would require authorities to obtain a court-issued search warrant
Yeah right. As if the US Government really cares about obtaining a warrant anymore. There's been enough news recently regarding the blatant disregard for warrants and due process that it all just a bunch of bullshit at this point.
Yes I'm cynical, and I don't even fucking live in the US (though I do live in Australia, which I believe is one of the US states at this point).
Wait... are you saying Symantec ISN'T a virus? Fuck, I though it was another incarnation of "MS Antivirus" going around. Think about it:
(1) Both provide false reports of infection (one deliberately and one due to retarded detection algorithms - pick which one) (2) Both require you to continually cough up money (MSAV if you want it "gone", Symantic if you want updates) (3) Both slow down your system with services/resident exes (4) Both clog the screen with repeated pop-ups (5) Both are fucking hard to get rid of completely
because socializing via games with your friends from around the globe is worth while ?
Well if you mention it like that it doesn't sound so bad. On the other hand you are spending most of your time sitting on your ass and using relatively little brain power, whereas you could be taking a jog, working on an electronics project or something else more physically/intellectually stimulating.
Games are fun, but they have a nasty tendency to trap people (they are engineered to be wonderfully addictive of course). A few weeks absence does wonders for showing a person what else there is to do in life.
One thing I've noticed is that despite almost all laptops having glossy screens these days, I have yet to encounter a desktop LCD which is glossy; they're all matte.
Physics IS NOT just eye candy, it can completely change and reshape gameplay and you know what? It was thrown on the side like it never even existed.
There are games which use physics as the basis for their gameplay, but a lot of them are actually indie/casual games. Angry Birds and World of Goo are two that come to mind. The Penumbra/Amnesia games also use physics in a more elementary way, with regards to the player manipulating doors, draws, objects and whatnot in a lifelike manner.
If your issue is with FPS games and their use of physics however, then sure. Half Life 2 was the last FPS which impressed me with its use in physics, but at this stage is been done enough not to be that amazing anymore (though killing enemies by throwing an explosive barrel at them is always fun).
So long as you have a graphics card with enough power to drive it at a reasonable frame rate. For something like that you'd need a top-of-the-line graphics card, and they can get bloody expensive. I suppose if you really want to game at this res, you would already have resigned yourself to the cost, but damn if that money couldn't be put towards a new camera or something.:)
Is there anything about this argument that is worth the time I just put into it?
Yes there is - it was an entertaining read. I enjoy reading analytical breakdowns of a creationist's stance, particularly when it uses a heavy dose of critical thinking. Thanks.:)
Yes, but a lot of people don't understand this. The prefetch functionality of Vista/7 gobbles up free memory for this very purpose (and it does seem to help speed things up over time), however it's also one of the things people choose to bash them for without knowing how it works.
I will admit that 7 improved upon Vista in that it's a fair bit less aggressive than Vista. and won't prefetch much if there's limited RAM available, whereas Vista prefetches regardless of the impact of using what little RAM was available.
Given that music and movies are about the only thing we as a nation create these days...
Mod parent up. THIS is precisely the reason why the US Government is so obsessive when it comes to such matters - the US just doesn't make anything of value anymore except for media and other IP. Physical products? Forget it, they're made in China or elsewhere. IP is all the US has left, and unfortunately for them it's also the easiest product to swipe.
Wow - there seems to be a lot of anti-apple hostility around here
A lot of it comes not just from Apple's actions, but also the actions from Apple fanbois. Zealots are some of the most annoying people you'll ever meet, and it's natural to have a certainly level of schadenfreude when something happens which upsets the zealots. They brought it upon themselves for getting in everyone's faces after all.
The Chinese consider science and technology extremely important for the development of their state. There are many, many universities in China which focus SOLELY on producing Engineers. Not a surprise they'd prefer those sorts in people positions of power than the Western world, who for some reason prefers lawyers.
(1) As of the latest version (0.74) it runs every DOS game I've thrown at it. (2) If a game needs more resources, simply increase the clock rate within DOSBox using a few hotkeys. Better yet, give the game a custom.conf file specifying the clock rate you want (max CPU if required), resolution, audio quality, and any other peripherals it could use. (3) Sound support NEVER fails. It supports all typical DOS audio interfaces out of the box. (4) Why boot another computer for DOS games when you can simply launch from your main rig? (5) DOSBox is open source. It works on nearly everything.
And this statement is why people don't care about freedom. Lock people up for speaking? Fine. Charge an extra $5 for a computer game? Revolution!
OK, I understand it doesn't come particularly well through the medium of text, but I was actually being tongue-in-cheek. Do you really think I want my country to be invaded by the US? Hell no, and benefits to gaming would be far down the list of supposed "benefits" to becoming yet another US territory.
Virtually all services and products produced which are useful or fun in some way have got dodgy ToS' or EULAs or other disclaimers that screw the user's rights. At this rate if I boycott each and every company who's been or is currently being a dick towards the consumer, there'll be nothing left.
Not that it's a bad thing for the FSF to make such hostile agreements public of course. But having said that, I doubt the FSF would support buying any modern console given they are all from dodgy companies and/or have dodgy terms/EULAs. So what's left? Certainly not the PC - the prime platform is Steam these days, and I find it hard to believe the FSF could support something like Steam for a multitude of reasons.
Might as well just not play any games... except for the FLOSS stuff. If that's the case, I'd get a new hobby. The FSF sure makes life fun. Maybe the solution is to realize things are fucked, and just go with it. Better to not be ignorant of the state of the world, and at least get some enjoyment out of it. It's the only reason why I can stand using Steam - don't want to sound like a bitter old bastard later on in life while every else is enjoying themselves.:)
But there are sooooo many other Linux distributions you can choose. This particular distribution isn't aiming to be everything to everyone, it's aiming to be a lot of things for a lot of people. Allowing total configurability tends to not be helpful in achieving that goal.
Ubuntu is the Windows of the Linux world. That comparison might sound bad until you realize that it also means Ubuntu has the greatest attention of all Linux distros, which means you'll find troubleshooting and information tailored to it far more than other distros. Heck, I've seen software (not on the repos) with a seperate download link for Windows, OS X and "Ubuntu" (not Linux, Ubuntu, even though it's a straight.deb file).
That focus and attention translated into more vendor and hardware support, and hopefully better defaults and polish, a goal achieved with varying levels in other distros. At this point in my life I want to be able to use Linux without having to deal with 90's era problems, which is why I'd like to still use Ubuntu as a power user. The way things are going though, I'm not sure how feasible that is without a lot of post-install tweaking.
Well that just reaffirms my concerns then. Ubuntu's UI is in some areas far less configurable than Windows 7.
I suppose there's a reason the Ubuntu web site barely mentions the word "Linux". The traditional benefit of everything being configurable in Linux does not translate to Ubuntu's philosophy, even if there's very little reason why it should not. Maybe Canonical just doesn't have the manpower/skill?
You have to be careful of misspellings in the registry too. And unlike emacs, regedit won't automatically create a backup file.
Clarification - the registry is backed up every time a system restore point is created. A restore point is created during every installation of windows updates, so assuming you haven't turned off system restores and automatic updating is taking place, you may very well have a daily backup of the registry (windows defender at least has a daily update).
Ok that's a bit harsh. The religious wars should have ended a year ago, but apparently some people think it's still cool to trash one or the other. I'm not a CS grad, and occasionally I need the CLI in Windows too. Computers are evil. GUIs have bugs. CLIs suck if you can't type 80 wpm like hackers can. I'm proud to say that I can use Linux, Windows and MacOS (and any other thing that might be dreamed up) equally well, and I make no criticisms of any OS, except to say that none is perfect.
I've contributed a lot to the open source community, and I'm glad that Linux exists. On the other hand, I don't begrudge Microsoft or Apple for existing, and I recognize that most people prefer to use something that's a little less power-user than Linux.
We need more users like you, seriously.:)
I'm an occasional Linux user, but what pisses me off more than anything is the bashing and hate that comes from the Linux side. They're the minority, and hence have to compensate by whining so much about Microsoft ($ sign included usually) that after 10+ years of this bullshit it's become really grating. It's as if they're unable to convince anyone to use Linux without bashing the competition, and can't convert people solely by positively talking about their distro.
I use Windows because it has the greatest level of software support (commercial or otherwise) and the least level of pain. I mean that last bit - using a variant of the most widely used desktop OS has its benefits in terms of doing the things you want to do, as well as focus and attention on its development. Maybe one day I'll kick it to the curb, but the hoards of Linux zealots aren't going to factor into it. Most of them have horrible technical knowledge about Linux anyway.:)
Fix Unity. If you're not going to have GNOME 2 as a selectable option in future distros, at least work to make Unity a bug-free and far more configurable experience. Provide an easy to find and select option (i.e. not a shell command) to disable the global menu for those of us who prefer a traditional menuing system.
Oh who am I kidding. Mark has gone on record stating how he doesn't like having too options because it increases the number of permutations in which something could go wrong, plus he wants Unity to look the same on all desktops (a consistent look). But hell, Windows 7 has the ability to dock the superbar on any side of the desktop, and Unity doesn't. How did they miss that feature?
The problem of course is that as time goes on, you'll lose out by now capitulating. There are too many games these days being released which REQUIRE Steam even though they're sold at retail stores (Civ V, Black Ops, etc). If you think to yourself "that's OK - I'll just stick with the indie developers", that might not be enough since indie developers are often releasing games solely on Steam.
GOG.com and the Humble Bundles mitigate things somewhat, but it still does mean a significant reduction in what you can play if you choose to avoid Steam (and let's not factor pirated games into the mix, as that does not represent legal gaming). Ultimately you have to decide whether the positives outweigh the negatives. Given how cheap games often are on Steam (particularly with the sales), it tends to negate the inability to resell games so that makes things a bit easier. As for not truly owning the games - the world is full of compromises. Sometimes we have to.
Shush! Don't inject logic into the discussion - let the zealots show the world how paranoia and hate infects the Linux world. After a while you realize why ordinary people don't want to use Linux if there's a risk of becoming one of these losers.
Gabe, Gabe, Gabe. You love talking about this hypothetical shit, but you somehow can't bring yourself to answer even the smallest questions people ask about Episode 3 (or Half Life 3 if you believe the rumors).
Shut the fuck up and get your developers coding already. You can't end Episode 2 like that and not have a resolution.
Yes I'm pissed off. Maybe irrationally, but this guy's been spouting a lot of crap recently (how games need to be more social, connected to Facebook and so on) that I'm wishing for someone with more traditional views on gaming to gain prominence.
Just because Windows runs fine on your computer does not mean it will run well on everyone's.
Correct, but I say EXACTLY the same thing about Ubuntu for example (with plenty of examples of people having issues), and people will eat me alive for it with every excuse in the book. Fucking hypocrites.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah right. As if the US Government really cares about obtaining a warrant anymore. There's been enough news recently regarding the blatant disregard for warrants and due process that it all just a bunch of bullshit at this point.
Yes I'm cynical, and I don't even fucking live in the US (though I do live in Australia, which I believe is one of the US states at this point).
Wait... are you saying Symantec ISN'T a virus? Fuck, I though it was another incarnation of "MS Antivirus" going around. Think about it:
(1) Both provide false reports of infection (one deliberately and one due to retarded detection algorithms - pick which one)
(2) Both require you to continually cough up money (MSAV if you want it "gone", Symantic if you want updates)
(3) Both slow down your system with services/resident exes
(4) Both clog the screen with repeated pop-ups
(5) Both are fucking hard to get rid of completely
Well if you mention it like that it doesn't sound so bad. On the other hand you are spending most of your time sitting on your ass and using relatively little brain power, whereas you could be taking a jog, working on an electronics project or something else more physically/intellectually stimulating.
Games are fun, but they have a nasty tendency to trap people (they are engineered to be wonderfully addictive of course). A few weeks absence does wonders for showing a person what else there is to do in life.
One thing I've noticed is that despite almost all laptops having glossy screens these days, I have yet to encounter a desktop LCD which is glossy; they're all matte.
There are games which use physics as the basis for their gameplay, but a lot of them are actually indie/casual games. Angry Birds and World of Goo are two that come to mind. The Penumbra/Amnesia games also use physics in a more elementary way, with regards to the player manipulating doors, draws, objects and whatnot in a lifelike manner.
If your issue is with FPS games and their use of physics however, then sure. Half Life 2 was the last FPS which impressed me with its use in physics, but at this stage is been done enough not to be that amazing anymore (though killing enemies by throwing an explosive barrel at them is always fun).
So long as you have a graphics card with enough power to drive it at a reasonable frame rate. For something like that you'd need a top-of-the-line graphics card, and they can get bloody expensive. I suppose if you really want to game at this res, you would already have resigned yourself to the cost, but damn if that money couldn't be put towards a new camera or something. :)
Yes there is - it was an entertaining read. I enjoy reading analytical breakdowns of a creationist's stance, particularly when it uses a heavy dose of critical thinking. Thanks. :)
Yes, but a lot of people don't understand this. The prefetch functionality of Vista/7 gobbles up free memory for this very purpose (and it does seem to help speed things up over time), however it's also one of the things people choose to bash them for without knowing how it works.
I will admit that 7 improved upon Vista in that it's a fair bit less aggressive than Vista. and won't prefetch much if there's limited RAM available, whereas Vista prefetches regardless of the impact of using what little RAM was available.
Mod parent up. THIS is precisely the reason why the US Government is so obsessive when it comes to such matters - the US just doesn't make anything of value anymore except for media and other IP. Physical products? Forget it, they're made in China or elsewhere. IP is all the US has left, and unfortunately for them it's also the easiest product to swipe.
A lot of it comes not just from Apple's actions, but also the actions from Apple fanbois. Zealots are some of the most annoying people you'll ever meet, and it's natural to have a certainly level of schadenfreude when something happens which upsets the zealots. They brought it upon themselves for getting in everyone's faces after all.
The Chinese consider science and technology extremely important for the development of their state. There are many, many universities in China which focus SOLELY on producing Engineers. Not a surprise they'd prefer those sorts in people positions of power than the Western world, who for some reason prefers lawyers.
Here are the reasons:
(1) As of the latest version (0.74) it runs every DOS game I've thrown at it. .conf file specifying the clock rate you want (max CPU if required), resolution, audio quality, and any other peripherals it could use.
(2) If a game needs more resources, simply increase the clock rate within DOSBox using a few hotkeys. Better yet, give the game a custom
(3) Sound support NEVER fails. It supports all typical DOS audio interfaces out of the box.
(4) Why boot another computer for DOS games when you can simply launch from your main rig?
(5) DOSBox is open source. It works on nearly everything.
OK, I understand it doesn't come particularly well through the medium of text, but I was actually being tongue-in-cheek. Do you really think I want my country to be invaded by the US? Hell no, and benefits to gaming would be far down the list of supposed "benefits" to becoming yet another US territory.
In other words, it was a joke.
Virtually all services and products produced which are useful or fun in some way have got dodgy ToS' or EULAs or other disclaimers that screw the user's rights. At this rate if I boycott each and every company who's been or is currently being a dick towards the consumer, there'll be nothing left.
Not that it's a bad thing for the FSF to make such hostile agreements public of course. But having said that, I doubt the FSF would support buying any modern console given they are all from dodgy companies and/or have dodgy terms/EULAs. So what's left? Certainly not the PC - the prime platform is Steam these days, and I find it hard to believe the FSF could support something like Steam for a multitude of reasons.
Might as well just not play any games... except for the FLOSS stuff. If that's the case, I'd get a new hobby. The FSF sure makes life fun. Maybe the solution is to realize things are fucked, and just go with it. Better to not be ignorant of the state of the world, and at least get some enjoyment out of it. It's the only reason why I can stand using Steam - don't want to sound like a bitter old bastard later on in life while every else is enjoying themselves. :)
Please do. We keep getting screwed by higher prices and region locked on Steam, so if you make us a US territory it'll work out for everyone!
Ubuntu is the Windows of the Linux world. That comparison might sound bad until you realize that it also means Ubuntu has the greatest attention of all Linux distros, which means you'll find troubleshooting and information tailored to it far more than other distros. Heck, I've seen software (not on the repos) with a seperate download link for Windows, OS X and "Ubuntu" (not Linux, Ubuntu, even though it's a straight .deb file).
That focus and attention translated into more vendor and hardware support, and hopefully better defaults and polish, a goal achieved with varying levels in other distros. At this point in my life I want to be able to use Linux without having to deal with 90's era problems, which is why I'd like to still use Ubuntu as a power user. The way things are going though, I'm not sure how feasible that is without a lot of post-install tweaking.
Well that just reaffirms my concerns then. Ubuntu's UI is in some areas far less configurable than Windows 7.
I suppose there's a reason the Ubuntu web site barely mentions the word "Linux". The traditional benefit of everything being configurable in Linux does not translate to Ubuntu's philosophy, even if there's very little reason why it should not. Maybe Canonical just doesn't have the manpower/skill?
Clarification - the registry is backed up every time a system restore point is created. A restore point is created during every installation of windows updates, so assuming you haven't turned off system restores and automatic updating is taking place, you may very well have a daily backup of the registry (windows defender at least has a daily update).
We need more users like you, seriously. :)
I'm an occasional Linux user, but what pisses me off more than anything is the bashing and hate that comes from the Linux side. They're the minority, and hence have to compensate by whining so much about Microsoft ($ sign included usually) that after 10+ years of this bullshit it's become really grating. It's as if they're unable to convince anyone to use Linux without bashing the competition, and can't convert people solely by positively talking about their distro.
I use Windows because it has the greatest level of software support (commercial or otherwise) and the least level of pain. I mean that last bit - using a variant of the most widely used desktop OS has its benefits in terms of doing the things you want to do, as well as focus and attention on its development. Maybe one day I'll kick it to the curb, but the hoards of Linux zealots aren't going to factor into it. Most of them have horrible technical knowledge about Linux anyway. :)
Bravo! You get a friend rating for telling it like it is. :)
Fix Unity. If you're not going to have GNOME 2 as a selectable option in future distros, at least work to make Unity a bug-free and far more configurable experience. Provide an easy to find and select option (i.e. not a shell command) to disable the global menu for those of us who prefer a traditional menuing system.
Oh who am I kidding. Mark has gone on record stating how he doesn't like having too options because it increases the number of permutations in which something could go wrong, plus he wants Unity to look the same on all desktops (a consistent look). But hell, Windows 7 has the ability to dock the superbar on any side of the desktop, and Unity doesn't. How did they miss that feature?
The problem of course is that as time goes on, you'll lose out by now capitulating. There are too many games these days being released which REQUIRE Steam even though they're sold at retail stores (Civ V, Black Ops, etc). If you think to yourself "that's OK - I'll just stick with the indie developers", that might not be enough since indie developers are often releasing games solely on Steam.
GOG.com and the Humble Bundles mitigate things somewhat, but it still does mean a significant reduction in what you can play if you choose to avoid Steam (and let's not factor pirated games into the mix, as that does not represent legal gaming). Ultimately you have to decide whether the positives outweigh the negatives. Given how cheap games often are on Steam (particularly with the sales), it tends to negate the inability to resell games so that makes things a bit easier. As for not truly owning the games - the world is full of compromises. Sometimes we have to.
Shush! Don't inject logic into the discussion - let the zealots show the world how paranoia and hate infects the Linux world. After a while you realize why ordinary people don't want to use Linux if there's a risk of becoming one of these losers.
Gabe, Gabe, Gabe. You love talking about this hypothetical shit, but you somehow can't bring yourself to answer even the smallest questions people ask about Episode 3 (or Half Life 3 if you believe the rumors).
Shut the fuck up and get your developers coding already. You can't end Episode 2 like that and not have a resolution.
Yes I'm pissed off. Maybe irrationally, but this guy's been spouting a lot of crap recently (how games need to be more social, connected to Facebook and so on) that I'm wishing for someone with more traditional views on gaming to gain prominence.
Correct, but I say EXACTLY the same thing about Ubuntu for example (with plenty of examples of people having issues), and people will eat me alive for it with every excuse in the book. Fucking hypocrites.