Depends what you want from your horror. The author seems to want a roller coaster ride, which games excel at giving you... Video games are certainly much more immersive and are better at creating an atmosphere. Whether they're first or third person whatever happens on that screen feels like it's happening to you.
But if you want to talk about horror from a storytelling standpoint... The best horror games are still cartoonish, sophmoric and one-dimensional compared to the best horror movies (and books for that matter.) For whatever reason the quality of writing just hasn't evolved yet. I'm not saying it can't be done, though I am beginning to suspect that there are some pretty big roadblocks. For example the character you inhabit has to be in many ways a blank slate, so it's a strange hybrid of your mind and decision making powers and someone else's background-- great for immersion, not so great for character development.
Fail to see how this infringes on driver's privacy.
Do the cars belong to the drivers? No. They are the company's property.
Do the drivers drive them in their own free time? No. They are doing business work driving these cars and are paid for it.
Do companies have the right to keep track of how their assets are used? Absolutely.
You don't understand how NYC taxis work. Unlike most cities where a few cab companies dispatch cars when you call for them, NYC cabs are often owned by individuals, either the driver himself (increasingly rare) or an investor who leases the cab to a driver. Or to be precise they own the medallions which allow the cabs to make pick ups on the street. Medallion cabs don't answer pick-up calls and are pretty much expected to endlessly drive around looking for fares (and as the medallions are incredibly expensive, there isn't much downtime if the driver expects to pay for his cab and make a small profit.)
As far as the GPS tracking goes, it is the NYC Transit authority who would be doing so, not a private company. Which may not change how you feel about the privacy concerns and all that, but be aware this isn't talk of a private taxi company minding its fleet; it is very much the government doing the tracking.
Buying stuff on the Internet is hard as hell. I don't mean buying stuff that gets delivered in a package - that is easy enough to do over the Internet and works just fine worldwide. But when it comes to buying bits and bytes, nobody wants to sell you anything. None of the music stores support my country. None of the video selling/rental stores support my country. What the hell? Limiting your availability geographically is harder than just doing nothing. They walk the extra mile to have _less_ customers? I think the only stuff I can actually buy online that gets sent electronically is Virtual Console stuff on the Wii.
I get where you're coming from, but it's more complex than that. I believe most online music and video stores would love to sell to anyone willing to pay. Unfortunately each new country is its own market, with applicable taxes and other regulations. There's also an issue of provocative content; many countries have strict and even strange definitions of obsenity (that includes the USA) that means content has to be screened for local sensibilities.
But more importantly, the stores are just that, storefronts. They don't own the rights, the labels and studios do, and they make the ultimate decision when and where to distribute their product. Unfortunately the system they have in place puts a lot of emphasis on dividing the world by regions... For example just about every deal a musician makes with a label has provisions for foreign markets. Amplify that times a hundred contracts for television and movies: writers, directors, actors, music rights holders, and maybe a dozen others who get paid every time a product is released (or re-released) in a new region. I'm oversimplifying in a big way and there are a ton of other factors but the point is, in many cases if there isn't an obvious profit to be had it just isn't worth it to release at all.
Yes, this does suck, and it should be legal for anyone to purchase from a store based in any other country online, but that's not the system we have in place (a system which was based on theatrical releases, video tapes and vinyl records.) And yes, it does need to change. But the point I was trying to make is... Don't put all the blame on the stores, there's plenty to go around.
Wal-Mart exists to sell physical goods for an extremely low price, often to a rural customer base who has few other options. But an online Wal-Mart music store will never dominate the market the same way their box stores own entire counties. Never. Besides the fact that there are too many other options, it's just not "cool", and the music industry thrive on being "cool." iPods and the iTunes store are cool. Wal-Mart is the definition of "uncool."
In fact I'd be surprised if the Wal-Mart online store is a success at all; it certainly can't do 1/10th of the business as Amazon and other competitors.
Wow, it's been years since I read Ayn Rand. She really wasn't much for subtlety, was she?
Re:I smell a truckload of BS
on
Fox Hacks Fark
·
· Score: 1
First, you miss the point that targetting a random individual and accusing him of criminal activity in a very public arena would be a suicidal act. If Drew's trying to sell Fark, losing a defamation case not be the way to do it (and he would lose, as this guy is very likely to get fired over this.) Hell if he just made this up Fox itself might even be able to sue.
You ask why didn't he take it to a law enforcement agency; well, we don't know that he didn't, but I would think it's likely Drew realizes it's punishment enough to "out" him and let nature take its course. Making the guy an object of ridicule seems more "the Fark way" to me.
But whatever, call it a conspiracy if you want, I don't think it is and either way this will probably be sorted out soon enough when the guy either confesses, drops out of sight or lashes back at Fark.
Are you kidding? The network pretty much defines youth culture to advertisers looking for those precious teens and young adults. Not to mention their shows cost absolutely nothing to produce, being low-low-budget reality, game and talk shows with disposable talent that they can run ad inifinitum. MTV is a cash cow with a license to print money.
(Not to mention it's also a brand name, as there are multiple networks as well as a film division and various product lines, and now I guess a games division too...)
Yeah, it makes me sick too, but then I'm in my thirties.
Re:I smell BS
on
Fox Hacks Fark
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
I smell BS - probably a marketing campaign by Fark. How many technologically adept admins do you know that fall for such easy e-mail tricks? Nice try. Let's keep the "I have Fox" to the facts, not idiotic statements like this.
I seriously doubt it, because if this was pure BS cooked up by the Fark admins they would have to be absolute fools to assign blame to a person (Phillips.) If they didn't have pretty damning evidence then he would have pretty good grounds for a defamation lawsuit (and possibly might end up owning Fark. Literally, not in the "Owned" sense.)
Not that the Fark "Farkers" aren't hyping this to be more than it is by the Fox association, making it seem like Bill O'Reilly is trying to take them down, when in reality it's a local reporter who may or may not be acting alone... But I would really be surprised if these allegations were just pulled out of thin air.
Oh, and knowing a little about Fark, there are many admins who serve as moderators of the discussions but have nothing to do with site maintenance. Not that they shouldn't be wiser about email tricks but these folks may be far from "technologically adept."
I taught 8th grade science, and we were always encouraging students to take as much math as possible.
Unfortunately, students make short sighted decisions in 8th grade that determine whether they are on the calculus track or not. You must start on the path that leads to calculus in 8th grade or it is unlikely you can catch up by 12th grade.
Don't you see where this might be a problem? An 8th-grader is by definition an extremely shortsighted and immature person. They're what, 13 or 14? It takes a particularly rare child to have the insight and understanding to start to plan an educational course that will take them through college and career at that age, particularly without parents pushing them in that direction.
It's also for many of us who are math-inclined, probably the worst times of our lives socially. Forget whether the educational system pushes kids in or out of math programs. Kids are much more susceptible to their peers at that age, and their peers (girls OR boys) in junior high are going to dissuade them from taking math classes. Many kids will make the right decision (or have it made for them, as mine was thankfully by my parents), but many who would have otherwise shown an aptitude for math are going to opt to "go along with the crowd" (and no pep rally is going to change that!)
My question to you is, why isn't there opportunity for someone who "missed the boat" in 8th grade to catch up in high school? I highly doubt the contents of these courses are such that they must be taught in one nine-month, two semester school year.
Slashdot Mirror
Depends what you want from your horror. The author seems to want a roller coaster ride, which games excel at giving you... Video games are certainly much more immersive and are better at creating an atmosphere. Whether they're first or third person whatever happens on that screen feels like it's happening to you.
But if you want to talk about horror from a storytelling standpoint... The best horror games are still cartoonish, sophmoric and one-dimensional compared to the best horror movies (and books for that matter.) For whatever reason the quality of writing just hasn't evolved yet. I'm not saying it can't be done, though I am beginning to suspect that there are some pretty big roadblocks. For example the character you inhabit has to be in many ways a blank slate, so it's a strange hybrid of your mind and decision making powers and someone else's background-- great for immersion, not so great for character development.
Fail to see how this infringes on driver's privacy.
Do the cars belong to the drivers? No. They are the company's property.
Do the drivers drive them in their own free time? No. They are doing business work driving these cars and are paid for it.
Do companies have the right to keep track of how their assets are used? Absolutely.
You don't understand how NYC taxis work. Unlike most cities where a few cab companies dispatch cars when you call for them, NYC cabs are often owned by individuals, either the driver himself (increasingly rare) or an investor who leases the cab to a driver. Or to be precise they own the medallions which allow the cabs to make pick ups on the street. Medallion cabs don't answer pick-up calls and are pretty much expected to endlessly drive around looking for fares (and as the medallions are incredibly expensive, there isn't much downtime if the driver expects to pay for his cab and make a small profit.)
As far as the GPS tracking goes, it is the NYC Transit authority who would be doing so, not a private company. Which may not change how you feel about the privacy concerns and all that, but be aware this isn't talk of a private taxi company minding its fleet; it is very much the government doing the tracking.
Buying stuff on the Internet is hard as hell. I don't mean buying stuff that gets delivered in a package - that is easy enough to do over the Internet and works just fine worldwide. But when it comes to buying bits and bytes, nobody wants to sell you anything. None of the music stores support my country. None of the video selling/rental stores support my country. What the hell? Limiting your availability geographically is harder than just doing nothing. They walk the extra mile to have _less_ customers? I think the only stuff I can actually buy online that gets sent electronically is Virtual Console stuff on the Wii.
I get where you're coming from, but it's more complex than that. I believe most online music and video stores would love to sell to anyone willing to pay. Unfortunately each new country is its own market, with applicable taxes and other regulations. There's also an issue of provocative content; many countries have strict and even strange definitions of obsenity (that includes the USA) that means content has to be screened for local sensibilities.
But more importantly, the stores are just that, storefronts. They don't own the rights, the labels and studios do, and they make the ultimate decision when and where to distribute their product. Unfortunately the system they have in place puts a lot of emphasis on dividing the world by regions... For example just about every deal a musician makes with a label has provisions for foreign markets. Amplify that times a hundred contracts for television and movies: writers, directors, actors, music rights holders, and maybe a dozen others who get paid every time a product is released (or re-released) in a new region. I'm oversimplifying in a big way and there are a ton of other factors but the point is, in many cases if there isn't an obvious profit to be had it just isn't worth it to release at all.
Yes, this does suck, and it should be legal for anyone to purchase from a store based in any other country online, but that's not the system we have in place (a system which was based on theatrical releases, video tapes and vinyl records.) And yes, it does need to change. But the point I was trying to make is... Don't put all the blame on the stores, there's plenty to go around.
Wal-Mart exists to sell physical goods for an extremely low price, often to a rural customer base who has few other options. But an online Wal-Mart music store will never dominate the market the same way their box stores own entire counties. Never. Besides the fact that there are too many other options, it's just not "cool", and the music industry thrive on being "cool." iPods and the iTunes store are cool. Wal-Mart is the definition of "uncool."
In fact I'd be surprised if the Wal-Mart online store is a success at all; it certainly can't do 1/10th of the business as Amazon and other competitors.
Wow, it's been years since I read Ayn Rand. She really wasn't much for subtlety, was she?
First, you miss the point that targetting a random individual and accusing him of criminal activity in a very public arena would be a suicidal act. If Drew's trying to sell Fark, losing a defamation case not be the way to do it (and he would lose, as this guy is very likely to get fired over this.) Hell if he just made this up Fox itself might even be able to sue.
You ask why didn't he take it to a law enforcement agency; well, we don't know that he didn't, but I would think it's likely Drew realizes it's punishment enough to "out" him and let nature take its course. Making the guy an object of ridicule seems more "the Fark way" to me.
But whatever, call it a conspiracy if you want, I don't think it is and either way this will probably be sorted out soon enough when the guy either confesses, drops out of sight or lashes back at Fark.
MTV has $500 Million to spend on ANYTHING? Damn.
Are you kidding? The network pretty much defines youth culture to advertisers looking for those precious teens and young adults. Not to mention their shows cost absolutely nothing to produce, being low-low-budget reality, game and talk shows with disposable talent that they can run ad inifinitum. MTV is a cash cow with a license to print money.
(Not to mention it's also a brand name, as there are multiple networks as well as a film division and various product lines, and now I guess a games division too...)
Yeah, it makes me sick too, but then I'm in my thirties.
I smell BS - probably a marketing campaign by Fark. How many technologically adept admins do you know that fall for such easy e-mail tricks? Nice try. Let's keep the "I have Fox" to the facts, not idiotic statements like this.
I seriously doubt it, because if this was pure BS cooked up by the Fark admins they would have to be absolute fools to assign blame to a person (Phillips.) If they didn't have pretty damning evidence then he would have pretty good grounds for a defamation lawsuit (and possibly might end up owning Fark. Literally, not in the "Owned" sense.)
Not that the Fark "Farkers" aren't hyping this to be more than it is by the Fox association, making it seem like Bill O'Reilly is trying to take them down, when in reality it's a local reporter who may or may not be acting alone... But I would really be surprised if these allegations were just pulled out of thin air.
Oh, and knowing a little about Fark, there are many admins who serve as moderators of the discussions but have nothing to do with site maintenance. Not that they shouldn't be wiser about email tricks but these folks may be far from "technologically adept."
I taught 8th grade science, and we were always encouraging students to take as much math as possible.
Unfortunately, students make short sighted decisions in 8th grade that determine whether they are on the calculus track or not. You must start on the path that leads to calculus in 8th grade or it is unlikely you can catch up by 12th grade.
Don't you see where this might be a problem? An 8th-grader is by definition an extremely shortsighted and immature person. They're what, 13 or 14? It takes a particularly rare child to have the insight and understanding to start to plan an educational course that will take them through college and career at that age, particularly without parents pushing them in that direction.
It's also for many of us who are math-inclined, probably the worst times of our lives socially. Forget whether the educational system pushes kids in or out of math programs. Kids are much more susceptible to their peers at that age, and their peers (girls OR boys) in junior high are going to dissuade them from taking math classes. Many kids will make the right decision (or have it made for them, as mine was thankfully by my parents), but many who would have otherwise shown an aptitude for math are going to opt to "go along with the crowd" (and no pep rally is going to change that!)
My question to you is, why isn't there opportunity for someone who "missed the boat" in 8th grade to catch up in high school? I highly doubt the contents of these courses are such that they must be taught in one nine-month, two semester school year.