Better watch out. Somebody with no sense of humor might mod your comment "Overrated" or "Redundant".
I made a Russian reversal joke on a story that was rather appropriate, and after no previous negative moderation whatsoever, all of a sudden I have bad karma.
Ahh the beauty of Slashdot's moderation system. And the ignorance of some of those that propel it along.
at least remember to acknowledge that maybe the keyboard half of the equation is slightly less fabulous.
Okay, sure, the "keyboard half of the equation" may indeed be a bit less "fabulous" than a joystick, as you probably meant to say. A joypad is pretty limited, typically to 8 directions.
But I digress. The keyboard is less fabulous because it doesn't have to be fabulous. The thing that you're casually overlooking is that the debate was never about control schemes for ALL games, but mainly for FPS games, simply because of the fact that there are two speeds in said games:
Full-speed
Lying dead in a pool of your own blood/ooze/gibs/whatever
Simply put, the keyboard was an input device for computations first, then games came along, and having over a hundred keys, somebody figured out eventually that there were at least four that could be conveniently spaced to provide reasonable movement input for games, especially first-person shooters. In fact, it's perfect for modeling movement for first-person shooters, because if you press a key, your guy moves. If you don't, he stops (and in an FPS, most likely is blown to smithereens).
Also, a gamepad is not necessarily "intuitive", either. It may be understandable for those who have played games, but I've watched too many friends try to teach non-gamers to play some Halo 2 (usually their girlfriends) and most of the time, their subjects were running around staring at Master Chief's feet for a good 20 minutes before they made any real progress.
The really funny part about it is, the only reason I never got into using ICQ was the whole point behind keeping up with a randomly assigned number. Always seemed counter-intuitive to me, as opposed to using a name that you -- the user -- create.
But then I guess that just goes to show you how easy identity theft, or account hijacking in general, can be.
Sorta off-topic, but I promise it's worth it. There's a funny bit by Lewis Black (I believe it's on the White Album) where he's describing being incredibly astounded by people gambling in Vegas casinos around Christmas while carols are playing over the loudspeakers.
Granted I'm doing the bit no justice by attempting to explain it, but for some reason it leaves me in stitches every time.
Pardon the stereotype here, but I've never had experiences with rookie cops that didn't somehow damage their credibility in my eyes.
It seems like, at least around where I live, that the kids coming out of the academy are EXACTLY the kinds of people that don't need to be given a badge and pistol. Much less any actual authority.
But all that ranting aside, I feel fairly certain that somebody with actual experience on the force would have given him a smack upside the back of the head for doing something that blatantly stupid. At least I would hope so.
I am a Computer Science student at a university in Virginia. Was in my networks class about 2 months ago and noticed in the instructor's powerpoint overview of the chapter material he had some personal note included referring to a "PHM". Clearly not getting the joke, I asked what it stood for. Upon recieving the answer "pointy-haired manager", I had a pretty good laugh.
I guess I just found it a bit ironic how Dilbert is turning out to be more of a stereotype of cube-life than a clever amusement.
"Wolfenstein ET, America's Army and UT2003 have zero or not significant single player modes."
You're talking about games that are either multiplayer expansions, free, or were never touted as truly single-player in the first place. It's understandable in those cases, in which case they can spend their time and development cash entirely on building truly great multiplayer experiences (of course I've heard pretty lackluster things about U2TK3, but that's beside the point).
In the case of a game like Warhawk, which was anticipated to have some form of single-player campaign from conception, a move like this understandably looks like a cop-out, which of course the developers have accompanied with the proper excus...err, I mean good reason.
Add to that the fact that the game, unless they throw in some killer graphics and sound, is most likely not making the most of the Blu-Ray medium it's going to be on, and it's just another reason I won't be buying a PS3 anytime this decade.
You're making one hell of an assumption if you're stating that all the US is interested in are "preemptive strikes". Contrary to popular belief, the US does dabble in diplomacy, admittedly probably less than it should, but obviously you can't go around resolving issues with bunker busters and cruise missiles every time; far from it.
But to assume that the UN is the best we have so far is downright naive; for one, the scandal and corruption that have plagued it undermine it more than anybody pointing their fingers at it. In addition, there are indeed times when diplomacy has to go out the window, and issues have to be resolved with force; to pretend that complacent diplomacy is the only answer is sheer fantasy.
Also you might not want to assume that one agrees with the current president or administration before you start criticizing a simple joke. This is Slashdot after all, lighten up with the "Americans are morons" bullshit.
--That type of personality even gets some applause from "ordinary" people
True nuff, but I was really referring more to outward appearance (dress, hygiene, etc.) than I was to a particular personality. It's one thing to not give a damn as part of your personality. It's when the only parts of you you're apathetic towards are your smell and general appearance that people tend to be turned off; I would wager to say that even most geeks or Gregory Houses would turn away from a chronic non-bather.
-- In some states it's illegal to drive drunk on private property. (Like being in your driveway.)
I live in a rural part of VA -- ironically enough, infamous for bootleg liquor distillation -- and the laws for drunk-driving on private property (mainly your own) were explained to me in 10th grade health class as follows:
If you're drunk on private property, you can be driving as long as the vehicle's power output is no greater than some weird arbitrary number of horsepower (I think something like 22 or 25, I can't remember exactly). Basically this translated to the fact that Bubba Average could be in his front yard, mowing whilst hammered, and they couldn't do anything to him. Absurd, yes, but thought I'd share anyhow.
Also, on the topic of MADD, it sounds like they're hearkening back to the days of Carrie Nations.
Also, all three may have been shot in the eighties, but they took place in the forties, so it's not like we're going to see an Indiana Jones trying to come to terms with teh Intarwebs.
Good. Cause God knows Firewall was horrible enough without those crazy Nazis.
...like pretty clear evidence that explosives were used...
You're right, explosives were indeed used to bring the towers down. I'd say huge jetliners filled to capacity with fuel and flown into buildings qualify as "explosives".
Or are you talking about C4 (or something equivalent), which has pretty much been debunked by, let's see here, most of the credible scientific community? There's just something about "pretty clear" evidence that has them not exactly swayed.
Slashdot Mirror
On the bright side, it looks like the ISP has had no trouble getting the empty 700 GB or so filled back up.
Better watch out. Somebody with no sense of humor might mod your comment "Overrated" or "Redundant".
I made a Russian reversal joke on a story that was rather appropriate, and after no previous negative moderation whatsoever, all of a sudden I have bad karma.
Ahh the beauty of Slashdot's moderation system. And the ignorance of some of those that propel it along.
Okay, sure, the "keyboard half of the equation" may indeed be a bit less "fabulous" than a joystick, as you probably meant to say. A joypad is pretty limited, typically to 8 directions.
But I digress. The keyboard is less fabulous because it doesn't have to be fabulous. The thing that you're casually overlooking is that the debate was never about control schemes for ALL games, but mainly for FPS games, simply because of the fact that there are two speeds in said games:
Simply put, the keyboard was an input device for computations first, then games came along, and having over a hundred keys, somebody figured out eventually that there were at least four that could be conveniently spaced to provide reasonable movement input for games, especially first-person shooters. In fact, it's perfect for modeling movement for first-person shooters, because if you press a key, your guy moves. If you don't, he stops (and in an FPS, most likely is blown to smithereens).
Also, a gamepad is not necessarily "intuitive", either. It may be understandable for those who have played games, but I've watched too many friends try to teach non-gamers to play some Halo 2 (usually their girlfriends) and most of the time, their subjects were running around staring at Master Chief's feet for a good 20 minutes before they made any real progress.
Holy God that was beautiful.
Was literally LOL in response to that.
Kudos, good sir, kudos to you.
The really funny part about it is, the only reason I never got into using ICQ was the whole point behind keeping up with a randomly assigned number. Always seemed counter-intuitive to me, as opposed to using a name that you -- the user -- create.
But then I guess that just goes to show you how easy identity theft, or account hijacking in general, can be.
Negative modding be damned, I have to get this out of my system.
"In Soviet Russia, ICQ number deletes YOU!!!"
Sorta off-topic, but I promise it's worth it. There's a funny bit by Lewis Black (I believe it's on the White Album) where he's describing being incredibly astounded by people gambling in Vegas casinos around Christmas while carols are playing over the loudspeakers.
Granted I'm doing the bit no justice by attempting to explain it, but for some reason it leaves me in stitches every time.
I'd pay money to zoom over a well-known cattle farm, let's say the King Ranch in Texas for instance, and hear an old, familiar sound:
"The cow says: MOOOOOOO"
...Yes I'm simply amused, what of it?
Wow. Just wow. If only I had mod points.
If I did, however, you'd probably get "Insightful" rather than mere "Funny".
Pardon the stereotype here, but I've never had experiences with rookie cops that didn't somehow damage their credibility in my eyes.
It seems like, at least around where I live, that the kids coming out of the academy are EXACTLY the kinds of people that don't need to be given a badge and pistol. Much less any actual authority.
But all that ranting aside, I feel fairly certain that somebody with actual experience on the force would have given him a smack upside the back of the head for doing something that blatantly stupid. At least I would hope so.
Unfortunately, you went wrong when you thought you were living in a rational century.
Happens to the best of us though, damned good-naturedness.
Furthermore, and OT, is "good-naturedness" even a word?
I am a Computer Science student at a university in Virginia. Was in my networks class about 2 months ago and noticed in the instructor's powerpoint overview of the chapter material he had some personal note included referring to a "PHM". Clearly not getting the joke, I asked what it stood for. Upon recieving the answer "pointy-haired manager", I had a pretty good laugh.
I guess I just found it a bit ironic how Dilbert is turning out to be more of a stereotype of cube-life than a clever amusement.
...I mean aside from the talking animals.
When he's not defending Earth from the dangers of Manbearpig.
I'm super serial!
...Okay, I'll stop now.
Damn you, now I have to clean beer out of my laptop screen.
However my hat is off to you for the sheer brilliance of that statement.
Kudos to you.
"Wolfenstein ET, America's Army and UT2003 have zero or not significant single player modes."
You're talking about games that are either multiplayer expansions, free, or were never touted as truly single-player in the first place. It's understandable in those cases, in which case they can spend their time and development cash entirely on building truly great multiplayer experiences (of course I've heard pretty lackluster things about U2TK3, but that's beside the point).
In the case of a game like Warhawk, which was anticipated to have some form of single-player campaign from conception, a move like this understandably looks like a cop-out, which of course the developers have accompanied with the proper excus...err, I mean good reason.
Add to that the fact that the game, unless they throw in some killer graphics and sound, is most likely not making the most of the Blu-Ray medium it's going to be on, and it's just another reason I won't be buying a PS3 anytime this decade.
--Was there a point to Animal Crossing?
No, but at least you didn't have to pay for "goods" and "services" that didn't actually exist.
You're making one hell of an assumption if you're stating that all the US is interested in are "preemptive strikes". Contrary to popular belief, the US does dabble in diplomacy, admittedly probably less than it should, but obviously you can't go around resolving issues with bunker busters and cruise missiles every time; far from it.
But to assume that the UN is the best we have so far is downright naive; for one, the scandal and corruption that have plagued it undermine it more than anybody pointing their fingers at it. In addition, there are indeed times when diplomacy has to go out the window, and issues have to be resolved with force; to pretend that complacent diplomacy is the only answer is sheer fantasy.
Also you might not want to assume that one agrees with the current president or administration before you start criticizing a simple joke. This is Slashdot after all, lighten up with the "Americans are morons" bullshit.
Be careful! That kind of attitude and they might just send you a "strongly-worded letter".
I just love how posts get modded "troll" just because the modder isn't in on the joke. I say we drop their asses on Xen. :-D
They closed the Anomalous Materials Lab? Now who's gonna produce a resonance cascade?
:-P Sorry, had to do it.
--That type of personality even gets some applause from "ordinary" people
True nuff, but I was really referring more to outward appearance (dress, hygiene, etc.) than I was to a particular personality. It's one thing to not give a damn as part of your personality. It's when the only parts of you you're apathetic towards are your smell and general appearance that people tend to be turned off; I would wager to say that even most geeks or Gregory Houses would turn away from a chronic non-bather.
--It's just fashionable to be seen as such, somewhat.
Woah buddy I'm gonna hafta differ in opinion with you on THAT one. I'm in doubt as to geeky unkempt-ness EVER having been fashionable.
-- In some states it's illegal to drive drunk on private property. (Like being in your driveway.)
I live in a rural part of VA -- ironically enough, infamous for bootleg liquor distillation -- and the laws for drunk-driving on private property (mainly your own) were explained to me in 10th grade health class as follows:
If you're drunk on private property, you can be driving as long as the vehicle's power output is no greater than some weird arbitrary number of horsepower (I think something like 22 or 25, I can't remember exactly). Basically this translated to the fact that Bubba Average could be in his front yard, mowing whilst hammered, and they couldn't do anything to him. Absurd, yes, but thought I'd share anyhow.
Also, on the topic of MADD, it sounds like they're hearkening back to the days of Carrie Nations.
Also, all three may have been shot in the eighties, but they took place in the forties, so it's not like we're going to see an Indiana Jones trying to come to terms with teh Intarwebs.
Good. Cause God knows Firewall was horrible enough without those crazy Nazis.
You're right, explosives were indeed used to bring the towers down. I'd say huge jetliners filled to capacity with fuel and flown into buildings qualify as "explosives".
Or are you talking about C4 (or something equivalent), which has pretty much been debunked by, let's see here, most of the credible scientific community? There's just something about "pretty clear" evidence that has them not exactly swayed.
Mod parent flamebait, please.