Categories
Marketing/Business

Software Piracy Is Not Theft

In The Escapist’s Casual Friday came the article So What’s It Worth To You. I agree with the main point. Voting with your dollars is important. When you pirate a good game, you basically send the message that the game wasn’t worth paying for and so more good games won’t get made. I appreciate Blancato pointing out that major piracy that involves companies trying to make a quick buck are the major problem, not necessarily Joe Schmoe Gamer who got a copy from his friend. I also like how Blancato mentioned that draconian anti-piracy measures will turn off paying customers. After all, if you pay for something and have to jump through hoops to play it, but the person who pirates a copy gets to just play it sans hoops, isn’t there something wrong?

All well and good, but I am still getting pretty upset that people will equate software piracy with theft. The two are not the same. Even the courts say that they are not the same. The only ones who claim they are the same are the companies who gain an advantage in making you think that copyright infringement is the same as theft. Oh, and the people who hear this kind of thinking and start to think that way as well.

One problem is that people like to make analogies with things that just aren’t like software. People compare software to cars. If I take a car, that’s theft, so why isn’t it theft when I “take software”?

It’s because you aren’t preventing someone else from “taking” software. When I take a car, there is one less car for the car dealership to sell. That’s actually stealing something. When I “take” a game, it’s theft if I literally steal the box from the retail shelf. If I instead make a copy of a CD from a friend, I didn’t steal anything, and no court will ever allow the prosecution to claim it was an actual theft. When someone makes a copy of a game or music CD, it’s illegal because of a violation of copyright. It’s an infringement on the copyright holder’s rights. Of course, if the ESA, MPAA, and RIAA all complained about the “rise in copyright infringement” it wouldn’t invoke as much feeling as “they are stealing from us!”

Software piracy isn’t as cut and dry as some would have you believe. The way some people argue it, when someone pirates a copy of a game or movie or music, it directly equates to lost revenue. It would be true if every pirated copy would be paid for by the infringer, but in reality, come on! Let’s ignore the real criminals who make many copies for the purpose of selling them since they are clearly a separate case. Let’s focus on the casual pirate. He/she might make copies of every game simply because he/she likes the idea of collecting all these games. Take away the possibility of pirating those games, and I really don’t think this pirate will have the ability to pay for it all. This pirate will just not collect as much. Pirated copies of games like Catwoman wouldn’t magically turn into revenue, I’m sure.

I’ve yet to see a real study on this issue, but I wonder just how many of these non-professional pirates would be forced to buy a game that he/she couldn’t pirate. I think that most people would just not play the game, but that’s just my hunch.

Still, you can’t say “theft” and mean “software piracy”. Yes, software piracy is serious. Yes, it can mean that a developer might make less revenue. I do not deny that it can have very real effects. But let’s call it what it is and stop trying to manipulate people. We’re grown ups now. We can handle the truth. Software piracy is copyright infringement, but it is not theft.

Categories
Personal Development

Principles of Success

Anthony Salter writes about success.

He basically found what I found: that most productivity and success gurus all know the same things. Clearly there are some basic principles to success.

Essentially success can only come to those who have a specific goal. After all, how can you succeed when you don’t know what success looks like? The next step is to make a definite plan for achieving that goal. Definitely planned work saves a lot of time and effort. Finally, take action on that plan. It really is that simple, and yet most people aren’t taught this procedure.

Salter notes that self-discipline is necessary and rare for success, but he finds that the same authors and speakers that talk about success don’t seem to say much about motivation except to have faith in God. That’s fine, but what if you don’t believe in God? Obviously atheists have had success, so what gives?

I haven’t read the same authors that he has. For motivation, Steve Chandler’s “100 Ways to Motivate Yourself” audiobook is the only productivity audiobook I have currently. Listening to it always makes me feel motivated. It even helps me feel motivated if all I do is have it on while I am driving and not paying attention to it. I think the reason is that I am feeding my mind positive thoughts. Anyway, one of the coolest things Chandler mentions is “knowing that you are enough”. No one is coming. It may sound lonely, but it is really quite empowering to realize that you are all you need. I believe in God, but I am a firm believer in Benjamin Franklin’s assertion that “God helps those who help themselves.” Rather than abdicate responsibility for your life, you should embrace it.

Will power gets you started. Self-discipline keeps you going. Motivation reminds you why you’re doing it in the first place. And all of these things will be most effective when you define success, make a plan to achieve success, and have something to start in the first place.

Categories
Geek / Technical

Good Programmers Are Lazy And Dumb?

I think Why Good Programmers Are Lazy and Dumb will find its opponents the same way that Seth Godin’s “All Marketers Are Liars” book did. The article doesn’t actually mean “lazy” and “dumb” in a derogatory way. Lazy means efficient. Make good tools to help you develop even if it means that your programming skill won’t be required anymore. Dumb means smart. Don’t accept assumptions when you troubleshoot a bug.

I personally don’t think it is correct to use the derogatory terms, however. It’s not like “failure means success for body builders”. Calling myself dumb and lazy, even if I know the real meanings behind them, isn’t very motivating. Still, it is good to identify assumptions you may erroneously have. It is also good to find the most efficient way to handle a task.

Categories
General

It’s, Uh, Blog Day

According to Gaping Void, it’s Blog Day today.
From the apparently official site:

BlogDay was created with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries and areas of interest. On that day Bloggers will recommend other blogs to their blog visitors.

With the goal in mind, on this day every blogger will post a recommendation of 5 new blogs. In this way, all Blog web surfers will find themselves leaping around and discovering new, previously unknown blogs.

Ok, cool. I’ll give it a go. I’ll head on over to Technorati, click on Blogday since apparently everyone is talking about it, and see what blogs I find there.

1. Lironbot is a graphic artist from Israel and, as it turns out, runs Linux.
2. Life Beyond Code is Rajesh Setty’s blog. He is an entrepreneur and published author.

Ok, I know the point was to find different cultures and areas of interest. So I’ll try a different tag. Um…poetry. I don’t read a lot of it, so that has to be different enough.

3. sweeti’s space had an interesting poem comparing friends to computers.
4. ….

Ok, I couldn’t find too many for Poetry that I liked. WAY too much teen angst. How about philosophy?

4. The Master Smiled is sort of like Gaping Void except instead of business card drawings there are cartoons to accompany each post. Reminds me of the stories of Master Foo from Rootless Root.
5. …

Ok, philosophy gets pretty heavy. Politics? I’m still burned out from 2004. Sports? Meh. Sex? Too risky to check while I am at work.

5. Paperback Writer is actually pretty cool. The blogger is a published author and writes about writing. Pretty cool.

Interestingly, this conscious search for new blogs alerted me to some problems. Way too many blogs are subtitled along the lines of “Joe’s Interesting Thoughts” or “Sue’s Views on Things”. Wow, is that vague or what? Mine at least mentions that I am an indie game developer. Of course, if you don’t have a focus for your blog, that’s fine, but there should be something, right? Another issue is that some blog layouts are really, really hard to read. People have told me that my blog needs to update it’s look, and I agree, but I think it is at least functional. Some blog layouts get in the way.

Also, there is way too much teen angst poetry.

Categories
Game Design

Less is More

Roads Gone Wild is an article about making roads safer by removing traffic signals and signs. I found it through Brian Marick’s agile development blog.

Roads have historically been built with the assumption that cars and pedestrians don’t mix. Seems like a sound assumption, right? No one really questioned it. Road signs were used to enforce driving patterns. For example, blinking red lights and stop signs require drivers to stop at an intersection. Also, streets and people were segregated, and so people felt safer walking in certain areas but not in others.

Traffic congestion is the result, but it was assumed that wider roads would alleviate the problem. Studies are showing that this is not the case and will only make matters worse.

There is a new trend to reduce the number of signs on roads. Instead of placing stop signs at intersections, an island can be placed in the center, and the drivers can navigate around it safely. I presume it is because drivers are much more engaged and don’t just space out while driving through. Whatever the case is, the big idea is that the physical features of the street, the architecture, can dictate traffic much better than traffic signals can.

The bonus side effect is that pedestrians and cyclists feel safer near major roadways. Businesses get attracted to these new markets, and now you have transportation mixed with local development. Previously, transportation and storefronts didn’t mix so it required a lot more space and therefore money.

So basically, good architecture influences behavior better than arbitrary rules. The requirement of a road sign can be an admission of the road designer’s failure to make a better road. Stop signs shouldn’t be necessary because a road can be architected to require people to stop in the first place.

It’s a cool idea, and I wonder how it applies to games. I’ve seen games that present a level layout that requires the use of a special item. For instance, in Super Mario World one of the first levels that allows you to collect the feather to give Mario the ability to fly also has a coin bonus area that requires you to fly to collect the coins. There doesn’t need to be a sign or clue. Players see a feather, see a ramp next to the incredibly tall pipe, and figure out that they need to run up the pipe and start flying to collect the coins. Similarly, in Wind Waker, when you get the leaf, it gives you the ability to blast a puff of air. When you see the rotating fans in a dungeon’s room, you know you can use the leaf here. There is no need for a sign or message to let you know what to do.

I think that most games do a good job of making level layouts intuitive, but I know that some games have placed markers or signs to guide the player. In reality, they probably weren’t necessary if the level was designed better. Obviously some markers are necessary for immersion, such as wooden signposts in a fantasy RPG. Others are used as optional tutorials, such as the signs in Super Mario 64. But some might be used to make up for deficiencies in the game itself.

If anything, it should give a game designer some pause if he/she realizes that a marker is getting added to compensate for a bad design. Provide hints to the gamer instead of rules. Cracks in a wall indicate a possible cave to explore. A player should be able to place a bomb or smash through. On the other hand, if the game requires the player to set some “I-know-about-the-hidden-cave” variable before a bomb will be effective or the cracks in the wall visible, that’s just bad and arbitrary.

Categories
Games Geek / Technical

Casual Games Article in The Escapist

Casual Fortunes: Getting Rich Slowly With Casual Games talks about casual games and mentions Steve Pavlina’s Dexterity Software, Thomas Warfield, and David Dobson among other developers. It even mentions the Indie Gamer Forums and Game Tunnel!

Categories
Geek / Technical Politics/Government

MS Vista Anti-Piracy: Wow, What B.S.

Well, here’s MS Vista’s anti-customer restrictions explained.

So apparently if you buy a DVD, and Vista doesn’t like your HD-television (read: you didn’t buy a newer one), it will decide you don’t get to make use of high definition quality video. I already knew I didn’t like the digital restrictions management that Windows Media Player made use of. Now Hollywood and Microsoft get to dictate whether or not you can make full use of your paid-for television and movies. It would be like Windows detecting that a server you are connecting to is not using Microsoft software and so throttling your bandwidth to make the connection arbitrarily slower. Or like Microsoft’s IIS sending non-IE web browsers different, outdated HTTP headers.

I have a friend who couldn’t play a DVD from his computer through the VCR that he had hooked up to his television. He wasn’t copying anything, but he basically had all video and audio going through the VCR to the television, and the DVD player apparently detected the VCR and prevented the video from transmitting. In order to play the DVD, he had to disconnect his VCR and connect his computer to the television directly. It is a complete hassle for the customer that doesn’t do anything to prevent copyright violation. Anyone can still take a DVD and make a pristine copy without the need to break the copy protection, so what was the point of it?

And now Vista will be enforcing customer restrictions in a similar way. Lovely.

Categories
Personal Development

Build Something Cool

I really enjoyed reading Build Something Cool in 24 Hours. Basically, set aside a weekend with some peers and decide to make something new. You’ll likely be more motivated with others than you would alone and you’ll learn a lot in the process.

I cannot imagine a better, faster path to creativity, innovation, and most importantly getting something done!

Similarly, David St. Lawrence posted a third entry for Creative Time that describes the same thing on a more personal level.

Creative time is a period of outflow. Watching TV or listening to a lecture is inflow, as is reading, eating, and mindless vegging. There is a time and place for all of these activities, but creative outflow will give you more bang for your buck than any other activity you can think of.

Game in a Day was great for me because it allowed me to set aside a weekend to making a simple game, and I did it. Within 24 hours, I went from having nothing to having a creation of my own. It was very satisfying and I learned way more in that shortened period of time than I did in the two months since then. I think I need to schedule another one…

Categories
Marketing/Business

Indie Power Trip

Don’t Fear the Indie is about what it might be like to have your own income independent of your regular job. When an employer gets nervous about a potential employee who gets income on his/her own, it’s scary.

Nothing, it seems, scares employers more than employees with independent income.

Why? Because independent income removes one of the primary levers employers use to control their employees: the paycheck.

It basically complements what David St. Lawrence says about corporate life. The days of long careers at a corporation that takes care of you are long gone, and the only really safe (and sane!) thing to do is work for yourself.

Categories
Games Geek / Technical

Gaming for the Budget-Conscious Gamer

How To Be a Frugal Gamer provides some tips on buying games on a budget.

It gives some basic tips, like preferring half.com to eBay and renting to buying. Yard sales, the Salvation Army, and I’d like to add flea markets can be places to shop for cheap games and systems. Also, waiting out newer games to take advantage of the inevitable price drop works quite well, although waiting too long for a game with an online component might be a problem. From my own experience, Homeworld: Cataclysm was way cooler when actual people were on the servers. Why wasn’t there a manual TCP/IP option?!?

When I went to college, I didn’t sell any of my books back. I figured that they would come in handy later. In fact, these days I even find myself reading some of my non-Computer Science textbooks. I would say rereading, but I can’t do so truthfully. Anyway, one of the tips is to sell back old games.

I can’t.

Each game has a special place in my heart. I bought Zelda II for over $50 after saving up my allowance for who knows how long, and it was my first video game purchase. Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord was the next one. I received Taito’s Dungeon Magic for a birthday. Dragon Warrior was my first flea market purchase. Ever. I can’t just sell off these games! For one, I haven’t even completed many of them. For two, you can’t buy the memories that these games made for me. So I can’t sell my used games. Years from now, even after the game systems stop working, I’ll probably still have them.

While I can’t say that all of these tips will be useful, I do think that some are great ideas. I never owned a non-Nintendo console, so buying a cheap Sega Genesis or Dreamcast or heck even a Playstation 2 would be a great investment in expanding my gaming knowledge. I never did play the original Tomb Raider or Toejam and Earl, and I didn’t get the opportunity to play Sonic the Hedgehog much. *sigh* The experiences I missed out on…