I don't think the "Wii fanboys" are arguing about what the Wii clearly isn't. Well, maybe they are. But there are also those who think the Wii is a great, innovative system, just on the UI side, not the graphics/processing side. Like the PC, there are things the Wii does that the other consoles don't. There are also things the other consoles do that the Wii will never be capable of. This strikes me as being 'different' or a 'design choice', not a 'piece of shit'. To use your analogy, I need a car that is reliable and gets decent mileage, not something that does 300 mph and needs to be rebuilt on a regular basis.
Having not bought a console since the NES days, I'm very happy with my Wii. I can buy GC games, VC games, and Wii games. I have an interface that is (mostly) intuitive. It's economical. And if I really want to play the other games I can get a kick-ass PC (my laptop doesn't count as kick-ass), or I can go visit my buddy with the XBox 360.;)
There are already dangerous levels of radiation within our own solar system, however, we are protected by an atmosphere. No, we're protected by a magnetosphere. It deflects solar wind and, I'd assume, other charged particles that are sleeting our planet. Mars has no such magnetosphere (and not much of an atmosphere, either - not entirely unrelated), and radiation is a real problem there.
Ah, you remind me of good times. In Grade 11 I was in an advanced math course, and the class did relatively poorly on a test. The teacher spent what I'm sure was the whole class just chewing us out. Then, not long before class was over she assigned some study material. Two days later we redid that test and everyone did much better. It wasn't fun or pleasant, but she was one of the greatest teachers I had, and I was fortunate enough to have a number of good ones. The results spoke for themselves.
That was her last year of teaching. She retired after that, but I don't think there was any political pressure for her to do so. I'm just glad I got her before she left.
Because at work that's not what we use and I'd rather re-use my skills rather than split into a new branch just because im having something on the side. No offense, but I've never understood this statement. A spreadsheet's a spreadsheet, whether it be 1-2-3, Excel, or whatever. How long do you expect it to take to be able to pick up the basics of it? After that, learn what you need to get things done. I went from MS Works to a shareware clone of 1-2-3 for DOS. Guess what? Most of it is the same, any serious stuff takes some different commands, but they all do pretty much the same thing.
I feel the same way about word processors, GUIs, and programming languages. If a language can be made to work with the CLR, it follows a fixed set of rules. Yep, that includes Java, VB, C, C++. You've already learned conditions, branching, looping, etc. So, now you know what needs to be done, you know the structures to use, take the next step and try to make it in another language. Worry about the unique features after you've done the translation - it will come a lot faster.
I'm not knocking your choices. I live in a MS world, work in a MS shop, and have been working (and playing) in VB from 6 to current. I've also had the mixed pleasure of using far too many versions of Access. But I've also played around in Java, javascript, and a couple others. I've also done serious work in SQL stored procedures and a custom programming language that looks painfully similar to Delphi. What I do in each looks pretty similar, just a different syntax in different environments (and maybe some unique features available in one vs. the other).
Remember, that first step is going to be the hardest. But once you get comfortable with a useful language for the tasks you have at hand (and I don't pretend to be knowledgeable about web programming), it shouldn't take too long to start learning the unique features that make that language extra useful. And as a bonus, you won't be tied to MS and their somewhat arbitrary changes.
Also, you may want to check out the Mono project. This may be in the direction you're looking for.
Had NASA run the western expansion, we'd all still be in New York. Nonsense. New York would have extended to the Mississippi, one block at a time, at which time they would have invested in making houses that could rest on the water as an independent community and be able to withstand any weather that had occurred there in the last 200 years. Because bridges are just too risky.
I'd wager that it has more to do with being required to have IP laws which are simular to the US and Old Europe in order to participate in various trade groups and treaties. And lobbying. Never underestimate the power of lobbying to influence a political discussion.
Or you go back to the basics. Go for gameplay and not glitz, or big names, or huge marketing. IIRC, Doom was profitable in one month. It had something engaging and new, and did away with all the crap big game businesses did. In time, the next id, the next Maxis will appear. It will be interesting, and I doubt it will be a big game studio that does it.
As another Canadian, I entirely agree with you. While I'm generally a supporter of the conservative party (parties in some places), once again I'm vindicated in my opinion that minority governments are best for the average citizen.
<rant> My theory goes something like this. No matter what you do, it's most often politicians and not visionaries who get voted into office, if for no other reason than they lie better. This leaves you with leaders who are more concerned with their best interest rather than the people's, which results in a corrupt government. Also, majority governments can ram through just about whatever they want, whereas minority governments have to negotiate and compromise. Another way to say this is majority governments are effective, while minority governments are ineffective. So given the two likeliest choices of a corrupt effective government and a corrupt ineffective government, I'll choose the latter. At least they have a harder time shafting us. </rant>
Hey, if you can't rant about politics, what can you rant about?
Got to admit, Okami looks interesting. Ironic that the first review I read likens it to Zelda (which I do like). But I also like air hockey in Wii Play - it has a very enjoyable interface. I also support other games that don't generally count as mainstream.
I've been waiting for this for a long time. Maybe we can get something besides yet another sequel, a movie spin-off, or a blatant rip-off of another game. Perhaps they'll have to settle for plot and gameplay (or at least just gameplay) instead of stunning graphics and no substance. As a proud new owner of a Wii (yay!), I have to say the graphics are good enough, maybe not a match for the XBox 360, but the games are fun. This matters most of all. Of course, new ideas are a risk, while sequels are a known quantity with an established market. I think that's how the marketing goes...
To get on any kind of mainstream news, the Poincare conjecture needs to be solved, and then we get "Perelman proved a rabbit was a sphere". Even worse, it's totally untrue! Don't believe me? Feed a rabbit a string. After a while it will hang out of both ends. It's clearly a deformed torus, not a deformed sphere. This is the exact opposite of what Perelman proved!
Take that, non-mathematical pundits and biologically unaware mathematicians!
Ever hear the name Abegnale? There's a history of law enforcement hiring experts in the field, even when those experts have a criminal record. The important thing here is, law enforcement can't (used to not be able to?) search someone's computer without a warrant, so this would be just as illegal if he were a cop, and also would be inadmissible in court. While a citizen can break the law and submit the resulting evidence to law enforcement for trial purposes, the same doesn't hold for police. They are held to a higher standard. Of course, who knows what's really allowed now, with laws such as the PATRIOT Act in place.
This screen was perfectly flat of course, and I wonder how much it would mess with your vision to read a page with a curl or warp to it? I know it bugs me to try to read a newspaper if it's not laying flat. From the pictures in the article, as well as some of the text, this reader has a rigid backing with hinges to allow it to wrap around itself. When unrolled, it should still be quite rigid, and flat. This won't solve the minimum length being the shortest edge, but I'd love to have a rollable 5" x 8" eBook reader.
Yeah, those take a lot more intelligence than breaking into a house, stealing stuff, and selling it, all the while not getting caught.
The problem is, many criminals have a lot of trouble with that last step, including these ones...and if they have the brains to pull that off, they can usually do better with less risk than in breaking the law.
No, I'm stating it's illegal, in some cases to the same degree as theft thanks to the DMCA. And that intention and circumstance are factors in determining whether both of those are legal or not.
I don't think there can be any such thing as "illegal copying".
Of course there can. Ever hear of something that can otherwise be described as "illegal collecting"? Most people know it as theft. The problem is, some things are theft, some aren't. Curbsiding isn't theft. Gifts aren't theft. Purchases aren't theft. Picking unprotected flowers from government property isn't theft. But there is still this thing called theft. It is illegal to broadly distribute someone else's copyrighted work, not unlike "illegally copying" secret documents from a government research lab. But, just like there are legal reasons to copy those secret documents in a research lab, there are legal reasons to copy copyrighted works. The difference is in many cases the purpose for copying, and coding in exceptions is a neverending task.
How about "Russian Rocket Debris Hits Wyoming", or "Russian Booster Rocket Debris Lands In Wyoming"? Sure, it's longer, but this isn't a newspaper. We can afford the extra words for the sake of clarity, and anything that reduces sensationalism...uh, never mind.
They may have. Or they may have made something totally different for the 3D CAD market. Either way, it's called AutoDesk Inventor. It's a fairly developed product, and it's capabilities are still being expanded. My engineer coworker does amazing things with it. And I program against its API for some pretty cool stuff, too.
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Yep, that's certainly the Ford Pinto of analogies...
:D
Sorry, couldn't resist.
I don't think the "Wii fanboys" are arguing about what the Wii clearly isn't. Well, maybe they are. But there are also those who think the Wii is a great, innovative system, just on the UI side, not the graphics/processing side. Like the PC, there are things the Wii does that the other consoles don't. There are also things the other consoles do that the Wii will never be capable of. This strikes me as being 'different' or a 'design choice', not a 'piece of shit'. To use your analogy, I need a car that is reliable and gets decent mileage, not something that does 300 mph and needs to be rebuilt on a regular basis.
;)
Having not bought a console since the NES days, I'm very happy with my Wii. I can buy GC games, VC games, and Wii games. I have an interface that is (mostly) intuitive. It's economical. And if I really want to play the other games I can get a kick-ass PC (my laptop doesn't count as kick-ass), or I can go visit my buddy with the XBox 360.
Ah, you remind me of good times. In Grade 11 I was in an advanced math course, and the class did relatively poorly on a test. The teacher spent what I'm sure was the whole class just chewing us out. Then, not long before class was over she assigned some study material. Two days later we redid that test and everyone did much better. It wasn't fun or pleasant, but she was one of the greatest teachers I had, and I was fortunate enough to have a number of good ones. The results spoke for themselves.
That was her last year of teaching. She retired after that, but I don't think there was any political pressure for her to do so. I'm just glad I got her before she left.
I'd like to agree with you, but that wouldn't explain why one of the banks I regularly deal with just upgraded to Diebold ATMs.
I feel the same way about word processors, GUIs, and programming languages. If a language can be made to work with the CLR, it follows a fixed set of rules. Yep, that includes Java, VB, C, C++. You've already learned conditions, branching, looping, etc. So, now you know what needs to be done, you know the structures to use, take the next step and try to make it in another language. Worry about the unique features after you've done the translation - it will come a lot faster.
I'm not knocking your choices. I live in a MS world, work in a MS shop, and have been working (and playing) in VB from 6 to current. I've also had the mixed pleasure of using far too many versions of Access. But I've also played around in Java, javascript, and a couple others. I've also done serious work in SQL stored procedures and a custom programming language that looks painfully similar to Delphi. What I do in each looks pretty similar, just a different syntax in different environments (and maybe some unique features available in one vs. the other).
Remember, that first step is going to be the hardest. But once you get comfortable with a useful language for the tasks you have at hand (and I don't pretend to be knowledgeable about web programming), it shouldn't take too long to start learning the unique features that make that language extra useful. And as a bonus, you won't be tied to MS and their somewhat arbitrary changes.
Also, you may want to check out the Mono project. This may be in the direction you're looking for.
Yes. And like half a metallic banana clip, it won't let you see a damned thing.
Or you go back to the basics. Go for gameplay and not glitz, or big names, or huge marketing. IIRC, Doom was profitable in one month. It had something engaging and new, and did away with all the crap big game businesses did. In time, the next id, the next Maxis will appear. It will be interesting, and I doubt it will be a big game studio that does it.
As another Canadian, I entirely agree with you. While I'm generally a supporter of the conservative party (parties in some places), once again I'm vindicated in my opinion that minority governments are best for the average citizen.
<rant>
My theory goes something like this. No matter what you do, it's most often politicians and not visionaries who get voted into office, if for no other reason than they lie better. This leaves you with leaders who are more concerned with their best interest rather than the people's, which results in a corrupt government. Also, majority governments can ram through just about whatever they want, whereas minority governments have to negotiate and compromise. Another way to say this is majority governments are effective, while minority governments are ineffective. So given the two likeliest choices of a corrupt effective government and a corrupt ineffective government, I'll choose the latter. At least they have a harder time shafting us.
</rant>
Hey, if you can't rant about politics, what can you rant about?
Got to admit, Okami looks interesting. Ironic that the first review I read likens it to Zelda (which I do like). But I also like air hockey in Wii Play - it has a very enjoyable interface. I also support other games that don't generally count as mainstream.
Congratulations! You've now quantified a "barrel of laughs" for everyone. Apparently it's about the size of Uranus.
Hey, you started it.
I've been waiting for this for a long time. Maybe we can get something besides yet another sequel, a movie spin-off, or a blatant rip-off of another game. Perhaps they'll have to settle for plot and gameplay (or at least just gameplay) instead of stunning graphics and no substance. As a proud new owner of a Wii (yay!), I have to say the graphics are good enough, maybe not a match for the XBox 360, but the games are fun. This matters most of all. Of course, new ideas are a risk, while sequels are a known quantity with an established market. I think that's how the marketing goes...
Take that, non-mathematical pundits and biologically unaware mathematicians!
It's exactly that kind of thinking that makes interplanetary probes fail!
Ever hear the name Abegnale? There's a history of law enforcement hiring experts in the field, even when those experts have a criminal record. The important thing here is, law enforcement can't (used to not be able to?) search someone's computer without a warrant, so this would be just as illegal if he were a cop, and also would be inadmissible in court. While a citizen can break the law and submit the resulting evidence to law enforcement for trial purposes, the same doesn't hold for police. They are held to a higher standard. Of course, who knows what's really allowed now, with laws such as the PATRIOT Act in place.
Yeah, those take a lot more intelligence than breaking into a house, stealing stuff, and selling it, all the while not getting caught.
The problem is, many criminals have a lot of trouble with that last step, including these ones...and if they have the brains to pull that off, they can usually do better with less risk than in breaking the law.
Well, the real winner will be the one to get it running in the editor of their choice first. No idea how it will represent the graphical world, tho.
No, I'm stating it's illegal, in some cases to the same degree as theft thanks to the DMCA. And that intention and circumstance are factors in determining whether both of those are legal or not.
I don't think there can be any such thing as "illegal copying".
Of course there can. Ever hear of something that can otherwise be described as "illegal collecting"? Most people know it as theft. The problem is, some things are theft, some aren't. Curbsiding isn't theft. Gifts aren't theft. Purchases aren't theft. Picking unprotected flowers from government property isn't theft. But there is still this thing called theft. It is illegal to broadly distribute someone else's copyrighted work, not unlike "illegally copying" secret documents from a government research lab. But, just like there are legal reasons to copy those secret documents in a research lab, there are legal reasons to copy copyrighted works. The difference is in many cases the purpose for copying, and coding in exceptions is a neverending task.
marketing and distribution channels can sometimes (Britney?) overcome a shallow pool of talent
Come now. We all know that Britney can't be contained in a shallow pool. It's physically impossible! But maybe a shallow grave would do the trick.
How about "Russian Rocket Debris Hits Wyoming", or "Russian Booster Rocket Debris Lands In Wyoming"? Sure, it's longer, but this isn't a newspaper. We can afford the extra words for the sake of clarity, and anything that reduces sensationalism...uh, never mind.
They may have. Or they may have made something totally different for the 3D CAD market. Either way, it's called AutoDesk Inventor. It's a fairly developed product, and it's capabilities are still being expanded. My engineer coworker does amazing things with it. And I program against its API for some pretty cool stuff, too.