Well, if I was ANet and planning to make changes to the game that may alienate the passionate fans, then obviously I would try to get the money from those fanboys before telling anybody about those changes. :devil:

And I'm quite sure they still remember what happened when they talked about Transmutationstones for the first time...

If I could cancel, I would. But I can't, since I bought directly from ArenaNet.

If you're happy with Guild Wars 2 and where it's going, good for you. Me, I now know better than to trust any game studio again.

On Friday, June 15, 2012, attorney Charles Carreon passed from mundane short-term internet notoriety into a sort of legal cartoon-supervillainy.

He transcended typical internet infamy when he filed a federal lawsuit last Friday in the United Sates District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland. He belonged to the ages the moment he filed that lawsuit not only against Matthew Inman, proprietor of The Oatmeal, but also against IndieGoGo Inc., the company that hosted Inman's ridiculously effective fundraiser for the National Wildlife Federation and the American Cancer Society.

But that level of censorious litigiousness was not enough for Charles Carreon. He sought something more. And so, on that same Friday, Charles Carreon also sued the National Wildlife Federation and the American Cancer Society, the beneficiaries of Matthew Inman's fundraiser.

Yes. Charles Carreon, butthurt that someone had leveraged his douchebaggery into almost two hundred thousand dollars of donations to two worthy charities, sued the charities.

LOL! I'm going back and forth between 'you have got to be kidding me' and 'epic lulz!' XD

Also, the letter The Oatmeal's lawyer wrote to Carreon is worth reading. Now there's a proper - and classy - lawyer. XD

Ok, so time to lick our wounds, get back on the horse, and find a new job. At least we stuck it out and won't have to pay back our relocation costs according to the Chief Operating Officer. Wrong! On June 1st, we get a letter from Atlas Van Lines with 10 days to pay our overdue moving bill of a sizeable amount. Six months has gone by since our move. There was no notice at any point that this had not been paid and now we get a bill with 10 days to pay. Why now? Haven't they had 6 months to collect this? Didn't the company say we would be let out of our contract since they folded? Couldn't they have given us a heads up at any point before we were broke and our savings gone to feed our children? After all, a heads up on this might have alerted us to a problem with 38 Studios before we got to this point. Well on one page in a series, of approximately 45, we signed a document stating in tiny print that we would be responsible if the company does not pay. I don't know if most people are aware, but moving with three kids, a dog, and a cat from one coast to another is a bit tiring and this document was of course presented on the day our stuff arrived in Rhode Island, which was chaos.

:(

This is heartbreaking.

:(

FunnyJunk's reaction - WE WILL STOP THIS FUNDRAISER IF WE DON'T GET THE MONEY NO ONE DOES!

O.O

Waow.

Abstract:     
Numerous websites have implemented the Facebook Like button to let Facebook members share their interests, therewith promoting websites or news items. It is, thus, an important business tool for content providers. However, this article shows that the tool is also used to place cookies on the user’s computer, regardless whether a user actually uses the button when visiting a website. As an alternative business model this allows Facebook to track and trace users and to process their data. It appears that non-Facebook members can also be traced via the Like button. This means that Facebook’s tentacles reach far beyond their own platform and members. Due to the extensive web coverage with Like buttons, Facebook has a potential connection with all web users. Web activity can be linked to individual accounts or a separate data set can be created for individuals who are not (yet) a Facebook member. The hidden collection of data on browsing behavior and the creation of individual data sets has implications for the privacy of individuals. This article discusses privacy issues arising from third party cookie use and connectivity of web activity and devices, using the technical process behind the Facebook Like button as an example.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 10

Keywords: Facebook, Like button, Cookies, Profiling, privacy, Data protection

JEL Classification: K00, K10, K30

working papers series

From the PDF...

"A (small but important) difference with the Like button is that there can at least be supposed to be some link to Twitter, because the web user has visited this web site. For Facebook, this is not necessary at all. This implies that individuals who consciously choose not to participate in Facebook are still tracked and traced by Facebook. When someone does not connect to Facebook himself, Facebook makes the connection."

"Another important difference is that Facebook can connect the browsing behaviour to member accounts. These accounts are, usually, quite rich concerning disclosed information, but the Like button as exploited by Facebook makes that far more information is collected about individual members then the information disclosed on the personal profile page. Thus, people who have an account, but do not want to disclose that much information are still profiled more extensively. Their browsing behavior discloses much information concerning personal interests, and this information can also be collected by Facebook and connected to the individual account. In the end, consciousness in disclosing information, either by not participating on Facebook or by very limited disclosure of personal information, is not sufficient to escape Facebook’s tentacles."

"That data are transferred even when the button is not clicked upon is difficult to imagine for the ordinary web user. In addition, web users who have no connection with Facebook at all do certainly not expect to have their data transferred to this social network site. As a result, individuals who consciously choose not to participate in the social network site are still connected to this web site."

Oh, and by the way, clearing your cookies doesn't work. Just go read it. XD

Singaporean Street Artist Arrested for Vandalism

A Singaporean street artist has been identified by authorities as a vandal and arrested. If convicted, she could receive up to three years' imprisonment or a S$2000 (approx. USD1553) fine.

Over the past month or so, stickers began appearing on traffic lights, buildings and vehicles. The simple, round black-and-white designs carried slogans like "no need to press so many times," "press once can already," and "so kancheong for what," (translation: "why in such a hurry"), familiar phrases to any resident of Singapore and speaker of Singlish, a popular Singaporean creole.

Photos of the words "My Grandfather Road" spray painted at road crossing were also circulated.

The phrase refers to a common saying in Singaporean culture; when a pedestrian crosses a road particularly slowly, or jaywalks, drivers often yell, "Hey, your grandfather road ah?" implying that the pedestrian is acting as if he or she owns the road.

These pieces of street art that intrigued, amused and entertained many Singaporeans were the work of an artist who calls herself SKL0, who shares her designs for free on her blog.

Officers from the Central Police Division and the Police Intelligence Department investigated and identified SKL0 after the Land Transport Authority reported the spray-painted words and stickers.

In Singapore, vandalism is seen as a serious offence. In 2010 Swiss national Oliver Fricker was convicted of vandalism after he spray-painted a Mass Rapid Transit train. Fricker was sentenced to five months' imprisonment and five strokes of the cane. When he appealed his sentence, his jail term was increased to seven months.

Even if convicted, SKL0 will not receive caning as corporal punishment is prohibited for women.

Upon hearing the news, Singaporeans began tweeting with the hashtags #freeskl0 and #freestickerlady to protest the authorities' action, identifying SKL0 as an artist rather than a vandal.

"The authorities must understand, if #freestickerlady is convicted, a part of Singapore culture dies along with it," tweets Pat Law. "How is Singapore's culture supposed to grow creatively because of fear?"

"It seems you can only create art within boundaries in #Singapore. I see no harm done. PRESS NO CHARGES!" Rafi Dean adds.

Although SKL0 is still under investigation and no charges have yet been laid, the fact that she has been arrested at all has angered many who see it as a stifling of artistic expression, and hypocrisy on the side of a government that has often spoken of promoting arts and culture.

Ironically, Singapore was recently designated as the ASEAN City for Culture for 2012 -2013 at the fifth Meeting of ASEAN Ministers Responsible for Culture and the Arts.

Soooooo. I live in a crazy place. Luckily for me, only for 32 more days. That being said, this is *insane*.

The stuff this girly did was very funny, and made everyone I knew smile. Not to mention, in Singapore's repressive society, what she did was also incredibly daring (and not a little foolish).

She could be jailed for up to three years and fined too.

...meanwhile, more recently, a millionaire totaled his Ferrari, and killed 3 other people, one of whom was a hapless Japanese tourist, and himself. A foreign bus driver ran down an 18 or 19-year-old student, and got a mere 2 weeks jail and a fine. But my government wants to jail this brave, smart, funny and creative woman. The rules you see, differ depending on who you are.

I don't know this girly at all, but I would like to ask my tiny mcnugget box of readers to consider signing this petition on her behalf.

http://www.change.org/petitions/mica-review-sentence-of-skl0-arts-censorship-...

Dat is all.

Tankoo!