Just an update to the highly rated but DRM laden Spore.

In the manual, it clearly states you can have more than one Spore account. Page 52. Trust me, it's there.

EA says it's a misprint!!! The EULA states that accompanying documentation also applies, which should include the user manual. Of course, I ain't no law dog, but that sounds pretty cut and dry.

EA, what do you plan on doing to appease your customers and comfort potential ones?

All I have to say is do not buy this game until they fix these issues. But if you have to, then purchase it through my site, and then find a crack to disable the DRM.

LINKS:

Spore Forum

Spore came out. The expectations were high, and the reviews were decent. Hell. It's number one on Amazon as far as games go. It's $50. Average price as far as blockbusters go. I was considering buying it, until I visited my favorite shop. Amazon is a mecca when it comes to my technology needs. And I value the reviews that customers leave. Most of them are people who have made purchases themselves, and I have avoided a dud or two from the information left.

So I was considering spore as a purchase, but noticed a disturbing conversation. The issue is the DRM that the cd contains. You get 3 installs, and then you have to ask permission to install it. When I am in my hardcore gamer mode, I can redo my computer 2 or 3 times in 1 year. This means there is a very good chance that I will be calling EA begging them to use my game. As some of the commenters mentioned, it's more like paying $50 to rent the game. Now, what will probably happen is after the sales cycle of the game has reached a certain maturity, the need for the security will probably be killed, but until then, what is the solution?

Well for one, maybe certain people should buy their software. Yes, I have done my fair share of flying the bit torrent airways, but I would much rather pay for my software. If something is useful, I would hope the company that makes it would be able to financially survive and continue to make software that I can find useful in the future.

But until that day, I would hope that the software companies understand that the people paying for the software, are not the ones who should be punished. The people who are cracking the security placed on your software are much smarter than you, and you cannot win this way. You just alienate your existing customer base. I could of been part of that base, but I don't rent my games.

I was doing my morning routine, checking to see how my bank accounts were doing, when I stumbled upon an unknown to me feature called Wells Fargo Mobile. You can access your account via WF.com, but what I am most interested in is a feature called text banking. No, you can't complete corporate takeovers via text, and you can't ignore the fact that the screen does show a negative balance, but what you can do is pretty useful.

After the pretty painless sign up process that involves a verification text, choosing nicknames for your accounts, and opting in on the banks main site, you are on your way! I chose ppcheck and ppsave for my nicknames. Want to know what the balance is for one of the accounts? I just text bal ppcheck, and seconds later, I know that I need a higher paying job. Want to know the recent activity on one of your accounts? I text act ppcheck, and see that I did pay the DSL bill, and that I shop online entirely too much.

It's a good start, and like I said, if you need access to your account on your cell, you can always go to WF.com for more comprehensive information. The one caveat is that you do opt in to recieve texts about services. But it's not like they are going to text you at 3AM all Obama style to let you know that they have a special offer to get a toaster slash shotgun if you open a super duper saver account with the kung fu grip. And let's face it, the way things are going, text plans will be cheaper than data plans if the providers get their way.

What I'd like to see is a text warning you of an impending overdraft, or that your paycheck was deposited, or that you really should stop shopping online so much. But I'll take what I can get. for now, and being able to check my balance within 30 seconds is better than calling the automated number, or busting out the laptop and looking for a strong wifi hotspot.

Currently, it appears that they support most major carriers, except for T Mobile pre paid, and the Verizon pre paid MIGO.

I give the service a 7 out of 10.

LINKS:

Wells Fargo text banking

WF.com

Text banking FAQ

Interesting article about a gentleman who is publishing 'copyrighted' material from the state of California, my home, and others states as well. The information being uploaded is the very laws, rules and regulations that we, as citizens, must know. After all, there is no excuse for not knowing the law. You just don't have cost effective access to it in its entirety.

Sure, you can go to Lexis Nexis and try to search using their old and tired site, but where is an easy and unfettered way to look up the information you need? You could buy a book, but they can be pretty expensive. You can go to a state site, maybe an archive of some sort, but again, the information will be difficult to search, and probably incomplete.

Public.Resource.Org is the place to go. At least, if you are in California. But it is growing. Pages at a time. But will it last? According to the state, the information is copyrighted, and should not be given out in this manner. They say it is an important revenue stream, one that brings in hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. Tax payers money. But who really buys them? The California code costs over $1500 to buy. I doubt the average citizen is looking to spend this kind of loot. And that's just the price for a digital copy?

Now don't get me wrong. I think they should sell it in book format, or even in a search able cd/dvd format, so that those that need it can purchase it. But if I am expected to defend myself in court, should I ask for a continuance based on the fact that I have to save up so that I can learn what laws I have broken?

Again, the information is out there, and it is most likely available in municipal buildings such as libraries and city halls. But unfettered access, especially in this day and age when the internet is our greatest resource of information, is a must if we are to be good citizens. I applaud Carl Malamud for what he is doing for us, and encourage forward thinking like this in all citizens no matter what country you are from.

Links:

Original article

Public.resource.gov

My first post is on a service that hopefully actually works. Funny how I won't know until this post is finished. I can always edit it, but that would be bordering on the absurd. So basically, Twitterfeed takes a feed from your blog, and sends it to Twitter. It uses magic from the dark forests of pangamegoria, but that is besides the point. All you need to know is that it seems so easy, I set up the feed to this site in just 30 seconds.

Punch in your Twitter info, your blog feed, the frequency it checks the feed, put a prefix, and you can even use a filter. It even takes links in the post and shrinkafies them to a tinyurl status.

The one issue I have is that it uses openid standards to log in. I am new to this, and am not sure what advantage it has besides being able to log in everywhere with one piece of identification, but that could be done in other ways using password plugins or programs.

If Twitterfeed works for this post, then I give it an 8 out of 10 on the princess meter.

Links:
twitterfeed

My Twitter page

Open ID