I wonder how this works for me. I only live in the US for half of the year. Am I supposed to purchase 2 copies and run a different one in each country? I usually do the opposite of what the story describes though. I usually purchase the US version and use it abroad because I want the English version. Would that be a problem as well?
I don't think they jump over any bit of technology. I think they have different lifestyles so different technology is more convinient for them and since we don't share their lifestyle we often don't understand why. For example, not having a car and not carrying your laptop everywhere would change the gadgets that you find usefull. In Japan you really don't need a car and sometimes it can be more of an inconvinience far more so than NYC. Free wifi also isn't as readily available in establishments, but net cafes with more amenities are more prevelant and its very common for people to sleep there and watch tv. They do use laptops, they just don't carry them and use them in public as often as we do in the US. So phones with great services and gadgets that they can use on the train or while walking are far more usefull.
Also street addresses and street signs are very poorly organized in Japan. Directions are more visual and things aren't as organizes as the Ave St system. Every cab I saw had GPS and without it they probably couldn't find anything that wasn't a train station or well known attraction. Many of the street names are written using characters some people haven't learned. So GPS and electronic dictionaries that are built into some kind of mobile device are very usefull.
Also you spend $2000 on flat panels at a subways station because they are usually generate lots of advertising revenue (maybe they wouldn't in the US, I don't know). I don't know about Taiwan but the flat panels on the train in Tokyo were basically billboards that were put in the bussiest areas possible and the broadcast were tailored for the displays. One of them even taught english lessons so they could get people to go to their school. Not only would a standard tube not fight in the same areas, but less people who pay attention to it. Asthetics are very important and everything is built around the train stations.
Funny you should ask that because they don't. Things are usually written in one paragraph. They don't even put spaces between the words and when you write something formal or in a book or magazine, it's written from top to botton then from right to left.
Tech differences between the US and Japan are a mixed bag. When I'm in the bay area or Seattle area people are far more tech savvy and have far more gadgets then the people I met when I lived in Tokyo. There is some great technology in Japan but has to do with tech gadgets and at times we have better stuff in the US. In the US you have a much better selection of computers and computer parts and they are cheaper. Fujitsu and Sony don't make the greatest machines so your not missing much by not having their latest model right away. In contrast if you want a great gaming machine your options are more limited in Japan.
Cell phones are one of those items people like to bring up and thats also a mixed bag. The service is more expensive and the data rates are far more expensive in Japan. My cellphone bill last month went from $50 to $200 just from sending emails to other people's phones. In contrast I have sent far more emails and text messages from my US phone without extra charges. They have some neat models if you look but most places offer the same lineup of phones who's design is more limited than the designs we see here. Take a ride on the subway and it will seem like 90% of the people are using the same model flip phone. You will see far more people using smartphones and similar devices in the US. When people in Japan saw my old T-Mobile MDA they are always amazed. Those types of devices aren't as popular there among everyday people. Here you can easily find people using smartphones and blackberrys who don't even use the email features or web browser. They tend to stick to the flip phone design with no keyboard in Japan. But they do tend use web services that are tailored to mobile devices more often.
If you really want to see superior Japanese technology that is not common here go to a love hotel. The last one I went to required no face to face communication with any employees. You walk in the building take a number, go to the room number on the slip. When you get to the door a voice greets you from an intercom and then your door unlocks. You go inside, the door locks you in:( and it stays that way until you pay the talking touch screen machine that is built into the wall which bills you by the hour. In the bathroom there is a hot tub with a large plasma tv built into the wall. In the bed room is another plasma, a PS2, a Sega Genesis, an NES, a karaoke machine and a sex toy vending machine. Overall it was average for that type of establishment.
I just moved back to the US from Japan this month and its so sad to have to go back the sub par overpriced service here. I was paying about $50 for a 100Mps connection and before that it was just included in my rent which is very common. The performance during anytime of the day was always impressive and I lived in one of the most denseley populated areas in Tokyo. Plus the TOS allowed me to run webservices. Outside the city service was just as cheap and reliable. This Verizon service would be equivelent to the economy family package there and it would be much cheaper. A lot of people just have no idea what they are missing because they are used to the service and prices here. Whats with these providers out here?
"- Full email access on the go is very nice. A Blackberry does this also, but very few other phones do."
A lot of other phones have this. I've been using this for multiple pop and exchange accounts on every phone I have had for the last two years and I have never owned a Blackberry. I don't see how you can give the iPhone credit for this.
"The full web browser is a bigger feature than people give it credit for. I communicate heavily via forums, wiki, etc, for work, and being able to check these in a non-crippled (like a Blackberry, or every other phone really) phone is really, really, really nice."
My phone has a full web browser and I have been doing this for a long time. Plenty of models do this besides the Blackberry. I don't see how you can give the iPhone credit for this either.
"On behalf of everybody at Dell, I'd like to congratulate you on the purchase of your first computer, and I offer you a hearty welcome to the Internet. These people are called "trolls" and it is in fact perfectly legal to kill them with fire."
Okay I'm coming for you Dexter. Make sure your wearing lots of hair spray.
This reminds me of the QQ topics in the WoW forums. It got to the point where people would use an alt character to post a fake complaint to start a flame war. A classic example would be someone posting with a lvl 10 warlock in the rogue forums about how rogues are overpowered an need to be nerfed. After 20 pages of long debunks it would become apparent that people had wasted part of their lives arguing with another bored rogue who didn't believe any of the crap they were posting. Not only were they playing a joke on their fellow rogues but they were making fun of people that came to their forums to complain.
In a similar manner I wonder if any of these emails or posts on slashdot are from bored people expressing fake opinions that are the oppossite of their real ones, just for the amusement of seeing the responses. Always makes me think twice when it seems like someone is trying to spread FUD. Wouldn't suprise me a bit seeing as how some of those guys do visit slashdot.
I'm not saying they conspired to do this but it will be almost a year from now before this is fixed. In the mean time people will get used to the built in search features created by MS. After that manufacturers can install Google desktop search and it will be easier for the user to switch back to default one. I'm not sure what exactly the problem was though. My dell came with Google search and tool bar which was an abomination before they updated it to look more like the Microsoft one.
C'mon you have to make one for Opera too. "It's built in" or "we did it before Firefox." I dunno thats what I usually say. Oh well I don't really use Opera anymore. Guess I'll take the beer and popcorn.
Most fanboys don't admit they are fanboys. They tend to say they are just posting the truth and that truth just happens to support the product or company they are fans of. The fact that you responded to this topic in this manner indicates that your truth may be overly bias towards Apple and your argument is often used by fanboys. I'm not saying your a fanboy just that you sound like one. Saying I post correct information about the company doesn't mean a whole lot. Should I take your word on that? A fanboy creates, highlights and distributes logical reasoning to backup their products and that reasoning is biased. If that same reason supports the competition they ignore it or try nitpick a small difference. But the golden rule is to never admit or realise your bias or your agenda and pretend that you are fair and balanced.
I think the real issue here is that playing video games isn't something that is respected as a valid use of people's time. This realization makes much of the video game addiction issue unravel. If a person spent just as much time playing or watching sports it wouldn't be considered an addiction even if they neglected other aspects of their life. If a person sat around reading novels it wouldn't be considered an addiction but throw some pictures in there and some bubbles around the words (comics, manga) and suddenly its considered and unhealthy obsessive hobby. For every person that spends all their time playing video games there are many more that spend their time watching tv or movies. Video games are singled out because of lack of respect and the perception that only kids should play them. Work is another good example. People use the term workaholic but in most cases the practice is encouraged and respected, yet it is more likely to end a marriage or cause children to be emotionally neglected and it is much more common. Mentally none of these addictions are any different aside from public perception and what the feeble minded media decides to single out.
Its been done extensively with slot machines at the worlds largest casinos and those were less excessible and much more expensive than consumer producsts like HD-DVD players. In the end casinos have to rely surveillance and not the security of their hardware to prevent cheating. Hardware is more diffricult to hack but deffinately possible and in this situation its a sure thing that plenty of people would be up for the job.
The problem with your analogy is that you are confusing maintenance with fueling. Pumping gas is equivalent to plugging your computer in to an electrical socket, not deleting files off a their hard drive. On a computer the user often has to do maintenance and have a deeper understanding than they would with most products. This is not about stupidity, it's about your field of interests, expertise. I know plenty of computer experts who don't know jack about subjects that other everyday dumb folks don't have problems with. A lot of us have completely lost out perspective on this is issue.
Its not just you that feels that way but that would be a really sad situation. Consoles should not have only one or two good games. I agree Sony's lineup is not good and their strategy has been the worste of the 3 but I'm not ready to jump out and buy a Wii either. I play the Wii with friends but its not something I spend hours playing by myself. I think its innovative but equally overhyped. If I get one in the future it will not be because of Wii Sports or Mario Paper, it will be because one of the Gundam games was actually great and the consoles popularity attracts a good lineup. To be honest I find World of Warcraft much more addicting and far more apealing to my tastes. I like fun games but I also like to immerse myself in a setting that I find apealing. I'm tired of Mario. I'm tired of looking at him. Its just not for me anyone.
I also disagree that Mario Paper is the reason for the Wii'ss sucess. Its the controls and the its influence on the gameplay. With Mario Paper people are excited that they can actually do something with it besides Wii Sports. If it came out on the Gamecube it wouldn't be that big of a deal. I'm not saying the stuff you mention has no value I just think it goes over most consumers head and I also dont' think Nintendo has created some monopply on good games. The 360 has a solid lineup there are some damn good PC games out there. Right now I'm on the PC and PSP and just waiting for the console thing to play out.
This is in response to the last statement that the plans shouldn't be revealed because it would inform the terrorists. You can't just ban cell phones in a large area and not tell anyone. If Bush is there then there will be other people with security interests that rely on cell phones. If any other politicians are around they need to make arangements for other forms of communication etc. The media will need to act accordingly as well. In any event its probably a waste of time anyways.
I wonder if its possible for the students to get internet access through another party. I know it is in my area. If you live on campus its a little bit harder and you might have to use something like ClearWire even thought the speeds aren't so good, or the commercial area next to campus is an endless network of free wifi. Most of the nextworks have little to no control over anything.
When I was in college (not to long ago) at the University of Washington they had the finest internal network of pirated files I have ever seen. Everyone had at least a T-1 connection. You didn't even have to download the files, you could just play them from whatever box they were stored on. So yea sure, it was massive piracy and at the time most people never gave it a second thought. College kids are little animals and I think the crusade is a waste of time. They will get the content if they want it and I wouldn't assume that this is stuff they would normally be paying for.
I agree that Stanford is being monumentaly stupid. But its not just Stanford. If most universities ignored the RIAA then the idea of a pirate university wouldn't mean a whole lot. Yes corporations sponser universities in many ways but if the RIAA is hurting so bad from piracy then their corporate sponsorship is becoming increasingly worthless. Prety soon they are going to ask for a subsidy or tax if they aren't getting one already. A smart capitalist society should be able to take advantage of this. We are trying to protect a dinosaur because we see the resources it has now not the resources it will have in the future.
No I'm not an English teacher. Part of my family lives in Japan, I have gone to school there and worked in the software industry. Nice try at being a third leg. Your argument is also dead wrong. There are tons of horrible English teachers in Japan but its not the reason for the poor quality of written and spoken English in modernized East Asian countries. By the time most of them have even met a foreign instructor they have already established their habits from native Japanese teachers. The most obvious answer would be that its not their native language. Native English speakers are usually worse at Japanese. The Japanese language does not contain many sounds in the English language and the English language does not contain some of the sounds in the Japanese language. Its not so easy for everyone to make new sounds with your tongue when you are already in college. Their grammer is also vastly different. English tends to be more specific even when it doesn't need to be. The English phrase, "I'm going to the bathroom" could be as simple as "bathroom go" in casual Japanese speech. When you study a language there are many different levels of speech that are relevant to your study. I know quite a few Japanese students who understand English grammer better than most Americans, but if you say "Hey, how ya doin" they run for their electronic dictionaries. So a big motivation for selecting English teachers is to learn how to speak and understand the bad English that native English speakers use because they want to talk to real people and not some prick who only pretends to understand proper English. As a student I felt the same way. I just wanted to talk to a native speaker because proper Japanese speech that you learn in class does very little for a real life conversation.
I really enjoyed Halo 1 and 2's multiplayer experience. Factor in XBox Live and most great games don't have the same online multiplayer experience. When my buddies came over friday or sat it was what we did before we went out. I'm into RPGs and RTSs while most of my friends like sports games. Halo was our common ground. There were a million other fps with multiplayer capability but we just didn't find them as enjoyable when you had a crowd, not to mention the likelyhood that everyone knew how to play any of the other games was very slim. It had good balance, not too tactical, not too simplistic and it had the right attitude. To those who say it wasn't that popular I have to disagree. Its one of those games many people know how to play even if they don't own the game. Over half the guys I played with didn't even have their own xbox, they didn't need too. I'm not talking about techies and gamers here. Just guys who drink beer and play Madden. Most of them haven't touched an RPG, and until Wii sports they hadn't touched anything from Nintendo since the Super NES days. I think Miyamoto and many people here are totally missing what Halo's apeal is and that apealing aspect is something he isn't the greatest at. You can't make something if your only understing of it is overley simplistic because its not your style. His comment was cocky disrespectfull. I often do the same. Make a smart comment and pretend it wasn't supposed to be something condescending. To that I have heard many describe his games in the same fashion which is what Bungie did.
Its a good example and Japan does have a low crime rate but they do have serious problems with sex crimes and sexual harassment that the numbers don't show. For example, the train gropping thing is a problem that I have experienced first hand, and I am a man. I have been grabbed by men and woman on the train in Tokyo. Oh I found it down right hilarious but I'm sure plenty of the women there don't. The funny thing is I have seen Japanese porn where the theme was gropping and then raping women on the train. Its a really common theme and there are even places you can go to pay to act out the scenario yourself. And yes recently there are women only trains because the train gropping is that bad. One reason the numbers are low is because a lot of this stuff is tolerated on a level that would never happen in the US.
My gf's experience is also a good example of the situation in Japan. She was certain science field that was mostly dominated by males. If you were a woman in a lab you were probably the only one. As she started her job in the lab she met the woman who recently quit her position there and she told her she left because she was being harassed by the boss. Eventually my gf gave up the field entirely because her male cowokers were alwasy watching porn in front of her at work, talking dirty to her, touching her etc and this happen in more then one place including the university. It goes without saying that when you do hear about this stuff in Japan's news its a small minority of cases where the person even bothers to say anything.
Child sex crimes are another example. Various regions in Japan have different laws regarding sex with minors but many of them are lower in the US. Regardless of the law there is a big illegal market for underage prostitution. The numbers for sex crimes in Japan mean squat because it has one the largest illegal sex industries in the world and a huge amount of it is tolerated or goes unreported. There's even plenty of cases where some of these more ametuer videos weren't entirely consensual. Even the part of their sex industry that apears legal is almost always run by yakuza who are just as criminal as any gang memeber in the US but are often treated like real corporations, not that there is much of a difference anyways (recroding industry).
Stalking is also a big problem there. Its not a case of there is porn that involves stalking themese so you see less of it in real life. Again, I have experienced this first hand. I have been stalked by several women and when I told people some of them thought it was cute and they were just persistant women, but other foreigners immediately knew what the deal was and had experienced it or seen it themselves. Again it wasn't really a criminal matter and after telling my collegues I was the one who was almost transferred until one of the girls started doing things that were so off the wall they couldn't ignore it. In any event police were never involved and I was told not to involve them. Put that in the stat books.
But... I'm totally for porn and against censorship. Japan is just a really bad example for this argument. I could go on and on with examples because sexually Japan is screwed in almost every way from an unexceptable amount of adults doing audacious stuff in public to declining birthrates. If we were talking about violence and crime in general then you would be right on even if you include the higher rate of suicide and bullying. They don't have the censorship we have, yet their crime rate is much lower and your not as likely to get shot, robbed or approached by crack heads.
His point was valid. He didn't actually overstate the size of dating sims in Japan. He just said they would never do as well in the US. But the sales are really good. Ignoring mega hits that commonly top the charts like To Heart, the market is saturated, the games are cheap to make and they are $80-100 dollars a pop. You would not see lines around the block like this in the US and there is a nich market for otaku goods in the US, it just is nowhere near as big and our good christian fellow would never put up with some good old loli harem story where you spank the naked bunny at the end if people were lining up to get it. I live in Japan part time and have played some of these games. There are things there that would never fly here because of cultural differences and it doesn't always involve a niche market. An example would be reading erotic manga in public. Otakus prefer to do that in their own den while its the more casual readers you see doing it in public. In the end we are talking about video games. The hardcore people often set the buzz and inform everyone. In Japan its even more tipped towards the niche to the point where they aren't a niche but powerfull group both in purchasing power and influence. I wouldn't say their preferences in games are mcuh different than the rest of Japan, just more excessive.
Most of the Japanese gamers I know really don't attempt to give western games a chance and are really stuborn. It would take an extreme attention gathering method to even get their attention. MS has always gone at this half as*** so that just makes matters worse. It kind of goes both ways I guess; the Japanese are biased towards western games and western companies don't accomodate them. There is a misconception amongst them that western games lack quality, a storyline and are all shooters. If anything I think some of their preferences are rubbing off and western games are getting sexier and are including more female characters that are used by male players as well as female.
Your not really making a point about bias. Everything you said can be true and you could still be biased against the company. All your really stating is the reason you are biased against Microsoft. A more honest answer would be; we think our bias is justified, instead of; they suck, what bias??? In all likelyhood you know your biased but you think making a good point against MS will convince biased readers that any other point you make is true. There's not necessarily anything wrong with being bias against MS. But it is silly for people to pretend they aren't when its so obvious. Now let me tell the dumbest MS joke I can think of so I can get kudos.
Email the department of homeland security so I can volunteer to be put in their database of accidental persecution.... I don't even feel comfortable typing their name. Er, I don't have anything to hide that I can think of, I just don't like accidents because like that one guy said, its okay to kidnap and torture a few innocents if it saves thousands of Americans lives. This nation has lost its mind. Next thing you know its a dog color or a chip in the neck. The thing is if they do it gradually enough the same people will say what harm is it. Despite all our condmenation of foreign countries that violate civil rights and privacy, we are becoming more and more like them.
You could say the price is the price but Sony doesn't cut prices out of the kindness of their own heart. They do it becuase they have to. By complaining consumers let Sony know that there are potential customers who they are missing out on because of the price. The media has pretty much supported the consumer on this one. Complaining about this is probably a good thing for the consumer. At the very least it sends a strong message that there is a limit to what the masses will pay for.
There is no need for cunsumers to think like a business. If its too expensive they will buy a Wii or a 360. Its really not our problem its Sony's. If the console is too expensive and they can't lower the price because the loss would be too great then they failed at making a competetive product. Everyone is selling below production costs so its up to those companies to be resourcefull and find that balance. Production costs are transparent to the consumer.
The life cycle of consoles isn't all that long. By the time devs figure it out the console war will probably already be won by Nintendo with MS as the runner up and big losses for Sony to eat at the end.
Sony does not make quality equipment. They make mediocre equipment with good form factor and try to sell it at high end prices. Just look at their laptops. You pay for style, not performance or craftsmanship. A $3000 laptop with 4200rpm hard drives. Those frail and fragile things sell at Alienware prices. Yet and Alienware laptops are far more rugged and much more powerfull.
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I wonder how this works for me. I only live in the US for half of the year. Am I supposed to purchase 2 copies and run a different one in each country? I usually do the opposite of what the story describes though. I usually purchase the US version and use it abroad because I want the English version. Would that be a problem as well?
I don't think they jump over any bit of technology. I think they have different lifestyles so different technology is more convinient for them and since we don't share their lifestyle we often don't understand why. For example, not having a car and not carrying your laptop everywhere would change the gadgets that you find usefull. In Japan you really don't need a car and sometimes it can be more of an inconvinience far more so than NYC. Free wifi also isn't as readily available in establishments, but net cafes with more amenities are more prevelant and its very common for people to sleep there and watch tv. They do use laptops, they just don't carry them and use them in public as often as we do in the US. So phones with great services and gadgets that they can use on the train or while walking are far more usefull. Also street addresses and street signs are very poorly organized in Japan. Directions are more visual and things aren't as organizes as the Ave St system. Every cab I saw had GPS and without it they probably couldn't find anything that wasn't a train station or well known attraction. Many of the street names are written using characters some people haven't learned. So GPS and electronic dictionaries that are built into some kind of mobile device are very usefull. Also you spend $2000 on flat panels at a subways station because they are usually generate lots of advertising revenue (maybe they wouldn't in the US, I don't know). I don't know about Taiwan but the flat panels on the train in Tokyo were basically billboards that were put in the bussiest areas possible and the broadcast were tailored for the displays. One of them even taught english lessons so they could get people to go to their school. Not only would a standard tube not fight in the same areas, but less people who pay attention to it. Asthetics are very important and everything is built around the train stations.
Funny you should ask that because they don't. Things are usually written in one paragraph. They don't even put spaces between the words and when you write something formal or in a book or magazine, it's written from top to botton then from right to left.
Tech differences between the US and Japan are a mixed bag. When I'm in the bay area or Seattle area people are far more tech savvy and have far more gadgets then the people I met when I lived in Tokyo. There is some great technology in Japan but has to do with tech gadgets and at times we have better stuff in the US. In the US you have a much better selection of computers and computer parts and they are cheaper. Fujitsu and Sony don't make the greatest machines so your not missing much by not having their latest model right away. In contrast if you want a great gaming machine your options are more limited in Japan. Cell phones are one of those items people like to bring up and thats also a mixed bag. The service is more expensive and the data rates are far more expensive in Japan. My cellphone bill last month went from $50 to $200 just from sending emails to other people's phones. In contrast I have sent far more emails and text messages from my US phone without extra charges. They have some neat models if you look but most places offer the same lineup of phones who's design is more limited than the designs we see here. Take a ride on the subway and it will seem like 90% of the people are using the same model flip phone. You will see far more people using smartphones and similar devices in the US. When people in Japan saw my old T-Mobile MDA they are always amazed. Those types of devices aren't as popular there among everyday people. Here you can easily find people using smartphones and blackberrys who don't even use the email features or web browser. They tend to stick to the flip phone design with no keyboard in Japan. But they do tend use web services that are tailored to mobile devices more often. If you really want to see superior Japanese technology that is not common here go to a love hotel. The last one I went to required no face to face communication with any employees. You walk in the building take a number, go to the room number on the slip. When you get to the door a voice greets you from an intercom and then your door unlocks. You go inside, the door locks you in :( and it stays that way until you pay the talking touch screen machine that is built into the wall which bills you by the hour. In the bathroom there is a hot tub with a large plasma tv built into the wall. In the bed room is another plasma, a PS2, a Sega Genesis, an NES, a karaoke machine and a sex toy vending machine. Overall it was average for that type of establishment.
I just moved back to the US from Japan this month and its so sad to have to go back the sub par overpriced service here. I was paying about $50 for a 100Mps connection and before that it was just included in my rent which is very common. The performance during anytime of the day was always impressive and I lived in one of the most denseley populated areas in Tokyo. Plus the TOS allowed me to run webservices. Outside the city service was just as cheap and reliable. This Verizon service would be equivelent to the economy family package there and it would be much cheaper. A lot of people just have no idea what they are missing because they are used to the service and prices here. Whats with these providers out here?
"- Full email access on the go is very nice. A Blackberry does this also, but very few other phones do." A lot of other phones have this. I've been using this for multiple pop and exchange accounts on every phone I have had for the last two years and I have never owned a Blackberry. I don't see how you can give the iPhone credit for this. "The full web browser is a bigger feature than people give it credit for. I communicate heavily via forums, wiki, etc, for work, and being able to check these in a non-crippled (like a Blackberry, or every other phone really) phone is really, really, really nice." My phone has a full web browser and I have been doing this for a long time. Plenty of models do this besides the Blackberry. I don't see how you can give the iPhone credit for this either.
"On behalf of everybody at Dell, I'd like to congratulate you on the purchase of your first computer, and I offer you a hearty welcome to the Internet. These people are called "trolls" and it is in fact perfectly legal to kill them with fire." Okay I'm coming for you Dexter. Make sure your wearing lots of hair spray.
This reminds me of the QQ topics in the WoW forums. It got to the point where people would use an alt character to post a fake complaint to start a flame war. A classic example would be someone posting with a lvl 10 warlock in the rogue forums about how rogues are overpowered an need to be nerfed. After 20 pages of long debunks it would become apparent that people had wasted part of their lives arguing with another bored rogue who didn't believe any of the crap they were posting. Not only were they playing a joke on their fellow rogues but they were making fun of people that came to their forums to complain. In a similar manner I wonder if any of these emails or posts on slashdot are from bored people expressing fake opinions that are the oppossite of their real ones, just for the amusement of seeing the responses. Always makes me think twice when it seems like someone is trying to spread FUD. Wouldn't suprise me a bit seeing as how some of those guys do visit slashdot.
I'm not saying they conspired to do this but it will be almost a year from now before this is fixed. In the mean time people will get used to the built in search features created by MS. After that manufacturers can install Google desktop search and it will be easier for the user to switch back to default one. I'm not sure what exactly the problem was though. My dell came with Google search and tool bar which was an abomination before they updated it to look more like the Microsoft one.
C'mon you have to make one for Opera too. "It's built in" or "we did it before Firefox." I dunno thats what I usually say. Oh well I don't really use Opera anymore. Guess I'll take the beer and popcorn.
Most fanboys don't admit they are fanboys. They tend to say they are just posting the truth and that truth just happens to support the product or company they are fans of. The fact that you responded to this topic in this manner indicates that your truth may be overly bias towards Apple and your argument is often used by fanboys. I'm not saying your a fanboy just that you sound like one. Saying I post correct information about the company doesn't mean a whole lot. Should I take your word on that? A fanboy creates, highlights and distributes logical reasoning to backup their products and that reasoning is biased. If that same reason supports the competition they ignore it or try nitpick a small difference. But the golden rule is to never admit or realise your bias or your agenda and pretend that you are fair and balanced.
I think the real issue here is that playing video games isn't something that is respected as a valid use of people's time. This realization makes much of the video game addiction issue unravel. If a person spent just as much time playing or watching sports it wouldn't be considered an addiction even if they neglected other aspects of their life. If a person sat around reading novels it wouldn't be considered an addiction but throw some pictures in there and some bubbles around the words (comics, manga) and suddenly its considered and unhealthy obsessive hobby. For every person that spends all their time playing video games there are many more that spend their time watching tv or movies. Video games are singled out because of lack of respect and the perception that only kids should play them. Work is another good example. People use the term workaholic but in most cases the practice is encouraged and respected, yet it is more likely to end a marriage or cause children to be emotionally neglected and it is much more common. Mentally none of these addictions are any different aside from public perception and what the feeble minded media decides to single out.
Its been done extensively with slot machines at the worlds largest casinos and those were less excessible and much more expensive than consumer producsts like HD-DVD players. In the end casinos have to rely surveillance and not the security of their hardware to prevent cheating. Hardware is more diffricult to hack but deffinately possible and in this situation its a sure thing that plenty of people would be up for the job.
This one shares your hope.
The problem with your analogy is that you are confusing maintenance with fueling. Pumping gas is equivalent to plugging your computer in to an electrical socket, not deleting files off a their hard drive. On a computer the user often has to do maintenance and have a deeper understanding than they would with most products. This is not about stupidity, it's about your field of interests, expertise. I know plenty of computer experts who don't know jack about subjects that other everyday dumb folks don't have problems with. A lot of us have completely lost out perspective on this is issue.
Its not just you that feels that way but that would be a really sad situation. Consoles should not have only one or two good games. I agree Sony's lineup is not good and their strategy has been the worste of the 3 but I'm not ready to jump out and buy a Wii either. I play the Wii with friends but its not something I spend hours playing by myself. I think its innovative but equally overhyped. If I get one in the future it will not be because of Wii Sports or Mario Paper, it will be because one of the Gundam games was actually great and the consoles popularity attracts a good lineup. To be honest I find World of Warcraft much more addicting and far more apealing to my tastes. I like fun games but I also like to immerse myself in a setting that I find apealing. I'm tired of Mario. I'm tired of looking at him. Its just not for me anyone. I also disagree that Mario Paper is the reason for the Wii'ss sucess. Its the controls and the its influence on the gameplay. With Mario Paper people are excited that they can actually do something with it besides Wii Sports. If it came out on the Gamecube it wouldn't be that big of a deal. I'm not saying the stuff you mention has no value I just think it goes over most consumers head and I also dont' think Nintendo has created some monopply on good games. The 360 has a solid lineup there are some damn good PC games out there. Right now I'm on the PC and PSP and just waiting for the console thing to play out.
This is in response to the last statement that the plans shouldn't be revealed because it would inform the terrorists. You can't just ban cell phones in a large area and not tell anyone. If Bush is there then there will be other people with security interests that rely on cell phones. If any other politicians are around they need to make arangements for other forms of communication etc. The media will need to act accordingly as well. In any event its probably a waste of time anyways.
I wonder if its possible for the students to get internet access through another party. I know it is in my area. If you live on campus its a little bit harder and you might have to use something like ClearWire even thought the speeds aren't so good, or the commercial area next to campus is an endless network of free wifi. Most of the nextworks have little to no control over anything.
When I was in college (not to long ago) at the University of Washington they had the finest internal network of pirated files I have ever seen. Everyone had at least a T-1 connection. You didn't even have to download the files, you could just play them from whatever box they were stored on. So yea sure, it was massive piracy and at the time most people never gave it a second thought. College kids are little animals and I think the crusade is a waste of time. They will get the content if they want it and I wouldn't assume that this is stuff they would normally be paying for.
I agree that Stanford is being monumentaly stupid. But its not just Stanford. If most universities ignored the RIAA then the idea of a pirate university wouldn't mean a whole lot. Yes corporations sponser universities in many ways but if the RIAA is hurting so bad from piracy then their corporate sponsorship is becoming increasingly worthless. Prety soon they are going to ask for a subsidy or tax if they aren't getting one already. A smart capitalist society should be able to take advantage of this. We are trying to protect a dinosaur because we see the resources it has now not the resources it will have in the future.
No I'm not an English teacher. Part of my family lives in Japan, I have gone to school there and worked in the software industry. Nice try at being a third leg. Your argument is also dead wrong. There are tons of horrible English teachers in Japan but its not the reason for the poor quality of written and spoken English in modernized East Asian countries. By the time most of them have even met a foreign instructor they have already established their habits from native Japanese teachers. The most obvious answer would be that its not their native language. Native English speakers are usually worse at Japanese. The Japanese language does not contain many sounds in the English language and the English language does not contain some of the sounds in the Japanese language. Its not so easy for everyone to make new sounds with your tongue when you are already in college. Their grammer is also vastly different. English tends to be more specific even when it doesn't need to be. The English phrase, "I'm going to the bathroom" could be as simple as "bathroom go" in casual Japanese speech. When you study a language there are many different levels of speech that are relevant to your study. I know quite a few Japanese students who understand English grammer better than most Americans, but if you say "Hey, how ya doin" they run for their electronic dictionaries. So a big motivation for selecting English teachers is to learn how to speak and understand the bad English that native English speakers use because they want to talk to real people and not some prick who only pretends to understand proper English. As a student I felt the same way. I just wanted to talk to a native speaker because proper Japanese speech that you learn in class does very little for a real life conversation.
I really enjoyed Halo 1 and 2's multiplayer experience. Factor in XBox Live and most great games don't have the same online multiplayer experience. When my buddies came over friday or sat it was what we did before we went out. I'm into RPGs and RTSs while most of my friends like sports games. Halo was our common ground. There were a million other fps with multiplayer capability but we just didn't find them as enjoyable when you had a crowd, not to mention the likelyhood that everyone knew how to play any of the other games was very slim. It had good balance, not too tactical, not too simplistic and it had the right attitude. To those who say it wasn't that popular I have to disagree. Its one of those games many people know how to play even if they don't own the game. Over half the guys I played with didn't even have their own xbox, they didn't need too. I'm not talking about techies and gamers here. Just guys who drink beer and play Madden. Most of them haven't touched an RPG, and until Wii sports they hadn't touched anything from Nintendo since the Super NES days. I think Miyamoto and many people here are totally missing what Halo's apeal is and that apealing aspect is something he isn't the greatest at. You can't make something if your only understing of it is overley simplistic because its not your style. His comment was cocky disrespectfull. I often do the same. Make a smart comment and pretend it wasn't supposed to be something condescending. To that I have heard many describe his games in the same fashion which is what Bungie did.
Its a good example and Japan does have a low crime rate but they do have serious problems with sex crimes and sexual harassment that the numbers don't show. For example, the train gropping thing is a problem that I have experienced first hand, and I am a man. I have been grabbed by men and woman on the train in Tokyo. Oh I found it down right hilarious but I'm sure plenty of the women there don't. The funny thing is I have seen Japanese porn where the theme was gropping and then raping women on the train. Its a really common theme and there are even places you can go to pay to act out the scenario yourself. And yes recently there are women only trains because the train gropping is that bad. One reason the numbers are low is because a lot of this stuff is tolerated on a level that would never happen in the US.
My gf's experience is also a good example of the situation in Japan. She was certain science field that was mostly dominated by males. If you were a woman in a lab you were probably the only one. As she started her job in the lab she met the woman who recently quit her position there and she told her she left because she was being harassed by the boss. Eventually my gf gave up the field entirely because her male cowokers were alwasy watching porn in front of her at work, talking dirty to her, touching her etc and this happen in more then one place including the university. It goes without saying that when you do hear about this stuff in Japan's news its a small minority of cases where the person even bothers to say anything.
Child sex crimes are another example. Various regions in Japan have different laws regarding sex with minors but many of them are lower in the US. Regardless of the law there is a big illegal market for underage prostitution. The numbers for sex crimes in Japan mean squat because it has one the largest illegal sex industries in the world and a huge amount of it is tolerated or goes unreported. There's even plenty of cases where some of these more ametuer videos weren't entirely consensual. Even the part of their sex industry that apears legal is almost always run by yakuza who are just as criminal as any gang memeber in the US but are often treated like real corporations, not that there is much of a difference anyways (recroding industry).
Stalking is also a big problem there. Its not a case of there is porn that involves stalking themese so you see less of it in real life. Again, I have experienced this first hand. I have been stalked by several women and when I told people some of them thought it was cute and they were just persistant women, but other foreigners immediately knew what the deal was and had experienced it or seen it themselves. Again it wasn't really a criminal matter and after telling my collegues I was the one who was almost transferred until one of the girls started doing things that were so off the wall they couldn't ignore it. In any event police were never involved and I was told not to involve them. Put that in the stat books.
But... I'm totally for porn and against censorship. Japan is just a really bad example for this argument. I could go on and on with examples because sexually Japan is screwed in almost every way from an unexceptable amount of adults doing audacious stuff in public to declining birthrates. If we were talking about violence and crime in general then you would be right on even if you include the higher rate of suicide and bullying. They don't have the censorship we have, yet their crime rate is much lower and your not as likely to get shot, robbed or approached by crack heads.
His point was valid. He didn't actually overstate the size of dating sims in Japan. He just said they would never do as well in the US. But the sales are really good. Ignoring mega hits that commonly top the charts like To Heart, the market is saturated, the games are cheap to make and they are $80-100 dollars a pop. You would not see lines around the block like this in the US and there is a nich market for otaku goods in the US, it just is nowhere near as big and our good christian fellow would never put up with some good old loli harem story where you spank the naked bunny at the end if people were lining up to get it. I live in Japan part time and have played some of these games. There are things there that would never fly here because of cultural differences and it doesn't always involve a niche market. An example would be reading erotic manga in public. Otakus prefer to do that in their own den while its the more casual readers you see doing it in public. In the end we are talking about video games. The hardcore people often set the buzz and inform everyone. In Japan its even more tipped towards the niche to the point where they aren't a niche but powerfull group both in purchasing power and influence. I wouldn't say their preferences in games are mcuh different than the rest of Japan, just more excessive. Most of the Japanese gamers I know really don't attempt to give western games a chance and are really stuborn. It would take an extreme attention gathering method to even get their attention. MS has always gone at this half as*** so that just makes matters worse. It kind of goes both ways I guess; the Japanese are biased towards western games and western companies don't accomodate them. There is a misconception amongst them that western games lack quality, a storyline and are all shooters. If anything I think some of their preferences are rubbing off and western games are getting sexier and are including more female characters that are used by male players as well as female.
Your not really making a point about bias. Everything you said can be true and you could still be biased against the company. All your really stating is the reason you are biased against Microsoft. A more honest answer would be; we think our bias is justified, instead of; they suck, what bias??? In all likelyhood you know your biased but you think making a good point against MS will convince biased readers that any other point you make is true. There's not necessarily anything wrong with being bias against MS. But it is silly for people to pretend they aren't when its so obvious. Now let me tell the dumbest MS joke I can think of so I can get kudos.
Email the department of homeland security so I can volunteer to be put in their database of accidental persecution.... I don't even feel comfortable typing their name. Er, I don't have anything to hide that I can think of, I just don't like accidents because like that one guy said, its okay to kidnap and torture a few innocents if it saves thousands of Americans lives. This nation has lost its mind. Next thing you know its a dog color or a chip in the neck. The thing is if they do it gradually enough the same people will say what harm is it. Despite all our condmenation of foreign countries that violate civil rights and privacy, we are becoming more and more like them.
You could say the price is the price but Sony doesn't cut prices out of the kindness of their own heart. They do it becuase they have to. By complaining consumers let Sony know that there are potential customers who they are missing out on because of the price. The media has pretty much supported the consumer on this one. Complaining about this is probably a good thing for the consumer. At the very least it sends a strong message that there is a limit to what the masses will pay for. There is no need for cunsumers to think like a business. If its too expensive they will buy a Wii or a 360. Its really not our problem its Sony's. If the console is too expensive and they can't lower the price because the loss would be too great then they failed at making a competetive product. Everyone is selling below production costs so its up to those companies to be resourcefull and find that balance. Production costs are transparent to the consumer. The life cycle of consoles isn't all that long. By the time devs figure it out the console war will probably already be won by Nintendo with MS as the runner up and big losses for Sony to eat at the end. Sony does not make quality equipment. They make mediocre equipment with good form factor and try to sell it at high end prices. Just look at their laptops. You pay for style, not performance or craftsmanship. A $3000 laptop with 4200rpm hard drives. Those frail and fragile things sell at Alienware prices. Yet and Alienware laptops are far more rugged and much more powerfull.