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Comment: Re:Oh noes, he copied him!!!! (Score 1) 296

by Babbster (#39726743) Attached to: Magician Suing For Copyright Over Magic Trick
"Imitation" would be one thing. If this guy was just doing the illusion on stage, Teller likely wouldn't bother suing. This guy, however, offered expensive kits for sale so that others could do it, and they don't have to go to the trouble of figuring it out for themselves or even appreciating Teller's part in its creation.

I don't know if the suit can be won, but writing this off as sincere flattery is a mistake.

Comment: Re:Coming Soon (Score 1) 617

by Babbster (#39471537) Attached to: What's Not To Like About New iPad?

apple seems really bad at coming up with dpi agnostic solutions so this is what you get. of course it's a selling point on some level, even if it means more pixels to push. of course at some version they're going to have to address this, but not this year(it's rather ridiculous that you can't configure osx to be at all usable on a screen like on the ipad though!).

I think the more important factor is maintaining aspect ratio and size, at least within product lines (iPhone/Touch and iPad).

When designing an application, being able to standardize your UI elements to a fixed display size makes things easier and is friendlier to the consumer. For example, if Apple increases the size of the iPhone display at some point, then it's possible that UI elements designed for the new display could be too small for comfort on an older one.

This was a problem for my dad when he started using a home PC with Windows and he had to reduce the display resolution so that applications operating in a fixed resolution smaller than the size of the screen would be easier to see. This applied mainly to specific shareware programs he liked but it complicated his user experience in that he had to learn to adjust properties of the OS about which he should never have had to learn. In an OS with few customization options, those adjustments might not even be available to the end user.

Comment: Re:It already is (Score 1) 607

by Babbster (#39394297) Attached to: Should Snatching an iPhone Be a Felony?
I could be wrong but isn't there an assault here as well? It's obviously a violent act to grab something out of another person's hand against their will and then there's the second violent act of throwing the phone through a window. If that happened to me, I'd certainly be in fear of further violence against me. Thus, it would seem to rise to the level of assault.

Of course, an assault can still be a misdemeanor but there would seem to be the potential for multiple charges arising from the incident.

One final note: Can you really be called "paparazzi" if you're doing the job with an iPhone? Yeah, the cameras in them are okay but wouldn't their quality be beaten handily by even a relatively cheap, dedicated camera?

Comment: Re:Ya well, may be a reason for the price (Score 1) 225

by Babbster (#39130367) Attached to: PSVita Released In the USA and Europe

Agreed, there's not much out there in Android-land as good as Skyrim or Civilization or the obscure hex-based military strategy games I like. However the PSVita games aren't that good and cost just as much.

Well played. It's good that you're not rushing to judgment on a system that's only been available (in limited quantities) in this country for a week. Wait, you are, aren't you?

Seriously, I'd never recommend buying a game system at launch. I went against my usual grain and did so with the 3DS and it was a huge mistake. Of the systems launched in this century, none of them have had great launch lineups. Even the Nintendo DS - a system with a multitude of great (and awful) games today - had a terrible lineup of games at launch.

Don't get me wrong. There are some really good reasons to hate on the Vita as it exists today, from battery life to expensive proprietary memory cards. But the game lineup, judged against other launch lineups, is either average or better given that Game Rankings has 6 Vita games listed at 80+%.

Comment: Re:Half-assed backwards compatiblity (Score 1) 225

by Babbster (#39130229) Attached to: PSVita Released In the USA and Europe
Even if there aren't individual serial numbers (and I certainly don't think there are), it would be a simple matter to test it, make sure the game is working, and then give the code. Or at least it would be a simple matter if a) game stores wanted to participate in such a boondoggle that does little or nothing for their regular business (they wouldn't) and b) licensing agreements were in place with every publisher to make their titles available online (they aren't) and allow exchanges of physical discs for downloadable copies (they surely aren't).

Sony doesn't own every game released for the PSP. They were involved in the licensing and production processes, but in the absence of a contract to the contrary, they don't get to unilaterally determine alternate methods of distributing those games.

This is all a tempest in a teapot anyway. The PSP has never been significantly popular in the US and the issue of backwards compatibility will recede into the background as new games are released for the Vita (assuming it does well and generates publisher interest). In the meantime, getting a used PSP - or a new one, for that matter - is easy and cheap. Nobody with these mythical huge collections of UMD games is losing the ability to play their games, either now or in the foreseeable future. I don't understand why they'd have any interest in the Vita anyway if they're still playing the old games so much...oh wait, I do understand: It's fun to bitch about big companies in general, and Sony in particular.

Push where it gives and scratch where it itches.

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