Can I get the goverment to make a genetically-altered giant version
of all my other favorite foods too? (e.g. Twinkies)
Twinkies are already genetically altered much more than they should be... So much so that they are superior to any other genetic being (they will even survive a nuclear holocaust).
So then, it was not the Romans or the Jews who killed Jesus, but the RIAA.
Therefore, since Jesus is all knowing, he would have know that eventually it would be the RIAA who kills him, therefore, the RIAA makes baby jesus cry.
I think you missed the point. The number inherently has no protection with it. If your CC number is 1234 5678 9101 1121 and I have that number written down on a piece of paper, then I have done nothing wrong. The number itself is not something that can be stolen. The number is not copyrighted. It is not patented. It is not trademarked. And if I wanted to use that number as a transaction identifier for my own purchases, I have done nothing wrong. However, the moment I use that number to access your financial assets, then I have done something wrong. But not because I used that number, but because I accessed your financial assets without your permission.
Ok, then get one of those lists of credit card numbers, print it out, and walk up to your friendly neighborhood police officer, and show them said list.
I'm sure they'll tell you you haven't done anything wrong either.
In this case merely having the numbers (whether you intend to use them or not) is a felony, for which you will receive a ticket to a federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison.
Not any FF, but particularly FFXI.
There is a fair bit more strategy. Some of the larger HNMs (dragons, gods) can take anywhere from 15 minutes to literally hours to kill, swapping people in and out of your alliance (as only 18 people at any given time can perform actions against the claimed mob).
XP fights, normal ones at least, require very little skill (there are many really shitty players at level 75), but add in links, longer chains, better MP conservation, etc, and you do have to actually think. Some jobs have it easier than others, and some levels are easier from some jobs than other jobs.
As for the disposable income, I used to throw it away on a game a week. I found it stupid, but continued to do it as games wouldn't keep my attention any longer than that.
YMMV, though.
Not so much 'hardcore' gamers, but more mature gamers (coincidentally enough the ones with money, as we tend to be older, in stable careers instead of highschool, etc).
Think about it like this:
Streetfighter, Mortal Kombat, Doom, Quake, Halflife, UT; all great games in their own right, but all lack a plot that will last you more than a week (I beat the top guy, I beat the game, I collected everything, yay me).
These games are largely played by a younger crowd, as less strategy is required to get to a level where you can cry "OMGWTFBBQ!!11!1!1oneone!! 1 jU$7 p\/\/n3d j00r @$$0r... ph34r m33". These games also (IMO) give much less back.
The RPG worlds, however, if well written, provide many more hours of constantly changing entertainment. It is a much better ratio of money/time put in:satisfaction received.
Add in the MMORPG games, where the kids can still scream how 1337 they are, but the adults can have decent inter-personal interaction, the need for strategy (some of the HNMs in FFXI take a lot of preparation and planning), etc, and you have a recipie for something people are willing to continue paying for. If they weren't paying to play this, then they would be buying a new game a week (I know, I used to) purely out of boredom.
The "Death Star" used in the "Alan Parson's Project"?
Could never happen... especially if they keep making lasers smaller and smaller...
Big laser, people... c'mon... how can we spread mass death and destruction with these little pen-lasers?
That's not entirely accurate... your UID is low enough that it marks you as one from the long lost time when people actually RTFA.
There was a period (after you, but before our grand-parent who didn't understand) where even low-UIDs (who, because of their slash-age, just don't understand) wont RTFA.
Over on the PS2, there's SOCOM, Final Fantasy XI (which is, so far as I know, pretty much the ONLY online game on any platform to have had a significant impact in Japan) and, hopefully very soon now, Gran Turismo 4
And SSX3, Resident Evil:Outbreak, Amplitude, Siphon Filter:Omega Strain, THPS3/4/Underground, NFS:Undergound
There is a wide variety of online games for PS2 (I think the actual count is close to 40 or 50, many of which I haven't heard of, though). Just because you dont play that type of game doesn't mean a lot of other players dont as well.
Granted, I have most of the games I mentioned, I only play FFXI though (except when friends come over, then we throw in some SSX3 or NFS:U, or the classic fighters: SCII, KOF2k1/2k2, MK:DA)
I guess the lesson to be learned is that if you're going to use software to maintain control over a commodity hardware market, make sure that the software is too crufty and complex to reverse engineer in a reasonable amount of time.
Let me get this straight, you're telling people to use Windows if they want to stay in control?
I bought the network adaptor for SOCOM II.
Later I bought the harddrive for SOCOM II. There were supposed to be extra maps, models, weapons, etc available from SCEA.
At the time of release, there were no maps, no models, no weapons, nothing...
Since FFXI and a 'free' (as in, the first one is always free) month of access came with the harddrive, I decided to pop it in.
This was over 5 months ago. I still play it.
Thankfully I have decent friends whoc an pull me away from it on weekends, and a job which pulls me away from it during weekdays.
Weeknights and during the days on weekends I'm always playing it, though.
I want (and am going to buy) MGS3, GT4, GTA4, and SH4, but I dont know if I will have time to play them and cessate my need to play FFXI.
4 words: The Game Is Crack.
Ya, they're also the ones who, throughout the 90s, used the slogan "Thermonuclear Protection".
Now personally, if I at some point found myself in the middle of a nuclear explosion, I wouldn't be too worried about whether or not my eyes survived the blast.
Of course, were I Oakley, I wouldn't be too worried about claims of false advertising. Really, who would test their sunglasses in such a way?
There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] suggests, and try it.
The first part is easy. All it requires is simply the ability to throw yourself forward with all your weight, and the willingness not to mind that it's going to hurt.
That is, it's going to hurt if you fail to miss the ground. Most people fail to miss the ground, and if they are really trying properly, the likelihood is that they will fail to miss it fairly hard.
Clearly, it is the second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties.
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Are hostile takeovers not illegal?
I know many of you will be quick to say "Ya, but since when has Microsoft followed the law". Well, with all the flak that they've been taking lately (and subsequently getting out of, but that's not the point) about anti-competitive actions and such by the FTC and SEC, I'm sure they qould tread carfully in this matter.
Plus I'm sure Google's tops would be smart enough to keep a controlling interest.
Rather than all the trouble of VNCing in and setting timers on the local boxen or applying hardware dongles (which can be easily unplugged, btw), remember one thing:
This is for a CyberCafe... i.e. everyone there is using the internet. All of this traffic is (hopefully) going through a router which you control.
Set it up so that it masqs/routes traffic on a per-IP basis, instead of per-subnet (very easy to do with IPTables/IPChains). When the time is up, simply remove that IP from the list.
Bam, the luser's net connection drops, his game stops, he loses his battle/deathmatch/streamed porn, and he either pays you for more time, or leaves.
That covers the pay-up-front users who only want to play for an hour or two. For the rest, who don't know how long they want to stay, require they leave their license/credit-card/wedding ring/firstborn son with you while they play. Theire net connection doesn't spontaneously drop after 1 hour, and they pay you before they leave or they don't get their kid back.
Now, how is this crackable? (providing your router is properly secured, both physically and remotely).
Let them play with the mice and keyboard all they want, just dont give them net access.
Slashdot Mirror
Can I get the goverment to make a genetically-altered giant version of all my other favorite foods too? (e.g. Twinkies)
Twinkies are already genetically altered much more than they should be... So much so that they are superior to any other genetic being (they will even survive a nuclear holocaust).
First Post AHAHAHA I beat the trolls
So then, it was not the Romans or the Jews who killed Jesus, but the RIAA. Therefore, since Jesus is all knowing, he would have know that eventually it would be the RIAA who kills him, therefore, the RIAA makes baby jesus cry.
How long did you have to wait for GTA:San Andreas on your Xbox?
So a corporate merger is just casual sex? Nope, a cluster-fuck
I'm on cable internet, BitTorrent is still quite electronic (as opposed to optical) for me.
Not any FF, but particularly FFXI. There is a fair bit more strategy. Some of the larger HNMs (dragons, gods) can take anywhere from 15 minutes to literally hours to kill, swapping people in and out of your alliance (as only 18 people at any given time can perform actions against the claimed mob). XP fights, normal ones at least, require very little skill (there are many really shitty players at level 75), but add in links, longer chains, better MP conservation, etc, and you do have to actually think. Some jobs have it easier than others, and some levels are easier from some jobs than other jobs. As for the disposable income, I used to throw it away on a game a week. I found it stupid, but continued to do it as games wouldn't keep my attention any longer than that. YMMV, though.
Not so much 'hardcore' gamers, but more mature gamers (coincidentally enough the ones with money, as we tend to be older, in stable careers instead of highschool, etc).
Think about it like this:
Streetfighter, Mortal Kombat, Doom, Quake, Halflife, UT; all great games in their own right, but all lack a plot that will last you more than a week (I beat the top guy, I beat the game, I collected everything, yay me).
These games are largely played by a younger crowd, as less strategy is required to get to a level where you can cry "OMGWTFBBQ!!11!1!1oneone!! 1 jU$7 p\/\/n3d j00r @$$0r... ph34r m33". These games also (IMO) give much less back.
The RPG worlds, however, if well written, provide many more hours of constantly changing entertainment. It is a much better ratio of money/time put in:satisfaction received.
Add in the MMORPG games, where the kids can still scream how 1337 they are, but the adults can have decent inter-personal interaction, the need for strategy (some of the HNMs in FFXI take a lot of preparation and planning), etc, and you have a recipie for something people are willing to continue paying for. If they weren't paying to play this, then they would be buying a new game a week (I know, I used to) purely out of boredom.
Take a look at the Treo 600 and 650. Although video gaming on this thing is still quite low-tek, there is a gameboy emulator evailable for it.
Brings new meaning to the term 'high beams', doesn't it?
The "Death Star" used in the "Alan Parson's Project"? Could never happen... especially if they keep making lasers smaller and smaller... Big laser, people... c'mon... how can we spread mass death and destruction with these little pen-lasers?
That's not entirely accurate... your UID is low enough that it marks you as one from the long lost time when people actually RTFA.
There was a period (after you, but before our grand-parent who didn't understand) where even low-UIDs (who, because of their slash-age, just don't understand) wont RTFA.
U go look at porn :D
The problem with that idea is that not only was John your only link to that MP game of MarioKart, but also your only link to the aforementioned porn.
Over on the PS2, there's SOCOM, Final Fantasy XI (which is, so far as I know, pretty much the ONLY online game on any platform to have had a significant impact in Japan) and, hopefully very soon now, Gran Turismo 4
And SSX3, Resident Evil:Outbreak, Amplitude, Siphon Filter:Omega Strain, THPS3/4/Underground, NFS:Undergound There is a wide variety of online games for PS2 (I think the actual count is close to 40 or 50, many of which I haven't heard of, though). Just because you dont play that type of game doesn't mean a lot of other players dont as well. Granted, I have most of the games I mentioned, I only play FFXI though (except when friends come over, then we throw in some SSX3 or NFS:U, or the classic fighters: SCII, KOF2k1/2k2, MK:DA)
I guess the lesson to be learned is that if you're going to use software to maintain control over a commodity hardware market, make sure that the software is too crufty and complex to reverse engineer in a reasonable amount of time.
Let me get this straight, you're telling people to use Windows if they want to stay in control?
But... how could she be pouring hot grits into your pants if she was naked and petrified like she should be?
I bought the network adaptor for SOCOM II.
Later I bought the harddrive for SOCOM II. There were supposed to be extra maps, models, weapons, etc available from SCEA.
At the time of release, there were no maps, no models, no weapons, nothing...
Since FFXI and a 'free' (as in, the first one is always free) month of access came with the harddrive, I decided to pop it in.
This was over 5 months ago. I still play it.
Thankfully I have decent friends whoc an pull me away from it on weekends, and a job which pulls me away from it during weekdays.
Weeknights and during the days on weekends I'm always playing it, though.
I want (and am going to buy) MGS3, GT4, GTA4, and SH4, but I dont know if I will have time to play them and cessate my need to play FFXI.
4 words: The Game Is Crack.
Ya, they're also the ones who, throughout the 90s, used the slogan "Thermonuclear Protection".
Now personally, if I at some point found myself in the middle of a nuclear explosion, I wouldn't be too worried about whether or not my eyes survived the blast.
Of course, were I Oakley, I wouldn't be too worried about claims of false advertising. Really, who would test their sunglasses in such a way?
This is the real Hippocratic issue:
You got it right the second time, but in this case, it's "Hypocritical"...
Hippocratic has to do with Doctors.
[insert obligatory Disco Stu reference here]
Why? Didn't you get the memo? Disco Stu doesn't advertise...
There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] suggests, and try it.
The first part is easy. All it requires is simply the ability to throw yourself forward with all your weight, and the willingness not to mind that it's going to hurt.
That is, it's going to hurt if you fail to miss the ground. Most people fail to miss the ground, and if they are really trying properly, the likelihood is that they will fail to miss it fairly hard.
Clearly, it is the second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties.
Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
so then it's a 'trip'
Either that, or, merely 'tripe'
Are hostile takeovers not illegal?
I know many of you will be quick to say "Ya, but since when has Microsoft followed the law". Well, with all the flak that they've been taking lately (and subsequently getting out of, but that's not the point) about anti-competitive actions and such by the FTC and SEC, I'm sure they qould tread carfully in this matter.
Plus I'm sure Google's tops would be smart enough to keep a controlling interest.
Rather than all the trouble of VNCing in and setting timers on the local boxen or applying hardware dongles (which can be easily unplugged, btw), remember one thing:
This is for a CyberCafe... i.e. everyone there is using the internet. All of this traffic is (hopefully) going through a router which you control.
Set it up so that it masqs/routes traffic on a per-IP basis, instead of per-subnet (very easy to do with IPTables/IPChains). When the time is up, simply remove that IP from the list.
Bam, the luser's net connection drops, his game stops, he loses his battle/deathmatch/streamed porn, and he either pays you for more time, or leaves.
That covers the pay-up-front users who only want to play for an hour or two. For the rest, who don't know how long they want to stay, require they leave their license/credit-card/wedding ring/firstborn son with you while they play. Theire net connection doesn't spontaneously drop after 1 hour, and they pay you before they leave or they don't get their kid back.
Now, how is this crackable? (providing your router is properly secured, both physically and remotely).
Let them play with the mice and keyboard all they want, just dont give them net access.