I've had a Herman Miller Aeron at work for 4+ years. I really like it, how the meshy material breathes when I've been sitting in it for far too long, and boy it sure looks cool. But I'm not sure that it's made much of a difference in my posture. I've adjusted all the controls, even watched the "Proper Posture" video they have on their website, but I still do horrible things like sit cross-legged in it, slouch, etc. I think it comes down to your willingness to commit to a proper egonomic regimen. I'm lazy in that way.
Nice dream, but Sony is banking on micropayments as well. Check out the coverage of Phil Harrison's GDC 06 presentation and you'll see that is one of the ticks on his "circle of revenue" for online.
Just what we need, merging the two biggest-bugaboos in gaming today: online casinos and MMGs. Both with the stigma of being addiction-forming and dangerous, thanks to their popularization in mainstream media. Which in turn is responsible for the further driving away of mainstream gamers.
Sheesh, as someone "inside" I hate to think what this means for the future of our already increasingly insular industry.
1937: SPAM is born! The first can of SPAM rolls off the production line. Originally called HORMEL Spiced Ham, the comapny holds a contest to create a name as distinctive as the taste. B combining the "sp" from spiced with the "am" from ham, the winner comes up with SPAM. Top prize: $100.
So there you have it: "SPiced hAM" => SPAM. And to think some dude only got 100 bones for that name. If only he knew what he started...
QuestTec seems to be a perfect example of conspicuous technology, which distracts more than it helps. We need a machine to tell us the umps are accurate? Does that really help us enough to justify the distraction to the pitchers and the umpires themselves. ESPN had this article on the Schilling incident, and they mention more about evaluating ump performance against this machine. Of course the umpires are pissed; I wouldn't want a poorly implemented, incompletely rolled out new technology used to judge my work in a field I'm experienced in either.
I think what you're reaching for is something like either the long-ballyhooed NURB, or the method of recursive sub-division surfaces, which was most notably used in the ultimate of turd-fest games "Messiah." Hold on a second while I banish the memory of "Messiah" from my mind...
[shudder]
Anyways, there are also several very effective shader effects you can use to mask or soften the edges of polygonal objects, but the real solution is to author content in a way that doesn't draw people's eyes to these edges.
Hey, just move out west with us! Sure, your cost of living will go up 100-fold, and you'll have to deal with the west-coast school of Laissez-faire driving, but at least you'll get your FP Trolls and duplicated stories fresh.
Hey man, I worked in a big musty laboratory...
on
Engineer in a Box?
·
· Score: 2, Funny
Day after day in the sweaty, cramped confines of a remote computing lab on North Campus at U-Michigan, banging out code on an oldish HP-UX box, telnet'ing to distant friend's computers (ok, they were only across campus at the newer labs, but whatever), and ever fearful that the weird dude who'd sit in the last row of machines and look at dungeon porn would show up and I'd get uncomfortable and have to leave.
From the article: "Games certainly are the most demanding (on computers), short of decoding the human genome," said Michael Gartenberg, research director at Jupiter Research.
Hey, this should make the feature list for Quake 7! Frag your opponents, then analyze their gibs in realtime for the likelihood of having developed genetic disorders (had they lived, of course).
My last original project used the RenderWare graphics engine, which is interesting in that it hasn't been mentioned here, and it is a nice middle ground between these two extremes (Doom3/Unreal2's incredibly high sticker price and Garage Game's extra value meal). For something like $50k/SKU (which is of course negotiable if you're willing to trade on points for the royalties) you get a pretty robust rasterization engine, with reasonably good docs and a nice pedigree (used in GTA3 and THPS3 to name the two current biggies).
I've also heard similar things about Intrinsic's Alchemy solution, but I haven't used it first-hand.
One of my former lead programmers did exactly this: he interviewed and got an offer from another company, our producer wanted to keep him on, so the company countered for *more* than the outstanding offer, and he stayed. He remained for about one year, then left for the same company that had made him the offer in the first place for even *more* money. A couple of observations:
1. If you're a valued enough asset at your current company that they're willing to up your salary, they're not likely to turn around and axe you first chance they get... why not just let you go, and avoid having to worry about severence and all the hassle?
2. There is nothing wrong with changing your mind once, twice, or three times. People do these things all of the time, in the course of their career, but...
3. Don't burn bridges! Your current employer may counter; your prospective new employer may also respond by increasing their offer in kind. Stranger things have happened. And when you make up your mind about what job you want to take, remember to be kind to both sides: you may end up going back to your original company or leaving for the new one later down the road, and keeping your options open is always a good thing.
AMD seemed for a while to be winning the price point war, getting to market at an extremely competitive cost for cutting edge hardware. According to my recent price-watching, however, this advantage seems to be diminishing, as Intel's lately been getting more competitive in their pricing in reaction to this. Maybe they're just going after the next buzzword in hopes of beating Intel at it's own game.
Never having been defrauded on eBay, but having been screwed several times in regular retail dealings, I would try the standard stuff first.
First: Was the seller an individual, or a company? If a company, go tell it to the BBB. FBI won't take an interest until the dollar amounts add up enough, but you can always go to the Fair Trade Commission. Tax dollars fund their investigations, so it may take a while to see results.
Second: Discredit the seller. Publish their info anywhere you can. Use your venues online to get their information out there. If there aren't venues for this, set one up. I don't know if there's a site dedicated to publishing bad seller info, having never researched it, but I'd guess you're not the first person to run into this.
Finally, how about a law suit? IANAL, but I'm sure there are many who'd just love to get medieval on the fool. And I'm sure for the kind of money you're talking about, you would, too.
Notice the huge caveat by IGN that this is all still speculative and not set in stone? That's probably because, until Spaceworld next week, the world will not really know what the Big N has up its sleeve... Until then, for me at least, all bets are off.
Slashdot Mirror
I've had a Herman Miller Aeron at work for 4+ years. I really like it, how the meshy material breathes when I've been sitting in it for far too long, and boy it sure looks cool. But I'm not sure that it's made much of a difference in my posture. I've adjusted all the controls, even watched the "Proper Posture" video they have on their website, but I still do horrible things like sit cross-legged in it, slouch, etc. I think it comes down to your willingness to commit to a proper egonomic regimen. I'm lazy in that way.
Nice dream, but Sony is banking on micropayments as well. Check out the coverage of Phil Harrison's GDC 06 presentation and you'll see that is one of the ticks on his "circle of revenue" for online.
Actually, the BBC reports that it will likely receive a PG-13 rating, since they (unlike the editors of /.) know how to spell their native language.
The "In Soviet Russia..." meme comes from Yakov Smirnov (80s Russian stand-up comedian); more of the same ilk:
In America, you throw parties in house.
In Soviet Russia, Party throws YOU in gulag!
Nit picking: Your numbers are close, but off a bit. For Teen to Mature rated games, your target market is males 17-early 30s.
Newer market research is proving that as the gaming core is aging, the late 20s are a valuable portion of this market.
-Game developer doing an M-rated game
If you want to be the richst [sic] man in the world, well, if I knew the answer to that I'd be the richest man in the world.
That reminds me of my favorite Citizen Kane quote: "Well, it's no trick to make a lot of money... if all you want to do is make a lot of money."
Just what we need, merging the two biggest-bugaboos in gaming today: online casinos and MMGs. Both with the stigma of being addiction-forming and dangerous, thanks to their popularization in mainstream media. Which in turn is responsible for the further driving away of mainstream gamers.
Sheesh, as someone "inside" I hate to think what this means for the future of our already increasingly insular industry.
From the timeline on their webpage:
1937: SPAM is born! The first can of SPAM rolls off the production line. Originally called HORMEL Spiced Ham, the comapny holds a contest to create a name as distinctive as the taste. B combining the "sp" from spiced with the "am" from ham, the winner comes up with SPAM. Top prize: $100.
So there you have it: "SPiced hAM" => SPAM. And to think some dude only got 100 bones for that name. If only he knew what he started...
QuestTec seems to be a perfect example of conspicuous technology, which distracts more than it helps. We need a machine to tell us the umps are accurate? Does that really help us enough to justify the distraction to the pitchers and the umpires themselves. ESPN had this article on the Schilling incident, and they mention more about evaluating ump performance against this machine. Of course the umpires are pissed; I wouldn't want a poorly implemented, incompletely rolled out new technology used to judge my work in a field I'm experienced in either.
King Philip Came Over From Germany Swimming.
Hey, I like these mnemonic threads. Anyone can play along!
is this where all those lost socks end up? if so, I'm not taste testing this dude's brew.
I think what you're reaching for is something like either the long-ballyhooed NURB, or the method of recursive sub-division surfaces, which was most notably used in the ultimate of turd-fest games "Messiah." Hold on a second while I banish the memory of "Messiah" from my mind...
[shudder]
Anyways, there are also several very effective shader effects you can use to mask or soften the edges of polygonal objects, but the real solution is to author content in a way that doesn't draw people's eyes to these edges.
Hey, just move out west with us! Sure, your cost of living will go up 100-fold, and you'll have to deal with the west-coast school of Laissez-faire driving, but at least you'll get your FP Trolls and duplicated stories fresh.
Day after day in the sweaty, cramped confines of a remote computing lab on North Campus at U-Michigan, banging out code on an oldish HP-UX box, telnet'ing to distant friend's computers (ok, they were only across campus at the newer labs, but whatever), and ever fearful that the weird dude who'd sit in the last row of machines and look at dungeon porn would show up and I'd get uncomfortable and have to leave.
From the article: "Games certainly are the most demanding (on computers), short of decoding the human genome," said Michael Gartenberg, research director at Jupiter Research.
Hey, this should make the feature list for Quake 7! Frag your opponents, then analyze their gibs in realtime for the likelihood of having developed genetic disorders (had they lived, of course).
Wherever will I download "Songs of Ocarina" and soundtrack to "Legends of the Fall" if they shut off access to this great site!!!!!
My last original project used the RenderWare graphics engine, which is interesting in that it hasn't been mentioned here, and it is a nice middle ground between these two extremes (Doom3/Unreal2's incredibly high sticker price and Garage Game's extra value meal). For something like $50k/SKU (which is of course negotiable if you're willing to trade on points for the royalties) you get a pretty robust rasterization engine, with reasonably good docs and a nice pedigree (used in GTA3 and THPS3 to name the two current biggies).
I've also heard similar things about Intrinsic's Alchemy solution, but I haven't used it first-hand.
Damm! I'll just copy your comment, then, and maybe I'll get a +1 Funny just for copying a comment about copying comments.
One of my former lead programmers did exactly this: he interviewed and got an offer from another company, our producer wanted to keep him on, so the company countered for *more* than the outstanding offer, and he stayed. He remained for about one year, then left for the same company that had made him the offer in the first place for even *more* money. A couple of observations:
1. If you're a valued enough asset at your current company that they're willing to up your salary, they're not likely to turn around and axe you first chance they get... why not just let you go, and avoid having to worry about severence and all the hassle?
2. There is nothing wrong with changing your mind once, twice, or three times. People do these things all of the time, in the course of their career, but...
3. Don't burn bridges! Your current employer may counter; your prospective new employer may also respond by increasing their offer in kind. Stranger things have happened. And when you make up your mind about what job you want to take, remember to be kind to both sides: you may end up going back to your original company or leaving for the new one later down the road, and keeping your options open is always a good thing.
--J
AMD seemed for a while to be winning the price point war, getting to market at an extremely competitive cost for cutting edge hardware. According to my recent price-watching, however, this advantage seems to be diminishing, as Intel's lately been getting more competitive in their pricing in reaction to this. Maybe they're just going after the next buzzword in hopes of beating Intel at it's own game.
these guys do some rockin' covers as well. I especially love their version of the Contra level music.
mmm, Contra.
Never having been defrauded on eBay, but having been screwed several times in regular retail dealings, I would try the standard stuff first.
First: Was the seller an individual, or a company? If a company, go tell it to the BBB. FBI won't take an interest until the dollar amounts add up enough, but you can always go to the Fair Trade Commission. Tax dollars fund their investigations, so it may take a while to see results.
Second: Discredit the seller. Publish their info anywhere you can. Use your venues online to get their information out there. If there aren't venues for this, set one up. I don't know if there's a site dedicated to publishing bad seller info, having never researched it, but I'd guess you're not the first person to run into this.
Finally, how about a law suit? IANAL, but I'm sure there are many who'd just love to get medieval on the fool. And I'm sure for the kind of money you're talking about, you would, too.
Good luck!
Notice the huge caveat by IGN that this is all still speculative and not set in stone? That's probably because, until Spaceworld next week, the world will not really know what the Big N has up its sleeve... Until then, for me at least, all bets are off.