Back when I had my 56k dialup thru Teleport.com I was happy when I could get a ping of ~225 playing TFC. Sure I couldn't compete against the LPBs very well, but the game was still fun, and I spent many hours playing it.
When I moved to San Francisco, I got my cable modem. Now I'm the LPB, playing with a ping of 30 or 40 most nights. I noticed right away that my score in it shot up to the top. I thought it was just the ping for a while.
But after talking with friends who converted from dial-up, I realized that it was because we had been modem users that made us so damn good. Being forced to get good with a bad ping made us great when that ping went away. Kinda like a runner who trains with weights on his feet.
I know I'm not the only one who's noticed this...am I?
I wish Apple would give up the Motorola chipset and move on to AMD-based systems. I heard whispers that they were considering doing this, but that was a while ago.
Doing this would make them much more competitive, and help them regain a lot of territory lost to MS.
I know I wouldn't seriously play a game like Quake for anything more than fun, due to the extensive trust given to the clients.
Personally, I don't think any computer game should be played for anything besides "fun". I'd hate to play Quake for something more serious, like a new kidney or to rescue kittens from impending harm!:)
Cable is light... But liquid nitrogen cooled? How would that react under (summer heat, nuclear war, y2k, world war 3)
Oh jesus....I'm sure it would be fine in the summer heat. If there was a nuclear war, getting power to detroit probably doesn't rank really high on priorities. No one'll need lights since they'll glow anyways!:)
Argh! Whats the deal? I submitted this story ten days ago and it was rejected: 2001-01-31 03:50:26 What Happens When Local ISP Go National? (articles,money) (rejected)
Now I wake up this morning and see its been accepted. This is so irritating. How does one person at Slashdot reject a story, only to have another one approve it.
I think from now on I'm going to submit stories several times. If one person turns it down, I'm sure one of the other editors will approve it.
If grannies and 3rd graders want an easier to use OS, fine, but don't expect me to really care about it
This quote to me sums up a huge flaw with Linux. It is one that will always keep it beneath Windows. That is the fact that many people who know Linux well, aren't interested in making it easier to use for non-computer literate people.
Both Apple and Microsoft have spent millions of dollars in making their GUIs as userfriendly as possible. Speaking from experience, I know its much easier for my mom to drag a folder into the trashcan than to rm -rf * a directory (not to mention its nice to be able to take things out of the garbage can if you later decide you want them.)
I've noticed an air of elitism in the Linux community. It comes in the form of "I have mastered this difficult OS, thus I am more intelligent than you!" It seems that there are many (but by no means all) Linux users who would rather keep this OS to themselves than to work on making it easier to use and superior to Windows. While its nice to post to/. how much better Linux is than Windows, I think a lot of people need to ask themselves which they'd rather have: An great OS thats useable only to very computer-savvy people, or an OS that is not only the former, but also one that is easy to use by your average person.
The battle between Linux and Windows is going to be won or lost on the desktop market. As long as Linux is difficult for grandmothers to use, Linux'll never win. Thats why I'm glad to see projects like Eazel working to make it more userfriendly.
Uh, dude, you don't have to pay $40 everytime Half Life comes out with a "new version or a nifty upgrade." Just go to a good half life web page and get the latest pathes and whatnot there.
I might also add that many very popular mods are also freely available.
Now, I doubt this "new-and-improved" floppy will succeed. But you know, lets give credit to the makers. This is a marvellous hack. Just the fact that it can be done deserves applause.
Now, I've read a lot of posts bitching about the floppy. "Oh the floppy doesn't hold very much." "You can't archive things for long times on a floppy." "Zips have replaced it." "CD-Rs are much more useful!"
All of these arguements are valid, true. But you know, when I'm at school or the office and I need to move a small file to my house...damn its nice to pop in a floppy and take it home. I don't have a PC with a Zip. They're kinda hard to find. Not impossible, but not as convenient as a floppy. Same situation with a CD-R. I have a CD burner at home (go little 2x! go!) but not at work or school.
And so this is why the floppy has survived for so long: Convenience. Nothing on the market has come close to being as convenient to use as the floppy. The Zip came *this* close, but never made it.
So, until something can be as ubiquitous as the floppy, it'll still be around years from now.
I have mixed feelings about this. I would be apprehensive about being put on video when I enter a stadium. At the same time, if someone was planning to do something criminal at the Superbowl and this system would help stop them, then its kind of reassuring.
What I've noticed in a lot of these posts is an arguement like this: The computer says, "Hey this face might belong to a known criminal we've been trying to arrest!" This doesn't mean that you're going to be gangtackled by cops and hauled off to jail. It simply flags it for review by someone.
The same thing with video cameras in, I believe, the UK that alert an operator when suspicious activity is detected. The operator looks at the screen and says, "Ok this person is just having car problems," or whatnot.
Basically, just because you're red-flagged by this system doesn't mean that you're going to be arrested. Its just the computers way of saying, "According to my programming, this person looks like a known criminal. You might want to check it out."
Whether this is a good thing or not, I'm still undecided on.
Let me be the first to say that I'm deeply impressed with what Transmeta has done. Its code-morphing technology is very interesting. However, I'm wondering what practical applications its chips will have?
The article notes the point that who is going to want to run a server with Transmeta's watered-down chip? Furthermore, is the ability to extend battery life a couple hours a good trade-off for processing power?
While I can see several niche markets where this might be useful, I'm wondering if Transmeta can survive in the long term with what its done so far.
Never-opened small bottle of spring water. We observed the street corner box surreptitiously the following day upon mail collection. After puzzling briefly over this item, the postal carrier removed the mailing label and drank the contents of the bottle over the course of a few blocks as he worked his route.
Just what the world needs: A company with a patent on the genome of one of, if not *the*, biggest grain food in the world. Want to modify your rice to feed your starving third-world country? Pay us a fee.
I would much rather see something like this placed in the public domain, or better yet until a GNU-type license! Which brings me to the point of this: Is there anything like the GNU license for biological products?
Most web sites have an advanced search. In this advanced search you'll find an option to search for the exact phrase. If you enter "hot green hamsters" there, and search, it will return web sites that only contain that phrase.
Some search engines do this if you enter the phrase in quotation marks, too.
Oh it would be nice to have the Flak Cannon on this sim. Or then again maybe not. From what I've heard, it seems that the MIR has been hit quite often with it.:)
Slashdot Mirror
When I moved to San Francisco, I got my cable modem. Now I'm the LPB, playing with a ping of 30 or 40 most nights. I noticed right away that my score in it shot up to the top. I thought it was just the ping for a while.
But after talking with friends who converted from dial-up, I realized that it was because we had been modem users that made us so damn good. Being forced to get good with a bad ping made us great when that ping went away. Kinda like a runner who trains with weights on his feet.
I know I'm not the only one who's noticed this...am I?
Good. But I'm pissed that I forgot to post that as an Anonymous Coward. :)
Cheshire Cat
Doing this would make them much more competitive, and help them regain a lot of territory lost to MS.
This smells like the machincations of Yahoo Serious, trying to revive his career.
Personally, I don't think any computer game should be played for anything besides "fun". I'd hate to play Quake for something more serious, like a new kidney or to rescue kittens from impending harm! :)
Oh jesus....I'm sure it would be fine in the summer heat. If there was a nuclear war, getting power to detroit probably doesn't rank really high on priorities. No one'll need lights since they'll glow anyways! :)
And dude, Y2K ended last year.
If only Barney had one of these, he wouldn't have needed Homer to come rescue him.
Now I wake up this morning and see its been accepted. This is so irritating. How does one person at Slashdot reject a story, only to have another one approve it.
I think from now on I'm going to submit stories several times. If one person turns it down, I'm sure one of the other editors will approve it.
...Visual Basic! :)
This quote to me sums up a huge flaw with Linux. It is one that will always keep it beneath Windows. That is the fact that many people who know Linux well, aren't interested in making it easier to use for non-computer literate people.
Both Apple and Microsoft have spent millions of dollars in making their GUIs as userfriendly as possible. Speaking from experience, I know its much easier for my mom to drag a folder into the trashcan than to rm -rf * a directory (not to mention its nice to be able to take things out of the garbage can if you later decide you want them.)
I've noticed an air of elitism in the Linux community. It comes in the form of "I have mastered this difficult OS, thus I am more intelligent than you!" It seems that there are many (but by no means all) Linux users who would rather keep this OS to themselves than to work on making it easier to use and superior to Windows. While its nice to post to /. how much better Linux is than Windows, I think a lot of people need to ask themselves which they'd rather have: An great OS thats useable only to very computer-savvy people, or an OS that is not only the former, but also one that is easy to use by your average person.
The battle between Linux and Windows is going to be won or lost on the desktop market. As long as Linux is difficult for grandmothers to use, Linux'll never win. Thats why I'm glad to see projects like Eazel working to make it more userfriendly.
I might also add that many very popular mods are also freely available.
Now, I've read a lot of posts bitching about the floppy. "Oh the floppy doesn't hold very much." "You can't archive things for long times on a floppy." "Zips have replaced it." "CD-Rs are much more useful!"
All of these arguements are valid, true. But you know, when I'm at school or the office and I need to move a small file to my house...damn its nice to pop in a floppy and take it home. I don't have a PC with a Zip. They're kinda hard to find. Not impossible, but not as convenient as a floppy. Same situation with a CD-R. I have a CD burner at home (go little 2x! go!) but not at work or school.
And so this is why the floppy has survived for so long: Convenience. Nothing on the market has come close to being as convenient to use as the floppy. The Zip came *this* close, but never made it.
So, until something can be as ubiquitous as the floppy, it'll still be around years from now.
For anyone wondering, you can find the set of Lego's used in this film here.
What I've noticed in a lot of these posts is an arguement like this: The computer says, "Hey this face might belong to a known criminal we've been trying to arrest!" This doesn't mean that you're going to be gangtackled by cops and hauled off to jail. It simply flags it for review by someone.
The same thing with video cameras in, I believe, the UK that alert an operator when suspicious activity is detected. The operator looks at the screen and says, "Ok this person is just having car problems," or whatnot.
Basically, just because you're red-flagged by this system doesn't mean that you're going to be arrested. Its just the computers way of saying, "According to my programming, this person looks like a known criminal. You might want to check it out."
Whether this is a good thing or not, I'm still undecided on.
The article notes the point that who is going to want to run a server with Transmeta's watered-down chip? Furthermore, is the ability to extend battery life a couple hours a good trade-off for processing power?
While I can see several niche markets where this might be useful, I'm wondering if Transmeta can survive in the long term with what its done so far.
Anyone have any thoughts on this?
I'm going to be laughing over that one for day! :)
I would much rather see something like this placed in the public domain, or better yet until a GNU-type license! Which brings me to the point of this: Is there anything like the GNU license for biological products?
Some search engines do this if you enter the phrase in quotation marks, too.
Oh it would be nice to have the Flak Cannon on this sim. Or then again maybe not. From what I've heard, it seems that the MIR has been hit quite often with it. :)
The Onion has a cute piece on the California power outtages.
Due to the power crunch in the Bay Area, San Francisco has had to turn off its giant fog machine for the time being.
Great. Now we can have interactive Hee-Haw. I feel the rush of the 21st century.
I know that as soon as I fire up one of these, I'll be saying things like, "My hovercraft is full of eels" and "Would you please fondle my bum."
So what would you use this for?