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>> you serious or joking?

Umm....joking. Typical content of "I have this friend (but it's really me)": http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IHaveThisFriend

Even spousal privilege

They can't convict a husband and wife for the same crime

American here. The general mood among the masses is that whether we like it or not, like sex with Kobe Bryant, it's gonna happen.

A small vocal minority protest it a small vocal minority support it, and an overwhelming majority have to go to work to make money to pay their bills and feed their families. Most Americans don't have the luxury of taking time off to protest so the task gets relegated to those that exist on government aid, specifically the wealthy, the elderly and the disabled.

If you've ever read Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" (aka the fireman) there are striking parallels to modern american society, specifically the obsession with homicidal television characters that every single American seems eager and willing to invite into their homes for a few hours a day. Crime stories are an ancient past time but you can turn on a TV any time of day any day of the week and find one. You've probably seen or at least heard of CSI, Dexter, Breaking Bad, Miami Vice, Cold Case, Bones, or any number of the derivative shows. Every time you see those shows from now on think of Millie's "family", the homicidal clowns on the walls.

More on Fahrenheit 451 can be found here

If you've not read it then I highly recommend it. You can get Fahrenheit 451 in paperback for under $4 on.

Glad to help.

The reason why I think may of the wrappers will work is just because they aren't commonly used. Right now people can go pay for an OpenVPN service and download an installer that will do all the work for them. Like tor, OpenVPN is a big target.

The only other thing I can think of is ping times.* It might not look like it, but HTTP is horribly latency sensitive. After every web page is loaded, all the images and javascript are downloaded. Repeat for about a dozen times because javascript is horrible. So, try noscript, it might speed up your browsing. It certainly will make quite a few web pages less annoying.

*Once again, you probably already know this. Keep assuming that I'm just ranting for the noobs. We all were naive at some point. Then some helpful soul points us to TV Tropes or 4chan.

Not just hard, but Nintendo Hard.

You mean something like this? http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LiteralGenie

Larry Niven, Ringworld. First appearance of Speaker-to-Animals.

Only "first" in the sense of failed attempts to get the earliest post on a Slashdot story. Ringworld was first published in 1970. The Story of Doctor Dolittle was first published in 1920. Other examples are older.

So the real problem with Nokia's SMS tone is pop-cultural osmosis failure. You were familiar with how to key "s" and "o" through pop culture, but only hams and others who find Morse code "a familiar dialect" know what "m" is.

my gut tells me that these people [who minimize YouTube] would be in a minority.

Some of my best friends are in minorities.

Real nerds would build a HTPC.

Unfortunately, real nerds are vastly outnumbered by non-nerds who prefer a conveniently curated experience to an open one with more selection (and thus more 90% crap), and the resulting lack of economies of scale is why HTPC kits are hard to find in national chains.

Electric razors give me a rash. I can only shave every two days as it is.

So did mine, pissed me right off.

I gave up and went back to carving gibs from my ugly mug with blade shavers until one of my friends suggested that it can take a couple of weeks for the skin to get used to electric shavers.

I was skeptical - electric for me meant the gift of a million tiny skin infections so I wasn't exactly keen to revisit the experience. He said I needed to be patient (nothing new) and went to to suggest being *extremely* light and gentle for the first week or so, even if it meant an imperfect shave.

Amazingly the advice worked and now I shave absent-mindedly with no special care while I ssh into my boxes and check my morning e-mail. One thing I would add is to invest in a nice aftershave; firstly, I think that as an astringent it may act to close the pores (or some such thing) which is supposed to be good. Secondly, the bolt of pure blue-shot-with-white agony is strangely worth it in its own right, kinda like being slapped awake by a beautiful goddess possessing the most common superpower and wielding a dripping wet mackerel.

Yow!

Thanks jackass... now I just lost 35 minutes reading shit on the Onion before I got back to this stupid article.

Could be worse. Someone could have sent you to the appropriate tvtropes page.

The consequences of that would have been unthinkable.

Haven't people heard of the standard police motto? (It's the motto of the Los Angeles Police Department, so it's what Hollywood puts on fictional police cars.)

[offtopic]
Nice sig. What keywords do you put in your E-Mails to make sure they back them up?

I thought previous Slashdot comments had settled on "Actiblizzard" or "Actiblizz" for short. In any case, I won't use a nickname that brings ethnic tension into a discussion where it doesn't belong, especially considering the stereotypes already present in the Warcraft universe.

Ahem. Sturgeon's Law. Fnord.

They pretty much admitted that Pacific Rim was deliberately made that way.

Why were the politicians so stupid? Why did they run that first drift with the weapons systems online? Why didn't the just put a nuke at the rift and blow every Kaiju that comes through to smithereens? Because, those are classic tropes of the genera.

The thing about that movie is that they were upfront in exactly what it was going to be. There was some romance, but the story was about fighting giant monsters, and it showed.

Oh, and if you're bored: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/PacificRim

One: That's a pretty good link. I like that. More people should know about Firehose. And meta-modding, for that matter.

Two: It's the Network Decay effect, where a specialized media site (channel, station, etc) moves away from its earlier focus in an attempt to attract a broader audience, often because people in the demographic their focus caters to ALSO likes a different focus. Yes, it used to be that Slashdot really was "news for nerds, stuff that matters" as in the stories had a very nerdy or technology angle, and it wasn't quite good enough that "well, some nerds would find this non-tech stuff important, so let's run with it." Now it's a bit different, but some people still complain about the the minor format shift. On the scale of Network Decay, Slashdot is probably between Major Shifts That Fit (bringing other things in without leaving their genre) and Slipped (still pays attention their genre, but there's a lot of non-genre stuff mixed in).

It's interesting how many evil geniuses have an advanced degree.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MorallyAmbiguousDoctorate

I don't know about that, it seems a bit of a stretch. After all by that standard isn't the New Testament actually Jewish fan fiction? I mean the author supposedly inserts himself into the story with god like powers. He can walk on water, make food appear, heal the sick, and turn water into wine, and is literally too good for this sinful earth. He really does seems like a Marty Stu character, in fact, he could be the first ever recorded Purity Stu character.

I don't know about that, it seems a bit of a stretch. After all by that standard isn't the New Testament actually Jewish fan fiction? I mean the author supposedly inserts himself into the story with god like powers. He can walk on water, make food appear, heal the sick, and turn water into wine, and is literally too good for this sinful earth. He really does seems like a Marty Stu character, in fact, he could be the first ever recorded Purity Stu character.

I don't know about that, it seems a bit of a stretch. After all by that standard isn't the New Testament actually Jewish fan fiction? I mean the author supposedly inserts himself into the story with god like powers. He can walk on water, make food appear, heal the sick, and turn water into wine, and is literally too good for this sinful earth. He really does seems like a Marty Stu character, in fact, he could be the first ever recorded Purity Stu character.

I don't know about that, it seems a bit of a stretch. After all by that standard isn't the New Testament actually Jewish fan fiction? I mean the author supposedly inserts himself into the story with god like powers. He can walk on water, make food appear, heal the sick, and turn water into wine, and is literally too good for this sinful earth. He really does seems like a Marty Stu character, in fact, he could be the first ever recorded Purity Stu character.

I don't know about that, it seems a bit of a stretch. After all by that standard isn't the New Testament actually Jewish fan fiction? I mean the author supposedly inserts himself into the story with god like powers. He can walk on water, make food appear, heal the sick, and turn water into wine, and is literally too good for this sinful earth. He really does seems like a Marty Stu character, in fact, he could be the first ever recorded Purity Stu character.

I don't know about that, it seems a bit of a stretch. After all by that standard isn't the New Testament actually Jewish fan fiction? I mean the author supposedly inserts himself into the story with god like powers. He can walk on water, make food appear, heal the sick, and turn water into wine, and is literally too good for this sinful earth. He really does seems like a Marty Stu character, in fact, he could be the first ever recorded Purity Stu character.

So said the anonymous commenter who probably resides in his mom's basement and would probably fail at managing a company similar to Microsoft. And that gets an Insightful +5. What.

Epic Mickey is just the blandest platform gameplay with high production value Disney art.

It's been that way since sometime in the 16-bit era. DuckTales on the NES was fun, but Pinocchio on the Super NES and Sega Genesis was short and bland. Might it be a case of Seinfeld is no longer funny because platforming itself had become old hat?

Are you telling me a 2 year old Asus tablet is now running Ice Cream sandwich? Or are you saying you still get v2.x updates?

Third option. Users of devices that run Gingerbread are still getting application updates even if not operating system updates.

This isn't about "them" or "the elites", this is simply people behaving rationally. If you got $1b in your account tomorrow, you'd be behaving exactly the same way, and you're no elite either.

I wouldn't. Why would I? $1b is enough to spend the rest of my life on the lap of luxury, while having plenty of resources leftover to spend in any cause I considered worthwhile, be it charity or space colonization or whatever.

Technically speaking, "rational" means maximizing expected utility. The utility of money asymptotically approaches a finite value as the amount of money approaches infinity, and for most people is already pretty darn close to it at $1b. Thus it is not generally rational to make great or even modest sacrifices to make more money at that point, especially since you are pretty much guaranteed to profit from simple and perfectly above-ground index investing.

Cheating when you're winning is the domain of people with severe psychological problems, not Joe Average. It is also extremely irrational.

This isn't about "them" or "the elites", this is simply people behaving rationally. If you got $1b in your account tomorrow, you'd be behaving exactly the same way, and you're no elite either.

I wouldn't. Why would I? $1b is enough to spend the rest of my life on the lap of luxury, while having plenty of resources leftover to spend in any cause I considered worthwhile, be it charity or space colonization or whatever.

Technically speaking, "rational" means maximizing expected utility. The utility of money asymptotically approaches a finite value as the amount of money approaches infinity, and for most people is already pretty darn close to it at $1b. Thus it is not generally rational to make great or even modest sacrifices to make more money at that point, especially since you are pretty much guaranteed to profit from simple and perfectly above-ground index investing.

Cheating when you're winning is the domain of people with severe psychological problems, not Joe Average. It is also extremely irrational.

I enjoy myself a lot more when I grab my wii.

That can be so taken the wrong way.

All the extra graphics on the other consoles do is bloat the cost by 300%

By how many percent do the publisher's share and the console maker's share bloat the cost?

I think the gaming world would be better off if 3d had never been invented.

Other than with a first- or third-person 3D view, how should a game show both close-up objects and far-off objects?

On the other hand, keeping works that are an author's old shame under wraps might help keep those works from tarnishing the reputation of the same author's newer works. Case in point: Disney's Song of the South.

Having this would be extremely useful to teach courses on cultural history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_history

Similarly, it would be useful to have access to the Popeye cartoons referring to "Alice the Jeep", as well as the various Bugs Bunny cartoons of the WWII era, which have been censored in the name of political correctness.

In fact I would say that having this information available is critical to future cultural historians undestanding of our current era, and the whole "Political Correctness" phenomenon.

On the other hand, keeping works that are an author's old shame under wraps might help keep those works from tarnishing the reputation of the same author's newer works. Case in point: Disney's Song of the South.

You claim that web site operators ought to take a third option. Other than advertisements and paywalls, what third, fourth, and fifth options for the revenue needed to sustain a web site did you have in mind?

Windows 8 comes with app store functionality bundled.

Applications available through this store must use only the Windows Runtime API (section 3.1). This API lacks DirectInput (source), which means Windows Store games on desktop computers can't use inexpensive or specialized game controllers. They're limited to a keyboard (for Player 1 only), a mouse (for Player 1 only), and an Xbox 360 Controller (which must be licensed by Microsoft). Games must be fully playable with a touch screen alone (section 3.5), which rules out several genres that rely on giving the player physical buttons to perform actions, and it can't have more than five seconds of loading even when run on the cheapest Atom-powered computer with a spinning disk hard drive (section 3.8). Nor may it allow users to create scripts and share them with one another (section 3.9), ruling out user-created game mods that aren't just mesh/texture swaps and the entire Programming Game genre. Nor do games with retro-style low-definition pixel-art graphics like Mega Man 9 appear to be supported, as their screenshots are smaller than 1366x768 (section 6.8).

With features like this, who needs technology? Tic-Tac-Toe anyone?

Windows 8 comes with app store functionality bundled.

Applications available through this store must use only the Windows Runtime API (section 3.1). This API lacks DirectInput (source), which means Windows Store games on desktop computers can't use inexpensive or specialized game controllers. They're limited to a keyboard (for Player 1 only), a mouse (for Player 1 only), and an Xbox 360 Controller (which must be licensed by Microsoft). Games must be fully playable with a touch screen alone (section 3.5), which rules out several genres that rely on giving the player physical buttons to perform actions, and it can't have more than five seconds of loading even when run on the cheapest Atom-powered computer with a spinning disk hard drive (section 3.8). Nor may it allow users to create scripts and share them with one another (section 3.9), ruling out user-created game mods that aren't just mesh/texture swaps and the entire Programming Game genre. Nor do games with retro-style low-definition pixel-art graphics like Mega Man 9 appear to be supported, as their screenshots are smaller than 1366x768 (section 6.8).

With features like this, who needs technology? Tic-Tac-Toe anyone?

Windows 8 comes with app store functionality bundled.

Applications available through this store must use only the Windows Runtime API (section 3.1). This API lacks DirectInput (source), which means Windows Store games on desktop computers can't use inexpensive or specialized game controllers. They're limited to a keyboard (for Player 1 only), a mouse (for Player 1 only), and an Xbox 360 Controller (which must be licensed by Microsoft). Games must be fully playable with a touch screen alone (section 3.5), which rules out several genres that rely on giving the player physical buttons to perform actions, and it can't have more than five seconds of loading even when run on the cheapest Atom-powered computer with a spinning disk hard drive (section 3.8). Nor may it allow users to create scripts and share them with one another (section 3.9), ruling out user-created game mods that aren't just mesh/texture swaps and the entire Programming Game genre. Nor do games with retro-style low-definition pixel-art graphics like Mega Man 9 appear to be supported, as their screenshots are smaller than 1366x768 (section 6.8).

Windows 8 comes with app store functionality bundled.

Applications available through this store must use only the Windows Runtime API (section 3.1). This API lacks DirectInput (source), which means Windows Store games on desktop computers can't use inexpensive or specialized game controllers. They're limited to a keyboard (for Player 1 only), a mouse (for Player 1 only), and an Xbox 360 Controller (which must be licensed by Microsoft). Games must be fully playable with a touch screen alone (section 3.5), which rules out several genres that rely on giving the player physical buttons to perform actions, and it can't have more than five seconds of loading even when run on the cheapest Atom-powered computer with a spinning disk hard drive (section 3.8). Nor may it allow users to create scripts and share them with one another (section 3.9), ruling out user-created game mods that aren't just mesh/texture swaps and the entire Programming Game genre. Nor do games with retro-style low-definition pixel-art graphics like Mega Man 9 appear to be supported, as their screenshots are smaller than 1366x768 (section 6.8).

You are trying to track down a trope. Therefore, I send you to: http://www.tvtropes.org/ It's not just for TV anymore.

Start by looking up the movies you know with the trope, and see if anyone has called out that trope (and given it a name). Failing that, try searching the tropes directly.

And even if you don't find the trope you were looking for, it will suck you in and you will spend hours going "haha, yeah... so true". http://xkcd.com/609/

And if the trope you want isn't in there at all, you can add it. You might get to be the trope namer.

Even the Wii provides a better experience in that regard, both for local multiplayer [...] But in general, why would you want to buy a locked out system

The Wii, the Wii U, and in fact every Nintendo console since the Nintendo Entertainment System has been "a locked out system". The lockout chip, combined with a developer approval policy that has exploited the correlation between experience and quality, has resulted in a measure of quality control on Nintendo's platforms. This quality control is arguably the only way the NES was able to pull the North American video game market out of the shovelware rut it was in from 1983 through 1985. As for why one would buy a console over a living room gaming PC in the first place, that's because major PC game developers have tended to pay little attention to local multiplayer, and major developers of local multiplayer games have tended to pay little attention to the PC platform.

Toward this, see the entry for "Getting Crap Past the Radar" in TV Tropes' article about Battle Chess .

Kamehameha

...douken!

the King owned all of the land

This is still true: commoners who hold a fee simple estate in land think they "own" land, but they're actually renting it from the sovereign government.

Literature that has sections with with erotic or sexual topics (e.g. the Bible?)

I'd be inclined to agree with the interpretation given in the article "Porn with Plot" from TV Tropes. It's literature if the sexual content serves a characterization purpose. It's porn if the plot is predominantly an excuse to get the characters together for sexual contact. The Bible, for example, uses sex (and in some cases, denial of sex) to show particular characters as not caring about following Jehovah's express wishes. It also has "The Song of Solomon", an admittedly steamy 8-chapter episode that shows what happens when a long-term relationship goes right. I'd appreciate comments explaining how English case law differs from this interpretation.

Kinda leads to this: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MoneyDearBoy

Until kirk showed up and blew up the machines and then both sides discovered that they couldn't remember what they were fighting over so they just ended the war.

The thing is, though, they were both balanced civilizations capable of sustained economic activity in space. If they had had the real war when the *did* remember what it was about, there might well not have been two planetary civilizations left for kirk to solve their problems by blowing stuff up (kind of a broken aesop, if you ask me, to have the giant, interplanetary war solved through the judicious use of interplanetary violence....)

Yes, they used non-technical language, but I think it would be easy to imagine what "an intricate folder structure" would mean,

And nothing is scarier. Which is fine when a horror writer does it, and very much not okay when law enforcement does.

and to understand that the important part of the document is the "6712 folders" and seven hundred thousand plus images they contain.

No, the important part of this story is that you no longer have the right to remain silent, not that some perv was caught.

But Gaiman never claimed that it was "new". And I'm sure that if you asked him he could give you a dozen or more references that he pulled from for that.

The problem is when you take something as obvious (and done multiple times) as a detective story with supernatural elements and call it "new". It shows a lack of research.

There's even a TVTropes page dedicated to the sub-genre of detective-vampire.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/VampireDetectiveSeries

Nano!

"I gave some real actual examples of companies in both cases proving that this is absolutely not true"

Exceptions don't make the rule. I could name many examples of the opposite: non-hardcore Japanese games in which the west has no equivalent (in kind or in size).

In two words: visual novels. That's an entire genre that exists almost entirely only in Japan. The only thing "hardcore" about those game is if tentacle monsters are involved, as what makes VAs "good" is not necessarily how much money you throw into the graphics (or gameplay, for that matter).

"There's simply no difference between the Japanese and Western industry in this respect, none whatsoever, they're following the exact same path."

Incorrect, and it's easy to prove. In general, more games don't make it out of Japan than the other way around. This isn't new, and again the examples you give are exceptions. When you don't sell to mass international market, you don't get as much money to fund making hardcore games.

Or: Take a Third Option(tm): civil disobedience.