Exactly. They were jerks before this, and nothing has changed. They are desperate to get their names out... Desperate enough for rubber red chicken costumes and crashing an awards show so they can guarantee not to be invited back or to others. Way to go, dumbasses.
Oh, and I -still- have no idea what they're about, and I hope nobody else learned because of this, either.
I thought the same thing at first, though I did watch the movie voluntarily. It managed to be funny and interesting, and I'd probably watch it again. (That's probably the best thing I could say about a movie... I'd watch it again. With so many movies, there's rarely a reason to watch the same one over again.)
I don't think I'd call it genius, but compared to most 'comedies', it's definitely a cut above.
No joke. If they (the silver members) REALLY cared, they'd pay the money to have demos at the same time. They don't care enough, so they won't pay it.
When the 360 was released, they announced there would be content that Silver members would -never- get. That hasn't happened, and they're lucky. What were they going to do, refuse to play games online? Oh noes.
They (the studios/mpaa/whoever) are convinced it will -cost them money- to release movies without DRM. The only way they are going to feel okay is to have it proven false (yeah, we've tried that for years) or charge more for non-DRM'd copies.
It worked for MP3s, didn't it? They started offering DRM-free files, but charged more. People bought -more- music instead of less, and now places are offering MP3s at the same rate that they used to offer DRM-protected files.
Someone said that 'they' are worried that there will be rips on the internet quicker than if there was no DRM... It doens't take any longer to rip a DRM'd DVD than a non-DRM'd one at this point. And I think even HDDVD/Bluray are in this same boat as well. DRM doesn't stop that piracy at all. They -might- be worried that people will make a local copy for their friends, but anyone that knows how to use a DVD writer also knows how to rip a DVD, DRM'd or not. It makes no real difference there, either. (At the worst, they might have to ask a friend where to get a program.)
So I'm willing to pay a little more for DVDs that give me back more of my 'rights'.
Yes, but he said the 'ripper', not the DVD. I was unaware that there were mainstream commercial DVDs without CSS on them, but I knew it was perfectly possible.
Oh? How do the other ones do it without circumventing the copy protection? Here's a hint: They don't. Every ripper circumvents the copy protection. It doesn't matter -how- it does it, just that it gets circumvented.
Charge me the extra $3-4 and leave off ALL DRM. That includes that macrovision crap and all of it. Don't require special software or hardware. Just don't put the DRM in place.
Their request seems perfectly reasonable to me... Right up until I remember that there are -tons- of GPS units out there already that already have this town on the map. Not many of those will get updated maps, so it'll mostly be limited to new devices.
If this town wants to truly solve the problem, other methods will have to be used anyhow... Getting yourselves taken off the maps seems like a pointless move for this problem, and a bad move in terms of prosperity of the town.
Job: Artist - Needs specific lighting conditions to ensure colors are correct.
Person: Some people prefer dark room, and some prefer light. I'm a light person myself, but I work with 1 who doesn't care and 1 who prefers dark. When 'dark' comes in, my floor lamp goes on (the only one in the room) and the overhead lights go out. 'dark' and 'don't care' each have desk lamps to provide just the right light for them.
So while the first pic appears to be a dungeon at first, it's actually a carefully constructed work area, and the second seems to be paradise but might make it rather hard to get their jobs done.
Wait, last I checked, you merely had to tell people where to get the source. As all (x|edu|k)ubuntu distros have that built into the package manager, they -had- told people how to get the source.
Or are you suggesting that each distro made from Ubuntu must have its own separate repository for the source? That clearly flies in the face of what already exists.
Yes, but not as much as the content producers need Google. It is -the- main search engine now. To not have your site on Google is very harmful to business. Even ignoring the lost business from people who just don't find the site, there will be those who stop to wonder why Site X is on the other search engines and not Google. As Google has recently stated that they are removing malware sites, that will be the first thought of a lot of people. Last on anyone's list will be 'They didn't want Google indexing their content' because it's idiotic.
And if you think there's nobody else out there with your product that's willing to play along with Google's rules, you're an idiot.
I suspect it -is- legally binding since Google has said that they will honor the robots.txt. If they suddenly stop, they could find themselves in for a lawsuit. (Whether that lawsuit has merit would be determined in a court of law.)
I make the distinction not from a legal standpoint, but from a 'follow the company policy' standpoint. Multiple violations of company policy will get you fired anywhere. It doesn't even really matter what part of the policy you violate if there are multiple violations.
If he -had- been 'pirating' or helping something to 'pirate' software or DVDs, it would have only needed 1 offense. Breaking the law is almost always instant-fire.
This is not about moral or immoral, ethical or unethical... It's about company policy.
Just so I'm clear on this: I have never worked for BestBuy, though I did apply a few years back. I took their personality test and they never called me... I suspect I was too honest and caring. I didn't care for them before I applied, I definitely didn't like them after, and after they threatened to throw me out of the store for taking a picture of a product I wanted to remember... Well, I certainly didn't like them after that.
But company policy is company policy... You violate it at your own peril.
What exactly is a non-copyrighted CD? There as -no- artistic merit to anything on the CD? It would have to be raw data and executables, no artwork, no source code... Nothing copyrightable because the instant that it's created is when copyright takes effect.
Even if the original employee was the copyright owner and had given permission, it is -still- copyrighted. And that's against the store policy.
Were the interrogations wrong? Absolutely. Should he have been fired? Maybe... He obviously didn't read the rulebook. (Or didn't care what was in it.) BestBuy was trying to clean up their image after a HORRIBLE scandal for them. They can't afford to have any more of this crap go on. He did the obvious things, but didn't bother to follow all their rules.
I suspect -all- Geek Squad employees are guilty of violating that rulebook at some point or another. So they -should- worry about their jobs.
Because that's the -rating-, not the audience. Teens buy M-rated games. Whether they do so directly, or by fraud, or by getting someone else to... It doesn't matter. They buy them.
"Ill-fated" may be a harsh and poorly chosen phrase, but the GameCube is not exactly going down in history as a favorite for gamers. After the success of the N64 (everyone wanted one), the GC just seems... lame. I had one and actually sold it well before the Wii came out. It simply wasn't worth dusting so often.
Were there a few 'good' games? Sure. But the Wii already has more 'good' games (IMO) than the GC had over its entire lifespan. That's pretty pathetic. And compared to the number of titles that the PS2 had that were 'good'... Well, the GC wasn't worth even looking at. I think even the original XBox had as many 'good' titles as the GC.
Whether the company makes a profit is definitely -not- a major concern for most gamers. It's like saying the Red Coats' coats were really well made. I'm sure someone cared, but not most people.
If you were talking about a single person trusting a single entity, that is correct. We are talking about the internet and a ton of geeks. If there's anything hinky with EFF's program, it'll be found. And if there's not, even those who don't trust the EFF itself can trust the app with a fair amount of confidence.
I'm leaving out any geeky reasons such as viewing the source code (which I don't see if they provide or not) or how simple the process is.
The article, and your summary of it, makes a lot of sense to me, too. Don't confuse that with reality, though. The reality is that 'intelligence' is not very malleable. It -is- something you are born with. This reality is freely spoken about on the internet.
So then the choice becomes: Lie about it, or say it another way. If we praise effort instead of praising intelligence, they will work harder because that is how to get ahead. Currently, most people only praise right answers, regardless of how much work was involved in getting there.
Why do we do this? Because the 'real world' works this way. Your boss doesn't care how hard you worked to get the answer, only that you got it the most efficient way possible. It's cheaper for him/her that way. I'm sure most of us can think of examples where we did something simple and got a ton of praise, and did something horribly difficult and got less praise. Results are valued, not hard work. (They do -call- it hard work, though, whether it was or not.)
The other issue I noticed with this study is that there was no attempt to determine if the child worked hard for the answer or simply knew it. No attempt to determine the innate 'intelligence' of the children. The only time they knew the difference was with kids who failed to try hard. We don't really know why the 'good' kids did well, only that they believed they could increase their intelligence by working hard at it and that it -could- have something to do with their success. Did they believe that because they were naturally smart, or were there 'dumb' kids in that group that felt the same way? Did their hard work actually take them any further? We don't know, because we don't know how they'd have reacted if they believed the other way. There are no proper controls on this because there are too many variables. Humans don't make good guinea pigs. Not even the small ones.
Where do you find a tablet pc for $400? Or was that just hyperbole? Even good PDAs are still $400, so I don't see how you can get even the crummiest Tablet PC for that.
As for reading books on a device... You obviously aren't the target audience if you read that seldom. I -do- read often enough that this is in the right price range. In fact, I bought my n800 to read eBooks on... And the Palm TX before it, and a few pocket PCs before that, and Palms before that... I admit that I've spent more on the devices than the ebooks themselves, but I -far- prefer an electronic book to a real one.
This device, however, appears to be large, clumsy and hideous. Why do you need a keyboard on your book? Only to order them, in this case. It's in the way 99% of the time. It should have had some sort of on-screen keyboard, or something that hides away. Even an attachment that you can leave in a drawer 99% of the time would be acceptable.
DRM: I've seen others say DRM is here to stay for Amazon. Just like iTunes, huh? Think again. Baen.com has been DRM-free since it started selling ebooks and it is getting more popular all the time. I've read most of their free ones and quite a few that I've bought there. Definitely quality stuff, and no DRM.
FTA: "The PSP slim model (which is lighter, thinner and features video out capabilities) reached this milestone two weeks faster than the original PSP nearly three years ago."
FTS: "That's more units sold than the original PSP did in its several-year-long lifespan."
The summary is blatantly stupid. It only took the original model -2 more weeks- than this model. Demand has not increased all that much, considering the considerable user base and available games.
To 'effect' something is to make it happen, or being it into existence. Since they are creating a game called 'Mass Effect', I guess maybe they know what they are talking about after all.
Learn what words really mean before you try to be a grammar nazi.
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Exactly. They were jerks before this, and nothing has changed. They are desperate to get their names out... Desperate enough for rubber red chicken costumes and crashing an awards show so they can guarantee not to be invited back or to others. Way to go, dumbasses.
Oh, and I -still- have no idea what they're about, and I hope nobody else learned because of this, either.
I thought the same thing at first, though I did watch the movie voluntarily. It managed to be funny and interesting, and I'd probably watch it again. (That's probably the best thing I could say about a movie... I'd watch it again. With so many movies, there's rarely a reason to watch the same one over again.)
I don't think I'd call it genius, but compared to most 'comedies', it's definitely a cut above.
No joke. If they (the silver members) REALLY cared, they'd pay the money to have demos at the same time. They don't care enough, so they won't pay it.
When the 360 was released, they announced there would be content that Silver members would -never- get. That hasn't happened, and they're lucky. What were they going to do, refuse to play games online? Oh noes.
They (the studios/mpaa/whoever) are convinced it will -cost them money- to release movies without DRM. The only way they are going to feel okay is to have it proven false (yeah, we've tried that for years) or charge more for non-DRM'd copies.
It worked for MP3s, didn't it? They started offering DRM-free files, but charged more. People bought -more- music instead of less, and now places are offering MP3s at the same rate that they used to offer DRM-protected files.
Someone said that 'they' are worried that there will be rips on the internet quicker than if there was no DRM... It doens't take any longer to rip a DRM'd DVD than a non-DRM'd one at this point. And I think even HDDVD/Bluray are in this same boat as well. DRM doesn't stop that piracy at all. They -might- be worried that people will make a local copy for their friends, but anyone that knows how to use a DVD writer also knows how to rip a DVD, DRM'd or not. It makes no real difference there, either. (At the worst, they might have to ask a friend where to get a program.)
So I'm willing to pay a little more for DVDs that give me back more of my 'rights'.
Yes, but he said the 'ripper', not the DVD. I was unaware that there were mainstream commercial DVDs without CSS on them, but I knew it was perfectly possible.
Oh? How do the other ones do it without circumventing the copy protection? Here's a hint: They don't. Every ripper circumvents the copy protection. It doesn't matter -how- it does it, just that it gets circumvented.
I'm all for it, if they change the rules a bit:
Charge me the extra $3-4 and leave off ALL DRM. That includes that macrovision crap and all of it. Don't require special software or hardware. Just don't put the DRM in place.
Their request seems perfectly reasonable to me... Right up until I remember that there are -tons- of GPS units out there already that already have this town on the map. Not many of those will get updated maps, so it'll mostly be limited to new devices.
If this town wants to truly solve the problem, other methods will have to be used anyhow... Getting yourselves taken off the maps seems like a pointless move for this problem, and a bad move in terms of prosperity of the town.
That -is- the picture I was looking at.
That actually depends on the job and person both.
Job: Artist - Needs specific lighting conditions to ensure colors are correct.
Person: Some people prefer dark room, and some prefer light. I'm a light person myself, but I work with 1 who doesn't care and 1 who prefers dark. When 'dark' comes in, my floor lamp goes on (the only one in the room) and the overhead lights go out. 'dark' and 'don't care' each have desk lamps to provide just the right light for them.
So while the first pic appears to be a dungeon at first, it's actually a carefully constructed work area, and the second seems to be paradise but might make it rather hard to get their jobs done.
Wait, last I checked, you merely had to tell people where to get the source. As all (x|edu|k)ubuntu distros have that built into the package manager, they -had- told people how to get the source.
Or are you suggesting that each distro made from Ubuntu must have its own separate repository for the source? That clearly flies in the face of what already exists.
Yes, but not as much as the content producers need Google. It is -the- main search engine now. To not have your site on Google is very harmful to business. Even ignoring the lost business from people who just don't find the site, there will be those who stop to wonder why Site X is on the other search engines and not Google. As Google has recently stated that they are removing malware sites, that will be the first thought of a lot of people. Last on anyone's list will be 'They didn't want Google indexing their content' because it's idiotic.
And if you think there's nobody else out there with your product that's willing to play along with Google's rules, you're an idiot.
I suspect it -is- legally binding since Google has said that they will honor the robots.txt. If they suddenly stop, they could find themselves in for a lawsuit. (Whether that lawsuit has merit would be determined in a court of law.)
ANAL.
I make the distinction not from a legal standpoint, but from a 'follow the company policy' standpoint. Multiple violations of company policy will get you fired anywhere. It doesn't even really matter what part of the policy you violate if there are multiple violations.
If he -had- been 'pirating' or helping something to 'pirate' software or DVDs, it would have only needed 1 offense. Breaking the law is almost always instant-fire.
This is not about moral or immoral, ethical or unethical... It's about company policy.
Just so I'm clear on this: I have never worked for BestBuy, though I did apply a few years back. I took their personality test and they never called me... I suspect I was too honest and caring. I didn't care for them before I applied, I definitely didn't like them after, and after they threatened to throw me out of the store for taking a picture of a product I wanted to remember... Well, I certainly didn't like them after that.
But company policy is company policy... You violate it at your own peril.
Use your brain. Those are all still copyrighted. Just because permission is given to copy does not mean it is 'non-copyrighted'.
What exactly is a non-copyrighted CD? There as -no- artistic merit to anything on the CD? It would have to be raw data and executables, no artwork, no source code... Nothing copyrightable because the instant that it's created is when copyright takes effect.
Even if the original employee was the copyright owner and had given permission, it is -still- copyrighted. And that's against the store policy.
Were the interrogations wrong? Absolutely. Should he have been fired? Maybe... He obviously didn't read the rulebook. (Or didn't care what was in it.) BestBuy was trying to clean up their image after a HORRIBLE scandal for them. They can't afford to have any more of this crap go on. He did the obvious things, but didn't bother to follow all their rules.
I suspect -all- Geek Squad employees are guilty of violating that rulebook at some point or another. So they -should- worry about their jobs.
Because that's the -rating-, not the audience. Teens buy M-rated games. Whether they do so directly, or by fraud, or by getting someone else to... It doesn't matter. They buy them.
"Ill-fated" may be a harsh and poorly chosen phrase, but the GameCube is not exactly going down in history as a favorite for gamers. After the success of the N64 (everyone wanted one), the GC just seems... lame. I had one and actually sold it well before the Wii came out. It simply wasn't worth dusting so often.
Were there a few 'good' games? Sure. But the Wii already has more 'good' games (IMO) than the GC had over its entire lifespan. That's pretty pathetic. And compared to the number of titles that the PS2 had that were 'good'... Well, the GC wasn't worth even looking at. I think even the original XBox had as many 'good' titles as the GC.
Whether the company makes a profit is definitely -not- a major concern for most gamers. It's like saying the Red Coats' coats were really well made. I'm sure someone cared, but not most people.
If you were talking about a single person trusting a single entity, that is correct. We are talking about the internet and a ton of geeks. If there's anything hinky with EFF's program, it'll be found. And if there's not, even those who don't trust the EFF itself can trust the app with a fair amount of confidence.
I'm leaving out any geeky reasons such as viewing the source code (which I don't see if they provide or not) or how simple the process is.
The article, and your summary of it, makes a lot of sense to me, too. Don't confuse that with reality, though. The reality is that 'intelligence' is not very malleable. It -is- something you are born with. This reality is freely spoken about on the internet.
So then the choice becomes: Lie about it, or say it another way. If we praise effort instead of praising intelligence, they will work harder because that is how to get ahead. Currently, most people only praise right answers, regardless of how much work was involved in getting there.
Why do we do this? Because the 'real world' works this way. Your boss doesn't care how hard you worked to get the answer, only that you got it the most efficient way possible. It's cheaper for him/her that way. I'm sure most of us can think of examples where we did something simple and got a ton of praise, and did something horribly difficult and got less praise. Results are valued, not hard work. (They do -call- it hard work, though, whether it was or not.)
The other issue I noticed with this study is that there was no attempt to determine if the child worked hard for the answer or simply knew it. No attempt to determine the innate 'intelligence' of the children. The only time they knew the difference was with kids who failed to try hard. We don't really know why the 'good' kids did well, only that they believed they could increase their intelligence by working hard at it and that it -could- have something to do with their success. Did they believe that because they were naturally smart, or were there 'dumb' kids in that group that felt the same way? Did their hard work actually take them any further? We don't know, because we don't know how they'd have reacted if they believed the other way. There are no proper controls on this because there are too many variables. Humans don't make good guinea pigs. Not even the small ones.
Where do you find a tablet pc for $400? Or was that just hyperbole? Even good PDAs are still $400, so I don't see how you can get even the crummiest Tablet PC for that.
As for reading books on a device... You obviously aren't the target audience if you read that seldom. I -do- read often enough that this is in the right price range. In fact, I bought my n800 to read eBooks on... And the Palm TX before it, and a few pocket PCs before that, and Palms before that... I admit that I've spent more on the devices than the ebooks themselves, but I -far- prefer an electronic book to a real one.
This device, however, appears to be large, clumsy and hideous. Why do you need a keyboard on your book? Only to order them, in this case. It's in the way 99% of the time. It should have had some sort of on-screen keyboard, or something that hides away. Even an attachment that you can leave in a drawer 99% of the time would be acceptable.
DRM: I've seen others say DRM is here to stay for Amazon. Just like iTunes, huh? Think again. Baen.com has been DRM-free since it started selling ebooks and it is getting more popular all the time. I've read most of their free ones and quite a few that I've bought there. Definitely quality stuff, and no DRM.
FTA: "The PSP slim model (which is lighter, thinner and features video out capabilities) reached this milestone two weeks faster than the original PSP nearly three years ago."
FTS: "That's more units sold than the original PSP did in its several-year-long lifespan."
The summary is blatantly stupid. It only took the original model -2 more weeks- than this model. Demand has not increased all that much, considering the considerable user base and available games.
A clue about the legal system and the best ways to win unreasonable cases.
I seriously doubt the poster meant that Jack is correct in his lawsuits.
No, I think maybe we all thought you didn't understand the comic.
Maybe you were a bit too subtle. Sometimes the difference between subtle and oblivious is indistinguishable on the net.
To 'effect' something is to make it happen, or being it into existence. Since they are creating a game called 'Mass Effect', I guess maybe they know what they are talking about after all.
Learn what words really mean before you try to be a grammar nazi.