Re:Way too much time on their hands...
on
PC In An XP Box
·
· Score: 4, Funny
"Is it just me, or do these guys have way too much time on their hands? I mean... what in the world do they hope to accomplish besides a (+5, HOLYSHIT) moderation?"
Is it just me, or do these guys have way too much time on their hands? I mean.. what in the world do they hope to accomplish besidse a (+5, Whoopdedoo_You_Pointed_Out_It_Isn't_A_BFD) moderation?
"The remixes in the new version are pretty nice too,)"
Ah yes, the 3DO music. When SC2 was ported to the 3DO, they redid the music using CD audio. Did an awesome job, if you ask me. They also added CG rendered full-motion video to the intro and ending. It was a pleasant upgrade from the Dos version. I was fortunate enough to be one of the 3 people that had a 3DO so I could play that game!
You know, to this day, I still can't get over how tasteful the 3DO port of that game was. It's not all that often a game is updated and good sense is used about which pieces to update and which to leave as it was.
"Other than that and a few miscellaneous features, there is no reason why MIDIs should not sound as good as MODs."
Well you pretty much nailed the difference between them..MODs carry along all they need to make the song sound right,.MIDIs are dependent on the playback hardware for how they're interpreted. Kinda like the difference between HTML and.PDF. Heh.
Anybody who played SCII back in the DOS days instantly knows the contribution they brought to the table. The music was all done using '.mod', and it was pretty damn cool. Not bad given it came on what, 3 floppies?
I imagine Amiga users wouldn't be so enthralled by it, but.MOD was so much better than.MIDI.
I saw a Dilbert cartoon where they pushed a Satellite into orbit using a laser + a really big sail of some sort. This is a cartoon, I know, but is there any basis in reality for that sort of launch?
" Lawmakers report that their constituents are angry about cable bills that have risen at three times the rate of inflation since the industry was largely deregulated in 1996."
Not that I represent the average person, but I haven't complained about the bills slowly creeping up. During that time, more channels have appeared, then cable modems, then digital cable, etc. So yeah, now I'm paying more than I used to, but I also have video on demand. If that's what it takes to get these services going...
I can imagine others not feeling the same. But I personally don't have an issue with it. Besides, cable hasta compete with satellite and now TV shows going to DVD. I've already decided I'm not watching the Kingdom Hospital show anymore until it comes out on DVD. I swear they only have 20 minutes of content and the rest is all commercials.
"I've contended for years that computing in general has been held back by Microsoft, not pushed forward, and this is an example of just how that has been the case."
Yeah, never mind that Windows gave computers some much needed unity. Never mind that computer ownership skyrocketed after Windows 95 came out. Never mind that nearly every household has a computer in it, now. Microsoft held back computing. Anybody remember the Commodore days? Having a computer was like driving a moped.
Are you saying that banner ads don't work? (Or are you referring to TiVo? Not sure I understand the phrasing of your sentence here. If I misread your point I'm sorry.)
Banner ads do work. That's why Slashdot's still here. If people are genuinely interested in the product being advertised, they go click the link. What doesn't work is that you can only get so much from them. Putting a Tampax banner on Slashdot isn't going to generate a lot of hits. Putting a ThinkGeek banner on Slashdot, however, generates a lot of views from interested people.
There are ways to make advertising work on the web. The first step, however, is not to get your hopes up high about how many people will come. The second is to target your audience. The third is to make your banner provide information that they're interested in. A whoopdeedoo flashy banner won't work as well as saying "This item is cool, here's why."
So could the TiVo think work? Potentially, yes. Start small. The R2D2 toy comes to mind. Show an ad for that during Enterprise. How many people watching that show would click the button? How many of those are genuinely interesting advertising hits? Think about it.
"but because of the American school system not being up to snuff. In a report by the AeA, they contend that American schools don't teach enough math and science anymore."
If that's true, then the US finds itself a competitor. Losing means economic problems. Maybe we'll reach a point where funding finally flies in the schools' way? Maybe we'll see more computers in the classrooms?
At least I hope so. I was lucky. My high school had just recieved a grant to buy new computers, and at the time, they were top of the line. I was disheartened when the teacher told me they had to last at least 5 years. Ick. The sad thing is, I wasn't even at a public high school.
"A solid state disk drive you shove into a PCI slot with a bunch of SDRAM on it: Priceless"
I went into sticker shock when I saw the 1-gig RocketDrive PCI card was $1,000. But then I got to thinking about it: It would cost me $500 to go from 1 gig of RAM to 2. (I have to throw out the old RAM...) Assuming it behaves better than my hard drive (well it should.. I mean it won't be as fast as the main memory but it should kick the drive's butt...) I could set the swap drive to it and get much better performance while I'm rendering. Then, if I get a new machine where I max out the RAM, I can slap the card in and still have an extra gig.... Yeah, I see what you mean by 'priceless'.
Sorry to babble. I'm sitting here waiting for my computer to render. It's swapping about 500 megs in. Ugh.
" i don't understand the question. if PS3 and Xbox 2 come out the same day with the same specs, but i could play 2 generations worth of game library, including the newest PS2 game i bought last month, with potential better graphics and speed on the PS3, i would be swayed."
If you already have a PS2, then what are you actually gaining? In that sense, you are FAR better off waiting until either console has games you want to get. If they're slow to move, then you might even get it for cheaper. Certainly you'd have more money as paychecks go by.
Sorry, I just don't see the value in buying a system because of backwards compatibility. It only sort of makes sense if you don't already have the previous system. Even then, why not just spend a little less and buy the previous system until the newer one is clearer to you?
"When PS3 first comes out and you already have 50 games you can play on it, not to mention the few good games that will still be released for PS2 while it dies out."
If you already have a PS2 with those games laying around, what have you really bought yourself? The PS2 isn't exactly a niche product.
The nice thing about backwards compatibility is it makes your machine 'usable' if the launch titles suck, and generally they do. After that.. well who really mucks with it? I mean, I could see somebody who doesn't own a PS1 enjoying playing the $5 bargain bin games on the PS2. But really, both systems were so successful that it's hard to imagine the compatibility feature being that big of sell.
Nintendo got it right. Don't lock your system into a groove. I mean, really, what if the GameCube had held on to N64 games? Would it be a cartridge based machine as well, or would it be significantly bigger than it is today?
Frankly, I see backwards compatibility as a fad. At least with the PS2, the PS1 games had an option of 'improving' the graphics. But how is the PS3 going to do that? It's not going to invent higher resolution textures. It isn't going to have much spiffier polygon drawing capabilities other than sheer number of them. I doubt they can go back and add real-time shadows to the games. (That'd be neat if they did actually..) Meanwhile, the cost of the system goes up *or* the quality of the older games goes down.
Nintendo's approach is more interesting. Take the classic games, update them to what the new system can handle, and resell it. Yeah, you're out a few extra $$$, but you gain a more interesting game. Super Mario All Stars anyone?
Call me cynical, but I firmly believe that Sony's going to discover within a generation or two that backwards compatibilty ain't all that hot anymore. Now, if you can make a portable system that plays previous generation games, then you've got a gold mine brewing. Too bad Playstation(N) discs are 5" wide.
Slashdot Mirror
"Is it just me, or do these guys have way too much time on their hands? I mean... what in the world do they hope to accomplish besides a (+5, HOLYSHIT) moderation?"
Is it just me, or do these guys have way too much time on their hands? I mean.. what in the world do they hope to accomplish besidse a (+5, Whoopdedoo_You_Pointed_Out_It_Isn't_A_BFD) moderation?
"Too bad most Slashdotters who use XP won't actually HAVE an XP box..."
I'm not a pirate, I just gave a hoot!
"The remixes in the new version are pretty nice too ,)"
Ah yes, the 3DO music. When SC2 was ported to the 3DO, they redid the music using CD audio. Did an awesome job, if you ask me. They also added CG rendered full-motion video to the intro and ending. It was a pleasant upgrade from the Dos version. I was fortunate enough to be one of the 3 people that had a 3DO so I could play that game!
You know, to this day, I still can't get over how tasteful the 3DO port of that game was. It's not all that often a game is updated and good sense is used about which pieces to update and which to leave as it was.
"Other than that and a few miscellaneous features, there is no reason why MIDIs should not sound as good as MODs."
.MODs carry along all they need to make the song sound right, .MIDIs are dependent on the playback hardware for how they're interpreted. Kinda like the difference between HTML and .PDF. Heh.
Well you pretty much nailed the difference between them.
Anybody who played SCII back in the DOS days instantly knows the contribution they brought to the table. The music was all done using '.mod', and it was pretty damn cool. Not bad given it came on what, 3 floppies?
.MOD was so much better than .MIDI.
I imagine Amiga users wouldn't be so enthralled by it, but
I saw a Dilbert cartoon where they pushed a Satellite into orbit using a laser + a really big sail of some sort. This is a cartoon, I know, but is there any basis in reality for that sort of launch?
"Wow, and the day isn't even over yet. When's Slashdot ever going to get a Google icon?"
:(
There are too many to chose from.
" Lawmakers report that their constituents are angry about cable bills that have risen at three times the rate of inflation since the industry was largely deregulated in 1996."
Not that I represent the average person, but I haven't complained about the bills slowly creeping up. During that time, more channels have appeared, then cable modems, then digital cable, etc. So yeah, now I'm paying more than I used to, but I also have video on demand. If that's what it takes to get these services going...
I can imagine others not feeling the same. But I personally don't have an issue with it. Besides, cable hasta compete with satellite and now TV shows going to DVD. I've already decided I'm not watching the Kingdom Hospital show anymore until it comes out on DVD. I swear they only have 20 minutes of content and the rest is all commercials.
"Why not just skip the middle men and just buy the content we want?"
With Analog cable? That's a hell of a lot of filters to put on each line.
This is mildly more plausible with Digital Cable, however.
"Actually, they found it on the smelloscope."
My bad, it was pointed at Uranus.
"No need. Just use Mozilla and say, "I will make sure I never see a Microsoft ad again!"
Ah, so you turned off images?
"What now? does dragging this stuff up accomplishe anything more? It's just for microsoft bashing."
One man's flamebait is another man's insightfu.
"I've contended for years that computing in general has been held back by Microsoft, not pushed forward, and this is an example of just how that has been the case."
Yeah, never mind that Windows gave computers some much needed unity. Never mind that computer ownership skyrocketed after Windows 95 came out. Never mind that nearly every household has a computer in it, now. Microsoft held back computing. Anybody remember the Commodore days? Having a computer was like driving a moped.
"The system doesn't work."
Are you saying that banner ads don't work? (Or are you referring to TiVo? Not sure I understand the phrasing of your sentence here. If I misread your point I'm sorry.)
Banner ads do work. That's why Slashdot's still here. If people are genuinely interested in the product being advertised, they go click the link. What doesn't work is that you can only get so much from them. Putting a Tampax banner on Slashdot isn't going to generate a lot of hits. Putting a ThinkGeek banner on Slashdot, however, generates a lot of views from interested people.
There are ways to make advertising work on the web. The first step, however, is not to get your hopes up high about how many people will come. The second is to target your audience. The third is to make your banner provide information that they're interested in. A whoopdeedoo flashy banner won't work as well as saying "This item is cool, here's why."
So could the TiVo think work? Potentially, yes. Start small. The R2D2 toy comes to mind. Show an ad for that during Enterprise. How many people watching that show would click the button? How many of those are genuinely interesting advertising hits? Think about it.
"but because of the American school system not being up to snuff. In a report by the AeA, they contend that American schools don't teach enough math and science anymore."
If that's true, then the US finds itself a competitor. Losing means economic problems. Maybe we'll reach a point where funding finally flies in the schools' way? Maybe we'll see more computers in the classrooms?
At least I hope so. I was lucky. My high school had just recieved a grant to buy new computers, and at the time, they were top of the line. I was disheartened when the teacher told me they had to last at least 5 years. Ick. The sad thing is, I wasn't even at a public high school.
"there is now a gigantic video screen featuring a car racing game that anyone with a cellphone can play by dialing an 800 number"
Wait a sec, I thought that was illegal in New York?!
"It is a good time to go into a medical field though. We need lots of people who can write prescriptions for Viagra."
I thought setting up a spam server was an IT job.
Why is it 'thriftIER' to get the backwards compatible one when you already have the system? You're not buying new functionality. Enlighten me?
You're not being very thrifty if you already have a PS2. If you don't, then godspeed.
"A solid state disk drive you shove into a PCI slot with a bunch of SDRAM on it: Priceless"
I went into sticker shock when I saw the 1-gig RocketDrive PCI card was $1,000. But then I got to thinking about it: It would cost me $500 to go from 1 gig of RAM to 2. (I have to throw out the old RAM...) Assuming it behaves better than my hard drive (well it should.. I mean it won't be as fast as the main memory but it should kick the drive's butt...) I could set the swap drive to it and get much better performance while I'm rendering. Then, if I get a new machine where I max out the RAM, I can slap the card in and still have an extra gig.... Yeah, I see what you mean by 'priceless'.
Sorry to babble. I'm sitting here waiting for my computer to render. It's swapping about 500 megs in. Ugh.
" i don't understand the question. if PS3 and Xbox 2 come out the same day with the same specs, but i could play 2 generations worth of game library, including the newest PS2 game i bought last month, with potential better graphics and speed on the PS3, i would be swayed."
If you already have a PS2, then what are you actually gaining? In that sense, you are FAR better off waiting until either console has games you want to get. If they're slow to move, then you might even get it for cheaper. Certainly you'd have more money as paychecks go by.
Sorry, I just don't see the value in buying a system because of backwards compatibility. It only sort of makes sense if you don't already have the previous system. Even then, why not just spend a little less and buy the previous system until the newer one is clearer to you?
"GNU/Linux uses swap partitions, dumbfuck."
Mod parent up!! (So we can laugh at him!)
"SCO Seeks Licenses Down Under"
Sorry Darl, when I told you where you could stick the license, I meant that figuratively.
"When PS3 first comes out and you already have 50 games you can play on it, not to mention the few good games that will still be released for PS2 while it dies out."
If you already have a PS2 with those games laying around, what have you really bought yourself? The PS2 isn't exactly a niche product.
The nice thing about backwards compatibility is it makes your machine 'usable' if the launch titles suck, and generally they do. After that.. well who really mucks with it? I mean, I could see somebody who doesn't own a PS1 enjoying playing the $5 bargain bin games on the PS2. But really, both systems were so successful that it's hard to imagine the compatibility feature being that big of sell.
Nintendo got it right. Don't lock your system into a groove. I mean, really, what if the GameCube had held on to N64 games? Would it be a cartridge based machine as well, or would it be significantly bigger than it is today?
Frankly, I see backwards compatibility as a fad. At least with the PS2, the PS1 games had an option of 'improving' the graphics. But how is the PS3 going to do that? It's not going to invent higher resolution textures. It isn't going to have much spiffier polygon drawing capabilities other than sheer number of them. I doubt they can go back and add real-time shadows to the games. (That'd be neat if they did actually..) Meanwhile, the cost of the system goes up *or* the quality of the older games goes down.
Nintendo's approach is more interesting. Take the classic games, update them to what the new system can handle, and resell it. Yeah, you're out a few extra $$$, but you gain a more interesting game. Super Mario All Stars anyone?
Call me cynical, but I firmly believe that Sony's going to discover within a generation or two that backwards compatibilty ain't all that hot anymore. Now, if you can make a portable system that plays previous generation games, then you've got a gold mine brewing. Too bad Playstation(N) discs are 5" wide.