You just started taking CS classes? What are you worried about, someone is going to steal your Hello World or ArrayList implementation? Seriously though, anything you code in there has prior art - perhaps from the students who took those courses last semester.
Does anyone really care about the "non-online" market share anymore?
Yes. OS market share, whether online or not, matters for things like games, which are a multi-billion dollar industry and are for the most part OS-sensitive.
The story is about online market share, not market share period - they came up with these results by tracking certain websites to see the proportions of the operating systems of their visitors. As the article explains, they think Windows share dropped because there is a higher concentration of Windows PCs at work than at home, and over Thanksgiving, many people weren't at work. Notably, this study doesn't say anything about the total market share of Windows or any other operating system, as seems to be implied in the headline and most of the summary.
They didn't bust into the house - they were firefighters responding to a fire; Mr Deeb had called them for assistance. Furthermore, the stuff was lying around in plain sight. So no warrant was needed.
Another good point. I didn't communicate this as clearly before, so I'll emphasize here: I understand that the target audience is biased. What I find significant is the way in which it is biased, since Consumer Reports almost certainly handpicked every person in the sample group. CR believes that the Wii has transcended, if you will, the traditional "video game" market per se - that is, video games targeted at the 14 - 29 year-old male demographic - and so it makes sense to them, and to me, that they should be interested in the experiences of people who are Nintendo's target market: not the ritalin kid, but everyone else.
So your criterion for fun is something you can enjoy with grandma?
It is one of many criteria.
It's a marvelously innovative little machine, but certainly doesn't hold any secret key to human enjoyment entirely overlooked by its competitors.
Agreed; I do see some innovation on the Xbox and PS3 in this area. And as you correctly point out, the key to the Wii's success is anything but secret.
I hate golf--playing Wii golf did nothing to change my opinion; the virtual activity was every bit as tedious as the real thing.
Agreed. You hate real golf and the simulated version. I love to fish, but I hate fishing simulations. And I don't have any data on this, but I would bet that the vast majority of those who love, for example, Grand Theft Auto, would probably not want to shoot/run over/blow up someone in real life. So it is difficult for me to come up with any kind of general relationship between how much people enjoy activity X in real life vs. in a simulation, no matter which box the simulation runs on.
I have people (including family) that I very much enjoy spending time with, but who prefer "running around killing people" to the upgraded version of Pong that is Wii tennis.
Agreed. Opinions are definitely subjective, so YMMV.
And really, would people enjoy Wii tennis/bowling/[insert simulated other activity of choice] as much if they did use Pong-era graphics? The visuals aren't an entirely negligible component of the experience.
Another good point - visuals are definitely part of the equation. I didn't intend to say that visuals don't matter, and if that's how it came across then it is my fault for communicating poorly. My point is merely that I think photorealistic graphics aren't the X-factor, the end-all-be-all, of fun in games; that Nintendo realized this early on and designed the Wii with this idea in mind; and that Nintendo's sales numbers show that there a great many people out there who agree.
All this is fun and good, but there are occasions when I do find myself agreeing with you - sometimes mowing down zombies with a minigun is just the kind of fun I'm looking for.
I find it telling that not only did CR review the game, but that the composition of their sample group had a giant gaping hole in it - the young male. Not only that, it includes twice as many women as men. This really shows you that Nintendo has executed their strategy - ignore the ritalin kids in favor of focusing on everybody else - brilliantly. They realized what Sony, and to an extent Microsoft, didn't - that games aren't fun because they run on the latest hardware and look photorealistic, rather, they're fun for the same reason anything else is - you can play with your friends and family. Yes, I know Microsoft has Xbox Live. Running around killing people isn't really a game you'd play with grandma though - but Wii Tennis is (I have and she loved it). So no, I don't think CR will review Gran Turismo... but I'd bet money that they'll review the next big family hit on the Wii.
I've found Microsoft's VS tools to be pretty useful & feature-rich - maybe this will encourage us, as open-source developers, to add some missing features to our toolchains / IDEs.
My understanding is that some Muslims do not want to see images of Muhammad because they feel that images of him may encourage idolatry. I won't speak to that point, because it's a personal / religious opinion. I will say that if you don't want to see something, you shouldn't look at it. As far as I know, no one is forcing anyone to look at Wikipedia.
"The House of Representatives version of HR 3093, the bill that determines NASA's funding for 2008, effectively bans the study of an entire planet: Provided, That none of the funds under this heading shall be used for any research, development, or demonstration activities related exclusively to the human exploration of Mars.
As you can clearly see, the language in that bill does NOT "ban the study of an entire planet" - it just says that any research done must have other applications besides the human exploration of Mars. For example, a weather study wouldn't be "banned", because that would also be related to the Mars Rovers. So basically, as long as NASA can show that any R&D activity is related to something else besides humans on Mars, the ban won't apply to it.
It's extremely difficult for me to take anonymous libel & slander seriously, simply because it is anonymous. We all know that there are just too many people out there with time on their hands & nothing on their minds... or perhaps an agenda. Because of this, I don't usually think any less of an anonymously libeled or slandered party; ergo, no harm is being done to their reputation; ergo, no punishment is warranted.
Also, from a writer's point of view (whose purpose is to persuade his audience), rather than slander someone, I think it's far more effective to present clear, indisputable, objective facts (as much as possible), and then to highlight your negative opinions/reactions as your own perceptions, rather than presenting them to be facts. For example, rather than saying this:
igotmybfg's has the worst service of any restaurant in austin. they were rude to me, spit in my food, and laughed at my pocket protector.
I might say this instead:
I went to igotmybfg's for dinner on the evening of 3 December. I felt like their wait staff was inattentive to my needs. I didn't like their food at all. Everytime I dealt with the waiter, I felt uncomfortable, unwanted, and unwelcome. Because of these things, I am certain I will never return to that restaurant.
Which review gives you more information? Which would you rather read?
I didn't look up those articles, but it's plausible that some of them may be talking about Voyager I, which apparently passed termination shock in 2004. In any case, the termination shock's distance from the sun varies from 75 to 90 AU, depending on solar activity, which is why some are predicting that Voyager II will re-encounter the boundary in 2008 (and possibly beyond).
Nor is he a research scientist. He is an author, and his goal seems to be to sell books, not to add anything to the scientific community.
I have found that if I eat more calories than I burn, I lose weight (and vice versa!), no matter what kind of calories they are. When I go on long hiking trips, or field exercises with my military unit, I'm very active and burning more calories than I take in, and I lose weight. Conversely, when I sit at home for a week and eat turkey and watch football, I gain weight.
Incidentally, if you have a problem with your plumbing, then it's clear that an auto mechanic probably won't be able to give you good advice; if you have a problem with your plumbing, you should talk to a plumber. In the same way, if you want information about your body, you should probably get it from your doctor, rather than some random person who had a Bright Idea and wrote a book about it.
Slashdot Mirror
You just started taking CS classes? What are you worried about, someone is going to steal your Hello World or ArrayList implementation? Seriously though, anything you code in there has prior art - perhaps from the students who took those courses last semester.
Yes. OS market share, whether online or not, matters for things like games, which are a multi-billion dollar industry and are for the most part OS-sensitive.
The story is about online market share, not market share period - they came up with these results by tracking certain websites to see the proportions of the operating systems of their visitors. As the article explains, they think Windows share dropped because there is a higher concentration of Windows PCs at work than at home, and over Thanksgiving, many people weren't at work. Notably, this study doesn't say anything about the total market share of Windows or any other operating system, as seems to be implied in the headline and most of the summary.
I see them doing this on the 7th of never.
Water is wet.
Another way to argue with strangers over the internet...
Well played sir.
Because quantity == quality...
Someone should show this to those clueless municipal IT folks out in San Francisco
They didn't bust into the house - they were firefighters responding to a fire; Mr Deeb had called them for assistance. Furthermore, the stuff was lying around in plain sight. So no warrant was needed.
Another good point. I didn't communicate this as clearly before, so I'll emphasize here: I understand that the target audience is biased. What I find significant is the way in which it is biased, since Consumer Reports almost certainly handpicked every person in the sample group. CR believes that the Wii has transcended, if you will, the traditional "video game" market per se - that is, video games targeted at the 14 - 29 year-old male demographic - and so it makes sense to them, and to me, that they should be interested in the experiences of people who are Nintendo's target market: not the ritalin kid, but everyone else.
It is one of many criteria.
Agreed; I do see some innovation on the Xbox and PS3 in this area. And as you correctly point out, the key to the Wii's success is anything but secret.
Agreed. You hate real golf and the simulated version. I love to fish, but I hate fishing simulations. And I don't have any data on this, but I would bet that the vast majority of those who love, for example, Grand Theft Auto, would probably not want to shoot/run over/blow up someone in real life. So it is difficult for me to come up with any kind of general relationship between how much people enjoy activity X in real life vs. in a simulation, no matter which box the simulation runs on.
Agreed. Opinions are definitely subjective, so YMMV.
Another good point - visuals are definitely part of the equation. I didn't intend to say that visuals don't matter, and if that's how it came across then it is my fault for communicating poorly. My point is merely that I think photorealistic graphics aren't the X-factor, the end-all-be-all, of fun in games; that Nintendo realized this early on and designed the Wii with this idea in mind; and that Nintendo's sales numbers show that there a great many people out there who agree.
All this is fun and good, but there are occasions when I do find myself agreeing with you - sometimes mowing down zombies with a minigun is just the kind of fun I'm looking for.
I find it telling that not only did CR review the game, but that the composition of their sample group had a giant gaping hole in it - the young male. Not only that, it includes twice as many women as men. This really shows you that Nintendo has executed their strategy - ignore the ritalin kids in favor of focusing on everybody else - brilliantly. They realized what Sony, and to an extent Microsoft, didn't - that games aren't fun because they run on the latest hardware and look photorealistic, rather, they're fun for the same reason anything else is - you can play with your friends and family. Yes, I know Microsoft has Xbox Live. Running around killing people isn't really a game you'd play with grandma though - but Wii Tennis is (I have and she loved it). So no, I don't think CR will review Gran Turismo... but I'd bet money that they'll review the next big family hit on the Wii.
... until they turn the servers off. Yesterday's PlaysForSure debacle comes to mind.
Surely you jest...
I've found Microsoft's VS tools to be pretty useful & feature-rich - maybe this will encourage us, as open-source developers, to add some missing features to our toolchains / IDEs.
My understanding is that some Muslims do not want to see images of Muhammad because they feel that images of him may encourage idolatry. I won't speak to that point, because it's a personal / religious opinion. I will say that if you don't want to see something, you shouldn't look at it. As far as I know, no one is forcing anyone to look at Wikipedia.
What? YouTube and Napster are ISPs now? Usenet is an ISP, not a discussion system? Optimum Online seems to be the only real ISP in this list.
All ISPs connect to the internet, by definition of the term 'ISP'. If they don't connect to the internet, they're not an ISP.
Hasn't the technology already been developed^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H deployed by Comcast?
Why would you take medical advice from a stranger on the internet?
Also, from a writer's point of view (whose purpose is to persuade his audience), rather than slander someone, I think it's far more effective to present clear, indisputable, objective facts (as much as possible), and then to highlight your negative opinions/reactions as your own perceptions, rather than presenting them to be facts. For example, rather than saying this:
igotmybfg's has the worst service of any restaurant in austin. they were rude to me, spit in my food, and laughed at my pocket protector.
I might say this instead:
I went to igotmybfg's for dinner on the evening of 3 December. I felt like their wait staff was inattentive to my needs. I didn't like their food at all. Everytime I dealt with the waiter, I felt uncomfortable, unwanted, and unwelcome. Because of these things, I am certain I will never return to that restaurant.
Which review gives you more information? Which would you rather read?
I didn't look up those articles, but it's plausible that some of them may be talking about Voyager I, which apparently passed termination shock in 2004. In any case, the termination shock's distance from the sun varies from 75 to 90 AU, depending on solar activity, which is why some are predicting that Voyager II will re-encounter the boundary in 2008 (and possibly beyond).
Hah, thanks for catching that.
Nor is he a research scientist. He is an author, and his goal seems to be to sell books, not to add anything to the scientific community.
I have found that if I eat more calories than I burn, I lose weight (and vice versa!), no matter what kind of calories they are. When I go on long hiking trips, or field exercises with my military unit, I'm very active and burning more calories than I take in, and I lose weight. Conversely, when I sit at home for a week and eat turkey and watch football, I gain weight.
Incidentally, if you have a problem with your plumbing, then it's clear that an auto mechanic probably won't be able to give you good advice; if you have a problem with your plumbing, you should talk to a plumber. In the same way, if you want information about your body, you should probably get it from your doctor, rather than some random person who had a Bright Idea and wrote a book about it.