The amusing thing to me is, most English types I've met---for some unknown reason--seem to assume that the US converted totally to metric years ago... while Americans assume exactly the reverse.
Sure, their gas is in liters, but aside from that they seem to be dragging their feet as much as we are in the conversion.
Besides, they still use "stone" for people's weights, which completely offsets any gains on the metric side.;-)
I guess I'm just glad someone's hiring the kids with psych degrees. Most of the people I knew who took a lot of psych just liked it because it was easy. But then, most of the people I know aren't working in the field for which they studied.
I think the use of the word "addiction" in this context cheapens it. When you've known people with psychical addictions--alcohol, drugs, etc.--it's a long stretch to extend that to a video game. Sure, there's gambling, but I think that's kind of an aberration: there's something chemical happening in the brain of those people that makes it a very serious situation.
I would consider MMOs to be closer to the situation of someone who carries the NYT crossword around with them everywhere... or the guy in my office who spends every available hour golfing. it's a satisfying activity for those people, for one reason or another. In this case it's not generally accepted by society, so it's an "addiction". People don't say that about the old men who spend all their time playing chess.
That said, there are certain social misfits who are completely unable to approach any endeavor from a point of moderation. But if it wasn't the game, it would be cars, or music, or pot, or model trains, or... who knows? Some people can't do anything as part of a healthy balance.
As a 29-year resident of California, I couldn't agree with you more. Please, don't move to California! If you already moved here, move away again, pretty please!
Trust me, as much as you hate California, we (ok, I can only speak for myself) pretty much hate you all moving here just as much. Please, just stay away.
No, don't start your business here. Please. Try Nebraska, or Kansas or some place like that. I'm sure they'll welcome you with open arms. I hope you don't need educated, skilled labor. If they live in a small midwestern town, they probably already have good jobs. Maybe you should consider outsourcing?
Honestly, I have no idea why people keep moving here from everywhere else in the country. Maybe it's the weather in SoCal. Maybe it's because wages are higher here than in most of the rest of the country (of course, so is cost of living). Maybe it's the multiculturalism. Hell, maybe it's because we have the best restaurants in the world. Maybe it's the outdoor/active life ( I live within 10 minutes of: rock-climbing, hiking, fresh and saltwater fishing, one of the most famous racetracks in the world, one of the most famous jazz festivals in the world, the birthplace of modern surfing, fantastic skin- and scuba diving, kayaking, and the hands-down, most famous golf course in the world. That's within 10 minutes. Drive for 3 hours and I could go skiing, etc.)
To reiterate: Please, just stay away. We don't need or want you or your business. Shoo.
Besides, to keep this on-topic: if there are 3 things that the majority of Californians are fanatical about, it's privacy rights, the environment, and our cars. This hasn't a hope in hell of passing here. Any politician who supported it would be run out of town on a rail. Feel free to quote me.
It sounds like quakery, but so did flight and travel to the moon 150 years ago.
As did astrology and seances... and look how great those are.
To misquote Sagan, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
That evidence seems to be lacking. One of the key 'research' tools they are relying on is a device which they've been claiming has been providing this evidence for 20+ years. It's never been subjected to peer review: it's not science.
Considering he was making a (very) good living, and mostly liked his job... It's a lot easier to suggest that you hold your employer for ransom than it is to actually do it. Besides, he wasn't the only one on this team, or the only one who could find it and fix it.
Nobody's indispensable, and $300k isn't that much to a lead dev at MS.
I would also tend to be wary of tweaking any corporation who employs more lawyers than most state governments.
a friend of mine used to work for MS on a version of IE... one bug they were trying to track down involved jpg (or was it gif) images of a certain--very large--dimension that could in some circumstances cause boot-block overwrite on the boot drive as it was being cached... (this was a few years back...)
when this bug was being discussed in a meeting, the first thing that was said was something to the effect of "oh, and if you tell anybody--anybody--about this, you might as well look for a new job at the same time, and a good lawyer."
of course, this was a few years ago, and from what i understand it was fixed right away, but still...
To be more accurate, 5 seconds of thought provided you with a completely wrong answer.
People try to separate mind and brain into software/hardware roles, but it's not possible. Human minds and thought patterns are incredibly deeply linked to the physical structures that comprise the brain. It's impossible at this time to say what's a function of physical structure, and what isn't. However, we do know that even seemingly minor physical damage to the brain is often accompanied by profound personality changes.
It's impossible to say where the brain ends and the mind begins. I posit that it's a false distinction, and many neuroscientists agree with me.
Besides, you seem to be confusing "mind" and "soul". Another false distinction?
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Re:redundant redundant and again, redundant
on
iPod Shuffle RAID
·
· Score: 5, Funny
ok... I'm not usually a fan of moderation meta-humor, but this is a gem!
Whoever moderated this post "Redundant" is an evil, evil person...
I've always enjoyed the Onion AV Club's reviews... they are often the most insightful, interesting and well-written reviews of movies and music around. Combine that with an amazing series of interviews... with everyone you could imagine.
The AV Club has to be the highest-quality journalistic source (when it comes to popular media, anyway) around. Even if I don't agree with the reviewer, the review gives me enough information to know what my opinion would be. Also, they aren't stuck-up: if something's low-brow but hilarious, they won't pull any punches.
Aside from the Wil Wheaton news even, this is pretty cool.
Also, of course, congratulations to Wil. There's a group of geeks out here who feel that you're under-utilized. This looks like a step in the right direction. We look forward to hearing more from you.
The point was: for a fraction of the cost you could by a console, indeed all the consoles, and have the money left over for a stack of games. Why would anyone want to spend their money on a machine which will be effectively unsupported in a year's time for five or more times the price of a console with a lifespan of four years?
"Effectively unsupported?" In a year? Not sure what kind of crack you smoke, but online games have far, far longer shelf lives than that. The economics of things like WoW require that they run on the same HW for a long, long time. My god, even EQ1 is still pretty damn active.
Of course, as my other post states, if you're not into platformers and prefer MMORPG, RTS, FPS or whatever, with consoles you're kind of SOL.
Besides, I already own the consoles. Most of the games suck.
Hey, how are you liking HL2 and WoW on the PS2? Great huh?
Maybe it's just me, but I hope it someone who makes Ashcroft look like Dan Savage.
Why, you ask? Because people will only freak out and do something when it hits them personally. I.E. I hope it's some Oral Roberts wannabe who immediately bans "Desperate Housewives" and shows featuring women working outside the home, because that's what it's going to take before people realize what's happening to us.
Secondly: anyone that buys a PC to play games on has more money than sense and is quickly parted from the latter.
They are parted from their "sense?" What?
(I assume tht you're trying to reference the "a fool and his money are soon parted" cliche, but you just don't have the grammatical skills to pull it off.)
Sorry, but I make a decent living at my job, and I bought (built, actually) a PC just to play games on, even though I use Macs the rest of the time. Why? My home machine (Dual G4) still does everything I need to be able to do, and everything I want to be able to do, with the exception of newer games.
Instead of upgrading to a G5 to improve my game situation, I built a PC, which I don't use for anything important. Games only, pretty much.
Just what kind of point are you trying to make? Pick one: 1. Computers are for serious business! How dare you enjoy yourself by using one just for fun! 2. If you have enough money that you can afford to spend more than $5 on something that's just for entertainment, you should donate that money to feed the homeless! You people make me sick! 3. You could have spent that money on something useful, like golf clubs. You fool! 4. How dare you have discretionary income! I work 12 hours a day at BurgerWorld, I should be the one with the sweet, sweet Benjamins! 5. I don't enjoy playing games, therefore neither should you! Ha hah!
Slashdot Mirror
The amusing thing to me is, most English types I've met---for some unknown reason--seem to assume that the US converted totally to metric years ago... while Americans assume exactly the reverse.
;-)
Sure, their gas is in liters, but aside from that they seem to be dragging their feet as much as we are in the conversion.
Besides, they still use "stone" for people's weights, which completely offsets any gains on the metric side.
It's something like 14 pounds = 1 stone, right?
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They have it now.
/quit
It's called
m-
I don't have any mod points at the moment, but I'm still wishing there was a "+1, Horrifying" option.
m-
At Pittsburgh University, the monkey spanks you!
-m
I guess I'm just glad someone's hiring the kids with psych degrees. Most of the people I knew who took a lot of psych just liked it because it was easy. But then, most of the people I know aren't working in the field for which they studied.
I think the use of the word "addiction" in this context cheapens it. When you've known people with psychical addictions--alcohol, drugs, etc.--it's a long stretch to extend that to a video game. Sure, there's gambling, but I think that's kind of an aberration: there's something chemical happening in the brain of those people that makes it a very serious situation.
I would consider MMOs to be closer to the situation of someone who carries the NYT crossword around with them everywhere... or the guy in my office who spends every available hour golfing. it's a satisfying activity for those people, for one reason or another. In this case it's not generally accepted by society, so it's an "addiction". People don't say that about the old men who spend all their time playing chess.
That said, there are certain social misfits who are completely unable to approach any endeavor from a point of moderation. But if it wasn't the game, it would be cars, or music, or pot, or model trains, or... who knows? Some people can't do anything as part of a healthy balance.
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Yeah, pretty much. If I want to experience that kind of BS, I visit my relatives in Ukiah. aka "Little Arkansas"
m-
I have nothing against the midwest. I just don't want to live there. I'm really, truly glad that some people DO live there and like it.
:) It's a little chilly here, almost down to 65.
I personally require a little more diversity in my life, but that's just me. I'm glad you have a good life.
BTW, how's the weather today?
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Sorry, I'm 3rd generation CA, as well.
You can't live and grow up in this area without hating what unrestricted growth has done.
Sorry to burst your bubble.
m-
As a 29-year resident of California, I couldn't agree with you more. Please, don't move to California! If you already moved here, move away again, pretty please!
Trust me, as much as you hate California, we (ok, I can only speak for myself) pretty much hate you all moving here just as much. Please, just stay away.
No, don't start your business here. Please. Try Nebraska, or Kansas or some place like that. I'm sure they'll welcome you with open arms. I hope you don't need educated, skilled labor. If they live in a small midwestern town, they probably already have good jobs. Maybe you should consider outsourcing?
Honestly, I have no idea why people keep moving here from everywhere else in the country. Maybe it's the weather in SoCal. Maybe it's because wages are higher here than in most of the rest of the country (of course, so is cost of living). Maybe it's the multiculturalism. Hell, maybe it's because we have the best restaurants in the world. Maybe it's the outdoor/active life ( I live within 10 minutes of: rock-climbing, hiking, fresh and saltwater fishing, one of the most famous racetracks in the world, one of the most famous jazz festivals in the world, the birthplace of modern surfing, fantastic skin- and scuba diving, kayaking, and the hands-down, most famous golf course in the world. That's within 10 minutes. Drive for 3 hours and I could go skiing, etc.)
To reiterate: Please, just stay away. We don't need or want you or your business. Shoo.
Besides, to keep this on-topic: if there are 3 things that the majority of Californians are fanatical about, it's privacy rights, the environment, and our cars. This hasn't a hope in hell of passing here. Any politician who supported it would be run out of town on a rail. Feel free to quote me.
m-
It sounds like quakery, but so did flight and travel to the moon 150 years ago.
As did astrology and seances... and look how great those are.
To misquote Sagan, "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence."
That evidence seems to be lacking. One of the key 'research' tools they are relying on is a device which they've been claiming has been providing this evidence for 20+ years. It's never been subjected to peer review: it's not science.
Wake me up when there's a study in Nature.
m-
Considering he was making a (very) good living, and mostly liked his job... It's a lot easier to suggest that you hold your employer for ransom than it is to actually do it. Besides, he wasn't the only one on this team, or the only one who could find it and fix it.
Nobody's indispensable, and $300k isn't that much to a lead dev at MS.
I would also tend to be wary of tweaking any corporation who employs more lawyers than most state governments.
m-
a friend of mine used to work for MS on a version of IE... one bug they were trying to track down involved jpg (or was it gif) images of a certain--very large--dimension that could in some circumstances cause boot-block overwrite on the boot drive as it was being cached... (this was a few years back...)
when this bug was being discussed in a meeting, the first thing that was said was something to the effect of "oh, and if you tell anybody--anybody--about this, you might as well look for a new job at the same time, and a good lawyer."
of course, this was a few years ago, and from what i understand it was fixed right away, but still...
m-
To be more accurate, 5 seconds of thought provided you with a completely wrong answer.
People try to separate mind and brain into software/hardware roles, but it's not possible. Human minds and thought patterns are incredibly deeply linked to the physical structures that comprise the brain. It's impossible at this time to say what's a function of physical structure, and what isn't. However, we do know that even seemingly minor physical damage to the brain is often accompanied by profound personality changes.
It's impossible to say where the brain ends and the mind begins. I posit that it's a false distinction, and many neuroscientists agree with me.
Besides, you seem to be confusing "mind" and "soul". Another false distinction?
m-
ok... I'm not usually a fan of moderation meta-humor, but this is a gem!
Whoever moderated this post "Redundant" is an evil, evil person...
m-
Teamwork on jobsites is vastly overrated. Most of the time, your teammates are assholes. And if your temmates aren't assholes, you are.
I'm guessing you're my lead developer. Hi Bob.
m-
Say whatever you want to about the article, the author's HOT.
I wonder what the "p" stands for... Patricia? Petunia?
m-
p.s. yes, yes i know. it's a joke. laugh.
Q. How many "Enterprise" fans does it take to save a TV series?
A. Both of them.
Thanks, I'll be here all week.
m-
I've always enjoyed the Onion AV Club's reviews... they are often the most insightful, interesting and well-written reviews of movies and music around. Combine that with an amazing series of interviews... with everyone you could imagine.
The AV Club has to be the highest-quality journalistic source (when it comes to popular media, anyway) around. Even if I don't agree with the reviewer, the review gives me enough information to know what my opinion would be. Also, they aren't stuck-up: if something's low-brow but hilarious, they won't pull any punches.
Aside from the Wil Wheaton news even, this is pretty cool.
Also, of course, congratulations to Wil. There's a group of geeks out here who feel that you're under-utilized. This looks like a step in the right direction. We look forward to hearing more from you.
m-
hey, I didn't know Taco was Welsh!
m-
Exactly! I agree with you compl--BUFFERING-- --BUFFERING--
That's a project I can get behind!
Thanks, I'll be here all week. Try the veal, I hear it's delicious, seriously.
-m
The point was: for a fraction of the cost you could by a console, indeed all the consoles, and have the money left over for a stack of games. Why would anyone want to spend their money on a machine which will be effectively unsupported in a year's time for five or more times the price of a console with a lifespan of four years?
"Effectively unsupported?" In a year? Not sure what kind of crack you smoke, but online games have far, far longer shelf lives than that. The economics of things like WoW require that they run on the same HW for a long, long time. My god, even EQ1 is still pretty damn active.
Of course, as my other post states, if you're not into platformers and prefer MMORPG, RTS, FPS or whatever, with consoles you're kind of SOL.
Besides, I already own the consoles. Most of the games suck.
Hey, how are you liking HL2 and WoW on the PS2? Great huh?
IMO, naturally.
m-
Maybe it's just me, but I hope it someone who makes Ashcroft look like Dan Savage.
Why, you ask? Because people will only freak out and do something when it hits them personally. I.E. I hope it's some Oral Roberts wannabe who immediately bans "Desperate Housewives" and shows featuring women working outside the home, because that's what it's going to take before people realize what's happening to us.
m-
The PC has a lot of things going for it, games isn't one of them.
Uh, right. Unless you like RTS, FPS, MMORPG, and the like.
Don't get me wrong, I have an xbox and a PS2 (which I got just to play Katamari Damacy), and I love racing games, but there is more to life.
like WoW, CoH, Half-Life2, UT, etc etc etc....
Not everyone likes platformers.
m-
Secondly: anyone that buys a PC to play games on has more money than sense and is quickly parted from the latter.
They are parted from their "sense?" What?
(I assume tht you're trying to reference the "a fool and his money are soon parted" cliche, but you just don't have the grammatical skills to pull it off.)
Sorry, but I make a decent living at my job, and I bought (built, actually) a PC just to play games on, even though I use Macs the rest of the time. Why? My home machine (Dual G4) still does everything I need to be able to do, and everything I want to be able to do, with the exception of newer games.
Instead of upgrading to a G5 to improve my game situation, I built a PC, which I don't use for anything important. Games only, pretty much.
Just what kind of point are you trying to make? Pick one:
1. Computers are for serious business! How dare you enjoy yourself by using one just for fun!
2. If you have enough money that you can afford to spend more than $5 on something that's just for entertainment, you should donate that money to feed the homeless! You people make me sick!
3. You could have spent that money on something useful, like golf clubs. You fool!
4. How dare you have discretionary income! I work 12 hours a day at BurgerWorld, I should be the one with the sweet, sweet Benjamins!
5. I don't enjoy playing games, therefore neither should you! Ha hah!
Give me a fricking break.
m-