Because a company the size of Blizzard couldn't possibly have enough resources to fully develop Multiplayer/PvP and Singleplayer at the same time.

Except the point with Java is that you don't port it. You just run it with a Java runtime and it should work. While that's not true 100% of the time, with C you HAVE to rewrite things to get it to work on another OS. Are you sure you program with Java? Because I think you're completely missing the point of the language.

I seriously doubt Activision has that kind of pull. There's a reason it was a merger and not a purchase. Blizzard could have given Activision the finger if it didn't think the terms of the merger left them with more control, not less.

The reason for the frequent releases is that instead of x.1 or x.2 releases for major features, they do a whole new version number. Most projects will use such increments for minor additions and whole integers for rewrites or major overhauls. Its the other end of the spectrum from projects that have an integer release only once every decade and have version numbers extending in multiple decimals, like x.yy.zz.a.b.cccc and other inanely specific versions.

There are a number of achievements that are fairly difficult to obtain. Having a record of these feats sitting right there on your Battle.net account is an easy way to show someone "Look! I did something pretty impressive!" But with everyone cheating, the value is gone. There is the personal satisfaction of knowing you obtained it legitimately, but if you show anyone your Battle.net account, they'll just think either you cheated or it's not a big deal since everyone else has the same "achievements." It's the same thing as high scores in the days of yore. Like beating a game without losing a single life. Some people enjoy the challenge and sharing it with friends. Most game networks now have a way to verify that someone actually did something of noteworthy, whether it be an achievement or a trophy.

So yeah, they do nothing for gameplay mechanics. But they do a lot for why people play a game. To ensure ALL aspects of multiplayer, including achievements, are fair, Blizzard HAS to crack down on external cheats, even in single player.

Again, I'd like to reiterate that lawsuits may be a bit extreme. However, I do agree with their strong stance on the matter. People paid for a game and all its features. To have one feature ruined by others cheating and for Blizzard to nothing would be far worse than cracking down on people using external cheats.

Except Blizzard built cheats into the game for people just like you. They disable achievements, though. So for someone such as yourself, that's perfectly fine. But some people wanted to cheat the game AND the system to unlock achievements and artificially boost their rankings.

While I'm not sure a lawsuit is quite the answer, I do think Blizzard is right to make a big deal about this. A lot of people really like their achievements because... They're achievements! Some are rather hard to get. Blizzard is just making sure that the rewards someone earns aren't diluted by cheaters who make it impossible to determine who legitimately earned something and who just used a trainer.

Refunding for unused time? Yeah, that's pretty much never done. But so is blocking use of an account just because you cancelled your subscription before your paid for time is up. In fact, this is the first time I've ever heard of a game (or any other subscription service) working like this. It's like Square-Enix has never bothered to even READ about another MMO beside FFXI and is trying to reinvent the wheel. Only its a square.

Posted anonymously... Then signed with your username?

If I remember correctly, the current record holder for longest time in orbit has aged .48 seconds slower than the rest of the Earth. I doubt these guys have come anywhere near a full second.

Those tasks require some level of thought or physical interaction. These upgrades aren't even hidden in menus: When you connect to the internet, the PS3 will automatically ask you to do them and you just hit "Yes." There. Update is applying and you'll have a fully updated PS3 in a short amount of time.

They're expensive. Very expensive. But if you don't pay, that's the end of it. You don't pay. A court order might garnish any working wages, but a court can't order a doctor to remove it and kill you.

Your anti-vacuum reasoning is an edge case at best, but then you recommend canned air, which is very likely to throw moisture into your equipment if you're not very careful?

Plus, blowing or pulling air across the fans is always a bad idea. It is likely to damage them. Your best bet is to have someone like Best Buy clean the thing out. They may be monkeys, but they can clean out your laptop pretty well and don't void the warranty if they're an authorized repairer for your brand.

It's perfectly legal to pass someone on the left in that situation, given you're not in a no passing zone.

They have to identify "infringers" first, then look up the data. You're right, the identity data is easy to find, but they have to report everyone that is a supposed infringer. That means if the industry goons are also monitoring for "infringers" and finds people that aren't being reported by the ISP, then the ISP is liable for a fine. So they're going to have to set up a system (With real, live humans probably) to identify "infringers" and then send the information to the industry.

And I thought the US held the title for most ass-backwards technology law in the form of the DMCA, but this one is really fighting for the crown.

It's all going backwards already! The single Atom processors are the slow ones; Now it's all about the dual Atoms!