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Comment: Re:MBA programs now teach this kind of approach. (Score 1) 163

by spamuell (#34875576) Attached to: Capcom 'Saddened' By Game Plagiarism Controversy
You don't need an MBA to teach this - it's simple economics. Force MBA programs to publish their courses if you will. People will continue to act in this way as long as the cost and probability of having to pay out remain relatively low.

Or in other words: don't hate the playa, hate the game.

Comment: I'm sceptical (Score 1) 113

by spamuell (#34187600) Attached to: Digital Archaeology Show Reveals 'Lost' Web Sites
"Uber-trendy" is about right. The only reason a digital project like this requires a physical exhibition is so the people conducting it have somewhere to stare at their own moustaches growing in each other's 20-inch square glasses.

FTFA: Many of the now-defunct sites will no longer run on modern hardware, so the exhibition's organisers have assembled a veritable PC junkyard of old kit so you can make like it's 1996 again.


Comment: Re:Wonders will never cease! (Score 5, Informative) 107

by spamuell (#32849064) Attached to: Major ISPs Challenge UK's Digital Economy Act

If they were really against they would have kicked up a row well before this.

Um, they did: For example there was this letter letter to the Financial Times on March 9th 2010 criticising the Digital Economy Bill, which says:


Oh, the signatories include the chairman of Talk Talk and the CEO of BT. A handy tip: if you're going to talk rubbish on the internet, make sure there isn't a public letter retrievable in about 2 seconds of googling which unambiguously demonstrates you have no idea what you're talking about.

Comment: Right... (Score 5, Funny) 425

by spamuell (#32809274) Attached to: Paperless Tickets Flourish Despite 'Grandma Problem'

Yeah, and an unguarded forest is much safer for little girls delivering food to their sick grandmothers, says the attorney representing the National Association of Transvestic Wolves.

Comment: Re:And the other half of the story... (Score 1) 123

by spamuell (#32714688) Attached to: UK Video Game Tax Cuts Sabotaged?

Increasing the VAT will barely raise revenues if it does at all

Even if you're correct, it doesn't matter. The point of the VAT rise and the emergency budget in general is to secure investor confidence so that the UK can continue to borrow cheaply. People think the VAT rise will raise revenue, ergo they are happy to continue to lend to a country they are convinced will be able to repay them.

Comment: Do these actually exist? (Score 4, Informative) 387

by spamuell (#32657246) Attached to: For-Profit, Illegal Movie Download Sites Threaten MPAA
The article is hosted at movies.yahoo.com, and in turn their source is the CEO of Paramount. Is there any reason to believe that these are used nearly as widely as either claim?

This just seems like PR to try to influence people to view those involved in illegal downloading as serious criminals.

Comment: Re:So does living in New York (Score 1) 587

You know what else makes people indifferent and uncaring... living in New York city. Nobody can ignore a bum on the street nearly as well. Should we ban living there too?

This has been modded funny but raises an important point. Perhaps playing violent video games does incline people towards aggressive behaviour (although that seems to have been far from proven). Even if it does, that's ok, or at least it might be. The article makes the same point:


We naturally shudder at the thought of legislating according to these other factors that might contribute to aggressive behaviour, such as preventing adults in poverty from having children, or terminating foetuses with a certain gene. It is not enough to say that violent video games increase the probability of violent outcomes. We also need to test this against the much more serious criterion of the effect being considerable enough to warrant legislation. When that is "conclusively proven", let me know.

Comment: "Censoring the internet" (Score 1) 190

by spamuell (#22460336) Attached to: Australian Government Considers Copying UK Copyright Law Ideas
The UK does this too, albeit currently not quite to the same degree. Cleanfeed blocks some sites and since December 2007 all ISPs must legally have a version of it in place. The list was originally intended to just include child porn sites, but according to some it has now expanded and no one other than the Home Office (including the ISPs) knows what it now covers.
