"Studies" like this make me sick. There's mountains of evidence -- MOUNTAINS -- that antidepressants PLUS "talk therapy" is the best combination to deal with clinical depression.
Anyone who does not believe that antidepressants are required for those who need them need to get their own heads examined. There are fundamental biological and even physical differences (size of the hippocampus, for example) between clinically depressed and "normal" people. There are demonstrated effects that antidepressants assist in generating the necessary chemicals needed for these people to survive. If they don't get the right treatment -- talk therapy and/or medication -- they can die (suicide).
I was originally hesitant when I was first offered antidepressants. I viewed this as my mind "failing" (as an issue with the mind, you think you can tackle it through thought). A family member made it very clear to me the folly in my thoughts (which, coincidently, is a symptom of depression -- illogical thought patterns). "If you had to take insulin, would you avoid it because you felt 'you didn't need it'? If you had to take blood pressure medication would you do that?" The answer, for most reasonable people, is no.
1.) Red ring of death (fuck you, Microsoft). 2.) TAKE HARD DRIVE OFF CONSOLE. Send in console for repair. 3.) Get different console with different serial number back. Place hard drive on it. 4.) Console wants to verify my Live account online. Go for it. 5.) All content accessible.
* Could be that we got out of college and started jobs at or below entry level salaries given the economic downturn immediately after 9/11. * Could be that 5-10 years later the market has changed so dramatically that it's unusual to even find a company with an "IT department" anymore. It's all been outsourced. * Could be that most IT workers are tired of seeing executives get 20% raises and stock options year after year while we get flat 3% annual - or no raises at all. * Could be that with all this automation we're still checking our Blackberries at 3 AM and rebooting servers. We're always on call (like doctors) but we don't paid like them. * Could be that the "fun" of this industry left long ago. It's no longer hacking away at circuit boards. It's watching server farms blink.
* You want to know why employers are having a touch time retaining us? Could be that we're smart enough to realize the "traditional" career of an IT professional is all but gone and the only real career paths left are through management (hence folks skipping the certifications and going for the MBAs). Alternatively, consulting still proves lucrative. But to chide us because we know that the "IT professional" career is dying is silly.
I'm a systems administrator. I have had a Blackberry for several years but only recently started checking it constantly.
In my opinion, it has been dangerous to my health. Previously, when a server would have an issue (major or minor) I wouldn't really address it until users started complaining. Sometimes I'd get an email notification, sometimes I wouldn't -- regardless, repair wouldn't begin until 9 AM the next day.
Some people may view that as bad administration (and it is, to a degree), but there was a clear delineation between when work ended and "brain reset" time began. Now, I'm constant checking my Blackberry, always monitoring servers, etc. Great work ethic, right?
Problem is: I can't sleep at nights. I wake up at 4 AM to check backups. I check that the work other admins have done has been done correctly.
Work never "ends". I'm always getting the emails about new work that needs to be done. Recently I went to the doctor because I had tremendous stomach pain. Turned out to be something I ate and stress. I've lost weight (unintentionally).
People may say (and they're right to a degree) that it is my own psychosis that's the issue. Clearly I haven't delineated in my own mind what is "important" work and what isn't -- what needs to be checked constantly and what doesn't.
However, to say the Blackberry isn't contributing to this is crazy. Years ago, nobody would communicate with me from work after I went home. Now I'm constantly being communicated with -- there's no way to shut it off (without fear of a server blowing up somewhere).
It's funny -- a few months ago there was a similar Slashdot story that mentioned Blackberries and I was on the side that they were helpful. Clearly, though, this one attached to my hip has caused great problems with my health. It's enough that I'm thinking of getting out of systems administration altogether.
Just to echo the above, I've written before about my time reviewing in games (I freelanced for GameSpot, among others). On one occasion with another rag a publisher did the same -- called up the editor after my negative review, threatened to pull advertising dollars, threatened to provide other mags with "exclusives" of new titles over us, etc. Just about everything they could do besides saying "fire him".
Fortunately, the game actually DID suck (it was one of those video CD "games" with crappy acting and no real gameplay) and my editor did stand by my review. However, he did ask if it would be ok for another reviewer at the mag to provide a "counterreview" (presumably more positive).
In summary: this stuff is not uncommon. It's common. Any time you have content creators advertising in the same media they're critiqued (whether it be games, movies, etc) you're going to get this double standard.
Define "these people". If you mean everyone who didn't use CDC PLATO, IBM CMS or Unix in the 1980s, then it's a fairly huge number. "These people" never used IM (at least, not to the extent that they could consider it a primary means of communication).
What us computer geeks fail to realize is that technology doesn't become mainstream when we start using it -- it becomes mainstream when it reaches critical mass. Today, teenagers are growing up with social networks and, to them, messaging through MySpace/Facebook makes a lot more sense than emailing. Since they're the majority (at least over computer geeks), they're going to control the direction internet communication heads.
I read a blog post that mentioned this (wish I could remember which blog), but Portal is a textbook example of how to have a rich, yet simply-designed story in a short game. One speaker (GlaDOS -- the crazy AI), some extremely well-written monologues and just a hint of emotion (enough to make you wonder what's really going on by the end of the first level) draws you completely in. By the time you get to the end "boss", the player has a great appreciation for just how dangerous their enemy is. To be honest, there was greater context and delivery than nearly every big name game out there (I'm looking at you, Halo 3).
Considering you can buy Portal for $20, and there's bound to be map packs coming out sooner or later, it's a steal. Couple that with modders already combining the game with Half-Life 2 (http://www.primotechnology.com/2007/10/17/half-life-2-portal/) and you have a recipe for long term fun at a cheap price.
I bought the iPhone the day it came out thinking I'd have the same reaction ("it's just a phone"). I then immediately took it on a multi-week vacation and used it every day. I found some features invaluable.
* The "real" web browser can be a lifesaver. I was able to conduct business as usual, accessing OWA, using PayPal, etc. No Blackberry-ized web. * "Real" email is also a plus. Getting PDF attachments and actually seeing them rendered as they're supposed to be rendered helps. * Visual voicemail was a great benefit on vacation. When you have 10-12 messages to go through, a day, seeing exactly who sent what and picking/choosing was a godsend. * Video plays very well on it, and was a great benefit on 8-hour plane flights. * Even "just as a phone", there's a number of features that it just does better than other phones. I never could recall, for example, the key combination to do 3-way calling on my Blackberry. On the iPhone it was just a couple of button presses.
It's still not perfect. If you receive a large attachment (e.g. a 1 MB+ JPG) it can error. I've seen the web browser crash a few times while playing music. Also, the screen is a fingerprint magnet.
That said, the same people complaining "What's so good about an iPhone?" are likely the same that complained years ago "What's so good about carrying around a cell phone?" Until you have one, using it every day, you don't realize how good beneficial it can be.
I can only hope that other manufacturers copy the design well enough that someone else can release a model at a lower price.
I've held off getting a PS3 specifically because there's a lack of quality games. However, I don't own a PS2, and stuff like God of War has always intrigued me. If they removed backward compatibility, the only reason I'd buy the system would be gone.
Microsoft and Nintendo, for all their faults, have at least recognized one basic fact: games first, everything else (e.g. Blu-Ray) second. Not the other way around.
If you can't code without hand-holding tools like automatic garbage collection, perhaps you belong in a different profession!
Or perhaps they're too busy thinking about clearly-defined objects, robust interfaces, clean documentation and the "big picture" then to worry about moving individual bytes around.
Likewise, I don't trust any artist using Flash today. They should clearly know how to code, in assembly, animation and transitions. Use of a timeline is for losers. The creative process should always be sacrificed for knowing the code inside out./sarcasmoff
No offense (and I personally don't expect this to happen, but you never know) -- Apple would be in seriously dire straights if enough content providers pulled an NBC. Apple produces NO VIDEO CONTENT of their own. For some reason, people seem to keep forgetting this. The livelihood of the iTunes Store relies on keeping content providers happy -- not under Apple's thumb.
"I'm too cheap to have every piece of kit I want, so I like to tinker with consoles to give them all the bells and whistles I cannot afford otherwise..."
Here's the funny thing, though -- if you have that kind of knowledge, the time you spend "tinkering" probably costs more than purchasing "the other pieces of the kit". For example, I make about $100 an hour. It would probably take me about a couple hours to properly mod an Xbox. That's a couple hundred dollars I *could* spend on better hardware.
There's nothing wrong with hacking -- enjoy it. But to make the argument that you're saving money is probably incorrect.
Actually, if you use Yahoo Mail it checks automatically. I know this because mine did it from the moment I set it up without changing any settings. It actually seems to use a pseudo-push setup (when new mail shows up at Yahoo it automatically shows up on the phone).
Phatpod iPod Nano - Like your sleek device for workouts? Too bad, go get a Shuffle - BONED $.99 ringtone on top of $.99 to buy the song (certain songs only) - BONED Starbucks "integration" - now my iPhone will spend a few extra seconds every time I hook up to a Wifi access point looking for coffee music - BONED We managed to fit really nice HDs in iPods, but not the new Touch iPod - but you get a few millimeters back - BONED $599 to $399 price drop in 2 months - EXTREMELY BONED
iTunes Store wireless - kind of cool. Wish they'd do the same thing with TV shows in music (that's what I'd be inclined to buy in an airport somewhere)
I used to write for GameSpot. When we came across a game like this, we reviewers would tend to "lean" the score higher. Don't misunderstand me -- it's a fantastic game. My point is those rating points you see on reviews translate into sales which become big dollars, and we WANT games like this to financially successful. Games like BioShock keep the industry alive. So we would give them a little help.
The gaming community needs to "lean" BioShock higher. We need to stop focusing on the (lack of) a rootkit. We need to stop complaining about the install limitations (in all honesty, who is installing this game on more than 5 machines anyway)? In particular, we need to really fight against those focusing on the "child killing" aspect. (Which, to be frank, is completely disturbing in-game and meant to make the player feel awful).
We need to focus on the art of the game, and try to forget all the tangential stuff. Yes, I know, it's hard for Slashdot folks. "Rawr rawr DRM... rawr rawr install limitations... rawr rawr never going to support this company again." Just put that to the side if you can. We NEED to support games like this. otherwise it's back to horrific Madden clones and movie-licensed drek.
Slashdot Mirror
Works well to play a lot of old school console games and it's legal.
Sorry. All I heard was "get off my lawn!"
"Studies" like this make me sick. There's mountains of evidence -- MOUNTAINS -- that antidepressants PLUS "talk therapy" is the best combination to deal with clinical depression.
Anyone who does not believe that antidepressants are required for those who need them need to get their own heads examined. There are fundamental biological and even physical differences (size of the hippocampus, for example) between clinically depressed and "normal" people. There are demonstrated effects that antidepressants assist in generating the necessary chemicals needed for these people to survive. If they don't get the right treatment -- talk therapy and/or medication -- they can die (suicide).
I was originally hesitant when I was first offered antidepressants. I viewed this as my mind "failing" (as an issue with the mind, you think you can tackle it through thought). A family member made it very clear to me the folly in my thoughts (which, coincidently, is a symptom of depression -- illogical thought patterns). "If you had to take insulin, would you avoid it because you felt 'you didn't need it'? If you had to take blood pressure medication would you do that?" The answer, for most reasonable people, is no.
What happened to me:
1.) Red ring of death (fuck you, Microsoft).
2.) TAKE HARD DRIVE OFF CONSOLE. Send in console for repair.
3.) Get different console with different serial number back. Place hard drive on it.
4.) Console wants to verify my Live account online. Go for it.
5.) All content accessible.
So I'm not really sure what happened to this guy.
* Could be that we got out of college and started jobs at or below entry level salaries given the economic downturn immediately after 9/11.
* Could be that 5-10 years later the market has changed so dramatically that it's unusual to even find a company with an "IT department" anymore. It's all been outsourced.
* Could be that most IT workers are tired of seeing executives get 20% raises and stock options year after year while we get flat 3% annual - or no raises at all.
* Could be that with all this automation we're still checking our Blackberries at 3 AM and rebooting servers. We're always on call (like doctors) but we don't paid like them.
* Could be that the "fun" of this industry left long ago. It's no longer hacking away at circuit boards. It's watching server farms blink.
* You want to know why employers are having a touch time retaining us? Could be that we're smart enough to realize the "traditional" career of an IT professional is all but gone and the only real career paths left are through management (hence folks skipping the certifications and going for the MBAs). Alternatively, consulting still proves lucrative. But to chide us because we know that the "IT professional" career is dying is silly.
I'm a systems administrator. I have had a Blackberry for several years but only recently started checking it constantly.
In my opinion, it has been dangerous to my health. Previously, when a server would have an issue (major or minor) I wouldn't really address it until users started complaining. Sometimes I'd get an email notification, sometimes I wouldn't -- regardless, repair wouldn't begin until 9 AM the next day.
Some people may view that as bad administration (and it is, to a degree), but there was a clear delineation between when work ended and "brain reset" time began. Now, I'm constant checking my Blackberry, always monitoring servers, etc. Great work ethic, right?
Problem is: I can't sleep at nights. I wake up at 4 AM to check backups. I check that the work other admins have done has been done correctly.
Work never "ends". I'm always getting the emails about new work that needs to be done. Recently I went to the doctor because I had tremendous stomach pain. Turned out to be something I ate and stress. I've lost weight (unintentionally).
People may say (and they're right to a degree) that it is my own psychosis that's the issue. Clearly I haven't delineated in my own mind what is "important" work and what isn't -- what needs to be checked constantly and what doesn't.
However, to say the Blackberry isn't contributing to this is crazy. Years ago, nobody would communicate with me from work after I went home. Now I'm constantly being communicated with -- there's no way to shut it off (without fear of a server blowing up somewhere).
It's funny -- a few months ago there was a similar Slashdot story that mentioned Blackberries and I was on the side that they were helpful. Clearly, though, this one attached to my hip has caused great problems with my health. It's enough that I'm thinking of getting out of systems administration altogether.
Just to echo the above, I've written before about my time reviewing in games (I freelanced for GameSpot, among others). On one occasion with another rag a publisher did the same -- called up the editor after my negative review, threatened to pull advertising dollars, threatened to provide other mags with "exclusives" of new titles over us, etc. Just about everything they could do besides saying "fire him".
Fortunately, the game actually DID suck (it was one of those video CD "games" with crappy acting and no real gameplay) and my editor did stand by my review. However, he did ask if it would be ok for another reviewer at the mag to provide a "counterreview" (presumably more positive).
In summary: this stuff is not uncommon. It's common. Any time you have content creators advertising in the same media they're critiqued (whether it be games, movies, etc) you're going to get this double standard.
No it won't.
It's not a rock. It's a rock lobster.
Define "these people". If you mean everyone who didn't use CDC PLATO, IBM CMS or Unix in the 1980s, then it's a fairly huge number. "These people" never used IM (at least, not to the extent that they could consider it a primary means of communication).
What us computer geeks fail to realize is that technology doesn't become mainstream when we start using it -- it becomes mainstream when it reaches critical mass. Today, teenagers are growing up with social networks and, to them, messaging through MySpace/Facebook makes a lot more sense than emailing. Since they're the majority (at least over computer geeks), they're going to control the direction internet communication heads.
I read a blog post that mentioned this (wish I could remember which blog), but Portal is a textbook example of how to have a rich, yet simply-designed story in a short game. One speaker (GlaDOS -- the crazy AI), some extremely well-written monologues and just a hint of emotion (enough to make you wonder what's really going on by the end of the first level) draws you completely in. By the time you get to the end "boss", the player has a great appreciation for just how dangerous their enemy is. To be honest, there was greater context and delivery than nearly every big name game out there (I'm looking at you, Halo 3).
Considering you can buy Portal for $20, and there's bound to be map packs coming out sooner or later, it's a steal. Couple that with modders already combining the game with Half-Life 2 (http://www.primotechnology.com/2007/10/17/half-life-2-portal/) and you have a recipe for long term fun at a cheap price.
To be honest, I did. I usually buy new gadgets for the sheer reason that they're new gadgets. I didn't go into it with any possible Apple fanboy bias.
Some of us get paid lots of money to do that.
I bought the iPhone the day it came out thinking I'd have the same reaction ("it's just a phone"). I then immediately took it on a multi-week vacation and used it every day. I found some features invaluable.
* The "real" web browser can be a lifesaver. I was able to conduct business as usual, accessing OWA, using PayPal, etc. No Blackberry-ized web.
* "Real" email is also a plus. Getting PDF attachments and actually seeing them rendered as they're supposed to be rendered helps.
* Visual voicemail was a great benefit on vacation. When you have 10-12 messages to go through, a day, seeing exactly who sent what and picking/choosing was a godsend.
* Video plays very well on it, and was a great benefit on 8-hour plane flights.
* Even "just as a phone", there's a number of features that it just does better than other phones. I never could recall, for example, the key combination to do 3-way calling on my Blackberry. On the iPhone it was just a couple of button presses.
It's still not perfect. If you receive a large attachment (e.g. a 1 MB+ JPG) it can error. I've seen the web browser crash a few times while playing music. Also, the screen is a fingerprint magnet.
That said, the same people complaining "What's so good about an iPhone?" are likely the same that complained years ago "What's so good about carrying around a cell phone?" Until you have one, using it every day, you don't realize how good beneficial it can be.
I can only hope that other manufacturers copy the design well enough that someone else can release a model at a lower price.
I've held off getting a PS3 specifically because there's a lack of quality games. However, I don't own a PS2, and stuff like God of War has always intrigued me. If they removed backward compatibility, the only reason I'd buy the system would be gone.
Microsoft and Nintendo, for all their faults, have at least recognized one basic fact: games first, everything else (e.g. Blu-Ray) second. Not the other way around.
Just out of curiosity, is there such a thing as track lighting for a cave?
Or perhaps they're too busy thinking about clearly-defined objects, robust interfaces, clean documentation and the "big picture" then to worry about moving individual bytes around.
Likewise, I don't trust any artist using Flash today. They should clearly know how to code, in assembly, animation and transitions. Use of a timeline is for losers. The creative process should always be sacrificed for knowing the code inside out.
No offense (and I personally don't expect this to happen, but you never know) -- Apple would be in seriously dire straights if enough content providers pulled an NBC. Apple produces NO VIDEO CONTENT of their own. For some reason, people seem to keep forgetting this. The livelihood of the iTunes Store relies on keeping content providers happy -- not under Apple's thumb.
Because Comcast doesn't have a vested interested in keeping one of their main content providers on the cable side of things happy. Riiiighhht.....
"I'm too cheap to have every piece of kit I want, so I like to tinker with consoles to give them all the bells and whistles I cannot afford otherwise..."
Here's the funny thing, though -- if you have that kind of knowledge, the time you spend "tinkering" probably costs more than purchasing "the other pieces of the kit". For example, I make about $100 an hour. It would probably take me about a couple hours to properly mod an Xbox. That's a couple hundred dollars I *could* spend on better hardware.
There's nothing wrong with hacking -- enjoy it. But to make the argument that you're saving money is probably incorrect.
Actually, if you use Yahoo Mail it checks automatically. I know this because mine did it from the moment I set it up without changing any settings. It actually seems to use a pseudo-push setup (when new mail shows up at Yahoo it automatically shows up on the phone).
For me, they lowered the price of my phone $100.
$100 over a 2 month period, while a fair amount, isn't crazy high.
I'll take it.
Phatpod iPod Nano - Like your sleek device for workouts? Too bad, go get a Shuffle - BONED
$.99 ringtone on top of $.99 to buy the song (certain songs only) - BONED
Starbucks "integration" - now my iPhone will spend a few extra seconds every time I hook up to a Wifi access point looking for coffee music - BONED
We managed to fit really nice HDs in iPods, but not the new Touch iPod - but you get a few millimeters back - BONED
$599 to $399 price drop in 2 months - EXTREMELY BONED
iTunes Store wireless - kind of cool. Wish they'd do the same thing with TV shows in music (that's what I'd be inclined to buy in an airport somewhere)
All in all, a particularly boneworthy afternoon.
I used to write for GameSpot. When we came across a game like this, we reviewers would tend to "lean" the score higher. Don't misunderstand me -- it's a fantastic game. My point is those rating points you see on reviews translate into sales which become big dollars, and we WANT games like this to financially successful. Games like BioShock keep the industry alive. So we would give them a little help.
The gaming community needs to "lean" BioShock higher. We need to stop focusing on the (lack of) a rootkit. We need to stop complaining about the install limitations (in all honesty, who is installing this game on more than 5 machines anyway)? In particular, we need to really fight against those focusing on the "child killing" aspect. (Which, to be frank, is completely disturbing in-game and meant to make the player feel awful).
We need to focus on the art of the game, and try to forget all the tangential stuff. Yes, I know, it's hard for Slashdot folks. "Rawr rawr DRM... rawr rawr install limitations... rawr rawr never going to support this company again." Just put that to the side if you can. We NEED to support games like this. otherwise it's back to horrific Madden clones and movie-licensed drek.
"Personally, I actually piss my pants laughing about their OS's most of the time."
You need to get laid.