The ultimate horor of gaming - games no longer compatable with Windows machines

Ok. I know there are a lot of gamers who use Macs, and I know I will be spammed, flamed, and smeared by Mac fanboys, but I don't care, because I now have comment moderation and if you can't be reasonable, it's better not to comment at all.

Now... Back on topic.

What I'm about to say will both enrage and excite Mac fanboys and sadden traditional PC gamers. When I say PC, I'm referring to both Windows and Linux powered computers, more often called IBM compatible PCs. I'm including Linux in this because the only way I know that Linux users can gain access to non Linux games is through WINE (WINE Is Not an Emulator).

I was playing Team Fortress 2 on my Windows 7 AND Ubuntu 10.04 powered Gateway PC when the server I was on, HKCentral TF2 Newbies Only #2, "crashed". I use crashed in quotes because in reality, the server was still online but most of the users clients crashed. I was lucky enough to disconnect before my computer was damaged, but others were not. Two members were still online. I can confirm that they were not bots. HKCentral doesn't use bots on empty servers. I logged back in. The two users left had the earbuds unlockable - the one thing that shows that a player is a Mac user. there were only two players on the server who had them before the server crashed.

Why would the PCs experience the effects of a server crash when the Macs didn't? I know TF2, CS:S, and other source based games are undergoing an experimental phase during which players are the captive beta testers, but if they weren't due to compatibility issues, wouldn't they be global and non-platform specific?

I have a theory. I know it sounds crazy, but it's just a theory and I can't prove it yet. I'm not saying it's fact.

These experimental updates might be designed to cause the game to crash on systems other than Mac OS X, in order to make the myth that Macs never crash seem true.

I know two Mac users, and they swear by their Macs blindly. I asked one of them to try Ubuntu, but she refused, saying that it would be too hard to learn how to use and that it would get viruses. I use Ubuntu myself as a backup OS, and I have had fewer issues with it than even the tried and true Windows XP, and it feels easier to navigate than even Windows 7.

I worry that Valve has been enthralled to the monopolistic entity known as Apple.

As I said before, is it really capitalism without competition? Can you call it a free market if there is only one supplier in an industry, whether if it is the government or not?

As I write this, I add yet another enemy to my "book of grudges", as it would be called in Warhammer.

I hope to resolve these grudges before the end of my life.

The DMCA VS physical property law.

Alright. I really didn't want to cover this topic due to the legal risk I am taking, but I must.

First, I would like to let you know that I understand that physical property =/= intellectual property, but that statement puzzles me. Does that mean intellectual property isn't really property? If so, then no one can own intellectual "property", since it isn't property at all. If it is property, then why can't I buy it, but yet huge mega-corporations can freely buy, sell, and trade it? Is it because I don't have a right to it? If that's the case, then why? Are the owners of huge mega-corporations the only true people and everyone else is inferior?

To understand why I am bringing basic human rights to a battlefield where everyone else is using copyrights and the DMCA as their weapon, one must first understand the point of view I am using.

I am the youngest son of the former president of a well known industrial contracting company and the brother of his successor. I have an inside viewpoint. I also have an outside viewpoint as a disgruntled consumer and a supporter of open source and customizable software. Note that I didn't say free software. Not all free programs are open source, and not all open source programs are free. I prefer Trackmania United Forever over Trackmania nations Forever. The first one is customizable, the second one is free.

Now, You may be wondering why I'm confused about this when the obvious answer is obvious. The answer isn't what you think. It isn't because it's an idea or self-expression, because that's governed by the 1st amendment of the US constitution and makes it even more open to being copied. It's because software is intangible. Software can't be held. Software can be copied, transmitted, given new form, and all this without destroying the original.

Companies don't get that software can be protected in the same way as patented inventions. The GNU General Public License basically does this. Let me put up a chart to compare patent law, the DMCA, and the GNU General Public License.

Feature	Patent Law	DMCA	GPL
Allows use of product	Yes	Yes, with limitations	Yes
Allows for access to blueprints/source code	Yes	No	Yes
Allows redistribution, both for free and for sale, provided that credit to the original creator is given	Yes	No	Yes
Allows public exhibition	Yes	No, except when covered by fair use	Yes
Allows changes to be made by third parties as long as the original product is kept intact	Yes	No	Yes
(The Big Shocker)Can be sold	Yes	Licensed	Yes

As you can see, the GNU General Public License is just like patent law, and it works. So really, why do companies use the DMCA and create their own proprietary instead of the GNU General Public License? They have power that they want to keep. They're afraid of losing that power.

Honorable, they are not.

Keep an open mind and open ears,
40KEndgame

P.S. I'm sorry if I went off on a tangent, but in a few weeks this will all be tied together. Check back often.

Windows 7 is to Windows Vista as Windows XP is to Windows 2000

Yes, you read that right - Windows 7 is an optimized and reskined version of Windows Vista.

I have just recently purchased a new Gateway FX Desktop, and when I brought up the Command Prompt I noticed the following version number.

6.1.7600

The six is the main version number, with the one being the version update number and the 7600 being the build version. A friend of mine had his laptop, running Windows Vista, on hand, and I asked him to bring up his command prompt.

6.0.20012

Compare these two numbers:

6.1.7600
6.0.20012

Remove the build number:

6.1
6.0

And remove the update number:

6
6

The same can be done with Windows XP and Windows 2000

5.2.x
5.1.x

Remove the build:

5.2
5.1

And the update:

5
5

Do you see what's wrong with this picture?

Windows 7: 6
Windows Vista: 6

Wouldn't Windows 7 be version 7.0?
This basically shows that Windows 7 is running the same Kernal as Windows Vista, just like Windows XP was with Windows 2000.

Bottom line is that they're the same system with different GUI's.

This isn't a bad thing, Windows XP was a decent improvement over Windows 2000, it just means that Windows 7 isn't an entirely new OS as Microsoft claims.

I'm not accusing Microsoft of false advertising, but I believe that the world should know this since it will help with avoiding a few headaches when they find that a certain program made for Windows Vista isn't listed as being compatible with Windows 7.

Go ahead and install that older program. It will work fine and you'll save money by not having to buy the new version.

More about hackers

I was playing Mario Kart Wii about three hours ago, and I ran into a hacker by the name of OMGITZMIKE with a VR of 37337. The several races we were in were some of the most fun I ever had on MKW, as I never knew what was going to happen. One of this guy's hacks caused him to always finish in last place, causing the VRs of everyone to skyrocket. There were a few other hackers online, but OMGITZMIKE is the one I'm focusing on.

Getting used to racing with "lulz hackers", as I refer to them as, is hard at first, but you eventually learn to laugh with them. Those who say that lulz hackers should be banned are either whiny noobs that should be playing Halo or Modern Warfare 2 (where they're actually tolerated), or are people with no sense of humor and would rather win a World Record (or thirty-two) than have fun. It's not fun when you are at the top because no one can give you a challenge. Trust me. I've been there many times.

The truth about Wii hackers

I know what you're thinking, I'm going to rant about how hackers screw people up and stuff, but that couldn't be further from the truth. My Youtube friend and one of the 4TB guys, Mr.BeanVR35000, arranged the 17th CTGP, a Grand Prix just for hackers. This Grand Prix is different from other online tournaments in that every track has been custom made. Yes, every track was developed not by some dude at Nintendo sitting behind a computer who probably will never play the game he's making, but by people like you and me, except for one difference - the courage to stand up to Nintendo's (completely illegal) control over what software can and can't be used on Nintendo systems.

As of this post, I have never hacked a Nintendo game (besides a few N64 titles, a bunch of Stage Studio Brawl stages, and one or two theme based hacked pokemon), but I have other reasons about why I haven't. The main reason is because I haven't the means, but that's besides the point. I'm approaching the issue of Wii hackers from a second person view, yet I am defending them like I'm one of them. Why would someone like me (someone who hasn't hacked a Wii) be defending people like them (people who Dr. HAX of Garry's Mod fame would throw computer monitors at if he had the chance)? Because I have seen the other side to hackers - the creative side.

I'm not saying I don't have a problem with hackers, people like EvilReba who abuse their powers and hack only to win can go and jump off a cliff, but I have seen what Nintendo doesn't want people to see, and I am now showing it to the world.

Watch the video and see for your self.

Keep an open mind and stick to common sense,

40KEndgame

You don't really own your Nintendo Wii

I'd like to tell you a little story. It's historical fiction, as the main character is fictional, but it has happened to many people online.

Before I start, I would like to inform you on normal property law in the USA (not "intellectual" property law a.k.a. the DMCA). Basically, if you bought it, you can do what ever you want with it. You can sell it, you can keep it, you can take it apart, you can modify it, and no one can take away those rights. Yes, modify, as in change it.

Anyway, Joe Haxor had installed the Homebrew channel and several custom tracks for Mario Kart Wii on his Nintendo Wii. He connects to Nintendo WFC so that he can catch up with his friends who had done the same, but he gets an error code.

20102

He tries to reconnect.

20102

He tries a third time.

20102.

He looks up the problem in his Wii's user manual, but it isn't listed. He looks online.

"Error Code: 20102

This error code indicates some type of unauthorized activity has occured in an online feature of a Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection game.

What to do:

Please call 1-800-895-1672 in the USA or Canada for more information."

He calls the number, waits 30 minutes to speak with a person, and when he finally gets someone, he tells them the problem. He is told that they had detected the Homebrew Channel on his system and there is nothing they can do to fix it. Before he is able to ask any more questions, the service operator hangs up on him.

What is wrong with this story? He was banned because he had the Homebrew Channel on his system. Why is it wrong? The ban violates property laws, yet Nintendo got away with it.

It's one thing to be banned for doing something, but being banned due to an "unauthorized" modification? Now I know that it can void warranties, but Wi-Fi privileges have no connections with warranty status, and he never intended to use his modified Wii to cheat on Wi-Fi or to pirate games.

Basically, he modified "his" Nintendo Wii without permission of the real owners: Nintendo.

Is my bottom line that Nintendo still owns that Mac-White or Jet-Black Linux-Powered IBM Power PC, and the $249.99 that you payed for it was just to purchase the rights to have it sit in your TV cabinet? No, my bottom line is that Nintendo is essentially breaking every property law in the book, except the DMCA. If either economic system, capitalist or communist, had the checks and balances to keep whoever is running the show from abusing their power like this (the large scale international corporations and the government, respectively), then that alone would make my day.

Legal Notice: Any demands to take this post down will be fought in court, and an automatic removal will force my hand to the point that the constitution will get involved. Long live the first amendment!

P.s.: Phew... that was a lot. If you are wondering why I am suddenly so politically active, it's because I'd rather get it out now instead of keeping it bottled up, only to release it all on some random forum.

Alexander Cornswalled is just a windbag.

Well, I guess I proved it - Alexander Cornswalled is just a squeaky wheel, and he's been getting his grease for three years too many.

I left a comment on his article on which I responded to, telling him to check my response and comment or else be considered a windbag. Guess what - he never did, and I think taking a look at my article is enough proof of that. Even if he's offline at the moment, this still proves my point as who would go offline for no reason if they are such activists? I can back up my absences simply because my internet died for 6 months, and then I had serious computer issues for another 2.

Anyway, this will (hopefully) be my last post for the day. I had a lot on my mind to say this time, and I had to let it out.