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Comment Dumb crawlers require dumb solutions (Score 5, Interesting) 36

I had a problem where AI scrapers were absolutely DETERMINED to fish out every possible query string from a search results page. Almost all of the query strings they tried were invalid due to shitty and dysfunctional string substitution. "&page=100" wouldn't be followed by "&page=101", it would be followed by "&pag&pag=1010" or something even more insanely half-baked, until the query strings were like 100+ characters long. It was the technological equivalent of watching HIV mutate in real time.

But the insane thing was that, aside from page number, they were always requesting info about the same other criteria: filtered by the same user, the same page type, and with no text string. So I just took those particular values and started banning logged-out users who requested that combination of criteria.

I figured I'd need to change my tactics in a couple of days once the botnet got bored of that particular page and moved on to requesting bogus entries for another user.

MariaDB> select count(*) from ip_bans;
+----------+
| count(*) |
+----------+
| 671671 |
+----------+

It hasn't.

Comment Re:"Obtaining permission from the copyright holder (Score 1) 87

The video, posted by the Homeland Security X account and the White House on TikTok, shows several arrests made by border patrol and ICE agents alongside Pokkmon's slogan "Gotta catch 'em all".

It also features footage from the opening credits of Pokkmon's anime TV show with main character Ash Ketchum.

The video ends with images of fake Pokémon trading cards featuring the mugshots of men and women arrested by ICE and their alleged crimes.

Sure sounds like they would fail factors #3 and #4 here, and probably #1 as well:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

A similar case:
https://ipvm.com/reports/flock...

Comment Re:HP INK only $39.99/GAL (Score 3, Informative) 54

I regret to inform you that you have woefully underestimated it. The actual retail rate offered to consumers is closer to $2200 US per gallon. Sources: internet-ink.com, cbc.ca. This $14 million fine is only worth like, seven thousand gallons, or less than 200 oil barrels of ink.

Comment Re:Open source it then (Score 5, Informative) 52

The main aim of Stop Killing Games is to ensure the practice of rug-pulling eventually comes to an end. They are not trying to save MMOs, for example.

Moreover they don't demand that every game currently on the market comply with open-sourcing requirements: at a minimum, companies always have the option of simply providing customers with adequate notice before shutdown. Open-sourcing the server would be nice, but it's hardly the only way to protect consumers' interests. Scott has, for example, suggested game boxes being marked with an estimated expiry date for online service functionality.

But most importantly: because this is about future games, not the present, the market has time to change. If studios and publishers are designing their games with a fair EOL in mind, then they can make decisions from the get-go to avoid licensing dependencies that they won't be able to release in a possible 'afterlife' version of the game. As suggested by your example of GameSpy in C&C: Generals, when a commercial dependency is crucial to a game's success, it tends to be a client-side library, but typically the problematic dependencies aren't crucial; they're e.g. add-ons for Unity or Unreal that the studio bought to save time. In a world with SKG laws, the providers of these dependencies aren't going to be a stagnant target either—demand for compliant libraries will motivate development of open-source versions.

Interestingly, the will for doing this does exist among game developers; they just need the institutional support from legislation to twist the arms of the studios and publishers. Ross Scott has talked to a lot of devs who are burnt out from having their projects cancelled, leaving them with huge gaping holes in their resumes and portfolios where they've spent years on unreleased projects that are stuck under NDA. In general they tend to see SKG as a path to ensuring the games that do see the light of day aren't also scrapped, which would erode their work histories even further. (Apparently it also just plain feels bad to have your work erased from history. Shocking, I know.)

Comment Corrections (Score 4, Informative) 19

Duke 3D's soundtrack was not exclusively the work of Bobby Prince; Lee Jackson, Apogee's go-to music guy, also did some of the tracks, including the title theme, Grabbag.

Prince used not only his MIDI skills but also his experience as a lawyer to ensure his 'inspired' derivatives were as close as legally possible to the originals. The relationship between individual tracks is often very clear and sometimes even hinted in the metadata of the source files.

Comment Re:Managers vs Warriors (Score 1) 118

You will not be able to find prior examples where the DoD secretary removed people from the O-7 promotion list.

You will not be able to find prior examples where the secretary of the army's objections to the handling of the O-7 promotion list was made public.

You will not be able to find prior examples where the army chief of staff was forced out due to objections about the O-7 promotion list.

You will not be able to find prior examples where the pentagon chapel did not hold some sort of Catholic service on Good Friday. You will, however, be able to find times that Hegseth's favorite pastor has called for the removal of catholic displays from the United States.

You will not be able to find any examples where Hegseth has blocked promotions of white males or fired white males because they were 'not warriors'.

Comment Re:You mean Martin Luther King's outlook (Score 3, Informative) 118

Whoops. Thought I was just clarifying MLK's words; didn't realize this would trigger a podcast-pilled collection of nutwingery. My mistake.

I have neither the time or interest to respond to all of your BS, so I'll just point this out:
Hegseth Strikes Two Black and Two Female Officers From Promotion List
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/0...

The bigotry was so obvious, another Trump appointee refused to go along. The Army chief of staff was forced to resign after he objected.

The black general in charge of the army's chaplain corp was fired, apparently after he objected to Hegseth only allowing Protestant services in the Pentagon on Good Friday; Catholics were excluded.

In case the fucking obvious racism is still not obvious, this is a quote from the Christian nationalist Hegseth has invited to lead prayers at the Pentagon:
"slavery produced in the South a genuine affection between the races that we believe we can say has never existed in any nation before the War or since"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
He has also called for the repeal ot the 19th amendment.

And here's Hegseth prioritizing politics over the chain of command and combat readiness:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/m...

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