But it doesn't, and here's how we know... 6 months after most games come out, they cost at least $20 less than they did on their street date, yet copies are still being printed and shipped, and money is still being made.
They can't sell old games at full price, and they've known it for a while, but some shit-for-brains got the stupid idea that, all experience to the contrary aside, maybe they actually can do it.
Of course, this also begs the question: if a game can be sold at profit for less down the line, how the fuck can you justify the high price at release as something other than a money grab?
It is very widely believed that the VERY slow response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic was inspired by the widespread belief that it is simply punishment for the sins of promiscuity, homosexuality and drug abuse. I don't know where you've been, but that's hardly an accusation from far left field.
There are also confirmed cases of nations refusing to take any action, or permit any treatment for HIV/AIDS on precisely those grounds. Not first world industrials, mind you, but even third world African dirt farms doing it is abhorrent.
Just by looking around on the road you can tell people are chomping at the bit to drive a tiny tin can looking car, especially if that car is also slow as hell. In fact, the less likely (real or perceived) someone with boobs *and shaved armpits* will give it a second look, the better.
Before you get too wrapped up in that game, keep in mind one of the things he would do, and has done, differently than Ron Paul is actually get elected. That has some fairly serious implications.
Considering that of the top 3 contenders (Obama, Clinton and McCain), keep in mind that Obama was the least openly pro-Israel throughout the entire campaign. Of course, McCain had to do some serious pandering to the GOP religious base (who manage to both love Israel and be incredibly anti-Semitic at times... I'm always a little baffled there), and I think Clinton just barely summoned the will to not label Obama as an Islamic Holocaust denier... but he still apparently never saw fit to just say he thinks Israel is right all the time about everything.
I also think it's a bit too soon to say he won't shake anything up, or that he isn't going after the corrupted parts of the establishment. He'll have Biden, a senior Senator and somebody who commands a great deal of respect for both his character and experience, presiding over the Senate, and I've been hearing about Rahm Emmanuel as ruthlessly effective and somewhat disdainful of the establishment for a few years now. Frankly, the only person that has been mentioned as a possible member of his administration I'm not so big on is Kerry; I voted for him in 2004 mostly because I thought Bush was running things into the ground (gee, I sure was wrong there...), and I voted to keep him as one of my Senators, but he doesn't impress me as a potential Secretary of State.
I'm just hoping that he shuns George Soros, not because Soros' politics particularly bother me, but because the idea that anyone who is completely unencumbered by the Constituion or even public support has so much control over our political landscape does.
Oh, and my on topic response; I want a lot more detail about precisely what Obama intends the CTO position to entail before I can say whether we want that or a CIO. We don't currently have either, so saying we need both is not necessarily true.
Having their business charters revoked, all copyrights automatically reverted to the artists, liquification of all other assets, outstanding payments to employees and other liabilities paid, and whatever is left put into trust to help fund music education and arts advancement programs?
Assault only requires an unlawful attack, it need not cause any harm, nor even be physical in nature.
Considering that spitting on someone is considered assault and battery (battery being the part involving physical contact) in most of the US (not sure about Italy, but I would imagine the law is roughly analogous on this topic), I would imagine that a box of tissues at least qualifies as assault.
As a matter of fact I have and still do. I've also done it long enough to observe that the stupid questions of today were insightful yesterday, and I can surmise that the insightful questions of today will be mind-numbingly stupid tomorrow.
Do you realize just how much progress is implied by the fact that average people actually know at least the correct names for the applications they are running? and that they can usually distinguish between locally run applications and websites? 5 years ago that was simply unthinkable.
5 years from now, I expect that average users will be asking "stupid" questions about which browser is best for working with Google Office and complaining that Comcast has throttled their connections and made it harder to watch streaming video.
Or d) Joe Sixpack is just a condescending fiction, and as the general population becomes increasingly internet savvy the average user will actually begin to care about things like which browser they use.
30 years ago, Joe Sixpack didn't want a computer in his house at all... how on earth can you justify the belief that average users will never want things they don't currently want?
"These places make money by keeping you coming back... "hitting it off" is bad for business."
Not exactly, they make money by people coming to them, whether or not they ever come back is irrelevant as long as somebody comes in the first place. You could just as easily argue that if it actually works well then they will have MORE repeat customers... most people are well aware that most relationships don't work out, so they might be more likely to use it again on the premise that it worked as well as it possibly could anyway. Not to mention that one doesn't tell their friends to try things that don't work.*
*With the notable exceptions of religion and politics
"I'm surprised this even still comes up. By definition sales fall when copy protection is cracked, otherwise nobody would bother developing it in the first place. A system like BD+ isn't cheap to create or maintain so I'd imagine the losses are significant."
No, sales do not, by definition, fall when copy protection is broken. Sales only fall when sales actually fall, and until then they're blowing smoke. You know what happened to DVD sales after CSS was broken? Sales increased. Perhaps it hasn't occurred to you that the reason they bother making copy protection in the first place is that they are wrong, and that whole thing is a waste of time and money in the first place.
Copying is a cause, copy protection is an effect, but there is very little evidence suggesting that there is an intermediary effect of falling sales between those two, only evidence of increased viewing.
I can. It wouldn't be that big a surprise to me if the Chinese, upon discovering the proxy and its purpose, start working to improve the Internet experience it is given. The point is to show how intrusive and controlling the Great Firewall is to outsiders, presumably in the hope that it will increase diplomatic pressure on China to stop it... how better to defeat that than to make it appear as though everything is actually pretty much OK over on the other side?
But the proper context had nothing to do with understanding the military! He said it to a bunch of civilians at a press conference... how the hell does whether or not it was true in technical military terms make any difference at all in the context it was actually said?
You seem to think that context just comes from the words you use... but in fact it also comes from how you say them, when you say them, tho whom you say them, and why you say them. The actual context of "Mission Accomplished" had as much to do with proper military terminology as Warcraft 3 has to do with proper military tactics... essentially none.
"Demands to have something ported for us usually come from novice users who are not able to port software themselves"
So people who don't write software for fun are novice users? Perhaps some of these people could, but simply don't care to, and are hoping that maybe the paid coders at $PROJECT will do it on the clock, rather than sinking 3 months of their lives into a port that will probably be obsolete by the time they're done and for which they won't be paid a dime.
Sometimes, I have to admit, the "community" comes across as more of a village full of assholes.
You seem to be of the impression that GWB is a legitimate military commander (CINC is a formality, even if his ANG service wasn't questioned, he is absolutely unqualified to give any sort of large-scale tactical orders directly... that's what generals/admirals are for), and that he was addressing other military personnel and speaking with regard to a discrete phase of the engagement.
In the context it was used, "mission accomplished" does not mean "we have finished our stated objective for this phase of the engagement, and can now proceed with further objectives in a new phase"... it means "we're done".
"So how do you deal with the 3-chord knockoffs being published these days? There's a very low wheat/chaff ratio."
There have always been bands full of low talent hacks, and the wheat:chaff ratio has always been low. The crap bands will be forgotten, and in 30 years when everything new right now counts as "classic" they'll wonder how we managed to have so much amazing music with so little shit. That's just how it works.
Slashdot Mirror
So, I'm thinking of something that still isn't funny... Can you guess what it is?
You can't be that cynical, you still expected fire...
But it doesn't, and here's how we know... 6 months after most games come out, they cost at least $20 less than they did on their street date, yet copies are still being printed and shipped, and money is still being made.
They can't sell old games at full price, and they've known it for a while, but some shit-for-brains got the stupid idea that, all experience to the contrary aside, maybe they actually can do it.
Of course, this also begs the question: if a game can be sold at profit for less down the line, how the fuck can you justify the high price at release as something other than a money grab?
Remember how they were all up in the Avian Flu's nuts before there was even a single human diagnosis?
Remember that stupid SARS shit that nearly shut down all international travel around 2000?
Ebola?
i'd hope at least one of those is ringning some bells for you.
It is very widely believed that the VERY slow response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic was inspired by the widespread belief that it is simply punishment for the sins of promiscuity, homosexuality and drug abuse. I don't know where you've been, but that's hardly an accusation from far left field.
There are also confirmed cases of nations refusing to take any action, or permit any treatment for HIV/AIDS on precisely those grounds. Not first world industrials, mind you, but even third world African dirt farms doing it is abhorrent.
You're right, instead we should just give them a light slap on the wrist and politely ask them to play nice.
Or we could just roll over and start applying the KY ourselves, that's worked out pretty well so far.
Just by looking around on the road you can tell people are chomping at the bit to drive a tiny tin can looking car, especially if that car is also slow as hell. In fact, the less likely (real or perceived) someone with boobs *and shaved armpits* will give it a second look, the better.
Fixed that for you.
Before you get too wrapped up in that game, keep in mind one of the things he would do, and has done, differently than Ron Paul is actually get elected. That has some fairly serious implications.
Considering that of the top 3 contenders (Obama, Clinton and McCain), keep in mind that Obama was the least openly pro-Israel throughout the entire campaign. Of course, McCain had to do some serious pandering to the GOP religious base (who manage to both love Israel and be incredibly anti-Semitic at times... I'm always a little baffled there), and I think Clinton just barely summoned the will to not label Obama as an Islamic Holocaust denier... but he still apparently never saw fit to just say he thinks Israel is right all the time about everything.
I also think it's a bit too soon to say he won't shake anything up, or that he isn't going after the corrupted parts of the establishment. He'll have Biden, a senior Senator and somebody who commands a great deal of respect for both his character and experience, presiding over the Senate, and I've been hearing about Rahm Emmanuel as ruthlessly effective and somewhat disdainful of the establishment for a few years now. Frankly, the only person that has been mentioned as a possible member of his administration I'm not so big on is Kerry; I voted for him in 2004 mostly because I thought Bush was running things into the ground (gee, I sure was wrong there...), and I voted to keep him as one of my Senators, but he doesn't impress me as a potential Secretary of State.
I'm just hoping that he shuns George Soros, not because Soros' politics particularly bother me, but because the idea that anyone who is completely unencumbered by the Constituion or even public support has so much control over our political landscape does.
Oh, and my on topic response; I want a lot more detail about precisely what Obama intends the CTO position to entail before I can say whether we want that or a CIO. We don't currently have either, so saying we need both is not necessarily true.
Having their business charters revoked, all copyrights automatically reverted to the artists, liquification of all other assets, outstanding payments to employees and other liabilities paid, and whatever is left put into trust to help fund music education and arts advancement programs?
That should just about do it.
I prefer chloroform. It even comes with a sure-fire pick up line: "hey, smell this rag..."
Assault only requires an unlawful attack, it need not cause any harm, nor even be physical in nature.
Considering that spitting on someone is considered assault and battery (battery being the part involving physical contact) in most of the US (not sure about Italy, but I would imagine the law is roughly analogous on this topic), I would imagine that a box of tissues at least qualifies as assault.
If you really want to be modded up (or to get votes), just remember the magic words: "my friends". It almost worked for McCain.
As a matter of fact I have and still do. I've also done it long enough to observe that the stupid questions of today were insightful yesterday, and I can surmise that the insightful questions of today will be mind-numbingly stupid tomorrow.
Do you realize just how much progress is implied by the fact that average people actually know at least the correct names for the applications they are running? and that they can usually distinguish between locally run applications and websites? 5 years ago that was simply unthinkable.
5 years from now, I expect that average users will be asking "stupid" questions about which browser is best for working with Google Office and complaining that Comcast has throttled their connections and made it harder to watch streaming video.
Or for assaulting a kid with Down syndrome...
Or d) Joe Sixpack is just a condescending fiction, and as the general population becomes increasingly internet savvy the average user will actually begin to care about things like which browser they use.
30 years ago, Joe Sixpack didn't want a computer in his house at all... how on earth can you justify the belief that average users will never want things they don't currently want?
"These places make money by keeping you coming back... "hitting it off" is bad for business."
Not exactly, they make money by people coming to them, whether or not they ever come back is irrelevant as long as somebody comes in the first place. You could just as easily argue that if it actually works well then they will have MORE repeat customers... most people are well aware that most relationships don't work out, so they might be more likely to use it again on the premise that it worked as well as it possibly could anyway. Not to mention that one doesn't tell their friends to try things that don't work.*
*With the notable exceptions of religion and politics
"Surely there is some good that can come out of genetic engineering, nanotechnology, outsourcing, etc...??"
Of course there is, but that doesn't mean we should rush into doing it just because we can without any concern for consequences and ramifications.
Also, Timeline was shite, and the movie was even worse than the book.
Nobody stipulated the sheep had to be alive...
At least they'd better not have, cause if they did then I'm blowin this pop stand to find me some REAL kink.
Whoops, then it looks like Johnny boy missed the memo. someone should clue him in that "spread the wealth" is BS *AND* anachronistic.
"I'm surprised this even still comes up. By definition sales fall when copy protection is cracked, otherwise nobody would bother developing it in the first place. A system like BD+ isn't cheap to create or maintain so I'd imagine the losses are significant."
No, sales do not, by definition, fall when copy protection is broken. Sales only fall when sales actually fall, and until then they're blowing smoke. You know what happened to DVD sales after CSS was broken? Sales increased. Perhaps it hasn't occurred to you that the reason they bother making copy protection in the first place is that they are wrong, and that whole thing is a waste of time and money in the first place.
Copying is a cause, copy protection is an effect, but there is very little evidence suggesting that there is an intermediary effect of falling sales between those two, only evidence of increased viewing.
"I can't imagine this open proxy will last long.'
I can. It wouldn't be that big a surprise to me if the Chinese, upon discovering the proxy and its purpose, start working to improve the Internet experience it is given. The point is to show how intrusive and controlling the Great Firewall is to outsiders, presumably in the hope that it will increase diplomatic pressure on China to stop it... how better to defeat that than to make it appear as though everything is actually pretty much OK over on the other side?
But the proper context had nothing to do with understanding the military! He said it to a bunch of civilians at a press conference... how the hell does whether or not it was true in technical military terms make any difference at all in the context it was actually said?
You seem to think that context just comes from the words you use... but in fact it also comes from how you say them, when you say them, tho whom you say them, and why you say them. The actual context of "Mission Accomplished" had as much to do with proper military terminology as Warcraft 3 has to do with proper military tactics... essentially none.
"Demands to have something ported for us usually come from novice users who are not able to port software themselves"
So people who don't write software for fun are novice users? Perhaps some of these people could, but simply don't care to, and are hoping that maybe the paid coders at $PROJECT will do it on the clock, rather than sinking 3 months of their lives into a port that will probably be obsolete by the time they're done and for which they won't be paid a dime.
Sometimes, I have to admit, the "community" comes across as more of a village full of assholes.
You seem to be of the impression that GWB is a legitimate military commander (CINC is a formality, even if his ANG service wasn't questioned, he is absolutely unqualified to give any sort of large-scale tactical orders directly... that's what generals/admirals are for), and that he was addressing other military personnel and speaking with regard to a discrete phase of the engagement.
In the context it was used, "mission accomplished" does not mean "we have finished our stated objective for this phase of the engagement, and can now proceed with further objectives in a new phase"... it means "we're done".
"So how do you deal with the 3-chord knockoffs being published these days? There's a very low wheat/chaff ratio."
There have always been bands full of low talent hacks, and the wheat:chaff ratio has always been low. The crap bands will be forgotten, and in 30 years when everything new right now counts as "classic" they'll wonder how we managed to have so much amazing music with so little shit. That's just how it works.