I have played this game, and it's pretty standard Bioware stuff. Bioware has already figured out how to make this kind of RPG work in co-op. If you played Neverwinter Nights 2, for example, you would have seen it work.
Basically, there is one main player who makes the plot decisions. The co-op partners control other members of the party.
Granted, in this game there are parts where you must work alone, but they're relatively short, and I don't mind waiting.
From your analysis of ESPN, it seems like you're saying that with a la carte cable, the customer would be able to pay $9 for ESPN if they did not want ESPN 2. To me, that is exactly the appeal of a la carte cable. I'm not expecting to pay 3/40th for three of the channels in a 40 channel bundle, but rather something less than 100%. It would be cheaper, and I don't lose anything because the other 37 channels are just noise to me.
Also, the other part of your argument sounds like you're saying that the cost of transition would be high since cable companies are committed to the bundling system. This is exactly why government intervention would be needed, since the high cost discourages companies from making the transition on their own.
One game that does this well is World of Warcraft. If you check "windowed mode" and "maximized" in the video options dialog, the game looks as if it is funning in fullscreen, but the mouse moves smoothly to a second monitor without any effort on the user's part.
Seeing how the press is a line of defense when one's rights are trampled upon, drawing a distinction based on legality here is a dangerous thing to do.
Just because something is illegal to do, doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. Obviously there are times when information shouldn't be made available publically, but we shouldn't use the law as the only guideline.
The University of Texas at Austin recently implemented an "enhanced" password qualification system for their UTDirect service and required all users to change their passwords. On the surface this looked like a good idea. It required all passwords to include a letter (no requirement for upper/lower case), a number, and a symbol. No part of the password could contain a word from their (very extensive) lexicon.
As I used the system, I discovered that these rules made it almost impossible for me to pick a good password that I can remember. For one, the requirement that no part of the password contain a word meant that the password had to be complete jibberish with symbols. To add to this, the system is not one that someone would use frequently, so by the time I had to use it a second time, I'd have already forgotten my password. In fact, iirc, I've had to reset my password each time I logged into the system. I have already written to the IT department but am still waiting for a response.
As someone who has trouble remember exact phrases, I find that the mnemonic methods that are suggested in the article do not work well for me. I find myself looking around my computer for phrases to use. (The security risk of that is obvious.) In the past, I've always picked a "weak" password and padded it with numbers or characters to make it strong. Can someone tell me why that is a bad thing to do? As a suggestion, I think there should be a password scoring system that rates how long it would take to brute force a user's password using an optimal algorithm, then allow users to incrementally strengthen their passwords until they are acceptable.
China, sensitive about issues of national sovereignty, has banned a computer sports game that classifies Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau and Tibet as countries and has threatened to fine Web sites that supply the game and Internet cafes that let patrons download it.
Regardless of the state of Taiwan's independence, it looks like that the game is indeed geographically incorrect. Hong Kong and Macau are both officially part of China. This would be similar to a game depicting Texas as its own country.
...the Chinese "nation" will disintegrate into smaller parts once a central government becomes unable to control the provinces by brute force.
That is highly unlikely. The Chinese people is one that thrives on unity. Despite the very vocal individuals that speak out against the status quo, most of the people I've spoken to in China genuinely want the current government which is giving them stability and security. It is rather presumptious to say that the country is only held toghether by a brutal government. For you see, a brutal government like the ones you mentioned only serve to give rise to dissention and destabilize the country.
With Nobuo reduced involvement, Final Fantasy X's soundtrack was considerably worse than the previous games in the series. Fortunately, Final Fantasy XI had a decent soundtrack. I anxiously await the release of Final Fantasy XII, but have many doubts about whether it can carry on the tradition of the great soundtracks that Final Fantasy is known for.
Ease of use may be a major selling point for people using Macs. However, with the number of people who use it with a windows computer, this is unlikely the case. Especially seeing how some of the "ipod-killers" plug-and-play into windows computers just as easily. Two things that these competitors don't have, are the marketing and the hype it created behind the iPods.
I cannot believe that the parent to this post was modded up. Some of the above points are valid concerns, but others are problems of the past.
Of course, every time there is talk about China, someone has to bring up something about Human Rights. But give me a break, clean water? food? China has gotten past that stage a long time ago. Right now overnutrition and obesity troubles much of the population. As for the judicial system, fairness is a matter of opinion. In China, criminals are punished more severely than in the US. Corruption in the governance is a problem in China, but the same problem exists in every country. The USA, for example, is a prime source of governmental scandals. China is working on a more efficient education system as we speak. The problem with education lies in overpopulation. Think about it, China has more than four times the population of America, andd merely building more schools will not be able to solve the problem overnight. The curriculum in Chinese primary and secondary schools includes a much more in depth understanding of subjects such as math and science than that of American schools.
I guess my point is that although China's fundations are not yet perfect, it is getting better at a faster rate than any other country.
As a result, a government that does not have the power to lead the nation rarely achieves ambitious goals. There are many nations in the world whose governing bodies were established to lead rather than oversee. Having a powerful government doesn't necessarily spell disaster. Conversely, the US government, checked by its limitations, may one day decide to forego all the procedures and establish totalitarianism. Not likely, but still possible.
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Don't install antennae on the TV, or connect them to cable. It will then be impossible to watch TV on them.
I have played this game, and it's pretty standard Bioware stuff. Bioware has already figured out how to make this kind of RPG work in co-op. If you played Neverwinter Nights 2, for example, you would have seen it work.
Basically, there is one main player who makes the plot decisions. The co-op partners control other members of the party.
Granted, in this game there are parts where you must work alone, but they're relatively short, and I don't mind waiting.
From your analysis of ESPN, it seems like you're saying that with a la carte cable, the customer would be able to pay $9 for ESPN if they did not want ESPN 2. To me, that is exactly the appeal of a la carte cable. I'm not expecting to pay 3/40th for three of the channels in a 40 channel bundle, but rather something less than 100%. It would be cheaper, and I don't lose anything because the other 37 channels are just noise to me.
Also, the other part of your argument sounds like you're saying that the cost of transition would be high since cable companies are committed to the bundling system. This is exactly why government intervention would be needed, since the high cost discourages companies from making the transition on their own.
HP 50g with built-in SD card slot.
One game that does this well is World of Warcraft. If you check "windowed mode" and "maximized" in the video options dialog, the game looks as if it is funning in fullscreen, but the mouse moves smoothly to a second monitor without any effort on the user's part.
Seeing how the press is a line of defense when one's rights are trampled upon, drawing a distinction based on legality here is a dangerous thing to do.
Just because something is illegal to do, doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. Obviously there are times when information shouldn't be made available publically, but we shouldn't use the law as the only guideline.
This analogy becomes even more appropriate if you include the explaination of "increasing the bus speed".
The University of Texas at Austin recently implemented an "enhanced" password qualification system for their UTDirect service and required all users to change their passwords. On the surface this looked like a good idea. It required all passwords to include a letter (no requirement for upper/lower case), a number, and a symbol. No part of the password could contain a word from their (very extensive) lexicon.
As I used the system, I discovered that these rules made it almost impossible for me to pick a good password that I can remember. For one, the requirement that no part of the password contain a word meant that the password had to be complete jibberish with symbols. To add to this, the system is not one that someone would use frequently, so by the time I had to use it a second time, I'd have already forgotten my password. In fact, iirc, I've had to reset my password each time I logged into the system. I have already written to the IT department but am still waiting for a response.
As someone who has trouble remember exact phrases, I find that the mnemonic methods that are suggested in the article do not work well for me. I find myself looking around my computer for phrases to use. (The security risk of that is obvious.) In the past, I've always picked a "weak" password and padded it with numbers or characters to make it strong. Can someone tell me why that is a bad thing to do? As a suggestion, I think there should be a password scoring system that rates how long it would take to brute force a user's password using an optimal algorithm, then allow users to incrementally strengthen their passwords until they are acceptable.
Regardless of the state of Taiwan's independence, it looks like that the game is indeed geographically incorrect. Hong Kong and Macau are both officially part of China. This would be similar to a game depicting Texas as its own country.
This is so true.
With Nobuo reduced involvement, Final Fantasy X's soundtrack was considerably worse than the previous games in the series. Fortunately, Final Fantasy XI had a decent soundtrack. I anxiously await the release of Final Fantasy XII, but have many doubts about whether it can carry on the tradition of the great soundtracks that Final Fantasy is known for.
Ease of use may be a major selling point for people using Macs. However, with the number of people who use it with a windows computer, this is unlikely the case. Especially seeing how some of the "ipod-killers" plug-and-play into windows computers just as easily. Two things that these competitors don't have, are the marketing and the hype it created behind the iPods.
Talk about dropping the ball...
I guess sometimes you just gotta dish out the dough for some serious systems.
I cannot believe that the parent to this post was modded up. Some of the above points are valid concerns, but others are problems of the past.
Of course, every time there is talk about China, someone has to bring up something about Human Rights. But give me a break, clean water? food? China has gotten past that stage a long time ago. Right now overnutrition and obesity troubles much of the population. As for the judicial system, fairness is a matter of opinion. In China, criminals are punished more severely than in the US. Corruption in the governance is a problem in China, but the same problem exists in every country. The USA, for example, is a prime source of governmental scandals. China is working on a more efficient education system as we speak. The problem with education lies in overpopulation. Think about it, China has more than four times the population of America, andd merely building more schools will not be able to solve the problem overnight. The curriculum in Chinese primary and secondary schools includes a much more in depth understanding of subjects such as math and science than that of American schools.
I guess my point is that although China's fundations are not yet perfect, it is getting better at a faster rate than any other country.
As a result, a government that does not have the power to lead the nation rarely achieves ambitious goals. There are many nations in the world whose governing bodies were established to lead rather than oversee. Having a powerful government doesn't necessarily spell disaster. Conversely, the US government, checked by its limitations, may one day decide to forego all the procedures and establish totalitarianism. Not likely, but still possible.