Opportunity cost. You could be using that hour to sleep, or play Nethack, or read a book, or fap, or... well, you get the idea: you could be doing anything in the world. Instead, they'd like you to do more work. If you throw them a stupidly high number, they have a choice: they can faff off and fix it themselves, or they can pay you a ridiculous amount of money. Either you get to do whatever it is you actually want to do, or you make bank. Win-win.
So the real question is how much your free time is worth to you.
Because they are competing in a very fast-growing and highly profitable market where Apple has a lead, but Google is very quickly catching up and looks likely to pass them in the short-term.
For reference, the last time Apple was in a situation like this, it was Microsoft they were up against.
All that said, this is PURELY speculative. I have absolutely no concrete evidence to support this hypothesis, nor am I likely to acquire any. Apple has a motive and the means to engage in the sort of PR skullduggery suggested by parent, and I simply don't see any other players with the same degree of either.
Having played AD&D 2nd ed., and loved it at the time... I'd recommened holding onto those fond memories tightly and never letting go... but don't ever go back.
3rd was good, 3.5 obviated some of the need for house rules and was generally a minor improvement (which is as billed, so my only criticism was that it seemed a bit cash-grabby). 4th ed. is a steaming pile of goblin poo.
Personally, I recommend switching to Pathfinder. It's essentially a fork of 3.5, possible because of the open gaming license and fair-use. It even has some former TSR personnel involved, so it can even trace it's lineage back to Gygax and Arneson, albeit indirectly. It's by Paizo, who, as you may recall, were one of the bigger 3rd party OGL publishers, and one that actually had a decent reputation and product line (let's be honest, most 3rd party OGL stuff was crap).
But yeah, for new players, I recommend using something fromt he OGL era. 1st and 2nd are wonderful pieces of gaming history, but the rules are pretty convoluted and restrictive compared to more modern fare. Probably better that they just start with something a bit more intuitive (ie. high numbers always being better than low numbers, skills and feats instead of non-weapon proficiencies and weapon proficiencies, BAB instead of THAC0, etc.).
Murder and robbery aren't remotely comparable to smoking anywhere or near anyone (with the possible exception of an abnormally oxygen rich environment, but even then it is suicidally stupid more than it is malicious).
You call it hairsplitting, I call it appropriately assigning blame. Google isn't preventing you from removing just about anything from Android... Motorola, Samsung, HTC, the various cell providers, et. al are. For example, I own a Virgin Mobile branded Samsung phone with Android, and there are several apps specific to VMobile and Samsung, but with no direct connection to Google which I cannot remove; other Android phones from different manufacturers and on different networks have different suites of such software (including, theoretically, no such software). Google isn't to blame for this, because vanilla Android doesn't come with this software.
While I can't see any need to buzz people into my house remotely for myself, it's pretty easy to think of reason's other people might want to do it: a family member or roommate being locked out, a cleaner or pet-sitter coming mid-day, a friend picking something up in an emergency, etc.
Personally, I'd just as soon not have physical keys, and just use an RFID system instead. Having a remote interface would be pretty cool too, especially since it could be used to merely give access to a porch or mud room for a delivery, or into any other room(s) as deemed appropriate. Obviously, this would be limited by the number of closed and locked doors one would want in the house, but 2, even 3 between the outside and inside proper isn't too outrageous or inconvenient.
"There's an analogy to GURPS in there somewhere..."
Only after you wade through thousands of pages of expansions do you come to see the truth: you're better off just using the core book and extrapolating, because no sane GM would EVER allow somebody to do something just because it was in a book and at the end of the day, any system which allows a Fallout-esque future soldier wearing an armored exoskeleton and wielding a nuclear flamethrower to be merely competitive with a Spartan Hoplite cannot be considered "universal" anyway.
Maybe the lesson is that Gentoo can be configured to be six shades of awesome... but given what most people who want their computer to be so awesome want to do, and given that Linux is often a poor choice for doing those things, very few will find the experience so rewarding as frustrating.
Of course, I recently started Storytelling for a non-MET Vampire: the Masquerade-based LARP for which my team has spent several hours re-tooling the system and typically spends a large portion of each post-game meeting making tweaks... so I guess I'm not really one to deride that sort of masochism.
Let's assume that making child porn is the single greatest act of violence a person can take.
For a person hundreds, even thousands of miles away, with no direct connection to the person making it and no direct involvement in the process to be considered a violent offender is *still* insane. I don't say this to let such a person off the hook, certainly their actions (and, generally, financial support), have granted support to the perpetrator of violence and warrants punishment on those grounds, but they are non-violent nonetheless.
How about we use a number that is both negative and infinitely close to 0, then apply our math to that instead? Basic principles of calculus are basic.
"Actually, I do install my ubuntu using the alternate CD only. Never ever saw the graphical installer in my life. Thank you."
It's pretty nice. There's nothing to really see... probably the best install UI I've seen for just about anything. Most software suites have a messier installer (at least judging by what you see), and I've not encountered an easier to install OS, including OSX.
YMMV, and if you like text mode that's your prerogative... but you come across as a bit too critical of something that is not only quite good, but which you actually claim not to have seen at all.
Lest we forget, the L4D series has pretty much been the coolest tech demo ever.
The original was released largely as a way to test the AI Director tech, that improves replay value and difficulty curves.
The sequel was released largely as a way to test the dialog selection tech, that allows characters to hold conversations at appropriate times and with greater attention to what's going on around them.
Slashdot Mirror
Opportunity cost. You could be using that hour to sleep, or play Nethack, or read a book, or fap, or... well, you get the idea: you could be doing anything in the world. Instead, they'd like you to do more work. If you throw them a stupidly high number, they have a choice: they can faff off and fix it themselves, or they can pay you a ridiculous amount of money. Either you get to do whatever it is you actually want to do, or you make bank. Win-win.
So the real question is how much your free time is worth to you.
The only way to re-roll is as follows
Step 1: convert to a religion which believes in reincarnation
Step 2: die
Step 3: ?
Step 4: profit!
Apple.
Because they are competing in a very fast-growing and highly profitable market where Apple has a lead, but Google is very quickly catching up and looks likely to pass them in the short-term.
For reference, the last time Apple was in a situation like this, it was Microsoft they were up against.
All that said, this is PURELY speculative. I have absolutely no concrete evidence to support this hypothesis, nor am I likely to acquire any. Apple has a motive and the means to engage in the sort of PR skullduggery suggested by parent, and I simply don't see any other players with the same degree of either.
And they let you use alternative marketplaces, or simply sideload apps. That's sort of a big deal, actually.
And we all know that two wrongs make a right. Right?
Having played AD&D 2nd ed., and loved it at the time... I'd recommened holding onto those fond memories tightly and never letting go... but don't ever go back.
3rd was good, 3.5 obviated some of the need for house rules and was generally a minor improvement (which is as billed, so my only criticism was that it seemed a bit cash-grabby). 4th ed. is a steaming pile of goblin poo.
Personally, I recommend switching to Pathfinder. It's essentially a fork of 3.5, possible because of the open gaming license and fair-use. It even has some former TSR personnel involved, so it can even trace it's lineage back to Gygax and Arneson, albeit indirectly. It's by Paizo, who, as you may recall, were one of the bigger 3rd party OGL publishers, and one that actually had a decent reputation and product line (let's be honest, most 3rd party OGL stuff was crap).
But yeah, for new players, I recommend using something fromt he OGL era. 1st and 2nd are wonderful pieces of gaming history, but the rules are pretty convoluted and restrictive compared to more modern fare. Probably better that they just start with something a bit more intuitive (ie. high numbers always being better than low numbers, skills and feats instead of non-weapon proficiencies and weapon proficiencies, BAB instead of THAC0, etc.).
Murder and robbery aren't remotely comparable to smoking anywhere or near anyone (with the possible exception of an abnormally oxygen rich environment, but even then it is suicidally stupid more than it is malicious).
Right next to "-1, Weak Troll".
It had potential, but it was just too easy to spot.
You call it hairsplitting, I call it appropriately assigning blame. Google isn't preventing you from removing just about anything from Android... Motorola, Samsung, HTC, the various cell providers, et. al are. For example, I own a Virgin Mobile branded Samsung phone with Android, and there are several apps specific to VMobile and Samsung, but with no direct connection to Google which I cannot remove; other Android phones from different manufacturers and on different networks have different suites of such software (including, theoretically, no such software). Google isn't to blame for this, because vanilla Android doesn't come with this software.
Digg.
Wow, I couldn't keep a straight face just typing that.
No, sadly the internet is just made of failure and suck. Better get used to it, because this is about as good as it gets.
Clearly it's a ginger.
While I can't see any need to buzz people into my house remotely for myself, it's pretty easy to think of reason's other people might want to do it: a family member or roommate being locked out, a cleaner or pet-sitter coming mid-day, a friend picking something up in an emergency, etc.
Personally, I'd just as soon not have physical keys, and just use an RFID system instead. Having a remote interface would be pretty cool too, especially since it could be used to merely give access to a porch or mud room for a delivery, or into any other room(s) as deemed appropriate. Obviously, this would be limited by the number of closed and locked doors one would want in the house, but 2, even 3 between the outside and inside proper isn't too outrageous or inconvenient.
Dearth of RAM... a mere 256. In a fracking *cell phone*.
I feel so old...
"There's an analogy to GURPS in there somewhere..."
Only after you wade through thousands of pages of expansions do you come to see the truth: you're better off just using the core book and extrapolating, because no sane GM would EVER allow somebody to do something just because it was in a book and at the end of the day, any system which allows a Fallout-esque future soldier wearing an armored exoskeleton and wielding a nuclear flamethrower to be merely competitive with a Spartan Hoplite cannot be considered "universal" anyway.
Maybe the lesson is that Gentoo can be configured to be six shades of awesome... but given what most people who want their computer to be so awesome want to do, and given that Linux is often a poor choice for doing those things, very few will find the experience so rewarding as frustrating.
Of course, I recently started Storytelling for a non-MET Vampire: the Masquerade-based LARP for which my team has spent several hours re-tooling the system and typically spends a large portion of each post-game meeting making tweaks... so I guess I'm not really one to deride that sort of masochism.
Let's assume that making child porn is the single greatest act of violence a person can take.
For a person hundreds, even thousands of miles away, with no direct connection to the person making it and no direct involvement in the process to be considered a violent offender is *still* insane. I don't say this to let such a person off the hook, certainly their actions (and, generally, financial support), have granted support to the perpetrator of violence and warrants punishment on those grounds, but they are non-violent nonetheless.
Put your nose near your armpit and inhale deeply through it.
That unpleasant stench you smell? BO.
And Gob Bluth.
Like most seaweed?
Funny how these things work out some times...
This is Slashdot, and in 1999 it was virtually impossible for a same-sex couple to get married basically anywhere.
I think we can safely rule out your hypothesis.
How about we use a number that is both negative and infinitely close to 0, then apply our math to that instead? Basic principles of calculus are basic.
"Actually, I do install my ubuntu using the alternate CD only. Never ever saw the graphical installer in my life. Thank you."
It's pretty nice. There's nothing to really see... probably the best install UI I've seen for just about anything. Most software suites have a messier installer (at least judging by what you see), and I've not encountered an easier to install OS, including OSX.
YMMV, and if you like text mode that's your prerogative... but you come across as a bit too critical of something that is not only quite good, but which you actually claim not to have seen at all.
But none of the hardware looks like a Swedish spaceship.
If you're so sheltered that Goatse scars you for life and you can never fully recover... good, you shouldn't be such a prude.
It may not be my cup of tea, but it's just some guy's anus. There's some seriously fucked up shit in this world, Goatse hardly rates.
I see you've never looked at the sticker price on an Audi if you can still muster such morbid curiosity.
Lest we forget, the L4D series has pretty much been the coolest tech demo ever.
The original was released largely as a way to test the AI Director tech, that improves replay value and difficulty curves.
The sequel was released largely as a way to test the dialog selection tech, that allows characters to hold conversations at appropriate times and with greater attention to what's going on around them.