When you copy a game right down to it's unique visual style, it's pretty obvious what side of the line you are on. If the developer of Aquatica had created his own graphical style from scratch, but kept the same gameplay rules, it would have been a lot murkier. And I think he would even have been left alone.
Devil Kings and 99 Nights were very clearly clones of Dynasty Warriors, but they brought their own visual styles, characters and plots to the table. The engine behind them is pretty much the same. No reasonable people called it theft.
I dunno about 'in line with philosophy' and all that, but SR2 was a great game. I hated SR1, and GTA games are just 'pretty good' in my book... But SR2 I actually played to the end without cheating. For a guy that has so much to do that he never gets bored any more, that's saying a lot.
MySpace says they are transferring all the playlists over as well, as well as the users... So they bought them for their customer list, which is legal as far as I know.
I've always really hated this assumption. I currently work as a programmer, but even when I was schlepping boxes at a grocery store, I never tried to avoid physical labor. I actually enjoyed it and wish I could work in useful labor instead of useless exercise. I actually considered keeping both jobs for a while, but that wasn't working out.
Actually, that's not true. The server doesn't just let the clients community. It guides them, enforces the rules, and provides the spawns/drops. That means it needs to know everything about the maps and in-game stuff.
I had a lot more fun on the 'pirate' server I played on than the real one thanks to the fact that I haven't got time to grind. I was able to bring my characters to the end game and experience the plot along the way without dozens of hours of mindless grind.
Honestly, if Blizzard had offered a pay server like that, I'd choose that hands-down. But they don't, so I didn't have any choice. And yes, I did pay for the software.
I have tons of random friends. Why? Because I use Facebook as a gaming site, rather than a friends site. The more 'friends' I have, the more powerful I am in the games. (Which is stupid, but that's the way they are written.) So I've got like 1000 'friends' on facebook about 10 in real life, plus family. Most of my 'friends' on facebook are the same way.
I don't post things on there that I don't want random strangers to see anyhow, so it's no big deal.
So if they didn't eliminate people like me from their survey, it's badly skewed.
As someone else noted, you can block each application.
But I hear what you're saying about the spam from all the apps. Personally, I use facebook as a gaming platform, so the game ones don't bother me, but the other ones do instead, like the constant barrage of 'join this group' and 'support my cause' and the new quizzes and crap.
First of all, I am, and always will be, a bandwidth hog. Why? Because I'm better at using the internet than everyone around me. That means I find more things, and bigger things, to download. If they someone banned P2P, I'd still have more streamed video than anyone I know. If they banned that, too, I'd still download more images. If they banned that, i'd still have more web traffic, email, IM, etc etc etc. I will always be a 'hog' in any environment. I was even told that I was "#1 abuser" of the "Unlimited" service when I was on dial-up in a small town and they tried to charge me an extra $300 that month. As someone else had just come into town, I switched, obviously.
I don't pay for the top tier of residential service to just let it sit idle. I'm going to -use- it.
I have absolutely no sympathy for people that sell me something and then get upset when I actually use it within the original limitations. I have only a small amount of sympathy for people that sell me something and I use it beyond their arbitrary limitations, even if I agreed to them.
Why?
America has -crap- for internet compared to other developed countries. We are quickly falling behind the rest of the world in terms of internet bandwidth. This is purely from greed and laziness on the part of the ISP. They refuse to upgrade and try to prevent competition at the same time. Sprint even has the nerve to advertise Pure and claim that it's faster than Cable internet, despite being 1/10th of the speed.
" And then there's the issue of monopoly, which must give the authors the willies."
WHAT monopoly? They already sign to a single publisher for a book as it is. That publisher has always gotten to make all the publishing decisions. It's business as usual!
And if the answer is 'DRM', then they are doubly fools.
In the book, Galt made -1- speech. The speech he was forced to give. That the speech didn't have the content his captors wanted was another thing entirely, but he was forced to give a speech. Before that, he had only talked to people that were like-minded and shown them a way to proceed. He never forced anyone to do anything.
The real crime is that you think it is okay for people to assume movies have any relation to reality to begin with. ALL movies would have your disclaimer, making it worthless.
"If the advantages of decentralization are irrelevant, then you don't need bittorrent (tracker or not) for non-infringing use. Just host a ftpd dammit!"
That's not true. BT has one important advantage over FTP: You don't have to be the sole source of data. Speed can be greatly increased, with less bandwidth cost for the origin of the torrent.
Even the 'boring' maintenance can be made fun by doing it right. If you have had to do a task more than twice, or can see doing it multiple times in the future, it's obviously something that can use some automation.
In the rare case that it really -does- need a human eye on it, simplify it to such an extent that the boss would love to give it to someone that makes 1/4 your pay, and then you only have to deal with unforeseen problems with it.
When (as a smaller company) our system admin quit, I got stuck with all his non-sysadmin duties. (There wasn't much to do system-wise at the time, so that was most of his job.) Over the course of a few weeks, I turned his job into a series of scripts. Eventually, I integrated the scripts into our administration system and now customer service ends up doing most of it. When the dust finally settles for current projects, I'll be moving the last little bit I have to do over to the outsourced programming team.
Turning those tasks into automated or simplified processes was almost as much fun as my regular coding work.
I solved this problem long ago. I simply made it a lot more painful to get my help than to just use it right in the first place. Now they very, very rarely ask me for computer help, and when they do, there are bribes involved. Having to suffer for months with a computer that's too slow to use is usually enough pain, but then I also tell them exactly how stupid it was that they did what they did. That usually prevents a re-occurance.
Sounds like your family won't learn unless there's a stick involved, either. Carrot doesn't always work.
Mafia Wars is free. You never have to install anything, spend any money, or visit any other sites. If you want some of the special tokens, you can do those things... But the tokens will only get you things that you could get anyway if you simply had some patience.
All of this is completely in the users' hands. The sponsors page even says things like 'don't sign up for this if you don't really want information on the product' and things like that. If you don't really -want- the Zwinkie toolbar, you shouldn't install it.
1) Who says they don't? They may have more immediate issues to attend to, however. Of course, they may also not feel they are a 'mess', as you do.
2) Sometimes people worry about more than just their immediate job. Even if his job is only to worry about the legal aspects, that doesn't mean he -has- to ignore all the political and economic aspects of the issue.
3) Software patents are not business method patents, no matter how they were born. They have become separate issues. It's possible they could be linked and come down together, but it's also possible that the link will sever and software patents will have to be dealt with separately.
Someone above mentioned Spanish, but I've been using 'comic books' to help learn Japanese. Regular books are -far- too hard yet, but I could puzzle my way through an easy manga (japanese comic book) months ago now. Now I'm up to early teen mangas and still getting better. Yes, my goal is to eventually read any book I can lay my hands on, but there's no doubt in my mind that manga have made it far, far easier to learn Japanese.
I see no reason this wouldn't be the same for English as well. Yes, there may be some reluctance from the child when moving from comics to real books, but if they already enjoy reading when it comes time for that, it'll be easier.
Actually, no. It never preaches. It just gives answers to questions and the relevant bible quotes to back it up. It's a very interesting read, no matter your theistic inclinations.
Slashdot Mirror
But does it run Linux!?
http://www.bada.com/a-glimpse-at-samsung-bada/
"The kernel layer, which can be based on a real-time OS or Linux kernel, depending on hardware configuration"
That's a definite 'maybe'.
And with a little C4, Bada Boom.
When you copy a game right down to it's unique visual style, it's pretty obvious what side of the line you are on. If the developer of Aquatica had created his own graphical style from scratch, but kept the same gameplay rules, it would have been a lot murkier. And I think he would even have been left alone.
Devil Kings and 99 Nights were very clearly clones of Dynasty Warriors, but they brought their own visual styles, characters and plots to the table. The engine behind them is pretty much the same. No reasonable people called it theft.
I dunno about 'in line with philosophy' and all that, but SR2 was a great game. I hated SR1, and GTA games are just 'pretty good' in my book... But SR2 I actually played to the end without cheating. For a guy that has so much to do that he never gets bored any more, that's saying a lot.
MySpace says they are transferring all the playlists over as well, as well as the users... So they bought them for their customer list, which is legal as far as I know.
I've always really hated this assumption. I currently work as a programmer, but even when I was schlepping boxes at a grocery store, I never tried to avoid physical labor. I actually enjoyed it and wish I could work in useful labor instead of useless exercise. I actually considered keeping both jobs for a while, but that wasn't working out.
Actually, that's not true. The server doesn't just let the clients community. It guides them, enforces the rules, and provides the spawns/drops. That means it needs to know everything about the maps and in-game stuff.
I had a lot more fun on the 'pirate' server I played on than the real one thanks to the fact that I haven't got time to grind. I was able to bring my characters to the end game and experience the plot along the way without dozens of hours of mindless grind.
Honestly, if Blizzard had offered a pay server like that, I'd choose that hands-down. But they don't, so I didn't have any choice. And yes, I did pay for the software.
True, 'invented' is the wrong way to put it.
Ford made cars popular with the general public, and Branson is expected to make commercial spaceflight popular.
Even if he doesn't quite get it, he's done a LOT to make the public take notice of it.
He worked as a machinist... That's at least somewhat the same as inventing the car.
From audio to spaceflight is completely different jump.
I have tons of random friends. Why? Because I use Facebook as a gaming site, rather than a friends site. The more 'friends' I have, the more powerful I am in the games. (Which is stupid, but that's the way they are written.) So I've got like 1000 'friends' on facebook about 10 in real life, plus family. Most of my 'friends' on facebook are the same way.
I don't post things on there that I don't want random strangers to see anyhow, so it's no big deal.
So if they didn't eliminate people like me from their survey, it's badly skewed.
As someone else noted, you can block each application.
But I hear what you're saying about the spam from all the apps. Personally, I use facebook as a gaming platform, so the game ones don't bother me, but the other ones do instead, like the constant barrage of 'join this group' and 'support my cause' and the new quizzes and crap.
First of all, I am, and always will be, a bandwidth hog. Why? Because I'm better at using the internet than everyone around me. That means I find more things, and bigger things, to download. If they someone banned P2P, I'd still have more streamed video than anyone I know. If they banned that, too, I'd still download more images. If they banned that, i'd still have more web traffic, email, IM, etc etc etc. I will always be a 'hog' in any environment. I was even told that I was "#1 abuser" of the "Unlimited" service when I was on dial-up in a small town and they tried to charge me an extra $300 that month. As someone else had just come into town, I switched, obviously.
I don't pay for the top tier of residential service to just let it sit idle. I'm going to -use- it.
I have absolutely no sympathy for people that sell me something and then get upset when I actually use it within the original limitations. I have only a small amount of sympathy for people that sell me something and I use it beyond their arbitrary limitations, even if I agreed to them.
Why?
America has -crap- for internet compared to other developed countries. We are quickly falling behind the rest of the world in terms of internet bandwidth. This is purely from greed and laziness on the part of the ISP. They refuse to upgrade and try to prevent competition at the same time. Sprint even has the nerve to advertise Pure and claim that it's faster than Cable internet, despite being 1/10th of the speed.
So again, DRM is the answer, according to you.
DON'T USE DRM. Then you won't be locked to a specific reader.
Yes, the answer really is that simple.
" And then there's the issue of monopoly, which must give the authors the willies."
WHAT monopoly? They already sign to a single publisher for a book as it is. That publisher has always gotten to make all the publishing decisions. It's business as usual!
And if the answer is 'DRM', then they are doubly fools.
In the book, Galt made -1- speech. The speech he was forced to give. That the speech didn't have the content his captors wanted was another thing entirely, but he was forced to give a speech. Before that, he had only talked to people that were like-minded and shown them a way to proceed. He never forced anyone to do anything.
The real crime is that you think it is okay for people to assume movies have any relation to reality to begin with. ALL movies would have your disclaimer, making it worthless.
"If the advantages of decentralization are irrelevant, then you don't need bittorrent (tracker or not) for non-infringing use. Just host a ftpd dammit!"
That's not true. BT has one important advantage over FTP: You don't have to be the sole source of data. Speed can be greatly increased, with less bandwidth cost for the origin of the torrent.
Even the 'boring' maintenance can be made fun by doing it right. If you have had to do a task more than twice, or can see doing it multiple times in the future, it's obviously something that can use some automation.
In the rare case that it really -does- need a human eye on it, simplify it to such an extent that the boss would love to give it to someone that makes 1/4 your pay, and then you only have to deal with unforeseen problems with it.
When (as a smaller company) our system admin quit, I got stuck with all his non-sysadmin duties. (There wasn't much to do system-wise at the time, so that was most of his job.) Over the course of a few weeks, I turned his job into a series of scripts. Eventually, I integrated the scripts into our administration system and now customer service ends up doing most of it. When the dust finally settles for current projects, I'll be moving the last little bit I have to do over to the outsourced programming team.
Turning those tasks into automated or simplified processes was almost as much fun as my regular coding work.
I solved this problem long ago. I simply made it a lot more painful to get my help than to just use it right in the first place. Now they very, very rarely ask me for computer help, and when they do, there are bribes involved. Having to suffer for months with a computer that's too slow to use is usually enough pain, but then I also tell them exactly how stupid it was that they did what they did. That usually prevents a re-occurance.
Sounds like your family won't learn unless there's a stick involved, either. Carrot doesn't always work.
Then they will die. I don't see the problem.
Mafia Wars is free. You never have to install anything, spend any money, or visit any other sites. If you want some of the special tokens, you can do those things... But the tokens will only get you things that you could get anyway if you simply had some patience.
All of this is completely in the users' hands. The sponsors page even says things like 'don't sign up for this if you don't really want information on the product' and things like that. If you don't really -want- the Zwinkie toolbar, you shouldn't install it.
1) Who says they don't? They may have more immediate issues to attend to, however. Of course, they may also not feel they are a 'mess', as you do.
2) Sometimes people worry about more than just their immediate job. Even if his job is only to worry about the legal aspects, that doesn't mean he -has- to ignore all the political and economic aspects of the issue.
3) Software patents are not business method patents, no matter how they were born. They have become separate issues. It's possible they could be linked and come down together, but it's also possible that the link will sever and software patents will have to be dealt with separately.
Someone above mentioned Spanish, but I've been using 'comic books' to help learn Japanese. Regular books are -far- too hard yet, but I could puzzle my way through an easy manga (japanese comic book) months ago now. Now I'm up to early teen mangas and still getting better. Yes, my goal is to eventually read any book I can lay my hands on, but there's no doubt in my mind that manga have made it far, far easier to learn Japanese.
I see no reason this wouldn't be the same for English as well. Yes, there may be some reluctance from the child when moving from comics to real books, but if they already enjoy reading when it comes time for that, it'll be easier.
Actually, no. It never preaches. It just gives answers to questions and the relevant bible quotes to back it up. It's a very interesting read, no matter your theistic inclinations.