I don't really like that this is going to default to on, and it reeks of sell out.

But seriously, they should have, and I'm glad that economically the poorer model flopped to make room for the superior game.

I'd love a commercial sized team supporting a project like minecraft or dwarf fortress, I'd love to see what a project like that could do where innovative, genre creating design were combined with a dedicated and quality graphics and art team. Perhaps the last decade of failed MMO projects and successful ventures like the above stated minecraft/dwarf fortress will lure more publisher support for more innovation and less sequel.

Well, and the hidden intangible value of market share. See, Netflix really is a steal if their streaming content has content that appeals to you. And at 8 bucks/month for that content, very few companies can compete. I think the only reason amazon/google/hulu have any decent visitors count at all is their exclusivity to certain popular content.

BUT - if netflix continues to wind up the price and down the number of customers, on paper it may look like more money, but within the market they are gift wrapping next generation streaming entertainment delivery for another company to take. And it doesn't really matter what you do afterwards or what you did before, when you exploit your monopoly at the expense of your customers, when they finally do get their wish and a competitor steps in they will trash your name for decades to come.

Actually... this would be totally worth the 40 bucks if the police get called on every time the internet service drops.

That should be the question. If it's state supported, then aggressive acts against the US should leave the option of reprisal, be they physical or virtual. However, as often is the case, the power of the state is waning and more often homeless smaller groups are posing as the real threat. You can declare war on drugs or Al Qaeda or other non-state elements all you like, but all it really amounts to is a way to justify to your people that you're cutting their resources/services to go after something with military force. The doctrine is meaningless unless you plan to go up against another recognized country.

Actually I have no problem with the idea of national ID. I'm pretty fed up with the fed's baseless anti-drug but pro-corporate pharmacy attitude, militant overtaxing, overspending and overexerting in foreign affairs, and f'ed up two party system that lumps social and economic decision making into a single choice come election time.

Why is polygamy illegal?
Lawyers haven't found a way to exploit it yet.

See, if 2 people get a divorce, then there's half of everything, and that's a big chunk for the lawyer to work with.

But, if 3 people get a divorce, that's only a 3rd of everything per lawyer.

This continues ad nasuem: if you have a rockstar with 100 wives, that's only 1% of his wealth sniped by a gold digger. What kind of tabloid headline would that make? "Golddigger wants divorce, wins 1% of Brad Pitt's fortune!"

So you see, preposterous. If it bucks the trend of lawyers taking all the money, it ain't gonna happen.

Wow, maybe they could classify the constitution and then leak it. Would do a world of good.

1. Homebrew will update, and anyone that was smart enough to load it onto a their wii the first time will GUESS WHAT? Continue to be smart enough to load it again.

2. Now that they've brought attention to it, more people will hear about homebrew, think hmmm... sounds interesting and free, why not? Thus expanding their piracy problem.

First, a disclaimer.

I happen to live on planet Earth. I am, therefore, somewhat biased to protect it. This bias may affect my perception of decisions, such as drilling oil wells that could have "immeasurable effects" on the ecology of the drilling site if done wrong.

Now, this article summary, and the statement from the judge, shows clearly in my opinion why we should never use the word immeasurable as a way to justify one action or another. It seems the opposition quite quickly was able to measure the impact, and the impact is about 1%. The first oil company willing to pledge enough cash to completely recover from a second disaster like the BP one, I'd say happy drilling. Until then, we need to suspend drilling holes at depths where we aren't technologically far enough along to fix things if they go wrong.

It does surprise me, that we've found the technology to destroy this planet hundreds of times over with nuclear energy, but we can't plug a hole a mile underwater. Kinda leads you to which way this planet's headed.

I'd make an example of BP the way we made an example of Philip Morris with cigarettes. Take a portion of BP and all other oil companies profits, and from that drive for renewable energy sources like solar/wind. Make the oil companies fund anti-oil commercials like tobacco revenue funds anti-smoking ads, have them research/subsidize into solar, etc. And make all technologies developed from any think tank funded by these revenues be forever patent free.

I came to this thread expecting a story about 41 billion dollars worth of DS games being taken at gunpoint on the high seas.

Here's the easy debunking question for the gaming industry: if 41 billion dollars was truely lost, where did it go? What did those crazy kids spend it on, if not your video games?

This is of course, a ludicrous question, because the downloaders never had the 41 billion dollars to spend. This isn't a loss, it isn't even an opportunity. It's the gaming industry burying it's head in the sand to the true reason sales are down: a lack of innovation and sequel after sequel that the next generation is getting tired of.

If TV were more like the internet, you could just choose the content right for you without a fucking committee..

Oh, wait.

I haven't subbed cable since I moved out 7 years ago. As far as cable internet goes, it varies from place to place. In Virginia I had Comcast, even during my time their they changed a lot going from down once a month to maybe one outage/year. I've had roadrunner up here with similar quality. That's good, as I work from home and an unreliable internet is as much jeopardy as an unreliable car: too many absences is poor for anyone's future career.

I have no interest in cable television/land line phones. I see it as an overpriced model to begin with, and completely overdone with advertisements. Spending 1/3 of your view time in commercials unless you also get TIVO, whereby you fast forward by commercials, is a pretty bad practice IMO. Similarly getting a landline that's then bombarded with robocalls till you sign on a DNC list, and even then gets bombed around election time because for some audacious reason they think they are above your election to not be called by a robot @ dinner time... yea. No thanks. You couldn't give me that service for free.

No, that's simply what the media giants would like you to believe. In fact, there is plenty of freely made and distributed content in the entertainment and practical world: youtube sees more uploaded every six months than the major networks have ever created, and I'd even claim some of that content beats out the best stuff the NBCs and FOXs can put out.

If something like an automobile replicator existed, it would simply mean that it was time for our economic model to evolve: we wouldn't need billions of dollars tied up in automotive design and research. Those with a hobby/passion for it could still do it, others would have to find a new line of more useful work. But considering the alternatives here are free cars for everyone, vs maintaining the outdated model for the sake of "some poor designer", I'd forever advocate the improved standard of living across the board.

The day is coming when companies will realise it's more resource intensive and costly to protect their IP against the wave of increasing technology that spreads it, and will instead embrace viral marketing and mass-distribution of their IP instead, seeking other ways to monetize it. Look at the top innovators of this century: Apple, Google and Facebook. Apple is the only one charging it's users for a service, and then only because it costs significant bucks per unit to crank out iphones and ipads and ipotatoes. If we ever reached a stage where physical objects could be replicated as readily as virtual ones, you would see a company out in the market lead embracing the most impractical marketing strategy of all: free. Because free gives you market share, market share gives you audience, and audience gives you the one thing we will never replicate: time.