You have to compare your thought about waiting even two years between expansions because it gives a false impression about the game. WOW released a lot of content between opening day and TBC and is doing the same between TBC and WOTLK. Is progression restricted to leveling? If releasing expansions at a regular clip was all it took to be a success then how do we explain the lack of population for EQ and EQ2 now? Yes they are both big but not on the scale of WOW.
AoC is coming out way way too early. It just isn't ready. What Blizzard did that was more important than being friendly to all players was to raise the bar in perceived quality. They may have actually raised it too high as most gamers no longer tolerate buggy and unbalanced software that we used to accept for granted. WOW presents a polish. Yeah it covers some major dings underneath but the overall effect is that looking at it most players never encounter anything game breaking. The same can't be said for some major releases post WOW or even post TBC. Blizzard also allows for an incredible amount of interface customization, beyond what many other games can even conceive. Don't like a certain display - change it. If not you then hundreds of others have and it all is "protected" by the fact the game client knows what it can do so you don't have to worry about your password/account being mailed to china for installing a plug in
Hell Turbine came down with two of the biggest and storied names in Fantasy and flubbed them both. D&D Online and LOTR Online. What was the difference? Polish and usability. Those two games should never had an issue yet they failed to hold onto any significant numbers. Turbine likes to use the line that they don't release numbers on their servers because of "professionalism" but the simple fact is they are embarrassed.
I am quite sure that most people playing WOW won't even notice AoC's effect on the population of their favorite server for very long if at all. I bet a sizable portion doesn't even know it exists. Simply put they don't care to look. That is a magic you can't buy. I am very sure AoC or any other MMORPG would love to just have WOW's churn as their account numbers!
No it didn't dumb down MMORPGs, the closest comparison I would make is what Apple did for Unix based operating systems when they released OS X. They took a good, known to work system, and made it easy to use, understand, and accessible. That isn't dumbing down, thats doing it right.
it also is the question your asked and who asks it.
Take voting in the DNC primary, by all accounts and polls one candidate should be getting even more votes than they are getting yet once behind the privacy of the voting booth they don't get them.
Some questions make people uncomfortable whether their freedom is in jeopardy or not. It is also instinctive in some people to give the answer that they believe the questioner wants regardless if its a true one.
While I do agree China is a special case I have seen friends answer complete strangers in what I knew wasn't what they believed but instead what they wanted the questioner to believe.
but seeing that only one manufacturer holds the keys to the kingdom and they are slower than shit and don't seem to listen to a lot of the forums what choice will we have other than by going this route. In fact I think the primary reason most of us didn't consider this route is because it was too difficult compared to just putting up with the hardware Apple allowed us to buy.
I am in the camp of needing a Mac Pro for expandability but not wanting one that seems to just exist to list every top end product standard Intel has in its books; yes I see the current Mac Pro as nothing more than a buzzword monster - features included because they sounded good not because they were needed. As such I and those of us on various Mac Forums have been clamoring for a "Mini Mac Pro". Something that uses similar processors and memory of iMacs/Minis but has expansion slots and room for more drives.
Its a big market. There are people sitting on G4s because the cost of moving up is prohibitive. If it takes a new resurgence in clone makers to rattle Apple's cage then I am all for it. If someone delivers a proven working solution then to hell with Apple.
As I mentioned at the start, the real reason most of us didn't go this route is because it was more time consuming than and "annoying" than just putting up with whatever we were allowed to buy. Since the process is getting more "ironed out" and practically turn key I expect a few of us to jump at the opportunity.
Just like we scream that MS has no right to dictate this and that we should hold Apple to that same standard. When they were the little guy we justified it because we could be smug about it deeming pc quality as too low for us. Now that we use the same exact hardware there isn't a real excuse, least one that holds up to any scrutiny.
When did form forever displace function at Apple. Can they get back to function please. Make the "Pro" line all about function - form means little to us, we just want it to work.
he didn't just disappear or have an appointment with a bullet.
perhaps the fact what he did was so easily available saved his life.
I do have to wonder how some people here actually thinks the Syrian leadership is any shape or form actually embarrassed by their handling of it let alone concerned what you think about it. On the world stage nothing much more expected out of a country like this and they wouldn't care anyway.
This is one the of many countries that only exists because its not PC or financially expedient to fix.
because politicians are more than willing to make us pay for them later in life. You know the type, never a good job, poor health, usually a few addictions that get their money, and worse - children who repeat the cycle
I think school was much better when the fear of punishment (the oppressive state) did very well in encouraging you to behave. The simple fact is, some of these people need to be whacked up side the head. They need a "big brother" though the government isn't the best option.
Here is the question, do you want to pay to keep them from screwing up in the first place or pay for them for the rest of their lives.
and all because we put more value on their "rights" than the rights of the society that has to tolerate and pay for them
because it seems that no matter how intelligent, competent, and caring they are, once they get in office power corrupts them
Suddenly they are the MOST intelligent people they know, they are far more competent than before, and they care so much because they give away so much money.
politicians should be allowed in at most six years, after that they seem to feel entitled and thats when it goes wrong
because the whole idea that cell towers and the like just sprouted like weeds is appealing but they are costly.
Actually the comparison is bogus because its apple's and oranges. They have nothing in common other than that word "transmit"
How much did it cost to deploy and manage a network capable of servicing text messages?
How much did it cost to deploy the Hubble, let alone a system to manage it?
Both relied on much existing infrastructure but I have to wonder, whats the preoccupation with texting? I know people who can't take a second breath in between having to text others. Are we that boring we need to bombard everyone around us to prove we are alive?
Uh, get the dish or quit crying.
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Dealing With Dialup
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· Score: 5, Insightful
Sorry, they don't want a dish because it might ruin the looks? Put it on a pole. This sounds the classic NIMBY crap we always get from this corner of the country. Then to top it off, since no company wants to spend the fortune it would cost to serve a few customers you want me (aka the guy who funds the government with the help of a bunch of other income earners) to pay for it?
Look, there may be wireless solutions in the future. I also do just fine with my email over dial up when necessary (just don't let it download anything with attachments).
DIAL UP IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.
Your parents have an open solution by a provider. (satellite) Obviously the looks of their house is more important than high speed internet.
Whats next on/.? Being forced to live with old single core processors?
Didn't that put a dent in things? I don't want to be crass but the disaster in Burma isn't even countable. I know they can do estimates and such but major events like Burma should be accounted, are they? What about Iraq?
Besides, whats the fear? Its not like this planet cannot support double that if not more. Do people realize just how much arable land is not in use? Hell on my recent 1600 mile trip to and from Ohio I can tell you this, this country is empty in many spots and I am sure it is in others. Hell I know there are substantial areas of Europe that are essentially empty. Yeah there are villages and towns nearby but its not like we even try to exploit the lands we have. Look at Africa! How much of that is still like America of a hundred if not two hundred years ago?
One thing I have learned in my short time on this planet. Every doomsayer's predictions of over population and food shortages comes to nothing. We always shift how things are done and accommodate it. If we didn't we would not be here today. Food shortages are all the rave now but forever in our history some groups have been short of food but this is how we progress. If the population cannot create more food then it supports less people. Its a horrid fact of life but it happens. We actually do very well in this day and age from allowing nature to takes its course.
It all comes down to need. When the need arises we always step up.
You mean the US elections actually allow people to have a choice? Since when? When two parties control who you can vote for you have no choice, only an illusion of choice.
As for harping on Google or China for that matter, just which Western country has people aren't just rolling over with every assault on their rights? I can't think of any. Hell in the US the action that is evident is exactly what you see here, people bitch about it then go on their way shrugging their shoulders "I can't do anything about it"
Congratulations, now we are the same as the Chinese people. Sure we have more freedom of the press but what is freedom of the press when it has no real bearing on what happens? We have free information but hardly anyone acts on it. Even if they did how do they get into government to change it? Run as libertarian? Ain't going to get them anywhere - see the first line in this reply.
Because the voters seem to be damn inclined for the government to take care of their...
retirement health care schooling of their children mortgages
How are those three a function of government? I really don't understand how people who send their kids to public school can complain about government censorship related to children. Really, what do you think goes on in your schools? You can't get information in some states about what actually does go on. Worse, in a few medical issues with your children is off limits to you.
Hell people on this very board that bitch and moan all the time want the government to control companies offering internet connectivity instead of letting the system sort itself out (meaning a competitor will stomp on comcast one day - it always happens)
If people had to pay for this enforcement the trivial crap would stop
I play WOW using a white 2.13 dual core with 7600GT and it does fine for WOW, better it works running three sessions at one time. Granted two are in the lowest settings at 640x480 while the main is usually full screen with everything on. I use a little tool named Clonekeys to mirror keystrokes from one session to another while implementing in game macros to tie them all together. I have launched five but all of them had to be minimal to even work. Now I do have 3gb of ram and that seemed to be the key to success.
Now the latest generation iMac has an 8800GS equivalent and the 8800GT can be used in the Mac Pro lines so that should allow for more stressful games to be played either in OS X or under XP.
I do agree their offering is a little slim. I would also like to see a Mac Pro "Junior" line using the same processors as the iMac/Mini but with the ability to slap cards in as I want. That would be the best option but I highly doubt it as Mac seems to be becoming a little corner operation at times. That to me is the only real hole in their line up is an expandable headless unit.
Frankly, with the ability to run XP on the iMac and the 8800GS I may have a good solution for a few years but ideally I would want the same GPU in a Mac Mini or best yet a headless "mini Mac Pro"; junior has bad connotations
I liked it. It was a great change of pace. Yeah it was scripted and it was in their trademark brown for the most part but the story and presentation was great! I play Half Life 2 for similar reason, great story and proper visuals. If I wanted to rip Doom 3 for overly scripted encounters that seemed to repeat a lot I could seriously pummel Half Life for the same. Hell I would love to punish the HL team for their over use of their damn physics engine... yeah I know you have one but some things get annoying after a while.
I guess we can hope for a flash light taped to the gun this time. Still the Doom 3 is one of the few games that actually made me jump. Great sound and visuals.
and do a cross promotion, in particular concentrate on World of Warcraft players. With Season 4 PvP gear coming down these people will have lots of reason to spend all their time in one place
First, China is a very proud nation and as such will not allow itself to be dependent on any other nation for services it can provide itself. They also are trying to express themselves on the world stage as a world power and mostly do this by repeating the same technological achievements other countries of similar stature already have done. Its kind of like a rite of passage.
As for the population, China really is two distinct countries when it comes to its people. Now I know you can divide up the population into various ethnic groups but it comes down to you are either part of the Communist system or your not. So you have a couple hundred million in the one camp, with all the benefits of modern life, and then the rest who are still essentially not much more progressed since the the beginning of the last century.
The problem is, China really could not give a rats ass what you, I, or the world thinks. Any attempt to tell them and they take it as an insult. The big concerns going forward are not what happens to China's people but what China attempts with its neighbors. This makes the GPS development interesting in that it increases their threat capability. Considering the fact that its nearly a monthly exercise their threats against Taiwan take on even more seriousness with this expanded capability. This allows them to accurately deliver weapons to targets far beyond their borders. This means they can simply ignore the pleas of the world should they decide to finally address Taiwan in a military manner. It provides a good threat projection versus the US as well.
We can hope they will use the technology to better the lives of their people but unless you part of the first group in China I doubt they can or want to. Simply put the numbers are too large and the territorial issues are extreme in many cases. Combine this with the fact many would just preferred to be left alone and its hard to imagine why the government would bother unless national interest were at stake.
China doesn't want to play big, they already are. They simply want the respect they feel they are not getting. The Olympics were a gesture by some feel good misdirected people on the world stage made to China. Unfortunately China didn't care about all the supposed conditions these people attached, they saw it only as a means to elevate their status in the world and redirect some attention from the unsavory side of their activities. Unfortunately too many in the world are willing to go along. Unfortunately too many people like to vilify the US for things that in China get a pass. Perhaps its because at least with the US there is a chance of changing the behavior.
My friend came back from China teaching English there for a few years, even with a native as a wife. Go figure, anyway what China has a problem with is that many of these highly educated young people don't want to stay. His view was that all this modern conveniences and such were like a bribe to keep the people the nation's leaders need to keep the country going. Basically buy the people off with shiny stuff.
Most likely because they don't have to care. One thing I have noticed when reading stories of government incompetence is that no one really gets in serious trouble. Worse the government has this propensity to impose rules on businesses and individuals that they not only do not adhere to but will actually codify into law that it does not apply to them (remember the days of discrimination laws?)
So in a case like this accountability isn't built into the system. The powers that oversee them are themselves. Now take the military, they have a process in place and when a mistake gets made it gets tracked very thoroughly and the parties responsible are punished - even if this means going far up the chain. The story the other year about the nuclear weapons being loaded on the wrong plane and lost track of is a great example. Again however they are subject to investigation and vilification by other government agencies who not only oversee them at the direction of the law but out of whim.
This problem that occurred is yet another example why I dread the day the Federal government finally gets control of our nation's health care. We already spend two TRILLION dollars combined at the federal, state, and local level, yet all these problems persist. It all happens because there is no true accountability. Heck we don't even hold our elected officials accountable for government actions they take but instead we all freak out over a sex scandal!
The fact is, they don't have to account for the money they spend, they waste, or they lose. We don't make elected or appointed officials sign documents stating that they believe this is a valid expenditure of tax money. Until they have to own up to spending our money they won't care what the end result is. No more blank checks, no more passes. If they don't put themselves under the same rules as they expect us to live they should not be there.
I would love to see a Sarbane Oxley type mechanism in place on them. Hell they inflicted it on many of us. Whats good for the goose...
Not because of privatization which was mentioned in a previous reply as having been the case.
It will be sold/shammed on others in the name of National Security. If the fear of terrorism isn't enough the old fall backs of "its for the children" will be tossed about.
Finally it will simply be implemented because a perverse change occurs in otherwise normal people once the attain office. Suddenly they DO know better.
Everyone tries to improve on the proverbial mouse trap. Their version will always be better and because they are convinced that their election/appointment is a mandate that they know better.
If it generates money then in the world of government it is a success.
because it doesn't. If you don't toe the line your toast.
Both of these so called parties is being wrecked by their fringe. Honestly I think the fringe does more damage to getting moderate Democrats into office than moderate Republicans getting in.
Anyone declaring allegiance to either of these parties needs to be looked at... sorry, they make corporations look good
Kudos to Gates and Allen for taking the opportunity, however obvious it is to us today is wasn't so back then to others. That one step opened doors for many of us and we still have that legacy. So while some may or may not like was Microsoft became what they did was ever so important to the early days of hobbyist (soon to be home) computing.
I saw "be thankful for what you have"
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Disillusioned With IT?
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· Score: 2, Insightful
and realize that some things are of far greater value.
While job satisfaction is something we should always strive for we seem to have a generation who doesn't see a reason to sacrifice, for however long, to meet truer and more important goals.
Sorry, family comes first. You provide for them then you provide for yourself.
So basically I saw "suck it up" "quit whining" etc... and I think its valid, sorry but IT is easy street. If you don't enjoy your job then look elsewhere but make sure the important stuff is taken care of. Whining about your job on a message board is just asking for it. He should already be looking, have an up to date resume, and going to work doing the best job he can so that there is no threat to his ability to provide for family.
We aren't all handed life on a silver platter but it says a lot about us on what we consider important. I think doing a good job is important but when it comes down to it, I choose family first. If this means grinding out a job I don't like till something better comes along then I do it. Like the post you replied to people have an incredibly arrogant idea of what constitutes a bad job - we have it damn easy when it comes to working conditions. I watched the guys building my house in the hot hot Georgia sun and was thankful I had a different set of skills. I grew up on a farm and knew that while that lifestyle has many appeals it was not for me.
I see no jealousy in that reply. I do see that it may hit too close to home for someone.
Slashdot Mirror
You have to compare your thought about waiting even two years between expansions because it gives a false impression about the game. WOW released a lot of content between opening day and TBC and is doing the same between TBC and WOTLK. Is progression restricted to leveling? If releasing expansions at a regular clip was all it took to be a success then how do we explain the lack of population for EQ and EQ2 now? Yes they are both big but not on the scale of WOW.
AoC is coming out way way too early. It just isn't ready. What Blizzard did that was more important than being friendly to all players was to raise the bar in perceived quality. They may have actually raised it too high as most gamers no longer tolerate buggy and unbalanced software that we used to accept for granted. WOW presents a polish. Yeah it covers some major dings underneath but the overall effect is that looking at it most players never encounter anything game breaking. The same can't be said for some major releases post WOW or even post TBC. Blizzard also allows for an incredible amount of interface customization, beyond what many other games can even conceive. Don't like a certain display - change it. If not you then hundreds of others have and it all is "protected" by the fact the game client knows what it can do so you don't have to worry about your password/account being mailed to china for installing a plug in
Hell Turbine came down with two of the biggest and storied names in Fantasy and flubbed them both. D&D Online and LOTR Online. What was the difference? Polish and usability. Those two games should never had an issue yet they failed to hold onto any significant numbers. Turbine likes to use the line that they don't release numbers on their servers because of "professionalism" but the simple fact is they are embarrassed.
I am quite sure that most people playing WOW won't even notice AoC's effect on the population of their favorite server for very long if at all. I bet a sizable portion doesn't even know it exists. Simply put they don't care to look. That is a magic you can't buy. I am very sure AoC or any other MMORPG would love to just have WOW's churn as their account numbers!
No it didn't dumb down MMORPGs, the closest comparison I would make is what Apple did for Unix based operating systems when they released OS X. They took a good, known to work system, and made it easy to use, understand, and accessible. That isn't dumbing down, thats doing it right.
this is how to beat Guitar Hero IV on hard?
other than being a freak or having a pet spider to help you out?
I play with programming on both the PC and Mac (at work I am on a mini and there is no ADA there at all) so I am curious...
Which are the good compilers for ADA for Mac and PC. As well as being good, what are the relative costs?
Finally, which sites do ADA supporters consider best?
way to get the NEWS back into CBS was to buy the domain with the name.
it also is the question your asked and who asks it.
Take voting in the DNC primary, by all accounts and polls one candidate should be getting even more votes than they are getting yet once behind the privacy of the voting booth they don't get them.
Some questions make people uncomfortable whether their freedom is in jeopardy or not. It is also instinctive in some people to give the answer that they believe the questioner wants regardless if its a true one.
While I do agree China is a special case I have seen friends answer complete strangers in what I knew wasn't what they believed but instead what they wanted the questioner to believe.
but seeing that only one manufacturer holds the keys to the kingdom and they are slower than shit and don't seem to listen to a lot of the forums what choice will we have other than by going this route. In fact I think the primary reason most of us didn't consider this route is because it was too difficult compared to just putting up with the hardware Apple allowed us to buy.
I am in the camp of needing a Mac Pro for expandability but not wanting one that seems to just exist to list every top end product standard Intel has in its books; yes I see the current Mac Pro as nothing more than a buzzword monster - features included because they sounded good not because they were needed. As such I and those of us on various Mac Forums have been clamoring for a "Mini Mac Pro". Something that uses similar processors and memory of iMacs/Minis but has expansion slots and room for more drives.
Its a big market. There are people sitting on G4s because the cost of moving up is prohibitive. If it takes a new resurgence in clone makers to rattle Apple's cage then I am all for it. If someone delivers a proven working solution then to hell with Apple.
As I mentioned at the start, the real reason most of us didn't go this route is because it was more time consuming than and "annoying" than just putting up with whatever we were allowed to buy. Since the process is getting more "ironed out" and practically turn key I expect a few of us to jump at the opportunity.
Just like we scream that MS has no right to dictate this and that we should hold Apple to that same standard. When they were the little guy we justified it because we could be smug about it deeming pc quality as too low for us. Now that we use the same exact hardware there isn't a real excuse, least one that holds up to any scrutiny.
When did form forever displace function at Apple. Can they get back to function please. Make the "Pro" line all about function - form means little to us, we just want it to work.
he didn't just disappear or have an appointment with a bullet.
perhaps the fact what he did was so easily available saved his life.
I do have to wonder how some people here actually thinks the Syrian leadership is any shape or form actually embarrassed by their handling of it let alone concerned what you think about it. On the world stage nothing much more expected out of a country like this and they wouldn't care anyway.
This is one the of many countries that only exists because its not PC or financially expedient to fix.
because politicians are more than willing to make us pay for them later in life. You know the type, never a good job, poor health, usually a few addictions that get their money, and worse - children who repeat the cycle
I think school was much better when the fear of punishment (the oppressive state) did very well in encouraging you to behave. The simple fact is, some of these people need to be whacked up side the head. They need a "big brother" though the government isn't the best option.
Here is the question, do you want to pay to keep them from screwing up in the first place or pay for them for the rest of their lives.
and all because we put more value on their "rights" than the rights of the society that has to tolerate and pay for them
because it seems that no matter how intelligent, competent, and caring they are, once they get in office power corrupts them
Suddenly they are the MOST intelligent people they know, they are far more competent than before, and they care so much because they give away so much money.
politicians should be allowed in at most six years, after that they seem to feel entitled and thats when it goes wrong
what this push for "America's Army" was all about.
because the whole idea that cell towers and the like just sprouted like weeds is appealing but they are costly.
Actually the comparison is bogus because its apple's and oranges. They have nothing in common other than that word "transmit"
How much did it cost to deploy and manage a network capable of servicing text messages?
How much did it cost to deploy the Hubble, let alone a system to manage it?
Both relied on much existing infrastructure but I have to wonder, whats the preoccupation with texting? I know people who can't take a second breath in between having to text others. Are we that boring we need to bombard everyone around us to prove we are alive?
Sorry, they don't want a dish because it might ruin the looks? Put it on a pole. This sounds the classic NIMBY crap we always get from this corner of the country. Then to top it off, since no company wants to spend the fortune it would cost to serve a few customers you want me (aka the guy who funds the government with the help of a bunch of other income earners) to pay for it?
/.? Being forced to live with old single core processors?
Look, there may be wireless solutions in the future. I also do just fine with my email over dial up when necessary (just don't let it download anything with attachments).
DIAL UP IS NOT THE END OF THE WORLD.
Your parents have an open solution by a provider. (satellite) Obviously the looks of their house is more important than high speed internet.
Whats next on
Didn't that put a dent in things? I don't want to be crass but the disaster in Burma isn't even countable. I know they can do estimates and such but major events like Burma should be accounted, are they? What about Iraq?
Besides, whats the fear? Its not like this planet cannot support double that if not more. Do people realize just how much arable land is not in use? Hell on my recent 1600 mile trip to and from Ohio I can tell you this, this country is empty in many spots and I am sure it is in others. Hell I know there are substantial areas of Europe that are essentially empty. Yeah there are villages and towns nearby but its not like we even try to exploit the lands we have. Look at Africa! How much of that is still like America of a hundred if not two hundred years ago?
One thing I have learned in my short time on this planet. Every doomsayer's predictions of over population and food shortages comes to nothing. We always shift how things are done and accommodate it. If we didn't we would not be here today. Food shortages are all the rave now but forever in our history some groups have been short of food but this is how we progress. If the population cannot create more food then it supports less people. Its a horrid fact of life but it happens. We actually do very well in this day and age from allowing nature to takes its course.
It all comes down to need. When the need arises we always step up.
You mean the US elections actually allow people to have a choice? Since when? When two parties control who you can vote for you have no choice, only an illusion of choice.
As for harping on Google or China for that matter, just which Western country has people aren't just rolling over with every assault on their rights? I can't think of any. Hell in the US the action that is evident is exactly what you see here, people bitch about it then go on their way shrugging their shoulders "I can't do anything about it"
Congratulations, now we are the same as the Chinese people. Sure we have more freedom of the press but what is freedom of the press when it has no real bearing on what happens? We have free information but hardly anyone acts on it. Even if they did how do they get into government to change it? Run as libertarian? Ain't going to get them anywhere - see the first line in this reply.
Because the voters seem to be damn inclined for the government to take care of their...
retirement
health care
schooling of their children
mortgages
How are those three a function of government? I really don't understand how people who send their kids to public school can complain about government censorship related to children. Really, what do you think goes on in your schools? You can't get information in some states about what actually does go on. Worse, in a few medical issues with your children is off limits to you.
Hell people on this very board that bitch and moan all the time want the government to control companies offering internet connectivity instead of letting the system sort itself out (meaning a competitor will stomp on comcast one day - it always happens)
If people had to pay for this enforcement the trivial crap would stop
I play WOW using a white 2.13 dual core with 7600GT and it does fine for WOW, better it works running three sessions at one time. Granted two are in the lowest settings at 640x480 while the main is usually full screen with everything on. I use a little tool named Clonekeys to mirror keystrokes from one session to another while implementing in game macros to tie them all together. I have launched five but all of them had to be minimal to even work. Now I do have 3gb of ram and that seemed to be the key to success.
Now the latest generation iMac has an 8800GS equivalent and the 8800GT can be used in the Mac Pro lines so that should allow for more stressful games to be played either in OS X or under XP.
I do agree their offering is a little slim. I would also like to see a Mac Pro "Junior" line using the same processors as the iMac/Mini but with the ability to slap cards in as I want. That would be the best option but I highly doubt it as Mac seems to be becoming a little corner operation at times. That to me is the only real hole in their line up is an expandable headless unit.
Frankly, with the ability to run XP on the iMac and the 8800GS I may have a good solution for a few years but ideally I would want the same GPU in a Mac Mini or best yet a headless "mini Mac Pro"; junior has bad connotations
I liked it. It was a great change of pace. Yeah it was scripted and it was in their trademark brown for the most part but the story and presentation was great! I play Half Life 2 for similar reason, great story and proper visuals. If I wanted to rip Doom 3 for overly scripted encounters that seemed to repeat a lot I could seriously pummel Half Life for the same. Hell I would love to punish the HL team for their over use of their damn physics engine... yeah I know you have one but some things get annoying after a while.
I guess we can hope for a flash light taped to the gun this time. Still the Doom 3 is one of the few games that actually made me jump. Great sound and visuals.
and do a cross promotion, in particular concentrate on World of Warcraft players. With Season 4 PvP gear coming down these people will have lots of reason to spend all their time in one place
First, China is a very proud nation and as such will not allow itself to be dependent on any other nation for services it can provide itself. They also are trying to express themselves on the world stage as a world power and mostly do this by repeating the same technological achievements other countries of similar stature already have done. Its kind of like a rite of passage.
As for the population, China really is two distinct countries when it comes to its people. Now I know you can divide up the population into various ethnic groups but it comes down to you are either part of the Communist system or your not. So you have a couple hundred million in the one camp, with all the benefits of modern life, and then the rest who are still essentially not much more progressed since the the beginning of the last century.
The problem is, China really could not give a rats ass what you, I, or the world thinks. Any attempt to tell them and they take it as an insult. The big concerns going forward are not what happens to China's people but what China attempts with its neighbors. This makes the GPS development interesting in that it increases their threat capability. Considering the fact that its nearly a monthly exercise their threats against Taiwan take on even more seriousness with this expanded capability. This allows them to accurately deliver weapons to targets far beyond their borders. This means they can simply ignore the pleas of the world should they decide to finally address Taiwan in a military manner. It provides a good threat projection versus the US as well.
We can hope they will use the technology to better the lives of their people but unless you part of the first group in China I doubt they can or want to. Simply put the numbers are too large and the territorial issues are extreme in many cases. Combine this with the fact many would just preferred to be left alone and its hard to imagine why the government would bother unless national interest were at stake.
China doesn't want to play big, they already are. They simply want the respect they feel they are not getting. The Olympics were a gesture by some feel good misdirected people on the world stage made to China. Unfortunately China didn't care about all the supposed conditions these people attached, they saw it only as a means to elevate their status in the world and redirect some attention from the unsavory side of their activities. Unfortunately too many in the world are willing to go along. Unfortunately too many people like to vilify the US for things that in China get a pass. Perhaps its because at least with the US there is a chance of changing the behavior.
My friend came back from China teaching English there for a few years, even with a native as a wife. Go figure, anyway what China has a problem with is that many of these highly educated young people don't want to stay. His view was that all this modern conveniences and such were like a bribe to keep the people the nation's leaders need to keep the country going. Basically buy the people off with shiny stuff.
Most likely because they don't have to care. One thing I have noticed when reading stories of government incompetence is that no one really gets in serious trouble. Worse the government has this propensity to impose rules on businesses and individuals that they not only do not adhere to but will actually codify into law that it does not apply to them (remember the days of discrimination laws?)
So in a case like this accountability isn't built into the system. The powers that oversee them are themselves. Now take the military, they have a process in place and when a mistake gets made it gets tracked very thoroughly and the parties responsible are punished - even if this means going far up the chain. The story the other year about the nuclear weapons being loaded on the wrong plane and lost track of is a great example. Again however they are subject to investigation and vilification by other government agencies who not only oversee them at the direction of the law but out of whim.
This problem that occurred is yet another example why I dread the day the Federal government finally gets control of our nation's health care. We already spend two TRILLION dollars combined at the federal, state, and local level, yet all these problems persist. It all happens because there is no true accountability. Heck we don't even hold our elected officials accountable for government actions they take but instead we all freak out over a sex scandal!
The fact is, they don't have to account for the money they spend, they waste, or they lose. We don't make elected or appointed officials sign documents stating that they believe this is a valid expenditure of tax money. Until they have to own up to spending our money they won't care what the end result is. No more blank checks, no more passes. If they don't put themselves under the same rules as they expect us to live they should not be there.
I would love to see a Sarbane Oxley type mechanism in place on them. Hell they inflicted it on many of us. Whats good for the goose...
Not because of privatization which was mentioned in a previous reply as having been the case.
It will be sold/shammed on others in the name of National Security. If the fear of terrorism isn't enough the old fall backs of "its for the children" will be tossed about.
Finally it will simply be implemented because a perverse change occurs in otherwise normal people once the attain office. Suddenly they DO know better.
Everyone tries to improve on the proverbial mouse trap. Their version will always be better and because they are convinced that their election/appointment is a mandate that they know better.
If it generates money then in the world of government it is a success.
because it doesn't. If you don't toe the line your toast.
Both of these so called parties is being wrecked by their fringe. Honestly I think the fringe does more damage to getting moderate Democrats into office than moderate Republicans getting in.
Anyone declaring allegiance to either of these parties needs to be looked at... sorry, they make corporations look good
I am so sick and tired of them being allowed to send me e-mails just because of their position.
Was nice of them to give themselves exceptions to most related laws.
actually taking an idea and developing it.
Kudos to Gates and Allen for taking the opportunity, however obvious it is to us today is wasn't so back then to others. That one step opened doors for many of us and we still have that legacy. So while some may or may not like was Microsoft became what they did was ever so important to the early days of hobbyist (soon to be home) computing.
and realize that some things are of far greater value.
While job satisfaction is something we should always strive for we seem to have a generation who doesn't see a reason to sacrifice, for however long, to meet truer and more important goals.
Sorry, family comes first. You provide for them then you provide for yourself.
So basically I saw "suck it up" "quit whining" etc... and I think its valid, sorry but IT is easy street. If you don't enjoy your job then look elsewhere but make sure the important stuff is taken care of. Whining about your job on a message board is just asking for it. He should already be looking, have an up to date resume, and going to work doing the best job he can so that there is no threat to his ability to provide for family.
We aren't all handed life on a silver platter but it says a lot about us on what we consider important. I think doing a good job is important but when it comes down to it, I choose family first. If this means grinding out a job I don't like till something better comes along then I do it. Like the post you replied to people have an incredibly arrogant idea of what constitutes a bad job - we have it damn easy when it comes to working conditions. I watched the guys building my house in the hot hot Georgia sun and was thankful I had a different set of skills. I grew up on a farm and knew that while that lifestyle has many appeals it was not for me.
I see no jealousy in that reply. I do see that it may hit too close to home for someone.