If there's one thing I like about the XBox 360, it's the controllers.
They fit my hand comfortably. The coloured buttons are great for young children to figure out what to do and to communicate with one another (even if they can't read what letter is on the button). I never had a problem with the D-Pad - I like that it's a single surface rather than 4 individual buttons.
I have purchased a PS3 now because my 360 has already died once and the replacement (now a year old, I guess) gave me a red light recently so this one will probably fail, too. Plus the PS3 lets me upgrade the hard disk with whatever I want whereas the 360 is encrypted up the ying-yang. And no more XBox Live fees! It will take some time getting used to the PS3 menu system, though. Mind you, it is much snappier than the _slow_ menu system of the 360.
Simple idea: for every X tonnes of carbon emissions you produce, you plan X trees to offset it. Simple and visible for all to see, and good for the environment. Plus, it forces us to set aside land for the express purpose of planting trees.
Really, nobody takes any chances? Online only games aren't taking a chance? How about taking a chance on a new platform like iPod touch? Or games that have in-game addons for purchase?
I think people are too down on "the games industry" or maybe too focused on a certain segment (which indeed may be worthy of being negative about).
I think there's lots of crap like there has always been, but there ARE gems. You just have to find them, as has always been the case.
I call bullshit on the "cheap web browsing computer" idea. Web browsing today requires good hardware if you want to go to video sites, plus browsers take up hundreds of megs of RAM (over a gig, even) and a fair bit of CPU.
If you want to visit static HTML sites, fine, but I doubt that's what most people today are into.
Two years ago, Lake Superior was at its lowest level since 1929 (IIRC). It came back some the following year, but this year I am told it is even below those 1929 levels.
I really hope people are on top of this! I know there are huge amounts of water being drained from Superior for human use.
"Within five years, I predict it will be the most popular form of PC sold in America. It will come with a full 640 KB of RAM which should be enough for anybody. We will continue to out-innovate Apple. Then we're going to fscking kill Google."
Some scams are extremely authentic looking. So much that I refuse to act on any commercial email. When I want to go to online banking, I hand-type the URL myself. I never, ever rely on an email link.
Seems like this would apply to any standing water: umbrella-handle shaped kitchen faucets, toilet bowls and tanks, the water sitting under an ice dispenser, flower vases, tea pots, soap dishes, and probably more.
I sometimes find that being happy makes others resentful. I even smiled at a person once on the train and they came up to me and said "I didn't want that seat anyway" as if I was being smug about getting a seat!
So perhaps the more happy people there are the more resentful some people get.
I also wonder whether they factor high on/off activity in the life of the bulb. Bulbs which stay on most of the time seem to last longer than those which are turned on and off regularly.
I've also found that buying better quality bulbs (ie. not from home depot) can result in better bulb lifetime. YMMV.
They are interchangeable. You know what PERL stands for, right? And what BASIC stands for? Java, on the other hand, is not an acronym. People just get tired of using all-caps and write Perl instead. At least that's my understanding.
Totally agreed. I really liked Netstorm, too - what a cool concept. Eventually they did make the server software available to allow the community to run their own thanks to some lobbying. See the history so you can still play the online game today.
My current gripe is with Battlefield 2 by Electronic Arts. The game is copyright 2006 and they're already shuttering the online servers because not enough people are playing. That's total garbage - when it's up the game has many dozens of players online. Is that not enough of a cash cow for them? What about people who are just buying the game today, new or used - what's their experience going to be like? This has really soured me from buying more of their titles, knowing they could call it quits within 3 years. It's too bad because I like their games, but thankfully there are other talented game makers.
I wonder what it would take for an XBox 360 game to make their server software available to the community.
It's hard to find a game that I really like. I've spent too much money on games I don't really like and that's soured me from going out and just buying anything, especially at the 50 to 70 dollar (+ tax) price points. These days I am much more cautious, reading game reviews, searching for gameplay footage, and looking for deals on ebay.
One trend I don't like is a movement towards online delivery. I want the ability to burn a physical copy of the game I downloaded for resale and archive purposes (I don't trust microsoft to keep my copy available indefinitely) but right now making a copy is not an option. Until then I'll be shying away from buying online games over $20.
We should start by spreading life onto other Mars or the Moon as soon as possible for two reasons:
1. we really are the only life in the universe, or at least the only life in the knowable universe.
2. start learning how to support life in a real environment without the overhead of risking human lives which should get us to our goal faster.
The first thing I'd want to do is create a habitable site on the Moon since it's closest. Initially populate it with hardy plants and small animals in a way that is self-sustainable. This way the cost of mistakes is relatively cheap and we learn quickly in a way that should scale up to human habitability in a predictable way.
While this means little directly for the company...
Really, it means little? Large companies tend to prefer, and even require, doing business with other large companies. Being on the S&P 500 is an indication of Red Hat's size and staying power, and thus should increase the desirability of other large companies to do business with it. Wouldn't you think?
I agree with you and the PP and GPP. Last time I looked the indie section on XBox Live was chock full of crap. Like really bad stuff that appeared to be a "hello world" DirectX game. When they raise the bar, I won't cry for those crappy games that are lost. They can always re-publish for the PC as Shareware.
I wish there were more high quality, small budget games like Age of Booty. I've played that game more than any other over the past several months!
Slashdot Mirror
If there's one thing I like about the XBox 360, it's the controllers.
They fit my hand comfortably. The coloured buttons are great for young children to figure out what to do and to communicate with one another (even if they can't read what letter is on the button). I never had a problem with the D-Pad - I like that it's a single surface rather than 4 individual buttons.
I have purchased a PS3 now because my 360 has already died once and the replacement (now a year old, I guess) gave me a red light recently so this one will probably fail, too. Plus the PS3 lets me upgrade the hard disk with whatever I want whereas the 360 is encrypted up the ying-yang. And no more XBox Live fees! It will take some time getting used to the PS3 menu system, though. Mind you, it is much snappier than the _slow_ menu system of the 360.
"combing through" the documents to 'save lives' is bullshit and they know it
Sounds as dubious as someone combing through their code to make sure it is "bug free". How can that ever be assured?
How about time invested in the game? A real nerd would would at least sympathize with the guy.
Simple idea: for every X tonnes of carbon emissions you produce, you plan X trees to offset it. Simple and visible for all to see, and good for the environment. Plus, it forces us to set aside land for the express purpose of planting trees.
and many will be making porn sites.
Care to site your sources? ;-)
Really, nobody takes any chances? Online only games aren't taking a chance? How about taking a chance on a new platform like iPod touch? Or games that have in-game addons for purchase?
I think people are too down on "the games industry" or maybe too focused on a certain segment (which indeed may be worthy of being negative about).
I think there's lots of crap like there has always been, but there ARE gems. You just have to find them, as has always been the case.
I call bullshit on the "cheap web browsing computer" idea. Web browsing today requires good hardware if you want to go to video sites, plus browsers take up hundreds of megs of RAM (over a gig, even) and a fair bit of CPU.
If you want to visit static HTML sites, fine, but I doubt that's what most people today are into.
Apple "cut support" by writing features in the new iOS that were incompatible with first gen iPhones and iTouches. Tomato/tomahto.
Two years ago, Lake Superior was at its lowest level since 1929 (IIRC). It came back some the following year, but this year I am told it is even below those 1929 levels.
I really hope people are on top of this! I know there are huge amounts of water being drained from Superior for human use.
"Within five years, I predict it will be the most popular form of PC sold in America. It will come with a full 640 KB of RAM which should be enough for anybody. We will continue to out-innovate Apple. Then we're going to fscking kill Google."
This black hole that sucks up invisible light would go _great_ with the emperor's new clothes. ;)
Some scams are extremely authentic looking. So much that I refuse to act on any commercial email. When I want to go to online banking, I hand-type the URL myself. I never, ever rely on an email link.
Seems like this would apply to any standing water: umbrella-handle shaped kitchen faucets, toilet bowls and tanks, the water sitting under an ice dispenser, flower vases, tea pots, soap dishes, and probably more.
I sometimes find that being happy makes others resentful. I even smiled at a person once on the train and they came up to me and said "I didn't want that seat anyway" as if I was being smug about getting a seat!
So perhaps the more happy people there are the more resentful some people get.
I also wonder whether they factor high on/off activity in the life of the bulb. Bulbs which stay on most of the time seem to last longer than those which are turned on and off regularly.
I've also found that buying better quality bulbs (ie. not from home depot) can result in better bulb lifetime. YMMV.
I can't remember the last time I saw an electronics store that doesn't have a retractable security gate (bars):
http://www.securityshuttersolutions.co.uk/retractable_gates.html
That would have at least cost the thieves some time and not make it so "knife through warm butter" easy.
They are interchangeable. You know what PERL stands for, right? And what BASIC stands for? Java, on the other hand, is not an acronym.
People just get tired of using all-caps and write Perl instead. At least that's my understanding.
Totally agreed.
I really liked Netstorm, too - what a cool concept. Eventually they did make the server software available to allow the community to run their own thanks to some lobbying. See the history so you can still play the online game today.
My current gripe is with Battlefield 2 by Electronic Arts. The game is copyright 2006 and they're already shuttering the online servers because not enough people are playing. That's total garbage - when it's up the game has many dozens of players online. Is that not enough of a cash cow for them? What about people who are just buying the game today, new or used - what's their experience going to be like? This has really soured me from buying more of their titles, knowing they could call it quits within 3 years. It's too bad because I like their games, but thankfully there are other talented game makers.
I wonder what it would take for an XBox 360 game to make their server software available to the community.
It's hard to find a game that I really like. I've spent too much money on games I don't really like and that's soured me from going out and just buying anything, especially at the 50 to 70 dollar (+ tax) price points.
These days I am much more cautious, reading game reviews, searching for gameplay footage, and looking for deals on ebay.
One trend I don't like is a movement towards online delivery. I want the ability to burn a physical copy of the game I downloaded for resale and archive purposes (I don't trust microsoft to keep my copy available indefinitely) but right now making a copy is not an option. Until then I'll be shying away from buying online games over $20.
- Can I put a 1/2 pound of magnesium up there?
- How about a 1/2 pound of liquid oxy-acetylene?
- Where'd I put my AOL CD collection?
It would be fun if they just set up a space dock you could stand on and throw shit into the atmosphere to see what happens.
We should start by spreading life onto other Mars or the Moon as soon as possible for two reasons:
1. we really are the only life in the universe, or at least the only life in the knowable universe.
2. start learning how to support life in a real environment without the overhead of risking human lives which should get us to our goal faster.
The first thing I'd want to do is create a habitable site on the Moon since it's closest. Initially populate it with hardy plants and small animals in a way that is self-sustainable. This way the cost of mistakes is relatively cheap and we learn quickly in a way that should scale up to human habitability in a predictable way.
While this means little directly for the company...
Really, it means little? Large companies tend to prefer, and even require, doing business with other large companies. Being on the S&P 500 is an indication of Red Hat's size and staying power, and thus should increase the desirability of other large companies to do business with it. Wouldn't you think?
I agree with you and the PP and GPP. Last time I looked the indie section on XBox Live was chock full of crap. Like really bad stuff that appeared to be a "hello world" DirectX game. When they raise the bar, I won't cry for those crappy games that are lost. They can always re-publish for the PC as Shareware.
I wish there were more high quality, small budget games like Age of Booty. I've played that game more than any other over the past several months!
Wrong. Not going by the scientific definition, I am right. I never said it was scientific, did I?
So much for posting a light-hearted follow-up to a light-hearted topic!
Wrong - it's an *educated* guess. And don't get me wrong, I have nothing against trying to confirm something that everyone already "knows".