"Yeah, build it in space and launch the nuclear materials piece by piece.. a vehicle like this is never ment to enter the atmosphere."
I hear ya, man. Don't forget the ignorant masses, though. I personally don't fear a serious accident by this, but I know people that'd suddenly go shopping for fallout shelters.
Heck, a member of my family actually thinks a microwave can go bad and cause a mushroom cloud. Ugh.
" Being 17 I can see why parents would just shell out some money for some way to control their kids without having to talk to them, but if parents woudl just sit down and talk, or even better, unplug the box alltogether they coudl save some money."
Yeah, but consider reality for a moment. Frankly, I'd rather this became the norm than trying to legislate who can buy what. By the time I was 16, my dad woudl have had no problem with me playing GTA. By then I had a job, a car, decent grades, and no history of violence. I was a Good Kid(TM). If I would have had to drag him along so I could buy GTA, it would have been a waste of his time. If something like this replaced the rating system...
Of course it won't, but I can dream. I think it's pretty lame that the way things work now, a parent really can't say "No, it's Okay!" without actually being there. I can understand alchol or tobacco, but they can actually prove the effects those products have. Games? Uh, no. 20 years of reasearch and they've got zip.
I agree with you that parents need to do this, but why rule out a tool they just might want to use? At least with something like this, it would take the pressure off of companies like Rockstar.
"It's not our fault that YOU weren't being a good parent despite having the tools right in front of you."
(Note: I'm not promoting this particular implementation, but rather the vauge concept of it. Of course, I have no RTFA.)
Yeah, but there's always the knee-jerk question about what would happen if a Columbia-esque accident occured with one of these. I'm not anti-nuclear, but I wouldn't blame somebody for pointing out that wreckage was found over a HUGE area.
"In this year of the Einstein centenary, these skydivers have managed to rediscover the Principle of Relativity -"
I have a question: If the skydivers were travelling near the speed of light, would this still have worked? (note: Ignore the detail that they'd punch a Wile E. Coyote-esque hole into the planet.)
"I have to wait 10 years for University of California Bone? And I thought college kids were easy..."
Hehe.
You think that's bad? 3D artists have turned 'bone' into a verb. If you add a bone to an object (i.e. if you're building a posable human), they call it 'boning'. Somewhere there's a tutorial floating around called 'boning a horse'.
Or just change the channel and let the fans have what they want.
I don't like Star Wars either, but niether you nor I are in a place to say whta people can and cannot have. Don't like it? Fine, shut up and find something else to occupy you.
"You know the topic is STARWARS when all the trolling is rated "informative" or "insigthful"..."
Or Enterprise.
Frankly, I think Episode III will suck. However, if there are fans really aching to see it, I wouldn't dream of demanding that it be cancelled. I don't have to go to the theater, but the fans have no choice if it's cancelled. (Same goes for Enterprise.)
The stupid thing is, if I went on a rant about Farscape, legitimate or not, I'd be modded troll. The problem with randomy giving people mod points is that they're influenced by popular opinion. Don't you dare bash Farscape, FireFox, or Google.
" it affects how we are perceived as a community as a whole."
A mispelling of 'pole' has a more negative affect on the community than you blowing a gasket over the spelling of said pole? Shouldn't you be in line waiting for Star Wars or something?
"Umm, what? You're the one who said you "needed" to use IE. I said you can get by just fine with anything."
I never said I couldn't live without IE. In some cases, you get the data or you can't. Simple. Even Slashdot occasionally links to stories that cannot be viewed in FireFox. You've made a decision you can live without that data, I've made a decision that it isn't a big f'ing deal.
"I'm having trouble imagining a Dalek having that much dialogue. "
Heh. There was a Red Dwarf vid a while back called from "From A to Z". They went down the alphabet and.. yadda yadda yadda. At some point, they had a pair of Daleks up for an interview. The first said that it didn't watch Earth programs, the second said the red alert bulb gag was funny. Then the first cried that its counterpart had been infected by human propoganda and blew its head off.
"It's related to the thing in the American psyche that makes space aliens be humans with wrinkly foreheads."
That's not American psyche, that's budget control. When Gene Rodenberry, for example, pitched Star Trek, one of the selling points was that the budget wouldn't grow out of control because the aliens would simply be makeup tricks on humans.
Star Trek, in particular, is lengendary in it's effeciency with money. The 'bumpy headed alien' is one of the reasons why.
"Lines like the boss saying he'd "fire your family... and your ancestors" just seemed like flat writing to me."
Hmm.. I'm a little split on that one. On the one hand, it is a little flat, on the other hand, I think a lot of us have had bosses like that.
It's an advertisement first, comedy second. I think they should have had a little more fun with the "what's wrong with tape?" aspect of it. Could have nailed both points with that one me thinks. I'm sure most people who have worked with tape backups have a story about how the process failed. "I need Thursday's backup, not last weeks!" Additionally, they could have spent a little more time explaining why disc backups were preferred. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few reasons.
In short, I agree that it could easily have been better, but on the other hand I found it mildly entertaining. This really did feel like it was aimed at PHBs. That's a plus in my book. Now if they'd just make a vid like this to promote getting off of IE, my job'd be a lot easier.
"No joke. His previous company was called Fred and Ted Entertainment, which made similar videos that can be found at http://www.fredandted.com"
Wait! He's your UNCLE! That means this is an advertisement!!! I don't care if it makes me laugh, I'm going to bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch and get modded up for it!!!!
Slashdot Mirror
"Yeah, build it in space and launch the nuclear materials piece by piece.. a vehicle like this is never ment to enter the atmosphere."
I hear ya, man. Don't forget the ignorant masses, though. I personally don't fear a serious accident by this, but I know people that'd suddenly go shopping for fallout shelters.
Heck, a member of my family actually thinks a microwave can go bad and cause a mushroom cloud. Ugh.
" Being 17 I can see why parents would just shell out some money for some way to control their kids without having to talk to them, but if parents woudl just sit down and talk, or even better, unplug the box alltogether they coudl save some money."
Yeah, but consider reality for a moment. Frankly, I'd rather this became the norm than trying to legislate who can buy what. By the time I was 16, my dad woudl have had no problem with me playing GTA. By then I had a job, a car, decent grades, and no history of violence. I was a Good Kid(TM). If I would have had to drag him along so I could buy GTA, it would have been a waste of his time. If something like this replaced the rating system...
Of course it won't, but I can dream. I think it's pretty lame that the way things work now, a parent really can't say "No, it's Okay!" without actually being there. I can understand alchol or tobacco, but they can actually prove the effects those products have. Games? Uh, no. 20 years of reasearch and they've got zip.
"..why don't parents just talk to their kids?"
Why not both?
I agree with you that parents need to do this, but why rule out a tool they just might want to use? At least with something like this, it would take the pressure off of companies like Rockstar.
"It's not our fault that YOU weren't being a good parent despite having the tools right in front of you."
(Note: I'm not promoting this particular implementation, but rather the vauge concept of it. Of course, I have no RTFA.)
"Finally, we can make some real space vehicles."
Yeah, but there's always the knee-jerk question about what would happen if a Columbia-esque accident occured with one of these. I'm not anti-nuclear, but I wouldn't blame somebody for pointing out that wreckage was found over a HUGE area.
"In this year of the Einstein centenary, these skydivers have managed to rediscover the Principle of Relativity -"
I have a question: If the skydivers were travelling near the speed of light, would this still have worked? (note: Ignore the detail that they'd punch a Wile E. Coyote-esque hole into the planet.)
"3) What networked games can you actually finish within the 60 seconds before you hit the ground?"
Pilot Wings!
"I have to wait 10 years for University of California Bone? And I thought college kids were easy..."
Hehe.
You think that's bad? 3D artists have turned 'bone' into a verb. If you add a bone to an object (i.e. if you're building a posable human), they call it 'boning'. Somewhere there's a tutorial floating around called 'boning a horse'.
"I did subscribe. I used to think this place was great, and it was!"
Zonk didn't invent Slashdot dupes, typos, or misinformation. That's been around for YEARs.
You're the idiot, not Zonk.
Slashdot is not a newspaper, dumb fuck.
a.) Get yourself a sense of proportion.
b.) You need to do a better job of pretending you're more than one person.
"C'mon George, give it a rest. "
Or just change the channel and let the fans have what they want.
I don't like Star Wars either, but niether you nor I are in a place to say whta people can and cannot have. Don't like it? Fine, shut up and find something else to occupy you.
"You know the topic is STARWARS when all the trolling is rated "informative" or "insigthful"..."
Or Enterprise.
Frankly, I think Episode III will suck. However, if there are fans really aching to see it, I wouldn't dream of demanding that it be cancelled. I don't have to go to the theater, but the fans have no choice if it's cancelled. (Same goes for Enterprise.)
The stupid thing is, if I went on a rant about Farscape, legitimate or not, I'd be modded troll. The problem with randomy giving people mod points is that they're influenced by popular opinion. Don't you dare bash Farscape, FireFox, or Google.
"I bet you were burning the midnight oil at both ends to come up with that one."
Oh, man. Put a little thought into these! That was as stupid as a screendoor on a battleship!
" it affects how we are perceived as a community as a whole."
A mispelling of 'pole' has a more negative affect on the community than you blowing a gasket over the spelling of said pole? Shouldn't you be in line waiting for Star Wars or something?
"Yes, always an excuse for someone's lack of professionalism."
I'm not excusing his lack of professionalism, I'm trying to understand why you've got a 'poll' up your butt about it.
"t is kind of a fourth-grade mistake."
It's a mistake that both a spell-checker AND anybody with a pulse could make.
"And BTW, just because I expect a story posted to be free of gross errors does not make me a 'spelling nazi'."
Poll vs. Pole is a 'gross spelling' error?
"Umm, what? You're the one who said you "needed" to use IE. I said you can get by just fine with anything."
I never said I couldn't live without IE. In some cases, you get the data or you can't. Simple. Even Slashdot occasionally links to stories that cannot be viewed in FireFox. You've made a decision you can live without that data, I've made a decision that it isn't a big f'ing deal.
"I'm having trouble imagining a Dalek having that much dialogue. "
Heh. There was a Red Dwarf vid a while back called from "From A to Z". They went down the alphabet and.. yadda yadda yadda. At some point, they had a pair of Daleks up for an interview. The first said that it didn't watch Earth programs, the second said the red alert bulb gag was funny. Then the first cried that its counterpart had been infected by human propoganda and blew its head off.
That was the most I ever heard a Dalek speak.
"It's related to the thing in the American psyche that makes space aliens be humans with wrinkly foreheads."
That's not American psyche, that's budget control. When Gene Rodenberry, for example, pitched Star Trek, one of the selling points was that the budget wouldn't grow out of control because the aliens would simply be makeup tricks on humans.
Star Trek, in particular, is lengendary in it's effeciency with money. The 'bumpy headed alien' is one of the reasons why.
"Dude, didn't you see it? Not only is it a giant salt shaker, it's made of gold. GOLD!"
I always wondered why the Daleks never got into it with the Cybermen.
"Another fine proofreading job, Zonk."
Why should he bother? If he makes a mistake, spelling nazis like you come out of the woodwork and do the hard part for him.
"I just realized that as I'm reading this thread, I'm sitting on two days worth of backup tapes."
And they can sustain it?
"Lines like the boss saying he'd "fire your family... and your ancestors" just seemed like flat writing to me."
Hmm.. I'm a little split on that one. On the one hand, it is a little flat, on the other hand, I think a lot of us have had bosses like that.
It's an advertisement first, comedy second. I think they should have had a little more fun with the "what's wrong with tape?" aspect of it. Could have nailed both points with that one me thinks. I'm sure most people who have worked with tape backups have a story about how the process failed. "I need Thursday's backup, not last weeks!"
Additionally, they could have spent a little more time explaining why disc backups were preferred. Off the top of my head, I can think of a few reasons.
In short, I agree that it could easily have been better, but on the other hand I found it mildly entertaining. This really did feel like it was aimed at PHBs. That's a plus in my book. Now if they'd just make a vid like this to promote getting off of IE, my job'd be a lot easier.
"No joke. His previous company was called Fred and Ted Entertainment, which made similar videos that can be found at http://www.fredandted.com"
Wait! He's your UNCLE! That means this is an advertisement!!! I don't care if it makes me laugh, I'm going to bitch bitch bitch bitch bitch and get modded up for it!!!!
"Y'know, this file is taking forever to load. I only requested the dial-up edition, despite having a T1 line running in here."
I hear ya. My spedometer goes all the way up to 140 mph. I've never gotten it near that high, though.