My first (and pretty much last MMO) was EverQuest. One certainly gets a share of odd people, but rarely did I wind up grouping with people so annoying I couldn't stand them.
I was definitely one of those people who enjoyed playing alongside others, because if you made EQ a single-player game, it would be pretty damned boring. Some people played it like that -- kill, meditate, kill, meditate. I just shrug and continue to be amazed at the diversity of human personality.:-)
Most folks have some leisure time. Some people have more than others...but most folks have at least a little. And generally speaking folks will do something fun with that time. Some people read books, others watch TV, some play board games, some go out drinking, some play video games, some listen to music, some make music... Why is any one of these wastes of time any more or less acceptable than any other?
"Quit playing video games and get outside! It's a beautiful day!" - most people's mom at some point.
The old days of video games (Missile Command, Pac-Man, Bard's Tale...even Baldur's Gate) with regards to time-sink are to MMORPGs as sneaking a cookie before dinner is to stealing an ice cream truck.
Seriously, some people don't get that MMOs include personal interaction, thinking, excitement. Some think it's mind-numbing...like watching soap operas on TV, or CNN Headline news. It CAN be, if you play that way, but it can be just as brain-stimulating as anything else. So to answer your question of why people are so harsh on MMORPGs?
"It's a beautiful day out! Get your butt oustide!"
Why the fuck would the United States Air Force want a botnet, when they could have the real thing? A tightly integrated computer network with near unlimited bandwidth, satellites, super computers, massive clustering, and secure, integrated control.
I think anything used with intent to harm (and stunning would be "harm") is defined as a weapon under most U.S. laws. See Ms. Green in the library with the candlestick for more details.
Not to start a slashwar, but our government has redefined many standard terms in the past 8 years, so a weapon may be classified as anything more destructive than the Death Star. Everything else is called "French Toast" and is clearly non-threatening in the greater scheme of things.
I think some people not familiar with the CMS idea think that using a CMS makes life easier for the developer, not just the client.
Using Plone as an example, I can put up a simple, templated website allowing authenticated updating and commenting in about 5 minutes. If the user wants me to add a form that stores data into a centralized SQL database, there are ways to do that but it'll require extra packages, a modicum of python knowledge, and some knowledge of Zope's TAL scripting.
So sure Plone makes things a little easier, and the better the developer is with Zope/Plone/Python, the easier it is. But developing a moderately-featured site with Plone isn't much easier than it is by hand if you're new to the underpinings.
But when the site development is done and it's time to add content, the web programmer can finally just walk away and let the users handle that part, and that's where a CMS shines, and that's why you'd want to use one.
So don't think a CMS is a "quickstart" solution for a moderately complex site. It's only quick once you're done learning the CMS ins and outs, which may include a new programming language. But programming a few applications and custom pages is much less work than writing a standards-compliant, form-secured, completely-user-updateable website from scratch, I'd think...
I wonder how much of the customer base this cuts out. Not everyone who could buy this game has broadband, and it seems silly to boot up your 56k modem to play a single player game. And what of those whose computer has no internet access?
I'd gather that a desperate rescue operation has the same chain of command as an ongoing military battle: there's only one person making the big decisions and everyone listens to that person. If you try to discuss whether that building will provide better cover for your point with your sergeant, or ask the wife to examine her finances to determine whether Steve gets the helicopter or not, you're going to fail.
It may be illegal now but the point is that laws won't change unless people make an effort to change them. P2P downloading of copyrighted music could be considered a protest against corporate greed, coupled with the statement that the Internet allows artist the possibility of profiting directly from their efforts, rather than going through contracts that leave them with fractions of there true potential.
It's the beginnings of a new way to market and profit from music. As more sites become available to artists for marketing and selling their music, the power and influence of the RIAA will wane (but also adapt). But things won't change without people saying "We can't have it this way anymore."
Those searches are insanely expensive, and 99% of the time they're needed because the person who gets lost fails to take precautions.
Meh. We pay taxes for precisely this sort of thing. I imagine there is a beancounter suggesting that there are X number of large scale operations per year vs Y number of days of training and Z number of hanging around waiting.
I would say that the reason they're billing the widow is because she can afford it. The reason they shouldn't is because the person is dead. Bill the hell out of the runaway bride (or whoever leaked it to the press) who causes a massive hunt because she didn't tell anyone she got cold feet and needed a week to herself.
LG has a new phone that has touch screen and slide-out keyboard. One complaint is that the touch sliding isn't as graceful as the iPhone.
iPhone is like a luxury car. The Acura TSX (okay...not a Rolls Royce, I admit) does pretty much everything the Honda Civic does. But it's a more comfortable ride and if you're using it every day, that makes a big difference. A clunky interface is an inefficient interface = bad for work. Apple's iPhone GUI has no comptetitors at the moment. While GUI isn't everything, for email, web, maps, contacts, even calendaring if you use Google or iCal, I'd rather use the iPhone than Windows Mobile.
Oh, and the keyboard...you're right: I can't type without looking at the screen like some kids can with their non-touch phones. But I can type a page of real words in less time than a non-12-thumbed adult can type "omg we lost teh deal".
GTA MMO. You and 1000 other people choose various...errr...opportunities to pursue in life, all the while driving over, sniping, and rocket killing everyone else.
all in pursuit of maintaining privacy in an increasingly interconnected world.
Privacy from places that aren't law enforcement agencies...they can still poke into your laptop and ask you for the key at the borders.
Or will it continuously escalate to the point that we start seeing more and more networks running 'off' the grid? Transporting data in person as on-the-fly decryption becomes increasingly prevalent. (Here we come Johnny Mnemonic)
I wouldn't be surprised if the Internet becomes an unregulated wilderness where individual packets are in jeopardy. Private networks, virtual or not, will be the safe havens, and anyone running a public anything will always be taking a chance.
Greeeeeed, Dog-Cow. Greeeed! An idea is like a milkshake so let's say you have a milkshake, there it is, and I have a straw. And it's a loooooong straw that reaches aaaaaaaall the way to your milkshake. I start to drink your milkshake, Dog-Cow.
I...drink...your...MILKSHAKE! I drink it up!
An oil field is something you claim and sell rights of usage to -- same as IP -- though you'd think just because you found it/thought of it first, you wouldn't gain the right to sell it as yours. But you have that right, the lawyers say so. It's a system made 100% out of desire for money.
Then again, I think that in general history professors (which tended to be my favorite) tend to be the best teachers, as opposed to say CompSci, or EE, etc.
Not that it's impossible to make a programming or engineering class interesting, but it's far easier to tell a story (history in this case...though whose I don't know...) in an interesting manner than it is to describe an equation or mathematical concept.
My teachers varied greatly in both engineering and the arts. It usually just comes down to personality of the professor -- some people are just better at keeping your attention.
Starship Troopers (the book) should be the main scifi reference to powered suits. Iron Man is fine, but Heinlein describes the idea very well: "You don't control the suit. You wear it, like putting on your shirt in the morning, you don't really notice its there. Except this suit makes a battalion of Sherman tanks look like cockroaches to a bazooka." (I...very badly...paraphrase.)
Build a bigger, badder suit, armored head to toe, so it can carry the power supply as well.
I think if someone gives you a "gift" and asks you not to sell it, legally binding label or not, you're not being particularly good-mannered by selling it. I know the RIAA has lost all respect, but don't forget the intent, whether you think it's legal or not. You're all beginning to sound like lawyers -- knowing full well what the people meant to do, but looking for any loopholes to get you way.
What we need is less bloated browsers, those that don't use up 100+ MB of RAM
Ask not what else your 100 MB of RAM could have done for you, but what you could do with your other 1900 MB of RAM.
Like government, browsers could me more efficient with their resources. But think of your computer as a country in renaissance -- instead of worrying why you paid $100 for that hammer, question instead what the hammer may allow you to do whatever its cost.
(I'm only half-joking because I'm a satirist, not a realist...then I'd be half-serious.)
What do I get out of it? It works for me, that's all. Doesn't hurt me or compromise me in any way to give it away, so I do.
I think consistent, reliable, updated software is rare. Your database you speak of sounds like a one-off thing. What if someone finds a security hole? Or wants an additional feature? You'll either ignore the request, tell them to fix it, or be annoyed but fix it yourself. For free. What if there are 100 features/bugs that need to be worked on? Unless you have a lot of loose time, it'll end up another buggy piece of "open source" software with 2.5 cows on Tucows.
The idea of developers sharing and improving upon free software is a good one. The idea that the free software has any responsibility backing up its existence is false. "It's free...do what you want with it" is fine for developers, not for the end users. And that's what Microsoft is saying.
There are exceptions (BackupPC, Apache, Firefox, Plone) but in the end, only the software is free (as in speech) while the dev time is not (as in consulting and thanks for the beer).
Not self-selected. The opportunities you here about concerning racial minorities are not always followed up by either side. One can still be "kept down" for any reason, and race is a popular checkmark in the category of "any".
Occasionally I get to thinking that, with 6 billion people coming up with ideas, just because you're the first to send them to the U.S. Patent Office doesn't necessarily mean you're guaranteed the money for those ideas. While people are supposed to do research (including patent research) when inventing, it seems a pain to scour every patent for similarities or places where the patents are so broad, your new invention MIGHT fit into it.
Is it not possible that someone at Samsung came up with the idea before Seagate, but just didn't patent it? Or we could go by the saying: "Ideas are cheap." Just because you dreamed up an invention, why should you get some of the money for all the work put into implementation, marketing, manufacturing, etc?
To answer my own question, I suppose it's because otherwise, no one would report their ideas without a working model and/or contract with a production company in place. They'd never be able to make any money off it as it would be used by someone else if made known. I won't go on about how I feel about the mighty dollar/euro/rupee and how it stifles innovation...
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My first (and pretty much last MMO) was EverQuest. One certainly gets a share of odd people, but rarely did I wind up grouping with people so annoying I couldn't stand them.
:-)
I was definitely one of those people who enjoyed playing alongside others, because if you made EQ a single-player game, it would be pretty damned boring. Some people played it like that -- kill, meditate, kill, meditate. I just shrug and continue to be amazed at the diversity of human personality.
Most folks have some leisure time. Some people have more than others...but most folks have at least a little. And generally speaking folks will do something fun with that time. Some people read books, others watch TV, some play board games, some go out drinking, some play video games, some listen to music, some make music... Why is any one of these wastes of time any more or less acceptable than any other?
"Quit playing video games and get outside! It's a beautiful day!" - most people's mom at some point.
The old days of video games (Missile Command, Pac-Man, Bard's Tale...even Baldur's Gate) with regards to time-sink are to MMORPGs as sneaking a cookie before dinner is to stealing an ice cream truck.
Seriously, some people don't get that MMOs include personal interaction, thinking, excitement. Some think it's mind-numbing...like watching soap operas on TV, or CNN Headline news. It CAN be, if you play that way, but it can be just as brain-stimulating as anything else. So to answer your question of why people are so harsh on MMORPGs?
"It's a beautiful day out! Get your butt oustide!"
Why the fuck would the United States Air Force want a botnet, when they could have the real thing? A tightly integrated computer network with near unlimited bandwidth, satellites, super computers, massive clustering, and secure, integrated control.
Distributed, anonymous sources.
Hmm...not sure how many computers have downloaded America's Army, but how hard would it be to slip a botnet agent into a patch or download?
I think anything used with intent to harm (and stunning would be "harm") is defined as a weapon under most U.S. laws. See Ms. Green in the library with the candlestick for more details.
Not to start a slashwar, but our government has redefined many standard terms in the past 8 years, so a weapon may be classified as anything more destructive than the Death Star. Everything else is called "French Toast" and is clearly non-threatening in the greater scheme of things.
I think some people not familiar with the CMS idea think that using a CMS makes life easier for the developer, not just the client.
Using Plone as an example, I can put up a simple, templated website allowing authenticated updating and commenting in about 5 minutes. If the user wants me to add a form that stores data into a centralized SQL database, there are ways to do that but it'll require extra packages, a modicum of python knowledge, and some knowledge of Zope's TAL scripting.
So sure Plone makes things a little easier, and the better the developer is with Zope/Plone/Python, the easier it is. But developing a moderately-featured site with Plone isn't much easier than it is by hand if you're new to the underpinings.
But when the site development is done and it's time to add content, the web programmer can finally just walk away and let the users handle that part, and that's where a CMS shines, and that's why you'd want to use one.
So don't think a CMS is a "quickstart" solution for a moderately complex site. It's only quick once you're done learning the CMS ins and outs, which may include a new programming language. But programming a few applications and custom pages is much less work than writing a standards-compliant, form-secured, completely-user-updateable website from scratch, I'd think...
TED: Ideas worth spreading is a great site for short lectures on a huge range of topics, from music to physics to economics to technology.
I wonder how much of the customer base this cuts out. Not everyone who could buy this game has broadband, and it seems silly to boot up your 56k modem to play a single player game. And what of those whose computer has no internet access?
I'd gather that a desperate rescue operation has the same chain of command as an ongoing military battle: there's only one person making the big decisions and everyone listens to that person. If you try to discuss whether that building will provide better cover for your point with your sergeant, or ask the wife to examine her finances to determine whether Steve gets the helicopter or not, you're going to fail.
It may be illegal now but the point is that laws won't change unless people make an effort to change them. P2P downloading of copyrighted music could be considered a protest against corporate greed, coupled with the statement that the Internet allows artist the possibility of profiting directly from their efforts, rather than going through contracts that leave them with fractions of there true potential.
It's the beginnings of a new way to market and profit from music. As more sites become available to artists for marketing and selling their music, the power and influence of the RIAA will wane (but also adapt). But things won't change without people saying "We can't have it this way anymore."
Those searches are insanely expensive, and 99% of the time they're needed because the person who gets lost fails to take precautions.
Meh. We pay taxes for precisely this sort of thing. I imagine there is a beancounter suggesting that there are X number of large scale operations per year vs Y number of days of training and Z number of hanging around waiting.
I would say that the reason they're billing the widow is because she can afford it. The reason they shouldn't is because the person is dead. Bill the hell out of the runaway bride (or whoever leaked it to the press) who causes a massive hunt because she didn't tell anyone she got cold feet and needed a week to herself.
LG has a new phone that has touch screen and slide-out keyboard. One complaint is that the touch sliding isn't as graceful as the iPhone.
iPhone is like a luxury car. The Acura TSX (okay...not a Rolls Royce, I admit) does pretty much everything the Honda Civic does. But it's a more comfortable ride and if you're using it every day, that makes a big difference. A clunky interface is an inefficient interface = bad for work. Apple's iPhone GUI has no comptetitors at the moment. While GUI isn't everything, for email, web, maps, contacts, even calendaring if you use Google or iCal, I'd rather use the iPhone than Windows Mobile.
Oh, and the keyboard...you're right: I can't type without looking at the screen like some kids can with their non-touch phones. But I can type a page of real words in less time than a non-12-thumbed adult can type "omg we lost teh deal".
GTA MMO. You and 1000 other people choose various...errr...opportunities to pursue in life, all the while driving over, sniping, and rocket killing everyone else.
Sort of like Team Fortress, with cool cars.
I'm paraphrasing an old elevator joke here, but let me say I don't want to be the fat friend on that road trip to the Great White North.
all in pursuit of maintaining privacy in an increasingly interconnected world.
:-)
Privacy from places that aren't law enforcement agencies...they can still poke into your laptop and ask you for the key at the borders.
Or will it continuously escalate to the point that we start seeing more and more networks running 'off' the grid? Transporting data in person as on-the-fly decryption becomes increasingly prevalent. (Here we come Johnny Mnemonic)
I wouldn't be surprised if the Internet becomes an unregulated wilderness where individual packets are in jeopardy. Private networks, virtual or not, will be the safe havens, and anyone running a public anything will always be taking a chance.
Hmm. Guess it's like that now.
Greeeeeed, Dog-Cow. Greeeed! An idea is like a milkshake so let's say you have a milkshake, there it is, and I have a straw. And it's a loooooong straw that reaches aaaaaaaall the way to your milkshake. I start to drink your milkshake, Dog-Cow.
I...drink...your...MILKSHAKE! I drink it up!
An oil field is something you claim and sell rights of usage to -- same as IP -- though you'd think just because you found it/thought of it first, you wouldn't gain the right to sell it as yours. But you have that right, the lawyers say so. It's a system made 100% out of desire for money.
Then again, I think that in general history professors (which tended to be my favorite) tend to be the best teachers, as opposed to say CompSci, or EE, etc.
Not that it's impossible to make a programming or engineering class interesting, but it's far easier to tell a story (history in this case...though whose I don't know...) in an interesting manner than it is to describe an equation or mathematical concept.
My teachers varied greatly in both engineering and the arts. It usually just comes down to personality of the professor -- some people are just better at keeping your attention.
Starship Troopers (the book) should be the main scifi reference to powered suits. Iron Man is fine, but Heinlein describes the idea very well: "You don't control the suit. You wear it, like putting on your shirt in the morning, you don't really notice its there. Except this suit makes a battalion of Sherman tanks look like cockroaches to a bazooka." (I...very badly...paraphrase.)
Build a bigger, badder suit, armored head to toe, so it can carry the power supply as well.
I think if someone gives you a "gift" and asks you not to sell it, legally binding label or not, you're not being particularly good-mannered by selling it. I know the RIAA has lost all respect, but don't forget the intent, whether you think it's legal or not. You're all beginning to sound like lawyers -- knowing full well what the people meant to do, but looking for any loopholes to get you way.
What we need is less bloated browsers, those that don't use up 100+ MB of RAM
Ask not what else your 100 MB of RAM could have done for you, but what you could do with your other 1900 MB of RAM.
Like government, browsers could me more efficient with their resources. But think of your computer as a country in renaissance -- instead of worrying why you paid $100 for that hammer, question instead what the hammer may allow you to do whatever its cost.
(I'm only half-joking because I'm a satirist, not a realist...then I'd be half-serious.)
What do I get out of it? It works for me, that's all. Doesn't hurt me or compromise me in any way to give it away, so I do.
I think consistent, reliable, updated software is rare. Your database you speak of sounds like a one-off thing. What if someone finds a security hole? Or wants an additional feature? You'll either ignore the request, tell them to fix it, or be annoyed but fix it yourself. For free. What if there are 100 features/bugs that need to be worked on? Unless you have a lot of loose time, it'll end up another buggy piece of "open source" software with 2.5 cows on Tucows.
The idea of developers sharing and improving upon free software is a good one. The idea that the free software has any responsibility backing up its existence is false. "It's free...do what you want with it" is fine for developers, not for the end users. And that's what Microsoft is saying.
There are exceptions (BackupPC, Apache, Firefox, Plone) but in the end, only the software is free (as in speech) while the dev time is not (as in consulting and thanks for the beer).
Not self-selected. The opportunities you here about concerning racial minorities are not always followed up by either side. One can still be "kept down" for any reason, and race is a popular checkmark in the category of "any".
"Hey baby, what frequency do YOU oscillate at?"
I mean, seriously, complain all you want about how hard the classes are, Engineers are babe magnets.
Occasionally I get to thinking that, with 6 billion people coming up with ideas, just because you're the first to send them to the U.S. Patent Office doesn't necessarily mean you're guaranteed the money for those ideas. While people are supposed to do research (including patent research) when inventing, it seems a pain to scour every patent for similarities or places where the patents are so broad, your new invention MIGHT fit into it.
Is it not possible that someone at Samsung came up with the idea before Seagate, but just didn't patent it? Or we could go by the saying: "Ideas are cheap." Just because you dreamed up an invention, why should you get some of the money for all the work put into implementation, marketing, manufacturing, etc?
To answer my own question, I suppose it's because otherwise, no one would report their ideas without a working model and/or contract with a production company in place. They'd never be able to make any money off it as it would be used by someone else if made known. I won't go on about how I feel about the mighty dollar/euro/rupee and how it stifles innovation...
We want to empower the robot and make it more autonomous.
This won't end well.