WoW is one of VERY few popular games to come out that is accessible to the common gamer.
Let me say that in converse.
Almost EVERY popular game to come out caters to the the teen/sub-teen market TO THE EXCLUSION of every other demographic.
(I love the GTA series, and yes it's labeled "mature" making it in theory a big exception to what I just said, but let's be honest...this is a game series TOTALLY geared to the teen market/mentality. Hold any GTA up next to any Blizzard game and the contrast on this basis is patently obvious.)
Based on the nature of these replies and related commentary about the goings-on re:the teen/sub-teen mentalities at work there, all I can say is: (and yes, I am going to be screaming)
THANK YOU BLIZZARD!! YOUR EYE *IS* ON THE BALL. THIS IS THE MOST BALANCED, PLAYABLE GAME THAT I COULD HAVE IMAGINED.
PLEASE DON'T LET THE BIG SHOTS (corporates) *OR* THE LITTLE SHOTS (teens) DISTRACT YOU!
Having said that, if I get stuck while mining copper outside of Ironforge or Ogrimmar *one more time*...
So yes...the game is not perfect - even as good as it is.
(I would also like to see Blizzard make the boxed game about 30%-50% of the price they're selling it at currently (if not FREE) if they intend to keep the monthly rate at $15 (which I presume they do intend). I actually don't have as much problem (philosophically) with paying monthly as I thought I would....but charging $40-$50 up front for "the privilege" of paying the monthly fee seems to me like gouging. If the intent of the box fee is to keep the riff-raff/freeloaders out, make the box fee go toward the first 3 months of access fees (or something similar).)
every incadecent light bulb fixture (think attic mounted for recessed fixtures in the ceiling below)
my stereo receiver
It seems there would have to be a "useful" amount of energy (in the form of heat) uselessly dissipated into my home from all these sources!
All that "stray heat" is fine in the winter, even if poorly dispersed thru the living space. But it'd be great if any percentage of that heat could actually be used in the summer as electricity to help run the air conditioner that's needed to offset the presence of all these "stray heat" sources.
So what is the prospect for light weight/ulta compact Stirling Engines for wide (imaginary) deployment like this?
The latest developments in photo-voltaic (PV) technology have made this into a myth.
The sticking points in your argument though, are: (1) PV is only one of many aspects of solar power harvesting (2) the fact that the price is greater than return on some technologies was due as much to lack of economies of scale as anything (3) The real cost of oil-derived products and fuel are disguised - between the enormous Federal Government subsidies given directly to the oil industry and the astronomical amount of military support that is supplied. (4) Roll the hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies, grants and foreign aid we've pumped into the Middle Eastern monarchies and dictatorships and domestic US oil companies into PV (or other renewable tech) and see if it doesn't become just as affordable as petroleum.
e.g. Say you're the only factory in the US making PV panels. Say your factory can only make 100,000 panels a year. Say demand for PV panels in a nation of hundreds of millions is about 100,000. That manufacturer can charge what they like for their PV panels, and they will do so. (This is a pretty accurate depiction of the US PV market history, btw). Petroleum would never have become CHEAP in this model either.
What I've seen the pro-PV crowd calling for is an incentive to manufacturers to increase production capability to drive down the relative price per watt. THIS IS THE SAME INCENTIVE WE *STILL* GIVE TO THE OIL COMPANIES FOR EXPLORATION AND FOR THE SAME REASONS.
Nuclear: So all that's been missing all these years is standardization of plant design, eh? Genius. Let's see them do one without massive government subsidies. Let's see how far the safety claims go with the general public when you want to build one in anyone's back yard but YOUR OWN. Actually, your neighbors wouldn't let you do it either.
Communism? Breathe deeply and just do some Google searches on these things. The Communists are not out to get you. No they're not under your bed either.
You've completely neglected to neglect biomass and geothermal power generation. Wha?
The bottom line maybe we can agree on. If we don't start moving away from oil dependency soon, we are going to hurt once the peak oil period hits.
(Going off topic a bit..) Focusing purely on the energy side of the equation is deceiving as well. Almost nothing in our economy is made without some oil by-product. Everything from paint, to pharmaceuticals, to house construction products, containers. Are the renewable materials industries going to be ready to pick up the slack, or are we going to be as treeless as we will be oilless? We'll need wood, steel, glass, ceramics in volumes never before seen.
Someday, you'll even have hard drives that you'll measure in terms of gigabytes!!
I know you're thinking this all sounds crazy, but it's true!
See you in the future Stormy!
Sincerely, Matt McCabe Year 2005
P.S. It's been nearly a decade since I last had anything to do with a floppy, so take heart: It Can Be Done.
P.P.S. An investment tip: Apple never does go out of business and they're the first to officially ditch the aging floppy technology that they originally brought into the mainstream.
IANAL, but I would think that Intel would theoretically be guilty of something like Contempt of Court if there were evidence of shredding after the fact.
Perhaps the penalty is more than this due to measures like the Sarb-Ox Act?
In any event, I doubt it would make their guilt/innocent significantly more or less in question.
It would be nice if the people writing the stories understood what a root server was. Might make for a more informed public, you know?
I agree with your sentiment, but realistically speaking, do you think more than a few percent even of the visitors to Slashdot ("news for nerd") have any understanding of what the root servers are?
Sure many are sharp enough to take the contextual frame of "root" and infer that it's somehow the "base" of DNS. But how many understand more deeply than that?
Here's a start for anyone who'd like one: root "faq"
http://www.polisci.ucla.edu/faculty/groseclose/M ed ia.Bias.8.htm [ucla.edu]
which finds, in part
Our results show a very significant liberal bias. All of the news outlets except Fox News Special Report received a score to the left of the average member of Congress. Moreover, by one of our measures all but three of these media outlets (Special Report, the Drudge Report, and ABCs World News Tonight) were closer to the average Democrat in Congress than to the median member of the House of Representatives.
I'll admit up front that I haven't read the above-linked article.
That said, thanks for tha tip.
Any article claiming to analyze bias in reporting that would incorporate a bias like making Congress Critters the reference point for "normal" is worth steering well clear of.
"Patriot Act (USA PATRIOT Act) 1. A law championed by Attorney General John Ashcroft and passed by Congress, the details of which are irrelevant, written by patriots who love freedom, which strengthens the United States in the face of the terrorist threat. Criticism of the Patriot Act is a favorite pastime of liberal intellectuals who seek to provide aid and comfort to America's enemies by reading it. Such treasonous activity has caused over 300 communities across America, including three state legislatures, to pass resolutions challenging the law.
Suggested articles: John Ashcroft and the War on American Freedom, Justice Department Introduces Mom and Apple Pie Act"
...but the fact is that natural processes have killed off more animals than humans have.
I'm pretty sure this point goes to the other side of the argument.
Life has been around on Earth for billions of years.
Human life has been on earth for thousands of years.
If it weren't true that nature had killed off more species in billions of year than we've been able to kill off in thousands of years, we'd all be in worse shape that we are.
What's a much better question is: how destructive have we been given the short time we've been on the planet?
So far, it's looking like our impact will be on the same scale with ice ages, asteroid strikes and cataclysmic volcanic eruptions.
This is good reason for us all to want to be more conservative* in our lifestyles, but who is even payng much attention?
*No, not Republicrat Party "Conservative(tm)" - we're trying to be at least a littleserious here.
Indeed what you are describing IS a tyranny - a tyranny of the masses, who feel that the rights of others can be trampled by their own collective whim whenever they conflict - a kind of tyranny through over-democracy.
If this wasn't so wildly out of touch with reality, it might be believable.
There have indeed been tyrannies within the U.S., but I'd challenge you do find any that have actually been "of the masses" as you say.
Native Americans? Tyranny.
Slavery? Tyranny.
Indentured servitude/Labor rights struggles? Tyranny.
If fact, "tyranny of the masses" is about as oxymoronic (sic) as you can get.
The framers designed the Constitution for the protection of the minority from the majority. At that time, the only minority under consideration was the rich, landowning white male. These are the people who already had *every* protection considered reasonable (and then some).
Others (aka "the rest of us") lived (or live) under varying degrees of tyranny.
They are corporations which hold a license to exist granted by US through our representatives. A. License. To. Exist. Not a right. They have no rights.
Unfortunately, incorrect.
Thanks to activist judges (to put it in the most ironic modern vernacular) corporations got rights in 1886. (For reference, women didn't get the right to vote in the US until 1920.)
Please find more information on the topic: click here
You've been suckered. The point is not "who lied about what". The point
is "who was where"?
Fact -- Kerry
was in Veitnam, fighting like a REAL patriot and true soldier.
Fact -- Bush*
was a wussy silver-spoon whose family connections got
him States' side duty in the National Guard along with a lot of other
sons of wealth and power.
Whether or not Kerry did or did not do something (or nothing) with (or
for) his medals is AFTER THE FACT.
Whether or not the same TV network that was the MOST PRO-WAR network by
far in the run-up to Iraq acquired some dubious documents that indicate
Bush couldn't even be troubled to PERFORM the cushy States' side job he
was given is also AFTER THE FACT.
Let's FOCUS, people!
If you want a listless frat-boy silver-spoon type for President who'll
sit there in office as a figure
head for the rest of the Bush
Administration...then VOTE FOR BUSH (AGAIN!).
If you want someone who was brave enough to VOLUNTEER for
active-service duty in Vietnam, who's actually demonstrated that his
character will allow him to perform in the ways we need a President to,
then VOTE FOR KERRY.
* Please see "cabinet" and "other advisers and official" sections as
well as the paragraph that immediately follows
I am likewise sick of the prevailing attitude of "live with it" from what feels like the rest of the planet for the last (roughly) 13 years since Miscrsoft went "preemtive".
The rest of the planet is a veritable pro-Windows hotbed...while it lasts, you're welcome to it.
So, if getting a [$200+$83+$20=] $303 PC for about $600 sounds like a good deal, then AOL is your savior! (!!)
Sadly, AOL is going after those least-informed of consumers with this deal, so they'll probably find a fair number of takers.
For those who don't consider AOL worthless, let's consider the cost of ISP service on top. A quick query here tells me that it's easy to get dial up for $8/month or less.
So....[$303+($8*12mths)=] $399 worth of "internet experience" for $699.
OTOH, this is completely consistent with administration policy of removing, curtailing and/or even fudging information available on government websites. (EPA and CDC to name only 2.)
If there's a conspiracy, it started before this story.
Shouldn't be hard to come up with better links that this, BTW.....that's 1min searching while I'm in a hurry.
Slashdot Mirror
Someone mod this guy up!
WoW is one of VERY few popular games to come out that is accessible to the common gamer.
Let me say that in converse.
Almost EVERY popular game to come out caters to the the teen/sub-teen market TO THE EXCLUSION of every other demographic.
(I love the GTA series, and yes it's labeled "mature" making it in theory a big exception to what I just said, but let's be honest...this is a game series TOTALLY geared to the teen market/mentality. Hold any GTA up next to any Blizzard game and the contrast on this basis is patently obvious.)
Based on the nature of these replies and related commentary about the goings-on re:the teen/sub-teen mentalities at work there, all I can say is: (and yes, I am going to be screaming)
THANK YOU BLIZZARD!! YOUR EYE *IS* ON THE BALL. THIS IS THE MOST BALANCED, PLAYABLE GAME THAT I COULD HAVE IMAGINED.
PLEASE DON'T LET THE BIG SHOTS (corporates) *OR* THE LITTLE SHOTS (teens) DISTRACT YOU!
Having said that, if I get stuck while mining copper outside of Ironforge or Ogrimmar *one more time*...
So yes...the game is not perfect - even as good as it is.
(I would also like to see Blizzard make the boxed game about 30%-50% of the price they're selling it at currently (if not FREE) if they intend to keep the monthly rate at $15 (which I presume they do intend). I actually don't have as much problem (philosophically) with paying monthly as I thought I would....but charging $40-$50 up front for "the privilege" of paying the monthly fee seems to me like gouging. If the intent of the box fee is to keep the riff-raff/freeloaders out, make the box fee go toward the first 3 months of access fees (or something similar).)
See you all in Ogrimmar!
It seems there would have to be a "useful" amount of energy (in the form of heat) uselessly dissipated into my home from all these sources!
All that "stray heat" is fine in the winter, even if poorly dispersed thru the living space. But it'd be great if any percentage of that heat could actually be used in the summer as electricity to help run the air conditioner that's needed to offset the presence of all these "stray heat" sources.
So what is the prospect for light weight/ulta compact Stirling Engines for wide (imaginary) deployment like this?
The latest developments in photo-voltaic (PV) technology have made this into a myth.
The sticking points in your argument though, are:
(1) PV is only one of many aspects of solar power harvesting
(2) the fact that the price is greater than return on some technologies was due as much to lack of economies of scale as anything
(3) The real cost of oil-derived products and fuel are disguised - between the enormous Federal Government subsidies given directly to the oil industry and the astronomical amount of military support that is supplied.
(4) Roll the hundreds of billions of dollars in subsidies, grants and foreign aid we've pumped into the Middle Eastern monarchies and dictatorships and domestic US oil companies into PV (or other renewable tech) and see if it doesn't become just as affordable as petroleum.
e.g. Say you're the only factory in the US making PV panels. Say your factory can only make 100,000 panels a year. Say demand for PV panels in a nation of hundreds of millions is about 100,000. That manufacturer can charge what they like for their PV panels, and they will do so. (This is a pretty accurate depiction of the US PV market history, btw). Petroleum would never have become CHEAP in this model either.
What I've seen the pro-PV crowd calling for is an incentive to manufacturers to increase production capability to drive down the relative price per watt. THIS IS THE SAME INCENTIVE WE *STILL* GIVE TO THE OIL COMPANIES FOR EXPLORATION AND FOR THE SAME REASONS.
You're telling me that was done with no form of gov't subsidy?
Not to be a doubting Thomas, but can you dig up any source material for that?
Hey all!
d uction_njava.htm
A.C. and I go way back, but I have to say he's talking out the side of his mouth.
Solar:
First RTFA. OF COURSE it's cost effective in LOTS of places.
Wind:
Lots of places can harvest wind to varying degrees. http://www.google.com/search?q=wind+map
Nuclear:
So all that's been missing all these years is standardization of plant design, eh? Genius. Let's see them do one without massive government subsidies. Let's see how far the safety claims go with the general public when you want to build one in anyone's back yard but YOUR OWN. Actually, your neighbors wouldn't let you do it either.
Communism? Breathe deeply and just do some Google searches on these things. The Communists are not out to get you. No they're not under your bed either.
You've completely neglected to neglect biomass and geothermal power generation. Wha?
The information is out there.
Lots of it is here:
+ http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/processnj/Process_pro
+ http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/ieo/index.html
The bottom line maybe we can agree on. If we don't start moving away from oil dependency soon, we are going to hurt once the peak oil period hits.
(Going off topic a bit..)
Focusing purely on the energy side of the equation is deceiving as well. Almost nothing in our economy is made without some oil by-product. Everything from paint, to pharmaceuticals, to house construction products, containers. Are the renewable materials industries going to be ready to pick up the slack, or are we going to be as treeless as we will be oilless? We'll need wood, steel, glass, ceramics in volumes never before seen.
From the past:
What world are you living in? Nearly every single person I have to deal with still uses floppies to some extent.
Welcome to the future, friend!
Someday your people will use optical storage technology too! I'm sorry I can't share ours with you...it would be too much risk to our own timeline.
But never fear! Your people will progress!
Someday, you'll even have hard drives that you'll measure in terms of gigabytes!!
I know you're thinking this all sounds crazy, but it's true!
See you in the future Stormy!
Sincerely,
Matt McCabe
Year 2005
P.S. It's been nearly a decade since I last had anything to do with a floppy, so take heart: It Can Be Done.
P.P.S. An investment tip: Apple never does go out of business and they're the first to officially ditch the aging floppy technology that they originally brought into the mainstream.
IANAL, but I would think that Intel would theoretically be guilty of something like Contempt of Court if there were evidence of shredding after the fact.
Perhaps the penalty is more than this due to measures like the Sarb-Ox Act?
In any event, I doubt it would make their guilt/innocent significantly more or less in question.
I agree with your sentiment, but realistically speaking, do you think more than a few percent even of the visitors to Slashdot ("news for nerd") have any understanding of what the root servers are?
Sure many are sharp enough to take the contextual frame of "root" and infer that it's somehow the "base" of DNS. But how many understand more deeply than that?
Here's a start for anyone who'd like one: root "faq"
Ooh...sorry for replying to myself, but....that sounded like a Chicken Little statement.
I meant that we're taking it back to pre-WWII levels for those 12%.
There's also the factor of broadcast TV serving as a public address system in situations of crisis or danger.
Once analog is gone, there is only radio as a 'universal' platform.
That puts our 'public readiness' factor back to the pre-WWII levels.
I'll admit up front that I haven't read the above-linked article.
That said, thanks for tha tip.
Any article claiming to analyze bias in reporting that would incorporate a bias like making Congress Critters the reference point for "normal" is worth steering well clear of.
From the Republican Dictionary:
"Patriot Act (USA PATRIOT Act)
1. A law championed by Attorney General John Ashcroft and passed by Congress, the details of which are irrelevant, written by patriots who love freedom, which strengthens the United States in the face of the terrorist threat. Criticism of the Patriot Act is a favorite pastime of liberal intellectuals who seek to provide aid and comfort to America's enemies by reading it. Such treasonous activity has caused over 300 communities across America, including three state legislatures, to pass resolutions challenging the law.
Suggested articles: John Ashcroft and the War on American Freedom, Justice Department Introduces Mom and Apple Pie Act"
If it weren't true that nature had killed off more species in billions of year than we've been able to kill off in thousands of years, we'd all be in worse shape that we are.
What's a much better question is: how destructive have we been given the short time we've been on the planet?
So far, it's looking like our impact will be on the same scale with ice ages, asteroid strikes and cataclysmic volcanic eruptions.
This is good reason for us all to want to be more conservative* in our lifestyles, but who is even payng much attention?
*No, not Republicrat Party "Conservative(tm)" - we're trying to be at least a little serious here.
You're comapring slavery, indentured servitude, and genocide to having a progressive tax code.
This is the lack of realism I'm talking about.
You've lost perspective.
There have indeed been tyrannies within the U.S., but I'd challenge you do find any that have actually been "of the masses" as you say.
Native Americans? Tyranny.
Slavery? Tyranny.
Indentured servitude/Labor rights struggles? Tyranny.
If fact, "tyranny of the masses" is about as oxymoronic (sic) as you can get.
The framers designed the Constitution for the protection of the minority from the majority. At that time, the only minority under consideration was the rich, landowning white male. These are the people who already had *every* protection considered reasonable (and then some).
Others (aka "the rest of us") lived (or live) under varying degrees of tyranny.
Thanks to activist judges (to put it in the most ironic modern vernacular) corporations got rights in 1886. (For reference, women didn't get the right to vote in the US until 1920.)
Please find more information on the topic:
click here
You've been suckered. The point is not "who lied about what". The point is "who was where"?
- Fact -- Kerry
was in Veitnam, fighting like a REAL patriot and true soldier.
- Fact -- Bush*
was a wussy silver-spoon whose family connections got
him States' side duty in the National Guard along with a lot of other
sons of wealth and power.
Whether or not Kerry did or did not do something (or nothing) with (or for) his medals is AFTER THE FACT.Whether or not the same TV network that was the MOST PRO-WAR network by far in the run-up to Iraq acquired some dubious documents that indicate Bush couldn't even be troubled to PERFORM the cushy States' side job he was given is also AFTER THE FACT.
Let's FOCUS, people!
If you want a listless frat-boy silver-spoon type for President who'll sit there in office as a figure head for the rest of the Bush Administration...then VOTE FOR BUSH (AGAIN!).
If you want someone who was brave enough to VOLUNTEER for active-service duty in Vietnam, who's actually demonstrated that his character will allow him to perform in the ways we need a President to, then VOTE FOR KERRY.
* Please see "cabinet" and "other advisers and official" sections as well as the paragraph that immediately follows
"Don't interrupt your enemy when he's making a mistake."
I am likewise sick of the prevailing attitude of "live with it" from what feels like the rest of the planet for the last (roughly) 13 years since Miscrsoft went "preemtive".
The rest of the planet is a veritable pro-Windows hotbed...while it lasts, you're welcome to it.
Enjoy.
No..not for some time. My-oh-my...where have you been? The Internet comes on DVD's now.
The 17" monitor goes for $83 retail.
The printer is probably worth less than $20.
So, if getting a [$200+$83+$20=] $303 PC for about $600 sounds like a good deal, then AOL is your savior! (!!)
Sadly, AOL is going after those least-informed of consumers with this deal, so they'll probably find a fair number of takers.
For those who don't consider AOL worthless, let's consider the cost of ISP service on top. A quick query here tells me that it's easy to get dial up for $8/month or less.
So....[$303+($8*12mths)=] $399 worth of "internet experience" for $699.
Well, yes...they and consumers are who the anti trust laws were designed to protect. Duh.
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/antitrust.html
That's the "I'm feeling lucky" link from a Google search for "antitrust laws". The introduction pretty much spells it out.
OTOH, this is completely consistent with administration policy of removing, curtailing and/or even fudging information available on government websites. (EPA and CDC to name only 2.)
If there's a conspiracy, it started before this story.
Shouldn't be hard to come up with better links that this, BTW.....that's 1min searching while I'm in a hurry.
Have fun!
Speaking of 'worth supporting'...
Check out Whole Wheat Radio.
Great selection of mostly RIAA-free recordings...getting closer all the time.
Supported financially by donations and out of pocket.
Geeky-cool user interface.
I call your comment Usul for it has "strength of the base of the pillar".
Your comment is one that should be known by all and revered.
Your comment is not only your comment, but should be the comment of all in this land for it is true.
(apologies to all for the extreme tangential reference)