My favourite post on Slashdot for months. Wish I had mod points.
I also wish that dignitaries did swap mix tapes. Wonder if they'd spend ages doing the artwork in biro and plastering stickers all over the TDK90. Queen's special mix 2009.
There are a lot of people here decrying the state of modern music - saying that the quality has dipped and that this is providing less of an incentive to buy anything.
Well, this may be the case, but you can't overlook the impact that spiralling record company revenues has had on A&R. There is actually a lot of great music being made right now, but companies just don't have the same amount of cash to find and promote new artists as they used to. So music fans now have to try much harder to find new music that they like.
I think a lot of people here want it both ways - the ease of digital distribution plus the same amount of decent new music being played on radio etc. - but for most independent artists the internet has crippled what little source of income they had. So many independent record companies have folded in the last 5 years that the impact on the 'quality' of modern music can't be ignored; in fact many people here have commented upon it. To imply that these smaller companies are somehow greedy, irrelevant or behind the times is missing the point. We were better off with them around, as well as the artists they fostered.
Bit of a tangent here, but can anyone else remember getting the Ultima 6 box with printed map/dish cloth of Britannia and AUTHENTIC 'Orb of the moons' meaningless novelty souvenir nestled among the eight 5.25" disks? Amazing stuff. You can't get that over digital distribution.
On a related subject, will you all please get off my lawn.
I got fired from a company I worked for for two years because my boss found some emails I'd sent to a friend of mine (who worked at one of our suppliers) calling him a complete asshole.
This obviously put me in a bit of a tricky situation with references, but luckily the general manager of the company was a good guy and knew that the guy in question indeed was an asshole, so agreed to give me a reference.
Your case is even more clear-cut than mine, in that you have obviously done nothing wrong. Given that some people in your company are obviously acting in a completely childish manner, can you find a sympathetic individual - who's not your boss but is someone high up enough - who can give you a reference?
As a final point, most companies shouldn't give good/bad references for exactly these reasons - they can be used to distort the truth to benefit the company in question. A lot of places just give a standard statement confirming that the employee worked in the specified role between the specified dates - this should be standard.
Re:Spam?
on
Jurassic Web
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Whether you agree with HuffPo's openly liberal politics or not, it's hard to deny that there was nothing like this kind of widespread online political commentary 10 years ago - certainly nothing that attracted the kind of traffic - or had the same kind of influence - that it now enjoys. Got to be a good thing - people need to be more interested in politics.
As for Gawker... ummmmmm... errrrrr.... yep you're right.
If anyone deserves a repeat spanking it's these people. I have to deal with enough marketing crap coming via my inbox & letterbox without having people call my phone all the time too. It's especially galling when people have explicitly indicated that they don't want to be called in the first place, as they have here.
I wish the whole concept of telemarketing would just die a horrible death. Who really wants to deal with persistent salespeople when they're trying to chill out at home and enjoy the precious little time that isn't spent staring at their work PC?
FTA, it sounds like Gatehouse see this as a copyright violation but, as several other posters have pointed out, the same thing goes on on news aggregator sites all the time. In fact most stories on Slashdot contain snippets from other sites. It's an unavoidable and very useful facet of the web
This is yet another example of 'old' media not really understanding online practices. Most sites benefit tremendously from others linking to them - look at what happens with Slashdot. That is, unless the 'benefit' is so great that their server turns to dust.
I see what you mean to a certain extent, but given how the browser is becoming a platform in itself - one that can encompass both the productivity tools and media player that you cite in your examples - this has to be of far more relevance.
I think the EU are doing the right thing here, but something tells me this isn't going to be plain sailing until every Windows PC has alternatives to IE available by default.
I think that a lot of people think Google are good purely because they are now largely seen as the anti-MS... no other company has done remotely as much to scare the people at Redmond, and for that they should definitely be applauded. Paving the way to unseat a monopoly - however (un)likely the eventual unseating may be - is no small accomplishment and one that legions of us, pissed off with having to fund a monopolist all the time, should be quite appreciative of.
I do agree with your points though - I can just understand why people do like Google. There is also the fact that their mainstream tools usually just work. Can you say the same of MS?
QR codes have been doing exactly the same thing for a while now.
And to be honest, I really can't see either catching on... The general public are constantly getting more familiar with the web, and getting more comfortable with finding their own favourite 'trusted' sources of information. Even if Microsoft does somehow convince enough manufacturers to start adding codes to their packaging, are people really going to jump at the chance to instantly look up a load of information on that particular television/cosmetic/breakfast cereal on some arbitrary MS website? Because that's all this really amounts to... a link. More info here.
Firefox currently has over 20% of the market share and growing - if it continues to gain share then I can't see Google pulling out of an agreement where they're the default search offering for over 20% of people on the web.
Having said this, it's going to be difficult for Mozilla to find a revenue stream that even comes close to that from Google. If they want independence, they'll have a hard time finding it. Somehow I can't see Microsoft stepping in with a bid if Google were to eventually pull out...
I've been amazed by the extent to which this issue has permeated the mainstream media - here in the UK it's been home page material for the BBC, The Guardian, The Times and a number of others.
One - this is really terrible PR for Microsoft. Two - this is really good news for the web as a whole (obviously not including anyone affected by the exploit), as anything that increases public awareness of security issues and alternative browsers has to be a good thing. I just hope it makes a difference.
I think one of the biggest hurdles with adventure games, which the article touches on, is the fact that it's hard to make a complex world that is still easy to navigate.
For example, I love the idea of Sherlock Holmes games but often they devolve into a laborious click frenzy where you start investigating every object in the environment in the hope that it will be somehow relevant. Similarly, how many people here have played Resident Evil and spent a lot of time walking awkwardly against the walls while mashing the X button?
I think the most successful adventure games are those that can make their world seem at once complex and immersive yet still easy to navigate and explore without becoming an exercise in endless clicking frustration.
It's humiliating enough getting completely slaughtered by someone half your age playing Supreme Commmander online without having to worry about someone twice your age doing the same.
I'd have to disagree - while there are definitely 'down' periods in Oblivion where nothing much really happens, there are also plenty of intense/exciting moments - creeping around dark dungeons, dealing with things jumping out at you etc.
The article also gave particular mention to close combat in such games - something that Oblivion had a lot of, where it was regularly pretty frantic. I don't think it's any less relevant just because it's not necessarily the main focus of the game.
I'd agree with this - take Oblivion as an example; one of the most engaging games I've ever played. Although as it is first-person in nature, you could argue that the results from this test are just as relevant, even if it isn't a shooter per se.
Sorry, but the whole one-click patent is just stupid. Making out that a single click of the mouse is some kind of revolutionary UI paradigm is so completely far-fetched that I'm amazed the thing was even considered by the courts in the first place.
People who arent savvy enough to know what speed their connection is - well, they deserve to get a crap service.
Bit harsh, don't you think? My mum doesn't know jack about broadband speeds, nor is she especially interested in reading more about it. Does this mean she should get a crap service?
You're right about BT though. Everyone I have ever spoken to has had an appalling experience with them. They should be avoided like the plague.
It's a tricky situation for Yahoo... the way I see it - and I'm aware this might be horribly oversimplified - they have two ways to turn things around.
1) Improve their market share in search - not easily done, considering Google's spending power and constant innovation in this area. Microsoft have been haemorrhaging money trying to compete here, and it doesn't seem to be getting them very far - look at the lukewarm reception to their cashback scheme for evidence.
2) Start to better monetise their online tools and content (Pipes, Shopping, Answers etc.). If anything this is even trickier... even with pipes winning numerous plaudits in the industry and a huge user base on the likes of Answers, turning these into a major source of revenue is a tough problem.
I realise this is quite gloomy, which is a shame because I really want Yahoo to succeed, but let's be honest - it doesn't look too good at the moment does it?
Maybe Google are removing a competitor to their own office applications because... they are a competitor to their own office applications.
In order for Google to make any kind of inroads into Microsoft's customer base, they have to convince people that online apps are just as viable as their offline counterparts. So providing an offline office suite in the Google Pack - ostensibly to keep the doubters happy - might be considered by some to be an admission that Google Docs won't do the job.
I think you're right that the gameplay itself wasn't especially memorable - there are quite a few of FPS games out there that are just more plain fun.
But where I think Bioshock really stood out was in its level of immersion. It's a hard quality to put your finger on - some games have it, some don't - but for many people, myself included, it's one of the major selling points of any game I want to play.
Some games have an atmosphere so tangible that they are enjoyed despite the fact that the gameplay often isn't much to write home about. Bioshock, in some respects, was more comparable to a movie than a typical game at times, and while I didn't find the gameplay as addictive or satisfying as the likes of FPS classics like Half Life or Goldeneye, I was so absorbed by the atmosphere and the story that I didn't really even think about it. I just wanted to know what happened next.
Slashdot Mirror
My favourite post on Slashdot for months. Wish I had mod points.
I also wish that dignitaries did swap mix tapes. Wonder if they'd spend ages doing the artwork in biro and plastering stickers all over the TDK90. Queen's special mix 2009.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh tapes. Tapes.
There are a lot of people here decrying the state of modern music - saying that the quality has dipped and that this is providing less of an incentive to buy anything.
Well, this may be the case, but you can't overlook the impact that spiralling record company revenues has had on A&R. There is actually a lot of great music being made right now, but companies just don't have the same amount of cash to find and promote new artists as they used to. So music fans now have to try much harder to find new music that they like.
I think a lot of people here want it both ways - the ease of digital distribution plus the same amount of decent new music being played on radio etc. - but for most independent artists the internet has crippled what little source of income they had. So many independent record companies have folded in the last 5 years that the impact on the 'quality' of modern music can't be ignored; in fact many people here have commented upon it. To imply that these smaller companies are somehow greedy, irrelevant or behind the times is missing the point. We were better off with them around, as well as the artists they fostered.
Bit of a tangent here, but can anyone else remember getting the Ultima 6 box with printed map/dish cloth of Britannia and AUTHENTIC 'Orb of the moons' meaningless novelty souvenir nestled among the eight 5.25" disks? Amazing stuff. You can't get that over digital distribution.
On a related subject, will you all please get off my lawn.
Actually, compared to Microsoft's flailing in search, Yahoo are a pretty solid number two.
Hang on, let me rephrase that.
Microsoft has been greedily eyeing up Yahoo's number two slot.
Oh, forget it.
I got fired from a company I worked for for two years because my boss found some emails I'd sent to a friend of mine (who worked at one of our suppliers) calling him a complete asshole.
This obviously put me in a bit of a tricky situation with references, but luckily the general manager of the company was a good guy and knew that the guy in question indeed was an asshole, so agreed to give me a reference.
Your case is even more clear-cut than mine, in that you have obviously done nothing wrong. Given that some people in your company are obviously acting in a completely childish manner, can you find a sympathetic individual - who's not your boss but is someone high up enough - who can give you a reference?
As a final point, most companies shouldn't give good/bad references for exactly these reasons - they can be used to distort the truth to benefit the company in question. A lot of places just give a standard statement confirming that the employee worked in the specified role between the specified dates - this should be standard.
Whether you agree with HuffPo's openly liberal politics or not, it's hard to deny that there was nothing like this kind of widespread online political commentary 10 years ago - certainly nothing that attracted the kind of traffic - or had the same kind of influence - that it now enjoys. Got to be a good thing - people need to be more interested in politics.
As for Gawker... ummmmmm... errrrrr.... yep you're right.
If anyone deserves a repeat spanking it's these people. I have to deal with enough marketing crap coming via my inbox & letterbox without having people call my phone all the time too. It's especially galling when people have explicitly indicated that they don't want to be called in the first place, as they have here.
I wish the whole concept of telemarketing would just die a horrible death. Who really wants to deal with persistent salespeople when they're trying to chill out at home and enjoy the precious little time that isn't spent staring at their work PC?
More spanking please.
FTA, it sounds like Gatehouse see this as a copyright violation but, as several other posters have pointed out, the same thing goes on on news aggregator sites all the time. In fact most stories on Slashdot contain snippets from other sites. It's an unavoidable and very useful facet of the web
This is yet another example of 'old' media not really understanding online practices. Most sites benefit tremendously from others linking to them - look at what happens with Slashdot. That is, unless the 'benefit' is so great that their server turns to dust.
I see what you mean to a certain extent, but given how the browser is becoming a platform in itself - one that can encompass both the productivity tools and media player that you cite in your examples - this has to be of far more relevance.
I think the EU are doing the right thing here, but something tells me this isn't going to be plain sailing until every Windows PC has alternatives to IE available by default.
I think that a lot of people think Google are good purely because they are now largely seen as the anti-MS... no other company has done remotely as much to scare the people at Redmond, and for that they should definitely be applauded. Paving the way to unseat a monopoly - however (un)likely the eventual unseating may be - is no small accomplishment and one that legions of us, pissed off with having to fund a monopolist all the time, should be quite appreciative of.
I do agree with your points though - I can just understand why people do like Google. There is also the fact that their mainstream tools usually just work. Can you say the same of MS?
QR codes have been doing exactly the same thing for a while now.
And to be honest, I really can't see either catching on... The general public are constantly getting more familiar with the web, and getting more comfortable with finding their own favourite 'trusted' sources of information. Even if Microsoft does somehow convince enough manufacturers to start adding codes to their packaging, are people really going to jump at the chance to instantly look up a load of information on that particular television/cosmetic/breakfast cereal on some arbitrary MS website? Because that's all this really amounts to... a link. More info here.
a HOT CHICK is not worth the pain of their upkeep, and maintenance.
Whatever credibility you may have had at the start of your post was lost when you made dating a hot chick sound like running your own linux server.
Firefox currently has over 20% of the market share and growing - if it continues to gain share then I can't see Google pulling out of an agreement where they're the default search offering for over 20% of people on the web.
Having said this, it's going to be difficult for Mozilla to find a revenue stream that even comes close to that from Google. If they want independence, they'll have a hard time finding it. Somehow I can't see Microsoft stepping in with a bid if Google were to eventually pull out...
I've been amazed by the extent to which this issue has permeated the mainstream media - here in the UK it's been home page material for the BBC, The Guardian, The Times and a number of others.
One - this is really terrible PR for Microsoft. Two - this is really good news for the web as a whole (obviously not including anyone affected by the exploit), as anything that increases public awareness of security issues and alternative browsers has to be a good thing. I just hope it makes a difference.
Apparently a $0.50 component would have sorted out all these problems... I'm aware that after a lot of sales this translates into profit, but seriously... this is a very short-sighted corner to cut.
I think one of the biggest hurdles with adventure games, which the article touches on, is the fact that it's hard to make a complex world that is still easy to navigate.
For example, I love the idea of Sherlock Holmes games but often they devolve into a laborious click frenzy where you start investigating every object in the environment in the hope that it will be somehow relevant.
Similarly, how many people here have played Resident Evil and spent a lot of time walking awkwardly against the walls while mashing the X button?
I think the most successful adventure games are those that can make their world seem at once complex and immersive yet still easy to navigate and explore without becoming an exercise in endless clicking frustration.
It's humiliating enough getting completely slaughtered by someone half your age playing Supreme Commmander online without having to worry about someone twice your age doing the same.
I'd have to disagree - while there are definitely 'down' periods in Oblivion where nothing much really happens, there are also plenty of intense/exciting moments - creeping around dark dungeons, dealing with things jumping out at you etc.
The article also gave particular mention to close combat in such games - something that Oblivion had a lot of, where it was regularly pretty frantic. I don't think it's any less relevant just because it's not necessarily the main focus of the game.
I'd agree with this - take Oblivion as an example; one of the most engaging games I've ever played. Although as it is first-person in nature, you could argue that the results from this test are just as relevant, even if it isn't a shooter per se.
Sorry, but the whole one-click patent is just stupid. Making out that a single click of the mouse is some kind of revolutionary UI paradigm is so completely far-fetched that I'm amazed the thing was even considered by the courts in the first place.
This is a triumph of litigation, not innovation.
TFA states that several people underwent clinical trials... for a FLESH-WELDING LASER.
Anyone who hears those words and still goes in for experimental surgery is probably the bravest person on the planet. I salute you!
People who arent savvy enough to know what speed their connection is - well, they deserve to get a crap service.
Bit harsh, don't you think? My mum doesn't know jack about broadband speeds, nor is she especially interested in reading more about it. Does this mean she should get a crap service?
You're right about BT though. Everyone I have ever spoken to has had an appalling experience with them. They should be avoided like the plague.
It's a tricky situation for Yahoo... the way I see it - and I'm aware this might be horribly oversimplified - they have two ways to turn things around.
1) Improve their market share in search - not easily done, considering Google's spending power and constant innovation in this area. Microsoft have been haemorrhaging money trying to compete here, and it doesn't seem to be getting them very far - look at the lukewarm reception to their cashback scheme for evidence.
2) Start to better monetise their online tools and content (Pipes, Shopping, Answers etc.). If anything this is even trickier... even with pipes winning numerous plaudits in the industry and a huge user base on the likes of Answers, turning these into a major source of revenue is a tough problem.
I realise this is quite gloomy, which is a shame because I really want Yahoo to succeed, but let's be honest - it doesn't look too good at the moment does it?
Maybe Google are removing a competitor to their own office applications because... they are a competitor to their own office applications.
In order for Google to make any kind of inroads into Microsoft's customer base, they have to convince people that online apps are just as viable as their offline counterparts. So providing an offline office suite in the Google Pack - ostensibly to keep the doubters happy - might be considered by some to be an admission that Google Docs won't do the job.
I think you're right that the gameplay itself wasn't especially memorable - there are quite a few of FPS games out there that are just more plain fun.
But where I think Bioshock really stood out was in its level of immersion. It's a hard quality to put your finger on - some games have it, some don't - but for many people, myself included, it's one of the major selling points of any game I want to play.
Some games have an atmosphere so tangible that they are enjoyed despite the fact that the gameplay often isn't much to write home about. Bioshock, in some respects, was more comparable to a movie than a typical game at times, and while I didn't find the gameplay as addictive or satisfying as the likes of FPS classics like Half Life or Goldeneye, I was so absorbed by the atmosphere and the story that I didn't really even think about it. I just wanted to know what happened next.