First the legislation has to pass. THEN someone is going to have to be arrested and refuse to give the DNA sample. THEN they will be charged with obstructing justice or some similar thing. THEN they will be held in prison until they comply with the law. Only THEN will there be a high enough profile case for this to be overturned.
Unless a sudden case of common sense breaks out, which I doubt.
"Oh, think of the [insert hot-button crime here] this will prevent!" Which immediately tries to put anyone who opposes the idea in the "Supports [insert hot-button crime here]" camp.
I won't go into the oft-quoted Benjamin Franklin quote about security and liberty. But this is yet another example of it in practice.
Are hospitals going to be required to submit all DNA of newborns, just in case that person goes on to commit some crime in 20 years? Slippery slope my friends.
It's all in the phrasing. If the review said "Dr. X is billing insurance companies for procedures not performed." then it may be libel since it is being stated as a fact. If the review said "I don't think Dr. X is billing insurance companies correctly." then it is stated as an opinion and therefore less likely to be libel.
Just because the internet affords the illusion of privacy and anonymity doesn't mean that you're completely shielded from consequences to your actions. If you're posting accusations about someone and stating them as facts then you better step up and provide some proof.
A bad review isn't worth trying for the logs to see who posted it. There's no justification for trying to remove someone's opinion. But when they start making accusations of illegal activity then the line has been crossed.
Did you forget that the Constitution is there to specifically state the rights granted to the federal government? So if it wasn't there they wouldn't have the right to coin money?
Banks and states printed their own money for a lot of years. There's nothing illegal about it unless you're trying to counterfeit existing currency.
Currency is just convenient bartering, if you look at it objectively. "This wooden token is worth three chickens" is perfectly valid currency if it is accepted to have value.
Back on topic.
I'm not surprised that vendors and manufacturers are digging into the credit/debit card records for purchase histories. They're desperate since no one fills out their marketing, err, warranty cards. They need some way to track a customer base for stockholder reports. Sales histories aren't enough any more. They want to find out how to sell you more of their crap.
I hope the OP filed an official complaint with the bank and his state. Privacy laws may be in effect here since there was no legal reason for them to mine that data.
Just because I personally don't use something like Twitter doesn't mean it has no value. Personally I would hate that level of being pestered but I'm from a generation that is pre-cell phone, etc. Heck, I still only use my cell phone when I want to use it and don't have any of the annoying web services on it.
All this means is that another communication medium is being exploited. Not exactly big news. There's probably stone tablets out there that could be classified as 'phishing' or 'spam' as we use the concepts.
We'll see yet another iteration of pseudo and real security measures and user training and it won't prevent it from happening again and again and again. Nigerian scam, anyone?
Back on topic. I'm not going to slam the service or any of the new terms that have sprung up in a way to sound bite what it does. It's just a wake up call that there is no free lunch, there is no free beer, the cake is a lie, and only you can prevent forest fires.
If you post an idea or suggestion and we put it into action, we may give you a shout out on our Product Ideas blog, but we won't be compensating users for their ideas.
So you're giving them your idea for the potential of being buried in the credits. Thanks for playing.
Not to mention, just being credited with coming up with Google's next big thing is enough to almost certainly land you a well paid job for life somewhere.
Yeah, good luck with that one on your resume.
"I came up with the idea for Google's 'Whatchawhoozit' module that has revolutionized the industry. Um, they didn't give me any credit for it or anything but trust me I did submit it through their idea portal."
Alternatively, "I came up with the idea for Google's 'Whatchawhoozit' module that has revolutionized the industry. If you go into Help, About, Credits, Contributers, North America, Submitters and increase the font you'll see me. Right there! Yes, I'm that John Smith!"
I agree that there's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip but I'm not about to sign over all rights to my ideas on the off chance that they'll be used. I'll keep them to myself and see if at some point I can bring them to fruition.
I remember that several men who had been convicted of a 'sex crime' and were forced to register as sex offenders after serving their complete sentences (as in, supposed to be free) were suing the state for making them register. The reason was that they were continuing to be punished after completing their sentence.
Does anyone else remember this?
Personally I think it's a perfect example of what's happening here. The people completed what the state considered a reasonable punishment for the crime they committed and now they're being told "Nope. Now you have to be tracked for the rest of your life and the rights granted to everyone else are subject to our whims."
I think a class action suit is in order but as many before me have said this isn't exactly a group of people that will engender much public sympathy. Without that kind of appeal the media is going to crucify them and there goes any hope of getting their lives back.
I wonder what would happen if they started saying "Screw you. I served my time. Get off my lawn."
Luckily I'm somewhat removed from doing support these days but I did have the dubious pleasure of providing computer support for nine years. Most of the stories aren't that good but there's a couple that I remember.
We weren't allowed to set Outlook to delete anything in the Delete folder. The CIO liked using it as a convenient storage place 'since he could put stuff there with just one click'.
A VIP had his secretary print and respond to his e-mail for two months before calling. He was amazed that he had to turn on both parts of his computer for it to work.
A user called to say that her terminal was on fire and asked what to do. "Um, unplug it?"
"My keyboard suddenly stopped working." "What did you spill on it?" "Nothing!" Desk visit later and a full cup of water tipped out of the keyboard. "Oh, maybe some water."
The typical (at the time) running the 5 1/4" floppy through the typewriter to label it, stapling the disk to a report, and the infamous "copy the disk" which ended up with a photocopy in interoffice mail. The last one had the added goodness of the copier scrambling the data on the disk.
"My computer is putting extra letters in my document!" Desk visit since there was nothing in the troubleshooting to find any issues. User was well endowed and didn't like wearing her glasses so she would lean forward to read the screen.
And they wonder why computer support people drink...
The husband likes taking pictures of industrial structures as reference for his model railroad. His job was taking him all over the country at this point.
He was on a road when he saw an interesting building he decided to photograph. So he did. Very soon after that a rent-a-cop came puffing up the hill and told him he couldn't do that.
Next he was demanding that my husband give him the camera. Uh, no. Then he demanded that all the photos (including all the other ones that had nothing to do with this situation) be deleted. Uh, no. Eventually my husband got bored with the whole thing and just walked away. There was nothing the guy could really do as this was all taking place on a public highway and a building in plain view.
Here in the US, he could get away with it. I don't know about other places. But just because 'someone' says you can't do it doesn't mean they're right. And sadly most people will cave when someone perceived to be an authority figure demands something.
Of course, I didn't RTFA but this is/. so when has that ever stopped anyone from commenting?
Standardized education has extended its tentacles farther and farther. And since it's.. standardized.. you get less chance of anyone standing out. That's kind of against the entire idea of standardized education. Smear all those little minds in to one mildly mediocre band of test results. So now you have brilliant children having to work twice as hard just to be themselves.
Companies (and universities) own your soul. You can't come up with a great idea on your lunch break - it's not your idea. You might get to put your name on the list of people who worked on it but the company/university is going to take the credit and the money.
Take away the precocious youth and the curious adult and you lose the independent researcher.
I won't even get into extended lifespans, artificially extended childhood or a whole host of other, related societal issues.
There's always more to the story than we're being told. Ask ten people what happened and you'll get twelve different stories. Everyone's story is influenced by their own interpretation/world view/motives/whatever.
That's why eyewitnesses are some of the most unreliable witnesses to be had.
In this case yes, there was much more to the story and I'm pleased that the rest of the circumstances were made public. It adds more information to the story and allows people to see 'the larger picture'.
Normally I'm against overprotection but in taking away the distraction and being concerned about the content of the disks he was asked to give away seems quite reasonable.
Wow. I'd be wonderfully happy to receive a diamond that cost $5.00 if my husband thought the jewelry was pretty enough to buy for me. What do I care about the cost of the diamond?
He knows I like shiny things and that I prefer fake over real, because I can get far more fake ones than real ones and I worry far less over wearing the fake ones. Most of my 'good' jewelry is kept in the safe anyway.
I agree with the other posters. If your wife takes issue with the cost of the present then you have far worse problems. Such as a wife that needs an attitude adjustment.
Here's a teacher who gives tests that take up more than a page or two. They cut his copying budget so he literally can no longer afford to give tests. So he finds an alternative revenue stream to bridge the gap.
Tell me how this is different from a bake sale? No matter the method it's using private funds to cover a difference in allocated budget money and required money for an educational function.
Yes, education has a lot of money thrown into the bucket. But how is it being spent? Obviously there wasn't enough in that school's budget to cover his copying costs for the year. What else is being underfunded and where does that money go?
I'm not going to demonize the typical targets - athletics and special education. Instead I'm going to generalize and compare this to the business environment. If you look at the relative cost-benefit ratio of the various aspects of what makes up public education then you would be dismayed at what is given priority.
If you really care about where the money is going run for school board and get involved. Join the parent-teachers association, even if you have no children. Don't just whing about it on a forum, get out there and do something.
One of the most common issues with gift card theft is that they're put up on the rack in sequential order. So someone notes a few card numbers along the stack and, working with an inside buddy, waits for them to become activated. A little online purchasing and they've drained the card without ever having it in their physical possession.
Unless the key is inside the box (which makes it impossible to scan/register) then the same darn thing is going to happen.
Game manufacturers are never going to break out of the mindset that they have to protect their games from being copied. It happens even before the games are officially released now. In the eternal conflict between better weapons and heavier armor, better weapons always win. Those who do not learn from history etc., etc., etc..
I fully agree with making the clerk open the box to make sure the game card (which I assume contains the activation key) is included. That's a part of the product and no different from doing the same thing with a multi-part product. Then the useless game is the responsibility of the store that failed to prevent people from opening them and taking the game card. Rack up a few thousand games that can't be sold and then they might take physical security seriously.
Taking the game card/activation page is much different in practice than running out the door with a copy of the game. The full package WILL have security devices as it is considered shoplifting. That one part of the product will not so there's almost no risk involved unless you're caught opening the package.
Game companies removing negative reviews due to their DRM, new hoops for legit players to jump through just to play the game they purchased, the very real possibility that you aren't buying a perpetual license because they've tied it to some technology that will quite probably be made obsolete or abandoned. Yeah, I'm really interested in buying these products.
Nobody thinks twice about talking on their phone in public. Anyone can listen in if they wish, but they usually don't.
I call 'over generalization' on this one. I do think twice about talking on my phone in public. 99 times out of 100 I don't do it. Unless it's an emergency or time sensitive I call the person back at a time and place of my choosing. For the emergency/time-sensitive issues I find as private of a place as I can and deal with it immediately.
I do this for two reasons. One is that I don't want other people listening in on my end of the conversation and the other is that I don't want to subject other people to my end of the conversation.
Just because I carry a cell phone doesn't mean that it has to be glued to my head. I have it for my convenience and part of that is choosing when and where to use it. As such, I don't give up my ability to keep my personal activities private.
I'll put what I consider to be fun and harmless code comments in for the next person to work on it or for code review but I won't put in anything that will affect the actual processing of what I'm building.
Ditto with variable names. You might thing its fun to set up variable names so they end up with a humorous function combination but they're fuck-all hard on maintenance when someone else to figure out what's going on during maintenance.
No software is going to ship bug free so trying the argument of 'explain why you did that when X is happening' isn't valid. You may not have worked on X or even knew that it was being done. But if your easter egg just happens to come up in close proximity to X breaking you know who they're going to blame.
Here's a thought. Let your easter egg/signature be clean, well-documented code. That's a true rarity it seems and well worthy of the title 'easter egg'.
Game company: We're make a game that's interesting enough that people will want to buy it and has additional content that's only available to licensed copies.
Shareholders: But what about the people who copy the game and give it to their friends? Why haven't you said anything about them?
Game company: We did. We said we're making a game that's interesting enough people will want to buy it. If they share a copy with their friends, that only gives us more potential customers.
Shareholders: Then why do all these other games have that thing on them. You know, the one with the letters?
Game company: Because they don't like their customers and don't have interesting games that people want to buy. So they put all kinds of [airquote] digital security [/airquote] on their game so they think people will be forced to buy it.
Hey, it's a dream that I can imagine this conversation happening somewhere but we all know that's not the case. DRM is built into the project plan before the story tree.
Which again means that I don't want to hire you if you keep finding yourself in situations where you don't like what you're doing or the people around you. I'd look at the common denominator in those and come up with an answer you really wouldn't like.
One common thing I noticed on resumes of younger IT candidates was the '18 month bounce'. The string of jobs they list all had right around 18 month durations. Which is just enough time to get familiar enough with a technology/process and put it on your resume before hunting for a new job.
The older candidates had longer stretchs of time at companies unless there was reorganizations/acquisitions or other events outside of their control.
I think it's a mindset thing. I don't know if younger candidates understand that a pattern of leaving just when you should be starting to add real value is a very bad thing to do to the company that hired you. It may be a 'what can you do for me' mindset.
Yes, I'm a bit of a codger myself in the IT field. When I was interviewing I would always ask what the candidate could do for the company. It's amazing how many of the candidates had no idea how to answer that but had plenty of statements of what the company could do for them.
If an interviewer asked me what you did I would thank them for their time and stand up to leave. If they don't know the difference between almost two decades of relevant work experience and a newly minted college degree then I don't want to work there much less spend the time explaining it to them.
This could apply to any society subset
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American Nerd
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Substitute pretty much any standard term for a sub-set of a society and you're going to get the same result. There's an internal perception and an external one. Internally the term is used as a term of affection (in various forms) while externally it is used as a perjorative. If you truly belong to that subset you won't identify yourself as one except by your actions. Those who wish they did will use the term.
Non-offending examples:
Jock - Athlete
Nerd - Computer/game enthusiast
Geek - Extreme interest in a subject
There's racial ones too that are well known but rarely discussed since racial classification is a no-no and wrong. But the same rules apply. Those belonging to the subset use the term without offense while if used by others it is considered an insult.
Given that and the fact that I would only buy used books at all I can't see where there's any convenience for someone like me. Set up a virtual store like half.com or something where people can buy and sell their Kindle versions and then maybe it might catch on. But the current incarnation has no value to me and those of my ilk.
How much of that did you not understand? That someone like me, people like me, will find little value in the Kindle as it currently stands?
Please don't take what is posted as trying to apply my views on the entire population, especially when it specifically states that it is my opinion, my preference, my whatever. Just because you like the thing doesn't mean everyone does.
I get the concept. I've seen this kind of thing discussed for decades. I've seen people reading public domain books on their Palm devices. Remember those? I don't have any objection or problem with those people who like the ebook idea. Good on them.
But realize that there's another population out there who might not like ebooks. Don't assume that we're a bunch of Luddites who refuse to embrace new technology. Rather we're more discerning about the technology we're going to let into our lives.
I never put down anyone who does own one. The obviously find value and usefulness in them. Great. That's going to advance the technology and the content. Or it's going to show if it is or is not viable. Again you're trying to interpret my opinions into some kind of overarching critique of the entire technology, the process and those who own them.
I'll admit that I'm biased since I'm trying to thin my personal library to only those books I really want to have around. Everything else is now a library read.
Given that and the fact that I would only buy used books at all I can't see where there's any convenience for someone like me. Set up a virtual store like half.com or something where people can buy and sell their Kindle versions and then maybe it might catch on. But the current incarnation has no value to me and those of my ilk.
The wireless thing? Sorry, I don't need to be connected 24 x 7 x 365. I like being away from all that nonsense. Typically when I sit down to read a good book. Ironic, isn't it?
No matter how good eInk technology is right now I don't see a really valid use of this. Textbook companies aren't going to do anything to endanger their locked-in revenue streams and publishers aren't going to let you resell the electronic versions. Heck, they've tried to keep people from reselling the dead tree versions at various times.
Slashdot Mirror
First the legislation has to pass. THEN someone is going to have to be arrested and refuse to give the DNA sample. THEN they will be charged with obstructing justice or some similar thing. THEN they will be held in prison until they comply with the law. Only THEN will there be a high enough profile case for this to be overturned.
Unless a sudden case of common sense breaks out, which I doubt.
"Oh, think of the [insert hot-button crime here] this will prevent!" Which immediately tries to put anyone who opposes the idea in the "Supports [insert hot-button crime here]" camp.
I won't go into the oft-quoted Benjamin Franklin quote about security and liberty. But this is yet another example of it in practice.
Are hospitals going to be required to submit all DNA of newborns, just in case that person goes on to commit some crime in 20 years? Slippery slope my friends.
It's all in the phrasing. If the review said "Dr. X is billing insurance companies for procedures not performed." then it may be libel since it is being stated as a fact. If the review said "I don't think Dr. X is billing insurance companies correctly." then it is stated as an opinion and therefore less likely to be libel.
Just because the internet affords the illusion of privacy and anonymity doesn't mean that you're completely shielded from consequences to your actions. If you're posting accusations about someone and stating them as facts then you better step up and provide some proof.
A bad review isn't worth trying for the logs to see who posted it. There's no justification for trying to remove someone's opinion. But when they start making accusations of illegal activity then the line has been crossed.
Did you forget that the Constitution is there to specifically state the rights granted to the federal government? So if it wasn't there they wouldn't have the right to coin money?
Banks and states printed their own money for a lot of years. There's nothing illegal about it unless you're trying to counterfeit existing currency.
Currency is just convenient bartering, if you look at it objectively. "This wooden token is worth three chickens" is perfectly valid currency if it is accepted to have value.
Back on topic.
I'm not surprised that vendors and manufacturers are digging into the credit/debit card records for purchase histories. They're desperate since no one fills out their marketing, err, warranty cards. They need some way to track a customer base for stockholder reports. Sales histories aren't enough any more. They want to find out how to sell you more of their crap.
I hope the OP filed an official complaint with the bank and his state. Privacy laws may be in effect here since there was no legal reason for them to mine that data.
Just because I personally don't use something like Twitter doesn't mean it has no value. Personally I would hate that level of being pestered but I'm from a generation that is pre-cell phone, etc. Heck, I still only use my cell phone when I want to use it and don't have any of the annoying web services on it.
All this means is that another communication medium is being exploited. Not exactly big news. There's probably stone tablets out there that could be classified as 'phishing' or 'spam' as we use the concepts.
We'll see yet another iteration of pseudo and real security measures and user training and it won't prevent it from happening again and again and again. Nigerian scam, anyone?
Back on topic. I'm not going to slam the service or any of the new terms that have sprung up in a way to sound bite what it does. It's just a wake up call that there is no free lunch, there is no free beer, the cake is a lie, and only you can prevent forest fires.
From the actual Google TOS (emphasis added):
If you post an idea or suggestion and we put it into action, we may give you a shout out on our Product Ideas blog, but we won't be compensating users for their ideas.
So you're giving them your idea for the potential of being buried in the credits. Thanks for playing.
Not to mention, just being credited with coming up with Google's next big thing is enough to almost certainly land you a well paid job for life somewhere.
Yeah, good luck with that one on your resume.
"I came up with the idea for Google's 'Whatchawhoozit' module that has revolutionized the industry. Um, they didn't give me any credit for it or anything but trust me I did submit it through their idea portal."
Alternatively, "I came up with the idea for Google's 'Whatchawhoozit' module that has revolutionized the industry. If you go into Help, About, Credits, Contributers, North America, Submitters and increase the font you'll see me. Right there! Yes, I'm that John Smith!"
I agree that there's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip but I'm not about to sign over all rights to my ideas on the off chance that they'll be used. I'll keep them to myself and see if at some point I can bring them to fruition.
I remember that several men who had been convicted of a 'sex crime' and were forced to register as sex offenders after serving their complete sentences (as in, supposed to be free) were suing the state for making them register. The reason was that they were continuing to be punished after completing their sentence.
Does anyone else remember this?
Personally I think it's a perfect example of what's happening here. The people completed what the state considered a reasonable punishment for the crime they committed and now they're being told "Nope. Now you have to be tracked for the rest of your life and the rights granted to everyone else are subject to our whims."
I think a class action suit is in order but as many before me have said this isn't exactly a group of people that will engender much public sympathy. Without that kind of appeal the media is going to crucify them and there goes any hope of getting their lives back.
I wonder what would happen if they started saying "Screw you. I served my time. Get off my lawn."
Luckily I'm somewhat removed from doing support these days but I did have the dubious pleasure of providing computer support for nine years. Most of the stories aren't that good but there's a couple that I remember.
We weren't allowed to set Outlook to delete anything in the Delete folder. The CIO liked using it as a convenient storage place 'since he could put stuff there with just one click'.
A VIP had his secretary print and respond to his e-mail for two months before calling. He was amazed that he had to turn on both parts of his computer for it to work.
A user called to say that her terminal was on fire and asked what to do. "Um, unplug it?"
"My keyboard suddenly stopped working." "What did you spill on it?" "Nothing!" Desk visit later and a full cup of water tipped out of the keyboard. "Oh, maybe some water."
The typical (at the time) running the 5 1/4" floppy through the typewriter to label it, stapling the disk to a report, and the infamous "copy the disk" which ended up with a photocopy in interoffice mail. The last one had the added goodness of the copier scrambling the data on the disk.
"My computer is putting extra letters in my document!" Desk visit since there was nothing in the troubleshooting to find any issues. User was well endowed and didn't like wearing her glasses so she would lean forward to read the screen.
And they wonder why computer support people drink ...
The husband likes taking pictures of industrial structures as reference for his model railroad. His job was taking him all over the country at this point.
He was on a road when he saw an interesting building he decided to photograph. So he did. Very soon after that a rent-a-cop came puffing up the hill and told him he couldn't do that.
Next he was demanding that my husband give him the camera. Uh, no. Then he demanded that all the photos (including all the other ones that had nothing to do with this situation) be deleted. Uh, no. Eventually my husband got bored with the whole thing and just walked away. There was nothing the guy could really do as this was all taking place on a public highway and a building in plain view.
Here in the US, he could get away with it. I don't know about other places. But just because 'someone' says you can't do it doesn't mean they're right. And sadly most people will cave when someone perceived to be an authority figure demands something.
Of course, I didn't RTFA but this is /. so when has that ever stopped anyone from commenting?
Standardized education has extended its tentacles farther and farther. And since it's .. standardized .. you get less chance of anyone standing out. That's kind of against the entire idea of standardized education. Smear all those little minds in to one mildly mediocre band of test results. So now you have brilliant children having to work twice as hard just to be themselves.
Companies (and universities) own your soul. You can't come up with a great idea on your lunch break - it's not your idea. You might get to put your name on the list of people who worked on it but the company/university is going to take the credit and the money.
Take away the precocious youth and the curious adult and you lose the independent researcher.
I won't even get into extended lifespans, artificially extended childhood or a whole host of other, related societal issues.
There's always more to the story than we're being told. Ask ten people what happened and you'll get twelve different stories. Everyone's story is influenced by their own interpretation/world view/motives/whatever.
That's why eyewitnesses are some of the most unreliable witnesses to be had.
In this case yes, there was much more to the story and I'm pleased that the rest of the circumstances were made public. It adds more information to the story and allows people to see 'the larger picture'.
Normally I'm against overprotection but in taking away the distraction and being concerned about the content of the disks he was asked to give away seems quite reasonable.
Wow. I'd be wonderfully happy to receive a diamond that cost $5.00 if my husband thought the jewelry was pretty enough to buy for me. What do I care about the cost of the diamond?
He knows I like shiny things and that I prefer fake over real, because I can get far more fake ones than real ones and I worry far less over wearing the fake ones. Most of my 'good' jewelry is kept in the safe anyway.
I agree with the other posters. If your wife takes issue with the cost of the present then you have far worse problems. Such as a wife that needs an attitude adjustment.
This is one of my favorite things about SMS. *When* the data arrive, they arrive intact.
You used the proper pronoun for 'data', which is the plural. You are my new hero.
Here's a teacher who gives tests that take up more than a page or two. They cut his copying budget so he literally can no longer afford to give tests. So he finds an alternative revenue stream to bridge the gap.
Tell me how this is different from a bake sale? No matter the method it's using private funds to cover a difference in allocated budget money and required money for an educational function.
Yes, education has a lot of money thrown into the bucket. But how is it being spent? Obviously there wasn't enough in that school's budget to cover his copying costs for the year. What else is being underfunded and where does that money go?
I'm not going to demonize the typical targets - athletics and special education. Instead I'm going to generalize and compare this to the business environment. If you look at the relative cost-benefit ratio of the various aspects of what makes up public education then you would be dismayed at what is given priority.
If you really care about where the money is going run for school board and get involved. Join the parent-teachers association, even if you have no children. Don't just whing about it on a forum, get out there and do something.
One of the most common issues with gift card theft is that they're put up on the rack in sequential order. So someone notes a few card numbers along the stack and, working with an inside buddy, waits for them to become activated. A little online purchasing and they've drained the card without ever having it in their physical possession.
Unless the key is inside the box (which makes it impossible to scan/register) then the same darn thing is going to happen.
Game manufacturers are never going to break out of the mindset that they have to protect their games from being copied. It happens even before the games are officially released now. In the eternal conflict between better weapons and heavier armor, better weapons always win. Those who do not learn from history etc., etc., etc..
I fully agree with making the clerk open the box to make sure the game card (which I assume contains the activation key) is included. That's a part of the product and no different from doing the same thing with a multi-part product. Then the useless game is the responsibility of the store that failed to prevent people from opening them and taking the game card. Rack up a few thousand games that can't be sold and then they might take physical security seriously.
Taking the game card/activation page is much different in practice than running out the door with a copy of the game. The full package WILL have security devices as it is considered shoplifting. That one part of the product will not so there's almost no risk involved unless you're caught opening the package.
Game companies removing negative reviews due to their DRM, new hoops for legit players to jump through just to play the game they purchased, the very real possibility that you aren't buying a perpetual license because they've tied it to some technology that will quite probably be made obsolete or abandoned. Yeah, I'm really interested in buying these products.
Nobody thinks twice about talking on their phone in public. Anyone can listen in if they wish, but they usually don't.
I call 'over generalization' on this one. I do think twice about talking on my phone in public. 99 times out of 100 I don't do it. Unless it's an emergency or time sensitive I call the person back at a time and place of my choosing. For the emergency/time-sensitive issues I find as private of a place as I can and deal with it immediately.
I do this for two reasons. One is that I don't want other people listening in on my end of the conversation and the other is that I don't want to subject other people to my end of the conversation.
Just because I carry a cell phone doesn't mean that it has to be glued to my head. I have it for my convenience and part of that is choosing when and where to use it. As such, I don't give up my ability to keep my personal activities private.
I'll put what I consider to be fun and harmless code comments in for the next person to work on it or for code review but I won't put in anything that will affect the actual processing of what I'm building.
Ditto with variable names. You might thing its fun to set up variable names so they end up with a humorous function combination but they're fuck-all hard on maintenance when someone else to figure out what's going on during maintenance.
No software is going to ship bug free so trying the argument of 'explain why you did that when X is happening' isn't valid. You may not have worked on X or even knew that it was being done. But if your easter egg just happens to come up in close proximity to X breaking you know who they're going to blame.
Here's a thought. Let your easter egg/signature be clean, well-documented code. That's a true rarity it seems and well worthy of the title 'easter egg'.
Shareholders: What are you doing to stop piracy?
Game company: We're make a game that's interesting enough that people will want to buy it and has additional content that's only available to licensed copies.
Shareholders: But what about the people who copy the game and give it to their friends? Why haven't you said anything about them?
Game company: We did. We said we're making a game that's interesting enough people will want to buy it. If they share a copy with their friends, that only gives us more potential customers.
Shareholders: Then why do all these other games have that thing on them. You know, the one with the letters?
Game company: Because they don't like their customers and don't have interesting games that people want to buy. So they put all kinds of [airquote] digital security [/airquote] on their game so they think people will be forced to buy it.
Hey, it's a dream that I can imagine this conversation happening somewhere but we all know that's not the case. DRM is built into the project plan before the story tree.
Which again means that I don't want to hire you if you keep finding yourself in situations where you don't like what you're doing or the people around you. I'd look at the common denominator in those and come up with an answer you really wouldn't like.
One common thing I noticed on resumes of younger IT candidates was the '18 month bounce'. The string of jobs they list all had right around 18 month durations. Which is just enough time to get familiar enough with a technology/process and put it on your resume before hunting for a new job.
The older candidates had longer stretchs of time at companies unless there was reorganizations/acquisitions or other events outside of their control.
I think it's a mindset thing. I don't know if younger candidates understand that a pattern of leaving just when you should be starting to add real value is a very bad thing to do to the company that hired you. It may be a 'what can you do for me' mindset.
Yes, I'm a bit of a codger myself in the IT field. When I was interviewing I would always ask what the candidate could do for the company. It's amazing how many of the candidates had no idea how to answer that but had plenty of statements of what the company could do for them.
If an interviewer asked me what you did I would thank them for their time and stand up to leave. If they don't know the difference between almost two decades of relevant work experience and a newly minted college degree then I don't want to work there much less spend the time explaining it to them.
Substitute pretty much any standard term for a sub-set of a society and you're going to get the same result. There's an internal perception and an external one. Internally the term is used as a term of affection (in various forms) while externally it is used as a perjorative. If you truly belong to that subset you won't identify yourself as one except by your actions. Those who wish they did will use the term.
Non-offending examples:
There's racial ones too that are well known but rarely discussed since racial classification is a no-no and wrong. But the same rules apply. Those belonging to the subset use the term without offense while if used by others it is considered an insult.
I see where those statements could be globally applied and it was probably snarky of me to include them.
Thanks for letting me know where I screwed up and did what I accused you of doing.
Friends?
Am I the only person who immediately thought of skeet shooting when they described an incoming object in a war zone?
Given that and the fact that I would only buy used books at all I can't see where there's any convenience for someone like me. Set up a virtual store like half.com or something where people can buy and sell their Kindle versions and then maybe it might catch on. But the current incarnation has no value to me and those of my ilk.
How much of that did you not understand? That someone like me, people like me, will find little value in the Kindle as it currently stands?
Please don't take what is posted as trying to apply my views on the entire population, especially when it specifically states that it is my opinion, my preference, my whatever. Just because you like the thing doesn't mean everyone does.
I get the concept. I've seen this kind of thing discussed for decades. I've seen people reading public domain books on their Palm devices. Remember those? I don't have any objection or problem with those people who like the ebook idea. Good on them.
But realize that there's another population out there who might not like ebooks. Don't assume that we're a bunch of Luddites who refuse to embrace new technology. Rather we're more discerning about the technology we're going to let into our lives.
I never put down anyone who does own one. The obviously find value and usefulness in them. Great. That's going to advance the technology and the content. Or it's going to show if it is or is not viable. Again you're trying to interpret my opinions into some kind of overarching critique of the entire technology, the process and those who own them.
Shame on you.
I'll admit that I'm biased since I'm trying to thin my personal library to only those books I really want to have around. Everything else is now a library read.
Given that and the fact that I would only buy used books at all I can't see where there's any convenience for someone like me. Set up a virtual store like half.com or something where people can buy and sell their Kindle versions and then maybe it might catch on. But the current incarnation has no value to me and those of my ilk.
The wireless thing? Sorry, I don't need to be connected 24 x 7 x 365. I like being away from all that nonsense. Typically when I sit down to read a good book. Ironic, isn't it?
No matter how good eInk technology is right now I don't see a really valid use of this. Textbook companies aren't going to do anything to endanger their locked-in revenue streams and publishers aren't going to let you resell the electronic versions. Heck, they've tried to keep people from reselling the dead tree versions at various times.
Another gadget for the gadget addicted.