Steam defined the modern video game industry

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 ]

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Beyond books: The quiet evolution of our libraries

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[ Stuff | 2022-09-26 00:05:30 UTC ]
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It’s official: Book-banning attempts aimed at libraries are way up this year.

The American Library Association has released its preliminary data on attempts to censor books or limit library resources, and the numbers are bad. From Jan. 1 to Aug. 31, there were 681 “attempts to ban or restrict library resources,” targeting 1,651 titles in total. This number already exceeds... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2022-09-16 16:06:45 UTC ]
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Meta is spinning off the Pytorch framework into its own AI research foundation

In 2016, Meta (then but a simple country Facebook) launched its open-source AI research library, the Pytorch framework. Six years and 150,000 projects from 2,400 contributors later, Meta announced on Monday that the Pytorch project will soon spin out from the company’s direct control to become... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2022-09-12 14:00:51 UTC ]
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With libraries under threat, Literarian Award goes to Watts-raised super-librarian Tracie D. Hall

Tracie D. Hall, the South L.A.-raised executive director of the American Library Association, will receive the 2022 Literarian Award. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2022-09-07 14:14:03 UTC ]
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Truss urged to invest in libraries and abolish tax on audiobooks

Authors and publishers’ organisations have also called on the new government to support author visits to schools and to introduce an online sales taxNew prime minister Liz Truss should abolish “the last remaining tax on reading”, ensure schools have funding for author visits and invest in... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2022-09-07 08:06:33 UTC ]
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Windows File History review: Free, effective continuous data protection

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[ PC World | 2022-09-06 14:30:00 UTC ]
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Librarians and lawmakers are fighting for better e-book access

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[ Fast Company | 2022-09-06 11:15:37 UTC ]
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Missouri Schools are Pulling Books From Libraries After New Law Criminalizing “Sexually Explicit” Material

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[ Book Riot | 2022-08-30 17:45:17 UTC ]
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Closed Libraries and Fading Light: On Life in Kyiv, August 2022

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[ Literrary Hub | 2022-08-30 08:59:00 UTC ]
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This Ohio Librarian Is Seeking to Defeat a Book Banner Where It Counts—at the Ballot Box

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[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-08-26 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Cengage’s Gale and Bodleian Libraries: Asia-Pacific Fellowships

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[ Publishing Perspectives | 2022-08-24 20:19:36 UTC ]
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HBO Max is removing 36 shows ahead of Discovery+ merger

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[ Engadget | 2022-08-18 20:30:29 UTC ]
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[ Book Riot | 2022-08-16 13:01:51 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-08-11 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Book Banners Don’t Know What a Book Ban Is

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[ Book Riot | 2022-08-03 10:40:00 UTC ]
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[ Book Riot | 2022-08-02 15:08:14 UTC ]
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[ PC World | 2022-07-29 10:30:00 UTC ]
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[ Publishers Weekly | 2022-07-29 04:00:00 UTC ]
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[ Book Riot | 2022-07-25 17:58:04 UTC ]
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