It makes it pretty bad when it's 2020 and you decide to go back and play some of your old Valve games for nostalgia only to realize that the servers no longer work and you may as well throw all those discs in the trash.
All of the new games I've bought at Gamestop came unopened with the security stickers intact, still in the shrinkwrap (or, more accurattely, "fitted cellophane" as someone else pointed out). I would never accept a new game in a box that had been opened. They have a display case on the shelf that's opened (with the disc removed), but when I take it to the counter and they pull out the actual game, it's always an unopened one. I've never had them try to foist an opened one on me. It could be that my experience is exceptional.
Ah, those were the days. Back then, Robin Williams was only 20% hair and people actually thought he was more funny than annoying--if you young folks can believe that.
A part of the reason they're still using paperwork is that some of these vets are older gentlemen who probably still submit everything hard copy (and hand-written in many cases). Sure, a lot them are younger vets from Iraq and Afghanistan. But I would venture to guess that the majority of paperwork the VA deals will still comes from WWII/Korea/Vietnam vets, who would would raise hell if you tried to tell them they had to submit all their forms electronically. Of course, you could hire data entry people to enter all that data from the hard copies, but that's just adding yet another layer to the bureaucracy, isn't it?
And, before everyone jumps on me, I'm not saying that all old people are computer illiterate. But we all know that a much higher percentage of them are not nearly as comfortable with computers as the younger folks, and would balk at being told they couldn't submit their paperwork on actual paper.
Because justifiable indignation is just where it *starts*. Vigilantism always starts out with noble motives, but ends up with witch hunts. The mass molestation witch hunts of the 1980's are a great example. They started out well-intentioned, but quickly devolved into a mass hysteria that destroyed a LOT of lifes (there are innocent people still in prison to this day because of what happened during that time).
A lot of aggregator sites like this one base a lot of their topical content on articles printed elsewhere. While most (incl./.) don't print whole articles intact, a lot of them do quote heavily (what used to be called "fair use," back when that phrase actually meant anything). So their first step is to go after the sites that reprint the articles whole-cloth. But will they stop there?
This should be a quite instructive case for small developers and individuals who might be tempted to sell out to a major studio, foolishly thinking it will only make their product better and that they won't get screwed in the end.
Are you talking about the bailout introduced and championed by a Republican President and voted for almost unanimously by Republicans in Congress, or some other one?
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It makes it pretty bad when it's 2020 and you decide to go back and play some of your old Valve games for nostalgia only to realize that the servers no longer work and you may as well throw all those discs in the trash.
I feel old now, remembering back to when VRML was the new standard that was going to sweep the web--but didn't amount to squat.
Considering the shape my liver is probably in at this point, he would no doubt be severely disappointed.
Note to self: Never, ever, ever eat any food from Joseph Jenkins' garden.
All of the new games I've bought at Gamestop came unopened with the security stickers intact, still in the shrinkwrap (or, more accurattely, "fitted cellophane" as someone else pointed out). I would never accept a new game in a box that had been opened. They have a display case on the shelf that's opened (with the disc removed), but when I take it to the counter and they pull out the actual game, it's always an unopened one. I've never had them try to foist an opened one on me. It could be that my experience is exceptional.
Wow, they were too cheap to even weigh it down with a brick, huh?
On the off chance that he knows Prince Bandu, please tell him to let the Prince know that I haven't gotten my check yet.
Ah, those were the days. Back then, Robin Williams was only 20% hair and people actually thought he was more funny than annoying--if you young folks can believe that.
Wow, a Carl Orff joke seen in the wild. That's rarer than a Bigfoot sighting.
Bundy's serve a vital role as bad-luck absorbers. If we ever killed them all off, the entire world would suffer.
Some things should just *not* be networked or left to vulnerable to electronic signals.
Steve Jobs is welcome to a key to my apartment. He already has the key to my heart.
Stop being such a grammer nazi.
A part of the reason they're still using paperwork is that some of these vets are older gentlemen who probably still submit everything hard copy (and hand-written in many cases). Sure, a lot them are younger vets from Iraq and Afghanistan. But I would venture to guess that the majority of paperwork the VA deals will still comes from WWII/Korea/Vietnam vets, who would would raise hell if you tried to tell them they had to submit all their forms electronically. Of course, you could hire data entry people to enter all that data from the hard copies, but that's just adding yet another layer to the bureaucracy, isn't it?
And, before everyone jumps on me, I'm not saying that all old people are computer illiterate. But we all know that a much higher percentage of them are not nearly as comfortable with computers as the younger folks, and would balk at being told they couldn't submit their paperwork on actual paper.
Well, that's assuming that:
a) The person running the website has the money to defend themselves it court
and
b) The increasingly conservative courts interpret "fair use" as liberally as we do
Those are two pretty big "if's."
Considering the reckless life it lead, is it any surprise it finally succumbed to all those viruses?
Yes, but 80% is where they're *starting*. I'm asking if that's where they're going to *end* it.
By the time they actually cross that last line, I suspect it will be too late.
Because justifiable indignation is just where it *starts*. Vigilantism always starts out with noble motives, but ends up with witch hunts. The mass molestation witch hunts of the 1980's are a great example. They started out well-intentioned, but quickly devolved into a mass hysteria that destroyed a LOT of lifes (there are innocent people still in prison to this day because of what happened during that time).
A lot of aggregator sites like this one base a lot of their topical content on articles printed elsewhere. While most (incl. /.) don't print whole articles intact, a lot of them do quote heavily (what used to be called "fair use," back when that phrase actually meant anything). So their first step is to go after the sites that reprint the articles whole-cloth. But will they stop there?
Wait...Karl Rove being deceptive?!?!?
This should be a quite instructive case for small developers and individuals who might be tempted to sell out to a major studio, foolishly thinking it will only make their product better and that they won't get screwed in the end.
I picture Doctor Faustus crying out to a judge "But I made the deal with the devil in good faith!! I couldn't have known he would screw me!"
Now, now, settle down. Besides, I'm pretty sure that shooting any of those particular people in the head wouldn't really hurt them.
Are you talking about the bailout introduced and championed by a Republican President and voted for almost unanimously by Republicans in Congress, or some other one?