The death of American Steel had nothing to do with Unions. The steel industry failed to invest in modernization when the rest of the world did. They completely screwed themselves over in the long term, for better short term gains, and then they lobbied the government for protection against foreign steel, which they got, for a while. The blame here rests squarely on the shoulders of the people running the companies.
It doesn't matter if you're paying your workers 5 times more, when the other guy can produce more and better steel with a fraction of the workforce because your equipment and methods are decades behind.
Their court ruled that the right of free speech and expression was implied by the right to democratically elect a government. I'll take my constitutional protection over your unwritten implication, thank you very much.
I guess thats why New Zealand bans books, movies, and games, such as Manhunt, Postal 2, and a number of books related to drugs or of a sexual nature, making them not only illegal to distribute, but also illegal to own at all. I guess thats why such a free country like New Zealand needs a chief censor. Australia does not even guarantee freedom of speech at all, at any level, let alone a constitutional level.
Don't confuse having swear words or lewdness on the airwaves with actual freedom. Freedom of speech and freedom of expression are the core of what America is all about. Don't be so blinded by your anti-US bias. Your view of the United States is laughably naive.
If you're letting a 9 year old use the internet unsupervised, then you're not doing your job as a parent. The internet is not a babysitter. There are plenty of safeguards that you can install on your computer, to prevent your child from accessing inappropriate material. It is not the job of the government to prevent your child from watching pornography on the computer, or violence on TV, or reading dirty magazines, its yours, and yours alone.
Use filtering software on your computer, use the V-chip on your TV, and put your parenting skills to work, and actually monitor what your children are doing, don't ask the government to do your job for you.
Here's an interesting factoid: The Space Shuttle Enterprise was slated to be called "Constitution". Which would have made the Space Shuttles "Constitution-class". Just like the USS Enterprise NCC-1701! It was actually going to be named after Richard Nixon, which is ironic because most of the shuttle's drawbacks are his fault. NASA wanted something completely different, Nixon made it cost less in the short term and a ton more in the long term, and wouldn't fund it at all unless it could be used for military applications as well. And all the while, he comes off as a big space guy.
This is a sound argument against a municipality offering WIFI with tax dollars (not that I agree), but it doesn't tell me why the state should enact a law banning a municipality from doing this.
The citizens of a city or town should have every right to decide for themselves where their local tax dollars go. This is not protecting a citizen's right to spend money as they please, this is expressly forbidding it.
Most of the problems with the shuttle can be traced back to Nixon, he wouldn't fund it unless it could be used for launching and retrieving military satellites. NASA wanted a completely different design, and thought that the current shuttle would be insane, cost less in the short term but vastly more in the long term. Nixon didn't care about long term costs, because he wouldn't be in office anymore.
No, they do run games simultaneously, at least in this market, the restrictions are based on what the home team does. If your team doesn't sell out, you don't get your game. If your team sells out and is on first, you don't get the 2nd game on that channel.
Plus the conferences play each other, the away team's conference determines which network they're on. Its not really analagous to video games because the networks don't control how good the game is. But the competition does make them a little better, by trying to draw viewers with better presentation, or a pregame/postgame show.
Sony and MS aren't forcing Nintendo in this direction, they're not even very successful with their services. Console based on-line gaming is just plain not a successful venture. What's flamebait about my post?
Saying that Xbox Live is not very successful is either flamebait, inaccurate, or at least premature. 1.5 million paying subscribers, pre Halo 2, is not bad. Not great, but not exactly a failure.
Not a successful venture? Based on what? Because you're not profitable enough 2 years into a long term investment based on a relatively new concept? Windows wasn't profitable after 2 years either.
Only give the artist maybe 70cents-1 dollar for each record sold.
Its more like 6 cents if they're lucky, minus "expenses" that the RIAA charges them, like 25% for packaging. And thats not even considering how the recording industry cooks their books to screw people out of the rest. Artists barely see a dime from cd sales, their money is made from concerts.
(the way to 'fight' this kind of very early leaks is simple: don't think that you can sit on them and wait for the right release window, because if you've spent _any_ time in the industry you know it _will_ be leaked).
How are they sitting on it? It was just completed and sent to manufacturers, do you expect them to have enough produced for launch in a few days time?
When will companies realize that piracy is just an unfortunate part of doing business.
They have every right to go after the employee that leaked it. If you work at a cd fab and you leak a copy of something on the internet, let alone your biggest client's huge upcoming game, you deserve to be at least fired if not prosecuted. The manufacturer would be lucky not to lose their contract with MS for this, I think the least they could do for MS is to fire the person responsible. Whats unfortunate is that their immediate supervisors may also be fired.
If you're trying to sell software, and someone at the CD manufacturer puts it on the internet a month before you release it, are you just going to say, oh well shit happens?
Better off having the shuttles now and replacements on the way than nothing at all until something new comes along. And in either scenario there wouldn't be anything on the horizon for at least a decade.
On the contrary, I think that if their sales went up, some of that could be attributed to their releasing a free game, people liking it and wanting more, and people just being aware of their existance because of it.
How many people have even heard of Falcom before this? Though they have released several noteworthy games like Popful Mail, Ys, Xanadu...
Some people enjoy games with deep storylines that take forever to beat. They had these kinds of games in the time period of Contra, Super Mario, Sonic. In fact, most games then and now are still in the gategory that you describe. They aren't the norm for any platform.
Personally I consider it a good value if I get 60-80 hours of gameplay out of one game before I beat it. Those 10 hour action games don't cost any less. There are times when I want to pick up something simple for a short time, but I can also just load a save game from an RPG, play for a little while, save again and quit.
Xbox needed the extra points for being hackable and easy to pirate with for many people to buy it.
No it didn't. It wasn't hackable at all, and not easily hackable for a long time. I should know, I bought one at launch. The first modchips had 29 wires that you had to solder to the Xbox motherboard and didn't come out until 8 months after the launch. The first "softmod" wasn't out until almost a year after launch, and it had all kinds of problems. The hackable and easy to pirate factor is overrated, the Dreamcast didn't even need to be modded to run backups or homebrew apps, AND was a great console and it still died.
Xbox sold a lot of units initially for the same reason PS2 killed Dreamcast. Technical superiority, or the perception of it. Xbox Live helps too, seeing as they just had their 1 millionth subscriber.
"Sony is using a different CPU (Cell), and probably a different GPU, why doesn't the same argument apply to them?"
That is easy, Sony never had a problem with people running Linux on the PS 2, that is not the case with MS they went to great pains to try a stop it. The fact that i know quite a few people that have turned there XBox into media center. I think the reson MS has gone for the RISC with there own microcode is to stop people doing what they have been doing to the XBox.
The original poster's argument was that Microsoft would struggle with Xbox 2 because they're using a new CPU and GPU, and I responded with my quote, that PS3 is also using a new CPU and GPU, so why wouldn't the same argument apply? I don't see how your reply has anything remotely to do with that.
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The death of American Steel had nothing to do with Unions. The steel industry failed to invest in modernization when the rest of the world did. They completely screwed themselves over in the long term, for better short term gains, and then they lobbied the government for protection against foreign steel, which they got, for a while. The blame here rests squarely on the shoulders of the people running the companies.
It doesn't matter if you're paying your workers 5 times more, when the other guy can produce more and better steel with a fraction of the workforce because your equipment and methods are decades behind.
Their court ruled that the right of free speech and expression was implied by the right to democratically elect a government. I'll take my constitutional protection over your unwritten implication, thank you very much.
I guess thats why New Zealand bans books, movies, and games, such as Manhunt, Postal 2, and a number of books related to drugs or of a sexual nature, making them not only illegal to distribute, but also illegal to own at all. I guess thats why such a free country like New Zealand needs a chief censor. Australia does not even guarantee freedom of speech at all, at any level, let alone a constitutional level.
Don't confuse having swear words or lewdness on the airwaves with actual freedom. Freedom of speech and freedom of expression are the core of what America is all about. Don't be so blinded by your anti-US bias. Your view of the United States is laughably naive.
If you're letting a 9 year old use the internet unsupervised, then you're not doing your job as a parent. The internet is not a babysitter. There are plenty of safeguards that you can install on your computer, to prevent your child from accessing inappropriate material. It is not the job of the government to prevent your child from watching pornography on the computer, or violence on TV, or reading dirty magazines, its yours, and yours alone.
Use filtering software on your computer, use the V-chip on your TV, and put your parenting skills to work, and actually monitor what your children are doing, don't ask the government to do your job for you.
Sooo, what were you expecting, thermonuclear noisemakers?
How about as a deterrent to war, like they've been since?
Here's an interesting factoid: The Space Shuttle Enterprise was slated to be called "Constitution". Which would have made the Space Shuttles "Constitution-class". Just like the USS Enterprise NCC-1701!
It was actually going to be named after Richard Nixon, which is ironic because most of the shuttle's drawbacks are his fault. NASA wanted something completely different, Nixon made it cost less in the short term and a ton more in the long term, and wouldn't fund it at all unless it could be used for military applications as well. And all the while, he comes off as a big space guy.
This is a sound argument against a municipality offering WIFI with tax dollars (not that I agree), but it doesn't tell me why the state should enact a law banning a municipality from doing this.
The citizens of a city or town should have every right to decide for themselves where their local tax dollars go. This is not protecting a citizen's right to spend money as they please, this is expressly forbidding it.
Most of the problems with the shuttle can be traced back to Nixon, he wouldn't fund it unless it could be used for launching and retrieving military satellites. NASA wanted a completely different design, and thought that the current shuttle would be insane, cost less in the short term but vastly more in the long term. Nixon didn't care about long term costs, because he wouldn't be in office anymore.
Sigh. I wish they'd clone Jack Trameil so he could revive Commodore the way Jobs revived Apple
Yeah, he really turned Atari into the powerhouse that it is today.
No, they do run games simultaneously, at least in this market, the restrictions are based on what the home team does. If your team doesn't sell out, you don't get your game. If your team sells out and is on first, you don't get the 2nd game on that channel.
Plus the conferences play each other, the away team's conference determines which network they're on. Its not really analagous to video games because the networks don't control how good the game is. But the competition does make them a little better, by trying to draw viewers with better presentation, or a pregame/postgame show.
But I could watch CBS, Fox, or ESPN in addition to ABC for NFL Football, and that does create competition to draw viewers into their broadcasts.
You do realise you don't HAVE to buy it right?
You HAVE to buy it if you want an NFL football game beyond this year's edition.
Sony and MS aren't forcing Nintendo in this direction, they're not even very successful with their services.
Console based on-line gaming is just plain not a successful venture.
What's flamebait about my post?
Saying that Xbox Live is not very successful is either flamebait, inaccurate, or at least premature. 1.5 million paying subscribers, pre Halo 2, is not bad. Not great, but not exactly a failure.
Not a successful venture? Based on what? Because you're not profitable enough 2 years into a long term investment based on a relatively new concept? Windows wasn't profitable after 2 years either.
Only give the artist maybe 70cents-1 dollar for each record sold.
Its more like 6 cents if they're lucky, minus "expenses" that the RIAA charges them, like 25% for packaging. And thats not even considering how the recording industry cooks their books to screw people out of the rest. Artists barely see a dime from cd sales, their money is made from concerts.
Umm, no... It went to the manufacturers right after Microsoft certified it. It takes a month to make the amount of games that they'll need.
(the way to 'fight' this kind of very early leaks is simple: don't think that you can sit on them and wait for the right release window, because if you've spent _any_ time in the industry you know it _will_ be leaked).
How are they sitting on it? It was just completed and sent to manufacturers, do you expect them to have enough produced for launch in a few days time?
Of course it does, its true. But you'll do it all the time if you're never fired. Plus, people to fill those jobs are probably a dime a dozen anyway.
When will companies realize that piracy is just an unfortunate part of doing business.
They have every right to go after the employee that leaked it. If you work at a cd fab and you leak a copy of something on the internet, let alone your biggest client's huge upcoming game, you deserve to be at least fired if not prosecuted. The manufacturer would be lucky not to lose their contract with MS for this, I think the least they could do for MS is to fire the person responsible. Whats unfortunate is that their immediate supervisors may also be fired.
If you're trying to sell software, and someone at the CD manufacturer puts it on the internet a month before you release it, are you just going to say, oh well shit happens?
Do they have a right to refuse to accept the court documents he was trying to deliver?
If we lose the Shuttle now we lose the Hubble.
Better off having the shuttles now and replacements on the way than nothing at all until something new comes along. And in either scenario there wouldn't be anything on the horizon for at least a decade.
On the contrary, I think that if their sales went up, some of that could be attributed to their releasing a free game, people liking it and wanting more, and people just being aware of their existance because of it. How many people have even heard of Falcom before this? Though they have released several noteworthy games like Popful Mail, Ys, Xanadu...
You could show your them your sympathy and good heart by donating some pocket change to them.
Or you could buy their products, since they're a for-profit company. The Ys series is coming out for PS2 and PC.
Some people enjoy games with deep storylines that take forever to beat. They had these kinds of games in the time period of Contra, Super Mario, Sonic. In fact, most games then and now are still in the gategory that you describe. They aren't the norm for any platform.
Personally I consider it a good value if I get 60-80 hours of gameplay out of one game before I beat it. Those 10 hour action games don't cost any less. There are times when I want to pick up something simple for a short time, but I can also just load a save game from an RPG, play for a little while, save again and quit.
Xbox needed the extra points for being hackable and easy to pirate with for many people to buy it.
No it didn't. It wasn't hackable at all, and not easily hackable for a long time. I should know, I bought one at launch. The first modchips had 29 wires that you had to solder to the Xbox motherboard and didn't come out until 8 months after the launch. The first "softmod" wasn't out until almost a year after launch, and it had all kinds of problems. The hackable and easy to pirate factor is overrated, the Dreamcast didn't even need to be modded to run backups or homebrew apps, AND was a great console and it still died. Xbox sold a lot of units initially for the same reason PS2 killed Dreamcast. Technical superiority, or the perception of it. Xbox Live helps too, seeing as they just had their 1 millionth subscriber.
"Sony is using a different CPU (Cell), and probably a different GPU, why doesn't the same argument apply to them?" That is easy, Sony never had a problem with people running Linux on the PS 2, that is not the case with MS they went to great pains to try a stop it. The fact that i know quite a few people that have turned there XBox into media center. I think the reson MS has gone for the RISC with there own microcode is to stop people doing what they have been doing to the XBox. The original poster's argument was that Microsoft would struggle with Xbox 2 because they're using a new CPU and GPU, and I responded with my quote, that PS3 is also using a new CPU and GPU, so why wouldn't the same argument apply? I don't see how your reply has anything remotely to do with that.