It isn't as if they haven't been caught buying studies before. So the distrust is well justified.
Plain and simple fact is if Microsoft could compete with the usefulness of a solid Linux distro their product would speak for itself. In some cases this is true but in essentially all technical senses Microsoft is just a plain loser.
Most of Microsofts problems is that they don't listen to the customers. I mean sure they listen to Dell, RIAA, MPAA, maybe even IBM and other big wigs. But what about us users? What does WGA give me in terms of a useful feature? What does the bloat that is WMP give me over a simpler mplayer? Why must they invent their own file formats [e.g. Office files, WMV, WMA] that are proprietary instead of using or establishing more open standards? etc, etc, etc.
Everything MSFT does is to benefit the stock holders through locking the "customers" into their system. Use our OS, use our office suite, use our media tools, use our development tools. All the while they ignore any sense of established standards [ISO C99 anyone?] which make interoperability a bitch for Windows users. There is simply no reason why MSFT uses these awful platform dependent libraries. Take DirectX for instance. On any OTHER platform you combine Allegro with OpenGL and have essentially the same thing [just 1/10th the size and in C]. But no, we must use the DX "experience" because somehow the hype makes it shinier!
I know what I'm saying is "no duh", but you seemed to be hinting that MSFT hatred is not warranted. Us "OSS" users don't hate MSFT because it's better. We hate it because it lulls people into a sense of superiority when all it does is move to separate them from their money. It creates nightmares for us who chose to chose.
I mean I can save an OpenOffice document on my Gentoo box and my friend can open it in FreeBSD with OpenOffice [or whatever]. Why can't I save an Office document and open it in Linux? Why can't Office work in Linux anyways? Seems Linux distros have GUIs, widgets, networking, fonts, etc. There really is no technical reason why Office can't work in Windows, oh I know, because MSFT uses it as a reason to buy Windows./rant
If you look closely you'll see the area of the "industrial" part is larger. Likely they use some form of RAID combined with the cream of the crop process output.
Chances are if you tack "on the internet" to your patent claim it isn't original or non-obvious. A method of only updating part of a page? You mean like an IFRAME, Javascript and the DOM? Not exactly "new". I did a web programming class on it in 2001.
You'd think though, with the thousands of patents filed daily that we'd have flying cars, microwaves that you can put forks in, better televisions, magic food pills, etc...
Instead we have gas guzzling cars that will end society, microwaves using decades old technology, TV incompatibilities up the wazoo and fake sugar pills sold on SpikeTV at 2am./sad
The browser itself benefits from 64-bit mode though. The extra registers makes functions faster as they spill less to the stack.
The prefix works the other way. All instructions default to 32-bit mode in long mode [64-bit mode]. You have to ADD the prefix byte to use the extra 8 GPRs or use the upper 32 bits of the registers. This lets you mix 32 and 64-bit operations in the same "64-bit application". It comes in handy when you're doing things like crypto and have to work with 32-bit words in memory. You don't waste the space, e.g.
A += table[B];
If the algo uses 32-bit words you can store table[] as an array of 32 bit words and use it natively [e.g. no masking or shifting].
And yes, in long mode you can effectively run applications using 32, 16 or even 8 bit registers and use the extra GPRs. They are qword, dword, word and byte addressable [well the lower part]. So for instance...
addb %r8b,%r9b
Adds the lower 8 bits of r8 to r9.
addw %r8w,%r9w
Adds the lower 16 bits of r8 to r9
and so on...
That said, you cannot call 32-bit code [e.g. protected mode code] from a 64-bit long mode program. It wouldn't preserve the proper registers and you also couldn't pass it pointers and what not. This is where you use a "thunking layer". Originally made popular by 16-bit drivers in Win3.11/Win95 [e.g. for obscure hardware] you'd have a layer inbetween the 32 and 64-bit code which would pass data so that it's addressable to the 32-bit code and vice versa.
Apparently there is a plugin for firefox that does this already.
You have to call the the pluggin at some level. If you are in 64 bit mode you are passing pointers and other stuff as 64-bit registers [or stack entries]. If the plugin is 32-bits it won't be able to make use of them.
Yes, you can run 32-bit code in 64-bit mode (in x86_64 64-bit instructions need a REX prefix byte so they're actually not default!) but your 64-bit code has to be aware of what it is calling.
Again do I have to drag out the math of scales here?
Saving 85Wh of power, times a couple million users == 170MWh of energy saved. [Not including the inefficiency of power supplies, power lines feeding your home, air conditioning, etc]
Now, here's the tricky part, follow with me. Energy is a limited resource. The more competition for it the more it cost.
Now, here's where it becomes a big deal. Things you buy, like your purple translucent homestyle dildo... take electricity to make. That power has to come from somewhere. They're competing with the people burning energy. Thus they raise the cost of the product. Not to mention the cost of refining the materials that go into it [or the delivery of it]. Net effect is, by not using a lower power processor your ass is going to get more lonely then you would have hoped.
You'd have a point if the difference was 95W vs 94W or something. You just have to keep in mind there are millions of processors out there. Most of them are taking more than 90W to run [on both sides of the AMD/Intel fence].
This same sort of logic applies to cars. Is 45Mpg really that much better than 35? For you individually probably not. Multiply that by the millions of cars out there though and it's a big deal.
DRTFA and stopped reading the summary after the word "rejiggered".
Look, I know you CxO types are very busy and super important people [sarcasm] but lets not invent new words shall we? All the CEO is supposed to do is look good and say forward thinking things like "We intend to make profits this quarter."
It's the actual engineers that make companies like HP and Compaq move forwards. I don't care how much marketting you spin on your new laptops, if you don't put a screen in [for example] it's not going to sell. Or if the damn thing weighs a ton, or the batteries explode or....
Personally I think the executives should be the least paid people in the company. And if they don't like that they can moonlight as an engineer or something.
That's why they are improving in other directions. Not just higher clock rates but more efficient [IPC, MIPS/watt, etc]. That and there are many people who can find ways to fill pretty much any cycle count processor.
For the desktop/laptop market things the more dominating factors will switch from speed to power as people try to reduce their electricity and cooling bills. I'm sure if you could have a 10W Opteron running as fast as a 95W one you'd be interested in making the switch.
Another poster answered your post but I want to add to that...
Intel has gone through the same socket changes from 8xx to 9xx for the different cores. I'm sitting here with a 915G motherboard that GUESS WHAT, can't run the latest 775 processors. By your logic we should all still be on Socket1 processors with a 50Mhz front side bus.
The more realistic answer is to just buy what you can afford and need. An AMD 4400+ should be fast enough for pretty much anything in the forseeable future. Or at least, the "latest and greatest" won't be much better anyways.
You realize that you're comparing products that are from different generations? I'm sure your XP-M is faster than that Intel 386 laptop you have there...
You should really compare it to a Turion if anything. But even then the Turion is part of the AMD64 series and was competition against the Pentium4 series [and I guess pentium M as well].
My point though, if you walked into a store today you would be pitting a Turion against the Duo. Not an XP-M against the Duo.
Am I the only one who thinks the ad is just plain stupid looking? I don't get how that conveys "white PSPs are coming". Mostly it just looks like some bad soft-BDSM.
The problem is all these measures MSFT takes hurt legitimate users.
For instance, I recently acquired a work laptop that had to be re-imaged. The laptop came with a WinXp Pro license but it was from an OEM [Fujitsu]. Now I don't have the Fujitsu CD anymore so I used my own XP Pro cd. Guess what happens? It won't let me activate it. I had to call MSFT and explain to them [after doing the 10 6-digit number thing TWICE] that I was a legitimate user who had to use generic install media.
I bet you there are scores of similar people who fight against the anti-piracy stuff to use software that they did indeed pay for.
Besides, if MSFT is dropping this that and the other thing from Vista, maybe they don't have time to be messing with DAILY WGA updates? How about they use my hard earned money to improve the damn OS and not try to lock paying customers out of it.
Um, no try again. If I use my credit card at a store and they charge the wrong amount I first bring it up with them. Then if that doesn't resolve and only then do I go to the credit card company.
The first thing your issuer will tell you is to put in writing what you've done to resolve the problem which must include what you did with the merchant. Escalating to the issuer is a serious action and doing it over every trivial action is a waste of time.
So if I use my credit card with google to buy something from you and google screws up, I should be able to go to them to fix it. Since they are effectively the ones selling me the product [the "seller" is just providing it].
I mean this is like going to Sony because Best Buy charged you wrong on the TV you bought. No, you go to best buy to fix the charge.
I don't think society values "oh drop out of school and be a brick layer" either. Your 8 hour work day should in theory be something that contributes to society [which may include brick laying but ideally not as a last resort].
Oh wow, you have a lvl 60 character. Big deal. How does that better society in any which way? How does that better yourself?
If you want to live your entire life with the thinking process of an eight year old then that's how you're going to get treated. With time outs and government handholding.
That and grow the fuck up. 8 hours a day of gaming is just obsessive.
GPC will provide various tools to assist Customers in communicating with each other to resolve a dispute that may arise between Buyers and Sellers with respect to their transaction. If Customers are unable to resolve a dispute, we can mediate disputes between buyers and sellers if either party requests assistance. If this occurs, we will review the dispute and propose a non-binding solution, if appropriate. For more detailed information, please see our Frequently Asked Questions.
GPC may offer a feedback or other ranking system on the Service to assist you in evaluating other Customers of the Service. You acknowledge that any such feedback or ranking system represents solely the opinion of other Customers of the Service, and is not an opinion, representation, or warranty by GPC with respect to other Customers of the Service.
You agree to release, GPC, Google, and other GPC affiliates, and their agents, contractors, officers and employees, from all claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) arising out of or in any way connected with a dispute. You agree that you will not involve GPC in any litigation or other dispute arising out of or related to any transaction, agreement, or arrangement with any Seller, other Buyer, advertiser or other third party in connection with the Service. If you attempt to do so, (i) you shall pay all costs and attorneys' fees of GPC, Google, and other GPC affiliates and shall provide indemnification as set forth below, and (ii) the jurisdiction for any such litigation or dispute shall be limited as set forth below. However, nothing in this Terms of Service shall constitute a waiver of any rights, claims or defenses that you may have with respect to a Payment Transaction under the Buyer's card issuer agreement, the card association rules or applicable state and federal laws, such as the federal Truth in Lending Act or the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.
If you are a California resident, you hereby expressly waive California Civil Code 1542, which states: "A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if not known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor."
Are you saying knee-jerk reactions to any sort of liberty can come back and bite people on the ass?
NO WAI!
hehehehe. I think the security apathy reaches far beyond the government. I mean how many people really use PGP [or the like] nowadays anyways? Fairly low.
not [next page] only [next page] that [next page] but [next page] many [next page] other [next page] sites...
put their content on many pages or have many elements.
Listen folks, a "visit" doesn't mean a GET request. It means "a unique visitor at a unique time". If I goto your site and initiate 10,000 GET requests because you have a million little ads and IFRAMES that still is a single visit...
I think they tend to show both sides of the debate. It just happens they pick popular debates for which the side they eventually blast is stupid.
Take for instance the anti-smoking one. They clearly show that there are other evils out there [like fast food] that are just as bad for children as smoking. The one where Cartman becomes a cristian rock star is pretty much dead on. The anti-hippie one as well. Same with the anti-walmart.
Sure they use hyperbole but that's because it's a 30min cartoon and they have to entertain by exageration. If they just said "smoking is dumb but so is fast food" it wouldn't be as funny as "smoking is bad, being a fat zealot is stupid and hypocritical".
People who tend not to like South park are the same folk who tend not to watch it or pay careful enough attention. Sure if you watch only 5 mins of any one episode you won't get the message and therefore take it all out of context. But I can do the same with the bible. Watch this
If a man lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them.
OMG the bible says we should kill heteros!!! OMG PONIES!
Taking shit out of context makes you look ignorant and stupid.
Tom
Re:Restrike while the iron is still warm?
on
Futurama Returns
·
· Score: 1
Ren and Stimpy were not exactly what I'd call the funniest cartoons in the world. Only so long you can drag on body fluid jokes before it gets redundant. A lot of the "new" cartoons of its kin are equally unfunny. If I wanted to watch a people farting and pissing and blowing snot all over things I'd just go to the laundromat and watch the coked out locals tweaking.
My take was that it was consistant that Lisa was a little hippie shitdisturber. Maybe you watched an OLDER episode where they haven't yet developed that trait? Simpsons is popular because it's older than most of the audience. It came out in the late 80s. I was babysitting kids born in the 90s who liked the show even though their first memories of the show were probably from 1996 onward.
Futurama is funny because it's silly and creative. Family guy is funny because it's a bit more adult and off the wall. South park is funny because they're highly objective and use hyperbole.
That doesn't mean EVERY episode is comedy gold. But normally people tend to watch the series not just specific episodes which means watching the occasional shit-fill-the-season-out episode.
Slashdot Mirror
It helps when you control the OS, browser and everything else. "fastest" could mean "we don't insert extra delays into our plugins".
Also MS Java and Sun Java [the latter being "the standard"] are not 100% compatible. I routinely fight with it at work for our internal HR bs.
Tom
If M$ wins, its fud and was paid for.
/rant
It isn't as if they haven't been caught buying studies before. So the distrust is well justified.
Plain and simple fact is if Microsoft could compete with the usefulness of a solid Linux distro their product would speak for itself. In some cases this is true but in essentially all technical senses Microsoft is just a plain loser.
Most of Microsofts problems is that they don't listen to the customers. I mean sure they listen to Dell, RIAA, MPAA, maybe even IBM and other big wigs. But what about us users? What does WGA give me in terms of a useful feature? What does the bloat that is WMP give me over a simpler mplayer? Why must they invent their own file formats [e.g. Office files, WMV, WMA] that are proprietary instead of using or establishing more open standards? etc, etc, etc.
Everything MSFT does is to benefit the stock holders through locking the "customers" into their system. Use our OS, use our office suite, use our media tools, use our development tools. All the while they ignore any sense of established standards [ISO C99 anyone?] which make interoperability a bitch for Windows users. There is simply no reason why MSFT uses these awful platform dependent libraries. Take DirectX for instance. On any OTHER platform you combine Allegro with OpenGL and have essentially the same thing [just 1/10th the size and in C]. But no, we must use the DX "experience" because somehow the hype makes it shinier!
I know what I'm saying is "no duh", but you seemed to be hinting that MSFT hatred is not warranted. Us "OSS" users don't hate MSFT because it's better. We hate it because it lulls people into a sense of superiority when all it does is move to separate them from their money. It creates nightmares for us who chose to chose.
I mean I can save an OpenOffice document on my Gentoo box and my friend can open it in FreeBSD with OpenOffice [or whatever]. Why can't I save an Office document and open it in Linux? Why can't Office work in Linux anyways? Seems Linux distros have GUIs, widgets, networking, fonts, etc. There really is no technical reason why Office can't work in Windows, oh I know, because MSFT uses it as a reason to buy Windows.
Tom
If you look closely you'll see the area of the "industrial" part is larger. Likely they use some form of RAID combined with the cream of the crop process output.
mmmm cream...
Tom
Solution, don't allow blue button patents.
/sad
Chances are if you tack "on the internet" to your patent claim it isn't original or non-obvious. A method of only updating part of a page? You mean like an IFRAME, Javascript and the DOM? Not exactly "new". I did a web programming class on it in 2001.
You'd think though, with the thousands of patents filed daily that we'd have flying cars, microwaves that you can put forks in, better televisions, magic food pills, etc...
Instead we have gas guzzling cars that will end society, microwaves using decades old technology, TV incompatibilities up the wazoo and fake sugar pills sold on SpikeTV at 2am.
Tom
The browser itself benefits from 64-bit mode though. The extra registers makes functions faster as they spill less to the stack.
The prefix works the other way. All instructions default to 32-bit mode in long mode [64-bit mode]. You have to ADD the prefix byte to use the extra 8 GPRs or use the upper 32 bits of the registers. This lets you mix 32 and 64-bit operations in the same "64-bit application". It comes in handy when you're doing things like crypto and have to work with 32-bit words in memory. You don't waste the space, e.g.
A += table[B];
If the algo uses 32-bit words you can store table[] as an array of 32 bit words and use it natively [e.g. no masking or shifting].
And yes, in long mode you can effectively run applications using 32, 16 or even 8 bit registers and use the extra GPRs. They are qword, dword, word and byte addressable [well the lower part]. So for instance...
addb %r8b,%r9b
Adds the lower 8 bits of r8 to r9.
addw %r8w,%r9w
Adds the lower 16 bits of r8 to r9
and so on...
That said, you cannot call 32-bit code [e.g. protected mode code] from a 64-bit long mode program. It wouldn't preserve the proper registers and you also couldn't pass it pointers and what not. This is where you use a "thunking layer". Originally made popular by 16-bit drivers in Win3.11/Win95 [e.g. for obscure hardware] you'd have a layer inbetween the 32 and 64-bit code which would pass data so that it's addressable to the 32-bit code and vice versa.
Apparently there is a plugin for firefox that does this already.
Tom
You have to call the the pluggin at some level. If you are in 64 bit mode you are passing pointers and other stuff as 64-bit registers [or stack entries]. If the plugin is 32-bits it won't be able to make use of them.
Yes, you can run 32-bit code in 64-bit mode (in x86_64 64-bit instructions need a REX prefix byte so they're actually not default!) but your 64-bit code has to be aware of what it is calling.
Tom
Again do I have to drag out the math of scales here?
... take electricity to make. That power has to come from somewhere. They're competing with the people burning energy. Thus they raise the cost of the product. Not to mention the cost of refining the materials that go into it [or the delivery of it]. Net effect is, by not using a lower power processor your ass is going to get more lonely then you would have hoped.
/rant
Saving 85Wh of power, times a couple million users == 170MWh of energy saved. [Not including the inefficiency of power supplies, power lines feeding your home, air conditioning, etc]
Now, here's the tricky part, follow with me. Energy is a limited resource. The more competition for it the more it cost.
Now, here's where it becomes a big deal. Things you buy, like your purple translucent homestyle dildo
You'd have a point if the difference was 95W vs 94W or something. You just have to keep in mind there are millions of processors out there. Most of them are taking more than 90W to run [on both sides of the AMD/Intel fence].
This same sort of logic applies to cars. Is 45Mpg really that much better than 35? For you individually probably not. Multiply that by the millions of cars out there though and it's a big deal.
etc, etc, etc...
Tom
Tom
DRTFA and stopped reading the summary after the word "rejiggered".
....
Look, I know you CxO types are very busy and super important people [sarcasm] but lets not invent new words shall we? All the CEO is supposed to do is look good and say forward thinking things like "We intend to make profits this quarter."
It's the actual engineers that make companies like HP and Compaq move forwards. I don't care how much marketting you spin on your new laptops, if you don't put a screen in [for example] it's not going to sell. Or if the damn thing weighs a ton, or the batteries explode or
Personally I think the executives should be the least paid people in the company. And if they don't like that they can moonlight as an engineer or something.
Tom
That's why they are improving in other directions. Not just higher clock rates but more efficient [IPC, MIPS/watt, etc]. That and there are many people who can find ways to fill pretty much any cycle count processor.
For the desktop/laptop market things the more dominating factors will switch from speed to power as people try to reduce their electricity and cooling bills. I'm sure if you could have a 10W Opteron running as fast as a 95W one you'd be interested in making the switch.
Tom
Another poster answered your post but I want to add to that...
Intel has gone through the same socket changes from 8xx to 9xx for the different cores. I'm sitting here with a 915G motherboard that GUESS WHAT, can't run the latest 775 processors. By your logic we should all still be on Socket1 processors with a 50Mhz front side bus.
The more realistic answer is to just buy what you can afford and need. An AMD 4400+ should be fast enough for pretty much anything in the forseeable future. Or at least, the "latest and greatest" won't be much better anyways.
Tom
You realize that you're comparing products that are from different generations? I'm sure your XP-M is faster than that Intel 386 laptop you have there...
You should really compare it to a Turion if anything. But even then the Turion is part of the AMD64 series and was competition against the Pentium4 series [and I guess pentium M as well].
My point though, if you walked into a store today you would be pitting a Turion against the Duo. Not an XP-M against the Duo.
Tom
Am I the only one who thinks the ad is just plain stupid looking? I don't get how that conveys "white PSPs are coming". Mostly it just looks like some bad soft-BDSM.
Tom
The problem is all these measures MSFT takes hurt legitimate users.
For instance, I recently acquired a work laptop that had to be re-imaged. The laptop came with a WinXp Pro license but it was from an OEM [Fujitsu]. Now I don't have the Fujitsu CD anymore so I used my own XP Pro cd. Guess what happens? It won't let me activate it. I had to call MSFT and explain to them [after doing the 10 6-digit number thing TWICE] that I was a legitimate user who had to use generic install media.
I bet you there are scores of similar people who fight against the anti-piracy stuff to use software that they did indeed pay for.
Besides, if MSFT is dropping this that and the other thing from Vista, maybe they don't have time to be messing with DAILY WGA updates? How about they use my hard earned money to improve the damn OS and not try to lock paying customers out of it.
Tom
Um, no try again. If I use my credit card at a store and they charge the wrong amount I first bring it up with them. Then if that doesn't resolve and only then do I go to the credit card company.
The first thing your issuer will tell you is to put in writing what you've done to resolve the problem which must include what you did with the merchant. Escalating to the issuer is a serious action and doing it over every trivial action is a waste of time.
So if I use my credit card with google to buy something from you and google screws up, I should be able to go to them to fix it. Since they are effectively the ones selling me the product [the "seller" is just providing it].
I mean this is like going to Sony because Best Buy charged you wrong on the TV you bought. No, you go to best buy to fix the charge.
Tom
Because it's anti-social? Unproductive? etc...
I don't think society values "oh drop out of school and be a brick layer" either. Your 8 hour work day should in theory be something that contributes to society [which may include brick laying but ideally not as a last resort].
Oh wow, you have a lvl 60 character. Big deal. How does that better society in any which way? How does that better yourself?
If you want to live your entire life with the thinking process of an eight year old then that's how you're going to get treated. With time outs and government handholding.
That and grow the fuck up. 8 hours a day of gaming is just obsessive.
Tom
10. Disputes
GPC will provide various tools to assist Customers in communicating with each other to resolve a dispute that may arise between Buyers and Sellers with respect to their transaction. If Customers are unable to resolve a dispute, we can mediate disputes between buyers and sellers if either party requests assistance. If this occurs, we will review the dispute and propose a non-binding solution, if appropriate. For more detailed information, please see our Frequently Asked Questions.
GPC may offer a feedback or other ranking system on the Service to assist you in evaluating other Customers of the Service. You acknowledge that any such feedback or ranking system represents solely the opinion of other Customers of the Service, and is not an opinion, representation, or warranty by GPC with respect to other Customers of the Service.
You agree to release, GPC, Google, and other GPC affiliates, and their agents, contractors, officers and employees, from all claims, demands and damages (actual and consequential) arising out of or in any way connected with a dispute. You agree that you will not involve GPC in any litigation or other dispute arising out of or related to any transaction, agreement, or arrangement with any Seller, other Buyer, advertiser or other third party in connection with the Service. If you attempt to do so, (i) you shall pay all costs and attorneys' fees of GPC, Google, and other GPC affiliates and shall provide indemnification as set forth below, and (ii) the jurisdiction for any such litigation or dispute shall be limited as set forth below. However, nothing in this Terms of Service shall constitute a waiver of any rights, claims or defenses that you may have with respect to a Payment Transaction under the Buyer's card issuer agreement, the card association rules or applicable state and federal laws, such as the federal Truth in Lending Act or the Electronic Fund Transfer Act.
If you are a California resident, you hereby expressly waive California Civil Code 1542, which states: "A general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his favor at the time of executing the release, which if not known by him must have materially affected his settlement with the debtor."
Are you saying knee-jerk reactions to any sort of liberty can come back and bite people on the ass?
NO WAI!
hehehehe. I think the security apathy reaches far beyond the government. I mean how many people really use PGP [or the like] nowadays anyways? Fairly low.
Tom
Please tell me you don't live in the states...
Tom
not [next page] only [next page] that [next page] but [next page] many [next page] other [next page] sites ...
put their content on many pages or have many elements.
Listen folks, a "visit" doesn't mean a GET request. It means "a unique visitor at a unique time". If I goto your site and initiate 10,000 GET requests because you have a million little ads and IFRAMES that still is a single visit...
Tom
I think they tend to show both sides of the debate. It just happens they pick popular debates for which the side they eventually blast is stupid.
Take for instance the anti-smoking one. They clearly show that there are other evils out there [like fast food] that are just as bad for children as smoking. The one where Cartman becomes a cristian rock star is pretty much dead on. The anti-hippie one as well. Same with the anti-walmart.
Sure they use hyperbole but that's because it's a 30min cartoon and they have to entertain by exageration. If they just said "smoking is dumb but so is fast food" it wouldn't be as funny as "smoking is bad, being a fat zealot is stupid and hypocritical".
People who tend not to like South park are the same folk who tend not to watch it or pay careful enough attention. Sure if you watch only 5 mins of any one episode you won't get the message and therefore take it all out of context. But I can do the same with the bible. Watch this
If a man lie with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood [shall be] upon them.
OMG the bible says we should kill heteros!!! OMG PONIES!
Taking shit out of context makes you look ignorant and stupid.
Tom
Ren and Stimpy were not exactly what I'd call the funniest cartoons in the world. Only so long you can drag on body fluid jokes before it gets redundant. A lot of the "new" cartoons of its kin are equally unfunny. If I wanted to watch a people farting and pissing and blowing snot all over things I'd just go to the laundromat and watch the coked out locals tweaking.
Tom
flamebait...
My take was that it was consistant that Lisa was a little hippie shitdisturber. Maybe you watched an OLDER episode where they haven't yet developed that trait? Simpsons is popular because it's older than most of the audience. It came out in the late 80s. I was babysitting kids born in the 90s who liked the show even though their first memories of the show were probably from 1996 onward.
Futurama is funny because it's silly and creative. Family guy is funny because it's a bit more adult and off the wall. South park is funny because they're highly objective and use hyperbole.
That doesn't mean EVERY episode is comedy gold. But normally people tend to watch the series not just specific episodes which means watching the occasional shit-fill-the-season-out episode.
Tom
Or use SATA... when are CD/DVDs gonna start using it [mainstream]?
Tom
in everything from phones, gaming consoles, bluetooth mice/keyboards, etc...
Just everyone and their brother runs a Java.net.OOP/PHP webshop and the signal/noise ratio of REAL jobs is too low.
Tom
Apple [at least used to] cost more, presumably due to higher quality.
Tom