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Comment No alternative (Score 2) 92

Finding a hotel that can accommodate a family of 4 is not that difficult. Finding one that can accommodate a family of 8 is a bit more challenging. Finding one which can accommodate 8 adult siblings, their children, spouses, etc... is nearly impossible. The short-term rental market is the only realistic option for those people who want to meet with the rest of their family for an extended weekend.

Hotels are set up for small gatherings (an individual room or two), large gatherings (hundreds to thousands in a conference room), but seldom in between.

The last time my in-laws got together, we numbered almost 40 people. Airbnb rentals provide accommodations which are much more practical for those people who want to spend a holiday together with their geographically distributed relatives. Yes, the cleaning can be substantial. But making guests both clean the place, and then pay an additional cleaning fee (in the hundreds to thousands of dollars) seems ridiculous.

Comment Re:Ok (Score 3) 53

They've gone from being infamous for offering no support to pretending to offer support?

I guess it will help people who haven't yet tried everything on their own before they figure out there is no support.

Happy to be proven wrong and learn that the chatbots are empowered to fix things.

Comment Re:This is fine but still, what a mess (Score 2) 70

They can easily be downloading and using it locally/airgapped to get an open weights and measures system.

But that's the problem - an organization as big as the DC regime needs to control what its agents think to maintain discipline.

Marc Andreesen spoke about this when the Biden admin told him to not invest in AI startups because they wouldn't be allowed.

Controlling the Big Three is much more manageable but with hundreds you can't maintain an effective hivemind.

What's good for the country isn't usually what's good for the government.

Comment Buzz Aldrin (Score 1) 38

Buzz has spoken on more than one occasion about a radio source and a structure on Phobos that is being kept hush-hush.

Then he stopped talking about it and won't say why when asked.

"I got bad information from a dope playing a practical joke on me" would have been easy.

Maybe Japan will show something interesting. Maybe the probe will mysteriously fail at an inopportune time.

I'll be glad to see the question resolved if it can be.

Mysteries are fun but discoveries are more interesting.

Comment Based (Score 1) 201

He's right, you know, but the demand is self-feeding.

It's necessary to have more successful non-MBA companies outcompete the race-to-the-bottom companies.

We need better social systems to punish the psychopathic impulse. It needs to be more profitable to not exploit people.

I've lost track of how many companies I'm boycotting but most people don"t have time to think abour that.

Comment Re:Licensing Variety Creates Choices (Score 1) 152

Making contracts where you lease/rent a game illegal just removes choices/products for everyone on the market

Making motor vehicles without safety features illegal also removes choices/products.

the risk of making them (perpetually maintaining game servers, or giving away massive amounts of IP) were too intimidating to embark upon the project.

Multiplayer video games ought to be designed up front for private servers after end of support, in the same way that motor vehicles are designed up front for the safety of occupants of that vehicle, occupants of other vehicles, and pedestrians.

A choice becomes a Hobson's choice when all sellers in the relevant market choose not to offer an option to buyers, such as an option to run a private server after end of support. A Hobson's choice is no real choice.

Comment Re:It's entertainment (Score 1) 152

If I pay for a movie ticket do I own the movie?

That's advertised up front as the equivalent of a rental. I draw a sharp contrast with buttons labeled "buy" that do not grant equivalent rights to those of the owner of a lawfully made copy.

You've never "owned" media.

Per the copyright statute of Slashdot's home country, Title 17, United States Code:
- A copy is a physical object in which a work is fixed. (Section 101)
- It is not an infringement for the owner of such an object to resell that copy. (Section 109)
- And it is not an infringement for the owner of such an object to make another copy of a computer program in RAM as an essential step of running it. (Section 117)

Comment Re:Can't expect online support forever! (Score 1) 152

Game companies don't always fully own all of the server tech that runs the game. Some or all of it could be licensed and not redistributable.

If it becomes a crime or tort for the server middleware publisher to provide middleware that is "licensed and not redistributable", server middleware publishers will have to either change their standard license terms going forward or close.

Comment Re:Change to a monthly service (Score 1) 152

Until you realize that to keep up with what your friends are playing, you need the equivalent of Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, HBO Max, Peacock, and a bunch of other services. Netflix streaming began as the online extension of Starz, and now Starz is its own separate subscription service.

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