You know, I was going to just remind you that nobody had targetted you personally, and that people will naturally assume that you share the qualities of the company you keep. Then I remembered: I've never had a problem with the USPS. My mail is delivered promptly, cheaply, and reasonably cheerfully. I read the results of a study where some people with too much time on their hands mailed all sorts of strange and (sometimes) disgusting packages (e.g. a hammer with an address tag hanging from the head; a box that noticably sloshed when you moved it)--most of the stuff was delivered on time an without a problem. So, I would have to say you're right--it was unwarranted and unfair.
One added button can drive it all "Delete as spam" what a wonderful idea!
Yeah, Tivo for your email box. Except that if this catches on, Microsoft will jump on the bandwagon, and (just like Tivo) you'll soon be sharing your idea of what is and isn't spam with Bill.
It caused oppression to a large part of the world's population.
You confuse cause and effect. The cold war was fought to stop the oppression; now that it is over and won, there are no Russian tanks in Hungary, Poland, etc.
It caused an unprecedented build up of weapons,
As opposed to every other struggle between world-dominant powers, which caused the unleashing of uprecedented numbers of weapons.
an environmental nightmare, huge deficits (on both sides) and many shadow and puppet governments.
It was a war. You seem to believe that simply not taking part was an option. This line of "reasoning" has cost Europe dearly several times in the last few hundred years. The U.S. didn't fall prey to it.
I'm baffled. Everything you say makes sense until you get to the part about "the cold war was a failure". Unless you are an ex-member of the Supreme Soviet, I can't imagine having such a view. Despite horrible, stupid missteps like the Vietnam War, and moronic means like Reagan's Star Wars program, the result was pretty much a complete success. Come to think of it, a lot of luck was involved, but nevertheless, a complete success.
You don't sound like an idiot. A lot of the guys who maintain coin-operated machines are idiots. This is what I mean when I say pinball is expensive. Nobody can afford to pay the cost of organized, methodical, skilled labor to keep up with them. It's a lot harder to keep Godzilla up and running than to pop in a new joystick and some buttons on Mortal Kombat VIII.
Still, I'll concede that if the games were more popular, there would be more trained and competent people available to fix them. I bow to your superior knowledge;)
Good timing on this post--saved me searching the whole discussion to see if I was being redundant. I was very surprised the article never mentioned this, because it is the single biggest factor in pinball's decline. The machines are finicky, fragile, and require skill and money to keep running. In short, pinball costs a lot more than a video game.
We had pinball games in the rec room at work until about 6 months ago, when our vendor finally gave up on them (and we're a bunch of old men so fanatical we would keep playing even when one of the flippers would hardly move.) They almost never had all of their features working; most of the time the guys that came out to fix them had to ask what the features were, because they had never played the game themselves. It all became too much of a hassle.
A dream of aviation experts since the 1950s, an airliner with scramjet engines could cut flight times between London and Sydney to two hours from 24 now, making inflight movies obsolete.
I'll bet Senator Hollings has already been alerted to the dangers of this technology. A bill banning its use will no doubt be forthcoming shortly;)
Well, first of all, it says he grossed $30,000, not netted $30,000. Secondly, I've been to Canada, and if it's not Shangri La, I don't think it's so poor that $13,000 constitutes "rich".
No no no no. You completely misunderstand. We really do value democracy--for ourselves. As for that weirdo down the street or those cretins in the next state, well they would only waste their votes anyway. Interestingly, a lot of this attitude can be laid at the feet of the shitty public schools we are compaining about.
On the other hand, I probably wouldn't be totally thilled with where you live either--humans are so troublesome.
Ah, come one, how did this get modded down? This is hysterical. I can't be sure if it's a stupid Frenchman embarrassing his country, or a non-Frenchie having a joke on them. Either way it needs +1 Funny as Hell.
You know, this may be a bit overstated, but it does raise an interesting point: why do open source programmers shrug off users when they have them, then cry big tears when they've been dumped? Surely one is either programming for oneself, or programming to suit others (or both, but that just makes them doubly confused in their whining). If you don't know which it is, maybe you should take a year off from computers and visit your own head. It'll talk to you if you're polite;)
Um, I'd guess it's because ever since IBM crowned MS king, there has been one Empire and about 20 little revolutions. You hate the Empire, so you jump from contender to contender.
Allright, we can stop now; you seem to be pretty decent guy, and we don't even have to compete for the same women, 'cause I prefer brunettes;) If I were travelling to meet women, I think I'd try Italy or Israel. (My wife prefers I not do this, however.)
Oh yeah, and funny how it's the other countries with the higher standard of living and per capita income! I think that's not a coincidence either!
Damn. You've forced me to inject facts into a perfectly good flamewar. Here is a table that seems to indicate that, adjusted for purchasing power, the U.S. comes in third behind Luxembourg and Liechtenstein in gross national income. Which one of those do you live in?
No you've practiced that a lot I'd expect. Still, as long as you like to think that, it'll be ok.
Um, practiced which? Being rich, mother-fucking, or blind luck?
Since it seems you have given the subject of American arrogance a bit of "thought", here's an honest, no-bullshit tidbit for you to munch on: much American pride stems from the fact that our system and our people produce the "obscene amounts of money" that you seem to consider cheating. We like to think that being rich mother-fuckers is not pure blind luck.
Don't worry about his mom--she'll have more reasons than ever to call him, and now she'll get to see him, too. Unless she's also an asocial geek, she has friends, and they will introduce her to a never-ending stream of proprietary apps (AOL IM, Grokster, whatever) that she can download for free, then wonder why they don't work on her machine. Sure, there are Linux substitutes (effectively in beta, but not advertised as such), but each one's gonna cost him a trip home to install;)
You had me going until the quote where the guy says his SUV handles like shit. It's been my observation that, despite driving more than any country on Earth, Americans are clueless about handling and overall performance (other than acceleration). Perhaps this is why we don't mind driving lumbering tanks.
Re:I don't know if it's fair...
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World Cup Final
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You're right, this happens all the time, but I meant stuff that effects how the game plays. For instance, not letting the defense block pass receivers more than five yards downfield, and changing the templates for car profiles in mid-season to make things more even on the track (to touch on the two examples I gave in the original post). It even happens in baseball--the designated hitter, inter-league play, and the sneaky way they change how 'live' the ball is are examples there. Americans don't seem to have any respect for playing a game in a time-honored way for long periods--short attention spans, I guess.
I guess it's obvious I would prefer more continuity, but the games that have it frequently don't prosper in the U.S. I don't know why.
I don't know if it's fair...
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World Cup Final
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...for so many people to wonder when the US will "grow" into liking this sport. I don't hear anybody wondering when Japan will "grow" into liking chess.
I'm not sure why it's not more popular here. Many children play (what we call) soccer in the US, so I don't think it's lack of exposure. More likely, lack of big-league heroes. Very few men follow the professional teams in the US, so the boys see a lot more of baseball and (Amer.)football, and the cycle repeats itself.
I notice that the really popular sports in the U.S. have a lot of rules, that frequently get tinkered with (eg. NFL football, NASCAR racing). I don't know what this means, but there it is.
I agree with this; it should be illegal. Oddly, there are many laws in the U.S. to protect consumers from contracts with "sneaky" clauses. Usually, what you think you are agreeing to is what you are agreeing to. They can't come take your kids away if you don't make your car payment because they buried a clause in the loan contract that said they could.
But it's not just a matter of making sure all parties understand the agreement in advance. Monopolies have historically been prevented from extortion--the cable company can't decide that the only way they will sell you cable service is if you agree to give them a key to your front door and permit them to enter any time they want to.
I don't understand why a company which has been convicted of abusing an OS monopoly can continue to produce noxious garbage like this.
Slashdot Mirror
Well, y'all come on down here to Georgia, son, and we'll show y'all "subdeveloped".
[oh, wait...I guess that would be "come on up" for a Brazilian]
My soul given voice.
I count syllables and lo,
I am a poet.
For reasons unclear, she remained unimpressed.
You know, I was going to just remind you that nobody had targetted you personally, and that people will naturally assume that you share the qualities of the company you keep. Then I remembered: I've never had a problem with the USPS. My mail is delivered promptly, cheaply, and reasonably cheerfully. I read the results of a study where some people with too much time on their hands mailed all sorts of strange and (sometimes) disgusting packages (e.g. a hammer with an address tag hanging from the head; a box that noticably sloshed when you moved it)--most of the stuff was delivered on time an without a problem. So, I would have to say you're right--it was unwarranted and unfair.
Yeah, Tivo for your email box. Except that if this catches on, Microsoft will jump on the bandwagon, and (just like Tivo) you'll soon be sharing your idea of what is and isn't spam with Bill.
It caused oppression to a large part of the world's population.
You confuse cause and effect. The cold war was fought to stop the oppression; now that it is over and won, there are no Russian tanks in Hungary, Poland, etc.
It caused an unprecedented build up of weapons,
As opposed to every other struggle between world-dominant powers, which caused the unleashing of uprecedented numbers of weapons.
an environmental nightmare, huge deficits (on both sides) and many shadow and puppet governments.
It was a war. You seem to believe that simply not taking part was an option. This line of "reasoning" has cost Europe dearly several times in the last few hundred years. The U.S. didn't fall prey to it.
I'm baffled. Everything you say makes sense until you get to the part about "the cold war was a failure". Unless you are an ex-member of the Supreme Soviet, I can't imagine having such a view. Despite horrible, stupid missteps like the Vietnam War, and moronic means like Reagan's Star Wars program, the result was pretty much a complete success. Come to think of it, a lot of luck was involved, but nevertheless, a complete success.
Still, I'll concede that if the games were more popular, there would be more trained and competent people available to fix them. I bow to your superior knowledge ;)
We had pinball games in the rec room at work until about 6 months ago, when our vendor finally gave up on them (and we're a bunch of old men so fanatical we would keep playing even when one of the flippers would hardly move.) They almost never had all of their features working; most of the time the guys that came out to fix them had to ask what the features were, because they had never played the game themselves. It all became too much of a hassle.
I'll bet Senator Hollings has already been alerted to the dangers of this technology. A bill banning its use will no doubt be forthcoming shortly ;)
You must live in a very nice place.
Well, for what little the information is worth, yes, HP is a Delaware corporation.
Well, first of all, it says he grossed $30,000, not netted $30,000. Secondly, I've been to Canada, and if it's not Shangri La, I don't think it's so poor that $13,000 constitutes "rich".
On the other hand, I probably wouldn't be totally thilled with where you live either--humans are so troublesome.
Ah, come one, how did this get modded down? This is hysterical. I can't be sure if it's a stupid Frenchman embarrassing his country, or a non-Frenchie having a joke on them. Either way it needs +1 Funny as Hell.
You know, this may be a bit overstated, but it does raise an interesting point: why do open source programmers shrug off users when they have them, then cry big tears when they've been dumped? Surely one is either programming for oneself, or programming to suit others (or both, but that just makes them doubly confused in their whining). If you don't know which it is, maybe you should take a year off from computers and visit your own head. It'll talk to you if you're polite ;)
Maybe, huh?
Allright, we can stop now; you seem to be pretty decent guy, and we don't even have to compete for the same women, 'cause I prefer brunettes ;) If I were travelling to meet women, I think I'd try Italy or Israel. (My wife prefers I not do this, however.)
Damn. You've forced me to inject facts into a perfectly good flamewar. Here is a table that seems to indicate that, adjusted for purchasing power, the U.S. comes in third behind Luxembourg and Liechtenstein in gross national income. Which one of those do you live in?
No you've practiced that a lot I'd expect. Still, as long as you like to think that, it'll be ok.
Um, practiced which? Being rich, mother-fucking, or blind luck?
Doubtless you disagree.
Don't worry about his mom--she'll have more reasons than ever to call him, and now she'll get to see him, too. Unless she's also an asocial geek, she has friends, and they will introduce her to a never-ending stream of proprietary apps (AOL IM, Grokster, whatever) that she can download for free, then wonder why they don't work on her machine. Sure, there are Linux substitutes (effectively in beta, but not advertised as such), but each one's gonna cost him a trip home to install ;)
You had me going until the quote where the guy says his SUV handles like shit. It's been my observation that, despite driving more than any country on Earth, Americans are clueless about handling and overall performance (other than acceleration). Perhaps this is why we don't mind driving lumbering tanks.
I guess it's obvious I would prefer more continuity, but the games that have it frequently don't prosper in the U.S. I don't know why.
I'm not sure why it's not more popular here. Many children play (what we call) soccer in the US, so I don't think it's lack of exposure. More likely, lack of big-league heroes. Very few men follow the professional teams in the US, so the boys see a lot more of baseball and (Amer.)football, and the cycle repeats itself.
I notice that the really popular sports in the U.S. have a lot of rules, that frequently get tinkered with (eg. NFL football, NASCAR racing). I don't know what this means, but there it is.
But it's not just a matter of making sure all parties understand the agreement in advance. Monopolies have historically been prevented from extortion--the cable company can't decide that the only way they will sell you cable service is if you agree to give them a key to your front door and permit them to enter any time they want to.
I don't understand why a company which has been convicted of abusing an OS monopoly can continue to produce noxious garbage like this.
Oops. I forgot the guys that run around as women in the games. Now that is questionable ;)