None of the modern missile lock on frenzy games have anywhere near the depth of the old school sims, just can't get into them.
Go get yourself a copy of IL-2 Sturmovik and you will be in Nirvana. It's probably the best serious combat flight sim ever made, and you can set it for anything from moderate realism to full-out, hard-core "I want to adjust the engine mixture myself, thank you very much" realism. Based on your comments I predict you will love it - and as a bonus, you should be able to find it priced at about one-fifth the cost of HAWX.
IL-2 has been expanded and updated many times over the years, so to make sure you get the total package, look for the compilation titled IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946. It includes the core game, all its expansions, the sequel (Pacific Fighters), and a bunch of Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe-style late-war wonder jets. Earlier compilations will lack some of these and will require patching to bring up to date, so 1946 is the version to buy.
I've never understood why there isn't a central application installer in Windows, something similar to apt-get & Co of Linux, or the Store of the iPhone.
Probably because setting themselves up as a non-skippable, non-bypassable, non-negotiable middleman in every transaction between Windows software developers and Windows users would make them appear even more monopolistic than they already do...
Word Perfect and Lotus 123 were the ones leaps ahead...
He's talking about ahead in usability, not features, and in that department Word (for Windows, the edition that stole the market) kicked the shit out of WordPerfect.
WP's "user interface" consisted of a set of key combinations so large and arcane that users routinely bought cardboard overlays that fit on top of their keyboard to help them remember all the various key combos and what they did. That's the opposite of "usable".
Word, on the other hand, took advantage of Windows to offer things like a mouse-driven GUI interface (which was still novel on the DOS/Windows side of the world) and WYSIWYG display of formatted text. These were things Mac users were taking for granted in the early 90s, but on what was still called the "IBM-compatible" side of the world, they were new and hugely welcome -- and a big part of the reason why character-based, keyboard-driven WordPerfect lost its audience.
I found stock Ubuntu Intrepid with a few tweaks to be easier to set up and more pain-free than any of the "easy/tuned" distros are. Once I had everything working (including wireless), I wrote up a HOWTO explaining how to go from bare metal to a fully working system so that others wouldn't have to go digging through a dozen forums to find the info. Check it out, might be all you need to get up and going.
It's a service (like del.icio.us) that replaces the need to email links around to groups of friends/co-workers/whatever all the time in order to share ideas. May sound fluffy to you, but if you have friends you like to share stuff you find online with, they're actually quite useful.
This is true of most of the original wave of netbooks (which were designed around 8.9" displays), but the market is moving to slightly larger models with 10" displays, which allow enough space for a decently usable keyboard. (I'm typing this on an Asus EEE PC 1000, one of those 10" models, and its keyboard is completely usable for touch-typing.)
You know, when I first heard they were doing a remake of Battlestar Dalactica, I thought it would totally suck. But it turned out to be pretty awesome! I love BSD!
All this really seems to say to me is that people online get into heated arguments, and that the inevitable result of heated arguments online is that someone will call someone the worst name they could think of - Hitler. So basically, if you invoke Godwin's Law thinking that anyone automatically comparing someone to Hitler (like, say, someone with Fascist tendencies), you're the idiot because you don't know what Godwin's Law says.
The reason why you "lose" when Godwin's Law is invoked is because it indicates that the thread has gone on long enough that anything worth saying has already been said. In other words, when people drag out the Hitler analogies, the discussion's over, even if they haven't realized it yet.
Odds are that you don't commute by rail. Commuting by rail has its advantages, and the magazine format coincides nicely with a hard day's use of the laptop. Especially given boot times, logins, possibly a connecting train. You get the idea.
Presumably if Flight Sim disappears most of the user base will migrate to X-Plane, and then the add-on developers will start bringing over their products as well.
I look at my little sister's generation -- she hardly ever watches "the news". She's still well informed about general news from the overwhelming flood of information about the same topics over and over spewing from the broadcasters -- it works it's way to her somehow, but she's better informed and dare I say, "more competitive than her older peers" on the topics that interest HER.
I heard an interesting description of this phenomenon the other day. In the past, news was something you had to go find; you'd seek out a news vehicle like a newspaper or TV broadcast to get it. Today, though, communication is so cheap that news is something that finds you. If something important happens, you'll hear about it from a blog you follow, or an email from your cousin, or a Twitter post. You don't have to go looking for the news; you're embedded in a communications web that brings it to you.
This, of course, completely upends the economics of news.
I don't remember seeing an article about how O'Reilly for instance, tried things like cutting unnecessary expenses, reducing executive bonuses, or really anything imaginative at all.
How Capitalism Works:
When the company is doing well, it's because the CEO is a genius.
When the company is doing poorly, it's because the workers are too expensive, too lazy or too numerous.
Slashdot Mirror
Go get yourself a copy of IL-2 Sturmovik and you will be in Nirvana. It's probably the best serious combat flight sim ever made, and you can set it for anything from moderate realism to full-out, hard-core "I want to adjust the engine mixture myself, thank you very much" realism. Based on your comments I predict you will love it - and as a bonus, you should be able to find it priced at about one-fifth the cost of HAWX.
IL-2 has been expanded and updated many times over the years, so to make sure you get the total package, look for the compilation titled IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946. It includes the core game, all its expansions, the sequel (Pacific Fighters), and a bunch of Secret Weapons of the Luftwaffe-style late-war wonder jets. Earlier compilations will lack some of these and will require patching to bring up to date, so 1946 is the version to buy.
Ironically, Ubisoft is the North American distributor for the IL-2 series; if you live there, you can buy 1946 as a digital download from Ubi's Web store for USD$10. It's also available on Steam at the same price, and if you prefer physical media, Amazon has the DVD version for $15.
"The Furious Girlfriends Association" would be a great name for a band.
I have a feeling that the answer to your question is "dump a ton of money on Tiversa", since Tiversa (the firm cited in the story) is headquartered in Congressman Altmire's district.
High praise indeed! Thank you! I owe you a beer for all your hard work on the EEE kernel...
Probably because setting themselves up as a non-skippable, non-bypassable, non-negotiable middleman in every transaction between Windows software developers and Windows users would make them appear even more monopolistic than they already do...
He's talking about ahead in usability, not features, and in that department Word (for Windows, the edition that stole the market) kicked the shit out of WordPerfect.
WP's "user interface" consisted of a set of key combinations so large and arcane that users routinely bought cardboard overlays that fit on top of their keyboard to help them remember all the various key combos and what they did. That's the opposite of "usable".
Word, on the other hand, took advantage of Windows to offer things like a mouse-driven GUI interface (which was still novel on the DOS/Windows side of the world) and WYSIWYG display of formatted text. These were things Mac users were taking for granted in the early 90s, but on what was still called the "IBM-compatible" side of the world, they were new and hugely welcome -- and a big part of the reason why character-based, keyboard-driven WordPerfect lost its audience.
I found stock Ubuntu Intrepid with a few tweaks to be easier to set up and more pain-free than any of the "easy/tuned" distros are. Once I had everything working (including wireless), I wrote up a HOWTO explaining how to go from bare metal to a fully working system so that others wouldn't have to go digging through a dozen forums to find the info. Check it out, might be all you need to get up and going.
... brought to you by the Department of Words That Don't Go Together.
There, fixed that for you!
It's a service (like del.icio.us) that replaces the need to email links around to groups of friends/co-workers/whatever all the time in order to share ideas. May sound fluffy to you, but if you have friends you like to share stuff you find online with, they're actually quite useful.
Who says Microsoft can't do marketing? Take that, haters!
This is true of most of the original wave of netbooks (which were designed around 8.9" displays), but the market is moving to slightly larger models with 10" displays, which allow enough space for a decently usable keyboard. (I'm typing this on an Asus EEE PC 1000, one of those 10" models, and its keyboard is completely usable for touch-typing.)
"No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame." - October 23, 2001
Actually, it's the House of Representatives and the Senate that are part of the same government branch, which is collectively referred to as the United States Congress.
If you're going to be calling half the people in the country idiots, make sure you're in the other half first ;-)
IRONY: A long, dense, unbroken paragraph about the importance of editing for readability.
... and you get what you pay for.
You know, when I first heard they were doing a remake of Battlestar Dalactica, I thought it would totally suck. But it turned out to be pretty awesome! I love BSD!
Wait, what?
The reason why you "lose" when Godwin's Law is invoked is because it indicates that the thread has gone on long enough that anything worth saying has already been said. In other words, when people drag out the Hitler analogies, the discussion's over, even if they haven't realized it yet.
They make a *nix with a vagina?
And it will always cost $350, because electronics don't get cheaper over time. Oh, wait.
Meet Kindle, which answers all of your concerns.
So now we know what happened to John Titor - he abandoned his mission to troll Slashdot!
Presumably if Flight Sim disappears most of the user base will migrate to X-Plane, and then the add-on developers will start bringing over their products as well.
I heard an interesting description of this phenomenon the other day. In the past, news was something you had to go find; you'd seek out a news vehicle like a newspaper or TV broadcast to get it. Today, though, communication is so cheap that news is something that finds you. If something important happens, you'll hear about it from a blog you follow, or an email from your cousin, or a Twitter post. You don't have to go looking for the news; you're embedded in a communications web that brings it to you.
This, of course, completely upends the economics of news.
How Capitalism Works:
When the company is doing well, it's because the CEO is a genius.
When the company is doing poorly, it's because the workers are too expensive, too lazy or too numerous.