Kidding aside, the car racing analogy is very interesting. Now that I think about it, there's pretty much already a built-in fan base for athletic competitions that involve sci/tech innovation as well as human performance. CyberOlympics - NASCAR for people who can read!
Remember, this is Swedish athletes. Europeans don't seem to be as uptight about freedom and rights as Americans (pretend) to be. Just look at the UK: surveillance cameras everywhere, DNA drag nets whenever there's a violent or sex crime in a neighborhood, etc.
Why would people with high-end audio gear want to download digital music? I thought they all insisted on listening to wax drum recordings to achieve the best possible "natural sound".
Its the fantasy element. I could go take fencing lessons, but that doesn't mean I'll get to slay monsters. I could take guitar lessons, but I might never be good enough to play my favorite rock songs. My brother is a great guitarist, self-taught, and he's still looking forward to GH under the tree.
Re:what the fuck is a steampunk?
on
Ye Olde World Charm
·
· Score: 3, Informative
I guess you didn't like Bioshock then . ..
I'm not a big fan, I've only read The Difference Engine. Stephenson's Baroque Cycle may count too. The point of the genre is to draw attention to the parallels between the modern boom in technological progress and innovations on a similar scale which appeared at the end of the 18th and 19th centuries. Appreciation of history and all that.
Maybe one positive result of the military utilizing "video games" as a training tool will be a more accurate, first-hand look at games for government officials. Perhaps they'll come to better understand what players can get out of them. Maybe they'll stop demonizing the entire industry because of a few bad apples.
(end optimism)
Or, maybe they'll just end up wasting a lot of money on a mediocre game to use as a recruiting tool.
1) When plants die naturally, a significant proportion of their carbon goes into terrestrial carbon sinks instead of the atmosphere. Burning plant material releases stored carbon directly into the atmosphere.
2) As many on this board have already noted, the modern agricultural process produces a large amount of carbon so ethanol isn't going to be carbon neutral.
Its a hydrocarbon, just like gasoline. That means when you burn it, ethanol still puts carbon into the atmosphere. Even worse, ethanol production and distribution haven't even gotten off the ground yet and its already screwing up the economy. Corn prices are sky-high on speculation so the livestock end of agriculture has to feed their cattle, pigs, etc. other expensive grains. This is driving the price of meat and dairy up. Farmers are switching their crops over to corn to take advantage of the profitable market, depleting the supply of other produce and further raising the prices. (Even you smug vegeterians lose out)
And, of course, the icing on the cake: we're already making deals to import ethanol from other countries so that we're still relying on foreign countries for our energy needs!
I see, I see. A book or movie exists as a story independently from the reader or viewer. The story in a game requires input from the player for the story to exist. Even if cut scenes and dialogue exist in the code of the game, the transitions between these scenes are created by the player.
I love sniper games. I forget the name, but there's an arcade machine with a mounted light gun sniper rifle complete with a scope. In Deus Ex I always tried to complete as many missions by sniping guards, etc. You could shoot without being shot back at or even chased. Actions with no consequences. Its a thrill.
And, its the complete opposite of my persona. I'm very concerned with the consequences of my actions. I play games, in part, to explore choices and moralities contrary to my own. I'm sure that's the case for most people. When individuals allow the circumstances and ideas portrayed in media (TV, games, books, etc.) to define their own morality and choices, then there's a problem.
I'm not sure I agree. When I'm reading a book that I really like, I'm completely engrossed. The events described in print are essentially going on in my head. Its certainly more participatory than TV and movies where the story and imagery are being provided. Yes, games are interactive, but they're simply engaging different parts of your mind than books. Art and media are always participatory in some way. Are people who go to a nude photography exhibit later tracked by police as potential sex offenders? Not yet . . .
Why is it that video games are the only media being scrutinized at this level on morality issues? Are people who've seen Silence of the Lambs stamped "Cannibal" after leaving the theatre (or returning the DVD)? I've read Oedipus Rex. Does that mean I'm a motherf****r?
I'm sorry, but what society are we talking about here that's threatened by violent video games?
Is it the society that was built on a series of bloody wars? Is it the society that put the right to carry a gun in its constitution? Is it the society that has glorified war and violence in print, audio, and video media since its inception? In what way are violent video games a threat to a society that is engaged in two wars at once and gearing up for a third? Surely violent video games aren't a serious threat in a society where young men are shot in the street and then blamed by authorities for being "in the wrong place at the wrong time"? Such a society must have better things to spend time and money on.
How do you even begin to equate exposure to violent imagery with smoking cigarettes? Do violent images make it difficult for people to breathe? Do they clog your lungs? Do carcinogenic particles emitted by video games disrupt cellular activity? Do people wake up in the morning feeling sick because they haven't seen a violent image since the night before?
As a former student and current adjunct, my only concern about academic email is whether or not I can keep my institutional domain. Publishers, academic institutions, and potential employers often use your email's domain as a kind of digital letterhead. For example, I recently contacted the AstroBio group at NASA-Ames for some classroom material. I suspect the fast and courteous response I received was due in some part to the "@cuny.edu" in the sender line. Sure, I route all my mail into one inbox, but I still use different address for different kinds of communication.
I'm in between grad degrees right now, mostly teaching geology. But, I never cease to be amazed at how many old theories and downright myths from paleontology and geology are still circulating. If you look up "north american megafauna" you'll find a number of articles and studies a bit more scholarly than sciencedaily.com. Like this abstract: http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/content/1dxw1577mlad9wl1/
People forget that as recently as 10,000 years ago, humans were just about on equal footing with the other animals in their environment. What we lacked in strength and speed, we just barely made up for in the ability to communicate and plan ahead. The ability to dramatically impact nature is a talent we picked up much later on.
Passenger pigeons (a single species) were killed off in the 19th century. I'm not saying modern, industrialized humans aren't responsible for habitat and species loss. I'm just saying that its a bit extreme to blame the disappearance of dozens of large mammal species on a population of humans that hadn't even discovered agriculture.
If, by widely accepted, you mean that environmental activists try to make people feel guilty by claiming that humans have been destroying their environment since the dawn of civilization.
Extinctions amongst megafauna during the end of the last ice age are better-attributed to {gasp} the end of the last ice age! Large, heavy-coated, cold-adapted animals couldn't deal with global warming. Stone-age humans were certainly hunting individual mammoths, camels, etc. but human society and technology was simply not advanced or numerous enough to kill off multiple species in a short time frame.
I hardly use a regular telephone. I can't tell time on an analogue clock. And I haven't listened to the CD version of an album in a long time. But you'll never convince me to stop using real books!
I don't just like books, I revere them - and not just novels, but textbooks too. I once bought a used textbook that the previous owner had cut pictures out of and it made me angry. I've never even written in or highlighted books. I'll certainly resell them once I'm done, but I can't throw them away. That's why I've got a box of books in my room that are listed for $0.75 each on Half.com right now.
A book is knowledge and information in a tangible, lasting form. When a civilization fails, its books (tablets, scrolls, etc.) often survive. Can the same be said for the DRM encrypted, Sony proprietary formatted, digital version of James Patterson's "Murder in a Middle-Class Resort Town"?
I can sit and read a printed book for hours. Have you ever had to sit and read a computer screen for hours? Its tiring and bad for your eyes. Now imagine reading Crime and Punishment on a DS screen, an iPod, or a cell phone. Books a simple, intuitive to use, and can easily be shared. You don't have to worry about file formats, DRM, or hardware. The only compatibility issue with a book is whether or not its written in a language you can read.
What's worse is that, once most books are available in digital format only is the sad but inevitable next step: "Why should I have go to the trouble of reading my ebook when the machine could read it to me?" We're already half-way there with books on tape. Yes, audio recordings of books are wonderful for people who are blind or have other issues that limit their physical ability to read. The digital age is already eroding people's ability to write without a keyboard and grammar/spell check. What happens when people depend on a machine to read for them too?
Sure, it would be nice to have a search function on my 5 inch thick Invertebrate Zoology reference text. But, I'd rather have the satisfaction and prestige of that book sitting on my bookshelf and the knowledge that I can pick it up and look through it without paying a subscription fee.
Windows XP is the #1 OS in the country. And Microsoft Office X on the Mac was one of the best-reviewed versions of Office ever. Internet Explorer and Outlook have been popular among "computer security hobbyists" for years. Yup, Microsoft is definitely the master of their craft.
Slashdot Mirror
Kidding aside, the car racing analogy is very interesting. Now that I think about it, there's pretty much already a built-in fan base for athletic competitions that involve sci/tech innovation as well as human performance. CyberOlympics - NASCAR for people who can read!
This brings up a number of new problems:
1) Do we mix the cyborgs, mutants, and chemically-enhanced athletes together or have separate leagues?
2) Will there be a "research capital cap"?
3) If a player's arm lands in the stands, does someone get to keep it?
Remember, this is Swedish athletes. Europeans don't seem to be as uptight about freedom and rights as Americans (pretend) to be. Just look at the UK: surveillance cameras everywhere, DNA drag nets whenever there's a violent or sex crime in a neighborhood, etc.
Why would people with high-end audio gear want to download digital music? I thought they all insisted on listening to wax drum recordings to achieve the best possible "natural sound".
Its the fantasy element. I could go take fencing lessons, but that doesn't mean I'll get to slay monsters. I could take guitar lessons, but I might never be good enough to play my favorite rock songs. My brother is a great guitarist, self-taught, and he's still looking forward to GH under the tree.
I guess you didn't like Bioshock then . . .
I'm not a big fan, I've only read The Difference Engine. Stephenson's Baroque Cycle may count too. The point of the genre is to draw attention to the parallels between the modern boom in technological progress and innovations on a similar scale which appeared at the end of the 18th and 19th centuries. Appreciation of history and all that.
As for aesthetics, well art simply is.
In the spirit of optimism then . . .
Maybe one positive result of the military utilizing "video games" as a training tool will be a more accurate, first-hand look at games for government officials. Perhaps they'll come to better understand what players can get out of them. Maybe they'll stop demonizing the entire industry because of a few bad apples.
(end optimism)
Or, maybe they'll just end up wasting a lot of money on a mediocre game to use as a recruiting tool.
Isn't it ironic that the government ends up making the video games designed to train children to kill?
1) When plants die naturally, a significant proportion of their carbon goes into terrestrial carbon sinks instead of the atmosphere. Burning plant material releases stored carbon directly into the atmosphere.
2) As many on this board have already noted, the modern agricultural process produces a large amount of carbon so ethanol isn't going to be carbon neutral.
I wish ethanol would just go away.
Its a hydrocarbon, just like gasoline. That means when you burn it, ethanol still puts carbon into the atmosphere. Even worse, ethanol production and distribution haven't even gotten off the ground yet and its already screwing up the economy. Corn prices are sky-high on speculation so the livestock end of agriculture has to feed their cattle, pigs, etc. other expensive grains. This is driving the price of meat and dairy up. Farmers are switching their crops over to corn to take advantage of the profitable market, depleting the supply of other produce and further raising the prices. (Even you smug vegeterians lose out)
And, of course, the icing on the cake: we're already making deals to import ethanol from other countries so that we're still relying on foreign countries for our energy needs!
Some people didn't have any toys when they were little and still haven't gotten over it.
You should read the books. They go up to 3001 :)
All these worlds are yours, except Mars. Attempt no landings there.
I see, I see. A book or movie exists as a story independently from the reader or viewer. The story in a game requires input from the player for the story to exist. Even if cut scenes and dialogue exist in the code of the game, the transitions between these scenes are created by the player.
I love sniper games. I forget the name, but there's an arcade machine with a mounted light gun sniper rifle complete with a scope. In Deus Ex I always tried to complete as many missions by sniping guards, etc. You could shoot without being shot back at or even chased. Actions with no consequences. Its a thrill.
And, its the complete opposite of my persona. I'm very concerned with the consequences of my actions. I play games, in part, to explore choices and moralities contrary to my own. I'm sure that's the case for most people. When individuals allow the circumstances and ideas portrayed in media (TV, games, books, etc.) to define their own morality and choices, then there's a problem.
I'm not sure I agree. When I'm reading a book that I really like, I'm completely engrossed. The events described in print are essentially going on in my head. Its certainly more participatory than TV and movies where the story and imagery are being provided. Yes, games are interactive, but they're simply engaging different parts of your mind than books. Art and media are always participatory in some way. Are people who go to a nude photography exhibit later tracked by police as potential sex offenders? Not yet . . .
Why is it that video games are the only media being scrutinized at this level on morality issues? Are people who've seen Silence of the Lambs stamped "Cannibal" after leaving the theatre (or returning the DVD)? I've read Oedipus Rex. Does that mean I'm a motherf****r?
I'm sorry, but what society are we talking about here that's threatened by violent video games?
Is it the society that was built on a series of bloody wars? Is it the society that put the right to carry a gun in its constitution? Is it the society that has glorified war and violence in print, audio, and video media since its inception? In what way are violent video games a threat to a society that is engaged in two wars at once and gearing up for a third? Surely violent video games aren't a serious threat in a society where young men are shot in the street and then blamed by authorities for being "in the wrong place at the wrong time"? Such a society must have better things to spend time and money on.
How do you even begin to equate exposure to violent imagery with smoking cigarettes? Do violent images make it difficult for people to breathe? Do they clog your lungs? Do carcinogenic particles emitted by video games disrupt cellular activity? Do people wake up in the morning feeling sick because they haven't seen a violent image since the night before?
Wow! How'd we jump from needle-less drug administration to weaponized birth control devices?
But, speaking of cyberpunk, these sound more like the slap patches and dots Molly used in Neuromancer for pain meds.
As a former student and current adjunct, my only concern about academic email is whether or not I can keep my institutional domain. Publishers, academic institutions, and potential employers often use your email's domain as a kind of digital letterhead. For example, I recently contacted the AstroBio group at NASA-Ames for some classroom material. I suspect the fast and courteous response I received was due in some part to the "@cuny.edu" in the sender line. Sure, I route all my mail into one inbox, but I still use different address for different kinds of communication.
I'm in between grad degrees right now, mostly teaching geology. But, I never cease to be amazed at how many old theories and downright myths from paleontology and geology are still circulating. If you look up "north american megafauna" you'll find a number of articles and studies a bit more scholarly than sciencedaily.com. Like this abstract: http://www.journals.royalsoc.ac.uk/content/1dxw1577mlad9wl1/
People forget that as recently as 10,000 years ago, humans were just about on equal footing with the other animals in their environment. What we lacked in strength and speed, we just barely made up for in the ability to communicate and plan ahead. The ability to dramatically impact nature is a talent we picked up much later on.
Passenger pigeons (a single species) were killed off in the 19th century. I'm not saying modern, industrialized humans aren't responsible for habitat and species loss. I'm just saying that its a bit extreme to blame the disappearance of dozens of large mammal species on a population of humans that hadn't even discovered agriculture.
If, by widely accepted, you mean that environmental activists try to make people feel guilty by claiming that humans have been destroying their environment since the dawn of civilization.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/10/011025072315.htmExtinctions amongst megafauna during the end of the last ice age are better-attributed to {gasp} the end of the last ice age! Large, heavy-coated, cold-adapted animals couldn't deal with global warming. Stone-age humans were certainly hunting individual mammoths, camels, etc. but human society and technology was simply not advanced or numerous enough to kill off multiple species in a short time frame.
Research on this phenomenon has been ongoing for some time. Here's an excellent summary: http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/monkeysphere.html
I hardly use a regular telephone. I can't tell time on an analogue clock. And I haven't listened to the CD version of an album in a long time. But you'll never convince me to stop using real books!
I don't just like books, I revere them - and not just novels, but textbooks too. I once bought a used textbook that the previous owner had cut pictures out of and it made me angry. I've never even written in or highlighted books. I'll certainly resell them once I'm done, but I can't throw them away. That's why I've got a box of books in my room that are listed for $0.75 each on Half.com right now.
A book is knowledge and information in a tangible, lasting form. When a civilization fails, its books (tablets, scrolls, etc.) often survive. Can the same be said for the DRM encrypted, Sony proprietary formatted, digital version of James Patterson's "Murder in a Middle-Class Resort Town"?
I can sit and read a printed book for hours. Have you ever had to sit and read a computer screen for hours? Its tiring and bad for your eyes. Now imagine reading Crime and Punishment on a DS screen, an iPod, or a cell phone. Books a simple, intuitive to use, and can easily be shared. You don't have to worry about file formats, DRM, or hardware. The only compatibility issue with a book is whether or not its written in a language you can read.
What's worse is that, once most books are available in digital format only is the sad but inevitable next step: "Why should I have go to the trouble of reading my ebook when the machine could read it to me?" We're already half-way there with books on tape. Yes, audio recordings of books are wonderful for people who are blind or have other issues that limit their physical ability to read. The digital age is already eroding people's ability to write without a keyboard and grammar/spell check. What happens when people depend on a machine to read for them too?
Sure, it would be nice to have a search function on my 5 inch thick Invertebrate Zoology reference text. But, I'd rather have the satisfaction and prestige of that book sitting on my bookshelf and the knowledge that I can pick it up and look through it without paying a subscription fee.
Windows XP is the #1 OS in the country. And Microsoft Office X on the Mac was one of the best-reviewed versions of Office ever. Internet Explorer and Outlook have been popular among "computer security hobbyists" for years. Yup, Microsoft is definitely the master of their craft.