Re:More money than brains I guess
on
Re-Pet a Reality
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· Score: 3, Insightful
Sure, it's natural to want to end personal suffering but the wait for the new animal and the eventual letdown of it not being identical to the clonee can't be healthy either.
Exactly. Having Pet Dog V2 running around would just be a constant reminder of V1. Your pet dies, you deal with it. I have lots of pet dogs and it never ever ever gets easier, but death is an important part of life.
Re:More money than brains I guess
on
Re-Pet a Reality
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· Score: 1
I don't particularly think it's about loving animals. It seems to me that it's just a way to stop the grieving process to some extent, which can't be healthy. How long will it be before these very same people try to clone a deceased human loved one?
My inner geek cried a little when reading that! Luckily, I still have my old NES with the classic D-Pad and A/B buttons so I'm not too saddened. I'd love to know what they'll replace it with but, as usual, they're keeping tight lipped. Oh well....
Gamespot failed to mention the continuing trend in game related court action, such as blaming game developers for all sorts of evils in society, and while this isn't unique to the 2004 gaming year, the rise in both subtle and blatent sexual/violent overtones in games, mentioned by Slashdot, can only help to fuel this trend. Even though the sales numbers for games with heavy sexual content are remarkably low, I doubt it'll stop any parents groups from using them as a scapegoat sometime soon.
Ok, AOL is launching the service to compete with Google, Hotmail and Yahoo but I can't see any incentive to sign up. It doesn't seem to offer anything new or innovative as there's nothing mentioned that can't be gained from any pre-existing service and, from my own personal experience with AOL, I'd be hesitant to sign up for any service. Their pre-existing customers wont really be affected, and I doubt anyone else will be too bothered about it either.
As promised, ATI.com has now released a demo of Half-Life 2 allowing folks with a Steam account to try out the recent best selling first person shooter from Valve Software.
Oddly enough, that's the first thing I wondered about when I saw the article. You might as well just buy the full game if you're going to go through the process of getting a steam account and a verification just for a demo.
There was a recent report on British TV where two well known presenters did a short segment on the 'evil' Grand Theft Auto. They talked about the negative aspects of the game, such as gang killings etc. What amazed me was the complete lack of any representative view of a gamer's opinion. The majority of people seem to be happily under the illusion that all video games are just cartoony and kid friendly, so when they purchase a game with an '18' rating slapped on the front, they feel justified in acting surprised and horrified when they find their child playing it.
People should be educated that games are similar to any other modern medium, in that there will be some universal content, and some content for adults. Whilst these articles can go some way to confirming gamer's feelings that games aren't inherently 'evil', they will fall on deaf ears with the general public who will undoubtably find it easier to label all games with the same brush, instead of looking at the actual issue. That said, perhaps the fact that a large body such as the American Medical Association has expressed doubt as to whether violent content causes violent behaviour may gain some mainstream recognition.
The question is, do you know why reality is shifting in that direction?
Possibly because governments can't use physical coersion anymore. A threat of terrorism has to be placed over the populace to keep them docile and compliant.
What worries me is not government monitoring of the internet. We already know that this goes on to some extent and if we really want to communicate privately, using an unencrpyted email or an IRC chat room isnt the way to go about it. The majority of us are knowledgable enough to communicate with some degree of security.
My main concern is their definition of a 'terrorist'. I have no problems with law enforcement agencies going after real, or suspected terrorists, but I do disagree with the slow creep of the word to include people who have different opinions then the government.
Then again, I'm more paranoid than most. Probably nothing to worry about. Probably...
Lots about Google, Amazon, Blogger...
on
The Media in 2014
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· Score: 2
But where's the section about Slashdot?!?
Shurely Shome Mishtake?
It's a well written article, but I don't feel it brings anything new to the discussion. Yes, spammers were eventually going to target GMail because of it's popularity, but there isn't really any detailed information in the article as to how Google is defending itself, merely a lot of (interesting) specualtion.
And while the same techniques are used to try and stop spammers from finding your account, there aren't any gmail specific ideas, which is what I hoped I would find int he article.
It's nice to see a well thought out, in depth analysis of the anti-spam products on offer, along with explainations as to what various tests entailed. Whilst Spybot and Ad-aware are well known, even to the non-tech crowd, there doesn't seem to be any equivalent in the spam world.
It's just a shame that not all vendors took part so the test isn't totally comprehensive.
"We hope to recover at least his costs,'' Wallace said.
I doubt that they'll ever see any of that money, but the ruling will perhaps put off people from getting into the spamming business. A $1 Billion fine is, after all, a major incentive not to flood networks with spam traffic.
"Depending on how this goes, it could also mean that (Microsoft) software would amount to an authorization of the infringement of copyright," she says. "The same thing could be said for a photocopier."
Ok...they can get rid of Kazaa, they can get rid of the Windows suite, but it'll be a cold day in hell before they can have my photocopier!!!
Personally, I just prefer using cash for transactions, especially purchasing products. I think that while most people may not be put off buying a game because they can only get it via a credit card, I do think there will be a section who will be. Although, for an aging game, limiting the number of ways to purchase that game will only quicken it's death, in my opinion.
Why is it now difficult to own games?
on
R.I.P Ultima Online ?
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· Score: 4, Insightful
EA's switching to credit card payments strikes me as somewhat reminiscent of the Steam system for authorising Half Life 2 every time you play. It just makes it harder and more awkward for gamers to play the games that they want to, and goes some way to preventing people from being able to play the game.
Even if U.O is a few years old, it is still reasonably popular and still in demand. I can't see why the company would want to shoot themself in the foot by preventing consumers from easily purchasing their product.
Personally, I use Firefox, but I do agree with your point about 'open source guilt' over not using Firefox. Surely, if people are informed and use a browser that they're comfortable with, then we shouldnt really care what they use?
An earring? Don't be so boring. Real men wear 1m by 1.5m tounge piercings of mathematical models!
I do get some funny looks when I go to restaurants, though.
Slashdot Mirror
Sure, it's natural to want to end personal suffering but the wait for the new animal and the eventual letdown of it not being identical to the clonee can't be healthy either.
Exactly. Having Pet Dog V2 running around would just be a constant reminder of V1. Your pet dies, you deal with it. I have lots of pet dogs and it never ever ever gets easier, but death is an important part of life.
I don't particularly think it's about loving animals. It seems to me that it's just a way to stop the grieving process to some extent, which can't be healthy. How long will it be before these very same people try to clone a deceased human loved one?
My inner geek cried a little when reading that! Luckily, I still have my old NES with the classic D-Pad and A/B buttons so I'm not too saddened. I'd love to know what they'll replace it with but, as usual, they're keeping tight lipped. Oh well....
Gamespot failed to mention the continuing trend in game related court action, such as blaming game developers for all sorts of evils in society, and while this isn't unique to the 2004 gaming year, the rise in both subtle and blatent sexual/violent overtones in games, mentioned by Slashdot, can only help to fuel this trend. Even though the sales numbers for games with heavy sexual content are remarkably low, I doubt it'll stop any parents groups from using them as a scapegoat sometime soon.
I think the correct phrase would be: "It both sucks, and blows".
Ok, AOL is launching the service to compete with Google, Hotmail and Yahoo but I can't see any incentive to sign up. It doesn't seem to offer anything new or innovative as there's nothing mentioned that can't be gained from any pre-existing service and, from my own personal experience with AOL, I'd be hesitant to sign up for any service. Their pre-existing customers wont really be affected, and I doubt anyone else will be too bothered about it either.
As promised, ATI.com has now released a demo of Half-Life 2 allowing folks with a Steam account to try out the recent best selling first person shooter from Valve Software.
Oddly enough, that's the first thing I wondered about when I saw the article. You might as well just buy the full game if you're going to go through the process of getting a steam account and a verification just for a demo.
The BBC has an interesting article on the suject of SuprNova going down, as well as some general information on BitTorrent and the MPAA.
There was a recent report on British TV where two well known presenters did a short segment on the 'evil' Grand Theft Auto. They talked about the negative aspects of the game, such as gang killings etc. What amazed me was the complete lack of any representative view of a gamer's opinion. The majority of people seem to be happily under the illusion that all video games are just cartoony and kid friendly, so when they purchase a game with an '18' rating slapped on the front, they feel justified in acting surprised and horrified when they find their child playing it.
People should be educated that games are similar to any other modern medium, in that there will be some universal content, and some content for adults. Whilst these articles can go some way to confirming gamer's feelings that games aren't inherently 'evil', they will fall on deaf ears with the general public who will undoubtably find it easier to label all games with the same brush, instead of looking at the actual issue. That said, perhaps the fact that a large body such as the American Medical Association has expressed doubt as to whether violent content causes violent behaviour may gain some mainstream recognition.
The question is, do you know why reality is shifting in that direction?
Possibly because governments can't use physical coersion anymore. A threat of terrorism has to be placed over the populace to keep them docile and compliant.
What worries me is not government monitoring of the internet. We already know that this goes on to some extent and if we really want to communicate privately, using an unencrpyted email or an IRC chat room isnt the way to go about it. The majority of us are knowledgable enough to communicate with some degree of security.
My main concern is their definition of a 'terrorist'. I have no problems with law enforcement agencies going after real, or suspected terrorists, but I do disagree with the slow creep of the word to include people who have different opinions then the government.
Then again, I'm more paranoid than most. Probably nothing to worry about. Probably...
But where's the section about Slashdot?!? Shurely Shome Mishtake?
It's a well written article, but I don't feel it brings anything new to the discussion. Yes, spammers were eventually going to target GMail because of it's popularity, but there isn't really any detailed information in the article as to how Google is defending itself, merely a lot of (interesting) specualtion.
And while the same techniques are used to try and stop spammers from finding your account, there aren't any gmail specific ideas, which is what I hoped I would find int he article.
It's nice to see a well thought out, in depth analysis of the anti-spam products on offer, along with explainations as to what various tests entailed. Whilst Spybot and Ad-aware are well known, even to the non-tech crowd, there doesn't seem to be any equivalent in the spam world.
It's just a shame that not all vendors took part so the test isn't totally comprehensive.
"We hope to recover at least his costs,'' Wallace said.
I doubt that they'll ever see any of that money, but the ruling will perhaps put off people from getting into the spamming business. A $1 Billion fine is, after all, a major incentive not to flood networks with spam traffic.
"Depending on how this goes, it could also mean that (Microsoft) software would amount to an authorization of the infringement of copyright," she says. "The same thing could be said for a photocopier."
Ok...they can get rid of Kazaa, they can get rid of the Windows suite, but it'll be a cold day in hell before they can have my photocopier!!!
Personally, I just prefer using cash for transactions, especially purchasing products. I think that while most people may not be put off buying a game because they can only get it via a credit card, I do think there will be a section who will be. Although, for an aging game, limiting the number of ways to purchase that game will only quicken it's death, in my opinion.
EA's switching to credit card payments strikes me as somewhat reminiscent of the Steam system for authorising Half Life 2 every time you play. It just makes it harder and more awkward for gamers to play the games that they want to, and goes some way to preventing people from being able to play the game. Even if U.O is a few years old, it is still reasonably popular and still in demand. I can't see why the company would want to shoot themself in the foot by preventing consumers from easily purchasing their product.
..you'd better save your game often!
Personally, I use Firefox, but I do agree with your point about 'open source guilt' over not using Firefox. Surely, if people are informed and use a browser that they're comfortable with, then we shouldnt really care what they use?
An earring? Don't be so boring. Real men wear 1m by 1.5m tounge piercings of mathematical models! I do get some funny looks when I go to restaurants, though.