There was this highly-publicized story a year ago about Demigod, a DRM-free game that suffered server problems due to excessive traffic from pirated copies. As much as it pains me to say it, DRM may have been a boon for this game.
DRM is a fantasy. Snake oil. It doesn't work. It's been proven time and time again for the last 25 years. EVERY copy protection system ever devised has been defeated quickly.
so the usage of a free pirate equivalent is further justified
Your "justification" is the very definition of a "feeling of entitlement". You don't want to pay the price they're asking for but you want it anyway so you'll just go ahead and take it, am I right? While it's true that MS competes with piracy, attitudes like yours should not be encouraged.
Interesting abridged history of comic book publishing there.
Just wanted to add though that for those in Asia where comics (not just mangas) have a small but dedicated cult following, there's another big bookstore that carries comics — Kinokuniya. Here in Dubai, Kinokuniya in the new Dubai Mall is the only place that stocks a healthy collection of graphic novels.
I wish I hadn't wasted my mod points on some of those April Fools comments. This is one of the greatest benefits of FOSS but is not well-understood by lay persons.
I live in Dubai. I've lived here for many years and have seen it slowly become what it is now. It went from being a rather nice place to live to being one that I want to leave as soon as possible (still working on that). People like the poster above are one of the main reasons for my wanting to leave.
That's the same way online music started out. Now it's a proven business model. Even the often-cited poor quality of torrented movies is a moot point because the people downloading them are usually looking for "good enough" quality and not HD. Eventually, the quality will catch up the same way that we started off with 96-128kbps mp3s and moved on to 256kbps tracks virtually indistinguishable from CD quality.
Pakistan does not strike me as particularly theocratic. Many are also alleging that the real reason for the block is because of a number of vote-rigging videos that have been posted on Youtube. This may just be Musharaf using religion as a way to justify his political goals.
I argued almost this same point in an email I sent to the Dubai Cares charity yesterday. It's probably not big news outside of the UAE but it was announced yesterday that Dubai Cares is partnering up with Microsoft to provide technology to kids in developing nations.
It seems futile to bring up the dangers of lock-in -- especially by companies such as Microsoft -- to those who still associate free software with freeware. But I'm glad that, at least in my home country, open source software is gaining a foothold.
You should check out Ars Technica's game reviews. They don't attach a number but go into the gameplay details with a discerning eye. Unfortunately, they only seem to review the most hyped games and so you'll most likely miss the hidden treasures if you rely solely on them.
Digital downloads aren't the future. They're here now. Sure, it's not HD quality but as most people will readily admit, the more important metric is the content rather than the technical merits. No, the major studios aren't promoting digital downloads but it doesn't mean that the terabytes of downloadable content (whether legitimate or otherwise) doesn't exist. This is almost exactly where we were in the mid to late 90s when Napster and brethren were exploding onto the music scene.
There really is very little to differentiate the MPAA from the RIAA.
The Nintendo DS uses an ARM 9 paired with an ARM 7 and it can make some pretty games run at a good clip. I'm not sure how processor-intensive mobile phone software can get but games are normally considered to be intensive applications.
The ONLY thing I can't do in linux is play the latest games
And even that is getting better. It might just be that two Linux-friendly game companies (id and epic) are releasing games this year but even the Windows-only games that I'm interested in (Lord of the Rings Online and World in Conflict) work pretty well in Wine. No, it's not perfect and it definitely frustrates me but it definitely works.
In my humble opinion, we don't need a Year of the Linux Desktop. Just as Firefox is considered by many to be a success even though its share of the browser space is much smaller than IE's, Linux on the desktop is already a success in many people's households. This was the year of Linux on my desktop at least.
No, I don't think that's correct. I'm not on Windows at the moment but I do use it at work and I guarantee that clicking links in chat windows opens the page in Firefox. I think the non-conversation links do open in IE only though (not sure).
I don't know why the parent is modded flamebait but it certainly doesn't deserve it. Parent is quite right in boycotting Sony's products over its "continual disdain toward customers". Too many people just blindly consume despite a company's wrongdoings (see: Microsoft).
Have the people expressing shock and outrage never used iTunes, or what?
That might actually be possible. The iTunes Store, last I checked, isn't easily available in the UAE (where Gulf News is based).
OT: Also note that the overall quality of journalism in the UAE is pretty low for the English-language media. I have no idea about the quality of the Arabic media. This article is par for the course.
Please, for the love of God, if you're going to name a piece of software, use some made-up, bullshit name that doesn't produce over 3-fucking-million hits on google.
I don't see what's wrong with naming one's application something relevant. It's a lot less cryptic than many of the other projects out there and, over time, I'm certain that Google will be displaying Pidgin (formerly known as gaim) on the front page. Office returns over 900 million hits. Hell, even Firefox returns about 180 million hits.
I disagree- sort of. In ideal situations, there's no reason to brake on a highway. The problem with ideal is that it just doesn't happen. Yes, it's mostly because of people doing something wrong but these incidents happen so frequently (in my city, all the time) that I don't think it would be prudent to say that there's hardly any reason to brake.
Ticketing people for braking is hardly a good policy. A better target would be those who impede traffic by driving too far below the average speed.
Slashdot Mirror
There was this highly-publicized story a year ago about Demigod, a DRM-free game that suffered server problems due to excessive traffic from pirated copies. As much as it pains me to say it, DRM may have been a boon for this game.
Demigod, Piracy And Good Business Models...
The PS3 still doesn't have any measurable piracy.
contradicts this:
Your "justification" is the very definition of a "feeling of entitlement". You don't want to pay the price they're asking for but you want it anyway so you'll just go ahead and take it, am I right? While it's true that MS competes with piracy, attitudes like yours should not be encouraged.
Interesting abridged history of comic book publishing there.
Just wanted to add though that for those in Asia where comics (not just mangas) have a small but dedicated cult following, there's another big bookstore that carries comics — Kinokuniya. Here in Dubai, Kinokuniya in the new Dubai Mall is the only place that stocks a healthy collection of graphic novels.
I wish I hadn't wasted my mod points on some of those April Fools comments. This is one of the greatest benefits of FOSS but is not well-understood by lay persons.
Maybe it's a metric-english unit mixup.
I live in Dubai. I've lived here for many years and have seen it slowly become what it is now. It went from being a rather nice place to live to being one that I want to leave as soon as possible (still working on that). People like the poster above are one of the main reasons for my wanting to leave.
Get that cough taken care of.
I'm not an American but I'm certain that the Bill of Rights is not for US citizens only.
A barista is the person who makes coffee at a coffee shop. Merriam-Webster defines it.
That's the same way online music started out. Now it's a proven business model. Even the often-cited poor quality of torrented movies is a moot point because the people downloading them are usually looking for "good enough" quality and not HD. Eventually, the quality will catch up the same way that we started off with 96-128kbps mp3s and moved on to 256kbps tracks virtually indistinguishable from CD quality.
Pakistan does not strike me as particularly theocratic. Many are also alleging that the real reason for the block is because of a number of vote-rigging videos that have been posted on Youtube. This may just be Musharaf using religion as a way to justify his political goals.
I argued almost this same point in an email I sent to the Dubai Cares charity yesterday. It's probably not big news outside of the UAE but it was announced yesterday that Dubai Cares is partnering up with Microsoft to provide technology to kids in developing nations.
It seems futile to bring up the dangers of lock-in -- especially by companies such as Microsoft -- to those who still associate free software with freeware. But I'm glad that, at least in my home country, open source software is gaining a foothold.
You should check out Ars Technica's game reviews. They don't attach a number but go into the gameplay details with a discerning eye. Unfortunately, they only seem to review the most hyped games and so you'll most likely miss the hidden treasures if you rely solely on them.
Digital downloads aren't the future. They're here now. Sure, it's not HD quality but as most people will readily admit, the more important metric is the content rather than the technical merits. No, the major studios aren't promoting digital downloads but it doesn't mean that the terabytes of downloadable content (whether legitimate or otherwise) doesn't exist. This is almost exactly where we were in the mid to late 90s when Napster and brethren were exploding onto the music scene.
There really is very little to differentiate the MPAA from the RIAA.
I was reading intently up until this point. Consumers may be ignorant about DRM but it is nevertheless a very important issue.
The Nintendo DS uses an ARM 9 paired with an ARM 7 and it can make some pretty games run at a good clip. I'm not sure how processor-intensive mobile phone software can get but games are normally considered to be intensive applications.
Most of the time, IE's various flaws are bad enough that simply coding to standards would give the desired result.
He also sends those nice Circumventor emails that let people behind blocking proxy servers (like me) gain access to websites that I want to visit.
And even that is getting better. It might just be that two Linux-friendly game companies (id and epic) are releasing games this year but even the Windows-only games that I'm interested in (Lord of the Rings Online and World in Conflict) work pretty well in Wine. No, it's not perfect and it definitely frustrates me but it definitely works.
In my humble opinion, we don't need a Year of the Linux Desktop. Just as Firefox is considered by many to be a success even though its share of the browser space is much smaller than IE's, Linux on the desktop is already a success in many people's households. This was the year of Linux on my desktop at least.
No, I don't think that's correct. I'm not on Windows at the moment but I do use it at work and I guarantee that clicking links in chat windows opens the page in Firefox. I think the non-conversation links do open in IE only though (not sure).
There isn't any flooding in Dubai.
I don't know why the parent is modded flamebait but it certainly doesn't deserve it. Parent is quite right in boycotting Sony's products over its "continual disdain toward customers". Too many people just blindly consume despite a company's wrongdoings (see: Microsoft).
That might actually be possible. The iTunes Store, last I checked, isn't easily available in the UAE (where Gulf News is based).
OT: Also note that the overall quality of journalism in the UAE is pretty low for the English-language media. I have no idea about the quality of the Arabic media. This article is par for the course.
This'll teach me to not to read /. while eating lunch...
I disagree- sort of. In ideal situations, there's no reason to brake on a highway. The problem with ideal is that it just doesn't happen. Yes, it's mostly because of people doing something wrong but these incidents happen so frequently (in my city, all the time) that I don't think it would be prudent to say that there's hardly any reason to brake.
Ticketing people for braking is hardly a good policy. A better target would be those who impede traffic by driving too far below the average speed.