Gather ’round, children, and let me tell you a story about the old bugaboo we used to call DRM. Digital Rights Management was the beast under every gamer’s bed in the mid-2000s, an invisible bit of software baked into game discs that dictated and tracked player behavior under the guise of preventing piracy. DRM software, like SecuROM, limited the times a game could be downloaded and forced players to regularly connect to the internet for authentication checks, at a time when less than half of American adults had reliable broadband connections. DRM features soured the releases of BioShock, Mass Effect and Spore, and by 2010, anti-piracy software had rendered Assassin’s Creed 2 and Splinter-Cell: Conviction unplayable. When Microsoft attempted to release the Xbox One with always-on DRM features in 2013, intense vitriol from fans forced the company to reverse its plans at the 11th hour. There were lawsuits. DRM was a curse word. Meanwhile, Valve was building out Steam. When it landed in 2003, the digital PC storefront was designed to streamline the patch process for games like Counter-Strike and make it easier for Valve to implement anti-piracy and anti-cheat measures. Steam was made to be a DRM machine. In 2004, with the release of Half-Life 2, Valve made Steam a requirement for every player, and even those who’d purchased new, physical copies of the game had to boot up the launcher first. There was some low-level grumbling, but PC players were used to being lab rats, and... Continue reading at 'Engadget'
[ Engadget | 2024-03-04 16:30:21 UTC ]
From big-box stores and schools to banks and gymnasiums, here are some old buildings that were turned into libraries (and bookstores). Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-02-20 11:38:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A celebration of community libraries and their expanding role, and a look at the Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Paul Harding. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2023-02-17 17:56:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this
So many libraries, so little time! As writers and readers, we here at Electric Literature know there’s nothing quite like stepping into a space that has been specifically designed to invoke and perpetuate a love of reading. With book-banning efforts escalating across the country and funding for... Continue reading at Electric Literature
[ Electric Literature | 2023-02-17 12:05:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
At a glanceExpert's Rating ProsLight weight and sharp text make for hours of comfortable readingWaterproofBuilt-in OverDrive supportBook management offers many filtering and sorting optionsConsCan only play audiobooks from KoboBattery life not quite as good as on KindleOur VerdictNot only... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2023-02-16 23:20:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Plex now has the capability to skip intros and credits, so you don't have to sit through them if you don't want to. The streaming media service has introduced its new "Skip Credits" feature, a couple of years after a similar feature debuted for intros, and it shows up as a button at the bottom... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-02-16 12:45:54 UTC ]
More news stories like this
'Invincible' by Robert Kirkman, Cory Walker, and Ryan Ottley is the story of Mark Grayson, a seemingly normal high school kid who is really the superhero called Invincible. A 10-page excerpt from 'Invincible Compendium One', hardcover reprint edition celebrating the 20th anniversary of Invincible. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-15 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Booksellers from The Strand remember the coolest celebrity “cart shark” of them all: Television frontman Tom Verlaine. | Lit Hub Bookstores & Libraries Food as sustenance and political metaphor: How White House dinners shape presidential policy. | Lit Hub Politics “Will this book, like so... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2023-02-11 11:30:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this
What, and whether, our world leaders read provides crucial insight into their minds and priorities. Continue reading at The Atlantic
[ The Atlantic | 2023-02-10 15:44:57 UTC ]
More news stories like this
While Valve’s awesome $399 Steam Deck is a capable enough gaming system out of the box, some of its best features are easy to miss. If you know where to look, you can customize the Steam Deck to your liking, minimize annoyances, and even expand your game catalog well beyond the built-in... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2023-02-10 12:52:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Cloud gaming libraries normally get larger, but Amazon Luna's appears to be shrinking — for now, at least. 9to5Googlenotes that the paid Luna+ tier will lose 53 games in February. Many of these are older or niche titles you won't necessarily miss, but that does mean losing classics like No More... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-02-06 16:53:46 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The latest game to get the reverse-engineering treatment is The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Neowin has reported. A GitHub user called snesrev has fully ported the game to PC using over 80,000 lines of code, while adding some extra enhancements. Those include support for enhanced aspect... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-02-06 11:55:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this
For a product that its own creators, in a marketing pique, once declared “too dangerous” to release to the general public, OpenAI’s ChatGPT is seemingly everywhere these days. The versatile automated text generation (ATG) system, which is capable of outputting copy that is nearly... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2023-02-03 18:00:31 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A community of Black writers and readers, the group is partnering with Little Free Library to bring more free libraries to Black communities across the country. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-02 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Penguin Random House Audio has acquired Playaway Products, a producer of physical audio players and tablets preloaded with content. Launched in 2005 and based in Solon, Ohio, the company offers 36,000 titles and works with some 40,000 libraries and institutions. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-02-02 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
No, kids CAN'T get the books being banned at libraries and bookstores, Mr. King. That, plus this week's book censorship news. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-01-27 11:40:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
As recent laws restrict school librarians from bringing in new books, they're seeing a drop off of students using the library at all. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-01-23 17:38:56 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Libraries have existed for 5,000 years, but what does their future look like in an ever-changing world. One writer explores. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2023-01-18 11:37:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Library educator R. David Lankes reflects on the community-centered, empowering, progressive libraries he visited on a recent trip to Korea. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-12 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
OverDrive officials said 129 library systems hit the milestone with the Los Angeles Public Library becoming its first library system to surpass 10 million digital circulations. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-11 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The 2022 figures suggest that demand for digital resources in libraries continues to be robust even as the rate of growth slows from pandemic levels. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-01-06 05:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this