Invite sent!

Dang that was fast!!! Thank you!

clifford (dot) coles (at) gmail

Thanks in advance!

Actually, I like the wording of this poll- very open-ended, and obviously meant to spark discussion.

I've certainly found my *awareness* of licensing growing stronger over the years. Recently I've been making an effort to read all the EULAs that I'm supposed to when installing/upgrading software. An ITunes update (for example) becomes a MAJOR pain in the ass when confronted with 15-20 minutes of re-reading the EULA, while trying to detect what minute changes have occurred, etc. (Couldn't they just list the changes from the last EULA at the top of the document? That might actually encourage reading of the license, which is what they really want us to do, right?)

Some of those conditions really do worry me: what does it mean "Access to my computer"? What files are they "checking" on exactly? Can they actually forbid me from installing certain software on *my* computer, simply because it's a "threat" to their program/service?

In comparison, a "free" software license is simply astounding in its simplicity: Use it; Change it; Share it; Give credit where it's due.

If users were ever somehow forced to read, understand and abide by those EULAs, I believe that "free" software would become really popular (and/or those EULAs would change dramatically).

Ever since the time that gasoline hit $4 here in the US, I've been keeping an eye on the DOT's Traffic Volume Trends. It seems to me that, once Americans realized how much gas could cost (and will permanently cost, eventually), they also realized how much auto travel is superfluous. In particular This chart of the 12-month average for all roads shows a clear pullback in miles driven. Perhaps some of this could be attributable to people being more efficient in their travel; taking care of multiple errands at once, using public transportation much more, etc. Certainly the downturn in the economy has an impact, too.

I like his last sentence best:

And this is why there's so much dreck in the movies/TV. Who the hell wants to give away their best creative ideas to a bunch of corporate executives, and never recieve anything in return except for the chance to "tell a story"?

Kudos to JMS for doing so; I feel I should mail him some money directly, rather than buy the DVDs, however.

Sadly, I have to agree with you. Those contracts are usually long and very hard to read, but they are the terms under which you receive their service, so you need to know them, or prepared to be unpleasantly surprised (which is most peoples' method, apparently).

Actually, forcing myself to read these contracts has been a great deterrent to signing up for things I don't really need.

I read the title as "Microsoft Windows 8.0 Is 20 Years Away"

(and I wasn't even very surprised...)

Hello, Pedantic Man here...

emphasis mine

Um... no, not quite the pilot's perspective. (Arguably, it's actually a better picture of the terrain beneath the nose of the aircraft than the pilot sees. But it's not the pilot's perspective- at least, I hope not!)

Alley Cat was indeed an awesome game.

But I don't think adding LOLcats is going to improve it.

There are much bigger issues than graphics in this "Console/PC" debate. The really big issues are things like user interface and game controls. Take Oblivion for example- that game's interface was significantly altered to accommodate console play, which made it a sub-optimal for the PC: an overly simplistic UI and relatively poor use of screen real estate.

PC gamers expect a lot more from their games- private servers, LAN play, mods, etc.; and as the Modern Warfare 2 debacle showed us, game companies are showing less & less love for the PC. There's tons more money (and less hassle) to be make on the consoles. That's a MUCH bigger hurdle than "Console graphics are the holding PCs back!"

What's really interesting to me is how MMOGs haven't really made it to the console. I think that's because of the console's revenue model, which really only supports "throwaway" games with a very short life span. You'd think a subscription-style game would have amazing appeal for console game-makers, but where are the games?

Microtransations are a better concept for MMOGs. Rather than take a level/spell/item away if you don't pay, they let you buy that thing whenever you wish.

"Pay $X to continue (faster)" feels a lot more fair than "Give us $X or we'll nerf you."

Don't change the meaning of the article when summarizing.

over 60% of iPhone applications have definitively been pirated
as submitted

60% of paid apps using Pinch have been pirated.
(as written in the article, bolding included)

Let's "reverse-bold" that...
60% of paid apps using Pinch have been pirated.
(emphasis mine)

It might be relevant to non-pinch-using apps, it might not. But let's not delete that relevant bit of data.

The header says "Aeroexperience Blog: The forums are over there."

That's not very catchy, it seems like some sort of advisory note, as if Windows enthusiasts were so clueless that-

<smug>Ah, I get it now.</smug>