"I also heard stories about people getting sick when playing the first Descent game, which I guess was among the first full freedom full 3D games."
In Descent you flew a robot ship through tunnels and mines. There was no gravity and you could rotate on every axis. It was extremely easy to get disoriented in the game, see there wasn't really any true up or down. I never had a problem with space oriented games that used this type of control, but I guess it had something to do with the enclosed spaces. I never threw up but I do recall bouts of nausea. I remember one head to head match I was playing over direct modem connection with a friend. After a particularly hairy match he just had to stop and go lie down, being on the verge of puking.
Thank you. That is exactly what I thought when I read the stupid wording in the story. You've got 113 missions. One blew up in flight, one blew up on landing. So 111 successes and 2 failures. Please won't someone ask the astronauts if they consider those odds a fair risk to take for a flight into space? Gee, do you think that astronauts might actually be AWARE that you know, blasting into space on a large rocket, might just be dangerous? Do you think they might have figured that little risk into their choice of career? I really hate people like the submitter who think that they know how to better measure the risk than those actually involved in space operations.
"Running a legitimate business online on a spam-friendly ISP is like opening a fancy restaurant in the ghetto."
The point is it doesn't have to be a spam friendly ISP. All it takes is some server at the colo getting cracked and used for spam. Or some idiot setting up an open relay at the colo because they don't know what they are doing. It can also be because some jackass at the company decided to send an unsolicited "email blast" to their address book. Believe me there are plenty of sales and marketing types who have NO CLUE why this would be wrong. So along comes MAPS and jumps on it with gusto, blotting out the whole range of ips including hundreds of companies who haven't done a thing because of a the stupidity of a single person. Consequently, you have a bunch of people at those companies running around and trying to figure why the hell their email no longer works. Which impacts business and costs money. It can also be extremely damaging to reputation for people trying to get customer service via email. You're right people should call the company, and I'd like to think most will - but any kind of hassle a customer has to go through impacts their perception of the company in a negative manner. SO sure you can switch ISPs. Of course this takes time, labor and may involve getting out of existing contracts which can cost money.
"But I almost don't consider the "complete systems" a set of software (although it obviously is), as those systems are purchased as essentially complete systems to be used for an integrated purpose."
This isn't exactly true. One of the companies I work with is a publishing house that had to integrate several different applications to create a custom workflow. There is a CRM application which Sales uses, tied into a custom built ad trafficking system, tied into a production job ticketing and time keeping system which integrates into Accounting. An off the shelf human resources system is slated to be integrated in the future. While integration can be a pain in the ass at times, technologies such as ODBC and.Net have made it easy to expose the data whereever it needs to tie togther. The Production ticket system for example is web based and built with asp. It is directly tied into the Sales and ad trafficking databases. You can do this on other platforms, certainly on the UNIX side (although I've found most UNIX off the shelf apps are priced to higher end of the medium business market). You can also substitute php and Java instead of asp and.Net. The benefit is in having the high end apps, which are easy to connect together to create your custom workflow. And while you CAN build it yourself, if you are a small or medium size business there is no way you are going to (for example) build a full fledged CRM or accounting system quickly and for less cost than purchasing one. I will agree that Filemaker is a great little application for small business, in my experience it just can get to be messy at handling anything big.
What you say is true enough for home usage and general business usage. It's even true for certain business niches (graphic design, video editing, sound design etc.) where the Mac has a strong foothold. What I would like to know, is are there comparable Enterprise applications available for the Mac? A lot of industries are serviced by very specific software applications, many of which run on Windows. Enterprise wide CRM software on the Mac? How do you handle groupware and collaboration? Accounting, human resources? I'm not trolling, I'm asking. Does anyone in the Mac market cater to medium and large business applications? One of the problems I run into, is that most of these applications (even those with a web front end) are not Mac compatible. So typically we have to write custom code to expose these systems to the our Production department (which is on Mac).
This is true to a degree. One school I've helped out with switched all of their P2 and P3 classes PCs off of Windows 98 and upgrade to 2000. The main problem is that most of these machines were purchased (and consequently donated to the school) with the minimum amount of memory. Most have 64MB of RAM, a few even have 32MB. Windows 2000 pretty much chokes in this low RAM situation, especially when are running firewall, antivirus and web filtering (site censoring) software. The slower hard drives in these older machines don't help out either. I've seen some of these computers take 15 minutes to boot and a good 5 minutes or more to start a web browser. Oh, want to upgrade the RAM? Be prepared to pay more for EDO SIMMs or PC100 DIMMs than you would for DDR. Unless you can somehow find a place to scrounge them from. If you are putting RAM and a new hard drive in the computers, you are halfway to the cost of a new machine. Cannibalizing the total amount of computers and buffing up a few with the best parts can help offset this, but reduces the total number of computers you can get up and running. Personally, I think it would be better to run a stripped down Linux install or even use the computers as thin clients booting off of a central server. The problem with that is support. You need a knowledgeable volunteer to help out at a typical public school or non-profit. The government isn't going to help.
High frame rate AND high resolution. It really helps with targetting far away opponents to have the game running at high res. There is a part of me that thinks this approach when taken to extremes is essentially cheating. Like turning off the dynamic lighting in Doom 3. Sure, it makes it easier to see and kill players - but it changes the deathmatch into something like Quake, rather than the hide in the shadows style.
You mean to say that in Halo 2 tournaments all of the top players whip out their mice? As far as I've seen, the mice/keyboard adapters for consoles don't work all that well since the console games aiming is programmed differently for use with a controller (i.e. the tap to auto aim). Sure in PC games no one is using a controller, I wouldn't argue that.
I can't wait. Now some two bit blog "pundit" can rant uninformed opinion in full video style! Just imagine!
"I, um, think, well, it's like, Podcasting, the um, idea, the meme as it were is like the wave of, um tomorrow, um..... I think that um, it um, would be, um... yeah really cool yeah, um if it, um worked on like the PSP! Then it um would... call it PSPcasting! Yeah, err, um. That's all the time I've, um got. Stay tuned for my next insightful video blog!"
I admit - I love the Model M. I've only had to replace one so far. I intend to keep using one as long as is technologically possible. It's more than just a keyboard, it's a weapon of self defense!
It's what you are used to. If you started on a dual analog with FPS games you are "wired" for that. Your natural responses are in tune to that controller. For me playing an FPS on a console, feels like I have mittens on or something. It is awkward and imprecise. This is however, because it's the controller I am used to. They both have their merits. Consider that the mouse is a much more accurate aiming device, however the controller is much better for setting on the couch type of gaming. We won't see mice and keyboards become standard for consoles, because no one wants a desk and chair blocking the living room TV. The difference is the same reason that there are more two player on a single console games than there are two player on a single computer games. It is the environment that is dictating the controls.
This would be true I guess - IF Guild Wars was a true MMO. I played the beta weekend events and can say that Guild Wars is much more like Diablo. You have the small town areas where everyone hangs out but the game is largely focused on instanced quest areas. Party size is kept low at four maximum in a quest. Also there is additional cost. Guild Wars is based around a pay for expansion model. They are planning on releasing expansions which add new areas and new character classes. You want to try them out? Pony up the cash.
1. Release Moderately Multiplayer Online game for one time cost of $50. 2. Release additional quest expansions and new content on a pay basis. Players will need to purchase them or be stuck with the same old quests and characters. 3. Profit.
The market wants both. Even if 75% wanted PVP and 25% wanted PVE - Blizzard would alientate the 25% if it didn't offer a choice. I've played City of Heroes for 10 months, it is strictly PVE. There will be PVP in the future - but most players I know aren't all that interested in it. So who cares? It's "manly" to be a PVP player? That's about the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Play how you enjoy playing and who cares what someone else enjoys. And just for the record, winning in an FPS shows a lot more skill than ganking a lowbie in an MMO.
Wow. That is horrible. Of course if they delete your characters I can't imagine WHY anyone would go back. Currently City of Heroes leaves your account and characters alone when you stop payment. You can start up payment and start playing where you left off.
The cease and desist letter from Electronic Arts is WAY funnier than the original joke. I can totally visualize the EA legal team in action. "We've got to jump on this before it impacts shareholder value!"
Modern CRTs and video cards can handle resolutions higher than 60Hz. Admittedly some stupid companies ship computers with the refresh rate set to 60. You should be able to run it at 72Hz or higher depending on your monitor, video card and resolution. I am running 1280x1024 res at 75Hz using a 5 year old video card and monitor.
Slashdot Mirror
"Anarchy Which is Online a Minority of the Time: A Tiny Multiplayer Semi-Online Non-Role Playing Job That You Pay to Work For"
hahahaha!
"I also heard stories about people getting sick when playing the first Descent game, which I guess was among the first full freedom full 3D games."
In Descent you flew a robot ship through tunnels and mines. There was no gravity and you could rotate on every axis. It was extremely easy to get disoriented in the game, see there wasn't really any true up or down. I never had a problem with space oriented games that used this type of control, but I guess it had something to do with the enclosed spaces.
I never threw up but I do recall bouts of nausea. I remember one head to head match I was playing over direct modem connection with a friend. After a particularly hairy match he just had to stop and go lie down, being on the verge of puking.
Thank you. That is exactly what I thought when I read the stupid wording in the story.
You've got 113 missions. One blew up in flight, one blew up on landing. So 111 successes and 2 failures.
Please won't someone ask the astronauts if they consider those odds a fair risk to take for a flight into space?
Gee, do you think that astronauts might actually be AWARE that you know, blasting into space on a large rocket, might just be dangerous? Do you think they might have figured that little risk into their choice of career?
I really hate people like the submitter who think that they know how to better measure the risk than those actually involved in space operations.
"Running a legitimate business online on a spam-friendly ISP is like opening a fancy restaurant in the ghetto."
The point is it doesn't have to be a spam friendly ISP. All it takes is some server at the colo getting cracked and used for spam. Or some idiot setting up an open relay at the colo because they don't know what they are doing.
It can also be because some jackass at the company decided to send an unsolicited "email blast" to their address book. Believe me there are plenty of sales and marketing types who have NO CLUE why this would be wrong.
So along comes MAPS and jumps on it with gusto, blotting out the whole range of ips including hundreds of companies who haven't done a thing because of a the stupidity of a single person.
Consequently, you have a bunch of people at those companies running around and trying to figure why the hell their email no longer works. Which impacts business and costs money. It can also be extremely damaging to reputation for people trying to get customer service via email.
You're right people should call the company, and I'd like to think most will - but any kind of hassle a customer has to go through impacts their perception of the company in a negative manner.
SO sure you can switch ISPs. Of course this takes time, labor and may involve getting out of existing contracts which can cost money.
"But I almost don't consider the "complete systems" a set of software (although it obviously is), as those systems are purchased as essentially complete systems to be used for an integrated purpose."
.Net have made it easy to expose the data whereever it needs to tie togther. The Production ticket system for example is web based and built with asp. It is directly tied into the Sales and ad trafficking databases. .Net.
This isn't exactly true. One of the companies I work with is a publishing house that had to integrate several different applications to create a custom workflow.
There is a CRM application which Sales uses, tied into a custom built ad trafficking system, tied into a production job ticketing and time keeping system which integrates into Accounting. An off the shelf human resources system is slated to be integrated in the future.
While integration can be a pain in the ass at times, technologies such as ODBC and
You can do this on other platforms, certainly on the UNIX side (although I've found most UNIX off the shelf apps are priced to higher end of the medium business market). You can also substitute php and Java instead of asp and
The benefit is in having the high end apps, which are easy to connect together to create your custom workflow.
And while you CAN build it yourself, if you are a small or medium size business there is no way you are going to (for example) build a full fledged CRM or accounting system quickly and for less cost than purchasing one.
I will agree that Filemaker is a great little application for small business, in my experience it just can get to be messy at handling anything big.
What you say is true enough for home usage and general business usage. It's even true for certain business niches (graphic design, video editing, sound design etc.) where the Mac has a strong foothold.
What I would like to know, is are there comparable Enterprise applications available for the Mac? A lot of industries are serviced by very specific software applications, many of which run on Windows. Enterprise wide CRM software on the Mac? How do you handle groupware and collaboration? Accounting, human resources?
I'm not trolling, I'm asking. Does anyone in the Mac market cater to medium and large business applications?
One of the problems I run into, is that most of these applications (even those with a web front end) are not Mac compatible. So typically we have to write custom code to expose these systems to the our Production department (which is on Mac).
Wow! Finally my entire world will look just like the good old Atari 2600!
That's not a duck... it's a dragon!
This is true to a degree. One school I've helped out with switched all of their P2 and P3 classes PCs off of Windows 98 and upgrade to 2000. The main problem is that most of these machines were purchased (and consequently donated to the school) with the minimum amount of memory. Most have 64MB of RAM, a few even have 32MB. Windows 2000 pretty much chokes in this low RAM situation, especially when are running firewall, antivirus and web filtering (site censoring) software. The slower hard drives in these older machines don't help out either. I've seen some of these computers take 15 minutes to boot and a good 5 minutes or more to start a web browser.
Oh, want to upgrade the RAM? Be prepared to pay more for EDO SIMMs or PC100 DIMMs than you would for DDR. Unless you can somehow find a place to scrounge them from. If you are putting RAM and a new hard drive in the computers, you are halfway to the cost of a new machine.
Cannibalizing the total amount of computers and buffing up a few with the best parts can help offset this, but reduces the total number of computers you can get up and running.
Personally, I think it would be better to run a stripped down Linux install or even use the computers as thin clients booting off of a central server. The problem with that is support. You need a knowledgeable volunteer to help out at a typical public school or non-profit. The government isn't going to help.
It's buried right next to BSD, adjacent to the freshly dug grave for World of Warcraft.
High frame rate AND high resolution. It really helps with targetting far away opponents to have the game running at high res.
There is a part of me that thinks this approach when taken to extremes is essentially cheating. Like turning off the dynamic lighting in Doom 3. Sure, it makes it easier to see and kill players - but it changes the deathmatch into something like Quake, rather than the hide in the shadows style.
You mean to say that in Halo 2 tournaments all of the top players whip out their mice?
As far as I've seen, the mice/keyboard adapters for consoles don't work all that well since the console games aiming is programmed differently for use with a controller (i.e. the tap to auto aim).
Sure in PC games no one is using a controller, I wouldn't argue that.
I can't wait. Now some two bit blog "pundit" can rant uninformed opinion in full video style!
Just imagine!
"I, um, think, well, it's like, Podcasting, the um, idea, the meme as it were is like the wave of, um tomorrow, um..... I think that um, it um, would be, um... yeah really cool yeah, um if it, um worked on like the PSP! Then it um would... call it PSPcasting! Yeah, err, um. That's all the time I've, um got. Stay tuned for my next insightful video blog!"
I admit - I love the Model M. I've only had to replace one so far. I intend to keep using one as long as is technologically possible.
It's more than just a keyboard, it's a weapon of self defense!
It's what you are used to. If you started on a dual analog with FPS games you are "wired" for that. Your natural responses are in tune to that controller.
For me playing an FPS on a console, feels like I have mittens on or something. It is awkward and imprecise. This is however, because it's the controller I am used to.
They both have their merits. Consider that the mouse is a much more accurate aiming device, however the controller is much better for setting on the couch type of gaming. We won't see mice and keyboards become standard for consoles, because no one wants a desk and chair blocking the living room TV. The difference is the same reason that there are more two player on a single console games than there are two player on a single computer games. It is the environment that is dictating the controls.
"Where else are you going to plug in your vintage IBM Model M clicky-keyboard?"
Rejoice! Thanks to the miracle of modern technology, now you can use that Model M with a USB only computer!
IBM model M ps/2 cable to USB adapter converter
Warning, link contains pictures of a Mac Mini using a genuine IBM Model M.
This would be true I guess - IF Guild Wars was a true MMO.
I played the beta weekend events and can say that Guild Wars is much more like Diablo. You have the small town areas where everyone hangs out but the game is largely focused on instanced quest areas. Party size is kept low at four maximum in a quest.
Also there is additional cost. Guild Wars is based around a pay for expansion model. They are planning on releasing expansions which add new areas and new character classes. You want to try them out? Pony up the cash.
1. Release Moderately Multiplayer Online game for one time cost of $50.
2. Release additional quest expansions and new content on a pay basis. Players will need to purchase them or be stuck with the same old quests and characters.
3. Profit.
The market wants both. Even if 75% wanted PVP and 25% wanted PVE - Blizzard would alientate the 25% if it didn't offer a choice.
I've played City of Heroes for 10 months, it is strictly PVE. There will be PVP in the future - but most players I know aren't all that interested in it.
So who cares? It's "manly" to be a PVP player? That's about the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Play how you enjoy playing and who cares what someone else enjoys.
And just for the record, winning in an FPS shows a lot more skill than ganking a lowbie in an MMO.
Wow. That is horrible. Of course if they delete your characters I can't imagine WHY anyone would go back.
Currently City of Heroes leaves your account and characters alone when you stop payment. You can start up payment and start playing where you left off.
"230GB/square inch... 80GB/square inch and plan on producing drives with 120GB/square inch soon."
Please note that this is GigaBITS not GigaBYTES.
The cease and desist letter from Electronic Arts is WAY funnier than the original joke.
I can totally visualize the EA legal team in action.
"We've got to jump on this before it impacts shareholder value!"
It's only capable of delivering payloads to LOW Earth orbit.
When is NASA going to give us a viable delivery mechanism!
"I'm hoping you were joking. Please don't ruin it for the rest of us..."
I though this line:
"Then I will never have to worry about scratching my copy of Gigli."
would have been a dead giveaway. Yes, I admit I was joking.
Modern CRTs and video cards can handle resolutions higher than 60Hz. Admittedly some stupid companies ship computers with the refresh rate set to 60. You should be able to run it at 72Hz or higher depending on your monitor, video card and resolution.
I am running 1280x1024 res at 75Hz using a 5 year old video card and monitor.
15 minutes? It's still two HOURs and 10 minutes until noon over here.
And I'm already hungry.
Unreal III announced? I'm waiting for the "Duke Nukem Forever Goes Gold" article!