"Specialization is knowing more and more about less and less until you actually know nothing at all."
True, but on the bright side you'll be the world's leading authority about nothing at all.
As for the worrying sandal wearers, maybe just for once they've realised that this certainly beats leaving the great hulking thing up there for future missions to hit. I know I'd happily see the entirety of our orbital space junk hit the Pacific to get it out of the way.
1) I don't have to move house to where its available
2) neither do my mates
3) you can reproduce all the other chatting, beer-drinking, pizza-eating and generally spending an evening in with my mates aspects of a LAN party?
Seriously, this is handy, and while its not the most important story on/. its useful to me.
...but what we haven't heard of are laptops with GeForce2 Ultras and 1.2GHz Athlons in them.:)
Oh, and for all the people against this topic:
If you think LAN parties are too geeky, and people need to 'get a life' then go stand over in the Trek forums and take the piss at conference goers, or laugh at how dumb walkers are for freezing their asses off on a hillside when they could be drunk in a pub or something.
From the bit of bill linked, I saw no definition of what they mean by PC. I know that these OSes aren't for what you or I mean by that statement, but I would expect that oh, say Texas' Compaq would want a wording in there that ensures this doesn't apply to their non-Intel boxes.
Alternatively, stuff the bill - my Linux box is a standalone personal *nix server, not a PC.
sorry, but you're not thinking far enough - I want legislate that all cars should get me where I go without having to learn to drive not just satisfy my needs; its far too complicated for someone who can't even insert a CD in a drive and click 'ok' to be expected to operate a motor vehicle.
If this bill doesn't properly define a PC this could bite Compaq pretty bad - you want to explain to a client why their nice new Alpha box needs censorware on it?
Anyone seen censorware for Solaris clients?
OS/390?
VMS?
Tru64?
HP/UX?
etc etc
This bill seriously needs to include a clue as to what they are legislating...
"Sometimes people with slow modems don't mind waiting"
And sometimes they really do mind waiting and want the low bandwidth version even though they are using a few spare moments while their broadband connection is downloading the latest bignum meg Counterstrike patch or acting as a fileserver. Either way, please be polite and ask them which one they would like?
While I can see some web designers going crazy about the possibility of knowing the exact bit-depth and dimensions of the browser window I'm reading their site in, I rather suspect they are the same ones that would rather send me a couple of hundred k of java every time I want to read their site.
Besides, just because I might be using a fatter pipe than my home 56k dialup, it doesn't mean you can go 'if the client has broadband then lets eat all his bandwidth'.
as pointed out above, this isn't an ideal world, and if you're an ISP who likes to use BSD, and have clients who (for whatever reason, including cluelessness) have ASP sites they want you to host, this would beat either installing a seperate box with a different platform, telling them to rewrite their entire site or shop elsewhere.
Note I said 'for the most part'. The vast majority of games don't get BBFC classifications, and its true that Carmaggeddon (like plenty of films in both the UK and US - take Robocop for example) was cut in order to achieve a rating, but we aren't doing this for everything. I've nothing against a rating on a game; as you point out there are plenty of things in games that a parent would consider unsuitable, and they shouldn't have to complete every title themselves before handing it to their child. My objection to the system being presented here is twofold:
1) rating all titles requires a large amount of time and effort, one which I'm sure won't be provided to publishers for free, and
2) they are suggesting that while its fine to have an R rated film title sit on a shelf next to a PG one, the same should not be true of video games, and shop owners who wish to stock 'mature' titles must spend a fortune redesigning their floor layout (and in many cases will require larger premises) before paying to aquire a license to sell these games.
US has the ESRB, British Colombia (in Canada) would rather have a compulsory system where a branch of the government rates the games than let the games industry do this itself.
Personally, I think its a much better idea to let the people who know what is in the product rate it. Who is responsible when the official ratings board miss the secret level where Pikachu goes crazy with an AK47?
I've nothing against a rating being applied (apart from my earlier comment about how difficult games must be to accurately review for content), its the parts of the proposition calling for an expensive license being required along with a seperate room to sell your higher rated games in.
Given the current open-plan nature of your average shop we are talking very considerable expenditure to rebuild your floorspace in order to stock these games, when similiarly rated videos don't require this.
From the article:
" All retailers would have to have a special license to sell "M" and "AO" rated games. "M" rated games must be put in a special section of a video game store while "AO" rated games would be put in a separate room. "
Is this a double standard, or do you differ from the UK and US where video shops aren't required to put their 18/R rated titles in a whole different room? Surely, as long as the boxes are suitably labelled and have no offensive artwork on them there is no need for this.
Or does the mere presence of Soldier Of Fortune a couple of boxes away from Pikachu somehow contaminate the hideous bundle of yellow fluff?
I'm glad that (for the most part) we have a voluntary code in the UK; some games do go for official ratings by the same committee that rates films (the BBFC) but most don't. The problem with rating interactive product is that you've got to see everything that might be considered controversial. Not much of an issue with your Resident Evil/Onimusha type game thats practically on rails, but something like Black & White or The Sims where the game is highly non-linear you could cause a million different things to happen, each of which might need reviewing for suitability.
Mind you, the fact that its a tradition of older brothers to do evil things with their little sisters Barbie dolls doesn't seem to have made them get banned either, so who knows...
While this post is getting modded up as interesting, the description of boats in low-density gas permeated water is exactly how current theories describe why things go missing in the Bermuda Triangle.
See, you were right when you thought all that Bermuda Triangle stuff smelt funny;)
"damn you! i havnt seen that film yet and now you've ruined it. twats."
Damn, sorry about that. Normally I'm pretty careful on this stuff, but since that bit doesn't really affect the enjoyment of the film (its quality cheese you just hang on for the ride with), and it was such a huge thing at the time (I guess I better not make jokes about Empire Strikes Back either) I din't think someone might be spoiled.
Of course, if you're just being ironic then I guess I've fallen for it.
With a bore speed of 10 to 100 times that of conventional methods, Bruce Willis could get that hole done and be back in time for breakfast instead of having to spout embarrassing speeches while dying heroically.
Slashdot Mirror
"Go to a bar...there are usually women there"
err, I rather suspect that my girlfriend would rather I spend my time playing games with my mates than playing 'games' with women in bars...
"Specialization is knowing more and more about less and less until you actually know nothing at all."
True, but on the bright side you'll be the world's leading authority about nothing at all.
As for the worrying sandal wearers, maybe just for once they've realised that this certainly beats leaving the great hulking thing up there for future missions to hit. I know I'd happily see the entirety of our orbital space junk hit the Pacific to get it out of the way.
Sure, I'll have some broadband, just as long as
/. its useful to me.
1) I don't have to move house to where its available
2) neither do my mates
3) you can reproduce all the other chatting, beer-drinking, pizza-eating and generally spending an evening in with my mates aspects of a LAN party?
Seriously, this is handy, and while its not the most important story on
Try one of the many links to ThinkGeek who seem much better at holding up to a /. assault, and have them for sale.
...but what we haven't heard of are laptops with GeForce2 Ultras and 1.2GHz Athlons in them. :)
Oh, and for all the people against this topic:
If you think LAN parties are too geeky, and people need to 'get a life' then go stand over in the Trek forums and take the piss at conference goers, or laugh at how dumb walkers are for freezing their asses off on a hillside when they could be drunk in a pub or something.
Aah, so thats why they keep losing Mars missions - the censorware won't let it send back the message
"Successfully penetrated the atmosphere and forced my probe into the moist crevice"
Everything becomes clear...
DOH! So thats what the preview button is for...
/. We need an 'unfunny' mark so people don't have to mark my crap jokes as 'flamebait'.
Note to self. USians have had enough Bush jokes now.
Note to
From the bit of bill linked, I saw no definition of what they mean by PC. I know that these OSes aren't for what you or I mean by that statement, but I would expect that oh, say Texas' Compaq would want a wording in there that ensures this doesn't apply to their non-Intel boxes.
Alternatively, stuff the bill - my Linux box is a standalone personal *nix server, not a PC.
sorry, but you're not thinking far enough - I want legislate that all cars should get me where I go without having to learn to drive not just satisfy my needs; its far too complicated for someone who can't even insert a CD in a drive and click 'ok' to be expected to operate a motor vehicle.
If this bill doesn't properly define a PC this could bite Compaq pretty bad - you want to explain to a client why their nice new Alpha box needs censorware on it?
Anyone seen censorware for Solaris clients?
OS/390?
VMS?
Tru64?
HP/UX?
etc etc
This bill seriously needs to include a clue as to what they are legislating...
ok, so I know they mean parents. Still think that this sounds like someone following the old political logic:
1) This is terrible!
therefore
2) Something must be done!
3) This is something
therefore
4) This must be done!
"installing the software over the net is too difficult for anyone over 30 years old to install"
Oh no! We better legislate to protect those innocent little 30 year olds minds before theyre corrupted!!!
This sounds like the most dumbly worded bill I've ever heard.
"Sometimes people with slow modems don't mind waiting"
And sometimes they really do mind waiting and want the low bandwidth version even though they are using a few spare moments while their broadband connection is downloading the latest bignum meg Counterstrike patch or acting as a fileserver. Either way, please be polite and ask them which one they would like?
While I can see some web designers going crazy about the possibility of knowing the exact bit-depth and dimensions of the browser window I'm reading their site in, I rather suspect they are the same ones that would rather send me a couple of hundred k of java every time I want to read their site.
Besides, just because I might be using a fatter pipe than my home 56k dialup, it doesn't mean you can go 'if the client has broadband then lets eat all his bandwidth'.
as pointed out above, this isn't an ideal world, and if you're an ISP who likes to use BSD, and have clients who (for whatever reason, including cluelessness) have ASP sites they want you to host, this would beat either installing a seperate box with a different platform, telling them to rewrite their entire site or shop elsewhere.
Note I said 'for the most part'. The vast majority of games don't get BBFC classifications, and its true that Carmaggeddon (like plenty of films in both the UK and US - take Robocop for example) was cut in order to achieve a rating, but we aren't doing this for everything. I've nothing against a rating on a game; as you point out there are plenty of things in games that a parent would consider unsuitable, and they shouldn't have to complete every title themselves before handing it to their child. My objection to the system being presented here is twofold:
1) rating all titles requires a large amount of time and effort, one which I'm sure won't be provided to publishers for free, and
2) they are suggesting that while its fine to have an R rated film title sit on a shelf next to a PG one, the same should not be true of video games, and shop owners who wish to stock 'mature' titles must spend a fortune redesigning their floor layout (and in many cases will require larger premises) before paying to aquire a license to sell these games.
US has the ESRB, British Colombia (in Canada) would rather have a compulsory system where a branch of the government rates the games than let the games industry do this itself.
Personally, I think its a much better idea to let the people who know what is in the product rate it. Who is responsible when the official ratings board miss the secret level where Pikachu goes crazy with an AK47?
I've nothing against a rating being applied (apart from my earlier comment about how difficult games must be to accurately review for content), its the parts of the proposition calling for an expensive license being required along with a seperate room to sell your higher rated games in.
Given the current open-plan nature of your average shop we are talking very considerable expenditure to rebuild your floorspace in order to stock these games, when similiarly rated videos don't require this.
From the article:
" All retailers would have to have a special license to sell "M" and "AO" rated games. "M" rated games must be put in a special section of a video game store while "AO" rated games would be put in a separate room. "
Is this a double standard, or do you differ from the UK and US where video shops aren't required to put their 18/R rated titles in a whole different room? Surely, as long as the boxes are suitably labelled and have no offensive artwork on them there is no need for this.
Or does the mere presence of Soldier Of Fortune a couple of boxes away from Pikachu somehow contaminate the hideous bundle of yellow fluff?
I'm glad that (for the most part) we have a voluntary code in the UK; some games do go for official ratings by the same committee that rates films (the BBFC) but most don't. The problem with rating interactive product is that you've got to see everything that might be considered controversial. Not much of an issue with your Resident Evil/Onimusha type game thats practically on rails, but something like Black & White or The Sims where the game is highly non-linear you could cause a million different things to happen, each of which might need reviewing for suitability.
Mind you, the fact that its a tradition of older brothers to do evil things with their little sisters Barbie dolls doesn't seem to have made them get banned either, so who knows...
While this post is getting modded up as interesting, the description of boats in low-density gas permeated water is exactly how current theories describe why things go missing in the Bermuda Triangle.
;)
See, you were right when you thought all that Bermuda Triangle stuff smelt funny
"The rest look like sharks, maybe we should alert PETA"
No, there's already a world shortage of sharks with frickin' laser beams, you don't want to stop development of any more...
"damn you! i havnt seen that film yet and now you've ruined it. twats."
Damn, sorry about that. Normally I'm pretty careful on this stuff, but since that bit doesn't really affect the enjoyment of the film (its quality cheese you just hang on for the ride with), and it was such a huge thing at the time (I guess I better not make jokes about Empire Strikes Back either) I din't think someone might be spoiled.
Of course, if you're just being ironic then I guess I've fallen for it.
With a bore speed of 10 to 100 times that of conventional methods, Bruce Willis could get that hole done and be back in time for breakfast instead of having to spout embarrassing speeches while dying heroically.
This could revolutionise the bad-movie industry!