Have you seen the wealth of private servers? They're falling a bit behind on expansions, but in general... It's possible to have the WoW experience without paying a dime.

It's a crime because they're using these credit card numbers to purchase things. It's a crime because, even though WEP is not that secure, it's still basic security. It's a crime because they're accessing data that they should not be accessing.

They're not more important than the criminals you mention, they're not less important. They're criminals, period. Do you also think stopping murderers is more important than catching people who break into homes and steal things?

I'd like to see you come home to a ransacked house and say "I'm going to miss my TV, and all my other nice things, but boy, am I glad the police were busy catching a murderer."

I think it's actually a rather brilliant plan. Indie companies make some money, the game maybe gets released sooner..what's not to love? I don't think it's being pushed in a manner that will make people think they absolutely *have* to buy into this.

I find driving with a cellphone to be a lot more distracting than talking to passengers. One problem is that you're, y'know, holding something to your head. Bit of a difficulty to turn your head at a moment's notice, etc. Another problem is that (at least for me) using a cell phone puts my brain into that "this is a very urgent matter, FOCUS NOW" mode, thus severely limiting my concentration on driving. And that's my two cents there.

Back to the Apple issue: I find it rather hard to deny that this is bad parenting. Personally, I won't be giving my daughter anything more powerful than a tracfone until I'm certain she's old enough to make good decisions. Even then, her app purchasing will be tied to her own separate bank account.

As far as letting your child play games on your phone:

In case you haven't noticed, smartphones are rapidly becoming closer and closer to actual computers. Given that, you should really be having a talk with them about these sorts of things before letting them use it in any way that doesn't involve you watching over their shoulder the entire time, the same as you would before allowing them to use computers.

Bottom line, blame the parents before blaming the company. I'm sure there are cases where this isn't the case (decide for yourself whether that was intended), but I'd eat my hat if they were the majority.

...who read this and started looking around and measuring their living room, trying to decide how to move everything around to get a decent layout, so I can use this to get a whole Minority Report interface going?

...thank you for making a TBD time period of my life less awesome. I was just waiting for the day the country goes crazy and a revolution goes underground, when we have all our hard drives wired into an incredibly elaborate contraption designed to wipe them with acid if we flip a really big switch and cut the power.

But you've ruined that. Now all I have to look forward to is looting.

On topic: TFA didn't seem to mention it, anyone know how easy it would be to screw up something that would kinda fuck the authentication sequence? For instance, a new OS, or is this something built in at the firmware level, something the average end-user wouldn't be able to install?

In theory, it's somewhat of a decent idea..I would say that you need an investigation to do anything (which will never happen, let's be reasonable). First and second strikes are a warning letter, third strike is 6-month disconnection (from that ISP). Hell, maybe even blacklisting your ISP after your fifth or sixth.

The problem in general with these laws is that there's probably not going to be any actual investigation, which is how it really screws everyone. I don't think they're necessarily a "Whoa, whoa, let's not go this far" thing, so much as just needing a lot more moderation and informed argument.

>something more important to do during their last weeks

Well, I would imagine that most, if not all, of the people you might ask would argue that the mentioned most important thing to do in your last weeks is to enjoy that time. I would also imagine that one does not go to the trouble of coding in Morse with their legs and feet without said coding being something they enjoy.

Therefore, I would argue that he *did* do something important - something he enjoyed. Isn't spending the last of your time on this earth doing what you enjoy all that matters?

>used games at too high a price

It's...not like, y'know, a used car. The previous owner hasn't left a horrible smell in the disc and put crappy stickers all over it to boost horsepower. It's a game that someone else has played, which you are acquiring for less than the normal price. How can there be "too high" a price when you're paying less than full?

>shite deals on trade-ins
I'll concede that point. However, if you wait for their sales and are a subscriber to their rewards program (which, really, pays for itself when you consider it comes with a magazine subscription and a 'buy two, get one free' coupon, all for fifteen bucks', the fact that you don't make so much trading in really evens out.

Also, in response to drinkypoo:

>Gamestop is now discontinuing all 32 bit systems' used games.

You're either an idiot or a troll. Or both. So we're talking mainly Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, and Playstation. As in Playstation one. That's really all that needs to be said on that subject.

but I find this kinda funny.

Yeah, she's a thief. Yeah, it was disastrous.

It was a lot of bad things, but hell, an old woman with a spade just BROKE THE FUCKING INTERNET. This'll keep me giggling for at least a couple horus.

When spore was released, a friend had preordered and my girlfriend at the time drove him to pick it up.

Upon returning, she mentioned that the store manager had told him "there was a last minute delay and it wouldn't be out for another few months, and you could just kinda see David's soul dying and tears start to well up."

Another friend then replied "He should've saved that joke for when Duke Nukem Forever finally comes out."

Bet that manager is kicking himself now.

Bah, posting again to attribute this comment to me. Forgot I'd cleared all my login cookies and such when I upgraded to FF4.

Given that 4.5 hours is with all the bells and whistles turned off, I don't think it's that far of a stretch to say, what, 2.5-3 with them on?

You are now aware that Nintendo's "play for half an hour, take a break for an hour" warnings suddenly make perfect sense.

I hold no opinion either way, but I will say that your tone and choice of phrasing does not at all lend credence to your tale.

It may be 33% thinner, but it's still fatter than Steve Jobs.