And that's why Texas has just written Jefferson out of the history books.

I have occasional issues with the game finding the authorization for my DLC as well. Of course, as soon as I log out, there's no remaining issue, and the DLC works perfectly. Give that a try when next you have internet issues. (In case it matters, I have the physical collector's edition, with both DLC packs, CE content, plus preorder bonus items.)

What luck! Now that snitch will never be caught. Time to order a hit.

And automated stroking is strictly against the TOS and you *will* be banned if caught.

After you get out of the hospital.

Now if only I could count. Curse early mornings!

While potentially problematic, this behavior by Google does not rise to the level of Phorm for two simple reasons. First, rather than sitting with your ISP and tracking your browsing regardless of site, this technique will only apply to the (admittedly large) number of sites containing Google ads. Second, the release of a browser opt-out plugin is far beyond anything which would have been allowed for Phorm.

The remaining question for users is: Has someone yet developed a plugin to block google ads entirely? And if not, how long will it take now?

I'll gladly agree with your "degrees of DRM" comparison. While I'd love to be able to both avoid DRM and play the titles I want to play (while supporting the developers financially), this works out to be impossible in practice. Personally, I've reached a compromise: Anything requiring online activation (especially with install limits) for physical media is right out. I'll accept online activation for downloaded games, as I necessarily had an active internet connection to acquire the game. Beyond that, I'll cut a game some slack if it seems especially compelling.

One such game was the new X3 game. I purchased it (boxed) in spite of the DRM for three reasons.

1) The developers promised to remove the DRM in a future patch.
2) The developers have made and kept identical promises on the prior titles.
3) The developers were providing assistance to those for whom the physical DRM failed (by providing an online activation version of the EXE, but that's better than nothing)

While I'd love to see DRM go away altogether, especially in single player games, I'll accept the gradual shift to less restrictive DRM for now.

As with Lord Ender, my complaints with steam derive from the online activation component on retail titles. Half-Life 2 was the first and last Steam title I ever purchased. While I can appreciate Valve's frustration at the HL2 code thefts, I still have an encrypted, unplayable DVD of Half-Life 2 sitting on my office shelf. While I can see the utility of Steam, I simply haven't recovered from this insult.

That being said, I have no qualms about a one-time authentication process for games purchased online, or when CLEARLY disclosed on the box and in the game description before purchased. However, throwing an activation routine on a disk-based retail game without prior full disclosure is simply unacceptable.

I'm a huge fan of digital distribution. I just wish that I had never purchased the retail edition of HL2 (still have the shirt) so that I could give Steam one more chance in good conscience.