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Android

Developer Drops Game Price To $0 Citing Android Piracy 433

hypnosec writes with news of a curious way of fighting piracy. From the article: "Android based devices are being activated at the rate of million a day and users are downloading apps and games at a rate never seen before. Despite these promising stats, developers of Android based games and apps are not really keen on porting games and apps that have been successful on iOS to Android. Why? Rampant piracy on Android! Madfinger Games has joined the long list of developers who have recently turned their paid Android based game, Dead Trigger, to a free one. Originally priced at $0.99 on Play Store, the first person shooter game is now available for free . The iOS version of the game still costs $0.99 and hasn't been made free." Zero-cost, but certainly not Free Software; one has to wonder whether Open Source games with a "donation" build in the store would do better than proprietary games with upfront costs.

Comment Re:And this is why (Score 4, Insightful) 322

I have mixed feelings about Wikileaks. On the one hand, I like when gov't wrong doing that has been covered up is revealed. But on the other, Assange has the view that countries should always say the same things in public as in private (He said so in 60 minutes inteview). I think this is just not a standard that any nation can live up to. Most decent people don't live that way and neither would I expect well run nations to do so. Even allies will make public statements while having more private views and back channel communications. I really don't see that as wrong. It is only if it is used to propagate hurtful lies or hide important truths that make it wrong.
As for his criminal accusations, I don't know what to think. I am skeptical of the accusations and the way they were made. But I am equally skeptical of the defense of him I have heard. I don't know what the truth is. I can only hope if he committed a crime, he gets a fair trial. And if he didn't, that all accusations and allegations would be dropped.
If the U.S. is involved in the massacre of civilians in Syria, I would want to know about it. And I would want those responsible to answer for it. However, I do think that scenario unlikely in the case of Syria, from what I have read.

Comment Re:zzzz (Score 3, Insightful) 172

If some are condemning their research as fraud, they bring it on themselves by including marketing expenses in their research budgets in order to justify higher prices for consumers in the countries (like the U.S.) where they can get away with it. News reports I have seen in the past few years indicate they are making record profits. That certainly isn't because they have come up with much better antibiotics. It is because they advertise heavily until people bug their doctors for a prescription. That said, there are certainly wonderful advances and I'm sure good and decent scientists working for all the right reasons in those firms. I just doubt sincerely that they are in control.

Comment Re:Two basic steps (Score 1) 245

Not to mention that they allege this was the case six months ago. Curious--albeit not enough to RTFA--as to why they sat on such a golden nugget of PR for so long. My inner cynic is tempted to envision this:

Hrm... Okay, next security vulnerability. This one was submitted 2011/09/29.
(several minutes of analysis pass)
Hey! We fixed this one already. Hey boss! Come here! I GOT ONE!!!

Comment Re:This is truly good news (Score 1) 91

My understanding of this (non scientist view) is that they found stem cells grown in isolation of other cells tended to become tumors. But when placed in the presence of similar cells or with cells of the areas of the body where they needed to grow, they were more likely to behave as hoped and turned into the needed cells. Maybe some kind of cellular chemical signature guidance to the stem cell of what to do. But what a gamble, you have to put the stem cells right into the affected area where if things go wrong, it would be very hard to fix. This is why I thought they were working towards using stem cells to grow new teeth since they could implant them and then if necessary pull them out if things went wrong. Teeth are apparently similar in many ways to more sophisticated internal organs, so a lot would be learned by perfecting it. Plus, it would totally be marketable if you could grow people brand new perfect teeth.

Comment Re:because its simple (Score 1) 1003

I haven't seen anyone comment on the distraction of GPS systems. Of course, they also get you where you need to go quicker so reduce your time on the road looking for your destination. But still listening to the thing and trying to follow its instructions can be at least as distracting as having a conversation with a passenger or using a hands-free phone.
I mean there is no question people do all kinds of stupid things and I can hardly believe people using phones with one hand while they try to park their car or back it out of a tight spot. But I think to claim hands-free is more of a distraction than a conversation with a passenger is a stretch. At a minimum, it would depend on the circumstances. Someone having a simple conversation on the phone with both hands on the wheel and their eyes on the road could certainly be less distracting than a screaming argument with a passenger.

As an aside, my favorite distracted driving story is about a friend of a friend going to work and seeing the woman behind him doing her makeup in the rearview mirror in stop and go traffic. A few minutes later the guy stops the car in traffic and the lady rear ends him. He looks back and sees her pulling her lipstick out of one of her nostrils.

Comment Re:In other words, (Score 1) 220

Tower Madness is a good Tower Defense game. Moxie 1 and 2 word game (although Moxie 1 is now on Facebook, too). Peggle is good, but I think I actually prefer it on the old click-wheel ipod. Star Wars Trench Run for the total Star Wars geek (raises hand). Some of the high end racing games are good too, but I kind of suck at them.

I've gotten a ton of games free from the Free App A Day site and FreeAppCalendar and others like it. I just check them once a day and see if they have anything good. Also got HarborMaster and SpyMouse (my kid likes that one) free from Starbucks. Not sure if they are worth full price, but I play them from time to time.

Tower Madness I got for free originally, but happily have bought in game extras since I have gotten way more than a dollar worth of fun out of the game.

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