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Comment Re:Actually.. (Score 5, Interesting) 438

by Randseed (#33078236) Attached to: Sometimes It's OK To Steal My Games
See, you have people like me who DO. For a classic example, Starcraft II. Starcraft II is a high-budget game, which Blizzard spent a lot of money marketting. All that is good. I was going to buy it. Here's what happened: I bought the thing, was confronted with a 36 hour download time, and used a version that I happened to have which was a torrented predownload. For reasons I still don't understand -- maybe it was regioning, whatever -- their DRM prevented me from using the game that day. I had to wait until July 28th, a day after it was released, to play it at all. On the release day, I'd tried numerous times to "authenticate" my copy, all of which failed. I went to my battle.net account, which claimed that I'd somehow activated too many copies. I called Blizzard and got hung up on numerous times with an "unfortunately, we're experiencing a high call volume" load of crap until I finally got through, at which point the hold time was 56 minutes. Now, I did the right thing. I bought the damned thing for $60. Blizzard's DRM caused a major screwup, which made me wish that I'd pirated it so at least it would work.
Games

Submission + - Blizzard's DRM FUBARs Starcraft II 2

Submitted by Randseed
Randseed writes: Blizzard Entertainment spent by some reports $100M to create Starcraft II. Now people who have bought the game are unable to use it at all due to some error on Blizzard's servers relating to "associating" an account with the game. I legitimately purchased the game, and am wishing that I hadn't, and had pirated it instead, because at least a cracked version might actually work. Why do companies insist on instituting ridiculous DRM that ultimately makes them look like asses and doesn't stop piracy at all? Cracked versions are already out on the 'net.

Comment Re:Nurse != Secretary (Score 1) 406

by Randseed (#28216891) Attached to: Hospital Turns Away Ambulances When Computers Go Down

People get there because of restrictions in Canada and England that do effectively prohibit purchase of health care by private entities.

Citation please? Don't know about Canada but in the UK there is a thriving private healthcare industry, particularly for elective procedures, for people who don't want to wait to get to the top of an NHS waiting list. Nobody is stopping you paying out of pocket, or indeed for private insurance, if you can afford it.

The difference is, if you can't afford it, you'll still get all the treatment you need. You won't be discharged as soon as you've been stabilized in A&E. And you won't subsequently be bankrupted by medical bills.

And if you can afford it, you still have to pay for everyone else's. Uh, yeah, doesn't sound like socialism to me. Right.
Microsoft

Jack Thompson Sues Microsoft 574

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the try-not-to-get-laughed-out-of-court-again dept.
An anonymous reader writes to mention that Jack Thompson, in his latest bout of zealotry, has set his sights on Microsoft for their recent release of Halo 3. GameAlmighty has posted the letter to Bill Gates. "Here's the deal, Mr. Gates: Either Microsoft undertakes dramatic, real steps, through its marketing, wholesale, and retail operations to assure that Halo 3 is not sold, via the Internet and in stores, directly to anyone under 17, or I shall proceed to make sure that Microsoft is held to that standard by appropriate legal means. I have done that before successfully as to Best Buy, and I shall do so again as to Microsoft and all retailers of Halo 3."
Security

Submission + - More on bulletproof vests

Submitted by el_flynn
el_flynn writes: You thought that polythylene was cool? The Star Malaysia is reporting on a bulletproof vest made out of coconut husk and fibreglass! The invention, which bagged a gold at the 35th Geneva International Exhibitions of Inventions, New Techniques and Products last April, had taken two years to invent, and claims to be able to stop a 9mm bullet at a 5m range. The extra benefits are its weight and cost — it claims to be up to 5 or 6 kilograms lighter than conventional, Kevlar-based jackets, and can be produced at a fraction of the cost.
Television

Slingbox Comes to the Mac 76

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the slung-like-a-cable-box dept.
Egadfly writes "The Slingbox has arrived for the Mac world. Some long delays during development now seem over. Sling Media has finally released version 1.0 of their software for Mac OSX. This means that, after buying and installing the Slingbox, Mac users can 'sling' their home cable and satellite signals to themselves at the airport, or in a café hotspot, or over their office computers. The article on SlingCommunity.com gives the details of the software's development — from last year's much-discussed beta to today's v1.0. Screenshots show how a standard-looking "TV remote," displayed onscreen, allows the Mac users to change channels or browse Tivo recordings over the Internet, many miles from their living rooms."
Businesses

Submission + - 8 Years For IP Theft

Submitted by nick_davison
nick_davison writes: So you though a several thousand dollar settlement is harsh for copying and distributing some music? The BBC reports that Joya Williams, 42, from Atlanta has just been sentenced to 8 years in jail for copying and trying to distribute a recipe — in this case, Coca Cola's. District Judge J Owen Forrester said in sentencing, "This is the kind of offence that cannot be tolerated in our society."
Google

Submission + - OpenDNS says Google-Dell browser tool is spyware

Submitted by
PetManimal
PetManimal writes: "David Ulevitch, the founder of OpenDNS, claims that Google and Dell have placed 'spyware' on Dell computers. Ulevitch made the claim based on his observation of the behavior of the Google Toolbar and homepage that comes preinstalled on IE in new Dell machines. He says that a browser redirector sends users who enter nonexistent URLs to a Dell-branded page loaded with Google ads. Another observer, Danny Sullivan, says that this is a different result than what happens on PCs without the redirector. However, the original article notes that Ulevitch has a vested interest in the results of mistyped URLs:

Ulevitch's complaint also stems from the fact that the error redirector breaks some of OpenDNS's functionality. If an OpenDNS user types "digg.xom" by mistake, their browser pulls up the correct "digg.com" instead. But the redirector breaks the free service's typo correction — as well as the browser shortcut feature it unveiled last month. "Google's application breaks just about every user-benefiting feature we provide with client software that no user ever asked for," Ulevitch said.
"

New DX10 Benchmarks Do More Bad than Good 99

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the who-can-you-trust dept.
NIMBY writes "An interesting editorial over at PC Perspective looks at the changing status between modern game developers and companies like AMD and NVIDIA that depend on their work to show off their products. Recently, both AMD and NVIDIA separately helped in releasing DX10 benchmarks based on upcoming games that show the other hardware vendor in a negative light. But what went on behind the scenes? Can any collaboration these companies use actually be trusted by reviewers and the public to base a purchasing decision on? The author thinks the one source of resolution to this is have honest game developers take a stance for the gamer."
Security

Submission + - Next Time You WarDrive? Buy A Latte'

Submitted by mrneutron2003
mrneutron2003 writes: Some people need to really understand where the legal system stands on open Wi-Fi networks. Routinely when driving around we find oodles of open access points, and this is far from a big city we live in. But, don't assume when you find an open hotspot that you can do whatever you like. A Michigan man got stuck with 40 hours of community service and a $400 fine for Wi-Fi access from a parking lot. http://www.fastsilicon.com/latest-news/next-time-y ou-wardrive-buy-a-latte.html?Itemid=60

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