Given what most male EQ players look like, do you really want to look like a woman? When it comes to relations with the opposite sex, most of them resemble a certain Muppet (WO-MAN! WO-MAN!).
With that being said, though, I fail to see how this relates to real life any. EQ players aren't exactly a statistical cross-section of society (or even gamer society).
"Teaching people to be critical is a majour task for schools, I think."
Most teachers and schools I can think of would rather their students not be too critical. They'd rather have a room of docile students that jot down everything their teacher says than to have them ask too many questions.
"It is good that India and China are competing through science, and not through arms."
A few months back, Pakistan offered to give up their nuclear weapons if India gave up theirs. The Indians liked the idea, but unfortunately Pakistan isn't their only justification for having a nuclear arsenal.
There are more similarities between this upcoming space race and the original than you seem to realize.
"China has a population three times the size of North America,"
Quantity vs. quality. Attrition doesn't work against a suitibly advanced/organized adversary. There are examples ranging from Thermopyle to the Zulu uprising.
"Since you quote history, it shouldn't be difficult to uncover 19th century Euporean sentiments similar to yours regarding the US. Their complacency was proven wrong too."
Ignoring the War of 1812 and the Spanish American War for a moment, what exactly did we do to Europe in the Nineteenth Century? Do some business with them? Where do you think US isolationism comes from?
The US entered the Twentieth Century as a world power (whether we or they chose to admit it or not), which we did on our own. However, our becoming a "super power" during the Twentieth Century had as much to do with Europe's insistance on bludgeoning themselves back to the stone age as any act on our part.
On the other hand, aside from some basic anti-US rhetoric, the PRC is barely even a regional power at this point. They have little influence in world affairs, either militarily or culturally, and the only real political influence they have comes as the result of a US backfire in the formative years of the UN.
"(The colonial similarities between old Europe and modern America are also striking, but that's a different story.)"
The US won the American Revolution. The Chinese lost the Opium War and the Boxer Rebellion. China still would be carved up into colonial "protectorates" if the world powers at the time weren't otherwise distracted with the aforementioned self-bludgeoning.
"is always the balance of power. from the napoleonic era"
And where, praytell, was the "balance" in the Napoleonic era? If there was balance, Napoleon wouldn't have 0wnz0red the continent for as long as he did.
And more generally, where is the counter-balance for the "Western" influence the world has seen for the past few centuries? It's only been since the Twentieth Century that non-Europeans have been catching up.
"Napoleon rises, and falls. Bismarck rises, and falls."
Apples, oranges. Napoleon's influence more or less vanished with him when he took that extended vacation on St. Helena, while Bismark's achievements still play a part in modern politics. For example, not only is Germany still in one piece (Bismark's main triumph), but it's still a dominant force in European politics.
"who knows if the next one is China?"
Perhaps, but I wouldn't bet on it happening this particular century. They're still trying to figure out how to marry Western technology to Middle Kingdom culture. So long as they rely on Western-esque technology, they'll always be at a disadvantage compared to Western cultures. They're going to have to develop their own native technology again, something uniquely Chinese (or at least east Asian).
"Yet i don't think china could gasp the key to victory here by having space mission that denotes quite a bit of nothing in military terms"
If you can put something in orbit and safely de-orbit it, you can build an ICBM.
"forget the whole lot on spy satellite, they are of no significant use on a direct confrontation of two nuclear-powered countries"
*cough**sputter* What?!?!! And just how the heck are you supposed to know what to target with your nuclear weapons? Guess? Close your eyes and point at a map? Send Gary Powers over there with a U-2?
Actually, most of the "tripe" I listen to predates me by at least a decade. I tend to be a fan of classic rythm & blues (as opposed to what CD stores and radio stations call "R&B"). Though I do admit a weakness for a few choice bits of 80's pop.
Of course, the nice thing about listening to older tunes is that the stations tend not to play the same sixteen songs over and over again just because they're "today's hits." I swear, there was a period in October last year where I thought I would be forced to kill Gwen Stefani just to get her off my freakin' radio...
And speaking of "today's hits," how come I keep on hearing them play decade-old tunes?
At any rate, I honestly can't think of more than three or four songs that have been new in the past decade that I've had anything more than a passing interest in.
If only the rich were buying Microsoft, Intel, etc. we wouldn't have to worry about the BSA.
You know, just last night I was listening to NPR news talk about the 50th anniversary of a Baton Rouge bus boycott. The boycotting black bus passengers were obviously far from rich, but they certainly got their point across.
"Why is it necessary to penetrate both US and Japaneese markets?"
To diversify their customer base. The more markets they get their fingers into, the less reliant they are on one economy. If either the Japanese or the US market decides to go mid-80's again, having a foot in the other market will keep you afloat.
"Put it this way: the BSA just wrote a European law. Still think the government are working for us?"
So long as we're still the ones buying software from BSA members. Just because we've been giving them very stupid orders doesn't mean they're not listening
"I think [PSP] can be in fact synergistic and dynamically collaborative with GameBoy"
Translation: We've seen the bones of the Game Gear, the NeoGeo Pocket Color, the Lynx, the WonderSwan, and a few others we can't identify, and we believe Tim's story about the Game Boy having big, pointy teeth. We're going to be staying waaaaaay over here, at least until we get a rock we think is big enough and...
"For a while as an undergrad I pursued a Physics major, but lost interest as it seemed that pursuits like this are basically the modern-day version of cavemen smashing rocks together and ogling over the results."
Translation: I learned there were no millionaire research physicists.
Look on the bright side: We were the first ones with an e-Reader with a game link cable pass-through, which means that you could buy and use Animal Crossing e-Reader cards in North America months before the Japanese had the ability.
" IBM could of course just buy SCO and get rid of the problem quickly."
But where would be the fun in that? The IBM legal department has been twiddling their thumbs for about a decade or two and are really looking for justification for their budget allotment. They need something to do.
"I think your idealism has made you forget that IBM and SCO are COMPANIES. That means money is involved."
Money is nothing more than a tool. It's what you do with it that matters. IMO, IBM has been doing some rather nifty things with their money in the past decade or so. SCO is using theirs to litigate. I think it's safe to say that one is "better" than the other.
Slashdot Mirror
Given what most male EQ players look like, do you really want to look like a woman? When it comes to relations with the opposite sex, most of them resemble a certain Muppet (WO-MAN! WO-MAN!).
With that being said, though, I fail to see how this relates to real life any. EQ players aren't exactly a statistical cross-section of society (or even gamer society).
"Teaching people to be critical is a majour task for schools, I think."
Most teachers and schools I can think of would rather their students not be too critical. They'd rather have a room of docile students that jot down everything their teacher says than to have them ask too many questions.
"It is good that India and China are competing through science, and not through arms."
A few months back, Pakistan offered to give up their nuclear weapons if India gave up theirs. The Indians liked the idea, but unfortunately Pakistan isn't their only justification for having a nuclear arsenal.
There are more similarities between this upcoming space race and the original than you seem to realize.
"China has a population three times the size of North America,"
Quantity vs. quality. Attrition doesn't work against a suitibly advanced/organized adversary. There are examples ranging from Thermopyle to the Zulu uprising.
PRC (pop: 1.2 billion) still can't realisticly threaten Taiwan (pop: 0.0225 billion).
"Since you quote history, it shouldn't be difficult to uncover 19th century Euporean sentiments similar to yours regarding the US. Their complacency was proven wrong too."
Ignoring the War of 1812 and the Spanish American War for a moment, what exactly did we do to Europe in the Nineteenth Century? Do some business with them? Where do you think US isolationism comes from?
The US entered the Twentieth Century as a world power (whether we or they chose to admit it or not), which we did on our own. However, our becoming a "super power" during the Twentieth Century had as much to do with Europe's insistance on bludgeoning themselves back to the stone age as any act on our part.
On the other hand, aside from some basic anti-US rhetoric, the PRC is barely even a regional power at this point. They have little influence in world affairs, either militarily or culturally, and the only real political influence they have comes as the result of a US backfire in the formative years of the UN.
"(The colonial similarities between old Europe and modern America are also striking, but that's a different story.)"
The US won the American Revolution. The Chinese lost the Opium War and the Boxer Rebellion. China still would be carved up into colonial "protectorates" if the world powers at the time weren't otherwise distracted with the aforementioned self-bludgeoning.
"is always the balance of power. from the napoleonic era"
And where, praytell, was the "balance" in the Napoleonic era? If there was balance, Napoleon wouldn't have 0wnz0red the continent for as long as he did.
And more generally, where is the counter-balance for the "Western" influence the world has seen for the past few centuries? It's only been since the Twentieth Century that non-Europeans have been catching up.
"Napoleon rises, and falls. Bismarck rises, and falls."
Apples, oranges. Napoleon's influence more or less vanished with him when he took that extended vacation on St. Helena, while Bismark's achievements still play a part in modern politics. For example, not only is Germany still in one piece (Bismark's main triumph), but it's still a dominant force in European politics.
"who knows if the next one is China?"
Perhaps, but I wouldn't bet on it happening this particular century. They're still trying to figure out how to marry Western technology to Middle Kingdom culture. So long as they rely on Western-esque technology, they'll always be at a disadvantage compared to Western cultures. They're going to have to develop their own native technology again, something uniquely Chinese (or at least east Asian).
"Yet i don't think china could gasp the key to victory here by having space mission that denotes quite a bit of nothing in military terms"
If you can put something in orbit and safely de-orbit it, you can build an ICBM.
"forget the whole lot on spy satellite, they are of no significant use on a direct confrontation of two nuclear-powered countries"
*cough**sputter* What?!?!! And just how the heck are you supposed to know what to target with your nuclear weapons? Guess? Close your eyes and point at a map? Send Gary Powers over there with a U-2?
Except Zelda is right out, what with all the references to "gods" and their Triforce.
"What the newsposter describes as 'christian', is actually 'radically conservative christian', but that seems another US-ism..."
I find "Baptist" usually works well.
Being region free doesn't make kanji any easier to read.
Actually, most of the "tripe" I listen to predates me by at least a decade. I tend to be a fan of classic rythm & blues (as opposed to what CD stores and radio stations call "R&B"). Though I do admit a weakness for a few choice bits of 80's pop.
Of course, the nice thing about listening to older tunes is that the stations tend not to play the same sixteen songs over and over again just because they're "today's hits." I swear, there was a period in October last year where I thought I would be forced to kill Gwen Stefani just to get her off my freakin' radio...
And speaking of "today's hits," how come I keep on hearing them play decade-old tunes?
At any rate, I honestly can't think of more than three or four songs that have been new in the past decade that I've had anything more than a passing interest in.
"The downward spiral of music retailing"
Is it directly proportional to the downward spiral of music quality? How about to the downward spiral of RIAA-member customer "relations?"
"When buying, only the rich have options."
If only the rich were buying Microsoft, Intel, etc. we wouldn't have to worry about the BSA.
You know, just last night I was listening to NPR news talk about the 50th anniversary of a Baton Rouge bus boycott. The boycotting black bus passengers were obviously far from rich, but they certainly got their point across.
"Why is it necessary to penetrate both US and Japaneese markets?"
To diversify their customer base. The more markets they get their fingers into, the less reliant they are on one economy. If either the Japanese or the US market decides to go mid-80's again, having a foot in the other market will keep you afloat.
I'm not sure that list means all that much.
"The Virtual Boy sucked! I spent hours and hours playing it and..."
"Put it this way: the BSA just wrote a European law. Still think the government are working for us?"
So long as we're still the ones buying software from BSA members. Just because we've been giving them very stupid orders doesn't mean they're not listening
"maybe I won't have to keep buying pantyhose for my girlfriend!"
"Girlfriend?" That may be what you tell the cashier, but we know better.
"I think [PSP] can be in fact synergistic and dynamically collaborative with GameBoy"
Translation: We've seen the bones of the Game Gear, the NeoGeo Pocket Color, the Lynx, the WonderSwan, and a few others we can't identify, and we believe Tim's story about the Game Boy having big, pointy teeth. We're going to be staying waaaaaay over here, at least until we get a rock we think is big enough and...
Could you imagine a cluster of these fighting Grendel?
"For a while as an undergrad I pursued a Physics major, but lost interest as it seemed that pursuits like this are basically the modern-day version of cavemen smashing rocks together and ogling over the results."
Translation: I learned there were no millionaire research physicists.
The last new video game I bought was Mario Bros. for my e-Reader for $5.00.
Look on the bright side: We were the first ones with an e-Reader with a game link cable pass-through, which means that you could buy and use Animal Crossing e-Reader cards in North America months before the Japanese had the ability.
" IBM could of course just buy SCO and get rid of the problem quickly."
But where would be the fun in that? The IBM legal department has been twiddling their thumbs for about a decade or two and are really looking for justification for their budget allotment. They need something to do.
"You mean, like if their VP of Engineering sold every bit of stock he had?"
"Say, aren't you Martha Stewart? Fancy meeting you here!"
"IBM is multinational by all means and any measure."
That concept gets overblown a lot around here, IMO. When push comes to shove, IBM is incorporated in the State of New York.
"Because of this, Sontag expects the US govt. to support his case against IBM and Linux as part of the war on terror."
Yeah, that'll happen. Just as soon as the FBI starts cracking down on Falun Gong in the US...
"I think your idealism has made you forget that IBM and SCO are COMPANIES. That means money is involved."
Money is nothing more than a tool. It's what you do with it that matters. IMO, IBM has been doing some rather nifty things with their money in the past decade or so. SCO is using theirs to litigate. I think it's safe to say that one is "better" than the other.