Re:The Kilrathi do not coexist!
on
Nuke-Lobbing
·
· Score: -1, Offtopic
"'m thinking of a - Wing Commander game? It must've been that; probably Wing Commander III. After the massive cannon ship failed, the only remaining option was to go in on a single fighter and deliver this bomb which shattered the Kilrathi homeworld's tectonic plates, but there was no way to deliver the weapon and escape its blast. Kind of a suicide attack, really."
Yes, it was WC3. WC4 took place after Christopher Blair (played by Mark Hamill, who probably found this role to be quite familiar...) became a hero for blowing up the Kilrathi homeworld. Yadda yadda.
At the end of Star Control 2, what happens there is your ship is turned into a gigantic bomb. After weakining the Sa-Matra's defenses, your ship did a neat little parallel parking maneuver next to the big guy and exploded. Fortunately, a quick escape pod got you out.
Relevance to the topic? Heck I dunno. Niether of these games (Btw, both on the 3DO...) relied much on these physics. Once you got there, an FMV scene took over and did the hard part. Pity because I get a kick out of solving problems like that. Anybody remember that mission in GTA 3 where you have to lob grenades through a window? Ah I just loved getting all my armor blown away.;)
"As for your other point, RIAA members make considerably more than a million CDs in a year. "
They also spent more than one million dollars on this, that was the point. The point was that they're not using their money for growth like a responsible company would do.
"I suspect investors in the recording companies will generally back them to the hilt on this one. "
I suspect your right, but not because they're right. I know a few investor types, and they live in a strange world. They don't think customers are honest. They assume that customers will go to any lengths to save a buck. They don't understand that people pay for service. (You'd think that somebody who pays for a garderner to maintain his house would understand that...)
What's funny is that the RIAA's statistics are ridiculous. "Billions of songs get traded a month! However, we've only seen a small drop in revenue that could very well be explained by our own business practices, the war, or the economy."
"And although the naysayers might argue, the Matrix is to me, and many of my friends/family/colleauges, as Star Wars was to the generation two decades ago. "
Out of curiosity, how many people didn't like it? I enjoyed the Matrix when I first saw it, but it really doesn't survive the "Let's drag it out once a year and watch it." test with me. Just curious, anybody else feel that way too?
Not trying to troll here, I just don't see it as the "Star Wars of the late nineties" if it doesn't survive. I'd rather assign that title to the Two Towers.
"Seems the record companies are complaining of lack of revenue in CD sales... yet they have no qualms about spending millions in legal fees to piss off consumers."
If I were an investor in the RIAA I would be pissed. One million dollars would reduce the price of one million cds by one dollar. Lower the cost, increase the demand, make your customers happier.
I don't think they've only spent only one mill here. Pity they didn't use that money to increase advertising or to make places like Listen.com better.
"just heard this report [realimpact.net] by investigative journalist greg pallast that says she been tasked with re-writing iraq's intellectual property laws."
I found an excerpt of the RIAA Management Fast Track Manual she's referring to in drafting these new IP laws. Find it here.
... lower take the money they're spending on these stupid procedures, and use it to lower the price of tickets instead? Who'd be interested in downloading a movie if the cost of going to the theater was lower than purchasing the DVD?
"That's complete rubbish - there is absolutely no reason to install digital projectors if you're an exhibitor. They cost huge amounts of money and deliver absolutely nothing extra in terms of image quality. Plus, they're bigger than 35mm projectors! The only person it makes sense for is digital prokector makers and distributors (since the 'prints' are cheaper to make). "
Heheheehhee you actually think the whole thing about digital projectors is quality? Theaters don't care what the picture quality is, they certainly wouldn't upgrade it just for a better experience.
No, the reason to go digital is to save money. Instead of having this gigantic mechanical doodad that needs really heavy rolls of film wound into the thing, they can replace all that with a no-moving-parts projector and a computer. Instead of mailing that huge reel around, they just ship much smaller hard drives around (heck, they could use laptop drives), plug them in via Firewire2, and press the play button. Eventually, they'll be able to recieve the movie off the internet, thus a totally automated process.
If these were adopted, the money saved by not having to ship and load the film would eventually pay for them. I don't know how long it would take or anything like that, obviously it's not enough of a savings that these projectors have taken off.
And you're wrong about the quality. No more flicker, no more film artifacts, no more shakiness. You may not notice all that but I do. I'd love for theaters to go digital.
"Now, I'm as much a tech geek like the next slashdotter, but I don't understand why being able to schlepp your TV around would be such a big deal."
I have a Replay TV that is in the living room. It's not going anywhere. I also have a gf and her mother that likes to watch American Idol in the living room. I'd love to be able to route my ReplayTV to a semi-portable device and set it up in another room. Recently I filled out a survey form for them where they asked if I'd like an RF remote. That'd be even cooler!
However, I do not plan to buy this device, at least not if it's over $200. (from what I hear, it's close to $1,400, completely out of the question.) For $100 I could go to Radio Shack and buy an RF transmitter and reciever so I can beam the signal to the 32 inch tv in our my bedroom. Beats the LCD approach!
It's the type of thing that could be pretty snazzy. But they're nowhere near the right price neighborhood for these things to take off.
PHB's will multiply drastically, afterall management is more motivational to employees than paying them more. Cubicles will be reduced in size by 50% so they can be more efficient and fit more people per square meter. Computers will be ridiculously faster, so ambitious deadlines will be even more ambitious, just in time to meet that ever so important tradeshow deadline. And since technology will be a lot cheaper in the future, budgets will be halved over and over again in order to make sure projects under-deliver.
Business Intelligence, 100 years from now, will drop like a rock.
"Isn't it a little risky to put location transponders on all your military units? If the enemy cracks your transponder codes, they can easily target you. "
Suddenly a fleet of vehicles simultaneously comes to a complete stop. "An update to your GPS software is available. Would you like to download it now?"
"Yup, that would be cool if they had a Warcraft/Starcraft like interface where they just selected a unit, indicated the commands (move/attack/patrol/etc), and they get transmitted automatically to them. That would rock.:) "
"Tee hee, I'm going to keep walking into this tree so boss has to micro-manage me."
"I ditched my land line years ago and haven't looked back. Some people say they don't like using a cell phone because they don't want to be reached. If you buy one with a 'power' button or a 'ringer volume' button, I don't see how it's a problem."
Yep, I'm a cell-lubber too. That's all I've had for the last 6 years. It's on silent. It's been on slient for ages. If I'm near it, I can hear it whirrrrr. If I'm not near it, it doesn't disturb anybody.
I'm glad my pavlovian 'panic because the phone is ringing!' response has nearly disappeared. I'm sick of running to the phone. I just wish I didn't have a phone at work.
Err I'm not sure that's the 'ultimate'. The nice thing about having everybody rotate numbers is that telemarketer records have to be updated. Then, there's the whole problem of having to have much longer phone numbers. I don't mean to poo-poo it, just that I kind of like having to rotate once in a while.
One thing I would like, though, is the ability to alias my phone number. I had an idea a few years ago where your e-mail address (or domain name maybe? I dunno...) could be registerred with a central service. This service would store your phone # and mailing address. If somebody dialed your email address on the phone, it would lookt it up in this database and then route the call. As long as you kept your info up to date, then people would only have to remember your email address to talk to you or send you stuff.
Of course there are privacy concerns and other problems I haven't thought of. It's just that on the surface, it seems like a neat idea. Imagine being able to block individuals this way!
Hmm okay I'm rambling. I just think the digital world has the potential to really make things different for the better. I daydream about it sometimes.
Slashdot Mirror
"'m thinking of a - Wing Commander game? It must've been that; probably Wing Commander III. After the massive cannon ship failed, the only remaining option was to go in on a single fighter and deliver this bomb which shattered the Kilrathi homeworld's tectonic plates, but there was no way to deliver the weapon and escape its blast. Kind of a suicide attack, really."
;)
Yes, it was WC3. WC4 took place after Christopher Blair (played by Mark Hamill, who probably found this role to be quite familiar...) became a hero for blowing up the Kilrathi homeworld. Yadda yadda.
At the end of Star Control 2, what happens there is your ship is turned into a gigantic bomb. After weakining the Sa-Matra's defenses, your ship did a neat little parallel parking maneuver next to the big guy and exploded. Fortunately, a quick escape pod got you out.
Relevance to the topic? Heck I dunno. Niether of these games (Btw, both on the 3DO...) relied much on these physics. Once you got there, an FMV scene took over and did the hard part. Pity because I get a kick out of solving problems like that. Anybody remember that mission in GTA 3 where you have to lob grenades through a window? Ah I just loved getting all my armor blown away.
"HOT DOGS?
Is that really how you want your hot dog served to you?"
When pigs fly!
Why do I have a feeling I was modded down by somebody who went to the movie wearing sunglasses and a thrift store trench coat?
"As for your other point, RIAA members make considerably more than a million CDs in a year. "
They also spent more than one million dollars on this, that was the point. The point was that they're not using their money for growth like a responsible company would do.
"I suspect investors in the recording companies will generally back them to the hilt on this one. "
I suspect your right, but not because they're right. I know a few investor types, and they live in a strange world. They don't think customers are honest. They assume that customers will go to any lengths to save a buck. They don't understand that people pay for service. (You'd think that somebody who pays for a garderner to maintain his house would understand that...)
What's funny is that the RIAA's statistics are ridiculous. "Billions of songs get traded a month! However, we've only seen a small drop in revenue that could very well be explained by our own business practices, the war, or the economy."
"And although the naysayers might argue, the Matrix is to me, and many of my friends/family/colleauges, as Star Wars was to the generation two decades ago. "
Out of curiosity, how many people didn't like it? I enjoyed the Matrix when I first saw it, but it really doesn't survive the "Let's drag it out once a year and watch it." test with me. Just curious, anybody else feel that way too?
Not trying to troll here, I just don't see it as the "Star Wars of the late nineties" if it doesn't survive. I'd rather assign that title to the Two Towers.
"Seems the record companies are complaining of lack of revenue in CD sales... yet they have no qualms about spending millions in legal fees to piss off consumers."
If I were an investor in the RIAA I would be pissed. One million dollars would reduce the price of one million cds by one dollar. Lower the cost, increase the demand, make your customers happier.
I don't think they've only spent only one mill here. Pity they didn't use that money to increase advertising or to make places like Listen.com better.
"just heard this report [realimpact.net] by investigative journalist greg pallast that says she been tasked with re-writing iraq's intellectual property laws."
I found an excerpt of the RIAA Management Fast Track Manual she's referring to in drafting these new IP laws. Find it here.
... lower take the money they're spending on these stupid procedures, and use it to lower the price of tickets instead? Who'd be interested in downloading a movie if the cost of going to the theater was lower than purchasing the DVD?
"That's complete rubbish - there is absolutely no reason to install digital projectors if you're an exhibitor. They cost huge amounts of money and deliver absolutely nothing extra in terms of image quality. Plus, they're bigger than 35mm projectors! The only person it makes sense for is digital prokector makers and distributors (since the 'prints' are cheaper to make). "
Heheheehhee you actually think the whole thing about digital projectors is quality? Theaters don't care what the picture quality is, they certainly wouldn't upgrade it just for a better experience.
No, the reason to go digital is to save money. Instead of having this gigantic mechanical doodad that needs really heavy rolls of film wound into the thing, they can replace all that with a no-moving-parts projector and a computer. Instead of mailing that huge reel around, they just ship much smaller hard drives around (heck, they could use laptop drives), plug them in via Firewire2, and press the play button. Eventually, they'll be able to recieve the movie off the internet, thus a totally automated process.
If these were adopted, the money saved by not having to ship and load the film would eventually pay for them. I don't know how long it would take or anything like that, obviously it's not enough of a savings that these projectors have taken off.
And you're wrong about the quality. No more flicker, no more film artifacts, no more shakiness. You may not notice all that but I do. I'd love for theaters to go digital.
"Now, I'm as much a tech geek like the next slashdotter, but I don't understand why being able to schlepp your TV around would be such a big deal."
I have a Replay TV that is in the living room. It's not going anywhere. I also have a gf and her mother that likes to watch American Idol in the living room. I'd love to be able to route my ReplayTV to a semi-portable device and set it up in another room. Recently I filled out a survey form for them where they asked if I'd like an RF remote. That'd be even cooler!
However, I do not plan to buy this device, at least not if it's over $200. (from what I hear, it's close to $1,400, completely out of the question.) For $100 I could go to Radio Shack and buy an RF transmitter and reciever so I can beam the signal to the 32 inch tv in our my bedroom. Beats the LCD approach!
It's the type of thing that could be pretty snazzy. But they're nowhere near the right price neighborhood for these things to take off.
I'm sure it's happened before, but that's the first time I've seen a +5, Troll. Heh.
"What Is the Future of Business Intelligence?"
PHB's will multiply drastically, afterall management is more motivational to employees than paying them more. Cubicles will be reduced in size by 50% so they can be more efficient and fit more people per square meter. Computers will be ridiculously faster, so ambitious deadlines will be even more ambitious, just in time to meet that ever so important tradeshow deadline. And since technology will be a lot cheaper in the future, budgets will be halved over and over again in order to make sure projects under-deliver.
Business Intelligence, 100 years from now, will drop like a rock.
"There is nothing significant enough to deserve an exact keeping of seconds..."
If that were true, Y2K wouldn't have been a problem.
"I want to adapt this system to graphically display locations of all my girlfriends. "
How long have your fingers been severed?
"Isn't it a little risky to put location transponders on all your military units? If the enemy cracks your transponder codes, they can easily target you. "
Suddenly a fleet of vehicles simultaneously comes to a complete stop. "An update to your GPS software is available. Would you like to download it now?"
"Yup, that would be cool if they had a Warcraft/Starcraft like interface where they just selected a unit, indicated the commands (move/attack/patrol/etc), and they get transmitted automatically to them. That would rock. :) "
"Tee hee, I'm going to keep walking into this tree so boss has to micro-manage me."
Just wait until the galactic standard week goes into effect.
"I ditched my land line years ago and haven't looked back. Some people say they don't like using a cell phone because they don't want to be reached. If you buy one with a 'power' button or a 'ringer volume' button, I don't see how it's a problem."
Yep, I'm a cell-lubber too. That's all I've had for the last 6 years. It's on silent. It's been on slient for ages. If I'm near it, I can hear it whirrrrr. If I'm not near it, it doesn't disturb anybody.
I'm glad my pavlovian 'panic because the phone is ringing!' response has nearly disappeared. I'm sick of running to the phone. I just wish I didn't have a phone at work.
"I suggest reading this [gnu.org] article about word documents and how to avoid them."
Score: +1, ItsNeverOffTopicIfItsAntiMicrosoft
" (one number for life... the ultimate!)"
Err I'm not sure that's the 'ultimate'. The nice thing about having everybody rotate numbers is that telemarketer records have to be updated. Then, there's the whole problem of having to have much longer phone numbers. I don't mean to poo-poo it, just that I kind of like having to rotate once in a while.
One thing I would like, though, is the ability to alias my phone number. I had an idea a few years ago where your e-mail address (or domain name maybe? I dunno...) could be registerred with a central service. This service would store your phone # and mailing address. If somebody dialed your email address on the phone, it would lookt it up in this database and then route the call. As long as you kept your info up to date, then people would only have to remember your email address to talk to you or send you stuff.
Of course there are privacy concerns and other problems I haven't thought of. It's just that on the surface, it seems like a neat idea. Imagine being able to block individuals this way!
Hmm okay I'm rambling. I just think the digital world has the potential to really make things different for the better. I daydream about it sometimes.
" I think you just don't get what it means to be a monopolist and how that changes the rules of doing business. "
I didn't say monopolist, I said they're every bit as evil as MS and that Slashdot should pay more attention to them.
So what kinda fuel does it run on? Corn?
"I want a cellphone that alerts me whenever there is a slut in proximity that wouldn't mind being screwed by a pasty-skinned-underweight-nerd!"
They're already out. It's a cell phone with a compartment that holds $1,000 in cash. When you're near a desirable woman, make her an offer.
The problem is that they need to get the cost down on these things. They cost $1,200.
"Wait a minute on this... I'm a linux guy, never even touched BSD in my life. And now *I'm* saying "Huh?"
I'm a Windows guy. I'm saying "huh?" too!
"Is sony trying to control every aspect of my life and wishing them to be the gatekeeper? no."
I take it you didn't buy the Spiderman soundtrack that you couldn't put into your computer without using a Sharpie?