Apple is pushing people in so many directions that someday soon they will find out the answer to this question. Do the apps being on iPhone give Apple power or does Apple owning the iPhone give them power over the apps? In the early days of the iPhone it struggled as simply an iPod with a ton of bugs and lacking features other smartphones had. The creativity of app developers started to create value on the iPhone. Apple's walled garden, on the other hand, has provided app developers a safe place where they are guaranteed to make money on the customers who sign up. But something has to give. I hope it's that Microsoft or Google catch up enough that their offerings become more enticing. Every day Apple becomes more and more demanding of controlling revenue streams is a day they dig their future grave.
I think there is something else going on with that demographic you mentioned earlier that's also germane. If that power user demographic played games they're not gaming as often on a PC. Their kid is playing a DS (tons of those have been sold), they're playing a 360 or a Wii. That demographic (I say that because my friends and I are in it) are largely buying cheap computers and running Ubuntu and then using the money we might have spent on Vista and a new graphics card on a new video game system.
In fact, you could make a pretty solid argument that Microsoft's success with the XBox has severely undercut the PC market. Take out a large chunk of gamers who are no longer upgrading their PCs to play the latest game and you're left with a few enthusiasts and everyone else is running a computer that's "just good enough". Vista is completely unnecessary. Oh, and they did a good job with XP, honestly. Good enough that most people seemingly see no reason to switch. Even if it's given to them.
We all hate Comcast. I've been trying to figure out how to get disentangled from them for years. But I want the Internet, I like a little TV here and there and I don't want to pay for a phone line I don't need to get DSL. My household is on FIOS now and here is the sequence of events.
Started watching TV shows on DVD. Watched the first season of 5 or 6 shows this way.
Watched the same shows on broadcast and realized we kind of liked watching them on DVD more.
Purchased an HDTV, decided to try a nice, powered antenna. Found out the HD signal with the antenna looked great.
Went to cancel Comcast and Comcast charged us $12 to downgrade our Internet service, something we were forced to do because we no longer had TV with them. And they raised our rates as well. Told the girl at the counter that we were going to go home and look at alternatives. She shrugged her shoulders.
Went home and found out that we could get FIOS at the same speeds for roughly $25 less per month overall plus 1 month free plus a $20 Target gift card (what, no puppy thrown in?).
Walked in this weekend and canceled Comcast.
My point in running down the story is that I'm sure I won't be the first or the last person for whom this is the pattern. Quitting cable is becoming much easier with downloadable TV (just speaking legally through avenues the networks have come up with) and DVDs. If I really have a sporting event I have to watch I'll just go to a sports bar and make an event out of it. So far we don't miss it. We especially don't miss not having the 24-hour news networks.
Concur. As someone who suffers from this. I can get addicted to just about anything, including work. I just have an impossible time pulling myself away from something I enjoy or that I'm heads down into. And in my case I do think it's addiction-like, but it's never one specific thing.
Yes, but unfortunately for Microsoft (aside from a couple XBLA games), most of the short but sweet games are on other systems like the DS or PS2 (Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, both Katamari games, Amplitude, etc.). I agree with you, actually. When I read a review that says a game has 40 hours, like that's a virtue, it scares me away. For me, with a family and hobbies like playing basketball, reading and cycling, by the time I get 40 hours into a game it will be literally months. I may have forgotten the plot or become completely bored with the game. I don't even know what my limit is. Maybe 30 hours? I just traded in KOTOR, because I got to 30 hours and was still two planets from the end and I was tired of sidequests. There's virtue in smaller, pick up and play games. Definitely. I think the success of the Wii (even though it desparately needs titles), XBLA and the DS is proof that people really do want fun, but short experiences.
The fun of Crackdown is kind of like Katamari. It's just as fun if you play it an hour or 15 hours. The fun grows exponentially, but you could never take out any bosses and never finish the game and I think still enjoy orb hunting, for example. Or you could mess with traffic for hours and just have fun with that. I really hate games where the end point is dozens of hours out. Yet I probably dumped 30 hours into each Katamari game because I had so much fun replaying the levels, listening to the music, etc. I even bought the soundtracks. Same goes for Lumines. Same went for Every Extend Extra when I had a PSP. I love these games I wish the 360 had more of them.
Re:X-Play had a better review..
on
Crackdown Review
·
· Score: 1
I respectfully disagree. This is the game (there were others too, but this was the game) that broke me down and got me to buy a 360. And I haven't regretted that choice.
Hey. I'm with you. I love gaming and have gamed my whole life. I'll probably game when I enter the retirement center. But you get to a point where wife or kids or reading actual books or riding bicycles or whatever becomes more important and there is virtue in a game that doesn't demand time. This article was actually great timing. I'm 25 hours into KOTOR. I bought an XBox used just to play that and Jet Set Radio future. Guess which I've been playing more of lately. JSRF. I can play it for 30 minutes to an hour and walk away. Meanwhile I put KOTOR down for a week or more (which I've basically done) and I'm out of the story. I'll probably go back, but for now I'd rather play Lumines or Katamari or something like that.
This is precisely why I switched to CentOS a couple years ago and I haven't looked back since. It's absurdly stable (for me at least). It just works and I haven't touched my machine to do any system updates other than "yum update" for the last couple years. That's been very nice. I donated to CentOS and will continue to support them.
The Dreamcast can still be purchased NEW for $100. If you want your vintage in mint condition that's a great deal. Then you can proceed to have fun with Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio, Chu Chu Rocket, etc.
Of course the game is never to blame. But you could say the same thing about workaholics, gambling addicts, etc. The bottom line is that for people succeptible to addiction, certain things are more addictive than others. Would make sense that certain games are more addictive than others. Either way, when it's all said and done, it does come down to people and their psychological issues that need to be addressed seriously.
I was one of those people. I didn't flunk out, thankfully, but it sure had a grip on me for a while. I still worry today as someone who plays console games here and there and works in software that I spend too much time with the whole risk/reward system of gaming or programming and not enough time in the real world. I feel I do, but it's always lurking back there...
Indeed. I'm glad I'm an ex-SuSE user. Switched a few years back for other distros, eventually settling on CentOS. Although apparently SuSE is alive and well if the #suse is any indication.
Where do I go to buy SuSE? I run Red Hat currently, but I've heard that the version of Samba and Mono I run are illegal.
u can buy it online from novells site
is OpenSuse covered, safe, etc.?
or just the pay version
I'm scared
both are fine, idk know of ne samba versions that are illegal. where are you from?
where am I from?
what do you mean?
what country and such
US
ok
I just heard that SuSE was the only legal copy of Linux to run now because of some patent issues, etc. * dashgr (n=dashgr@pool-68-160-206-232.ny325.east.verizon.n et) has joined #suse
I'm just a lowly hobbyist, so I don't need this business
hello, my sound doesn't work. anyone know how i can fix it?
i know of no illegal versions of samba, idk about mono cuz im not sure i use it. i however would go with suse cuz redhat quite frankly is poor software, and opensuse keeps things safe and legal as does the box distro
okay. And opensuse is free, right?
yes
but bix suse is only 50-60 bucks so go with that if you get the chance, more perks
box* not bix
yeah. More legal software?
I've been just running stuff off the Internet. Thinking I was safe.
tinkering
it has nonopen source. see suse cant distribute the ability to play dvds or mp3s unless you pay for them or do an illegal workaround so thats part of the reason there is a box edition
ah.
So you get to use legal version of MP3 as well as samba
cool
I'll have to go to the website
I just wanted to try out maybe switching from Windows. I didn't realize it would come with all these legal hassles. * richtoo (n=rich@24.164.243.86) has joined #suse
suse is a good one to get then
okay, thanks.
I'll have to look at that, then.
The beauty of science is that regardless of what you may think, most right-minded people who believe in science move on when something is debunked. That's what science is after all. You're talking more about people using science to back up their personal philosophical or political idealogy. This is nothing new. It doesn't mean that these theories can't be right. In fact, my personal opinion is that even if Global Warming isn't real, we have more to fear from Peak Oil theory anyway.
Huge dividends imposed overnight. I think this is the cost of Linux going commercial. Look at all the "Linux" companies that went public during the dot com boom. Hasn't gone too well for most of them. Nor their shareholders. And now there's this.
And in the process Red Hat went from being that distro everyone could run for cheap to something unatainable unless you wanted to beta test for Red Hat.
It's sad. I use CentOS now. Mostly because I need stability for my home machine, but can't afford the ridiculous service contracts. I even donate to them. It's sad to think that there was a time when I used to be able to drive to my local store and buy Red Hat.
Some good memories of Red Hat.
- I'm a college sophomore and I'm taking my first CS class. We're going to be using Linux. I've been using Pine and telnet from Macs for over a year, but didn't realize what all the underlying software I was using was. Me being a bit of a noob to computers. My CS instructor is setting up the development machines to run C for the class and asks me to grab some disks and help him setup the last machine. It's Red Hat. This is my first exposure really to a Unix-like operating system and my first knowledge that they even exist. This is like 1995, I believe.
- I'm 22, just out of college and I pick up a copy of Red Hat 6 (I think that was the version) and install it on a free computer at home and begin picking at Linux in earnest after just converting from Mac to Windows only a year earlier. I picked up the copy of Red Hat at a Hastings in Boise, Idaho
- I'm 24 and I want to install Linux as a firewall/wireless (Homelink) router for my home. I'm going to route my dial-up connection to 3 computers and a wireless network that my Windows HPC will use. I try Windows initially, but NAS is a pain. So I go out to Borders and buy a copy of Red Hat 7.1? I believe. I setup the network and happily have surf the web from my couch using a demand-dial router I setup myself.
- I'm 26 and I finally decide I've "played" with Linux long enough. My main machine gets Linux. This time it's SuSE. I'm doing that "wandering" thing, trying out new distros. First Mandrake, then SuSE. Eventually I find my way back to Red Hat, only to have it pulled out from underneath me. After thrashing around a bit I go to Fedora then CentOS.
I'm 31. I've had a long relationship with Red Hat distros. Almost a decade now. And it's sad to me that what you say is all too true. Somewhere in there it went from a situation where I could go to the local Borders or Hastings or Frys and buy the distro for 60, 80 dollars to a situation where I now have to use a rebuild or face paying enterprise yearly costs equal to one month's mortgage.
It started out so fun, so innocent. And now it's just a business relationship. I don't thumb threw the Red Hat manuals any longer. I don't get excited about the latest rev of Red Hat. I just update CentOS, keep happily using Linux, but the commercialization of it has sucked the fun out of it. And it's never coming back.
Exactly. Same here. And back when I *did* try running virtual desktops on Windows all it was was some application that would use a trick to swap out the Windows in one "virtual" desktop for another set. You could literally watch the computer crawl as windows were hidden and then shown and the taskbar was manipulated. It was a joke. Maybe it's gotten better since then, but back then that was the best anyone could do.
Good way to put it. A Windows user with virtual desktops may never need to use them. But man it would be nice if they were there for those of us who find them vital.
It is kind of funny. There's one and only one thing I care about with regards to the Mac laptops. When are they going to make one with a larger keyboard? I saw one of these new Macbooks the other day in the Mac store. Great looking machine. Only problem is there is like 3 inches of wasted space on each side of the keyboard that they could have used to make the keyboard more comfortable. Instead they chose to make the keys smaller. Good going, Apple! That fixes it.
Sorry, but it can run 100% cooler, be twice as fast and all I care about is that the ergonomics suck on it for me. I really want to buy one badly. I have $1500+ with Apple's name on it if they'd just produce a keyboard that was the size of many Windows-based laptop keyboards. My current notebook that I use for my writing and writing workshops is a Compaq Presario. Not the greatest laptop in the world. Heavy, unweildy, definitely not a Mac. But it cost $600 and I don't get hand cramps when my larger than normal hands touch the keyboard. Fix the keyboard, Apple and you could throw a freaking sub 1Ghz processor in there for all I care.
This is so true. This is the #1 thing I hate about using Windows at work. The lack of virtual desktops that I become accustomed to while working on my Linux box at home. I'm not sure what Windows does that makes me any more productive than what Gnome does, frankly. If anything I'm less productive on Windows.
Would you say that, just like that to an alcoholic? Or a compulsive gambler? Part of what makes gaming addiction fascinating to me is that we have not yet grasped as a society and especially as gamers in our own little world, the true nature of addiction. That being that many people are susceptible to addiction and that often it isn't about self control as much as it is about never trying X or getting help. I personally consider myself to be susceptible to addiction of this sort. I have what many psychologists and psychiatrists call an "addictive personality". Meaning that because of problems with my sense of self worth I look for validation and "rewards" more haphazardly than someone who doesn't have my psychological issues. Can this be cured through self control? No way. It helps. It certainly helps that I've never played Everquest, never played WoW, never touched a video poker machine. I know myself. I know that would lead to disasterous consequences. But I did MUDs back in my day in college. I played many all-night Civilization games. And conversely I've also worked 70 hours a week for the atta-boys that come along with being a good startup slave. Either way the root problem was always the same. Something was missing in my life and I needed to look outwards for validation and rewards.
My point? When talking about these addictions which aren't chemical in nature, they are absolutely real and they should be treated a little more seriously. Whether you be addicted to WoW, Everquest, Madden, Civilization, shopping, video poker, work or any other hobby, there's a chance that you're not doing what you're doing because you want to, but rather because it makes you "feel" better. And getting a handle on the root cause of the addiction, getting help, is of paramount importance. Because even if you leave WoW, whose to say you won't become a workaholic next? In the end, there is generally a core problem and that core problem needs to be addressed.
So we need to stop it with blaming the victims and simplistic crap like "you're stupid" or "take responsibility". Sometimes people in these situations need compassion and help more than anything else. I've never wrecked my life technically, but I've certainly touched the void, especially when I was working 70 hours a week and getting terribly obese. I was able to pull back from the edge. Partly because of self control. Partly because things had gotten so out of hand. At my worst I was so worked up about being seen as doing a great job at work that I developed Insomnia, finally brought to a head by a 5 day sleepless bender where I had to seek professinal help.
Mostly, however, the real path towards healing began because those around me were compassionate and understanding. Eventually I became receptive to seeking help from a psychiatrist and from there on my life has improved greatly. I began to understand the nature of what made me tick and why I did the things I did. So for many people this is a sickness, pure and simple. And the way you cure a sickness isn't "tough love". You help people get the help they need. You try to understand them. The last person anyone who is so empty that they seek rewards through a game or work or gambling needs to hear is that they're stupid or lazy, etc. etc.
The problem with any discussion about gaming addiction is that apparently we haven't yet grown up enough to treat the mental health aspect of it seriously. That's where the conversation should begin, not from this point of blaming the victims. Only then can we get a handle on what this really is and how to help people that need help to build the confidence and self-esteem they need to be happy and live balanced lives.
This is what I'd like to know as well. I'm more than happy to pay a few bones to see an old episode of a television show. But part of what has made YouTube so phenominally successful is you could go check out that really good segment of Olberman or Colbert Report that you missed last week, but everyone is talking about. Google could very well kill YouTube and gain nothing in return of value.
Yeah, I always thought the MVP program was kind of humorous. Find the biggest ass-kissers on the Usenet and give them "knight" them royal members of the Microsoft family. And then they'll sing the praises of whatever product they've decided to dedicate their lives to.
The problem is Microsoft operating systems are full of security holes. So if you don't upgrade then eventually you end up on their "naughty" list and they stop providing you upgrades to the broken operating system they sold you. The solution is to switch to something else if you can.
Slashdot Mirror
Apple is pushing people in so many directions that someday soon they will find out the answer to this question. Do the apps being on iPhone give Apple power or does Apple owning the iPhone give them power over the apps? In the early days of the iPhone it struggled as simply an iPod with a ton of bugs and lacking features other smartphones had. The creativity of app developers started to create value on the iPhone. Apple's walled garden, on the other hand, has provided app developers a safe place where they are guaranteed to make money on the customers who sign up. But something has to give. I hope it's that Microsoft or Google catch up enough that their offerings become more enticing. Every day Apple becomes more and more demanding of controlling revenue streams is a day they dig their future grave.
I think there is something else going on with that demographic you mentioned earlier that's also germane. If that power user demographic played games they're not gaming as often on a PC. Their kid is playing a DS (tons of those have been sold), they're playing a 360 or a Wii. That demographic (I say that because my friends and I are in it) are largely buying cheap computers and running Ubuntu and then using the money we might have spent on Vista and a new graphics card on a new video game system.
In fact, you could make a pretty solid argument that Microsoft's success with the XBox has severely undercut the PC market. Take out a large chunk of gamers who are no longer upgrading their PCs to play the latest game and you're left with a few enthusiasts and everyone else is running a computer that's "just good enough". Vista is completely unnecessary. Oh, and they did a good job with XP, honestly. Good enough that most people seemingly see no reason to switch. Even if it's given to them.
We all hate Comcast. I've been trying to figure out how to get disentangled from them for years. But I want the Internet, I like a little TV here and there and I don't want to pay for a phone line I don't need to get DSL. My household is on FIOS now and here is the sequence of events.
Started watching TV shows on DVD. Watched the first season of 5 or 6 shows this way.
Watched the same shows on broadcast and realized we kind of liked watching them on DVD more.
Purchased an HDTV, decided to try a nice, powered antenna. Found out the HD signal with the antenna looked great.
Went to cancel Comcast and Comcast charged us $12 to downgrade our Internet service, something we were forced to do because we no longer had TV with them. And they raised our rates as well. Told the girl at the counter that we were going to go home and look at alternatives. She shrugged her shoulders.
Went home and found out that we could get FIOS at the same speeds for roughly $25 less per month overall plus 1 month free plus a $20 Target gift card (what, no puppy thrown in?).
Walked in this weekend and canceled Comcast.
My point in running down the story is that I'm sure I won't be the first or the last person for whom this is the pattern. Quitting cable is becoming much easier with downloadable TV (just speaking legally through avenues the networks have come up with) and DVDs. If I really have a sporting event I have to watch I'll just go to a sports bar and make an event out of it. So far we don't miss it. We especially don't miss not having the 24-hour news networks.
Concur. As someone who suffers from this. I can get addicted to just about anything, including work. I just have an impossible time pulling myself away from something I enjoy or that I'm heads down into. And in my case I do think it's addiction-like, but it's never one specific thing.
Yes, but unfortunately for Microsoft (aside from a couple XBLA games), most of the short but sweet games are on other systems like the DS or PS2 (Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, both Katamari games, Amplitude, etc.). I agree with you, actually. When I read a review that says a game has 40 hours, like that's a virtue, it scares me away. For me, with a family and hobbies like playing basketball, reading and cycling, by the time I get 40 hours into a game it will be literally months. I may have forgotten the plot or become completely bored with the game. I don't even know what my limit is. Maybe 30 hours? I just traded in KOTOR, because I got to 30 hours and was still two planets from the end and I was tired of sidequests. There's virtue in smaller, pick up and play games. Definitely. I think the success of the Wii (even though it desparately needs titles), XBLA and the DS is proof that people really do want fun, but short experiences.
The fun of Crackdown is kind of like Katamari. It's just as fun if you play it an hour or 15 hours. The fun grows exponentially, but you could never take out any bosses and never finish the game and I think still enjoy orb hunting, for example. Or you could mess with traffic for hours and just have fun with that. I really hate games where the end point is dozens of hours out. Yet I probably dumped 30 hours into each Katamari game because I had so much fun replaying the levels, listening to the music, etc. I even bought the soundtracks. Same goes for Lumines. Same went for Every Extend Extra when I had a PSP. I love these games I wish the 360 had more of them.
I respectfully disagree. This is the game (there were others too, but this was the game) that broke me down and got me to buy a 360. And I haven't regretted that choice.
Hey. I'm with you. I love gaming and have gamed my whole life. I'll probably game when I enter the retirement center. But you get to a point where wife or kids or reading actual books or riding bicycles or whatever becomes more important and there is virtue in a game that doesn't demand time. This article was actually great timing. I'm 25 hours into KOTOR. I bought an XBox used just to play that and Jet Set Radio future. Guess which I've been playing more of lately. JSRF. I can play it for 30 minutes to an hour and walk away. Meanwhile I put KOTOR down for a week or more (which I've basically done) and I'm out of the story. I'll probably go back, but for now I'd rather play Lumines or Katamari or something like that.
This is precisely why I switched to CentOS a couple years ago and I haven't looked back since. It's absurdly stable (for me at least). It just works and I haven't touched my machine to do any system updates other than "yum update" for the last couple years. That's been very nice. I donated to CentOS and will continue to support them.
The Dreamcast can still be purchased NEW for $100. If you want your vintage in mint condition that's a great deal. Then you can proceed to have fun with Crazy Taxi, Jet Grind Radio, Chu Chu Rocket, etc.
Of course the game is never to blame. But you could say the same thing about workaholics, gambling addicts, etc. The bottom line is that for people succeptible to addiction, certain things are more addictive than others. Would make sense that certain games are more addictive than others. Either way, when it's all said and done, it does come down to people and their psychological issues that need to be addressed seriously.
I was one of those people. I didn't flunk out, thankfully, but it sure had a grip on me for a while. I still worry today as someone who plays console games here and there and works in software that I spend too much time with the whole risk/reward system of gaming or programming and not enough time in the real world. I feel I do, but it's always lurking back there...
"Stuff That Matters"
Stores restock when they run out of something.
I'm surprised this isn't on the CNN crawl.
Indeed. I'm glad I'm an ex-SuSE user. Switched a few years back for other distros, eventually settling on CentOS. Although apparently SuSE is alive and well if the #suse is any indication.
n et) has joined #suse
Where do I go to buy SuSE? I run Red Hat currently, but I've heard that the version of Samba and Mono I run are illegal.
u can buy it online from novells site
is OpenSuse covered, safe, etc.?
or just the pay version
I'm scared
both are fine, idk know of ne samba versions that are illegal. where are you from?
where am I from?
what do you mean?
what country and such
US
ok
I just heard that SuSE was the only legal copy of Linux to run now because of some patent issues, etc.
* dashgr (n=dashgr@pool-68-160-206-232.ny325.east.verizon.
I'm just a lowly hobbyist, so I don't need this business
hello, my sound doesn't work. anyone know how i can fix it?
i know of no illegal versions of samba, idk about mono cuz im not sure i use it. i however would go with suse cuz redhat quite frankly is poor software, and opensuse keeps things safe and legal as does the box distro
okay. And opensuse is free, right?
yes
but bix suse is only 50-60 bucks so go with that if you get the chance, more perks
box* not bix
yeah. More legal software?
I've been just running stuff off the Internet. Thinking I was safe.
tinkering
it has nonopen source. see suse cant distribute the ability to play dvds or mp3s unless you pay for them or do an illegal workaround so thats part of the reason there is a box edition
ah.
So you get to use legal version of MP3 as well as samba
cool
I'll have to go to the website
I just wanted to try out maybe switching from Windows. I didn't realize it would come with all these legal hassles.
* richtoo (n=rich@24.164.243.86) has joined #suse
suse is a good one to get then
okay, thanks.
I'll have to look at that, then.
The beauty of science is that regardless of what you may think, most right-minded people who believe in science move on when something is debunked. That's what science is after all. You're talking more about people using science to back up their personal philosophical or political idealogy. This is nothing new. It doesn't mean that these theories can't be right. In fact, my personal opinion is that even if Global Warming isn't real, we have more to fear from Peak Oil theory anyway.
Not sure what you mean by normal, but it's a small keyboard compared to what I'm used to.
Huge dividends imposed overnight. I think this is the cost of Linux going commercial. Look at all the "Linux" companies that went public during the dot com boom. Hasn't gone too well for most of them. Nor their shareholders. And now there's this.
And in the process Red Hat went from being that distro everyone could run for cheap to something unatainable unless you wanted to beta test for Red Hat.
It's sad. I use CentOS now. Mostly because I need stability for my home machine, but can't afford the ridiculous service contracts. I even donate to them. It's sad to think that there was a time when I used to be able to drive to my local store and buy Red Hat.
Some good memories of Red Hat.
- I'm a college sophomore and I'm taking my first CS class. We're going to be using Linux. I've been using Pine and telnet from Macs for over a year, but didn't realize what all the underlying software I was using was. Me being a bit of a noob to computers. My CS instructor is setting up the development machines to run C for the class and asks me to grab some disks and help him setup the last machine. It's Red Hat. This is my first exposure really to a Unix-like operating system and my first knowledge that they even exist. This is like 1995, I believe.
- I'm 22, just out of college and I pick up a copy of Red Hat 6 (I think that was the version) and install it on a free computer at home and begin picking at Linux in earnest after just converting from Mac to Windows only a year earlier. I picked up the copy of Red Hat at a Hastings in Boise, Idaho
- I'm 24 and I want to install Linux as a firewall/wireless (Homelink) router for my home. I'm going to route my dial-up connection to 3 computers and a wireless network that my Windows HPC will use. I try Windows initially, but NAS is a pain. So I go out to Borders and buy a copy of Red Hat 7.1? I believe. I setup the network and happily have surf the web from my couch using a demand-dial router I setup myself.
- I'm 26 and I finally decide I've "played" with Linux long enough. My main machine gets Linux. This time it's SuSE. I'm doing that "wandering" thing, trying out new distros. First Mandrake, then SuSE. Eventually I find my way back to Red Hat, only to have it pulled out from underneath me. After thrashing around a bit I go to Fedora then CentOS.
I'm 31. I've had a long relationship with Red Hat distros. Almost a decade now. And it's sad to me that what you say is all too true. Somewhere in there it went from a situation where I could go to the local Borders or Hastings or Frys and buy the distro for 60, 80 dollars to a situation where I now have to use a rebuild or face paying enterprise yearly costs equal to one month's mortgage.
It started out so fun, so innocent. And now it's just a business relationship. I don't thumb threw the Red Hat manuals any longer. I don't get excited about the latest rev of Red Hat. I just update CentOS, keep happily using Linux, but the commercialization of it has sucked the fun out of it. And it's never coming back.
Exactly. Same here. And back when I *did* try running virtual desktops on Windows all it was was some application that would use a trick to swap out the Windows in one "virtual" desktop for another set. You could literally watch the computer crawl as windows were hidden and then shown and the taskbar was manipulated. It was a joke. Maybe it's gotten better since then, but back then that was the best anyone could do.
Good way to put it. A Windows user with virtual desktops may never need to use them. But man it would be nice if they were there for those of us who find them vital.
It is kind of funny. There's one and only one thing I care about with regards to the Mac laptops. When are they going to make one with a larger keyboard? I saw one of these new Macbooks the other day in the Mac store. Great looking machine. Only problem is there is like 3 inches of wasted space on each side of the keyboard that they could have used to make the keyboard more comfortable. Instead they chose to make the keys smaller. Good going, Apple! That fixes it.
Sorry, but it can run 100% cooler, be twice as fast and all I care about is that the ergonomics suck on it for me. I really want to buy one badly. I have $1500+ with Apple's name on it if they'd just produce a keyboard that was the size of many Windows-based laptop keyboards. My current notebook that I use for my writing and writing workshops is a Compaq Presario. Not the greatest laptop in the world. Heavy, unweildy, definitely not a Mac. But it cost $600 and I don't get hand cramps when my larger than normal hands touch the keyboard. Fix the keyboard, Apple and you could throw a freaking sub 1Ghz processor in there for all I care.
This is so true. This is the #1 thing I hate about using Windows at work. The lack of virtual desktops that I become accustomed to while working on my Linux box at home. I'm not sure what Windows does that makes me any more productive than what Gnome does, frankly. If anything I'm less productive on Windows.
Would you say that, just like that to an alcoholic? Or a compulsive gambler? Part of what makes gaming addiction fascinating to me is that we have not yet grasped as a society and especially as gamers in our own little world, the true nature of addiction. That being that many people are susceptible to addiction and that often it isn't about self control as much as it is about never trying X or getting help. I personally consider myself to be susceptible to addiction of this sort. I have what many psychologists and psychiatrists call an "addictive personality". Meaning that because of problems with my sense of self worth I look for validation and "rewards" more haphazardly than someone who doesn't have my psychological issues. Can this be cured through self control? No way. It helps. It certainly helps that I've never played Everquest, never played WoW, never touched a video poker machine. I know myself. I know that would lead to disasterous consequences. But I did MUDs back in my day in college. I played many all-night Civilization games. And conversely I've also worked 70 hours a week for the atta-boys that come along with being a good startup slave. Either way the root problem was always the same. Something was missing in my life and I needed to look outwards for validation and rewards.
My point? When talking about these addictions which aren't chemical in nature, they are absolutely real and they should be treated a little more seriously. Whether you be addicted to WoW, Everquest, Madden, Civilization, shopping, video poker, work or any other hobby, there's a chance that you're not doing what you're doing because you want to, but rather because it makes you "feel" better. And getting a handle on the root cause of the addiction, getting help, is of paramount importance. Because even if you leave WoW, whose to say you won't become a workaholic next? In the end, there is generally a core problem and that core problem needs to be addressed.
So we need to stop it with blaming the victims and simplistic crap like "you're stupid" or "take responsibility". Sometimes people in these situations need compassion and help more than anything else. I've never wrecked my life technically, but I've certainly touched the void, especially when I was working 70 hours a week and getting terribly obese. I was able to pull back from the edge. Partly because of self control. Partly because things had gotten so out of hand. At my worst I was so worked up about being seen as doing a great job at work that I developed Insomnia, finally brought to a head by a 5 day sleepless bender where I had to seek professinal help.
Mostly, however, the real path towards healing began because those around me were compassionate and understanding. Eventually I became receptive to seeking help from a psychiatrist and from there on my life has improved greatly. I began to understand the nature of what made me tick and why I did the things I did. So for many people this is a sickness, pure and simple. And the way you cure a sickness isn't "tough love". You help people get the help they need. You try to understand them. The last person anyone who is so empty that they seek rewards through a game or work or gambling needs to hear is that they're stupid or lazy, etc. etc.
The problem with any discussion about gaming addiction is that apparently we haven't yet grown up enough to treat the mental health aspect of it seriously. That's where the conversation should begin, not from this point of blaming the victims. Only then can we get a handle on what this really is and how to help people that need help to build the confidence and self-esteem they need to be happy and live balanced lives.
This is what I'd like to know as well. I'm more than happy to pay a few bones to see an old episode of a television show. But part of what has made YouTube so phenominally successful is you could go check out that really good segment of Olberman or Colbert Report that you missed last week, but everyone is talking about. Google could very well kill YouTube and gain nothing in return of value.
Yeah, I always thought the MVP program was kind of humorous. Find the biggest ass-kissers on the Usenet and give them "knight" them royal members of the Microsoft family. And then they'll sing the praises of whatever product they've decided to dedicate their lives to.
The problem is Microsoft operating systems are full of security holes. So if you don't upgrade then eventually you end up on their "naughty" list and they stop providing you upgrades to the broken operating system they sold you. The solution is to switch to something else if you can.
I usually turn "vibration" (I refuse to call it "rumble" or "forced feedback") off. It's a useless part of the gaming experience to me.