I would agree that the amount is small enough that it doesn't really matter at the end of the day. It does complicate the business case for demos and free content though, but I don't think it's enough of a cost to tip decisions one way or the other.
The bigger problem is the PR. This is one more move that re-enforces the impression that Sony has shifted to mitigating their losses for this console generation. Dropping BC (seemingly less value in newer SKUs), being slow to cut the price, and now this. Each move by itself doesn't matter much, but the cumulative effect has significantly soured the prospect of buying a PS3 for many people (whether justified or not is a bit of a moot point). Personally, were it not for the fact that the MGS4 80 gig was so limited, I would have a PS3 by now.
Re:Death, the High Cost of Living
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I'm pretty sure that one is in the works, and Neil Gaiman will be directing... or at least he wants to. We'll see if the project ever comes together.
I think you only described the three FF games you played: VII, VIII, and X? Of the newer ones, IX, XII, and X-2 aren't really like that, and XI is right out. Like you said, the older ones don't really fit that mold either.
correlation is necessary, but not sufficient, for causation
Actually I think the more appropriate phrase in the case the GP is talking about is: absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Which really only means they can't conclusively say there is no causal relationship (only that we haven't seen empirical evidence of one).
internal ombudsmen? legislation? federal agencies? lawsuits?
I dare say that all of those mechanisms probably serve the stated purpose better than unions, if for no other reason than the fact that they're more focused on the specific issue whereas unions are more about general advocacy.
As far as unions as a mechanism for change, I think you have to regard their effectiveness as at least partially tied to the historical context. In a time where much of what they advocated has now become reality, I'm not sure what positive change you're expecting unions to bring about.
I'm pretty sure the reason that Jobs won't be presenting at MacWorld is that "One More Thing" at the expo will be a Cyborg Steve Jobs. It will be the most astoundingly fantastic reveal ever, and, if we're really lucky, Apple will be cutting legal department costs by equipping Cyborg Jobs with weapons (gotta make up for that 1% drop in computer sales). Awww... just imagine the smell of crackling bacon as tech journalists fry.
I don't really understand what you mean by that so I don't feel terribly informed. Could you elaborate a bit? What happened in Georgia was a gong show all around, but that aside, I would consider the South Ossetian separatists to at least be Russian backed (i.e. their agents). So I'm not sure how that demonstrates 'a few bored teenagers who happen to live in Russia' are effectively the same as the Russian government or their agents.
Actually, I've never had a problem with this in North America. It might be way more difficult than it should be at times, but I have never had wait staff refuse to do this.
On the other hand, while on a short trip in Europe, I had one waiter tell me it's "impossible" to split the bill, and I had a second waiter roll his eyes at me because I dared to make additional orders. I think the difference is that in North America, the gratuity is up to the customer (except in rare cases), whereas in some European countries, there seems to be already some sort of charge for service rolled into the price. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.
When I first saw video of this on the local news, I had a hard time figuring out how I missed the entire sky being lit up like that. Then I realized that, as a slashdotter, I was naturally indoors at that time in the afternoon. The basement habitat is not conductive to observing astronomical events.... I think I will have to put a webcam on the roof.
I second this idea... especially the grad student part. Better yet, find a way to make this work part of a thesis for one of these students... then you might not have to pay them at all.:)
That would be the scope assumption part. Actually, now that I think about it, this is just a red-herring anyways. If the original poster does happen to live in a particularly cheap area of the country, that just means his situation is not reflective of most people's situations, so it's still perfectly valid to question his housing expenses being qualified as 'expensive'.
You realize of course that the original post was qualified with "(I live in an expensive area)". I suppose it's possible we were suppose to automatically assume some kind of geographic scope on that qualification.
I don't think $850 on housing expenses is expensive at all, especially when you're talking about a mortgage and not rent. If I could buy a decent place and only have to pay that amount in housing expenses, I would go out and buy a solid gold iPhone:)
I'm sorry but I find your post incredibly disingenuous. There is no way you really believe that what distinguishes your 'unconventional development methodologies' from 'conventional development methodology' is the perks. You yourself said you could put in the brothel and 'get away with it'. Have you considered that maybe that's exactly what spending company money on game consoles is? Something you get away with, and not something that actually contributes to making your numbers, or making your team happy. Have you considered that maybe 'the guys' enjoyed the challenge of writing the framework, and they didn't go the extra mile because there are video games at work (and the company paid for it... certainly it's impossible to game with co-workers on someone's personal property)? You really want to defend a culture of perks as the key to your success?
I'm going to propose the crazy idea that maybe, just maybe, you can create a fun, casual, and flexible workplace without spending company money on game consoles. Oh, and conversely, you can buy all the game consoles you want for a code-mill and still not create a fun and creative workplace.
This may fail miserably, but not because it is a bad idea, but it must be done in a way that aligns with the culture.
It most certainly does not align with the 'culture' of any kind of functional workplace, so I think it's perfectly appropriate to call it what it is, a bad idea. As your said, distractions or no distractions, motivated employees work better. Not every one is motivated by the employer giving them a perk. No way is a whole group of non-clones going to all be motivated by getting their own console at work. Personally, I would question my manager's judgment and consequently lose motivation. Hell, I don't think anyone would gain any kind of sustained motivation out of something like a game console. It seems to me that this guy asking the question doesn't understand the personalities in his own department either. Of course maybe they really are a bunch of people barely in the real world and also happen to share the exact same obsession with video games. The only reward that is likely to be welcomed by a diverse group of people is vacation time or cash bonuses.
I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I find the suggestion that citizen guerrilla with small arms vs. the modern American armed forces would be anything like Patriots vs. Red Coats rather questionable.
I'm actually not sure what you're trying to say... Your comment vaguely appeals to \. sentiment, but what exactly are you getting at? MS spreads FUD is somewhat off-topic...
Are you suggesting that MS scares users with security alerts into purchasing their software, which is legendary for being secure?
Slashdot Mirror
I would agree that the amount is small enough that it doesn't really matter at the end of the day. It does complicate the business case for demos and free content though, but I don't think it's enough of a cost to tip decisions one way or the other.
The bigger problem is the PR. This is one more move that re-enforces the impression that Sony has shifted to mitigating their losses for this console generation. Dropping BC (seemingly less value in newer SKUs), being slow to cut the price, and now this. Each move by itself doesn't matter much, but the cumulative effect has significantly soured the prospect of buying a PS3 for many people (whether justified or not is a bit of a moot point). Personally, were it not for the fact that the MGS4 80 gig was so limited, I would have a PS3 by now.
I'm pretty sure that one is in the works, and Neil Gaiman will be directing... or at least he wants to. We'll see if the project ever comes together.
sorry.. disregard. I misread GP
Err... actually Final Fantasy practically saved Square... They were going to be toast before its release, and that's why it's "Final"
I think you only described the three FF games you played: VII, VIII, and X? Of the newer ones, IX, XII, and X-2 aren't really like that, and XI is right out. Like you said, the older ones don't really fit that mold either.
err... if they're apples and oranges, and you want to know if the orange is better than the apple...
Obviously the answer is no, because the orange is not an apple, and the orange is really an orange?
'prerequisite' seems like the right word to me
correlation is necessary, but not sufficient, for causation
Actually I think the more appropriate phrase in the case the GP is talking about is: absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Which really only means they can't conclusively say there is no causal relationship (only that we haven't seen empirical evidence of one).
internal ombudsmen? legislation? federal agencies? lawsuits?
I dare say that all of those mechanisms probably serve the stated purpose better than unions, if for no other reason than the fact that they're more focused on the specific issue whereas unions are more about general advocacy.
As far as unions as a mechanism for change, I think you have to regard their effectiveness as at least partially tied to the historical context. In a time where much of what they advocated has now become reality, I'm not sure what positive change you're expecting unions to bring about.
I'm pretty sure the reason that Jobs won't be presenting at MacWorld is that "One More Thing" at the expo will be a Cyborg Steve Jobs. It will be the most astoundingly fantastic reveal ever, and, if we're really lucky, Apple will be cutting legal department costs by equipping Cyborg Jobs with weapons (gotta make up for that 1% drop in computer sales). Awww... just imagine the smell of crackling bacon as tech journalists fry.
I don't really understand what you mean by that so I don't feel terribly informed. Could you elaborate a bit? What happened in Georgia was a gong show all around, but that aside, I would consider the South Ossetian separatists to at least be Russian backed (i.e. their agents). So I'm not sure how that demonstrates 'a few bored teenagers who happen to live in Russia' are effectively the same as the Russian government or their agents.
Actually, I've never had a problem with this in North America. It might be way more difficult than it should be at times, but I have never had wait staff refuse to do this. On the other hand, while on a short trip in Europe, I had one waiter tell me it's "impossible" to split the bill, and I had a second waiter roll his eyes at me because I dared to make additional orders. I think the difference is that in North America, the gratuity is up to the customer (except in rare cases), whereas in some European countries, there seems to be already some sort of charge for service rolled into the price. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.
When I first saw video of this on the local news, I had a hard time figuring out how I missed the entire sky being lit up like that. Then I realized that, as a slashdotter, I was naturally indoors at that time in the afternoon. The basement habitat is not conductive to observing astronomical events.... I think I will have to put a webcam on the roof.
Isn't there some episode that suggests a human origin to the Borg? A Von Neumann probe or something?
I second this idea... especially the grad student part. Better yet, find a way to make this work part of a thesis for one of these students... then you might not have to pay them at all. :)
That would be the scope assumption part. Actually, now that I think about it, this is just a red-herring anyways. If the original poster does happen to live in a particularly cheap area of the country, that just means his situation is not reflective of most people's situations, so it's still perfectly valid to question his housing expenses being qualified as 'expensive'.
You realize of course that the original post was qualified with "(I live in an expensive area)". I suppose it's possible we were suppose to automatically assume some kind of geographic scope on that qualification.
I don't think $850 on housing expenses is expensive at all, especially when you're talking about a mortgage and not rent. If I could buy a decent place and only have to pay that amount in housing expenses, I would go out and buy a solid gold iPhone :)
Thank you, Mr. dotcom Wisdom?
I'm sorry but I find your post incredibly disingenuous. There is no way you really believe that what distinguishes your 'unconventional development methodologies' from 'conventional development methodology' is the perks. You yourself said you could put in the brothel and 'get away with it'. Have you considered that maybe that's exactly what spending company money on game consoles is? Something you get away with, and not something that actually contributes to making your numbers, or making your team happy. Have you considered that maybe 'the guys' enjoyed the challenge of writing the framework, and they didn't go the extra mile because there are video games at work (and the company paid for it... certainly it's impossible to game with co-workers on someone's personal property)? You really want to defend a culture of perks as the key to your success?
I'm going to propose the crazy idea that maybe, just maybe, you can create a fun, casual, and flexible workplace without spending company money on game consoles. Oh, and conversely, you can buy all the game consoles you want for a code-mill and still not create a fun and creative workplace.
This may fail miserably, but not because it is a bad idea, but it must be done in a way that aligns with the culture.
It most certainly does not align with the 'culture' of any kind of functional workplace, so I think it's perfectly appropriate to call it what it is, a bad idea. As your said, distractions or no distractions, motivated employees work better. Not every one is motivated by the employer giving them a perk. No way is a whole group of non-clones going to all be motivated by getting their own console at work. Personally, I would question my manager's judgment and consequently lose motivation. Hell, I don't think anyone would gain any kind of sustained motivation out of something like a game console. It seems to me that this guy asking the question doesn't understand the personalities in his own department either. Of course maybe they really are a bunch of people barely in the real world and also happen to share the exact same obsession with video games. The only reward that is likely to be welcomed by a diverse group of people is vacation time or cash bonuses.
I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I find the suggestion that citizen guerrilla with small arms vs. the modern American armed forces would be anything like Patriots vs. Red Coats rather questionable.
What are you going to mistake 'Levitating' with?
That's all I can think of.
Argumentum ad populum ... yes that's a wikipedia link; did I just blow your mind a little?
wow the absence of that 'n' makes a real difference huh :)
Does the classification matter? Why are one-violent activists on any law enforcement agency list?
I'm actually not sure what you're trying to say... Your comment vaguely appeals to \. sentiment, but what exactly are you getting at? MS spreads FUD is somewhat off-topic...
Are you suggesting that MS scares users with security alerts into purchasing their software, which is legendary for being secure?