"Name one general purpose device that actually has ever caught on"
The personal computer. I bet you've even seen one.
I'll come a little closer to your intent and nominate the Treo smartphones. They're really good PDAs, and really good phones (although they did indeed have some manufacturing problems).
That's interesting. I replaced my Visor Edge with a Treo 650, and it's been a superb upgrade. I didn't think I'd like the keyboard, but it's actually quite usable.
Sucky combination devices suck, but this combination device is pretty kick ass.
"Poverty puts people in a situation where they are desperate enough to commit a crime."
How does poverty remove someone's free will and responsibility for their actions?
It might make committing a crime more ATTRACTIVE, but nobody can make anybody else do anything. I don't care how bad your situation is: You always CHOOSE to do good or do wrong.
"They *do* like a role model they can look up to, and who helps them."
Really? So the British people who disliked having American pilots defending their nation ("Overpaid, oversexed, and over here"), they were, what? Being ironic?
I think Colin Powell was, by and large, spot on when he said:
We have gone forth from our shores repeatedly over the last hundred years and we've done this as recently as the last year in Afghanistan and put wonderful young men and women at risk, many of whom have lost their lives, and we have asked for nothing except enough ground to bury them in, and otherwise we have returned home to seek our own, you know, to seek our own lives in peace, to live our own lives in peace
In the eyes of the world, America can do no right. If we decide to fight, we're being imperialistic. If we decide not to fight, we're blind to the suffering of the world. There is no way to make the United States popular.
The war in Iraq WAS the wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. If, however, by some weird twist of fate, Iraq actually does become free, I guarantee it won't be America who gets the credit. (Even though nobody else was willing to lift a finger to get rid of Saddam.)
I would, however, like the administration to stop doing the more obvious boners that actually LEGITIMIZE the hatred of America overseas.
I don't care if it's harmful. I think it's harmful, so I don't want to take it. There's a principle here: People should be as free as possible. That means, they should be free to make bad decisions.
Look, if you legalize pot and cocaine, and tax the HELL out of it, the product will be safer (it won't be cut with rat poison) and will bankroll treatment programs for anybody who wants to stop using. It'll also vastly cut down the amount of law enforcement and prison spending, which is of course why it'll never happen.
Drugs aren't illegal because they're harmful to society. They're illegal because too many people on both sides of the law make money on 'em.
I don't care what damage it does. I should be free to damage myself.
Note: I drink sparingly, and eschew drugs almost completely. (I do take the occasional ibuprofin tablet.) I've never ingested a proscribed substance. I should, however, be free to do so if I choose.
I am certain that the black-market economy around drug sale is responsible for far more damage than the drugs themselves.
By what mechanism does society make people commit crimes?
Is it possible that the higher rates of arrest and conviction are correlated with higher rates of crime commission? I know, I know, that's crazy talk...
Dude, if you despised Katamari Damacy, you need to get a different soul. That game was brilliant.
It's silly to get into a unit-measuring contest about which system has "more power". It's just like the Mac vs. PC debate: Get what suits you. There are a couple good games for xbox, but not enough to justify a) me dumping $200 on games+system+extra controller or b) feeding MS's monopolistic urges. Processor power simply didn't figure in to the equation.
All other things are never equal. A console does not live by its processor power alone.
I seriously do not care that my GameCube has less processing power than my PS/2. Both have great games. If I were only interested in processor power, I would get an xBox, but then, I could play Halo or, um, Halo.
YMMV. But for my gaming dollar, I buy good games, and consoles that play them. Processor power is a non-issue.
I see what you're getting at. However, I would think that assuming that web sites are safe is a pretty dangerous assumption.
I'm a pretty computer savvy dude, and I like shortcuts. If I fuck up, it's my fault, and I can fix it. I suppose we can raise a bunch of arbitrary barriers to protect users from screwing up, but that's just what they are: Arbitrary barriers. Those annoy me (me this one, not my grandmother: She needs arbitrary barriers).
So, maybe there SHOULD be a nanny-interface. As long as I can turn it off, that's fine. I should be able to tell my browser "Look, when I tell you to download a QFX file from my bank, go ahead and open it."
You might note that most game players don't tune code. So, therefore, they've just wasted $500. Which is fine...make that economy go! I will, however, laugh at them.
Yeah, because indie game developers should really be concentrating on how to out-chrome EA. That's a great idea.
Slashdot Mirror
"Name one general purpose device that actually has ever caught on"
The personal computer. I bet you've even seen one.
I'll come a little closer to your intent and nominate the Treo smartphones. They're really good PDAs, and really good phones (although they did indeed have some manufacturing problems).
"but I don't see a serious thing here that's tying people to Google "
I don't go to Google because I like the name Google. I go to Google because it works better.
That's interesting. I replaced my Visor Edge with a Treo 650, and it's been a superb upgrade. I didn't think I'd like the keyboard, but it's actually quite usable.
Sucky combination devices suck, but this combination device is pretty kick ass.
"everything short of breaking the law in order to turn a profit for those who own stock"
I don't think they're being investigated by the SEC on suspicion of hugging bunnies and adopting homeless kittens.
"Poverty puts people in a situation where they are desperate enough to commit a crime."
How does poverty remove someone's free will and responsibility for their actions?
It might make committing a crime more ATTRACTIVE, but nobody can make anybody else do anything. I don't care how bad your situation is: You always CHOOSE to do good or do wrong.
Really? So the British people who disliked having American pilots defending their nation ("Overpaid, oversexed, and over here"), they were, what? Being ironic?
I think Colin Powell was, by and large, spot on when he said:
In the eyes of the world, America can do no right. If we decide to fight, we're being imperialistic. If we decide not to fight, we're blind to the suffering of the world. There is no way to make the United States popular.
The war in Iraq WAS the wrong war, in the wrong place, at the wrong time. If, however, by some weird twist of fate, Iraq actually does become free, I guarantee it won't be America who gets the credit. (Even though nobody else was willing to lift a finger to get rid of Saddam.)
I would, however, like the administration to stop doing the more obvious boners that actually LEGITIMIZE the hatred of America overseas.
That's OK. I've got pen missile.
What, you don't know pen missile?
Two papers, biaaatch.
I'd be very interested to see your numbers.
I don't care if it's harmful. I think it's harmful, so I don't want to take it. There's a principle here: People should be as free as possible. That means, they should be free to make bad decisions.
Look, if you legalize pot and cocaine, and tax the HELL out of it, the product will be safer (it won't be cut with rat poison) and will bankroll treatment programs for anybody who wants to stop using. It'll also vastly cut down the amount of law enforcement and prison spending, which is of course why it'll never happen.
Drugs aren't illegal because they're harmful to society. They're illegal because too many people on both sides of the law make money on 'em.
By that argument, why is alcohol legal?
The end (saving money) does not justify the means (curtailing liberty).
I don't care what damage it does. I should be free to damage myself.
Note: I drink sparingly, and eschew drugs almost completely. (I do take the occasional ibuprofin tablet.) I've never ingested a proscribed substance. I should, however, be free to do so if I choose.
I am certain that the black-market economy around drug sale is responsible for far more damage than the drugs themselves.
"denied their rights almost entirely on the color of their skin"
And here I thought they were denied their rights because they were sold by people who were that same color...
By what mechanism does society make people commit crimes?
Is it possible that the higher rates of arrest and conviction are correlated with higher rates of crime commission? I know, I know, that's crazy talk...
Uh huh. And driving under the influence is already illegal.
Not driving while under the influence should not be illegal.
You mean the Mac version that hasn't been updated since, what? 2001? Some cross-platform...
Dude, if you despised Katamari Damacy, you need to get a different soul. That game was brilliant.
It's silly to get into a unit-measuring contest about which system has "more power". It's just like the Mac vs. PC debate: Get what suits you. There are a couple good games for xbox, but not enough to justify a) me dumping $200 on games+system+extra controller or b) feeding MS's monopolistic urges. Processor power simply didn't figure in to the equation.
All other things are never equal. A console does not live by its processor power alone.
I seriously do not care that my GameCube has less processing power than my PS/2. Both have great games. If I were only interested in processor power, I would get an xBox, but then, I could play Halo or, um, Halo.
YMMV. But for my gaming dollar, I buy good games, and consoles that play them. Processor power is a non-issue.
Seriously: What does that have to do with making good games?
More chrome != fun game.
"those who want a powerful gaming experience"
Can you tell me what that means without using marketing buzzwords?
If you mean "People who want good games", I'd figure that all console manufacturers are after that demographic.
If you mean "People who want the most possible graphics chrome", well, nvidia has a $999 video card for those people.
Seriously: "those who want a powerful gaming experience"? That statement doesn't mean anything.
I won't have your silly facts diluting my preconceptions, dammit!
If you think there's just one place you can go to be outside the mainstream, you're simply in a different mainstream.
The classic dilemma of the "alternative"...how do I really be different?
(answer: Don't let other peoples' opinions motivate your actions)
You've got four monitors for your PCs, don't you?
PS2 has had a LAN adaptor for at least two years. It's bundled with any of the new consoles.
So, basically, yeah.
Because it takes tons of R&D to solder on some more RAM.
Remember when you could upgrade the memory on video cards? Ah, for the days of Diamond Stealth 64s in VESA Local Bus slots...
I see what you're getting at. However, I would think that assuming that web sites are safe is a pretty dangerous assumption.
I'm a pretty computer savvy dude, and I like shortcuts. If I fuck up, it's my fault, and I can fix it. I suppose we can raise a bunch of arbitrary barriers to protect users from screwing up, but that's just what they are: Arbitrary barriers. Those annoy me (me this one, not my grandmother: She needs arbitrary barriers).
So, maybe there SHOULD be a nanny-interface. As long as I can turn it off, that's fine. I should be able to tell my browser "Look, when I tell you to download a QFX file from my bank, go ahead and open it."
You might note that most game players don't tune code. So, therefore, they've just wasted $500. Which is fine...make that economy go! I will, however, laugh at them.
Yeah, because indie game developers should really be concentrating on how to out-chrome EA. That's a great idea.