As the water becomes warmer, it is more prone to evaporation on the surface from the sun. Previously, less water would evaporate and keep the water levels slightly higher but now the difference in temperature at the surface is less making the water more easily transferred into a vapor.
Possible, but this would then result in more cloud cover. While this may be happening, I haven't seen any reports saying its happening. Of course more cloud cover would result in less light hitting the surface and thus reduce (reverse?) the effects of global warming
Gravity pulls down on the free floating icebergs and it displaces the water. These icebergs are shrinking or being reduced greatly so the water height in the vicinity lowers slightly while the water levels around the world rise slightly.
Not sure what you're saying here. The more water in ice, the lower the water levels will be. Global warming would mean less ice, higher water levels overall.
The tides are becoming stronger and as the amount of water on the surface of earth increases, so does the effect of the moon on it. The moon pulls least on water at the caps and even more so on water near the equator.
The tidal action caused by the moon would not be stronger unless the moon is moving closer to the Earth. I think we'd hear about that if it was happening. Also, we'd notice if the tides we're getting stronger.
Some force (moon, internal gravity, spinning of the earth, sun, etc.) is causing the water to accumulate at the equator which in turn reduces the water at the poles.
Again, we'd notice other things. If the moon we're closer, we'd notice stronger tides. If gravity we're being weakened, you'd notice on your scale in the morning. All of the forces you're suggesting would have much greater effects than dropping the water level 2mm at the poles.
Can't you just imagine the clan of zerglings? All running around in a tight group, nobody really sure what they're doing or where they're going but they're going to get there first at all costs!
I wonder how many extra sales Rockstar generated because of the whole Hot Coffee thing. Probably enough to conver that fine several times over. Doesn't seem like much of a deterrant to me.
I wouldn't say its analogous to a sales tax. And it does ay an attempt to purchase the game. But year, if the retailer gets a cut, that's almost worse. I still have to wonder what the action would be if the child does not pay the fine. Is the retailer going to call 911? I can't see the police responding over a $25 fine. Arrest the kid? I can see lawsuits popping up when some retailer "arrests" a minor for not paying a fine.
I agree that underage children shouldn't be able to buy M or AO rated games. But giving a fine to the child that the retailer is supposed to collect? That's ridiculous. What incentive is there for the retailer to do so? They lose a sail, and somehow they have to enfore a law? What if the child can't/won't pay? Are they supposed to detain (kidnap?) the kid?
Either ZDnet isn't giving a very good overview of the law, or this belongs on one of those dumbest law lists.
While I agree its a business decision right now w.r.t Walmart not carrying an AO title, I think we'll see this becoming less and less of an issue. First, with more purchases being made online, especially in the tech areas. Second, I think you'll see more games distributed online, like Steam does with HL2 and mods. Also, a lot of arguments against the rating systems call it censorship, and I really don't see how forcing publishers to put AO on a box is censorship, or disallowing underage children from purchasing it to be censorship or violating their rights to free speach. It certainly doesn't seem to be the case with the movie industry.
And while ESRB has had some issues, like the Hot Coffee mod, its not really their fault. I do think the rating system is working fairly well, except that I think there should be laws enforcing those ratings. Now if that means an agency other than the ESRB is putting the ratings on, thats fine. I would just like to see those ratings enforced.
I agree, I will try to teach my child wrong from right. My parents did, but lets face it, kids have a natural curiosity to that which is forbidden. My parents only let me watch a few R rated movies in my early-mid teens, though oddly, I was allowed to have Playboys (none of the less, shall we say, respectful magazines though).
Of course I don't think video games are going to turn my son into a car steal, cop killing maniac. I listened to heavy metal, and played Dungeons & Dragons. I haven't comitted a violent act since I fought back against a bully in my early teens. Yet that's not the reason I don't want my son seeing some of the images portrayed in games or other media.
If teaching right and wrong were enough, why do we need age restrictions on movies, cigarettes, alcohol, gambling, etc? Because as a society we realize that some of these things should have restricted access in an age where peer pressure and curiosity often get the better of good intentions. I'm not expecting society or the minimum wage flunkie to police my child. But don't provide adult material to my underage child just so you can make a bit of commission.
So, what your saying is, people who are ashamed of buying these things don't want to show their ID. First, I don't think that's a valid argument against such a law. Second, you can always buy it online.
I'm not saying you'd have to swipe your ID card, or the clerk would be writing down your driver's license number. Its just a proof of age thing. There is no need to record what ID was used.
Everytime this topic comes up on slashdot (or elsewhere) there's this outlash that I just don't understand. I'm 31 and and have a 7 month old son. I play games, I'm sure my son will as well. I'm all for free speach and against censorship, but I'm very much for accurate game ratings and laws that prevent underage CHILDREN from buying adult material.
I was restricted from watching R rated movies, or buying magazines off the top rack. If my parents decided it was okay, they could take me to the movie, or purchase the magazine for me. Why should it be different because its a video game? When my son decides he wants the latest version of GTA or whatever the latest game is, if its been rated M, or R, or something with content judged to be for adults, I want to be the one making the decision, not some minimum wage on commission teenage working that the outlet store.
Sure, as a parent its my responsibility to know what my kids are watching, playing, etc. However, realistically, I can't be watching him 24/7. No store should be able to sell my underage child what amounts to graphic violence, sex, drug use, content without my say so.
This isn't censorship. If only those 17 and up (or whatever the age is) can purchase a game rated M, the game isn't censored or pulled from the shelves by the government. If a particular retailer chooses not to sell it, that's their choice. Its not like games like GTA won't be produced anymore because Walmart won't carry it.
I spent some time working on an alternative to captcha, I call AOMIS. http://aomis.net./ I haven't had a chance to work on it for a while, but the basic idea was, provide a piece of media, the user must identify the content.
In most cases, it would be an image. So, I might show you a picture of an elephant, and to submit the form, the user would have to enter 'elephant' into the box. Each image would have a number of correct answers to account for common spelling mistakes, and the most common correct responses. Its built to handle multiple languages, and different types of media. Thus, you could use audio files for the blind. Audio files could ask a simple question "What is two plus two" or such.
Now, to deal with checksums, each piece of media is regenerated dynamically on a regular schedule, for example, changeing one or two pixels on an image is probably not noticeable to a person, but changes the checksum, making it impossible to catalog the database.
I just wish I had the time to get it to a point where people could start trialing it.
Half-Life 2 has prompted a lot of story-light brainless shooters
IMHO, HL2 wasn't about being a immersive story-telling game. It was about showing off the new engine until mods that made the first HL (Counter Strike, Day of Defeat, etc) so popular were released under source.
That being said, I did enjoy HL2, but I didn't buy it for the story line. From what I've seen, most FPS shooters aren't built for the story line. They're built for action. And guess what, we got action with HL2 and the various mods.
No, only one party pays for the shipping of an item with Fed-Ex. You don't pay $x dollars to ship me something and then I have to pay $y to receive it. We're not talking about COD orders or similar here. One party pays to have a particular item delivered. Be it the sender OR the receiver. Not both.
FTA: "Christopher Yoo, a professor at Vanderbilt University Law School, argues that consumers should be willing to pay for faster delivery of content on the Internet, just as many FedEx customers willingly shell out extra for overnight delivery. "A regulatory approach that allows companies to pursue a strategy like FedEx's makes sense," he says.
He's looking at it incorrectly though. Absolutely I should, as a consumer of a service be able to choose different levels of service, for example, dial up, "light" high speed, or torrent-downloading-freak high speed. However, using his Fed-Ex example, since when does the shipper AND the receiver pay for the service.
Hmmm, irregular and off-center. If the sun is moving at a given speed, the overall shape of the heliosphere would appear warped and off center... probably egg shaped. That might explain the difference.
I wouldn't think the positioning of the planets would have much to do with it. Thing of a spec of dust in front of a spotlight... pretty tough to notice the effects a significant distance away. However, given sun spots, solar flares, etc. I wouldn't think that the distance would be constant. Though a variation of around 11% is pretty significant.
Of course, two data points at different times in different areas is hardly enough to make any kind of conclusions.
That is a nice and similar design, though I don't care for the left and right menu headings with the white tab on green tab with green writing. I bet it would look better if the white tab was removed and the lettering changed to white.
That wierdness is showing up in FF 1.08 as well. However, that being said, I really like his design. I wasn't able to load the 2nd one, and I don't much care for the third, it seems to dark.
Once you've learned vim, it becomes probably the fastest editor to use. Never having to use the mouse. Being able to quickly move around a document. Complex (regex) searching/replacing. It has a steep learning curve, but it a very powerful and arguably intuitive editor. I first started using it in the mid-90s when I first got onto the big unix boxes at the university I attended. Since then, I continually find myself trying to use vim syntax in different editors. Its not uncommon to see ZZ or:wq at the end of some of my emails or other documents.
Re:-1 for self-contradiction, -1 for lateness
on
One Big Bang, Or Many?
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
I wondered the same thing. My question though, is if the universe expands infinitely, periodically replenished by another Big Bang, where does the matter/energy come from that creates the next Big Bang? If it were cyclic, and came into a Big Crunch, its somewhat understandable, though we still have to wonder about the conservation of energy that currently seems unexplained.
I think it depends on how you like to play. I've played quite a few FPS online over the years. Sometimes its fun to just jump in, pick a team (or not if its FFA) and play. Othertimes its more fun to play with a group of regulars, hence we get clans/guilds/whatever. I've been in a couple, more for the social aspect, and they pretty much always have a website, forums, etc. The nice thing about getting into a good clan is that you reliably get good fun, competitive games, and enough access to the server to kick the people that take away from that.
Because its none of your business (you being a web"master"). I understand that my Ip is broadcast, but I'm not going to use a web browser that sends personal information about me or my computer, every time I hit a site. I can use an anonymous proxy now, and refuse/delete cookies, and know that I am not being tracked. Besides, MAC addresses can be altered as well.
Slashdot Mirror
As the water becomes warmer, it is more prone to evaporation on the surface from the sun. Previously, less water would evaporate and keep the water levels slightly higher but now the difference in temperature at the surface is less making the water more easily transferred into a vapor.
Possible, but this would then result in more cloud cover. While this may be happening, I haven't seen any reports saying its happening. Of course more cloud cover would result in less light hitting the surface and thus reduce (reverse?) the effects of global warming
Gravity pulls down on the free floating icebergs and it displaces the water. These icebergs are shrinking or being reduced greatly so the water height in the vicinity lowers slightly while the water levels around the world rise slightly.
Not sure what you're saying here. The more water in ice, the lower the water levels will be. Global warming would mean less ice, higher water levels overall.
The tides are becoming stronger and as the amount of water on the surface of earth increases, so does the effect of the moon on it. The moon pulls least on water at the caps and even more so on water near the equator.
The tidal action caused by the moon would not be stronger unless the moon is moving closer to the Earth. I think we'd hear about that if it was happening. Also, we'd notice if the tides we're getting stronger.
Some force (moon, internal gravity, spinning of the earth, sun, etc.) is causing the water to accumulate at the equator which in turn reduces the water at the poles.
Again, we'd notice other things. If the moon we're closer, we'd notice stronger tides. If gravity we're being weakened, you'd notice on your scale in the morning. All of the forces you're suggesting would have much greater effects than dropping the water level 2mm at the poles.
Can't you just imagine the clan of zerglings? All running around in a tight group, nobody really sure what they're doing or where they're going but they're going to get there first at all costs!
I think we're all aware they're in no rush to release it.
I wonder how many extra sales Rockstar generated because of the whole Hot Coffee thing. Probably enough to conver that fine several times over. Doesn't seem like much of a deterrant to me.
I wouldn't say its analogous to a sales tax. And it does ay an attempt to purchase the game. But year, if the retailer gets a cut, that's almost worse. I still have to wonder what the action would be if the child does not pay the fine. Is the retailer going to call 911? I can't see the police responding over a $25 fine. Arrest the kid? I can see lawsuits popping up when some retailer "arrests" a minor for not paying a fine.
I agree that underage children shouldn't be able to buy M or AO rated games. But giving a fine to the child that the retailer is supposed to collect? That's ridiculous. What incentive is there for the retailer to do so? They lose a sail, and somehow they have to enfore a law? What if the child can't/won't pay? Are they supposed to detain (kidnap?) the kid?
Either ZDnet isn't giving a very good overview of the law, or this belongs on one of those dumbest law lists.
While I agree its a business decision right now w.r.t Walmart not carrying an AO title, I think we'll see this becoming less and less of an issue. First, with more purchases being made online, especially in the tech areas. Second, I think you'll see more games distributed online, like Steam does with HL2 and mods. Also, a lot of arguments against the rating systems call it censorship, and I really don't see how forcing publishers to put AO on a box is censorship, or disallowing underage children from purchasing it to be censorship or violating their rights to free speach. It certainly doesn't seem to be the case with the movie industry.
And while ESRB has had some issues, like the Hot Coffee mod, its not really their fault. I do think the rating system is working fairly well, except that I think there should be laws enforcing those ratings. Now if that means an agency other than the ESRB is putting the ratings on, thats fine. I would just like to see those ratings enforced.
I agree, I will try to teach my child wrong from right. My parents did, but lets face it, kids have a natural curiosity to that which is forbidden. My parents only let me watch a few R rated movies in my early-mid teens, though oddly, I was allowed to have Playboys (none of the less, shall we say, respectful magazines though).
Of course I don't think video games are going to turn my son into a car steal, cop killing maniac. I listened to heavy metal, and played Dungeons & Dragons. I haven't comitted a violent act since I fought back against a bully in my early teens. Yet that's not the reason I don't want my son seeing some of the images portrayed in games or other media.
If teaching right and wrong were enough, why do we need age restrictions on movies, cigarettes, alcohol, gambling, etc? Because as a society we realize that some of these things should have restricted access in an age where peer pressure and curiosity often get the better of good intentions. I'm not expecting society or the minimum wage flunkie to police my child. But don't provide adult material to my underage child just so you can make a bit of commission.
So, what your saying is, people who are ashamed of buying these things don't want to show their ID. First, I don't think that's a valid argument against such a law. Second, you can always buy it online.
I'm not saying you'd have to swipe your ID card, or the clerk would be writing down your driver's license number. Its just a proof of age thing. There is no need to record what ID was used.
Everytime this topic comes up on slashdot (or elsewhere) there's this outlash that I just don't understand. I'm 31 and and have a 7 month old son. I play games, I'm sure my son will as well. I'm all for free speach and against censorship, but I'm very much for accurate game ratings and laws that prevent underage CHILDREN from buying adult material.
I was restricted from watching R rated movies, or buying magazines off the top rack. If my parents decided it was okay, they could take me to the movie, or purchase the magazine for me. Why should it be different because its a video game? When my son decides he wants the latest version of GTA or whatever the latest game is, if its been rated M, or R, or something with content judged to be for adults, I want to be the one making the decision, not some minimum wage on commission teenage working that the outlet store.
Sure, as a parent its my responsibility to know what my kids are watching, playing, etc. However, realistically, I can't be watching him 24/7. No store should be able to sell my underage child what amounts to graphic violence, sex, drug use, content without my say so.
This isn't censorship. If only those 17 and up (or whatever the age is) can purchase a game rated M, the game isn't censored or pulled from the shelves by the government. If a particular retailer chooses not to sell it, that's their choice. Its not like games like GTA won't be produced anymore because Walmart won't carry it.
I spent some time working on an alternative to captcha, I call AOMIS. http://aomis.net./ I haven't had a chance to work on it for a while, but the basic idea was, provide a piece of media, the user must identify the content.
In most cases, it would be an image. So, I might show you a picture of an elephant, and to submit the form, the user would have to enter 'elephant' into the box. Each image would have a number of correct answers to account for common spelling mistakes, and the most common correct responses. Its built to handle multiple languages, and different types of media. Thus, you could use audio files for the blind. Audio files could ask a simple question "What is two plus two" or such.
Now, to deal with checksums, each piece of media is regenerated dynamically on a regular schedule, for example, changeing one or two pixels on an image is probably not noticeable to a person, but changes the checksum, making it impossible to catalog the database.
I just wish I had the time to get it to a point where people could start trialing it.
Half-Life 2 has prompted a lot of story-light brainless shooters
IMHO, HL2 wasn't about being a immersive story-telling game. It was about showing off the new engine until mods that made the first HL (Counter Strike, Day of Defeat, etc) so popular were released under source.
That being said, I did enjoy HL2, but I didn't buy it for the story line. From what I've seen, most FPS shooters aren't built for the story line. They're built for action. And guess what, we got action with HL2 and the various mods.
No, only one party pays for the shipping of an item with Fed-Ex. You don't pay $x dollars to ship me something and then I have to pay $y to receive it. We're not talking about COD orders or similar here. One party pays to have a particular item delivered. Be it the sender OR the receiver. Not both.
Point taken, though I see from the other responses, I was not the only one to miss your intended meaning.
Assuming "you" are the ISP, you get to see it by charging "me", the consumer of your service. You don't get to charge twice for the same thing.
FTA: "Christopher Yoo, a professor at Vanderbilt University Law School, argues that consumers should be willing to pay for faster delivery of content on the Internet, just as many FedEx customers willingly shell out extra for overnight delivery. "A regulatory approach that allows companies to pursue a strategy like FedEx's makes sense," he says.
He's looking at it incorrectly though. Absolutely I should, as a consumer of a service be able to choose different levels of service, for example, dial up, "light" high speed, or torrent-downloading-freak high speed. However, using his Fed-Ex example, since when does the shipper AND the receiver pay for the service.
Not available in the USA.
Hmmm, irregular and off-center. If the sun is moving at a given speed, the overall shape of the heliosphere would appear warped and off center... probably egg shaped. That might explain the difference.
I wouldn't think the positioning of the planets would have much to do with it. Thing of a spec of dust in front of a spotlight... pretty tough to notice the effects a significant distance away. However, given sun spots, solar flares, etc. I wouldn't think that the distance would be constant. Though a variation of around 11% is pretty significant. Of course, two data points at different times in different areas is hardly enough to make any kind of conclusions.
That is a nice and similar design, though I don't care for the left and right menu headings with the white tab on green tab with green writing. I bet it would look better if the white tab was removed and the lettering changed to white.
That wierdness is showing up in FF 1.08 as well. However, that being said, I really like his design. I wasn't able to load the 2nd one, and I don't much care for the third, it seems to dark.
Once you've learned vim, it becomes probably the fastest editor to use. Never having to use the mouse. Being able to quickly move around a document. Complex (regex) searching/replacing. It has a steep learning curve, but it a very powerful and arguably intuitive editor. I first started using it in the mid-90s when I first got onto the big unix boxes at the university I attended. Since then, I continually find myself trying to use vim syntax in different editors. Its not uncommon to see ZZ or :wq at the end of some of my emails or other documents.
I wondered the same thing. My question though, is if the universe expands infinitely, periodically replenished by another Big Bang, where does the matter/energy come from that creates the next Big Bang? If it were cyclic, and came into a Big Crunch, its somewhat understandable, though we still have to wonder about the conservation of energy that currently seems unexplained.
I think it depends on how you like to play. I've played quite a few FPS online over the years. Sometimes its fun to just jump in, pick a team (or not if its FFA) and play. Othertimes its more fun to play with a group of regulars, hence we get clans/guilds/whatever. I've been in a couple, more for the social aspect, and they pretty much always have a website, forums, etc. The nice thing about getting into a good clan is that you reliably get good fun, competitive games, and enough access to the server to kick the people that take away from that.
Because its none of your business (you being a web"master"). I understand that my Ip is broadcast, but I'm not going to use a web browser that sends personal information about me or my computer, every time I hit a site. I can use an anonymous proxy now, and refuse/delete cookies, and know that I am not being tracked. Besides, MAC addresses can be altered as well.