I DM'ed (Dungeon Mastered) RPGs for many (like 20) years and I learned a very important lesson I mention in some youtube vids I am throwing out there (not a full timer, I'm just documenting some stuff for posterity so-to-speak http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL42823901F978F00D&feature=mh_lolz) but I'll give you a specific relevant quote:
"Every detail you give a player, is one less detail they can imagine for themselves." Part of limiting graphics is, it allows a viewer or player's imagination more flexability. This is why I preferred Batman TAS' art direction more then say Fist of the North Star or Robot in the Shell anime (not that I disliked either of those). The more minimal art allowed me, mentally, to focus more on the movement, the framing, the scene as a whole, and gave me enough flexibility to flesh out the world without having every rat and piece of eye candy thrown at me.
It was an embarrassment to EA to say the least. They lost over 50% of their subscription base within 90 days actually surpassing the industry's worst launch\retention Warhammer. It was a single player game with an MMO bolted on and after everyone beat it in 30 days. less then 1/2 people bothered to subscribe.
Think of this as a resturant: 50% of the customers didn't like the food enough to come back. Doesn't sound good. Prior to Warhammer, retention at 90 days was about 80% by estimate with players usually averaging 6 months before attrition. The problem is with the market saturation the demographic changed when WoW came into the picture. The Old School MMO players (pre-WoW players) had a much longer attention span in regards to rewards. The pacing, the very core was a longer experience. A novel. WoW came along and transformed that experience into a Short Story. Both enjoyable in their own right, but with the advent of the Theme Park and Sandbox styles (rather then the Virtual World model of Everquest in contrast to say WoW or Eve respectively) and the addition of a structured tread mill. The demands to engage this new demographic are not, IMHO, sustainable via a subscription model.
The problem with F2P is without safeguards, every troll douche and his inbred cousin can just script up and troll, ban, repeat. F2P is a recovery and long tail approach to MMOs and I see the industry needs to change.
MMOs should be more like muds and Counter Strike servers. More intimate, targeting 200-300 people a shard and allowing people to "roll-their-own" shards much like a counter strike server. Transform the MMO industry into a hosting industry where a few of you "Roll-Your-Own" and throw in what mods you want then invite people. Open it public, set a level cap, or an age limit, customize some rules, or make it invite only. Oddly I am seeing an uptick in Muds once again courtesy of CoffeeMud and newer Diku\Merc\Rom derivatives. Maybe a second golden age of MMOs is coming, perhaps the MMO will die and the GMUD will be revived. Who knows.
What I can say is that the original demographic of EQ players are as a majority, parents (statistically, they should all now mostly be about 35 years old) and the time commitment for old school MMOs (you know Virtual Worlds rather then Theme Park\Sandbox MMOs) means devs are left with the ADHD FPS converts that can't stand waiting more then 4 seconds before something spawns.
Zip guns like that are movie fiction short of using a.22 LR round !!for now!!. The walls of the barrel would based on the material need to be about 4 inches thick, minimum. That would make his zip gun roughly the size of a bowling ball if he was using a 9mm round. Otherwise it would just explode in his hand since the pressure from the cartridge wouldn't be contained in the polymer barrel. Toyota is working on high-heat\high-pressure ceramics for engines and I tell you this: weapon manufacturers are looking at those materials for military equipment.
I offer this: British accents (accounting Welsh, English, Scottish, and Irish variations for discussion sake) are varied enough but understandable to be "exotic" against one another while still being familiar.
Crowdsourcing accelerates evolution of 3D printable objects by leveraging the synergy of cloud computing resulting in a substantial paradigm shift in cost effective design.
--I'm an old fart, and I "can't see past the fact that there isn't a world inside the computer" either---
Haven't played many MMOs have you? I won't run up a deep philosophical debate but in the context of defining a reality (deep stuff there) there can exist "worlds" inside of data such that World of Warcraft is a light-weight world (but tightly rule bound). You have to put 1 foot in the deep end and start thinking Turing complete universe context.
If anyone wonders why there are no aliens around I offer this: "Perhaps someone made Flynn's grid a reality and people decided to explore a virtual frontier."
If human existence can be distilled to pure information then you could spend a near eternity exploring a virtual universe. That is a topic touched on in the film.
The system Flynn was in (The Grid) was by design. The environment he was in, in the first film, was perhaps his mind attempting to rationalize his existence in some fashion he could understand. The two are not the same so the new film doesn't in fact imply that anything in the grid is a reflection of the computer's inner workings. Flynn just made a really neat MMO environment to build a system "Where programs can be free." (e.g. AI programs can function in a sandbox environment without fear of the MCP).
So the assumption, as I read it, is the environment in which the bacteria is deployed is assumed to have a consistent pH level to help it identify that it is in fact, concrete. However anything that also has that pH could potentially be a hospitiable environment.
Question: How are they planning on accounting for a non-lab environment where everything from moisture, temperature, hell even lighting apparently, can influence the pH of the target location? Based on respitory infection the pH in a lung is hardly consistent in that scenario and as many have jested, the side walk could have a cold. The point is if they are pinning the identification based on the pH I fail to see this as viable in uses outside of a controlled lab. Bridge work going on in Nov with snow and sleet I fail to see a consistent pH for this to work on any credible level. Just more theortical lab work that will get a bit of grant money and that is about it. With construction workers dealing with a lot of concrete dust during repairs the pH is one hurdle for the bacteria. As for phsyical contaminates, respitory contaminates could be lunch for this stuff. I doubt there is a lethal risk, but having to throw someone on sick leave because they have a mild infection of this stuff is more economic risk then anything. pH to me seems a tad bit flaky as a marker for concrete. Even from what the article mentions, it requires too much of a controleld environment to be usseful. The number of things that could have similar pH seems rather high, the non-concrete contaminates... potential predators\competitors... It might work great in a lab... but in the real world? I'm doubtful.
"If at any point a scientist professes the colonization of Mars, and in the course of that profession, cites early settlers on Earth, has in fact declaired himself a moron."
A: When settler's got to the new land, they was an abundance of natural resources to sustain life. B: The gravity, radiation, and climate was similar. C: The general rules of survival remained the same. D: The air was breathable E: The water, drinkable F: The atmosphere was the same and thick enough to stop micro-meteors G: The natural resources that were available for building were easily accessable in the form of lumber allowing simple expansion. H: They didn't have to contend with 100 mile wide volcanoes and lethal radiation I: The journey to the "New World" was measured in months, not years. J: The trip was relatively low cost per lbs compared to space travel
NONE OF THE ABOVE APPLIES TO A TRIP TO MARS.
I am all for heading to Mars but any comparison to early Earth settlers is about as productive as comparing, just about anything, to Nazis. Thus the IMC is the Martian equavalent to Godwin's Law.
Godwin's Law: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."
The Godwin Observation: The validity and quality of a discussion can be measured by the length of time it takes to compare something in the conversation to Nazis. Alternatively: The duration of a conversion prior to a reference to Nazis implies it's general quality with the exception of conversations actually pertaining to Nazis.
Gabriel's Law: Internet + Anonimty = Total and complete Fuckwad. Alternatively: Given a forum and anonymity most people act like assholes.
Idgarad's Martian Clause: "If at any point a scientist professes the colonization of Mars, and in the course of that profession, cites early settlers on Earth, has in fact declaired himself a moron." Alternatively: The comparison of space colonization to early american settlers by a scientist invalidates all credibility said scientist once had by ignoring the overwhelming differences between the two.
The Godwin Disclaimer "I do openly declaire that the conversation at hand does indeed involve Nazis and as such Godwin's Law and The Godwin Observation do not apply."
For many who loath the idea of targeted ads I would assume many, if not most of those people are single. As a married old fart I can attest that A little intelligent ad targeting is nice. I for one get tired of feminine product advertisements because the wife uses my computer occasionally for shopping. Please, feel free to use the Kinect to determine if I am in fact: Male, Fat or Skinny, cheerful or pissed off. Because:
A: If I am male, I don't need tampon ads B: If I am fat, don't advertise Big Macs, advertise weight loss because last I checked, fatties know where BK and McDs are. And no it's not your genetics, it's because you are irresponsible with your health. A predisposition just means you have to work harder. Thermodynamics proves this; your lack of responsibility, low self esteem, and discipline does not change the laws of physics. C: If I am in a good mood try selling me a Beach Boy's collection. If I am pissed off Rammstien might be a better choice.
The Video game industry followed the movie industry down the rabbit hole. They are dependent now on blockbusters and are always one bad game or expansion away from bankruptcy it seems. Bad release? Time to lay off half the studio.
The EA\Sony\Activision nonsense of the uber publishing house has run its course. Eve Online continues its slow lumbering growth by rejecting the contemporary model. Minecraft outsold SC2 for a couple of weeks, with 1 guy as a developer. Dwarf Fortress soliders on and grows. Indie games are making a comeback and all that the big 3 (here in the US at least) can do is more reboots and sequels... just like Hollywood and we know how well that worked out for them for quality... blegh....
In further news Saturn's climate and chemical activity is also influenced by seasons.
Using a hydrocarbon as a measuring stick for the presence of life is not a very good indicator. Venus has oceans of the crap sloshing around. doesn't imply life.
Here is what we do. get a bunch of people with a terminal disease that gives them 20 years or so of life left. Or the entire viewing audience of Jersey Shore. Put them on a 1 way rocket to Mars with a crap load of Cheetoes and snack foods. Throw in Lohan as a plaything, she's too cracked out to even notice these days...
Send them there. They can then dig around and when one of them get's eaten by something alive there, then the rest of us here on Earth who are busy dodging bullets, fighting hunger, and dealing with assholes will give two shits about life on Mars. In the mean time some of us have important immediate concerns to deal with besides whether there is a new strain of microbe on Mars.
For instance, the HTC versus the iPhone, or the new season of Dr. Who...
We are one of the smallest lifeforms by population. If the majority lifeform "rules" the planet it would strike me as odd that aliens would consider us the owners of the planet mearly by virtual of intelligence. If anything there is the possibility they would see us as an unfair blight of a minority species taking a vastly significant share of real estate from the bulk of lifeforms. They might go so far as to cull the herd to ensure the bulk of the lifeforms have a porportional access to Earth. Since we are less then 1% of the lifeforms on Earth, why assume we would get much of a say.
As much as I disliked the Day the Earth Stood Still remake they make a great point. Bate's character says "It's our planet, we own it" in which Neo... err I mean Klatus bluntly states, "uhhh no."
If I were an intelligent alien, I would abduct humans and try and find a way to make them less destructive to an environment they are a marginal, by % of life, participant in. Or at the very least greatly restrict their ability to breed.
It would stike me as more intelligent to survey the bulk of lifeforms and find out what the majority needs to continue to survive. While not intelligent I would expect an ambassador for "those that cannot speak for themselves" to have been appointed who subsequently surveys the ecosystem as a whole.
It is hard to claim Earth has human-kind's personal planet when A: We don't manage it very well and B: are a tiny fraction of the population.
Intelligence doesn't confer ownership, it mandates responsibility in which by and large we have done a poor job so far.
A sad fact of the new economics of the video game industry is planning for expansions.
I've been in meetings before for a variety of programming projects (I do enterprise test environment managment these days) and a constant issue that is brought up is what "enchancements" go into a release. For business and office software this revolves around quarterly releases. For game development it is about (direct quote from a meeting in March):
"What features go into the initial release and which are RETAINED for a future expansion pack"
The feature in question for the project was "... bookmarking route templates...".
The business line determined that the feature was "Too good" for the inital release and was a better value to RETAIN\WITHOLD the feature for the first expansion pack as it "Provides better leverage in promoting the expansion".
Ironically no project had begun for an expansion yet. For all they know the initial game would flop and no expansion ever made. But costs, development time, etc need to be factored in.
With Civ4 and the complexity that Civ games tend to have it would make perfect sense to me to retain a good number of features and hold them off for expansion packs. I expect it would take Civ5 players 6-18 months to exhaust the current feature set so I'd sit for 3 months, troll the forums, and see what 4-6 retained features should be deployed next. With mod support it will be easy to see where players want to go with the features.
Sounds like good business and in the long run, as was with Civ4, a decent return for players.
"The surveillance station. At a wall in the game you see twelve screens that each show a different location of the level. This can be used by the player to get a tactical gaming advantage. Have you ever seen something similiar in a current game? Again - probably not"
Yes, In Duke Nukem 3D... over 15 years ago. And again in a bout 40 other FPS games that followed including the Unreal series, more then a few Quake maps especially in capture and control maps.
"There is nothing more amusing to watch then some young kid discover something old and think it is new" - That quote in action.
But few, if any, that I can remember take the time to develop characters such that we see an emotional bond and that conflict arise. I don't see any zombie films where boy meets girl, massive drama, boy finally wins girl but only to have her turned into a zombie at the climax such that we can see and identify with the emotional stress of killing a zombiefied loved one. The closest thing I can think of was the original Night of the Living Dead with the little girl zombie in the basement. Even then the emotional 'bond' is weak. We care very little for the girl. The same can be said the in the remake of Day of the Dead with the pregnant soon to be changed lady (whom I never liked to any extent, she had 0 character development.) However the dad that was to change was the closest I can remember to your statement. He was likable enough that we were at least sympathetic to his condition.
However, without a possible cure\reversal there is little emotional connection I see. The idea of a what-if in a cure then would put considerable emotional pressure on a character (short term solution: kill zombies, low risk. Long Term solution: capture zombie, wait for cure, high risk.)
I just don't see that story telling in film at least, however novels may have a better chance at exploring that idea.
But we do not know if that decoupling could be localized now that the universe is considerably larger now. It opens the possibility of localized physics where the laws themselves could vary over vast distances. The physics themselves at the outer most regions of the universe could be vastly different then the central region. Such a possible discrepancy has not at this time been addressed. And as we know the inverse may be true, if they are localized over vast distances, they may also vary on the most miniscule level.
Until people go to jail for the deaths what point or purpose does any of this mean? Wealth clearly puts a person above the law and above manslaughter charges. It's that simple. Arguing the fingerpointing is wasted energy since, regardless of the fault, no one will be held accountable. The government will take a bribe in the form of a penalty\fine and all the PEOPLE who lead to the deaths will walk free. The only time the wealthy suffer consequences is when they harm other wealthy people.
Slashdot Mirror
(Shameless plug of sorts, apologies)
I DM'ed (Dungeon Mastered) RPGs for many (like 20) years and I learned a very important lesson I mention in some youtube vids I am throwing out there (not a full timer, I'm just documenting some stuff for posterity so-to-speak http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL42823901F978F00D&feature=mh_lolz) but I'll give you a specific relevant quote:
"Every detail you give a player, is one less detail they can imagine for themselves." Part of limiting graphics is, it allows a viewer or player's imagination more flexability. This is why I preferred Batman TAS' art direction more then say Fist of the North Star or Robot in the Shell anime (not that I disliked either of those). The more minimal art allowed me, mentally, to focus more on the movement, the framing, the scene as a whole, and gave me enough flexibility to flesh out the world without having every rat and piece of eye candy thrown at me.
It was an embarrassment to EA to say the least. They lost over 50% of their subscription base within 90 days actually surpassing the industry's worst launch\retention Warhammer. It was a single player game with an MMO bolted on and after everyone beat it in 30 days. less then 1/2 people bothered to subscribe.
Think of this as a resturant: 50% of the customers didn't like the food enough to come back. Doesn't sound good. Prior to Warhammer, retention at 90 days was about 80% by estimate with players usually averaging 6 months before attrition. The problem is with the market saturation the demographic changed when WoW came into the picture. The Old School MMO players (pre-WoW players) had a much longer attention span in regards to rewards. The pacing, the very core was a longer experience. A novel. WoW came along and transformed that experience into a Short Story. Both enjoyable in their own right, but with the advent of the Theme Park and Sandbox styles (rather then the Virtual World model of Everquest in contrast to say WoW or Eve respectively) and the addition of a structured tread mill. The demands to engage this new demographic are not, IMHO, sustainable via a subscription model.
The problem with F2P is without safeguards, every troll douche and his inbred cousin can just script up and troll, ban, repeat. F2P is a recovery and long tail approach to MMOs and I see the industry needs to change.
MMOs should be more like muds and Counter Strike servers. More intimate, targeting 200-300 people a shard and allowing people to "roll-their-own" shards much like a counter strike server. Transform the MMO industry into a hosting industry where a few of you "Roll-Your-Own" and throw in what mods you want then invite people. Open it public, set a level cap, or an age limit, customize some rules, or make it invite only. Oddly I am seeing an uptick in Muds once again courtesy of CoffeeMud and newer Diku\Merc\Rom derivatives. Maybe a second golden age of MMOs is coming, perhaps the MMO will die and the GMUD will be revived. Who knows.
What I can say is that the original demographic of EQ players are as a majority, parents (statistically, they should all now mostly be about 35 years old) and the time commitment for old school MMOs (you know Virtual Worlds rather then Theme Park\Sandbox MMOs) means devs are left with the ADHD FPS converts that can't stand waiting more then 4 seconds before something spawns.
We call it statistical 'profiling' and it happens to be illegal apparently.
Zip guns like that are movie fiction short of using a .22 LR round !!for now!!. The walls of the barrel would based on the material need to be about 4 inches thick, minimum. That would make his zip gun roughly the size of a bowling ball if he was using a 9mm round. Otherwise it would just explode in his hand since the pressure from the cartridge wouldn't be contained in the polymer barrel. Toyota is working on high-heat\high-pressure ceramics for engines and I tell you this: weapon manufacturers are looking at those materials for military equipment.
That skinny teen? Have you seen a recent picture of Trevon?
You realize editors with integrity and a brain was dropped long ago when we got kdawson right?
I offer this: British accents (accounting Welsh, English, Scottish, and Irish variations for discussion sake) are varied enough but understandable to be "exotic" against one another while still being familiar.
Crowdsourcing accelerates evolution of 3D printable objects by leveraging the synergy of cloud computing resulting in a substantial paradigm shift in cost effective design.
I haven't bought an EA product since they dissolved Origin. FU EA.
--I'm an old fart, and I "can't see past the fact that there isn't a world inside the computer" either---
Haven't played many MMOs have you? I won't run up a deep philosophical debate but in the context of defining a reality (deep stuff there) there can exist "worlds" inside of data such that World of Warcraft is a light-weight world (but tightly rule bound). You have to put 1 foot in the deep end and start thinking Turing complete universe context.
If anyone wonders why there are no aliens around I offer this: "Perhaps someone made Flynn's grid a reality and people decided to explore a virtual frontier."
If human existence can be distilled to pure information then you could spend a near eternity exploring a virtual universe. That is a topic touched on in the film.
The system Flynn was in (The Grid) was by design. The environment he was in, in the first film, was perhaps his mind attempting to rationalize his existence in some fashion he could understand. The two are not the same so the new film doesn't in fact imply that anything in the grid is a reflection of the computer's inner workings. Flynn just made a really neat MMO environment to build a system "Where programs can be free." (e.g. AI programs can function in a sandbox environment without fear of the MCP).
So the assumption, as I read it, is the environment in which the bacteria is deployed is assumed to have a consistent pH level to help it identify that it is in fact, concrete. However anything that also has that pH could potentially be a hospitiable environment.
Question: How are they planning on accounting for a non-lab environment where everything from moisture, temperature, hell even lighting apparently, can influence the pH of the target location? Based on respitory infection the pH in a lung is hardly consistent in that scenario and as many have jested, the side walk could have a cold. The point is if they are pinning the identification based on the pH I fail to see this as viable in uses outside of a controlled lab. Bridge work going on in Nov with snow and sleet I fail to see a consistent pH for this to work on any credible level. Just more theortical lab work that will get a bit of grant money and that is about it. With construction workers dealing with a lot of concrete dust during repairs the pH is one hurdle for the bacteria. As for phsyical contaminates, respitory contaminates could be lunch for this stuff. I doubt there is a lethal risk, but having to throw someone on sick leave because they have a mild infection of this stuff is more economic risk then anything. pH to me seems a tad bit flaky as a marker for concrete. Even from what the article mentions, it requires too much of a controleld environment to be usseful. The number of things that could have similar pH seems rather high, the non-concrete contaminates... potential predators\competitors... It might work great in a lab... but in the real world? I'm doubtful.
And the bacteria knows the difference between concrete and lung tissue how?
Idgarad's Martian Clause
"If at any point a scientist professes the colonization of Mars, and in the course of that profession, cites early settlers on Earth, has in fact declaired himself a moron."
A: When settler's got to the new land, they was an abundance of natural resources to sustain life.
B: The gravity, radiation, and climate was similar.
C: The general rules of survival remained the same.
D: The air was breathable
E: The water, drinkable
F: The atmosphere was the same and thick enough to stop micro-meteors
G: The natural resources that were available for building were easily accessable in the form of lumber allowing simple expansion.
H: They didn't have to contend with 100 mile wide volcanoes and lethal radiation
I: The journey to the "New World" was measured in months, not years.
J: The trip was relatively low cost per lbs compared to space travel
NONE OF THE ABOVE APPLIES TO A TRIP TO MARS.
I am all for heading to Mars but any comparison to early Earth settlers is about as productive as comparing, just about anything, to Nazis. Thus the IMC is the Martian equavalent to Godwin's Law.
Godwin's Law: "As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."
The Godwin Observation: The validity and quality of a discussion can be measured by the length of time it takes to compare something in the conversation to Nazis. Alternatively: The duration of a conversion prior to a reference to Nazis implies it's general quality with the exception of conversations actually pertaining to Nazis.
Gabriel's Law: Internet + Anonimty = Total and complete Fuckwad. Alternatively: Given a forum and anonymity most people act like assholes.
Idgarad's Martian Clause: "If at any point a scientist professes the colonization of Mars, and in the course of that profession, cites early settlers on Earth, has in fact declaired himself a moron." Alternatively: The comparison of space colonization to early american settlers by a scientist invalidates all credibility said scientist once had by ignoring the overwhelming differences between the two.
The Godwin Disclaimer
"I do openly declaire that the conversation at hand does indeed involve Nazis and as such Godwin's Law and The Godwin Observation do not apply."
For many who loath the idea of targeted ads I would assume many, if not most of those people are single. As a married old fart I can attest that A little intelligent ad targeting is nice. I for one get tired of feminine product advertisements because the wife uses my computer occasionally for shopping. Please, feel free to use the Kinect to determine if I am in fact: Male, Fat or Skinny, cheerful or pissed off. Because:
A: If I am male, I don't need tampon ads
B: If I am fat, don't advertise Big Macs, advertise weight loss because last I checked, fatties know where BK and McDs are. And no it's not your genetics, it's because you are irresponsible with your health. A predisposition just means you have to work harder. Thermodynamics proves this; your lack of responsibility, low self esteem, and discipline does not change the laws of physics.
C: If I am in a good mood try selling me a Beach Boy's collection. If I am pissed off Rammstien might be a better choice.
The Video game industry followed the movie industry down the rabbit hole. They are dependent now on blockbusters and are always one bad game or expansion away from bankruptcy it seems. Bad release? Time to lay off half the studio.
The EA\Sony\Activision nonsense of the uber publishing house has run its course. Eve Online continues its slow lumbering growth by rejecting the contemporary model. Minecraft outsold SC2 for a couple of weeks, with 1 guy as a developer. Dwarf Fortress soliders on and grows. Indie games are making a comeback and all that the big 3 (here in the US at least) can do is more reboots and sequels... just like Hollywood and we know how well that worked out for them for quality... blegh....
An unnamed source at IBM informed us that their primary goal with the joint venture was to improve Minecraft's performance
May I suggest: Liberty Office Suite as a new name.
In further news Saturn's climate and chemical activity is also influenced by seasons.
Using a hydrocarbon as a measuring stick for the presence of life is not a very good indicator. Venus has oceans of the crap sloshing around. doesn't imply life.
Here is what we do. get a bunch of people with a terminal disease that gives them 20 years or so of life left. Or the entire viewing audience of Jersey Shore. Put them on a 1 way rocket to Mars with a crap load of Cheetoes and snack foods. Throw in Lohan as a plaything, she's too cracked out to even notice these days...
Send them there. They can then dig around and when one of them get's eaten by something alive there, then the rest of us here on Earth who are busy dodging bullets, fighting hunger, and dealing with assholes will give two shits about life on Mars. In the mean time some of us have important immediate concerns to deal with besides whether there is a new strain of microbe on Mars.
For instance, the HTC versus the iPhone, or the new season of Dr. Who...
Why would aliens intrinsiclly meet with humans?
We are one of the smallest lifeforms by population. If the majority lifeform "rules" the planet it would strike me as odd that aliens would consider us the owners of the planet mearly by virtual of intelligence. If anything there is the possibility they would see us as an unfair blight of a minority species taking a vastly significant share of real estate from the bulk of lifeforms. They might go so far as to cull the herd to ensure the bulk of the lifeforms have a porportional access to Earth. Since we are less then 1% of the lifeforms on Earth, why assume we would get much of a say.
As much as I disliked the Day the Earth Stood Still remake they make a great point. Bate's character says "It's our planet, we own it" in which Neo... err I mean Klatus bluntly states, "uhhh no."
If I were an intelligent alien, I would abduct humans and try and find a way to make them less destructive to an environment they are a marginal, by % of life, participant in. Or at the very least greatly restrict their ability to breed.
It would stike me as more intelligent to survey the bulk of lifeforms and find out what the majority needs to continue to survive. While not intelligent I would expect an ambassador for "those that cannot speak for themselves" to have been appointed who subsequently surveys the ecosystem as a whole.
It is hard to claim Earth has human-kind's personal planet when A: We don't manage it very well and B: are a tiny fraction of the population.
Intelligence doesn't confer ownership, it mandates responsibility in which by and large we have done a poor job so far.
A sad fact of the new economics of the video game industry is planning for expansions.
I've been in meetings before for a variety of programming projects (I do enterprise test environment managment these days) and a constant issue that is brought up is what "enchancements" go into a release. For business and office software this revolves around quarterly releases. For game development it is about (direct quote from a meeting in March):
"What features go into the initial release and which are RETAINED for a future expansion pack"
The feature in question for the project was "... bookmarking route templates ...".
The business line determined that the feature was "Too good" for the inital release and was a better value to RETAIN\WITHOLD the feature for the first expansion pack as it "Provides better leverage in promoting the expansion".
Ironically no project had begun for an expansion yet. For all they know the initial game would flop and no expansion ever made. But costs, development time, etc need to be factored in.
With Civ4 and the complexity that Civ games tend to have it would make perfect sense to me to retain a good number of features and hold them off for expansion packs. I expect it would take Civ5 players 6-18 months to exhaust the current feature set so I'd sit for 3 months, troll the forums, and see what 4-6 retained features should be deployed next. With mod support it will be easy to see where players want to go with the features.
Sounds like good business and in the long run, as was with Civ4, a decent return for players.
"The surveillance station. At a wall in the game you see twelve screens that each show a different location of the level. This can be used by the player to get a tactical gaming advantage. Have you ever seen something similiar in a current game? Again - probably not"
Yes, In Duke Nukem 3D... over 15 years ago. And again in a bout 40 other FPS games that followed including the Unreal series, more then a few Quake maps especially in capture and control maps.
"There is nothing more amusing to watch then some young kid discover something old and think it is new" - That quote in action.
But few, if any, that I can remember take the time to develop characters such that we see an emotional bond and that conflict arise. I don't see any zombie films where boy meets girl, massive drama, boy finally wins girl but only to have her turned into a zombie at the climax such that we can see and identify with the emotional stress of killing a zombiefied loved one. The closest thing I can think of was the original Night of the Living Dead with the little girl zombie in the basement. Even then the emotional 'bond' is weak. We care very little for the girl. The same can be said the in the remake of Day of the Dead with the pregnant soon to be changed lady (whom I never liked to any extent, she had 0 character development.) However the dad that was to change was the closest I can remember to your statement. He was likable enough that we were at least sympathetic to his condition.
However, without a possible cure\reversal there is little emotional connection I see. The idea of a what-if in a cure then would put considerable emotional pressure on a character (short term solution: kill zombies, low risk. Long Term solution: capture zombie, wait for cure, high risk.)
I just don't see that story telling in film at least, however novels may have a better chance at exploring that idea.
But we do not know if that decoupling could be localized now that the universe is considerably larger now. It opens the possibility of localized physics where the laws themselves could vary over vast distances. The physics themselves at the outer most regions of the universe could be vastly different then the central region. Such a possible discrepancy has not at this time been addressed. And as we know the inverse may be true, if they are localized over vast distances, they may also vary on the most miniscule level.
Until people go to jail for the deaths what point or purpose does any of this mean? Wealth clearly puts a person above the law and above manslaughter charges. It's that simple. Arguing the fingerpointing is wasted energy since, regardless of the fault, no one will be held accountable. The government will take a bribe in the form of a penalty\fine and all the PEOPLE who lead to the deaths will walk free. The only time the wealthy suffer consequences is when they harm other wealthy people.