Slashdot posting 101: Find message. Post fake context. Flame away.
I was responding to:
Personally I like serial consoles, but you can't do that with windows servers
And I standby what I said. As a senior unix systems administrator, I have some experience in datacenters (...), and I can honestly say that without serial console, remote power, netboot/install, and good configuration management practices, your installation is not enterprise ready.
As to the second part, about karma whoring.. Frankly, when I first joined Slashdot Way In The Beginning, that might have been true.
Modern times, however, show what is almost a windows domination of slashdot. The overall intelligence level has gone down, the specific ability of the average poster to understand and answer a simple question has gone down, and these days the Anti-Anti-pop crowd (Or as they're called in other circles 'PAVE's (People Against Virtually Everything)) is quicker to jump on someone for making a pro-unix comment than a pro-windows one.
So I'd hardly call it 'karma whoring'. Frankly, I expected (And still do expect) to be modded down, as poor moderation as I think that would be. You'll note that I've certainly not been modded up...
Re:Was anyone involved in the beta? Excited about
on
Wish Cancelled
·
· Score: 1
The beta kicked ass. True multi-head support, fantastic forests, beautiful grass, awesome models. The screenshots don't do it justice.
The game itself was compelling, fun, slick, and something very nice.
Half of the people who saw it didn't even give it a chance. You won't find anyone who showed up to beta test panning it. Many people were expecting a finished product. Many people were immediately turned off by the point and click interface and left bitching. Many people got a bug up their ass about the UI and instead of suggesting improvements (It was a fantastic UI with few irritating quirks), bitched endlessly, stated how disappointed they were in the game at every opportunity and then left.
I think most people think that 'beta test' means 'show up and test the product TO SEE IF YOU LIKE IT'. Which is moronic. (Granted, the whole concept of beta tests as unpaid labor is a little evil, but that's how the system works, and some people actually show up to help!)
The game was not finished. There were two phases of beta to go. I was having more fun in that beta than I've had in any other MMORPG.
I sincerely wish the people out there architecting MMORPGs would just subscribe to the mud dev list and read the archives.
EQ and the rest of these stupid MMORPGs out there on the market are trying to solve all of these problems all over again, rather than builing on all the data accumulated about people's gaming habits over the decades of successful text-base MUDs, many of which are vastly more entertaining and immersive than even the best MMORPGs out there on the market-- Most of which are still hideous level-grinds.
We're back to the stone age, just with prettier rocks.
The gameplay was fantastic. The graphics were much better than that screenshot. They were going to be 'not cheap' because they were going to provide live GMs.
Wish was finally a game that departed from the incredibly stupid simple boring MMORPG grind. It was actually a pleasure to play, not work.
It was finally a game that assumed that the players were smart enough to actually exist on this planet-- Which was probably their only mistake in this whole process.
This is a tremendous loss for MMORPGs; I'll have to continue trying to stay content with MUDs and EVE.
To be very brief, the police are not there to protect you from crime; They're there to punish those who commit crime.
It is very foolish to think of the criminal justice system as preventative rather than puntitive-- And such notions can only lead, in the end, to a police state.
No, the police aren't there to protect you; If someone comes up to you on the street with a knife, no police officer is going to come flying in to save the day. If people wish to be defenseless in such circumstances, that's their prerogative; However, they have no right to prevent anyone else from defending themselves.
There are large tracts of hilly land in Southern California that are subject to development that I would love to see purchased and set aside before they can be razed. I'd love to be the one to purchase them, too, just so that I could entertain developers for a bit, just to tell them that I have no intentions of selling their land just because they're running out of places to put expensive homes.
The following is exerpted from, Ironically, the Libertarian Lifeline (East Bay Libertarian Party newsletter):
When Hyundai needed land for a new auto testing track, officials in California City, a remote, high deesrt town, were eager to oblige. four holdout property owners have sued over the city's argument for condemning their land, saying it is anything but "urbanized." The region lies 100 miles northeast of Los Angeles, set amid a lonely expanse of Mojave Desert dotted with Joshua trees and scrub brush.
Todd Amspoker, an attorney for the city, said Caliofornia Health and Safety Codes grant government agencies permission under eminent domain to take land made of "subdivided lots of irregular form and shape and inadequate size for proper usefulness and development that are in multiple ownership."...
California City's mayor, Larry Adams, said the landowners are blocking the town's progress. He said the track would create 100 new jobs and bring in $500,000 a year in property taxes for education, utilities, police and firefighters. He has little sympathy for the holdout landowners, none of whom live in the city.
"I think it's a matter of one or two (who) probably are true believers in the freedom of mankind, blah blah blah, and they don't like eminent domain," he said. "Some have a sentimental attachment to the land they inherited. And some of them are just greedy."
So don't think the developers would squirm for long under your grasp before they bought the land out from under you at 'fair market value' (Read: Enough to buy a small fries at McDonalds).
I can't believe EVE got so little attention in this discussion. EVE is the best game out there today.:>
You ''level up'' slowly because you train in real-time. That means that Joe Schmoe may not be able to get on more than once a week or so, but he can still be a significant player in the world of Eve.
Got more time and want stuff to show for it? You can build a name for yourself, you can gain status, build a corporation, actively pirate- Or just mine all day for cash.
But in a fleet battle, even the weakest pilot, in a little frigate, can make a huge difference by warp scrambling or target-jamming an enemy battleship. A pilot who's only been playing for a few weeks still has a chance to get that new, rare tech II blueprint from an agent and make billions for new ships and modules.
It's all relative, and it works very well- Though weak-minded people tend not to like it because A> They can't understand it, B> It doesn't start at the beginning, go through the middle and end at the end, and C> It's not the MMORPG they're used to.
As to the comments earlier that you had to 'grind' away at mining, that's bunk.:> You can mine, but there are plenty of other ways to make money. Hunting pirates (Both the NPC and PC type) can be very lucrative. So can buying and selling junk, or trading, or running agent missions or making ships, copying or researching blueprints, building modules.. there are hundreds of ways to make good isk without ever touching a mining laser.
In case it wasn't clear, I'm totally addicted to EVE.:> I've been playing online games basically as long as they've been around, and have run my a couple of reasonably popular MUDs.
I refer anyone curious about eve to the following URLs:
CCP created the world, we inhabit it, decide where it goes, and bring it to life. Our actions are written into the storyline, and we can choose to play however we like. It's a truly fantastic game.:>
Well, the biggest need is separation of entry and response.
You have toGrue slashes you for 10 points of damage! nYou attempt to bash Grue, but miss!ote that JohnMary tells you: "woot, ding 14!"trying to type amid the output of a MU* is an exercise in frustration.
Also, frankly, TinyFugue totally rocks. It manages multiple connections gracefully, it handles all sorts of input and output, it rocks for searching. It just works really well. It has all the features anyone could want from a MU* program, and it's free, built for Unix, and works very well.
> > SWG on the other hand is widely considered a 'flop' by everyone, even (especially?) those who haven't ever played it.
> Who is considering it a flop? It can't be Sony. > (...) > OTOH, the game is/was a let down to most MMORPG gamers.
I used 'everyone' under the assumption that there are more gamers than game company executives reading slashdot and the SWG forums.:>
By 'flop' I'm referring to public perception. Public perception, even among those people who have never played SWG, is that SWG is a dud; Pretty but functionless. This is likely perpetuated by the messages on their boards, in Sony's estimation. As for myself, I haven't played it, and thus have withheld all judgement. I will, however, submit the opinions I've seen expressed about the game, to demonstrate why I think SOE might have decided to close the door on the forums.
DragonRealms and GSIII are probably the two best fantasy-oriented MMORPGs to date, when it comes to game-play. I'm spoiled absolutely rotten thanks to DR, and nothing I play stacks up. No amount of graphics goodness can replace the simple element of immersiveness, and DR beats EQ, SWG, DAoC, etc hands down- No contest!
So while you guys might have acerbic comments, suggestions, and even the 'You should do it this way!!' posts, you have the respect of most of those who have heard of you; SWG on the other hand is widely considered a 'flop' by everyone, even (especially?) those who haven't ever played it.
That can make things difficult.
Nevertheless, I appreciate Simutronics' policy of openness, and hope you guys continue to do the great job you have been.
... Is outlaw airbags, and instead mount a large spike in the center of the steering column. Remind people that they're not inside some magical foam cushion that they can arbitrarily sling about and be safe due to the 'magic of modern technology'. Remind them that they're operating a vehicle that most likely exceeds two tons, sharing the road with others of the same proclivity, as well as motorcyclists, pedestrians, bicyclists, and so forth.
We don't need to make crashes less dangerous, we need to make crashes less frequent. We need to make people take driving SERIOUSLY.
Driving is life or death, and not just for those of us who ride motorcycles. The road is not your racetrack, the road has nothing to do with 'macho', the road is not for showing off. It is there to be used, to be enjoyed, to get to your destination or to get nowhere at all.. But it must be used responsibly in peril of death or dismemberment of you or others.
I think a track school should be mandatory for licensing, and that there should be a final test with a minimum lap-time. Driving is a skill, a right that must be earned, not a right that's guranteed.
Frankly, that said, some people just shouldn't be driving. They don't have the attitude nor the aptitude to drive without risking the safety of others. For example, people who drive 65mph in the left-hand lane and do not yield to faster traffic. Or people who will be travelling along with nobody in front of them on a straight road and just tap the brakes every few seconds. Or people who incessantly refuse to use blinkers- Or who signal their ACTION with their blinker and not their INTENTIONS. Or those who refuse to let others in when they should.
The difference between a consultant and a contractor is just exactly that which you mention. A contractor typically agrees to do a job, supplies the tools and expertise, and completes the project as agreed.
A consultant takes a problem, develops a plan of action, and is entrusted with providing an opinion on anything that is detrimental. As a consultant, it's your JOB to bring it up-- But if they say "We know, but we just want it done this way", well that's then your job.
A 'consultant' is someone who is brought in tooffer their advice, expertise and so forth.(Thus the word 'consultant', or 'one who is consulted') Once they have done so, many bounce back and forth between consultant and contractor-- Writing the job tasks and then following through with them. By definition, the input of a consultant is wanted- She works primarily in the business/planning sense, almost as more of an adviser or planner.
I've done both extensively, myself,for your reference.
I honestly believe you've hit the nail on the head. I've been saying this for a while now, but it's hard to get people to listen to anything these days. When people are invading your homeland, you'll do anything necessary to fight them off, even if they are superior in numbers, even if you have no hope of success; Even if your fighting means nearly instant death, you still fight.
To date, the united states has been the only country to use 'weapons of mass destruction' against a civilian populace; We were not even defending our homeland but instead fighting off a weary but fierce enemy. Now, I do honestly believe our actions in dropping nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to be justified by our position at the time, and the fact that JAPAN STRUCK FIRST, so what I'm about to say takes that into account.
Being the only country to use nuclear weapons in time of war, the only country to decimate a civilian populace to achieve its' war aim, what leg do we have to stand on saying that Iraqis attempting to defend their homeland with chemical or biological weapons (or other weapons of ''mass destruction'') are war criminals?
I have grown so tired of the spin on news networks that I just can't watch it anymore. Hussein's a bad guy, and nobody doubts that... But all else aside, why does America fail to respect our enemy? In warfare, it's often the worst mistake you can make.
As a matter of fact, since last Wednesday I can honestly say that, while I'm a patriot, while I love my country, I'm ashamed to be an American. No longer can I say that America never starts wars, but always finishes them; No longer can I say that for all its faults, the system works. When I now face ridicule and accusations of being 'unamerican' for posts such as this, when the government can yank my pilots license with no due process based on evidence they do not have to disclose, when our electoral process is invalidated by a court, when our country extends copyright to obscene dimensions, allows the enforcement of ridiculous patents, when a president who I like and respect gets strung up for having a fling in the whitehouse, when people poke and prod every fact and detail about him to find something, anything to hang him with- and that is the best they can come up with, when our deserter of a president sends our soldiers off to war, with full support and a blind eye, and, in short, when my country almost entirely stops 'doing the right thing' in most places that matter, I find myself disenchanted.
Don't believe everything you see in movies about the south. I'm a southerner, and I'm as tired of the 'racist hick' stereotype as anyone else broadly stereotyped. Most of the racists in the south move down from New York or other northeastern cities, looking for 'kindred spirits'. To say that they give us a bad name is an understatement.
Note that nobody has responded to this yet- I will be surprised if someone does. How can the 'Pharmaceuticals must profit on their work!' people justify it? I can imagine one or two responses from yuppies who have never been poor or denied healthcare, stating that poor people are somehow less desirable to have in the world than rich people, but I would love to see a well-thought-out counterpoint to your argument.
Why? Because I've never seen one, and have been arguing your side of the coin for years.
The Honda CBR600F4 and Yamaha R6 both produce 120hp at the crank, for 200hp per liter. They are both normally aspirated, water cooled engines, which rev to 14500 and 15000 rpm respectively. They both do the 1/4 mile in around 10.80.
Yes, I know this article was about cars, but your 'more horsepower per liter then [sic] any other naturally [sic] aspirated engine in production' needed refutation.
Wow, I was wondering if anyone else would recommend this! Glad to see another person who's read the series. They're easy to find in bookstores, but few people seem to appreciate the books as well as they should.
I agree wholeheartedly. I don't agree with every
decision Lilo has ever made, or lilo's policy on
every little thing, but after seeing how much work
(Yes, WORK, not just 'sitting around on IRC') that
lilo has put into linpeople (OPN/whatever), and
having been around for as long as I have.. it
really hurts to see all these people tearing lilo
down because of their limited understanding and/or
limited good heartedness. Yes, linpeople
(OPN/etc) is run on mostly donated hardware and
mostly donated resources, but that has not always
been the case- Not by a long shot. To be honest,
lilo has a vision for Openprojects and has been
working towards it for a long time. I've had many
disagreements with lilo, both public and private,
but all in all, I respect his vision and
determination. To those who say, "It's just IRC"-
Spend an hour on efnet, and see how many channels
you get kicked off of because some oper didn't
like your nick- Or see how many severs you get K-
lined from for equally spurious reasons. See how
many people are just on there to revel in a smug
sense of juvenile superiority by using their
operator priveleges against people they disagree
with.
Then spend an hour on openprojects, just
listening. People are friendly, courtesy is
widespread, though of course not universal, and
there aren't server ops out there abusing power.
That's more or less the whole point. I have seen
abuse of power on Linpeople (OPN/etc), but I can
count on three paws the number of times and have
been frequenting there for many, many years.
Conversely, I've probably spent less than a
hundred hours on other IRC networks, and have
seen enough to make my skin crawl.
And let's take it a step further. Lilo provides
the service of running and coordinating the network. Without lilo, things could degenerate
into efnet.. er.. chaos. Nonetheless, lilo has
been working for years to eliminate the need for
lilo on the network, while simultaneously
preventing rampant abuse of power seen everywhere
else from taking hold. So the concept is valid.
About asking for money? Far too many people have
said, "Lilo should get a job", or things to that
effect. But jobs aren't exactly easy to get these
days. As a matter of fact, I'll go a step beyond
that- Jobs scarcely exist anywhere, these days.
Lilo wants to provide services to the IRC network
that lilo started, and that lilo runs. Lilo also
needs to pay bills to make this happen. It all
seems logical enough to me.
I can see why people might take exception to it,
but what I cannot understand is the sheer amount
of cruelty people use for self justification.
Lilo is a good person in every way, and half the
people here want to burn him at the stake without
even knowing him just because he uses the global
notice function of the IRC network that he started, and runs, to ask for money.
By the gods, if that network were a piece of
shareware, it would be the best kind- Freely use
as much as you like, and if you'd like to donate
to the author, you can.
That's the only sort of shareware I'd ever consider paying for, and yet you people here seem
to have more affinity for crippleware or straight-
out commercial software.
I don't understand.
Why can't you people just try to be kind at the
very least? We're not talking about some faceless
company or some mindless automaton- We're talking
about a living, breathing person- A very nice one,
at that. Political differences are no reason to
strip someone down and assault every aspect of
their character possible.
(Apologies for the formatting- Or lack thereof-Stupid/. filters won't let me post in plaintext anymore)
-Kysh
> I am not trying to dispute that Ada is a good > language for critical safety related software... > but it is only as good as the people and > methodology/process being employed. > Consider the fact that the code for the Ariane 5 > rocket which crashed [eiffel.com] because of a > software problem, was written in Ada.
I'll certainly agree with your statement that it's only as good as the people and methodology/process being employed.. a point I made earlier, in fact.
Nonetheless, nobody blames Ada for the crash of the Ariane, except those ignorant few trying to bash Ada. It was found, and reported universally, that it was a 'Reuse specification error'. Very simple, very specific.
I think that the implementation itself could have been better, as well. But I'm not the one to say.
> The pilot exploited the software without fully > understanding the consequences. FBW works > wonderfully well when its used as a tool and the > pilot that has ultimate control rather than vice > versa.
I agree wholeheartedly! That's the specific incident I had in mind, and the specific ramifications. I don't mind FBW as a supplement (For example, ABS), but the thought of flying an airplane where I didn't have the final say no matter what would blow my mind. I'd rather stress a 747-400 beyond certification limits to the 'design failure' limit than collide with a C-17. The last thing I want is the FBW overruling me if that situation becomes necessary. Granted, getting INTO that situation would likely be bad piloting, and getting out would be extraordinary piloting.. but a 20% chance is better than a 0% chance.
I have the same problems with FBW systems that take the ultimate authority away from the pilot as the pilots of the Enstrom F28 (I believe) helos had with the popoff valve that was designed to prevent going beyond 100% power. Sometimes it's desirable to exceed design limits on the off chance that it'll save you from a fireball.
Of course, where I'm headed hopefully (Flying airtankers), I don't have to worry about that stuff.:>
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah. But the players were so bitter by that point about everything else that they just saw it as 'GM griefing'.
A shame, really. Horizons had a lot to offer, but they really screwed the pooch badly.
I hear they've gotten better of late, though.
-Kysh
Nice misquote.
Slashdot posting 101: Find message. Post fake context. Flame away.
I was responding to:
Personally I like serial consoles, but you can't do that with windows servers
And I standby what I said. As a senior unix systems administrator, I have some experience in datacenters (...), and I can honestly say that without serial console, remote power, netboot/install, and good configuration management practices, your installation is not enterprise ready.
As to the second part, about karma whoring.. Frankly, when I first joined Slashdot Way In The Beginning, that might have been true.
Modern times, however, show what is almost a windows domination of slashdot. The overall intelligence level has gone down, the specific ability of the average poster to understand and answer a simple question has gone down, and these days the Anti-Anti-pop crowd (Or as they're called in other circles 'PAVE's (People Against Virtually Everything)) is quicker to jump on someone for making a pro-unix comment than a pro-windows one.
So I'd hardly call it 'karma whoring'. Frankly, I expected (And still do expect) to be modded down, as poor moderation as I think that would be. You'll note that I've certainly not been modded up...
-Kysh
Clearly Windows is not Enterprise-ready.
Maybe in a couple of years.
(Where have I heard that before? Hrrm...)
-Kysh
Clearly Windows is not enterprise-ready.
Maybe in another few years.
(Where have I heard that before? Hrrmm..)
-Kysh
The beta kicked ass. True multi-head support, fantastic forests, beautiful grass, awesome models. The screenshots don't do it justice.
The game itself was compelling, fun, slick, and something very nice.
Half of the people who saw it didn't even give it a chance. You won't find anyone who showed up to beta test panning it. Many people were expecting a finished product. Many people were immediately turned off by the point and click interface and left bitching. Many people got a bug up their ass about the UI and instead of suggesting improvements (It was a fantastic UI with few irritating quirks), bitched endlessly, stated how disappointed they were in the game at every opportunity and then left.
I think most people think that 'beta test' means 'show up and test the product TO SEE IF YOU LIKE IT'. Which is moronic. (Granted, the whole concept of beta tests as unpaid labor is a little evil, but that's how the system works, and some people actually show up to help!)
The game was not finished. There were two phases of beta to go. I was having more fun in that beta than I've had in any other MMORPG.
It was quality.
In this day and age, quality always loses.
-Kysh
I agree.
I sincerely wish the people out there architecting MMORPGs would just subscribe to the mud dev list and read the archives.
EQ and the rest of these stupid MMORPGs out there on the market are trying to solve all of these problems all over again, rather than builing on all the data accumulated about people's gaming habits over the decades of successful text-base MUDs, many of which are vastly more entertaining and immersive than even the best MMORPGs out there on the market-- Most of which are still hideous level-grinds.
We're back to the stone age, just with prettier rocks.
-Kysh
The gameplay was fantastic. The graphics were much better than that screenshot. They were going to be 'not cheap' because they were going to provide live GMs.
Wish was finally a game that departed from the incredibly stupid simple boring MMORPG grind. It was actually a pleasure to play, not work.
It was finally a game that assumed that the players were smart enough to actually exist on this planet-- Which was probably their only mistake in this whole process.
This is a tremendous loss for MMORPGs; I'll have to continue trying to stay content with MUDs and EVE.
-Kysh
To be very brief, the police are not there to protect you from crime; They're there to punish those who commit crime.
It is very foolish to think of the criminal justice system as preventative rather than puntitive-- And such notions can only lead, in the end, to a police state.
No, the police aren't there to protect you; If someone comes up to you on the street with a knife, no police officer is going to come flying in to save the day. If people wish to be defenseless in such circumstances, that's their prerogative; However, they have no right to prevent anyone else from defending themselves.
-Kysh
Dare I quote the old saw?
:>
Truly, You can't fight City Hall.
-Kysh
The following is exerpted from, Ironically, the Libertarian Lifeline (East Bay Libertarian Party newsletter):So don't think the developers would squirm for long under your grasp before they bought the land out from under you at 'fair market value' (Read: Enough to buy a small fries at McDonalds).
-Kysh
I can't believe EVE got so little attention in this discussion. EVE is the best game out there today. :>
:> You can mine, but there are plenty of other ways to make money. Hunting pirates (Both the NPC and PC type) can be very lucrative. So can buying and selling junk, or trading, or running agent missions or making ships, copying or researching blueprints, building modules.. there are hundreds of ways to make good isk without ever touching a mining laser.
:> I've been playing online games basically as long as they've been around, and have run my a couple of reasonably popular MUDs.
:>
You ''level up'' slowly because you train in real-time. That means that Joe Schmoe may not be able to get on more than once a week or so, but he can still be a significant player in the world of Eve.
Got more time and want stuff to show for it? You can build a name for yourself, you can gain status, build a corporation, actively pirate- Or just mine all day for cash.
But in a fleet battle, even the weakest pilot, in a little frigate, can make a huge difference by warp scrambling or target-jamming an enemy battleship. A pilot who's only been playing for a few weeks still has a chance to get that new, rare tech II blueprint from an agent and make billions for new ships and modules.
It's all relative, and it works very well- Though weak-minded people tend not to like it because A> They can't understand it, B> It doesn't start at the beginning, go through the middle and end at the end, and C> It's not the MMORPG they're used to.
As to the comments earlier that you had to 'grind' away at mining, that's bunk.
In case it wasn't clear, I'm totally addicted to EVE.
I refer anyone curious about eve to the following URLs:
Eve Online
NSN recruiting video (player produced)
NSN video #2 (player produced)
(Save the videos to disk, then enjoy, preferably with good sound)
CCP created the world, we inhabit it, decide where it goes, and bring it to life. Our actions are written into the storyline, and we can choose to play however we like. It's a truly fantastic game.
-Kysh
Well, the biggest need is separation of entry and response.
You have toGrue slashes you for 10 points of damage!
nYou attempt to bash Grue, but miss!ote that
JohnMary tells you: "woot, ding 14!"trying to type
amid the output of a MU* is an exercise in frustration.
Also, frankly, TinyFugue totally rocks. It manages multiple connections gracefully, it handles all sorts of input and output, it rocks for searching.
It just works really well. It has all the features anyone could want from a MU* program, and it's free, built for Unix, and works very well.
> > SWG on the other hand is widely considered a 'flop' by everyone, even (especially?) those who haven't ever played it.
:>
> Who is considering it a flop? It can't be Sony.
> (...)
> OTOH, the game is/was a let down to most MMORPG gamers.
I used 'everyone' under the assumption that there are more gamers than game company executives reading slashdot and the SWG forums.
By 'flop' I'm referring to public perception. Public perception, even among those people who have never played SWG, is that SWG is a dud; Pretty but functionless. This is likely perpetuated by the messages on their boards, in Sony's estimation. As for myself, I haven't played it, and thus have withheld all judgement. I will, however, submit the opinions I've seen expressed about the game, to demonstrate why I think SOE might have decided to close the door on the forums.
-Kysh
Ok, but let me state something here:
:>
DragonRealms and GSIII are probably the two best fantasy-oriented MMORPGs to date, when it comes to game-play. I'm spoiled absolutely rotten thanks to DR, and nothing I play stacks up. No amount of graphics goodness can replace the simple element of immersiveness, and DR beats EQ, SWG, DAoC, etc hands down- No contest!
So while you guys might have acerbic comments, suggestions, and even the 'You should do it this way!!' posts, you have the respect of most of those who have heard of you; SWG on the other hand is widely considered a 'flop' by everyone, even (especially?) those who haven't ever played it.
That can make things difficult.
Nevertheless, I appreciate Simutronics' policy of openness, and hope you guys continue to do the great job you have been.
Make sense?
-Kysh
... Is outlaw airbags, and instead mount a large spike in the center of the steering column. Remind people that they're not inside some magical foam cushion that they can arbitrarily sling about and be safe due to the 'magic of modern technology'. Remind them that they're operating a vehicle that most likely exceeds two tons, sharing the road with others of the same proclivity, as well as motorcyclists, pedestrians, bicyclists, and so forth.
We don't need to make crashes less dangerous, we need to make crashes less frequent. We need to make people take driving SERIOUSLY.
Driving is life or death, and not just for those of us who ride motorcycles. The road is not your racetrack, the road has nothing to do with 'macho', the road is not for showing off. It is there to be used, to be enjoyed, to get to your destination or to get nowhere at all.. But it must be used responsibly in peril of death or dismemberment of you or others.
I think a track school should be mandatory for licensing, and that there should be a final test with a minimum lap-time. Driving is a skill, a right that must be earned, not a right that's guranteed.
Frankly, that said, some people just shouldn't be driving. They don't have the attitude nor the aptitude to drive without risking the safety of others. For example, people who drive 65mph in the left-hand lane and do not yield to faster traffic. Or people who will be travelling along with nobody in front of them on a straight road and just tap the brakes every few seconds. Or people who incessantly refuse to use blinkers- Or who signal their ACTION with their blinker and not their INTENTIONS. Or those who refuse to let others in when they should.
-Kysh
The difference between a consultant and a contractor is just exactly that which you mention.
A contractor typically agrees to do a job, supplies the tools and expertise, and completes the project as agreed.
A consultant takes a problem, develops a plan of action, and is entrusted with providing an opinion on anything that is detrimental. As a consultant, it's your JOB to bring it up-- But if they say "We know, but we just want it done this way", well that's then your job.
A 'consultant' is someone who is brought in tooffer their advice, expertise and so forth.(Thus the word 'consultant', or 'one who is consulted')
Once they have done so, many bounce back and forth between consultant and contractor-- Writing the job tasks and then following through with them. By definition, the input of a consultant is wanted- She works primarily in the business/planning sense, almost as more of an adviser or planner.
I've done both extensively, myself,for your reference.
-Kysh
I honestly believe you've hit the nail on the head. I've been saying this for a while now, but it's hard to get people to listen to anything these days. When people are invading your homeland, you'll do anything necessary to fight them off, even if they are superior in numbers, even if you have no hope of success; Even if your fighting means nearly instant death, you still fight.
To date, the united states has been the only country to use 'weapons of mass destruction' against a civilian populace; We were not even defending our homeland but instead fighting off a weary but fierce enemy. Now, I do honestly believe our actions in dropping nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki to be justified by our position at the time, and the fact that JAPAN STRUCK FIRST, so what I'm about to say takes that into account.
Being the only country to use nuclear weapons in time of war, the only country to decimate a civilian populace to achieve its' war aim, what leg do we have to stand on saying that Iraqis attempting to defend their homeland with chemical or biological weapons (or other weapons of ''mass destruction'') are war criminals?
I have grown so tired of the spin on news networks that I just can't watch it anymore. Hussein's a bad guy, and nobody doubts that... But all else aside, why does America fail to respect our enemy? In warfare, it's often the worst mistake you can make.
As a matter of fact, since last Wednesday I can honestly say that, while I'm a patriot, while I love my country, I'm ashamed to be an American.
No longer can I say that America never starts wars, but always finishes them; No longer can I say that for all its faults, the system works. When I now face ridicule and accusations of being 'unamerican' for posts such as this, when the government can yank my pilots license with no due process based on evidence they do not have to disclose, when our electoral process is invalidated by a court, when our country extends copyright to obscene dimensions, allows the enforcement of ridiculous patents, when a president who I like and respect gets strung up for having a fling in the whitehouse, when people poke and prod every fact and detail about him to find something, anything to hang him with- and that is the best they can come up with, when our deserter of a president sends our soldiers off to war, with full support and a blind eye, and, in short, when my country almost entirely stops 'doing the right thing' in most places that matter, I find myself disenchanted.
So much more I could say.
-Kysh, American
Don't believe everything you see in movies about the
south. I'm a southerner, and I'm as tired of the
'racist hick' stereotype as anyone else broadly
stereotyped. Most of the racists in the south move
down from New York or other northeastern cities,
looking for 'kindred spirits'. To say that they give
us a bad name is an understatement.
Note that nobody has responded to this yet- I will be surprised if someone does. How can the 'Pharmaceuticals must profit on their work!' people justify it? I can imagine one or two responses from yuppies who have never been poor or denied healthcare, stating that poor people are somehow less desirable to have in the world than rich people, but I would love to see a well-thought-out counterpoint to your argument.
Why? Because I've never seen one, and have been arguing your side of the coin for years.
-Kysh
The Honda CBR600F4 and Yamaha R6 both produce
120hp at the crank, for 200hp per liter. They are
both normally aspirated, water cooled engines, which
rev to 14500 and 15000 rpm respectively. They both
do the 1/4 mile in around 10.80.
Yes, I know this article was about cars, but your
'more horsepower per liter then [sic] any other
naturally [sic] aspirated engine in production'
needed refutation.
Wow, I was wondering if anyone else would recommend
this! Glad to see another person who's read the
series. They're easy to find in bookstores, but few
people seem to appreciate the books as well as they
should.
-Kysh
... Set to exactly 68 degrees, and should not go
above 75 degrees under any circumstance. Should
also not go below 60 degrees, preferentially.
This issue has been hashed out, and best current
practices have been defined. Best practice is 68F.
I agree wholeheartedly. I don't agree with every decision Lilo has ever made, or lilo's policy on every little thing, but after seeing how much work (Yes, WORK, not just 'sitting around on IRC') that lilo has put into linpeople (OPN/whatever), and having been around for as long as I have.. it really hurts to see all these people tearing lilo down because of their limited understanding and/or limited good heartedness. Yes, linpeople (OPN/etc) is run on mostly donated hardware and mostly donated resources, but that has not always been the case- Not by a long shot. To be honest, lilo has a vision for Openprojects and has been working towards it for a long time. I've had many disagreements with lilo, both public and private, but all in all, I respect his vision and determination. To those who say, "It's just IRC"- Spend an hour on efnet, and see how many channels you get kicked off of because some oper didn't like your nick- Or see how many severs you get K- lined from for equally spurious reasons. See how many people are just on there to revel in a smug sense of juvenile superiority by using their operator priveleges against people they disagree with. Then spend an hour on openprojects, just listening. People are friendly, courtesy is widespread, though of course not universal, and there aren't server ops out there abusing power. That's more or less the whole point. I have seen abuse of power on Linpeople (OPN/etc), but I can count on three paws the number of times and have been frequenting there for many, many years. Conversely, I've probably spent less than a hundred hours on other IRC networks, and have seen enough to make my skin crawl. And let's take it a step further. Lilo provides the service of running and coordinating the network. Without lilo, things could degenerate into efnet.. er.. chaos. Nonetheless, lilo has been working for years to eliminate the need for lilo on the network, while simultaneously preventing rampant abuse of power seen everywhere else from taking hold. So the concept is valid. About asking for money? Far too many people have said, "Lilo should get a job", or things to that effect. But jobs aren't exactly easy to get these days. As a matter of fact, I'll go a step beyond that- Jobs scarcely exist anywhere, these days. Lilo wants to provide services to the IRC network that lilo started, and that lilo runs. Lilo also needs to pay bills to make this happen. It all seems logical enough to me. I can see why people might take exception to it, but what I cannot understand is the sheer amount of cruelty people use for self justification. Lilo is a good person in every way, and half the people here want to burn him at the stake without even knowing him just because he uses the global notice function of the IRC network that he started, and runs, to ask for money. By the gods, if that network were a piece of shareware, it would be the best kind- Freely use as much as you like, and if you'd like to donate to the author, you can. That's the only sort of shareware I'd ever consider paying for, and yet you people here seem to have more affinity for crippleware or straight- out commercial software. I don't understand. Why can't you people just try to be kind at the very least? We're not talking about some faceless company or some mindless automaton- We're talking about a living, breathing person- A very nice one, at that. Political differences are no reason to strip someone down and assault every aspect of their character possible. /. filters won't let me post in plaintext anymore)
-Kysh
(Apologies for the formatting- Or lack thereof-Stupid
> I am not trying to dispute that Ada is a good
> language for critical safety related software...
> but it is only as good as the people and
> methodology/process being employed.
> Consider the fact that the code for the Ariane 5
> rocket which crashed [eiffel.com] because of a
> software problem, was written in Ada.
I'll certainly agree with your statement that it's
only as good as the people and methodology/process
being employed.. a point I made earlier, in fact.
Nonetheless, nobody blames Ada for the crash of
the Ariane, except those ignorant few trying to
bash Ada. It was found, and reported universally,
that it was a 'Reuse specification error'. Very
simple, very specific.
I think that the implementation itself could have
been better, as well. But I'm not the one to say.
-Kysh
> The pilot exploited the software without fully
:>
> understanding the consequences. FBW works
> wonderfully well when its used as a tool and the
> pilot that has ultimate control rather than vice
> versa.
I agree wholeheartedly! That's the specific
incident I had in mind, and the specific
ramifications. I don't mind FBW as a supplement
(For example, ABS), but the thought of flying an
airplane where I didn't have the final say no
matter what would blow my mind. I'd rather stress
a 747-400 beyond certification limits to the
'design failure' limit than collide with a C-17.
The last thing I want is the FBW overruling me if
that situation becomes necessary. Granted, getting
INTO that situation would likely be bad piloting,
and getting out would be extraordinary piloting..
but a 20% chance is better than a 0% chance.
I have the same problems with FBW systems that
take the ultimate authority away from the pilot as
the pilots of the Enstrom F28 (I believe) helos
had with the popoff valve that was designed to
prevent going beyond 100% power. Sometimes it's
desirable to exceed design limits on the off
chance that it'll save you from a fireball.
Of course, where I'm headed hopefully (Flying
airtankers), I don't have to worry about that
stuff.
-Kysh