In retrospect, I probably should have proofread and better articulated my anti-Wii arguments.
Imagine X years from now when Hot New Title comes out. Either that title exists for only one platform, or it's cross-platform. If it's cross-platform, then it will likely be the least appealing on the most underpowered console -- the Wii. If it's single-platform (or worse -- 360/PS3 only), then it will only cause Wii owners to become disenchanted with their bargain purchase. This is why people upgrade in the first place. It's only a matter of time before this happens to any console, however it usually doesn't happen until a new generation is released. Since the difference between the Wii and the 360/PS3 is essentially already a generational gap, the lifetime of the Wii is inherently shorter than that of its competitors. The only reason the Wii isn't a complete waste of money is described in my second paragraph, above.
The industry has needed a major shakeup in design philosophy for YEARS coming, but noone had the guts to do it until now. Nintendo basically took the lid off of the boiling proverbial kettle.
And what shakeup would that be? A gimmicky controller? Offering existing technology at a lower price point than its cutting edge counterparts? Unfortunately, I think consumers have looked at the bottom line and little else. They see $250, $400, $600, and think "Well, they're all NEW.. why pay double+ when I can get a NEW Nintendo for $250?" But in 2-3 years, about half the lifetime of a console generation, the Wii is going to look absolutely ancient. And while the games may still be enjoyable in their own right, everybody wants new things, otherwise we'd still be playing on our Atari's. So in order to cross develop, substantial features will have to be cut for the Wii versions of any sort of demanding title. The alternative is that publishers develop for the lowest common denominator, which doesn't seem like good news either.
The only reason the Wii is really winning right now is not about any sort of "major shakeup in design philosophy," but rather the complete and utter incompetence Sony has demonstrated in bringing (or convincing others to bring) remarkable titles to market for the PS3. If a solid selection of games existed for the PS3, neither the Wiimote nore the affordable price point would keep Nintendo in the lead. I believe it would still have a solid market share -- as well it should -- but nothing like the popularity it's enjoying right now.
On their Peace & Love Inc., album, the 12th track was a recording of, as signified by the song's name, a 300bps modem. You could type in ATA on a terminal while holding your phone to the speaker at the start of the song, and the text would display in the terminal. That may not seem relevant to backmasking, but for those of us who inherently, if subconsciously, understand modem, it was similar. Needless to say, I'm now terrified of Brazil.
All it takes is one person using one that does and things get ugly.
Here's the thing: If that were true, then you'd expect cell phones to be banned from the cabin ENTIRELY, because there's no actual control on anyone turning on/off or using their phone other than the honor system. So either the honor system is incredibly effective (in which case we don't really need security checkpoints), or cell phones are not a significant risk. In any case, I'd be willing to wager that there's at least 1 passenger per flight, on average, who uses his phone in the bathroom, and at least as many who neglect/decline to turn off his or her phone.
I'd guess, just offhand, PRETTY GODDAMN QUICK. As in, way way quicker than whatever you drive now, unless you're "joining the motorway" in a Ferrari Enzo.
Pfft.. my '92 Eclipse has NOS stickers, a CF spoiler, and a 6" tailpipe and it'll SMOKE that shit all day, any day.
Of course that's not a very good analogy since an axe is an inaminate object, the definition of which is determined solely by its physical characteristics. Additionally, "the same" is an extremely vague phrase -- so vague that there is no right or wrong answer. Are these the same letters: AA? I would argue that the question is irrelevant anyway, since we're never exactly the same -- either physically or mentally -- as we were at any point in the past.
If this is "my axe," and I replace the handle, then replace the head, it is still "my axe." It may not be the same, but that makes no difference -- it is still an axe, and it is my own. If I pull out a hair and it regrows, it is not the same hair, but it is still my hair -- it is still "me," and if you do the same, you are still "you." Likewise, if a person replaces their brain, in whole or in part, they are still themselves. They may be functionally different, but our functionality is constantly changing throughout our days and years. When someone is intoxicated, we may say they are "not themselves," or we may tell our significant other that they are "not the same person they were when we met." Like the letter comparison above, the statements are both true and untrue; only answerable in relative terms. Is this still someone we like? Someone we love? Someone we trust? Someone we can no longer abide? Those questions are relevant, and they're relevant whether or not the changes are natural or artificial, complete or partial.
Pain is nature's solution to damage messaging, but that doesn't mean it's the best solution. It's certainly effective to persistantly and insistantly remind the brain that a part of the body needs attention, but -- especially in artificial life -- allowing the message to be noted and dismissed could prove more effective, especially when pain begins to interfere with paying attention to more pressing threats like the possibility of catching a second bullet.
Well, there is some logic behind ignoring tantrums, in that it demonstrates that they're ineffective, but in some circumstances it can certainly be tantamount to acceptance of the behavior. OTOH, I think leaving should be avoided at all costs, as the child may realize that while they don't get what they want, you don't get what you want either, which can be an acceptable tradeoff (especially if the child is at an age where they can appreciate that a calm experience is what you want). I know everyone advocates not spanking these days, but the one time my 4 year-old daughter threw a tantrum in public, I scooped her up, spanked her on the butt, and put her in the cart. While she kept crying for a little while, she's never thrown a fit with me since, because she knows I won't hesitate to discipline her. I don't advocate spanking in all (most) situations, but I can say that it's been effective for me when used judiciously. Of course, I followed up with additional negative consequences -- she had no choices and got absolutely nothing she wanted for the remainder of the day, and I reminded her why I said no every time she asked for something -- but now I can usually just give her a warning if she starts to get fussy and she quickly straightens up.
Those sonar parking sensors are horrible. If you're approaching anything other than a solid flat surface, they're about as reliable as a new driver's guesstimate. If you're parallel parking, they have about a 30% success rate when approaching another vehicle, usually right at the last second, and they're equally worthless if the spaces are angled. Obviously they don't notice parking blocks at all, much less whether your bumper will clear them. On the other hand, there's a metal railing at the drive thru where I usually eat, and it sets off the sensor from 10 feet away so it's beeping incessantly while I'm waiting. I trust them like I trust Windows.
Interesting experiment, but some obvious drawbacks including handling magnetic media and CRTs.. and if sold, they should probably say "Warning: Handling of large magnets may cause implants to be explanted."
Japan solved that by having multiple tiers of trains. I'm not sure what the exact terms are, but there are express trains that stop only at the point of origin and the destination, then there are semi-express trains that only stop at major interchanges, then there are standard trains which make every stop.
You don't have to do any calculations. Why would you ever deal with two time zones?
If you don't have to deal with multiple timezones then what the bloody hell do you care about what time it is in a different timezone?!?
"what time do I wake up in the morning?" and that's not a calculation, but an answer you get handed to you when you get off the plane or ask a local.
Nonsense. "The store closes at 5." "The store closes at 9." You know the former means "early evening" and the latter means "late evening" because we use time zones. Replace that with "The store closes at 0300," and suddenly you haven't a clue. Sure, you can figure out that local "noon" is 1800, therefore it closes at the equivelant of 9PM, but is that really easier?
Yes, one of the side effects is that some locales border timezones and have to do a minor calculation to figure out what time the stores close in the adjacent timezone, but that wouldn't go away with everyone using UTC -- you'd still have to remember that it's an hour earlier/later.
Don't get me wrong, DST is a ridiculous "solution," but discarding local time is equally ridiculous.
This is the typical Slashdot "I still run Linux on my 386 and KDE should support me" response. That's great if you want to stick to your old equipement, but there's no fundamental reason not to upgrade when the cost of actual equipment is trivial. A new wireless AP/wired router can be had for <$50. A wireless 802.11g USB stick is $15 (and yes, it has WPA if you look in the features). I'm sure you could even find used 802.11g equipement for less, if you were so inclined and/or strapped for cash.
Am I going to spend $1600 for this year's model with two more buttons and WPA support?
If you're at all concerned about security you are, and if you're running a business then that's simply a cost of doing business. If you're not concerned about security, then it's a non-issue.
My original premise stands -- people with the option (which is everyone except the destitute (who can somehow still afford wireless network equipment?!?)) choose WPA. Anyone else who uses WEP is either ignorant or foolish, which is the implication in a "Who still uses..." rhetorical question.
Economy cars would be "popular" among young people whether or not they were marketed, simply because they're the most affordable. Of course, they're marketed anyway since there's still competition between manufacturers. Low-end Jeeps, for example, are still very popular. They look at the Yaris, the Scion, and the Aveo because they can't afford the Hummer, not (necessarily) because they don't want it, the same reason most of us don't go looking at Porches, Ferarris, or (still) Hummers when we go to buy a car. If money was no object, "taste" would probably change.
Why, then, do car manufacturers deem it necessary to make it so that every car they produce can AT LEAST hit 90mph, if not more?
The short answer is that the only thing limiting speed is wind resistance, so any vehicle with enough power to accelerate to 60MPH generally also has enough power to accelerate beyond 100MPH. If you made a motor weak enough that it couldn't reach 100MPH, it would also be weak enough that it would be a danger to the operator.
Sure, manufacturers could put in governors at ~80MPH, but why bother? That's just an artificial limitation that their competitors will leave out to (justifiably) gain market share.
Slashdot Mirror
In retrospect, I probably should have proofread and better articulated my anti-Wii arguments.
Imagine X years from now when Hot New Title comes out. Either that title exists for only one platform, or it's cross-platform. If it's cross-platform, then it will likely be the least appealing on the most underpowered console -- the Wii. If it's single-platform (or worse -- 360/PS3 only), then it will only cause Wii owners to become disenchanted with their bargain purchase. This is why people upgrade in the first place. It's only a matter of time before this happens to any console, however it usually doesn't happen until a new generation is released. Since the difference between the Wii and the 360/PS3 is essentially already a generational gap, the lifetime of the Wii is inherently shorter than that of its competitors. The only reason the Wii isn't a complete waste of money is described in my second paragraph, above.
The industry has needed a major shakeup in design philosophy for YEARS coming, but noone had the guts to do it until now. Nintendo basically took the lid off of the boiling proverbial kettle.
And what shakeup would that be? A gimmicky controller? Offering existing technology at a lower price point than its cutting edge counterparts? Unfortunately, I think consumers have looked at the bottom line and little else. They see $250, $400, $600, and think "Well, they're all NEW.. why pay double+ when I can get a NEW Nintendo for $250?" But in 2-3 years, about half the lifetime of a console generation, the Wii is going to look absolutely ancient. And while the games may still be enjoyable in their own right, everybody wants new things, otherwise we'd still be playing on our Atari's. So in order to cross develop, substantial features will have to be cut for the Wii versions of any sort of demanding title. The alternative is that publishers develop for the lowest common denominator, which doesn't seem like good news either.
The only reason the Wii is really winning right now is not about any sort of "major shakeup in design philosophy," but rather the complete and utter incompetence Sony has demonstrated in bringing (or convincing others to bring) remarkable titles to market for the PS3. If a solid selection of games existed for the PS3, neither the Wiimote nore the affordable price point would keep Nintendo in the lead. I believe it would still have a solid market share -- as well it should -- but nothing like the popularity it's enjoying right now.
On their Peace & Love Inc., album, the 12th track was a recording of, as signified by the song's name, a 300bps modem. You could type in ATA on a terminal while holding your phone to the speaker at the start of the song, and the text would display in the terminal. That may not seem relevant to backmasking, but for those of us who inherently, if subconsciously, understand modem, it was similar. Needless to say, I'm now terrified of Brazil.
Warning: Irony behind!
they redirect you away from the www, probably because a lot of us think the www is stupid.
Or because "slash-slash-slash-dot-dot-org" is more amusing/confusing than the www-prefixed alternative.
Don't protect it.. tell everyone that IP, freely!
All it takes is one person using one that does and things get ugly.
Here's the thing: If that were true, then you'd expect cell phones to be banned from the cabin ENTIRELY, because there's no actual control on anyone turning on/off or using their phone other than the honor system. So either the honor system is incredibly effective (in which case we don't really need security checkpoints), or cell phones are not a significant risk. In any case, I'd be willing to wager that there's at least 1 passenger per flight, on average, who uses his phone in the bathroom, and at least as many who neglect/decline to turn off his or her phone.
I'd guess, just offhand, PRETTY GODDAMN QUICK. As in, way way quicker than whatever you drive now, unless you're "joining the motorway" in a Ferrari Enzo.
Pfft.. my '92 Eclipse has NOS stickers, a CF spoiler, and a 6" tailpipe and it'll SMOKE that shit all day, any day.
Of course that's not a very good analogy since an axe is an inaminate object, the definition of which is determined solely by its physical characteristics. Additionally, "the same" is an extremely vague phrase -- so vague that there is no right or wrong answer. Are these the same letters: AA? I would argue that the question is irrelevant anyway, since we're never exactly the same -- either physically or mentally -- as we were at any point in the past.
If this is "my axe," and I replace the handle, then replace the head, it is still "my axe." It may not be the same, but that makes no difference -- it is still an axe, and it is my own. If I pull out a hair and it regrows, it is not the same hair, but it is still my hair -- it is still "me," and if you do the same, you are still "you." Likewise, if a person replaces their brain, in whole or in part, they are still themselves. They may be functionally different, but our functionality is constantly changing throughout our days and years. When someone is intoxicated, we may say they are "not themselves," or we may tell our significant other that they are "not the same person they were when we met." Like the letter comparison above, the statements are both true and untrue; only answerable in relative terms. Is this still someone we like? Someone we love? Someone we trust? Someone we can no longer abide? Those questions are relevant, and they're relevant whether or not the changes are natural or artificial, complete or partial.
Pain is nature's solution to damage messaging, but that doesn't mean it's the best solution. It's certainly effective to persistantly and insistantly remind the brain that a part of the body needs attention, but -- especially in artificial life -- allowing the message to be noted and dismissed could prove more effective, especially when pain begins to interfere with paying attention to more pressing threats like the possibility of catching a second bullet.
Well, there is some logic behind ignoring tantrums, in that it demonstrates that they're ineffective, but in some circumstances it can certainly be tantamount to acceptance of the behavior. OTOH, I think leaving should be avoided at all costs, as the child may realize that while they don't get what they want, you don't get what you want either, which can be an acceptable tradeoff (especially if the child is at an age where they can appreciate that a calm experience is what you want). I know everyone advocates not spanking these days, but the one time my 4 year-old daughter threw a tantrum in public, I scooped her up, spanked her on the butt, and put her in the cart. While she kept crying for a little while, she's never thrown a fit with me since, because she knows I won't hesitate to discipline her. I don't advocate spanking in all (most) situations, but I can say that it's been effective for me when used judiciously. Of course, I followed up with additional negative consequences -- she had no choices and got absolutely nothing she wanted for the remainder of the day, and I reminded her why I said no every time she asked for something -- but now I can usually just give her a warning if she starts to get fussy and she quickly straightens up.
In other words: Why are we chasing those pink elephants when we could be hunting purple unicorns?!?
nVidia bought 3dfx.
That's a classic catch-22, since first we'd need people with the skills to implement such an idea.
Ah, Spore.. the Duke Nuke'em Forever of strategy games.
Now, what y'all wanna do?
Wanna be hackers? Code crackers? Slackers
Wastin' time with all the chatroom yakers?
9 to 5, chillin' at Hewlett Packard?
Those sonar parking sensors are horrible. If you're approaching anything other than a solid flat surface, they're about as reliable as a new driver's guesstimate. If you're parallel parking, they have about a 30% success rate when approaching another vehicle, usually right at the last second, and they're equally worthless if the spaces are angled. Obviously they don't notice parking blocks at all, much less whether your bumper will clear them. On the other hand, there's a metal railing at the drive thru where I usually eat, and it sets off the sensor from 10 feet away so it's beeping incessantly while I'm waiting. I trust them like I trust Windows.
Obviously he was being purple.
A guy had implanted magnets in his fingertips
Interesting experiment, but some obvious drawbacks including handling magnetic media and CRTs.. and if sold, they should probably say "Warning: Handling of large magnets may cause implants to be explanted."
This would be perfect if it could be done from home.
And my 5-year-old would be happy because he'd get to play "games" as much as he wanted.
"Is it bedtime yet?"
"I SAID CLICK ON THE DOGS!!!"
Japan solved that by having multiple tiers of trains. I'm not sure what the exact terms are, but there are express trains that stop only at the point of origin and the destination, then there are semi-express trains that only stop at major interchanges, then there are standard trains which make every stop.
You don't have to do any calculations. Why would you ever deal with two time zones?
If you don't have to deal with multiple timezones then what the bloody hell do you care about what time it is in a different timezone?!?
"what time do I wake up in the morning?" and that's not a calculation, but an answer you get handed to you when you get off the plane or ask a local.
Nonsense. "The store closes at 5." "The store closes at 9." You know the former means "early evening" and the latter means "late evening" because we use time zones. Replace that with "The store closes at 0300," and suddenly you haven't a clue. Sure, you can figure out that local "noon" is 1800, therefore it closes at the equivelant of 9PM, but is that really easier?
Yes, one of the side effects is that some locales border timezones and have to do a minor calculation to figure out what time the stores close in the adjacent timezone, but that wouldn't go away with everyone using UTC -- you'd still have to remember that it's an hour earlier/later.
Don't get me wrong, DST is a ridiculous "solution," but discarding local time is equally ridiculous.
This is the typical Slashdot "I still run Linux on my 386 and KDE should support me" response. That's great if you want to stick to your old equipement, but there's no fundamental reason not to upgrade when the cost of actual equipment is trivial. A new wireless AP/wired router can be had for <$50. A wireless 802.11g USB stick is $15 (and yes, it has WPA if you look in the features). I'm sure you could even find used 802.11g equipement for less, if you were so inclined and/or strapped for cash.
Am I going to spend $1600 for this year's model with two more buttons and WPA support?
If you're at all concerned about security you are, and if you're running a business then that's simply a cost of doing business. If you're not concerned about security, then it's a non-issue.
My original premise stands -- people with the option (which is everyone except the destitute (who can somehow still afford wireless network equipment?!?)) choose WPA. Anyone else who uses WEP is either ignorant or foolish, which is the implication in a "Who still uses..." rhetorical question.
Economy cars would be "popular" among young people whether or not they were marketed, simply because they're the most affordable. Of course, they're marketed anyway since there's still competition between manufacturers. Low-end Jeeps, for example, are still very popular. They look at the Yaris, the Scion, and the Aveo because they can't afford the Hummer, not (necessarily) because they don't want it, the same reason most of us don't go looking at Porches, Ferarris, or (still) Hummers when we go to buy a car. If money was no object, "taste" would probably change.
Why, then, do car manufacturers deem it necessary to make it so that every car they produce can AT LEAST hit 90mph, if not more?
The short answer is that the only thing limiting speed is wind resistance, so any vehicle with enough power to accelerate to 60MPH generally also has enough power to accelerate beyond 100MPH. If you made a motor weak enough that it couldn't reach 100MPH, it would also be weak enough that it would be a danger to the operator.
Sure, manufacturers could put in governors at ~80MPH, but why bother? That's just an artificial limitation that their competitors will leave out to (justifiably) gain market share.