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No, game mechanics aren’t subject to copyright law. Game mechanics can be patented in the US, so long as they’re unique and nonobvious (to someone with ordinary skill in the field).
Monopoly and Magic: The Gathering both had patents on their mechanics, for example.
And of course, patents in Japan are a completely different animal than patents in the US.
That’s fair, but he would be able to play the games in the meantime. And since hardware generally gets cheaper as time passes, if he could set aside more than the subscription fee each month to save for his own hardware, he’d be able to game in the meantime. And if he ever had to cancel it, he’d be closer to being able to buy his own hardware than he is today - meaning more time total spent gaming.
That makes sense, and that engine and some of the other games they feature look interesting.
Does that mean that Balatro (and presumably other LOVE 2D games) is packaged like Doom with its WAD files, where there’s an engine (a generic LOVE 2D one) that runs the game, interpreting the Lua game code, which is basically just packaged like an asset? Or is there a Balatro engine that needed to be built for each platform? I saw that BMM downloads a base IPA and an APK patcher, so I’m assuming it’s closer to the latter, but I could see it going either way.
There is a project to convert the Steam app to a side-loadable mobile app (both for Android and iOS): https://github.com/blake502/balatro-mobile-maker
I haven’t tested that out myself and I have no idea how it compares to their official mobile release, but I’m super curious about how it was implemented (it’s the first time I saw a tool that could convert a game to an iOS app), so I’ll be looking into it at some point.
Google Play was having payment processor issues (see https://status.play.google.com/summary for more details) but they appear to be resolved now, so you could try again.
Google Play was having payment processor issues (see https://status.play.google.com/summary for more details) but they appear to be resolved now, so you could try buying it again.
Ah, good point. Apparently it shows 4 different things: https://twitter.com/foone/status/1301718864573554689
If you’re using the screen on the front of your fridge and your fridge’s built-in buttons, if your computer is in the door or walls of the fridge as opposed to just chilling on a shelf like a leftover burrito, if your computer doesn’t have its own distinct power source, and if your fridge continues to cool your food like a fridge… why not?
No, it’s not running entirely on the fridge’s hardware at that point, but you did basically hack your fridge to be able to play Crysis.
In this case it does all of the above and also triggers device functionality based off of game events.
Personally I didn’t think the pregnancy test one really counted, either, but I’m with you on this one. This isn’t just “I put Doom on a sex toy,” but “I put Doom on a sex toy and used game events to trigger its functionality,” which is a level above.
Also looking at the pregnancy test one now I might change my mind. They did use a different microcontroller and screen, but the pregnancy test already had a microcontroller inside it; it just wasn’t programmable. If the replacement microcontroller and screen had the same specs as the old one, it’s more than fair to call that a win IMO. At that point, it’s the same hardware, after all.
Say I go to a furniture store and buy a table. It has a 5 year warranty. 2 years later, it breaks, so I call Ubersoft and ask them to honor the warranty and fix it. If they don’t, then I can file a suit against them, i.e., for breach of contract. I may not even have to file a suit, as there may be government agencies who receive and act on these complaints, like my local consumer protection division.
I’m talking about real things here. Your example is a situation where the US government agrees that a company shouldn’t be permitted to take my money and then renege on their promises. And that’s generally true of most governments.
Supposing an absence of regulations protecting consumers like me, like you’re trying to suggest in your example, then it would be reasonable to assume an absence of laws and regulations protecting the corporation from consumers like me. Absent such laws, a consumer would be free to take matters into their own hands. They could go back to Ubersoft and take a replacement table without their agreement - it wouldn’t be “stealing” because it wouldn’t be illegal. If Ubersoft were closed, the consumer could break in. If Ubersoft security tried to stop them, the consumer could retaliate - damaging Ubersoft’s property, physically attacking the owner / management / employees, etc… Ubersoft could retaliate as well, of course - nothing’s stopping them. And as a corporation, they certainly have more power than a random consumer - but at that point they would need to employ their own security forces rather than relying on the government for them.
Even if we kept laws prohibiting physical violence, the consumer is still regulated by things like copyright and IP protections, e.g., the anti-circumvention portion of the DMCA. Absent such regulations, a consumer whose software was rendered unusable or changed in a way they didn’t like could reverse engineer it, bypass DRM, host their own servers, etc… Given that you didn’t speak against those regulations, I can only infer that you are not opposed to them.
Why do you think we don’t need regulations protecting consumers but that we do need regulations restricting them?
reasonable expectations and uses for LLMs.
LLMs are only ever going to be a single component of an AI system. We’ve only had LLMs with their current capabilities for a very short time period, so the research and experimentation to find optimal system patterns, given the capabilities of LLMs, has necessarily been limited.
I personally believe it’s possible, but we need to get vendors and managers to stop trying to sprinkle “AI” in everything like some goddamn Good Idea Fairy.
That’s a separate problem. Unless it results in decreased research into improving the systems that leverage LLMs, e.g., by resulting in pervasive negative AI sentiment, it won’t have a negative on the progress of the research. Rather the opposite, in fact, as seeing which uses of AI are successful and which are not (success here being measured by customer acceptance and interest, not by the AI’s efficacy) is information that can help direct and inspire research avenues.
LLMs are good for providing answers to well defined problems which can be answered with existing documentation.
Clarification: LLMs are not reliable at this task, but we have patterns for systems that leverage LLMs that are much better at it, thanks to techniques like RAG, supervisor LLMs, etc…
When the problem is poorly defined and/or the answer isn’t as well documented or has a lot of nuance, they then do a spectacular job of generating bullshit.
TBH, so would a random person in such a situation (if they produced anything at all).
As an example: how often have you heard about a company’s marketing departments over-hyping their upcoming product, resulting in unmet consumer expectation, a ton of extra work from the product’s developers and engineers, or both? This is because those marketers don’t really understand the product - either because they don’t have the information, didn’t read it, because they got conflicting information, or because the information they have is written for a different audience - i.e., a developer, not a marketer - and the nuance is lost in translation.
At the company level, you can structure a system that marketers work within that will result in them providing more correct information. That starts with them being given all of the correct information in the first place. However, even then, the marketer won’t be solving problems like a developer. But if you ask them to write some copy to describe the product, or write up a commercial script where the product is used, or something along those lines, they can do that.
And yet the marketer role here is still more complex than our existing AI systems, but those systems are already incorporating patterns very similar to those that a marketer uses day-to-day. And AI researchers - academic, corporate, and hobbyists - are looking into more ways that this can be done.
If we want an AI system to be able to solve problems more reliably, we have to, at minimum:
- break down the problems into more consumable parts
- ensure that components are asked to solve problems they’re well-suited for, which means that we won’t be using an LLM - or even necessarily an AI solution at all - for every problem type that the system solves
- have a feedback loop / review process built into the system
In terms of what they can accept as input, LLMs have a huge amount of flexibility - much higher than what they appear to be good at and much, much higher than what they’re actually good at. They’re a compelling hammer. System designers need to not just be aware of which problems are nails and which are screws or unpainted wood or something else entirely, but also ensure that the systems can perform that identification on their own.
I have the 8bitdo SN30 Pro+ and almost got one of their Hall effect controllers for my most recent controller (but ended up going with the King Kong 3 Max instead).
I noticed they have a repair parts section on their shop, but frustratingly, it doesn’t have analog stick replacements - just the joystick caps.
There’s an iFixit guide to replacing them, but it doesn’t list where you can get the new part, either. I’m guessing they use a standard part - maybe even one you could get for a few bucks off AliExpress - assuming you’re up to the task of desoldering the old stick and resoldering the new one.
You can also get replacement Hall effect analog sticks from Gulikit and install them in your joycons yourself. They also made them for the Steam Deck. I installed a set in my old LCD Steam Deck and it was really straightforward, but I suspect the joycons take a bit more work.
It’s a shame they don’t make them for the PS5 - there are multiple third party controllers with Hall effect sensors that are compatible with pretty much everything else, but there’s only one Hall effect controller compatible with the PS5 (the Nacon Revolution 5 Pro), and it’s $200.
The idea that someone does this willingly implies that the user knows the implications of their choice, which most of the Fediverse doesn’t seem to do
The terms of service for lemmy.world, which you must agree to upon sign-up, make reference to federating. If you don’t know what that means, it’s your responsibility to look it up and understand it. I assume other instances have similar sign-up processes. The source code to Lemmy is also available, meaning that a full understanding is available to anyone willing to take the time to read through the code, unlike with most social media companies.
What sorts of implications of the choice to post to Lemmy do you think that people don’t understand, that people who post to Facebook do understand?
If the implied license was enough, Facebook and all the other companies wouldn’t put these disclaimers in their terms of service.
It’s not an implied license. It’s implied permission. And if you post content to a website that’s hosting and displaying such content, it’s obvious what’s about to happen with it. Please try telling a judge that you didn’t understand what you were doing, sued without first trying to delete or file a DMCA notice, and see if that judge sides with you.
Many companies have lengthy terms of service with a ton of CYA legalese that does nothing. Even so, an explicit license to your content in the terms of service does do something - but that doesn’t mean that you’re infringing copyright without it. If my artist friend asks me to take her art piece to a copy shop and to get a hundred prints made for her, I’m not infringing copyright then, either, nor is the copy shop. If I did that without permission, on the other hand, I would be. If her lawyer got wind of this and filed a suit against me without checking with her and I showed the judge the text saying “Hey hedgehog, could you do me a favor and…,” what do you think he’d say?
Besides, Facebook does things that Lemmy instances don’t do. Facebook’s codebase isn’t open, and they’d like to reserve the ability to do different things with the content you submit. Facebook wants to be able to do non-obvious things with your content. Facebook is incorporated in California and has a value in the hundreds of billions, but Lemmy instances are located all over the world and I doubt any have a value even in the millions.
The funny thing about Lemmy is that the entire Fediverse is basically running a massive copyright violation ring with current copyright law.
Is it, though?
When someone posts a comment to Lemmy, they do so willingly, with the intent for it to be posted and federated. If they change their mind, they can delete it. If they delete it and it remains up somewhere, they can submit a DMCA request; likewise if someone else posts their copyrighted content.
Copyright infringement is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for their use. When you submit a post or a comment, your permission to display it and for it to be federated is implied, because that is how Lemmy works. A license also conveys permission, but that’s not the only way permission can be conveyed.
That was my first comment and all I did was share a list of games that have historically used EAC. If a game used EAC at launch then it’s pretty clear that its publishers have used EAC in their games. I made no statements about it being kernel-level or otherwise.
That said, EAC is a kernel-level anticheat, but unlike Vanguard it doesn’t run at startup. A tool being (or not being) kernel-level is a matter of which privileges it has when it runs, not when it starts up. Starting at startup allows an anti-cheat tool to perform more diagnostics and catch cheats that might otherwise go uncaught, but it’s also more invasive and increases the attack surface of people who have it installed.
https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Easy_Anti-Cheat
Took me about thirty seconds to find that list.
You can buy a USB-C splitter or replace your current dongle with one that gives you the exact ports you want.
For example, the Belkin Rockstar is USB-C to USB-C+3.5mm jack. It’s $40 but there are a ton of cheaper options - JSAUX has a few for $15 or so on Amazon, and there are other no-name branded versions out there for around $10ish.
I’ve not been able to listen to high bitrate SBC myself, but that tracks with my understanding, too. I read this article - https://habr.com/en/articles/456182/ - recently, when trying to confirm my understanding of why there’s such a huge difference in sound quality from codec to codec.
What setup do you have where you’re able to listen to 552 kbps SBC?
You don’t think the Bluetooth codec makes a difference when you’re using Bluetooth headphones? When else would it make a difference?
I feel like you’re just confusing the codec used for compressing audio for storage and wireless transmission with the codec used for transmission via Bluetooth. That or you’ve just never experienced a setting where a better codec was being used.
SBC can sound okay, but see here for a breakdown of why it almost never actually does. Basically, it’s capped at only using a fraction of the available bandwidth, even though it could use more if not for arbitrarily imposed limitations.
Turning your nose up at SBC isn’t being a codec snob; it’s having functioning ears.
And if you’re on Android, AAC is not well implemented compared to on iOS / MacOS. Maybe this has changed in the past couple years but it was immediately noticeable to me when I upgraded from the WH-1000XM3s to the XM4s, I could immediately tell that the audio was worse if they weren’t using LDAC. And these don’t have LDAC.
Unlike with competent compression codecs (mp3 vs AAC vs FLAC), where most people genuinely cannot tell the difference between a well-compressed song vs a lossless one, many people can immediately tell the difference between AptX and AAC or SBC on Android.
There are plenty of true wireless headphones out there that support LDAC or AptX for less than $100. It’s not surprising to me that people in their target audience would think $150 for something that sounds terrible to them isn’t reasonable.
The 1050 Ti came out like 8 years ago and was around $150 new the year before the 20-series released (I know because that’s when I got mine). You can get one used nowadays for less on eBay, though you probably shouldn’t if you’re building a new PC (unless the reason is you spent your full budget on everything else and just need a good enough stopgap).
I’d be very surprised if the integrated GPU performance of AMD’s last gen 5600G / 5700G isn’t enough to play most modern indie games acceptably, and for a budget desktop build, that’s the route I’d recommend looking at first. Its iGPU isn’t as good as the 1050 Ti, though - it’s about halfway between the laptop 1050 and the 1030.
I find that most games run acceptably on the Steam Deck and every indie game I’ve tried runs great on it. Its iGPU performance is supposed to be closer to the 1050, though (but its CPU performance compared to the 5600G is much lower). Admittedly, that’s at lower resolutions than I play on my desktop PC, but still, grabbing a Steam Deck + dock and playing at 720-1080p is a viable option for gamers today.
Per the Wired article, the Palestinian employee who was fired, Madly Espinoza, asked for and received permission to wear her keffiyeh, which was rescinded a few weeks later. She followed the new instructions and asked for and received approval to wear pro-Palestinian jewelry. She was then fired. Her termination documents did not state a reason.
The Steam Deck doesn’t have Thunderbolt, but rather a USB-3 Gen 2 port. As such, a Thunderbolt dock that isn’t optimized for USB-C might cause issues.
For example, the CalDigit TS3 Plus is a great Thunderbolt dock, but it is not compatible with USB-C only computers like the Steam Deck. The TS4, on the other hand, is compatible with both. I figured this out when I tried plugging my Steam Deck into the TS3 - charging works, but nothing else does - and the fact that the TS4 is compatible with it was part of how I justified the purchase. To be clear, nobody should buy the TS4 as a dock just for their Steam Deck, but if they’re considering the two for their laptop, knowing one’s compatible with the Steam Deck and one isn’t might help them make a decision.
If you’re looking for a dock primarily for your Steam Deck, looking for a USB-C dock will also help you find much cheaper docks than looking for a Thunderbolt dock will.
I was curious if this supported cross save with the existing game and if it was also going to be launching on Android. Looks like both answers are “No.”
From Supergiant Games’s blog post:
Does Hades on iOS support Cloud Saves and Achievements?
Yes and yes. Please note, however, that due to a variety of technical constraints, automatic save transfers (i.e., cross-saves) with any existing version of Hades** **are not supported.
Is Hades also coming to Android devices?
We appreciate the interest though we have no plans for additional versions of Hades at this time.
Laws should be heavily influenced by what is morally right and wrong, but morality as a concept is not influenced by laws. An individual’s or culture’s sense of morality might be, but if laws are derived from morals then that’s fine.
Questions of morality will have different answers when the context changes, so it may be morally unacceptable in one society to do something and morally acceptable to do the same thing in another. Laws have an influence on morality only insofar as laws have an impact on the context in which actions take place. This would not be because the law prohibits those actions.
Some examples:
- If a law is passed outlawing sharing nonconsensual AI-generated pornography, it should be because it was agreed that doing so is morally wrong. The law being passed doesn’t make it suddenly morally wrong.
- If a law were passed making some completely innocuous action illegal, and frequently punished - say, hand-painting Nintendo or Disney characters on an interior wall in your own house - then posting publicly on someone’s Facebook wall about loving their Princess Peach X Princess Elsa mural would be morally wrong, even though it would have been fine to do that before the law was passed.
The context that we have is that it is illegal (in the US) to:
- distribute copyrighted materials
- download copyrighted materials
- bypass DRM even when making a backup, except for specific purposes. With video games, unless you are circumventing DRM because the auth servers were taken down (inapplicable for the Switch) or solely because you have a physical disability and are patching the game to support other input options (standard keyboard and mouse specifically excluded), then it is still illegal.
So in either case you’d be doing something illegal. But morally, in a situation where you’ve purchased the game and are platform-shifting to an unsupported platform (like the “time-shifting” defense used with VHS recordings, DVRs, etc.), then the laws aren’t really relevant. The laws certainly don’t exist because there’s societal agreement that this type of platform shifting is morally wrong.
The reason the person I replied to had to pay someone to rip his own game for him is because Nintendo makes it difficult to do so. Even if the law were different and allowed those actions, I don’t understand why anyone would think that it makes sense that a corporation can morally obligate their customers (who want to consume their product in a particular way) to perform work with no value add when the customers could get what they want by doing something much easier.
Unless you’re actually causing harm (directly or indirectly) to someone by your actions in one instance but not the other, I don’t see how one option would be morally acceptable and the other morally wrong.
If the game were supported on the other platform, then the context - and potentially the outcome - changes. If Nintendo invested a decent amount of money porting BotW to Android phones and it cost them a decent amount of money to do so, then would it be morally wrong to not support them and to emulate it instead? Would there be an ethical obligation to support them? What if the Android port was terrible - would it be acceptable to buy it, then use the emulated version anyway - and if you’d bought the Android version and were emulating it on Android, would there still be a moral or ethical obligation to purchase the same cart you were emulating? What if Nintendo just licensed or repackaged Yuzu and didn’t actually make any changes to the game, so their investment was minimal?
It’s a different situation entirely when determining whether it’s morally wrong to host a site with freely downloadable ROMs. The site could be used by people who did not purchase those games, causing lost revenue to their creators.
Both of those situations have grey areas and I can see why someone would consider them immoral. I have opinions on them, of course, but there’s a lot more nuance there; I can easily see why someone would feel differently.
With this specific situation I don’t understand - and am trying to understand - how someone could come to different conclusions for the morality of the two actions. Are they inferring that you support the site hosting the content when you download it? (If you use an adblocker and don’t financially support them, would it then be fine?) Are they assuming torrenting, where you would have to either leech (which they would consider immoral) or seed, and thus distribute, as well? Or is there some other factor that I’m not thinking of?
Both devices have integrated memory, so that 16 GB will look more like a 11/5, 12/4, or maybe even 14/2 split. The Steam Deck is also $400 for an LCD model or $550 for the OLED, not $800. It’s reasonable to expect more performance when you pay more.
Because the Steam Deck has a lower native resolution, that means that less of the RAM will be used for the integrated GPU. Downscaling from 1080p to 720p doesn’t look good, either - and you could downscale to 540p if supported, but if you need to do that (vs choosing to for an emulated game) it probably won’t be pretty, either.
This device is also running Windows, rather than a streamlined Linux-based launcher, meaning that more of that RAM will be taken up by OS processes by default.
The article talks about how the 8840U benefits from more, fast RAM. You won’t get near the 8840U’s full potential gaming with 16 GB. 24 GB, on the other hand, would have been enough that games expecting 16 GB of system RAM would have been able to get it, even while devoting 6-7 GB to the GPU and 1-2 GB to the OS.