While I essentially agree with your post, I can't help but wish that there were a "-1, Used Y'all" moderation.
It's actually even worse when it's at the end of a post with which I agree.
m-
Most of the criticisms...
on
The Bugatti Veyron
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
...I'm reading here are kind of off-base.
"You can only drive 60(75,85)mph anyway, what a waste"
"The small-penised guys who buy this will kill themselves in 15 minutes"
"How pointless, it only gets 3mpg!"
etc, etc, etc.
Hmmmm, where do I begin. The people who are in the market to buy this automobile are not going to drive it every day. In fact, they will probably transport it in its own trailer if they take it to any concours, etc.
The main thing is, you're viewing this as a car. It isn't. It's a piece of kinetic, semi-functional sculpture. The collectors will buy this, then put it in their lovely 30,000sq.ft. showroom, and maybe take it around the block once in a while to get a little sun.
There are people with vast amounts of money who appreciate exceptional feats of engineering and design. Jay Leno is one. The Sultan of Brunai is another.
As far as the driving like assholes, that only happens with idiot rockstars and the like who just got a million dollar paycheck. The vast majority of the people driving this car will be doctors, investment bankers and the like. These guys drive carefully.
I live in Carmel, CA. We have the Concours d'Elegance here at Pebble Beach every year, and countless other similar events at nearby Laguna Seca. In addition, there are enough Ferraris and the like around here normally that I usually see 2-3 on the way to work every day. Hell, Porsches are common as VW beetles around here. I've never seen any of the more exotic cars driven less than super-carefully.
Yeah, it's a lot of money, but it costs much less then some of the jewelry worn at the Oscars... and this is much cooler then some bling-bling necklace.
-m
Re:Your familiar has been slain!
on
D&D Is 30
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· Score: 1
First, I don't know what "Master Tactician" is; you are probably referring to "Expert Tactician" which allows you to make an additional attack whenever someone is denied their dex bonus to AC. Since a Rogue also adds sneak attack damage to any attack when the opponent is denied their dex bonus to their AC this is a good combination.
I've discovered that if you read this post out loud with the appropriate "nasally" voice, that it is enough to send coworkers into a laughing fit sufficient to cause vomiting.
It is your responsibility not to misuse this information.
m-
Re:I had a discussion...
on
D&D Is 30
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· Score: 3, Funny
I guess you'll have to upgrade now won't you?
I'm not sure I would call that an upgrade...
m-
Re:D&D spawns STDs! No! Really!
on
D&D Is 30
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· Score: 4, Funny
I don't know... I imagine D&D has done more to prevent the spread of STDs then anything in history...
but your current administration is too big for it's boots.
No disrespect taken. I don't think you really understand the situation. A lot of us don't like him and his, either. Heck, most of us voted for the other guy, last time around.
Now, if you go picking on the country as a whole, that's kind of a different animal. We tend to get a bit nationalistic when insulted, as do a lot of other places.
Don't tell us how the USA is all about freedom and then try to bully us into doing what you want us to do.
Oh, another cultural misunderstanding. When we say "freedom", we mean OUR freedom, not YOUR freedom. As far as most of us are concerned, as long as we're happy, the rest of the world can "get stuffed", to borrow your phrase.
We've a pretty insular culture, for better or worse.
Well... there's the "People's Republic of China", and the "Republic of China", two completely different countries (well, in the eyes of the PROC, the ROC is a breakaway republic, sort of like how Saddam viewed Kuwait). So, "Chinese countries" would be technically correct--and that's the best kind of correct!
Also, the ROC (aka Taiwan) is the source of much of the world's RAM, so the original poster's comment has some validity.
I mean I've put up a better and more coherrent public defence of my spending and dubious affairs in front of the board of our corporation even when I've been royally hungover and weak on facts.
Lets try this on something tangable if there was one spot on a certine car that if you did somehting the cars doors would open and the engine would start up lets say hit it with a 5lb hammer.
Overpriced in this case has the connotation of part of the price is based on value returned, and part is based on it's place as a status symbol. A lot of that subjectiveness you mention is how much is "cool" worth. Which to be fair, is a poor investment. Cool is a moving target. It will move. It might move in Apple's brand, or even the iPod line, but it doesn't stay put for very long.
I personally don't give a damn if what I use is "cool". If it does what I want, in the way I want it done, THAT is the important thing. I think for anyone that isn't a teenager, "cool" has very little to do with it. Yeah, the iPod Mini is cool. I personally couldn't care less. Sure, some people care. I'm not one of them.
Look at the huge sales of the ridiculously overpriced iPod Mini - the market wants smaller and sleeker and good looking, not huge, bulky and with too many features.
Don't forget the best part of the iPod: the interface. It's a work of minimal art. 4 buttons. wheel. I've never had to show anyone how to use it when they want to look at it. it's intuitive. how much new technology can we say that about?
Also, I just don't understand how someone can call something overpriced that is so popular that it's nearly impossible to get ahold of one. (trust me, I've been trying to order one for my brother-in-law's graduation) If there were selling it for $150, they would be making $100 less profit on each and every one, and since they are selling as many as they can make, that would be millions of dollars just *gone*. For Apple's shareholders, it's priced *just right*.
This also means that they can drop the price by $50 this fall after the people willing to pay $250 are satisfied, and capture another whole market segment. or keep the price point and increase the capabilities.
Marketing 101: If you can sell it for $10, what is to be gained by selling it for $5?
Of course, if by "overpriced", you mean, "costs more than I am willing to pay for what it is", that's different. Of course, that's a subjective thing.
It'll have to be more than cheaper and smaller and cooler looking to kill the iPod: it would have to work better, and be easier to use. No one has managed that, and I for one would be very surprised if Apple wasn't able to keep up.
This actually isn't a troll... it's an attempt at British humor. (humour?)
This is what the well-known (well, in the UK) comic/rapper/(vj?) Ali G. (iirc) says about everything. In the US, he is mostly known as the annoying driver from the Madonna video for the song "Music".
The format is as such:
"$Thing. What's it all about? Is it good, or is it whack?"
OK, that's my cross-cultural contribution for the day.
Sure it's cool that a robot might build a house in a day, but would you really want to live in it?
Maybe, maybe not. What if people felt about cars the way you feel about homes? Who would be able to afford a hand-made car?
Plus, it may be different in your part of the country, but very few people here (Central coast of California) can afford to own a home. There are a lot of renters, and quite a few homeless. There are huge tracts of land here that the military ceded to local governments, much of which was earmarked for affordable housing. Instead, we have hundreds of new $500k condos.) Maybe if construction costs (which end up being labor costs) were lower, more people could own their own home. Yes, I know there are other factors, but anything that helps...
There are also a lot of people that don't have any choice where they live. Would you deny them this? Shouldn't everyone that wants one, be able to have their own home? Have you ever seen a real, honest-to-god shanty town? Anything is better than that.
Well, in my experience tinsel has precious little strength of any kind. It doesn't really need it, just hanging there on the christmas tree. Maybe if you braided it? hmmm...
Of could there's always tensile strength, but that's something completely different.
I'm not entirely sure I agree with you about the graphics quality PS2/XBox wise. I have both, and have rented the same game on both platforms at the same time to compare.
There is really no question that the graphics quality is better on the Xbox. I'm no XBox fanboi, but it isn't even close. Name a single game available on both platforms where the PS2 graphics are better.
Also, if you compare GT with PGR2, GT comes off as pixelated. There are a lot of arguable points PS2 vs. Xbox, many of them valid. A lot of it comes down to personal preference.
There are a lot of great things about the PS2, but the graphics just aren't one of them.
Of course, this is/. , where saying anything remotely positive about an MS product is a Troll, and today we love Sony. (Love Sony on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and alternate Sundays. Hate Sony on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.)
I dunno, I strongly suspect this stuff is being taken too seriously around here, but what else is new?
and if that girl suddenly starts liking me because of my "big-load-o-cash"(tm), I probably wont like her anymore.
No, and nor should you. But there are other forces at work. There are lots of considerate, intelligent, desirable women who will simply not even consider getting involved with someone if they don't have a steady job and pretty much have their shit together.
Most women are not looking for a "fixer-upper" boyfriend. Is this gold-digging? Of course not. They just want someone who can carry his own weight, and doesn't live in his parents' basement.
Believe it or not, but making a decent living is one good clue that a guy is not a complete loser/drug addict/lazy-good-for-nothing. Are there exceptions, of course there are, but they ARE exceptions.
Personally, I wouldn't get involved with a girl who can't hold a job. (at least, not again) Being able to show up for work on time and do her job without getting canned once a month is a clue that she isn't a complete flake. Being reliable and smart is one of the things that attracted me to my wife (aside from the fact that she's a hottie).
Let's face it. If you're not grown-up enough to make a living on your own, you're probably not grown-up enough to be date-worthy.
Of course, this would be an unpopular opinion here, where most of us, myself included, have been penniless geeks at one point or another. That doesn't mean it's wrong.
one friend of mine applied to a job that was so perfectly suited to his experience it was eerie. the job description was basically his resume (in a somewhat specialized field too).
Same thing happened to me. Turns out it was my job...
After I confronted them about it, I was invited to apply for it, though. (I only wish I were joking.) This is after I was there 6 years... corporate bastards.
Ah well. I got a ($$$) MUCH better job a month later. Local classified. Hard to beat sometimes...
1. Taking the "human condition" to the extreme. Futures where sex is the only thing driving humanity. Of course, they're so much more advanced than us because everyone has sex with everyone.
Slashdot Mirror
While I essentially agree with your post, I can't help but wish that there were a "-1, Used Y'all" moderation.
It's actually even worse when it's at the end of a post with which I agree.
m-
...I'm reading here are kind of off-base.
"You can only drive 60(75,85)mph anyway, what a waste"
"The small-penised guys who buy this will kill themselves in 15 minutes"
"How pointless, it only gets 3mpg!"
etc, etc, etc.
Hmmmm, where do I begin. The people who are in the market to buy this automobile are not going to drive it every day. In fact, they will probably transport it in its own trailer if they take it to any concours, etc.
The main thing is, you're viewing this as a car. It isn't. It's a piece of kinetic, semi-functional sculpture. The collectors will buy this, then put it in their lovely 30,000sq.ft. showroom, and maybe take it around the block once in a while to get a little sun.
There are people with vast amounts of money who appreciate exceptional feats of engineering and design. Jay Leno is one. The Sultan of Brunai is another.
As far as the driving like assholes, that only happens with idiot rockstars and the like who just got a million dollar paycheck. The vast majority of the people driving this car will be doctors, investment bankers and the like. These guys drive carefully.
I live in Carmel, CA. We have the Concours d'Elegance here at Pebble Beach every year, and countless other similar events at nearby Laguna Seca. In addition, there are enough Ferraris and the like around here normally that I usually see 2-3 on the way to work every day. Hell, Porsches are common as VW beetles around here. I've never seen any of the more exotic cars driven less than super-carefully.
Yeah, it's a lot of money, but it costs much less then some of the jewelry worn at the Oscars... and this is much cooler then some bling-bling necklace.
-m
First, I don't know what "Master Tactician" is; you are probably referring to "Expert Tactician" which allows you to make an additional attack whenever someone is denied their dex bonus to AC. Since a Rogue also adds sneak attack damage to any attack when the opponent is denied their dex bonus to their AC this is a good combination.
I've discovered that if you read this post out loud with the appropriate "nasally" voice, that it is enough to send coworkers into a laughing fit sufficient to cause vomiting.
It is your responsibility not to misuse this information.
m-
I guess you'll have to upgrade now won't you?
I'm not sure I would call that an upgrade...
m-
I don't know... I imagine D&D has done more to prevent the spread of STDs then anything in history...
m-
but your current administration is too big for it's boots.
No disrespect taken. I don't think you really understand the situation. A lot of us don't like him and his, either. Heck, most of us voted for the other guy, last time around.
Now, if you go picking on the country as a whole, that's kind of a different animal. We tend to get a bit nationalistic when insulted, as do a lot of other places.
Don't tell us how the USA is all about freedom and then try to bully us into doing what you want us to do.
Oh, another cultural misunderstanding. When we say "freedom", we mean OUR freedom, not YOUR freedom. As far as most of us are concerned, as long as we're happy, the rest of the world can "get stuffed", to borrow your phrase.
We've a pretty insular culture, for better or worse.
m-
So, who would that be? China and . . . China?
Well... there's the "People's Republic of China", and the "Republic of China", two completely different countries (well, in the eyes of the PROC, the ROC is a breakaway republic, sort of like how Saddam viewed Kuwait). So, "Chinese countries" would be technically correct--and that's the best kind of correct!
Also, the ROC (aka Taiwan) is the source of much of the world's RAM, so the original poster's comment has some validity.
M-
I mean I've put up a better and more coherrent public defence of my spending and dubious affairs in front of the board of our corporation even when I've been royally hungover and weak on facts.
Please, don't make fun of our president.
It Hurts The Country.(TM)
m-
Lets try this on something tangable if there was one spot on a certine car that if you did somehting the cars doors would open and the engine would start up lets say hit it with a 5lb hammer.
You're thinking of a Citroen, not a Toyota.
m-
Do we really want to risk our young daughters eating abnormal quantities of lactoferrin and risking a higher rate of gigantomastia?
In a word, yes.
m-
What's next? Putting it in a carboard cut out of britney spears?
I guess the sad thing here is that this sounds really cool to me.
m-
Overpriced in this case has the connotation of part of the price is based on value returned, and part is based on it's place as a status symbol. A lot of that subjectiveness you mention is how much is "cool" worth. Which to be fair, is a poor investment. Cool is a moving target. It will move. It might move in Apple's brand, or even the iPod line, but it doesn't stay put for very long.
I personally don't give a damn if what I use is "cool". If it does what I want, in the way I want it done, THAT is the important thing. I think for anyone that isn't a teenager, "cool" has very little to do with it. Yeah, the iPod Mini is cool. I personally couldn't care less. Sure, some people care. I'm not one of them.
m-
Marketing 201: Sometimes you can make more profit by selling more units at a lower price.
Not when they are selling as many as they can make. That's the point.
m-
In New Orleans and around the area...you can find all the iPods you want at Best Buy, CompUSA and other places of the sort that sell them.
I was referring specifically to the iPod Mini.
m-
Look at the huge sales of the ridiculously overpriced iPod Mini - the market wants smaller and sleeker and good looking, not huge, bulky and with too many features.
Don't forget the best part of the iPod: the interface. It's a work of minimal art. 4 buttons. wheel. I've never had to show anyone how to use it when they want to look at it. it's intuitive. how much new technology can we say that about?
Also, I just don't understand how someone can call something overpriced that is so popular that it's nearly impossible to get ahold of one. (trust me, I've been trying to order one for my brother-in-law's graduation) If there were selling it for $150, they would be making $100 less profit on each and every one, and since they are selling as many as they can make, that would be millions of dollars just *gone*. For Apple's shareholders, it's priced *just right*.
This also means that they can drop the price by $50 this fall after the people willing to pay $250 are satisfied, and capture another whole market segment. or keep the price point and increase the capabilities.
Marketing 101: If you can sell it for $10, what is to be gained by selling it for $5?
Of course, if by "overpriced", you mean, "costs more than I am willing to pay for what it is", that's different. Of course, that's a subjective thing.
It'll have to be more than cheaper and smaller and cooler looking to kill the iPod: it would have to work better, and be easier to use. No one has managed that, and I for one would be very surprised if Apple wasn't able to keep up.
m-
This actually isn't a troll... it's an attempt at British humor. (humour?)
This is what the well-known (well, in the UK) comic/rapper/(vj?) Ali G. (iirc) says about everything. In the US, he is mostly known as the annoying driver from the Madonna video for the song "Music".
The format is as such:
"$Thing. What's it all about? Is it good, or is it whack?"
OK, that's my cross-cultural contribution for the day.
m-
It's going to be law meets star trek meets larry flint.
Sounds great to me....
m-
Yes, but did you see her naked? That's all that matters.
/. would this comment get modded "+4, Insightful"
Only on
m-
There's a difference, though it may not sound like it if you slur your "t"s.
That's actually the reason for the imbibing of beer on this holiday: to ensure proper enunciation of the day's name.
Alcohol: Cause of--and solution to--all of life's problems.
m-
Sure it's cool that a robot might build a house in a day, but would you really want to live in it?
Maybe, maybe not. What if people felt about cars the way you feel about homes? Who would be able to afford a hand-made car?
Plus, it may be different in your part of the country, but very few people here (Central coast of California) can afford to own a home. There are a lot of renters, and quite a few homeless. There are huge tracts of land here that the military ceded to local governments, much of which was earmarked for affordable housing. Instead, we have hundreds of new $500k condos.) Maybe if construction costs (which end up being labor costs) were lower, more people could own their own home. Yes, I know there are other factors, but anything that helps...
There are also a lot of people that don't have any choice where they live. Would you deny them this? Shouldn't everyone that wants one, be able to have their own home? Have you ever seen a real, honest-to-god shanty town? Anything is better than that.
Just a few thoughts...
m-
Well, in my experience tinsel has precious little strength of any kind. It doesn't really need it, just hanging there on the christmas tree. Maybe if you braided it? hmmm...
Of could there's always tensile strength, but that's something completely different.
-m
I'm not entirely sure I agree with you about the graphics quality PS2/XBox wise. I have both, and have rented the same game on both platforms at the same time to compare.
/. , where saying anything remotely positive about an MS product is a Troll, and today we love Sony. (Love Sony on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and alternate Sundays. Hate Sony on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.)
There is really no question that the graphics quality is better on the Xbox. I'm no XBox fanboi, but it isn't even close. Name a single game available on both platforms where the PS2 graphics are better.
Also, if you compare GT with PGR2, GT comes off as pixelated. There are a lot of arguable points PS2 vs. Xbox, many of them valid. A lot of it comes down to personal preference.
There are a lot of great things about the PS2, but the graphics just aren't one of them.
Of course, this is
I dunno, I strongly suspect this stuff is being taken too seriously around here, but what else is new?
m-
and if that girl suddenly starts liking me because of my "big-load-o-cash"(tm), I probably wont like her anymore.
No, and nor should you. But there are other forces at work. There are lots of considerate, intelligent, desirable women who will simply not even consider getting involved with someone if they don't have a steady job and pretty much have their shit together.
Most women are not looking for a "fixer-upper" boyfriend. Is this gold-digging? Of course not. They just want someone who can carry his own weight, and doesn't live in his parents' basement.
Believe it or not, but making a decent living is one good clue that a guy is not a complete loser/drug addict/lazy-good-for-nothing. Are there exceptions, of course there are, but they ARE exceptions.
Personally, I wouldn't get involved with a girl who can't hold a job. (at least, not again) Being able to show up for work on time and do her job without getting canned once a month is a clue that she isn't a complete flake. Being reliable and smart is one of the things that attracted me to my wife (aside from the fact that she's a hottie).
Let's face it. If you're not grown-up enough to make a living on your own, you're probably not grown-up enough to be date-worthy.
Of course, this would be an unpopular opinion here, where most of us, myself included, have been penniless geeks at one point or another. That doesn't mean it's wrong.
m-
one friend of mine applied to a job that was so perfectly suited to his experience it was eerie. the job description was basically his resume (in a somewhat specialized field too).
Same thing happened to me. Turns out it was my job...
After I confronted them about it, I was invited to apply for it, though. (I only wish I were joking.) This is after I was there 6 years... corporate bastards.
Ah well. I got a ($$$) MUCH better job a month later. Local classified. Hard to beat sometimes...
m-
1. Taking the "human condition" to the extreme. Futures where sex is the only thing driving humanity. Of course, they're so much more advanced than us because everyone has sex with everyone.
There are lots of books about Europe.
m-