I would guess that the problem is not stupidity; Sony didn't want this to happen and tried to avoid it. But the factories couldn't get up to speed in time for Christmas.
Um... Actually, most of the big computer/electronics players are running into semiconductor shortages all over the place. Sony is one of them. They are missing some of the raw components to make the systems.
The quality of a console is not defined by the hardware, but the games. So far I haven't heard anyone saying nice things about the PS2 already published (nor has anyone complemented the games coming out in the next few months). I'm sure it will be a good system given some time, but it isn't there yet.
Well, I played a friend's system for a bit at lunch today and Dead Or Alive 2: Hardcore was pretty damn sweet. I didn't have time to check out the new Tekken game or racing game he bought, but the graphics quality was several times what else I have seen. There was clearly excellent computational work in there as well, as no clipping occurred that I could detect in very complicated manuevers. In short, I was more impressed than I have been with graphics in computers and consoles recently. The graphics were noticably better than Dreamcast, but not so much that I'd pay that kind of money right now. The whole lack of anti-aliasing issue that cropped up in Japan was fixed when developers realized that they could do it, but it wasn't where they thought it would be. (I was curious, so I checked up on it at ps2.ign.com.) There are also all those old PS games...
The second issue is the DVD player. You basicly buy a game system and get a Sony DVD player for free. This is the bigger reason I am looking forward to getting one eventually. My favorite console developer (the omnipresent SquareSoft), seems pretty committed to PS2 only, so I will get one once the hype dies down. My friend is one of those people who buys cool stuff when it comes out, on the other hand. (He and some co-workers of his got 6 PS2s amongst them and are selling them on E-Bay as a self reward for standing in line for like 7 or 9 hours.)
That also raises another issue, I find it hard not to lose things like pens and cds off of my desk, when my pc is the size of a eunuchs prick i'll certainly waste a lot of money having to replace em:(
You forgot that in this happy, spiffy future of ours, the computer is too tiny to need a desk. Just wear it on your wrist and call it a watch. You can "plug in" wirelessly to the nearest monitor or simply the visor/whatever you carry around.
But we have to remember hard drives have to be built to endure wear and tear. Average harddrives will be used for years on end, something so small sounds like it could be open to a lot of environmental factors in the computer, like scratches, heat, etc. So if there's one tiny defect it could ruin (gigabytes, terabytes, whatever) a majority of the storage cube. Are we willing to risk this much to have a god-like storage system?
I assume that we are talking about the construct made of Buckyballs and gold about the size of a sugar cube? The weak link would be the possibilities of the gold bending and/or twisting out of alignment. Given how cheap titanium might be by the time it could be constructed, why not just sheathe the whole thing in a shock absorbing insulator and add a layer of titanium on the outside.
I am in no way involved directly, but I have talked with people who do tests on drive stress, including the IBM microdrive, and they can be made pretty impact resistant. (More so if the drive isn't spinning than if it is.) Those technologies should not be too dificult to translate to a device with FAR fewer moving parts and a much higher density.
Others have pointed out repeatedly that this was a former employer, but I would like to agree with Ron and say: Get a lawyer.
Without reading the exact terms of the agreement, we can't say how much leeway you are permitted. I would tend to think that if the patent is sufficiently broad that you don't consider it to be patentable, talk to a lawyer and you can probably return that signed statement instead of the signatures your former employer wanted. They cannot sue you for NOT lying. (Unless, of course, you signed a nondisclosure agreement to the effect that you would not reveal that they are trying to scam the US Patent office.)
I'll throw another log on the fire. My experience along these lines was less than ideal. The very project that my manager hired me to handle turned into one of these. I was interviewed and hired 6 months before graduation and my manager decided to outsource the project before I was onboard to shorten turn-around. He basicly flushed the equivalent of my first year's salary.
When I came in, the project was back. I had specialized in Expert Systems in college and I could recognize all the concepts they used to create one, but the code was obfuscated so that we would have them maintain it. The process for entering information was beyond the reasonable learning curve for anyone who was not a programmer. We would have to dedicate a full-time person just to be able to enter the data. This had been intended to be maintained by our technicians for the use of call operators and another version to go on the web. After a few weeks of trying to decode the information, my manager and I flushed the project as unusable without sending good money after bad.
I don't regard this as a death sentence to outsourcing, but it is a VERY good idea to know what the outsourcees want to get out of the project. If you make it clear that a well-functioning project up to detailed specs will probably earn them a boatload of more business, you shouldn't have too much to fear. The group my manager used wanted to sell the project at a loss and charge two or three headcount for maintenance ad infinitum. This didn't match my manager's desires at all.
Again my issues are with those who are critizing the whole concept of the protest, and with the city officials who chose to close the parks, which are the rightful areas for this type of protest. I mean, if you don't want protestors in the streets blocking traffic, let them use the park. I surptised the police themselves haven't complained about that one. I would, if I were them.
Great point. I hadn't really realized that they had closed off the parks. I think that this was a situation where a lot of different people were at fault for it turning into a stupid mess. The biggest reason I was mad at the author is that I felt what he did was meaningless, because he never even let anybody know just what he was protesting. It bothers me when people give protesters a bad name because they don't seem to understand what the whole thing is about.
If you find a politician (there are some who truly try to represent the people)
Name one, please. I'd like to give them a call...
Most of the ones I have encountered were at the local level with a few a state. I believe that there are more at the national level, but I have not taken the time to do a thorough check-up on all or even some of them. My advice for finding one is to look up two or three laws that matter a hell of a lot to you and see who voted the way you feel is right. There is a chance that this person might try to represent the same portion of our population that you belong to. Do further research on the politicos that matched your initial set of requirements and see where that person stands. If there is a consistent pattern to their votes that fat bribes don't explain, I'd wager that the politician believes he/she is proctecting or pursueing something good and that it represents the people. I have known several people who have entered local politics simply because they couldn't stand the state of affairs in their communities. Some of these rise through the ranks and form those I am talking about: the ones who try to represent what they perceive the people wanting.
I can't name those whom you would feel match the desires of the people, because your perspective is different than mine and I would only give you those whom I agree with and think try to do what the people request. This is probably not going to match your opinions, because from what each of us has written, I think we view the world fairly differently.
My passion isn't law changing, it IS technology. But as a citizen of this country, I should have the ability to effect the government in some way without disrupting MY quest for happiness completely. Many, Many laws are passed that I had absolutly no say in. The net growth of the number of laws and spending in this country is increasing at a scary rate. And we have no substantial say in it unless you want to become a politician.
It isn't easy, but it can be done. Campaign finance reform is at the top of my list of things that have to happen and soon. If you find a politician (there are some who truly try to represent the people) who agrees with your most important cause, support that politician. Help that person get the changes made. When you achieve enough of a victory to make that problem no longer you main concern, tackle the next one. If more people did this and joined watchdog groups, many of our problems would not exist. The internet is another tool we can use to help that. I don't know of any perfect solutions, but this is better than nothing.
It IS a free country, and you are free to leave if you really hate it.
Almost time now... 4 more months.
I sincerely hope that you are happier wherever you are going. Our world is far from perfect, but I would like it if more people found a happy life.
Fuck you. I don't hate the country, I hate idiots like you make such assinine pronouncements like that to citizens who express concern that you (the politicians/military/cops... all the fucks that use that stupid line) are fucking up so badly.
You are perfectly entitled to your opinion. I am not am member of the political caste, police, or military. I am an average working person two years out of college. I get very sick of people who bitch all the time about this country's problems, but aren't willing to lift a finger to change it. I have worked to try to help change things that are bad in my view. My cause has not "succeeded" but it is closer than it was because people got involved rather than cursing at people who try to make a difference. I'm entitled to my opinion, too. Unlike some people, I will work for it though.
no, he is a man with convictions. you, sir, are a Young Republican.
What convictions? He got detained for no good reason without ever spreading his message. This article doesn't even tell us what group he was half-assedly representing. How does that help their cause in any way? How does this do anything but waste a police officer's time? If people protest the way it should be done, the police aren't worried about the lives of themselves and random passers by. This means more police can be dedicated to preventing crime like rape and murder, as someone else pointed out. Proper protesting gets news coverage and more people learn about the issue at hand. The movement gets larger and there are results. This is stupidity.
You, sir, are a foolish idealist who hasn't bothered to grasp the fact that there are multiple perspectives in the world. Why was this moderated up?
I do have a problem with law makers. and the electoral college and the census, and the USPS, and the NSA,FBI,CIA,FCC, FTC, FAA, DOE, EPA, etc.. I hate this country.
Get out there and work to change it. If you really tried, I guarantee that you could be enough of a pain in some lawmaker's arse to get something changed for the better. If you aren't willing to work to change it or everybody else in the country just flat out disagrees with you, the border is right over there. It IS a free country, and you are free to leave if you really hate it.
Shit, if they're going arrest people for 'looking dangerous in an environment where large groups of peoople are breaking laws', they should've cleaned out the convention hall with a paddy wagon. And congress, to while you're at it, and city all.
He said BREAKING the law, not MAKING the law. I assume that you meant 'city hall', right?
While in a perfectly free and ideal society (i.e. one without people), attitude wouldn't matter worth squat, in ours it does. If you behave in a fashion that leads a police officer to believe that you are a threat to public safety, his job is to prevent you from harming anyone. Police mortality in Philly is pretty damn high, so of course they are going to play it safe from their perspective. Idealism is great, but police are people who don't want to die for their idealism. So, they behave in a way prepared for the worst and hope for the best. If some police somewhere in the country overreact or commit legit brutality, police everywhere get more abuse. They are in a lose-lose situation and do the best they damn well can to protect ungrateful people like the author. If you expect them not to get jaded, you are an amazing idealist.
I just thought the author was immature when I started reading this, but I am continuing to get angrier as I listen to mindless people who can't seem to comprehend that a person, who has no idea when someone might try to kill him, is going to err on the side of caution if presented with someone dressed in military attire who responds with extreme hostility to any questions. Even if the person is just a peaceful protester, it is better to detain that person (who was not arrested from anything I read) than to allow a true nutcase to get through with real grenades. Police dislike reactionary nuts who blow things up every bit as much as they dislike radical nuts who blow things up.
That is cute. Strongly indicative that you don't actually discern too much so long as something is in support of the general, vague direction of your cause, but cute. Have you been watching that butchery of the story of Francis Marion known as _The Patriot_ too much? If so, you are indirectly contributing to the housing of militia.
There is such a thing as saying that a goal is admirable and that the means being used are unacceptable. I would consider that to be a good thing to say at times.
They let copyright infringers (99.9% of their users) stay online, but if somebody tries posting bogus files, they're gone!
Pretty much. Basically because the copyright infringers, thieves, and people "who want to force the industry to change" are going to keep silent about other people breaking the law. Many of them will scream bloody murder at someone who is making fun of them though.
"I just spent x minutes downloading this junk because Y has a bunch of fake songs and is umm... COPYRIGHT INFRINGING!!!! Take the bastard off!!!" Maybe I'm cynical, but I suspect that a majority of heavy Napster users would react this way. More power to the Cukoo eggs.
Unless I am completely missing the joke, this note is not meant to be funny. It is meant to be a commentary of some of the internal prejudices of Slashdot. If it were moderated up as "Interesting" or "Insightful", I would have no comments. However, a mismoderated post where the poster's.sig consists of 'Moderators: copy/pasting text from the site a story links to isn't "Informative," it's "Redundant."' is rather ironic.
That said, "Cheddar." Somehow, a one word, normal response from DA struck me as immensely funny.
Emerson, I suspect that people were much more interested in the Metallica interview because more people were angry about Metallica than about Douglas Adams. Whether it is fair or hypocritical is up to personal interpretation. I'd be inclined to say that the general group anger deflated to a large degree after the interview was eventually run. There were far fewer current events to remind readers and editors about the Douglas Adams interview and less anger floating around, so fewer people ranted.
Sorry it took me so long to respond. I was busy this weekend and didn't read your response.
I am sort of the opinion that it is not a good thing to trash someone else's beliefs with no explanation for just why yours are so much better. I have none. It's better to face the situation you're in on its own merits.
Well enough. At least I understand your personal position now. Before I assumed that there was a chance that you were a person who might not follow a civilised argument, as my experience was limited to a one line post of yours.
I have mentally done a list of what I consider the major factors in something being considered a religion and came up some interesting personal results. ...and your qualifications are...?...and the basis for these rules is...?
I have no particular qualifications for this other than a brain and an opinion. The basis of these rules was my attempt to reduce the concept of a religion to the most basic level I could and include all of the religions I had heard of to date. Once I had done that, some number of months ago, I noted that at the level I was looking at, the difference between what I had considered a religion and what I had considered a philosophy seemed to vanish. I considered science a philosophy at that time. When I was writing this, I was trying to pull those simplified factors to mind after not having thought about them for several months.
And by your ineptitude, sir, you seem to have stumbled across the Chewbacca Defense. Don't pat yourself on the back for smiting another heathen with your great wit, yet...
I suppose I should have explained this joke too. My point was that if you determine the rules in your mind and state an opinion as fact, you are basically stating an opinion. My discussion was not meant to be taken without a large grain of salt. In short, I was trying for irony. I had a much better version of this written up when Netscape crashed on my attempt to preview, and I believe that my dashed off re-write lacked a bit of skill in conveying a few of my points. As for you being a heathen, why would I care? I barely can claim to fit in any given religion and have long defined myself as agnostic. I objected to the generalisation, not you.
You might want to keep in mind that religions have been both helping and harming people for generations uncounted. Yep, and it's high time we started acting like grown ups and faced reality without a filter. We're too advanced technologically, and too much a threat to ourselves, to being abstracting our moral decisions via Aesop's Fables. I like fantasy novels, too, but you won't catch me reading them on my knees.
Had you used this argument originally, I wouldn't have been annoyed. It is one of the better stated versions of it I have heard. My simple answer is that (technology != ethics) and (technology != morality). The fact that we have the ability to destroy our own race does not mean we should abandon the philosophies and religions of our prior generations in favor of new ones. I'd rather go with "Ancient Ethics version 200.1.7" than "MS Ethics ver 1.0.1". One of the more famous families of religions contains rather prominatly the line: "Thou shalt not kill." That is pretty direct if you ask me. The reason that religions are couched in "fables" is that they aid in comprehension for a fair-sized chunk of people.
Like everyone on this board, I've got no shortage of IQ, OK? Actually, one or two people have even called me "smart". However, I must admit that outside of work and sleep it takes me every waking second to figure out the difference between right and wrong in situations where I have to make a decision.... You all must be intellectual giants, I mean, IQs off the fucking scale to have your shit figured out so well you can tell me what to think and do. I mean, if you're that good, why should I even think at all, right?
I no longer have doubts about your intelligence. I didn't have many to start with. The brevity and absolute confidence I perceived in your post led me to assume that I might have to hit you in the head with my points to make you listen to them rather than dismissing me as a crackpot for not agreeing with you. That has come to sound like it was my reading more into your post than was there. I don't know that I am smarter than you in any way, but I don't have many awful difficulties in the ethics department. I rely on the ethics I was taught by my parents and that I molded through my experiences. Maybe I am the less perceptive because I do not struggle with them as much as you do, but I don't perceive myself to. If I find a circumstance that lies outside the model I have worked from my whole life, I make whatever logical extensions I can figure out and err on the side of safety or leniency. I don't believe that I or anyone else has the right to TELL you what to believe. I believe that I do have the responsibility to tell you the conclusions I might have made in a similar circumstance and let you determine whether they will help you in your dilemma. In my view, religion is very much like philosophy. You can take it or you can leave it. Some religions warn about the dangers of leaving them, an for all I happen to know about an afterlife, they might well be right. I simply have to make the best choices I can in the frameworks I am aware of and live with them.
I should just give all my money to whoever comes along with hellfire and damnation and forget their long history of taking advantage of mere idiots like me, right? These assholes are running a fucking shell game with people too lazy or ignorant to know any better and you're telling me I shouldn't take the time to point it out?
I will reiterate myself now: There are some religions now that I think are garbage, but I am not going to trash them without first understanding them a bit. There are a lot of other religions that I think are on the right track to providing a way of dealing with the world. If you are talking about a particular religion that is cheating people, I don't object in the slightest. I object to you assuming that what one religious group is doing, every last one is. That is exactly like saying "A black man stole from me, so black men are all thieves." I will defend the right of religions in general to ask for money, not any religion in particular, because of the purpose behind it. The idea is that you are paying to provide a service. You are paying to have someone else study the ethics, etc. you agree with and teach you as if you were attending a school. The priest, rabbi, monk, etc. probably spends most of his time perfecting their interpretation of the religion and conveys it to the students. I view it in much the same way I view the structure of a martial arts school, be it the Tendo Dojo or any other.
If you cannot deal with life and the universe without resorting to making-up shit (like "god" or "heaven") you should not be alive.
So only privledged people who have never faced sufficient hardship to need to believe in something to keep going should live, eh? If a person has been pushed to the point that cynicism, intolerance, and self-importance are no longer within easy grasp, they should be put down. My, that would take out a sizeable chunk of the world's population. Then the people who live in pompous arrogance that they are right and everyone else is wrong will suddenly start having to deal with reality because there are no longer the "dirty peasants" to do it, eh? Wait! Then those who discover that life is not easy for everyone will have to be put down.
No thanks. I'll deal with reality my way and let you deal with it yours. I find your way sad, because it does not allow for views other than your own and a species with no variety dies out.
They're all businesses. They just traffick in infinite commodities: human fear and stupidity.
Hey, look! Flamebait!!! In general, generalisations are bad. Everyone should stop using them. (Irony intended.)
I am sort of the opinion that it is not a good thing to trash someone else's beliefs with no explanation for just why yours are so much better. I have mentally done a list of what I consider the major factors in something being considered a religion and came up some interesting personal results. Here is my list with three sets of examples after each major indicator. The first is from any given monotheistic religion, the second from a random philosophy, and the third is from science.
Many people believe in something effectively intangible and difficult to comprehend. [God] [Justice] [quantum mechanics]
There are intangible forces that are capable of helping or harming you. [God vs demons] [good vs. evil] [radiation vs. radiation and countless others I'm not thinking of]
The beliefs explain a particular viewpoint on how the world works and gives people a frame of reference to life. [creation of the world; why certain things happen] [how to react to certain things] [creation of the world; why certain things happen]
There is a linchpin belief or set of beliefs that all others are based upon. If you deny it, the others become mere mental fabrication to amuse. [existence of a deity] [fact that mankind should have goals beyond satisfying immediate desires] [the effectiveness of the scientific method in reflecting reality]
Hmm. By my short list of requirements, general philosophies and science are religions. By your generalisation, they must both be businesses! You might want to keep in mind that religions have been both helping and harming people for generations uncounted. For every tribe that threw people into a volcano to appease their God, there was another where their shaman was also their doctor. There are some religions now that I think are garbage, but I am not going to trash them without first understanding them a bit. There are a lot of other religions that I think are on the right track to providing a way of dealing with the world. You nver know, those preachers might just be right about a thing or two.
B. Elgin
Re:Depends on what kind of anime you like...
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Arg. I forgot The Wings of Hoannemise. The spelling might be off, but that is definately one of the ones that goes up there with Grave of the Fireflies. Wings is about a nascent space-flight program on an alternate world in the midst of a cold war similar to Russia vs. U.S. Specifically, it is about the pilot who somehow is involved in really moving the program forward and settin up a first manned spaceflight. Grave of the Fireflies is a story of a very young brother and sister in WWII whose home is destroyed and mother killed by American bombers.
B. Elgin
Re:Depends on what kind of anime you like...
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I agree. It depends strongly on what kind of anime you like. I am a bit of an anime buff having seen something like 40-50 different series and titles for at least an episode or two. There are titles that some people love and others hate for no particular reason other than what the people like.
That said, MasteroftheVoxel has pointed out some pretty good titles. Neon Genesis Evangelion and Vision of Escaflowne were probably to of the best tv series titles to come out in the 90's for Japan. Evangelion, as others have mentioned is a rollercoster ride of an action-comedy that effectively portrays the mentality of the main character Shini in a really bizarre and fairly depressing jaunt through adolesence during the Armageddon. Escaflowne is a nice mix of Shoujo (to give the plot some depth and feeling) and action. It has some excellent sword and mecha fighting combined with very good character development.
Of the little Miyazaki I have seen, I would strongly recommend Mononoke Hime, or Princess Mononoke as Mirimax is calling it. This is the most adult themed and serious of Miyazaki's works that I have seen.
In the comedy department, I can strongly recommend: Ranma 1/2 (Again, but I'd say watch at least the first 2.5 seasons and the OVAs if possible.) El Hazard (More cross-dressing fun in the OVAs and one of the best of the one guy being pursued by many girls genre.) Irresponsible Captain Tyler (This is a great space comedy where you and all the other characters spend the entire series trying to figure out if Tylor is a genius or a rampaging moron.) Lupin: Castle of Caglistro (Anything involving Lupin is going to be pretty darn funny as the super-thief and bunch of wierdos wander off to do strange things.) Slayers (Take the whole D&D idea and remove rationality from the characters and respectable limits to power. Can be quite funny.) Tenchi Muyo (Like El Hazard, but louder with a much less sane cast of characters. Avoid the second TV series as if your life depends on it, but the OVAs and first movie are good.)
If you like Trigun, I can recommend these (tough guy who acts like an idiot) titles: City Hunter (The City Hunter is a famous bodyguard/private eye who is a complete worthless pervert until the situation gets serious.) Sorcerer Hunters (A bunch of oddballs are sent out to take care of very unruly wizards who are enslaving the populous. Borders on bad taste at a few points but funny.)
In the sci-fi action genre, there are quite a few: Macross Plus (The OVAs are simply some of the best animation I have ever seen. The plot is good and provides a worthy sucessor to Macross/Robotech.) Orguss 2 (I didn't enjoy much of Orguss that I saw, but the sequel is excellent and little known. A good way to think of it is World War II with both sides unearthing mecha from some apparently previous civilization.) Iria: Zeiram the Animation (This is a good bounty hunter series involving interesting technology clearly based on non-tradition physics.) Ghost In the Shell (Others have covered this.) Patlabor (The two movies are very good. This is the most realistic rendition of mecha that I have seen in an anime.) Bubblegum Crisis (Think Bladerunner with really nasty androids and four women in battle armor fighting them for fun and profit.) Gundam Wing (I haven't had the history and physics lessons necessary to tackle the main Gundam universe in depth, so I'll suggest an excellent spinoff.) Dirty Pair (Comedic pair of Trouble Consultants (like police but not) who cause so much collateral damage that it is sometimes counted in planets.)
In the miscellaneous category come these gems: Record of Lodoss War (The OVAs are what D&D was meant to be, and the TV series is good apart from the annoying ending segments.) Key the Metal Idol (This is in my top five or ten favorites of all time. Mix Isaac Asimov, Japanese culture, massive psychic power, and stir. The story is of Key and her quest to become human by making 30,000 friends.) Heroic Legend of Arslan (Cross the Lord of the Rings characters with Akira Kurasawa and get a good medieval yarn.) Fushugi Yuugi (Or The Mysterious Play as I think the dubbed version is called. This is as close to the Sailor Moon style as I can get and still like it. Involves a girl transported to another dimension to fufill a prophesy a la Neverending Story.) Oh My Goddess (Mostly Shoujo story of a boy in love with a Goddess. Her sisters don't exactly like the union though...) Kishin Corp (This is steampunk mecha combat set in World War II. Wierd but good.)
I'd write up more, but these are the best ones I can think of offhand and I've been thinking about this for over half an hour. Time to post and be done with it.
But the real Emperor Commodus really did fight in the arena, repeatedly.... Commodus styled himself after Hercules, even to the point of wearing a lion skin, and adopting the demigod's name as one of his many titles.
Hmm. The historical Commodus would have been a much more interesting character. Unfortunately, the one portrayed in the movie did not much resemble the one described in your link. I could believe that someone who fancied himself Hercules's successor would have fought that duel (with or without cheating), but the character as presented in the movie would not have save out of a Caligula-like sense of insanity. If he were remotely good enough to fight the duel, he would know the dangers of fighting a man who has no hope of life aside from killing him, even if he had not butchered the man's family. His opponent wouldn't care whether he lived or died from his attacks if it was going to be a choice between death and death... I chalk it up to another "great" Hollywood plot.
And then if you're willing to suspend disbelief enough for MI:2, might I suggest going to see Battlefield: Earth? You'll be treated to the sight of cavemen learning how to fly Harrier jets in less than seven days. Not to mention 1000 year old harriers still functioning perfectly:-)
Erg. Unfortunately, my standards for sci-fi are much higher than my standards for action films. (Thus, I am greatly disappointed by much of the genre that Hollywood puts out.) I expect there to be at least half a dozen mild absurdities in a Hollywood action film, but I am not quite prepared for the savant cavemen...
Slashdot Mirror
Um... Actually, most of the big computer/electronics players are running into semiconductor shortages all over the place. Sony is one of them. They are missing some of the raw components to make the systems.
B. Elgin
Well, I played a friend's system for a bit at lunch today and Dead Or Alive 2: Hardcore was pretty damn sweet. I didn't have time to check out the new Tekken game or racing game he bought, but the graphics quality was several times what else I have seen. There was clearly excellent computational work in there as well, as no clipping occurred that I could detect in very complicated manuevers. In short, I was more impressed than I have been with graphics in computers and consoles recently. The graphics were noticably better than Dreamcast, but not so much that I'd pay that kind of money right now. The whole lack of anti-aliasing issue that cropped up in Japan was fixed when developers realized that they could do it, but it wasn't where they thought it would be. (I was curious, so I checked up on it at ps2.ign.com.) There are also all those old PS games...
The second issue is the DVD player. You basicly buy a game system and get a Sony DVD player for free. This is the bigger reason I am looking forward to getting one eventually. My favorite console developer (the omnipresent SquareSoft), seems pretty committed to PS2 only, so I will get one once the hype dies down. My friend is one of those people who buys cool stuff when it comes out, on the other hand. (He and some co-workers of his got 6 PS2s amongst them and are selling them on E-Bay as a self reward for standing in line for like 7 or 9 hours.)
B. Elgin
You forgot that in this happy, spiffy future of ours, the computer is too tiny to need a desk. Just wear it on your wrist and call it a watch. You can "plug in" wirelessly to the nearest monitor or simply the visor/whatever you carry around.
B. Elgin
I assume that we are talking about the construct made of Buckyballs and gold about the size of a sugar cube? The weak link would be the possibilities of the gold bending and/or twisting out of alignment. Given how cheap titanium might be by the time it could be constructed, why not just sheathe the whole thing in a shock absorbing insulator and add a layer of titanium on the outside.
I am in no way involved directly, but I have talked with people who do tests on drive stress, including the IBM microdrive, and they can be made pretty impact resistant. (More so if the drive isn't spinning than if it is.) Those technologies should not be too dificult to translate to a device with FAR fewer moving parts and a much higher density.
B. Elgin
Be sure it is accurately stated in any documents you do sign exactly what you DID do and how you got to that point. Good luck.
B. Elgin
Without reading the exact terms of the agreement, we can't say how much leeway you are permitted. I would tend to think that if the patent is sufficiently broad that you don't consider it to be patentable, talk to a lawyer and you can probably return that signed statement instead of the signatures your former employer wanted. They cannot sue you for NOT lying. (Unless, of course, you signed a nondisclosure agreement to the effect that you would not reveal that they are trying to scam the US Patent office.)
B. Elgin
When I came in, the project was back. I had specialized in Expert Systems in college and I could recognize all the concepts they used to create one, but the code was obfuscated so that we would have them maintain it. The process for entering information was beyond the reasonable learning curve for anyone who was not a programmer. We would have to dedicate a full-time person just to be able to enter the data. This had been intended to be maintained by our technicians for the use of call operators and another version to go on the web. After a few weeks of trying to decode the information, my manager and I flushed the project as unusable without sending good money after bad.
I don't regard this as a death sentence to outsourcing, but it is a VERY good idea to know what the outsourcees want to get out of the project. If you make it clear that a well-functioning project up to detailed specs will probably earn them a boatload of more business, you shouldn't have too much to fear. The group my manager used wanted to sell the project at a loss and charge two or three headcount for maintenance ad infinitum. This didn't match my manager's desires at all.
B. Elgin
Great point. I hadn't really realized that they had closed off the parks. I think that this was a situation where a lot of different people were at fault for it turning into a stupid mess. The biggest reason I was mad at the author is that I felt what he did was meaningless, because he never even let anybody know just what he was protesting. It bothers me when people give protesters a bad name because they don't seem to understand what the whole thing is about.
B. Elgin
Name one, please. I'd like to give them a call...
Most of the ones I have encountered were at the local level with a few a state. I believe that there are more at the national level, but I have not taken the time to do a thorough check-up on all or even some of them. My advice for finding one is to look up two or three laws that matter a hell of a lot to you and see who voted the way you feel is right. There is a chance that this person might try to represent the same portion of our population that you belong to. Do further research on the politicos that matched your initial set of requirements and see where that person stands. If there is a consistent pattern to their votes that fat bribes don't explain, I'd wager that the politician believes he/she is proctecting or pursueing something good and that it represents the people. I have known several people who have entered local politics simply because they couldn't stand the state of affairs in their communities. Some of these rise through the ranks and form those I am talking about: the ones who try to represent what they perceive the people wanting.
I can't name those whom you would feel match the desires of the people, because your perspective is different than mine and I would only give you those whom I agree with and think try to do what the people request. This is probably not going to match your opinions, because from what each of us has written, I think we view the world fairly differently.
B. Elgin
It isn't easy, but it can be done. Campaign finance reform is at the top of my list of things that have to happen and soon. If you find a politician (there are some who truly try to represent the people) who agrees with your most important cause, support that politician. Help that person get the changes made. When you achieve enough of a victory to make that problem no longer you main concern, tackle the next one. If more people did this and joined watchdog groups, many of our problems would not exist. The internet is another tool we can use to help that. I don't know of any perfect solutions, but this is better than nothing.
It IS a free country, and you are free to leave if you really hate it.
Almost time now... 4 more months.
I sincerely hope that you are happier wherever you are going. Our world is far from perfect, but I would like it if more people found a happy life.
B. Elgin
You are perfectly entitled to your opinion. I am not am member of the political caste, police, or military. I am an average working person two years out of college. I get very sick of people who bitch all the time about this country's problems, but aren't willing to lift a finger to change it. I have worked to try to help change things that are bad in my view. My cause has not "succeeded" but it is closer than it was because people got involved rather than cursing at people who try to make a difference. I'm entitled to my opinion, too. Unlike some people, I will work for it though.
B. Elgin
What convictions? He got detained for no good reason without ever spreading his message. This article doesn't even tell us what group he was half-assedly representing. How does that help their cause in any way? How does this do anything but waste a police officer's time? If people protest the way it should be done, the police aren't worried about the lives of themselves and random passers by. This means more police can be dedicated to preventing crime like rape and murder, as someone else pointed out. Proper protesting gets news coverage and more people learn about the issue at hand. The movement gets larger and there are results. This is stupidity.
You, sir, are a foolish idealist who hasn't bothered to grasp the fact that there are multiple perspectives in the world. Why was this moderated up?
B. Elgin
I hate this country.
Get out there and work to change it. If you really tried, I guarantee that you could be enough of a pain in some lawmaker's arse to get something changed for the better. If you aren't willing to work to change it or everybody else in the country just flat out disagrees with you, the border is right over there. It IS a free country, and you are free to leave if you really hate it.
B. Elgin
He said BREAKING the law, not MAKING the law. I assume that you meant 'city hall', right?
While in a perfectly free and ideal society (i.e. one without people), attitude wouldn't matter worth squat, in ours it does. If you behave in a fashion that leads a police officer to believe that you are a threat to public safety, his job is to prevent you from harming anyone. Police mortality in Philly is pretty damn high, so of course they are going to play it safe from their perspective. Idealism is great, but police are people who don't want to die for their idealism. So, they behave in a way prepared for the worst and hope for the best. If some police somewhere in the country overreact or commit legit brutality, police everywhere get more abuse. They are in a lose-lose situation and do the best they damn well can to protect ungrateful people like the author. If you expect them not to get jaded, you are an amazing idealist.
I just thought the author was immature when I started reading this, but I am continuing to get angrier as I listen to mindless people who can't seem to comprehend that a person, who has no idea when someone might try to kill him, is going to err on the side of caution if presented with someone dressed in military attire who responds with extreme hostility to any questions. Even if the person is just a peaceful protester, it is better to detain that person (who was not arrested from anything I read) than to allow a true nutcase to get through with real grenades. Police dislike reactionary nuts who blow things up every bit as much as they dislike radical nuts who blow things up.
B. Elgin
There is such a thing as saying that a goal is admirable and that the means being used are unacceptable. I would consider that to be a good thing to say at times.
B. Elgin
Pretty much. Basically because the copyright infringers, thieves, and people "who want to force the industry to change" are going to keep silent about other people breaking the law. Many of them will scream bloody murder at someone who is making fun of them though.
"I just spent x minutes downloading this junk because Y has a bunch of fake songs and is umm... COPYRIGHT INFRINGING!!!! Take the bastard off!!!" Maybe I'm cynical, but I suspect that a majority of heavy Napster users would react this way. More power to the Cukoo eggs.
B. Elgin
Unless I am completely missing the joke, this note is not meant to be funny. It is meant to be a commentary of some of the internal prejudices of Slashdot. If it were moderated up as "Interesting" or "Insightful", I would have no comments. However, a mismoderated post where the poster's .sig consists of 'Moderators: copy/pasting text from the site a story links to isn't "Informative," it's "Redundant."' is rather ironic.
That said, "Cheddar." Somehow, a one word, normal response from DA struck me as immensely funny.
Emerson, I suspect that people were much more interested in the Metallica interview because more people were angry about Metallica than about Douglas Adams. Whether it is fair or hypocritical is up to personal interpretation. I'd be inclined to say that the general group anger deflated to a large degree after the interview was eventually run. There were far fewer current events to remind readers and editors about the Douglas Adams interview and less anger floating around, so fewer people ranted.
B. Elgin
I dunno. How long do you usually wait for urban legends?
B. Elgin
I am sort of the opinion that it is not a good thing to trash someone else's beliefs with no explanation for just why yours are so much better.
I have none. It's better to face the situation you're in on its own merits.
Well enough. At least I understand your personal position now. Before I assumed that there was a chance that you were a person who might not follow a civilised argument, as my experience was limited to a one line post of yours.
I have mentally done a list of what I consider the major factors in something being considered a religion and came up some interesting personal results.
...and your qualifications are...? ...and the basis for these rules is...?
I have no particular qualifications for this other than a brain and an opinion. The basis of these rules was my attempt to reduce the concept of a religion to the most basic level I could and include all of the religions I had heard of to date. Once I had done that, some number of months ago, I noted that at the level I was looking at, the difference between what I had considered a religion and what I had considered a philosophy seemed to vanish. I considered science a philosophy at that time. When I was writing this, I was trying to pull those simplified factors to mind after not having thought about them for several months.
And by your ineptitude, sir, you seem to have stumbled across the Chewbacca Defense. Don't pat yourself on the back for smiting another heathen with your great wit, yet...
I suppose I should have explained this joke too. My point was that if you determine the rules in your mind and state an opinion as fact, you are basically stating an opinion. My discussion was not meant to be taken without a large grain of salt. In short, I was trying for irony. I had a much better version of this written up when Netscape crashed on my attempt to preview, and I believe that my dashed off re-write lacked a bit of skill in conveying a few of my points. As for you being a heathen, why would I care? I barely can claim to fit in any given religion and have long defined myself as agnostic. I objected to the generalisation, not you.
You might want to keep in mind that religions have been both helping and harming people for generations uncounted.
Yep, and it's high time we started acting like grown ups and faced reality without a filter. We're too advanced technologically, and too much a threat to ourselves, to being abstracting our moral decisions via Aesop's Fables. I like fantasy novels, too, but you won't catch me reading them on my knees.
Had you used this argument originally, I wouldn't have been annoyed. It is one of the better stated versions of it I have heard. My simple answer is that (technology != ethics) and (technology != morality). The fact that we have the ability to destroy our own race does not mean we should abandon the philosophies and religions of our prior generations in favor of new ones. I'd rather go with "Ancient Ethics version 200.1.7" than "MS Ethics ver 1.0.1". One of the more famous families of religions contains rather prominatly the line: "Thou shalt not kill." That is pretty direct if you ask me. The reason that religions are couched in "fables" is that they aid in comprehension for a fair-sized chunk of people.
Like everyone on this board, I've got no shortage of IQ, OK? Actually, one or two people have even called me "smart". However, I must admit that outside of work and sleep it takes me every waking second to figure out the difference between right and wrong in situations where I have to make a decision. ... You all must be intellectual giants, I mean, IQs off the fucking scale to have your shit figured out so well you can tell me what to think and do. I mean, if you're that good, why should I even think at all, right?
I no longer have doubts about your intelligence. I didn't have many to start with. The brevity and absolute confidence I perceived in your post led me to assume that I might have to hit you in the head with my points to make you listen to them rather than dismissing me as a crackpot for not agreeing with you. That has come to sound like it was my reading more into your post than was there. I don't know that I am smarter than you in any way, but I don't have many awful difficulties in the ethics department. I rely on the ethics I was taught by my parents and that I molded through my experiences. Maybe I am the less perceptive because I do not struggle with them as much as you do, but I don't perceive myself to. If I find a circumstance that lies outside the model I have worked from my whole life, I make whatever logical extensions I can figure out and err on the side of safety or leniency. I don't believe that I or anyone else has the right to TELL you what to believe. I believe that I do have the responsibility to tell you the conclusions I might have made in a similar circumstance and let you determine whether they will help you in your dilemma. In my view, religion is very much like philosophy. You can take it or you can leave it. Some religions warn about the dangers of leaving them, an for all I happen to know about an afterlife, they might well be right. I simply have to make the best choices I can in the frameworks I am aware of and live with them.
I should just give all my money to whoever comes along with hellfire and damnation and forget their long history of taking advantage of mere idiots like me, right? These assholes are running a fucking shell game with people too lazy or ignorant to know any better and you're telling me I shouldn't take the time to point it out?
I will reiterate myself now: There are some religions now that I think are garbage, but I am not going to trash them without first understanding them a bit. There are a lot of other religions that I think are on the right track to providing a way of dealing with the world. If you are talking about a particular religion that is cheating people, I don't object in the slightest. I object to you assuming that what one religious group is doing, every last one is. That is exactly like saying "A black man stole from me, so black men are all thieves." I will defend the right of religions in general to ask for money, not any religion in particular, because of the purpose behind it. The idea is that you are paying to provide a service. You are paying to have someone else study the ethics, etc. you agree with and teach you as if you were attending a school. The priest, rabbi, monk, etc. probably spends most of his time perfecting their interpretation of the religion and conveys it to the students. I view it in much the same way I view the structure of a martial arts school, be it the Tendo Dojo or any other.
B. Elgin
So only privledged people who have never faced sufficient hardship to need to believe in something to keep going should live, eh? If a person has been pushed to the point that cynicism, intolerance, and self-importance are no longer within easy grasp, they should be put down. My, that would take out a sizeable chunk of the world's population. Then the people who live in pompous arrogance that they are right and everyone else is wrong will suddenly start having to deal with reality because there are no longer the "dirty peasants" to do it, eh? Wait! Then those who discover that life is not easy for everyone will have to be put down.
No thanks. I'll deal with reality my way and let you deal with it yours. I find your way sad, because it does not allow for views other than your own and a species with no variety dies out.
B. Elgin
Hey, look! Flamebait!!! In general, generalisations are bad. Everyone should stop using them. (Irony intended.)
I am sort of the opinion that it is not a good thing to trash someone else's beliefs with no explanation for just why yours are so much better. I have mentally done a list of what I consider the major factors in something being considered a religion and came up some interesting personal results. Here is my list with three sets of examples after each major indicator. The first is from any given monotheistic religion, the second from a random philosophy, and the third is from science.
Many people believe in something effectively intangible and difficult to comprehend. [God] [Justice] [quantum mechanics]
There are intangible forces that are capable of helping or harming you. [God vs demons] [good vs. evil] [radiation vs. radiation and countless others I'm not thinking of]
The beliefs explain a particular viewpoint on how the world works and gives people a frame of reference to life. [creation of the world; why certain things happen] [how to react to certain things] [creation of the world; why certain things happen]
There is a linchpin belief or set of beliefs that all others are based upon. If you deny it, the others become mere mental fabrication to amuse. [existence of a deity] [fact that mankind should have goals beyond satisfying immediate desires] [the effectiveness of the scientific method in reflecting reality]
Hmm. By my short list of requirements, general philosophies and science are religions. By your generalisation, they must both be businesses! You might want to keep in mind that religions have been both helping and harming people for generations uncounted. For every tribe that threw people into a volcano to appease their God, there was another where their shaman was also their doctor. There are some religions now that I think are garbage, but I am not going to trash them without first understanding them a bit. There are a lot of other religions that I think are on the right track to providing a way of dealing with the world. You nver know, those preachers might just be right about a thing or two.
B. Elgin
Arg. I forgot The Wings of Hoannemise. The spelling might be off, but that is definately one of the ones that goes up there with Grave of the Fireflies. Wings is about a nascent space-flight program on an alternate world in the midst of a cold war similar to Russia vs. U.S. Specifically, it is about the pilot who somehow is involved in really moving the program forward and settin up a first manned spaceflight. Grave of the Fireflies is a story of a very young brother and sister in WWII whose home is destroyed and mother killed by American bombers.
B. Elgin
That said, MasteroftheVoxel has pointed out some pretty good titles. Neon Genesis Evangelion and Vision of Escaflowne were probably to of the best tv series titles to come out in the 90's for Japan. Evangelion, as others have mentioned is a rollercoster ride of an action-comedy that effectively portrays the mentality of the main character Shini in a really bizarre and fairly depressing jaunt through adolesence during the Armageddon. Escaflowne is a nice mix of Shoujo (to give the plot some depth and feeling) and action. It has some excellent sword and mecha fighting combined with very good character development.
Of the little Miyazaki I have seen, I would strongly recommend Mononoke Hime, or Princess Mononoke as Mirimax is calling it. This is the most adult themed and serious of Miyazaki's works that I have seen.
In the comedy department, I can strongly recommend :
Ranma 1/2 (Again, but I'd say watch at least the first 2.5 seasons and the OVAs if possible.)
El Hazard (More cross-dressing fun in the OVAs and one of the best of the one guy being pursued by many girls genre.)
Irresponsible Captain Tyler (This is a great space comedy where you and all the other characters spend the entire series trying to figure out if Tylor is a genius or a rampaging moron.)
Lupin: Castle of Caglistro (Anything involving Lupin is going to be pretty darn funny as the super-thief and bunch of wierdos wander off to do strange things.)
Slayers (Take the whole D&D idea and remove rationality from the characters and respectable limits to power. Can be quite funny.)
Tenchi Muyo (Like El Hazard, but louder with a much less sane cast of characters. Avoid the second TV series as if your life depends on it, but the OVAs and first movie are good.)
If you like Trigun, I can recommend these (tough guy who acts like an idiot) titles :
City Hunter (The City Hunter is a famous bodyguard/private eye who is a complete worthless pervert until the situation gets serious.)
Sorcerer Hunters (A bunch of oddballs are sent out to take care of very unruly wizards who are enslaving the populous. Borders on bad taste at a few points but funny.)
In the sci-fi action genre, there are quite a few:
Macross Plus (The OVAs are simply some of the best animation I have ever seen. The plot is good and provides a worthy sucessor to Macross/Robotech.)
Orguss 2 (I didn't enjoy much of Orguss that I saw, but the sequel is excellent and little known. A good way to think of it is World War II with both sides unearthing mecha from some apparently previous civilization.)
Iria: Zeiram the Animation (This is a good bounty hunter series involving interesting technology clearly based on non-tradition physics.)
Ghost In the Shell (Others have covered this.)
Patlabor (The two movies are very good. This is the most realistic rendition of mecha that I have seen in an anime.)
Bubblegum Crisis (Think Bladerunner with really nasty androids and four women in battle armor fighting them for fun and profit.)
Gundam Wing (I haven't had the history and physics lessons necessary to tackle the main Gundam universe in depth, so I'll suggest an excellent spinoff.)
Dirty Pair (Comedic pair of Trouble Consultants (like police but not) who cause so much collateral damage that it is sometimes counted in planets.)
In the miscellaneous category come these gems:
Record of Lodoss War (The OVAs are what D&D was meant to be, and the TV series is good apart from the annoying ending segments.)
Key the Metal Idol (This is in my top five or ten favorites of all time. Mix Isaac Asimov, Japanese culture, massive psychic power, and stir. The story is of Key and her quest to become human by making 30,000 friends.)
Heroic Legend of Arslan (Cross the Lord of the Rings characters with Akira Kurasawa and get a good medieval yarn.)
Fushugi Yuugi (Or The Mysterious Play as I think the dubbed version is called. This is as close to the Sailor Moon style as I can get and still like it. Involves a girl transported to another dimension to fufill a prophesy a la Neverending Story.)
Oh My Goddess (Mostly Shoujo story of a boy in love with a Goddess. Her sisters don't exactly like the union though...)
Kishin Corp (This is steampunk mecha combat set in World War II. Wierd but good.)
I'd write up more, but these are the best ones I can think of offhand and I've been thinking about this for over half an hour. Time to post and be done with it.
B. Elgin
Hmm. The historical Commodus would have been a much more interesting character. Unfortunately, the one portrayed in the movie did not much resemble the one described in your link. I could believe that someone who fancied himself Hercules's successor would have fought that duel (with or without cheating), but the character as presented in the movie would not have save out of a Caligula-like sense of insanity. If he were remotely good enough to fight the duel, he would know the dangers of fighting a man who has no hope of life aside from killing him, even if he had not butchered the man's family. His opponent wouldn't care whether he lived or died from his attacks if it was going to be a choice between death and death... I chalk it up to another "great" Hollywood plot.
B. Elgin
Erg. Unfortunately, my standards for sci-fi are much higher than my standards for action films. (Thus, I am greatly disappointed by much of the genre that Hollywood puts out.) I expect there to be at least half a dozen mild absurdities in a Hollywood action film, but I am not quite prepared for the savant cavemen...
B. Elgin