Kal Zekdor 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (345) comment rss

  • On the post: Indie Game Dev Decides To Leave Industry Due To Steam Returns On Short Game

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 02 Sep, 2021 @ 09:55pm

    Where have I seen this before?

    Huh. So some people would rather find ways to consume content without paying for it? How shocking.

    Certainly this must be stopped. Can't have people abusing the refund system to play games for free, how is any developer supposed to compete with that?

    https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070215/002923/saying-you-cant-compete-with-free-is-saying-you-cant-compete-period.shtml

  • On the post: Modder Solves 'GTA Online' Loading Time Problem, Gets Paid By Rockstar For It

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 18 Mar, 2021 @ 10:33pm

    Re: Shouldn't they fix it before releasing the game?

    As I understand it, the issue stemmed from slow processing of the list of items in the in-game store. When the game first launched, there weren't many items in the store, and it wasn't an (apparent) issue. As they added more items to the store in post-release updates, that performance hit became more and more significant, leading to the long load times. It's still pretty bad that it took a modder to come in and identify the issue for them, but it's not as bad as it may seem initially, and at least they handled the situation with grace.

  • On the post: Instead of COVID-19 Hazard Pay, Spectrum Is Giving Its Repair Techs $25 Gift Cards To Closed Restaurants

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 29 Mar, 2020 @ 11:01am

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    I'm perfectly capable of performing my job remotely. Even before this current situation, about half my time was remote work. That's now near 100%, but it hasn't been much of an impact. The same cannot be said for every sector. Public venues, such as restaurants, are some of the hardest hit, and have been laying off employees.

  • On the post: AI Company Has Access To Pretty Much Every Piece Of Surveillance Tech The State Of Utah Owns

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 06 Mar, 2020 @ 05:32am

    Do you want Samaritan? Because that's how you get Samaritan.

  • On the post: China Bans 'Plague Inc.' Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 05 Mar, 2020 @ 01:27am

    Re:

    Sometimes it's hard not to think I'm reading a news feed from Plague Inc. "IOC decides not to postpone the 2020 Olympics despite ongoing Coronavirus concerns." "US President insists everything is under control, there's nothing to worry about." "China bans any mention of Coronavirus; aggressively quarantines citizens." I'm expecting any day now: "Madagascar closes its ports due to concerns of Coronavirus spread."

  • On the post: Hey Tom Wheeler: Stick To Net Neutrality, Because Your Understanding Of Section 230 Is… Not Right

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 19 Feb, 2020 @ 03:08pm

    Re:

    There are definitely serious privacy issues related to Facebook et al. However, Section 230 has absolutely nothing to do with that. If anything, Section 230 being repealed could potentially entrench Facebook's dominant position even further.

  • On the post: Cable Giant Spectrum On Quest To Outlaw 'Insane' Streaming Password Sharing

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 23 Sep, 2019 @ 12:58pm

    Re:

    "Programmers have fuck all to do with it." He's not talking about computer programmers. He's referring to content publishers/distributors, i.e. those that manage programming.

  • On the post: Court Shoots Down Cop's Assertion That Driving Without Breaking Any Laws Is 'Suspicious'

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 19 Sep, 2019 @ 11:58pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: hello, "Nerys"!

    Are you still going on about this shit? Really? Not everyone is as obsessed with this site as you are. I have a massive gap in my comment history starting around 2006/2007. 1 comment in 5 years. I was fighting/recovering from cancer at the time, and techdirt wasn't really on my list of priorities. For fuck's sake...

  • On the post: Embrace Fans: How One Mystery Modder Has Kept System Shock 2 Playable

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 16 Aug, 2019 @ 08:56pm

    Re:

    Yeah, I don't read any animosity in that statement whatsoever. Without coordination, any fixes or updates Nightdive make to the game have a high probability of conflicting with anything Le Corbeau tries to do, from a purely technical standpoint.

  • On the post: AI Writes Article About AI: Does The Newspaper Hold The Copyright?

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 22 Feb, 2019 @ 07:00pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:

    That's not really an applicable analogy. Minors are able to hold copyright themselves. The same cannot be said of an AI. Not that I'm advocating one way or the other for copyright assignation of automated processes. There's a large chunk of precedent and knock-on effects that I don't currently wish to dive into. My opinion can be summed up in two and half words: it's complicated.

  • On the post: UK Court: Guy Who Didn't Write Defamatory Tweet Needs To Pay $50,000 In Damages Because The Guy Who Did Doesn't Have Any Money

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 05 Jan, 2019 @ 07:04pm

    Re: Re: Joint and several

    Mainly because that's generally not how it works. In the given scenario joint liability is essentially impossible, and several liability would only be applicable if, for instance, the wheelchair had faulty manual brakes or the like that contributed to the incident.

  • On the post: 'Free' Game Making $300 Million Per Month? But I Thought You Can't Make Money On Free…

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2018 @ 10:50am

    Re: I remember Fortnite doing this...

    As someone who actually purchased TF2 as part of the Orange Box (I still have the actual physical disc for that, plus the soundtrack), I was actually annoyed when TF2 went free-to-play. The ensuing chaos of custom weapons and hats eventually turned me off the game entirely. I guess Valve wouldn't care, though, they already had my money.

    ...I have no idea if that was on-topic or not, but there it is nevertheless.

  • On the post: 'Free' Game Making $300 Million Per Month? But I Thought You Can't Make Money On Free…

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 28 Jun, 2018 @ 10:41am

    Re: Re: love your work but

    This article bugged me a little, also. It has a hint of "I was right, others were wrong, deal with it." Just a hint, something about the tone and word choice. Not enough to be an actual problem, but it comes across, at least to me, as a bit unprofessional.

    I get it, it must be frustrating dealing with doublespeak and willful ignorance all the time, and vindication is a powerful feeling, but, all the same, this article left a bad taste in my mouth.

  • On the post: Net Neutrality And The Broken Windows Fallacy

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 20 Jun, 2018 @ 03:04pm

    Re: Re: Re: Oh please..

    Wow, you'd make a terrible doctor.

    "Don't bother giving that patient anesthesia, pain is just a symptom of a larger problem."

    Besides which, sometimes all you can do is manage the symptoms. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronic_condition

    I'm glad you recognize that ISPs are causing problems, but the fact of the matter is that there is a natural monopoly at play here. "Let the market sort it out" isn't a viable option.

    There are only two real options to deal with these problems. One, relatively light touch NN regulations that curtail some of the more egregious behavior. Or, two, heavy handed regulation to enforce competition, such as Local Loop Unbundling.

    If you think the latter is a viable option in today's political climate, then you haven't been paying attention.

  • On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt, Plus A Note From Mike

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 11 Jun, 2018 @ 01:46pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re:

    ...this hurts my brain.

    You realize that a corporatist would, practically by definition, push for stronger IP laws? Your characterization of Mike as a pro-pirate "everything should be free and damn the consequences" fanatic is completely at odds with your characterization of him as a corporatist mouthpiece.

    I say this as a conservative that supports (reasonable) copyright, patents, and rule of law: fuck off. Sincerely.

  • On the post: ICE Drops Extreme Vetting Software Plan After Discovering No One Could Possibly Deliver What It Wants

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 18 May, 2018 @ 02:57pm

    Misread Headline

    ...this was not what I thought it was about.

    I thought I was going to get an article on high-assurance computing, some "extreme software vetting".

    Needless to say I'm disappointed it's just about ICE being, well, ICE.

  • On the post: Police Realizing That SESTA/FOSTA Made Their Jobs Harder; Sex Traffickers Realizing It's Made Their Job Easier

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 14 May, 2018 @ 11:31am

    Re: Re: Utter indifference to suffering vs. Outright engaging in it

    Voting for the bill because it furthers their political career regardless of consequences is perfectly rational. Cold-blooded, but rational.

  • On the post: Police Realizing That SESTA/FOSTA Made Their Jobs Harder; Sex Traffickers Realizing It's Made Their Job Easier

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 14 May, 2018 @ 10:18am

    Re: And, uh, er, NO, I can't "defend against" all your wild claims!

    ...because prohibition turned out great.

  • On the post: Suburban Express Sued By Illinois Attorney General For Behaving Like Suburban Express

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 01 May, 2018 @ 08:57pm

    Re: About time

    That moment when you mean to intentionally misspell a word to poke fun at someone, but don't realize that you've subconsciously corrected the spelling until after posting.

    I've been there, AC, I've been there.

  • On the post: Microsoft Defends Putting A Computer Recycler In Jail With Misleading Statement

    Kal Zekdor ( profile ), 30 Apr, 2018 @ 04:25pm

    Clear Violation

    TechDirt keeps trotting out the fact that MS offers downloads of the recovery disks.

    Here's an excerpt from the terms such downloads are provided under:

    Unless otherwise specified, the Services are for your personal and non-commercial use. You may not modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, transfer, or sell any information, software, products or services obtained from the Services.

    There's definitely infringement going on in this case. MS grants a limited license to the recovery software to individuals with those provisions, which this guy clearly violated.

    Coupled with the fact that Lundgren was selling these discs, and Microsoft was selling discs+licenses, damages are not unfounded. However you feel about MS's stance on not offering standalone recovery disks is irrelevant here. Clearly there was a demand, I'd imagine because the final purchaser had volume licenses already and the bundled license in the $25 disc was just unnecessary cost. So while it's hard to say that every disc Lundgren sold resulted in a lost sale, there were undoubtedly some number of lost sales resultant from Lundgren's infringement.

    I still don't think that this rises to the bar of criminal infringement, though... This is a clear cut civil case, but given everything involved jail time is a bit much.

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