News Stories

[chikorita157]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Keep in mind that the judges aren't very bright when it comes to discussing the details of technology (I went to a court case before in which my friend is getting sued for downloading anime and music, the judge blasted the defence for being irrelevant when they presented some points on the more intricate details of technology). And this is only the beginning in which resources become widely available.

This will revolutionise how media is available to us in the future. And this is only the beginning.

Besides DRMs are useless. There are a few games with Securom v4 that came out, the cracks became available later in the day.

DRM is always useless... they only cause users headache... If anyone remembered the Sony Rootkit fiasco when Sony put XCP, a type of DRM which prevented people for playing and ripping the music cds with XCP DRM and caused havoc because the XCP DRM is very difficult to remove and require reinstalling the whole Windows operating system. As a result, Sony had to recall all the CDs with XCP DRM... but it didn't prevent a big class-action lawsuit.

Atleast with Securom, you can actually remove it by using Sony's Securom uninstaller... but to prevent Securom from installing, you will need a patch to prevent securom from installing.

[SaintessHeart]

I remember arguing with the game shop owner for a refund on my Bioshock because of its 3 times only installation. The fans are so close to pulling a boycott on the game last I remember.

There are already plenty of open source software that is available that bypasses protections, one of such is DaemonTools. Besides there are communities out there dedicated to reverse-engineering computer technologies, be it software or hardware.

The Scene is so much bigger than the distributors think.

[Nosauz]

Thats because the Scene is a lifestyle.

[chikorita157]

It's not only Bioshock that have the 3 activation rule, Spore had the same DRM scheme as Bioshock and it also didn't go well. People ended up writing bad reviews, boycotting the game, or even pirating the game (it was pirated over 1,700,000 times). EA later losen the restrictions by allowing people to deactivate and adding the number of computers you can activate to 5, but it still didn't solve the problem and cause one person to filed a class action lawsuit against EA for the Securom DRM.

At least they took out that type of DRM in The Sims 3... but it still contains Securom...

[Vexx]

Frankly, as someone who BUYS software products -- Securom has become the kiss of death for me. I purchased Sacred 2 a few months ago -- never could get it to work legally. It was certain that I had something "evil" on my game machine, interesting because I specifically have never done *anything* (like virtual drive or daemon tools, etc) that should give it concern. Then I bought a product through Steam that had securom on it. Also wouldn't work. Therefore, I will not buy any game from now on that has securom on it. F*ck 'em. I just feel sorry for game developers because that decision is made by "suits" after development.

[vedicardi]

Steam is the only way to go if you want legit PC games.

I use torrents as a "rental" I've purchased many of the games I torrented, most notably company of heroes and STALKER, both of which you can get on steam.

[chikorita157]

I was used to be a fan of Sims 2, but when I got a copy of Bon Boyage Expansion Pack, my Macbook Pro running Windows Vista was running funny with the cursor not animating anymore. After I read about Securom on the expansion pack, I got rid of the Securom and installed the Patch.

Securom messes up your computer alot... and now I boycott all games with the Securom... Securom is a great way to shaft all legal paying customers..

Also about Steam, although it's DRM isn't intrusive as Securom, there are some drawbacks like forced updates, not having a physical copy and needing to authenticate before playing your game.

[vedicardi]

You don't need to "authenticate", you just need to be logged in.

A lot of games like CoH have forced updates anyway, so I don't see that as much of a problem. Not having a physical copy can be annoying in a sense, but it's not that bad. No need to keep track of serial keys or DVDs

[Shadow Kira01]

Barack Obama offers olive branch to Chávez, Ortega and Latin America

Not sure if this is good news or bad news..

Is it really a good idea for the United States to compromise with Cuba and Venezuela all of a sudden? If Cuba and Venezuela accept Obama's goodwill and work things out, then yes.. This is a great idea.

However...it is always better to be not so idealistic. And thus, what if Cuba and Venezuela is actually laughing at Obama's foolishness and the diminishing influence and power of the United States? Will it work out in the end? Or will the United States willingly drop their own national status in a compromise to "improve" bilateral ties with two former enemies? I know that the United States under the leadership of Obama is willing to go that far into improving bilateral relations and everything but that is merely an one-sided ideal. Are Cuba and Venezuela sharing the same mutual feelings? This seems rather interesting, I wonder how will things play out...

[yezhanquan]

I can't say about Chavez, but US policy on Cuba hasn't worked for the past 50 years. If that is not an incentive to change, I don't know what is.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by yezhanquan

I can't say about Chavez, but US policy on Cuba hasn't worked for the past 50 years. If that is not an incentive to change, I don't know what is.

Exactly. US Cuba policy has been nothing but absurd since the Bay of Pigs.... this is long overdue.

And Venezuela has never been "an enemy" of the US -- we have far too many economic ties. What we've had for the past eight years are two clown presidents (Bush and Chavez) wasting everyone's time. Now that one of the clowns is gone, the other may be ready to put down the clown suit.

[Anh_Minh]

Since when was sulking a sign of strength anyway?

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Since when was sulking a sign of strength anyway?

50 years. See the Cold War for more details.

[ClockWorkAngel]

It takes a strong man to prostrate themselves.

I don't think it's showing any sign of weakness on Obama's part, he's just showing that he's willing to actually talk to them instead of ranting off at how powerful the US is and how "insignificant" Cuba is. There's no point to act all big and cocky in the world if you're a leader, its stupid, they're not going to do what you want them to do unless they want to. Ranting at them pisses them off.

On a Canadian note, Stephen Harper is apologizing to China for the previous coldness from Canada during the Bush Administration. I couldn't see why it could have been done more passively then shouting "Fuck you! Give them human rights!".

[christine_cute]

This news is really IMPORTANT and i highly plead everyone to see it...

http://adventuremagazine.co.nz/2008/...aise-protests/

http://www.seashepherd.org/whales/da...e-islands.html

HUMANS are the beasts here and what do you expect for your future??

[chikorita157]

Well, it's a good step in the direction for Obama to loosen restrictions on Cuba because it's long overdue and it would hopefully improve US relations that have been damaged in the last few years.

And also, the embargo policy didn't work so well and ended up impacting Cuba economically severely.

[vedicardi]

Originally Posted by christine_cute

This news is really IMPORTANT and i highly plead everyone to see it...

http://adventuremagazine.co.nz/2008/...aise-protests/

http://www.seashepherd.org/whales/da...e-islands.html

HUMANS are the beasts here and what do you expect for your future??

Sure, the people here are kind of dicks, but it's nothing to be worried about in comparison to the wars, starvation, and mass murder going on today...

I don't understand how people can get so upset about the death of animals while the death of their own kind is so much more relevant.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by christine_cute

This news is really IMPORTANT and i highly plead everyone to see it...

http://adventuremagazine.co.nz/2008/...aise-protests/

http://www.seashepherd.org/whales/da...e-islands.html

HUMANS are the beasts here and what do you expect for your future??

Well... I might dispute its level of importance (more important than couples in love being executed by the Taliban?). However, I have a LOT of trouble being sympathetic to tribes or clans who claim "ancestral rights" in hunting creatures when they've turned it into such a large scale operation rather than a rite of initiation. The circus atmosphere doesn't seem to support the solemnity such an event might warrant. Some Inuit tribes who take a whale make sure to follow the entire ritualistic process (including thanking the whale as part of the food chain).

However, some Native American tribes used to stampede buffalo herds over cliffs -- there was much meat and new material for goods and clothing and the people rejoiced. And yes, it was painful for the buffalo. If this is the primary source of food and material for the island for the rest of the year, the scale might make more sense. Sadly, the articles just focus on the mayhem and not the context. What is the history of these people? What are their alternatives?

[christine_cute]

Originally Posted by vedicardi

Sure, the people here are kind of dicks, but it's nothing to be worried about in comparison to the wars, starvation, and mass murder going on today...

I don't understand how people can get so upset about the death of animals while the death of their own kind is so much more relevant.

Since humans have brains~the power of thinking ability and technology, they are trying their best to stop the wars and stuff but the animals are getting neglected.....

They are killed recklessly and along with the deforestation they are getting extinct and are losing their homes(this is a very vast topic....)

Its very sad that all these wars and crimes are caused by humans and we should also look at other aspects like wildlife and nature........

[christine_cute]

If we want to live peacefully we should not only care about humans but all relevent things......this post was just a small example of how selfish humans can get and it is really a vast topic.......