Everyone's health is deteriorating. His influence was profound, yet the fruit of his labor at best is a fractured market of equally vile products. I give a shit if he's dying. May Apple die too. Those are my genuine thoughts, not flamebait. Call me a cold-hearted bastard if you will; perhaps I am.
I haven't seen the movie, but the only way the monkeys could realistically supplant human domination would be to lay low, breed, and wait for humans to weaken themselves sufficiently though the usual means (warfare, economic unsustainability, etc.).
Then again, it would have been badass if the movie was about the apes infiltrating U.S. nuclear launch facilities and going all WarGames on our candy asses. I'd pay to see a monkey running shell scripts trying to access and decrypt the launch codes.
Agreed. Josef Mengele was a scientist without ethics.
One of the biggests risks, which has already happened with genetically modified plants, is that the organisms survive and breed outside their intended target zone. Whether it's a crop escaping the fields and contaminating an entire ecosystem, or something actually escaping the lab itself, this is going to happen.
My second concern is for the welfare of the subjects themselves. The idea of making experimental genetic changes in a complex life form (rats, monkeys, etc.) and allowing it to grow to sentience "just to see what happens" is pretty horrifying unless you're heart is cold or your brain is empty.
I'm all for science and genetic engineering, but the idea of a malformed animal shrieking in pain and a tech saying, "Okay, we've got enough from this one, hit him with the gas and let's see inside," is just way to fucked up to see being done on a mass scale. If there ever is a "Planet of the Apes" scenario, it'll probably be well-deserved.
While there are some very impressive things in Doom III (which is a game in every way), I think what made it suck was the title. They should have called it anything but "Doom". Doom and Doom II were fast paced, generally well lit, and most importantly you could see groups of enemies at a distance, circle-strafe, dodge their bullets, etc. It was run-and-gun all the way. Doom III was blindingly dark, loaded with screamers like some shitty horror movie, corridor-infested and claustrophobic, and contained very little of what made the previous two games successful. It was no Doom, and therefore it sucked. If they'd named it "Dark" everyone would have loved it.
Heh heh. Huge Masamune Shirow fan. Great mech designs. Every now and then in his manga he'd have a spread of just the guns or innards of the mechs. I'm not sure how practical his designs are as far as real-life implementation goes, but I can wish.
If radar or some other surface-mapping technique was added to detect severe surface irregularities, the drive wheel could be lifted away from the surface at the moment the irregularity was traversed. The drive wheel could be placed in the center of the vehicle and be surrounded by "support wheels" for stability. There could also be two drive wheels, one smooth for tarmac and one studded/spiked for off-road.
You're right, and I apologize to ledow. Normally I'm pretty good about constructive criticism. I don't like making excuses but I was hammered when I wrote that. Sorry again, and if anyone has a link to a USB breathalyzer please send it my way so I can get it working with gdm and xscreensaver.
"What exactly are you doing that anyone on Slashdot couldn't make themselves, better, cheaper..."
Nothing. That's not the point.
"For that price, you can pick up handheld open source consoles that do the same"
Name them, ignorant jackass.
"Additionally, what you describe is actually all in place or surpassed on my normal laptop"
This isn't a review of your laptop.
"You really have to have a USP - unique selling point."
My "USP" is that you can play a shitload of games out of the box, are online, and homebrew is not restricted. Put that in your pipe and stick it up your tight ass.
"...it just doesn't look very enticing compared to what a $299 netbook with a couple of little extras could do."
Buy a netbook and have fun with that. You're not my target market.
Sorry for my harsh criticism, but that is what I'd say.
I'm considering developing a book-size console using the following hardware and pricing it at $299 including shipping, warranty and support:
Foxconn NT425 with Intel Atom 1.8 GHz 64-bit CPU and integrated GPU
1 GB DDR2 800 RAM
16 GB class 10 SDHC flash for main storage (no HDD)
Gigabit NIC, 802.11 b/g/n wireless
Dual-analog PS2/3-style wireless gamepad
VGA to Composite/S-Video adapter
I'd use a stripped Debian installation with networking, ALSA, X and video acceleration but not much else, and create a custom gamepad-optimized GUI for operating the system and launching games using GAMBAS and SDL. It would run every quality open source game known to man out of the box and require zero set up. Each game would be configured to use the gamepad. The projected profit would stand at about $45 - 50$ per unit shipped not including marketing.
In the esteemed opinions of my fellow/.ers, would this sell or be a colossal waste of time?
Most new games using classic IP, IMHO, are pure shit from a classic gamer's perspective. Not that the games themselves are necessarily bad, but they have little business using the classic IP other than to capitalize on its brand recognition. I say this because in almost every instance the fundamental joys of the classic are lost in the modern incarnation. Compare Castlevanias 1-4 and SotN with any of the 3D Castlevania games to see what I'm talking about. It's often an issue of 2D gameplay translating horribly, if not completely differently, into 3D gameplay, but also of a completely different dev team trying to make a completely different game with some obligatory references to the classic in an empty nod to us old timers.
One of the reasons this occurs is because classic gamers are an aging breed, getting smaller by the day. The industry has grown so much and now includes vastly different and more diverse types of gamers. Most of them don't understand the essence of gameplay, of boiling it down to the basics, and just want great eye candy and a cinematic experience. Most classic games were nothing -but- gameplay with shitty graphics so you could see what was going on. Now it's largely the opposite.
I recently bought a used Nintendo Wii and softmodded it, then proceeded to hit up the torrent sites for about 150 games. If you want a perfect example of a viable sequel to a real classic, play Punch-Out!! for the Wii. Out-fucking-standing. All it's missing is Mike Tyson, but I guess Nintendo isn't too fond of putting rapists in their games these days.
You said it man, "Nobody fucks with the Jesus". In any case, the bottom line is that the games industry is quickly getting FUBAR, in the literal sense, and our terribly intelligent population doesn't care if they can't play a single player hard-copy game when the network's offline until it goes offline, which is rare and won't be enough to cause a ground-up revolution. While I'd like to have some feel-good explanation for this, I think people may just be too damned stupid to look past their nose while our corporate gaming overlords laugh their way to the next generation of ass-pounding excuses for digital interactive entertainment. Build your gaming bomb shelters now, as that's all you'll have 'til the silicon in your Intellivision dies. Mine still works.
There should be a new category of software (unless someone's already described it) called Tempware, which describes software that only works if some other shit completely outside of your control works with it.
They probably are only now allowing the use of "AndroidTM" when they've personally approved the chain of compilations to make a smartphone OS. Anyone may still use the code however they want, but to use the trade name they must comply with Google's requirements. Vendors would have to choose between releasing their Android phone without the name or a touch of compliance so they'd get to use the trademark. Sorta like Element, the distro.
Agreed, which is why I lean libertarian (as opposed to Libertarian). Anarchy is a bit like communisim; it's a good idea, but people are too fundamentally selfish/irresponsible/lazy/stupid/etc. to make it work. That's never going to change, therefore anarchy and communism are never going to work. So the next best thing would be to give the government just enough power to avoid total chaos. Police, military and some regulation of basic infrastructure to keep the bare necessities of civilization reasonably smooth.
Sadly the same thing that keeps anarchy and communism from working also keeps giving the government more and more power, as most Americans don't like to do things for themselves. Most people in America would rather have something done for them imperfectly than take the time and energy to do it properly for themselves. Maybe an education in the culture of independence is in order? Where have all the frontiersmen gone? Replaced by potato chip eating slobs watching American Idle? It's a sad state of affairs around here.
"There is no DirectX on Linux and just look at how laughtable the situation is."
It might be SUPER laughtable if that were a word in any known human language. Maybe you're referring to some database of laughs I'm not aware of.
Do you seriously think that your assertion has anything to do with the graphics APIs that are available in Linux? If Microsoft ported DirectX to Linux, then holy shit what graphically superior games Linux would suddenly have! Without specifically addressing your other points, this one point taints your ability to make any sense to anyone without drool perpetually hanging from their lip.
All the tools available (no, not you), are more than adequate to produce a game of the highest graphical integrity. DirectX is great, so is OpenGL. The problem is interoperability (so much for MS supporting that as they stated with regard to Linux). When you make a great product that gives the middle finger to any platform other than your own, you invite the wrath of those who just want to do the work once. No one wants to make their game support twenty different variations of graphics/sound/input/network/physics/etc. APIs, so these things need to be standardized across platforms. DirectX lives in a narrow ecosystem and acts like it's everyone else's fault for even existing.
Windows-exclusive software doesn't work on other platforms, not because those platforms are shit and don't "support" it, but because people don't compile it for them. The fault is with the application developer, not the platform. People continually do not understand this basic concept.
Agreed. See my other comment. I think it's all about putting fear into the hearts of serial murderers by maintaining the momentum of those who "protest too much". Hopefully it will carry over to your slice of life and put a stake in the heart of your respective oppressive ass-hat of a tyrant. It does seem ironic how many killers seem to get a free pass while others meet the winds of Justice. His time will come, so keep up the faith and the pressure (and by pressure I mean targeted, intelligent violence).
Wow. That's some of the dumbest shit I've read on here, which is saying a lot. How that's even a 2 I may never understand. I hate a lot of IP, trademark and copyright law, but I think you've had a few too many tonight my friend!
Not that I know what I'm talking about, but in my limited understanding I'm betting that:
1) Most people don't like the regime in Libya. Not a big deal, who really does like their own or others' regimes?
2) There's not much to lose as no ground forces are currently being introduced.
3) Libya's military is horrid shit; no problem throwing a wrench into their gears to let a new populist government be formed.
4) This is something that most nations have wanted for a long time, considering Gaddafi's history.
5) The fact that the usual suspects who vote "NO" on military interventions abstained rather than voting "NO" shows that even they are tired of Gaddaffi's bullshit.
6) The UN strategy is to preserve the momentum of oppressed middle-eastern people's revolutions by taking away Gaddafi's looming WIN. He was going to win, now he's going to get hanged. Momentum preserved, on to next intervention if necessary.
I'm no expert; in fact I know shit. But I hope this all works out well. I am AMAZED that the UN voted yes and is actually doing something. I expected the opposite; for Gaddafi to kill every last protester, and for the overall momentum of revolution to slow and finally die with modest but incomplete success. I'm excited to see that hope is still alive over there. I am just sad that, as usual, so many innocent people have to die for the cause of freedom. Death is forever, but freedom is not.
That's a good assessment, but it doesn't take into account the speed at which competing platforms may or may not continue to outpace it. In a car race, the car who's engine gets blown out right when the race starts is probably NEVER going to catch up. Of course, Microsoft could simply try to copy every advancement presented, which even in a best case scenario would leave them slightly behind.
Slashdot Mirror
Show me the simulation. It would make a nice screen saver and maybe explain the theory to those who haven't read TFA or imagined it previously.
Buy used, jailbreak, download, burn, play, buy used accessories, play some more.
Everyone's health is deteriorating. His influence was profound, yet the fruit of his labor at best is a fractured market of equally vile products. I give a shit if he's dying. May Apple die too. Those are my genuine thoughts, not flamebait. Call me a cold-hearted bastard if you will; perhaps I am.
I haven't seen the movie, but the only way the monkeys could realistically supplant human domination would be to lay low, breed, and wait for humans to weaken themselves sufficiently though the usual means (warfare, economic unsustainability, etc.).
Then again, it would have been badass if the movie was about the apes infiltrating U.S. nuclear launch facilities and going all WarGames on our candy asses. I'd pay to see a monkey running shell scripts trying to access and decrypt the launch codes.
I think these astronomers have been playing Darius a bit too much.
I had the tag "Algernon" in there but someone removed it (Soulskill?). Splice didn't make it either. Disturbing but otherwise mediocre movie.
Agreed. Josef Mengele was a scientist without ethics.
One of the biggests risks, which has already happened with genetically modified plants, is that the organisms survive and breed outside their intended target zone. Whether it's a crop escaping the fields and contaminating an entire ecosystem, or something actually escaping the lab itself, this is going to happen.
My second concern is for the welfare of the subjects themselves. The idea of making experimental genetic changes in a complex life form (rats, monkeys, etc.) and allowing it to grow to sentience "just to see what happens" is pretty horrifying unless you're heart is cold or your brain is empty.
I'm all for science and genetic engineering, but the idea of a malformed animal shrieking in pain and a tech saying, "Okay, we've got enough from this one, hit him with the gas and let's see inside," is just way to fucked up to see being done on a mass scale. If there ever is a "Planet of the Apes" scenario, it'll probably be well-deserved.
While there are some very impressive things in Doom III (which is a game in every way), I think what made it suck was the title. They should have called it anything but "Doom". Doom and Doom II were fast paced, generally well lit, and most importantly you could see groups of enemies at a distance, circle-strafe, dodge their bullets, etc. It was run-and-gun all the way. Doom III was blindingly dark, loaded with screamers like some shitty horror movie, corridor-infested and claustrophobic, and contained very little of what made the previous two games successful. It was no Doom, and therefore it sucked. If they'd named it "Dark" everyone would have loved it.
That was an awesome story. One of the best replies ever that wasn't one sentence.
Heh heh. Huge Masamune Shirow fan. Great mech designs. Every now and then in his manga he'd have a spread of just the guns or innards of the mechs. I'm not sure how practical his designs are as far as real-life implementation goes, but I can wish.
If radar or some other surface-mapping technique was added to detect severe surface irregularities, the drive wheel could be lifted away from the surface at the moment the irregularity was traversed. The drive wheel could be placed in the center of the vehicle and be surrounded by "support wheels" for stability. There could also be two drive wheels, one smooth for tarmac and one studded/spiked for off-road.
I'd definitely paint them blue: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&biw=1599&bih=805&gbv=2&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=tachikoma&oq=tachikoma&aq=f&aqi=g8&aql=undefined&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=33976l35999l0l9l7l0l2l2l0l125l486l2.3l5
You're right, and I apologize to ledow. Normally I'm pretty good about constructive criticism. I don't like making excuses but I was hammered when I wrote that. Sorry again, and if anyone has a link to a USB breathalyzer please send it my way so I can get it working with gdm and xscreensaver.
"What exactly are you doing that anyone on Slashdot couldn't make themselves, better, cheaper..."
Nothing. That's not the point.
"For that price, you can pick up handheld open source consoles that do the same"
Name them, ignorant jackass.
"Additionally, what you describe is actually all in place or surpassed on my normal laptop"
This isn't a review of your laptop.
"You really have to have a USP - unique selling point."
My "USP" is that you can play a shitload of games out of the box, are online, and homebrew is not restricted. Put that in your pipe and stick it up your tight ass.
"...it just doesn't look very enticing compared to what a $299 netbook with a couple of little extras could do."
Buy a netbook and have fun with that. You're not my target market.
Sorry for my harsh criticism, but that is what I'd say.
I'm considering developing a book-size console using the following hardware and pricing it at $299 including shipping, warranty and support:
/.ers, would this sell or be a colossal waste of time?
Foxconn NT425 with Intel Atom 1.8 GHz 64-bit CPU and integrated GPU
1 GB DDR2 800 RAM
16 GB class 10 SDHC flash for main storage (no HDD)
Gigabit NIC, 802.11 b/g/n wireless
Dual-analog PS2/3-style wireless gamepad
VGA to Composite/S-Video adapter
I'd use a stripped Debian installation with networking, ALSA, X and video acceleration but not much else, and create a custom gamepad-optimized GUI for operating the system and launching games using GAMBAS and SDL. It would run every quality open source game known to man out of the box and require zero set up. Each game would be configured to use the gamepad. The projected profit would stand at about $45 - 50$ per unit shipped not including marketing.
In the esteemed opinions of my fellow
Try GAMBAS on Linux. If you like BASIC, you'll never look back.
http://gambas.sourceforge.net/
Most new games using classic IP, IMHO, are pure shit from a classic gamer's perspective. Not that the games themselves are necessarily bad, but they have little business using the classic IP other than to capitalize on its brand recognition. I say this because in almost every instance the fundamental joys of the classic are lost in the modern incarnation. Compare Castlevanias 1-4 and SotN with any of the 3D Castlevania games to see what I'm talking about. It's often an issue of 2D gameplay translating horribly, if not completely differently, into 3D gameplay, but also of a completely different dev team trying to make a completely different game with some obligatory references to the classic in an empty nod to us old timers.
One of the reasons this occurs is because classic gamers are an aging breed, getting smaller by the day. The industry has grown so much and now includes vastly different and more diverse types of gamers. Most of them don't understand the essence of gameplay, of boiling it down to the basics, and just want great eye candy and a cinematic experience. Most classic games were nothing -but- gameplay with shitty graphics so you could see what was going on. Now it's largely the opposite. I recently bought a used Nintendo Wii and softmodded it, then proceeded to hit up the torrent sites for about 150 games. If you want a perfect example of a viable sequel to a real classic, play Punch-Out!! for the Wii. Out-fucking-standing. All it's missing is Mike Tyson, but I guess Nintendo isn't too fond of putting rapists in their games these days.
You said it man, "Nobody fucks with the Jesus". In any case, the bottom line is that the games industry is quickly getting FUBAR, in the literal sense, and our terribly intelligent population doesn't care if they can't play a single player hard-copy game when the network's offline until it goes offline, which is rare and won't be enough to cause a ground-up revolution. While I'd like to have some feel-good explanation for this, I think people may just be too damned stupid to look past their nose while our corporate gaming overlords laugh their way to the next generation of ass-pounding excuses for digital interactive entertainment. Build your gaming bomb shelters now, as that's all you'll have 'til the silicon in your Intellivision dies. Mine still works. There should be a new category of software (unless someone's already described it) called Tempware, which describes software that only works if some other shit completely outside of your control works with it.
They probably are only now allowing the use of "AndroidTM" when they've personally approved the chain of compilations to make a smartphone OS. Anyone may still use the code however they want, but to use the trade name they must comply with Google's requirements. Vendors would have to choose between releasing their Android phone without the name or a touch of compliance so they'd get to use the trademark. Sorta like Element, the distro.
Agreed, which is why I lean libertarian (as opposed to Libertarian). Anarchy is a bit like communisim; it's a good idea, but people are too fundamentally selfish/irresponsible/lazy/stupid/etc. to make it work. That's never going to change, therefore anarchy and communism are never going to work. So the next best thing would be to give the government just enough power to avoid total chaos. Police, military and some regulation of basic infrastructure to keep the bare necessities of civilization reasonably smooth.
Sadly the same thing that keeps anarchy and communism from working also keeps giving the government more and more power, as most Americans don't like to do things for themselves. Most people in America would rather have something done for them imperfectly than take the time and energy to do it properly for themselves. Maybe an education in the culture of independence is in order? Where have all the frontiersmen gone? Replaced by potato chip eating slobs watching American Idle? It's a sad state of affairs around here.
"There is no DirectX on Linux and just look at how laughtable the situation is."
It might be SUPER laughtable if that were a word in any known human language. Maybe you're referring to some database of laughs I'm not aware of.
Do you seriously think that your assertion has anything to do with the graphics APIs that are available in Linux? If Microsoft ported DirectX to Linux, then holy shit what graphically superior games Linux would suddenly have! Without specifically addressing your other points, this one point taints your ability to make any sense to anyone without drool perpetually hanging from their lip.
All the tools available (no, not you), are more than adequate to produce a game of the highest graphical integrity. DirectX is great, so is OpenGL. The problem is interoperability (so much for MS supporting that as they stated with regard to Linux). When you make a great product that gives the middle finger to any platform other than your own, you invite the wrath of those who just want to do the work once. No one wants to make their game support twenty different variations of graphics/sound/input/network/physics/etc. APIs, so these things need to be standardized across platforms. DirectX lives in a narrow ecosystem and acts like it's everyone else's fault for even existing.
Windows-exclusive software doesn't work on other platforms, not because those platforms are shit and don't "support" it, but because people don't compile it for them. The fault is with the application developer, not the platform. People continually do not understand this basic concept.
Agreed. See my other comment. I think it's all about putting fear into the hearts of serial murderers by maintaining the momentum of those who "protest too much". Hopefully it will carry over to your slice of life and put a stake in the heart of your respective oppressive ass-hat of a tyrant. It does seem ironic how many killers seem to get a free pass while others meet the winds of Justice. His time will come, so keep up the faith and the pressure (and by pressure I mean targeted, intelligent violence).
Wow. That's some of the dumbest shit I've read on here, which is saying a lot. How that's even a 2 I may never understand. I hate a lot of IP, trademark and copyright law, but I think you've had a few too many tonight my friend!
Not that I know what I'm talking about, but in my limited understanding I'm betting that:
1) Most people don't like the regime in Libya. Not a big deal, who really does like their own or others' regimes?
2) There's not much to lose as no ground forces are currently being introduced.
3) Libya's military is horrid shit; no problem throwing a wrench into their gears to let a new populist government be formed.
4) This is something that most nations have wanted for a long time, considering Gaddafi's history.
5) The fact that the usual suspects who vote "NO" on military interventions abstained rather than voting "NO" shows that even they are tired of Gaddaffi's bullshit.
6) The UN strategy is to preserve the momentum of oppressed middle-eastern people's revolutions by taking away Gaddafi's looming WIN. He was going to win, now he's going to get hanged. Momentum preserved, on to next intervention if necessary.
I'm no expert; in fact I know shit. But I hope this all works out well. I am AMAZED that the UN voted yes and is actually doing something. I expected the opposite; for Gaddafi to kill every last protester, and for the overall momentum of revolution to slow and finally die with modest but incomplete success. I'm excited to see that hope is still alive over there. I am just sad that, as usual, so many innocent people have to die for the cause of freedom. Death is forever, but freedom is not.
That's a good assessment, but it doesn't take into account the speed at which competing platforms may or may not continue to outpace it. In a car race, the car who's engine gets blown out right when the race starts is probably NEVER going to catch up. Of course, Microsoft could simply try to copy every advancement presented, which even in a best case scenario would leave them slightly behind.