If it makes you feel any better, their OGA system is so fscked up, that it doesn't work properly on Office 2k7 from the Power Together program. The files install properly, but no matter how many times you attempt to get updates via the Office Update site, it fails.
You either have to download all of the patches manually or rely on Microsoft Update instead of Office Update.
(The Power Together version is in the form of an.exe installer that you downloaded from Microsoft. They mailed you the serial number.)
Like the poster above you said, they have had great success with DLC via NWN. It's true: the 'Premium' modules continue to sell well for both NWN and NWN2, even though the original NWN was released years ago. Then there's the community development tools, that allow end-users to create their own modules. Bioware has official mods for NWN, NWN2, KOTOR and KOTOR2 (even though Obsidian did both KOTOR2 and NWN2).
To the other poster saying this is EA shit rearing its ugly head: Bioware did this before EA even bought them, and Dragon Age was also started well before EA bought them.
Personally, I think it's nice they have additional content available on release day, instead of attempting to tack too much on a month or two down the road. At least this way, they will get player feedback immediately on what the DLC breaks or enhances, and use this data to improve future DLC.
Flash was a target long before it even reached anything approaching 95% ubiquity in the marketplace. It became a target because it's considered trivial to exploit in some circles. Adobe products in general have been targets for exploitation for a very long time. This leads me to believe that the company as a whole has a rather poor focus on security. Sure they have brought us some rather neat things, but their implementations have not been the greatest. In this case, they are rather like Microsoft, IBM, Apple, etc. All have brought us neat things, but their implementations at times have left much to be desired.
You'd be in shock at how many corporations have no clue that something other than Microsoft and Apple even exists. They just know that their computers all came with Windows and Office (if even that level of knowledge), and that the marketing department consists of those overly chatty folks that like to use those strange Apple computers (they sure do make pretty brochures for us though!).
They equate free software with stuff like fonts and pictures they can download off the internet to use in their Power Point presentations.
Marketing is sorely needed in the Open Source world. There's a good reason you see advertisements on television for Microsoft and Apple products.
3) Allow Mono developers to happily keep on plugging along, and sue the shit out of them (and win) and their end-users for violating patents held by Microsoft or a direct subsidiary thereof.
The point I was making with that is: If you download 0 bytes of data or up to and over their "data cap", they still make massive profits, and you still lose. Either way, you still pay, you still don't get what you want. You. Lose. They. Win.
Oh, and I almost forgot: Increasing the size of the chess board only make higher priority targets out of the Kings and Queens (those with static IPv6 address space).
Expect to see the prices asked per infected machine to rise, and nothing else to change in the least bit.
I know exactly what I was replying to. You think criminals are going to sit on their asses with this? No. They are going to use botnets to aggressively scan the new ip space for targets, no matter how large that new space is.
I'm so glad...that any funds in my PayPal account that is basically mandatory use for sites like eBay arrive there via disposable Debit/Credit cards from Visa, etc. I never put in more than the cost of the item, the account is not tied to any of my personal accounts, and if I happen to sell something, as soon as the money appears I remove it from the account.
Part of the problem is that they DO need to market. They just don't, for various reasons usually having to do with $$$.
It's one of the main complaints about Linux adoption. If the only two groups doing any form of real marketing are Novell and Red Hat, don't expect the platform as a whole to make more than a extremely small dent against Microsoft corporate and home solutions.
Notice, if you will, that the only Memory Stick, Memory Stick Micro, Memory Stick Pro, and Memory Stick Pro Duos you see bear the company name Sony or that of one of the few strictly sublicensed partner company brand names. Sandisk/Lexar are two examples of such companies, with Sandisk being a direct partner with Sony for the Memory Stick spec. You will find SD cards from Sandisk, Lexar, Crucial, Kingston and numerous other companies. I hope that answers your question about which format is more open and prevalent. There are several companies offering hardware adapters to allow SD cards to be compatible with Memory Stick slots. The SD spec is easily (and more cheaply) licensed for use in all kinds of devices - industrial, commercial, and consumer, from what I've determined.
As for the DRM question: Sony only uses non-compatible proprietary DRM formats for everything, as a rule. Usually Windows-locked by default in any implementation. For the Memory Stick cards, it is optional to use, and is called MagicGate, a software/hardware duality. See: ATRAC. See also: MagicGate [1]. This is not to say enterprising individuals haven't taken care of this issue, it's just a fact of their track record as a company. The SD card DRM [2](CPRM 1|2) scheme on the other hand, is able to be licensed and used in Open Sauce (for a fee), for whatever reason one might choose to do so, and is rarely if ever enforced even when it is present, and is software mostly reliant on software, with the DRM itself only fully working if a CPRM capable device is present for key negotiation. It's been bypassed for years by programs like DVDShrink, etc.
For an example: Sandisk SD cards that contain media/programs/etc of whatever type on the card at retail. You can copy the stuff straight to your hard drive without any trouble, or format the card, again, without any trouble, and proceed to use them. The data isn't locked, even though the DRM is present. Try this with the content that comes on those special MSD cards once for an unhappy experience. Try to erase the data off the card, and you are prevented, so you are stuck with a partially full card from the get-go. Ditto attempting to copy the data.
[1] Note: I apologize for using a Wikipedia link, but I couldn't find any direct information on MagicGate from the Sony website, other than their support section saying that Memory Stick cards or devices without MagicGate can't use ATRAC-based files (it seems the spec page for MagicGate no longer exists or was removed); also listed on the Sony site were several pages on which devices contain it and which do not.
[2] Note: Two best links I found dealing with CPRM.
The unfunny thing, is that is what they already do.
Now they won't even be able to get away with doing that, because they have no basis for any of the claims made in the commercial to begin with.
There are no doctors out there that would be willing to go on TV to support Extenze either, as even the shadiest of doctors doesn't want to be associated with the likes of Ron Jeremy on national television.
I got the "Business" and "Professional" versions of Office2k7 via the Power Together program, and those licenses have no provision for multiple installs outside of the original system.
I haven't read the Educational or Retail licenses.
That is assuming it doesn't become profitable for spammers and other evil-doers to focus IP4-based botnets at the problem. The 'IPv6 lets me hide!' fallacy only works for as long as people aren't actively looking.
Yes, but unlike HFCS, cane sugar production doesn't introduce mercury or other heavy metals into the food/beverage product it's used in.
That by itself is more than enough reason to get rid of that nasty shit.
Also, while it is true that sugars can damage your liver, so can many other things, taken out of moderation (my favorite beer, for instance).
I've noticed a distinct difference in how I feel after I switched to Mt Dew that uses cane sugar compared to the HFCS kind I used to drink regularly, and that was before I even noticed it used cane sugar instead. I just was glad to be able to get it in those nifty green glass bottles instead of plastic bottles or phthalate lined cans. Now I don't get cranky if I go without drinking it for a few days, it doesn't make me urinate as often, and I no longer get kidney stones.
I've now started reading the labels on all of my food products, and if it contains HFCS (or sodium benzoate for that matter - I prefer to eat food that doesn't contain benzene by the time I get it home from the store), I don't buy it.
No, if their service sucks so bad that month, you don't get to use what you expected to use, they still make bank, and have even less incentive to upgrade their shitty networks than they did before.
Remember, these jerks will charge as much or more than they do now monthly, on top of whatever you'd have to pay for using. That's just insane.
You'll love this then. Since the digital changeover, my cableco decided, that to get more than 10 channels via their system, you have to 'upgrade' to their digital cable service. The kicker? Their 'new' digital cable boxes (new subscribers and upgraders only get the new ones from them now) only have HDMI and digital optical audio connectors.
The only half-way decent thing about the box, is that it also has USB, Firewire and Memory Stick slots. Of course, the Firewire I believe is mandated by the FCC. The USB slot is crippled and only works with external USB DVD/CD drives. The Memory Stick slot of course relies on Sony's proprietary Memory Stick and Memory Stick Duo trash. The other hardware on it sucks though. 128MB onboard RAM, 64 MB programmable internal flash (totally used and encrypted by them remotely - used to store the temp files for firmware upgrades, channel subscription info, etc) and the PPC equivalent of a 1.4 Ghz P4 processor. The thing runs about as quickly as a drunk turtle with two legs tied together. Oh, yeah, those memory slots I mentioned? Only good for loading.jpg and.wma files. It ignores other filetypes and the USB slot gives errors on device types that Aren't Approved(TM). Haven't bothered with anything Firewire, cuz I don't own anything that needs it (the stuff around here that is Firewire-enabled is all for Macs/videography/photography equipment).
Not that I'm going to bother paying them an extra $50 per month just to go to the next tier of stations when I can just stick to the 10 channels and watch everything I want elsewhere online.
I disagree. Pocket Killbox + your brain is the best malware removal tool right now. You can use the rest as secondary cleanup if you absolutely have to, and even then, I'd limit my subset to HjT, Combofix, MwB, and CWShredder.
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They won't kill it, not when Intel has historically released the worst graphics chipsets on the market.
They are -years- behind ATI/nVidia when it comes to graphics, and gamers won't accept inferior Intel shit.
Vikings, you idiot.
If it makes you feel any better, their OGA system is so fscked up, that it doesn't work properly on Office 2k7 from the Power Together program. The files install properly, but no matter how many times you attempt to get updates via the Office Update site, it fails.
You either have to download all of the patches manually or rely on Microsoft Update instead of Office Update.
(The Power Together version is in the form of an .exe installer that you downloaded from Microsoft. They mailed you the serial number.)
Like the poster above you said, they have had great success with DLC via NWN. It's true: the 'Premium' modules continue to sell well for both NWN and NWN2, even though the original NWN was released years ago. Then there's the community development tools, that allow end-users to create their own modules. Bioware has official mods for NWN, NWN2, KOTOR and KOTOR2 (even though Obsidian did both KOTOR2 and NWN2).
To the other poster saying this is EA shit rearing its ugly head: Bioware did this before EA even bought them, and Dragon Age was also started well before EA bought them.
Personally, I think it's nice they have additional content available on release day, instead of attempting to tack too much on a month or two down the road. At least this way, they will get player feedback immediately on what the DLC breaks or enhances, and use this data to improve future DLC.
Wow....your internet life must be extremely boring :)
If I want to hear Forest Service stuff, I just ask the girl in the next apartment over, who works for the Forest Service.
Other than that....USDA? For the love of all that is holy, I hope it is work related.
Flash was a target long before it even reached anything approaching 95% ubiquity in the marketplace. It became a target because it's considered trivial to exploit in some circles. Adobe products in general have been targets for exploitation for a very long time. This leads me to believe that the company as a whole has a rather poor focus on security. Sure they have brought us some rather neat things, but their implementations have not been the greatest. In this case, they are rather like Microsoft, IBM, Apple, etc. All have brought us neat things, but their implementations at times have left much to be desired.
You'd be in shock at how many corporations have no clue that something other than Microsoft and Apple even exists. They just know that their computers all came with Windows and Office (if even that level of knowledge), and that the marketing department consists of those overly chatty folks that like to use those strange Apple computers (they sure do make pretty brochures for us though!).
They equate free software with stuff like fonts and pictures they can download off the internet to use in their Power Point presentations.
Marketing is sorely needed in the Open Source world. There's a good reason you see advertisements on television for Microsoft and Apple products.
In quite a few cases, those pages were better than the tripe forced on us now.
Usability > Useless browser-bogging affects from addons like Flash.
You forgot choice number 3.
3) Allow Mono developers to happily keep on plugging along, and sue the shit out of them (and win) and their end-users for violating patents held by Microsoft or a direct subsidiary thereof.
The point I was making with that is: If you download 0 bytes of data or up to and over their "data cap", they still make massive profits, and you still lose. Either way, you still pay, you still don't get what you want. You. Lose. They. Win.
Oh, and I almost forgot: Increasing the size of the chess board only make higher priority targets out of the Kings and Queens (those with static IPv6 address space).
Expect to see the prices asked per infected machine to rise, and nothing else to change in the least bit.
I know exactly what I was replying to. You think criminals are going to sit on their asses with this? No. They are going to use botnets to aggressively scan the new ip space for targets, no matter how large that new space is.
I'm so glad...that any funds in my PayPal account that is basically mandatory use for sites like eBay arrive there via disposable Debit/Credit cards from Visa, etc. I never put in more than the cost of the item, the account is not tied to any of my personal accounts, and if I happen to sell something, as soon as the money appears I remove it from the account.
Part of the problem is that they DO need to market. They just don't, for various reasons usually having to do with $$$.
It's one of the main complaints about Linux adoption. If the only two groups doing any form of real marketing are Novell and Red Hat, don't expect the platform as a whole to make more than a extremely small dent against Microsoft corporate and home solutions.
Notice, if you will, that the only Memory Stick, Memory Stick Micro, Memory Stick Pro, and Memory Stick Pro Duos you see bear the company name Sony or that of one of the few strictly sublicensed partner company brand names. Sandisk/Lexar are two examples of such companies, with Sandisk being a direct partner with Sony for the Memory Stick spec. You will find SD cards from Sandisk, Lexar, Crucial, Kingston and numerous other companies. I hope that answers your question about which format is more open and prevalent. There are several companies offering hardware adapters to allow SD cards to be compatible with Memory Stick slots. The SD spec is easily (and more cheaply) licensed for use in all kinds of devices - industrial, commercial, and consumer, from what I've determined.
As for the DRM question: Sony only uses non-compatible proprietary DRM formats for everything, as a rule. Usually Windows-locked by default in any implementation. For the Memory Stick cards, it is optional to use, and is called MagicGate, a software/hardware duality. See: ATRAC. See also: MagicGate [1]. This is not to say enterprising individuals haven't taken care of this issue, it's just a fact of their track record as a company. The SD card DRM [2](CPRM 1|2) scheme on the other hand, is able to be licensed and used in Open Sauce (for a fee), for whatever reason one might choose to do so, and is rarely if ever enforced even when it is present, and is software mostly reliant on software, with the DRM itself only fully working if a CPRM capable device is present for key negotiation. It's been bypassed for years by programs like DVDShrink, etc.
For an example: Sandisk SD cards that contain media/programs/etc of whatever type on the card at retail. You can copy the stuff straight to your hard drive without any trouble, or format the card, again, without any trouble, and proceed to use them. The data isn't locked, even though the DRM is present. Try this with the content that comes on those special MSD cards once for an unhappy experience. Try to erase the data off the card, and you are prevented, so you are stuck with a partially full card from the get-go. Ditto attempting to copy the data.
[1] Note: I apologize for using a Wikipedia link, but I couldn't find any direct information on MagicGate from the Sony website, other than their support section saying that Memory Stick cards or devices without MagicGate can't use ATRAC-based files (it seems the spec page for MagicGate no longer exists or was removed); also listed on the Sony site were several pages on which devices contain it and which do not.
[2] Note: Two best links I found dealing with CPRM.
RBN - Russian Business Network. That's a good chunk of who is behind those.
You can report violations directly to the FTC itself. Mayhaps you should try going to their website and paying attention to what you find there.
The unfunny thing, is that is what they already do.
Now they won't even be able to get away with doing that, because they have no basis for any of the claims made in the commercial to begin with.
There are no doctors out there that would be willing to go on TV to support Extenze either, as even the shadiest of doctors doesn't want to be associated with the likes of Ron Jeremy on national television.
I got the "Business" and "Professional" versions of Office2k7 via the Power Together program, and those licenses have no provision for multiple installs outside of the original system.
I haven't read the Educational or Retail licenses.
That hasn't always been true, and still is not true when it comes to any computer that is not a Dell/HP/Compaq/Gateway/Acer, etc. Piece of Crap.
That is assuming it doesn't become profitable for spammers and other evil-doers to focus IP4-based botnets at the problem. The 'IPv6 lets me hide!' fallacy only works for as long as people aren't actively looking.
Yes, but unlike HFCS, cane sugar production doesn't introduce mercury or other heavy metals into the food/beverage product it's used in.
That by itself is more than enough reason to get rid of that nasty shit.
Also, while it is true that sugars can damage your liver, so can many other things, taken out of moderation (my favorite beer, for instance).
I've noticed a distinct difference in how I feel after I switched to Mt Dew that uses cane sugar compared to the HFCS kind I used to drink regularly, and that was before I even noticed it used cane sugar instead. I just was glad to be able to get it in those nifty green glass bottles instead of plastic bottles or phthalate lined cans. Now I don't get cranky if I go without drinking it for a few days, it doesn't make me urinate as often, and I no longer get kidney stones.
I've now started reading the labels on all of my food products, and if it contains HFCS (or sodium benzoate for that matter - I prefer to eat food that doesn't contain benzene by the time I get it home from the store), I don't buy it.
No, if their service sucks so bad that month, you don't get to use what you expected to use, they still make bank, and have even less incentive to upgrade their shitty networks than they did before.
Remember, these jerks will charge as much or more than they do now monthly, on top of whatever you'd have to pay for using. That's just insane.
You'll love this then. Since the digital changeover, my cableco decided, that to get more than 10 channels via their system, you have to 'upgrade' to their digital cable service. The kicker? Their 'new' digital cable boxes (new subscribers and upgraders only get the new ones from them now) only have HDMI and digital optical audio connectors.
The only half-way decent thing about the box, is that it also has USB, Firewire and Memory Stick slots. Of course, the Firewire I believe is mandated by the FCC. The USB slot is crippled and only works with external USB DVD/CD drives. The Memory Stick slot of course relies on Sony's proprietary Memory Stick and Memory Stick Duo trash. The other hardware on it sucks though. 128MB onboard RAM, 64 MB programmable internal flash (totally used and encrypted by them remotely - used to store the temp files for firmware upgrades, channel subscription info, etc) and the PPC equivalent of a 1.4 Ghz P4 processor. The thing runs about as quickly as a drunk turtle with two legs tied together. Oh, yeah, those memory slots I mentioned? Only good for loading .jpg and .wma files. It ignores other filetypes and the USB slot gives errors on device types that Aren't Approved(TM). Haven't bothered with anything Firewire, cuz I don't own anything that needs it (the stuff around here that is Firewire-enabled is all for Macs/videography/photography equipment).
Not that I'm going to bother paying them an extra $50 per month just to go to the next tier of stations when I can just stick to the 10 channels and watch everything I want elsewhere online.
I disagree. Pocket Killbox + your brain is the best malware removal tool right now. You can use the rest as secondary cleanup if you absolutely have to, and even then, I'd limit my subset to HjT, Combofix, MwB, and CWShredder.