$3000? So it's top of the line or nothing for you? Snag a macbook, mac mini, or even a used ibook on the cheap. $1000 tops and more like $400.
You need to understand that mac hardware has an extremely long relevant lifespan, even macs with the powerpc architecture are still useful. Sure they won't be able to run 10.6 but 10.5 is more than enough to get in the water and get some work done.
That's also why Halo 3 was such an amazing game. Bungie spent a huge part of their budget on developing and studying results from a staggeringly complete play testing environment. It was even featured in Wired.
Game companies should really learn these lessons.
If you want a good RPG in the style of the classic Origin games, then you can have it: Eschalon
Hey, wait a second. Point 7. You can totally defend from attacks from behind. As long as your are in your ready stance you can do a counterattack from any direction.
Wow, I must be awesome for beating that whole battle sequence on my first try. I even switched to using the sword (my least favorite weapon) to make it more challenging.
Of those only System Shock could *arguably* have a better story than Halo. Half-Life doesn't even really *have* a story, it's just a mashup of characters and events with no arc.
Halo is one of those rare gems that just happens to be extremely popular and extremely good.
The already fantastic story in Halo has also been excellently fleshed out by several books and a radio drama. I put the story in Halo up there with Mass Effect, Wing Commander II, Ultima VI, and Final Fantasy VI.
* Yes, my UID is a huge five digits but I actually avoided signing up on slashdot when the feature was first announced because I didn't want to sign up for *yet another* site-specific user account that seemed to be popping up all over the place.
A new application-serving (rather than text-serving) Internet protocol.
You know how FTP, email, and the web are all different types of Internet connections? Yes? Ok! Now imagine an Application-Web designed from the ground up for serving applications.
*Current* stupor? The general populace is *always* in a stupor. That's what makes it a general populace! Our entire civilization is focused on giving people the maximum amount of leisure time. We're just resting up for Ragnarok.
When even fans of interactive fiction cry and moan if they don't get an 'undo' key and if the game includes a maze then I am forced agree with the article.
How about writing Interactive Fiction? Download Inform and he can go through the manual coding alongside it. It's not a traditional programming language, but the concepts are there and easily accessible. Graham's writing really shines in the manual and he explains a lot of complex programming very nicely.
If your kid isn't so much into the writing (or the text only, which is understandable) then I'd start him off with Learn to Program.
Although your kid is probably too old for many of the exercises and activities, but Computer Science Unplugged is a fantastic resource.
Sounds like the PS3 will still be the system to play it on if one owns both.
Yeah, except that the XBox360 version will have achievements. What good is it to kill all the crazy optional bosses and whatever if I can't brag about it (with proof!) to my friends and family?
XBox 360 achievements really add depth to our games. I spent half an hour flying under every bridge in the city in GTAIV just to get that delicious green blip. It's like every game has a bunch of mini-games included.
If next time you enter China the border officers did decide they are going to take your laptop away, what could you do about it?
What could you do if your laptop gets taken at the US border? File a complaint? Woot.
Chiming in with the GP here, I feel much safer and much better treated going into China than going into the US. There I am treated as though I am an actual person, here I am treated as though I am an annoyance.
Drobo protects against drive failure, but not against accidental deletion. Drobo + backup is ideal. You are safe from oops! deletions and hardware failures.
Of course then you'd still have all copies of the data in a single location. Something offsite would be good as well.
Slashdot Mirror
$3000? So it's top of the line or nothing for you? Snag a macbook, mac mini, or even a used ibook on the cheap. $1000 tops and more like $400.
You need to understand that mac hardware has an extremely long relevant lifespan, even macs with the powerpc architecture are still useful. Sure they won't be able to run 10.6 but 10.5 is more than enough to get in the water and get some work done.
That's also why Halo 3 was such an amazing game. Bungie spent a huge part of their budget on developing and studying results from a staggeringly complete play testing environment. It was even featured in Wired.
Game companies should really learn these lessons.
If you want a good RPG in the style of the classic Origin games, then you can have it: Eschalon
Textmate does that, great feature.
Any game that doesn't deal with adult themes or content is a kiddie game. Not that it's a bad thing.
Loom.
Hey, wait a second. Point 7. You can totally defend from attacks from behind. As long as your are in your ready stance you can do a counterattack from any direction.
Wow, I must be awesome for beating that whole battle sequence on my first try. I even switched to using the sword (my least favorite weapon) to make it more challenging.
Of those only System Shock could *arguably* have a better story than Halo. Half-Life doesn't even really *have* a story, it's just a mashup of characters and events with no arc.
Halo is one of those rare gems that just happens to be extremely popular and extremely good.
The already fantastic story in Halo has also been excellently fleshed out by several books and a radio drama. I put the story in Halo up there with Mass Effect, Wing Commander II, Ultima VI, and Final Fantasy VI.
29 here.
Same here, although I recall that a bunch of websites started to ask you to register yourself with them around the time (or after?) that slashdot did.
It seemed like a hassle for nothing, so I didn't bother for quite a while.
Because we(*) still actually read slashdot.
* Yes, my UID is a huge five digits but I actually avoided signing up on slashdot when the feature was first announced because I didn't want to sign up for *yet another* site-specific user account that seemed to be popping up all over the place.
A new application-serving (rather than text-serving) Internet protocol.
You know how FTP, email, and the web are all different types of Internet connections? Yes? Ok! Now imagine an Application-Web designed from the ground up for serving applications.
*Current* stupor? The general populace is *always* in a stupor. That's what makes it a general populace! Our entire civilization is focused on giving people the maximum amount of leisure time. We're just resting up for Ragnarok.
When even fans of interactive fiction cry and moan if they don't get an 'undo' key and if the game includes a maze then I am forced agree with the article.
How about writing Interactive Fiction? Download Inform and he can go through the manual coding alongside it. It's not a traditional programming language, but the concepts are there and easily accessible. Graham's writing really shines in the manual and he explains a lot of complex programming very nicely.
If your kid isn't so much into the writing (or the text only, which is understandable) then I'd start him off with Learn to Program.
Although your kid is probably too old for many of the exercises and activities, but Computer Science Unplugged is a fantastic resource.
Good gracious, relax a little!
I'm a brand new parent still in that crazy paranoid about everything stage and I haven't even in my craziest gotten that loopy.
Nixon lost the robot vote when he flipped his position on having a huge robot body.
Zero Punctuation - Uncharted
Castlevania (and I mean the real Castlevania) is on the Wii's virtual console.
Sounds like the PS3 will still be the system to play it on if one owns both.
Yeah, except that the XBox360 version will have achievements. What good is it to kill all the crazy optional bosses and whatever if I can't brag about it (with proof!) to my friends and family?
XBox 360 achievements really add depth to our games. I spent half an hour flying under every bridge in the city in GTAIV just to get that delicious green blip. It's like every game has a bunch of mini-games included.
The slashdot crowd not get a TMBG reference? Surely, you must be new here.
What could you do if your laptop gets taken at the US border? File a complaint? Woot.
Chiming in with the GP here, I feel much safer and much better treated going into China than going into the US. There I am treated as though I am an actual person, here I am treated as though I am an annoyance.
If DHS gets their way, we'll be treated worse than that. DHS wants to require all airline passengers to wear a taser bracelet
Second this. Or, if not that, at least start doing IT work for a library. Nice gig.
Meh. Try a real theme park: Busch Gardens or Cedar Point.
Drobo protects against drive failure, but not against accidental deletion. Drobo + backup is ideal. You are safe from oops! deletions and hardware failures.
Of course then you'd still have all copies of the data in a single location. Something offsite would be good as well.