Funny how people seem to much prefer living in a virtual world and doing all the things you describe rather than perform them in the real world. I wonder if escapism has gone too far...

Myst was a breakout game for its level of atmosphere, immersiveness and pre-rendered graphics. I still enjoy it and boot up ScummVM (development build) every so often to get a hit of nostalgia. Riven's even better in that regard, since it's fun to see if I can finish both games (particualryl the latter) without referring to a walkthrough.

But wtf is this article going on about? New worlds and open-ended gameplay? We have tons of sandbox games now such as GTA, Saints Row and Skyrim. The article doesn't make it clear what it's suggesting we don't have. Myst was a bit unusual in that violence wasn't a focal point of the game (you don't kill things to accomplish tasks), but apart from that they were atmosphere-full games with some interesting puzzles. They weren't out to change the world.

I would really like the entire computer industry to be based on open formats, source and standards but that is a crack dream that will never happen. Something needs to give.

Ah, but the problem is that once you give in a little, then you give in a little more, then over time it becomes easier and easier for things to transform into the wishes of various corporations such that sometime down the track, things have becomes closed, proprietary and the landscape has changed completely (and not necessarily for the better) simply because compromises were made on a continual basis.

I don't really expect this to be the case for Linux, but it has certainly become the case for gaming. DRM and vendor control over the games you buy (Steam being a perpetual rental system after all) is so common and accepted, that anyone who criticizes the concept of having to ask a vendor for access to play or reinstall a game they bought is considered a loony because of all the "cool features" a platform additionally provides.

I don't trust Valve. They've behaved reasonably well so far, but there's no guarantee they'll continue to do so in the future. They're not my friend - I have no personal relationship with them. I'd much prefer DRM-free installers or archives that I can buy and keep backed up on my drives so that they aren't dependent at all on a vendor and can be safely assured to run for years to come (in virtual machines if necessary). With very few exceptions that aren't well documented, you can't do that with Steam.

Presentation is highly important in this business. Like it or not, an attractive web site does wonders for the opinion of those who might stumble upon it. It does not have to be laden with graphics and other whiz-bang features that slow down the browser, but a boring page suggests a lack of bother and care by the company, which might translate into related opinions from those who browse the page.

Geeks continually misunderstand and downplay the significance of image. Humans are visual creatures - ignore this facet at your peril.

Zeitgeist, Mono, Amazon monitoring, Unity, UEFI, MIR

Some of those features are genuinely useful though, particularly for a desktop-orientated distro:

Zeitgeist - it's the basis for being able to launch any program from a prompt just by typing in a few letters of its name, in addition to any files you have, including indexing said files to allow you to find those which have certain key words you're interested in. Although it's mostly used for Unity, I use an alternative launcher called Synapse which also requires Zeitguest and find it invaluable. It could be considered a security issue, but the problem is that all the useful features that are considered standard of any user-focused system (traditional computer AND mobile) kinda require full indexing support. It's what people are used to now, because it's very useful.

Mono - Microsoft might be bastards, but if they really were going to clamp down on the .NET framework for non Windows system, they would have done so by now. I have yet to be convinced there's any threat to Mono - there are enough useful programs out there now which use Mono, that it's better to have it than not.

UEFI - we're moving away from the traditional BIOS. It's inevitable as UEFI becomes the standard. Why berate Canonical for supporting it? Do you want Linux to be unable to run on UEFI-only systems? Or are you confusing it for SecureBoot, which is a different concept altogether? Wouldn't be the first Linux user to not know the difference.

I'm still not happy with the direct Canonical's gone, but they've still done some good and it's wrong to berate them for all of their choices.

You're the once who started with the personal attacks, accusing me of being unable to read. As for being Australia, I Iove it. Our country is far less fucked up than yours and far less hated. :)

As for TPB, Adblock avoids dodgy ads being a vector for infection.

Seriously though, this back and forth has been fun but I think we need to stop.

I see we're ramping up the cuss words. Always a sign of a good argument. :)

In Australia we don't basements. We also don't have RedBox, Hulu or even Netflix. Businesses don't see to want to try to stem piracy here by giving people good, legal options.

As for a good website, ThePirateBay is good enough. It's what's hosted within said site that's the skill.

I've thought about using my Arduino/Raspberry Pi to make a cool project, but honestly once you come home from a long day at work, the last thing you want to do is more work. On the weekend I end up taking care of housework and lose interest in said devices because, like everyone, we need downtime. Movies/games are a good form of downtime. Even if you have the house to yourself, that just means you can work on your movie/game backlog.

I've long stopped judging people about what they do in their spare time. I'd LIKE to be more proactive and build things like you suggest, but I've come to realize that such activities are not as fun as immediate forms of entertainment.

Oh shut the fuck up already. Sounds like you got burnt by not having the knowledge about how to obtain good torrents - that's fine, happens to everyone occasionally. But knowing how to obtain quality torrents is something of a skill, and learning what to look for as signs of a good or bad torrent. Very much like knowing how to not get infected by viruses/trojans/popups - once you know, you wonder how everyone else seems to always have problems.

Who the fuck downloads CAMs anymore? You seriously telling me you can't wait a few months before the DVD/Blu-Rays are released/leaked and the 720p/1080p releases arrive?

I know how to deal with these things, but I really think you're overstating the general convenience of piracy massively.

Piracy doesn't work for the vast majority of people for the reasons you describe. Yes they're not actually serious problems if you're sufficiently tech literate and experienced, but most people aren't and most people aren't capable of learning (or can't be bothered in the first place).

But as inconvenient as pirating can be at times, I prefer the freedom and control it gives me over straight convenience almost all the time. You're trading a little immediate pain and toil for a better outcome. Heck isn't that the same reason a lot of people go to college in the first place? Delayed satisfaction. Convenience isn't the most important factor (or at least shouldn't be) when making decisions.

So you build a collection of things you might have an interest in. Start downloading them as you find them, so that they're ready once you have an opportunity and excuse to watch them. Heck you don't need terabytes of storage like some of those crazy media hoarders - just enough to keep you occupied during a sick day or when the wife is away for a few days.

It's weird. I used to pirate a lot because of a lack of income - I was a kid but still wanted the movies/games. Later on I started things as I got older and had more disposable income - I wanted to support the creators and "do the right thing", morally as well as legally. But now I'm back to pirating things again not because it's free, but because of all the additional benefits it provides:

(1) I can obtain movies/TV shows in a DRM-free, open(ish) cross-platform format that doesn't require a special, Windows-only player which requires authorization per viewing and lacks functionality compared to other video players of choice.
(2) I can obtain an actual file, period. Something I can store on my own devices and not rely on streaming and Internet access to watch.
(3) In terms of games, I don't have to deal with dodgy DRM schemes, or DRM at all. I can also pick and choose which patches to install once they're released by a scene (so I can use, for example, an older RAGE patch that doesn't lock out most console commands, whereas on Steam you can't downgrade updates once they occur).

At this point in my life it's really, really hard to justify subscribing to these services and buying (or renting as the case generally is) content, because the actual product is generally worse in terms of user control and freedom than what you'd get from TPB.

The only reason I'd stop now would be if there was a real, legitimate way to prove and punish with accuracy everyone who pirated, and it was all but guaranteed that if you pirated you'd get caught. If that were to eventuate, I'd definitely stop... but I wouldn't start buying things either, because there's no motivation to give people what they want apparently.

The gimme generation will never understand this.

Any particular reason you're trying to lable me?

Gaming should be about being fun. I like challenges in gaming, but if I'm going to be spending a lot of time grinding before I get a satisfying outcome, I might as well do it in real life. No-one recognizes an achievement in gaming with any level of seriousness, but if you can build a quad-copter with an Arduino and your own flight-control code, well that's much more impressive to show off and makes you feel genuinely proud about something worthwhile.

Games are a make-believe world you spend a few hours in every so often to escape. Nothing wrong with that, but please don't inflate any successes you accomplish in a game to be worth THAT much. Hence, spending time mindlessly grinding in a game doesn't seem like a good effort-to-reward ratio.

Windows XP is definitely a source of nostalgia. I'll miss it for that purpose alone, but I'm happy enough to run Windows 7 without any complaints. It's fortunate Win 7 will still be supported for a long time.