Sometimes I need the 5th element of something, regardless of what it is. Sometimes the 5th element of something needs to be compared to the 35th element of something else. Both cases require the use of direct and/or derived indexing. This is often the case in low-level code.
As for why signed is default, this may have to do with the error handling in C. By convention, if a called function hits a failure mode, it returns a negative integer. If a function succeeds but with a caveat or warning, it returns a positive integer. Unqualified success returns zero. Hence why idiomatic C functions typically return int, not unsigned int, and we've been stuck on this convention ever since.
Reads to me like multiplayer and server-side games incur a hefty infrastructure cost that eats into their profits, subscriptions notwithstanding. Maybe XBox should focus more on single-player exclusives. They certainly have enough studios to do it.
User input is always sourced at the client device. There is no other source of truth, therefore any hacks that manipulate input will not be detected server-side. Additionally, using only the server state gives a distinct advantage to the better/faster connection. This was true in Quake 2, but games have become a great deal more sophisticated since then.
Almost all trainers from time immemorial operate in the kernel space because they require direct access to memory addresses. The whole cheats paradigm started with altering values stored at specific addresses. Alter the right value and the player character gets infinite ammo or lives or whatnot, and it went from there. Modern day cheats embed more sophisticated logic that ultimately boils down to altering locations in memory in a specific order, which brings me to my point:
An anti-cheat mechanism can always be defeated if the cheater can access a lower order of abstraction from the mechanism. An arms race is the inevitable outcome. It's either that or competitive gaming is not viable.
I love how people are pushing for Android Auto and CarPlay on the basis of consistency and ubiquity and control, yet fail to realize that their advocacy will reduce what is currently a thriving marketplace filled with unique options to a duopoly.
Once that happens we all know what comes next: enshittification.
Gist: Generalist looking for some contract work. Extensive experience coding in C/C++, C#, Java and Python for embedded and safety-critical systems. Feel free to ping me with anything.
The US has always been a country of immigrants; the Constitution recognizes and enshrines this fact. Amending this rule requires a federal supermajority (66% in House and Senate) or a state majority (66% of state legislatures vote in favor of said amendment). Given how difficult it is to find consensus on even the most banal issue, it's unclear whether there would be sufficient support to ever amend.
Sure, I'm well-aware, and am also aware that someone familiar with a GUI-based way of doing something on one OS may seek the same, or similar, GUI on another (new) OS. It's a familiar anchor in a sea of unknown, a natural thing to do for most users.
I still don't follow the evil grin. Is the apt package some kind of malware or trojan?
There's another factor to consider: If what you physically own requires a proprietary platform to play or operate, then you don't actually own it. Sure, the disc with version 1.0.0 of the media/game may be in your possession, but that doesn't matter. The platform can change the rules at any time, requiring an arbitrary number of steps or payments before playing the media, or limiting features through forced updates as soon as the media is inserted.
Ultimately, technology cannot solve what is fundamentally a legislation problem. The only way to win this is to ask for laws to change.
It's not benign. An attacker could surf multiple IDs until they find one lowrr than their own and pay it instead. It's a viable attack. If the store disputes it, you can demonstrate that you paid and produce a receipt.