nVidia at PAX East: Project Shield Hands-On

Back in January we saw Project Shield from nVidia making its debut at CES in Las Vegas.  It was shown off as a mobile gaming device that looked like an Xbox controller with a screen conveniently attached to it for gaming on the go.  There weren’t many details available at the time aside from touting Steam streaming, gaming from the Android market, and streaming games from PC’s running nVidia cards.  Outside of that there wasn’t much else available, but suffice it to say that I was intrigued and looking forward to getting my hands on it.

I was able to do just that at PAX East a short while ago, where the nVidia crew gave me a hands on tour of their still-in-development foray into mobile gaming.  While they were getting a unit ready for me to test drive we got down to the brass tacks of system requirements and capabilities.  The Shield is packing a quad-core Tegra 4 and GeForce graphics on a 5″ 720p multitouch HD display on the visual front, with Android Jelly Bean running the unit’s software guts.  A micro USB port and wi-fi run the connections for charging and streaming, and the unit is capable of playing any Android game that supports a controller, anything from nVidia’s TegraZone,  and anything streamed from a PC running at last a GeForce GTX 650 video card.  OK, basics gotten.  Now to sit down and see what this handheld could do.

We started the session with PC streaming, the part I was most looking forward to seeing.  There was a PC sitting next to me running the appropriate spec running Skyrim in HD.  I picked up the Shield and started moving around with the control sticks and could see the controls being sent to the PC at the same time as they were taking effect local on the handheld unit.  The graphics and textures looked great on the small screen and the control was smooth.  But above everything else, the most pleasantly surprising part was that the lag between PC and Shield the two was impressively negligible.  As it was explained to me, the Shield plugs in with nVidia’s GFE (GeForce Experience) and employs their Kepler hardware, which includes an H.264 encoder that helps reduce latency and lag time with low power consumption while streaming.  That’s why you need at least a GTX 650 to get it going.

Next I took at look at how it ran on the Android side with some Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.  The game felt good to play and the controls were very responsive.  There were a few graphical glitches though, where sometimes building edges would bend or ramps went through other structures.  It didn’t affect the gameplay, but it was definitely noticeable during gameplay.

Aside from that there were a few issues with navigation through the menus on the home screen getting between Android, TegraZone and PC stream, but the unit is still under development so I’m not going to hold that against them too much.  What I wanted to see was a success – and that was the PC streaming.

What I really liked about the Shield was how it opens up some options for you.  If you look at iOS or Android as a gaming platform you’re pretty much restricted to what’s available on the App Store and Google Play, assuming you already don’t have access to TegraZone with your Tegra-powered device.  Even units like the DS are limited to some extent.  The Shield’s real power is availability – on the go you can get stuff from Google Play and TegraZone, but once you get to your wireless network and your entire game library is now available to you, including what you have on Steam.  On other specifics, the folks at nVidia weren’t ready to comment on specs like internal memory and gave me a Q2 release date range.

All in, I’m curious to see what the release model can do.

PAX East Panel Postmortem: Game Designers are Defining the Next 50 Years of Education

Off the top of your head, could you tell me what the atomic weight of lead is?  Come on now, no peeking at the periodic table.  How about telling me who invented the cotton gin?  OK, let's try something else - what would you use to deal with a dark-type Pokémon to be super effective?  How about what kind of chocobos you need to get a Golden one?  I'm guessing there's a better chance of you guys knowing the answer to one of the latter two than the first.  Why do you think that's the case?  Maybe it's because some people have more fun playing games than memorizing information from Chemistry class.  Or maybe there's more to it than that.

If you ask Steve Swink, which PAX East goers filling the Merman Theater did on Friday morning, he has a more simple explanation for many of the world's ills.  He ran a panel called "Game Designers are Designing the Next 50 Years of Education."  While talking about healthcare and other complex problems we are currently facing, he mused that "healthcare is fucked, and education prepares no one for anything."  In his opinion, the current educational system treats students more like hard drives by using memorization over teaching problem solving and thinking.  And I can't wholly disagree - I remember a lot of memorization in middle and high school and regurgitation for exams.  Personally, working through puzzles in the Legend of Zelda or figuring out what enemies were weak to what in Final Fantasy for me was more thought-provoking than school was a lot of the time.  I mean we had those old MECC games like Number Munchers, Oregon Trail and Rainbow Trout but still, those were supplemental to our curriculum, not actually a part of the core.  It's true - games help people understand complex systems.  Try to explain a game like a Civilization title or any Final Fantasy universe, and you'll see that while it seems tough and complex to others, you seem to have a pretty solid grasp on it.  I honestly feel I'm smarter and that my brain tweaked itself for problem solving because of the games I played at a young age.

According to Mr. Swink, there's some support on making games part of core curriculum from some groups, like the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.  Part of what they do is making educational games so when students "exit school they feel empowered" to understand complex systems.  To show this concept he showed us an educational game he developed called The Doctor's Cure (Plague: Modern Prometheus) which you can see at Atlantis Remixed.  It's a 3D game run on the Unity platform where students take on the role of an investigative reporter learning about a visiting doctor's methods of finding an antidote for a plague that has struck town.  Playing the game helps the students (through their journalist role) put together persuasive arguments.  To do this they find and collect quotes as evidence and put it through an analyzer, which you can see on the right, building causal chains to make a solid persuasive case.

Pretty slick, right?

The game is designed to be part of core curriculum that the teacher can run in the classroom, where he or she plays the role of Scoop, the town newspaper's editor, with their own back end and control panel to set rules and take a look at their students work.  And there's evidence that the program is working.  Sunnyside school district in Arizona, a district where 70% of students are on the subsidized lunch program and 50% of the students speak English as a second language, raised $16MM (that's million) so that they could build infrastructure and give every student a laptop to take part.  As a result, even ESL students that didn't like to write before were producing good persuasive essays using Doctor's Cure.  Which is an amazing thing.

Mr. Swink has the right idea - to give kids a virtual world with the ability to change things and see the consequences by providing them a safe place to fail - and more importantly - understand.  When the students make their persuasive arguments, they vote whether or not to keep the doctor in town or to kick him out - each decision having  its own ethical quandaries.  I'd call that a better way to help kids understand complex systems and spin up some critical thinking, wouldn't you?  Because as he accurately stated, "kids aren't hard drives, and we have no idea what the world is going to be like in 50 years.  Even 5."

And for the record,  the answers to those questions at the top of the page are: 207.2, Eli Whitney, fighter type, and mating a black and a wonderful with a Zeio nut and some luck.

To find more information, you can visit Atlantis Remixed and the Center for Games and Impact.

Pre-PAX Panic! If a Phone Falls in a Cab, does it Make a Sound?

I headed to PAX East a day early so I could get settled in, get my media badge and know exactly where the hell I was going for opening day.  A 6 hour train ride and my luxurious chariot that was the Amtrak was finally in Boston.  The South Station was just a minute or so from my hotel, so within minutes I was checked in (The Intercontinental Boston is fantastic by the way) without issue.  Finally settled, it was time to venture out for procuring those badges with the Grey Area Podcast’s very own lovely and talented Jenesee Grey.  We got to the convention center without a hitch, picked up my badge, got a little sneak preview of the con floor, and went on our merry way.  Next was the cab to pick up her badges from the dude holding them for her.  Again, no problems there.  Everything was going to plan and we were on schedule for some sushi at 8.

Unfortunately that’s when the universe decided that everything was going TOO according to plan.  In the next cab (the one slated for said target sushi) my jacket felt a bit light when the cab started.  A little too light.  About as light as it would be without, oh I don’t know, a Droid RAZR MAXX in the pocket.  Yep.  It was gone.

You’ve all seen those posters and shirts with the famous British epithet “Keep Calm and Carry On?”  This was roughly the exact opposite of that.  It was more like a t-shirt I saw once and almost bought from Threadless.  The crown upside down in distress, and instead of the famous line was the appropriate “Now Panic and Freak Out.”  That’s where I was at.  See these days a cell phone isn’t just something to make calls on.  A decent smartphone can be your life in a pocket.  That was my email, my social media, private accounts I alone access, my pictures and videos, and a host of other information that no one but me should be seeing.  Granted, they’d need to figure out the pattern code an one of a number of ridiculous passwords on rotation but still.  There’s a feeling of helplessness that strikes you when something like that happens.  Oh and the best part – I couldn’t remember my cab number.

Yes.  I know.  an absolute rookie mistake I’ll never forgive myself for.

Thankfully, during my frantic near-episode searching the snow banks on the side on the sidewalks in case it fell, Jenesee called the cab company and spammed my phone number.  With no response we figured that the best play would be to just call Verizon Wireless to track it, and that’s when someone answered.  As it turned out phone was recovered by a group of fellow PAX East goers who got the cab next, and after some searching were able to find them at the bar they were chilling at.  And what was it called?

The Green Dragon.  That’s right, fellow geeks in the city to get their PAX on picked it up, and were holding it for me at a bar with the same name as those frequented by Shire-folk in the realm of Middle Earth.  They couldn’t unlock my pattern or couldn’t make any calls from it but they still held on to it in case I got a call through.  And they didn’t have to.  And I think that speaks to the type of community PAX has created for gamers and their con-goers.  I want to believe that fans that descended upon Boston could imagine if it happened to them, and follow the “don’t be a dick” attitude that we see in Penny Arcade’s strips and columns and a lot of what they do.

And the absolute best part of the whole thing – I had to argue with the dude that found it to at least buy him a beer for his help.  Many thanks to you sir, to PAX, and to nerd culture for averting a potential disaster and horrible time at the convention.

Now then, to the fine folks we met at the Green Dragon, you have my info, make sure you get at me!

Deus Ex: Human Revolution Announced For PAX East

This morning Square-Enix announced that Deus Ex: Human Revolution will be a go for the Wii U this coming weekend at PAX East.  This new release is a director’s cut version of the game, and will be an exclusive title for the Wii U.   From Square-Enix PR:

The Director’s Cut offers a full slate of Wii U™ GamePad features including touch-screen hacking, interactive map editing, augmented sniping, grenade throwbacks and many other neural hub enhancements. Along with in-depth Miiverse™ integration, the Director’s Cut also provides access to developer commentaries and in-game guides.

Tongs’s Rescue mission and the entire Missing Link chapter have also been integrated seamlessly into the narrative flow of the Director’s Cut. Other core DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION augmentations include overhauled boss fights, refined game balance and combat, improved AI, and striking visual improvements which make this edition the best looking and most immersive Deus Ex experience available.

Utilizing the Wii U’s touch screen for hacking and neural hub seem like interesting alterations to gameplay. I’ll be hanging out with Square-Enix for a while at PAX, so be sure I’ll have more for you once I see it up close and personal, as well as other new stuff from their camp.

EA's Bad Week - the SimCity Saga Thus Far

By now you kids know how I feel about always-on DRM.  It makes me angry.  It makes the fire burn in me belly.  And worst of all, it’s a trend that shows no sign of slowing down in the near future.  I vented and raged about Diablo III when Blizzard released it last year, seeing white hot flashes of rage at the fact that I couldn’t play my single player game offline.  Seemed like a reasonable to me of course, since the game’s predecessor allowed me to do so,  but hey, maybe that’s just me.

As I’m sure we’ve all learned in a number of times in any history class, relationship or other real-life happening, history seems doomed to repeat itself.  This time it wasn’t Blizzard at the heart of the controversy though – instead it was EA, one of the OG’s of always-on DRM, and the release of SimCity, next in that line of addictive little sim games.  Fans were looking forward to it, and would be erecting tiny digital skyscrapers as we speak if it wasn’t for an absolutely catastrophic launch.

You see kids, the city is a sim.  But the horror was real.

For the last few days since launch, a number of users haven’t been able to connect to theSimCity servers.  Of course no connection to the servers means – you guessed it – no SimCity to play.  The few players that are in fact able to connect being dropped mid game with a suddenly severed connection.  The result?  Extremely unhappy gamers.  Check out the official SimCity Facebook page to see the kind or ire they drew from their customers.  You can take another digital trip over to Reddit where the subreddit /r/SimCity has a ton of discussions between unhappy peoples.

That’s the main story, but it serves as a springboard for a couple of other spinoffs in the SimCity saga.  Tuesday on the EA forums (I’d link but it’s since been edited), global community manager Marcel Hatam issued an apology to customers, saying: “If you regrettably feel that we let you down, you can of course request a refund for your order at [Origin's "contact us" page], though we’re currently still in the process of resolving this issue.”

Then I saw this floating around Twitter.  It appears to be a post of a support chat posted to the EA forums by a user going by the handle CalebPeters.  In that chat, we see the customer support representative telling the user that EA does allow users to request refunds, but doesn’t necessarily process them by their return policy, also adding that account bans are in store for users that dispute said policy.  Of course that chat image went Ebola-style viral across the web immediately after.  Marcel Hatan’s forum post has since disappeared, being replaced with the line “Please review our refund policy here: https://help.ea.com/article/returns-and-cancellations” (check poster EA_ComRaven).  This of course links to their return policy, which states that there will be no refunds.  Through their Origin account (@OriginInsider), EA then clarified that users would not in fact be banned for requesting a refund.  PHEW.  Three days of whirlwind nuttiness, all because of always-on DRM.  But wait, what’s that I hear?

**HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER!**

Enter Amazon into the heart of the melee.  Eager to spare their customers from what can only be referred to as a kerfuffle, Amazon has stopped selling SimCity on their storefront.  In addition to marking each purchase option as “unavailable” when selected, they give Amazon customers a warning: “Many customers are having issues connecting to the “SimCity” servers. EA is actively working to resolve these issues, but at this time we do not know when the issue will be fixed. Please visit https://help.ea.com/en/simcity/simcity for more information.”  Click that screenshot I took to see it full-size or hit up Amazon to see it for yourself.

So EA is trying to address the problem.  Naturally, they hate bad press and the prospect of losing future sales as much as the next company.  Today they announced that they are removing “non-critical” aspects of the game to help lower the stress on their servers, letting more people connect without getting the boot.

Now this is the second launch that I’ve seen destroyed by a publisher’s absolute insistence on always-on DRM (of course i say “destroyed” due to user backlash, not money).  It is also the second launch where the publisher claimed that the always on component provided benefits and was not implemented for DRM reasons.  “Oh it’s technical” they say – well I ain’t buying it.  Diablo III‘s DRM-laden launch was paired with sales. SimCity will still sell a bunch of copies once they get all this sorted out.  That’s two kids.  One more always-on DRM launch and I’m ready to call it a horrifying industry trend.

On an actual technical note, this was the second launch where AAA publishing houses didn’t properly test a stressed server load.  You’re requiring every single player to be online.  Don’t you think your servers and network should be beefed up to match it?

"Six Strikes," Piracy, and Your Internet

During summer 2012, we all heard tell of internet service providers agreeing to a new Copyright Alert System (CAS), intending to curb online piracy.  All we really knew of it back then is that it involved your ISP sending you messages when you were suspected of downloading copyrighted works illegally, ultimately cutting you off when you crossed the line too many times.  Of course the RIAA and MPAA were on board, and brought with them major ISP’s Comcast, Verizon and Time Warner.  Critics, including myself, took issue with this being a potential violation of users’ privacy, as well as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) containing language that requires ISP’s to be able to terminate user accounts for repeat offenders.  Outside of that, we didn’t have any other real information on how the final impact to users was going to look.

Well this week the CAS went into effect, and ISP’s will now be sending warnings to customers whenever they see something that can be considered copyright infringement.  If you haven’t gotten a letter in the mail from your particular ISP you should be shortly, and hopefully that letter clearly tells you all what’s going on.  In case it doesn’t (which let’s be serious, it won’t), ol’ Tushar is here to let you know what’s up.

The way it works is pretty simple – content owners trawl P2P traffic to see if there’s any of their own copyrighted stuff out there.  If they find some, they track your IP number and report it to your ISP.  Your ISP matches up your IP address with your account information, and SHAZAM – you get, as they call it, an “educational” message saying that there’s illegal content being downloaded from your account.  Your ISP, contrary to fears from last year, will not be monitoring your internet use.  From everything I’ve read, what they’re expressly looking for is peer-to-peer BitTorrent traffic.  The monitoring doesn’t get into email attachments or private online storage like Dropbox and its ilk.  If you don’t use BitTorrent, then I really don’t think you have anything to worry about.  And according to LifeHacker, right now Usenet is probably safe too.

But come on, we’ve all done it at one point or another.

These warnings can be called “strikes,” and in all cases six strikes will trigger the use of a handful of punitive methods at your ISP’s disposal to deter you from repeating this kind of behavior.  Verizon will cap your speed at 256k as punishment (can you imagine coming down from FiOS to THAT?).  Comcast will present persistent alerts in their browser windows, and users will have to speak with Comcast security to be educated in how to download legally before their internet service is unlocked.  Time Warner will have a similar unlock system.  And finally AT&T will force the user to an educational website before unlocking their internet again.   In most cases, after four warnings the user has to agree to a “I’ll never do it again guys, I promise” landing page they’re forced to before they browse the web.  CAS warnings can be challenged to the American Arbitration Association for a number of different reasons, and the going rate for said challenge seems to be $35.  No word on whether or not the user will be reimbursed for winning the challenge.  Also in most cases, 6 months of pirate-free activity and you start back at zero.  Ars Technica was nice enough to post pictures of the Comcast editions of these notices, which you can see here.  It’ll give you a much better idea of what I’m trying to illustrate.  You can check some links to your specific ISP’s CAS policies on PCMag.

You’ll notice I use the word “educational” in this post.  That’s not my word – it comes from the Center for Copyright Information (CCI), the brainchild behind the new CAS system.  In their own words:

“As with any innovative system, the process of building the CAS has taken time. We appreciate the collaborative engagement from the many organizations, companies and professionals involved in CCI who helped advise us along the way. CCI and its partners have worked hard to meet our goal of implementing a system that educates consumers about copyright and P2P networks, encourages the use of legal alternatives, and safeguards customer privacy.”

… Education?  Do the RIAA and MPAA (big surprise they back the CCI) really think that people using BitTorrent don’t know the score?  Back when I used to do such things I did it for two reasons – (1) because it was relatively easy and (2) it was free.  And yes, I fully knew that a lot of it was (3) illegal.  No one’s under any kind of illusion that what they’re doing isn't skirting the law.  If the CCI really thinks that education is the problem, then they’re not seeing things clearly, or simply refusing to.

Now thankfully, this isn’t as bad as everyone thought it would be.  Like I mentioned above ISP’s won’t be sniffing packets or monitoring traffic on everything you’re doing (at least that’s what’s reported).  And I get the idea of people getting paid for their work.  I really do.  But this is just a band-aid to the issue.  Copyright law itself has to be re-examined to see what works and what doesn’t now that digital delivery of content has proliferated at such a grand scale.  We’ve seen people pay for content with services like Netflix and Hulu+, even though we all wish they had more content.  Services like HBO Go on the other hand sometimes leave a lot to be desired.  Warner Brothers’ digital copies of blu-rays?  Forget it, it’s a horrible service that’s not transferable between my own damn machines.  The bottom line is that people are willing to pay for content, as long as it’s fair to the user, structured properly, easy,  and most importantly worth their hard-earned money.

Otherwise, Matthew Inman at the Oatmeal makes a whole lot of sense.

Is Microsoft Pulling a Fast One on Us with New Office Licensing?

As you may or may not know kids, I sometimes describe myself as a tech boss by day and nerd hero by night.  So rightfully so tech and the internet play a pretty heavy role in my day and I spend a lot of time, as one has put it before, “absorbing the internet.”  And recently the news I’ve been absorbing has progressively meant big changes in the way software works (and I’m counting games in there too).  And change always means that people are going to be resistant to it.  And that’s not always off the mark, as a lot of stuff seems pretty anti-user these days.  We’ve seen our next-gen console manufacturers turn on us with always on DRM and talk ofhard-locking game media to consoles and user accounts in recent history.  And now, after talking about blocking games on the next Xbox console, Microsoft is riling users up in their Office line of products.

When you buy most kinds of software, according to most end user license agreements, it’s yours.  My current copy of Microsoft’s Office 2007 Pro belongs to me.  I installed on my laptop back in 2007.  Since then I’ve upgraded my laptop twice, and was well within my rights to install Office again on those replacements, which I did.  Hell, I’m using it to write this article right now.  And that’s how retail software for consumers works most of the time.  But Microsoft’s decided to abandon their existing retail model in their 2013 line.

Instead of the example I gave you above, they’re implementing a 1-license, 1-PC rule.  What that means is that if you buy a license for Microsoft Office 2013 and install it on your computer, that’s it.  Upgrade to a newer machine?  Aww I’m sorry kids, Office can’t come with you to play.  You’d have to buy another license for your next computer.  So let’s look at my personal situation with Office on my laptops above.  If this rule was in play in Office 2007, I would have have had to buy a second license for that laptop replacement, then a third license for the one I’m using now.  And Office Pro (seriously, damn my need for MS Access) will set one back about $350-400 per license.

That’s over a thousand bones, brah.

ComputerWorld confirmed this with Microsoft, so there’s not exactly room for speculation on whether or not this’ll “actually happen.”  But the reallyscary part is how Microsoft responded when they were asked about replacing a broken laptop.  They didn’t note it as an exception.  They didn’t say “Naw man, we wouldn’t do that to you!”  They said the two words that lead me to believe the worst case scenario is probably true – “No comment.”  Well damn.  And with all the tech and software they have across their portfolios, they definitely have the means to enforce that.

Let’s look at the direction Microsoft is going – everything is moving from boxed software to cloud and online services, and everything is ruled through the Microsoft ID.  Microsoft ID’s link up with Xbox Live accounts, and the next Xbox will stream games with an always-on connection.  Not only the Xbox, but Windows 8 integrates a Windows Live ID to link itself into every part of the OS and your digial world.  And they love convincing you to use SkyDrive.  It would be extremely easy for them to map an activated license key to a Microsoft ID, with an “install count” or “activation count” attached to it, leaving users with little recourse.

In that same line of thought, it looks like Microsoft is pushing their online and cloud based agenda, and through this move are trying to get people to start using their subscription-based Office 365.  Instead of buying licenses for every machine you need to install your retail copy on, the user signs up subscription style, paying $99 per year to use the cloud based office service.  Given my laptop scenario above over 7 years, the subscription plan would have only costed me $700 instead of over $1,000.  So it sounds pretty good compared to the 1 copy / 1 PC version right?  Well, not really.  Assuming that you do in fact buy a copy of Office whenever you upgrade your PC or whenever a new version of Office comes out, sure, the subscription might save you money.  But going back to my laptop scenario, here’s what my cash outlay options are/were:

• If 1 license / 1 PC was in effect back then : $1200 ($399 x 3 laptops)
• If subscription was in effect back then: $700 ($99 per year for 7 years)
• What the actual cost was: $400 (1 copy of Office 2007 used over and over)

Why?  Because I don’t buy every single new version of Office that comes out.  One one machine I’m still happily using Office 2003, as I have been for a decade.  I own zero copies of Office 2010.  And the same is going to be true with a lot of people and a lot of small to midsize businesses.  Office 2003 will be used up until the last day in April 2014 when it’s no longer supported, because that means $400 per user can last for 10 years.  And $40 per year is far cheaper than any current option Microsoft offers.  So there do exist a number of scenarios where this will hurt the user.  Ideally I would buy a copy of Office 2013 Pro, and run it for another decade.

Because I’m a user, not a revenue stream with a face.

Games Workshop Brings the Trademark Warhammer Against Sci-Fi Book

OK kids, we’re going to start out today with a little game.  I’m going to say some words, then ask you some questions, and then we’ll move on.  Ready? Great.

Q1: What do you call a person who searches unknown territories? (I came up with “explorer” for this one myself)

Q2: Now… what if that man or woman did said work and/or activity, in oh, I don’t know, the deep sea?  What would you call that person?  Would you call them a deep sea explorer?  Of course you would – it’s  an explorerthat does their thing in the deep waters of the damn sea.

So now let’s talk about another occupation/location combination phrase – Space Marine.  That phrase has been used a bunch of times over the years in science fiction and gaming and conjures different ideas to different people.  For me personally the term makes me think about Blizzard’s Starcraft series, and the nameless hero from id Software’s Doomback in the day when gore only came in 16 bits.  But for a lot of other people, Space Marine is synonymous with Warhammer 40,000, a tabletop and video game from Games Workshop.  And that’s cool, because it’s not like it’s a specific and proprietary thing that someone could  own  right?

… right?

Well it definitely was a question that came up when science fiction authorM. C. A. Hogarth surprisingly found her book Spots the Space Marinepulled off of Amazon’s digital shelves thanks to a DMCA takedown request from Games Workshop.  As it turns out that Games Workshop kind ofdoes own the name to a certain degree with trademarks they have registered in the USA and Europe.  And while in Europe that trademark covers pretty much everything involving the Space Marine name, in the United States it only covers the tabletop game and pieces.  So why then, were they able to take action against a book in the United States?

The DMCA, that lovely set of rules that a couple weeks ago said you couldn’t unlock your phone anymore, allows copyright owners to get content taken down via a takedown request.  It’s the reason that there’s certain videos on YouTube that you can’t watch anymore – because copyright holders have requested that the content be removed.  But the problem for Games Workshop is that the DMCA works with copyrights – you know, what the “C” stands for – and not trademarks.  So when Amazon took the book off of their site, it was premature on a claim that didn’t have any teeth to begin with.

But what if the DMCA did support trademarks?  As mentioned before, their US trademark doesn’t cover books.  So how did Games Workshop justify trying to shut Hogarth down?  By claiming that after starting to sell digital books online, that they have a “common law” trademark on the phrase Space Marine in the United States.

Really guys?

These trademark trolls came after Hogarth hard and as a small author she didn’t have the money to fend them off with a legal team.   But I still don’t really understand how any court would entertain the claim – “Space Marine” in both concept and name, has been used a number of times historically.  If you check out TV Tropes to see the list.  That in conjunction with their gimped trademark and I’m not even seeing a case here.  At any rate, she’s found support from a number of people on the internet through social media backing her cause, in the sci-fi and gaming community, as well as fans organizing boycotts of Games Workshop pieces.  And it’s helping shine a giant spotlight on the bullying tactics of copyright (and now trademark) trolls.

But there seems to have been some progress.  While Games Workshop has been following their policy of not commenting, as of my checking this morning, you can again find Spots the Space Marine on Amazon.  I applaud them on their decision to put it back up for sale and not allowing this sort of corporate bullying to stand.

Always-On Rumors True? Xbox May Follow Suit in Blocking Used Games

Now that Sony’s PlayStation team is a couple weeks out from what I think will be the PlayStation 4 reveal, It looks like it’s Microsoft’s turn to continue churning the rumor mill.  A while ago you’ll remember that we talked about rumors of the PlayStation 4 having a mechanism to block used games or games not registered to a user from running on the console.  And I’m pretty sure consensus across most people was that it would be a horrible idea.  And in my opinion, that consensus was right.

Now comes the fun part – We knew Sony wasn’t alone in having this technology, but now there’s evidence that it may actually be put into practice.  Microsoft’s upcoming Xbox 720, or Durango, or whatever the hell you want to call it, will be featuring similar technology for the purposes of blocking used games.  While a lot of what I’m seeing across the internet are really just referencing this as rumor, Edge Magazine claims to have a source at Microsoft saying that this will be done by requiring an internet connection to even function.  They went on to mention that games would still be available to be purchased on physical disk media, but those disks could include activation keys, providing nothing to anyone outside of the initial user that bought the media.

The report also says that the system will finally support Blu-ray discs instead after finally giving up on their horse named HD-DVD, but I’m not really sure you’re even reading that part.  The always-on rumor kind of trumps it.

I’ve always hated always-on connections as a method of DRM.  Always. I hated it when EA did it on the PS3.  I hated it when Blizzard did it with Diablo III.  And yes, I have even historically hated it with Steam.  Years ago when I refused to use Steam and people said I was nuts because “dude the games are cheaper and it’s soooo much easier,” my concerns were on a higher plane of nerd.  I’ve always considered business models that require always-on connections to have heavily detrimental aspects to the user experience – most prominently being the one that says No, you can’t play any time you want to.  And Steam did exactly that.  They did it with software instead of hardware so it might be slightly different to the minds of many but the principle remains the same.  And in my opinion, while sure it was cheaper and easier, it was setting a dangerous precedent in gaming.  Not only because it did in fact take something away from the user experience, but that gamers were ok with it, and allowed it to keep happening.  There shouldn’t be any rule on any console or system that says you can’t play the games you’ve paid for when the internet is down.  It adds another point of potential failure to your gaming console in your internet connection.

I might add, before you all go off on me, that I don’t include MMO’s in this little rant.  I mean the “O” stands for online.

In addition to all of this philosophical wrong,  if these reports from Edge are true then it’s a fantastic blow to the used game market, which as we discussed before with the PS4 would in fact help developers since they’d be the only shop in town. What this does do though, if true, is give Sony a tremendous opportunity to say “No, we’re not going to follow that model – come to team Sony, my peoples!”   They have the option to become the console of the people by abandoning this practice before their PS4 reveal.

Truth be told, I really hope Edge is wrong, or that someone lied to them in an extremely convincing manner.  Either way, I’ll keep you posted.  I am not going to call this 100% fact until I hear something official from the Xbox team.

If they’re not hiding from us.

Safer Internet Day - Some Tips for Your Digital Life

The internet contains more and more of our lives these days.  We have online accounts for our banks and paying bills, online shopping, and a number of other types of online activity that put more of us out there.  With social media like Facebook and Twitter this is increased a hundredfold.  And the more of our lives are public, the more we stand to lose if some unsavory digital brigand gets their hands on our digital info.

Hacks happen.  Plain and simple.  Whether it's a brute force attack or poor security or a social engineering scheme, there are people whose livelihood relies on messing with the livelihoods of others.  So we all have to be on the lookout.  So to promote safe internet use and to prevent internet abuse, InSafe established Safer Internet Day, a day to promote awareness for internet safety an internet health for all.  Today, February 5th is the 10th Safer Internet Day, and this year's theme is "Connect with Respect."  The initiative has global support including giants like Microsoft, who has some great resources on their SID site including downloads for how to protect children on line and teach them digital safety, as well as some guidelines on how to keep control of your digital life.

So in that spirit, I thought it would be a good idea to give you all some tips for internet safety.  Maybe you don't think you need them, but it's always good to have reminders.  I work in IT for a living, and I've been hacked before.  Even Mat Honan, part of the crew at Wired Magazine, has been hacked in a very public and spectacular fashion.  It goes to show one is ever 100% immune, but with some proactive measures, we can all make our digital world safer.  This is by no means an exhaustive list, but take a look, and put some of these practices into play.

1.  Good password management: Use complex passwords for your online accounts, especially sites like banking and payment sites.  Make sure your password includes a mix of capital and lowercase letters, with numbers and special characters as well.  Remember - a good password is hard to guess but easy to remember.  Also,  update your passwords regularly and be sure to never send your password to anyone over email.

2.  Control your social media: Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and any other social media site you use have increasingly become targets for hackers and other online miscreants on an information hunt.  These services give you a way to control who sees what information through privacy settings.  You can set up exactly how public you want your information to be.  For example, your Facebook privacy settings should probably be kept at "friends only" to be on the safe side.  And on content you choose to keep public, think twice before you post something that could be potentially embarrasing or damaging to your digital reputation.

3.  Suspicious email: Email is a popular way for hackers to hit users with phishing scams, trying to trick them into clicking links to malicious content or handing over information they wouldn't normally hand over, like credit card numbers.  Ask yourself if there's any reason you'd be getting a particular email.  If not, it might be safer to not open.  Another red flag is if there are attachments to the email that you don't recognize.  And another trick is to hover your mouse over links in the body of the email.  When you do, a tiny box will appear telling you where that link really goes.  Because a link that says Blizzard or Amazon may lead somewhere else that you  don't want to be.  Phishing emails become a lot more common during certain times of the year - namely holidays, tax season.  Some of them also claim to be from the government asking for your information.  Remember that a government entity like the IRS will always send you official communications in writing, not over random email.

4.  Stay updated!: Make sure you have anti-virus software running on your computer like Norton or Trend, and turn on the setting to auto update.  This will keep you up-to-date with the latest anti-virus definitions to protect your systems.  A good anti-malware software like Malwarebytes is also a good idea.  Enabling automatic updates on Windows will also ensure that you have the latest updates from Microsoft like security patches.

5.  BE PROACTIVE.  There's a lot of stuff you'll come across on the internet, and a lot of it isn't going to be safe.  Flag and report sites and content that are clearly abusive and/or illegal to Google or the entity being abused.  You can also report internet crime to the FBI through the ISC (the Internet Crime Complaint Center).  And if you're one of those tech folks that's in the know, educate people!  Run a presentation on internet safety at your workplace, tell your friends how to stay safe, and practice these tips yourself.

If you're unsure of anything, ask your local computer nerd!  While they may have a gruff and nerdy exterior, they'll always be happy to help someone be proactively safe on the internet.  Or leave a comment or ask me a question if you have them.  The internet can be a scary place, so make the right decisions and surf safe.

Sony's February 20th Announcement - I'm Calling PS4.

OK.  Sometimes when a company tries to do a big reveal, they go one of a couple different directions.  First is the Apple route - blacking out room windows in R&D, attaching test devices to desks at Apple HQ, and even masking field testing units with external casing to make sure no one knows what's up.  Sure it may not seem like that's how they roll now, but that's how they do things.  Get their audience so amped that whatever they introduce is an instant hit they've all been waiting for.

The second is the straightforward method.  That's more or less saying "hey kids, product X is going to be out on the 37th of Zuhtember (naturally "X' and "Zuhtember" being code for a number and who gives a damn).  But in this case potential customers know exactly what's coming and what's going to be involved.  I guess the cleanest example here after the Apple thing would be Samsung and their Galaxy phones if you want an example.

So both of those methods make sense, and we've seen both dozens of times before.  What confuses me sometimes is when some companies try to blend the two of these in some sort of "openly secretive" teaser thrown out onto the interwebs.  Which is the route than Sony took today with their latest teaser on their official US website.  Go ahead, watch it.  It has all the elements of a big reveal - flashy effects, zoomed shots of different aspects of what gets collected for a final image, and of course mystic and cryptic heavy beats in the background to add an ambiance of mystery and allure.  Sweet.  Even a date and a time for a very special event so fans have something to look forward to.  So what could it possible be?  My interest is now piqued beyond recognition - WHAT COULD IT BE?  Four very familiar shapes - a triangle, a circle, an X, and is that... is that a square?

Look at the video kids.  It's gonna be the PlayStation 4.  I mean I can't for sure say it, but watch it again.  Search your feelings.  I don't think you really need the force with you to sense this one.

The date? February 20th, at 6:00pm.  The teaser is an ad for the Playstation Meeting, which is a venue where Sony's unveiled consoles and hardware before (that's where they unveiled the Vita before), so the PS4's a feasible prediction.  And Sony wanting to beat Microsoft to the punch on consoles does make sense too.  There's also a chance that maybe they could be releasing the fruits of their venture with Gaikai, but MY PEOPLES - I'm still calling PS4.