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 ]
The pilot project between Emerald and the Council of Prairie and Pacific Libraries opens research to Indigenous communities in Canada. The post Canada’s Indigenous Communities to Benefit from Emerald Pilot Project appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-09-23 14:14:30 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Novelists Nadia Hashimi and Helen Benedict join hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell to discuss the mistakes American writers and culture made in depicting the United States’ wars Iraq and Afghanistan. In the wake of the 20th anniversary of 9/11 and President Biden’s decision to pull US... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2021-09-23 08:49:21 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Algoriddim has been working closely with Apple for years on its djay apps and regularly appears in the company's keynotes. Now, it's integrating another Apple product, Shazam, into its latest iOS djay app with the release of iOS 15. The new feature lets you can scan your surroundings and... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2021-09-20 14:00:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Libraries are more than just books! Did you know many libraries will let you borrow musical instruments, tools, seeds, and more? Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-09-20 10:31:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Growing up in the West Midlands, I turned my back on reading books and even visiting libraries for many years. When I start to think back to why this was happening, I realised that not seeing Asian representation within publishing and at libraries was a key factor. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-13 23:49:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Libraries in the London Borough of Greenwich are the first in the country to move to fully biodegradable library cards that are made in the UK from ethically sourced materials. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-13 12:08:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this
September is National Library Card Sign-Up Month! Let's take a look at some of the activities librarians have in store this month. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-09-08 10:32:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
German publishers say that robust ebook performance last year and this year could be impacted by state-subsidized e-lending. The post Germany’s First Half of 2021: Ebook Dynamics, and Libraries appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2021-09-08 03:50:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The School Library Association says many of its members were furloughed and some have been made redundant but librarians have been more essential than ever Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-03 09:36:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Libraries and publishers have much to gain by taking a more collaborative approach in the way they work with each other Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-03 05:14:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The report, '2020 Public Library Technology Survey,' provides a current, detailed snapshot of how libraries serve as digital equity hubs. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2021-09-03 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
The Children’s Laureate gives an update on her Life-changing Libraries campaign to fund primary school libraries. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-03 01:55:45 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Zoey Dixon, named a Bookseller Rising Star in 2020, has been a leading light in making libraries more accessible, both before and during Covid, in her development role at Lambeth Libraries. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-03 01:24:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Charity Libraries Unlimited, which aims to bring libraries’ work to new audiences, has come up with an innovative way to reach potential readers at libraries across Devon. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-09-02 22:53:52 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Increasingly, books are something that libraries do not own but borrow from the corporations that do. Continue reading at New Yorker
[ New Yorker | 2021-09-02 10:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
From school libraries to big city libraries and small town ones, this is one Rioter's journey through the important libraries of her life. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-08-30 10:39:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A new public library strategy for Scotland has been published, developed with the help of countries all over the world, including Denmark, Australia and the US, and seeking to make libraries key to helping people and their communities recover from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-24 05:25:24 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Cambridge has over 100 libraries, so here are some (subjective) recommendations for the best ones to start with. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2021-08-23 10:39:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A comic art festival based in Yorkshire is encouraging the public to donate new and used comic books to its organisation, which will then distribute copies to schools and libraries. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2021-08-21 00:12:55 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Last week, Apple previewed a number of updates meant to beef up child safety features on its devices. Among them: a new technology that can scan the photos on users’ devices in order to detect child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Though the change was widely praised by some lawmakers and child... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2021-08-12 18:30:29 UTC ]
More news stories like this