Actually, this is one form of copy protection that DOESN'T work. The fact is, I was all ready to buy the game. I actually buy all my games, haven't pirated one in forever. (I'm old, employed, $60 is no biggie).

Now I won't buy the game simply because I couldn't play it if I did, and I don't want a game that forces me to save games online, be online when I play, can't be played on an airplane or in the car, etc. And it will stop working once they get tired of hosting the servers.

I've bought every SimCity game ever made and many other sim games from Maxis. Paid money, not pirated. 1, 2k, 3k, 4, Societies, Sim Copter, even Sim Tower and The Sims 1 and 2, simant, simfarm, and so on. I just can't buy this in good conscience because I don't know if I will be able to use it like I wanted to. And that is sad, since I love their games. Maybe, just maybe, I will buy it if someone comes out with a cracked version, and just use the cracked version. I don't mind spending the money, I just don't like being treated like a criminal once I've given them the money. At least with Steam, I can play most games offline and on different computers.

Actually, Texas has a higher standard for search and seizure protection and has for decades. Ask anyone who works in criminal defense (I used to there), the standard for criminal cases in Texas isn't the US Constitution, it is the Texas Constitution.

Can you provide some kind of information on this? I would really like to know what CPUs to avoid.

If you are looking to avoid all errata, then buy an abacus. All CPUs have bugs.

From experience: You put one of the monitors on top of an old VCR with a tape in it in public view. Of course, the VCR is a ruse but they think they got the recording mechanism if they do break in and steal it. The VCR doesn't even have to work.

Fake cameras with built in motion sensors that pan the camera are also good. They run on 9V batteries and cost about 8 dollars each. Of course, this is in ADDITION to a real security system. It just allows you to have the look of extreme coverage.

Most crimes are of convenience. If you look like a very difficult target, they will move on to something that looks easier. Usually. Nothing is 100%, nothing is free, but choosing nothing is dumb.

Plus they've got you locked in contracts.

That is like calling rape, "sex" simply because they have you locked into the sites of a gun. Either way, you are getting screwed, but the contract doesn't make it less offensive, it makes it more so, since you would expect it to be updated quickly, as you are paying money AND doing so under a contract.

Anyone can grow a pot plant, but it takes a little more finesse to actually make something smokeable with THC in it. Just like making booze worth drinking is more difficult than soup. You have obviously done neither, but I'm guessing you've never tried to do either. Comparing it to a houseplant is laughable and shows a lack of understanding of the photosensitivity and growth stages. And distilling booze from mash isn't rocket science, but there is a science to it. From experience, it is much more difficult to do it even half way decent than you understand.

Now more moderate gun owners, who might have been amenable, or at least accepting, of the idea hate it because they believe what the gun lobby is saying.

Actually, it simply proves the gun lobby correct. Obviously, we need to incorporate mental health records into state checks and do a background check on everyone who wants to buy any firearm, but "registering" them is a different animal and IS fraught with problems that the 2nd Amendment was created for. The system needs work, but registering isn't the solution. The Sandy Hook shooting wouldn't have been prevented, for example, because the guns were stolen, not legally purchased.

A little homework shows that most crimes are by illegally purchased (or stolen) firearms anyway. Making it harder for normal people, like me (who had an FFL for years but isn't really into guns) only drives the black market more. Just like how prohibition made booze easier to get, and how pot prohibition makes pot easy to get. It also makes it profitable. Forget registering, and put the money where it would actually make a difference, the ILLEGAL trade of firearms.

Honestly, that is the first /.ing I've seen in a while. If that single post killed their servers, they have bigger problems. Or don't anticipate having more than 50 people surfing their website at the same time.

Yahoo also has an ecommerce platform. We have been on it for over 10 years, doing a couple million in sales. It is a bit overpriced but service is decent, uptime is good, and it is expensive to trade platforms.

I'm not sure I like Wikipedia getting involved in politics like this. I tolerated SOPA, but this is a bit different.

You are correct. The issue isn't how easy it is to exploit, but rather how easy it would have been to not have this "feature", and the failure to address it.

In fact, only a few hundred tons of mercury can contaminate an entire ocean.

That's a lot of thermometers.

* 300 tons = 2000x300 = 600,000lbs
* There are 453.59 grams in a pound.
* Therefore, 300 tones = 272,154,000 grams
* A thermometer has between .5 and 3 grams of mercury in it (thx Wikipedia). Lets say 1.5 grams, lower average.
* It will take approximately 181,436,001 thermometers to contaminate the entire ocean.
* QED

I live in America. We invented clutchless driving around 1950, and after only 50 short years of experimentation, their MPG is just as good as a manual drive. Since I'm not a race car driver, I fail to see the point of manually shifting.

Besides, It is really difficult and dangerous to eat a burrito and carry on a cell phone call when you are shifting gears, so everyone should get automatics simply for safety's sake.

What's next, having to pay money to sing in the shower?

Well, if there is an audience, yes. And it is about time they started making these freeloading children pay their fair share for entertainment. The librarians can always pay for the royalties by simply speaking a commercial every chapter. That way kids can learn about other important thinks like Coke, and the new Barbie. /sarcasm

Renaming (actually, "moving") automatically creates a redirect from the old name, to the new name, and bots comb all the articles that have the old link, and fix them to have the new link. As for all old links that you saved, the redirect will automatically take you to the new named article. renaming/moving doesn't break links, it just redirects them back to the original content. The only way a link breaks is if the link is to a subsection, and the subsection changes, but it doesn't matter, as the "broken" link will still always take you back to at least the top of the article, regardless of how many times it has been "moved".