Just got my a GalaXy Note ll two days ago. writing this with the stylist. Way better than typing. I was worried that hand writing was on its way out, but this is great.
Not that I'm saying you're wrong that Nintendo is taking the wrong path, but Sony Entertainments stock dropped from over $50 five years ago to just over $13, it was as low as $9 at one point and Microsofts, as far as I know, doesn't separate their XBox/games division from the rest of the company and their about the same or down a couple of bucks from five years ago.
I don't think stocks are really a great way to determine how one console company is doing compared to another. Nintendo pretty much only makes consoles where Sony groups consoles in with all their other entertainment products, and Microsoft goes even further by not differentiation between any of their divisions. So people investing in a company that sells TVs and cameras are going to effect Sony's stock price and people investing in office products, operating systems and hardware will offset Microsoft's.
I think consoles in general are in a bad position at the moment. I think a lot of people are tired of being nickle and dimed combined with how poorly all the companies have been treating their customers lately.
I think robots are a great way to go. Sure in the beginning there would be robots fighting human solders, but in time human solders would be phased out. They're expensive in terms that it takes 18-20 years (in civilized society) to raise and train a human solders. Robots could be build and programmed in a few days with a good manufacturing plant. The future of war will just be machines fighting other machines.
It'd be like a real life game of starcraft with humans controlling the groups of robots remotely. The side to run out of resources and/or units first loses with no intentional lost of human life.
I work for a scientific institute doing ocean research. When properly utilized the cell was extremely good for doing Ocean models. I do a lot of sea surface temperature, sea ice, climate, waves, tide and ocean circulation models. My work machine is now better than the PS3, but when I bought it it was significantly better then what I had, and it's extremely hard to get time on our HPC cluster, which was about the only other thing I could run the models on. With my PS3 I was able to just start it running on a Friday, go away for the weekend and have the model completed by Sunday night. Again the Other OS feature was a major reason I bought it in the first place. The worst part is things were really just starting to get good when Sony cut the Other OS out.
Nope, didn't work that way. The option was continue using Other OS, or lose games and BluRay functionality. Either choice takes away something that was sold with the system. I know because my cousin updated my console with a rented bluRay that wouldn’t play without an update and removed the other os from my system, which I used heavily. Go back and do some more research about the shitty situation Sony put their customers in. I'm surprised with all the ranting that you wouldn't have heard of it at this point.
Thanks for pointing that out. I did know about it, but it was a little under a year ago they forced the update. Since I haven't turned the PS3 on in 6+ months it just doesn't seem worth the hassle. Besides I shouldn't have to jail break my own hardware to get features I bought with it back. I should just be able to use it the way I bought it. Instead I just decided I'm not buying Sony any more and I make sure everyone that asks me for my advice knows. My recommendation was responsible for at least 6 other PS3s sold before I found out the last person I recommend it to didn't have PS2 compatibility, after I had said it did. They said they didn't care about it since they still had their PS2, but I cared that I hadn't heard it was being removed. Then the Other OS was removed and I became militant about making sure others didn't fall into the same trap.
That's beside the point I was making. Right now Sony says the PS4 will support second hand games. However, they’re still building support for publishers to tie a physical copy of a game to a console. The story that Sony and Microsoft are actively working against the second hand market has become very big lately and is becoming a huge factor in which, if any, console consumers are going to purchase.
What do you expect Sony's response would be?
My expectation would be that they would say they're NOT carry through with their original plan, but I expect that within a couple years we'll see a firmware update silently released that removes the "used game feature". Consumers won't even know that used games won't work on the console until it's too late. Just like the Other OS removal, the courts have already said "OtherOS Removal Was A Bad Business Decision But Not Illegal".
I don't personally care about games. They're games, I just won't buy them, but unfortunately this is really bad for consumers in general. If Sony can do it so can everyone else. How long before compute manufactures decided it's ok to renege on features sold with tablets, smart phones, laptops or other computer parts.
I’m already dealing with this sort of BS where I work. I know it's not the same, but it's pretty analogous to how it'll be in the future. The Information Technology group was told to take steps to "protect" users in our organization after a recent virus outbreak on our network. I came in last week to find out that Opera and Safari were disabled on my machine. The week before they disabled javaScript and deleted bookmarks in Chrome and Firefox, basically some big wig decided that Internet Explorer was the only required and most secure browser. I was able to argue against that and convinced someone that was not the case. As the webmaster for my organization it's been a pretty hectic couple of weeks. Can you imagine what it'll be like when someone's doing that sort of crap to your home PC?
I did use the other os feature. I'm a software developer it was very useful as a development testing platform. I also had it setup at one put to be a 3D rendering node for some of my hobby 3D modelling. until my cousin and wife put in a bluRay we rented. I was upstairs making snacks when they ran the update. I was pretty pissed. My wife at least should have known better. No use crying over spilt milk, I haven't even turned the console on since we watched that movie. I only own one other bluRay that I was given for Christmas and my TV has a build in media server. Now that companies are actually getting interested in gaming on Linux I have no need for a console at all. I still think it's important to inform people about consumer rights being eroded away by companies like Microsoft and Sony. The other os was a major factor in my decision to buy the PS3 instead of an XBox or a Wii at the time. Having that removed several years after the purchase was a big slap in the face. The fall out of that is companies now including no class actions in their shrink wrap agreements. Huge loss for the consumer.
Problem is you can't believe anything Sony says. I hate to rehash the other os removal, but that was sold as a feature with the console and they said several times it wouldn't be removed.
182w ago - Today Sony's Satoshi Hashimoto, in an interview with Impress Watch, confirmed that Sony will not be removing the OtherOS and Linux functionality in old (non-Slim) PlayStation 3 consoles.
Until now, many feared Sony would remove the functionality from older PS3 systems via PS3 Firmware 3.0 or a future update.
Additionally, he stated that there isn't an issue with the feature leaving a security hole with the system.
To quote Andriasang.com (linked above): "Rest assured, this will not happen. Sony's Satoshi Hashimoto, in an interview with Impress Watch, said that Sony will not be removing the feature, which he refers to as "Other OS functionality."
He also assured readers that there currently isn't a problem with the feature leaving a security hole with the system."
Read more: http://www.ps3news.com/PS3-Linux/ps3-otheros-linux-to-remain-in-old-ps3s-no-security-hole/#ixzz2LdA1yfmE
There were also a lot of other things that were sold with the original PS3 that were then removed in future releases of the console. PS2 backward compatibility as an example. The first gen PS3 had it in hardware, the second gen had it in software. Then it was silently removed altogether. Luckily they didn't retro actively remove it. I know it's a little different because by the time you both the PS3 thin it was well known it didn't exist any more. To me that seems like an easily repeatable, first gen PS4 allows used games then before people know it all the sudden the feature is removed or phased out.
Sony's demonstrated that you can't believe what they say. I bought into the PS3 partly for the Other Os and was burned. Anyone who buys into the PS4 after know what with the PS3 deserves to get burned when Sony pulls another stunt.
The reason they listed it as "dumb" was because there's no content optimized for a 4K display, which is a "dumb" reason to have it listed on the "dumb" list.
For the 84" 4K TV, there's no content optimized for it yet, but some how it made the good list. The distinction seems to be one is a TV so higher rez is awesome, even with out the content, the other is a tablet so higher rez is dumb, because there's no content.
Actually I said I probably wouldn't buy a steambox because I've around bought an Ouya, but I'd reconsider that if this was the case. I have lots of games on my steam account that my wife likes, but only one of us at a time can us it. This would solve that issue and make the steambox more like what I think a console should be, small, usable on all home TVs and not restrictive to the person using it. It'd also be pretty awesome if my wife and/or daughter and myself could play multiplayer in the same room/house with one console, which seems to be something the last generation of consoles, and I expect the next gen, have left out. I know it's more of a game design rather than a console design issue, but I can't afford two $800 consoles just to play the occasional multiplayer game on and designing a console that works as you described would solve that issue.
You can either buy second hand or even borrow games from friends.
Not for much longer, Sony's planning on putting an end to that with their new patent, and even if they don't enforce the patent what you end up seeing is more "incomplete" games sold first hand for $60 that'll then be used to nickle and dime second hand consumers for DLC that's probably already on the media. The future of console gaming isn't looking very bright and the prospective DRM schemes publishers are coming out with is making PC gaming less and less viable unless you're willing to pirate games to get rid of the crap DRMs. I've spent soooooo many hours trouble shooting my PC to try and figure out why a game wouldn't play only to find out it's because of some conflicting game I have installed, and screw that always on DRM crap. I wouldn't even touch Diablo III, I'm not going to be a slave to someone elses server/whims on when and how I get to play the games I paid an arm and a leg for.
I would get both as well, but I saw the Ouya first and I have a wife.
Off-topic I know, but It's funny. My wife loves what all the fancy electronics do (media servers, personal laptop, gaming machine, phones, T.V., etc...), but she sees them as a waste of money even though we use them everyday, just going one day without them throws her into fits of withdrawals. We frequently end up in arguments over what's more worth the cost a $1,500 shiny ring (which she already has several) or a new console/laptop/TV/Router. I'm tell you, if you're ever hard up for cash, just go chop off some married woman's hand, it'd pretty quickly settle your financial issues if you can avoid prison. The finger on my wife's left hand could easily pay for all the electronics in the house and she's got almost every finger decorated, not to mention the earrings and necklaces.
That makes quite a bit of sense. Another factor is there are a bunch of similar consoles coming out all at the same time. They may end up spreading the people willing to buy the consoles too thin. I've already ordered an Ouya through their kickstarter, I'm most likely not going to get a Steambox or a game stick as well.
A "good" console for casual gamers that want to play something like worms or farmville would be dirt cheap, a "Better" console for some single player RPG players that require a bit more power, or just can't afford/justify the high end, and a "best" console for the MMO(RPG/FPS) for people that need the best performance and think squeezing 5 FPS out of the hardware justifies a $200 difference. Each console would be priced for their respective group, a casual gamer isn't going to lay down $800 for a machine to play word games with their friends and someone in the MMO genera wouldn't even bother with something basically as powerful as a phone.
Not that my anecdotal evidence matters, but I can attest to getting the flu shot and being sick after.
My mother's a nurse and is, or at least was, a firm believer in the flu shot. She use to make me and my older sister get them every year. She stopped forcing me when I was seven because I was always violently ill afterwards. I hadn't had a flu shot in 20 years and never had more than the occasional head cold. Then last year my wife, who is also a firm believer in the flu shot, was pregnant and asked me to get one for her and the baby's sake. I did and wasn't terribly ill, but for a few days later I was nauseated and sluggish. I got a vaccine this year anyway, but this time I was violently ill. I ended up in the hospital for two days with sever "flu like symptoms" according to the doctor, who wouldn't believe I had gotten my shot. I'm not allergic to eggs so I'm not sure why I would be so sick all of the sudden after 20 years of being pretty healthy.
I definitely believe in the logic of vaccinating as many people as possible and that it's beneficial to everyone, but I also feel the flu shot either doesn't always work as well as some believe, or that it can make some people sick. My wife says it's a one off and I probably already had the flu this year before getting the shot, which is obviously why I got sick. I'll get it again next year and see what happens, but if I'm as sick next year as I was this year, that's the end of it for me.
Also, not to wear out my tinfoil hat, but I'd like to know how much the pharmaceutical industry makes off the flu vaccines and possibly what kind of effect that might have on "research" into it's benefits. I tried to look it up, but only found a few (dubious) sources stating that while they make less off vaccines than other drugs, they still me astronomical amounts. If true, I kind of see that as an incentive for them to lie about the benefits, it's a huge cash cow and you wouldn't want people to all the sudden find out it's a lot of hokey.
I just started thinking how weird this technology will be when I'm walking around the office and every one is rolling one eye around in their head to move the mouse cursor and twitching/blinking their other eye to control the clicking.
I know that's not how it actually works, but it's kind of funny to think about.
BTW, I have not ever and don't know anyone that's spent 15 hours trying to solve a Linux related issue. I'd normally give up after 2 and come back to it at a later date, I've never had to wait more than a month for someone else to solve a common issue. Windows on the other hand is a whole other kettle of fish, since only MS has the power to fix an issue with the OS and even then will pretend it doesn't exist or tote it as a "feature", then sell a fix for the issue in a new version of windows only to fuck something else up.
If you said at 0 degrees is where people start wearing coats, does that mean when my wife puts on her coat it's 0 degrees?
It make more sense to say, "oh that puddle is freezing over, it must be around 0 degrees". We all know water freezes at 0'C and boils at 100'C so it makes sense to tie the unit for temperature to that. Water will always behave the same, where as my wife might just want to wear the new fancy coat she spent $1000 on.
What also makes sense is if you had 1 liter of water you know you have about 1 Kilogram, 1,000 liter of water is also 1 cubic metre (10 cm by 10 cm by 10 cm). So using water for a base means we can reproduce a lot of different units, Weight, Volume, Distance. As opposed to the archic imperial system, which does well if you were just measuring short lengths, but very quickly requires wierd numbers. 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard, but then 1760 yards in a mile? Metric you have 10 milli in a centi, 10 centi in a deci, 10 decim in a base unit, 10 base units in a deka, 10 deka in a hecto, and 10 hecto in a kilo.
Another advantage of metric is when someone gives me a unit ending in "litre" I know they're talking in volume, where as in the states you might have ounces for either weight or volume and it depends on context.
It's trivial to produce 2x4s in metric too. You'd just call them 5.08x10.16s and you'd put them 40.64 cm apart on-center when building a wall.
Or you could call it a 5x10 and actually make it 4.5 cm by 9 cm instead of calling it a 2x4 and making it 1.75" by 3.5"
I think the biggest problem is people think that because they say, "I live 30 miles from work" they'd have to say, "I live 48.2803 Km from work" if they switched to metric. When if they were actually using metric they'd just say, "I live about 50 Km from work.".
They don't live exactly 30 miles from work, they just round to the nearest relevant number, do the same thing with metric.
Also, 18" is actually a little more than 45 cm, It's the same spacing in Canada, but you could put studs 50 cm apart, then you'd have a stud every 1/2 metre. By the way, here in Canada the construction and lumber industries still use imperial.
I also bet if there was a poll of./ readers the number of people from the EU, Australia, The Netherlands and Canada would outweigh the number of Americans posting here.
Maybe if you've used F your whole life that makes sense.
In the Spring at 15'C we start wearing T-Shirts, in the Fall at 15'C we break out the coats. 15'C is about 60'F
20'C to 25'C is a good room temperature, about 72'F
35'C is very hot, approximately 100'F
100'C (212'F) Your blood is probably boiling and the temperature stops mattering so much. Makes sense to me
In terms of people, the unit is arbitrary and what you're use to is probably what you're going to use. For me here in Canada at 0'C is more than is it cold outside. At 0'C I expect ice on the road, which makes more sense than 32'F, which is misleading because it actually sounds really warm to me. Yes, 0'F does sound cold, but when you understand that's -17'C it's time to start breaking out the thermal underwear. At -40'C when you throw boiling water it instantly turns to ice in mid air, It's pretty cool to watch.
Coincidentally -40'C is also -40'F (pretty cool, huh? pun intended).
But don't get me wrong here, I do a bit of a wood worker in my spare time and I prefer to use inches for measuring because they divide nicely. A saw blade makes a 1/8 inch wide cut, 2 and 1/4 inch is easier to read on a measuring tape than 2.25 cm. A rough cut board is 2"x4" if you buy from the mill or approximately 1 3/4" by 3 1/2" when milled down and sold for retail.
So when I'm planning to build something I do my measurements in inches, which helps to figure out how much material I need. I don't think the lumber industry is going to switch to metric anytime soon, mainly because when someone says "I want 25 2 by 4's and 3 2 by 8's" everyone knows what they're asking for. So if I did do everything in cm or metres I'd have to convert to inches so I could buy materials, which just adds another step that could lead to mistakes.
...Why am I (as a Canadian) defending letter size paper?
I mean other than it fits in every printer. I'd actually prefer it if all paper was just square, then I wouldn't have to worry about changing the print orientation to print a document after my wife sets the printer up to print 8x10 photos.
My hand writing is not illegible and my work was not disorganized. Valuing presentation over content makes and unfit educator. It also proves a point. Girls naturally have better fine motor skills which allows for nearer hand writing. Favoring that over content puts girls at a distinct advantage in that institutional environment, but does not make them smarter or help them prepare for when how they solve a problem is more relevant than how they dot their i's.
I personally did very poorly in school up until I got to university. Elementary through high school my typical grade was a B-. There are plenty of reasons why some people do poorly in school, the least of which could class mates and terrible teachers the worst of which teach courses where the content is subjective, like writing, drama and art, if the teacher doesn't like you personally then they can't be objective when grading a subject essay.
When I got to university and was allowed to "colour outside the lines" I started acing everything without even thinking about it. The only thing in university I didn't do well in was communications, a required course for a CS degree, which was resume writing and job interviews. It was very clear in that course that the prof was discriminatory to CS students, it didn't matter what the assignment was me and all my fellow CS peers received B's. Students in our class in the BA program received automatic A's, one frequently bragged about how she only handed in a written excuse to why she wasn't doing the assignment and still received an A. The prof was fired at the end of the semester, but it was too late for our GPAs.
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Just got my a GalaXy Note ll two days ago. writing this with the stylist. Way better than typing. I was worried that hand writing was on its way out, but this is great.
Not that I'm saying you're wrong that Nintendo is taking the wrong path, but Sony Entertainments stock dropped from over $50 five years ago to just over $13, it was as low as $9 at one point and Microsofts, as far as I know, doesn't separate their XBox/games division from the rest of the company and their about the same or down a couple of bucks from five years ago.
I don't think stocks are really a great way to determine how one console company is doing compared to another. Nintendo pretty much only makes consoles where Sony groups consoles in with all their other entertainment products, and Microsoft goes even further by not differentiation between any of their divisions. So people investing in a company that sells TVs and cameras are going to effect Sony's stock price and people investing in office products, operating systems and hardware will offset Microsoft's.
I think consoles in general are in a bad position at the moment. I think a lot of people are tired of being nickle and dimed combined with how poorly all the companies have been treating their customers lately.
I think robots are a great way to go. Sure in the beginning there would be robots fighting human solders, but in time human solders would be phased out. They're expensive in terms that it takes 18-20 years (in civilized society) to raise and train a human solders. Robots could be build and programmed in a few days with a good manufacturing plant. The future of war will just be machines fighting other machines.
It'd be like a real life game of starcraft with humans controlling the groups of robots remotely. The side to run out of resources and/or units first loses with no intentional lost of human life.
I work for a scientific institute doing ocean research. When properly utilized the cell was extremely good for doing Ocean models. I do a lot of sea surface temperature, sea ice, climate, waves, tide and ocean circulation models. My work machine is now better than the PS3, but when I bought it it was significantly better then what I had, and it's extremely hard to get time on our HPC cluster, which was about the only other thing I could run the models on. With my PS3 I was able to just start it running on a Friday, go away for the weekend and have the model completed by Sunday night. Again the Other OS feature was a major reason I bought it in the first place. The worst part is things were really just starting to get good when Sony cut the Other OS out.
Nope, didn't work that way. The option was continue using Other OS, or lose games and BluRay functionality. Either choice takes away something that was sold with the system. I know because my cousin updated my console with a rented bluRay that wouldn’t play without an update and removed the other os from my system, which I used heavily. Go back and do some more research about the shitty situation Sony put their customers in. I'm surprised with all the ranting that you wouldn't have heard of it at this point.
Thanks for pointing that out. I did know about it, but it was a little under a year ago they forced the update. Since I haven't turned the PS3 on in 6+ months it just doesn't seem worth the hassle. Besides I shouldn't have to jail break my own hardware to get features I bought with it back. I should just be able to use it the way I bought it. Instead I just decided I'm not buying Sony any more and I make sure everyone that asks me for my advice knows. My recommendation was responsible for at least 6 other PS3s sold before I found out the last person I recommend it to didn't have PS2 compatibility, after I had said it did. They said they didn't care about it since they still had their PS2, but I cared that I hadn't heard it was being removed. Then the Other OS was removed and I became militant about making sure others didn't fall into the same trap.
That's beside the point I was making. Right now Sony says the PS4 will support second hand games. However, they’re still building support for publishers to tie a physical copy of a game to a console. The story that Sony and Microsoft are actively working against the second hand market has become very big lately and is becoming a huge factor in which, if any, console consumers are going to purchase.
What do you expect Sony's response would be?
My expectation would be that they would say they're NOT carry through with their original plan, but I expect that within a couple years we'll see a firmware update silently released that removes the "used game feature". Consumers won't even know that used games won't work on the console until it's too late. Just like the Other OS removal, the courts have already said "OtherOS Removal Was A Bad Business Decision But Not Illegal".
I don't personally care about games. They're games, I just won't buy them, but unfortunately this is really bad for consumers in general. If Sony can do it so can everyone else. How long before compute manufactures decided it's ok to renege on features sold with tablets, smart phones, laptops or other computer parts.
I’m already dealing with this sort of BS where I work. I know it's not the same, but it's pretty analogous to how it'll be in the future. The Information Technology group was told to take steps to "protect" users in our organization after a recent virus outbreak on our network. I came in last week to find out that Opera and Safari were disabled on my machine. The week before they disabled javaScript and deleted bookmarks in Chrome and Firefox, basically some big wig decided that Internet Explorer was the only required and most secure browser. I was able to argue against that and convinced someone that was not the case. As the webmaster for my organization it's been a pretty hectic couple of weeks. Can you imagine what it'll be like when someone's doing that sort of crap to your home PC?
I did use the other os feature. I'm a software developer it was very useful as a development testing platform. I also had it setup at one put to be a 3D rendering node for some of my hobby 3D modelling. until my cousin and wife put in a bluRay we rented. I was upstairs making snacks when they ran the update. I was pretty pissed. My wife at least should have known better. No use crying over spilt milk, I haven't even turned the console on since we watched that movie. I only own one other bluRay that I was given for Christmas and my TV has a build in media server. Now that companies are actually getting interested in gaming on Linux I have no need for a console at all. I still think it's important to inform people about consumer rights being eroded away by companies like Microsoft and Sony. The other os was a major factor in my decision to buy the PS3 instead of an XBox or a Wii at the time. Having that removed several years after the purchase was a big slap in the face. The fall out of that is companies now including no class actions in their shrink wrap agreements. Huge loss for the consumer.
182w ago - Today Sony's Satoshi Hashimoto, in an interview with Impress Watch, confirmed that Sony will not be removing the OtherOS and Linux functionality in old (non-Slim) PlayStation 3 consoles. Until now, many feared Sony would remove the functionality from older PS3 systems via PS3 Firmware 3.0 or a future update. Additionally, he stated that there isn't an issue with the feature leaving a security hole with the system. To quote Andriasang.com (linked above): "Rest assured, this will not happen. Sony's Satoshi Hashimoto, in an interview with Impress Watch, said that Sony will not be removing the feature, which he refers to as "Other OS functionality." He also assured readers that there currently isn't a problem with the feature leaving a security hole with the system." Read more: http://www.ps3news.com/PS3-Linux/ps3-otheros-linux-to-remain-in-old-ps3s-no-security-hole/#ixzz2LdA1yfmE
There were also a lot of other things that were sold with the original PS3 that were then removed in future releases of the console. PS2 backward compatibility as an example. The first gen PS3 had it in hardware, the second gen had it in software. Then it was silently removed altogether. Luckily they didn't retro actively remove it. I know it's a little different because by the time you both the PS3 thin it was well known it didn't exist any more. To me that seems like an easily repeatable, first gen PS4 allows used games then before people know it all the sudden the feature is removed or phased out.
Sony's demonstrated that you can't believe what they say. I bought into the PS3 partly for the Other Os and was burned. Anyone who buys into the PS4 after know what with the PS3 deserves to get burned when Sony pulls another stunt.
The reason they listed it as "dumb" was because there's no content optimized for a 4K display, which is a "dumb" reason to have it listed on the "dumb" list.
For the 84" 4K TV, there's no content optimized for it yet, but some how it made the good list. The distinction seems to be one is a TV so higher rez is awesome, even with out the content, the other is a tablet so higher rez is dumb, because there's no content.
I pretty much agreed with them up to that point.
Actually I said I probably wouldn't buy a steambox because I've around bought an Ouya, but I'd reconsider that if this was the case. I have lots of games on my steam account that my wife likes, but only one of us at a time can us it. This would solve that issue and make the steambox more like what I think a console should be, small, usable on all home TVs and not restrictive to the person using it. It'd also be pretty awesome if my wife and/or daughter and myself could play multiplayer in the same room/house with one console, which seems to be something the last generation of consoles, and I expect the next gen, have left out. I know it's more of a game design rather than a console design issue, but I can't afford two $800 consoles just to play the occasional multiplayer game on and designing a console that works as you described would solve that issue.
You can either buy second hand or even borrow games from friends.
Not for much longer, Sony's planning on putting an end to that with their new patent, and even if they don't enforce the patent what you end up seeing is more "incomplete" games sold first hand for $60 that'll then be used to nickle and dime second hand consumers for DLC that's probably already on the media. The future of console gaming isn't looking very bright and the prospective DRM schemes publishers are coming out with is making PC gaming less and less viable unless you're willing to pirate games to get rid of the crap DRMs. I've spent soooooo many hours trouble shooting my PC to try and figure out why a game wouldn't play only to find out it's because of some conflicting game I have installed, and screw that always on DRM crap. I wouldn't even touch Diablo III, I'm not going to be a slave to someone elses server/whims on when and how I get to play the games I paid an arm and a leg for.
Yeah, I respect that opinion.
I would get both as well, but I saw the Ouya first and I have a wife.
Off-topic I know, but It's funny. My wife loves what all the fancy electronics do (media servers, personal laptop, gaming machine, phones, T.V., etc...), but she sees them as a waste of money even though we use them everyday, just going one day without them throws her into fits of withdrawals. We frequently end up in arguments over what's more worth the cost a $1,500 shiny ring (which she already has several) or a new console/laptop/TV/Router. I'm tell you, if you're ever hard up for cash, just go chop off some married woman's hand, it'd pretty quickly settle your financial issues if you can avoid prison. The finger on my wife's left hand could easily pay for all the electronics in the house and she's got almost every finger decorated, not to mention the earrings and necklaces.
That makes quite a bit of sense. Another factor is there are a bunch of similar consoles coming out all at the same time. They may end up spreading the people willing to buy the consoles too thin. I've already ordered an Ouya through their kickstarter, I'm most likely not going to get a Steambox or a game stick as well.
I can understand the approach.
A "good" console for casual gamers that want to play something like worms or farmville would be dirt cheap, a "Better" console for some single player RPG players that require a bit more power, or just can't afford/justify the high end, and a "best" console for the MMO(RPG/FPS) for people that need the best performance and think squeezing 5 FPS out of the hardware justifies a $200 difference. Each console would be priced for their respective group, a casual gamer isn't going to lay down $800 for a machine to play word games with their friends and someone in the MMO genera wouldn't even bother with something basically as powerful as a phone.
Others may just buy what they can afford.
Not that my anecdotal evidence matters, but I can attest to getting the flu shot and being sick after.
My mother's a nurse and is, or at least was, a firm believer in the flu shot. She use to make me and my older sister get them every year. She stopped forcing me when I was seven because I was always violently ill afterwards. I hadn't had a flu shot in 20 years and never had more than the occasional head cold. Then last year my wife, who is also a firm believer in the flu shot, was pregnant and asked me to get one for her and the baby's sake. I did and wasn't terribly ill, but for a few days later I was nauseated and sluggish. I got a vaccine this year anyway, but this time I was violently ill. I ended up in the hospital for two days with sever "flu like symptoms" according to the doctor, who wouldn't believe I had gotten my shot. I'm not allergic to eggs so I'm not sure why I would be so sick all of the sudden after 20 years of being pretty healthy.
I definitely believe in the logic of vaccinating as many people as possible and that it's beneficial to everyone, but I also feel the flu shot either doesn't always work as well as some believe, or that it can make some people sick. My wife says it's a one off and I probably already had the flu this year before getting the shot, which is obviously why I got sick. I'll get it again next year and see what happens, but if I'm as sick next year as I was this year, that's the end of it for me.
Also, not to wear out my tinfoil hat, but I'd like to know how much the pharmaceutical industry makes off the flu vaccines and possibly what kind of effect that might have on "research" into it's benefits. I tried to look it up, but only found a few (dubious) sources stating that while they make less off vaccines than other drugs, they still me astronomical amounts. If true, I kind of see that as an incentive for them to lie about the benefits, it's a huge cash cow and you wouldn't want people to all the sudden find out it's a lot of hokey.
If it's more than one, then I'm surprised!!!
I kid.
I just started thinking how weird this technology will be when I'm walking around the office and every one is rolling one eye around in their head to move the mouse cursor and twitching/blinking their other eye to control the clicking.
I know that's not how it actually works, but it's kind of funny to think about.
BTW, I have not ever and don't know anyone that's spent 15 hours trying to solve a Linux related issue. I'd normally give up after 2 and come back to it at a later date, I've never had to wait more than a month for someone else to solve a common issue. Windows on the other hand is a whole other kettle of fish, since only MS has the power to fix an issue with the OS and even then will pretend it doesn't exist or tote it as a "feature", then sell a fix for the issue in a new version of windows only to fuck something else up.
If you said at 0 degrees is where people start wearing coats, does that mean when my wife puts on her coat it's 0 degrees?
It make more sense to say, "oh that puddle is freezing over, it must be around 0 degrees". We all know water freezes at 0'C and boils at 100'C so it makes sense to tie the unit for temperature to that. Water will always behave the same, where as my wife might just want to wear the new fancy coat she spent $1000 on.
What also makes sense is if you had 1 liter of water you know you have about 1 Kilogram, 1,000 liter of water is also 1 cubic metre (10 cm by 10 cm by 10 cm). So using water for a base means we can reproduce a lot of different units, Weight, Volume, Distance. As opposed to the archic imperial system, which does well if you were just measuring short lengths, but very quickly requires wierd numbers. 12 inches in a foot, 3 feet in a yard, but then 1760 yards in a mile? Metric you have 10 milli in a centi, 10 centi in a deci, 10 decim in a base unit, 10 base units in a deka, 10 deka in a hecto, and 10 hecto in a kilo.
Another advantage of metric is when someone gives me a unit ending in "litre" I know they're talking in volume, where as in the states you might have ounces for either weight or volume and it depends on context.
It's trivial to produce 2x4s in metric too. You'd just call them 5.08x10.16s and you'd put them 40.64 cm apart on-center when building a wall.
Or you could call it a 5x10 and actually make it 4.5 cm by 9 cm instead of calling it a 2x4 and making it 1.75" by 3.5"
I think the biggest problem is people think that because they say, "I live 30 miles from work" they'd have to say, "I live 48.2803 Km from work" if they switched to metric. When if they were actually using metric they'd just say, "I live about 50 Km from work.".
They don't live exactly 30 miles from work, they just round to the nearest relevant number, do the same thing with metric.
Also, 18" is actually a little more than 45 cm, It's the same spacing in Canada, but you could put studs 50 cm apart, then you'd have a stud every 1/2 metre. By the way, here in Canada the construction and lumber industries still use imperial.
I also bet if there was a poll of ./ readers the number of people from the EU, Australia, The Netherlands and Canada would outweigh the number of Americans posting here.
Maybe if you've used F your whole life that makes sense.
In the Spring at 15'C we start wearing T-Shirts, in the Fall at 15'C we break out the coats. 15'C is about 60'F
20'C to 25'C is a good room temperature, about 72'F
35'C is very hot, approximately 100'F
100'C (212'F) Your blood is probably boiling and the temperature stops mattering so much. Makes sense to me
In terms of people, the unit is arbitrary and what you're use to is probably what you're going to use. For me here in Canada at 0'C is more than is it cold outside. At 0'C I expect ice on the road, which makes more sense than 32'F, which is misleading because it actually sounds really warm to me. Yes, 0'F does sound cold, but when you understand that's -17'C it's time to start breaking out the thermal underwear. At -40'C when you throw boiling water it instantly turns to ice in mid air, It's pretty cool to watch.
Coincidentally -40'C is also -40'F (pretty cool, huh? pun intended).
But don't get me wrong here, I do a bit of a wood worker in my spare time and I prefer to use inches for measuring because they divide nicely. A saw blade makes a 1/8 inch wide cut, 2 and 1/4 inch is easier to read on a measuring tape than 2.25 cm. A rough cut board is 2"x4" if you buy from the mill or approximately 1 3/4" by 3 1/2" when milled down and sold for retail.
So when I'm planning to build something I do my measurements in inches, which helps to figure out how much material I need. I don't think the lumber industry is going to switch to metric anytime soon, mainly because when someone says "I want 25 2 by 4's and 3 2 by 8's" everyone knows what they're asking for. So if I did do everything in cm or metres I'd have to convert to inches so I could buy materials, which just adds another step that could lead to mistakes.
...Why am I (as a Canadian) defending letter size paper?
I mean other than it fits in every printer. I'd actually prefer it if all paper was just square, then I wouldn't have to worry about changing the print orientation to print a document after my wife sets the printer up to print 8x10 photos.
My hand writing is not illegible and my work was not disorganized. Valuing presentation over content makes and unfit educator. It also proves a point. Girls naturally have better fine motor skills which allows for nearer hand writing. Favoring that over content puts girls at a distinct advantage in that institutional environment, but does not make them smarter or help them prepare for when how they solve a problem is more relevant than how they dot their i's.
I personally did very poorly in school up until I got to university. Elementary through high school my typical grade was a B-. There are plenty of reasons why some people do poorly in school, the least of which could class mates and terrible teachers the worst of which teach courses where the content is subjective, like writing, drama and art, if the teacher doesn't like you personally then they can't be objective when grading a subject essay.
When I got to university and was allowed to "colour outside the lines" I started acing everything without even thinking about it. The only thing in university I didn't do well in was communications, a required course for a CS degree, which was resume writing and job interviews. It was very clear in that course that the prof was discriminatory to CS students, it didn't matter what the assignment was me and all my fellow CS peers received B's. Students in our class in the BA program received automatic A's, one frequently bragged about how she only handed in a written excuse to why she wasn't doing the assignment and still received an A. The prof was fired at the end of the semester, but it was too late for our GPAs.