The licensing is scary as well, as you are agreeing to not use the game with third-party game locating software, forcing you to use the built-in gamespy browser, and thus agreeing to the GameSpy agreement.
How is this scary? Having your house raided and your family taken away is scary. Having to use GameSpy as opposed to something else is annoying at best. Well, maybe annoying to you, I have no problem with it. They built the software and made the business agreement with GameSpy. If you are going to use the software, they have every right to put restrictions on it. If you don't agree with those restrictions, don't use the software. Simple as that.
I know you want to wave your sword play along with the make-believe crusade, but you're just another dope sitting on your ass playing video games all day. If the issue is that important to you, start a group to make an Open Source game with no restrictions.
So obviously what is happening... The fix (which will probably be put in place by now) is...
C'mon CS boy, you should know making assumptions about code you haven't seen is dangerous. Those logic problems are usually not an issue for a top notch dev house like Blizzard, but the reality of thousands of people clicking buttons at the same time throws a wrench in things. The problem is likely a scalability issue. They may be making the required character checkpoint, but it may not be getting to the database. There may be a bottleneck executing the update, or it my crash and get lost at some point. I'm on a low pop server, and sometimes have to sit for 10-15 seconds just trying to get a mail attachment. I can't imagine the potential for disaster on a high pop server. I bet there are tons of exploits waiting to be found. Blizzard is dealing with scalability issues that most engineers/scientists will never get the, ehhhh, pleasure of dealing with.
I don't see the argument. I see a bunch of fancy words and broad generalizations that magically conclude that software is not patentable.
The key lies with this sentence: "Currently patent granting organizations have no solid reference point of "abstraction physics" from which to test software patent applications against, or re-evaluate granted software patents." You need to show that this is the directive of the patent office by further explaining the concept, providing references to the patent office documentation, and showing examples of how non-software patents meet the criteria.
Right now, you're just oversimplifying the issue and playing logic games.
You need to show a clear argument instead of trying the "I'm correct because I write better than you read" approach.
Now having said that, the MCP that this article refers to is a big joke.
From the article
The certification she received was as a Microsoft Certified Application Developer.
That's 3 development
exams
An experienced developer would need to study for these.
Making the kind of "noob" assumptions you just did, posting at "1", and with a User ID in the high 800,000's, your sig sounds kind of, well, silly.
Noob assumptions? You mean the painfully obvious sarcasm? Maybe not painfully obvious enough. Maybe I should use [sarcasm] tags for the benefit of my more dimwitted friends. I have an "excellent" karma account from a few years back, but playing the system to get +5s all the time was getting boring. It's much more fun being an antisocial hypocrite and harassing my fellow slashdotters by pointing and laughing at them. Like "ha ha you're fat" and "ha ha you're a wanna be geek who pretends to like Linux cause you want to be cool". The irony folds so deep, it makes my brain hurt.
Oooh goody, what broad ignorant generalizations can I make about you? I picture a dude in a white robe and head garb walking down the street. You maintain a noticable distance from your black clad wife (in either ninja or jawa headgear) who is accompanied by your children and heavily abused Filipino nanny. Oh, and your vehicle, likely an SUV, is either white, black, or silver.
I was going to go with the dusty dude on a camel or Sinbad on a flying carpet, but just wasn't feeling it.
Are those claims true, or are they just overgeneralizations based on the actions of a select few individuals?
Pretty much anything bad you hear about anything is an overgeneralization based on the actions of a select few individuals. Ignorance too. For example I picture you to be a skinny pale dude with bad teeth eating boiled meat and drinking a warm Guiness, but that's only cause that's what TV taught me.
Utah is just another state, more conserative than the average because of the high Mormon population. Children there have a bad habit of getting lost though.
Take them out on successive nights and describe how we can figure out the heliocentric universe from the observations.
"After our first date I couldn't get a hold of her. I even left a message telling her how I would teach her how to figure out the heliocentric universe from our observations. Hmmm, she must have left town for an emergency, but lost my number and couldn't call. Let me sit by the phone and wait."
Trailer looks good except for slo-mo martial arts girl, mr hip shooter, and dear god no, hercules/xena fighting with the spin the guy upside down and drive his head into the ground.
Ha. We intentionally did malicious things. Viruses on school computers. Vile messages to faculty. Sabotage computer, AV equipment, and hell, any other equipment we could find (ahhh, the power of a single paperclip shoved in a fan). Endless teacher harassment. Fiery toilet seats. Cafetaria leftovers + school bus windows + cars. Even the poor library books weren't beyond our wrath.
We would have been executed by today's standards.
Of course, teachers could still physically abuse us, so it was an even trade.
Whenever Microsoft "extends" a standard, they always seem to extend it in ways so use of their extensions makes your page/script/applet inoperable with competing products that support the internationally approved standard.
You mean like how they extended JavaScript to include XMLHttpRequest? Yeah, that whole emergence of Ajax has been a disaster.
So, as much as I generally like the EFF, I think we should be asking them some very hard questions about how well they review their sources before releasing that sort of rumor.
Why? Rumors like that keep people on edge and the EFF in their minds. And I'm sure the EFF got higher than average donations on that day. It's just like the Bush administration. Replace 'evil terrorists' with 'big business' and you have an organization which must keep fear in the people in order to push its agenda. Nothing against Bush or the EFF, its just human nature to forget about stuff. Don't hate the playa, hate the game.
Slashdot Mirror
The licensing is scary as well, as you are agreeing to not use the game with third-party game locating software, forcing you to use the built-in gamespy browser, and thus agreeing to the GameSpy agreement.
How is this scary? Having your house raided and your family taken away is scary. Having to use GameSpy as opposed to something else is annoying at best. Well, maybe annoying to you, I have no problem with it. They built the software and made the business agreement with GameSpy. If you are going to use the software, they have every right to put restrictions on it. If you don't agree with those restrictions, don't use the software. Simple as that.
I know you want to wave your sword play along with the make-believe crusade, but you're just another dope sitting on your ass playing video games all day. If the issue is that important to you, start a group to make an Open Source game with no restrictions.
So obviously what is happening... The fix (which will probably be put in place by now) is...
C'mon CS boy, you should know making assumptions about code you haven't seen is dangerous. Those logic problems are usually not an issue for a top notch dev house like Blizzard, but the reality of thousands of people clicking buttons at the same time throws a wrench in things. The problem is likely a scalability issue. They may be making the required character checkpoint, but it may not be getting to the database. There may be a bottleneck executing the update, or it my crash and get lost at some point. I'm on a low pop server, and sometimes have to sit for 10-15 seconds just trying to get a mail attachment. I can't imagine the potential for disaster on a high pop server. I bet there are tons of exploits waiting to be found. Blizzard is dealing with scalability issues that most engineers/scientists will never get the, ehhhh, pleasure of dealing with.
Before everyone starts bitching...
Stop right there. I know it's cliche, but you must be new here.
software by its very nature, is NOT patentable
I don't see the argument. I see a bunch of fancy words and broad generalizations that magically conclude that software is not patentable.
The key lies with this sentence: "Currently patent granting organizations have no solid reference point of "abstraction physics" from which to test software patent applications against, or re-evaluate granted software patents."
You need to show that this is the directive of the patent office by further explaining the concept, providing references to the patent office documentation, and showing examples of how non-software patents meet the criteria.
Right now, you're just oversimplifying the issue and playing logic games. You need to show a clear argument instead of trying the "I'm correct because I write better than you read" approach.
Study for them? No, more like memorize the answers, downloaded from a website.
Do you feel better now?
Now having said that, the MCP that this article refers to is a big joke.
From the article The certification she received was as a Microsoft Certified Application Developer.
That's 3 development exams
An experienced developer would need to study for these.
Yeah, I'm thinking this is one of those false studies we've been hearing about lately.
Because sex is, obviously, so much more damaging to the mind of a 17 year old than killing people.
Nah, it helps keep the country strong. We want the stupid kids to kill each other off. And dear god no, we don't want them to reproduce.
The smart kids will figure it all out.
War. The US attacked places bin Laden cared about. It doesn't justify his actions but it does appear to be the motivating factor.
I'm thinking hard, but who did the US ATTACK that bin Laden cared about?
The more time you spend on #1, the less you have for #2 and #3. The more on #2, the less for #1 and #3. The more on #3, the less for #1 and #2.
Interesting. You've shown a perfect example of someone lacking in #2.
Making the kind of "noob" assumptions you just did, posting at "1", and with a User ID in the high 800,000's, your sig sounds kind of, well, silly.
Noob assumptions? You mean the painfully obvious sarcasm? Maybe not painfully obvious enough. Maybe I should use [sarcasm] tags for the benefit of my more dimwitted friends.
I have an "excellent" karma account from a few years back, but playing the system to get +5s all the time was getting boring. It's much more fun being an antisocial hypocrite and harassing my fellow slashdotters by pointing and laughing at them. Like "ha ha you're fat" and "ha ha you're a wanna be geek who pretends to like Linux cause you want to be cool". The irony folds so deep, it makes my brain hurt.
I love The Game
well duh. I'm too wrapped up in myself to get such thing. dumbass.
You insensitive clod...
Oooh goody, what broad ignorant generalizations can I make about you? I picture a dude in a white robe and head garb walking down the street. You maintain a noticable distance from your black clad wife (in either ninja or jawa headgear) who is accompanied by your children and heavily abused Filipino nanny. Oh, and your vehicle, likely an SUV, is either white, black, or silver.
I was going to go with the dusty dude on a camel or Sinbad on a flying carpet, but just wasn't feeling it.
Are those claims true, or are they just overgeneralizations based on the actions of a select few individuals?
Pretty much anything bad you hear about anything is an overgeneralization based on the actions of a select few individuals. Ignorance too. For example I picture you to be a skinny pale dude with bad teeth eating boiled meat and drinking a warm Guiness, but that's only cause that's what TV taught me.
Utah is just another state, more conserative than the average because of the high Mormon population. Children there have a bad habit of getting lost though.
Why are there only 12 stripes in it? The flag has 13. Slashdot needs to fix this. It's very disrespectful to the flag and the people who died for it.
Nah, it's just a tribute to the wealth of accurate information available on Slashdot.
Take them out on successive nights and describe how we can figure out the heliocentric universe from the observations.
"After our first date I couldn't get a hold of her. I even left a message telling her how I would teach her how to figure out the heliocentric universe from our observations. Hmmm, she must have left town for an emergency, but lost my number and couldn't call. Let me sit by the phone and wait."
Trailer looks good except for slo-mo martial arts girl, mr hip shooter, and dear god no, hercules/xena fighting with the spin the guy upside down and drive his head into the ground.
Oh, the child molestor analogy. Such class.
You have much hatred in your heart child. Is it anger, fear, or just the need to belong? I feel for you.
We weren't trying to do anything malicious
Ha. We intentionally did malicious things. Viruses on school computers. Vile messages to faculty. Sabotage computer, AV equipment, and hell, any other equipment we could find (ahhh, the power of a single paperclip shoved in a fan). Endless teacher harassment. Fiery toilet seats. Cafetaria leftovers + school bus windows + cars. Even the poor library books weren't beyond our wrath.
We would have been executed by today's standards.
Of course, teachers could still physically abuse us, so it was an even trade.
If you want to mess around or do anything 'cool' with a computer, DO IT AT HOME.
Yeah right. If I fuck up my home computer, I have to fix it. If I fuck up a school computer, YOU have to fix it. Every single time...
It's always more efficient to make mistakes on someone else's dime.
Whenever Microsoft "extends" a standard, they always seem to extend it in ways so use of their extensions makes your page/script/applet inoperable with competing products that support the internationally approved standard.
You mean like how they extended JavaScript to include XMLHttpRequest? Yeah, that whole emergence of Ajax has been a disaster.
So, as much as I generally like the EFF, I think we should be asking them some very hard questions about how well they review their sources before releasing that sort of rumor.
Why? Rumors like that keep people on edge and the EFF in their minds. And I'm sure the EFF got higher than average donations on that day.
It's just like the Bush administration. Replace 'evil terrorists' with 'big business' and you have an organization which must keep fear in the people in order to push its agenda.
Nothing against Bush or the EFF, its just human nature to forget about stuff. Don't hate the playa, hate the game.
Famous (and totally applicable) quote: "The cost of freedom is eternal vigilance."
Ok, great, so eternal vigilance in this case is sitting on your ass and downloading mp3s?
It's sad really...
No, what's sad is that you're one of the "most other Americans", but fail to see it.
What's even sadder is that you work to spread the apathy and cynicism which keep people from bothering to act. You're a tool of your enemy.
You're response
Arrgh, shoot me now.