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Comment Re:I'll never use Facebook (Score 0) 219

Why do people think it matters if a company is for-profit? Everybody's "for-profit", including all the full-time employees at every "non-profit" organization and every single politician wrangling to get their hands on a piece of your tax dollars, so they can control where it goes. It's not too big for a "for-profit" company. It's too big for anyone.

Comment Language Problems? (Score 1) 141

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." I'm not entirely sure anyone here knows what "endemic" means. "Endemic" is not newsworthy, unless we've been searching and searching for where these vishing attacks come from. "Pandemic" might be newsworthy. Or "epidemic" might be newsworthy. "Endemic" not so much.

Comment Re:To the extent that they lightened the DRM load: (Score 1) 226

I suggest you build a very good and thoughtful game, sold at a reasonable price (say, $20) that will garner you a cult-classic status. Use a simple copy-protect scheme that sends the message, "Hey, I'd prefer it if you actually bought this game..." Many people will pirate your game, use keygens, etc. But some will do the right thing and pay for it. If it's popular enough, someone down the line will toss you a few pence for the right to add your game to a collection and sell it for $5.

Either your game will be popular, or it won't. If it's not popular, then no one will buy it, but neither will they pirate it. The only pirated copies out there will be people who would never have paid for it. And at least your name is on it. If it IS popular, then lots of people will pirate it, but even those pirated copies will come from somehwere - original, paid versions. You have to be prepared for the fact that your title will probably fail. That's the inherent risk you are taking in exchange for the possibility of making money doing something you love. It's the essence of capitalism. And the fact that such a thing is even possible is a minor miracle.

Finally, find some way to add cool tangibles or addons to your package. For example, expansion packs that can only be purchased with a valid key, or large, professionally printed maps of the terrain, or a mini-book that compliments the game. All of these things will make some people want to own an original edition.

Comment Re:not-so-good? (Score 1) 646

You asked what the weaknesses of evolution are. I was merely pointing out that evolutionary theory is not coherent on the origin of life (not to be confused with Origin of the Species), and that the particular figurehead of evolution that is familiar to all school children also thought that certain races were superior to others. This is obviously problematic for the current societal norms. There has been much research on evolution and there are lots of names, but all the little ones know the name Darwin, if anything. His personal (published and well-documented) views on the hierarchy of races does not mean that he couldn't also have been against slavery. A great many vegetarians believe that we are superior to other animals and that for that very reason, we should not hold them in bondage.

It's important, for perspective's sake, to recognize that evolution is not necessarily incompatible with Design. In some cases, Design is even compatible with the man-from-primordial-ooze theories. When it comes to that, you have some random, unidentified force causing unpredictable mutations in an otherwise closed system. Some people choose to believe that the random, unidentified force is willful and others choose to believe that it is truly random.

Comment Re:not-so-good? (Score 0, Troll) 646

Evolution, at least in the Darwinian sense, does not account for the creation of life. It only accounts for the progression of life already in existence. Darwin never intended, and indeed strongly affirmed that he never intended, for his theories to indicate that human kind (or any other variety of higher life) was evolved from, say, single-celled organisms or some kind of primordial ooze.

Darwin was also known for having expressed that his theory showed that (and how) blacks were genetically and naturally inferior to whites.

Comment Seems obvious (Score 1) 958

You have two choices:

1) Get yourself an executive champion - someone with authority who understands the potential liability of deploying pirated software. Offer to audit and document all the company software, including applications that people need/use without a license. Work together with management to develop a strategy from there. BTW, this is great for your resume.

2) Quit. If your moral scruples are in jeopardy, explain to your management chain that you can't work in an environment that is exposed to these legal liabilities. Either they'll change or they won't

Most importantly, don't be a wuss. Lay it out straight for people, level the threat of resignation if it gets to that, and be prepared to follow through. There's nothing worse than that guy who bluffed about quitting and got called out.

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