Heratiki

I’m thinking the code is obfuscated by random calls to various functions so that the code block isn’t just one section you can easily see but sprinkled throughout instead.

Sounds like all the JavaScript I’ve ever seen.

IRIX was Unix based with BSD extensions and I believe Maxx Interactive now runs on FreeBSD without Linux compatibility mode. So hopefully it won’t be long before it goes open source. Though I can’t understand why it would be needed outside of anything but nostalgia.

Android? It’s not wholly closed source similar to RedHat they’ve got closed source elements while using open source elements.

Linux and its kernel are based on GPL and so to distribute something using it would require a compatible license. That means a full distro can’t be anything but open source and actually be distributed in free or paid versions. That doesn’t mean there aren’t closed source interfaces being used personally or undistributed.

We had to walk a delicate line with our kids (2005-2017) when it came to interaction online. Never wanted them to feel like we were keeping them from experiencing the knowledge or social interaction the internet provided. But we also kept close tabs and paid special attention to specific behaviors. So if they were in their netbooks we’d make it a habit to walk behind them not to look but just to see what their reaction would be. Kids mostly know right from wrong and when they feel it “might” be wrong they try and hide it from their parents. If you pay attention you’ll see them “hiding” and that’s a sign to dig deeper. This way they maintain their privacy and any issues can be brought to light with them directly.

(Understand that the following will have specific details changed just for anonymity’s sake) Grooveshark was the first interaction we saw was troublesome. So we sat our daughter down and asked her direct why she was trying to hide her netbook from us seeing it and what had she been doing she felt she needed to hide? The alternative was to relinquish the netbook until she told us. Come to find out a friend of hers from school (female 2 years older) was trying to slowly convince her to lie to her parents and sneak off with her. Our daughter told us this because it scared her not because she would lose her access. We also stayed open and active with our kids indulging in the same things they were interested in (Minecraft, Guitar Hero, etc) regardless if it was explicitly something we enjoyed. So she didn’t lose access to Grooveshark because she really loved listening to music. We just kept an eye on it and she removed her friend from communication. We explained what she was likely attempting and her friend admitted to it. They’re not friends now but it never happened again.

Don’t get me wrong, we made tons of bad calls before we learned what worked. But the key to all of it is paying attention. Not hovering over them and stopping them from making mistakes. But watching the nuance of their interactions with everyone around them. If they start to get secretive then there is usually a reason. And it’s best to just talk to them about it. And if one conversation doesn’t do it then have multiple conversations. Listen to what they have to say and why they were being secretive. Works best when they’re not expecting it too (like in the middle of playing Minecraft together). Anyway that’s just IMHO.

It’s more than likely they “borrowed” some other Chinese company’s cloned Windows drive and used it for their install rather than roll their own. Could be they were malicious but coming out and claiming it was an error so quickly doesn’t really push that narrative hard.

According to this Tom’s Hardware article (https://www.tomshardware.com/desktops/mini-pcs/mini-pc-maker-ships-systems-with-factory-installed-spyware-acemagic-says-issue-was-contained-to-the-first-shipment) it isn’t firmware based spyware but just existing on the machine drive.

They were also found on the restore partition so a full wipe and fresh install would eliminate the issue. AceMagic have also claimed that the issue was isolated to the first round of shipments.

I mean depending on what board you’re using it’s unlikely it’s hardware level snooping that supersedes changing the firmware. Especially if you stick to those that run on open source firmware.

Yeah installed it on an old Core 2 Duo laptop and so far it works great. Granted I’m running i3 rather than a hefty desktop.

Man I haven’t heard about Manjaro in a LOOONG time. Guess I need to look back into it.

Sadly Minecraft is very much CPU dependent over GPU. When you really start cranking down hard on the GPU with Proton you’re really hoping everything just works out without showing any cracks. With Nvidia’s lack of true Linux support it makes Proton pretty tough to get right.

There is always hoping though!

I meant it more as an inexperienced Linux user having to fix something and inadvertently causing havoc more so than drive wiping.

The F Windows posts are great and can be very therapeutic. But guaranteed those users haven’t issued a command that accidentally wipes out their entire drive accidentally. Or they haven’t had their Window Manager just up and decide it doesn’t feel like working anymore because of an update.

I work with Linux a lot simply because of my 3D printers and I love it. But being on a community driven edge can be a nightmare sometimes when something updates and you’ve got to track down the problem. For me that’s half the fun since I usually get to help someone else out with the same issue.

It’s very much a gimmick. I’m 45 yrs old and was able to mess around with it at a friend’s house. It takes a lot of getting used to for it to become useful and accurate in games and will make any other game you play become a struggle. So if you ONLY play Warzone and don’t do anything else with your computer then sure go for it. You’ll need to “reprogram” your brain to use this mouse for the games you currently play and it’s really only a fun gimmick for shooting games.

IMHO: It’s just more plastic garbage and while a fun gimmick it would last about a month before becoming something you stuff in a drawer and likely never use again.

LOL I’m not gonna complain. Granted I’m also never going to finish it.

This is me and Terraria.

I mean you’re playing the game, aren’t you simply paying in an unconventional way? You can’t pretend to think that you playing a game you paid nothing for is bad for trying to extract something in return?

That being said, games where you pay for the game and still have a ton of microtransactions to actually enjoy most of the content of the game are just highway robbery.

Yeah the most egregious problems with a lot of these microtransaction games are because of parents who just don’t parent at all. I work with a guy who his kid calls him constantly while he’s at work so he can get more robux. And he just gives in no questions asked. If my kids would have done something like that I would have just taken their game away. Even when my children were growing up and they wanted to buy games or spend money on their phones there were ways you could track it and pay attention to it. Lots of parents just don’t care, and that’s probably the most sad aspect of it all.

Dad/Mom shouldn’t be an open bank account and respect should be the currency exchange. My kids had to do chores for the things they wanted to do and they had limitations to what that could go to. Because they don’t need to vegetate on the couch for the entire summer playing a game on their console only to get in trouble and lose it and continue playing on their cell phone. It blows my mind how many kids just basically parent themselves. And i was a latchkey kid! I was parented by respect and love for my parents and the fear of what could happen if I did stupid things. Not fear of punishment but fear of consequences in general. I accidentally shot out a neighbors window with my friends BB gun when my parents were at work. Parents found out and I worked mowing lawns and etc to get up enough money to replace it. Because I broke it, it was my responsibility to fix it. Too often kids don’t have consequences.

Man what a dumb rant. Sorry about that. Sore subject I guess.

Sadly customization and individualization are a huge content driver for most of these games. And regardless of them being “free2play” it all costs money to produce.

Most of your pay 2 play games don’t offer this huge amount of revolving customization. Even when they do offer a large amount of customization it sees an influx of individuality until the majority of the system has been attempted and then it just disappears.

Live service games end up costing loads to maintain simply in server costs so to keep up with a massive player base I can’t imagine the monthly cost that goes along with it. And that’s not even including extra content for the game itself. Itsuwari No Alice opened up about maintenance costs back in August in a bid to stay alive. It’s been eye opening when you consider the niche size of Itsuwari no Alice. https://automaton-media.com/en/news/20230803-20472/

That’s interesting! I’ll have to give it a shot!