"As the article mentions, Apple makes it's money from hardware
(unlike everyone else who IS actually in the gaming market)."
Last I checked, Sony and Microsoft were making hardware, too. The profits do come from the games. The game developers receive those profits and the hardware developers get a large cut. How many games do you see out there that are developed solely by the hardware manufacturer?
Apple has a brand, a very popular one right now. If they can tie their gaming platform to the iPod it will definitely get their foot in the door. If Apple enters gaming it most likely won't be to compete head on with the 360 or PS3, at least to start. As Nintendo has shown with the Wii, you don't need to have cutting edge graphics or processing speed, you need an innovative idea. And although a lot of us do not like to admit it. Apple has been an incredible innovator in the past few years and their products are highly desired in the areas that they focus on. I guarantee that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have already considered Apple in their gaming business strategies.
Not all scientists are convinced that it was actually water.
"Many scientists believe the gullies were carved by liquid water, although others have argued they are due to avalanches of carbon dioxide gas or rivers of dust," from The New Scientist.
"There's a long list of bad things we do to this planet that goes way beyond pollution."
Bad is a very subjective term. It's all about perspective. Mining, paving, deforestation, urbanization... how are those essentially different from beaver dams, bee hives, or swarms of locusts devouring plants? They are natural functions of humanity. Things that we do to survive, or provide shelter, or even luxury.
Many people view humans as being outside of nature, outside of the universe. "Oh god, look at all the damage we are doing!" But the fact is that we are very much a part of everything else. The parent's "longer answer" sums it up very well, it is hard to view anything without the "human-centric" bias. Say we go out and destroy, pollute, etc a neighboring planet. That is not us "destroying" the planet, it is the universe that is doing so, for we are a part of the universe. And as I said, "destroying" is subjective. Say there is a race of intelligent beings out there that would thrive in a high temperature atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide and methane. Would they view humanity's effect on global warming as "destroying"?
I have always thought of humanity as the part of the universe that is trying to figure itself out. We may be the only part that is doing so. We may be the only conscious element in the universe. Don't you think that we should survive and maybe eventually come to some better understanding of the universe?
"A 17 year old street-kid, who (as the game begins) is training himself on rats, quickly progresses to the wanton slaughter of the undead, not to mention elite Imperial guardsmen (in whichever order common sense would indicate with regards to their difficulty)."
I refer you to Audie Murphy and Alexander. Those are the first few I could think of off the top of my head. Yeah, neither were street kids, and Alexander was far more accomplished, but I think you get my point. Besides, it is just a GAME after all.
I wasn't blaming the user so much as I was saying that the average non-Windows user is capable enough to prevent such things from happening. That and the fact that Windows is by far the most prevalent operating system on the net should lead one to expect that the distribution appear as it did.
of course it can't be due to the fact that the type of people that run o/s other than windows actually know a bit about computers and would be better equipped to put a stop to such behavior on their own system. no, that can't be it.
I too got 99 percentile on the asvab, but you also get scores for the specific tests that aren't percentile based. Regardless, I joined the Marines and served four years. And as for the people who had a hard time passing, I believe at the time you needed 32nd percentile to be able to enlist. Only the Army accepted people with lower asvab scores, and that was a fact. Because I had several months before I left for boot, I helped others study for the test. And like many other groups of people who score low on the test, it isn't because they're idiots. Many of them had test anxiety, or were never taught things that they should have been by our educational system. All of the people I helped eventually "passed". Bleh. I'm done, it's not worth my time to try and convince people who "know" that our military is full of knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathers otherwise. Besides, this is all in response to a joke anyway.
Muscles Are Required, Intelligence Not Essential, Sir!
"If the price of a CD (or vinyl) since 1980 kept up with inflation, wages etc they should be almost 4 times higher than they are now so the big bands are making the label one quarter of what they were."
Holy shit! I didn't know albums cost US$23.63 in 1980! Let's assume the average price of an album today is $15, which actually favors your argument by being on the low side. Ok, let's multiply that by four. US$60 in 2005 is equivalent to US$23.93 in 1980 based on the CPI. So given that you say that CDs should cost four times more in order to have kept up with inflation, albums must have cost nearly 25 bucks back then. And FYI, if the price of something increases 4 times, the profit does not. Bleh.
Slashdot Mirror
"As the article mentions, Apple makes it's money from hardware (unlike everyone else who IS actually in the gaming market)."
Last I checked, Sony and Microsoft were making hardware, too. The profits do come from the games. The game developers receive those profits and the hardware developers get a large cut. How many games do you see out there that are developed solely by the hardware manufacturer?
Apple has a brand, a very popular one right now. If they can tie their gaming platform to the iPod it will definitely get their foot in the door. If Apple enters gaming it most likely won't be to compete head on with the 360 or PS3, at least to start. As Nintendo has shown with the Wii, you don't need to have cutting edge graphics or processing speed, you need an innovative idea. And although a lot of us do not like to admit it. Apple has been an incredible innovator in the past few years and their products are highly desired in the areas that they focus on. I guarantee that Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo have already considered Apple in their gaming business strategies.
Well, it's good to see that for NASA, space is still a high priority.
That moon base plan has been the works for a long time, but the timing of the announcements may not be a coincidence.
Not all scientists are convinced that it was actually water.
"Many scientists believe the gullies were carved by liquid water, although others have argued they are due to avalanches of carbon dioxide gas or rivers of dust," from The New Scientist.
Also, here is the NASA release from their site.
D'oh. I am the anonymous coward in the above post. Not that anyone cares.
"There's a long list of bad things we do to this planet that goes way beyond pollution."
Bad is a very subjective term. It's all about perspective. Mining, paving, deforestation, urbanization... how are those essentially different from beaver dams, bee hives, or swarms of locusts devouring plants? They are natural functions of humanity. Things that we do to survive, or provide shelter, or even luxury.
Many people view humans as being outside of nature, outside of the universe. "Oh god, look at all the damage we are doing!" But the fact is that we are very much a part of everything else. The parent's "longer answer" sums it up very well, it is hard to view anything without the "human-centric" bias. Say we go out and destroy, pollute, etc a neighboring planet. That is not us "destroying" the planet, it is the universe that is doing so, for we are a part of the universe. And as I said, "destroying" is subjective. Say there is a race of intelligent beings out there that would thrive in a high temperature atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide and methane. Would they view humanity's effect on global warming as "destroying"?
I have always thought of humanity as the part of the universe that is trying to figure itself out. We may be the only part that is doing so. We may be the only conscious element in the universe. Don't you think that we should survive and maybe eventually come to some better understanding of the universe?
I thought the experimentalists were the ones that were always testy.
Thank you, I'll be here all week.
Yes, you are the only one. The two people who posted THE EXACT SAME THING before you are liars.
Giggity, giggity, giggity!
You're assuming that people who are suffering from depression think rationally.
I wonder if he is related to him.
In other news, I've heard that story before and it reeks of urban legend, but I couldn't find anything to debunk it on the web.
18 years is nothing. You may want to read up a bit, Tiananmen Square has been around for a lot longer than 18 years.
In other news, during the 4000+ years of Chinese history there has never been a peaceful change of governmental regime.
"A 17 year old street-kid, who (as the game begins) is training himself on rats, quickly progresses to the wanton slaughter of the undead, not to mention elite Imperial guardsmen (in whichever order common sense would indicate with regards to their difficulty)."
I refer you to Audie Murphy and Alexander.
Those are the first few I could think of off the top of my head. Yeah, neither were street kids, and Alexander was far more accomplished, but I think you get my point. Besides, it is just a GAME after all.
I wasn't blaming the user so much as I was saying that the average non-Windows user is capable enough to prevent such things from happening. That and the fact that Windows is by far the most prevalent operating system on the net should lead one to expect that the distribution appear as it did.
"According to the Chinese delegate to the conference in Greece two weeks ago no sites are blocked."
Wow, China is more liberal with the internet than my employer. Maybe I'll move there, I hear Tiananmen Square is lovely in June.
And the people pounding on the doors of avid Chinese wiki users could be Avon ladies.
Nothing to see here.
Move along.
of course it can't be due to the fact that the type of people that run o/s other than windows actually know a bit about computers and would be better equipped to put a stop to such behavior on their own system. no, that can't be it.
In Soviet Russia, asteroid lands on you!
Yes, and the main goal of the laser is to destroy nuclear wessels.
I too got 99 percentile on the asvab, but you also get scores for the specific tests that aren't percentile based. Regardless, I joined the Marines and served four years. And as for the people who had a hard time passing, I believe at the time you needed 32nd percentile to be able to enlist. Only the Army accepted people with lower asvab scores, and that was a fact. Because I had several months before I left for boot, I helped others study for the test. And like many other groups of people who score low on the test, it isn't because they're idiots. Many of them had test anxiety, or were never taught things that they should have been by our educational system. All of the people I helped eventually "passed". Bleh. I'm done, it's not worth my time to try and convince people who "know" that our military is full of knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathers otherwise. Besides, this is all in response to a joke anyway. Muscles Are Required, Intelligence Not Essential, Sir!
Stop that Hitleresque talk, you Nazi!
Steven Wright, is that you?
At least cite the quotation, please. Else, people will think you're funny when in actuality you are not.
I thought that may have been the case, but I decided to err on the side of being an asshole. It's more fun that way.
"If the price of a CD (or vinyl) since 1980 kept up with inflation, wages etc they should be almost 4 times higher than they are now so the big bands are making the label one quarter of what they were."
Holy shit! I didn't know albums cost US$23.63 in 1980! Let's assume the average price of an album today is $15, which actually favors your argument by being on the low side. Ok, let's multiply that by four. US$60 in 2005 is equivalent to US$23.93 in 1980 based on the CPI. So given that you say that CDs should cost four times more in order to have kept up with inflation, albums must have cost nearly 25 bucks back then. And FYI, if the price of something increases 4 times, the profit does not.
Bleh.