If you're a musician yourself, you might also be interested in the fan-arranged Final Fantasy sheet music at http://www.nobuouematsu.com
Not just piano stuff; they have a few full orchestra pieces, and some percussion pieces, as well as solos for various instruments (flute, clarinet, guitar, etc).
Well, that's a little bit of an over-simplification . . . I agree that females tend to enjoy these kinds of games more, but that's no reason to ignore the women who play less "traditional" games like CS.
Also, for more information and discussion on this type of topic, see WomenGamers.com.
But not every woman can be a good mother. For me, influencing and developing lasting, nurturing relationships with real people (especially one's own children) far surpasses the few years of fame and adrenaline being a top-ranked athlete gives you.
That being said, I'm not sure about the permanent damage part, either. Googling didn't come up with anything, anyway . . .
Well, I'm a homemaker (and a wanna-be mom), and I think games have helped in several ways:
- If I don't know how to do something (like how to get rid of aphids on rosebushes), it's easy to look up hints, just like when you get stuck in a game - I know from experience what game ratings usually mean, so I can make better informed decisions about what games our future kids will and won't play and at what ages they will play them - It's improved my reflexes and ability to think about lots of things at the same time -- something that's helpful when you're cooking dinner, washing dishes, paying bills, and watching children all at the same time - Keeping track of finances is a lot like keeping track of hit points - you just need to budget them wisely.
Actually, if you look at his site (under OSC Library), you will see that you can read at least the first chapter of most of his books online (including the first few chapters of Crystal City, his next book which isn't even published yet).
What a great way to let readers get a *real* taste of the book (Amazon's five pages doesn't usually do that).
Yeah, keygen programs work fine for playing it single-player, but not for doing anything that has to contact their server (downloads from their website, multiplayer, etc).
I know because my husband and I wanted to play together, but there's no way we're buying two copies of a game for one household. But, fortunately, we're playing on a LAN, so we just decided that NWN didn't need to have any external internet contact while we're playing to check on CD keys and send who-knows-what other information.
Yeah, the only problem with the camera in Oni was that it was fixed behind your character -- even if that meant that the camera would go behind a wall, leaving you with no view of what's going on (this is especially annoying during a fight)!
I still think it's kind of underappreciated game, though. Plus, it has a cool heroine.:-)
How about: D. Someone who has sexual characteristics that are within the realm of normality/possibility, so that the first thing you notice about the character is not her sexuality, but her personality.
Don't believe it's possible? Want some examples? Here's just a few; for more, see WomenGamer's Digital Women: April Ryan, "The Longest Journey" Oni, "Oni" Maya, "Septerra Core" Yuna, "Final Fantasy X" Rinoa, "Final Fantasy VIII" (many other FF characters, though not all IMHO . . . ) Imoen, "Baldur's Gate" (and most other BG chars) Minoko, "Project Eden" Jo, "Ehrgeiz" Sharline, "Ever Grace" Mint, "Threads of Fate" Rosella, "King's Quest IV" (and VII) Claire, "Resident Evil"
I could go on and on. Luckily, female characters appear to be improving in many respects, and are most of the time regular characters instead of just eye candy. "Women will complain no matter what" is not a valid excuse for creating female characters that are sexually exaggerated.
Actually, there are several Nancy Drew games. I've never played them, though, so I couldn't tell you how cool they were. A ND/HB crossover would be very cool (or, at least, it would have 10 years ago when I was into that sort of thing).
Anyway, if you want to learn more about women gamers, or meet some, or whatever, visit WomenGamers.com - a good gaming news site, at least for those who want to discuss games intelligently and in a gender-aware way.
In addition, Card originally was not going to title the book "Ender's Shadow". His original title was something more appropriate but "less marketable" (see the Foreword of Ender's Shadow).
--
Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
The main problem is, too many communities are made by corporations or people who don't really care about what the community is for. The site has to be run by people who have a strong interest in the community in order for it to really be a community. Otherwise, it's like the Queen of England making decisions for Pocatello, Idaho.
I'm the founder of an online Wheel of Time community, the Netland White Tower, which has existed since 1997. Because we're all volunteers, everyone in charge has a large interest in the community, and I think that's partly how we've been able to be successful. In the end, I think solid, interested leadership will matter much more than any tips a book could give.
Whose name does more of the public know:
Bill Gates or Richard Stallman?
I'm not saying that progress is bad; just that in our capitalist society, sharing progress doesn't get you nearly as far as keeping it a secret and making money off of it. That's not to say sharing progress isn't better; just that it won't get you as famous.
Yeah, if you want to see a good D&D movie/show, watch Lodoss Wars! (subbed, not dubbed)
--
Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
Re:Depends on what kind of anime you like...
on
Essential Anime
·
· Score: 1
I agree - Ranma 1/2 is definitely some of the most hilarious anime. Fushigi Yuugi is a well-crafted shoujo tale with all a good movie needs - swords and spells, archrivals, humor, romance, and epic adventure. Tenkuu no Escaflowne (Vision of Escaflowne) is an interesting combination of Fantasy and Sci-fi, and Lodoss Wars is good-old-fashioned D&D fun. Sailor Moon is something every anime fan should see at least once - although it's aimed somewhat at younger people, it is still hilarious and at the same time action-packed. -- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
What woman has not wondered at some point how it could be different to be a man? (Especially in the online world, in which truly knowledgeable females are few and far between.) Ummm . . . I think those of us who are knowledgeable females are often forced to know what it's like to be a man . . . Why? They're pretty much your only source of interaction online in "knowledgeable" areas, with a few exceptions of course. Being in a mostly-male environment has its effects. When I hang out with my friends who are women, I sometimes find myself thinking "like a man" and wondering if I shouldn't be coding or playing on my computer instead of chatting and exploring deep emotional issues. Of course, this isn't the case for all women, but I'm pretty sure that I would not understand men as well if I didn't hang around them all the time.
Every last thing that I know about computers I either taught myself or learned from friends.
I agree with you. My high school supposedly had two CS classes - a regular programming class (in Pascal! ouch!), and an "AP" class, which was really just the regular programming class, only you got special permission to do "projects" like work on the school's web page . . .
The goal here is not "equal representation" - just as no one expects 50/50 representation in Elementary Education, no one expects in CS or EE. But the goal is "equal opportunity". I would have loved to have someone who could have taught me a whole lot more than I knew about computers - as it was, everything I learned was from old DR DOS manuals and free computer magazines. I look at all the computer people I admire, who really know a lot (like my husband), and many times the reason they know so much is that they had computers around, they had mentors to explain things to them, or they had the ability to just fool around.
When I was younger, the computer was "dad's territory". I wasn't able to take it apart, or write funky programs that could possibly mess up the computer. I didn't feel like there was an area where I could experiment.
Another result of the fact that much computer knowledge (especially in the earlier years) is learned from friends, is that young girls usually have mostly female friends. Because their friends don't have computer interests, they may turn to other things. This isn't necessarily bad; but it is a factor leading to these statistics.
I believe that parents and teachers have the most responsibility to see that children have equal opportunities to get involved in computer fields. While this may not alter the current ratio dramatically, at least those females who do want to get involved will feel comfortable doing so.
When you break through all the hype that the press has put on this and boil it all down, it is just common sense. It's a shame that it takes events like this to have "the average Joe" . . . finally understand that a little caution and a little foresight go an awful long way.
Unfortunately, I don't think the "average Joe" will make his system any more secure now than it was before. Most people don't even know how their systems might be compromised (by DoS or otherwise) let alone know how to make them more secure.
While average citizens may now be more inclined to approve of allocating resources towards computer security issues, most still don't know (or refuse to know) enough to make it a more important issue than, say, taxes, or gun control, or things that affect their lives in a more obvious manner.
And this isn't about keeping it out of the children's sight, it is about burning it.
You're right; it's not just about keeping it out of the children's sight; it's about keeping it out of my sight, too, and anyone else who doesn't want to *have* to see it.
This isn't, however, about burning pornography. Anyone is welcome to view pornography in private, as long as they don't infringe upon others' rights not to have to look at it.
But replace the words `seeing pornography' with `being around negros'
"Seeing pornography" has nothing do to with "being around negroes". The parallel is illogical. Pornography is recognized as potentially damaging to children (this is why it is not allowed on billboards or in other public places). While some may claim that "kids who hang out with black people are more likely to commit crimes", there is not necessarily a causal relationship, and the stereotype does not hold true for everyone.
By your reasoning, there should be no restrictions on what someone can do in public; exhibitionism, filthy language in public places, death threats, yelling "Fire!" in a crowded building, and child pornography in public view are now all legal under your system.
Making it so people are not forced to view objectionable material is not the same as making that material inaccessible. A library could carry a magazine like Playboy, but would not display its cover or pages in full view of anyone wandering through the library. It is not censorship to desire that not everyone be required to see material they find damaging.
What about my desire to learn about anything ELSE that the blocking software blocks?
I agree, that in the article mentioned, it seemed that the software was inadequate in that area - blocked material could not be easily unblocked. It is possible, however, to have blocking in place which does do it's job, and where you can submit sites for revision and they are unblocked quickly (my university is an example).
The "sign above the computers" idea may work as well. My point is not so much in favor of blocking software as it is against allowing internet pornography in libraries. -- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
Why should you be able to leave your child alone there? Don't try to make the world be a parent for you.
Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Libraries are VERY public places; pornography viewed by an adult at a computer can often be seen to passers-by. Even if a child is with a parent, parents cannot be expected to scope out ahead in front of their children to make sure no computer terminal in view has pornography on the screen. Just as adults have the right to view pornography in private, parents and children have the right to not have to view it in public.
Just as we do not allow pornography on billboards or on non-cable television during day hours, we cannot allow it to be publicly displayed on library terminals.
Perhaps a separate "adult" section would be useful, or "adult hours" where blocking restrictions could be lifted. But the desire of a minority to view pornography in a public place cannot be allowed to overturn the needs of a majority of children and others who do not wish to be exposed to pornography.
I agree! As a female "wannabe hacker", I would love to spend hours and hours learning the intricacies of "hard" topics and writing nifty software, but, (unfortunately?), I love my life more.
Computers just aren't the most important thing in the world to me. I love programming, and I love learning new computer things, but there *are* better things to do - spend time with my (geeky!) husband, read books, compose music, and learn Japanese.
Perhaps the "problem" is that a lot of women are the same way, whether because of innate differences or societal expectations. Either way, there's not a whole lot we can (or should) do. If women really want to be "geeks", they'll be geeks.
I can see why many (women and men) would reject geekdom. There are so many other things that are more rewarding -- think, for example, of teachers who instill a joy of learning in countless children. Or a doctor or nurse who saves lives, or a writer who brings a new perspective to readers. Although computer programming has its rewards, they are not as easily recognizable as those in other areas, where other peoples' lives are changed dramatically for the better.
Slashdot Mirror
If you're a musician yourself, you might also be interested in the fan-arranged Final Fantasy sheet music at http://www.nobuouematsu.com
Not just piano stuff; they have a few full orchestra pieces, and some percussion pieces, as well as solos for various instruments (flute, clarinet, guitar, etc).
Well, that's a little bit of an over-simplification . . . I agree that females tend to enjoy these kinds of games more, but that's no reason to ignore the women who play less "traditional" games like CS.
Also, for more information and discussion on this type of topic, see WomenGamers.com.
But not every woman can be a good mother. For me, influencing and developing lasting, nurturing relationships with real people (especially one's own children) far surpasses the few years of fame and adrenaline being a top-ranked athlete gives you.
That being said, I'm not sure about the permanent damage part, either. Googling didn't come up with anything, anyway . . .
Well, I'm a homemaker (and a wanna-be mom), and I think games have helped in several ways:
- If I don't know how to do something (like how to get rid of aphids on rosebushes), it's easy to look up hints, just like when you get stuck in a game
- I know from experience what game ratings usually mean, so I can make better informed decisions about what games our future kids will and won't play and at what ages they will play them
- It's improved my reflexes and ability to think about lots of things at the same time -- something that's helpful when you're cooking dinner, washing dishes, paying bills, and watching children all at the same time
- Keeping track of finances is a lot like keeping track of hit points - you just need to budget them wisely.
Actually, if you look at his site (under OSC Library), you will see that you can read at least the first chapter of most of his books online (including the first few chapters of Crystal City, his next book which isn't even published yet).
What a great way to let readers get a *real* taste of the book (Amazon's five pages doesn't usually do that).
Yeah, keygen programs work fine for playing it single-player, but not for doing anything that has to contact their server (downloads from their website, multiplayer, etc).
I know because my husband and I wanted to play together, but there's no way we're buying two copies of a game for one household. But, fortunately, we're playing on a LAN, so we just decided that NWN didn't need to have any external internet contact while we're playing to check on CD keys and send who-knows-what other information.
But at least buy one copy of the game -- it's not even that expensive, anyway.
Nope, the toolset still only works in Windows (or a much-hacked Wine).
Maybe for Win98, but you can hardly buy a computer with a Win98 license anymore - they're all WinXP or Win2K, which are ridiculously expensive.
Yeah, the only problem with the camera in Oni was that it was fixed behind your character -- even if that meant that the camera would go behind a wall, leaving you with no view of what's going on (this is especially annoying during a fight)!
:-)
I still think it's kind of underappreciated game, though. Plus, it has a cool heroine.
"But A+B+C = the universal set"
Wrong.
How about:
D. Someone who has sexual characteristics that are within the realm of normality/possibility, so that the first thing you notice about the character is not her sexuality, but her personality.
Don't believe it's possible? Want some examples?
Here's just a few; for more, see WomenGamer's Digital Women:
April Ryan, "The Longest Journey"
Oni, "Oni"
Maya, "Septerra Core"
Yuna, "Final Fantasy X"
Rinoa, "Final Fantasy VIII" (many other FF characters, though not all IMHO . . . )
Imoen, "Baldur's Gate" (and most other BG chars)
Minoko, "Project Eden"
Jo, "Ehrgeiz"
Sharline, "Ever Grace"
Mint, "Threads of Fate"
Rosella, "King's Quest IV" (and VII)
Claire, "Resident Evil"
I could go on and on. Luckily, female characters appear to be improving in many respects, and are most of the time regular characters instead of just eye candy. "Women will complain no matter what" is not a valid excuse for creating female characters that are sexually exaggerated.
Actually, there are several Nancy Drew games. I've never played them, though, so I couldn't tell you how cool they were. A ND/HB crossover would be very cool (or, at least, it would have 10 years ago when I was into that sort of thing).
Anyway, if you want to learn more about women gamers, or meet some, or whatever, visit WomenGamers.com - a good gaming news site, at least for those who want to discuss games intelligently and in a gender-aware way.
-A Woman Gamer, aka
In addition, Card originally was not going to title the book "Ender's Shadow". His original title was something more appropriate but "less marketable" (see the Foreword of Ender's Shadow).
-- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
I'm the founder of an online Wheel of Time community, the Netland White Tower, which has existed since 1997. Because we're all volunteers, everyone in charge has a large interest in the community, and I think that's partly how we've been able to be successful. In the end, I think solid, interested leadership will matter much more than any tips a book could give.
-- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
Bill Gates or Richard Stallman?
I'm not saying that progress is bad; just that in our capitalist society, sharing progress doesn't get you nearly as far as keeping it a secret and making money off of it. That's not to say sharing progress isn't better; just that it won't get you as famous.
-- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
Yeah, if you want to see a good D&D movie/show, watch Lodoss Wars! (subbed, not dubbed)
-- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
I agree - Ranma 1/2 is definitely some of the most hilarious anime.
Fushigi Yuugi is a well-crafted shoujo tale with all a good movie needs - swords and spells, archrivals, humor, romance, and epic adventure.
Tenkuu no Escaflowne (Vision of Escaflowne) is an interesting combination of Fantasy and Sci-fi, and Lodoss Wars is good-old-fashioned D&D fun.
Sailor Moon is something every anime fan should see at least once - although it's aimed somewhat at younger people, it is still hilarious and at the same time action-packed.
-- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
Or https://www.idrive.com/qirien/files/Shared/ if the other one is too slashdotted. :-)
-- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
What woman has not wondered at some point how it could be different to be a man? (Especially in the online world, in which truly knowledgeable females are few and far between.)
Ummm . . . I think those of us who are knowledgeable females are often forced to know what it's like to be a man . . . Why? They're pretty much your only source of interaction online in "knowledgeable" areas, with a few exceptions of course. Being in a mostly-male environment has its effects. When I hang out with my friends who are women, I sometimes find myself thinking "like a man" and wondering if I shouldn't be coding or playing on my computer instead of chatting and exploring deep emotional issues. Of course, this isn't the case for all women, but I'm pretty sure that I would not understand men as well if I didn't hang around them all the time.
-- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
I agree with you. My high school supposedly had two CS classes - a regular programming class (in Pascal! ouch!), and an "AP" class, which was really just the regular programming class, only you got special permission to do "projects" like work on the school's web page . . .
The goal here is not "equal representation" - just as no one expects 50/50 representation in Elementary Education, no one expects in CS or EE. But the goal is "equal opportunity". I would have loved to have someone who could have taught me a whole lot more than I knew about computers - as it was, everything I learned was from old DR DOS manuals and free computer magazines. I look at all the computer people I admire, who really know a lot (like my husband), and many times the reason they know so much is that they had computers around, they had mentors to explain things to them, or they had the ability to just fool around.
When I was younger, the computer was "dad's territory". I wasn't able to take it apart, or write funky programs that could possibly mess up the computer. I didn't feel like there was an area where I could experiment.
Another result of the fact that much computer knowledge (especially in the earlier years) is learned from friends, is that young girls usually have mostly female friends. Because their friends don't have computer interests, they may turn to other things. This isn't necessarily bad; but it is a factor leading to these statistics.
I believe that parents and teachers have the most responsibility to see that children have equal opportunities to get involved in computer fields. While this may not alter the current ratio dramatically, at least those females who do want to get involved will feel comfortable doing so.
-- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
Unfortunately, I don't think the "average Joe" will make his system any more secure now than it was before. Most people don't even know how their systems might be compromised (by DoS or otherwise) let alone know how to make them more secure.
While average citizens may now be more inclined to approve of allocating resources towards computer security issues, most still don't know (or refuse to know) enough to make it a more important issue than, say, taxes, or gun control, or things that affect their lives in a more obvious manner.
-- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
You're right; it's not just about keeping it out of the children's sight; it's about keeping it out of my sight, too, and anyone else who doesn't want to *have* to see it.
This isn't, however, about burning pornography. Anyone is welcome to view pornography in private, as long as they don't infringe upon others' rights not to have to look at it.
-- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
"Seeing pornography" has nothing do to with "being around negroes". The parallel is illogical. Pornography is recognized as potentially damaging to children (this is why it is not allowed on billboards or in other public places). While some may claim that "kids who hang out with black people are more likely to commit crimes", there is not necessarily a causal relationship, and the stereotype does not hold true for everyone.
By your reasoning, there should be no restrictions on what someone can do in public; exhibitionism, filthy language in public places, death threats, yelling "Fire!" in a crowded building, and child pornography in public view are now all legal under your system.
Making it so people are not forced to view objectionable material is not the same as making that material inaccessible. A library could carry a magazine like Playboy, but would not display its cover or pages in full view of anyone wandering through the library. It is not censorship to desire that not everyone be required to see material they find damaging.
-- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
I agree, that in the article mentioned, it seemed that the software was inadequate in that area - blocked material could not be easily unblocked. It is possible, however, to have blocking in place which does do it's job, and where you can submit sites for revision and they are unblocked quickly (my university is an example).
The "sign above the computers" idea may work as well. My point is not so much in favor of blocking software as it is against allowing internet pornography in libraries.
-- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
Unfortunately, it's not that simple. Libraries are VERY public places; pornography viewed by an adult at a computer can often be seen to passers-by. Even if a child is with a parent, parents cannot be expected to scope out ahead in front of their children to make sure no computer terminal in view has pornography on the screen. Just as adults have the right to view pornography in private, parents and children have the right to not have to view it in public.
Just as we do not allow pornography on billboards or on non-cable television during day hours, we cannot allow it to be publicly displayed on library terminals.
Perhaps a separate "adult" section would be useful, or "adult hours" where blocking restrictions could be lifted. But the desire of a minority to view pornography in a public place cannot be allowed to overturn the needs of a majority of children and others who do not wish to be exposed to pornography.
-- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration
Computers just aren't the most important thing in the world to me. I love programming, and I love learning new computer things, but there *are* better things to do - spend time with my (geeky!) husband, read books, compose music, and learn Japanese.
Perhaps the "problem" is that a lot of women are the same way, whether because of innate differences or societal expectations. Either way, there's not a whole lot we can (or should) do. If women really want to be "geeks", they'll be geeks.
I can see why many (women and men) would reject geekdom. There are so many other things that are more rewarding -- think, for example, of teachers who instill a joy of learning in countless children. Or a doctor or nurse who saves lives, or a writer who brings a new perspective to readers. Although computer programming has its rewards, they are not as easily recognizable as those in other areas, where other peoples' lives are changed dramatically for the better.
-- Qirien, Academy of Defenestration