It's pretty sloppy for RH to leave security fixes for these holes out of 7.0, but anyone running a server on a high-bandwidth line should probably know enough to get security updates frequently. Nobody deserves to get hacked, but you need to expect the worse as a sys admin. Leaving the default install on a server is absolutely amateurish.
especially since retailing seems to have gone in the clueless "big box" direction for some time.
This may not be the case in some parts of North America, but around here (Toronto area) there are literally dozens of small independantly owned computer retailers who have much better prices than big boxes. They may not offer house-call service but I've had several HW failures handled quickly and painlessly. All that big boxes try to do is push expensive service packages on you (unnessecary for myself or most others on this site too). These guys are pretty knowledgable with regards to my HW questions too (which hard drive brands are more reliable, etc.) I've never shopped for a Mac, but this is one area where big boxes can't seem to compete with the little guy. BTW picturing Steve Jobs saying the word fuck in every sentence just cracks me up!
This is in response to the original post as well as replies that have stated "these people have nothing to show for hours of work". Without getting into the definition of work/play as it relates to a game, I don't believe that a person is left with nothing after a character with a lot of time invested is lost. I don't play D2, but I have played a lot of Starcraft and War2. What's much more important to me than my ladder record is a feeling that I am respected and knowledgable about this game. A while back I questioned if the time I spent playing these games was wasted (especially when I would read a post like this). When I remembering the feeling I got helping a struggling player how to prevent a rush and the competitive excitement of a hyped-up match, it made me believe that there's a lot more to it than playing for the sake of being the best. I believe guides from Everquest (I think thats what they're called, I haven't played it) get this same feeling. While an event like this is disastrous, those players would do well to remember that they *DID* get something tangible out of that time invested, and "something to show for it" doesn't have to be (and perhaps shouldn't be) a godly character.
OK, this is completely off topic here but relevant to all of Slashdot. It seems to me there was a time not long ago (it couldnt have been because I've only been here around a year) That intelligent, or at least readable comments were the majority. Now I look at the comment totals, and most have less than 50% being moderated at 1 or higher. For this one, only 30 out of 120 comments were 1 or higher. 25 FUCKING PERCENT of posters had something to add to the discussion, the rest were lamers, trolls, goatse.cx linkers and guys saying "How about a Beowulf cluster of these?" It's ironic that today a story about the "average slashdotter" was put up when really (by these numbers) the average slashdotter is a 13 year old moron. I was hoping this site would always be interesting to geeks and boring to the scum of the internet, and we could always have intelligent discourse, but that just isn't the case anymore. Yes I know I don't have to read the dregs (and I don't) but just having it there irks me. Thank God for the Slashdot moderating system, 99% of other message board on the internet are unreadable.
(Sideshow Bob voice): I'm aware of the irony of appearing on a 0 post in order to decry it, so don't bother pointing that out!
I think experiencing the original Star Wars movies as a child created an expectation among everyone here that could never have been met in Episode 1 no matter what Lucas did. A New Hope captured the imagination of EVERY child whether they first saw it in the theatre in 1977 or a VHS copy 5 years ago. The 'good vs. evil' story is probably the greatest archetype we have in storytelling. I'd be willing to bet 99% of slashdot readers saw it before the age of 12 (unless you were older than 12 in '77:P) Now your opinion of Ep 1 is spoiled by the expectation to create a feeling that can only be instilled once in a CHILD'S heart. I'm quite sure there are kids who hadn't seen the originals that love Jar Jar every bit as much as you loved/love R2D2 and Chewie, and that got the same exhileration from the pod race that you got the first time you saw the assault on the Death Star. I (for one) thought Episode 1 was great, but I won't make the mistake of putting it down because it didn't make me feel the way I did when I say Star Wars when I was 10.
For me this is a case of needing to see it to believe it. I tried that about a million times and never got it. If you can link to an mpeg or avi of this feat, I'll believe it but not before.
I remember those! I wouldnt put a new game down until I had beaten the score (I never submitted them because the first time I tried they either didnt send it or it got lost in the mail - talk about crushing a 9-year-old's spirit!)
The score for Kaboom! was incredibly tough. I even remember the score you had to beat (3000 pts.) It took over a year of playing and a few sets of worn out paddles, but I finally did it and I was the hero of the neighbourhood kids. Thanks for the pleasant memory.
I'd like to know which Atari joystick Hewston used for his record. Obviously there are MANY crucial situations in this accomplishment where your jump timing needs to be perfect. Button and joystick responsiveness is crucial. What does he or any other Atari gaming professional (I never thought I would use those 3 words together) recommend?
Side note: This story has inspired me to try to find the booklet I kept all my greatest scores in when I was a kid (it's in my parents basement somewhere) and compare them to the current records. I could have sworn that nobody could have ever gotten a higher Pressure Cooker score than me.
I'm with you on your first paragraph, but you're wrong in your impression that only 5-10 percent of gamers are women. I play hearts and cribbage on Yahoo from time to time, and I find that the proportion of males to females is around 50-50. Same for Acrophobia. Just because you play games geared towards men doesn't exclude the female (and male) gamers you have never encountered.
This topic has been mentioned before, but I think differentiating between gamers based on the games they play is an important consideration when drawing conclusions about their effects.
Some games stress interaction (Everquest, most RTS), while others (like Final Fantasy) don't involve any. Does this preference generalize to predicting an extroverted or introverted personality?
Katz makes sweeping comments referring to gamers as a whole ("smart, "storytellers", "strategic thinkers") but as a casual to moderate gamer, I can say these don't apply to many gamers (both teenagers and 'mature' gamers:) Personally, I only really play RTS games (Starcraft and Warcraft 2) with any regularity, and I think these types of games do reflect my personality and strengths (like planning, timing, taking calculated risks). Quake never interested me much at all, and even in the after-hours lag-free death match sessions on our network at work I find myself getting bored quickly. Does this also say something about what kind of a person I am? I think some of the skills learned in games *can* enhance your development as a person, but there is definitely a limit, and it is nowhere near a substitute for normal interaction. I, too knew reclusive 12-hour-a-day gamers in college and they were, generally, miserble and lacking in social skills.
Sorry to ramble. My point is that if Katz wants to take a psychological approach to gamers, it will help to categorize and EMPIRICALLY MEASURE them somehow first (i.e. don't state that they're 'quick decision makers' like its some kind of fact without having evidence to back it up first).
It seems to me that the writer of that article was venting his personal frustrations as much as he was presenting facts. It wasn't necessary for him to mention Dell specifically in his rant about 'missing work time'.
Another to be considered is the Windoze factor. I rarely have any problems with Linux software, but the Blue Screen of Death is a regular occurence on my parents' machine. The problem he mentions with 1/4 of laptops going down in a year surely has something to do with the fact most of those machines run Win9x. Just another ringing endorsement for our favourite OS;)
Takes me back to about 1994 or so and the game Shadowrun for SNES. What I remember most from this game was a vivid vision of the future, and an amazing sense of ambience. As a number of people have mentioned, the story and feel make a game memorable. These more than made up for any lack of depth in the gameplay. Unfortunately, it didn't do too well (possibly because of all the SNES owners buying the 4th re-release of Street Fighter II:P) but this discussion brought back some great gaming memories... so much so that I think I'm going to dust off my old SNES and play that game tonight. Thanks!
Slashdot Mirror
Downside to said workplace:
"FJ!" (First Jesse Jackson joke forward)
It's pretty sloppy for RH to leave security fixes for these holes out of 7.0, but anyone running a server on a high-bandwidth line should probably know enough to get security updates frequently. Nobody deserves to get hacked, but you need to expect the worse as a sys admin. Leaving the default install on a server is absolutely amateurish.
This may not be the case in some parts of North America, but around here (Toronto area) there are literally dozens of small independantly owned computer retailers who have much better prices than big boxes. They may not offer house-call service but I've had several HW failures handled quickly and painlessly. All that big boxes try to do is push expensive service packages on you (unnessecary for myself or most others on this site too). These guys are pretty knowledgable with regards to my HW questions too (which hard drive brands are more reliable, etc.) I've never shopped for a Mac, but this is one area where big boxes can't seem to compete with the little guy. BTW picturing Steve Jobs saying the word fuck in every sentence just cracks me up!
OK, this is getting really OT, but I find it funny how you posted anonymously, yet linked to your original post that has your name on it :)
Karma security through obfuscation?
This is in response to the original post as well as replies that have stated "these people have nothing to show for hours of work". Without getting into the definition of work/play as it relates to a game, I don't believe that a person is left with nothing after a character with a lot of time invested is lost. I don't play D2, but I have played a lot of Starcraft and War2. What's much more important to me than my ladder record is a feeling that I am respected and knowledgable about this game. A while back I questioned if the time I spent playing these games was wasted (especially when I would read a post like this). When I remembering the feeling I got helping a struggling player how to prevent a rush and the competitive excitement of a hyped-up match, it made me believe that there's a lot more to it than playing for the sake of being the best. I believe guides from Everquest (I think thats what they're called, I haven't played it) get this same feeling. While an event like this is disastrous, those players would do well to remember that they *DID* get something tangible out of that time invested, and "something to show for it" doesn't have to be (and perhaps shouldn't be) a godly character.
OK, this is completely off topic here but relevant to all of Slashdot. It seems to me there was a time not long ago (it couldnt have been because I've only been here around a year) That intelligent, or at least readable comments were the majority. Now I look at the comment totals, and most have less than 50% being moderated at 1 or higher. For this one, only 30 out of 120 comments were 1 or higher. 25 FUCKING PERCENT of posters had something to add to the discussion, the rest were lamers, trolls, goatse.cx linkers and guys saying "How about a Beowulf cluster of these?" It's ironic that today a story about the "average slashdotter" was put up when really (by these numbers) the average slashdotter is a 13 year old moron. I was hoping this site would always be interesting to geeks and boring to the scum of the internet, and we could always have intelligent discourse, but that just isn't the case anymore. Yes I know I don't have to read the dregs (and I don't) but just having it there irks me. Thank God for the Slashdot moderating system, 99% of other message board on the internet are unreadable.
(Sideshow Bob voice): I'm aware of the irony of appearing on a 0 post in order to decry it, so don't bother pointing that out!
Trying to load that site reminds me of CmdrTaco's all-time favourite PC game (and what a fun one it is):
SLASHDOT THE BASTARDS!(tm)
I think experiencing the original Star Wars movies as a child created an expectation among everyone here that could never have been met in Episode 1 no matter what Lucas did. A New Hope captured the imagination of EVERY child whether they first saw it in the theatre in 1977 or a VHS copy 5 years ago. The 'good vs. evil' story is probably the greatest archetype we have in storytelling. I'd be willing to bet 99% of slashdot readers saw it before the age of 12 (unless you were older than 12 in '77 :P) Now your opinion of Ep 1 is spoiled by the expectation to create a feeling that can only be instilled once in a CHILD'S heart. I'm quite sure there are kids who hadn't seen the originals that love Jar Jar every bit as much as you loved/love R2D2 and Chewie, and that got the same exhileration from the pod race that you got the first time you saw the assault on the Death Star. I (for one) thought Episode 1 was great, but I won't make the mistake of putting it down because it didn't make me feel the way I did when I say Star Wars when I was 10.
For me this is a case of needing to see it to believe it. I tried that about a million times and never got it. If you can link to an mpeg or avi of this feat, I'll believe it but not before.
I remember those! I wouldnt put a new game down until I had beaten the score (I never submitted them because the first time I tried they either didnt send it or it got lost in the mail - talk about crushing a 9-year-old's spirit!) The score for Kaboom! was incredibly tough. I even remember the score you had to beat (3000 pts.) It took over a year of playing and a few sets of worn out paddles, but I finally did it and I was the hero of the neighbourhood kids. Thanks for the pleasant memory.
I'd like to know which Atari joystick Hewston used for his record. Obviously there are MANY crucial situations in this accomplishment where your jump timing needs to be perfect. Button and joystick responsiveness is crucial. What does he or any other Atari gaming professional (I never thought I would use those 3 words together) recommend?
Side note: This story has inspired me to try to find the booklet I kept all my greatest scores in when I was a kid (it's in my parents basement somewhere) and compare them to the current records. I could have sworn that nobody could have ever gotten a higher Pressure Cooker score than me.
I'm with you on your first paragraph, but you're wrong in your impression that only 5-10 percent of gamers are women. I play hearts and cribbage on Yahoo from time to time, and I find that the proportion of males to females is around 50-50. Same for Acrophobia. Just because you play games geared towards men doesn't exclude the female (and male) gamers you have never encountered.
This topic has been mentioned before, but I think differentiating between gamers based on the games they play is an important consideration when drawing conclusions about their effects.
:) Personally, I only really play RTS games (Starcraft and Warcraft 2) with any regularity, and I think these types of games do reflect my personality and strengths (like planning, timing, taking calculated risks). Quake never interested me much at all, and even in the after-hours lag-free death match sessions on our network at work I find myself getting bored quickly. Does this also say something about what kind of a person I am? I think some of the skills learned in games *can* enhance your development as a person, but there is definitely a limit, and it is nowhere near a substitute for normal interaction. I, too knew reclusive 12-hour-a-day gamers in college and they were, generally, miserble and lacking in social skills.
Some games stress interaction (Everquest, most RTS), while others (like Final Fantasy) don't involve any. Does this preference generalize to predicting an extroverted or introverted personality?
Katz makes sweeping comments referring to gamers as a whole ("smart, "storytellers", "strategic thinkers") but as a casual to moderate gamer, I can say these don't apply to many gamers (both teenagers and 'mature' gamers
Sorry to ramble. My point is that if Katz wants to take a psychological approach to gamers, it will help to categorize and EMPIRICALLY MEASURE them somehow first (i.e. don't state that they're 'quick decision makers' like its some kind of fact without having evidence to back it up first).
It seems to me that the writer of that article was venting his personal frustrations as much as he was presenting facts. It wasn't necessary for him to mention Dell specifically in his rant about 'missing work time'.
;)
Another to be considered is the Windoze factor. I rarely have any problems with Linux software, but the Blue Screen of Death is a regular occurence on my parents' machine. The problem he mentions with 1/4 of laptops going down in a year surely has something to do with the fact most of those machines run Win9x. Just another ringing endorsement for our favourite OS
Takes me back to about 1994 or so and the game Shadowrun for SNES. What I remember most from this game was a vivid vision of the future, and an amazing sense of ambience. As a number of people have mentioned, the story and feel make a game memorable. These more than made up for any lack of depth in the gameplay. Unfortunately, it didn't do too well (possibly because of all the SNES owners buying the 4th re-release of Street Fighter II :P) but this discussion brought back some great gaming memories... so much so that I think I'm going to dust off my old SNES and play that game tonight. Thanks!