Who cares about the brand lock-in aspect of this story; that's exactly what I would expect. What about the mindset behind it? I defy someone to tell me how an expensive new laptop would have been even remotely useful to me for my degree in languages and literature. Typing up essays? Is that worth $2000 to someone living off part-time work and student loans?
When I was in university, I got by just fine with a PII desktop system that I had for years. Allowed me to check my e-mail and ran Office 97 fine. Now that I have a job, I have a more expensive computer that allows me to play games. Why on earth would I have needed an expensive laptop?
What does this mean?
The notebook initiative gives us an opportunity to use technology to support learner-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered and community-centered learning environments. It is a window of opportunity for true innovation. Lenovo ThinkPad will be an excellent partner in our strategies to expand the learning environment of ISU.
What on earth is 'community-centred learning'? How does it help me write my paper on Tolstoy? Forcing students to buy laptops is so utterly arrogant; it's management droids buying into the latest hype.
You want to improve learning? How about making attendance mandatory? How about attacking plagiarism? How about reducing tuition fees? I had to work 20 hours a week to pay for my education; wouldn't those 20 hours have been better spent studying? Isn't that a bit more 'learner-centred'? Bah.
Your idea is very much like one I thought up a little while ago. I propose an alarm clock that plays a tune from a set of four notes, a la Simon Says. To turn the alarm off, you have to hit buttons to reproduce that tune. Same principle as your idea.
Nastier idea would be some sort of Mastermind alarm clock.
Had a problem like this recently at a public reference library. They had a rent-a-cop posted at the door searching the bags of everyone exiting. He asked, 'May I look in your bag, sir?' I said, 'No, sorry.' and kept walking. Guy started yelling at me, to the effect that I am not allowed back in the library, that sort of thing.
Well, of course, I had gone out only for 20 minutes and came back in (entrance is seperate from the exit, so he didn't see me), but on my way out again, he stepped in front of me and said, 'You are not leaving until you open your bag.' I replied 'Wrong. I'm leaving. Call the police if you like.' More yelling ensued.
A public library! I was there with my (mortified) girlfriend, who happily opened her bag twice. The worst part is that their 'examination' of the bags are so cursory as to be useless. My girlfriend had four books in her bag from another library, indistinguishable without removing and examining them. But she gets waved by. They have a magnetic-strip-beeping-system-thingie, so what's the point? Better to post those goofs somewhere where they can prevent real damage and loss to the library: making sure that people don't bring food in. While I was there--I'm not making this up--I saw a guy with a whole Big Mac meal pawing through a stack of journals from the thirties. Gimmie a break!
if you have broadband and the ability to play video in Apple's favorite format, you can check it out. I'm 0 for 2, so I guess I'll wait.
Uhh... Am I the only one here who finds it hard to believe that CmdrTaco doesn't have broadband access? Is he really using dial-up to run Slashdot?
Re:Leftist Propaganda **SPOILERS**
on
Minority Report
·
· Score: 1
I also love the fact that our precog friends decide to live on a farm at the end where they can read books. Because as every good bleeding heart liberal knows, technology and society are evil. Please.
Dude, I didn't like the movie at all, but the idea of them being on the farm was that that way they wouldn't be bothered by constant visions of murder any longer. IIRC, they had a range of 200km, or some such thing, so by removing them from society they are finally able to live in peace. This is hardly the bleeding-heart propoganda you would like to see.
the sad truth is, it's just like the tobacco companies: they're just too big and no _real_ change will happen until some major players (i.e. states) become involved.
Small caveat - when you say "by making such an advanced and neat-o engine (if it is all it is hyped to be), ID is improving the quality of ALL FPS games." that's not actually true. ID is improving the GRAPHICAL quality of all FPS games.
Big difference.
Ok, point taken, but the graphical quality of FPS games is significant. These games depend heavily on realism. Don't get me wrong, however: gameplay is still numero uno.
First it comes out that multiplayer will be de-emphasized in D3. Then it's basically said that in order to display it properly you need to shell out $300 on a video card. I'll be more interested in Unreal 2. At least they actually care about what the PC gamer wants.
I play games on the PC. Am I a PC gamer? I like single-player games. I'm quite excited about Doom III's focus being on single-player. I am quite likely to buy it, and to spend whatever I need to be able to run it properly.
I remember the first two Dooms fondly because they were engrossing single-player games. Quake I was good as well, but Quake II, Arena and games like Unreal, etc. catered to the multi-player crowd. Fine, that's what some people want, but not me.
I think the main reason that I don't like multiplayer FPS games is that I suck. My friends (when we can co-ordinate something) kick my ass, and I get tired really quickly of having my ass fragged on the net by some 14 year-old who runs circles around me. I don't have my whole life to devote to improving my Quake skills. Therefore, I like to play single-player, where I can set my own handicap.
Moreover, there is a real repetitiveness to deathmatch-type games, IMHO. Give me something engrossing, like Half Life was.
As for the complaint about a $300 video card, well:
a/ games like this are graphics-dependent and I would rather have mind-blowing graphics and realism than have it suck because they want to be backwards-compatible with your Voodoo 1 card **
b/ you are going to use this $300 for more than Doom III, because
c/ by making such an advanced and neat-o engine (if it is all it is hyped to be), ID is improving the quality of ALL FPS games. First, they are raising the bar for their competitors and second, many will license their technology. Maybe even some people who will make a nice multi-player FPS for people like you.
Therefore, I think you should retract your silly comments and support what ID is doing for the good of gamers everywhere.:)
** Don't knock me for this, I play Nethack too, and I posted my YAFAP today, for those who would like to congratulate me.:)
Someone needs to clue Katz into the fact that things don't change. Nothing ever has and nothing ever will. Why, why, WHY does Slashdot keep running this crap that's revelatory and insightful only to 14 year olds?
Science in Comic Books James Kakalios, Physics Phys 1905, section 4 (#28788) 2 credits T 2:30 - 4:25 p.m., FordH 155
How much energy is required to cause the planet Krypton to explode? If you were born on a more massive planet, would you be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound here on Earth? Using concepts and characters from comic books, this class will explore basic notions of physics, chemistry, and biology. In addition to identifying scientific bloopers, we will discuss those cases where the comic creators got the science right. Requires high school algebra and geometry.
</karma whore>
Two hours a week. Seems pretty easy to me, and that's coming from an artsy-type who took a course at the University of Toronto called "The Magic of Physics". I like easy credits.
I mean, if I am trapped for days under a building after an earthquake and a rat scampers up to me and says "THIS IS THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. REMAIN CALM!", I might think that the end was nigh.
I was in pretty much exactly the same situation as the parent poster. You are making some assumptions about the functioning of the call centre. The place I worked -- a large, blue corporation-- offered 24/7 tech support. We dealt strictly with business customers. My shifts were from 9pm to 8am, and I would take 4-5 calls during that period, usually at the butt-ends of my days. Occasionally a call would come in in the middle of the night. What was the cost to the corporation? The salaries of 3-4 guys overnight. Don't you think that that measly sum is worth the ability to boast 24/7 coverage? Don't assume that staffing levels are as high as during peak periods. We had 60-80 guys on during business hours. It would be "bloat" to have that many on the night shift, I agree.
It's entirely cost-effective for them to pay us to be there doing nothing. What else should we have been doing? Cleaning the floors? Dusting monitors? Coding new software?
We played games; it was the sole benefit of working ungodly hours. I liked it.
Letting your staff waste their free time 7 hours (or whatever) a night of vid game playing is a corporate strategy that will eventually land your company out of business, and all of your happy nightshift guys out of jobs.
One of four things will happen to you. 1) your client will tighten their belt, and go with a strategy that only has the 3 people working, and deal with the reduced customer service level. 2) your client will hire a smaller group of people to handle the business themselves, and bring it inhouse 3) another company who staffs 15 people will make a bid to only charge your customer for 4 or 5 people, and your customer will leave. 4) your customer that is stupid enough to pay you for bloat staff will go out of business
Of course, this means that I will no longer be able to use my laptop when I am drunk. The plus side of this is no more drunken e-mails to friends, girlfriends, co-workers, professors, etc.
Slashdot Mirror
When I was in university, I got by just fine with a PII desktop system that I had for years. Allowed me to check my e-mail and ran Office 97 fine. Now that I have a job, I have a more expensive computer that allows me to play games. Why on earth would I have needed an expensive laptop?
What does this mean?
The notebook initiative gives us an opportunity to use technology to support learner-centered, knowledge-centered, assessment-centered and community-centered learning environments. It is a window of opportunity for true innovation. Lenovo ThinkPad will be an excellent partner in our strategies to expand the learning environment of ISU.
What on earth is 'community-centred learning'? How does it help me write my paper on Tolstoy? Forcing students to buy laptops is so utterly arrogant; it's management droids buying into the latest hype.
You want to improve learning? How about making attendance mandatory? How about attacking plagiarism? How about reducing tuition fees? I had to work 20 hours a week to pay for my education; wouldn't those 20 hours have been better spent studying? Isn't that a bit more 'learner-centred'? Bah.
Your idea is very much like one I thought up a little while ago. I propose an alarm clock that plays a tune from a set of four notes, a la Simon Says. To turn the alarm off, you have to hit buttons to reproduce that tune. Same principle as your idea.
Nastier idea would be some sort of Mastermind alarm clock.
Had a problem like this recently at a public reference library. They had a rent-a-cop posted at the door searching the bags of everyone exiting. He asked, 'May I look in your bag, sir?' I said, 'No, sorry.' and kept walking. Guy started yelling at me, to the effect that I am not allowed back in the library, that sort of thing.
Well, of course, I had gone out only for 20 minutes and came back in (entrance is seperate from the exit, so he didn't see me), but on my way out again, he stepped in front of me and said, 'You are not leaving until you open your bag.' I replied 'Wrong. I'm leaving. Call the police if you like.' More yelling ensued.
A public library! I was there with my (mortified) girlfriend, who happily opened her bag twice. The worst part is that their 'examination' of the bags are so cursory as to be useless. My girlfriend had four books in her bag from another library, indistinguishable without removing and examining them. But she gets waved by. They have a magnetic-strip-beeping-system-thingie, so what's the point? Better to post those goofs somewhere where they can prevent real damage and loss to the library: making sure that people don't bring food in. While I was there--I'm not making this up--I saw a guy with a whole Big Mac meal pawing through a stack of journals from the thirties. Gimmie a break!
Bah.
He forgot one important tech support type: the CMOS drainer.
'Hmmm, sir, it seems like the best solution is for you to drain your CMOS. Do that, and call back in 40 mins if it's still not working.'
More great quotations from Philip.
My personal favourite, said to the President of Nigeria, who greeted him in traditional African dress:
'You look like you're ready for bed!'
I'm sorry, but 'sustainable' biking is, I think, WAY down the list of the earth's major environmental concerns. Come on!
if you have broadband and the ability to play video in Apple's favorite format, you can check it out. I'm 0 for 2, so I guess I'll wait.
Uhh... Am I the only one here who finds it hard to believe that CmdrTaco doesn't have broadband access? Is he really using dial-up to run Slashdot?
I also love the fact that our precog friends decide to live on a farm at the end where they can read books. Because as every good bleeding heart liberal knows, technology and society are evil. Please.
Dude, I didn't like the movie at all, but the idea of them being on the farm was that that way they wouldn't be bothered by constant visions of murder any longer. IIRC, they had a range of 200km, or some such thing, so by removing them from society they are finally able to live in peace. This is hardly the bleeding-heart propoganda you would like to see.
The Matrix was probably the closest we'll ever get to a thinking man's movie, and I heard somewhere that even that was dumbed down a tad
The idea that The Matrix was an intelligent movie is insulting to the Spalding Grays among us.
the sad truth is, it's just like the tobacco companies: they're just too big and no _real_ change will happen until some major players (i.e. states) become involved.
What's wrong with tobacco companies?
Perhaps its more widespread in canada.
t ory/html / ignorthbroadband.jhtml
See:
http://www.cid.alcatel.com/doctypes/leads
16% penetration here for broadband of some kind or another.
This sounds like a mixture of two of my least favourite CBC programs. Which wouldn't surprise me, knowing CBC executives.
Small caveat - when you say "by making such an advanced and neat-o engine (if it is all it is hyped to be), ID is improving the quality of ALL FPS games." that's not actually true. ID is improving the GRAPHICAL quality of all FPS games.
Big difference.
Ok, point taken, but the graphical quality of FPS games is significant. These games depend heavily on realism. Don't get me wrong, however: gameplay is still numero uno.
Carmack has Ferraris (plural). There was a contest a few years back sponsored by MPlayer where you could win one of them.
Hmmm... You could be right, as I am often wrong. I am also something of a dick: Romero got his first.
So some hotshot Ferrari-drivin' game developer who makes more money than God likes to buy video cards every week to compare 'em?
Wrong John from ID software. Romero had the Ferrari, not Carmack, and it may still be for sale, for all we know. Would you like to be that hot-shot?
First it comes out that multiplayer will be de-emphasized in D3. Then it's basically said that in order to display it properly you need to shell out $300 on a video card. I'll be more interested in Unreal 2. At least they actually care about what the PC gamer wants.
:)
:)
I play games on the PC. Am I a PC gamer? I like single-player games. I'm quite excited about Doom III's focus being on single-player. I am quite likely to buy it, and to spend whatever I need to be able to run it properly.
I remember the first two Dooms fondly because they were engrossing single-player games. Quake I was good as well, but Quake II, Arena and games like Unreal, etc. catered to the multi-player crowd. Fine, that's what some people want, but not me.
I think the main reason that I don't like multiplayer FPS games is that I suck. My friends (when we can co-ordinate something) kick my ass, and I get tired really quickly of having my ass fragged on the net by some 14 year-old who runs circles around me. I don't have my whole life to devote to improving my Quake skills. Therefore, I like to play single-player, where I can set my own handicap.
Moreover, there is a real repetitiveness to deathmatch-type games, IMHO. Give me something engrossing, like Half Life was.
As for the complaint about a $300 video card, well:
a/ games like this are graphics-dependent and I would rather have mind-blowing graphics and realism than have it suck because they want to be backwards-compatible with your Voodoo 1 card **
b/ you are going to use this $300 for more than Doom III, because
c/ by making such an advanced and neat-o engine (if it is all it is hyped to be), ID is improving the quality of ALL FPS games. First, they are raising the bar for their competitors and second, many will license their technology. Maybe even some people who will make a nice multi-player FPS for people like you.
Therefore, I think you should retract your silly comments and support what ID is doing for the good of gamers everywhere.
** Don't knock me for this, I play Nethack too, and I posted my YAFAP today, for those who would like to congratulate me.
I don't understand how any laws passed in Europe prevent one from spamming Europeans from another location.
It's as though I decreed that the sun shall shine every day over my house. It's not really within my jurisdiction.
Someone needs to clue Katz into the fact that things don't change. Nothing ever has and nothing ever will. Why, why, WHY does Slashdot keep running this crap that's revelatory and insightful only to 14 year olds?
Bugger.
Prof. Kakalios himself wrote an op-ed piece for the Minnesota Star-Tribune here
There's a bit more info here.
The course description:
Science in Comic Books
James Kakalios, Physics
Phys 1905, section 4 (#28788)
2 credits
T 2:30 - 4:25 p.m., FordH 155
How much energy is required to cause the planet Krypton to explode? If you were born on a more massive planet, would you be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound here on Earth? Using concepts and characters from comic books, this class will explore basic notions of physics, chemistry, and biology. In addition to identifying scientific bloopers, we will discuss those cases where the comic creators got the science right. Requires high school algebra and geometry.
</karma whore>
Two hours a week. Seems pretty easy to me, and that's coming from an artsy-type who took a course at the University of Toronto called "The Magic of Physics". I like easy credits.
How in the HELL is this redundant???
[snip remainder of bitching]
Maybe the problem is that there is no moderation option for (-1, Karma Whoring).
It doesn't seem likely that H-f**king-P is going to get slashdotted, does it?
Get off your high horse.
Are they equipped with mics and cameras?
I mean, if I am trapped for days under a building after an earthquake and a rat scampers up to me and says "THIS IS THE FIRE DEPARTMENT. REMAIN CALM!", I might think that the end was nigh.
I was in pretty much exactly the same situation as the parent poster. You are making some assumptions about the functioning of the call centre. The place I worked -- a large, blue corporation-- offered 24/7 tech support. We dealt strictly with business customers. My shifts were from 9pm to 8am, and I would take 4-5 calls during that period, usually at the butt-ends of my days. Occasionally a call would come in in the middle of the night. What was the cost to the corporation? The salaries of 3-4 guys overnight. Don't you think that that measly sum is worth the ability to boast 24/7 coverage? Don't assume that staffing levels are as high as during peak periods. We had 60-80 guys on during business hours. It would be "bloat" to have that many on the night shift, I agree.
It's entirely cost-effective for them to pay us to be there doing nothing. What else should we have been doing? Cleaning the floors? Dusting monitors? Coding new software?
We played games; it was the sole benefit of working ungodly hours. I liked it.
Letting your staff waste their free time 7 hours (or whatever) a night of vid game playing is a corporate strategy that will eventually land your company out of business, and all of your happy nightshift guys out of jobs.
One of four things will happen to you.
1) your client will tighten their belt, and go with a strategy that only has the 3 people working, and deal with the reduced customer service level.
2) your client will hire a smaller group of people to handle the business themselves, and bring it inhouse
3) another company who staffs 15 people will make a bid to only charge your customer for 4 or 5 people, and your customer will leave.
4) your customer that is stupid enough to pay you for bloat staff will go out of business
I can get through and hour of programming in 45 minutes
Wow! Think of all the time you've saved!
This story has been posted purely to satisfy those who complain that Slashdot is not News for Nerds anymore.
Of course, this means that I will no longer be able to use my laptop when I am drunk. The plus side of this is no more drunken e-mails to friends, girlfriends, co-workers, professors, etc.