Random Thoughts... [Entertainment Edition]

Got all excited over the House MD game for PC and when I saw it I was like

son_i_am_disappoint_trollcat.jpg


If that's hand drawn though, I may change my opinion
 
maxtortheone said:
Got all excited over the House MD game for PC and when I saw it I was like

If that's hand drawn though, I may change my opinion
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Was it all like "It must be lupus" and when you checked it out it was all "naw man it cant be lupus"
 

Goddammit, Banksy. People came here to watch an animated show about a zany cartoon family, not to participate in some activist discussion about the greed-driven globalization of modern-day corporate consumption.

Can we fucking cancel The Simpsons already? As I'm watching its older episodes (Seasons 5-9) in relation to the new ones, it's evident that the entire show's lost its joie de vivre and only resides on guest stars and hack pop culture references to keep its bloated corpse afloat. Let it die with some dignity, please.
 
You don't get blisters on your hands with modern joypads like you used to in the past... the Mega Drive controllers were a bastard for that. :cool:
 
One of the best reasons against tighter copyright laws.

http://www.osnews.com/story/23888/US_Library_of_Congress_Copyright_Is_Destroying_Historic_Audio

US Library of Congress: Copyright Is Destroying Historic Audio


You think only "pirates" and "freeloaders" rail against current copyright laws? Well, think again - even the Library of Congress seemingly has had enough. The topic is recorded sound preservation, and in a 181-page in-depth study, the Library of Congress concludes that apart from technical difficulties, US copyright law makes it virtually impossible for anyone to perform any form of audio preservation. The painted picture is grim - very grim.
The very detailed and in-depth report has been ten years in the making, and was commissioned in the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000. The goal of the study was to inform Congress of the state of audio preservation, the difficulties encountered, what kind of standard procedures are needed for preservation, and so on. The conclusions in the report are grim, at best.


Since us geeks can understand that 150 years of recording technology would pose problems for modern archivists (imagine how many different technologies have come and gone in those 150 years), let's skip straight ahead to the destructive effects of copyright law on archiving audio recordings.

"Were copyright law followed to the letter, little audio preservation would be undertaken. Were the law strictly enforced, it would brand virtually all audio preservation as illegal," the study concludes, "Copyright laws related to preservation are neither strictly followed nor strictly enforced. Consequently, some audio preservation is conducted."

While libraries supposedly have some leeway in preserving audio recordings, they find it "virtually impossible to reconcile their responsibility for preserving and making accessible culturally important sound recordings with their obligation to adhere to copyright laws". The problem is that the current provisions in law for audio preservation are "restrictive and anachronistic" in our current digitial age.

There are more problems. While the recording industry undertakes some preservation, they will only preserve those recordings from which they think they might profit in the future (what a surprise). For instance, consider a researcher working on vaudeville who may be interested in vaudevillian recordings on cylinders.

"These performers may have been headliners in their time, but today their names are virtually unknown," the study details, "While scholarly interest in these recordings is high, their economic value to the property holder is negligible. However, legal restrictions governing access to a cylinder produced in 1909 are the same as those governing a compact disc made in 2009, even though it is highly unlikely that the 1909 recording has any revenue potential for the rights holder."

The report also highlights the problems posed by the rather complicated history of US copyright law. "All U.S. recordings, both commercially released and unpublished, created before February 15, 1972, are protected by a complex network of disparate state civil, criminal, and common laws," the study explains. The consequence is that all sounds recordings made before 1972 will have their copyright expire in 2067 - 95 years after the placement of these recordings under federal protection in 1972. This means that the oldest sound recordings in the US dating from 1890, will only enter the public domain after 177 years.

It goes much deeper than that, though. Sound recording preservation institutions are having problems finding the necessary funding for their expensive work because they are not allowed to grant access to the material they're trying to preserve. Access has become such an important demand that organisations unable to provide such access will simply not even bother to preserve the audio in the first place. In addition, private collectors are unwilling to hand over their collections to institutions out of fear that their collections will not be made available to the public. As one participant in the study said, "The preservation of music is meaningless if this music is not accessible."

Another important - and very well-worded - complaint in the study is that copyright law is seen as so restrictive by the public, that people simply dismiss it outright. "In the perception of the public, copyright law has a reputation for being overly restrictive," the study notes, "This perception fosters a dismissive attitude toward the law in communities that can hardly be characterized as rogue elements of society. An individual representing one institution has noted that, unless or until instructed to cease and desist certain practices, his organization was compelled to 'fly under the radar' to support its mission."




Solutions

The study doesn't just identify problems - it proposes solutions as well; five of them, to be exact:


?Repeal Section 301(c) of the Copyright Act - this is the section that enacts the 2067 barrier as expained above.
?Decriminalise the use and copying of orphaned works - which are works for which no rightsholders can be determined.
?Bring US copyright terms in line with European ones - a maximum of 50-75 years. The study discovered that an additional 22% of US historical recordings are available in Europe, but not in the US, due to shorter copyright terms in Europe.
?Third parties should be able to re-issue abandoned works without permission from rightsholders - as long as those rightsholders are properly compensated.
?Libraries should be allowed to more easily copy and share material within the library and between other libraries, and restrictions on quality of the copies should be removed.



This detailed study confirms something that I - and many others with me - have been saying for a long time now: modern-day copyright is no longer performing its intended function, i.e., to promote the sciences and arts. Instead, it has become a license to print money, existing almost exclusively to secure the exorbitant income of big content.

The British Lord Camden already predicted this outcome back in the 18th century. "All our learning will be locked up in the hands of the Tonsons and the Lintots of the age. [...] Knowledge and science are not things to be bound in such cobweb chains." This horror scenario, envisioned almost 300 years ago, has now become a reality. Organisations like the RIAA and MPAA, as well as its promoters, have no interest in promoting the arts and sciences - our learning has been locked up by the Tonsons and Lintots of our age.

The calls for massive copyright reform are growing ever stronger, but the US will have to wait until the Obama administration leaves office before any serious changes can be made. The current US administration is utterly and wholly, for the full 100%, siding with big content with little to no regard for promoting the arts and sciences.

In doing so, the Obama administration is contributing to the destruction of immense bodies of knowledge and art. As far as I'm concerned, this shows a complete and utter disdain for art, culture, and history.
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Watching An Idiot Abroad. Ricky Gervais sets his travel hating mate up to go see the New Wonders of the World. His observations are hilarious :lol:
 
http://www.tgdaily.com/games-and-en...ns+(TG+Daily+-+All+News)&utm_content=My+Yahoo


Perennially delayed Gran Turismo 5 is pushed back...again

Despite finally making a hard release date announcement after years of patience from fans, Sony has to push back the release of Gran Turismo 5 due to last-minute production issues.

So the racing game that fans have been waiting on since the launch of the PS3 in 2006, will miss its scheduled November 2 release date.

One of the earliest downloadable titles on the PS3 was a game called Gran Turismo HD Concept. That led people to think that a full-fledged Gran Turismo game in high definition was coming soon. That was not the case.

Instead of releasing Gran Turismo 5 anytime soon, Sony decided to put out a version that had the basic infrastructure in place but without most of the features yet developed. That game was called Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.

Since then, fans of the series have been riddled with false release date expectations, continued hype and anticipation, and eventual disappointment.

That all seemed to change at E3 over the summer, when Sony promised it had finally nailed down a release date for the final version of Gran Turismo 5 - November 2.

But now, with November 2 approaching, Sony says, "Wait. We're still not done."

However, the Playstation company still says it should be out in time for the holidays. We'll see about that.

Gran Turismo has earned the designation as one of the most realistic driving simulation game franchises of all time. After years of lofty goals and marketing speak about Gran Turismo 5, this game has an entire mountain of anticipation to live up to.
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I am tired of these release dates being pushed back. Don't tell us years in advance of this shit and then change your mind. It will beat Duke Nukem, but both situations suck balls for gamers that are waiting.
 
reason they do it is simple, it generates interest. companies won't care about the gamer. they give a release date and it gives the gamer a date to look forward to. then they move it back to keep the game production running and yet maintaining the same interest in the game. i never believe the game release date until literally right before the launch date. i only look at the date as a advisement but something that isn't set in stone.
 
Speaking of generating interest:

Horrible band causes horrible traffic jam to promote horrible song.

Self-described ?hardcore hip-hop band? Imperial Stars, like most struggling groups that are also terrible, were forced to resort to a little gimmicky self-promotion in order to garner some attention for their new single, ?Traffic Jam 101,? so they staged an actual traffic jam on L.A.?s already-super-packed 101 Freeway by parking their big-ass, logo-emblazoned truck across two lanes, then performing the song for all the commuters whose lives they had suddenly disrupted, as well as the police who showed up to arrest them. Even better, the driver of the truck reportedly ?fled in another vehicle and took the keys with him,? leaving the highway jammed for much of the day while officials worked on removing it. The band is now in jail, where it?s probably excitedly discussing how this is just like that movie Airheads, and that they?ll be cult heroes when they get out and everyone will love them for being badass, since this is just the sort of street cred you need to be a ?hardcore hip-hop band.?

On the bright side, all resultant sales of Imperial Stars? awesome song that everyone now knows about will go to help Homeless Children America; on the down side, if there were a way to give Imperial Stars negative sales, and thus actually steal money from homeless children, that would now be the life?s mission of pretty much everyone who suddenly found themselves unable to make their appointments, get home, find that much-needed restroom, make it to the hospital, or whatever else they were doing this afternoon before they found themselves unwitting attendees at a ?hardcore hip-hop? concert in the middle of the highway.
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I am assuming interest in murdering the band has skyrocketed.
 
I bet they change their name quickly. Also, how did they not get shot in gun crazy America?
 
GRtak said:
I bet they change their name quickly. Also, how did they not get shot in gun crazy America?
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It was in California.
 
Red_Bull said:
Watching An Idiot Abroad. Ricky Gervais sets his travel hating mate up to go see the New Wonders of the World. His observations are hilarious :lol:
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Oh, I love that show as well. I`ve only had time to watch the China episode, but I have the others on my hard drive. It`s just hilarious how dumb he is and then out of nowhere he`ll cobble together a profound thought. I love how crappy he thought the Great Wall was, especially when he got to the coast and said invaders could just wade in the water and go around the wall...:rofl:.
 
The most important film, according to itself.

 
I have an opportunity to go see Bryan Adams acoustic at the end of November. Tickets are fairly cheap too. What sucks is that it's on a Tuesday at 8pm and I work till 10pm on that day. I will need to figure out something.

(Yes, I realize the gig won't start before at least 9pm but still...to be showing up at 10:30pm and hoping that it hasn't started yet is pushing it)
 
From what I've been reading, Bethedsa just screwed over EU customers who pre-ordered Fallout NV over Steam. The unlock date changed from 1 hour to 3 days and 9 hours half an hour ago
 
Yeah, if by screwed over you mean fixed their mistake and set it for the correct date. Patience is lost in today's modern age.
 
From what I understand it's been like that for months. Also, I'm against any kind of release delay nowadays, especially with digital distribution
 
Waiting 3 days is going to kill you? I agree that digital downloads should be at the same time, but I understand why they do it that way.
 
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