"Even so, I've seen some of the GTA footage and wonder where we're going. Fantasy is OK, to what point?"
Be very careful about judging GTA by little snippets of footage. I have yet to see an anti-GTA campaign that demonstrated they knew anything about what the game was really about. I'm not claiming that the game is Mr Rogers' Neighborhood, but it's definitely not a "have sex with hookers then kill them" game, either.
You mention fantasy and where it's going. It's going to go as low as possible. Why? Because there's a market for it. Should it be stopped? Well, that's where discussion comes into play. However, for this discussion to work, some terms need to be agreed to. For example: Gamers should understand that parents deal with their kids imitating. Parents need to understand that the little snippets of the game(s) shown on TV represent a very small aspect of the game and do not necessarily reflect what a gamer actually gets out of it. (Imagine if somebody took that scene from STNG where a dude got his face burned off by a phaser, then went on a anti-violence campaign against Paramount.)
Frankly, I don't see this debate subsiding until political power can no longer be gained from it. Hillary and Joe (Lieberman) are going to present one badly balanced side of the debate and encourage parents to vote for them. The sad thing is, parents are going to see their kids do something stupid, they're not going to see their own involvement in it, and they're going to listen to their favorite side of the debate.
I agree with you in spirit, man, but I honestly don't see how we're going to get an actual discussion going by two sides ready to listen.
"Oh of course. With Apple, there are plenty of legitimate reasons for their behaviour. For Microsoft, it's just further proof that they're evil."
Flamebait? My point is proven. Heh.
What's sad about this is that it could turn out that Apple really is guilty, but Slashdot will come running to their defense. But when Microsoft is actually innocent...
"For office documents thats just plain scary. Our company installed a email filter that would prevent documents from being communicated if they included these. Security has been none the better."
We didn't have security problems either, but we did have a badly needed ActiveX control.
"the only way for OpenOffice to work 100% of the time is if your customers to all use OpenOffice."
Red flag.
"Thats too bad for him. Guess he will have to learn new skills."
I hate this lame attitude. The dude wasn't a programmer. The mere fact that he picked up VBA was astonishing.
" I couldn't imagine holding a company up because of a single employee's limited skill set."
I couldn't imagine holding a company up to shoehorn the wrong software into the workflow.
"But as a manager you would know that money comes first."
I'm not a manager.
This is why I hate writing about my experiences with OSS software. I was really clear that the problems we had with OO were not the point of my post. Despite that, somebody has to sweep on in and tell me about how my company deserved what it got or whatever. I just hope the development community isn't as detached from business reality. Otherwise forget about MS's monopoly getting broken.
"But yoy will not be independant if you do not use free software. That should be a priority for a public administration."
The priority of the administration has to be 'getting the job done'.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-Open Source. Frankly, I'd love for the gov't to use it. (The last thing the gov't needs is to go through upgrade hell because the next version of Office taints the.DOC format.) However, I can't help but think about some of the problems I had trying to get OpenOffice going at my previous job. For our particular purposes, we needed ActiveX support. We had customers that would send us docs that, surprise surprise, weren't properly opened. One employee had gotten rather good at using VB with Excel. He wasn't thrilled when he got OO. Etc.
Now, just to be clear, this was at least a couple of years ago, maybe longer. My point is NOT that OO isn't ready. I am not saying that, please don't respond telling me all about how I'm wrong. Instead, my point is that at the end of the day, productivity is king. That may not be Slashdot's popular opinion, that may not even be wise, but it is reality.
All I can say is I'm glad I no longer have a job that orbited around Office.
"Agreed, and spending *more* to convert/train/implement open source in the short term *will* save you much more money in the long run."
Only if the software is up to snuff. If MS creates a new feature set that dramatically improves productivity and OSS falls behind, suddenly the money they saved is not as much.
"Maybe it's not Apple but the record companies setting the price. Maybe it has something to do with the UK not using the Euro like everyone else. Maybe it is because of the higher cost of running a different store for each country."
Oh of course. With Apple, there are plenty of legitimate reasons for their behaviour. For Microsoft, it's just further proof that they're evil.
"I guess that rules out Babylon 5, 24 and Battlestar Galatica..."\
Oh, well yeah, you certainly proved me wrong here. Even though thousands of TV shows have been made over the last 5 or so decades, you've clearly proven that the vast majority of them, in fact, are long-term dramas. Thanks for clarifying that humungous oversight on my part.
Well, if I decided to make an indie movie, I'd give it a go.
"Why is it difficult to do the same while keeping the techie edge?"
What's wrong with somebody cheaply solving a problem and publishing it? Should they hoard the knowledge or share it? That's the neat thing about the internet: publishing is cheap.
"Ka ching! I'm sure every nerd...erm, guy, would like to play out his fantasies, at least with his head on some other guy's body. Forgive me if I completely misunderstood the blurb, but someone has to adopt this technology. For me!"
I just hope this technology stays above the neck! *Shudder*
"The problem is that Hollywood isn't interested in that format for TV. They want it episodic so there's always room to wiggle and try to squeeze more money out of it."
Actually, no. The reason that Hollywood doesn't do that is that they want TV show audiences to grow. If episode 5 requires watching Episode 2 to understand, they've alienated new people to their audience. A novel-like beginning and end forces that scenario. Who'd want to catch it in the middle?
"If you learn you have this problem, then you can no longer check "no health problems" when applying for life insurance. Otherwise it's fraud -- if the insurer discovers it, they might not pay when you die."
Life insurance? MS needs treatment ASAP. Life Insurance is not foremost on one's mind when they find out they've got it.
I know. My girlfriend has it. Frankly, proving she has it so she can get on disability has been a real bitch. We'd love to have this test: a.) right now and b.) recognized by court.
"t's depressing to see how many people will cough up half a grand on the next release of Photoshop every year or two..."
Actually, it's less than a quarter of a grand.
" even though the new features are very small improvements"
It doesn't take much of an improvement to be worth the upgrade cost, especially when used daily. Over the course of the upgrade (usually a year), I'd have to save 6 man-hours of work. An upgrade to 7.0, for example, did that quite easily for me simply because they added a couple of extra interesting layer organization features.
"They complain constantly about product activation problems,"
Yeah, it sucks. Only has to be fixed once, though. Don't forget, this is a professional tool that brings in money.
"but they don't even consider the idea of using a different product.but they don't even consider the idea of using a different product."
That should be obvious. There isn't a better alternative. I'd rather shell out $600 of my own money to buy Photoshop than have my studio tell me I have to use the Gimp.
"And how many photographers and artists heard about the Sklyarov case? Virtually zero. A vanishingly small number of people have even heard about it, nevermind formed an opinion, nevermind see it as a cause for avoiding the company."
Food on plate and clothes on family's back > an old case.
"Use something else. Anything else."
Fuck off. I don't appreciate you trying to impose your will on me or anybody else when it's blatantly clear you don't have the slightest clue where we're coming from.
" consumers with apathy and ignorance far outspends the consumers with objections."
"Until ignorant people started using "irony" to mean what you say it means, the word meant "a pretense of ignorance" with a few closely related meanings."
From dictionary.com: "Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs."
Slashdot Mirror
"Even so, I've seen some of the GTA footage and wonder where we're going. Fantasy is OK, to what point?"
Be very careful about judging GTA by little snippets of footage. I have yet to see an anti-GTA campaign that demonstrated they knew anything about what the game was really about. I'm not claiming that the game is Mr Rogers' Neighborhood, but it's definitely not a "have sex with hookers then kill them" game, either.
You mention fantasy and where it's going. It's going to go as low as possible. Why? Because there's a market for it. Should it be stopped? Well, that's where discussion comes into play. However, for this discussion to work, some terms need to be agreed to. For example: Gamers should understand that parents deal with their kids imitating. Parents need to understand that the little snippets of the game(s) shown on TV represent a very small aspect of the game and do not necessarily reflect what a gamer actually gets out of it. (Imagine if somebody took that scene from STNG where a dude got his face burned off by a phaser, then went on a anti-violence campaign against Paramount.)
Frankly, I don't see this debate subsiding until political power can no longer be gained from it. Hillary and Joe (Lieberman) are going to present one badly balanced side of the debate and encourage parents to vote for them. The sad thing is, parents are going to see their kids do something stupid, they're not going to see their own involvement in it, and they're going to listen to their favorite side of the debate.
I agree with you in spirit, man, but I honestly don't see how we're going to get an actual discussion going by two sides ready to listen.
"Results: Set A children angered more easily and were more prone to hitting each other in play."
After watching Nanny 911, I wouldn't be quick to jump to conclusions.
"Oh of course. With Apple, there are plenty of legitimate reasons for their behaviour. For Microsoft, it's just further proof that they're evil."
Flamebait? My point is proven. Heh.
What's sad about this is that it could turn out that Apple really is guilty, but Slashdot will come running to their defense. But when Microsoft is actually innocent...
"For office documents thats just plain scary. Our company installed a email filter that would prevent documents from being communicated if they included these. Security has been none the better."
We didn't have security problems either, but we did have a badly needed ActiveX control.
"the only way for OpenOffice to work 100% of the time is if your customers to all use OpenOffice."
Red flag.
"Thats too bad for him. Guess he will have to learn new skills."
I hate this lame attitude. The dude wasn't a programmer. The mere fact that he picked up VBA was astonishing.
" I couldn't imagine holding a company up because of a single employee's limited skill set."
I couldn't imagine holding a company up to shoehorn the wrong software into the workflow.
"But as a manager you would know that money comes first."
I'm not a manager.
This is why I hate writing about my experiences with OSS software. I was really clear that the problems we had with OO were not the point of my post. Despite that, somebody has to sweep on in and tell me about how my company deserved what it got or whatever. I just hope the development community isn't as detached from business reality. Otherwise forget about MS's monopoly getting broken.
"But yoy will not be independant if you do not use free software. That should be a priority for a public administration."
.DOC format.) However, I can't help but think about some of the problems I had trying to get OpenOffice going at my previous job. For our particular purposes, we needed ActiveX support. We had customers that would send us docs that, surprise surprise, weren't properly opened. One employee had gotten rather good at using VB with Excel. He wasn't thrilled when he got OO. Etc.
The priority of the administration has to be 'getting the job done'.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-Open Source. Frankly, I'd love for the gov't to use it. (The last thing the gov't needs is to go through upgrade hell because the next version of Office taints the
Now, just to be clear, this was at least a couple of years ago, maybe longer. My point is NOT that OO isn't ready. I am not saying that, please don't respond telling me all about how I'm wrong. Instead, my point is that at the end of the day, productivity is king. That may not be Slashdot's popular opinion, that may not even be wise, but it is reality.
All I can say is I'm glad I no longer have a job that orbited around Office.
"Agreed, and spending *more* to convert/train/implement open source in the short term *will* save you much more money in the long run."
Only if the software is up to snuff. If MS creates a new feature set that dramatically improves productivity and OSS falls behind, suddenly the money they saved is not as much.
"Maybe it's not Apple but the record companies setting the price.
Maybe it has something to do with the UK not using the Euro like everyone else.
Maybe it is because of the higher cost of running a different store for each country."
Oh of course. With Apple, there are plenty of legitimate reasons for their behaviour. For Microsoft, it's just further proof that they're evil.
Hehe. I guess I shouldn't be talking. Over the years, a lot of people read my nickname and thought 'gator' meant penis.
Damn I can't wait for new material.
"What about: Fists and feet Piano Wire Strangulation/Suffocation Drowning Starvation Food poisoning"
Well, if they looked at your hard-drive, they'd probably assume porn.
"I for one would like to congratulate the article submitter in having possibly the first correct use of the apostrophe in the history of Slashdot."
Next up: Commas!
"Maybe that's the true reason for his killing spree: his town has a stupid name." ... said Zork the Almighty.
;)
"Personally, I blame Chris Rock's guns-for-knives program."
"I don't think we need gun control. We need bullet control! If a bullet cost five thousand dollars, there'd be no innocent bystanders!"
It could have been Braveheart!!
"I guess that rules out Babylon 5, 24 and Battlestar Galatica..."\
Oh, well yeah, you certainly proved me wrong here. Even though thousands of TV shows have been made over the last 5 or so decades, you've clearly proven that the vast majority of them, in fact, are long-term dramas. Thanks for clarifying that humungous oversight on my part.
"Of course, it would be better to spend a little less and save that money, but, hey, Social Security will still be there...right?"
I dunno, I kind of like enjoying life while I'm young.
"How many of you are going to build this?"
Well, if I decided to make an indie movie, I'd give it a go.
"Why is it difficult to do the same while keeping the techie edge?"
What's wrong with somebody cheaply solving a problem and publishing it? Should they hoard the knowledge or share it? That's the neat thing about the internet: publishing is cheap.
"Ka ching! I'm sure every nerd...erm, guy, would like to play out his fantasies, at least with his head on some other guy's body. Forgive me if I completely misunderstood the blurb, but someone has to adopt this technology. For me!"
I just hope this technology stays above the neck! *Shudder*
"The problem is that Hollywood isn't interested in that format for TV. They want it episodic so there's always room to wiggle and try to squeeze more money out of it."
Actually, no. The reason that Hollywood doesn't do that is that they want TV show audiences to grow. If episode 5 requires watching Episode 2 to understand, they've alienated new people to their audience. A novel-like beginning and end forces that scenario. Who'd want to catch it in the middle?
"If you learn you have this problem, then you can no longer check "no health problems" when applying for life insurance. Otherwise it's fraud -- if the insurer discovers it, they might not pay when you die."
Life insurance? MS needs treatment ASAP. Life Insurance is not foremost on one's mind when they find out they've got it.
I know. My girlfriend has it. Frankly, proving she has it so she can get on disability has been a real bitch. We'd love to have this test: a.) right now and b.) recognized by court.
"Why can't they just leave it alone? How much more flogging will the 'Star Trek' dead horse have to put up with?"
If people want it, they want it. If you don't want it, hey, learn how to use the remote control.
"Can't we get back to the original purpose of slashdot which was to discuss 'news for nerds'"
Uh, since when was Trek not a nerd's show?
"Well you can use gimp which has most of the features in photoshop."
That's sort of like comparing Wordpad to Word.
"t's depressing to see how many people will cough up half a grand on the next release of Photoshop every year or two..."
Actually, it's less than a quarter of a grand.
" even though the new features are very small improvements"
It doesn't take much of an improvement to be worth the upgrade cost, especially when used daily. Over the course of the upgrade (usually a year), I'd have to save 6 man-hours of work. An upgrade to 7.0, for example, did that quite easily for me simply because they added a couple of extra interesting layer organization features.
"They complain constantly about product activation problems,"
Yeah, it sucks. Only has to be fixed once, though. Don't forget, this is a professional tool that brings in money.
"but they don't even consider the idea of using a different product.but they don't even consider the idea of using a different product."
That should be obvious. There isn't a better alternative. I'd rather shell out $600 of my own money to buy Photoshop than have my studio tell me I have to use the Gimp.
"And how many photographers and artists heard about the Sklyarov case? Virtually zero. A vanishingly small number of people have even heard about it, nevermind formed an opinion, nevermind see it as a cause for avoiding the company."
Food on plate and clothes on family's back > an old case.
"Use something else. Anything else."
Fuck off. I don't appreciate you trying to impose your will on me or anybody else when it's blatantly clear you don't have the slightest clue where we're coming from.
" consumers with apathy and ignorance far outspends the consumers with objections."
Apathy and igorance? That's rich coming from you.
"As long as it restricts loading of certain documents such as paper currency, I am not interested. Adobe is a tool."
I'd care if:
a.) They restricted more than just money.
b.) They didn't have a damn good reason for it.
c.) I ever had to do any work involving currency.
"Until ignorant people started using "irony" to mean what you say it means, the word meant "a pretense of ignorance" with a few closely related meanings."
From dictionary.com: "Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs."
" 32-bit icons and font smoothing are candy things."
Font smoothing is more than eye candy, it's more like eye-pillows.
(note: I pretty much agree with the rest of your point, I'm just feeling nitpicky today.)