I would prefer water not be privatized anywhere in the world (I think it belongs to the people who live there), commercial concerns often being detrimental to the ecology and water sports. The best way to deal with a bottling plant that's raping your locality is sabotage.
Next time the shit hits the fan, or you run out of water (oh I can't wait for this), maybe the U.S. won't care. Maybe we'll let you shoot each other in the chaos that will erupt in an overpopulated developing world with limited or depleted natural resources (mainly fresh water). I hope you're in Europe, Japan, or some English speaking country, because with attitudes like yours, there is zero chance of us giving a shit about anybody else in a few decades.
We're a change in energy policy away from not needing to concern ourselves with any but the aforementioned nations.
The majority of the games are targetted towards 15-18 yr. olds who think they are 25. Games requiring deep thinking and an attention span (Final Fantasy has little strategic/tactical depth) rarely see the light of day on a console that is not the GBA (compare the GBA's strategy titles to those on the PS2).
People in the US do not sell their blood for personal profit. The whole point of "blood drives" is to get people to donate blood. If cash were offered in exchange for blood, the Red Cross would never have to urge people to donate blood, would it? Blood != Sperm. RTFM!
"There is no job that is America's God-given right anymore," Carly Fiorina, chief executive for Hewlett-Packard Co., said Wednesday.
Someone should remind Carly that American corporations don't have a God-given right to tax incentives (aka corporate welfare). The tech lobby should also stop demanding government protection for its "intellectual property" overseas.
We protect you from your nuclear neighbors to the west and north, and in doing so, supply your freedom. International shipping, which any exporting nation needs, exists at the discretion of the United States. Nations are free to compete via trade, since the military competition has already concluded.
The rape game would be probably be considered obscene by the judicial system (the "I know it when I see it" criterion - IANAL). For the record, racist games like those you describe already exist. Various hate groups have mods/web games available that depict all sorts of "hate acts." You haven't heard that much about them because few people are interested in playing them. One of the benefits of the First Amendment is that various idiots can't say "the state is repressing our ideas (i.e. we are martyrs for the CAUSE)!" Consequently, no one pays attention to these fools.
The content in the "realistic" action/adventure genre tends to parallel that found in Hollywood offerings. For instance, Vice City is similar in many respects to the movie Scarface, but you don't see anyone squirming over the recent release of the special edition DVD.
A flash drive is less conspicuous, especially when connected to one of the rear USB ports. Step 1 in being naughty is not letting anyone see what you're up to.
Sorry, but you're wrong. NO ONE is as good at shopping (if you want to call it a skill) as Americans. NO ONE. Look at the trade deficits! We buy everyone's stuff!
You might argue that a large middle class in China will provide a market for our goods, but the Chinese government is busy making sure that the vast majority of software and electronics purchased in China are made in China (Dragon chip, etc.).
China has never been the market for American products it was promised to be. China has either developed its own replacements for American products or turned a blind eye to the piracy of American "intellectual property."
The Q3 benchmarks Apple posted for the 3GHz P4 don't match up with benchmarks posted elsewhere. In fact, the first Q3 benchmark I found of a P4 using a Radeon 9800 Pro was at 333 fps, 4 less than the G5 benchmark (as opposed to the 275 posted by Apple for the P4).
The P4's Q3 benches should be much higher than these. Typical results for the P4 show scores higher than 400 fps for the fastest processors, and the linked scores are from a testbed containing an older GPU (i.e. 9700 Pro). Apple's "benchmarks" on their site note that the P4 was a Dell machine. I'm willing to bet that the latest mobo, chipset, and graphics drivers weren't installed.
I don't really mind the bad science, if it allows for a decent story. What really irks me are the numerous examples of computing environments that "hackers" would never use. For instance:
The 3D Visual Virus Studio that pops up in movies such as Swordfish.
The inability of spies, whistleblowers, etc. to MINIMIZE or at least Alt-Tab away the "Copy Secret Files x% Complete" window!
The latter makes me gnash my teeth and make hissing sounds at the movies.
Slightly OT, but you have no idea how bad ads can get in the movie theatre. At one of the theatres in NYC, the UA Union Square to be precise, there is something called "The Twenty." It's this "hip, new" (their words) reason to come to the movies early to see (sit down) twenty minutes of ads, music video and TV show previews, and "short films" that are really ads for television networks. Imagine twenty minutes of commercials, BEFORE the previews, coming soon to a theatre near you.
Slashdot Mirror
I would prefer water not be privatized anywhere in the world (I think it belongs to the people who live there), commercial concerns often being detrimental to the ecology and water sports. The best way to deal with a bottling plant that's raping your locality is sabotage.
Next time the shit hits the fan, or you run out of water (oh I can't wait for this), maybe the U.S. won't care. Maybe we'll let you shoot each other in the chaos that will erupt in an overpopulated developing world with limited or depleted natural resources (mainly fresh water). I hope you're in Europe, Japan, or some English speaking country, because with attitudes like yours, there is zero chance of us giving a shit about anybody else in a few decades.
We're a change in energy policy away from not needing to concern ourselves with any but the aforementioned nations.
You missed a major disadvantage for consoles:
The majority of the games are targetted towards 15-18 yr. olds who think they are 25. Games requiring deep thinking and an attention span (Final Fantasy has little strategic/tactical depth) rarely see the light of day on a console that is not the GBA (compare the GBA's strategy titles to those on the PS2).
Do you know anything about PC gaming?
Diablo.
Warcraft.
Railroad Tycoon.
WRT to 3D engines, perhaps you've heard of a company called Valve?
1. Visit NYC.
2. Purchase laptop.
3. Acquire U.S. passport-possessing girlfriend.
4. Place laptop in girlfriend's luggage.
5. Profit!!!
Imagine a "tamper-resistant" botnet that self-heals by DDOSing a greyhat who tries to tamper with the bots...
It's only a matter of time.
But what about my right to make backup copies of games that haven't even been release yet, lol?
You deserve four additional positive moderations!
People in the US do not sell their blood for personal profit. The whole point of "blood drives" is to get people to donate blood. If cash were offered in exchange for blood, the Red Cross would never have to urge people to donate blood, would it? Blood != Sperm. RTFM!
There is the small matter of a Yugo flying off the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan. It was too light to sufficiently resist the wind.
Google search
Someone else did the directing in Empire Strikes Back, too.
Someone should remind Carly that American corporations don't have a God-given right to tax incentives (aka corporate welfare). The tech lobby should also stop demanding government protection for its "intellectual property" overseas.
We protect you from your nuclear neighbors to the west and north, and in doing so, supply your freedom. International shipping, which any exporting nation needs, exists at the discretion of the United States. Nations are free to compete via trade, since the military competition has already concluded.
Somehow tells me the fetish doesn't stop there.
The rape game would be probably be considered obscene by the judicial system (the "I know it when I see it" criterion - IANAL). For the record, racist games like those you describe already exist. Various hate groups have mods/web games available that depict all sorts of "hate acts." You haven't heard that much about them because few people are interested in playing them. One of the benefits of the First Amendment is that various idiots can't say "the state is repressing our ideas (i.e. we are martyrs for the CAUSE)!" Consequently, no one pays attention to these fools.
The content in the "realistic" action/adventure genre tends to parallel that found in Hollywood offerings. For instance, Vice City is similar in many respects to the movie Scarface, but you don't see anyone squirming over the recent release of the special edition DVD.
A flash drive is less conspicuous, especially when connected to one of the rear USB ports. Step 1 in being naughty is not letting anyone see what you're up to.
You should learn what a "sustained transfer rate" is before posting to /.
what if IBM (or some sneaky intern who works there) records a list of (linux kernel) line numbers for us?
Try Morrowind.
Sorry, but you're wrong. NO ONE is as good at shopping (if you want to call it a skill) as Americans. NO ONE. Look at the trade deficits! We buy everyone's stuff!
You might argue that a large middle class in China will provide a market for our goods, but the Chinese government is busy making sure that the vast majority of software and electronics purchased in China are made in China (Dragon chip, etc.).
China has never been the market for American products it was promised to be. China has either developed its own replacements for American products or turned a blind eye to the piracy of American "intellectual property."
I don't really mind the bad science, if it allows for a decent story. What really irks me are the numerous examples of computing environments that "hackers" would never use. For instance:
The 3D Visual Virus Studio that pops up in movies such as Swordfish.
The inability of spies, whistleblowers, etc. to MINIMIZE or at least Alt-Tab away the "Copy Secret Files x% Complete" window!
The latter makes me gnash my teeth and make hissing sounds at the movies.
Perhaps you don't run sendmail or BIND?
I'm sick and tired of this SCO $hit. Let's send Darl to Guantanamo and forget about him.
Slightly OT, but you have no idea how bad ads can get in the movie theatre. At one of the theatres in NYC, the UA Union Square to be precise, there is something called "The Twenty." It's this "hip, new" (their words) reason to come to the movies early to see (sit down) twenty minutes of ads, music video and TV show previews, and "short films" that are really ads for television networks. Imagine twenty minutes of commercials, BEFORE the previews, coming soon to a theatre near you.