"While prison life has been making Stewart leaner, her net worth has been bulking up thanks to a surging stock price at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Stewart last week sold $8 million worth of shares in Martha Stewart Living (up $0.68 to $27.92, Research), the company she founded and built into a mini-retail and media empire."
Oh, and she's going to have her own Apprentice soon as well. On a national network. On a show that takes millions of dollars to pull off and will make her more rich and powerful.
I think she's doing just fine. Please come up with a better analogy next time (and research it too).
Re:JS / HTML graphics: iWon Prize Machine
on
Mapping Google Maps
·
· Score: 1
Man, I kept waiting for:
"And then Hacker Dude X hacked the Prize Machine hardcore, got all the prizes he could stand, then sold them on ebay for a fortune!
He's currently getting "Personal Attention" from Bubba J. Plow in the Oswald State Correctional Facility!"
But nooOOOooo, you had to be Informative, didn't you.;)
This is slightly off-topic, but I can't help but find it amusing as I've done it myself too often.
I hate how you take such care in crafting a good argument/comment, try to end it with a poignant note (at least I know I do, just like yourself), and in your haste to greatness leave something like:
And that what is wrong with America.
or
There is times in this life when you must choose one.
Pain.
Whispering voices.
Pain.
Pain. Pain. Pain.
Need pee--new pain--what are they sticking in me? . ..
Sleep.
Pain.
Whispering voices.
"As you know, Nurse Eastman, the government spooks controlling this hospital will not permit me to give this patient the care I think he needs."
"Yes, doctor." The voice was breathy, sweet, so sweet and sexy.
"We will therefore just monitor his sign's. Serious trauma like this patient suffered requires extra care, but the rich patsies controlling the hospital will make certain I cannot try any of my new treatments on him."
"Yes, doctor." That voice was soooo sexy!
Bruce didn't care about treatments. He cared about pain, and he cared about that voice, because when he heard the voice, the pain went away, just for a few seconds, like.
There are these things called video games. Look real sweet on your PC. They need good video 'cards' (get it? video games, video cards, its all video related), and if MS wants to give me a pretty desktop in pseudo-reward for blowing $300+ on a NVideo Deathbringer 5k, then I'm happy about that.
I call FUD. I've worked in banks (and credit unions) as a network admin for over six years, and that is some bullshit.
Now, understand that banks will use your information any way they can in-house, manipulate numbers and deposit totals and anything else analytical so they can sell a credit card or a loan (its called cross-selling). But what they cannot do is give your information to other 3rd parties without your direct consent unless its under federal mandate and/or decree (read: court order and/or the Patriot act).
Now this is all fine and good, but when you do something substantial with your money and/or your financial outlook (say, investing or buying a home), you open up yourself to offers from 3rd parties. You sign a document saying so.
Now the easiest thing is, before you sign something, ask them which companies are going to be behind this new venture. Whether it be an investing house (a lot of banks will farm out investing to a subsidiary and get kickbacks on it) or mortgages (who owns this loan? Can they sell it to a 3rd party mortgage company at a later date?), you need to simply be aware.
Feel free to google "Bank Privacy" and read up on the hometown banks and the big boys: They all pretty much say the same thing. If they are under FDIC (for banks) or NCUA (for credit unions), they all fall under the same guidelines: Your information cannot be shared unless you say so. The federal privacy statements which are mandatory to be handed out upon opening an account, etc, say the same thing.
Offshore data management services is simply a scarier way of saying Disaster Recovery. You want your bank to keep running even if the home office (or data center) explodes, right? Then don't start bitching about them backing up data in different places.
No, but there will be 30-minute chunks (in the early mornings and late at night), when they will both programs will be lip syched badly and scream about how their power and strength was just increased AGAIN.
Then they will build up energy forces of UNIMAGINABLE POWER to hurl at one another, but that takes several nights (ie, episodes).
During which point someone will get in trouble and the galaxy will become dangerous. Then a cute interlude between animated characters will occur, ending in laughing and good times.
Then the energy ball war will wage on, until finally your laptop falls to the evil of the world.
The fact remains that they just plain fucked up Earthsea. You can nitpick over LOTR facts, but when the author comes out to publicly strike out against the producers, the director, and the script, being mislead time after time, then that is not "whining". That is material injustice.
You seem to detail a world where -no- critisism should exist. Everyone lives in their comfortable little padded world, and tells the tale as best they can, to please their sponsors, to dumb it down for the masses, to take something beautiful and turn it into something different, no matter how differing from its original incarnation because White Folks Having Sex And Committing Violence Sells.
Then there are the rest of us, you remember, those people who complain? Most of those who complain do so because they want to see a better product than may be produced without our commentary. Sure we are the noise-makers, but where would the world be without dissent? Where would the world be with no commentary, no feedback, no differing opinions?
It would be your utopia. It would be a world in which Earthsea is an achievement, and not the abomination it has become.
I love the Katz haters, the young ones, the immature out there ready to beat down this editorial with the typical "They're just games! Stop taking them so seriously!"
Well, that's what people have said about many professions and artistic ventures. The fact is, many years of work and people's lives are wrapped into these games.
When you do a $40 million (yes, forty million) dollar game project, you run your dev team in the ground to ship it (see: EA Wife), you struggle with design and features and usability and publishing it on 3 different platforms...well, to sit back and trash it out with Tara Clueless Reid and basically say that all games are just rap videos with an interface...it's disheartening.
It doesn't encourage growth in the industry toward more unusual and original IP/ideas because one of the best things about the Grammys and Oscars is that it recognizes Dark Horses that usually get a huge boost in record sales or box office because they were recognized.
I see a classy, well done and thoughtful award show on video games as a good thing. Let's just face the facts: Spike TV isn't going to provide it.
What's best about this situation is that both of these shows could coexist. You can have your cake (Spike TV) and eat it too (nice, classy show attended by actual important game designers and developers).
I think it would be amazing to have a true video game award show with a host to provide funny banter but at the same time shuttup and let John Carmack accept his Landmark Award (or whatever it would be called) for his achievement in the art of programming and making game technology.
We need this type of recognition so that big games can get the recognition they deserve and little games can get their due limelight.
There is nothing wrong with doing a classless show. But there is also something to be said for having a show full of it, complete with respect, something that the Spike TV show simply refused to provide.
Days of Wonder just produce some amazing stuff, including the heralded Memoir '44, which was recently released, along with a bunch of others that me and my wife can't get enough of.
Mystery of the Abbey is like a thinking man's/geek's version of Clue. Instead of that boring ole rag of a board game, you get an intricate and well designed whodunit that has strategy and tactics involved as to who finds out what and how to play the game to win. This is a favorite in our household and whenever we have a gettogether it's the first board game pulled out.
Ticket to Ride is another Days of Wonder production, designed by a frenchman I believe, who ironically created a game about US train lines around the early 1900's. You have a set # of trains and must build them in tandem across the country. You must connect certain cities according to your "tickets" you recieve at the beginning of the game, always giving you a goal and with multiple paths to each city there is strategy involved as far as how you connect them and by what color (each route is defined by color). It gets more in-depth and is very fun/interesting and fast paced to boot. The younger kids in the family really like this one as its color-based, easily followed, and easy to learn.
As far as other games, we love card games. Bang! is hands down the best multi-player card game I've ever played. Take that as you may, but I've played my share and it is awesome stuff. When a friend/family memeber asks us what we want to play, it's always Bang! Great mechanics, interesting roles to play, fun and funny to boot. There are some expansions to it (about a dozen cards each) to throw some variety to the game, but we've not needed those just yet. This is an absolute must-buy.
Queen's Necklace is another Days of Wonder production and is very cool. I know, a guy saying that playing a card game based on jewelry is cool, but it's a blast and is still fun with just 2 players (me and my wife play it occassionally). Easy to learn, hard to master, plenty of strategy and lots of enjoyment to be had.
Lastly I'll mention that Cheap Ass Games is a treasure trove of goodness, particularly Kill Dr. Lucky. This is a game that happens -before- Clue. Instead of figuring out who died and how, you actually get to kill that person! Of course, he's the luckiest guy ever, so it takes awhile and each person chases the good Doc around the mansion in an attempt to finally kill him in a variety of ways.
I think my favorite "Foiled!" card that showed up as I tried to Kill Dr. Lucky said something like "And suddenly...you felt not so fresh."
Yeah baby! I remember making my mom drive all over the nearest big city looking for a showing because the advertisements said it was "In A Theater Near You."
Guess what, it wasn't:(
I was forced to wait for it on video, and that was a terrible shame for a kid who loved Nintendo.
As for the Saturday Morning show, it was half and half with live action plumbers (and guests) introducing goofy cartoons.
I distinctly remember the Nintendo Power Hour or something like it on Saturday mornings with Metroid, Zelda, Mega Man, and Mario & Luigi all in full effect. I can't ever remember being so excited about cartoons as I was back then.
How easy is it to install? How easy is it upgrade? How easy is it, if its a different architecture (ie, Windows, Linux, Mac), to migrate big programs (Exchange, databases) from one to another? How well does it gel with existing servers? Do they recognize one another? Do they acknowledge? Can they fit into existing Active Directory-type listings effectively?
Most to all shops are not created overnight. They are built on mistakes or tried-and-true methods that are (usually) quickly outdated. The problems arise when you try to "fix" the existing problems by bringing in more robust OS's and capabilities. It is the meshing of these that is more important to Network Admins that tales of how well this server did on a single machine in a non-network environment.
** High-speed switch
Does it scale (how easy is it add one to five or more on a single chain?)? How is the admin interface? Is it web-based? Console (ie, serial port) based? Does it have both in case console is all that's available? Can you break it or overrun it with traffic?
** Big iron server or proprietary workstation?
Someone else has mentioned scale so let me throw in something different: How easy is it to recover? Does it have Raid? (Well, it should obviously) Break it, remove a disk and see if you can recover from it easily. "Lose" a driver and see how quickly you can recover.
Something I'd love to see is a review that includes a call to the tech support of that server. Don't tell them you're a reviewer, just tell them you got a problem. See how quick they respond, how informative they may be, how far does it have to go before they call in reinforcements? (ie, higher level support)? Will they call on-site repair? If so, how long did you have to troubleshoot before they determined it? Sometimes a card or piece will break and front line support will make you bleed through their ignorant manuals step-by-step when its clear that Piece A is broken and need a on-site tech with experience with that hardware to come and replace it.
** What tests should we run?
Stress, along with installing/upgrading hardware.
** What results and feature comparisons are going to be most meaningful to you?
I believe that over the course of this comment writing and thinking back over my dealings on big iron hardware, that comparisons in regards to tech support, informativeness, and responsiveness are something that can immediatley be added to the review process.
Something more long-term would be how long did the server run before downtime, problems, burnouts, or hardware failures.
This is taken from my blog, but I felt it was thorough/pertinent enough to post here.
So I finished Half Life 2. Ironically, I never actually completed the original, but I've been excited just like any other gamer over these past few months about what the six-year-development cycle has done for the game in question.
How has this gestation period treated the game? Very well. It seems that two things are apparent to me as I made my way through the connected, fluid universe of Half Life 2:
One: Valve are masters of atmosphere. While Doom 3 had its moments, it was mainly atmosphere in the form of no atmosphere. The lack of a true outdoor environment (albeit a small one with high rock ledges around and a fast-moving sky) prevented it from truly sinking in the idea that this is a living breathing world and more of a series of spooky outposts.
Half Life 2, on the other hand, truly delivered in the atmosphere environment. Everything is as it shouldn't be, which is to say totalitarian and controlled, from the first moment of the game you are subjected to the mindless droning of the Omnipresent Master along with the suddle and barking tones of the Military Component. It's enough to make you creeped out. And in a good way. Not in a Monster Closet (my code name for Doom 3) way.
Two: The female character of Alex was masterfully done. Never have I truly cared for, nor even felt better just being in the presence of, such a character before. She brought a calming effect that is truly unmatched by any other thing in the game.
I believe I have noticed something of First Person Shooters here recently, something that I was speaking with my friend Jon about. I call it the Waking Nightmare syndrome. There is a level of stress that the latest FPS's put on you by taking as much control and normalcy away from you. Whether this be Monster Closets (regarding both the mechanic of "boo scares" with doors and the game Doom 3 itself), or spooky towns filled with baddies or buggy rides through the open (and dangerous) road, these games want you on edge.
And frankly, this type of gaming is scary and nerve-wracking. It makes me not want to play.
Yet, it does want me to play. But the difference is in the amount of which I can take at any given time. With Doom 3, I honestly just stopped playing it. There reached a point where I realized that the game had determented into Monster Closets, where you would either pass a locker and it would shoot out a monster, or one would simply crawl out after you passed to sneak up on you soon after. Either way, it got to be distracting, formulaic, and yes, even a bit scary. But not creepy scary, like those really good Japanese horror movies. In fact, it never reached horror. It reached scary, and that's nowhere near horror.
Now Half Life 2, on the other hand, reached something very close to horror, but never quite got there. It presented a world out of control, yet the way that world came to be was never explained, even in the very beautiful and psycho-centric last levels. Now that would be true horror, the ability to build this world then show the awful unmaking of the world you were used to.
I would also like to note that the finale was grand, but the ending was awful. Fine, Valve, you didn't want to "end" it by any Movie Sense. But we basically just played through one, albeit in a first person point of view, yet you gave us a Kubrick-like (or Twilight Zone) one and expected us to enjoy it. Amused, yes. Enjoyed, no.
Regardless, it is highly recommended. The game, when it works, even in Waking Nightmare style, is beautiful stuff. There are plenty of levels, locations, and characters that make the trip worth it. I believe the bonds between the characters of Barney, Alex, and the rest were established well, but I do hope that next time they spend more time working on those bonds (or perhaps putting the co-stars in real danger, you know the kind that kills people) and actually -gasp- mak
It's called advertising. If you haven't noticed, these guys are the reigning kings of webcomics, and they're also the reigning kings of game commentary (on a non-news site, anyway).
To advertise on their site costs thousands of dollars. They also do contract work such as the recent comics for Rainbow Six and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. All of those projects involved thousands of dollars each.
Originally they were financed through reader contributions. They've since gotten a finance/money guy who tapped into their influential nature, and has given them an income that is more worthy of their talent(s).
Some players don't like the fact that you have to actually -balance- a game of Star Chamber's caliber so not just one race (as there are 10 total) rule the roost. Balance and power levels are a huge part of what CCGs are about, yet Star Chamber adds another level implementing board game like play.
Disgruntled players who enjoyed the advantages of broken abilities and/or unfair cards are entitled to their opinion, and those who can't handle it play something else. There are hundreds of players who are more than happy to enjoy the game as it exists now, and another expansion (and total gameplay change) is coming.
It's garnered great independent success and word of mouth for a reason. Don't let one naysayer keep you from trying this excellent game.
Full disclosure: I am the Community Manager (Evan Erwin) for Nayantara Studios. I do work for them, but began as a player like anyone else.
If it was a real donation it would be more discretely done (eg. name it after a famous person other than Gates and perhaps put up a small plaque saying it was funded by Gate foundation).
As recorded after the press conference, when Bill wasn't sure his mic was still on:
"Please don't cash that cardboard check. This isn't a real donation. But slashdot will flame the piss out of me for it."
Say what you like (I don't like how he funnels his cash into the fundation to take it out tax-free, but that's me), but for $20 mill the guy can put his damn name on the building.
However, instead of this strawman argument, the fact he wants it to be a $50 million dollar building instead of a $20 mill one and still get it named after him is what seems stupid/goofy/out of touch to me.
I'm there with you: I hated how the old Realplayer did all sorts of shady stuff.
But to say that there is no good answer, there is no 'right' answer, there is no excuse...how can a software company right the wrongs of their old versions without releasing new ones?
New upgrades, code fixes, architectures and installation packages...these things can't be reversed on versions that are years old.
This comment seems very troll-like. The users made it known that the old stuff was bad. They responded. You're not happy. But that doesn't mean it's not a good answer. It is an answer. It's just not the one you'd like to face up to, because you have no experience developing software.
No answer will obviously be good enough for you at this point.
Slashdot Mirror
To paraphrase into hilarity:
... Wang."
Bill Gates: "No, in fact that's one thing I like about the Microsoft culture -- is that we wake up every day thinking about
Ding, ding. Catch the cluetrain from here:
"While prison life has been making Stewart leaner, her net worth has been bulking up thanks to a surging stock price at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Stewart last week sold $8 million worth of shares in Martha Stewart Living (up $0.68 to $27.92, Research), the company she founded and built into a mini-retail and media empire."
Oh, and she's going to have her own Apprentice soon as well. On a national network. On a show that takes millions of dollars to pull off and will make her more rich and powerful.
I think she's doing just fine. Please come up with a better analogy next time (and research it too).
Man, I kept waiting for:
;)
"And then Hacker Dude X hacked the Prize Machine hardcore, got all the prizes he could stand, then sold them on ebay for a fortune!
He's currently getting "Personal Attention" from Bubba J. Plow in the Oswald State Correctional Facility!"
But nooOOOooo, you had to be Informative, didn't you.
Evan
My CCG Design blog
This is slightly off-topic, but I can't help but find it amusing as I've done it myself too often.
I hate how you take such care in crafting a good argument/comment, try to end it with a poignant note (at least I know I do, just like yourself), and in your haste to greatness leave something like:
And that what is wrong with America.
or
There is times in this life when you must choose one.
Etc.
Here's the free blurb from the publisher:
.
--------------
Atlanta Nights
by
Travis Tea
Chapter 1
Pain.
Whispering voices.
Pain.
Pain. Pain. Pain.
Need pee--new pain--what are they sticking in me? . .
Sleep.
Pain.
Whispering voices.
"As you know, Nurse Eastman, the government spooks controlling this hospital will not permit me to give this patient the care I think he needs."
"Yes, doctor." The voice was breathy, sweet, so sweet and sexy.
"We will therefore just monitor his sign's. Serious trauma like this patient suffered requires extra care, but the rich patsies controlling the hospital will make certain I cannot try any of my new treatments on him."
"Yes, doctor." That voice was soooo sexy!
Bruce didn't care about treatments. He cared about pain, and he cared about that voice, because when he heard the voice, the pain went away, just for a few seconds, like.
----------------------
Need pee. Sign's. Hahaha, unbelievable.
Evan
My CCG Design Blog
Oh my God. I think that's the first time I've ever seen Google-OS in a /. headline (note: headline).
We've entered a new era.
I think a Google browser will be excellent, and a just imagining a Google OS makes me giddy. Yup, giddy.
Bah! You lie!
I don't know which is worse: The fact that I knew you were lying, or the fact that I had to prove it.
When did this become over a year old? Looks like it was posted Jan 14th, 2005.
Perhaps you should read more carefully next time.
There are these things called video games. Look real sweet on your PC. They need good video 'cards' (get it? video games, video cards, its all video related), and if MS wants to give me a pretty desktop in pseudo-reward for blowing $300+ on a NVideo Deathbringer 5k, then I'm happy about that.
Call me crazy.
I call FUD. I've worked in banks (and credit unions) as a network admin for over six years, and that is some bullshit.
Now, understand that banks will use your information any way they can in-house, manipulate numbers and deposit totals and anything else analytical so they can sell a credit card or a loan (its called cross-selling). But what they cannot do is give your information to other 3rd parties without your direct consent unless its under federal mandate and/or decree (read: court order and/or the Patriot act).
Now this is all fine and good, but when you do something substantial with your money and/or your financial outlook (say, investing or buying a home), you open up yourself to offers from 3rd parties. You sign a document saying so.
Now the easiest thing is, before you sign something, ask them which companies are going to be behind this new venture. Whether it be an investing house (a lot of banks will farm out investing to a subsidiary and get kickbacks on it) or mortgages (who owns this loan? Can they sell it to a 3rd party mortgage company at a later date?), you need to simply be aware.
Feel free to google "Bank Privacy" and read up on the hometown banks and the big boys: They all pretty much say the same thing. If they are under FDIC (for banks) or NCUA (for credit unions), they all fall under the same guidelines: Your information cannot be shared unless you say so. The federal privacy statements which are mandatory to be handed out upon opening an account, etc, say the same thing.
Offshore data management services is simply a scarier way of saying Disaster Recovery. You want your bank to keep running even if the home office (or data center) explodes, right? Then don't start bitching about them backing up data in different places.
No, but there will be 30-minute chunks (in the early mornings and late at night), when they will both programs will be lip syched badly and scream about how their power and strength was just increased AGAIN.
Then they will build up energy forces of UNIMAGINABLE POWER to hurl at one another, but that takes several nights (ie, episodes).
During which point someone will get in trouble and the galaxy will become dangerous. Then a cute interlude between animated characters will occur, ending in laughing and good times.
Then the energy ball war will wage on, until finally your laptop falls to the evil of the world.
Just giving you a heads up.
The fact remains that they just plain fucked up Earthsea. You can nitpick over LOTR facts, but when the author comes out to publicly strike out against the producers, the director, and the script, being mislead time after time, then that is not "whining". That is material injustice.
You seem to detail a world where -no- critisism should exist. Everyone lives in their comfortable little padded world, and tells the tale as best they can, to please their sponsors, to dumb it down for the masses, to take something beautiful and turn it into something different, no matter how differing from its original incarnation because White Folks Having Sex And Committing Violence Sells.
Then there are the rest of us, you remember, those people who complain? Most of those who complain do so because they want to see a better product than may be produced without our commentary. Sure we are the noise-makers, but where would the world be without dissent? Where would the world be with no commentary, no feedback, no differing opinions?
It would be your utopia. It would be a world in which Earthsea is an achievement, and not the abomination it has become.
I love the Katz haters, the young ones, the immature out there ready to beat down this editorial with the typical "They're just games! Stop taking them so seriously!"
Well, that's what people have said about many professions and artistic ventures. The fact is, many years of work and people's lives are wrapped into these games.
When you do a $40 million (yes, forty million) dollar game project, you run your dev team in the ground to ship it (see: EA Wife), you struggle with design and features and usability and publishing it on 3 different platforms...well, to sit back and trash it out with Tara Clueless Reid and basically say that all games are just rap videos with an interface...it's disheartening.
It doesn't encourage growth in the industry toward more unusual and original IP/ideas because one of the best things about the Grammys and Oscars is that it recognizes Dark Horses that usually get a huge boost in record sales or box office because they were recognized.
I see a classy, well done and thoughtful award show on video games as a good thing. Let's just face the facts: Spike TV isn't going to provide it.
What's best about this situation is that both of these shows could coexist. You can have your cake (Spike TV) and eat it too (nice, classy show attended by actual important game designers and developers).
I think it would be amazing to have a true video game award show with a host to provide funny banter but at the same time shuttup and let John Carmack accept his Landmark Award (or whatever it would be called) for his achievement in the art of programming and making game technology.
We need this type of recognition so that big games can get the recognition they deserve and little games can get their due limelight.
There is nothing wrong with doing a classless show. But there is also something to be said for having a show full of it, complete with respect, something that the Spike TV show simply refused to provide.
Where is +1 Anal Retentive when you need it? :)
And followed up by the most terrible of all directives:
"The flushing mechanism on this device has also been disabled."
"Noooooo!!!"
Days of Wonder just produce some amazing stuff, including the heralded Memoir '44, which was recently released, along with a bunch of others that me and my wife can't get enough of.
:)
Mystery of the Abbey is like a thinking man's/geek's version of Clue. Instead of that boring ole rag of a board game, you get an intricate and well designed whodunit that has strategy and tactics involved as to who finds out what and how to play the game to win. This is a favorite in our household and whenever we have a gettogether it's the first board game pulled out.
Ticket to Ride is another Days of Wonder production, designed by a frenchman I believe, who ironically created a game about US train lines around the early 1900's. You have a set # of trains and must build them in tandem across the country. You must connect certain cities according to your "tickets" you recieve at the beginning of the game, always giving you a goal and with multiple paths to each city there is strategy involved as far as how you connect them and by what color (each route is defined by color). It gets more in-depth and is very fun/interesting and fast paced to boot. The younger kids in the family really like this one as its color-based, easily followed, and easy to learn.
As far as other games, we love card games. Bang! is hands down the best multi-player card game I've ever played. Take that as you may, but I've played my share and it is awesome stuff. When a friend/family memeber asks us what we want to play, it's always Bang! Great mechanics, interesting roles to play, fun and funny to boot. There are some expansions to it (about a dozen cards each) to throw some variety to the game, but we've not needed those just yet. This is an absolute must-buy.
Queen's Necklace is another Days of Wonder production and is very cool. I know, a guy saying that playing a card game based on jewelry is cool, but it's a blast and is still fun with just 2 players (me and my wife play it occassionally). Easy to learn, hard to master, plenty of strategy and lots of enjoyment to be had.
Lastly I'll mention that Cheap Ass Games is a treasure trove of goodness, particularly Kill Dr. Lucky. This is a game that happens -before- Clue. Instead of figuring out who died and how, you actually get to kill that person! Of course, he's the luckiest guy ever, so it takes awhile and each person chases the good Doc around the mansion in an attempt to finally kill him in a variety of ways.
I think my favorite "Foiled!" card that showed up as I tried to Kill Dr. Lucky said something like "And suddenly...you felt not so fresh."
Hilarious, fun, and cheap!
Hope this helps
Yeah baby! I remember making my mom drive all over the nearest big city looking for a showing because the advertisements said it was "In A Theater Near You."
:(
Guess what, it wasn't
I was forced to wait for it on video, and that was a terrible shame for a kid who loved Nintendo.
As for the Saturday Morning show, it was half and half with live action plumbers (and guests) introducing goofy cartoons.
I distinctly remember the Nintendo Power Hour or something like it on Saturday mornings with Metroid, Zelda, Mega Man, and Mario & Luigi all in full effect. I can't ever remember being so excited about cartoons as I was back then.
Ah, memories.
** For a server OS
How easy is it to install? How easy is it upgrade? How easy is it, if its a different architecture (ie, Windows, Linux, Mac), to migrate big programs (Exchange, databases) from one to another? How well does it gel with existing servers? Do they recognize one another? Do they acknowledge? Can they fit into existing Active Directory-type listings effectively?
Most to all shops are not created overnight. They are built on mistakes or tried-and-true methods that are (usually) quickly outdated. The problems arise when you try to "fix" the existing problems by bringing in more robust OS's and capabilities. It is the meshing of these that is more important to Network Admins that tales of how well this server did on a single machine in a non-network environment.
** High-speed switch
Does it scale (how easy is it add one to five or more on a single chain?)? How is the admin interface? Is it web-based? Console (ie, serial port) based? Does it have both in case console is all that's available? Can you break it or overrun it with traffic?
** Big iron server or proprietary workstation?
Someone else has mentioned scale so let me throw in something different: How easy is it to recover? Does it have Raid? (Well, it should obviously) Break it, remove a disk and see if you can recover from it easily. "Lose" a driver and see how quickly you can recover.
Something I'd love to see is a review that includes a call to the tech support of that server. Don't tell them you're a reviewer, just tell them you got a problem. See how quick they respond, how informative they may be, how far does it have to go before they call in reinforcements? (ie, higher level support)? Will they call on-site repair? If so, how long did you have to troubleshoot before they determined it? Sometimes a card or piece will break and front line support will make you bleed through their ignorant manuals step-by-step when its clear that Piece A is broken and need a on-site tech with experience with that hardware to come and replace it.
** What tests should we run?
Stress, along with installing/upgrading hardware.
** What results and feature comparisons are going to be most meaningful to you?
I believe that over the course of this comment writing and thinking back over my dealings on big iron hardware, that comparisons in regards to tech support, informativeness, and responsiveness are something that can immediatley be added to the review process.
Something more long-term would be how long did the server run before downtime, problems, burnouts, or hardware failures.
Ha! I thought that was where I read that...
:)
Well, this comment looks downright silly now
This is taken from my blog, but I felt it was thorough/pertinent enough to post here.
So I finished Half Life 2. Ironically, I never actually completed the original, but I've been excited just like any other gamer over these past few months about what the six-year-development cycle has done for the game in question.
How has this gestation period treated the game? Very well. It seems that two things are apparent to me as I made my way through the connected, fluid universe of Half Life 2:
One: Valve are masters of atmosphere. While Doom 3 had its moments, it was mainly atmosphere in the form of no atmosphere. The lack of a true outdoor environment (albeit a small one with high rock ledges around and a fast-moving sky) prevented it from truly sinking in the idea that this is a living breathing world and more of a series of spooky outposts.
Half Life 2, on the other hand, truly delivered in the atmosphere environment. Everything is as it shouldn't be, which is to say totalitarian and controlled, from the first moment of the game you are subjected to the mindless droning of the Omnipresent Master along with the suddle and barking tones of the Military Component. It's enough to make you creeped out. And in a good way. Not in a Monster Closet (my code name for Doom 3) way.
Two: The female character of Alex was masterfully done. Never have I truly cared for, nor even felt better just being in the presence of, such a character before. She brought a calming effect that is truly unmatched by any other thing in the game.
I believe I have noticed something of First Person Shooters here recently, something that I was speaking with my friend Jon about. I call it the Waking Nightmare syndrome. There is a level of stress that the latest FPS's put on you by taking as much control and normalcy away from you. Whether this be Monster Closets (regarding both the mechanic of "boo scares" with doors and the game Doom 3 itself), or spooky towns filled with baddies or buggy rides through the open (and dangerous) road, these games want you on edge.
And frankly, this type of gaming is scary and nerve-wracking. It makes me not want to play.
Yet, it does want me to play. But the difference is in the amount of which I can take at any given time. With Doom 3, I honestly just stopped playing it. There reached a point where I realized that the game had determented into Monster Closets, where you would either pass a locker and it would shoot out a monster, or one would simply crawl out after you passed to sneak up on you soon after. Either way, it got to be distracting, formulaic, and yes, even a bit scary. But not creepy scary, like those really good Japanese horror movies. In fact, it never reached horror. It reached scary, and that's nowhere near horror.
Now Half Life 2, on the other hand, reached something very close to horror, but never quite got there. It presented a world out of control, yet the way that world came to be was never explained, even in the very beautiful and psycho-centric last levels. Now that would be true horror, the ability to build this world then show the awful unmaking of the world you were used to.
I would also like to note that the finale was grand, but the ending was awful. Fine, Valve, you didn't want to "end" it by any Movie Sense. But we basically just played through one, albeit in a first person point of view, yet you gave us a Kubrick-like (or Twilight Zone) one and expected us to enjoy it. Amused, yes. Enjoyed, no.
Regardless, it is highly recommended. The game, when it works, even in Waking Nightmare style, is beautiful stuff. There are plenty of levels, locations, and characters that make the trip worth it. I believe the bonds between the characters of Barney, Alex, and the rest were established well, but I do hope that next time they spend more time working on those bonds (or perhaps putting the co-stars in real danger, you know the kind that kills people) and actually -gasp- mak
Spoken like a true non-parent.
If I know parents (and being one, I tend to), he's had to supress this urge many, many times.
It's called advertising. If you haven't noticed, these guys are the reigning kings of webcomics, and they're also the reigning kings of game commentary (on a non-news site, anyway).
To advertise on their site costs thousands of dollars. They also do contract work such as the recent comics for Rainbow Six and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. All of those projects involved thousands of dollars each.
Originally they were financed through reader contributions. They've since gotten a finance/money guy who tapped into their influential nature, and has given them an income that is more worthy of their talent(s).
Some players don't like the fact that you have to actually -balance- a game of Star Chamber's caliber so not just one race (as there are 10 total) rule the roost. Balance and power levels are a huge part of what CCGs are about, yet Star Chamber adds another level implementing board game like play.
Disgruntled players who enjoyed the advantages of broken abilities and/or unfair cards are entitled to their opinion, and those who can't handle it play something else. There are hundreds of players who are more than happy to enjoy the game as it exists now, and another expansion (and total gameplay change) is coming.
It's garnered great independent success and word of mouth for a reason. Don't let one naysayer keep you from trying this excellent game.
Full disclosure: I am the Community Manager (Evan Erwin) for Nayantara Studios. I do work for them, but began as a player like anyone else.
If it was a real donation it would be more discretely done (eg. name it after a famous person other than Gates and perhaps put up a small plaque saying it was funded by Gate foundation).
As recorded after the press conference, when Bill wasn't sure his mic was still on:
"Please don't cash that cardboard check. This isn't a real donation. But slashdot will flame the piss out of me for it."
Say what you like (I don't like how he funnels his cash into the fundation to take it out tax-free, but that's me), but for $20 mill the guy can put his damn name on the building.
However, instead of this strawman argument, the fact he wants it to be a $50 million dollar building instead of a $20 mill one and still get it named after him is what seems stupid/goofy/out of touch to me.
That's a very antagonistic and nieve answer, imo.
I'm there with you: I hated how the old Realplayer did all sorts of shady stuff.
But to say that there is no good answer, there is no 'right' answer, there is no excuse...how can a software company right the wrongs of their old versions without releasing new ones?
New upgrades, code fixes, architectures and installation packages...these things can't be reversed on versions that are years old.
This comment seems very troll-like. The users made it known that the old stuff was bad. They responded. You're not happy. But that doesn't mean it's not a good answer. It is an answer. It's just not the one you'd like to face up to, because you have no experience developing software.
No answer will obviously be good enough for you at this point.