I don't care much whether they delay or not, but I think what they SHOULD do is shut down the signals on Feb 17th as planned, but only for 24 hours. Then, tell the whiners "ok, we've been warning you for years now, that was your final warning". Then shut it off on the new deadline without any additional delays - because you know there WILL be more complaining when that day rolls around too. Of course, this would all have to also depend on the gov't actually getting those coupons out to everybody - THAT you can't blame them for.
I live in Apalachin, NY - sort of an outskirt of the metropolis of Binghamton, NY. One of my oak trees this year produced more acorns than the 3 oaks in my yard typically produce in a year combined. It was absolutely amazing. We raked up buckets-full of acorns and acorn-related debris (left behind by our now amazingly fat squirrels and chipmunks) several times this fall. We're hunkering down for what we predict to be a long winter.
I can agree that at least to some degree, video games can alter (or at least slightly adjust) a kid's behavior. Although I don't agree that playing a game can turn a kid into a sociopathic murderer, I do think it can adjust a kid's mood - there is definitely a difference in my son after playing too many straight hours of World of Warcraft - he becomes very moody, irritable, talks back (more than usual), etc. Much different than after playing too much Spore, for example.
Even more curious to me is why Google Earth still has such a low-res image of Green Bay, WI (Packers!!), but I can see Cochranton, PA (population: a few dozen or so) clear as crystal. Go figure.
Yeah, but I'm sure may of the other competing countries had 14 and 15 year old gymnasts that could also have competed and likely bested the young Chinese gymnast, but all OTHER countries followed the rules (*gasp!*) and left them at home. Thus, results aside, they still cheated by sending their best, regardless of age, while we sent the best we had within the age restriction.
I first tried GameTap after reading some article online in which the author talked about the rather pleasant experience that GameTap could be - browse a few games, start a download, watch some of their vids, etc., while waiting for your download to finish, etc. After subscribing, I too enjoyed this aspect of it - particularly seeing the "A Day in the Extra Life" vids ("Rick Allen Rocks! Doozh Doozh Doozh!") Then, one day, the client updated itself and all of the built-in, integrated "browsing" features disappeared, and instead of viewing the vids, news, etc., within the client, it simply launched the web browser and took you to their website. For me, this was a prime example of an application "upgrading" in such a way that it totally ruined the "eXPerience" of the application itself. No longer was it a single integrated gaming and news "world", it was now a nice game launching application with a pathetic hook into your web browser. That marked the day that I never did anything with GameTap again - other than simply to play the games. So, as I said - this isn't a big loss - they already shot themselves in the foot by making it harder to reach their news & editorials, so no wonder they are finally dropping it anyway.
Now, if they could only add more games, and return the great games that they once had on their service but then later removed.
Great point and great post. We've been there, done that. It's time for some other country to take their turn at coughing up the money and effort to do some outer space exploration and research for the "benefit of all".
I think this may slightly increase the enrollments in such program, but I think more than anything, it'd just make for some very happy students who were already planning on math/science as a career. However, if it were not limited to the 18-year old high-school grads, this would be a HUGE program for those of us who might be looking to get out of their first careers and back into something new - I would love to move into something like High School programming teacher after I burn out with my 20+ years here as a programmer. And I would do it in a heartbeat if such a deal would pay for my continued education!
Not engrossing? Depends on the game. When I played Homeworld, and jumped back to my Homeworld in chapter 3 to find it destroyed! How can you NOT be engrossed by the rest of the plotline! I haven't ever been so hooked into a game's storyline.
I can say that I often felt the same way you did. I got my BS degree from a very good school, and yes, most of it was theoretical in nature (data structures, algorithms, big-O). While working at my job the last 15 years, I've worked on a wide variety of different projects, all requiring different skills in different areas. For me, this has worked out nicely. I'm glad I had a more general, wide-ranging initial background. I can adapt and learn different things as need be. I feel it makes me more broad and nimble and able to adapt to new projects that have come my way. I, for one, am more than happy that my education focussed more on the theoretical than the ins-and-outs of some particular language. Of course, this is a different path than some would take. I've seen people who work on, for example, file systems, and they have done nothing but work on file systems their whole careers. I'm sure the same would be true of people who work on other software projects, like word processors, spreadsheets, web browsers, and such. Often times I envy them the depth of their knowledge in their particular fields, but wonder if they would flounder if moved out of their element. To each his own. I guess that's a choice you make at some point - be the jack-of-all-trades, or the master of one. It all depends on your own tastes, and what you perceive as your job security down the road. I've learned C and C++, perl, shell scripts, and all the bits of tools here and there that I've needed through the years, and have bought books along the way to learn about other topics I've been curious about (Qt, GTK, Windows Game Programming, and more). One of the best things to come down the pike these last 10 years or so, in my opinion, has been Linux and the whole open source movement. Why? Because once and for all, if you want to know how works, you can simply crack open the source code and see for your self! In short, it's the best self-study tool available to you, and you can learn about ANYTHING you want.
I've definitely seen this seemingly non-random randomness in my own iPod, but not quite to the degree that the author has. I have definitely noticed that although the "shuffle songs" does seem to randomize everything, it will DEFINITELY favor 2 or 3 particular artists after each shuffle. If I happen to start a particular mix, after about the 7th or 8th song or so, I will definitely hear higher-than-"normal" repetition of 2 or 3 of the artists that I've heard in the first opening segments. As to whether or not this is a good thing - depends on who it decides will be its favorites for the day (or for that particular "shuffle session".
Let's push this discussion into the TV arena. 24 is still a fairly decent show, but season by season they've been relying more and more on this type of B.S. technology to the point where I can barely watch the show.
The new show Vanished is that 10 times over. I refuse to watch it anymore, but my wife insists on continuing.
My son learned powerpoint last year in school. He was in 3rd grade.
And you know what? He learned it WITHOUT A LAPTOP!!!!
Cripes - why can't a single computer "lab" in school be enough?? The goal is to learn to read & write and add numbers, not to point, click, and instant message!
Using Pokemon characters, you could create an entirely new game - a new real-time variant of the existing Pokemon battle games - using the "existing" Super Smash Brothers engine - just makes some new battle maps, and create as many Pokemon characters to battle as they have time and memory to create. Not a bad idea, actually.
Although not quite a "crying" moment, I will always remember the first time playing Homeworld. I went into the game blind, not knowing anything about the plot or story line. I have to say I was quite moved and impressed when we made the first hyperspace jump *back* to our original homeworld only to find it unexpectedly totally annihilated, and discovering what the real plot of the game would be.
Wow, hate to say it, but the ad is TERRIBLE. There is no mention of why anyone would use it, how it compares to whatever applications they would use, the cost savings they would realize, and any of the other numerous benefits of such a move. Instead, they are being told that 4 guys long since gone 'would use it'???
I've had and used a ReplayTV recorder from the earliest days when Tivo was just appearing on the map. I, and everyone I've known who have owned ReplayTV's have always thought them the best of the options, given that we can send and share shows with each other (and between rooms in the house) via the internet/network connections.
But yeah, I have to refer to it as a Tivo to anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about.
yes, but Google does not own Firefox, or vice versa. I'm sure the complaint stems from the fact that IE7 and the MSN Search are both owned and operated by Microsoft. Big difference.
I spent a good part of last year doing all of this myself. In all, I think I scanned in the neighborhood of 225 rolls of film and lord knows how many color slides, using a Nikon Coolscan IV negative/slide scanner (and used their included software). All in all it was much more time consuming than difficult. I bought some canned air, gave each strip of negatives a spray, fed it in for a prescan, drew boxes around the desired scan image, and let it fly. A few minutes later, I just selected each image, chose "save" and went on. I think it took me a good 45 minutes, roughly, for each roll of negatives. Took me months to do them all, but it was a good no-brainer to do sitting on the floor in front of the TV with my laptop & scanner each evening. Now, I'm at the point where I've exhausted my negatives and am still getting up the nerve to start scanning in those miscellaneous prints that I have left with no negatives to be found, so I found this thread interesting. All in all, I've been quite happy with the negative & slide scanning. I was personally amazed at how my negatives had deteriorated in quality, etc., even just sitting in their original envelope in a box in the closet. some were very good, some not so good, some had lots of scratches, and some were a mess, stickign to each other and such. I've very glad I decided to bite the bullet and start doing this. Now I'll be looking to borrow my parent's photo albums to scan in the older memories.
Ridiculous prices for the ticket + Ridiculous prices for the snacks + Lousy Movies + If I miss it, it'll be out on DVD next week anyway = Why bother to go?
I think the industry really shot themselves in the foot by rushing the films out to DVD so quickly. They removed the "if you don't see it now, who knows when you'll get your next chance" factor.
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I don't care much whether they delay or not, but I think what they SHOULD do is shut down the signals on Feb 17th as planned, but only for 24 hours. Then, tell the whiners "ok, we've been warning you for years now, that was your final warning". Then shut it off on the new deadline without any additional delays - because you know there WILL be more complaining when that day rolls around too.
Of course, this would all have to also depend on the gov't actually getting those coupons out to everybody - THAT you can't blame them for.
I live in Apalachin, NY - sort of an outskirt of the metropolis of Binghamton, NY. One of my oak trees this year produced more acorns than the 3 oaks in my yard typically produce in a year combined. It was absolutely amazing. We raked up buckets-full of acorns and acorn-related debris (left behind by our now amazingly fat squirrels and chipmunks) several times this fall.
We're hunkering down for what we predict to be a long winter.
I can agree that at least to some degree, video games can alter (or at least slightly adjust) a kid's behavior. Although I don't agree that playing a game can turn a kid into a sociopathic murderer, I do think it can adjust a kid's mood - there is definitely a difference in my son after playing too many straight hours of World of Warcraft - he becomes very moody, irritable, talks back (more than usual), etc. Much different than after playing too much Spore, for example.
Win95, Win98, WinME
Even more curious to me is why Google Earth still has such a low-res image of Green Bay, WI (Packers!!), but I can see Cochranton, PA (population: a few dozen or so) clear as crystal. Go figure.
Yeah, but I'm sure may of the other competing countries had 14 and 15 year old gymnasts that could also have competed and likely bested the young Chinese gymnast, but all OTHER countries followed the rules (*gasp!*) and left them at home. Thus, results aside, they still cheated by sending their best, regardless of age, while we sent the best we had within the age restriction.
I first tried GameTap after reading some article online in which the author talked about the rather pleasant experience that GameTap could be - browse a few games, start a download, watch some of their vids, etc., while waiting for your download to finish, etc. After subscribing, I too enjoyed this aspect of it - particularly seeing the "A Day in the Extra Life" vids ("Rick Allen Rocks! Doozh Doozh Doozh!")
Then, one day, the client updated itself and all of the built-in, integrated "browsing" features disappeared, and instead of viewing the vids, news, etc., within the client, it simply launched the web browser and took you to their website.
For me, this was a prime example of an application "upgrading" in such a way that it totally ruined the "eXPerience" of the application itself. No longer was it a single integrated gaming and news "world", it was now a nice game launching application with a pathetic hook into your web browser. That marked the day that I never did anything with GameTap again - other than simply to play the games.
So, as I said - this isn't a big loss - they already shot themselves in the foot by making it harder to reach their news & editorials, so no wonder they are finally dropping it anyway.
Now, if they could only add more games, and return the great games that they once had on their service but then later removed.
Great point and great post.
We've been there, done that.
It's time for some other country to take their turn at coughing up the money and effort to do some outer space exploration and research for the "benefit of all".
I think this may slightly increase the enrollments in such program, but I think more than anything, it'd just make for some very happy students who were already planning on math/science as a career.
However, if it were not limited to the 18-year old high-school grads, this would be a HUGE program for those of us who might be looking to get out of their first careers and back into something new - I would love to move into something like High School programming teacher after I burn out with my 20+ years here as a programmer. And I would do it in a heartbeat if such a deal would pay for my continued education!
Wake me up in 2018 when this might be "news". If the target were 2010 or 2012, I might care.
Not engrossing? Depends on the game. When I played Homeworld, and jumped back to my Homeworld in chapter 3 to find it destroyed! How can you NOT be engrossed by the rest of the plotline! I haven't ever been so hooked into a game's storyline.
Enough with the Civ follow-ons! Time for Alpha Centauri 2!
I can say that I often felt the same way you did. I got my BS degree from a very good school, and yes, most of it was theoretical in nature (data structures, algorithms, big-O). While working at my job the last 15 years, I've worked on a wide variety of different projects, all requiring different skills in different areas. For me, this has worked out nicely. I'm glad I had a more general, wide-ranging initial background. I can adapt and learn different things as need be. I feel it makes me more broad and nimble and able to adapt to new projects that have come my way. I, for one, am more than happy that my education focussed more on the theoretical than the ins-and-outs of some particular language.
Of course, this is a different path than some would take. I've seen people who work on, for example, file systems, and they have done nothing but work on file systems their whole careers. I'm sure the same would be true of people who work on other software projects, like word processors, spreadsheets, web browsers, and such. Often times I envy them the depth of their knowledge in their particular fields, but wonder if they would flounder if moved out of their element.
To each his own. I guess that's a choice you make at some point - be the jack-of-all-trades, or the master of one. It all depends on your own tastes, and what you perceive as your job security down the road.
I've learned C and C++, perl, shell scripts, and all the bits of tools here and there that I've needed through the years, and have bought books along the way to learn about other topics I've been curious about (Qt, GTK, Windows Game Programming, and more). One of the best things to come down the pike these last 10 years or so, in my opinion, has been Linux and the whole open source movement. Why? Because once and for all, if you want to know how works, you can simply crack open the source code and see for your self! In short, it's the best self-study tool available to you, and you can learn about ANYTHING you want.
I've definitely seen this seemingly non-random randomness in my own iPod, but not quite to the degree that the author has. I have definitely noticed that although the "shuffle songs" does seem to randomize everything, it will DEFINITELY favor 2 or 3 particular artists after each shuffle. If I happen to start a particular mix, after about the 7th or 8th song or so, I will definitely hear higher-than-"normal" repetition of 2 or 3 of the artists that I've heard in the first opening segments.
As to whether or not this is a good thing - depends on who it decides will be its favorites for the day (or for that particular "shuffle session".
Let's push this discussion into the TV arena.
24 is still a fairly decent show, but season by season they've been relying more and more on this type of B.S. technology to the point where I can barely watch the show.
The new show Vanished is that 10 times over. I refuse to watch it anymore, but my wife insists on continuing.
Big deal. The dryer that came with my washing machine didn't even come with a POWER CABLE! How freakin' stupid is that??
My son learned powerpoint last year in school. He was in 3rd grade.
And you know what? He learned it WITHOUT A LAPTOP!!!!
Cripes - why can't a single computer "lab" in school be enough?? The goal is to learn to read & write and add numbers, not to point, click, and instant message!
Using Pokemon characters, you could create an entirely new game - a new real-time variant of the existing Pokemon battle games - using the "existing" Super Smash Brothers engine - just makes some new battle maps, and create as many Pokemon characters to battle as they have time and memory to create. Not a bad idea, actually.
Although not quite a "crying" moment, I will always remember the first time playing Homeworld. I went into the game blind, not knowing anything about the plot or story line. I have to say I was quite moved and impressed when we made the first hyperspace jump *back* to our original homeworld only to find it unexpectedly totally annihilated, and discovering what the real plot of the game would be.
Wow, hate to say it, but the ad is TERRIBLE. There is no mention of why anyone would use it, how it compares to whatever applications they would use, the cost savings they would realize, and any of the other numerous benefits of such a move. Instead, they are being told that 4 guys long since gone 'would use it'???
WASTE OF MONEY
I've had and used a ReplayTV recorder from the earliest days when Tivo was just appearing on the map. I, and everyone I've known who have owned ReplayTV's have always thought them the best of the options, given that we can send and share shows with each other (and between rooms in the house) via the internet/network connections.
But yeah, I have to refer to it as a Tivo to anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about.
yes, but Google does not own Firefox, or vice versa. I'm sure the complaint stems from the fact that IE7 and the MSN Search are both owned and operated by Microsoft. Big difference.
I spent a good part of last year doing all of this myself. In all, I think I scanned in the neighborhood of 225 rolls of film and lord knows how many color slides, using a Nikon Coolscan IV negative/slide scanner (and used their included software). All in all it was much more time consuming than difficult. I bought some canned air, gave each strip of negatives a spray, fed it in for a prescan, drew boxes around the desired scan image, and let it fly. A few minutes later, I just selected each image, chose "save" and went on. I think it took me a good 45 minutes, roughly, for each roll of negatives. Took me months to do them all, but it was a good no-brainer to do sitting on the floor in front of the TV with my laptop & scanner each evening.
Now, I'm at the point where I've exhausted my negatives and am still getting up the nerve to start scanning in those miscellaneous prints that I have left with no negatives to be found, so I found this thread interesting.
All in all, I've been quite happy with the negative & slide scanning. I was personally amazed at how my negatives had deteriorated in quality, etc., even just sitting in their original envelope in a box in the closet. some were very good, some not so good, some had lots of scratches, and some were a mess, stickign to each other and such. I've very glad I decided to bite the bullet and start doing this. Now I'll be looking to borrow my parent's photo albums to scan in the older memories.
From the website: What happens when Tron meets Depeche Mode? Surprisingly, a pretty stunning home-made edit by Justin Alt. http://www.transbuddha.com/index.php/buddha/suffer _well/
Seeing this made me appreciate the song much more, and rekindled my interest in Tron again.
Ridiculous prices for the ticket +
Ridiculous prices for the snacks +
Lousy Movies +
If I miss it, it'll be out on DVD next week anyway =
Why bother to go?
I think the industry really shot themselves in the foot by rushing the films out to DVD so quickly. They removed the "if you don't see it now, who knows when you'll get your next chance" factor.