Most anyone whose kids have become teenagers over the last few years has almost certainly at least heard of "IM". It's become a verb among not only teens, but many adult surfers too. As in "IM me later!". For anyone who doesn't know, IM, or Instant Messaging, is software that lets people communicate over the Internet, well, instantly. Or nearly so - with only slight delays most of the time, instant messaging has always allowed users to type messages back and forth over the Internet. It's a lot like passing a note in class, with new parts of a conversation added on to the end of previous parts. Yahoo Messenger was one of the first to offer both IM software and a lane on the information superhighway for IM messages to travel.
But as the kids have grown, so has Yahoo Messenger. It's a lot more than a mere teen toy now. Yahoo, in an effort to attract and retain loyalty to it's brand, offers email, a personalized My Yahoo Portal, an address book, calendar, maps, bookmarks, a toolbar, and other services, many of them integrated to work together. But they seem to have paid special attention to Yahoo Messenger, especially recently. As more surfers have moved to high-speed internet connections, Yahoo has upgraded Yahoo Messenger to include Launchcast Radio, Yahoo Games, and of course, a considerable selection of customization options.
Perhaps the biggest change, and one many adult surfers will most appreciate, is the addition of Webcam, photo, and voice chat capabilities. Voice chat, in particular, will probably appeal to a broad audience. With it, a pair of speakers, and a microphone, you can talk live with contacts, over the Internet, even internationally, for free, using voice over IP technology. Most of the time, depending on network traffic between you and the other party, the conversation is loud & clear, and there is very little delay.
You may have wondered why your teens would prefer to type messages when they can just as easily call their friends. Now, with Yahoo Messenger, they, and you, can do both, using the same software!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Should you care for your Windows registry health?
What are Windows registry? Why are they so important for your operating system? What can you do to keep them reliable?
According to Microsoft site, registry are "a central hierarchical database used in Microsoft Windows ... to store information necessary to configure the system for one or more users, applications and hardware devices." You can add to that data regarding file types like what application is used to open them, what icons should be display for them and so on.
I will try to explain what's happening on 2 of the most common scenarios that take place on your computer:
1. You get a new program (software or game). You want to give it a try, so you install it. At that point, new data is written in your windows registry. That data include program folder, associated files, various settings that are used by the program, whether it will run on startup (HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Run/ ) or only at the first startup (HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/RunOnce/ ).
No problem so far. But what's happening if you decide to uninstall it? That's that point where things get tricky.
Even if you receive a "successfully uninstall" message, pieces of data remain in your registry. Of course, this is not happening on all cases, but sadly it does in many of them.
In a worst case scenario, if for instance files "*.abc" are registered to an application that you just removed and the whole registration process wasn't properly removed from registry, you will get an error when you try to run that sort of files. Those invalid registry entries won't bother you visibly all the time, but they will cause your computer to slow down or even crash in some cases.
2. You install some new hardware, like another network card or something. When you plug it in, Windows will detect it and install the best drivers for it. Of course, a significant quantity of data is written into registry. Again no problem so far. When you shutdown you computer and remove the just installed device, registry entries are not deleted. They just remain there. If you try, after a period of time, to install a similar device, conflicts may appear, because you computer might confuse them. This is happening because of the old and possibly corrupt registry entries.
A solution to avoid those kind of problems is to create regular backups of your entire Windows registry. That way you can easily restore them the moment you feel something is not working right. But be careful, because an old backup might cause your newest programs or hardware devices to malfunction. Another way to solve the problems is to use a registry tool that would parse your registry and fix all invalid, missing or corrupt entries that it could find.
You can visit CoreDownload, a software archive with more than 23.000 programs where you will find a variety of registry tools that can fix all your problems.
According to Microsoft site, registry are "a central hierarchical database used in Microsoft Windows ... to store information necessary to configure the system for one or more users, applications and hardware devices." You can add to that data regarding file types like what application is used to open them, what icons should be display for them and so on.
I will try to explain what's happening on 2 of the most common scenarios that take place on your computer:
1. You get a new program (software or game). You want to give it a try, so you install it. At that point, new data is written in your windows registry. That data include program folder, associated files, various settings that are used by the program, whether it will run on startup (HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Run/ ) or only at the first startup (HKCU/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/RunOnce/ ).
No problem so far. But what's happening if you decide to uninstall it? That's that point where things get tricky.
Even if you receive a "successfully uninstall" message, pieces of data remain in your registry. Of course, this is not happening on all cases, but sadly it does in many of them.
In a worst case scenario, if for instance files "*.abc" are registered to an application that you just removed and the whole registration process wasn't properly removed from registry, you will get an error when you try to run that sort of files. Those invalid registry entries won't bother you visibly all the time, but they will cause your computer to slow down or even crash in some cases.
2. You install some new hardware, like another network card or something. When you plug it in, Windows will detect it and install the best drivers for it. Of course, a significant quantity of data is written into registry. Again no problem so far. When you shutdown you computer and remove the just installed device, registry entries are not deleted. They just remain there. If you try, after a period of time, to install a similar device, conflicts may appear, because you computer might confuse them. This is happening because of the old and possibly corrupt registry entries.
A solution to avoid those kind of problems is to create regular backups of your entire Windows registry. That way you can easily restore them the moment you feel something is not working right. But be careful, because an old backup might cause your newest programs or hardware devices to malfunction. Another way to solve the problems is to use a registry tool that would parse your registry and fix all invalid, missing or corrupt entries that it could find.
You can visit CoreDownload, a software archive with more than 23.000 programs where you will find a variety of registry tools that can fix all your problems.
Gaming Laptops - The Five Essential Features To Consider When Buying A Gaming Laptop
Gone are the days when you would have been laughed at if you walked into an all-night LAN party carrying your trusty laptop and expecting to hang with the giant computer towers standing at everyone’s feet. The gaming laptop computers of today sport huge, crisp LCD screens, cutting-edge video cards and full-size keyboards. Not only can these gaming laptop computers hang with the standard clunky computer tower, but they can also be ordered fully custom to meet the exact specifications of any gamer.
Since there are so many customizable components in these laptops, a standard practice has been to create what some call a “system builder.” This is the page where you get to add and subtract components through drop-down menus in order to create the best gaming laptop computer for your needs and your budget. This type of page can be overwhelming to someone just starting the gaming laptop shopping process, but it is very manageable if you take it just one component at a time.
The Gaming Laptop GPU
This is the heart of a gaming laptop computer. The GPU – graphics processing unit – is a component that will make or break your gaming experience. If your GPU isn’t up to snuff, your games won’t play.
Without getting into specific models since they change all the time, the key is that the graphics card not share resources with the computer. A gaming laptop video card must have its own memory on board. Generally speaking, standard off-the-shelf laptops will not have this feature. The two current makers of laptop video cards are nVIDIA and ATI.
Without the Screen, You Don’t Have Much
What good is a gaming laptop without a screen that can actually render your games? Now certainly, you can connect an external monitor, but if you can’t actually play on your gaming laptop without that external monitor, then your laptop isn’t all that mobile.
While the technology and terminology for LCDs (liquid crystal displays) could take up an entire article in itself, there are a few key points to keep in mind when choosing from available LCD options for your new gaming laptop computer: native resolution, aspect ratio, rise and fall time, contrast, viewing angle, and size.
Native Resolution. The native resolution is simply the setting at which your screen will render the clearest images. Since games are constantly in motion, slightly soft edges may not bother most gamers, but keep in mind that while this is your gaming laptop, you will likely also use it for other things like surfing the Internet. If the resolution isn’t comfortable, you aren’t going to enjoy using it.
Aspect Ratio. As you probably know, a movie theater screen and a TV screen have different proportions. Likewise, there are widescreen format gaming laptops and there are laptops that have a standard aspect ratio – like that of a TV. A widescreen format gaming laptop has advantages and disadvantages. Many games today do not have a widescreen mode. This means that the game may stretch across the screen and become distorted or you may run it with black bars that fill in the sides. There are ways to get around this, but if you want an out of the box perfect experience, the widescreen format may not be for you.
That said, a widescreen LCD does offer plenty of screen real estate for web surfing and other type of computer activities, and a game played in a wide format setting offers an expansive field of view. For this reason, there are some very loyal widescreen-loving gamers out there.
Do your best to find a balance between current and future technology and what your computer habits are beyond gaming. Even with its limitations, the widescreen format is found on most of the best gaming laptop computers.
Rise and Fall. The phrase ‘rise and fall time’ is used to describe how fast the LCD can respond to changes. In the past, LCDs have been plagued with the inability to render images as fast as computer games can spit them out. This presents a major problem for laptop gamers because if they can’t see the images properly, they can’t play the game properly. This lag can mean the difference between playing to win and barely playing.
Fortunately, gaming laptop LCDs have come a long way and they are only getting better. While once it was impossible to game on a laptop screen, the gaming laptop LCDs of today offer 25 milliseconds or less rise and fall time while generally off-the-shelf laptops have 40 milliseconds or less rise and fall time.
Contrast. If a gaming laptop LCD has poor contrast, that means that the black areas aren’t quite as black as they should be and the white areas aren’t quite as white. This is important to a laptop gamer because you have to see the game properly – as it was intended to be seen – in order to compete effectively. Look for a contrast ratio of 400:1 or higher in a custom gaming laptop computer.
Viewing Angle. This is an often-overlooked LCD feature, but it must be considered if you are building a gaming laptop computer. Many high quality LCDs on the market are difficult to see clearly at any angle other than straight on and at the right height. This can be a big drawback to gaming on a LCD screen because a screen with poor viewing angles won’t allow others to watch the screen as you play and also hurts your view when doing something as simple as adjusting your seating, which can require you to then adjust to position of your laptop screen to see it properly again.
But gaming on a laptop does not mean that you are doomed to have poor viewing angles. There are LCDs on the market that have amazing viewing angles – up to 120 degrees. These screens not only allow gaming onlookers, but they also allow you to use that giant, crisp screen to do things like play movies and even make presentations.
Size. In a gaming laptop computer, size is everything. Most gaming laptops are large, robust pieces of electronics. Having a machine of this stature means you also get to have a large screen. The best gaming laptop computer LCD screens out there are at least 15 inches. A crowd favorite is a 17 inch widescreen (even with the challenges that widescreens present). Largr 19 inch laptop screens are just starting to be talked about with consumers expecting to see 19 inch or even large models on the market in the near future.
The best way to really get a feel for what laptop LCDs are all about is to take a trip to a local box store and play with the LCDs on the display laptops while keeping in mind what you have read here. While these laptops are not custom gaming laptops, you can see what the sizes really look like, what different resolutions look like, and what the viewing angles truly are so you can start to develop your own preferences.
The RAM – What Type and How Much?
The RAM (random access memory) found in laptops is called SODIMM (small outline dual inline memory module). The RAM is responsible for your processing power. If you are shopping for a custom gaming laptop, you will generally be offered DDR2 RAM with the choice of how much you want in your computer. Most high-end games being released today need 1GB of RAM for optimum, lag-free game play. Some people are going with 2GB to ensure that they can run multiple applications along with the game and not experience any slow down in response time. This is a large investment and you want to be able to use this gaming laptop for some time in the future. Most custom laptops are user upgradeable, but this should be left up to professionals.
The CPU – Not Just Mobile Technology
The CPUs (central processing units) found in many custom gaming laptops are identical to those found in desktops. These chips require a great deal of cooling power, which in turn can make your laptop louder than light weight, lower power ultra portables when the fans kick on and it can become somewhat warm to the touch. Don’t be alarmed by this – it is normal. And with these desktop processors comes screaming power! Don’t waste your money on the latest CPU release that likely has an inflated price tag (and that price will likely come down before long). Stick with a current CPU speed that is offered by a reputable custom gaming laptop reseller, and you really can’t go wrong.
The Gaming Laptop Hard Drive
This is the final component to consider when building a gaming laptop. Laptop hard drives come in a variety of speeds and capacities ranging from 4200 to 7200 RPMs and 40 to over 100 GBs. For the most part, this is user preference. Whenever possible, go for a 7200 RPM hard drive, but if you need a capacity not offered in this speed, it’s okay to go for the 5400 RPM drive. Take a look at your current computer, and buy your capacity based on this. Also keep in mind that with many custom gaming laptop manufacturers, you have the ability to upgrade or add another hard drive at a later date.
At the end of the day, gaming laptop computers are all about power. Don’t expect a twelve-pound notebook with a desktop processor, numerous fans, a giant heatsink, and independent video card to last on battery power all that long. But do make sure to enjoy the jawdrops that you’ll get as you walk into your regular LAN party location with your new, screaming-fast gaming laptop computer. Crack that puppy open, fire it up, and stand clear of the drool as you take on your favorite game with fellow gamers gathered around to take in the action. Gaming is not just for desktops anymore!
Since there are so many customizable components in these laptops, a standard practice has been to create what some call a “system builder.” This is the page where you get to add and subtract components through drop-down menus in order to create the best gaming laptop computer for your needs and your budget. This type of page can be overwhelming to someone just starting the gaming laptop shopping process, but it is very manageable if you take it just one component at a time.
The Gaming Laptop GPU
This is the heart of a gaming laptop computer. The GPU – graphics processing unit – is a component that will make or break your gaming experience. If your GPU isn’t up to snuff, your games won’t play.
Without getting into specific models since they change all the time, the key is that the graphics card not share resources with the computer. A gaming laptop video card must have its own memory on board. Generally speaking, standard off-the-shelf laptops will not have this feature. The two current makers of laptop video cards are nVIDIA and ATI.
Without the Screen, You Don’t Have Much
What good is a gaming laptop without a screen that can actually render your games? Now certainly, you can connect an external monitor, but if you can’t actually play on your gaming laptop without that external monitor, then your laptop isn’t all that mobile.
While the technology and terminology for LCDs (liquid crystal displays) could take up an entire article in itself, there are a few key points to keep in mind when choosing from available LCD options for your new gaming laptop computer: native resolution, aspect ratio, rise and fall time, contrast, viewing angle, and size.
Native Resolution. The native resolution is simply the setting at which your screen will render the clearest images. Since games are constantly in motion, slightly soft edges may not bother most gamers, but keep in mind that while this is your gaming laptop, you will likely also use it for other things like surfing the Internet. If the resolution isn’t comfortable, you aren’t going to enjoy using it.
Aspect Ratio. As you probably know, a movie theater screen and a TV screen have different proportions. Likewise, there are widescreen format gaming laptops and there are laptops that have a standard aspect ratio – like that of a TV. A widescreen format gaming laptop has advantages and disadvantages. Many games today do not have a widescreen mode. This means that the game may stretch across the screen and become distorted or you may run it with black bars that fill in the sides. There are ways to get around this, but if you want an out of the box perfect experience, the widescreen format may not be for you.
That said, a widescreen LCD does offer plenty of screen real estate for web surfing and other type of computer activities, and a game played in a wide format setting offers an expansive field of view. For this reason, there are some very loyal widescreen-loving gamers out there.
Do your best to find a balance between current and future technology and what your computer habits are beyond gaming. Even with its limitations, the widescreen format is found on most of the best gaming laptop computers.
Rise and Fall. The phrase ‘rise and fall time’ is used to describe how fast the LCD can respond to changes. In the past, LCDs have been plagued with the inability to render images as fast as computer games can spit them out. This presents a major problem for laptop gamers because if they can’t see the images properly, they can’t play the game properly. This lag can mean the difference between playing to win and barely playing.
Fortunately, gaming laptop LCDs have come a long way and they are only getting better. While once it was impossible to game on a laptop screen, the gaming laptop LCDs of today offer 25 milliseconds or less rise and fall time while generally off-the-shelf laptops have 40 milliseconds or less rise and fall time.
Contrast. If a gaming laptop LCD has poor contrast, that means that the black areas aren’t quite as black as they should be and the white areas aren’t quite as white. This is important to a laptop gamer because you have to see the game properly – as it was intended to be seen – in order to compete effectively. Look for a contrast ratio of 400:1 or higher in a custom gaming laptop computer.
Viewing Angle. This is an often-overlooked LCD feature, but it must be considered if you are building a gaming laptop computer. Many high quality LCDs on the market are difficult to see clearly at any angle other than straight on and at the right height. This can be a big drawback to gaming on a LCD screen because a screen with poor viewing angles won’t allow others to watch the screen as you play and also hurts your view when doing something as simple as adjusting your seating, which can require you to then adjust to position of your laptop screen to see it properly again.
But gaming on a laptop does not mean that you are doomed to have poor viewing angles. There are LCDs on the market that have amazing viewing angles – up to 120 degrees. These screens not only allow gaming onlookers, but they also allow you to use that giant, crisp screen to do things like play movies and even make presentations.
Size. In a gaming laptop computer, size is everything. Most gaming laptops are large, robust pieces of electronics. Having a machine of this stature means you also get to have a large screen. The best gaming laptop computer LCD screens out there are at least 15 inches. A crowd favorite is a 17 inch widescreen (even with the challenges that widescreens present). Largr 19 inch laptop screens are just starting to be talked about with consumers expecting to see 19 inch or even large models on the market in the near future.
The best way to really get a feel for what laptop LCDs are all about is to take a trip to a local box store and play with the LCDs on the display laptops while keeping in mind what you have read here. While these laptops are not custom gaming laptops, you can see what the sizes really look like, what different resolutions look like, and what the viewing angles truly are so you can start to develop your own preferences.
The RAM – What Type and How Much?
The RAM (random access memory) found in laptops is called SODIMM (small outline dual inline memory module). The RAM is responsible for your processing power. If you are shopping for a custom gaming laptop, you will generally be offered DDR2 RAM with the choice of how much you want in your computer. Most high-end games being released today need 1GB of RAM for optimum, lag-free game play. Some people are going with 2GB to ensure that they can run multiple applications along with the game and not experience any slow down in response time. This is a large investment and you want to be able to use this gaming laptop for some time in the future. Most custom laptops are user upgradeable, but this should be left up to professionals.
The CPU – Not Just Mobile Technology
The CPUs (central processing units) found in many custom gaming laptops are identical to those found in desktops. These chips require a great deal of cooling power, which in turn can make your laptop louder than light weight, lower power ultra portables when the fans kick on and it can become somewhat warm to the touch. Don’t be alarmed by this – it is normal. And with these desktop processors comes screaming power! Don’t waste your money on the latest CPU release that likely has an inflated price tag (and that price will likely come down before long). Stick with a current CPU speed that is offered by a reputable custom gaming laptop reseller, and you really can’t go wrong.
The Gaming Laptop Hard Drive
This is the final component to consider when building a gaming laptop. Laptop hard drives come in a variety of speeds and capacities ranging from 4200 to 7200 RPMs and 40 to over 100 GBs. For the most part, this is user preference. Whenever possible, go for a 7200 RPM hard drive, but if you need a capacity not offered in this speed, it’s okay to go for the 5400 RPM drive. Take a look at your current computer, and buy your capacity based on this. Also keep in mind that with many custom gaming laptop manufacturers, you have the ability to upgrade or add another hard drive at a later date.
At the end of the day, gaming laptop computers are all about power. Don’t expect a twelve-pound notebook with a desktop processor, numerous fans, a giant heatsink, and independent video card to last on battery power all that long. But do make sure to enjoy the jawdrops that you’ll get as you walk into your regular LAN party location with your new, screaming-fast gaming laptop computer. Crack that puppy open, fire it up, and stand clear of the drool as you take on your favorite game with fellow gamers gathered around to take in the action. Gaming is not just for desktops anymore!
Tips and tricks to become a master DVD ripper.
How difficult is to perform a DVD ripping? What should you look for and what do you need in order to do a successful job? Here are some tips that can be useful.
If you are looking to become a master dvd ripper then you will have to learn the basics of the subject. Ripping a dvd refers to converting the audio or video data from a dvd format to a digital copy on your hard disk. In this article you will learn the basics of how to become an efficient dvd ripper.
If you use a video ripper it will compress the video into mpeg-4, avi, DivX, or Ogg Theora. If you use a dvd audio ripper it will compress the audio from the dvd into a format such as mp3, wav, or ogg. To completely rip a dvd you will either need both a dvd audio ripper and a video ripper, or you will need a dvd ripper that does both audio and video ripping.
Not only are there dvd rippers to convert a dvd to a format your PC can deal with, but there is now even a dvd ripper that allows you to put a dvd onto a video iPod. This software will convert your dvd to a video that can be added to your playlist on your video iPod for free.
The speed which your dvd ripper can work depends on several factors. One of the big factors is the drive speed. For instance an 8x drive will have the capability of ripping the dvd 8 times faster than the dvd will play. Another factor that will effect how fast your dvd ripper goes is cpu speed. If you have a slow cpu that will make it so the dvd ripper cannot keep up with the drive and will cause a slowdown.
Since a dvd ripper uses a lot of cpu processes and disk space it is important that you keep your computer clear of junk and keep it as lean and mean as possible. You do not want a bunch of spyware, software updates, mp3 players, games, applications, etc running in the background as they could screw up the process of the dvd audio ripper and the video dvd ripper. It is also important to have a fast machine that can handle conversion of dvds to your hard drive. A recent machine that has a 2ghz+ processor should be able to do the job quite well. Also having more than 40gb of free space is recommended as you do not want to spend an hour ripping your dvd only to find that your dvd ripper has ran out of space and must quit.
Now that you have learned the basics of dvd ripping, and how it is important to have a dvd ripper and a dvd audio ripper, you can now get some software to start the ripping process. Core Download has all the software you could possibly need to become a great dvd ripper.
If you are looking to become a master dvd ripper then you will have to learn the basics of the subject. Ripping a dvd refers to converting the audio or video data from a dvd format to a digital copy on your hard disk. In this article you will learn the basics of how to become an efficient dvd ripper.
If you use a video ripper it will compress the video into mpeg-4, avi, DivX, or Ogg Theora. If you use a dvd audio ripper it will compress the audio from the dvd into a format such as mp3, wav, or ogg. To completely rip a dvd you will either need both a dvd audio ripper and a video ripper, or you will need a dvd ripper that does both audio and video ripping.
Not only are there dvd rippers to convert a dvd to a format your PC can deal with, but there is now even a dvd ripper that allows you to put a dvd onto a video iPod. This software will convert your dvd to a video that can be added to your playlist on your video iPod for free.
The speed which your dvd ripper can work depends on several factors. One of the big factors is the drive speed. For instance an 8x drive will have the capability of ripping the dvd 8 times faster than the dvd will play. Another factor that will effect how fast your dvd ripper goes is cpu speed. If you have a slow cpu that will make it so the dvd ripper cannot keep up with the drive and will cause a slowdown.
Since a dvd ripper uses a lot of cpu processes and disk space it is important that you keep your computer clear of junk and keep it as lean and mean as possible. You do not want a bunch of spyware, software updates, mp3 players, games, applications, etc running in the background as they could screw up the process of the dvd audio ripper and the video dvd ripper. It is also important to have a fast machine that can handle conversion of dvds to your hard drive. A recent machine that has a 2ghz+ processor should be able to do the job quite well. Also having more than 40gb of free space is recommended as you do not want to spend an hour ripping your dvd only to find that your dvd ripper has ran out of space and must quit.
Now that you have learned the basics of dvd ripping, and how it is important to have a dvd ripper and a dvd audio ripper, you can now get some software to start the ripping process. Core Download has all the software you could possibly need to become a great dvd ripper.
Internet 'Grey Areas'
The Internet has opened up whole new avenues of freedom for people: freedom of information, thoughts and the ability to achieve anonymity while still being active in a community. This freedom has been latched onto by a large proportion of the Internet user base and has fuelled a desire for even more liberties. This in turn has given rise to the 'Internet Grey Areas', those little things that 'everyone' does but which aren't quite legally correct. A few examples are Abandonware, MP3 downloads, warez and their kind.
Abandonware is the label applied to games that have been 'abandoned' by their original developers. The standard rule has become that if the games are more than four years old and no longer freely available for purchase, or if the developer has closed and hence the game is no longer supported, then it can be called Abandonware and distributed freely. Some developers willingly release their older software titles into the public domain making them legally Abandonware but a large number of titles labelled as such are not technically free for public access. The licences are still owned by someone and the distribution of their software titles could be harming their licence validity.
Abandonware justifies itself by preserving gaming history in a 'living' way. It allows people to play the games they used to love long after they're available to purchase. In many cases the only hope for finding older games is to trawl second hand shops and online stores such as Ebay in the slim hopes of coming across a particular title. Sometimes when you finally get hold of the old software it simply won't run on your PC leaving you with a pretty box but no closer to actually playing the game. Several times I've purchased an old game and then downloaded a copy off the Internet so that I can actually play it due to the fact that old disks are either damaged or the wrong type (I don't have a 5 1/4" floppy drive on my PC any more...).
MP3 downloads have a less honourable ideology. Simply put, people want free music so they download it. It is said that the activities harm no one and that the downloading process doesn't adversely affect artists' profits. Who can say for sure? At the time of writing this article the RIAA's site is down and I'm not able to find any accurate figures that estimate the amount of revenue lost due to music piracy. I believe that it was estimated at around $5 billion in 1997 and that's sure to have increased with the advent of broadband. However, these figures are said to be highly inaccurate. A standard argument against them is "I wasn't planning on buying the CD anyway so they haven't lost any money out of me downloading it", an argument that is ridiculous at best. The Movie downloading scene is almost identical. I'm not going to swing one way or another here, but I will say that I can think of several films that didn't receive the box office takings from a number of associates of mine after they had gotten to experience the film before its release date. The quality of the films almost justifies the stealing, but that's a whole different issue!
The Internet community gets riled up over companies asserting their rights on the Internet (which is odd... companies asserting their legal rights being seen as evil while individuals illegally attempting to assert what they believe should be their rights are forces for good...) but the simple fact is that it is damaging for a company to allow the theft of their licences to go unnoticed. In the case of Abandonware, if it can be proven that a company knew their products were being illegally distributed but did nothing about it then the copyright over that particular licence can be lost. The revenues lost due to piracy in its many forms are surprisingly enough, damaging to companies.
I think that it's unfortunate that the freedom provided by the Internet has lead to such abuse but I can see the validity of both sides of the arguments. Companies want and deserve their revenue for the services they provide. Abandonware infringes on a company's copyright and can lead to them losing their licences if they don't hunt down offenders. The consumers on the other hand have to pay increasingly steeper and steeper prices for the products, something that is often blamed on the increasing rate of piracy, which is blamed on the continuous increase in prices and the whole thing becomes a vicious cycle. CDs are very expensive if you only want one or two songs off the CD, which is where online music stores can come into play. There you can purchase the licence to a song relatively cheaply without having to pay a lot for an entire CD you that don't particularly want (and they have the added upside of having more of the money make it back to the artists who created the music as opposed to the corporations that distribute it).
I guess in the end everyone has to make their own decision about where they stand between the concepts of 'Morally Correct' and 'Legally Correct'. Me personally, I like to stand a little closer to 'Legally Correct' than most. It's been my experience that 'morals' tend to change and warp a lot sooner than the law does, and not always for the better. If we restrain ourselves on the Internet then maybe authorities won't see the need to attempt to restrain us. The freedom that is relished so much on the Internet may in fact be increased with just a little self-control
Abandonware is the label applied to games that have been 'abandoned' by their original developers. The standard rule has become that if the games are more than four years old and no longer freely available for purchase, or if the developer has closed and hence the game is no longer supported, then it can be called Abandonware and distributed freely. Some developers willingly release their older software titles into the public domain making them legally Abandonware but a large number of titles labelled as such are not technically free for public access. The licences are still owned by someone and the distribution of their software titles could be harming their licence validity.
Abandonware justifies itself by preserving gaming history in a 'living' way. It allows people to play the games they used to love long after they're available to purchase. In many cases the only hope for finding older games is to trawl second hand shops and online stores such as Ebay in the slim hopes of coming across a particular title. Sometimes when you finally get hold of the old software it simply won't run on your PC leaving you with a pretty box but no closer to actually playing the game. Several times I've purchased an old game and then downloaded a copy off the Internet so that I can actually play it due to the fact that old disks are either damaged or the wrong type (I don't have a 5 1/4" floppy drive on my PC any more...).
MP3 downloads have a less honourable ideology. Simply put, people want free music so they download it. It is said that the activities harm no one and that the downloading process doesn't adversely affect artists' profits. Who can say for sure? At the time of writing this article the RIAA's site is down and I'm not able to find any accurate figures that estimate the amount of revenue lost due to music piracy. I believe that it was estimated at around $5 billion in 1997 and that's sure to have increased with the advent of broadband. However, these figures are said to be highly inaccurate. A standard argument against them is "I wasn't planning on buying the CD anyway so they haven't lost any money out of me downloading it", an argument that is ridiculous at best. The Movie downloading scene is almost identical. I'm not going to swing one way or another here, but I will say that I can think of several films that didn't receive the box office takings from a number of associates of mine after they had gotten to experience the film before its release date. The quality of the films almost justifies the stealing, but that's a whole different issue!
The Internet community gets riled up over companies asserting their rights on the Internet (which is odd... companies asserting their legal rights being seen as evil while individuals illegally attempting to assert what they believe should be their rights are forces for good...) but the simple fact is that it is damaging for a company to allow the theft of their licences to go unnoticed. In the case of Abandonware, if it can be proven that a company knew their products were being illegally distributed but did nothing about it then the copyright over that particular licence can be lost. The revenues lost due to piracy in its many forms are surprisingly enough, damaging to companies.
I think that it's unfortunate that the freedom provided by the Internet has lead to such abuse but I can see the validity of both sides of the arguments. Companies want and deserve their revenue for the services they provide. Abandonware infringes on a company's copyright and can lead to them losing their licences if they don't hunt down offenders. The consumers on the other hand have to pay increasingly steeper and steeper prices for the products, something that is often blamed on the increasing rate of piracy, which is blamed on the continuous increase in prices and the whole thing becomes a vicious cycle. CDs are very expensive if you only want one or two songs off the CD, which is where online music stores can come into play. There you can purchase the licence to a song relatively cheaply without having to pay a lot for an entire CD you that don't particularly want (and they have the added upside of having more of the money make it back to the artists who created the music as opposed to the corporations that distribute it).
I guess in the end everyone has to make their own decision about where they stand between the concepts of 'Morally Correct' and 'Legally Correct'. Me personally, I like to stand a little closer to 'Legally Correct' than most. It's been my experience that 'morals' tend to change and warp a lot sooner than the law does, and not always for the better. If we restrain ourselves on the Internet then maybe authorities won't see the need to attempt to restrain us. The freedom that is relished so much on the Internet may in fact be increased with just a little self-control
Why We Play Games, Part 1
There exists some ephemeral quality that separates gamers from the rest of humanity, some thing that makes us, us and them, not us. I've never been able to quite put my finger on it, but it is inescapably there. Today, in hopes of moving closer to that essential quality of gamerosity, we examine part of what makes us tick. In particular, we take a look at what draws different types of gamers to the hobby. Every gamer plays for different reasons, but there are common threads that tie the experience together.
Many gamers are motivated by the challenge a game can present. Success in a game may be governed by any of a wide variety of abilities. A First Person Shooter requires twitch reflexes, a steady hand and the ability to remain calm under pressure. A word puzzle game may require an extensive vocabulary and the ability to rethink the uses of old words, but no measure of speed. A sports simulation might well require an in-depth knowledge of the topic, in addition to arcade skill, but is unlikely to have terribly much concern for linguistic acumen.
The common thread is that all of the games challenge some subset of a player's abilities. This challenge can be a powerful motivator. The Challenge Motivated gamer is drawn to a game that tests their skills, preferably one that tests them to their limits. The gamer may also be motivated by the natural improvement that comes from working at peak. They are driven then, not only to excel, but to improve. Challenge Motivated Gamers thrive whenever a game pushes their skill set of choice, but may be disinterested in games that fall too far away from the target.
Competition is a close cousin of challenge. Many gamers are driven by the need to prove they are the best, to be pitted against their fellows and come out on top. Competition minded gamers range from those looking for a challenge in a fair fight to the sort of win-at-all cost leet speaking infants that give us all a bad name. Competition can be easy to take too far. There is nothing inherently wrong with being driven by competition. To some extent, competition is merely challenge taken to the extreme. It is only when it leads to mistreating your fellow player that it begins to become less a motivation and more an unfortunate personality quirk. Competition Motivated players thrive on those games where they are pitted against one another with the outcome dictated by skill at playing the game. They will often wane in those environments that either require cooperation, such as many MMORPGs, or in games where skill plays a much smaller role, such as in less sophisticated card or dice games.
Next week we will take a look at some other common gamer motivations, including Creativity, Escapism and Social Interaction.
Many gamers are motivated by the challenge a game can present. Success in a game may be governed by any of a wide variety of abilities. A First Person Shooter requires twitch reflexes, a steady hand and the ability to remain calm under pressure. A word puzzle game may require an extensive vocabulary and the ability to rethink the uses of old words, but no measure of speed. A sports simulation might well require an in-depth knowledge of the topic, in addition to arcade skill, but is unlikely to have terribly much concern for linguistic acumen.
The common thread is that all of the games challenge some subset of a player's abilities. This challenge can be a powerful motivator. The Challenge Motivated gamer is drawn to a game that tests their skills, preferably one that tests them to their limits. The gamer may also be motivated by the natural improvement that comes from working at peak. They are driven then, not only to excel, but to improve. Challenge Motivated Gamers thrive whenever a game pushes their skill set of choice, but may be disinterested in games that fall too far away from the target.
Competition is a close cousin of challenge. Many gamers are driven by the need to prove they are the best, to be pitted against their fellows and come out on top. Competition minded gamers range from those looking for a challenge in a fair fight to the sort of win-at-all cost leet speaking infants that give us all a bad name. Competition can be easy to take too far. There is nothing inherently wrong with being driven by competition. To some extent, competition is merely challenge taken to the extreme. It is only when it leads to mistreating your fellow player that it begins to become less a motivation and more an unfortunate personality quirk. Competition Motivated players thrive on those games where they are pitted against one another with the outcome dictated by skill at playing the game. They will often wane in those environments that either require cooperation, such as many MMORPGs, or in games where skill plays a much smaller role, such as in less sophisticated card or dice games.
Next week we will take a look at some other common gamer motivations, including Creativity, Escapism and Social Interaction.
Why We Play Games, Part 2
In part one we started to get into the motivation of the gamer. We discussed challenge and its ugly stepsister competition, two of the most common motivators. Today, we look at two more on the way to forming an overall model for what moves us.
Perhaps less common than the first two motivators, creativity is nonetheless an important driving force in the gamer psyche. Though at first gaming doesn't seem like a particularly creative act, what with its formalized rules and structured systems, there is much more room for self expression than one might think. Some games play to this directly through unique presentations or artistic themes. Music games and many of the Sim titles are basically just expressive outlets that happen to be governed by a computerized system of rules. Other creatives find their outlet in multiplayer gaming. The modern MMORPG sports equipment and decorative combinations numbering well into the millions. The Creatively Motivated gamer takes pleasure in designing how their character looks as well as changing how they interact with their environment. Creatively Motivated gamers thrive when outlets are available. Anything involving a high degree of expression, decoration, or a large abstract component draws them. They wilt in gaming environments governed purely by numbers, and in those where presentation is extremely homogeneous.
Though we sometimes don't like to admit it, escapism is a motivation that lives in the heart of every gamer. By design, a game creates an inherently different world. Even games which have as one of their primary goals simulation of some aspect of the real world recast the player into some role they find more exciting than their own. Escaping into the role of adventurer, pilot, quarterback or even zookeeper provides motivation for nearly every gamer. Escapism Motivated gamers seek out games where the environment is rich, comprehensive, real. They thrive in worlds where suspension of disbelief is high, where they can lose themselves in the depth and complexity available to them. They gravitate toward role playing and simulation, environments where the world is rich and believable. They tend to avoid abstract games where the underlying reality is difficult to believe or understand. It is a strange sort of paradox that MMORPGS, with their incredibly deep histories and expansive worlds, are not as attractive to Escapism Motivated gamers as pure RPGs. This effect arises from the multiplayer aspect. Players talking in a public channel about out of game topics or, worse, about the mechanical and numerical aspects of the game world may well ruin the escapists experience and cause them to seek the company of non player characters or others who share their motivation.
Much has been made of the downside of escapism. A gamer who spends too much time in a world not their own can begin to lose touch. This sort of disassociation with reality can, and has, lead to all sorts of problems with work, school and personal relations. This does not mean, however, that escapism is itself an unhealthy thing. It is a basic part of the human experience. The reason we vacation, watch moves, enjoy sporting events or go camping is inherently escapist. As people, we are often unsatisfied with out lot in life. It's natural to seek out activities that allow us to experience something outside of our day to day. Gaming is no different. However, as gamers, we are an oft misunderstood community. We owe it to ourselves and to the world at large both to fight with information, by spreading the positive realities of gaming and gamer culture, and to fight internally against obsession. No matter how good a substitute for the real world a game may seem it is, in the end, only a pastime. Leave it once in a while.
In the final part of this series we get to Social Interaction. Then, we'll move on to some sort of unified theory about all this.
Perhaps less common than the first two motivators, creativity is nonetheless an important driving force in the gamer psyche. Though at first gaming doesn't seem like a particularly creative act, what with its formalized rules and structured systems, there is much more room for self expression than one might think. Some games play to this directly through unique presentations or artistic themes. Music games and many of the Sim titles are basically just expressive outlets that happen to be governed by a computerized system of rules. Other creatives find their outlet in multiplayer gaming. The modern MMORPG sports equipment and decorative combinations numbering well into the millions. The Creatively Motivated gamer takes pleasure in designing how their character looks as well as changing how they interact with their environment. Creatively Motivated gamers thrive when outlets are available. Anything involving a high degree of expression, decoration, or a large abstract component draws them. They wilt in gaming environments governed purely by numbers, and in those where presentation is extremely homogeneous.
Though we sometimes don't like to admit it, escapism is a motivation that lives in the heart of every gamer. By design, a game creates an inherently different world. Even games which have as one of their primary goals simulation of some aspect of the real world recast the player into some role they find more exciting than their own. Escaping into the role of adventurer, pilot, quarterback or even zookeeper provides motivation for nearly every gamer. Escapism Motivated gamers seek out games where the environment is rich, comprehensive, real. They thrive in worlds where suspension of disbelief is high, where they can lose themselves in the depth and complexity available to them. They gravitate toward role playing and simulation, environments where the world is rich and believable. They tend to avoid abstract games where the underlying reality is difficult to believe or understand. It is a strange sort of paradox that MMORPGS, with their incredibly deep histories and expansive worlds, are not as attractive to Escapism Motivated gamers as pure RPGs. This effect arises from the multiplayer aspect. Players talking in a public channel about out of game topics or, worse, about the mechanical and numerical aspects of the game world may well ruin the escapists experience and cause them to seek the company of non player characters or others who share their motivation.
Much has been made of the downside of escapism. A gamer who spends too much time in a world not their own can begin to lose touch. This sort of disassociation with reality can, and has, lead to all sorts of problems with work, school and personal relations. This does not mean, however, that escapism is itself an unhealthy thing. It is a basic part of the human experience. The reason we vacation, watch moves, enjoy sporting events or go camping is inherently escapist. As people, we are often unsatisfied with out lot in life. It's natural to seek out activities that allow us to experience something outside of our day to day. Gaming is no different. However, as gamers, we are an oft misunderstood community. We owe it to ourselves and to the world at large both to fight with information, by spreading the positive realities of gaming and gamer culture, and to fight internally against obsession. No matter how good a substitute for the real world a game may seem it is, in the end, only a pastime. Leave it once in a while.
In the final part of this series we get to Social Interaction. Then, we'll move on to some sort of unified theory about all this.
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