More to the point, aren't most of us "loners" already? Besides, what's wrong with being a "loner" in the first place? And I agree with you about credit cards. I can't recall the last time I received a "you're preapproved" item either, though I have destroyed enough in my time. I believe we can say we have won.
While I agree with the core of your argument, I believe there is one major difference between Slashdot and sites like Facebook; here, we still own the comments we make (as specified on the baseline of every Slashdot page):
Can anyone say the same about Facebook, or other social networking sites? True, our comments here become public domain, but it's not like we're giving up any of our rights; Slashdot is, after all, a message board, so the nature of our communications is obvious before we post anything.
My thoughts exactly. This can only be a failure by QA, who should never have allowed this flaw to make it past the test phase. No QA department should ever let a prima donna dictate code policy.
Sorry, but your math, like that of the accountant, is clearly wrong. Two thirds majority literally means you multiply the number of "No" votes by two and compare with the number of "Yes" votes; the measure only passes if the latter exceeds the former. 70*2 is 140, which is larger than 136, so the measure fails. There's no need for a recount because the numbers and the method are there for everyone to see.
Well stated. I completely agree with his statement, and would also suggest that the equation can also be managed by dividing the total number of votes by 3 and checking the contrary votes against that value (206/3 is 68 2/3, so with 70 votes against, the measure fails).
Actually, ignoring the fact that there are volcanoes all along the western coast of the US (including the famous Mount St. Helens in Washington, the state), Iceland is known as "The Land of Fire and Ice" for a very good reason.
Thank you for getting that point right. I see so many comments that misconstrue the point, and unfortunately many of those come from politicians. More disheartening is that so many of the people in the US have become convinced we are a democracy, and are often vehemently opposed to anyone telling the truth.
The two party system is defacto because of the rules of the election where winner takes it all.
No where in the constitution, or in the twelfth amendment, is the process for choosing electors defined. The current method of giving the winner all the Electoral Votes is selected by most of the states (but not all of them). Personally, I feel we would better be served by selecting electors by the winner of each house district, with the overall winner receiving the remaining two votes (which would be in full compliance with the constitution's requirements). Getting rid of the Electoral College, however, would be a big mistake in my opinion; if exercised appropriately, the system gives states a voice they cannot receive otherwise.
I have read most of what's been written here, and I agree with many of the points made. I, myself, am working on a spiritual successor to a game, and I've implemented many of the ideas already expressed.
1. Do not copy Image, Story, Scenario, etc. My game is based on the concepts behind the original Metroid and Metroid Zero Mission. I have changed the scenario so that while the 'mission directive' is nearly identical to Metroid's, the story takes a sharp turn away from Metroid's almost immediately, and continues to take the player further and further from the scenario from Metroid.
2. Do use game play elements without blatantly copying. My game uses many weapons that are nearly identical to those from the Metroid series, while others have unique properties that clearly distinguish them. I believe this will give my game a very Metroid like feel, without actually violating any of Nintendo's IP.
3. Make sure the game is fun. I haven't yet reached the testing stage, so I don't know exactly how my game will feel, but I have no intention of considering the game finished until I know how much fun the game is, while still maintaining the difficulty levels I'm aiming for. However, I've also made certain to include game elements that will draw the player deeper into the game experience (such as making items that can be seen early into the game, but not accessed until later, after gaining new strengths). If you can't keep the player's attention, your game won't be playable.
All in all, I say enjoy yourself, take your time, and do your best to avoid copying the game while still making it challenging and entertaining.
Re:"Apple Inc -- creator of the personal computer"
on
The Apple Two
·
· Score: 1
Right month, wrong year: From Wikipedia (Commodore PET), the launch date was January 1977. Albeit, I'm not the GP, so I can't say much more about this.
Couldn't tell you about SyFy's broadcast plans. As I mentioned earlier, I don't have cable, so I have no clue what any station that isn't broadcast in my area is planning to show; my PBS station shows reruns on Saturday nights, so I'm not likely to get the current season until next year.
Good point, though there is one notable difference between T. Baker and Eccleston that I feel ought to be noted. Baker generally spoke slowly, except when explaining some theory, while Eccleston seemed to spit everything out as quickly as possible (I at least partly blame the current television requirements that shorten the length of the show; in Baker's day, the producers usually had about one hundred minutes to tell a story, and it's now cut to about forty, though Eccleston seems to talk fast ordinarily).
I do agree that Eccleston did resemble T. Baker in many ways, like the way he talked to himself in his first episode when he examined his 'new' face. Similarly, Tennant reminded me a lot of Pertwee, the third doctor; the eccentricity was very similar, though admittedly, I've probably seen more screen time with Tennant than I have Pertwee. I'm an American without cable, though, so I can't offer an opinion on Smith yet. To be honest, I'd be interested in seeing another doctor like C. Baker (he wasn't a particularly pleasant character, but his openness was often quite refreshing).
Sorry about the long comment, but your comparison just brought back so many memories.
I also got "Why are Mac's So Expensive? - Yahoo! Answers" on my first attempt, but subsequent searches resulted in the first macs article (which wasn't Yahoo! Answers) being much further down the page (it was fifth or sixth) until I wiped the Bing cookie, and then I got my original result again.
Just for the hell of it, I searched for "Ill Booten Gotty" (a gag phrase from the M*A*S*H episode "I Hate a Mystery") on Google, Bing, and Yahoo. I used quotes to make sure the quote would be searched for in its entirety, and since I use Google on a frequent basis (and therefore have certain search settings in Firefox), I ran the search on Opera.
Yahoo provided a link to a German band first, and a lot of other irrelevant stuff, but nothing dealing with the reference I was seeking in the top ten entries (I didn't search past that point). Clearly Yahoo's arrangement with Microsoft has done more damage to their service than good if they can't even find a single relevant page in the top ten.
Bing provided the same German band link first, and a bunch of other irrelevant stuff before providing a link to a quotes page on tv.com for the episode at the end of the list (I again didn't search past that point). This is an obscure, but rather old quote, but I am still surprised the first relevant link was so far removed from first.
Google first provided two IMDB links to quotes pages (one for the episode itself and another for a M*A*S*H character), and one for the tv.com quotes page (in the fifth position) along with some other less relevant stuff (I again did not search past number ten). I actually got slightly different results using my search settings (tv.com was in fourth, and two more relevant links to a page I'd never heard of ended the list).
I personally think this proves the point of the article, and also proves your point about what search engines are used for.
Two final points. One, I did not reply to you because of the similarities in our screen names, but because I felt you made a good point, and your point fit well with my point. Two, Preview is a great tool for making sure you get the major bugs out of your post (this would have been a jumble of text otherwise).
Sounds like the troll (the AC, not you) is a Microsoft Shill. I stopped reading after the HFS+ comment because nothing he'd said to that point was even remotely relevant to what you wrote. Looks like he never worked out how to become relevant.
Sorry about replying to myself; made the code 39 bytes by adding a comma after 'Hello.' Also, I could have reduced the code to only 35 bytes by making the function only support 256 bytes of string (removing the INC $FC and its corresponding BNE $C00A; the BNE uses only two bytes, since one is an eight bit offset to PC).
No offense, but how big? I wrote "Hello World" for the Commodore 64 (6510, a 6502 derivative) in a miniassembler today in five minutes, and it maxed out at 38 bytes (this includes the "print" function and the text).
Here's the code; the labels are addresses because miniassemblers only use addresses, not labels (and yes, I did have to insert the text in hexadecimal, but I'm providing the text to simplify): C000:
LDA #$19
LDY #$C0
STA $FB
STY $FC
LDY #$00 C00A:
LDY ($FB),Y
BEQ $C018
JSR $FFD2
INY
BNE $C00A
INC $FC
BNE $C00A C018:
RTS C019: DB "HELLO WORLD!", $00
I run XP inside VirtualBox (locked out of my network) on my own machine for the one Windows-only software suite I absolutely must have, too. Never had a serious problem with my Windows system or with my host machine (though Windows does have some instability, doesn't have sound (which is okay, since I never use it for multimedia anyway), and one of my Windows apps doesn't communicate with the Ubuntu clipboard very well). And I still end up with more grief from Windows overall than I do my Ubuntu machine!
Ugh, 8 bit sound. The Commodore 64 (1984-1992) had a three voice, monaural, 16 bit audio, and was one of the most unique sound systems of its day (SID audio is still distinct). However, 8 bit quality is a lot like what the PC speaker produces.
Excellent statement. I was thinking much the same thing when I read his post (not in those words, of course, but you captured the essence of my feelings on the subject perfectly). Yours is also the only comment on this post that actually addressed the issue at hand rather than brushing it off with nonsense. Thanks for making a statement that needed to be made; I'm not really sure I'd have been able to word my own feelings on the matter as eloquently or succinctly.
Slashdot Mirror
More to the point, aren't most of us "loners" already? Besides, what's wrong with being a "loner" in the first place? And I agree with you about credit cards. I can't recall the last time I received a "you're preapproved" item either, though I have destroyed enough in my time. I believe we can say we have won.
Actually, this wasn't Aspirin, but Ibuprofin, which is not particularly habit forming. An OD can have quite unpleasant consequences.
Can anyone say the same about Facebook, or other social networking sites? True, our comments here become public domain, but it's not like we're giving up any of our rights; Slashdot is, after all, a message board, so the nature of our communications is obvious before we post anything.
My thoughts exactly. This can only be a failure by QA, who should never have allowed this flaw to make it past the test phase. No QA department should ever let a prima donna dictate code policy.
Sorry, but your math, like that of the accountant, is clearly wrong. Two thirds majority literally means you multiply the number of "No" votes by two and compare with the number of "Yes" votes; the measure only passes if the latter exceeds the former. 70*2 is 140, which is larger than 136, so the measure fails. There's no need for a recount because the numbers and the method are there for everyone to see.
Well stated. I completely agree with his statement, and would also suggest that the equation can also be managed by dividing the total number of votes by 3 and checking the contrary votes against that value (206/3 is 68 2/3, so with 70 votes against, the measure fails).
Actually, ignoring the fact that there are volcanoes all along the western coast of the US (including the famous Mount St. Helens in Washington, the state), Iceland is known as "The Land of Fire and Ice" for a very good reason.
Thank you for getting that point right. I see so many comments that misconstrue the point, and unfortunately many of those come from politicians. More disheartening is that so many of the people in the US have become convinced we are a democracy, and are often vehemently opposed to anyone telling the truth.
No where in the constitution, or in the twelfth amendment, is the process for choosing electors defined. The current method of giving the winner all the Electoral Votes is selected by most of the states (but not all of them). Personally, I feel we would better be served by selecting electors by the winner of each house district, with the overall winner receiving the remaining two votes (which would be in full compliance with the constitution's requirements). Getting rid of the Electoral College, however, would be a big mistake in my opinion; if exercised appropriately, the system gives states a voice they cannot receive otherwise.
I have read most of what's been written here, and I agree with many of the points made. I, myself, am working on a spiritual successor to a game, and I've implemented many of the ideas already expressed.
1. Do not copy Image, Story, Scenario, etc. My game is based on the concepts behind the original Metroid and Metroid Zero Mission. I have changed the scenario so that while the 'mission directive' is nearly identical to Metroid's, the story takes a sharp turn away from Metroid's almost immediately, and continues to take the player further and further from the scenario from Metroid.
2. Do use game play elements without blatantly copying. My game uses many weapons that are nearly identical to those from the Metroid series, while others have unique properties that clearly distinguish them. I believe this will give my game a very Metroid like feel, without actually violating any of Nintendo's IP.
3. Make sure the game is fun. I haven't yet reached the testing stage, so I don't know exactly how my game will feel, but I have no intention of considering the game finished until I know how much fun the game is, while still maintaining the difficulty levels I'm aiming for. However, I've also made certain to include game elements that will draw the player deeper into the game experience (such as making items that can be seen early into the game, but not accessed until later, after gaining new strengths). If you can't keep the player's attention, your game won't be playable.
All in all, I say enjoy yourself, take your time, and do your best to avoid copying the game while still making it challenging and entertaining.
Right month, wrong year: From Wikipedia (Commodore PET), the launch date was January 1977. Albeit, I'm not the GP, so I can't say much more about this.
Couldn't tell you about SyFy's broadcast plans. As I mentioned earlier, I don't have cable, so I have no clue what any station that isn't broadcast in my area is planning to show; my PBS station shows reruns on Saturday nights, so I'm not likely to get the current season until next year.
Good point, though there is one notable difference between T. Baker and Eccleston that I feel ought to be noted. Baker generally spoke slowly, except when explaining some theory, while Eccleston seemed to spit everything out as quickly as possible (I at least partly blame the current television requirements that shorten the length of the show; in Baker's day, the producers usually had about one hundred minutes to tell a story, and it's now cut to about forty, though Eccleston seems to talk fast ordinarily).
I do agree that Eccleston did resemble T. Baker in many ways, like the way he talked to himself in his first episode when he examined his 'new' face. Similarly, Tennant reminded me a lot of Pertwee, the third doctor; the eccentricity was very similar, though admittedly, I've probably seen more screen time with Tennant than I have Pertwee. I'm an American without cable, though, so I can't offer an opinion on Smith yet. To be honest, I'd be interested in seeing another doctor like C. Baker (he wasn't a particularly pleasant character, but his openness was often quite refreshing).
Sorry about the long comment, but your comparison just brought back so many memories.
I'm not really sure. However, I did recently recall that Electrical Energy is the square root of PR.
(Technically that's Power times Resistance, but the way they're ordered, it could also be public relations.)
I also got "Why are Mac's So Expensive? - Yahoo! Answers" on my first attempt, but subsequent searches resulted in the first macs article (which wasn't Yahoo! Answers) being much further down the page (it was fifth or sixth) until I wiped the Bing cookie, and then I got my original result again.
Oh, how I wish I had mod points and hadn't already contributed to this discussion. Thanks for the laugh!!!!
Just for the hell of it, I searched for "Ill Booten Gotty" (a gag phrase from the M*A*S*H episode "I Hate a Mystery") on Google, Bing, and Yahoo. I used quotes to make sure the quote would be searched for in its entirety, and since I use Google on a frequent basis (and therefore have certain search settings in Firefox), I ran the search on Opera.
Yahoo provided a link to a German band first, and a lot of other irrelevant stuff, but nothing dealing with the reference I was seeking in the top ten entries (I didn't search past that point). Clearly Yahoo's arrangement with Microsoft has done more damage to their service than good if they can't even find a single relevant page in the top ten.
Bing provided the same German band link first, and a bunch of other irrelevant stuff before providing a link to a quotes page on tv.com for the episode at the end of the list (I again didn't search past that point). This is an obscure, but rather old quote, but I am still surprised the first relevant link was so far removed from first.
Google first provided two IMDB links to quotes pages (one for the episode itself and another for a M*A*S*H character), and one for the tv.com quotes page (in the fifth position) along with some other less relevant stuff (I again did not search past number ten). I actually got slightly different results using my search settings (tv.com was in fourth, and two more relevant links to a page I'd never heard of ended the list).
I personally think this proves the point of the article, and also proves your point about what search engines are used for.
Two final points. One, I did not reply to you because of the similarities in our screen names, but because I felt you made a good point, and your point fit well with my point. Two, Preview is a great tool for making sure you get the major bugs out of your post (this would have been a jumble of text otherwise).
Sounds like the troll (the AC, not you) is a Microsoft Shill. I stopped reading after the HFS+ comment because nothing he'd said to that point was even remotely relevant to what you wrote. Looks like he never worked out how to become relevant.
Perhaps, but my code includes the system calls (JSR $FFD2 calls CHROUT from the Commodore 64's KERNEL; it's a jump table address).
Sorry about replying to myself; made the code 39 bytes by adding a comma after 'Hello.' Also, I could have reduced the code to only 35 bytes by making the function only support 256 bytes of string (removing the INC $FC and its corresponding BNE $C00A; the BNE uses only two bytes, since one is an eight bit offset to PC).
No offense, but how big? I wrote "Hello World" for the Commodore 64 (6510, a 6502 derivative) in a miniassembler today in five minutes, and it maxed out at 38 bytes (this includes the "print" function and the text).
Here's the code; the labels are addresses because miniassemblers only use addresses, not labels (and yes, I did have to insert the text in hexadecimal, but I'm providing the text to simplify):
C000:
LDA #$19
LDY #$C0
STA $FB
STY $FC
LDY #$00
C00A:
LDY ($FB),Y
BEQ $C018
JSR $FFD2
INY
BNE $C00A
INC $FC
BNE $C00A
C018:
RTS
C019:
DB "HELLO WORLD!", $00
I run XP inside VirtualBox (locked out of my network) on my own machine for the one Windows-only software suite I absolutely must have, too. Never had a serious problem with my Windows system or with my host machine (though Windows does have some instability, doesn't have sound (which is okay, since I never use it for multimedia anyway), and one of my Windows apps doesn't communicate with the Ubuntu clipboard very well). And I still end up with more grief from Windows overall than I do my Ubuntu machine!
Ugh, 8 bit sound. The Commodore 64 (1984-1992) had a three voice, monaural, 16 bit audio, and was one of the most unique sound systems of its day (SID audio is still distinct). However, 8 bit quality is a lot like what the PC speaker produces.
In the words of Captain Hollister (from Red Dwarf): Someone with "more teeth than brain cells."
He was actually referring to Arnold Rimmer, but it applies equally well to anyone who would mod a comment like that (the GPs) "Troll" in my opinion.
Excellent statement. I was thinking much the same thing when I read his post (not in those words, of course, but you captured the essence of my feelings on the subject perfectly). Yours is also the only comment on this post that actually addressed the issue at hand rather than brushing it off with nonsense. Thanks for making a statement that needed to be made; I'm not really sure I'd have been able to word my own feelings on the matter as eloquently or succinctly.