In the coming weeks we will surely see one of the parties issue an initiative against [insert tabloid internet evil du jour here] on the internet, with absolutely no technical information other than "we'll do it"... it happened last general election with children being groomed in chatrooms.
So you don't think it was a reasonable indicator?
Things like this have happened before concerning cross-border intellectual property, even when the retailer was acting legitimately in their own country. Look at what happened to CD-Wow who were importing Hong Kong CDs to sell in the UK...
In a huge number of spams for products that people might actually theoretically *want*, there's actual crime involved, be it trademarks, copyright violation, passing fake goods off as the real thing - things like that.
Sure, it won't stop the annoying mortgage spam, but if we can get rid of drug spam, counterfeit watch and software spam, then that's a heck of a good start.
Looking at previous Slashdot Through The Keyhole escapades regarding the homes of spam kings, these guys have assets, which means they companies potentially have something to gain, and these big companies like Pfizer, Rolex, Microsoft et al have their army of caged lawyers... and basically infinite resources to sit on these people in the case of MS...
If the theory that there's only a small number of spam kingpins out there, this will either severely limit the type of spam they can send out, or remove the profit motivation.
Change the words "Civ", "CivII" etc for drug names and see how that post reads...
"I cut my teeth on pot back in 10th grade, what a fun little game. "
"I tried crack in college, but found it's look and feel distracting."
Heaven knows with Civ that's the way it was for a lot of us!
As some of you may know, Douglas co-wrote a book called "Last Chance To See" about endangered species. His co-author, Mark Carwardine is delivering the second Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture on the 10th of March.
It's a charity event at the Royal Institution in London in aid of Save The Rhino and I believe tickets are available from them.
Apologies to non-UK folk who don't get the reference, BTW. If you're in the US, mod-me up as funny and insightful;)
Or just read the transcript of the TV show I'm referring to
http://www.glgarden.org/foreverman/brasseye.html
I recently had a struggle buying hi-fi kit for my mother who is in her early sixties. She wanted a single, tidy box but wanted all kinds of functionality (DVD, Digital Radio etc...) and I had to keep her from buying overrated Bose kit. It was a struggle.
To my mind, the Macmini is the computer equivalent of the kind of thing she was looking for. All the functionality you need with a design that's unobtrusive and could double up as other things (media centre etc...)
Even as a Microsoft using, PC owning, iPodless wonder, for the first time in my life, I looked at an Apple computer and thought "One of those and a KVM switch and it would be interesting to have..."
My recollection of most major console launches (in the UK at least) is that they start off expensive and then the price is gradually reduced? For the most part, there's the launch line-up with a few great titles, and then by the time there's a large catalogue of titles, the price has dropped considerably?
This just seems to be the usual cost of being an early adopter? So what's the big deal here?
That's why it's "funny" rather than "informative". But seriously, suing people who are effectively giving you free publicity could come back and bite you in the future, perhaps when you *want* to leak something.
I also worked for a bank in the UK doing admin work on their Y2K project and there was *huge* amounts of planning went into it and a surprising amount of non-compliant systems and software.
Way back in 1980something, I pestered my parents for a computer, and in their infinite wisdom, they chose an Amstrad CPC 6128 with tv tuner and built in disk drive. I remember coming home one day from school to find them having endless trouble copying the CP/M discs that the guy who sold them the computer had assured them was essential and must never be erased... then came type-in programmes, and the time Amstrad Action gave away an assembler.
As for introducing kids to computers, it strikes me as something they'll have a natural interest in if they're born now, but if they don't, then web sites about their favourite cartoons or other things they're interested in seem like the most obvious way of introducing youngsters to both the computer and this here interweb doohickey, and it's content that's revelant to them and usuable to them.
On the other hand, if http://www.boohbah.com/zone.html is anything to go by, it might also introduce them to mind altering drugs.
This has been tried now on more than one occasion in the UK, most recently by Kenco, I think, but previously by PG Tips with tea (again, my memory my fail me on this) but I think this has now been on the market for more than four years on and off, as I remember trying it while at university!
FWIW, the coffee is better than the tea, but with the ubiquity of Starbucks etc... how desperate can you really be for a cup?
Well indeed, and not just Starcraft on a DS, but a Starcraft you can play using WiFi against people on the Internet on the move.
Apparently Advance Wars for the DS is going to be able to do this, and (with any luck) might herald a golden age of handheld internet RTS gaming. The real question is whether we'll be able to connect to public hotspots (no, not those nice unsecured Linksys) in coffee shops and the like...
Slashdot Mirror
That's the key to all this. They want it to be illegal because the state might lose money.
In the coming weeks we will surely see one of the parties issue an initiative against [insert tabloid internet evil du jour here] on the internet, with absolutely no technical information other than "we'll do it"... it happened last general election with children being groomed in chatrooms.
The Mars Volta album was up there when I last looked on January 29th and it was only released on the 21st of Feb... for example.
So you don't think it was a reasonable indicator? Things like this have happened before concerning cross-border intellectual property, even when the retailer was acting legitimately in their own country. Look at what happened to CD-Wow who were importing Hong Kong CDs to sell in the UK...
Is anyone even remotely surprised? They had stuff there months before it was released officially. The clues were there, people!
In a huge number of spams for products that people might actually theoretically *want*, there's actual crime involved, be it trademarks, copyright violation, passing fake goods off as the real thing - things like that. Sure, it won't stop the annoying mortgage spam, but if we can get rid of drug spam, counterfeit watch and software spam, then that's a heck of a good start. Looking at previous Slashdot Through The Keyhole escapades regarding the homes of spam kings, these guys have assets, which means they companies potentially have something to gain, and these big companies like Pfizer, Rolex, Microsoft et al have their army of caged lawyers... and basically infinite resources to sit on these people in the case of MS... If the theory that there's only a small number of spam kingpins out there, this will either severely limit the type of spam they can send out, or remove the profit motivation.
"female users, and penetration" but then I got a DS and I don't have the time any more...
Valve removed the DVD check in a patch... rather than messing around getting a crack off the 'net, why didn't you just run Steam and let it update...
Change the words "Civ", "CivII" etc for drug names and see how that post reads... "I cut my teeth on pot back in 10th grade, what a fun little game. " "I tried crack in college, but found it's look and feel distracting." Heaven knows with Civ that's the way it was for a lot of us!
As some of you may know, Douglas co-wrote a book called "Last Chance To See" about endangered species. His co-author, Mark Carwardine is delivering the second Douglas Adams Memorial Lecture on the 10th of March. It's a charity event at the Royal Institution in London in aid of Save The Rhino and I believe tickets are available from them.
Apologies to non-UK folk who don't get the reference, BTW. If you're in the US, mod-me up as funny and insightful ;)
Or just read the transcript of the TV show I'm referring to
http://www.glgarden.org/foreverman/brasseye.html
... no, wait ...
I recently had a struggle buying hi-fi kit for my mother who is in her early sixties. She wanted a single, tidy box but wanted all kinds of functionality (DVD, Digital Radio etc...) and I had to keep her from buying overrated Bose kit. It was a struggle. To my mind, the Macmini is the computer equivalent of the kind of thing she was looking for. All the functionality you need with a design that's unobtrusive and could double up as other things (media centre etc...) Even as a Microsoft using, PC owning, iPodless wonder, for the first time in my life, I looked at an Apple computer and thought "One of those and a KVM switch and it would be interesting to have..."
... clearly wants to defect to Apple.
My recollection of most major console launches (in the UK at least) is that they start off expensive and then the price is gradually reduced? For the most part, there's the launch line-up with a few great titles, and then by the time there's a large catalogue of titles, the price has dropped considerably? This just seems to be the usual cost of being an early adopter? So what's the big deal here?
You want N64 games, you want a DS rather than a cube...
That's why it's "funny" rather than "informative". But seriously, suing people who are effectively giving you free publicity could come back and bite you in the future, perhaps when you *want* to leak something.
Well, it worked for the MPAA and RIAA.... ;)
I also worked for a bank in the UK doing admin work on their Y2K project and there was *huge* amounts of planning went into it and a surprising amount of non-compliant systems and software.
Isn't this essentially the kind of thing the Nintendo DS should be able to do?
Way back in 1980something, I pestered my parents for a computer, and in their infinite wisdom, they chose an Amstrad CPC 6128 with tv tuner and built in disk drive. I remember coming home one day from school to find them having endless trouble copying the CP/M discs that the guy who sold them the computer had assured them was essential and must never be erased... then came type-in programmes, and the time Amstrad Action gave away an assembler. As for introducing kids to computers, it strikes me as something they'll have a natural interest in if they're born now, but if they don't, then web sites about their favourite cartoons or other things they're interested in seem like the most obvious way of introducing youngsters to both the computer and this here interweb doohickey, and it's content that's revelant to them and usuable to them. On the other hand, if http://www.boohbah.com/zone.html is anything to go by, it might also introduce them to mind altering drugs.
http://www.snackspot.org.uk/thread.php?story=04043 02326daa
This has been tried now on more than one occasion in the UK, most recently by Kenco, I think, but previously by PG Tips with tea (again, my memory my fail me on this) but I think this has now been on the market for more than four years on and off, as I remember trying it while at university! FWIW, the coffee is better than the tea, but with the ubiquity of Starbucks etc... how desperate can you really be for a cup?
I'm sure quite a few VCDs a while back used to have an advert for Tsing Tao Beer (sp?)
Well indeed, and not just Starcraft on a DS, but a Starcraft you can play using WiFi against people on the Internet on the move. Apparently Advance Wars for the DS is going to be able to do this, and (with any luck) might herald a golden age of handheld internet RTS gaming. The real question is whether we'll be able to connect to public hotspots (no, not those nice unsecured Linksys) in coffee shops and the like...