... Unless you're one of those perpetually smiling people only seen in corporate clip art, life tends to be full of more unpleasant, uncomfortable, and completely banal events than positive. I could not imagine anything worse than watching high school all over again. I would probably want to strangle myself for being such a horrible, awkward geek.
Really... How many moments of your life do you really want to relive? And wouldn't re-watching your most pleasant memories knowing what you know now dilute just how pleasant those memories were?
Small is neat, I suppose, but not something I really care about.
My criteria is pretty much (1) As much power as possible under (2) a reasonable price. All other things being equal, I'll probably select a smaller laptop, but I would gladly sacrifice a couple pounds for a larger HD, a DVD-Rom, expandability, or a full assortment of ports.
I know some people do care, but for me thickness has about as much bearing on my choice as the thing's color. That's neat. But the notebook you're talking about exists. There are hundreds of options for powerful desktop replacements, but precious few for budget ultraportables.
I live in a city. I take public transportation and walk almost everywhere. I want a computer that's light, that can do just what I need when I'm out (writing, light photoshop and illustrator, etc.), has a battery than can make it through the day and-- most importantly-- is relatively disposable. As in if it gets stolen, dropped or left in a cab I'm out four or five hundred bucks, not two thousand.
I'm excited by this new trend, since in the past I've been stuck with used Thinkpads and iBooks, which were both still too bulky. Considering how much of a success the Asus is, I don't think I'm the only one.
-He keeps getting handed video game franchises to make movies out of, which is problematic because video game fans hate to see their favorite franchises turned into crappy movies, but it has further reaching implications in that it states, essentially, that the movie industry has no respect for the video game industry since they keep letting this man make shitty movies (that lose money, no less)
I agree and disagree with this. I don't think he's ruined beloved franchises-- I mean how many rabid Dungeon Siege, Postal and Bloodrayne fans are there, we aren't talking about Metal Gear or Fallout-- and while he's certainly an asshole, he's just one of a thousand people like him in "the industry" and is really no worse than, say, Brett Ratner.
I think most of our outrage is because of the damage he's done to the video game industry as a whole. Not monetarily, of course, but he's really done a lot to make movies based on games a sub-B level ghetto and given the Eberts who think storytelling in games can't rise to the level of movies plenty of ammunition.
Also,
He wipes his asses with video game franchises (the Postal movie actually made 9/11 jokes) and he's a pretty despicable human being (see the Wired article above).
Calling him out for 9/11 jokes is a bit unfair, as he's hardly the only one who's made them-- for example Family Guy has at least a dozen per season. Irreverence is a staple of comedy, after all. Boll's crime here isn't making jokes in bad taste-- it's making unfunny, hamhanded and completely terrible jokes in bad taste.
I doubt they know though if they would install XP or Linux on there the laptop would absolutely fly and that's why they don't seem to have problems with it, if they would install XP or Linux and compare it to Vista they would find Vista is a major slow down on their computer.
Probably, but I don't know that speed is everything to the average user. They'll put up with a bit of slowdown for an OS that feels powerful, looks pretty and has lots of neat little toys. And Linux has certainly had issues with looking pretty, which is understandable as talented designers aren't as generous as programmers,
And yes, I could be talking about OS X here too; only in the last few years has it not been an OS that's slow as molasses.
It makes you wonder why TV shows don't skip the network alltogether and go straight to DVD in the first place.
Problem is producting a quality show costs a hell of a lot of money. Animating Futurama ain't cheap and there's a lot of talent who wants to be paid what they're worth. If they would have bypassed fox and went straight to DVD who would have fronted them the production costs?
The networks are a bitch to deal with but they do give you money to work with, and lots of it, and if you're lucky enough to get on the air they will make sure millions of people will see it. The subscriber or direct to consumer system is a great ideal but without advertising and marketing how do you get the people interested? Especially if you're not already a big name?
Seriously though, it would be better to just not drive when tired.
Well, obviously. But unless we outlaw driving at night people are going to do it.
I don't know if you've ever fallen asleep at the wheel. I did once, at the tail end of a trip from San Francisco to LA, and it's truly frightening (a cop actually saw and flashed a light at me, for which I'll always be thankful.) When you doze at the wheel it happens in an instant and you might not even realize you were that tired. I certainly didn't, and from other people's entirely anecdotal stories that's not at all unusual. It's really more like falling under hypnosis than drifing off in your bed.
Also wouldn't screwing around with your internal body clock mess you up more?
Maybe a little. But a bit of insomnia is worth getting home in one piece.
I don't even see what's so "neat" about it. Seems pretty obvious-- symbols that represent organizations, evoke how you feel about the organization. That's what symbols are for,
Religions, countries, military orders, secret societies, whatever have known this for a few thousand years now. The red cross makes you feel safe. The skull and crossbones evokes fear, or a desire to drink grog. I don't see why it's news that corporations understand this too.
I think you'll be surprised. There's a generation of kids out there who pull off headshots every time using just the analog stick on high sensitivity. And analog sticks beat WASD for movement every time. Obviously some kind of hybrid controller is the answer (and there is one for the PS3, though the name escapes me)
We're also talking about UT, which is a game where pulling off acrobatic moves and using your translocator is every bit as important as getting a headshot (and there are many weapons that scatter over a large area so precise aiming isn't as important as in, say, CS.) Not to mention many modes of play are vehicle based.
I have the feeling PC FPS veterans would be much better and more accurate shots, but would be surprised that Console players would be more adept at dodging and getting the drop on them with scatter-shot weapons. Could be interesting to play, actually.
Of all genres, punk is one that really is better suited to young musicians.
Eh, I don't know. Punk is a pretty vague term but there are quite a few bands who have been regualrly touring or reuniting since the 70's and 80's, still bringing in new fans and still playing great shows. Gang of Four, Buzzcocks, Social Distortion, Flipper, Fugazi are a few I've seen in the past few years, though by no means a comprehensive or accurate list so please don't flame me (my mind's working slow as I haven't had my coffee yet...)
And if not for various deaths I think The Clash and The Ramones would still be playing incredible shows live.
The problem with the Sex Pistols is that when all is said and done, they're a one-trick pony. Bollocks is a decent album made great by being shocking and revolutionary in its time. I don't want to take anything away from their cultural significance (which is immense!) but as artists they really had no future.
Now if only we were all smart enough to realize that this might be a source of our problems.
On the other hand, realistically, how could eight randomly chosen citizens with no experience in the telecommunications field possibly come to an educated decision? Isn't a trial of this nature really just going to come down to which lawyer has the most winning personality (or the best ability to "dumb it down" in a way a layperson can understand?)
I understand we as individuals are entitled to be tried by a jury of our peers, but when one multinational corporation is suing another are eight Kansas City residents really "peers?"
And no, I don't have a better alternative to suggest, but something is clearly broken here.
I don't understand how virtual realities like this have become popular. Do people's real lives suck so badly that they need to frivolously spend money to create their own little world where things don't suck?
I don't think it's that "real life sucks." I think it's that real life is difficult and uncertain. It's a hell of a lot of work and there's no guarantees it's all for nothing. These virtual worlds create a place where if you learn the rules of the game and put in your time you are guaranteed to accomplish... Whatever makes you stand out as better than the other "noob". In Second Life it's generating or buying cash to make and buy better stuff, in Warcraft it's grinding for gear to put others to shame... Whatever.
Of course putting that effort into improving your real life is much more rewarding, but that feeling of pride because you accomplished something is much more difficult to attain. In these virtual worlds it's handed out like candy (or maybe like crack cocaine.) Sad as that may be.
This isn't because he downloaded Bioshock from The Pirate's Bay. He was selling (key word here, selling) pirated console games. Thousands of them. The damages we're "$60", the price of one game. The damages are in the thousands.
I'd be as outraged as anyone if they busted down his door because he downloaded a Vista crack or copied a friend's CD. But this isn't that. He was making a business and a profit from selling pirated games. If you think it should be within his rights to do so, then I really don't know what to say, there's obviously no arguing with you.
As for whether it's worth the police's time or not, well, that could be extended to any non-violent crime. House broken into when you're not home? Why should the police care, no one was hurt. Scammed on ebay? So what, no one's bleeding. The guy broke the law, and not just because of a nebulous copyright infringement but because he was trafficing black market games.
Slashdot Mirror
... Unless you're one of those perpetually smiling people only seen in corporate clip art, life tends to be full of more unpleasant, uncomfortable, and completely banal events than positive. I could not imagine anything worse than watching high school all over again. I would probably want to strangle myself for being such a horrible, awkward geek.
Really... How many moments of your life do you really want to relive? And wouldn't re-watching your most pleasant memories knowing what you know now dilute just how pleasant those memories were?
My criteria is pretty much (1) As much power as possible under (2) a reasonable price. All other things being equal, I'll probably select a smaller laptop, but I would gladly sacrifice a couple pounds for a larger HD, a DVD-Rom, expandability, or a full assortment of ports.
I know some people do care, but for me thickness has about as much bearing on my choice as the thing's color. That's neat. But the notebook you're talking about exists. There are hundreds of options for powerful desktop replacements, but precious few for budget ultraportables.
I live in a city. I take public transportation and walk almost everywhere. I want a computer that's light, that can do just what I need when I'm out (writing, light photoshop and illustrator, etc.), has a battery than can make it through the day and-- most importantly-- is relatively disposable. As in if it gets stolen, dropped or left in a cab I'm out four or five hundred bucks, not two thousand.
I'm excited by this new trend, since in the past I've been stuck with used Thinkpads and iBooks, which were both still too bulky. Considering how much of a success the Asus is, I don't think I'm the only one.
-He keeps getting handed video game franchises to make movies out of, which is problematic because video game fans hate to see their favorite franchises turned into crappy movies, but it has further reaching implications in that it states, essentially, that the movie industry has no respect for the video game industry since they keep letting this man make shitty movies (that lose money, no less)
I agree and disagree with this. I don't think he's ruined beloved franchises-- I mean how many rabid Dungeon Siege, Postal and Bloodrayne fans are there, we aren't talking about Metal Gear or Fallout-- and while he's certainly an asshole, he's just one of a thousand people like him in "the industry" and is really no worse than, say, Brett Ratner.
I think most of our outrage is because of the damage he's done to the video game industry as a whole. Not monetarily, of course, but he's really done a lot to make movies based on games a sub-B level ghetto and given the Eberts who think storytelling in games can't rise to the level of movies plenty of ammunition.
Also,
He wipes his asses with video game franchises (the Postal movie actually made 9/11 jokes) and he's a pretty despicable human being (see the Wired article above).
Calling him out for 9/11 jokes is a bit unfair, as he's hardly the only one who's made them-- for example Family Guy has at least a dozen per season. Irreverence is a staple of comedy, after all. Boll's crime here isn't making jokes in bad taste-- it's making unfunny, hamhanded and completely terrible jokes in bad taste.
That would have been a nice rule if we'd stuck to it in 1996. But now all a .net, .name, or .info domain says is "I was too late to grab the .com"
.org because it does actually mean something to those who would notice such things.
I left out
I doubt they know though if they would install XP or Linux on there the laptop would absolutely fly and that's why they don't seem to have problems with it, if they would install XP or Linux and compare it to Vista they would find Vista is a major slow down on their computer.
Probably, but I don't know that speed is everything to the average user. They'll put up with a bit of slowdown for an OS that feels powerful, looks pretty and has lots of neat little toys. And Linux has certainly had issues with looking pretty, which is understandable as talented designers aren't as generous as programmers,
And yes, I could be talking about OS X here too; only in the last few years has it not been an OS that's slow as molasses.
It makes you wonder why TV shows don't skip the network alltogether and go straight to DVD in the first place.
Problem is producting a quality show costs a hell of a lot of money. Animating Futurama ain't cheap and there's a lot of talent who wants to be paid what they're worth. If they would have bypassed fox and went straight to DVD who would have fronted them the production costs?
The networks are a bitch to deal with but they do give you money to work with, and lots of it, and if you're lucky enough to get on the air they will make sure millions of people will see it. The subscriber or direct to consumer system is a great ideal but without advertising and marketing how do you get the people interested? Especially if you're not already a big name?
Seriously though, it would be better to just not drive when tired.
Well, obviously. But unless we outlaw driving at night people are going to do it.
I don't know if you've ever fallen asleep at the wheel. I did once, at the tail end of a trip from San Francisco to LA, and it's truly frightening (a cop actually saw and flashed a light at me, for which I'll always be thankful.) When you doze at the wheel it happens in an instant and you might not even realize you were that tired. I certainly didn't, and from other people's entirely anecdotal stories that's not at all unusual. It's really more like falling under hypnosis than drifing off in your bed.
Also wouldn't screwing around with your internal body clock mess you up more?
Maybe a little. But a bit of insomnia is worth getting home in one piece.
I don't even see what's so "neat" about it. Seems pretty obvious-- symbols that represent organizations, evoke how you feel about the organization. That's what symbols are for,
Religions, countries, military orders, secret societies, whatever have known this for a few thousand years now. The red cross makes you feel safe. The skull and crossbones evokes fear, or a desire to drink grog. I don't see why it's news that corporations understand this too.
I think you'll be surprised. There's a generation of kids out there who pull off headshots every time using just the analog stick on high sensitivity. And analog sticks beat WASD for movement every time. Obviously some kind of hybrid controller is the answer (and there is one for the PS3, though the name escapes me) We're also talking about UT, which is a game where pulling off acrobatic moves and using your translocator is every bit as important as getting a headshot (and there are many weapons that scatter over a large area so precise aiming isn't as important as in, say, CS.) Not to mention many modes of play are vehicle based. I have the feeling PC FPS veterans would be much better and more accurate shots, but would be surprised that Console players would be more adept at dodging and getting the drop on them with scatter-shot weapons. Could be interesting to play, actually.
Of all genres, punk is one that really is better suited to young musicians.
Eh, I don't know. Punk is a pretty vague term but there are quite a few bands who have been regualrly touring or reuniting since the 70's and 80's, still bringing in new fans and still playing great shows. Gang of Four, Buzzcocks, Social Distortion, Flipper, Fugazi are a few I've seen in the past few years, though by no means a comprehensive or accurate list so please don't flame me (my mind's working slow as I haven't had my coffee yet...)
And if not for various deaths I think The Clash and The Ramones would still be playing incredible shows live.
The problem with the Sex Pistols is that when all is said and done, they're a one-trick pony. Bollocks is a decent album made great by being shocking and revolutionary in its time. I don't want to take anything away from their cultural significance (which is immense!) but as artists they really had no future.
The reality is, they probably don't have anyone who will admit to being gay since it carries the death penalty.
For anyone who doubts this;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Asgari_and_Ayaz_Marhoni
The picture of the teenagers being hanged is truly frightening:
http://isna.ir/Main/PicView.aspx?Pic=Pic-556874-1&Lang=P
Now if only we were all smart enough to realize that this might be a source of our problems.
On the other hand, realistically, how could eight randomly chosen citizens with no experience in the telecommunications field possibly come to an educated decision? Isn't a trial of this nature really just going to come down to which lawyer has the most winning personality (or the best ability to "dumb it down" in a way a layperson can understand?)
I understand we as individuals are entitled to be tried by a jury of our peers, but when one multinational corporation is suing another are eight Kansas City residents really "peers?"
And no, I don't have a better alternative to suggest, but something is clearly broken here.
I don't understand how virtual realities like this have become popular. Do people's real lives suck so badly that they need to frivolously spend money to create their own little world where things don't suck?
I don't think it's that "real life sucks." I think it's that real life is difficult and uncertain. It's a hell of a lot of work and there's no guarantees it's all for nothing. These virtual worlds create a place where if you learn the rules of the game and put in your time you are guaranteed to accomplish... Whatever makes you stand out as better than the other "noob". In Second Life it's generating or buying cash to make and buy better stuff, in Warcraft it's grinding for gear to put others to shame... Whatever.
Of course putting that effort into improving your real life is much more rewarding, but that feeling of pride because you accomplished something is much more difficult to attain. In these virtual worlds it's handed out like candy (or maybe like crack cocaine.) Sad as that may be.
Did you read the article?
This isn't because he downloaded Bioshock from The Pirate's Bay. He was selling (key word here, selling) pirated console games. Thousands of them. The damages we're "$60", the price of one game. The damages are in the thousands.
I'd be as outraged as anyone if they busted down his door because he downloaded a Vista crack or copied a friend's CD. But this isn't that. He was making a business and a profit from selling pirated games. If you think it should be within his rights to do so, then I really don't know what to say, there's obviously no arguing with you.
As for whether it's worth the police's time or not, well, that could be extended to any non-violent crime. House broken into when you're not home? Why should the police care, no one was hurt. Scammed on ebay? So what, no one's bleeding. The guy broke the law, and not just because of a nebulous copyright infringement but because he was trafficing black market games.
Who cares ... he loses every court battle!
I care. He might win one.
(We're talking about Florida after all, not exactly a bastion of sanity)