Slashdot Mirror
Slashback: Stapler, Interface, Gaming
You've got to admit it's getting better all the time. Gentu writes: "In parallel to the KDE 3.1-alpha release today, OSNews published an interesting article discussing a number of User Interface issues found on KDE 3. The article suggests a number of changes, some small, some pretty drastic. Towards the end of the two-part article, the author discusses the 'integration' problem found in today's X11 desktop environments, and how fixing this issue would bring Unix closer to average Joe's desktop."
Yes, you're allowed to have more than one friend. A NuKeFaN writes: "Following the article titled Are you a Friend of GNOME I wanted to point you out that the most used GPL'd software for the Web, PHP-Nuke, also has a similar page/system for their friends. It's a Club (MandrakeClub like) where you can be a member for a little monthly fee and you can get some extra benefits. You can access the Club area to know more about it. This can be, maybe, another example of how to get some money to fund a free software project, the matter is if we, as users, will support those project's developers this way? I think we can."
Wait, the scam was to take just a few pennies from everyone! MrBlue VT writes "In reference to the previous Slashdot article about the red Swingline Staplers, I click on the add to cart button on the Swingline website, and it pops open an ordering window with a 4 staplers added to the shopping cart. Ok, I think it's a little strange, but change the quantity back to 1, and hit continue to checkout. Next thing I know, I'm looking at an order form with all the text boxes filled out with somebody else's personal information. He's from Bellvue, WA apparently (I'm in Virginia). It also has his credit card number and expiration date!
This has to be the worst security I've ever seen in an online shopping site. The company who apparently provides the online shopping service for Swingline appears to be an outfit called SureSource.
I just wanted to let anyone who happened to order from them know about this. Your credit card info could very well be compromised."
Please fasten your belts. hondo77 submitted this follow-up to this article about next-generation aircraft, writing "Boeing says that their blended-wing aircraft will be ready for test flights in 2006. The article also has a picture of a 3% scale model. See, it doesn't look like the B-2 at all."
But thanks anyhow. flonker writes "Smartfilter no longer lists sourceforge.net! Link for those who want to see for themselves."
Great at stealing them, too. MrDingusMcGee writes "After the recent posting about a study suggesting that video games decrease brain activity, I thought it would be interesting to read the results of another study which has shown that video game players score better on a range of attention tasks (mirror here)done by Shawn Green at the University of Rochester Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department, and that this could possibly rate video game players as better drivers. Worth seeing the other side of the argument and having some validation for those hours of gaming."
Fantastic article on the KDE interface!!
I hope the KDE developers will listen!
You did order the man 4 staplers, right? And then another 4? And then 4 more, just to be nice?
the buy link is gone, it could be my crap-a-rific ie6 browser though thats making a mistake. i know its bad, no need to tell me.
"Humanize war? You might as talk about humanizing hell!" -- British Admiral Jacky Fisher
it would appear that they took out the online purchase option, opting instead for phone orders through SureSource. Oh well, I really had no need for a fire-engine red stapler anyway :)
To place an order for the Rio Red Stapler (SKU#: S7074740), Please call SureSource at: 1-800-544-3243.
"They do not preach that their god will rouse them, a little before the Nuts work loose." Kipling, 'The Sons of Martha'
Can someone explain where the fax-something-unique-to-8889771577 bit comes in? I can't see any connection to any of the stories.
Tarsnap: Online backups for the truly paranoid
These kind of errors are usually caused by the shopping cart using your IP address to identify your session. If you and someone else are both shopping on the site and are going through the same proxy, you will see each others cart.
My guess is that the person who experienced this bug was on a corporate lan with a single gateway IP, maybe cookies were also disabled or screwed up, and SureSource's session tracking code freaked and a session was hijacked.
Slashdot: rejecting tech news in favor of rubber band guns since 1997.
GTA3 is such a GREAT game. I should go play...hmmm...
i dont know if its a "Major Change".
"Humanize war? You might as talk about humanizing hell!" -- British Admiral Jacky Fisher
Haha... gotta love the humour in that one..
tho personally, I'd like captions such as "Certified troll" for extreme low karma, and "should get a life" for high...
Add a bit of humour to the equation - I've noticed that many slashdotters have a habbit of taking themselves a little too seriously.
But then, I'm Australian....
...this is getting out of hand
I have never lurked around dark tunnels running from ghosts and eating pills I find on the ground. I have never had the urge to strut up and down the street making Boop Boop noises. I have never felt the need to grab a BFG and go hunting demons. Video games have yet to affect my real life at all (other then reducing the amount of time I spend there). If you don't want your kids to play these games don't let them. Do not turn to society as a whole to police what your kids can do.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
I ran into this problem a lot when I first started using both GNOME and KDE. I had no idea what half the programs did and there was no clue within the program itself. After a while it became too much of a drag to go find the docs just to read a one paragraph summary of what a given program was. I would hope that in the future developers would start putting a small description of their program within the About menu item.
Prevent email address forgery. Publish SPF records for y
don't you realize that slaves need violent catharsis... you probably think the roman colloseum was bad too...
I agree with you. This stuff is pathetic. Making it illegal won't make society better. Asking "why is this the catharsis these kids choose" might, however.
In general, I don't mind violence in some video games, it's utter domination of the media is really really sad, however.
Please, don't anyone bother to point me at non-violent games... try getting a job in the game industry and find out that 99% of them are making this kind of junk.
And yeah yeah, I know, you love the game but would never do that in real life... so? I hate the game and wouldn't do it in real life either. Why would you want to phantasize about something you would not do in real life, again? Why does it make you feel good?
Pent up slave-resentment is my Nietzschean Guess.
-pyrrho
Click here and change the category from "none" to "criminal skills". Don't let your children (or cow-orkers) visit a criminal orgainization!
Whoever stated that signature sizes should be limited to one hundred and twenty characters can just go ahead and kiss my
Heh. I have been playing GTA3 (way too much actually) for the last week. Let me tell you something, I about died laughing when I managed to run over a person with a boat. (That was a sight to see!) Just for giggles, I like to run around and wallop people with a bat. Sometimes, I take the sniper rifle and blow people's heads off for no real reason other than it's fun to watch. Sometimes I instigate car chases with the cops just for the thrill of seeing how many I can take out before they take me out.
So I'm somebody that's more likely to go commit a crime, right? Wrong. GTA 3 is a hell of a lot of fun to play, but let me tell you something: That game taught me that the last thing I want to do is play games with cops.
The thought of ramming a cop car and seeing how far he and his buddies will chase me scares the shit out of me. Why? Because even in a game where my car can put up with a good deal more abuse than my real car can, I can't get away from the cops. The only real chance I have of getting away involves luck. That's it, luck. They will get me.
If anything, I think GTA 3 will reduce hoodlumism. Why? Because the physics in the game are a little different than they are in real life. For example: You can mow down a stoplight and still keep tooling along at 90 mph. In real life, striking a stoplight would end the chase rather suddenly.
Things happen much faster on GTA than they would in real life. Cars acellerate faster, and you can keep the chase going much longer than you possibly could in real life. And geez, there's no way you're going to acquire grenades to lob at people. GTA 3 really spoils reality for people. It's a lot more fun to destroy stuff in GTA 3 than it could possibly be in real life.
"Derp de derp."
For every study, there is an equal and opposite study.
sometimes we need to curb our liberties to guard our safety.
Those who will give up a little bit of liberty for a little bit of safety deserve neither liberty nor safety- Benjamin Franklin.
Give me Liberty- the first misson of GTA3.
That Nightline was very slanted. They don't show the part where you fight to try to cripple drug traffickers. They don't show the part where the cops (almost) always arrest you for the crimes you commit. There have been NO reported incidents of crime related to the original GTA and GTA 2. Guess how many GTA III has caused? Zero. Why?
Perhaps it's the fact that most people can tell the difference between a videogame and real life. Walk up to a car and open the door and throw the person out. Go ahead. In GTA III it happens fluidly, however in real life, the doors may be locked, the person may be wearing a seatbelt, and they might punch you in the face and shoot you.
Video games create an escape, they allow people to release their stress in a way that nobody gets hurt. They are also a scapegoat for bad parenting. Do you really think that the Columbine shooters decided to shoot people at their school because they played doom?
"Wow! This game is great! You get to kill Monsters!"
"Wow! That is great! Let's kill people at our school!"
NOBODY has ever killed somebody else because of a video game. There's many other factors. Depression, social ills, neglect all cause a person to "Flip out" and kill somebody else more than any video game.
"Oh no, 3 horny women and only 2 condoms...Thank god I read slashdot"
"It frightens me that we allow these sort of games to be played by our youth"
So don't allow your kids to play these kinds of games. Duh. The answer to mature subject matter is attentive parenting, not government curbs on basic rights.
This point is so basic... I don't even know why I'm letting you jerk my chain. You can't be serious. I should just mod "-1 troll" and move on.
In the KDE UI article, he suggests only letting root browse the / directory, and everyone else only their home directory. Why? Normal users need to browse the main directory tree, and can be limited from areas they shouldn't be with the mode bits. Dropping that ability would just be plain annoying.
Best Slashdot comment ever
It's true!
Mushrooms make me drive a lot faster, just like in Mario Kart.
c-hack.com |
Although the club is a good idea, I prefer the donation method... or maybe Mr. Burzi could create some PHP-Nuke merchandise such as mugs, t-shirts or caps and sell them on the site. It's nice to have material things to cherish as mementos for the support you gave.
Welley Corporation - SLM Scammers
This article is so true! Even though I don't have my license yet, all that time playing Crazy Taxi will finally pay off!
Well it doesn't apply where I live because our cops drive different cars, aren't armed, wear different uniforms and drive on the other side of the road.
Oh yeah, you can't just go into a store a buy a pistol either. I'd be FAR more worried about pages on the internet that tell you how to make bombs. The killing sprees are actually done with humour.
The parents actually got the game for the kids, disregarding its R18 rating.
Banning it won't help anyway - I got my GTA3 off Kazaa....
The google search
The top google link
Jeffrey's notes on spammers that he has toll-free numbers listed for.
You're right, I still don't see the connection. Maybe timothy is trying for a fax slashdotting.
I have never lurked around dark tunnels running from ghosts and eating pills I find on the ground.
Yeah, but you're not Robert Downey Jr.
I think I saw this as someone's sig:
"If video games affected real life, we'd all be going around popping pills and listening to repetetive music."
c-hack.com |
I would hope that in the future developers would start putting a small description of their program within the About menu item.
Ummm, have you actually used KDE or are you simply pontificating pointlessly?
Open Konqueror. Go to Help->About Konqueror. In the about box that pops up, on the default 'About' tab, it says: 'Web browser, file manager, ...' which sums up pretty well what Konq does.
Similarly, in the same place in KMail: 'The KDE Email client'.
Or in Kate: 'Kate - KDE Advanced Text Editor'.
Or in KSirc: 'KDE Irc Client'.
Or in Konsole: 'X terminal for use with KDE.'
Pretty much every KDE program has exactly this. You get the about dialog for free when you use the KDE framework, and all the developer has to do is fill in a few blanks.
Not to mention, of course, that the app gets a description in the K Menu as well - for instance, KMail's entry looks like:
KMail (Mail Client)
Perhaps GNOME doesn't do these things, I can't tell you (I haven't had GNOME 1.4 installed for about a year and GNOME 2.0 was installed for a total of about an hour whilst I checked it out and decided I didn't like it) but as far as KDE is concerned, you're dead wrong.
Can you please donate to my charity.
I wish we could go back to era before Pong came out. No one ever murdered anyone. Drugs, crime, nothing like that ever existed. It was Utopia. Then that dreaded Pong arrived. Damn you, Nolan Bushnell!
Uhm... NO categories for most of the web sites I visit. Nothing about technology sites, hardware reviews, computer programming...
I half expected to see Tom's Hardware listed as a porn site.
"Live Free or Die." Don't like it? Then keep out of the USA
It's not like your consciousness is involved in doing integral calculus just to drive a car...
It's interesting that the mainstream TV review was all about hysteria.
I heard a reviewer on NPR talk about the game and he was talking about how immersive and fun it was.
Just remember, with Network TV, the Product is YOU.
Anon
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Seriously..not worth explaining...everyone here lately seems so mac-hostile..but it's definitely more logical in OXS....functions are grouped logically w/most often used (generally) on the left, proceeding to the least often used on the right
Umm...not that it is actually important to your point, but unless you are foolish or unlucky, you very rarely get caught by the police in GTA3. You can jack a car right in front of a cop, and he will chase you for about 30 seconds, but then stop if you don't commit any more crimes (like running over pedestrians) along the way. But run over a cop or shoot one, and you better make a quick run to the pay'n'spray to get your car repainted so they cops won't recognize you. The cops seem to get pretty upset about any grenade use too, though molotov cocktails are fine. When you get arrested, you lose some money, your weapons, and your car to bribe your way out. On one mission, a bad cop pays you to kill a stoolie in the witness protection program. All of which I use to illustrate that there are no good guys in GTA3. Its just a game.
So I agree with you, games don't cause social ills. If a parent doesn't want their 13 old playing GTA3, and I wouldn't, then don't let them play. Parents are legally responsible for their 13 year olds.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
I guess I find it scary that you learn *any* moral lessons from a game. That you would come to the conclusion that you shouldn't get into a car chase with cops based on the outcome of a game is, well, disturbing. I would hope that you wouldn't engage in criminal activities because such activities are wrong, rather than because a game led you to believe that it's hard to outrun the cops. let me ask you this; if it had been easy to outrun the cops in GTA, would you have had a different opinion on ramming cop cars? God I hope not. Games aren't reality. I always assumed that people who played games realized this intrinsically, and could easily seperate fantasy from reality. Based on your post however, maybe I'm wrong. You seem to be applying information gleaned from a game to real-life situations. Please tell me I'm wrong.
-Vercingetorix
"Necessitas non habet legem." -St. Augustine
his could possibly rate video game players as better drivers.
Then I can say for a fact that hardly ANYONE in Memphis plays video games!
Don't mod me, bro'!!!!
Oh, shut up you mamby pamby troll. You need to learn to at least troll better before you come to slashdot.
Moon Macrosystems. Sun's biggest competitor.
about these silly studies is that, they generally don't go into much detail about what type of video games that the people in the study tend to play. Are you telling me that 3 years of playing sports games for 6 hours a day is the same as 3 years of playing 6 hours of actions games a day is the same as 3 years of playing 6 hours of rpgs a day? As a gamer, I somehow think it's rather insulting that it gets overgeneralized as such, into simply, 'video games kill kids brains' and not, boring, repetative tasks that require no brain power turns kids brains into putty. On the other hand, I'd argue that, stratagy (both kinds, tbs and rts), rpg, and puzzle games all help to stimulate problem solving skills in various ways. Ah well, just my 2p
Yeah!
We need to stop letting our kids play these unrealistic, mind warping games. None of that escapism stuff for us, no sirree.
What we need are REALISTIC games! Games that teach kids a thing or two. Games like these:
"Looking for a Parking Space" Where you drive endlessly around and around the parking lot looking for a space only to have the stores close before you can get there.
Or how about "Traffic Jam"? Sit behind the wheel, inching forward at a snail's pace while watching your engine temperature rise. Will you make it home before the engine overheats? Wheel gripping inaction!
Or you could always play "Road Construction Ahead". Try to pick the correct lane to be in only to have it suddenly come to a halt once you get into it. Grit your teeth as idiots try to squeese in ahead of you. It's frustration for the whole family!
If those sound too exciting for you there's always,
"Balancing Your Checkbook" Spend endless hours trying to read scrawled figures and cryptic bank statements in an attempt to see if there's still enough money left at the end of the month for pizza, or will it be ramen again tonight?
Now those are some happening games, man!
Excuse me, I gotta get coding. I'm gonna be RICH!
Beta sux! Join the Slashcott! http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=4760465&cid=46173047
You know what? I won't ram a cop either, because it's wrong. Are we still allowed to say that in this country?
IN TEH FUCHAR, LITERSY WLIL EB OPSHANAL!!!!!111
I hope you never have children.
it's not very easy to access the php-nuke site when it' s down: [Mozilla]: The connection was refused when attempting to contact phpnuke.org. Or maybe it's MoThugz's link?
There once was a little man named Frank who needed to get past the lameness filter so that he could post his little one-liner message. And so he told a little story about a man named Frank, to fill the time and space.
As mentioned by the parent (now, long since modded into oblivion), the issue of violent video games was covered this Wednesday on Nightline, and a partial write up can be read here.
Now, the coverage was obviously presented with a slant against video games. A similar slant was shown in a previous story they did about the big business of pornography. Nightline's often not about presenting an unbiased opinion.
Just the same, the most salient point probably made on the show, by a doctor of psychology I believe (correct me if I'm wrong), was that video games are akin to cigarettes in a sense. Most people who smoke don't wind up dying from lung cancer. Most people who play GTA3 also don't drive over pedestrians to get some midday stress relief.
The point here is perhaps that the true effect of these games, especially those which people use to "let out their anger", has not really been carefully studied. And, it has been seen that expressing anger tends to cause an increase in one's liklihood to be angry, not a decrease.
Despite the unwillingness of most game players to accept it, myself and a good deal of the Slashdot crowd included, it is possible that violent video games may have a subtle, but definite effect on a statistical significant amount of people. As it is, however, the current video game rating system should be sufficient to warn intelligent players and parents about games which may be inappropriate.
You like splinters in your crotch? -Jon Caldara
$28? No way!
I'll stay with my burgundy Swingline stapler, thank you very much.
Besides, the damn thing does NOT look like the one in "Office Space." It's just...wrong.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
Um yah, thanks for twisting my point around to imply that I don't know right from wrong. I was arguing against the notion that kids will play these games and grow up thinking it's okay to ram Cop cars. I was saying that playing the game has the opposite effect.
I appreciate your attempt to make me look like an idiot. It allowed me to write the one line summary for those people who, like you just did, try to draw exteme conclusions about people. Funny thing is, a little applied logic would have negated your comment. "If he thought it was fun to ram cop cars before GTA3, why isn't he in jail now?" *eyeroll*
"Derp de derp."
1) Evacuation - people are on average much further from the edge of the plane. This probably isn't too big an issue - people already often have to go quite a way along the airplane to get to the closest exit.
2) Cargo - the constant cross-section of cylindrical planes means you can have standard size cargo pallets that fit anywhere in the plane. This plane has a much less regular shape. Perhaps they have sufficient volume they can afford to waste some.
3) Engine maintenance. The engines on this plane are very high and hard to access from the ground. This is already the case for the number 2 engines of DC-10, MD-11 and L1011's, so there is prior experience in handling this, but it will add to maintenence cost.
4) Manufacturing cost. In a constant cross-section fusilage, many panels, ribs etc. can be used many times over.
5) Difficulty in adjusting size. You can stretch or (rarely) shrink the length of a cylindrical fusilage fairly easily.
Of course, you can accept quite a few negatives in return for a 30% gain in economy.
Finally, there is the risk of the unexpected - revolutionary designs frequently stumble over unexpected problems that take a while to iron out - e.g. Comet (metal fatigue in presurized airframe), high tail planes like the DC 9 ('deep stall'), A320 (human/computer interface problems).
Quattuor res in hoc mundo sanctae sunt: libri, liberi, libertas et liberalitas.
Have some respect, now, and don't be a pirate for the mighty security firm might come get you. Tee-heee! Oh wait, I'm not a news organization and I don't have their permision to download, or did I because they sent it to me when I requested without asking who I was? Did I violate their silly text telling me that the pictures are " for exclusive use by members of the news media. These items may not be downloaded or reproduced by other individuals or organizations without the express permission of SureSource."? Or did they realy mean that I should, "Please click on the desired image to enlarge & download." Don't forget to check out the purple warehouse here, a DEEEEEEEEEEEP DEVILISH LINK. Please click to enlarge! Please click to Download! Wheeee! Wizards of Web! Untitled Document Creators? What awsome d000ds they are! Function MM_JumpMenu seems to come from Dreamweaver, but I doubt that firm wants to take credit. Note, when making simple static pages use a text editor or something simple like Bluefish. When you want to make complicated Flash stuff, please don't. When you use a big giant flash making editor to design simple static pages, sigh, I give up. It was funny at first but the more I look into it the dumber it gets. I'm embarased for them.
DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
Thanks you mister smartsy pants. Now us s00per h4x0rs will 0wns your site! Please to tell us where you keep your spare house key! Thanxors!
It's 10 PM. Do you know if you're un-American?
Timothy writes of KDE: "You've got to admit it's getting better all the time."
It sure sounds like a compliment, unless you know the next line of the song he's quoting: "It can't get no worse."
So what seems an effusive compliment is actually quite the snide remark!
I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate your tactfulness even though it appears I disturbed you. Let me answer your last question first:
"I always assumed that people who played games realized this intrinsically, and could easily seperate fantasy from reality. Based on your post however, maybe I'm wrong. You seem to be applying information gleaned from a game to real-life situations. Please tell me I'm wrong."
Okay: You're wrong. The whole purpose to explaining my thoughts on it like I did was so the parent poster would realize that I know what I'm talking about. Any images of me fantasizing about ramming cop cars or sniping people's heads off you can just flush. As a matter of fact, you have indirectly touched onto why I am against censorship of video games.
I have been exposed to nearly every kind of video gaming experience one can have. I've played Mortal Kombat and all the GTAs and so on, so I know what's really involved there. Based on the reactions of people that claim that video game violence causes violent behaviour, I should be a hoodlum.
But I'm not. I'm 24 years old. I've already started my career. I've worked at the same job for 5 years. I have no criminal record. I've only had 1 speeding ticket in my life, and that was shortly after I got my car heh. Ive never had a parking ticket. Never done drugs. Never punched anybody. I don't even raise my voice. I'm a pretty well rounded person. Hopefuly you can see why it is extremely difficult for me to imagine that exposing children to violent video games results in harmful behaviour changes.
I told my view of GTA 3 so the parent poster would understand that the more realistic video games are, the more likely a child would realize the consequences of what he or she does. I've heard arguments like "When a child plays a game like Quake, he/she learns it's okay and fun to run around and shoot people." In my experience, instead the child learns "Guns kill people."
I think these anti-video-game types are looking at them in entirely the wrong way. In fact, I'm offended that they think kids are stupider than they really are. If you treat a child like they are incapable of making good decions, you're emotionally damaging the kid. I think saying "You're not allowed to play Mortal Kombat because it's too violent" is akin to saying "You're too stupid to know the difference between right and wrong. So I'm going to shelter you from anything that can give you ideas."
I appreciate you asking me before drawing a conclusion about me, though. It seems to be a popular thing here on Slashdot for somebody to listen to what you say and then draw the most absurd, extreme conclusion they can come up with. It's sorta like this: "I love to eat hamburgers.... I can't believe you like to murder innocent animals!"
I guess it's my own fault for not clarifying that I knew before playing the game that ramming cops was wrong. I kinda figured that'd be a default assumption that people'd make, heh. I didn't phrase it very well I suppose. Hopefully you'll understand why I didn't really worry too much about that.
Cheers
P.S. Again, I appreciate you asking before passing judgement. You have no idea how many times I've had people send me insulting messages because they came up with really bizzarre interpretations of my comments. You're a better human being than most I've run across here.
"Derp de derp."
Why would you want to phantasize about something you would not do in real life, again?
Isn't that the whole point of "phantasizing"? It's really hard to get away with murdering your boss because he went that extra mile in being a jerk, but there's no crime (yet) in sitting down in front of a game of GTA3 or whatever and pretending that you're ripping him limb-from-limb. And if killing a few virtual people is enough to make someone forget about their boss and feel better, isn't that better than them taking out their anger in real life?
Perl - $Just @when->$you ${thought} s/yn/tax/ &couldn\'t %get $worse;
While reading the KDE article, I did not necessarily agree with every suggestion that the author made, but felt that they were all well supported right up until the end. She was even careful in parts to point out that some flaws were the fault of QT and not KDE, but then she decided to pontificate on the readiness of things like kernel drivers, plug n' play and compilation issues.
I wish I could see one review/reccomendation that did not feel the need to either start off with a complaint about the difficulty of compiling from scratch/downloading sooo many RPM's or trail off in a rant about kernel development and such nonsense.
Oh well, other than that though, an interesting piece.
I just got done looking at the screenshots of KDE 3.0 for the first time (don't know why I didn't look when they first came out, lazyness I guess). Wow! KDE has improved in looks a lot! It looked great before, but know it looks even smoother!
I really do feel sorry for the guy who recently decited to switch back to windows. I mean really, what an exciting time to be involved in Linux! Two years ago when I first got involved in Linux, KDE and GNOME were fairly simple to use, although not as simple as windows. They booth looked ok as well. Boy things have improved a lot! At this rate, Linux could easily surpas windows in ease of use and asthetics.
...interesting if true.
yes, it's "better". But you only confirm with your example that the need stems from basic pent up slave-emotion.
I mean, would it be better if such a boss was fired?
When you play a game to expell a little of this sort of energy, the result is that you are then calmed, and thereby made the perfect victim, in real life, for that idiot boss to keep abusing! That's my point.
-pyrrho
can be a bit thick..
I usually just run a few pages out of the photocopier with the lid open.
"I have no criminal record. I've only had 1 speeding ticket in my life, and that was shortly after I got my car heh. Ive never had a parking ticket. Never done drugs. Never punched anybody. I don't even raise my voice."
:)
Well there you go. You're obviously a serial killer. You fit the profile perfectly. "Gee, he was always such a nice, quiet guy. Didn't bother anybody."
Just kidding of course
-Vercingetorix
"Necessitas non habet legem." -St. Augustine
Ok then. You are wrong. Hope this helps;-)
Insert something insightful here, or I'll insert something painful there.
>Timothy writes of KDE: "You've got to admit it's getting better all the time."
Microsoft wrote of XP: "It's the best windows yet!"
If you could be told what you can see or read, then it follows that you could be told what to say or think - BoC
I just wanted to let anyone who happened to order from them know about this. Your credit card info could very well be compromised."
And with Microsoft's history of security, the whole tying of Visa to Passport will be just as secure.
"...Your credit card info could very well be compromised."
Shouldn't that be "I just wanted to let anyone in Bellvue, WA know your credit card information HAS been compromised..."?
Haha, welcome to real life. Sure it would be "better" if the evil boss was just fired, but that's just not how it is in the real life. What are people supposed to do about an evil boss, other than find some peaceful, legal way to vent their anger? You could say the same thing about someone who goes and downs a cup of black coffee after an altercation with the boss in order to calm down. Coffee makes you the perfect victim! Good thing I don't drink coffee...
Perl - $Just @when->$you ${thought} s/yn/tax/ &couldn\'t %get $worse;
Wow so much for Object Oriented Programming!
/b2c/ourproducts/OurProductsStaples.jsp:
S ervice(jrun__ourproducts__OurProductsStaples2ejsp2 3.java:1978)
Excuse me, I... I believe you have my design patterns book... i'll burn down the website.
500 Internal Server Error
null java.lang.NullPointerException at jrun__ourproducts__OurProductsStaples2ejsp23._jsp
at yada yada yada....
You are checking your backups, aren't you?
Excuse me, I gotta get coding. I'm gonna be RICH!
You can probably save yourself a lot of time by licensing the engine from Deerhunter.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
I've always thought Chess was a little over the top. All those Bishops and Knights running around killing each other.
to the question in your sig: Yes
Must... Increase... Number... In... Sig... To... 1250. Must... post... more... often! :-)
Why not support PostNuke, a fork of PHPNuke that has a much better attitude toward open source development and security.
Bleh!
From reading the site, now that the link to actually purchase online is gone, it does not seem as if this is Swingline's fault as the poster states:
"The company who apparently provides the online shopping service for Swingline appears to be an outfit called SureSource."
Whereas the site clearly states:
" * Please note that you will be purchasing from SureSource, a distributor of Swingline products.
To place an order for the Rio Red Stapler (SKU#: S7074740), Please call SureSource at: 1-800-544-3243."
SureSource is simply a distributor, and as such, Swingline would have about as much control over their e-commerce site as I do over the weather.
One of the comments to the KDE3 article (on the article's page) said this:
/.ers have been raving about. Opinion: Yes, it's very nice. The nicest OS I've ever seen. But then I saw one of THESE and decided that when it comes to lugging a laptop around all day, weight is primary and OS choice is secondary. I'll be ordering one in a month. You have to see the little thing to believe it. It's unbelievably cute!]
"Would it be too much to ask for a Linux distro made specifically for KDE so that it may be optimized for KDE and really integrate KDE into the underlying system?"
Wow! Is this an original thought? I can't believe I never thought of that myself. I'd sure as heck give a such a distro a try on *my* desktop. I know so many folks prefer other desktops, and for good reasons, but if a standardized desktop (forced on the community because the KDE distribution overwhelmingly becomes *the* distro that all non-sysadmins use) that most apps were (in the long run) coded towards; that finally allowed me to cut and paste between apps (like the mac has been able to do for 18 years) would finally enable me to dump windows forever.
[Aside: I finally tracked down an OSX machine to check out the OS that so many
Heh, it has 2600.net listed (crim.skills), but not 2600.com. (they both go to the same place)
At a former employer the firewall blocked 2600.net, but allowed me to browse 2600.com. I wonder if there is a connection?
MM
--
By including this sig, the copyright holders of this work or collection unreservedly place it in the public domain.
Video games aren't "anger" any more than any other competion. Sports, Boy scouts, SCHOOL. Do we say "oh goodness, people might go crazy because they're competing with others for a goal"? Only if it happens to be a video game. What about paintball? Is paintball "harmful"? What about hunting - i'm sure they'd say hunting is even worse. In a video game it's all fake - teens are out there with REAL guns killing REAL life with them. But im clicking a mouse on some blob of pixels, and that's gonna fuck me up?
unless it bothers to explain the study in detail.
You remember that survey that said 90% of Americans flush the toilet before they stand up, right?
Be sure that anyone spouting knows to check the survey as well as the results.
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
I have to check what exactly was tested.
But if the brain is very active, it only
shows that the person is thinking very
hard.
In other words the easier it is for you
to complete a task, the less active is
your brain.
So you would prefer a game that was true to your life? Why bother playing a game at all, go live your life it'll be just like the game. Games by definition (activity engaged in for diversion or amusement) are escapist. If your Nietzschean beliefs dislike escapism then you need have no concern of the content of games.
We're sick, you realize. Oh, and anonymous posts aren't counted, so, who knows what the real number is...
In Mac OS X, the quit command is on a separate menu, which has the title of the program being used. For example, Internet Explorer v5.2 has a menu titled Explorer adn the menu items are: About IE, License Agreement, Preferences, Services (accesses OS-level functions like screen shots, etc.), Hide Explorer, Hide Others, Show All, and Quit Explorer. In general, I like the idea of having a separate menu that issues commands to the OS and controls the behavior of the program in relation to other programs and the OS, rather than subsuming these behivors into other menus that are used to issue commands to the program.
I had the same problem with CDNOW. Luckily it was my boss who caught it. I told CDNOW, but never heard back from them.
I used to have a cool sig but people replied to it more than they did my comments.
Can I have your old .sig please?
- We are the slashdot. Resistance is futile. Prepare to be moderated -
I've just read the OSNews article on KDE3.1. The article isn't too bad, though much of the criticisms the author levels are things that I would classify as personal preference and not really fundamental design issues.
/. comment seem well balanced and informed by comparison.
What really surprised me about that article was the user comments afterwards! The level of ignorance and arrogance shown by some of the users of the OSNews site is staggering and makes an average
They seem to have definitely had more than their quota of do-what-*I*-like users.. you know the kind; they never actually contribute to any project, not even so much as a bug report, yet they demand that all the developers should drop what they're doing and make the 'improvements' they suggest, which normally boil down to 'make it like whatever I'm already using, because I'm too lazy to learn something new!'.
I especially like this comment. It's another one of those X-is-crap(for reasons I'm not too sure about)-and-someone-should -do-something-better(though not me, obviously, because I know fuck all about what I'm talking about) comments. I'm not saying that X shouldn't be superceeded some day, but people that keep repeating this should really take the time to find out just how big and powerful(thus complex) X is, and maybe ask themselves why a community of so many good programmers has not replaced it, if it's such a simple and desirable thing to do?
Here's to Linux forging it's own path, and not trying to emulate everything that's already out there.
Incidentally, I'm a FVWM2 user, so I don't support either KDE or Gnome more than the other.
. Will you make it home before the engine overheats? Wheel gripping inaction!
I managed to cover myself in rasin bran while laughing my ass off at this sentence. Thanks
This is not limited to KDE of course, but why must all KDE apps have a name starting with a K? It isn't 'kool', or 'klever', or even 'kuseful'.
Do you ever see Windows applications that are called 'W-whatever'? Why, then, should all X-applications be called 'X-something', or KDE-applications 'K-something'?
Just to be sure, this is not a call for even worse fantasy names than we already have. I am perfectly satisfied with application names that describe the function of the application; for example, 'E-mail' is, as far as I care, the ultimate name for an e-mail application.
"this could possibly rate video game players as better drivers"
Highly dubious. I play video games all the time (and I'm pretty damn good at it too) and I've gotten in 3 accidents and gotten 2 speeding tickets. I'm 17. One of my accidents was running into a bus full of cheerleaders, btw.
I belong to the ______ generation.
They know it isn't simple to replace X, they just think it should be done. And it should be. I agree with what alot of that comment you linked said, but it is alot of repitition of what ALWAYS comes up in such debates. Hell, I switched back to windows too (win98) recently, and I'm really not bothered by it (I used freebsd for two years). It actually doesn't crash as often as I remember it.
Running from the police isn't fun unless:
1) You have the helicopter (three stars).
2) You don't pick up the bribes or go to the paint n' spray.
What's really good is when you get 5 stars and the FBI appears. Those guys are absolutely insane.
>However, the only long term solution is to follow the more enlightened policies of some European countries and ban this sort of trash outright.
Um, isn't that a limit on freedom of speech? The same freedom of speech that you wish to use to express your "alternative" view?
I hate censorship via banning. It's really stupid in my opinion. Rating systems that can be bypassed via parental permission I think are good. The movie rating system I think works alright. I think video game ratings should work in a similar way and the industry should voluntarily self regulate.
Do you ever see Windows applications that are called 'W-whatever'?
No, but there's plenty of Windows software that has a name containing 'Win'.
For example:
WinZip
Winamp
WinAce
WinRAR
WinDVD
CDRWin
WinDoctor
WinDAC
WinPopUp
WinRoute
WinMX
CygWin
These are just a few off the top of my head, there's plenty more. The Mac has (or had, at least) its fair share too, e.g. MacPaint, MacDraw, MacWrite, MacAMP/Macast.
You see, it's just a way of associating the program with the environment where it runs. The fact that KDE app developers love to associate their apps with KDE via the name suggests to me that they generally think very highly of KDE. Call it 'platform patriotism', if you will. End-users like it because it sounds like the app is specifically designed for the environment and follows the same style guidelines and conventions. Never underestimate the power of a name.
Why do you think WinZip became the dominant zip archiver on Windows? I'm pretty sure it wasn't the first, it doesn't come from the people who invented the zip format, it isn't free like some Windows zip archivers (nasty nagware) and I don't think it has the best user interface either (although that's arguable).
In short, it's just good marketing for an app, and that matters as much to free software authors as it does to commercial developers.
You can even order negative amounts of staplers. link
"I have been exposed to nearly every kind of video gaming experience one can have. I've played Mortal Kombat and all the GTAs and so on, so I know what's really involved there. Based on the reactions of people that claim that video game violence causes violent behaviour, I should be a hoodlum." My Grandfather smoked 40 cigarettes a day, from age 11. By these crazy scientists reckoning, her should have died of lung cancer aged 45. Actually, he livec to be 80. ANYONE can use ONE example to try to disprove a point (Espescially oner saying "I am not affected by these things)> Have you heard of 'trends', 'tendencies', 'increased chances' etc??
b3 4phr41d 0f my 4bov3-4v3r4g3 c0mpu73r kn0wI3dg3!
MadDwarf
This wouldn't work. I remember these at Trader Joes (what a kick ass store) in Brookline, MA (see also Stah Mah-ket and Stop & Shop). You have to close the door in order to activate the scanner. It spins the can (or bottle) around until it's able to read the UPC. So, stick no workie because you have to shut the door. And even if you got the door shut with your stick in there, you'd be screwed and stickless.
----
Spam subject of the moment: Offshore account secrets -nashville disrupt
Umm, Yeah SureSource? We're gonna need you to go ahead and come in on Saturday, m-kay?
Fix Your Own TV - RiddledTV.com Avoid the Landfill
"But im clicking a mouse on some blob of pixels, and that's gonna fuck me up?"
Well, something obviously has.
Wow! Running into a bus full of cheerleaders is good for a thousand points!
I do everything the voices in my head tell me to...
Not to mention how most MS apps earn an MS prefix when you talk about them.
There were times when I'd hop in my car after playing that game and I'd have to consciously remind myself that I was not supposed to hit things. Scary, indeed.
How funny! To be fair, they probably didn't build their own site. They probably had someone who specializes in that sort of thing do it for them. I know, I used to work for a consulting company that built sites for Red Hat and ISS (not their current sites, this was a few years ago). Internet consulting co.'s (i.e. web design people) don't always apply the same standards to their own code that their clients do. Personally, I like to make sites I build valid and simple, but not every designer shares those values and some scoff at those who do.
Your fantasies contain the seeds of important concepts.
err I wasn't making a definitive statement, I was showing them that I'm one of the kids that was exposed to the stuff that they're worried will affect kids. My point'd be flat if I never played games.
The difference between your example and mine is that quite a few people have died from cigs, but there's little proof of any video game induced violence.
Here is another line in my post I'd like you to pay careful attention to:
"Hopefuly you can see why it is extremely difficult for me to imagine that exposing children to violent video games results in harmful behaviour changes."
I wasn't using 'one example to disprove a point', I was explaining why I feel the way I do about it.
"Derp de derp."
At the Hy-Vee here in Ames, IA there are no doors, you just slide the can/bottle into a hole in the front of the machine.
Jesus saves and takes half damage.
you could quit... or go ahead, play a video game to relieve your stress. But that doesn't make it a healthy situation. Sometimes an opiate is good. But it's also good to get to the root of problems, if you want a long term solution.
These type of games are not the cause of a problem, but they sure as hell are the symptom of one. imho, of course.
-pyrrho
no, I like games and fantasy that takes me as far from reality as possible. It's the violent blood fantasy that is, to me, wasted escapism. It's in response to stimula that could be better spent in activism against whatever is instilling the anger in the first place.
It was said that Religion is the Opiate of the Masses. It just made the medievil European feel better about their oppression... how cruel to take it from them... but then, they are better off without it, imo. Better to face reality and address the problems. I wouldn't want to make these games illegal. But I would want to remove the illusion that it's sane and sensible and meaninglessly innocent play. It's a symptom of culture stress, of unsafe living environments, of hostile work conditions.
-pyrrho
"the *civillians* in that game don't take sh*t lying down"
Yeah, I think the detail of the NPC behaviors, and its variety, is one of the high points of the game. If a car blows up, some pedestrians will run away screaming, some will run over to inspect the wreckage (and get taken out by secondary explosions.) Attack a gang member, and all the other gang members who witness it will come after you. Try carjacking a mafia member some time if you want some excitement. The funniest suprise to me was when I mugged a pedstrian and then was hanging around in the area looking for something. An ambulance came and the EMTs revived the guy on the ground. Then he got up and came after me, caught me totally off guard. I guess I didnt' expect an NPC to have a memory like that.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
You're forgetting about the deadbeat drunks that never say anything to their kids, or even care where they are or what they're doing.
This is a rather late post that's likely of little value considering it's datedness. Just the same:
Reread my post. I was saying games which people use to "let out their anger" are especially likely to have some sort of side effect. I was not labeling video games as violent. I'm quite aware that video games can be decidedly nonviolent, evidenced by such games as Pong or to a lesser extent, Captain Novolin. And as you say, a game of paintball might have the same potential negative effects as a violent video game. For instance, a fellow may callously shoot his buddy in the face after he's already been taken out to relieve some anger. That sort of 'relief' of anger is what breeds more anger over time.
That's exactly the point. Any activity that encourages one to directly express her anger can encourage the spiraling growth of anger. Violent video games, for some people, may very well encourage just this sort of behavior, which may ultimately push them that extra step towards shooting their classmates.
You like splinters in your crotch? -Jon Caldara
> This wouldn't work. I remember these at Trader Joes [traderjoes.com] (what a kick ass store) in Brookline, MA (see also Stah Mah-ket and Stop & Shop). You have to close the door in order to activate the scanner. It spins the can (or bottle) around until it's able to read the UPC. So, stick no workie because you have to shut the door. And even if you got the door shut with your stick in there, you'd be screwed and stickless.
We don't have doors on ours here in Michigan, but they probably use some sort of sensor to detect the can. Not sure what type (if any) since aluminum cans are not magnetic.
> they had a police officer on there describing how he felt while they showed the main character of the game beating on a cop
Did they ask him to comment on the film of cops beating on Rodney King? Or did they manage to draw the distinction between entertainment and real life there?
> It frightens me that we allow these sort of games to be played by our youth
Grand Theft Auto III is clearly marked with an "18" certificate (at least, my copy is). If parents are allowing their kids to play it, then attack the parents - not the game. Or would you rather we banned all "18" cert movies? What else would you like to censor because certain individuals fail to exercise good judgement in raising their children?
> games like this, Postal, and Doom may be all it takes to trigger a mass murderer.
We had mass murders before computers (or TV) were invented. I really don't think we can blame mankind's inhumanity to itself on technology.
> but the fact that there were four thirteen year olds on the show playing the game
See my previous comment re: 18 certificate. The bad judgement is not in the making of the game, it is in allowing it to be viewed by an unsuitable audience. Again, the parents should take some responsibility rather than relying on an electronic babysitter.
> we need to curb our liberties to guard our safety.
No. You need to EXERCISE the liberty to stop your children playing those games which you feel are a negative influence in order to safeguard those liberties. If you place "safety" above liberty, presumably you wouldn't fight a war to preserve your liberty, since fighting a war is inherently unsafe? Wish we'd though of that when Hitler was threatening Europe.
Either the moderation is right, and you are a troll. Or the moderations wrong and you're sadly misguided. I hope for all our sake's that you're a troll.
Not everything that can be measured matters; Not everything that matters can be measured.