good thing they're still only trying to convince a judge here and not a Jury.
odds of the US winning over a Jury in NZ on something like this without blatantly rigging the whole thing is somewhere between 'zero' and 'i didn't know negative numbers got that big'
microsoft has one thing going for it and one thing only:
less catastrophic failures.
in every other way i've come across that matters to me, when it comes to Gaming, Sony wins. (not that i touch any of their other stuff...)
and even then, with the gaming, a LOT of that is that they've managed to somehow get exclusive deals with the developers that can make games which aren't crap. (also: Japanese nationalism does weird things to this particular industry, apparently.)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Hmm...Is mike going the way of John Stossel?
added bonus: they existed as limited liability entities for financial matters before they got that status ANYWAY, and for the corporation to have committed a crime individuals MUST have acted in an illegal manner. the corporation having deeper pockets than the individual is a reason NOT to allow the corporation to take the punishment instead. it removes all meaningfulness from it to the ones actually taking the action.
Microsoft doesn't give you the PC.
just Windows.
and That they control as much as they can get away with.
they can't stop you doing whatever the hell you want on your PC if you don't use any of their products, and the PC itself is not one of them. (though they may well be in tight with the manufacturers of the hardware, those are, in fact, different entities... )
better: you need to connect to it for updates or your new games Will Not Work.
if i'm not forgetting something while half asleep, at least.
and yes, SONY uses MTC so far as i can tell.
(i believe, like Paypal, you're actually buying That, which leads to things getting hazy. especially with the constant 'non-refundable' lables on everything under most such systems...)
pretty sure PCs are still ok... though, the software is variable.
i'm still trying to figure out how the hell they got contracts set up to the point where it actually costs MORE to buy a laptop without windows than with, though.
(basically, if you asked the place for the laptop, but did not want windows on it, due to contracts they could NOT not sell you the windows license, and having sold you the license would have to provide you with the software... normally they meet their legal obligation to give you a backup copy of such software by the Incredably dubious, at best, method of making a partition on your harddrive and putting it there. (it's SUPPOSED to be on an entirely seperate bit of physical media, i should note. such is my understanding, at least) ... so they have to make a disk of That, AND take windows off the machine, which takes man hours, which they bill you for... or at least, it went something like this when i ordered mine... the guy i ordered it through ended up giving up and just getting the thing with the windows license and sorting linux for me himself instead. )
because the choice is Sony or Microsoft and for some dumbass reason the developers that actually make the good console games (if you're into anything other than shooters, anyway) often refuse to deal with Microsoft. (Nintendo A: makes it a pain in the arse to tell if any given game's going to be worth the money, even compared to the normal games situation and B: mostly produces rubbish anyway. the exceptions are, mind you, Insanely good.)
... i would LOVE to buy a system made by a company that wasn't made of suck. all they have to do is convince the stupidly-nationalist-to-their-own-detriment/contractually obligated/whatever Japanese developers who make the good stuff to produce things for them. (and any American developers still free and making good games... and any other random game developers who are actually any good)
not charging so much per game that they're actually getting more expensive as the exchange rate should be causing their prices to drop would be nice too... as would not having to take out a mortgage to afford the console. (i'm joking about the mortgage, of course, but the PS3's price was still stupid.)
so, yeah, a console that can actually get non-shooter games of any quality that is not Sony or Microsoft, or otherwise evil at a price that's not crippling? i'd be all over that.
too bad it'd get eaten by patent lawsuits the moment anyone tried.
'course, they do the same or equivalent for every special interest group who's members are likely to vote in large numbers and any corporation or business etc likely to be willing to br... err... sorry... contribute to their campaign funds.
politicians, you know.
(here abouts, they instead have blatantly corrupt opinion polls run as news as if they were fact to discourage their opponent's supporters from voting while offering unsuportable tax cuts... heck, the current lot won the election that put them in power by promising Not to carry out their unpopular policies (that were pretty much inevitably going to happen eventually due to being fundamental to their 'more money in our pockets' ideology) which is stupid because they only promised not to do that for One term, and if you get a first term you're pretty much garanteed a second due to the weird nature of the electorate here unless you screw up most royally. a combination of that fact and the blatant propaganda campaign pretending to be reporting on the elections (those corrupt polls and onesided reports again) got them in a second time despite This time making the single most hated thing in NZ politics (government selling vital infrastructure and revenue streams to foreign interests, for the short version) the most visable part of their campaign platform. squeeked in with EXACTLY 50%+1 seats after adding in the one seat the only party willing to form a coalition with them in light of the poison that is that platform managed to get. had they got even one seat less we might have seen the, otherwise insane sounding and highly unlikely, outcome of EVERY other party forming a coalition to keep them out. ... it was that unpopular. 1/4th of the eligable voters did not vote, incidentally, so any claim that they have a mandate for such activity dies quickly)
gah, WAY off topic there. sorry. (not sorry enough to eliminate it, but still..)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: They can barely use their Blackberries
tell me, good sir, where is this mystical land you hail from?
honestly, all my schooling taught me was that the administrators are corrupt or incompetent, the educators overworked, and that my luck is just Weird. (watch me take absolutely no action to in any way cover my misdeeds, and get off scott-free, minimum. watch me suffer significant penalties (in the scale of 'stuff the school can do without involving your parents' or, occasionally, when that was unavoidable, 'stuff the school can do without involving the law or the creation of any records') for things i had nothing to do with or was the victim of. wheee... (seriously, i had POLICE showing up at my house because i was SICK and the school refused to do anything to allow me to continue my studies while dealing with health issues, instead choosing to add extra financial burdens and waste everyone's time (including the already overworked Doctor)... it was a long and stupid chain of events.))
schools that actually teach the students how to think are few and far between... and here abouts, at least, a lot of them have completely lost the ability to even teach Facts and Skills because they prefer to 'teach the students how to think' by.... not teaching them anything. (seriously, 'teaching the student how to think' meant 'give them research projects and essays without ever teaching how to actually do research, or write essays, or allowing for the fact that you assigned a topic neither the school nor public libraries had any information on. good job.)
grrr, rant rant rant.
anyway, yeah, point is, a school that teaches you how to think is a rare thing.
those appear in the movie 'Vexile'(i think i spelled that right).
which was pretty good. CGI action flic. interesting twist at the end (which one might miss if not paying attention)...
pretty much anything that takes 'lethal' damage explodes in an epic ball of flame which somehow doesn't actually destroy it and keeps burning for ages despite having only non-flamable materials for fuel though. hehe.
but yeah, has advertising that cruises along at the same speed as the cars on the walls on the sides of the highways.
On the post: Megaupload Defendants Get Internet Access Back; Kim Dotcom Allowed To Record An Album
Re: Re:
odds of the US winning over a Jury in NZ on something like this without blatantly rigging the whole thing is somewhere between 'zero' and 'i didn't know negative numbers got that big'
On the post: A Copyright First: Bogus Copyright Takedown Leads To Australian Court Awarding $150k Damages
Re: Re:
On the post: Court Says Sony Is Free To Change Its Terms Of Service Because Accessing PSN Is A Choice
Re: Re: Re:
less catastrophic failures.
in every other way i've come across that matters to me, when it comes to Gaming, Sony wins. (not that i touch any of their other stuff...)
and even then, with the gaming, a LOT of that is that they've managed to somehow get exclusive deals with the developers that can make games which aren't crap. (also: Japanese nationalism does weird things to this particular industry, apparently.)
On the post: Court Says Sony Is Free To Change Its Terms Of Service Because Accessing PSN Is A Choice
Re: Re: Re: Re: Hmm...Is mike going the way of John Stossel?
On the post: Court Says Sony Is Free To Change Its Terms Of Service Because Accessing PSN Is A Choice
Re: Re: Re:
just Windows.
and That they control as much as they can get away with.
they can't stop you doing whatever the hell you want on your PC if you don't use any of their products, and the PC itself is not one of them. (though they may well be in tight with the manufacturers of the hardware, those are, in fact, different entities... )
On the post: Court Says Sony Is Free To Change Its Terms Of Service Because Accessing PSN Is A Choice
Re: Re:
if i'm not forgetting something while half asleep, at least.
and yes, SONY uses MTC so far as i can tell.
(i believe, like Paypal, you're actually buying That, which leads to things getting hazy. especially with the constant 'non-refundable' lables on everything under most such systems...)
On the post: Court Says Sony Is Free To Change Its Terms Of Service Because Accessing PSN Is A Choice
Re: Re: Self-Inflicted Injury
i'm still trying to figure out how the hell they got contracts set up to the point where it actually costs MORE to buy a laptop without windows than with, though.
(basically, if you asked the place for the laptop, but did not want windows on it, due to contracts they could NOT not sell you the windows license, and having sold you the license would have to provide you with the software... normally they meet their legal obligation to give you a backup copy of such software by the Incredably dubious, at best, method of making a partition on your harddrive and putting it there. (it's SUPPOSED to be on an entirely seperate bit of physical media, i should note. such is my understanding, at least) ... so they have to make a disk of That, AND take windows off the machine, which takes man hours, which they bill you for... or at least, it went something like this when i ordered mine... the guy i ordered it through ended up giving up and just getting the thing with the windows license and sorting linux for me himself instead. )
On the post: Court Says Sony Is Free To Change Its Terms Of Service Because Accessing PSN Is A Choice
Re: Re: Self-Inflicted Injury
because the choice is Sony or Microsoft and for some dumbass reason the developers that actually make the good console games (if you're into anything other than shooters, anyway) often refuse to deal with Microsoft. (Nintendo A: makes it a pain in the arse to tell if any given game's going to be worth the money, even compared to the normal games situation and B: mostly produces rubbish anyway. the exceptions are, mind you, Insanely good.)
... i would LOVE to buy a system made by a company that wasn't made of suck. all they have to do is convince the stupidly-nationalist-to-their-own-detriment/contractually obligated/whatever Japanese developers who make the good stuff to produce things for them. (and any American developers still free and making good games... and any other random game developers who are actually any good)
not charging so much per game that they're actually getting more expensive as the exchange rate should be causing their prices to drop would be nice too... as would not having to take out a mortgage to afford the console. (i'm joking about the mortgage, of course, but the PS3's price was still stupid.)
so, yeah, a console that can actually get non-shooter games of any quality that is not Sony or Microsoft, or otherwise evil at a price that's not crippling? i'd be all over that.
too bad it'd get eaten by patent lawsuits the moment anyone tried.
On the post: Arizona Politicians Scramble To Adjust Internet Censorship Bill After The Internet Mocks Them For Being Clueless
Re: Ummmm
politicians, you know.
(here abouts, they instead have blatantly corrupt opinion polls run as news as if they were fact to discourage their opponent's supporters from voting while offering unsuportable tax cuts... heck, the current lot won the election that put them in power by promising Not to carry out their unpopular policies (that were pretty much inevitably going to happen eventually due to being fundamental to their 'more money in our pockets' ideology) which is stupid because they only promised not to do that for One term, and if you get a first term you're pretty much garanteed a second due to the weird nature of the electorate here unless you screw up most royally. a combination of that fact and the blatant propaganda campaign pretending to be reporting on the elections (those corrupt polls and onesided reports again) got them in a second time despite This time making the single most hated thing in NZ politics (government selling vital infrastructure and revenue streams to foreign interests, for the short version) the most visable part of their campaign platform. squeeked in with EXACTLY 50%+1 seats after adding in the one seat the only party willing to form a coalition with them in light of the poison that is that platform managed to get. had they got even one seat less we might have seen the, otherwise insane sounding and highly unlikely, outcome of EVERY other party forming a coalition to keep them out. ... it was that unpopular. 1/4th of the eligable voters did not vote, incidentally, so any claim that they have a mandate for such activity dies quickly)
gah, WAY off topic there. sorry. (not sorry enough to eliminate it, but still..)
On the post: If They Can't Pass SOPA... Senators Ask FTC To Magically Stop Foreign Software Infringement
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: They can barely use their Blackberries
honestly, all my schooling taught me was that the administrators are corrupt or incompetent, the educators overworked, and that my luck is just Weird. (watch me take absolutely no action to in any way cover my misdeeds, and get off scott-free, minimum. watch me suffer significant penalties (in the scale of 'stuff the school can do without involving your parents' or, occasionally, when that was unavoidable, 'stuff the school can do without involving the law or the creation of any records') for things i had nothing to do with or was the victim of. wheee... (seriously, i had POLICE showing up at my house because i was SICK and the school refused to do anything to allow me to continue my studies while dealing with health issues, instead choosing to add extra financial burdens and waste everyone's time (including the already overworked Doctor)... it was a long and stupid chain of events.))
schools that actually teach the students how to think are few and far between... and here abouts, at least, a lot of them have completely lost the ability to even teach Facts and Skills because they prefer to 'teach the students how to think' by.... not teaching them anything. (seriously, 'teaching the student how to think' meant 'give them research projects and essays without ever teaching how to actually do research, or write essays, or allowing for the fact that you assigned a topic neither the school nor public libraries had any information on. good job.)
grrr, rant rant rant.
anyway, yeah, point is, a school that teaches you how to think is a rare thing.
On the post: Why The 'Missing 20th Century' Of Books Is Even Worse Than It Seems
Re: Re:
On the post: Is The Battle Over The Internet About Control vs. Chaos? Or Delusions vs. Reality?
Re: Re: Control vs Chaos
On the post: Megaupload Defendants Get Internet Access Back; Kim Dotcom Allowed To Record An Album
Re: Re: @PaulT
On the post: Captain's Prerogative: CBS Suddenly Decides To Block Fan-Created Star Trek Show Despite Past Support
Re:
and the 'S' stands for 'series'?
the 'O' is for 'original', for anyone who missed that.
it's like talking about an 'ATM machine' only more so.
On the post: Captain's Prerogative: CBS Suddenly Decides To Block Fan-Created Star Trek Show Despite Past Support
Re: Math is hard, isn't it?
still pretty old for what it is, though.
On the post: Captain's Prerogative: CBS Suddenly Decides To Block Fan-Created Star Trek Show Despite Past Support
Re: Re: Re: Not a Trekkie.
On the post: Is Comcast A Threat To The Internet?
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: "Your Pipes are too small."
HUGE difference that people need to stop being morons about and actually understand (from both sides)
On the post: National Highway Transportation Safety Agency Says You Can Keep Your GPS -- As Long As It's Completely Useless
Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: National Highway Transportation Safety Agency Says You Can Keep Your GPS -- As Long As It's Completely Useless
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
which was pretty good. CGI action flic. interesting twist at the end (which one might miss if not paying attention)...
pretty much anything that takes 'lethal' damage explodes in an epic ball of flame which somehow doesn't actually destroy it and keeps burning for ages despite having only non-flamable materials for fuel though. hehe.
but yeah, has advertising that cruises along at the same speed as the cars on the walls on the sides of the highways.
On the post: EU Parliament Won't Wait For EU Court Of Justice To Vote On ACTA
Re:
too bad human nature precludes such a perfect world.
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