Wait a second... I've argued this MANY MANY times. If you buy a Stardock game, you NEED Stardock to run it. They keep telling people that that's not DRM, but it won't run without it. You can ask for a CD copy of the game without this restriction, but I was told you had to pay more for it. In my case it was Galactic Civ 4. I don't remember the exact details, but I remember if you didn't have a specific license file generated from the hardware of your machine, it had to contact Stardock to create a new key from your hardware in order to run.
How can Stardock still have the balls to berate DRM when they use it themselves?
But I have to ask you... why do you need to be on every side of the world in a matter of minutes? What game mechanic deems this a worthwhile endeavor? If you can't complete a mission line in one area, what's to stop you from taking the "easy mode" way out and jumping to another area to complete their quest line instead? Where's the pride in character development from "suffering" through something difficult and having bragging rights? ("Oh wow, you completed ___ dungeon!? How did you get past ___?")
What do the MMO designers have to do now to determine what skills to give to the enemies and loot drops should be in certain areas if people can pack up and travel at a whim to find fire resist gear in Magma Valley and jump on a flying ostrich and get their frost resist gear from Penguinville. Fast travel is also why people complain about diversity in characters. If every tank has access to the same gear in relative ease, all tanks will look alike, play alike and smell alike. If you have to travel for hours to get somewhere just to get a few points in resistance, you're going to deal with what you have, you'll find tactics to use and you'll look more unique when you meet someone from another region...
With guilds and such, you remove the difficulty and challenge in a game and it becomes a social wank-fest to see who can be the most popular tank in the guild so they can be first invited to ___ raid on the other side of the world for the Sword of Goblin Slaying (because it looks cool, not because you actually fight any goblins...)
Personally, I feel that fast travel is the beginning of the downfall of modern MMOs... Guilds play a close second seat to that, but YMMV. There's nothing like selling your game based on peer pressure (our guild is moving to ____ because they have better guild ____) and screwing everyone who prefers not to "guild." Fast travel only accommodates those looking to team up with guild mates on the other side of the world. Otherwise, you'd be forced to actually complete a dungeon instead of farm specific mobs, build a localized group of friends and actually "socialize" in an MMO.
Why? I have yet to figure out who sits around on their PC/Surface/Etc and looks at pictures... Most people are happy with a simple slide show on their TV, digital picture frame or screen saver.
I just became an uncle again and my parents go stupid over pictures of the kid, yet they take the photo, put it in the PC and rarely ever look at it again until the screen saver kicks in. They don't sit around organizing and laying out the photos in any special way. At least not as much as these multi-touch and software packages make it out. You'd have to have no life or be a scrapbook-er to care about the photos like that, and [sarcasm]I'm sure we all know a billion people that scrapbook. [/sarcasm] I know one and I haven't talked to her in years.
I'd vote for a decent JSON parser for AS that doesn't step through every character one by one to parse the data...(like the one on the JSON page) but that's just a minor gripe of mine.
If nobody speaks up, Microsoft has won. There are a lot of underhanded business practices that MS has "gotten away with" because nobody cared to speak up. If people just let it die off, it opens door for other companies to undermine the standards practices because "people will soon forget."
I had tried Mandriva but the difference between your laptop and the new ones are that the fn + (something) buttons are all softkeys now and require OS support. Mandriva was a little behind on this and different implementations of Thinkpad installs had all kinds of funny problems. (From the searching that I did trying to find the answer to my problem.)
Come to think of it, maybe it was Mandriva that I had to adjust for the fn + Home/End buttons. They would adjust the brightness only one notch and then ACPI (I think) would block it from moving another notch. You could only adjust it one level and then back. (It made adjusting the brightness very difficult.)
Oh, and for the record, I tried Mandriva 2008.1 Spring before going back to Ubuntu. Same deal. My hardware wasn't working without some major fuss. I wanted to try another distro, but none of them seem as dedicated to setting up the multitude of config files to make their distro work out of the box.
I just bought a Lenovo Thinkpad T61 with SLED10 ($50) and I wiped it for Ubuntu. Why? I use Gnome. I didn't like the "XP/Vista like" application menu. I didn't like the package manager... I tried using it for a few days, but went back to Ubuntu figuring that I just spent $50 to give Linux one more OEM sale instead of Windows. Sure, I had to tweak the Thinkpad buttons a bit, but after that everything just worked.
Apparently they forgot to put the ashes of an anonymous crew member in there as well. Everyone knows they are the first to go giving just enough time for the recurring members to get away.
I'd go out on a limb and say there is no language where you couldn't make "spaghetti code". For the record, yes, C# has goto and labels. From MSDN itself: (modded slightly cause I hate open brackets on a line by themselves.)
// statements_goto.cs// Nested search loops using System; public class GotoTest1 {
public static void Main() {
int x = 200, y = 4;
int count = 0;
string[,] myArray = new string[x,y];// Initialize the array:
for (int i = 0; i < x; i++)
for (int j = 0; j < y; j++)
myArray[i,j] = (++count).ToString();// Read input:
Console.Write("Enter the number to search for: ");// Input a string:
string myNumber = Console.ReadLine();// Search:
for (int i = 0; i < x; i++)
for (int j = 0; j < y; j++)
if (myArray[i,j].Equals(myNumber))
goto Found;
Console.WriteLine("The number {0} was not found.", myNumber);
goto Finish;
Found:
Console.WriteLine("The number {0} is found.", myNumber);
I was trying to figure out how porn can be kinder. I guess if more pillows are involved or something... Then I remembered that kinder could be pronounced two different ways;)
How is that any different than coming up with a new fantasy book with Orcs, Elves and Goblins? If it's more entertaining than the Lord of the Rings for one reason or another, why deny it's existence because Tolkien owned a patent on a fantasy book dealing with an alternate universe filled with magic, elves, and walking trees.
Like it or not, software programs use a language to perform a task (entertain, productivity, etc.) just as books use language to perform a task (entertain, educate, etc.)
Sure. You can patent a lever design, but you can't patent the steps used to pull the lever. If you came up with a new CPU, you could most definitely patent it because it's using existing electronic devices to form a new machine. Just as you would use a lever to switch gears in your car.
It's a hard sell though to tell someone that you patented the idea of using that processor and draw a pixel on the screen, using that lever to change gears. You can patent the design and implementation of that device, but the use of it simply makes no sense to be patentable.
Software is just like any other language. You can't patent this sentence, but you can damn sure copyright it so someone else doesn't purposefully copy it and use it for their own.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Software patents should be Copyrights, not patents. Patents belong on physical items. It would be like patenting the method of turning a page in a book.
If someone can figure out a better way to code the same thing you are doing without using your code, more power to them. That's innovation.
Also, Maybe you forgot to leave the service contract section of the page in your screen capture on purpose? You can easily get a $350 difference by putting a service contract on Ubuntu and not Windows.
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Wait a second... I've argued this MANY MANY times. If you buy a Stardock game, you NEED Stardock to run it. They keep telling people that that's not DRM, but it won't run without it. You can ask for a CD copy of the game without this restriction, but I was told you had to pay more for it. In my case it was Galactic Civ 4. I don't remember the exact details, but I remember if you didn't have a specific license file generated from the hardware of your machine, it had to contact Stardock to create a new key from your hardware in order to run.
How can Stardock still have the balls to berate DRM when they use it themselves?
Stardock IS DRM.
Same here... I thought this was a feature when I first read it.
I can think of several (computer) multiple monitor configurations that I would love to have that easily hit $2K US. (with mounting brackets included)
But I have to ask you... why do you need to be on every side of the world in a matter of minutes? What game mechanic deems this a worthwhile endeavor? If you can't complete a mission line in one area, what's to stop you from taking the "easy mode" way out and jumping to another area to complete their quest line instead? Where's the pride in character development from "suffering" through something difficult and having bragging rights? ("Oh wow, you completed ___ dungeon!? How did you get past ___?")
What do the MMO designers have to do now to determine what skills to give to the enemies and loot drops should be in certain areas if people can pack up and travel at a whim to find fire resist gear in Magma Valley and jump on a flying ostrich and get their frost resist gear from Penguinville. Fast travel is also why people complain about diversity in characters. If every tank has access to the same gear in relative ease, all tanks will look alike, play alike and smell alike. If you have to travel for hours to get somewhere just to get a few points in resistance, you're going to deal with what you have, you'll find tactics to use and you'll look more unique when you meet someone from another region...
With guilds and such, you remove the difficulty and challenge in a game and it becomes a social wank-fest to see who can be the most popular tank in the guild so they can be first invited to ___ raid on the other side of the world for the Sword of Goblin Slaying (because it looks cool, not because you actually fight any goblins...)
It would be like hieroglyphs to them and they'd assume we all worshiped some crazy invisible sky god.
It's things like this that make me wonder if we actually understand the past or are reading one viewpoint.
Personally, I feel that fast travel is the beginning of the downfall of modern MMOs... Guilds play a close second seat to that, but YMMV. There's nothing like selling your game based on peer pressure (our guild is moving to ____ because they have better guild ____) and screwing everyone who prefers not to "guild." Fast travel only accommodates those looking to team up with guild mates on the other side of the world. Otherwise, you'd be forced to actually complete a dungeon instead of farm specific mobs, build a localized group of friends and actually "socialize" in an MMO.
Why? I have yet to figure out who sits around on their PC/Surface/Etc and looks at pictures... Most people are happy with a simple slide show on their TV, digital picture frame or screen saver.
I just became an uncle again and my parents go stupid over pictures of the kid, yet they take the photo, put it in the PC and rarely ever look at it again until the screen saver kicks in. They don't sit around organizing and laying out the photos in any special way. At least not as much as these multi-touch and software packages make it out. You'd have to have no life or be a scrapbook-er to care about the photos like that, and [sarcasm]I'm sure we all know a billion people that scrapbook. [/sarcasm] I know one and I haven't talked to her in years.
I'd vote for a decent JSON parser for AS that doesn't step through every character one by one to parse the data...(like the one on the JSON page) but that's just a minor gripe of mine.
I tend to look at it like this...
If nobody speaks up, Microsoft has won. There are a lot of underhanded business practices that MS has "gotten away with" because nobody cared to speak up. If people just let it die off, it opens door for other companies to undermine the standards practices because "people will soon forget."
I had tried Mandriva but the difference between your laptop and the new ones are that the fn + (something) buttons are all softkeys now and require OS support. Mandriva was a little behind on this and different implementations of Thinkpad installs had all kinds of funny problems. (From the searching that I did trying to find the answer to my problem.)
Come to think of it, maybe it was Mandriva that I had to adjust for the fn + Home/End buttons. They would adjust the brightness only one notch and then ACPI (I think) would block it from moving another notch. You could only adjust it one level and then back. (It made adjusting the brightness very difficult.)
Oh, and for the record, I tried Mandriva 2008.1 Spring before going back to Ubuntu. Same deal. My hardware wasn't working without some major fuss. I wanted to try another distro, but none of them seem as dedicated to setting up the multitude of config files to make their distro work out of the box.
I just bought a Lenovo Thinkpad T61 with SLED10 ($50) and I wiped it for Ubuntu. Why? I use Gnome. I didn't like the "XP/Vista like" application menu. I didn't like the package manager... I tried using it for a few days, but went back to Ubuntu figuring that I just spent $50 to give Linux one more OEM sale instead of Windows. Sure, I had to tweak the Thinkpad buttons a bit, but after that everything just worked.
Or maybe God is Satan :p
Think about it... the most loving thing in the world who would use plagues, floods, fear and martyrs for his cause? Seriously?
I prefer the nice sharp smell of ammonia in the morning. Wakes your ass right up.
Can copper rust? ;) (I know... being technical here...)
Apparently they forgot to put the ashes of an anonymous crew member in there as well. Everyone knows they are the first to go giving just enough time for the recurring members to get away.
I'd go out on a limb and say there is no language where you couldn't make "spaghetti code". For the record, yes, C# has goto and labels. From MSDN itself: (modded slightly cause I hate open brackets on a line by themselves.)
I was trying to figure out how porn can be kinder. I guess if more pillows are involved or something... Then I remembered that kinder could be pronounced two different ways ;)
How is that any different than coming up with a new fantasy book with Orcs, Elves and Goblins? If it's more entertaining than the Lord of the Rings for one reason or another, why deny it's existence because Tolkien owned a patent on a fantasy book dealing with an alternate universe filled with magic, elves, and walking trees.
Like it or not, software programs use a language to perform a task (entertain, productivity, etc.) just as books use language to perform a task (entertain, educate, etc.)
Sure. You can patent a lever design, but you can't patent the steps used to pull the lever. If you came up with a new CPU, you could most definitely patent it because it's using existing electronic devices to form a new machine. Just as you would use a lever to switch gears in your car.
It's a hard sell though to tell someone that you patented the idea of using that processor and draw a pixel on the screen, using that lever to change gears. You can patent the design and implementation of that device, but the use of it simply makes no sense to be patentable.
Software is just like any other language. You can't patent this sentence, but you can damn sure copyright it so someone else doesn't purposefully copy it and use it for their own.
I've said it before and I'll say it again, Software patents should be Copyrights, not patents. Patents belong on physical items. It would be like patenting the method of turning a page in a book.
If someone can figure out a better way to code the same thing you are doing without using your code, more power to them. That's innovation.
Also, Maybe you forgot to leave the service contract section of the page in your screen capture on purpose? You can easily get a $350 difference by putting a service contract on Ubuntu and not Windows.
Who would have figured processors would be so different in price...
I redid your test on the US site using the SAME hardware:
Windows ($824): http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/1341/dellwindowsze8.png
Ubuntu ($749): http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/3127/dellubuntusp9.png
For those with signatures off:
"The password entered is too long." - TCF Online Banking