I have been smoking marijuana since I was 12, am now 36, and work for one of the top hardware/software companies in the world running other people's Wintel backends. Today in my home office I'm building several servers remotely, attending meetings, and taking emergency calls.
I kind of thought that Fahrenheit 451 was less about government oppression and book burning, and more about a society that has become so apathetic that they allow the government to oppress them and burn their books. The second-scariest part of the book, for me, was that almost nobody really cared that the book burnings, oppression, and even the atomic war were even going on. The scariest part was how much it reminded me of the society I live in, or at least my perception of it.
A friend of mine and I would turn the B&W/Color switch to B&W whenever we played Combat with the tanks or airplanes. Gave it that "old World War II movie" feel.
Along those lines, a history of pinball (that includes both of the Attack From Mars and it's sequel) and what happened to the industry would be interesting. Although I'm sure that's been done to death as well.
I just know that on a recent family vacation, I spent close to $20 playing pinball games (Shrek and Spider-Man), and less than $5 playing video games at an arcade.
Except that developers need to get paid in order to develop. Without a release, there's no revenue (other than start-up capital) to pay developers.
It's a difficult situation. And if you're trying to start a new development house, it must be very difficult to accurately estimate how much money you'll need to get you all the way to a finished product. I wonder if they just ran out of money and had to publish something in order to keep going at all...
General Grievous is one big WTF if you don't at least take a glance at the animated series.
Actually, I thought all of the prequels are one big WTF whether or not I had watched the animated series.
But then I read the Secret History of Star Wars and it all became clear -- Lucas never really liked Star Wars himself. At least, he never intended it to be the deep quasi-spiritual struggle of good and evil. He wanted a high adventure space-romp. It was Empire (which he didn't have much involvement with) that made things deeper and more spiritual. Compare Obi Wan's talk of the Force, "The Force is what gives a Jedi his powers." with Yoda's, "...for my ally is The Force, and a powerful ally it is." Obi-wan's line was written by Lucas and reveals is initial, shallow desire for the force to be a tool for magic tricks, Yoda's line, written by Brackett/Kasdan, shows where the franchise started to get deeper. It's the depth that really fascinated myself and I think a lot of us fans, but Lucas hated the idea and I think he still does.
Lucas has been trying to lighten it up ever since then, and is quoted as saying that one of the main reasons he made the prequels at all was to "fund other projects."
I think he doesn't care if he ruins it for us, as long as he can make money from it to fund the things he really cares about. It's sad but he has creator's rights over it so there's nothing you can do about it.
If you give them a couple million years to mutate, yes.
I dunno. I think we could speed that up with a little genetic manipulation -- get to the "20% brainers" by tweaking some dna thingies and start feeding them with the seasonal veggies you'll find at places like Outback Steakhouse. If they tell you "No animals allowed." You can just say, "No rules, just right." And bang, you got 'em by the short and curlies.
But maybe my mental picture of genetic modification is a little simplistic. I kinda picture a little mini set of Tinker Toys with tiny robotic arms going in and rearranging the pieces one by one.
Maybe it's easier to get away with dumping chemicals and defrauding investors because of the numbers and motives of the people involved:
Defrauding investors only involves the highest level executives, and they keep that kind of thing pretty secret.
Dumping chemicals isn't watched as carefully as Windows licenses (for an example) and I doubt the ones who order it or the ones doing it are motivated to talk about it.
In the case of pirated software, especially something widely used in the company, there would be a lot of eyes (the software vendor watching like a hawk), and a lot of support calls attracting attention from said vendor. Piracy probably happens more on small scales though, where, like you said, you can manage the exposure.
Someone will exploit the situation, promise salvation, and take control. By then, only drastic measures will do...
And then the giant robots attack. Seen it a hundred times.
A democracy can only be as noble as the majority of its populace. A dictatorship is limited by the morality of its dictator (in terms of national actions, at least). The problem with every form of government we humans have is the bloody humans. Get rid of them, problem solved.
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I have been smoking marijuana since I was 12, am now 36, and work for one of the top hardware/software companies in the world running other people's Wintel backends. Today in my home office I'm building several servers remotely, attending meetings, and taking emergency calls.
Um, are you sure about all that?
(just kidding)
You can turn down the game speed in most Blizzard RTS games, I think. Might help your problem.
... we still won.
... low in carbon footprint, with most things done by hand.
A carbon handprint?
The key question to answer is: What is the reason for the people to live there, rather than somewhere else?
As mentioned previously: slides.
Are you sure it's the prominence of religion, and not the prominence of pig-headedness masquerading as religion?
Seconded. I never even heard of them until I read this post.
I kind of thought that Fahrenheit 451 was less about government oppression and book burning, and more about a society that has become so apathetic that they allow the government to oppress them and burn their books. The second-scariest part of the book, for me, was that almost nobody really cared that the book burnings, oppression, and even the atomic war were even going on. The scariest part was how much it reminded me of the society I live in, or at least my perception of it.
And in other news, sales of Tasers in Mexico have gone through the roof...
Oh you could do even better. I'm thinking along the lines of something involving "Seven of Nine" and "white tuna".
You could also tell by the way it smelt.
What do you think will happen?
Just what happened before. Nothing.
A friend of mine and I would turn the B&W/Color switch to B&W whenever we played Combat with the tanks or airplanes. Gave it that "old World War II movie" feel.
I just know that on a recent family vacation, I spent close to $20 playing pinball games (Shrek and Spider-Man), and less than $5 playing video games at an arcade.
Sorry, Al.
It's a difficult situation. And if you're trying to start a new development house, it must be very difficult to accurately estimate how much money you'll need to get you all the way to a finished product. I wonder if they just ran out of money and had to publish something in order to keep going at all...
It gets worse. Early on in the experiment Potter was quoted as saying, "Ok, I'll do it. But first I'm gonna get tore up!"
"Nixon's back, baby!! Brrrrrrr!!!" (Futurama quote)
General Grievous is one big WTF if you don't at least take a glance at the animated series.
Actually, I thought all of the prequels are one big WTF whether or not I had watched the animated series.
But then I read the Secret History of Star Wars and it all became clear -- Lucas never really liked Star Wars himself. At least, he never intended it to be the deep quasi-spiritual struggle of good and evil. He wanted a high adventure space-romp. It was Empire (which he didn't have much involvement with) that made things deeper and more spiritual. Compare Obi Wan's talk of the Force, "The Force is what gives a Jedi his powers." with Yoda's, "...for my ally is The Force, and a powerful ally it is." Obi-wan's line was written by Lucas and reveals is initial, shallow desire for the force to be a tool for magic tricks, Yoda's line, written by Brackett/Kasdan, shows where the franchise started to get deeper. It's the depth that really fascinated myself and I think a lot of us fans, but Lucas hated the idea and I think he still does.
Lucas has been trying to lighten it up ever since then, and is quoted as saying that one of the main reasons he made the prequels at all was to "fund other projects."
I think he doesn't care if he ruins it for us, as long as he can make money from it to fund the things he really cares about. It's sad but he has creator's rights over it so there's nothing you can do about it.
If you give them a couple million years to mutate, yes.
I dunno. I think we could speed that up with a little genetic manipulation -- get to the "20% brainers" by tweaking some dna thingies and start feeding them with the seasonal veggies you'll find at places like Outback Steakhouse. If they tell you "No animals allowed." You can just say, "No rules, just right." And bang, you got 'em by the short and curlies.
But maybe my mental picture of genetic modification is a little simplistic. I kinda picture a little mini set of Tinker Toys with tiny robotic arms going in and rearranging the pieces one by one.
Civilization arose because of beans!
Yes. They truly are a magical fruit.
In the case of pirated software, especially something widely used in the company, there would be a lot of eyes (the software vendor watching like a hawk), and a lot of support calls attracting attention from said vendor. Piracy probably happens more on small scales though, where, like you said, you can manage the exposure.
That's telekinesis, baby!
Someone will exploit the situation, promise salvation, and take control. By then, only drastic measures will do...
And then the giant robots attack. Seen it a hundred times.
A democracy can only be as noble as the majority of its populace. A dictatorship is limited by the morality of its dictator (in terms of national actions, at least). The problem with every form of government we humans have is the bloody humans. Get rid of them, problem solved.
I am Trogdor, and I approve this message.
the cattle industry is extraordinarily destructive to the planet
Not to mention the cows!