One would say there are easier methods, that are more objective. Like: take the statistics provided by the app store on number of downloads, the price of the app (if not free), and from that you have the revenue.
The problem is that the app store does not provide any stats on the number of downloads. You can get a ranking, but that tells you nothing about download numbers. You can glean together bits of information from the occasional developer who says "my app that hit #4 had 15,000 downloads", but since no one (except Apple) knows exactly how the ranking algorithms work, even that's not accurate. Further, the number of downloads required to reach a given ranking changes daily based on the number of downloads on the whole store that day, and how many downloads a given app had on the previous day or two. Additionally, many of the top grossing games on the store use a freemium model, and that's even harder to account for, as IAP purchases don't affect rank at all (except for in the top grossing charts).
Thank you science, for trying to take the mystery out of art. Not everything can be quantified. Some things just need to be appreciated and enjoyed for what they are.
Unfortunately, since Yahoo isn't a government-run business they're not bound by any kind of code of ethics. The company is only bound by the ethical decisions that the owners and/or board of directors decide when making large business decisions.
As long as they're not doing anything illegal, then in a free-market system we, as consumers, have no option but to not buy their product. That is, if we object to their policies.
Let me preface this by saying, I don't play Madden and I don't intend to buy Madden 06. However, I had some concerns about the way the post was written.
The poster cites 2 sources for review scores. Have you heard of Metacritic? They look at reviews across the web and create a score based on all possible reviews. If you look at Madden there you'll see:
I think it may have something to do with programmer ego and something to do with the challenge. I'm guilty of it myself. You find something you're interested in and you want to build it. It doesn't matter if someone else has done it or even done it well before you. The challenge is to do it yourself.
Here are some simple steps to destroy your webserver:
1. Decide on an electronics device (computer, camera, etc) 2. Make device chosen in step 1 *really* small, but just as powerful as full sized device. 3. Put info about device on webserver you wish to destroy. 4. Post link to info on Slashdot. 5.... 6. Profit! No! Slashdot!
As it turns out the real cause of missing service on the SCO site was not a DDoS...
SCO admin #1: Holy crap! I think the site's under attack! SCO admin #2: How do you know? SCO admin #1: Can't hit the site. It's not responding at all! SCO admin #2: [looks around behind the servers to find them unplugged]
"At the heart of the Japanese system is a compact and tunable optical parametric oscillator (OPO) that emits terahertz waves. The OPO is made from a nonlinear crystal (MgO:LiNbO3) that is pumped by a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. It emits terahertz radiation that is tunable between 1 and 2.5 THz.
Terahertz waves of several different frequencies are scanned over the envelope and the transmitted radiation is picked up by a pyroelectric bolometer and analyzed by a computer."
Someone seems to have messed up and posted a garbled version of the page. Can someone please post the English version?
When I was in second year of university (and getting into programming in C), I read Robert J. Sawyer's "The Terminal Experiment". There's a section of the novel where he discusses a simple evolutionary algorithm that allows the computer to find a string starting with a random sequence of characters. I remember putting the book down and thinking, "I could write that!" So I did. It was really fun, and it opened me up to a new way of coding and thinking about algorithms.
If I book inspires you to write code you would have never written otherwise, go with it!
It's my personal belief that because the "computer graphics" industry is so young, we're still trying to pack as much realism into our games as possible.
I think as the medium matures, we'll start to see more interesting and abstract art forms immerging from graphics. Games that are based around gameplay, will start to take over again, as graphics become something that you can manipulate the way you want to.
The graphics should become a way to help create an environment for the game. It shouldn't be the reason for creating the game.
Movies as marketing gimmicks
on
New Mad Max Film
·
· Score: 2, Insightful
I think my favourite part of the article is the president of Fox saying, "This is an event movie, and we know how to market event movies."
It's not even about the movie anymore. It's just about how much marketing can be done; how much money can be made.
How much do we really need to be in constant communication with the rest of the world? Don't people want to be able to get away from work? Do we really need yet *another* place to see ads? I'm starting to understand what my grandfather used to say (see my sig.)
Slashdot Mirror
One would say there are easier methods, that are more objective. Like: take the statistics provided by the app store on number of downloads, the price of the app (if not free), and from that you have the revenue.
The problem is that the app store does not provide any stats on the number of downloads. You can get a ranking, but that tells you nothing about download numbers. You can glean together bits of information from the occasional developer who says "my app that hit #4 had 15,000 downloads", but since no one (except Apple) knows exactly how the ranking algorithms work, even that's not accurate. Further, the number of downloads required to reach a given ranking changes daily based on the number of downloads on the whole store that day, and how many downloads a given app had on the previous day or two. Additionally, many of the top grossing games on the store use a freemium model, and that's even harder to account for, as IAP purchases don't affect rank at all (except for in the top grossing charts).
That's why this survey was important to do.
Thank you science, for trying to take the mystery out of art. Not everything can be quantified. Some things just need to be appreciated and enjoyed for what they are.
PC Mag has the pictures to what?
Unfortunately, since Yahoo isn't a government-run business they're not bound by any kind of code of ethics. The company is only bound by the ethical decisions that the owners and/or board of directors decide when making large business decisions.
As long as they're not doing anything illegal, then in a free-market system we, as consumers, have no option but to not buy their product. That is, if we object to their policies.
It's up to us.
That damn penguin keeps sh*tting on my carpet!
Let me preface this by saying, I don't play Madden and I don't intend to buy Madden 06. However, I had some concerns about the way the post was written.
The poster cites 2 sources for review scores. Have you heard of Metacritic? They look at reviews across the web and create a score based on all possible reviews. If you look at Madden there you'll see:
XBox: 88% - Based on 20 reviews
PS2: 89% - Based on 18 reviews
PC: 81% - Based on 5 reviews
While these still may not be an ideal sampling, it's a much better guage of how reviewers are judging this game.
I think it may have something to do with programmer ego and something to do with the challenge. I'm guilty of it myself. You find something you're interested in and you want to build it. It doesn't matter if someone else has done it or even done it well before you. The challenge is to do it yourself.
So far it works for monkeys...
Can they use it to teach the monkeys to program?
That would make them the ultimate code monkeys!
*ducks*
Here are some simple steps to destroy your webserver:
...
1. Decide on an electronics device (computer, camera, etc)
2. Make device chosen in step 1 *really* small, but just as powerful as full sized device.
3. Put info about device on webserver you wish to destroy.
4. Post link to info on Slashdot.
5.
6. Profit! No! Slashdot!
"that little penguin (a.k.a. Tux) shows up in the darnedest places."
/.?
Umm...if you don't know what "that little penguin" is called, why are you doing reading
Now if only someone would pay me $100K a year to look at pr0n 12 hours a day...
As it turns out the real cause of missing service on the SCO site was not a DDoS...
SCO admin #1: Holy crap! I think the site's under attack!
SCO admin #2: How do you know?
SCO admin #1: Can't hit the site. It's not responding at all!
SCO admin #2: [looks around behind the servers to find them unplugged]
they precomputed 207 billion crypt() hashes
Are you sure that wasn't supposed to read:
they precomputed 207 billion crypt() ashes?
...but shouldn't a gift certificate to steal things be free? :)
"At the heart of the Japanese system is a compact and tunable optical parametric oscillator (OPO) that emits terahertz waves. The OPO is made from a nonlinear crystal (MgO:LiNbO3) that is pumped by a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. It emits terahertz radiation that is tunable between 1 and 2.5 THz.
Terahertz waves of several different frequencies are scanned over the envelope and the transmitted radiation is picked up by a pyroelectric bolometer and analyzed by a computer."
Someone seems to have messed up and posted a garbled version of the page. Can someone please post the English version?
"Both Apple and the University are playing mum on the issue, but there's talk of it all over the campus."
Must be a pretty boring campus...
When I was in second year of university (and getting into programming in C), I read Robert J. Sawyer's "The Terminal Experiment". There's a section of the novel where he discusses a simple evolutionary algorithm that allows the computer to find a string starting with a random sequence of characters. I remember putting the book down and thinking, "I could write that!" So I did. It was really fun, and it opened me up to a new way of coding and thinking about algorithms.
If I book inspires you to write code you would have never written otherwise, go with it!
Show me a stable job, and I'll show you a...umm......resume.
a Beowulf cluster of...
Oh wait...nevermind...
Appropriate bug reporting: ..."
"Upon clicking on Submit in ProgramX release X.X.X the system hangs and generates the following output:
Inappropriate bug reporting:
"Dude! There's a huge f--king cockroach in my kitchen!!!"
What the hell happened to Pentiums V through CMXCIX?
The Pioneer 10 spacecraft was heard to whisper, "I can see my house!"
It's my personal belief that because the "computer graphics" industry is so young, we're still trying to pack as much realism into our games as possible.
I think as the medium matures, we'll start to see more interesting and abstract art forms immerging from graphics. Games that are based around gameplay, will start to take over again, as graphics become something that you can manipulate the way you want to.
The graphics should become a way to help create an environment for the game. It shouldn't be the reason for creating the game.
I think my favourite part of the article is the president of Fox saying, "This is an event movie, and we know how to market event movies."
It's not even about the movie anymore. It's just about how much marketing can be done; how much money can be made.
How much do we really need to be in constant communication with the rest of the world? Don't people want to be able to get away from work? Do we really need yet *another* place to see ads? I'm starting to understand what my grandfather used to say (see my sig.)