Silly/Odd News Stories from around the World

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by ganbaru

Not sure about that: Saudi Arabia got elected .

There were 10 seats and only 11 nations who volunteered to fill them. It's not like Iran was picked by every other nation. They volunteered. They're still more progressive on women's rights than Saudi Arabia, which also got on the council for the same reason.

[Xellos-_^]

truth once again is stranger then fiction

http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/ar...x-toy/19712373

Police say a dine-and-dash turned into assault charges for an Illinois woman who allegedly walked out on her bill at a restaurant and then attempted to strike a cop with a "clear, rigid feminine pleasure device," according to police reports obtained by AOL News.

you really just can't make stuff like this up.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Kamui4356

There were 10 seats and only 11 nations who volunteered to fill them. It's not like Iran was picked by every other nation. They volunteered. They're still more progressive on women's rights than Saudi Arabia, which also got on the council for the same reason.

Actually Saudi Arabia got their seat because they were ''unnusual donator'' , anothr way to say than they paid for their seat.

[Azumanga Davo]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

truth once again is stranger then fiction

you really just can't make stuff like this up.

Imagine if she did that in Saudi Arabia though...

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Hey Missus

Imagine if she did that in Saudi Arabia though...

As she was alone / not with a male, I doubt than they would have served her at the first place.

[Kotohono]

I found this to be a tad absurd, and thought I would share:

Steam Killing PC Market - Retailers to Ban Steam Integrated Games

Yes you read that headline correct. Major retailers, both physical and also online, have come on record and voiced concern that Valve's digital download service Steam is killing the PC market and they won't stand for it, threatening not to sell titles if publishers do not remove Steam integration from their games.

Absurd isn't it? Although when you think about it, it's not as stupid as it sounds...

British game retailers have grown concerned that Valve's now 80% 'monopoly' of the PC market has eliminated all competition and that the integration of Steam in the majority of the big name titles on the PC market, including Call of Duty and Fallout, is only going to increase that market share by encouraging gamers to purchase their games through Steam.

According to the digital boss at one of the biggest UK games retailers:

“If we have a digital service, then I don’t want to start selling a rival in-store”

The problem's intensified for rival digital download services. According to one 'big-name' digital service providers, "the power resides with bricks and mortar retailers". They can refuse to stock such titles and put the pressure on publishers, but digital distrubitors simply need to stock such games. 2 major British retailers are already threatening such a ban.

According to MCV "at least two big-name digital retailers are facing financial difficulties as they struggle to compete". Despite the emergence of such a monopoly "Publishers don’t give a shit, they don’t care what happens to the customer. Which is the crucial point, because Steam do," according to one such "fledgling Steam rival". He concluded stating that "Steam is killing the PC market and it is no wonder digital retailers are failing...Steam is locking down the market."

Fear resides that Steam will become the games equivalent of iTunes and be in a position where it "dictates the terms of the market, noth the other way around". According to Gaikai CEO David Perry:

“Steam has made it so easy for everyone and they have lots of users. But how long do you wait before you take control of your own digital strategy? Like with iTunes, at some point it’s going to be too late.”

Let's just hope that if (when?) Steam gains complete control of the market that they don't suddenly change face as we have seen with the price jumps of titles in the Australian market.

[Jinto]

Let's just hope that if (when?) Steam gains complete control of the market that they don't suddenly change face as we have seen with the price jumps of titles in the Australian market.

How naive can this writer possibly be (it is not a matter of if a monopoly is going to use its stragetical position it is just a matter of when)?

[MeoTwister5]

I remember back in the day when capitalism was about doing your best to make the best product to attract the most customers rather than throwing a tantrum and complaining that business is the suck.

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

I remember back in the day when capitalism was about doing your best to make the best product to attract the most customers rather than throwing a tantrum and complaining that business is the suck.

You do realize that a very important part in this theory is played by competition? Where there is no competition (or just one's that can be easily eliminated), there is no incentive to make your products better.

[MeoTwister5]

Yes I do. My point being that throwing a tantrum and going out of your way to force your product supply to bend to your will as opposed to your competitor's with an "or else" attachment doesn't sound like "competition" but rather something close to blackmail. I personally still buy my software physical and have rarely if ever used digital downloads, but I prefer to have both options available to me.

I do hope that retailers know that this attempt isn't going to go anywhere, and only likely make things worse now that they have even less product to sell.

[MrTerrorist]

Mystery of how cats lap is revealed

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by Jinto

You do realize that a very important part in this theory is played by competition? Where there is no competition (or just one's that can be easily eliminated), there is no incentive to make your products better.

The irony of said system, which enables mergers and takeovers, is that this competition encourages people within the economy to eliminate the competition with better goods, services, what have you. It's this very same competition that could lead an industry to be monopolized. When people compete, they try to sell their own products and attract as much of the market as they can at the expense of the competition. That is why anti-trust laws are in place but when you think about it, a lot of industries are controlled for the most part by only a few suppliers. The soft drink industry is largely controlled by Coca Cola and Pepsi. There's very little competition there. Even though there are other suppliers, they either focus on other beverages as well or are too small to be noticed in the first place.

[Jaden]

Well Steam integration doesn't really help the customer in any way. Actually it just increases the time it takes to start up your game. I'd be glad to see it gone for good.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Jaden

. I'd be glad to see it gone for good.

I agree with you, as I did try to pidded off whentrying to install Civilization V on a computer non-connected to internet.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by MrTerrorist

Mystery of how cats lap is revealed

Does that involve catgirls too - *gets bricked*

[Tsuyoshi]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Does that involve catgirls too - *gets bricked*

(you had to ask ) Yes. Yes, it does

Actually, I also saw that on the newspaper this morning. I still prefer dogs tho

[ganbaru]

"Garfield" creator apologizes for Veterans Day strip
http://ca.reuters.com/article/entert...6AB2Q520101112

That's the same kind of error than did Scott Adams many time before.

[AnimeFan188]

"Think the rent is, in fact, too damn high? Then stay as far away from online world
Entropia Universe as possible, because its real estate prices will drive you insane.

Take, for instance, what just went down on Planet Calypso, where one of Entropia's
wealthier players has sold off his interests in a "resort asteroid" for an eye-popping
$635,000."


"And we're not talking about Monopoly money here. Launched by Swedish
developer MindArk in 2003, Entropia Universe features a real-world, fixed-rate
currency exchange that works just like chips at a casino: players trade real cash for
in-game funds called PEDs (Project Entropia Dollars), which can at any point be
redeemed back for real, spendable cash -- minus a transaction fee, of course."

See:

http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/160...rtual-property

Now we know where the next real-estate boom is going to be: Online.

[Jinto]

Originally Posted by AnimeFan188

"Think the rent is, in fact, too damn high? Then stay as far away from online world
Entropia Universe as possible, because its real estate prices will drive you insane.

Take, for instance, what just went down on Planet Calypso, where one of Entropia's
wealthier players has sold off his interests in a "resort asteroid" for an eye-popping
$635,000."


"And we're not talking about Monopoly money here. Launched by Swedish
developer MindArk in 2003, Entropia Universe features a real-world, fixed-rate
currency exchange that works just like chips at a casino: players trade real cash for
in-game funds called PEDs (Project Entropia Dollars), which can at any point be
redeemed back for real, spendable cash -- minus a transaction fee, of course."

See:

http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/160...rtual-property

Now we know where the next real-estate boom is going to be: Online.

What I always found interesting about MMOs, is the inflation/devaluation of virtual money in online games in a rather short time. Online items can be produced at a price very close to nil. The only value such an item has, is its appreciation by the users in an online community. Hence, 3 things can influence this value: 1) the level of appreciation of potential users 2) the number of online community members 3) the number of such items. The items have almost no real value only speculative value (or like those bubbles we know from stock exchange).

This game couples real money to virtual money, using exchange rates. Now, I don't think the exchange rate mechanism is very sophisticated. So, the extraction of large amounts of real world money (supposedly without re-investment) causes what is known in the real economy as a recession. Since the items in the virtual world are of especially low real value, this can influence the appreciation of the items. Many people might want to sell their stuff before its speculative value becomes closer to its real value (nil), this could cause a chain reaction.

This virtual market is especially volatile and maybe it serves as a good simulation/example for real world applications/laws (e.g. as counter argument to the deregulation mantra). The money lost/won in this game is not threatening any economy. And if a virtual economy fails it does not really affect the real economy. So, in essence I am all for such games, since they can provide interesting insight in how to prevent snowball effects.

[Vexx]

In games where you can get banned for converting game gold to real money or vice versa .... the effect is slowed somewhat since the exchange of virtual money for real must be kept fairly quiet (black market). Unfortunately, you still see the effect in the auction/broker houses as items inflate because a certain faction has more virtual money to spend than brains

So you'll see idiotic price movements that don't really reflect supply/demand curves but rather the influx of the equivalent of 'printed 1930s deutschmarks' (wheelbarrows of paper money for a loaf of bread).

I've been playing one MMO recently where I encounter an unusual bit of bizarre behavior - people selling things on the brokerage for less money than they'd get handing it to an NPC vendor.