Humor Random Comments Thread

[goaowonk]

But if you plan opening a business, you better pay the software you use, instead of risking being out of business from day 1.

Here in Spain I listened about people who buy a couple of copys for 20 downloaded for work and show only the legal ones to inspectors. Wish that was a myth, cannot confirm nowadays.

I am disappointed. You are one reason why we have such DRM .

You're right about serious software, I should buy it or at least find a way to pay for their work. About games, specifically the steam/similar sites ones I am sure of what I'm doing: if I don't like what policy they use and that's the only option then... sorry again. At least I've got almost all of the original game DVDs.

 

[TMac3000]

I dodged the whole issue by just sticking with open source software. There is an open source alternative for practically every software need in existence, and most of them are surprisingly good. You can't steal it if the creators give it away

So, finger to you, Microsoft!

 

[MattBaker]

And now that we have the debate and I'm not spamming uninteresting stuff:

On amazon:
XBox One: 499€
XBox One Controller: 100€

PS 4: 399€
PS 4 Controller: 60€

Two things bother me. First, the one with the worse specs is more expensive. Second, why the hell do you pay 100€ for a controller?

 

[tomthenose]

is that xbox 1 as in the first one? somebody must think their old xbox is a collectors item!

 

[Urwumpe]

You're right about serious software, I should buy it or at least find a way to pay for their work. About games, specifically the steam/similar sites ones I am sure of what I'm doing: if I don't like what policy they use and that's the only option then... sorry again. At least I've got almost all of the original game DVDs.

Yes... the right thing is then to not play them. Plain simple.

A normal computer game involves about 400 employees working for months or years to produce it and bring it into your local store or online shop. If nobody buys the game, the company will be bankrupt quickly. If you just copy the game instead illegally, the company will be bankrupt, bought by EA and later release a cheaply done sequel to their "underground hit" with the most annoying kind of DRM.

Also, for computer software, the Hollywood law also applies. Either you make a big expensive block buster or a cheap indie game. Between these extremes, there is nothing. In the middle, you are too commercial to be nice and too cheaply done to be popular.

 

[Codz]

A normal computer game involves about 400 employees working for months or years to produce it and bring it into your local store or online shop. If nobody buys the game, the company will be bankrupt quickly. If you just copy the game instead illegally, the company will be bankrupt, bought by EA and later release a cheaply done sequel to their "underground hit" with the most annoying kind of DRM.

That's a problem I've always had with the popular piracy argument that, "if nothing is being physically stolen, it isn't wrong". While an actual item may not be stolen, and therefore missing, you are still using the final product of hundreds of hours and dozens of employees without giving any of them any form of compensation for their time and effort. Whether you would have intended to buy the game if piracy wasn't an option or not, it's still unethical.

 

[Urwumpe]

That's a problem I've always had with the popular piracy argument that, "if nothing is being physically stolen, it isn't wrong". While an actual item may not be stolen, and therefore missing, you are still using the final product of hundreds of hours and dozens of employees without giving any of them any form of compensation for their time and effort. Whether you would have intended to buy the game if piracy wasn't an option or not, it's still unethical.

Yes, exactly. You should be regarding the situation as paying for rewarding the work that people have done, instead of paying for the copy. I am no fan of DRM and the other models to cash in the development costs.

I also see that problem with people who still illegally download music: They have years of music on their HDD, much more than they can really listen to. They no longer appreciate music, they just collect it.

---------- Post added at 02:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:33 AM ----------

German poetry:

§923 BGB "Grenzbaum"


(1) Steht auf der Grenze ein Baum,
so gebühren die Früchte und,
wenn der Baum gefällt wird, auch
der Baum den Nachbarn zu gleichen Teilen.

...

(3) Diese Vorschriften gelten auch
für einen auf der Grenze stehenden Strauch


I dare you, Vogons.

 

[TMac3000]

That's a problem I've always had with the popular piracy argument that, "if nothing is being physically stolen, it isn't wrong". While an actual item may not be stolen, and therefore missing, you are still using the final product of hundreds of hours and dozens of employees without giving any of them any form of compensation for their time and effort. Whether you would have intended to buy the game if piracy wasn't an option or not, it's still unethical.

I was pro-piracy back in the day, and to some extent I still am. To me it's a privacy issue. I mean, I can understand that companies don't want people pirating their software, but have you looked at some of these license agreements? They go a lot farther than just copyright. We have copyright laws already, but most license agreements have the temerity to actually tell me specifically what I'm allowed to do with the software--on MY computer! I call bull I paid you for it already, MS. You have my money, and I have your software. If you didn't want me looking inside it, seeing how it works, and modifying it to suit my taste, then you shouldn't have taken my money for it. You can't have it both ways.

As i said, this is why I use very little proprietary software anymore, and make sure that what I do use is legal. It's not out of respect--it's just to keep them off my back.

 

[Evil_Onyx]

Invasive DRM is a real pain. But the real killer is the silly price of some games, to the point that I refuse to pay more than £30 for any PC game with two exceptions X-plane and FSX.

As for illegal games downloading, I have only ever done it when a decent Demo was not available and if I liked it, I want out looking for a copy to buy. There is a distinct lack of demo's available for most games IMHO.

 

[Urwumpe]

I pay maximal €50 for a really good game. For example Anno 2070, since this was the "King Edition" of the game, with all add-ons included ( + the badly necessary game mechanics summary poster).

For DCS, I paid more already (70 Euro in sum, most of it for Black Shark), but then for the individual modules. They currently have a special sale there, consider giving it a try for buying the three modules that I badly miss (A-10C, Combined Arms, Flaming Cliffs III).

DCS is IMHO also the good example for the game industry. It is a high quality product, but has a very fair pricing scheme. And they seem to have stopped using StarForce for distributing their simulations and use DCS:World for that kind of DRM.

(The first third party add-on for DCS is now coming out... I wonder what would be needed to also start making third party add-ons for it. There are quite a few european planes that I would like to fly there.)

 

[Artlav]

That's a problem I've always had with the popular piracy argument that, "if nothing is being physically stolen, it isn't wrong". While an actual item may not be stolen, and therefore missing, you are still using the final product of hundreds of hours and dozens of employees without giving any of them any form of compensation for their time and effort.

Therein lies the copyright paradox, which is a basement-level topic.
Maybe it's better to move that discussion down there, less the mods get itchy?

 

[Urwumpe]

Funny detail: German Eurofighters are now seen wearing F-22 kill marks (one mark and three marks on two known planes). Something that says more about the respect that the F-22 has from the POV of German pilots, than about the actual performance of the Germans I think.

_________________________________________

And random wondering: Isn't it funny, that we think of warp speed as something unbelievable fast, while in reality, warping is the slowest possible motion by a ship of sail (dropping anchor and pulling the ship forward with the anchor chain)?

 

[Artlav]

So, to turn the thread into a random direction...
In the old days memory chips had quartz windows on them, and were erased by shining UV light into them.
One thing i wondered about, while tinkering with a video signal generator with one of such chips - what does it look like on the inside when the chip is erased like that?
What picture would be like as it degrades during the erasing?
And, by similarity, what would the data be like as the chip's content degrades over the decades?

Turns out, no one google knows about tried erasing a chip while powered, so i had to do this myself.
If you're curious, here is what it looks like (best seen in 1080p):
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eafhFs-ZOgs"]Erasing UV EPROM under power - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Quick_Nick]

I'm glad someone said it.

 

[Pipcard]

How about this? Bowties are cool. Scarves are cool. Also, celery is cool.

 

[Izack]

Opinions: Totally optional to consideration or enjoyment of a work of fiction.

 

[Pipcard]

Also, why does everyone hate math?

 

[MattBaker]

According to Japanese blood type horoscopes I'm confident, optimistic, unpredictable and a workaholic.
Haha, nope.

Although it kinda sounds weird to bully children for their blood type.:hmm:

 

[Urwumpe]

OK, did the 50 Euro shopping run for four new DCS Modules via Paypal, seems to have worked. Now nothing can ruin my summer holidays, rain or shine :lol:

 

[n122vu]

I'm glad someone said it.

Doctor Who And His Transition From Interstellar Engineering to Emotional Truths - Angry Nerd - YouTube

Exactly.

Also, anyone else catch the music playing at the end? Anyone...? No.....?