It [340 U.S. 147, 155] is not enough that an article is new and useful. The Constitution never sanctioned the patenting of gadgets. Patents serve a higher end - the advancement of science. An invention need not be as startling as an atomic bomb to be patentable. But it has to be of such quality and distinction that masters of the scientific field in which it falls will recognize it as an advance.
One is left to sadly wonder why things have fallen so low.
now, thats what I want ...
Oh come now, how hard is it to imagine that number quickly being used to other purposes.
Again, my dispute is with this kind of a system that universally identifies me in some manner and then allows the identifier to be obtainable on demand by anybody who wishes it.
We've got enough problems with social security number management, credit card numbers, and other such innocuous numbers. Nobody would want to steal those right?
Do you currently walk around with your driver's license, health insurance and every other piece of personal information helpfully pasted accross your clothes for anybody who cares to read?
...the VeriChip has been marketed as a medical aid which would allow hospital workers to access patients' health records with a simple wave of the wand, or reader...
The problem with this chip concept is that anybody with the appropriate device can read the information without your consent because it broadcasts it. I quote:
yes yes.... it's for medical purposes only.. it'll never ever be used to id/track/monitor/control people.. our ethical policians are there to protect our rights. The system will prevent abuses. Are you hiding something?
Riiight... I strongly oppose any system that can broadcast sensitive personal data without my consent. Such a device is dangerous and undesirable in my mind.
Next thing you know, your employer will insist you carry these things so they can monitor your productivity.
It's pretty funny stuff, but there sure does seem to be a whole ton of nicely baited hooks floating around in cyberspace this April.
I'm still waiting for the full Bill Gates confessional about his secret love affair with Larry Ellison.
"The establishment wouldn't care about DRM or anything like that if all people did with mp3's was to rip 'em and listen to them off their hard drives."
riiigght... thats pretty funny. Or are you an April's fool?
OS from a company that thinks that the media player is a core part of the system that cannot be removed?
I never realized Microsoft thought the ability to play mp3 music should be an integral part of any server functionality-- maybe that's why Windows Datacenter isn't selling very well.