It has sadly become the norm for console game systems. When my coworker brought home his shiny new Wii (on launch day I believe), he said he had to hook it up to the internet and let it download software/firmware updates overnight. So basically, he couldn't just sit down and play...or maybe he could but it didn't have all the functionality it promised. The same is true with the other console systems now. It seems that everything wants to connect to the internet just because it can...basically since broadband access has become ubiquitous. Well, you know what...maybe I don't want my refrigerator to connect to the internet. I don't want my home to be THAT connected. This is probably because I spent my college years working tech support for an ISP and a hosting provider. I'm all too familiar with how unreliable this interweb thing really is.
The article summary should have at least mentioned his M.D. Some background info on him from Wikipedia:
He attended Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts as an undergraduate, graduating summa cum laude in 1964. Crichton was also initiated into the honors organization Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to become the Henry Russell Shaw Travelling Fellow, 1964-65 and Visiting Lecturer in Anthropology at Cambridge University, England, 1965. He graduated at Harvard Medical School, gaining an M.D. in 1969 and did post-doctoral fellowship study at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, in 1969-1970.
There is a little place I go to in upstate NY that is so nestled in the mountains that they can't get cable TV and don't get any broadcast TV stations either. Cell phones won't because there are no towers for miles. Most people don't bother with satellite because they are only there a few months per year. Imagine no TV and no internet. It's just me and my wife and a few board games, and some jigsaw puzzles, and of course the lake. Not only can you re-connect with your own soul, but you also get to re-connect with your spouse in a deeper way. It's also a great chance to catch up on a great book or two that's been collecting dust on the shelf. I highly recommend it.
It seems to make perfect sense to target elderly folks.
1. They are retired and have plenty of free time.
2. Many can't drive so they are confined to the house all day.
3. Many can't walk so they are confined to a chair all day.
4. Some have a good stash of disposible income.
5. They have grandkids who are definitely playing. This could be break down the age barrier between them and promote quality time.
6. They already love gaming (ie. Chess, Shuffleboard, Bingo). Can you imagine Wii Shuffleboard? It would probably be fun.
I apologize if I'm stereotyping badly. I don't mean to offend anybody.
partially it'll be down to gameplay benefits as well - more levels, more detail, richer experiences
For a $500 system with $60 games, the extra space should be COMPLETELY for the gameplay benefits. Nobody cares about a cut-scene in 1080p and 7.1, really nobody.
The Asst Principal should be fired right now, for setting such a bad example. What ever happened to "Sticks and stones...". She is a grown adult. At no time is she in any danger by this myspace page, and any judge will recognize that. It's all completely harmless. At no time is she at risk for a financial loss by the page, and she won't be in the future. Nobody can prove any harm was done whatsoever. Sure, some bloggers are committing libel, but that's not the same as calling somebody a lesbian. However by seeking to retaliate against the students, she is displaying a very poor moral character and bad judgement. I would pull my kids out of the school immediately (whether they have anything to do with this or not), and/or go to the superintendant and complain.
Last night I went to bed hungry and I had a nightmare that I was racing midget bikes against The Burger King, Brooke Burke, a giant Chicken, and a Whopper Jr., and then today I see THIS! Spooky.
It's a no brainer that the game would appear on the 360 especially since with the 360's early release, it already has a significant user base. Will will see it on the other two platforms? That's the real question. Both the PS3 and Wii will ship with built in memory, and downloadable content as well, so Red Octane has no excuse. Actually with Wii's lower price tag, and expected ample availability, it is actually poised to be the top seller this Christmas. That might be the next logical platform choice.
Could the decrease in CD buying the following two years be chalked up to increased sales of digital downloads, which started to become popular just at that time? The paper does not address the question.
Bingo!
I read TFA, and quite frankly, it isn't worth anything. They should be ashamed to have reported such unsubstantiated claims. If I'm reading this correctly, that drop of 13% could just as easily been caused by iTunes. In fact that conclusion would actually make more sense when you consider the millions of songs that have been purchased (as reported by Apple).
They could have taken that same data and very well have titled the article "iTunes found responsible for drop in CD sales", and it would have been just as true (or false as it may be).
To think that they used "computer ownership" to show how many people download music is purely ridiculous. Maybe those computer owners are spending more playing Warcraft, browsing for porn, or visiting their distant cousin's myspace page, and so have less time to listen to music. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
From the article "a majority of console gamers use rumble/vibration quite regularly and clearly value it, and a majority expect existing rumble/vibration capability to carry forward to the PS3. In addition, a majority don't currently realize Sony's PS3 controllers won't allow for this backwards compatibility,".
What that means is if you have an older game that you are used to playing with rumble, it will feel very different on your PS3 (without the rumble). In fact, since the system won't be designed for rumbling, I'm not sure if it can even developed by third parties (in the form of a new controller). It kind of takes away some of the allure of backward compatibility doesn't it?
From the article: "Will the PS3 include component video cables in the box? I'm not sure, but I think the answer might be "no."
We know it doesn't come with HDMI cables. So how do you connect it to your TV? Is it really composite only? That's remarkable. So out of the box, it will look like poo no matter what television you have. They are adding HDMI to all the PS3s now, but they aren't including a decent cable to connect with. Strange.
The original guitar controller worked just fine on it's own, and it obviously the reason why this game is so much fun. If the guitar for the Wii was a completely separate controller that wouldn't be so bad. Frankly, I would rather that they just make the guitar in the same style as the PS2 version, rather than try to make a Wii controller fit into it. Sure it might cost a bit more, but there would no sacrifice in fun factor. God I just hope we get it for the Wii because I dont want to buy a PS2/PS3 just for one game. I'm more of a Nintendo guy myself.
It has less to do with music and more to do with trendiness. Along with the sales of these records, we're seeing an increase in sales in black low-top Converse All-Stars, super small tight jeans, extra-small black t-shirts, studded belts, and thick black plastic rimmed glasses.;)
Let's take a few of his responses and turn them around, just for fun (really, I mean no disrepect, your responses so far have been insightful). Bear with me, I'm bored.
Let's hope that the next time your computer breaks or your network is down your IT guy doesn't give the same responses you gave us.
Lawyer: My computer isn't booting. I think my data is lost. Can you help?
IT Guy: Generally, there is no real good way to handle these cases, so anything anyone does is a mistake, in that sense. But in another sense, there are no mistakes, because there is no right answer.
Lawyer: My computer crashed, my screen is blue, and has some gibberish on it. Can you help?
IT Guy: I don't know what you're talking about.
Lawyer: My browser, and my email program won't open. I might have a virus.
IT Guy: Isn't this kind of a multiple question? Virus? I don't know what gives you this idea.
Lawyer: Windows says I need to upgrade X? Have you considered doing that? Maybe you should contact Microsoft support.
IT Guy: I'm an ordinary tech doing the best I can. How do you know who I've gone to or spoken to?
Lawyer: I think the network is down. Can you verify that?
IT Guy: I doubt it.
Lawyer: I think someone stole my identity. What can I do to prevent that again?
IT Guy: Ask your insurance co.
Lawyer: This webpage won't load. What's going on?
IT Guy: I don't know.
1. If I purchase a CD and it is subsequently stolen (along with my 5 disc changer *@$#!!) do I retain any rights to listen to that music?
1. There's no such thing as a listening right, I don't know where you get that from.
The listening right his question refers to is the right to "space shift". In other words, the right to "listen" to a recording at work on my iPod, or in my car on a burned CD-R, all while the original CD itself sits on a shelf at my home. This is a frequent topic of discussion amongst Slashdot regulars so I'm not so surprised you didn't know what he meant. According to Wikipedia we have this right based on the judgement in the case, "Recording Indus. Ass'n of Am. v. Diamond Multimedia Sys., Inc., 180 F.3d 1072, 1079 (9th Cir. 1999)". It gave us the right to make an electronic backup copy for personal use.
Once the original is detroyed do we still have the right to keep our backups? Of course this question itself is a paradox because once we destroy the original we need the backup. However do we then have the right to even possess the backup if we can't prove we ever had the original? We don't know the answer to this, and that's what he was asking. However I don't believe this has been tested in a court yet.
Regardless of any of this, his question is actually off topic because (to my knowledge) the RIAA is only "going after" people who are sharing files, not people who are possessing personal backups. Correct me if I'm wrong there.
You could make that same argument for every game that will be released for the Wii. Apparently someone at "n-sider" is still living in 2001. The whole point of the Wii is that it will change EVERYTHING. And we'll have to change the way we think about gaming. For those who still need their controller, there will be a PS3. Nintendo is moving forward. At some point you have to cut the umbilical cord (throw away the old controller) and just go for it. It's taking a lot of balls to make that decision, but they are standing by it. Good for them.
I got my BA in Psychology, but during college I took a job doing crappy phone tech support for a few PC OEMs. I caught the programming bug but finished by Psy. BA anyway.
I got into a company doing entry level GIS mapping stuff as an analyst, and gradually taught myself Perl until I was writing scripts that made my job easier. The right people noticed and now my job is writing Perl scripts for the entire project. I also am getting paid a decent salary because I had a BACHELORS DEGREE period. However I'm still an "analyst".
The company paid for me to go to graduate school, and I just earned my M.S. in Computer Information Systems from a prestigious local university. Now they are promoting me to Software Engineer and are transitioning me to a high profile project over the next couple weeks. I'm in line for a major raise in pay, probably around 40% as I transition into engineering.
So there you have it. First take some time, use Google, and learn why a Psychology degree is VERY relevant to EVERY career. This will help to build your confidence. Like someone else said here, don't apologize for that major. Be ready to explain in an interview why that degree makes you MORE qualified. I like to tell people I got my bachelors degree in "People Science".;) You will be working with PEOPLE, right? Then try to get in with an entry level job by wowing them at your interview. Also, look into graduate school. Computer Science isn't for everyone, but many universities are creating degrees in "Information Systems", "Information Science" or "Management of IS". Pick what's best for you.
Reminds me of the movie Boiler Room when Affleck's character is giving the speech to the new sales guys, trying to give them tips on how to make the sale while on the phone... "Get off your ass! Move around. Motion creates emotion!". I used to get up and walk around when I did tech support for the same reason as those sales guys, it keeps the blood flowing.
Affleck was the bomb in Boiler Room. That speech he gave in that movie might be the highlight of his career.;)
I just bought a new Mac, and to my dismay OO.o is not ready for MacIntel yet. There is a NeoOffice version coming, I believe. In the meantime, OO.o can't claim to operate on Mac when it won't even load on the MacIntel. Those new Macbooks are going to be a hot item (pardon the pun!) in the fall for college students, who are going to need an office suite. Maybe we'll see a MacIntel version by then. But this may not be the best time to run the ad.
It sounds like these guys should have tried the glossy screen. I love mine. The colors look wonderful from all kinds of viewing angles. It's the best looking screen I've ever seen, worth every penny. As for the reflections people talk about... it's all BS. I use mine in the library and never does glare become a problem.
I was a CSR and TSR for a few years while in college, so let me explain.
1. AOL probably has several call centers all over the USA and/or the world.
2. There are probably several Vincents.
3. Vincent might not be his real name, or might be his middle name, or he might go by the name Skippy to his peers. So nobody knows a Vincent at the call center.
4. How do we know he got fired? By whom? Aol outsources their call centers, don't they? Can AOL force a third party company running the call center to fire someone? Chances are that Vincent got a raise and promotion by the company he really works for (not AOL). Vincent sounds like a VERY GOOD CSR. At the call center I worked at (in Heathrow, FL), Vincent would have been made a team lead, if management heard that call. I'm really not kidding. Needless to say, I quit that job as soon as could, but damn the pay was GOOD!
This explains why every other (ie. Wintel) laptop in the world is BLACK or SILVER. It's because WE HAVE DIRTY HANDS! Apparently computer makers know that we rest our dirty hands on the machine when we use it and so they make the cases black so we can't see the dirt build up. Should we be surprised that something WHITE shows dirt? Didn't we learn this in kindergarten when our white t-shirt looked so much dirtier than our black t-shirt? I can't say I'm surprised.
Slashdot Mirror
It has sadly become the norm for console game systems. When my coworker brought home his shiny new Wii (on launch day I believe), he said he had to hook it up to the internet and let it download software/firmware updates overnight. So basically, he couldn't just sit down and play...or maybe he could but it didn't have all the functionality it promised. The same is true with the other console systems now. It seems that everything wants to connect to the internet just because it can...basically since broadband access has become ubiquitous.
Well, you know what...maybe I don't want my refrigerator to connect to the internet. I don't want my home to be THAT connected. This is probably because I spent my college years working tech support for an ISP and a hosting provider. I'm all too familiar with how unreliable this interweb thing really is.
The article summary should have at least mentioned his M.D. Some background info on him from Wikipedia:
He attended Harvard College in Cambridge, Massachusetts as an undergraduate, graduating summa cum laude in 1964. Crichton was also initiated into the honors organization Phi Beta Kappa. He went on to become the Henry Russell Shaw Travelling Fellow, 1964-65 and Visiting Lecturer in Anthropology at Cambridge University, England, 1965. He graduated at Harvard Medical School, gaining an M.D. in 1969 and did post-doctoral fellowship study at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, in 1969-1970.
Yes it's true. This man has no dick.
There is a little place I go to in upstate NY that is so nestled in the mountains that they can't get cable TV and don't get any broadcast TV stations either. Cell phones won't because there are no towers for miles. Most people don't bother with satellite because they are only there a few months per year. Imagine no TV and no internet. It's just me and my wife and a few board games, and some jigsaw puzzles, and of course the lake. Not only can you re-connect with your own soul, but you also get to re-connect with your spouse in a deeper way. It's also a great chance to catch up on a great book or two that's been collecting dust on the shelf. I highly recommend it.
It seems to make perfect sense to target elderly folks.
1. They are retired and have plenty of free time.
2. Many can't drive so they are confined to the house all day.
3. Many can't walk so they are confined to a chair all day.
4. Some have a good stash of disposible income.
5. They have grandkids who are definitely playing. This could be break down the age barrier between them and promote quality time.
6. They already love gaming (ie. Chess, Shuffleboard, Bingo). Can you imagine Wii Shuffleboard? It would probably be fun.
I apologize if I'm stereotyping badly. I don't mean to offend anybody.
The Asst Principal should be fired right now, for setting such a bad example. What ever happened to "Sticks and stones...". She is a grown adult. At no time is she in any danger by this myspace page, and any judge will recognize that. It's all completely harmless. At no time is she at risk for a financial loss by the page, and she won't be in the future. Nobody can prove any harm was done whatsoever. Sure, some bloggers are committing libel, but that's not the same as calling somebody a lesbian. However by seeking to retaliate against the students, she is displaying a very poor moral character and bad judgement. I would pull my kids out of the school immediately (whether they have anything to do with this or not), and/or go to the superintendant and complain.
Last night I went to bed hungry and I had a nightmare that I was racing midget bikes against The Burger King, Brooke Burke, a giant Chicken, and a Whopper Jr., and then today I see THIS! Spooky.
It's a no brainer that the game would appear on the 360 especially since with the 360's early release, it already has a significant user base. Will will see it on the other two platforms? That's the real question. Both the PS3 and Wii will ship with built in memory, and downloadable content as well, so Red Octane has no excuse. Actually with Wii's lower price tag, and expected ample availability, it is actually poised to be the top seller this Christmas. That might be the next logical platform choice.
They could have taken that same data and very well have titled the article "iTunes found responsible for drop in CD sales", and it would have been just as true (or false as it may be).
To think that they used "computer ownership" to show how many people download music is purely ridiculous. Maybe those computer owners are spending more playing Warcraft, browsing for porn, or visiting their distant cousin's myspace page, and so have less time to listen to music. I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
From the article "a majority of console gamers use rumble/vibration quite regularly and clearly value it, and a majority expect existing rumble/vibration capability to carry forward to the PS3. In addition, a majority don't currently realize Sony's PS3 controllers won't allow for this backwards compatibility,".
What that means is if you have an older game that you are used to playing with rumble, it will feel very different on your PS3 (without the rumble). In fact, since the system won't be designed for rumbling, I'm not sure if it can even developed by third parties (in the form of a new controller). It kind of takes away some of the allure of backward compatibility doesn't it?
From the article:
"Will the PS3 include component video cables in the box?
I'm not sure, but I think the answer might be "no."
We know it doesn't come with HDMI cables. So how do you connect it to your TV? Is it really composite only? That's remarkable. So out of the box, it will look like poo no matter what television you have.
They are adding HDMI to all the PS3s now, but they aren't including a decent cable to connect with. Strange.
The original guitar controller worked just fine on it's own, and it obviously the reason why this game is so much fun. If the guitar for the Wii was a completely separate controller that wouldn't be so bad. Frankly, I would rather that they just make the guitar in the same style as the PS2 version, rather than try to make a Wii controller fit into it. Sure it might cost a bit more, but there would no sacrifice in fun factor. God I just hope we get it for the Wii because I dont want to buy a PS2/PS3 just for one game. I'm more of a Nintendo guy myself.
It has less to do with music and more to do with trendiness. Along with the sales of these records, we're seeing an increase in sales in black low-top Converse All-Stars, super small tight jeans, extra-small black t-shirts, studded belts, and thick black plastic rimmed glasses. ;)
Let's take a few of his responses and turn them around, just for fun (really, I mean no disrepect, your responses so far have been insightful). Bear with me, I'm bored.
Let's hope that the next time your computer breaks or your network is down your IT guy doesn't give the same responses you gave us.
Lawyer: My computer isn't booting. I think my data is lost. Can you help?
IT Guy: Generally, there is no real good way to handle these cases, so anything anyone does is a mistake, in that sense. But in another sense, there are no mistakes, because there is no right answer.
Lawyer: My computer crashed, my screen is blue, and has some gibberish on it. Can you help?
IT Guy: I don't know what you're talking about.
Lawyer: My browser, and my email program won't open. I might have a virus.
IT Guy: Isn't this kind of a multiple question? Virus? I don't know what gives you this idea.
Lawyer: Windows says I need to upgrade X? Have you considered doing that? Maybe you should contact Microsoft support.
IT Guy: I'm an ordinary tech doing the best I can. How do you know who I've gone to or spoken to?
Lawyer: I think the network is down. Can you verify that?
IT Guy: I doubt it.
Lawyer: I think someone stole my identity. What can I do to prevent that again?
IT Guy: Ask your insurance co.
Lawyer: This webpage won't load. What's going on?
IT Guy: I don't know.
That was fun. Don't sue me.
1. If I purchase a CD and it is subsequently stolen (along with my 5 disc changer *@$#!!) do I retain any rights to listen to that music?
1. There's no such thing as a listening right, I don't know where you get that from.
The listening right his question refers to is the right to "space shift". In other words, the right to "listen" to a recording at work on my iPod, or in my car on a burned CD-R, all while the original CD itself sits on a shelf at my home. This is a frequent topic of discussion amongst Slashdot regulars so I'm not so surprised you didn't know what he meant. According to Wikipedia we have this right based on the judgement in the case, "Recording Indus. Ass'n of Am. v. Diamond Multimedia Sys., Inc., 180 F.3d 1072, 1079 (9th Cir. 1999)". It gave us the right to make an electronic backup copy for personal use.
The current RIAA website says "If you choose to take your own CDs and make copies for yourself on your computer or portable music player, that's great. It's your music and we want you to enjoy it at home, at work, in the car and on the jogging trail. "
Once the original is detroyed do we still have the right to keep our backups? Of course this question itself is a paradox because once we destroy the original we need the backup. However do we then have the right to even possess the backup if we can't prove we ever had the original? We don't know the answer to this, and that's what he was asking. However I don't believe this has been tested in a court yet.
Regardless of any of this, his question is actually off topic because (to my knowledge) the RIAA is only "going after" people who are
sharing files, not people who are possessing personal backups. Correct me if I'm wrong there.
You could make that same argument for every game that will be released for the Wii. Apparently someone at "n-sider" is still living in 2001. The whole point of the Wii is that it will change EVERYTHING. And we'll have to change the way we think about gaming. For those who still need their controller, there will be a PS3. Nintendo is moving forward. At some point you have to cut the umbilical cord (throw away the old controller) and just go for it. It's taking a lot of balls to make that decision, but they are standing by it. Good for them.
If Pluto needs to worry about damage from bullets, then it must be a lot smaller than I thought. Maybe they should reconsider.
I got my BA in Psychology, but during college I took a job doing crappy phone tech support for a few PC OEMs. I caught the programming bug but finished by Psy. BA anyway. ;) You will be working with PEOPLE, right?
I got into a company doing entry level GIS mapping stuff as an analyst, and gradually taught myself Perl until I was writing scripts that made my job easier. The right people noticed and now my job is writing Perl scripts for the entire project. I also am getting paid a decent salary because I had a BACHELORS DEGREE period. However I'm still an "analyst".
The company paid for me to go to graduate school, and I just earned my M.S. in Computer Information Systems from a prestigious local university. Now they are promoting me to Software Engineer and are transitioning me to a high profile project over the next couple weeks. I'm in line for a major raise in pay, probably around 40% as I transition into engineering.
So there you have it. First take some time, use Google, and learn why a Psychology degree is VERY relevant to EVERY career. This will help to build your confidence. Like someone else said here, don't apologize for that major. Be ready to explain in an interview why that degree makes you MORE qualified. I like to tell people I got my bachelors degree in "People Science".
Then try to get in with an entry level job by wowing them at your interview. Also, look into graduate school. Computer Science isn't for everyone, but many universities are creating degrees in "Information Systems", "Information Science" or "Management of IS". Pick what's best for you.
Wow, this whole time, I just thought it was a glitch in the Matrix.
Reminds me of the movie Boiler Room when Affleck's character is giving the speech to the new sales guys, trying to give them tips on how to make the sale while on the phone... "Get off your ass! Move around. Motion creates emotion!". I used to get up and walk around when I did tech support for the same reason as those sales guys, it keeps the blood flowing.
;)
Affleck was the bomb in Boiler Room. That speech he gave in that movie might be the highlight of his career.
I just bought a new Mac, and to my dismay OO.o is not ready for MacIntel yet. There is a NeoOffice version coming, I believe. In the meantime, OO.o can't claim to operate on Mac when it won't even load on the MacIntel. Those new Macbooks are going to be a hot item (pardon the pun!) in the fall for college students, who are going to need an office suite. Maybe we'll see a MacIntel version by then. But this may not be the best time to run the ad.
It sounds like these guys should have tried the glossy screen. I love mine. The colors look wonderful from all kinds of viewing angles. It's the best looking screen I've ever seen, worth every penny. As for the reflections people talk about ... it's all BS. I use mine in the library and never does glare become a problem.
I was a CSR and TSR for a few years while in college, so let me explain.
1. AOL probably has several call centers all over the USA and/or the world.
2. There are probably several Vincents.
3. Vincent might not be his real name, or might be his middle name, or he might go by the name Skippy to his peers. So nobody knows a Vincent at the call center.
4. How do we know he got fired? By whom? Aol outsources their call centers, don't they? Can AOL force a third party company running the call center to fire someone? Chances are that Vincent got a raise and promotion by the company he really works for (not AOL). Vincent sounds like a VERY GOOD CSR. At the call center I worked at (in Heathrow, FL), Vincent would have been made a team lead, if management heard that call. I'm really not kidding. Needless to say, I quit that job as soon as could, but damn the pay was GOOD!
This explains why every other (ie. Wintel) laptop in the world is BLACK or SILVER. It's because WE HAVE DIRTY HANDS! Apparently computer makers know that we rest our dirty hands on the machine when we use it and so they make the cases black so we can't see the dirt build up. Should we be surprised that something WHITE shows dirt? Didn't we learn this in kindergarten when our white t-shirt looked so much dirtier than our black t-shirt? I can't say I'm surprised.