sanahtlig

They finally answered that Ask.fm question I posed a while ago. Looks like they've been reasonably thorough in rooting out vulnerabilities. Doddler said they're salting the hashes also.

They need to safeguard the e-mail addresses. However, I'm not sure what safeguards could be taken other than simply making sure the site isn't vulnerable to common routes of attack. In other words, I'm not sure what can be done to demonstrate their commitment to customer privacy. We've already established that encrypting e-mail addresses sounds reassuring but probably doesn't actually increase security. Maybe they could hire a security firm to certify them as standards compliant? I'm not sure if that would be cost-effective or feasible for them.

If you're using unique passwords for every site, the passwords aren't actually that valuable. When a breach is discovered, companies will patch it and reset your password, preventing further unauthorized access to the account. What's more concerning are e-mail addresses that contain peoples' real names. Many customers wouldn't be thrilled to have their real names publicly linked with pornography. If you share passwords across sites, then you should be concerned, as you're at risk of identity theft. Sites major and minor get hacked all the time. If you have any Internet presence at all, your previous usernames and passwords are probably in some criminal database somewhere of combinations to try first when hacking an account. The only protection is using unique passwords for every site.

Hashing is not a form of encryption, though many refer to it as such. Encryption is reversible (intended to be decoded to reveal the original message). Hashes are irreversible. Both encryption and cryptographic hashes are forms of cryptography. Though the average user probably doesn't care about the difference, the difference has practical implications. http://danielmiessler.com/study/encoding_encryption_hashing/ Storing an encrypted password is sort of like setting a login password on a laptop, with a sticky note on the monitor proclaiming what the password is. Sure, it'll stop some forms of attack, but it won't stop the type of attack it really needs to stop: some stranger swiping your laptop and logging in as you.

They've said previously the passwords that were leaked were encrypted, when they were actually hashed (as you surmised, using unsalted MD5). My guess is the spokesperson isn't technically inclined enough to understand the difference. I have requested clarification however. The e-mail address is used to send e-mails to customers, so I doubt it can be hashed.

For translation tools, I use ATLAS for quick skimming and grammar assistance with complex sentences. I use JParser when I can't figure out what ATLAS is saying or I want to put in more effort. ITH is the tool most people rely on for text hooking. I use 2.3 because I prefer the interface over 3.0. ITH pairs well with Translation Aggregator (which supports JParser and ATLAS).

The gratitude model relies to some extent on social pressure. When you stop for a street performance, that's an indication that you liked it enough to stop for it. If you walk away without contributing anything, you're breaking a social norm--and you might get some glares for doing so. Most people are very sensitive to this type of social pressure; there's a study on behavior in elevators for example that shows you can very easily manipulate strangers to face the back of the elevator (a rather awkward and unusual way to stand) just with simple social cues. The power of social pressure breaks down on the Internet, where everyone is anonymous, silent infractions of social norms go unnoticed, and the entertainment often isn't social in nature. The gratitude model also isn't suited to every commodity or service one can imagine. Imagine if government was funded by charitable contributions instead of taxes. Imagine if our public school system was funded by charitable contributions instead of levies. In the absence of effective social pressures, the gratitude model even when it works tends to result in inequity--the burden of supporting a given project is borne by a small subset, while the majority offers little or nothing yet reaps the full benefit.

I've seen trolling defined in various ways: 1) Griefing others 2) Inciting unrest 3) Rocking the boat The common theme is behavior that's annoying to others. Who you blame--the ones doing the annoying or the ones being annoyed--typically determines whether it's considered trolling or not.

A lone vigilante hacker not doing so for profit is likely to be someone with a lot of time on their hands motivated by the sort of naive idealism common among youth. It's actually fairly likely the hacker is college-age or younger.

Someone claiming to be the hacker has apologized for the attack on the official forums, claiming he thought MG was promoting child pornography. http://forums.mangagamer.org/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=348&start=15#p9801

Most of the VNs I play these days are in Japanese, and I play them with translation assistance tools (and have been doing so for about 7 years now). I have a basic understanding of the language, and as long as the writing style isn't too complex I'm able to understand the text just fine. With each passing year I pick up a little more of the language. It's unlikely I'll ever become fluent, but I feel I can already play basically whatever I want to play, so I'm satisfied. Just being able to dive into just about any game that catches my fancy feels very satisfying compared to where I used to be--waiting on translations that took forever or never happened at all for games that usually weren't my primary interest.

The poll requires answering both questions, so the results for the second question won't represent what you want them to represent.

I recommend that you buy titles you expect to enjoy. VNDB score is just one factor that goes into the predictive model I use. I haven't touched many highly rated titles simply because the premise didn't interest me or it wasn't a genre I like. JAST and MG both localize a lot of bad or mediocre titles. They also occasionally release some gems. If enough people throw their money at the gems and spurn the trash, MG and JAST will adapt accordingly. Developers tend to release titles with similar quality and themes. My recommendation is to find developers you like and support those titles. Not only are you more likely to end up with purchases you like, but you'll be increasing the chance of getting more titles from that developer. I'm not surprised MG is reconsidering the worth of localizing lengthy moege. They're a lot of work to translate and they just don't sell. Princess Evangile doesn't appear to be anything special, going by EGS scores, but it's still decent. I wouldn't exactly mount Lightning Warrior Raidy on a pedestal and proclaim it to be God's gift to H-RPGs. The art is nice, the battle system is tedious, and the story is barely there. There's better titles of its type out there even from third-tier developers like Studio-Ego. That said, I'll probably be picking up the third title when it comes out. What can I say...I like the art--and a skimpy story is better than fluff dialogue that drags on forever.

I checked the database dump. All they appear to have gotten were usernames, e-mail addresses, and password hashes. Some people's e-mail addresses may contain their real name, so that may be irritating to some. The passwords do not appear to have been decoded. I also use LastPass. I guess I might as well start the arduous task of changing all my passwords to be unique on the hundreds of sites I have accounts at.

I did get the e-mail. MG isn't the first company I've received such an e-mail from, nor will it be the last.

Visual appeal is an important aspect of VNs, particularly ones where romance is a key element. Visual appeal is the hook, while a well-written story is the line that reels you in and keeps you playing. The best VNs will have both.

Mangagamer tends to avoid lengthy titles because they cost too much to translate. They're only translated 9 titles that are classified as Long (30-50hrs) or higher on VNDB in the course of 6 years. That's one strike against SubaHibi.

On that note, the translation of Sword Art Online Hollow Fragment (a PSVita RPG with dating sim / visual novel elements) by Namco Bandai is supposed to be awful. I've seen screenshots where the text is barely comprehensible (http://www.gamezone.com/originals/2014/08/22/sword-art-online-hollow-fragment-unlocking-heroine-costumes-and-ai-control-guide): http://download.gamezone.com/uploads/image/data/1169132/Fighting.jpg http://download.gamezone.com/uploads/image/data/1169133/Weaken.jpg

Eushully titles (especially the Ikusa Megami series). They'd actually do well on Steam if all the H-scenes were gutted.

As I see it, the difference between a pirate community and a supportive fandom is essentially attitudes and norms. Shifting these attitudes and norms is very important to enacting lasting change. Much of the VN-playing audience currently views the industry with apathy or even disdain. This apathy is contagious; if others around them feel no obligation to support the medium, why should they? The good news is that enthusiasm is also contagious. The more people see others taking pride in their hobby, the more these people will consider doing what they can as well. Building support for commercial VN development and localization begins with building a supportive community. This is important enough that I think it should be incorporated as an explicit objective in Fuwanovel's plan. There are already plenty of VN consumers. To increase the quality, quantity, and breadth of VNs available to the Western audience, what we need more of--a lot more of--are supportive fans. If we can't convince our own community that the medium is worth supporting, it'll be pretty hard to convince anyone outside of it. One of Fuwanovel's core founding objectives was to be a friendly place for VN players, especially new players, to gather and discuss VNs safe from the toxicity of other VN communities. The VN scene sorely needs a community, not affiliated with a particular publisher, that supports the industry and serves as a beacon for people new to VNs. Fuwanovel is in a good position to become that community, and this new direction could be seen as an extension of that founding objective.