Just a quick glance at my Wii U and it does not have an ethernet port on it, though I have the budget model so I can't say if the other variant does or not (wikipedia is also no help here).
Should also mention that even though both versions have essentially abysmal storage space, the console does support external HDD's for downloads, not sure if that applies to the older Wii stuff though.
The Wii U will play pretty much anything Wii, including downloadable Wii software (though you have to launch a virtual wii console to even access that store). The only real functionality lost (that I am aware of) is backwards compatibility with gamecube games, though I remember reading somewhere that they might put ports of gamecube games up for download at some point.
I picked up a Wii U recently and have been enjoying it, even if I really only play Mario and Scribblenauts on it.
Everyone knows that aliens' eyes "see" in the radio part of the spectrum and broadcast signals in what we consider the "visible light" portion of the spectrum.
All those stars we see in the sky are actually alien equivalents of Jersey Shore broadcasts.
I would definately second this. These types of degrees are essentially vocational programs with a liberal arts wrapper that dilute the value of core academic degrees. I would also suspect that these degrees help drive demand for college level education and contribute to some of the inflation in tuition.
Of course there is also a mindset among students (at least coworkers that I've talked to about education, anecdotal, yet a large enough sample that I would be willing to make a testable hypothesis out of it) that you should pick a degree plan specifically focused on the career you want, rather than picking a degree plan based on interest and the skillset that level of education would give you.
One recent coworker I discussed this with was looking at a degree plan similar to the one in TFS, it was so tightly focused to the one specific career he wanted that even the liberal arts wrapper was weak. Given that it was tech related he would have been better off with a 4-year degree in electrical engineering, as the EE would have still qualified him for the job and given him a skill set that most of his peers in the career probably wouldn't have. Not to mention, that he could branch out into other careers with the EE.
uhhh... Xenoblade was NOT a continuation of those games, in fact it's original name didn't even have "Xeno" in it.
Also, Xenosaga was not a continuation of Xenogears (more of a spiritual successor due to similar themes, although episode 1 did also include similar combat mechanics).
Really, the only reason this is even considered a series is that Tetsuya Takahashi was involved in the production of all of them and that they have the prefix "Xeno" in each title. I can see Xenogears and Xenosaga being lumped together, but Xenoblade is a far departure from those.
Almost forgot, long drawn out campaigns would probably have to end, for that system to work at all.
Additional consideration: remove any names/party affiliation from the documents presented to the voters. Let them vote for a pseudonym or number based on a matter of public record alone.
I like #2 and #5, especially when we start talking third parties and the usual rhetoric that "a vote for third party candidate x is a vote for major party candidate I don't like". With this kind of system you can vote for a third party while at the same time voting against a major party and would (hopefully) shut those people up and even get some of them to vote third party.
I've even been reconsidering the merits of having a popular vote for certain offices, not sure if returning to our old system would be a good answer, but I do feel there needs to be some sort of reform. One consderation I had was to randomly select a sample of voters from the population and sequester them for a period of time (similar to jury duty) and entrust the vote to them. Complete media black out for the voters, and every speech, voting record, biography, tax statements, etc made available to the voters (and made public for accountability). Sure there are still ways the system could be abused, but every system can be abused.
Actually, having just moved back to the states from Japan, while it is certainly not something that is eaten daily (as it's fairly expensive), it is quite easy to find and actually quite tasty;)
"Crap, my teacher in high school told us we would never EVER use this stuff!"
And for most people, he was probably right. Of course, to tell everyone that they were never going to use it is another matter.
Which to me is apalling. For a teacher to state something like that just reinforces any disinterest students may already have for the topic, especially considering at that age most people have no idea what field(s) they will end up working in.
I spent a bit of last year working in my organizations training department, this included updating many of our internal training materials and occasionally giving said training. The use of Mathematics is fairly commonplace where I work, even if it generally does not go beyond a high school level (most positions do not require a college degree). Seeing that many of my coworkers Math skills were fairly weak and being a Math major, I decided to put some together a brief refresher on High School level Mathematics.
When I got to the section on Trigonometry (each section included practical examples of where and how we would apply each type of math), one of my coworkers blurted out: "Crap, my teacher in high school told us we would never EVER use this stuff!"
Of course, that doesn't mean there isn't the potential for something going wrong with GMO (or any other technology), but the case of the cows had nothing to do with GMO.
I've almost given up on the NHL. Having just moved back to the states I was hoping to catch a Sabres game or two this season... but there is no season =(
When and where in Japan were you? I just moved back to the states from Japan, and while certainly many kids play video games, so do many adults. People in suits heading to work playing Monster Hunter on their PSPs. Arcades full of adults with only a couple kids playing Namco's Taiko game in the corner.
Sure, not every adult is into games, but not every adult is into games here either. Of course we also have adults here that think video games are just children's toys and will buy GTA for their kid while complaining about the violence in these children's toys.
I have no complaints with OpenGL specifically, sure it's had a few bumps along the way, but nothing like the chaos that was Direct3D when it first came out. I just doubt we will ever have a single standard for ANYTHING. One may be a de-facto standard, but someone will always have another way of doing things.
Though from a consumer perspective (gaming on my windows box, not on my linux box), at this point it's really up to the developers which API to use. The hardware in my gaming machine supports both standards, my OS supports both standards, and as a consumer I can pretty much ignore the whole OpenGL/Direct3D debate as in the current marketplace anything I buy will just work.
As a tech enthusiast I like OpenGL, it's cross platform, allows for extensions and rolls common extensions into new releases.
As a consumer I don't care which one as long as it just works. I choose the windows platform for gaming because at this time it supports both standards, so the option is up to the developer. I own a blu-ray player because it lets me watch both blu-ray discs AND DVDs (of course with the number of optical drives in my house at this point in life, it really doesn't matter). I own a tape measure with both metric and imperial units.
Basically, as a consumer, I'm going to go wherever the most benefit is, even if tech side of me has a preference. (OpenGL > Direct3D, Linux > Windows, MS Office > OpenOffice and LibreOffice - ok, now that might be flamebait;) )
As far as digital goods go, I really think it depends on the type of game we're talking about. Most MMOs (granted, I haven't played one in quite some time) don't sell items to players (outside of perhaps cosmetic items in some of the free to play ones, correct me if I'm wrong - I've only played AC, WoW, EVE and Warhammer), but players can (often black market) sell items earned in game through normal gameplay. This I'm completely cool with. I don't really have a complaint with free to play models that sell only cosmetic items, or if they do sell gameplay related items, that those items can be acquired in game without too much trouble (and I agree with the whole first sale and ability to trade thing). The modern quarter sinks that want you to keep pumping money into them on your phone, facebook, whatever really need to go.
I get the same impression, and while there is certainly value in making those reminders, they don't necessarily need to involve public shaming. At the same time, no one is perfect and I know I certainly have made public examples when I should done it in private (with a general public followup, yeah the rest of the team doesn't hear the personal ass chewing, but they still know it happened). Plus as the cliche goes, hindsight is always 20/20.
Though I have also been in situations where there wasn't the convenience of a private ass chewing, given the medium in this case, he probably could have sent off a private, direct, stern e-mail quickly followed up by a brief yet stern public reminder. Of course everyone still knows what happened and knows the ass chewing occured, but the ugliness of it isn't public, and the guy getting his ass chewed gets to save some face.
Of course it also takes some sense on the other end to realize that if all you're getting is an ass chewing, that means you're considered a valued member of the team, especially if it takes a few interactions to get to that point;)
This applies to pretty much everything, not just software development; even flipping burgers at McDonalds!
(ok, now look, when this little red light here changes into this particular shape, place the metal thingy under the meat thingy and snap your wrist, then press this little button).
Disclaimer: while I have served time in fast food, never at McDonalds, and the above may not accurately represent their standard procedures.
That type of conversation should never be public. I feel the same way about the particular e-mail thread being discussed, if an outburst is necessary, it should not be public, primarily for the reasons that have turned this into a 300+ comment thread. Though I also agree with the statement "if he is not strong enough to fight you he will fire you" as being the lead of any team doesn't separate you from the team, but rather makes you the most important part of the team, and if you can't work with someone, then either the team can't work with them, or you won't be able to lead the rest of the team.
I also accept that in some circles you may have that freedom, in others you may not have that freedom, and being able to tailor your approach to that person becomes essential. I will also admit that it's not easy. I've certainly had to do a lot of growing over the last few years, sometimes in ways I loathed or didn't expect, but I'm certainly grateful for the experience.
Slashdot Mirror
Just a quick glance at my Wii U and it does not have an ethernet port on it, though I have the budget model so I can't say if the other variant does or not (wikipedia is also no help here).
Should also mention that even though both versions have essentially abysmal storage space, the console does support external HDD's for downloads, not sure if that applies to the older Wii stuff though.
The Wii U will play pretty much anything Wii, including downloadable Wii software (though you have to launch a virtual wii console to even access that store). The only real functionality lost (that I am aware of) is backwards compatibility with gamecube games, though I remember reading somewhere that they might put ports of gamecube games up for download at some point.
I picked up a Wii U recently and have been enjoying it, even if I really only play Mario and Scribblenauts on it.
Everyone knows that aliens' eyes "see" in the radio part of the spectrum and broadcast signals in what we consider the "visible light" portion of the spectrum.
All those stars we see in the sky are actually alien equivalents of Jersey Shore broadcasts.
I would definately second this. These types of degrees are essentially vocational programs with a liberal arts wrapper that dilute the value of core academic degrees. I would also suspect that these degrees help drive demand for college level education and contribute to some of the inflation in tuition.
Of course there is also a mindset among students (at least coworkers that I've talked to about education, anecdotal, yet a large enough sample that I would be willing to make a testable hypothesis out of it) that you should pick a degree plan specifically focused on the career you want, rather than picking a degree plan based on interest and the skillset that level of education would give you.
One recent coworker I discussed this with was looking at a degree plan similar to the one in TFS, it was so tightly focused to the one specific career he wanted that even the liberal arts wrapper was weak. Given that it was tech related he would have been better off with a 4-year degree in electrical engineering, as the EE would have still qualified him for the job and given him a skill set that most of his peers in the career probably wouldn't have. Not to mention, that he could branch out into other careers with the EE.
It's actually pretty easy to do in calculus!
uhhh... Xenoblade was NOT a continuation of those games, in fact it's original name didn't even have "Xeno" in it.
Also, Xenosaga was not a continuation of Xenogears (more of a spiritual successor due to similar themes, although episode 1 did also include similar combat mechanics).
Really, the only reason this is even considered a series is that Tetsuya Takahashi was involved in the production of all of them and that they have the prefix "Xeno" in each title. I can see Xenogears and Xenosaga being lumped together, but Xenoblade is a far departure from those.
Frustrating? yes.
Entertaining? also yes! ;)
Almost forgot, long drawn out campaigns would probably have to end, for that system to work at all.
Additional consideration: remove any names/party affiliation from the documents presented to the voters. Let them vote for a pseudonym or number based on a matter of public record alone.
I like #2 and #5, especially when we start talking third parties and the usual rhetoric that "a vote for third party candidate x is a vote for major party candidate I don't like". With this kind of system you can vote for a third party while at the same time voting against a major party and would (hopefully) shut those people up and even get some of them to vote third party.
I've even been reconsidering the merits of having a popular vote for certain offices, not sure if returning to our old system would be a good answer, but I do feel there needs to be some sort of reform. One consderation I had was to randomly select a sample of voters from the population and sequester them for a period of time (similar to jury duty) and entrust the vote to them. Complete media black out for the voters, and every speech, voting record, biography, tax statements, etc made available to the voters (and made public for accountability). Sure there are still ways the system could be abused, but every system can be abused.
A hooker? maybe.
20 hookers? probably not.
Look at it as an investment.
I wish I hadn't just spent my last mod point on another thread.
Actually, having just moved back to the states from Japan, while it is certainly not something that is eaten daily (as it's fairly expensive), it is quite easy to find and actually quite tasty ;)
"Crap, my teacher in high school told us we would never EVER use this stuff!"
And for most people, he was probably right. Of course, to tell everyone that they were never going to use it is another matter.
Which to me is apalling. For a teacher to state something like that just reinforces any disinterest students may already have for the topic, especially considering at that age most people have no idea what field(s) they will end up working in.
Related anecdote:
I spent a bit of last year working in my organizations training department, this included updating many of our internal training materials and occasionally giving said training. The use of Mathematics is fairly commonplace where I work, even if it generally does not go beyond a high school level (most positions do not require a college degree). Seeing that many of my coworkers Math skills were fairly weak and being a Math major, I decided to put some together a brief refresher on High School level Mathematics.
When I got to the section on Trigonometry (each section included practical examples of where and how we would apply each type of math), one of my coworkers blurted out: "Crap, my teacher in high school told us we would never EVER use this stuff!"
They only use windows for e-mail and powerpoint, and this is essentially what the article is talking about.
Everything else is running Unix/Linux or some custom piece of software (depending on the age of the hardware).
Actually, I've met a number of lawyers who were math majors, apparently proofs classes apply really well to court.
I'm assuming you're referring to this story:
http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/06/23/2147245/cyanide-producing-gm-grass-linked-to-texas-cattle-deaths
Which you'll note has been updated to indicate that the grass was not GMO. Further reading (with additional links!):
http://www.examiner.com/article/gmo-food-hybrid-poison-grass-that-kills-texas-cattle-not-genetically-modified
Of course, that doesn't mean there isn't the potential for something going wrong with GMO (or any other technology), but the case of the cows had nothing to do with GMO.
I've almost given up on the NHL. Having just moved back to the states I was hoping to catch a Sabres game or two this season... but there is no season =(
Hey, we had 4 awesome yet disappointing years ;)
The "average English speaking individual" is, in fact, extremely concerned with whether or not it's spelled "color" or "colour". ... ...
Meter, Metre?
When and where in Japan were you? I just moved back to the states from Japan, and while certainly many kids play video games, so do many adults. People in suits heading to work playing Monster Hunter on their PSPs. Arcades full of adults with only a couple kids playing Namco's Taiko game in the corner.
Sure, not every adult is into games, but not every adult is into games here either. Of course we also have adults here that think video games are just children's toys and will buy GTA for their kid while complaining about the violence in these children's toys.
I have no complaints with OpenGL specifically, sure it's had a few bumps along the way, but nothing like the chaos that was Direct3D when it first came out. I just doubt we will ever have a single standard for ANYTHING. One may be a de-facto standard, but someone will always have another way of doing things.
Though from a consumer perspective (gaming on my windows box, not on my linux box), at this point it's really up to the developers which API to use. The hardware in my gaming machine supports both standards, my OS supports both standards, and as a consumer I can pretty much ignore the whole OpenGL/Direct3D debate as in the current marketplace anything I buy will just work.
As a tech enthusiast I like OpenGL, it's cross platform, allows for extensions and rolls common extensions into new releases.
As a consumer I don't care which one as long as it just works. I choose the windows platform for gaming because at this time it supports both standards, so the option is up to the developer. I own a blu-ray player because it lets me watch both blu-ray discs AND DVDs (of course with the number of optical drives in my house at this point in life, it really doesn't matter). I own a tape measure with both metric and imperial units.
Basically, as a consumer, I'm going to go wherever the most benefit is, even if tech side of me has a preference. (OpenGL > Direct3D, Linux > Windows, MS Office > OpenOffice and LibreOffice - ok, now that might be flamebait ;) )
As far as digital goods go, I really think it depends on the type of game we're talking about. Most MMOs (granted, I haven't played one in quite some time) don't sell items to players (outside of perhaps cosmetic items in some of the free to play ones, correct me if I'm wrong - I've only played AC, WoW, EVE and Warhammer), but players can (often black market) sell items earned in game through normal gameplay. This I'm completely cool with. I don't really have a complaint with free to play models that sell only cosmetic items, or if they do sell gameplay related items, that those items can be acquired in game without too much trouble (and I agree with the whole first sale and ability to trade thing). The modern quarter sinks that want you to keep pumping money into them on your phone, facebook, whatever really need to go.
I get the same impression, and while there is certainly value in making those reminders, they don't necessarily need to involve public shaming. At the same time, no one is perfect and I know I certainly have made public examples when I should done it in private (with a general public followup, yeah the rest of the team doesn't hear the personal ass chewing, but they still know it happened). Plus as the cliche goes, hindsight is always 20/20.
Though I have also been in situations where there wasn't the convenience of a private ass chewing, given the medium in this case, he probably could have sent off a private, direct, stern e-mail quickly followed up by a brief yet stern public reminder. Of course everyone still knows what happened and knows the ass chewing occured, but the ugliness of it isn't public, and the guy getting his ass chewed gets to save some face.
Of course it also takes some sense on the other end to realize that if all you're getting is an ass chewing, that means you're considered a valued member of the team, especially if it takes a few interactions to get to that point ;)
This applies to pretty much everything, not just software development; even flipping burgers at McDonalds!
(ok, now look, when this little red light here changes into this particular shape, place the metal thingy under the meat thingy and snap your wrist, then press this little button).
Disclaimer: while I have served time in fast food, never at McDonalds, and the above may not accurately represent their standard procedures.
That type of conversation should never be public. I feel the same way about the particular e-mail thread being discussed, if an outburst is necessary, it should not be public, primarily for the reasons that have turned this into a 300+ comment thread. Though I also agree with the statement "if he is not strong enough to fight you he will fire you" as being the lead of any team doesn't separate you from the team, but rather makes you the most important part of the team, and if you can't work with someone, then either the team can't work with them, or you won't be able to lead the rest of the team.
I also accept that in some circles you may have that freedom, in others you may not have that freedom, and being able to tailor your approach to that person becomes essential. I will also admit that it's not easy. I've certainly had to do a lot of growing over the last few years, sometimes in ways I loathed or didn't expect, but I'm certainly grateful for the experience.