Why do people constantly perceive Microsoft as being the enemy in situations such as these? For the last time, Microsoft is NOT the enemy in the software wars.
Closed source is our enemy. Narrow-minded software is our enemy. Bad PR and buggy releases is our enemy. Unstable programs is our enemy. Limiting the decisions of users is our enemy. The practice of eliminating competition is our enemy.
Windows is not a BAD operating system, it's simply an inferior one put out by a company obsessed with the prospect of being the only operating system on the market. We don't need to fight Microsoft, we only need to fight that mentality.
Actually, I'd prefer a computer UNDER the tree, rather than wrapped around it...:)
-Evan.
Quicker, easier history of Squaresoft
on
History of SquareSoft
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
They were an RPG company that made a lot of great games. Then they got the bright idea to make stuff other than RPGs, except all of it sucked. So they started making only RPGs again.
Square hasn't actually disappointed much lately, except for their bizarre character designs and incomprehensible names (I guess this is due to the lack of the great Yoshitaka Amano...)
Weep for Amano, and Uematsu, for without them there is no Final Fantasy.
Why should any country be able to dictate matters of Internet-based disputes? Oh yeah, it's because the US government has an idea that they own the Internet.
Honestly, we need a new world micro-government to govern matters of the Internet, made up of technology experts and civil rights activists, who can make sure that one government cannot control the Internet.
O how I wish I was a Sealand citizen, but unfortunately you can't be one.
-evan.
As you can see, this story broke YESTERDAY
on
This is IT?
·
· Score: -1, Redundant
Here are your recent submissions to Slashdot, and their status within the system:
2001-12-03 02:52:21 Mysterious IT Invention Revealed (articles,tech) (rejected)
2001-12-03 03:07:37 IT Unveiled: It's A Scooter! (articles,tech) (rejected)
2001-12-03 03:41:57 Kamen's IT Is A Motor Scooter (articles,tech) (rejected)
2001-12-03 03:55:38 Project IT Revealed: It's A Motor Scooter (articles,tech) (rejected)
Wonderful judgment Michael - your story is a day old, and most of us knew about it THEN.
This is probably the business revolution that we've all been waiting for - specialized machines that are built to do one task and handle it with frightening speed. Why, of course, waste valuable disk space and memory with a bloated operating system when all you need is a ridiculously fast scientific calculator?
This device is NOT a 'dream inducer' nor is it a machine to control what you actually dream about. This is a projection machine onto the wall, that doubles as an alarm clock. It makes sleep more enjoyable by creating pleasing images on the wall, which may cause dreaming.
Crackpot Theory #1:If the machine senses my movements, then doesn't it have a camera? Can't people spy on me?
It does not have a camera, it senses movement based on pads on the bed. How could it tell what's going on underneath sheets anyway? How Nebula Works (Quicktime video)
Crackpot Theory #2:If the machine is connected to the Internet, can't people hack my dreams?
The Nebula device gets content from the Internet, yes. However, the machine's output is controlled by the "pebbles" you insert, not by the Internet. Therefore it is impossible for hackers to control your dreams, as the device is not connected to the Internet as you sleep.
Crackpot Theory #3:What about subliminal advertising?
Nebula doesn't actually control or induce dreams. Once again, it just displays pictures on the walls (and lets you have a little fun if there's someone in there with you.) Everyone interprets experiences, sights, and sounds in different ways during sleep, which means that the only way for subliminal advertising to work is if an image is displayed that is a) indiscernable enough to not be picked up at the conscious level and b) discernable enough to be unwaveringly interpreted in the same fashion at the subconscious level. This is both impractical and all but impossible. There are much easier ways of advertising to us, even at a subliminal level.
I'm not saying this is a bad device though - it sounds like it's seriously cool. I can't wait till it comes out, I'm going to be first in line to get one.
When are people going to learn that it's not art that makes the game? And sometimes it's what slows down the game? Freeciv is a marvelous program with art comparable to Civ2. Why do we need better?
Is it because we've become too eyecandyish of a gaming society?
The movie industry is the same way. Sony/Nintendo/MS are the people who actually create the PS2/GC/Xbox discs, so they get to dictate licensing and royalties. And none of them will let you publish a console game with one of them if your game isn't ESRB rated.
The movie industry is the same way. Most theatres won't show non-MPAA rated films.
if you want to be a programmer or sysadmin and blind - there's just too many symbols and odd expressions to be read to you in a voice sounding like Stephen Hawking's except much less pleasant to the ears and out of tone.
It only takes one stupid decision or one time where your development community has a good idea you try to repress for your community to decide they don't respect you anymore.
Bottom line? In OSS there are no leaders, there are only people more knowledgeable and experienced than others. If you try to lead and you fail then you suppress ideas, and that causes forking, and then your project is doomed.
I don't like the idea of giving a credit card number to any web site to track payments as number of hits. After all, all the evidence of numbers of hits is on their side, and I can see some websites being very unscrupulous when it comes to payments (remember the FuitadNet incident?)
And a penny a page could turn out to be about $40 a month, which is about what I pay my ISP anyway.
He was arrested in May and three months later was charged with "inciting the subversion of state power", the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Hong Kong said.
Personally, I think that solar power, while a great power source, should be considered a secondary form of power. An electric car that could be run in the daytime by solar panels would be incredibly fuel-efficient.
The first week of being an op in any major channel is the hardest...my advice to new ops:
Don't do ANYTHING!
Don't kick, don't ban, don't change topic. Just treat yourself as a regular member of that channel. Then staying an op becomes rather easy. Second, don't engage in "joking" with your op powers for the first month at least. This means doing such things as kicking yourself rather than using/part, changing the topic for the sake of changing the topic, etc. Third, never ban for the first few months. Remember, there are other ops in the channel, and you are the new recruit. Do not make the higher powers regret their decision.
Videogames are art. I define "art" as anything that requires creativity. However, most videogames aren't fine art. This is because the medium of video game is inherently a form of entertainment, and was created as a way to make money. Yes, video games have come a long way since SpaceWar!, but most still aren't fine art.
For a videogame to be considered fine art, in my opinion, it must have an emotional impact upon the player. Therefore, most engaging RPGs could be considered fine art, in the same way that an engaging story would be. What about those "survival horror" games? Fine art, they (most of them *cough cough Clock Tower*) cause fear, even though most of them don't tell stories.
Or, fine art videogames must be original. You can't just put an artsy spin on a cliched genre and succeed. When I think of videogames as art, several titles come to mind: Diablo I, Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Super Mario 64, Zelda: OOT, Ultima IX, Baldur's Gate. All of these introduced new things to their genres, all of these were original. Sequels are rarely fine art because they're not original. Example: Resident Evil = Fine art. Its sequels, however, were mainly rehashings of the original with new puzzles and enemies.
Or, a fine art videogame can be innovative. Game developers, add something new to games! All platformers were mostly the same, then Abe's Odyssee came along. All 3rd person shooters were mostly the same, then MGS came along. All PC RPGs were mostly the same, then Baldur's Gate came along. Did anyone realize that these games actually added something new to the genre? That they weren't clones of old games? Cold that be why they were so fun? Innovate! Arguably one of the most underrated titles in the PSX's history was Ape Escape. Why? It actually used the 2nd analog stick as control for weapons! It was a work of art - it forced us to think about controlling differently.
Slashdot Mirror
Words you NEVER want to see in a new technology article:
geolocation
surveillance
information-gathering
spying
tracking
segmenting
marketing
When words like these are around, you know your privacy and civil liberties are at stake.
-Evan.
SGI used to be a real innovator in the field of graphics. Now it seems like companies like ATI and Nvidia are actaully doing more for that field.
I've been thouroughly unimpressed with SGI in recent years.
-Evan.
Why do people constantly perceive Microsoft as being the enemy in situations such as these? For the last time, Microsoft is NOT the enemy in the software wars.
Closed source is our enemy. Narrow-minded software is our enemy. Bad PR and buggy releases is our enemy. Unstable programs is our enemy. Limiting the decisions of users is our enemy. The practice of eliminating competition is our enemy.
Windows is not a BAD operating system, it's simply an inferior one put out by a company obsessed with the prospect of being the only operating system on the market. We don't need to fight Microsoft, we only need to fight that mentality.
My two cents.
-Evan.
Actually, I'd prefer a computer UNDER the tree, rather than wrapped around it... :)
-Evan.
They were an RPG company that made a lot of great games. Then they got the bright idea to make stuff other than RPGs, except all of it sucked. So they started making only RPGs again.
Square hasn't actually disappointed much lately, except for their bizarre character designs and incomprehensible names (I guess this is due to the lack of the great Yoshitaka Amano...)
Weep for Amano, and Uematsu, for without them there is no Final Fantasy.
-Evan.
Why should any country be able to dictate matters of Internet-based disputes? Oh yeah, it's because the US government has an idea that they own the Internet.
Honestly, we need a new world micro-government to govern matters of the Internet, made up of technology experts and civil rights activists, who can make sure that one government cannot control the Internet.
O how I wish I was a Sealand citizen, but unfortunately you can't be one.
-evan.
Here are your recent submissions to Slashdot, and their status within the system:
2001-12-03 02:52:21 Mysterious IT Invention Revealed (articles,tech) (rejected)
2001-12-03 03:07:37 IT Unveiled: It's A Scooter! (articles,tech) (rejected)
2001-12-03 03:41:57 Kamen's IT Is A Motor Scooter (articles,tech) (rejected)
2001-12-03 03:55:38 Project IT Revealed: It's A Motor Scooter (articles,tech) (rejected)
Wonderful judgment Michael - your story is a day old, and most of us knew about it THEN.
I love how the editors take credit for our finds.
-evan.
This is probably the business revolution that we've all been waiting for - specialized machines that are built to do one task and handle it with frightening speed. Why, of course, waste valuable disk space and memory with a bloated operating system when all you need is a ridiculously fast scientific calculator?
-Evan
If a child is told by the government at a very young age that he is a potential troublemaker, won't he then feel somehow obligated to make trouble?
-Chardish
This device is NOT a 'dream inducer' nor is it a machine to control what you actually dream about. This is a projection machine onto the wall, that doubles as an alarm clock. It makes sleep more enjoyable by creating pleasing images on the wall, which may cause dreaming.
Crackpot Theory #1: If the machine senses my movements, then doesn't it have a camera? Can't people spy on me?
It does not have a camera, it senses movement based on pads on the bed. How could it tell what's going on underneath sheets anyway?
How Nebula Works (Quicktime video)
Crackpot Theory #2: If the machine is connected to the Internet, can't people hack my dreams?
The Nebula device gets content from the Internet, yes. However, the machine's output is controlled by the "pebbles" you insert, not by the Internet. Therefore it is impossible for hackers to control your dreams, as the device is not connected to the Internet as you sleep.
Crackpot Theory #3: What about subliminal advertising?
Nebula doesn't actually control or induce dreams. Once again, it just displays pictures on the walls (and lets you have a little fun if there's someone in there with you.) Everyone interprets experiences, sights, and sounds in different ways during sleep, which means that the only way for subliminal advertising to work is if an image is displayed that is a) indiscernable enough to not be picked up at the conscious level and b) discernable enough to be unwaveringly interpreted in the same fashion at the subconscious level. This is both impractical and all but impossible. There are much easier ways of advertising to us, even at a subliminal level.
I'm not saying this is a bad device though - it sounds like it's seriously cool. I can't wait till it comes out, I'm going to be first in line to get one.
-Chardish
The game's "wish list" includes "better art."
When are people going to learn that it's not art that makes the game? And sometimes it's what slows down the game? Freeciv is a marvelous program with art comparable to Civ2. Why do we need better?
Is it because we've become too eyecandyish of a gaming society?
-Chardish
NEW MICROSOFT SQL SERVER WORM
Hey Microsoft!
Ask yourself how many times that headline's been seen in the past two years.
Then think about it.
-Chardish
The movie industry is the same way. Sony/Nintendo/MS are the people who actually create the PS2/GC/Xbox discs, so they get to dictate licensing and royalties. And none of them will let you publish a console game with one of them if your game isn't ESRB rated.
The movie industry is the same way. Most theatres won't show non-MPAA rated films.
At least it's a legislative victory.
-Evan
if you want to be a programmer or sysadmin and blind - there's just too many symbols and odd expressions to be read to you in a voice sounding like Stephen Hawking's except much less pleasant to the ears and out of tone.
-Evan
It only takes one stupid decision or one time where your development community has a good idea you try to repress for your community to decide they don't respect you anymore.
Bottom line? In OSS there are no leaders, there are only people more knowledgeable and experienced than others. If you try to lead and you fail then you suppress ideas, and that causes forking, and then your project is doomed.
-Evan
I don't like the idea of giving a credit card number to any web site to track payments as number of hits. After all, all the evidence of numbers of hits is on their side, and I can see some websites being very unscrupulous when it comes to payments (remember the FuitadNet incident?)
And a penny a page could turn out to be about $40 a month, which is about what I pay my ISP anyway.
-Evan
He was arrested in May and three months later was charged with "inciting the subversion of state power", the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Hong Kong said.
Human rights? Democracy?
This is China we're talking about here?
-Evan
could it stand up to Vlad the Impaler? :)
-Evan
Ladies and Gentlemen, we give you the Anti-WinCE.
-Evan
The problem is, quite simply, we don't know how Microsoft's salesmen are pushing Windows.
Are they lying about the capabilities of Linux?
Would you lie about Linux in their shoes?
Surely the MS folks must be mentioning Linux in their sales-pitches. I doubt it's very glowing.
-Evan
Personally, I think that solar power, while a great power source, should be considered a secondary form of power. An electric car that could be run in the daytime by solar panels would be incredibly fuel-efficient.
-Evan
...will the people who thought Sept 11th was the first sign of the Apocalypse see this as the second?
*sigh*...some people are brainless sheep.
-Chardish
The first week of being an op in any major channel is the hardest...my advice to new ops:
/part, changing the topic for the sake of changing the topic, etc. Third, never ban for the first few months. Remember, there are other ops in the channel, and you are the new recruit. Do not make the higher powers regret their decision.
Don't do ANYTHING!
Don't kick, don't ban, don't change topic. Just treat yourself as a regular member of that channel. Then staying an op becomes rather easy. Second, don't engage in "joking" with your op powers for the first month at least. This means doing such things as kicking yourself rather than using
-Evan
Whenever the government allows one company to take claim on more of anything, it's rarely a good thing.
So Verizon and Cingular will inevitably conquer the wireless world now. I'm not happy.
-Chardish
Videogames are art. I define "art" as anything that requires creativity. However, most videogames aren't fine art. This is because the medium of video game is inherently a form of entertainment, and was created as a way to make money. Yes, video games have come a long way since SpaceWar!, but most still aren't fine art.
For a videogame to be considered fine art, in my opinion, it must have an emotional impact upon the player. Therefore, most engaging RPGs could be considered fine art, in the same way that an engaging story would be. What about those "survival horror" games? Fine art, they (most of them *cough cough Clock Tower*) cause fear, even though most of them don't tell stories.
Or, fine art videogames must be original. You can't just put an artsy spin on a cliched genre and succeed. When I think of videogames as art, several titles come to mind: Diablo I, Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Super Mario 64, Zelda: OOT, Ultima IX, Baldur's Gate. All of these introduced new things to their genres, all of these were original. Sequels are rarely fine art because they're not original. Example: Resident Evil = Fine art. Its sequels, however, were mainly rehashings of the original with new puzzles and enemies.
Or, a fine art videogame can be innovative. Game developers, add something new to games! All platformers were mostly the same, then Abe's Odyssee came along. All 3rd person shooters were mostly the same, then MGS came along. All PC RPGs were mostly the same, then Baldur's Gate came along. Did anyone realize that these games actually added something new to the genre? That they weren't clones of old games? Cold that be why they were so fun? Innovate! Arguably one of the most underrated titles in the PSX's history was Ape Escape. Why? It actually used the 2nd analog stick as control for weapons! It was a work of art - it forced us to think about controlling differently.
My two cents.
-Chardish