I don't see how this even begins to approach the amount they are in for.. they are going about it the wrong way. In signing up to pay home/ home office users, they are automatically assuming guilt for themselves (as if anyone wasn't sure that they were guilty in the first place?)

First off, they are starting with home / home office users. This population will incur the highest cost per computer to fix - i.e. instead of paying 1 IT guy 30/hr to fix a bunch of computers in one place, this is one-at-a-time visits to Geek Squad (ugh) or whatever which will run 50+ per computer..

This is just opening the door for future corporate lawsuits - i.e. "Clearly they have said that they were the cause of this issue and are willing to refund some of their users to the tune of X for just ONE computer. My company lost 1000 computers, I want 1000x dollars, plus lost productivity."

Ah - that's the one! Thanks

Reminds me of the quotation:

"Life is a sexually transmitted disease with 100% mortality rate."

"It wasn't technically complicated and the fact that I can do it in three days means that other people are probably already doing it and probably taking advantage of it"

Is it just me, or is this like a nationally publicized "Hey guys, try this!" The article lacks the detail to replicate this guy's code, but the other methods he used are all there. Would it have been better to have a system with a few hackers taking advantage and skipping some parking fees, versus a now-comprimised system (or one that begs to be comprimised by publicity and the copy-cat nature of hackers and hacker upstarts) that may be rendered useless? Now there are 23000 meters in San Fran that may need to get new software..

Your frame of reference is obviously that of a "normal video game player." You are not the Wii's target market, and thus you feel understandably disenfranchised. I just cannot manage to see how appealing to the "mainstream market" ie normal, everyday people, reflects a failure in development. I also think that you drastically underestimate the number of shitty games for the PS2. There were close to 2500 games made for that console, and if you think the average quality was that great, then you have never been in a gamestop bargain bin.

In writing this comment, I am aware of the fact that there are not as many top-quality wii games as I would have hoped or expected at this stage of development. However, I think that the games designed specifically for the wii are fantastic, and I blame the deficit partially on poor ports and the cost barriers involved when companies decide to develop a title. After all, if you were a developer, would it appear to be more cost effective to program for joysticks and buttons than a novel motion-capture interface? Of course, because the title can be sold to PS3 and Xbox and PC users alike, and your staff likely has more experience in programing for these interfaces.

If you spread this around as actual quotation, you are gonna get THOOOO THUUUUED! IM GONNA THUE YOU!

Sorry, southpark took over my brain for a second.

Honestly though, this "press release" is totally fake.

Go ahead and mod this down, Im submitting this in anger. I am sick and tired of these BS blanket paypal statements - I would like to see statistics on all these direct payments to authors/musicians/game developers that slashdotters say they donate to after pirating stuff. I hear a lot about them, but after looking hard I can't find a paypal account to donate to anyone currently being published by another company. I know that there are certain cases, including radiohead's paypal album a year or so ago, where your model makes sense. However, note that before this album came out, they were already world-renowned musicians. Their popularity and recognition which makes this system work for them hinged on radio hits distributed by.. publishers. Also, the ability to independently record and produce their own album was likely due to the massive royalties and ticket sales secondary to this distribution.

Logical falacy detected: attractive bimbos at Georgia Tech

I will say to y'alls credit that there are very very few dumb people at Georgia Tech. However, there are even fewer attractive people, let alone women.

GO DAWGS =)

I think you might have read this wrong, or at least, differently than the way I did. I read it as - "You cannot be fired for refusing to participate in something you are morally opposed to."

I.E. if I am a doctor and a service exectuive asks me to perform an abortion or something to which I am morally opposed, I can't be fired for refusing.

Honestly though I don't foresee this as being a problem - physicians and pharmacists (me) are protected by the right of refusal even if their job isnt. Any place that wants to force you to practice medicine against your will is no place to practice at all - its your license, not theirs.

"Most Pirates just want to try an expensive piece of software before they buy it"

[citation needed]

I would assume that most pirates are taking something they want without paying, period. Pirates in your age group or work group may have other motives, but as a general rule, I assume people are stealing the program to steal it.

Photoshop has a "tryout version," Microsoft has trial versions for all of its office suite and a couple other things as well. Why not do it the legal way?

Double Shenanigans. You clearly haven't heard of/ been taught the...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_pass_effect

Things from your gut flow first to the liver before entering general circulation. This helps eliminate a lot of the crap you eat/drink on a regular basis.

The hepatic portal system == blood, but != general circulation (which is where your brain would be connected.. and where alcohol would be dangerous)

so it works like this:

alcohol in your face-> small intestine -> hepatic portal system -> liver metabolism-> general circulation -> brain -> posting stupid shit on slashdot -> sense of superiority

It just so happens that much of the alcohol you drink does make it to general circulation, as the livers ability to process alcohol tops out at around 14-15g/hour.. so a lot of the alcohol you consume does make it to general circulation. If you think an implantable object (under, say, 10cm) full of yeast could make 15g of alcohol in an hour, you are being silly. Also, with time, your body would compensate and ramp up its enzymes and eliminate the alcohol faster, i.e. functioning alcoholics who can drink a fifth a night and not wobble.

TLDR: first guy is wrong because the levels of alcohol produced by a couple yeast would not make you wasted all the time, second guy is wrong because your liver gets first pick at all the poisonous crap you eat before it reaches the parts of your bloodstream where your brain is.

the Opera browser has had this for at least a couple versions already - if you enter ' g (search phrase here) ' it will google for you, e for ebay, etc etc.

This is old hat, no?

The point is not that antidepressants don't work - the point is that diagnosis criteria for depression has been to lax for too long. "Everybody gets depressed, not everyone needs antidepressants" It makes sense that the only people who respond to antidepressants designed to fix chemical imbalance are the ones with severe depression.... who are likely to have a real chemical imbalance. These are not "happy pills" they are formulated to fix an insufficiency. Normal, mild depression from events (death, divorce, etc) has always been treated best by cognitive behavioral therapy (aka psych visits), unless you just want to zonk someone out. But, in our society, if you have a problem you get a pill. No one wants to hear "go talk to someone and get over it," so doctors write the scripts and the generally malcontent get them filled.