fun fact (or maybe rumour. someone might want to check this):
the 360 has fuses in it that can be remotely blown after an update, preventing reversal of said update.
blowing ALL of them will brick your system. not that they've actually done that yet.
is that better or worse than what sony's up to?
no clue. both suck.
it'd be nice if the various game companies who make GOOD games for the consoles and don't screw over their customers (these do actually exist, surprisingly) weren't generally stuck working with such utter scum as the people who think this kind of thing is a good idea.
trade globalisation just guts the Legitimate government barriers that actually help (if properly used) the country in question, and long term help the consumer (by generally stimulating the local economy. again, if done right). this is then replaced with the insanity of Corporations reintroducing basically the same issues, and more, for no purpose other than lining their own pockets.
to the best of my knowledge optic Is faster. higher bandwidth and such. the problem is that the whole thing is only as fast as the slowest part of the network you have to go through... generally the connection from your house to the street (or equivalent) is copper, at which point the entire advantage of fiber optic cables is lost completely so far as the end user is concerned (unless the entire network is choking due to bottle necks caused by insufficient bandwidth compared to users). likewise fiber from the home to a point one or two switch boxes down the line is sorta wasted the moment it hits a significant chunk of the network made of copper, if someone did it that way for some strange reason.
basically, light is faster than electricity :D (also i think fiber optic may take advantage of the fact that you can send multiple signals at once on different frequencies of light? so it's a double bonus.)
well, given that it's technically illegal to export ANY computer hardware from New Zealand (technically speaking, it's all cryptographic equipment, which is illegal to export as of some point in the mid 20th century) this wouldn't actually surprise me and it could be Anything.
(amusingly, the official stance on exporting computer hardware here is: so long as you don't go through official channels to find out if it's legal or not, and aren't violating any Other law, they treat it as legal. if you ask, they have to say no, then it's not... )
New Zealand has usage based billing, and always has. though in this case it's due to the very limited connections from here to anywhere else.
the idea is that you buy priority on the network. depending on who you're signed up with, that means either you pay to have priority for the first X amount of data you use, and then lose the priority and have your speed drop down to 'an equal share with all other non-priority users of what's left of the available bandwidth after all priority users have theirs allocated' (which can be anything from full speed to slower than dialup), or you pay for priority for the first X amount... then your ISP charges you more to continue giving you priority, because they have to by that priority on the lines to give it to you. prices for this are all over the map.
basically, most of our traffic is getting data from overseas, mostly the USA. our bandwith has a hard cap for that: there's two or three under sea cables (i think it's only two) out of the country. they can't exactly be upgraded...
so the whole thing is a method for handling Actual scarcity.
of course, the US and Canada don't exactly have this particular limiting issue, so can't really make the same argument.
well, if they Can, it's a good sign that the original creators are failing at selling their product at a price/quality/convenience that customers are willing to pay for it, isn't it? the first trick would be doing away with the bloody 'windowed' mentality and realising that people outside the USA want to buy the thing in the first place, so give them a legitimate method to do so (without insane price gouging). that right there would cut a surprisingly large amount of 'piracy'.
and trademark is an entirely different thing Anyway, being not 'intellectual property' but 'consumer protection' when applied properly.
humm... interestingly, many public buildings where i live are actually designed to discourage you from using the elevators, encouraging the use of escalators and stairs unless you are disabled or carrying a heavy load that would make it awkward. they're typically designed so you get to the stairs before the elevator, and often the elevator is either small, slow, or inconveniently placed (or some combination there of). admittedly, most of these buildings are 3-6 stories tall.
at the car park building by the library in the center of town, it's actually more common to see people using the stairs than the lift, at least going down (there's this thing where the first two stops on the lift equate to 2-3 times as many flights of stairs as every other floor, which is a pain when going up, so more people use the lift going that way, so far as i can tell. ) the library itself has very obvious escalators in the middle of the floor for going up to the second floor, and from there to the third. it's lift is tucked off around a corner, and one rarely sees anyone but the elderly or disabled using it, well, them and the librarians themselves when they have carts full of books to shelve.
which indicates that design is kind of important. i know a lot of large, fancy buildings tend to have the elevators be really obvious and easy to get to, and the stairs tucked out of the way, for example, even before taking any other factors into account.
(actually, come to think of it, the only public building i remember going to where they Encouraged the use of the lift over the stairs would be parts of the hospital (and a different hospital that i think has been torn down). and lots of older buildings don't even have lifts, so far as i can tell. i'm sure the few buildings in the middle of town that are 10-20, maybe even 30 stories high probably have them, mind you, but they're office or apartment buildings, so i've never been inside. likewise the hotels)
(also, the 'general opinion of the public' is often even more arsine than the lobbyists... just different people getting screwed over for different reasons (indirect results of foolishness rather than direct results of greed))
and the degree of idiocy and rip-off-artistry (I'm sure there's an actual word for that) involved in that dynamic is enough for anyone with a brain who is not actively making money off it to be able to see that it is a Bad Thing.
On the post: Sony Continues To Attack PS3 Jailbreakers: Threatens To Cut Them Off From PlayStation Network
Re: Re:
On the post: Sony Continues To Attack PS3 Jailbreakers: Threatens To Cut Them Off From PlayStation Network
Re: But they're losing money!
the 360 has fuses in it that can be remotely blown after an update, preventing reversal of said update.
blowing ALL of them will brick your system. not that they've actually done that yet.
is that better or worse than what sony's up to?
no clue. both suck.
it'd be nice if the various game companies who make GOOD games for the consoles and don't screw over their customers (these do actually exist, surprisingly) weren't generally stuck working with such utter scum as the people who think this kind of thing is a good idea.
On the post: Evidence Suggests Major Film Studios Uploading Movie Clips To YouTube... Pretending To Be Pirated
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On the post: Investigators Still Can't Find Any Evidence To Link Assange & Manning; DoD Insists It Must Be True
Re: Re: Just because I shove something in your mailbox doesn't mean there's a link between us.
hehe. one way links, ya know?
(i am aware [or at least desperately hoping] that the above post was a joke :) )
On the post: UK Commission Explains That Public Tweets Are Public
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On the post: Once Again, If You Don't Offer Authorized Versions Of Released Content, Don't Be Surprised If People Get Unauthorized Copies
Re: Re: He wanted to purchase the digital version, not the physical version
contrasted with analog? yes.
contrasted with physical? no.
On the post: Once Again, If You Don't Offer Authorized Versions Of Released Content, Don't Be Surprised If People Get Unauthorized Copies
Re: Re: Re: Re: Amazon
globalism only favours the corporations.
On the post: Time Warner Cable Whining About How It's Not Allowed To Pretend It Offers Fiber To The Home Any More
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basically, light is faster than electricity :D (also i think fiber optic may take advantage of the fact that you can send multiple signals at once on different frequencies of light? so it's a double bonus.)
On the post: Time Warner Cable Whining About How It's Not Allowed To Pretend It Offers Fiber To The Home Any More
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clearly, you are a boring person :P
On the post: If You Don't Offer Legit Versions, Is It That Big A Surprise That People Want Unauthorized Copies?
Re: Re: Not for Export...
(amusingly, the official stance on exporting computer hardware here is: so long as you don't go through official channels to find out if it's legal or not, and aren't violating any Other law, they treat it as legal. if you ask, they have to say no, then it's not... )
On the post: Canadian Broadband Regulators Annoyed That People Are Pointing Out They Don't Understand What They're Regulating
the idea is that you buy priority on the network. depending on who you're signed up with, that means either you pay to have priority for the first X amount of data you use, and then lose the priority and have your speed drop down to 'an equal share with all other non-priority users of what's left of the available bandwidth after all priority users have theirs allocated' (which can be anything from full speed to slower than dialup), or you pay for priority for the first X amount... then your ISP charges you more to continue giving you priority, because they have to by that priority on the lines to give it to you. prices for this are all over the map.
basically, most of our traffic is getting data from overseas, mostly the USA. our bandwith has a hard cap for that: there's two or three under sea cables (i think it's only two) out of the country. they can't exactly be upgraded...
so the whole thing is a method for handling Actual scarcity.
of course, the US and Canada don't exactly have this particular limiting issue, so can't really make the same argument.
On the post: Leaked State Department Cables Confirm That ACTA Was Designed To Pressure Developing Nations
Re: Re: Re: Don't believe everything you read
and trademark is an entirely different thing Anyway, being not 'intellectual property' but 'consumer protection' when applied properly.
On the post: Leaked State Department Cables Confirm That ACTA Was Designed To Pressure Developing Nations
Re: Would complaining help ??
maybe?
On the post: Should Elevators Shame Us Into Taking The Stairs?
Re: No access
at the car park building by the library in the center of town, it's actually more common to see people using the stairs than the lift, at least going down (there's this thing where the first two stops on the lift equate to 2-3 times as many flights of stairs as every other floor, which is a pain when going up, so more people use the lift going that way, so far as i can tell. ) the library itself has very obvious escalators in the middle of the floor for going up to the second floor, and from there to the third. it's lift is tucked off around a corner, and one rarely sees anyone but the elderly or disabled using it, well, them and the librarians themselves when they have carts full of books to shelve.
which indicates that design is kind of important. i know a lot of large, fancy buildings tend to have the elevators be really obvious and easy to get to, and the stairs tucked out of the way, for example, even before taking any other factors into account.
(actually, come to think of it, the only public building i remember going to where they Encouraged the use of the lift over the stairs would be parts of the hospital (and a different hospital that i think has been torn down). and lots of older buildings don't even have lifts, so far as i can tell. i'm sure the few buildings in the middle of town that are 10-20, maybe even 30 stories high probably have them, mind you, but they're office or apartment buildings, so i've never been inside. likewise the hotels)
On the post: You Would Think Sony Knew Better Than To Install A Rootkit In The PS3 [Updated]
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well, there goes any relevance the concept of IP ever had :D
On the post: The PS3 Hack Injunction Shows The Problems Of Judges Who Don't Understand Technology
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that would make Sense.
:P
(also, the 'general opinion of the public' is often even more arsine than the lobbyists... just different people getting screwed over for different reasons (indirect results of foolishness rather than direct results of greed))
On the post: The PS3 Hack Injunction Shows The Problems Of Judges Who Don't Understand Technology
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On the post: Does Your ISP Care About Protecting Your Privacy?
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the implications amuse.
On the post: Probably Not The Best Time To Introduce Legislation That Can Be Described As Having An 'Internet Kill Switch'
Re: Re: Re: Hands off...
On the post: European Commission Sued By European Parliament Member Because Of ACTA Secrecy
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