Yes, because Blizzard intends to remove the password protection and private meeting services that have existed in battle.net pretty much since it was originally released.
I enjoy LAN play just as much as the next guy, but please, let's not be stupid about this. If you want to control who can enter your games, you'll be able to -- you always have, and always will. Yes, the battle net downtime and latency will suck. But it probably won't ruin your LAN parties.
Good point on mouse & keyboard platforming. Abuse is the oldest KB/M platformer I can think of, and anyone who hasn't played it really owes it to themselves to give it a try. (Do it. The game is free these days.)
I imagine there are other games which would benefit from this control scheme. The SNES classic Cybernator comes to mind.
Show me one operating system that can run binaries from 15 years. Show me one operating system that can take source code from 15 years ago and compile it unmodified today.
For what it's worth... IBM System Z is backwards compatible with System 360 which has maintained binary compatibility all the way back to 1969.
Of course, System Z is not a consumer level operating system.
I did a little reading on C4 when I wrote this post. It turns out that, while it can be burned safely, it releases toxic chemicals in the process (Doh!)
A lot of people are raising concerns about the risk associated with increasing the energy density of the battery.
I would like to point out that it's difficult to directly compare the risks of two fuel sources without knowing how quickly the energy can be released, and under what conditions it can happen.
For instance, I enjoy working with motorcycles, which typically carry 2 major energy sources: A battery, which supplies starting and auxiliary power, and gasoline, which supplies primary power (including the power required to charge the battery.)
The gasoline in the tank has a far greater energy density and far higher energy potential than the battery, but of the two, the battery poses the greatest risk of injury and explosion.
The gasoline can certainly burn, but will only explode under very specific conditions. The conditions required to set it burning are also very easily removed. In fact, I'm far more concerned about the chemical damaged caused by exposing fuel to skin than I am about the risk of fire or explosion.
On the other hand, I work around the battery with wrenches that are typically grounded against the frame while in use. Even with a disconnected battery, I've had cases (while working on a car) where the wrench contacts the positive terminal of the disconnected battery, creating very heavy gauge short circuit between the terminals. The resulting release of energy will cut through metal and cause severe burns. Likewise, if overdrawn, the battery can release hydrogen which can either vent and ignite, or build internal pressure causing the battery to explode.
An interesting example of a substance that is explosive, has a high energy density, and is safe is C4, which can actually be used to cook food if burned, but will not explode without a blasting cap.
So... Are these batteries a risk? Perhaps. We should look into that. But it's best not to cry about the sky falling without first investigating the matter.
The best answer to this question is to suggest that you give them a try. Nothing is lost by experimenting.
Personally, I haven't used the widest variety of latex condoms. I switched to Polyurethane near-exclusively as soon as I tried them, despite the extra cost. In latex, I've tried the standard affairs, the ultra thins, and the Durex lightly ribbed condoms. I used polyurethane with a previous girlfriend who didn't want to take the pill, and switched to unprotected sex with my current girlfriend who is on the pill, once we went exclusive.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with a standard latex condom being 1, and the pill being 10, I would rate polyurethane in the 4-7 range. Noticeably better than latex, but not perfect.
If you decide to try poly, I would encourage you to test-fit a poly condom on your own at least once. It's hard to describe what a pain it is to put the little buggers on in a dark room with slippery hands.
While this is true, the good, thin and reliable latex condoms don't mitigate it by that much. From what I've heard, polyurethane condoms are an excellent alternative with CRAZY sensitivity, but it's a bit risky considering that its effectiveness is not as "guaranteed" as latex condoms.
The effectiveness of latex condoms is not guaranteed -- no one is going to pay your child support or replace the condom if it breaks. It has however been carefully studied.
In my experience, a good polyurethane condom protects just as well as a latex condom if you treat it properly. However, poly condoms aren't as flexible as latex, and it can sometimes be difficult to get them on -- for that reason, they are a little prone to being nicked. Because poly condoms cost $3 a piece, and come in small packs, people are more likely to use a questionable condom.
It's important to separate cultural traits from genetic traits, learned environmental traits, and out right bais. There are differences between cultures, and denying them is nothing more than a stop-gap measure between outright racism and true equality.
True racism is about preventing an individual from achieving their potential due to our beliefs about their race, whether those beliefs are founded on experience or outright racism.
And for what it's worth, I have absolutely no idea how you got on the subject of racism from my post. I observed that drug dealers are in the business of dealing drugs. I doubt that a successful dealer would have to resort to petty theft. A hard-core addict is often a non-productive member of society, and more likely than a dealer to finance his habit through theft.
I think your leap of logic from drugs to race speaks more about your bias than mine. Personally, I've found drug use to be a problem among all races.
"Never attribute to malice what could more easily be attributed to stupidity."
The phone techs you talk to when you call AT&T have access to a lot of tools and information you may not have access to, but ultimately, they are limited to handling the kinds of issues they have been trained to handle. Getting new material to these techs takes a long time and a lot of work. Chances are, they didn't help you because they don't know how to respond.
The revenue these slammers generate is a drop in the bucket compared to legitimate AT&T business. Your average scammer's wet dream would be to pull in the kind of money that a single dial up provider spends on their monthly phone bill.
Are there any PS2 exclusives still being released, or are they all just watered down PS3 titles?
Does it matter?
Personally, I don't care that much about exclusives... What I'm looking for is simple, inexpensive fun, and the ability to play console games not available on my PC. Exclusives are there to convince gamers to buy one console over another, or to encourage gamers to buy all three. For people such as myself, upcoming exclusives are less meaningful than a good library of established games. Remember, the PS/2 has plenty of exclusives. The difference is that I can get them for $20 a pop.
There are a lot of casual games our there who aren't ready to drop $300 on a new console. For people like me, the PS/2 is a perfect middle ground -- a system with a huge library of respected games, mature 3D graphics, and a great middle ground between price, retail support, and age. By the time I've gotten tired of the PS/2, the PS3 will be into my price range.
If you want an example of a dead console, look at the PS/1.
My days of being at the edge of the gaming curve passed as soon as my SLI VooDoo2 card became obsolete. I can't tell you how much more fun gaming is when you take it casually.
It seems to me that the Wii, and PS/2 are still in their infancy in many ways. While the 360 has come down in price and stabilized to a degree, all three consoles are still a little expensive for the casual consumer, IMO. There's still a lot of life left in each console.
Based on previous experience with the Saturn/Dreamcast, as well as with the amount of time, money, and energy spent bootstrapping the PS3, I cant see any of the major manufacturers doing much more than a refresh on their major consoles. Releasing a new console requires a huge amount of tooling effort with the developers, and generally tends to kill the installed base on your old console. With the huge development requirements of today's consoles, I wouldn't be surprised if developers were to see a console refresh as a form of betrayal, and turn their backs on the next gen offering.
If anything, I expect the current generation of consoles to last even longer than the last generation.
As someone who just recently purchased a PS/2, I'd go so far as to say that it has yet to give up the ghost. While a lot of development effort is being put into the PS/3, it's hard to call the PS2 dead when new games are still being released.
Tell you what... Why don't you try. Think of all the common municipal services provided in your community, and explain how you pay for them personally.
As a reminder, you benefit inadvertently by these services. I would guess that you purchased an investment property, or plan to develop this property in the future. What do you think would happen to your property values if the sanitation service shut down...?
Slashdot Mirror
I thought the point was to socialize with other gamers. But, you're right: low latency is more important than human interaction.
World of guitarcraft?
Yes, because Blizzard intends to remove the password protection and private meeting services that have existed in battle.net pretty much since it was originally released.
I enjoy LAN play just as much as the next guy, but please, let's not be stupid about this. If you want to control who can enter your games, you'll be able to -- you always have, and always will. Yes, the battle net downtime and latency will suck. But it probably won't ruin your LAN parties.
Good point on mouse & keyboard platforming. Abuse is the oldest KB/M platformer I can think of, and anyone who hasn't played it really owes it to themselves to give it a try. (Do it. The game is free these days.)
I imagine there are other games which would benefit from this control scheme. The SNES classic Cybernator comes to mind.
That's pretty damned impressive. I wonder what it would take to actually C4 off.
For what it's worth... IBM System Z is backwards compatible with System 360 which has maintained binary compatibility all the way back to 1969.
Of course, System Z is not a consumer level operating system.
I did a little reading on C4 when I wrote this post. It turns out that, while it can be burned safely, it releases toxic chemicals in the process (Doh!)
A lot of people are raising concerns about the risk associated with increasing the energy density of the battery.
I would like to point out that it's difficult to directly compare the risks of two fuel sources without knowing how quickly the energy can be released, and under what conditions it can happen.
For instance, I enjoy working with motorcycles, which typically carry 2 major energy sources: A battery, which supplies starting and auxiliary power, and gasoline, which supplies primary power (including the power required to charge the battery.)
The gasoline in the tank has a far greater energy density and far higher energy potential than the battery, but of the two, the battery poses the greatest risk of injury and explosion.
The gasoline can certainly burn, but will only explode under very specific conditions. The conditions required to set it burning are also very easily removed. In fact, I'm far more concerned about the chemical damaged caused by exposing fuel to skin than I am about the risk of fire or explosion.
On the other hand, I work around the battery with wrenches that are typically grounded against the frame while in use. Even with a disconnected battery, I've had cases (while working on a car) where the wrench contacts the positive terminal of the disconnected battery, creating very heavy gauge short circuit between the terminals. The resulting release of energy will cut through metal and cause severe burns. Likewise, if overdrawn, the battery can release hydrogen which can either vent and ignite, or build internal pressure causing the battery to explode.
An interesting example of a substance that is explosive, has a high energy density, and is safe is C4, which can actually be used to cook food if burned, but will not explode without a blasting cap.
So... Are these batteries a risk? Perhaps. We should look into that. But it's best not to cry about the sky falling without first investigating the matter.
I've seen the term sensitivity applied to a lot of violent explosives. C4 and Nitroglycerine come to mind.
How many people hesitated before clicking that link, expecting to hear: "We're no strangers to love..."
You should probably WTFV (Watch the Fucking Video.) :)
Hodgeman makes this point pretty clear... The last administration wasn't an athletic bunch, but they did have that Jock attitude.
Obama is in good shape and plays sports, but really does seem more like the nerd type.
The best answer to this question is to suggest that you give them a try. Nothing is lost by experimenting.
Personally, I haven't used the widest variety of latex condoms. I switched to Polyurethane near-exclusively as soon as I tried them, despite the extra cost. In latex, I've tried the standard affairs, the ultra thins, and the Durex lightly ribbed condoms. I used polyurethane with a previous girlfriend who didn't want to take the pill, and switched to unprotected sex with my current girlfriend who is on the pill, once we went exclusive.
On a scale of 1 to 10, with a standard latex condom being 1, and the pill being 10, I would rate polyurethane in the 4-7 range. Noticeably better than latex, but not perfect.
If you decide to try poly, I would encourage you to test-fit a poly condom on your own at least once. It's hard to describe what a pain it is to put the little buggers on in a dark room with slippery hands.
I know, and am friends with many drug users. I'm judging the people who live up to the stereotype.
I apologize if that wasn't clear from my original post.
Great post. Minor nitpick:
The effectiveness of latex condoms is not guaranteed -- no one is going to pay your child support or replace the condom if it breaks. It has however been carefully studied.
In my experience, a good polyurethane condom protects just as well as a latex condom if you treat it properly. However, poly condoms aren't as flexible as latex, and it can sometimes be difficult to get them on -- for that reason, they are a little prone to being nicked. Because poly condoms cost $3 a piece, and come in small packs, people are more likely to use a questionable condom.
It's important to separate cultural traits from genetic traits, learned environmental traits, and out right bais. There are differences between cultures, and denying them is nothing more than a stop-gap measure between outright racism and true equality.
True racism is about preventing an individual from achieving their potential due to our beliefs about their race, whether those beliefs are founded on experience or outright racism.
And for what it's worth, I have absolutely no idea how you got on the subject of racism from my post. I observed that drug dealers are in the business of dealing drugs. I doubt that a successful dealer would have to resort to petty theft. A hard-core addict is often a non-productive member of society, and more likely than a dealer to finance his habit through theft.
I think your leap of logic from drugs to race speaks more about your bias than mine. Personally, I've found drug use to be a problem among all races.
Christ, I wish I knew about that law when I was 6.
Drug lords don't steal iphones, they sell drugs. Drug users on the other hand...
"Never attribute to malice what could more easily be attributed to stupidity."
The phone techs you talk to when you call AT&T have access to a lot of tools and information you may not have access to, but ultimately, they are limited to handling the kinds of issues they have been trained to handle. Getting new material to these techs takes a long time and a lot of work. Chances are, they didn't help you because they don't know how to respond.
The revenue these slammers generate is a drop in the bucket compared to legitimate AT&T business. Your average scammer's wet dream would be to pull in the kind of money that a single dial up provider spends on their monthly phone bill.
I would, but my Model 70 doesn't support it!
Does it matter?
Personally, I don't care that much about exclusives... What I'm looking for is simple, inexpensive fun, and the ability to play console games not available on my PC. Exclusives are there to convince gamers to buy one console over another, or to encourage gamers to buy all three. For people such as myself, upcoming exclusives are less meaningful than a good library of established games. Remember, the PS/2 has plenty of exclusives. The difference is that I can get them for $20 a pop.
There are a lot of casual games our there who aren't ready to drop $300 on a new console. For people like me, the PS/2 is a perfect middle ground -- a system with a huge library of respected games, mature 3D graphics, and a great middle ground between price, retail support, and age. By the time I've gotten tired of the PS/2, the PS3 will be into my price range.
If you want an example of a dead console, look at the PS/1.
My days of being at the edge of the gaming curve passed as soon as my SLI VooDoo2 card became obsolete. I can't tell you how much more fun gaming is when you take it casually.
It seems to me that the Wii, and PS/2 are still in their infancy in many ways. While the 360 has come down in price and stabilized to a degree, all three consoles are still a little expensive for the casual consumer, IMO. There's still a lot of life left in each console.
Based on previous experience with the Saturn/Dreamcast, as well as with the amount of time, money, and energy spent bootstrapping the PS3, I cant see any of the major manufacturers doing much more than a refresh on their major consoles. Releasing a new console requires a huge amount of tooling effort with the developers, and generally tends to kill the installed base on your old console. With the huge development requirements of today's consoles, I wouldn't be surprised if developers were to see a console refresh as a form of betrayal, and turn their backs on the next gen offering.
If anything, I expect the current generation of consoles to last even longer than the last generation.
As someone who just recently purchased a PS/2, I'd go so far as to say that it has yet to give up the ghost. While a lot of development effort is being put into the PS/3, it's hard to call the PS2 dead when new games are still being released.
Very true... Our last $800 billion only bought us a bunch of dead Arabs.
Dealer network is still going to be American. So, you'll probably be stuck buying your hummers from fat truck guys, as per usual.
Tell you what... Why don't you try. Think of all the common municipal services provided in your community, and explain how you pay for them personally.
Here's a stating point.
As a reminder, you benefit inadvertently by these services. I would guess that you purchased an investment property, or plan to develop this property in the future. What do you think would happen to your property values if the sanitation service shut down...?