If someone gives you a time estimate: multiply with two, add one and go to the next bigger unit. E.g. if another developers says he needs one hour, take 3 days. Proceed similar with costs others tell you (unless you have a binding offer).
If you give someone else a task: Ask him/her about the current status, tell him what to do, let him repeat it, repeat last two steps until bot descriptions match, repeat all steps the next day.
Try to keep meetings smalls, the effectiveness of meetings is inversely proportional to the number of participants. Typical error of beginners is trying to get everyone at one table and to clarify everything there. Usually that burns a lot of time and achieves nothing.
Plan for tests, fixing and documentation... Costs typically the same or more time and money as all code development.
Be aware of Murphys Law... You can't plan for it, but you can grant it some room in your plans.
i cannot praise Baen as much as they deserve. Their ebooks come in the format of your choice, completely free of any kind of DRM and some even any without charge (Baen Free Library with books like David Webers "Honor Harrington: On Basilisk station" or Lois McMaster Bujolds "Miles Vorkosigan: The Mountains of Mourning").
There is even a popular SF&F Author (Eric Flint) ranting against DRM, whose words most of you will take directly to the heart. There is still hope as there are publishers and authors who can read the writings on the wall.
as far as i can see, even Wikileaks doesn't pretend any longer, that the goverment disabled the domain or made the registry do it.
The chain of events was (shortened) the following: Wikileaks published some documents about the BND (german version of the NSA [sort of]). Based on those documents was a discussion, wether the BND did register his domain (bnd.de) correctly. To make a show, the owner of wikileaks.de tried to transfer bnd.de to himself. His service provider got (IMHO not unreasonably) pissed and terminated all contracts. This all happened in december 2008.
End of march 2009 the provider transfered the domains back to the registry since no transfer was initiated from the customer. There is a dispute between the provider and his customer (owner of wikileaks.de) wether the transfer was too early. Most communication between the provider and the owner of wikileaks.de seems to be by phone, so there is little paper trail.
you tie the two arguments together while i meant them to seperate:
Casual gaming ist bad for pro gaming as casual gamer will not be as interested in Pro Games as e.g. some real time strategy players will be. So he will less likely be an audiance and an customer for advertised goods. This true for console as well as PC gamers.
PC gaming is more tied to modding and additional gadgets than the console is. If i look into Mediamarkt (something similar to Fry's here in germany), than PC addons beats Console addons in the league of rack space by a factor of 10. So PC gamers are a better audiance for advertisement around games than Console gamers are. This seperation of the two markets will continue to exist.
This true for complex games as well as casual games.
My arguments are targeting the financing of "Pro Gaming" as this will be the focal point for its future. I hope that clarifies my position.
I neither meant to imply or suggest that PC games are better/more complex/superior than Console games. IMHO the Console will win over 90% of the game market in the long term.
Hi,
it will depend on the gaming market in general: Complex, PC based games favour professional gaming. Casual games on the Console are hardly done in a professional way.
CU, Martin
I give you that the AI appears more lively than the one from MTW2. But so does a beheaded chicken.... for some time at least. But the theory, that time has softened my memory is also a valid one:-). CU, Martin
correct: the AI may act OK in some battle. Unluckily i never had the experience where there wasn't no screwup in one battle. Also i have currently so much micromanagement to do, because basic formations (infantry in a line) may result in utter chaos on my side (e.g. four infantry units in a line: A B C D. I draw another line fifty yards ahead and they end up: B C D A). This kills the fun. Or you have a fight to the knife and the decision hangs in a balance. Suddenly the AI turns his units around, marches to the border of the battlefield and turns the back on you. Or you use you a cavalry unit to chase a canon. In the middle your cav hangs up at a rock in between, undecided wether to around right or left.
I found at last 10 bugs in as many matches....
I'm disappointed because MTW2 was much better (even at the release) and the release date of ETW was even pushed back.
Hi, i love the Total War Series. But the AI in ETW is a complete disappointment. I see no enhancement compared to MTW2. The opposite is true, there are so many AI bugs that battles agains the AI are close to pointless. I slaughtered enemys at the border of the battlefield, standing with theit back towards me. I micromanage my own units because grouping tends to produce strange results. Due to this, battles are a lot more point&click-work currently. I'm waiting for a patch:-(. Sincerely yours, Martin
Also, some people feel this event may be due to broken game mechanics, as it seem odd you can just nuke a large alliance into bedrock with a few mouse clicks and 2 minutes of work.
I think this is politics. Several carreers and even nations were ruined in less time in real life....
Hi,
you'll need 1$ to scrub the flash drive and 1 million bucks to find out which one.
This probably wasn't an army issue MP3 player. Someone was using his own player to transport files from work to home. The player got stolen and ended up on the black market.
If you want to prevent this, you need technical measures to prevent writing on confidential data on usb drives. This software has to be installed on each and every PC. Then some brass comes by (usually has more stars than brain cells) and orders his PC to be excluded. Otherwise he cannot perform mission alpha bravo delta. His PC gets an exception rule, his junior assistants gets the same rights.... etc. Everyone knows where this ends.
Sincerely yours, Martin
Hi, i would expect this to happen on a daily basis. Usually the buyer will not be a journalist but some kid. The typical kid will say "boring stuff" and have those files deleted before finishing yawning. By doing so, they prevent more security leaks than most security officers. Sincerly yours, Martin
Hi, the article mentions a paper and has a link to it. But the link doesn't work and i can't find the paper by searching for the author on that server. Has anyone a working link? Sincerely yours, Martin
BG (season 4.5) exposes another more significant dilemma for me: Imagine you're a resident of a third world country (e.g. Germany or UK) and even capable and willing to pay for your favorite TV series. Would you wait months or years for it to acess it legaly or just download it immediately from the asinus electronicus? What if your wife is even more anxious to see it than you? Having a gun put against you head can not be compared to the pressure applied to one in such a case.
Hi, thanks for the defense. I'm in fact german, but "payed" instead of "paid" was due to lack of sleep. Such mistakes (irregular verbs) tend to creep in when i'm tired. It's a kind of a "fallback mode". When i'm criticized for my english spelling only, i count that as an affirmation of being right on the content side:-). Sincerely yours, Martin
Hi,
you don't need a good lawyer. If you have at least some experience with letters, there are dozens of examples on how to respond. If you stay adamant, it is very hard to make you pay. You need to respond once to the invoice.
CU, Martin
Hi, happens quite often, but usually you can refuse payment and would win any lawsuite. I've done a lot of consulting to victims of such traps. None of them payed anything and none was ever forced to pay. There was a lot of "shock and awe" legal letters but it turned out all to be smoke&mirrors and never any court was involved. If any one wants to know what to do in such a case (in germany) or needs any letter examples to respond to invoices, contact me. Regards, Martin
As you may read in my original post, the online system is not a problem for me, as the US *were* already on my no fly list. The reason for adding the US to this list was the taking of fingerprints at the border and the discrimination (compared to US citizens) from the INS.
I tell every busines partner, that any meeting/fair/conference in the US has to be without my attendance.
Hi, no problem, the US are on my "no fly list" for some time now. Unluckily i'm not allowed to talk about how the US could get removed.... Regards, Martin
found quite the opposite problem in Rome and most especially Medieval 2, in that the enemy seemed absolutely terrified of facing me in open ground if I took an even slightly agressive stance. Any attacks seemed to lead to the enemy almost immediately fleeing back to their local town/castle and waiting for me to come to them.
It surely knows how to avoid a fight, but not when:-). I meant "when" in the sense of "picking the right time". Sorry for the missunderstanding.
Slashdot Mirror
Hi,
i cannot praise Baen as much as they deserve. Their ebooks come in the format of your choice, completely free of any kind of DRM and some even any without charge (Baen Free Library with books like David Webers "Honor Harrington: On Basilisk station" or Lois McMaster Bujolds "Miles Vorkosigan: The Mountains of Mourning").
There is even a popular SF&F Author (Eric Flint) ranting against DRM, whose words most of you will take directly to the heart. There is still hope as there are publishers and authors who can read the writings on the wall.
Sincerely yours, Martin
Hi,
as far as i can see, even Wikileaks doesn't pretend any longer, that the goverment disabled the domain or made the registry do it.
The chain of events was (shortened) the following: Wikileaks published some documents about the BND (german version of the NSA [sort of]). Based on those documents was a discussion, wether the BND did register his domain (bnd.de) correctly. To make a show, the owner of wikileaks.de tried to transfer bnd.de to himself. His service provider got (IMHO not unreasonably) pissed and terminated all contracts. This all happened in december 2008.
End of march 2009 the provider transfered the domains back to the registry since no transfer was initiated from the customer. There is a dispute between the provider and his customer (owner of wikileaks.de) wether the transfer was too early. Most communication between the provider and the owner of wikileaks.de seems to be by phone, so there is little paper trail.
Sory guys, but no sinister conspiracy here :-).
CU, Martin
Hi,
you tie the two arguments together while i meant them to seperate:
My arguments are targeting the financing of "Pro Gaming" as this will be the focal point for its future. I hope that clarifies my position.
I neither meant to imply or suggest that PC games are better/more complex/superior than Console games. IMHO the Console will win over 90% of the game market in the long term.
Sincerely yours, Martin
Hi, it will depend on the gaming market in general: Complex, PC based games favour professional gaming. Casual games on the Console are hardly done in a professional way. CU, Martin
Typical case of "Suicide due to Fear of Death"
They want to prove that there are at least 8 people still playing D&D.
My PC became sentient today and filed a Cease and Decist against me rebooting it...
I give you that the AI appears more lively than the one from MTW2. But so does a beheaded chicken .... for some time at least. :-).
But the theory, that time has softened my memory is also a valid one
CU, Martin
Hi,
correct: the AI may act OK in some battle. Unluckily i never had the experience where there wasn't no screwup in one battle. Also i have currently so much micromanagement to do, because basic formations (infantry in a line) may result in utter chaos on my side (e.g. four infantry units in a line: A B C D. I draw another line fifty yards ahead and they end up: B C D A). This kills the fun. Or you have a fight to the knife and the decision hangs in a balance. Suddenly the AI turns his units around, marches to the border of the battlefield and turns the back on you. Or you use you a cavalry unit to chase a canon. In the middle your cav hangs up at a rock in between, undecided wether to around right or left.
I found at last 10 bugs in as many matches....
I'm disappointed because MTW2 was much better (even at the release) and the release date of ETW was even pushed back.
Sincerely yours, Martin
Hi, :-(.
i love the Total War Series. But the AI in ETW is a complete disappointment. I see no enhancement compared to MTW2. The opposite is true, there are so many AI bugs that battles agains the AI are close to pointless. I slaughtered enemys at the border of the battlefield, standing with theit back towards me. I micromanage my own units because grouping tends to produce strange results. Due to this, battles are a lot more point&click-work currently. I'm waiting for a patch
Sincerely yours, Martin
About as long as physical music and movie distribution will survive: they all are fading away...
CU, Martin
I think this is politics. Several carreers and even nations were ruined in less time in real life....
Yours, Martin
Hi, you'll need 1$ to scrub the flash drive and 1 million bucks to find out which one. This probably wasn't an army issue MP3 player. Someone was using his own player to transport files from work to home. The player got stolen and ended up on the black market. If you want to prevent this, you need technical measures to prevent writing on confidential data on usb drives. This software has to be installed on each and every PC. Then some brass comes by (usually has more stars than brain cells) and orders his PC to be excluded. Otherwise he cannot perform mission alpha bravo delta. His PC gets an exception rule, his junior assistants gets the same rights.... etc. Everyone knows where this ends. Sincerely yours, Martin
Hi,
i would expect this to happen on a daily basis. Usually the buyer will not be a journalist but some kid. The typical kid will say "boring stuff" and have those files deleted before finishing yawning. By doing so, they prevent more security leaks than most security officers.
Sincerly yours, Martin
Scratch that..... found http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/121556773/abstract
Hi,
the article mentions a paper and has a link to it. But the link doesn't work and i can't find the paper by searching for the author on that server.
Has anyone a working link?
Sincerely yours, Martin
My education is sufficent to use irony by exaggeration :-).
Hi,
BG (season 4.5) exposes another more significant dilemma for me: Imagine you're a resident of a third world country (e.g. Germany or UK) and even capable and willing to pay for your favorite TV series. Would you wait months or years for it to acess it legaly or just download it immediately from the asinus electronicus? What if your wife is even more anxious to see it than you? Having a gun put against you head can not be compared to the pressure applied to one in such a case.
Hard choices :-)
Yours, Martin
Hi, :-).
thanks for the defense. I'm in fact german, but "payed" instead of "paid" was due to lack of sleep. Such mistakes (irregular verbs) tend to creep in when i'm tired. It's a kind of a "fallback mode". When i'm criticized for my english spelling only, i count that as an affirmation of being right on the content side
Sincerely yours, Martin
Hi, you don't need a good lawyer. If you have at least some experience with letters, there are dozens of examples on how to respond. If you stay adamant, it is very hard to make you pay. You need to respond once to the invoice. CU, Martin
Hi,
happens quite often, but usually you can refuse payment and would win any lawsuite. I've done a lot of consulting to victims of such traps. None of them payed anything and none was ever forced to pay. There was a lot of "shock and awe" legal letters but it turned out all to be smoke&mirrors and never any court was involved. If any one wants to know what to do in such a case (in germany) or needs any letter examples to respond to invoices, contact me.
Regards, Martin
As you may read in my original post, the online system is not a problem for me, as the US *were* already on my no fly list. The reason for adding the US to this list was the taking of fingerprints at the border and the discrimination (compared to US citizens) from the INS.
I tell every busines partner, that any meeting/fair/conference in the US has to be without my attendance.
Yours, Martin
Hi,
no problem, the US are on my "no fly list" for some time now. Unluckily i'm not allowed to talk about how the US could get removed....
Regards, Martin
Hi,
found quite the opposite problem in Rome and most especially Medieval 2, in that the enemy seemed absolutely terrified of facing me in open ground if I took an even slightly agressive stance. Any attacks seemed to lead to the enemy almost immediately fleeing back to their local town/castle and waiting for me to come to them.
It surely knows how to avoid a fight, but not when :-). I meant "when" in the sense of "picking the right time". Sorry for the missunderstanding.
Yours, Martin