Yeah, they really dopped the ball on transportation, which is widely regarded as the most desire place of improvement since sc2000. I think it was an attempt to sell an expansion pack, which is based on the Sims similar success. But, it had better offer a lot more than 4 lane roads. I am talking ground-level highways, more interchanges (including a T and a Y, clover 1/2 clover to regular roads, stack, flyover, etc...), and multiple types of avenues. One way streets, l-trains, and subway to rail connectors.
Clearly the designers of this game had no clue, despite the fact that the message boards were driving the cluetrain straight down their hallways daily about the lacking transportation.
Sometimes the reviewers do not take enough time with the game to get the full picture. A classic example is the progessive game like Simcity 4. This thing got practically glowing reviews, but come to find out it was a sluggish, bug ridden piece of junk as soon as the city got to any reasonable size. At that point certain buildings wouldn't show up and the frame rates dropped to around 1 fps - even on 2Ghz plus machines.
While most of the issues have been addressed in a patch that was released almost 3 months after the game was - it should have been panned by anyone who took more than a few minutes with it.
The person was sharing 600 songs, not downloading them. One would have to wiretap in order to find one downloading. All they did was look at the users share list.
I wish people would stop using SHARING and DOWNLOADING interchangeably - they are not the same thing, and DOWNLOADING is being erroneously used everywhere I see it.
One of the car companies wields the DMCA against a 3rd party manufacturer(s) - and successfully prevents them from making aftermarket parts for their car because the part design 'violates' the copyrighted design.
At that point, you will only be able to buy replacement (read - expensive) parts from an authorized dealer. Why not go one step further, and make it illegal to work on your car - take it apart, and see how it works. Sounds like reverse engineering to me, and is that not already prohibited?
I sincerely hope it happens, because everyone will find out really fast how many millions of backwoods/redneck folk with guns are in this country with broken down trucks. Not smart, but if something is not done, this is coming. Yes there is a little sarcasm, but....
It is about time that a fairly large user community is speaking out against this sort of activation/registration non-sense - and it looks like they will be voting with their wallets finally.
What is nice to see is a group of ordinary folk (on Amazon - a non computer/IS centric site) actively speaking out against a poor concept, which not only inconveniences users - but destroys the very concept of product ownership.
This sort of thing is widely acknowledged in among geeks - but having Joe-User types complaining in droves is another thing entirely. Wanna bet that Intuit trashes this in the next version - or does away with it in a new release?
So much for following the 'Leader' (microsoft...).
Chris...
Finally a legitimate patent on a real invention
on
Tornado in a Can
·
· Score: 5, Insightful
Things such as this are what the patent system was designed for. This is a legitimate 'new' device that performs a 'new' function that was previously unavailable - and it deserves a patent.
Of course, someone will hook it up to a computer and obtain a new patent for 'Method of using a tornado in a can with a computer'
APG monitored the file sharing networks for available files with Danish IP addresses - and went to court to get the users' personal details from their ISPs, armed with screen shots of, for example, the KaZaA window showing the files on the user's hard-drive. The courts obliged and ordered the ISPs to deliver the personal details of the incriminated users. Then the bills were in the post... landing on the mats of the unfortunate downloaders over the last few days.
There is an epidemic of misuse of the word 'downloader'. They are looking for people who are posting files. If you have no files shared, you are not seen and the only way you would be caught 'downloading' is if you were 'entrapped', by being offered downloads from the Kopyright Kops, if you will. Then they would record your name as you are downloading.
I generally respect the register, but the article is poorly written. This does not have to do with downloading, it has to do with offering your stuff up on the P2P networks for others to download.
Chris...
Re:Suit and Tie do not make the programmer.
on
Suit Up Or Ship Out?
·
· Score: 1
I work for EDS as well, but on the client site, which is a Steel Plant. Jeans and any shirt are the norm - completely casual, not business casual. I guess it depends on where you are. I can just see ruining a 500 dollar suit out in the Melt shop....
I do not let my kids watch the crap (with the exception of Spongebob - it is gross, but innocently so, and it is on earlier in the evening when mny kids are up). The fact is that the stuff is NOT directed at older kids because it is on Nick. Nick is assumed to be a kids channel. Get the garbage on the cartoon network in an adult block in the evening if it needs to be on.
That show was crap. The same absolute gross crap that the supposed 'Kids Network' has been pumping down my kids throats for the several years.
You can add it to the atomic dustbin with such pieces of shit as Buck Naked, Butt Ugly Martians, Spongebob, the Fairly Oddparents, etc.... It is all garbage. If there absolutely needs to be programming such as this - make a new teen channel - because thats where such swill should is directed anyway - NOT at my 4 and 7 year olds.
Maybe I am just not 'in' enough to chug a big glass of stupid gross idiocy everynight.
Um, the New Yorker article is not correct. That is precicisely the problem, too much misinformation from seemingly reliable sources. It is a known fact that the contagious nature of the disease is not rendered until the rash appears. This is why the disease is NOT as contagious as it is made out to be. Much of the past world contracted it due to lack of proper sanitation, not the vaccine.
Re:as far as religion goes (from a Christian)
on
God's Debris
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Amen to that. As a Christian I am very frustrated at the way 'organized' religeon has distorted God and Christ in order to fit its own theological conclusions.
I hate to say it, but, IMHO, large organized Christian 'based' religeons are the devils greatest tools of deception. It is less obvious, and more dangerous to give someone 95% of the truth, but leave out the 5% that really makes a difference in a persons salvation.
I see it in constant biblical misinterpretations, which if the 'reader' would actually sit down and read the words to figure it out for themselves, they would be astounded at the amount of crap that is really being preached in the pulpit.
Even some of the preachers themselves know they are not right (I know at least 2), but continue to tow the line for the sake of their 'job'
Not a good thing at all, and it is so widespread - rooted in traditions that go back a thousand or more years, that it is impossible to disuade people in large numbers from it to the actual truth.
There has been almost no reconciliation between science and christianity either. I am fascinated by technology and the universe, as much as everyone else here, but I take it for what it is, and I do not let it rule my existance....
my 2 cents anyway.
I could not agree more. I am a C++ developer that mainly does maintanence coding and feature/functionality additions and deletions to existing software that was not only poorly coded, but also poorly documented and commented.
Documentation is the single most important element of good coding, barring even design and structure. There is nothing uglier than spending a week trying to figure out the oddball paths the previous coder tried to take when the thing was originally written. It is a dagger in the heart of productivity.
The other point that deserves strong commendation is that of not 'evangelizing' some platform, be it Windows, Linux, etc... This type of activity is just as bad from the Microsoft people, as the Linux people. There is no one 'right' platform, and you have to work within the context of where you are for the good of the company.
After all, C++ is C++, even it appears more or less convoluted on different platforms.
It was not botulism, it was salmonella. That is why no one died. You get sick as shit (I have had it), but life goes on. C. Botulinum can only produce the toxin in the absence of oxygen, which is why it is very difficult to get.....
I work at a factory maintaining all the C++ code for the applications which run the facility, including new program development, and feature addition. There is nothing more satifying than taming a horribly written MFC prog, and making it sing. I also do some Vb script for the admins, and some Perl scripts for the Unix and Linux servers.
The only downside is that the voluntary turnover rate is so high (due to a number of factors), that I also have the responsibility of answering the help phone 1/2 the day, which sometimes makes it impossible to handle anything important. That part really, really sucks.
Did I say anything regarding Open Source? My post had nothing to do with open source. My bitch was about outdated/outmoded copyright laws which protect content that is no longer profitable. I also have a problem with litigious corporations who purchase dead companies for the sole purpose of sueing someone who is mirroring some 20 year old game. The sad thing is that Atari corp officially decalared the 8-bit technology 'dead' back in 1992. This is simply a case of coporate greed, like it or not.
It is just a shame for them that these clones will never be removed from the internet, and that MAME will continue to flourish without making these corporate fire sale buyout goons a thin dime.
This is just becoming the way of the world. In fairly short order you won't be able to do anything without violating some sort of patent/copyright/trademark. And who are the breadwinners? Attorneys of course.
This is another disgusting example of a litigious company who has no intention of reviving the classic gaming market (at least that is what is demonstrated as of this point), but wants to scam money from classic game revisionist writers. Honestly, I believe that is the only reason that Atari was purchased.
All of this can be attributed to poorly written copyright laws (Life plus 70 years? On software? In the immortal words of John Stossel - "Gimme a Break"), big money lobbiests, and voter apathy.
I for one will simply refuse to purchase any Hasbro titles. Somewhere, somehow, this lawyer driven mess has to be cleaned up. The only way to do that is to vote with the wallet
Absolutely not. If such security measures are not written into the ISP contract with the company, then the ISP has no recourse at all. In a world with umpteen gazillion different things to know about, how can anyone keep up on absolutely every technology?
Personally I am sick an tired of everyone trying to pass the blame to scam a buck. This was a criminal act directed at Nike. If others got hit in the process, it is not the fault of Nike, it is the fault of the criminals who did the domain hijack.
I mean, c'mon - if someone storms into your house to shoot someone, and in the process shoots you - are you going to go after the original target of the shooting or the shooter? In the immortal words of John Stossel - Gimme a Break!
What a bunch of crap. This is nothing more than a money grab by the ISP. I may be conservative but I am all for the socialization of the legal profession. If you take the asinine amount of money out of it you would solve a significant amount of these problem.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, they really dopped the ball on transportation, which is widely regarded as the most desire place of improvement since sc2000. I think it was an attempt to sell an expansion pack, which is based on the Sims similar success. But, it had better offer a lot more than 4 lane roads. I am talking ground-level highways, more interchanges (including a T and a Y, clover 1/2 clover to regular roads, stack, flyover, etc...), and multiple types of avenues. One way streets, l-trains, and subway to rail connectors.
Clearly the designers of this game had no clue, despite the fact that the message boards were driving the cluetrain straight down their hallways daily about the lacking transportation.
Chris...
Sometimes the reviewers do not take enough time with the game to get the full picture. A classic example is the progessive game like Simcity 4. This thing got practically glowing reviews, but come to find out it was a sluggish, bug ridden piece of junk as soon as the city got to any reasonable size. At that point certain buildings wouldn't show up and the frame rates dropped to around 1 fps - even on 2Ghz plus machines.
While most of the issues have been addressed in a patch that was released almost 3 months after the game was - it should have been panned by anyone who took more than a few minutes with it.
Chris...
The person was sharing 600 songs, not downloading them. One would have to wiretap in order to find one downloading. All they did was look at the users share list.
I wish people would stop using SHARING and DOWNLOADING interchangeably - they are not the same thing, and DOWNLOADING is being erroneously used everywhere I see it.
One of the car companies wields the DMCA against a 3rd party manufacturer(s) - and successfully prevents them from making aftermarket parts for their car because the part design 'violates' the copyrighted design.
At that point, you will only be able to buy replacement (read - expensive) parts from an authorized dealer. Why not go one step further, and make it illegal to work on your car - take it apart, and see how it works. Sounds like reverse engineering to me, and is that not already prohibited?
I sincerely hope it happens, because everyone will find out really fast how many millions of backwoods/redneck folk with guns are in this country with broken down trucks. Not smart, but if something is not done, this is coming. Yes there is a little sarcasm, but....
Chris...
It is about time that a fairly large user community is speaking out against this sort of activation/registration non-sense - and it looks like they will be voting with their wallets finally.
What is nice to see is a group of ordinary folk (on Amazon - a non computer/IS centric site) actively speaking out against a poor concept, which not only inconveniences users - but destroys the very concept of product ownership.
This sort of thing is widely acknowledged in among geeks - but having Joe-User types complaining in droves is another thing entirely. Wanna bet that Intuit trashes this in the next version - or does away with it in a new release?
So much for following the 'Leader' (microsoft...).
Chris...
Things such as this are what the patent system was designed for. This is a legitimate 'new' device that performs a 'new' function that was previously unavailable - and it deserves a patent.
Of course, someone will hook it up to a computer and obtain a new patent for 'Method of using a tornado in a can with a computer'
Oh well, something may never change.
APG monitored the file sharing networks for available files with Danish IP addresses - and went to court to get the users' personal details from their ISPs, armed with screen shots of, for example, the KaZaA window showing the files on the user's hard-drive. The courts obliged and ordered the ISPs to deliver the personal details of the incriminated users. Then the bills were in the post ... landing on the mats of the unfortunate downloaders over the last few days.
There is an epidemic of misuse of the word 'downloader'. They are looking for people who are posting files. If you have no files shared, you are not seen and the only way you would be caught 'downloading' is if you were 'entrapped', by being offered downloads from the Kopyright Kops, if you will. Then they would record your name as you are downloading.
I generally respect the register, but the article is poorly written. This does not have to do with downloading, it has to do with offering your stuff up on the P2P networks for others to download.
Chris...
I work for EDS as well, but on the client site, which is a Steel Plant. Jeans and any shirt are the norm - completely casual, not business casual. I guess it depends on where you are. I can just see ruining a 500 dollar suit out in the Melt shop....
FP
I do not let my kids watch the crap (with the exception of Spongebob - it is gross, but innocently so, and it is on earlier in the evening when mny kids are up). The fact is that the stuff is NOT directed at older kids because it is on Nick. Nick is assumed to be a kids channel. Get the garbage on the cartoon network in an adult block in the evening if it needs to be on.
That show was crap. The same absolute gross crap that the supposed 'Kids Network' has been pumping down my kids throats for the several years.
You can add it to the atomic dustbin with such pieces of shit as Buck Naked, Butt Ugly Martians, Spongebob, the Fairly Oddparents, etc.... It is all garbage. If there absolutely needs to be programming such as this - make a new teen channel - because thats where such swill should is directed anyway - NOT at my 4 and 7 year olds.
Maybe I am just not 'in' enough to chug a big glass of stupid gross idiocy everynight.
Um, the New Yorker article is not correct. That is precicisely the problem, too much misinformation from seemingly reliable sources. It is a known fact that the contagious nature of the disease is not rendered until the rash appears. This is why the disease is NOT as contagious as it is made out to be. Much of the past world contracted it due to lack of proper sanitation, not the vaccine.
Amen to that. As a Christian I am very frustrated at the way 'organized' religeon has distorted God and Christ in order to fit its own theological conclusions. I hate to say it, but, IMHO, large organized Christian 'based' religeons are the devils greatest tools of deception. It is less obvious, and more dangerous to give someone 95% of the truth, but leave out the 5% that really makes a difference in a persons salvation. I see it in constant biblical misinterpretations, which if the 'reader' would actually sit down and read the words to figure it out for themselves, they would be astounded at the amount of crap that is really being preached in the pulpit. Even some of the preachers themselves know they are not right (I know at least 2), but continue to tow the line for the sake of their 'job' Not a good thing at all, and it is so widespread - rooted in traditions that go back a thousand or more years, that it is impossible to disuade people in large numbers from it to the actual truth. There has been almost no reconciliation between science and christianity either. I am fascinated by technology and the universe, as much as everyone else here, but I take it for what it is, and I do not let it rule my existance.... my 2 cents anyway.
I could not agree more. I am a C++ developer that mainly does maintanence coding and feature/functionality additions and deletions to existing software that was not only poorly coded, but also poorly documented and commented.
Documentation is the single most important element of good coding, barring even design and structure. There is nothing uglier than spending a week trying to figure out the oddball paths the previous coder tried to take when the thing was originally written. It is a dagger in the heart of productivity.
The other point that deserves strong commendation is that of not 'evangelizing' some platform, be it Windows, Linux, etc... This type of activity is just as bad from the Microsoft people, as the Linux people. There is no one 'right' platform, and you have to work within the context of where you are for the good of the company.
After all, C++ is C++, even it appears more or less convoluted on different platforms.
Pax,
Chris...
It was not botulism, it was salmonella. That is why no one died. You get sick as shit (I have had it), but life goes on. C. Botulinum can only produce the toxin in the absence of oxygen, which is why it is very difficult to get.....
I work at a factory maintaining all the C++ code for the applications which run the facility, including new program development, and feature addition. There is nothing more satifying than taming a horribly written MFC prog, and making it sing. I also do some Vb script for the admins, and some Perl scripts for the Unix and Linux servers.
The only downside is that the voluntary turnover rate is so high (due to a number of factors), that I also have the responsibility of answering the help phone 1/2 the day, which sometimes makes it impossible to handle anything important. That part really, really sucks.
Do not forget that it is DEMOCRAT that is introducing the monstrous piece of crap legislation.
Could someone with a lot of time summarize this thing?
Yes, of course, it is the word 'Music'
Did I say anything regarding Open Source? My post had nothing to do with open source. My bitch was about outdated/outmoded copyright laws which protect content that is no longer profitable. I also have a problem with litigious corporations who purchase dead companies for the sole purpose of sueing someone who is mirroring some 20 year old game. The sad thing is that Atari corp officially decalared the 8-bit technology 'dead' back in 1992. This is simply a case of coporate greed, like it or not. It is just a shame for them that these clones will never be removed from the internet, and that MAME will continue to flourish without making these corporate fire sale buyout goons a thin dime.
This is just becoming the way of the world. In fairly short order you won't be able to do anything without violating some sort of patent/copyright/trademark. And who are the breadwinners? Attorneys of course. This is another disgusting example of a litigious company who has no intention of reviving the classic gaming market (at least that is what is demonstrated as of this point), but wants to scam money from classic game revisionist writers. Honestly, I believe that is the only reason that Atari was purchased. All of this can be attributed to poorly written copyright laws (Life plus 70 years? On software? In the immortal words of John Stossel - "Gimme a Break"), big money lobbiests, and voter apathy. I for one will simply refuse to purchase any Hasbro titles. Somewhere, somehow, this lawyer driven mess has to be cleaned up. The only way to do that is to vote with the wallet
Absolutely not. If such security measures are not written into the ISP contract with the company, then the ISP has no recourse at all. In a world with umpteen gazillion different things to know about, how can anyone keep up on absolutely every technology?
Personally I am sick an tired of everyone trying to pass the blame to scam a buck. This was a criminal act directed at Nike. If others got hit in the process, it is not the fault of Nike, it is the fault of the criminals who did the domain hijack.
I mean, c'mon - if someone storms into your house to shoot someone, and in the process shoots you - are you going to go after the original target of the shooting or the shooter? In the immortal words of John Stossel - Gimme a Break!
What a bunch of crap. This is nothing more than a money grab by the ISP. I may be conservative but I am all for the socialization of the legal profession. If you take the asinine amount of money out of it you would solve a significant amount of these problem.