He probably doesn't meet the age requirement, even though he otherwise kicks ass.

Nobody does.

I think so. The point of sponsoring the team and not the idea is that it gives the team some freedom to explore new concepts rather than requiring the big publisher to approve each idea - Because they almost always only approve old, tried concepts.

Typical of slashdot, no one read TFA? It says she stated the measures were important and fully collaborated with them.

I've been to the US twice and there are a lot more places there I'd like to visit, but as long as things remain this crazy in their airports I'm spending my holidays in saner countries.

I never played FFXIV, but it sounds like they hired the developers of most korean MMORPGs to design and code their interfaces...

http://www.movies.spoilertv.com/2010/01/hobbit-casting-call.html

I think the point you're all missing is that while in a small town everyone knows everyone else and there's a certain degree of awareness of what everyone else is up to (I live in a small town myself), you, being a part of that 'everyone', should have that awareness too. You know who the people in your community are and a few things about them, even if you aren't into gossip. If Aunt Mae thinks you're gay, you can try to sort it out with those people - this small amount of people which are people you yourself know - or you can move elsewhere, or you can even let it be known that Aunt Mae is a lesbian and then sit back and have a quiet chuckle.

This can't possibly be compared with the degree to which facebook and other such services erode your privacy. They do so on a global scale. Faster than wildfire, everything about you is sold or transmitted to complete strangers everywhere in the world and stored in databanks, public and private, for a long, long time. In this situation, if you're screwed, you truly are screwed forever.

The article says 2012. Is it 2011 already? Did my nap take THAT long???

I was precisely thinking of that series while reading this thread! It's a very educational comedy.

The US was the one pushing all those things (and Japan)Them caving means they agreed to remove all those silly provisions due to pressure from other countries (EU, Canada, Mexico, etc.)

Other countries also have companies making profits from american entertainment and buying their own politicians. Also, Japan's a big media producer as well (outside Asia, mostly games, cartoons and comics, but still).

I think you're right, but is it more illegal than spamming? I believe the kind of spam sent by these people/bots is illegal in the United States and several other countries (though I'm not american, so I may be wrong). The sender is hiding his identity, deliberately getting around spam prevention systems and offering no method for opting out. So we're dealing with criminals here, and what is law enforcement doing about it? Random Digilante writes in his blog that he contacts ISPs, who would normally be expected to investigate these people (who inclusively break the ISPs own terms of service), but they usually do nothing. So while the taking over of e-mail addresses registered by criminals for the sole purpose of breaking laws and annoying the hell out of everyone may not be exactly nice, shouldn't you save your indignation for the actual spammers, their customers, ISPs, law enforcement agencies and lawmakers? Or for people who are out in the streets embezzling, scamming, mugging, kidnapping, raping and murdering?