Closed software cannot be trusted. Personally, I had taken a somewhat naive, optimistic view regarding the makers of Skype, who were admittedly secretive but consistently maintained that their software "contains no malware".
We now know for a fact that this is a direct falsehood.
That a computer can play the game better than a human is a good sign of a bad game. That people actually want a computer to play for them is a sign of a really badly designed game.
I would suspect malice rather than incompetence. It's not bad design; it's their business model.
You have just described the essence of about 90% of MMORPGs: Induce a player into a world of some apparent depth and complexity, then grant them a rapid initial growth of status (wealth, character power) that will generate a perceived need for more status and hence more investment of time and fees.
Jack Thompson is an idiot. Game violence is harmless compared to the enormous waste of time and effort that is generated by players of MMORPGs - it's like SETI for brains, but less productive. It's nothing social either. Deeper interaction can be had at a fraction of the investment on text message forums. The effect is equivalent to a drug, right down to the part where excessive playing is harmful to health and can (in at least one documented case) lead to actual death.
The invention of a tool like MMOGlider, or any bot, is by necessity feared by the makers of the MMORPG. They claim they outlaw them for the benefit of the players, but let's examine that claim for a second. Who exactly is the person who wants to use the tool, and benefits from it? A player. What does it harm? The company's business model, which depends on a continuing addiction of the player to investing effort and money. If an MMORPG is an addictive drug, then a bot tool is the antidote. And that's why they go after it.
Well, admittedly, Facebook used to be strictly for students too before they sold out and decided to become Myspace 2.0.
The irony of Facebook suing someone else for plagiarism is hopefully not lost on everyone.
The second irony here is that whether or not anything was ripped off, the alleged perpetrators of said rip-off have made their big.com (or rather Web 2.0) winnings and moved on. The original coders of StudiVZ have sold it for a ton of money, and I doubt they're the ones in court now.
Um, it means the opposite. To comply with the Three Laws, it would had to obey its instructions regardless of danger to itself.
(Unless... since those instructions were transmitted electronically, it might have managed to persuade itself that they were given by a computer, not a human. Sneaky robot.)
Besides, the quality of those uploads is horrendous. Anyone who would possibly pay to see it would not be satisfied with this, and would end up buying a higher quality version. I've often bought DVDs of American shows (CSI and NCIS, especially) after seeing them on Youtube, so they might want to take into account that I live a fucking continent away and would never even have heard of their product if it weren't for those Bloody Pirates.
But I guess the movie industry wants to get into that sweet business of making their money from litigation instead of selling products. Didn't the RIAA patent that business model?
You're screwed even with vinyl records. An unauthorized copy is stored in your brain, from which it may be illegally distributed by such devious pirating methods as humming and whistling!
Duh, the party wasn't news on Slashdot. What made it news here is that it involves social networks, privacy/censorship and litigation about stuff on the internet, which are pretty hot topics here.
Unlike Windows Update, Firefox warns you exactly once per program startup, and only if you haven't disabled it. Firefox can also automatize this in the background without you ever noticing until you start the application again; Windows Update not only behaves obnoxiously, but it forces you into immediate system reboots.
Windows Update can be disabled too, but unless you really take steps, Windows warns you about every 10 minutes that you should turn it back on.
Slashdot Mirror
Closed software cannot be trusted. Personally, I had taken a somewhat naive, optimistic view regarding the makers of Skype, who were admittedly secretive but consistently maintained that their software "contains no malware".
We now know for a fact that this is a direct falsehood.
I'm putting another few bucks into the "put voice-chat into Pidgin" fund now.
I would suspect malice rather than incompetence. It's not bad design; it's their business model.
You have just described the essence of about 90% of MMORPGs: Induce a player into a world of some apparent depth and complexity, then grant them a rapid initial growth of status (wealth, character power) that will generate a perceived need for more status and hence more investment of time and fees.
Jack Thompson is an idiot. Game violence is harmless compared to the enormous waste of time and effort that is generated by players of MMORPGs - it's like SETI for brains, but less productive. It's nothing social either. Deeper interaction can be had at a fraction of the investment on text message forums. The effect is equivalent to a drug, right down to the part where excessive playing is harmful to health and can (in at least one documented case) lead to actual death.
The invention of a tool like MMOGlider, or any bot, is by necessity feared by the makers of the MMORPG. They claim they outlaw them for the benefit of the players, but let's examine that claim for a second. Who exactly is the person who wants to use the tool, and benefits from it? A player. What does it harm? The company's business model, which depends on a continuing addiction of the player to investing effort and money. If an MMORPG is an addictive drug, then a bot tool is the antidote. And that's why they go after it.
The camera could have been stolen. I don't see where the article says the seller was an MI6 employee...
Well, hurricanes do.
http://xkcd.com/453/ :P
"Respect our privacy! Stop peeping, Earthlings!"
What are you talking about, they announced that last week!
Don't lase me, bro!
> Neal Stephenson novel
Why bother with international waters when they can build it on KINAKUTA!
... and the UN backs them.
This is creepy.
> German
Wait, so now it's our fault you get wet, huh?
That will count 0 democratic votes, since the modulus condition is never fulfilled at all.
Maybe that is the point, but I get the feeling you wanted to count every third vote, which is totally not what this does. :P
What bar are you referring to, though? Status, Menu, Address and Bookmarks are all more or less essential, and those are all the browser comes with.
Whoop-de-do.
> creating a 'No-Sue' list and making it even harder to change your name."
Especially if you want to change your name to Sue!
OMG the WORLD is going to END in on January 18, 2038!
Heh. The Mayans were a lot more savvy than we are - they thought a thousand years ahead, we haven't even counted on the next century - twice.
The cake is a lie!
> Not sure how Students Directory = Facebook.
Well, admittedly, Facebook used to be strictly for students too before they sold out and decided to become Myspace 2.0.
The irony of Facebook suing someone else for plagiarism is hopefully not lost on everyone.
The second irony here is that whether or not anything was ripped off, the alleged perpetrators of said rip-off have made their big .com (or rather Web 2.0) winnings and moved on. The original coders of StudiVZ have sold it for a ton of money, and I doubt they're the ones in court now.
Um, it means the opposite. To comply with the Three Laws, it would had to obey its instructions regardless of danger to itself.
(Unless... since those instructions were transmitted electronically, it might have managed to persuade itself that they were given by a computer, not a human. Sneaky robot.)
So the Republicans criticize him for spinning the facts in favor of the war?
Something is backward about this.
Exactly.
Besides, the quality of those uploads is horrendous. Anyone who would possibly pay to see it would not be satisfied with this, and would end up buying a higher quality version. I've often bought DVDs of American shows (CSI and NCIS, especially) after seeing them on Youtube, so they might want to take into account that I live a fucking continent away and would never even have heard of their product if it weren't for those Bloody Pirates.
But I guess the movie industry wants to get into that sweet business of making their money from litigation instead of selling products. Didn't the RIAA patent that business model?
You're screwed even with vinyl records. An unauthorized copy is stored in your brain, from which it may be illegally distributed by such devious pirating methods as humming and whistling!
Duh, the party wasn't news on Slashdot. What made it news here is that it involves social networks, privacy/censorship and litigation about stuff on the internet, which are pretty hot topics here.
In Sweden, YOU spy on Soviet Russia!
Admittedly, I know even less about airplane engineering than about nuclear physics. ;)
Unlike Windows Update, Firefox warns you exactly once per program startup, and only if you haven't disabled it. Firefox can also automatize this in the background without you ever noticing until you start the application again; Windows Update not only behaves obnoxiously, but it forces you into immediate system reboots.
Windows Update can be disabled too, but unless you really take steps, Windows warns you about every 10 minutes that you should turn it back on.