We'll talk again if you try to get into those worlds and have nothing but business software on your resume. If you want to do that, try to land a job in those areas now. Once you've only done business software you become pretty much only employable in that sector.
have been writing code all day for the last 4 months
...
implementing business rules after you already "get" CS is no problem.
No, indeed it is not hard. However, as someone who has his computer science degree since 1998, I'll tell you that business rules get boring fast. You haven't been doing this even for half a year. I have been doing business rules (for big banks, insurance companies, governmental institutions) and I tell you: it's the same every time, just slightly different. First time, it's fun, the next 768 times you want something challenging.
Essentially it is: form -> business rules -> database. Alway, alway, always.... After 10 years I'm sick 'n tired of it. I chose to stay a programmer so it is my own damned fault, but the other option was becoming a project manager and I'm not that much of a people person.
Luckily we don't have that level of silliness in most states here.
I wouldn't call it silliness. It is about road safety. I'd rather have everyone drive around with decent tires than have cheapskates endanger me in a few months because their tires just went from 1.6mm to 1.5mm and can't brake for me when I cross the road.
Were the people failing you in the inspection the same people selling you replacement tires?
No... Not remotely related.
There's nothing wrong with 5-year-old winter tires, if they haven't been used much
Wrong, the rubber gets brittle after years even without heavy usage. That's the reason they are frowned upon. This is also taught in every driving lesson you have in my country.
That's the whole idea with "winter tires": you only put them on when there's snow on the ground and you need to drive in it.
Also wrong. Winter tires are made for cold temperatures. The rubber is more mellow and is more apt for anything below 7 degrees celcius. Even on dry roads with freezing temperatures, having summer tires is dangerous. I have driven one winter like that, never again... ABS flips on at the merest little break. Doesn't happen with winter tires at all.
This isn't aviation, where a maintenance problem can easily cause death.
A blown tire at 120kmh on the highway.... Sure, that's not a maintenance problem and cannot ever result in death. Just one example just jumping in my mind.
You're right that most crashes are probably due because of bad driving and bad weather. However, ensuring properly maintained cars are the only ones on the road removes a potential risk. A car with 1.6mm summer tires in the winter is a rolling danger. It simply cannot stop within times. You could of course call this "bad driving" because the driver should have known and only drive 10kmh all the time because he knew in what state his car was.
The yearly technical inspection.... They are going to tell and revoke the permit to drive your car... (I am well aware these things do not really exist in the US. I've seen cars driving over there that wouldn't even be accepted on junkyards here... okay, exaggerating slightly)
My sister once got a warning because her winter tires were 5 years old. That's considered not "fit for the road" anymore, even if it still had 4mm of profile (winter tires) Anything even remotely related to safety, and your vehicle doesn't pass the yearly inspection. I'm not kidding. They're especially picky on tires because they are relatively expensive, critical to safety and people are sloppy with them. My summer tires were not allowed with 2mm on them (1.6mm is the minimum legal) and my cars permit was revoked. Their reasoning is: they're still legal now but in a few months they won't be. Replace them now. I evidently complied.
I heard the German TUV is even worse than our national technical inspection.
Not very managable... Have you ever damaged your tires by hitting the curb? I did... Ruins those 400€ tires in no time, and I had to buy two new ones because legally, I can't put two tires with different usage pattern on the same axis.
Yes, but it has the same problem. For the moment they push cars with 120mg/km CO2 production. I do however pay a road tax (not a fuel tax) on my 200++mg/km CO2 car, a car which doesn't move much. So, I could leave my car the whole year in the garage and never move it, I would have to pay that anyway (unless I stop the registration). A person having a BMW Series 1 Diesel, which is rated 120mg/km CO2 but drives 50000km/year, would get the "cheap tax" simply because he has a more fuel efficient car. That's fine, but I'm better for the environment, even though I drive the gas guzzler. That simply is thus not reflected by a CO2 tax, it is by simply taxing the gas.
So, anything regarding to cars should be taxed on the gas used... Not on anything else. A car that does not move, does not damage roads nor does it damage the environment. As such, it should not pay a damned thing.
Just raising fuel taxes? I mean, those with gas guzzling cars get taxed more, but if they don't drive that much it isn't all that bad. Those with fuel efficient cars get taxed less but pay much more when they use their car all the time. A Porsche Cayenne doing 5000miles per year is most likely less harmful for the road system (and environment) than a Toyota Prius doing 50000miles a year. In the end it simply evens out.
Simple logic, isn't it? In my country they call it "pollueur payeur". (But then we pay also road tax based on CO2 emissions, regardless off how much we drive.... *sighs* - owner of a high-emission-CO2 vehicle which he doesn't drive all that often)
Besides, in the end.... How hard would it be to disable the GPS device? Anything that relies on "client security" is doomed to fail. This is an example of client security, just not as obvious as in typical computer security. A friend of mine used to have to pay the miles on his company car for private usage. Well, he simply took out the fuse for the dashboard while driving privately. Worked like a charm.
Come on? Isn't is obvious? Go for a semester in Spain. In Europe we do have real computer science courses. Northern America doesn't have a monopoly on that (And never had, if you think that you need to learn a bit history). Remember, Dijkstra was Dutch, Linus was Finnish and Alan Turing was British.
No, you're wrong.... What was ambiguous was not "should" but "they". I read ROMs you meant Emulators. Yes, emulators should be legal (and are AFAIK), but ROMs are not.
Nevertheless, so consider the utility of emulators if you do not have the legal ROMs. That's why your post as pointless. You can install emulators all you want, without having legal ROMs you can forget the whole deal.
Yes, I said partially what you said, but we're in a discussion asking for free games. None of the ROMs for emulators you download are by any measure "free". Using them is copyright infringement. So unless this guy has a pile of Nintendo cartridges which he gives along with the PCs in order to be sure they have a licence..... Emulators with ROMS are OUT!
That's what I want you to understand, and as such, I did say nothing like you said.
I don't think that the question here is if we individually respect copyright. My pr0n collection testifies that I'm no saint. (Oddly enough, that's really the only thing I pirate)
I don't expect you to either and I actually expect nobody to by piracy free. (With the exception of Richard Stallamn, and even then...) However, this is about a donation to a charity. You don't want them to get in trouble because of some boneheaded choices you made.
Ehm, I'm sorry... I agree that if you own the game, that you should be able to run it in an emulator. However, if I want to play the original Super Mario and do that in an emulator on my PC that is completely illegal because I do not own a single cartridge containing that game. No grey area, simply illegal. I don't understand what you tried to tell with your post.
In the story it was asked about legal options: free as in beer or free as in speech games. Not "free as in the pirate bay", no matter what your opinion about the matter is.
Maniac Mansion, Dune 2, Battle Chess, Secret of Monkey Island,
You are dreaming right? None of those are in public domain, not with copyright laws 90 years after death of the creator. They're abandonware at best, and that most certainly isn't legal.
I though of fl0w and Plasma Pong. However Plasma Pong seems to be down:-(
2 years ago AMD Althlon X2 4800+ with 2GB PC3200 RAM.
Many of us do not consider that low end. Two years is not old. I use a P-IV 2.6GHz/2Gig RAM from 2003 and it flies on XP Pro. Old? I don't think of it as old or obsolete in any way. It performs fine and does everything I throw at it. What would it become with Vista?
I'm typing this on an Asus EEE 701.... That machine is newer than yours but by your definition obsolete. For me it isn't because it does exactly as I want.
What Linux Netbooks? I have an EEE 701 on which I'm typing this and it runs the stock Linux. However, I have the impression of the newer netbooks aren't running Linux at all. XP yes, Vista no, Linux no.
Fine... But the PS3 is <500€ and the XBox 360 is <200€ and will work in the future what your new computer might not do, at least not with recently released games. That's the main point, really...
I live in Europe, we don't get bargain prices like you guys in the US. At best 1$=1€, but 550€ is still a lot more than 550$. I have seen the requirements, but I'm stumped by the graphics cards.
Buying online in the US and shipping is not an option. Import tax of about 33%. Besides, shipping on a complete PC must be insanely expensive. So I really have to look at local offers.
No, I'm fully aware that the port is shit. The problem is that I have someone at hand who/wants/ to play this game, and the cheapest way to achieve it is... changing platforms.
I do not have a HDTV yet and it's not on my wishlist. I never had any trouble connecting any hardware to my TV since we have SCART over here. I don't know about the connection technologies of HDTV and I seriously don't care.
I didn't buy it. It was (and still is) my wifes machine and I didn't know her yet at that point. I never tried HL2 with her old graphics card. I do know that GTA San Andreas was unplayable. That's why I assumed that HL2 wouldn't have run.
Seriously? Even now when every TV has a VGA, DVI, and/or HDMI connector? I've got 2 TVs, both with computers plugged in to them. My 7 year old daughter could do it.
Yes, cumbersome. Not because of its complexity but because the laptop will not stay connected. A console gets installed like a DVD player. A laptop will "wander" around the house. So it's disconnect/reconnect. Finding a good spot to put the laptop, and on top ugly cables in front of your TV instead of nicely bundled at the back. Guess you're not married? Ugly cables are an issue for any married geek.
you need to shell out 1500 euros for PC that can play GTA4
He's also forgetting that if he does not play games on his PC, it will last much longer. I'm typing this on a PC from 2003 with some minor upgrades. For my day to day computing needs it is more than sufficient.
So, due to the fact that one doesn't play games, makes your PC longevity go up.
Slashdot Mirror
We'll talk again if you try to get into those worlds and have nothing but business software on your resume. If you want to do that, try to land a job in those areas now. Once you've only done business software you become pretty much only employable in that sector.
No, indeed it is not hard. However, as someone who has his computer science degree since 1998, I'll tell you that business rules get boring fast. You haven't been doing this even for half a year. I have been doing business rules (for big banks, insurance companies, governmental institutions) and I tell you: it's the same every time, just slightly different. First time, it's fun, the next 768 times you want something challenging.
Essentially it is: form -> business rules -> database. Alway, alway, always.... After 10 years I'm sick 'n tired of it. I chose to stay a programmer so it is my own damned fault, but the other option was becoming a project manager and I'm not that much of a people person.
Best... advice... ever!
I wouldn't call it silliness. It is about road safety. I'd rather have everyone drive around with decent tires than have cheapskates endanger me in a few months because their tires just went from 1.6mm to 1.5mm and can't brake for me when I cross the road.
No... Not remotely related.
Wrong, the rubber gets brittle after years even without heavy usage. That's the reason they are frowned upon. This is also taught in every driving lesson you have in my country.
Also wrong. Winter tires are made for cold temperatures. The rubber is more mellow and is more apt for anything below 7 degrees celcius. Even on dry roads with freezing temperatures, having summer tires is dangerous. I have driven one winter like that, never again... ABS flips on at the merest little break. Doesn't happen with winter tires at all.
A blown tire at 120kmh on the highway.... Sure, that's not a maintenance problem and cannot ever result in death. Just one example just jumping in my mind.
You're right that most crashes are probably due because of bad driving and bad weather. However, ensuring properly maintained cars are the only ones on the road removes a potential risk. A car with 1.6mm summer tires in the winter is a rolling danger. It simply cannot stop within times. You could of course call this "bad driving" because the driver should have known and only drive 10kmh all the time because he knew in what state his car was.
So, it's about accident avoidance....
The yearly technical inspection.... They are going to tell and revoke the permit to drive your car... (I am well aware these things do not really exist in the US. I've seen cars driving over there that wouldn't even be accepted on junkyards here... okay, exaggerating slightly)
My sister once got a warning because her winter tires were 5 years old. That's considered not "fit for the road" anymore, even if it still had 4mm of profile (winter tires) Anything even remotely related to safety, and your vehicle doesn't pass the yearly inspection. I'm not kidding. They're especially picky on tires because they are relatively expensive, critical to safety and people are sloppy with them. My summer tires were not allowed with 2mm on them (1.6mm is the minimum legal) and my cars permit was revoked. Their reasoning is: they're still legal now but in a few months they won't be. Replace them now. I evidently complied.
I heard the German TUV is even worse than our national technical inspection.
Not very managable... Have you ever damaged your tires by hitting the curb? I did... Ruins those 400€ tires in no time, and I had to buy two new ones because legally, I can't put two tires with different usage pattern on the same axis.
So, anything regarding to cars should be taxed on the gas used... Not on anything else. A car that does not move, does not damage roads nor does it damage the environment. As such, it should not pay a damned thing.
Just raising fuel taxes? I mean, those with gas guzzling cars get taxed more, but if they don't drive that much it isn't all that bad. Those with fuel efficient cars get taxed less but pay much more when they use their car all the time. A Porsche Cayenne doing 5000miles per year is most likely less harmful for the road system (and environment) than a Toyota Prius doing 50000miles a year. In the end it simply evens out.
Simple logic, isn't it? In my country they call it "pollueur payeur". (But then we pay also road tax based on CO2 emissions, regardless off how much we drive.... *sighs* - owner of a high-emission-CO2 vehicle which he doesn't drive all that often)
Besides, in the end.... How hard would it be to disable the GPS device? Anything that relies on "client security" is doomed to fail. This is an example of client security, just not as obvious as in typical computer security. A friend of mine used to have to pay the miles on his company car for private usage. Well, he simply took out the fuse for the dashboard while driving privately. Worked like a charm.
Come on? Isn't is obvious? Go for a semester in Spain. In Europe we do have real computer science courses. Northern America doesn't have a monopoly on that (And never had, if you think that you need to learn a bit history). Remember, Dijkstra was Dutch, Linus was Finnish and Alan Turing was British.
No, you're wrong.... What was ambiguous was not "should" but "they". I read ROMs you meant Emulators. Yes, emulators should be legal (and are AFAIK), but ROMs are not.
Nevertheless, so consider the utility of emulators if you do not have the legal ROMs. That's why your post as pointless. You can install emulators all you want, without having legal ROMs you can forget the whole deal.
Yes, I said partially what you said, but we're in a discussion asking for free games. None of the ROMs for emulators you download are by any measure "free". Using them is copyright infringement. So unless this guy has a pile of Nintendo cartridges which he gives along with the PCs in order to be sure they have a licence..... Emulators with ROMS are OUT!
That's what I want you to understand, and as such, I did say nothing like you said.
I don't think that the question here is if we individually respect copyright. My pr0n collection testifies that I'm no saint. (Oddly enough, that's really the only thing I pirate)
I don't expect you to either and I actually expect nobody to by piracy free. (With the exception of Richard Stallamn, and even then...) However, this is about a donation to a charity. You don't want them to get in trouble because of some boneheaded choices you made.
Ehm, I'm sorry... I agree that if you own the game, that you should be able to run it in an emulator. However, if I want to play the original Super Mario and do that in an emulator on my PC that is completely illegal because I do not own a single cartridge containing that game. No grey area, simply illegal. I don't understand what you tried to tell with your post.
In the story it was asked about legal options: free as in beer or free as in speech games. Not "free as in the pirate bay", no matter what your opinion about the matter is.
and then...
You are dreaming right? None of those are in public domain, not with copyright laws 90 years after death of the creator. They're abandonware at best, and that most certainly isn't legal.
I though of fl0w and Plasma Pong. However Plasma Pong seems to be down :-(
I believe you, but I live in Europe. Seems we are also stuck in PC = Windows mindset. Sad, really... I'm glad I got the Xandros version of the EEE.
Many of us do not consider that low end. Two years is not old. I use a P-IV 2.6GHz/2Gig RAM from 2003 and it flies on XP Pro. Old? I don't think of it as old or obsolete in any way. It performs fine and does everything I throw at it. What would it become with Vista?
I'm typing this on an Asus EEE 701.... That machine is newer than yours but by your definition obsolete. For me it isn't because it does exactly as I want.
What Linux Netbooks? I have an EEE 701 on which I'm typing this and it runs the stock Linux. However, I have the impression of the newer netbooks aren't running Linux at all. XP yes, Vista no, Linux no.
Fine... But the PS3 is <500€ and the XBox 360 is <200€ and will work in the future what your new computer might not do, at least not with recently released games. That's the main point, really...
Alas there are some constraints. The lesson is: not everyone pays with greenbacks and some customers do have to pay more in the rest of the world.
I live in Europe, we don't get bargain prices like you guys in the US. At best 1$=1€, but 550€ is still a lot more than 550$. I have seen the requirements, but I'm stumped by the graphics cards.
Buying online in the US and shipping is not an option. Import tax of about 33%. Besides, shipping on a complete PC must be insanely expensive. So I really have to look at local offers.
No, I'm fully aware that the port is shit. The problem is that I have someone at hand who /wants/ to play this game, and the cheapest way to achieve it is... changing platforms.
Answer here
I do not have a HDTV yet and it's not on my wishlist. I never had any trouble connecting any hardware to my TV since we have SCART over here. I don't know about the connection technologies of HDTV and I seriously don't care.
I didn't buy it. It was (and still is) my wifes machine and I didn't know her yet at that point. I never tried HL2 with her old graphics card. I do know that GTA San Andreas was unplayable. That's why I assumed that HL2 wouldn't have run.
Yes, cumbersome. Not because of its complexity but because the laptop will not stay connected. A console gets installed like a DVD player. A laptop will "wander" around the house. So it's disconnect/reconnect. Finding a good spot to put the laptop, and on top ugly cables in front of your TV instead of nicely bundled at the back. Guess you're not married? Ugly cables are an issue for any married geek.
From wikipedia: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4 GHz, AMD Phenom X3 2.1 GHz 2.5 GB 512 MB Nvidia 8600 / 512 MB ATI 3870. It might be possible to build something like that for 500€ (Still I doubt it), but in two years time he'll have exactly the same problem when GTA5 comes out. Not so with a console.
He's also forgetting that if he does not play games on his PC, it will last much longer. I'm typing this on a PC from 2003 with some minor upgrades. For my day to day computing needs it is more than sufficient.
So, due to the fact that one doesn't play games, makes your PC longevity go up.