You should try driving in South Florida. That's where all you northerners send your old, bad drivers to die (sometimes in the process of driving). It ain't pretty...
I agree, I don't see too many people outside of the nerd conglomeration (who already know about Hackentosh installations...shh) who are fervent about wanting a computer with OSX without the Apple branding. I think people on a budget are fairly happy buying Mac Mini's. Just like so many things, owning an Apple is about the status symbol more than the utility (like Bose, etc). I don't see anyone saying "I'd buy that Zune if only it had that iPod software on it!"
I don't see it doing anything but helping Apple in the long run. The additional software sales will more than make up for any loss of hardware sales. Apple's afraid of loosing it's status symbol more than sales. I think it's more a matter of trying to not lessen the Apple name buy having less than perfect clones on the market rather than saving sales.
They may (in part) be right if they were surveying those with Vista Home Basic. Everyone I know who has Vista has opted for Home Premium if, for nothing else, media center (the xbox 360 is kinda slick like that). I would imagine that most people using Home Basic would maybe have IE, solitaire, and windows media player/iTunes open at once. We're looking at the bottom rung users here and they're probably right with their figures.
That being said, I think this is pretty stupid of MS to do. I don't think this was a problem to begin with seeing that no one in their right mind would want Vista Basic (okay, hold back the Vista jokes buddy) to begin with. Netbook users maybe use a few more than 3 aps at once, but they're surely not using media center and other features of Premium, so it kinda balances.
Yup, this fine is just a speed bump. The fact that the Do Not Call registry made the law abiding companies change their business tactics or drop out of the race gives these companies that would rather take the hit less compitition. Less compitition = more money for them.
Of course I don't have numbers to back this up...I'm not sure that numbers exist for such things...but I'd wager to say that the major offending companies are probably making more now, even taking into account the spanking they're getting by the FCC, than they were before.
Here's something else to think about. Provided these are American owned companies, employing Americans, would it be better to just look the other way unless we're out of financial dire straights? As shady as telemarketing is, it's supporting and employing thousands of Americans every year. Granted, I've been telemarketed by my fair share from across the globe, but as far as domestic telemarking goes, it's not THE worst thing that could be going on with the strength of the dollar and the unemployment rate like it is.
What the heck are you talking about? There is no DRM on the zune. I upload my plain MP3's everday. The only thing close to DRM is the new Zune service where you can download unlimited DRMed MP3's to your player for $15 a month...which is similar to what other services already offer.
Yes and no. If you're not taking into consideration all of the possible different cases for needing different formatting, you're going to be in a world of hurt once your document is all tagged up, you define formatting for your tags, and you're like "oh crap, that's not what I wanted." If you're sitting there thinking about what it's going to look like on the page when the whole thing is over and done, yes, you're doing something very wrong.
As a technical writer, I can't speak enough about the importance of planning for every given scenario.
I don't have any problem with Frank Miller's writing...he did some of my favorite comic book writing of all time when he worked on the Daredevil...I just have issues with the crappy movies. It reminds me of how MTV ruined The Maxx when they decided to animate it.
Not true. There still are 5 (maybe 6, I'm at work) tabs. They're what you get when you go up and down. Each tab presents you with screens which make it simple to get where you want to go. In UI design theory, we have the rule of 3's (or 5's depending on who you prescribe to). You should never have to go through more than 3 menus to get to something and, with the old dash, I found myself having to go over 5 layers deep at times and, even then, I wasn't sure I was doing it the right way. There were multiple ways to get to everything which was unnecessary.
-The menu defaults to the "showcase" channel, which advertises Microsoft's newest games. This means that Microsoft, not content with getting us to pay $300+ for a console and $50 / year for Live, feels the need to advertise to us every time we go to the dashboard.
Welcome to 2008.
The ui is completely cluttered now, but the defaulting to advertisements behavior and the up-front sells for premium content are a dealbreaker.
How so? For the first time, it's actually logical how to find things and you don't have a thousand different options, some taking you to the same place, on the screen at the same time. It's understandable that you don't like it and aren't used to it, but calling it cluttered (especially put up to the old blade system which was the epitome of clutter, IMO) is a little harsh.
I'm changing my 360's default behavior to "boot what's in the drive" from "default to dashboard" and I'm never looking back.
Why didn't you have it set to that to begin with?
I would also like to say that you can pull up a screen that works like the old blade system. I forget the button combination, but you can still browse your xbox the old style way. They haven't cut off the oxygen yet.
It runs deeper than that. Many large corporations have agreements with health insurance providers that state that no one is allowed to smoke on their premises, forcing workers to leave work to smoke. This might not sound like a big deal to most of us, but many of the large corporations that have bought into this (Lockheed Martin, for instance) have property that dwarfs large college campuses. Basically, you have to drive off property just to sneak a smoke and means you'll probably be away from your desk for 20-30 minutes instead of the normal 5-10 "quick shtang" that people take on fire escapes, outside the front door, etc. It helps the corporation cut costs and it's seen as a positive to everyone besides the smokers themselves.
Well, if it's any consolation, I haven't found anyone who has given me any reason for voting for McCain except for "Obama's going to outlaw assault riffles," "McCain is pro-life," "Obama is going to take all of my money," or "my family votes republican."
Face it, the masses vote for stupid reasons. If you threw out the sector that is uneducated on issues and threw out the radical extremists, we might be able to have intelligent conversation and get somewhere with the real issues. The problem is, all someone has to do is mention abortion, gun control, or global warming and it instantly pulls 80% of the country one way or the other. The real issues become moot because of the overwhelming feelings about a few core differences in values.
This is why, in large, there should be a total separation of church and state. We've never going to agree on abortion, stem cell research, etc. Guess what, you're not going to eliminate it from the world. Have a feeling of national pride but realize, in a country such as America with people from all over the world, that not everyone is going to feel as you and you shouldn't try to force your values on others. You're definitely living in the wrong place if you're a xenaphobe. We're all from different places and the "I was here first" deal doesn't cut it. It sure didn't for the Native Americans.
Does the filter remove bacteria from the water? I would think that the filter would become a haven for bacteria to breed propagate, especially when not in use. The main concern in countries where this would be useful are contaminants in the water and bacteria and I don't know of any filter that would effectively eliminate both without costing a fortune to replace every week.
This is more of a question than a criticism, seeing that I don't know if the filter technology exists or not...but a Brita filter isn't going to help the third world very much.
And even the N64 wasn't much of a region lock. You could either:
a) Buy the adapter for $10
b) Be cheap and get a needlenose pliers and/or a soldering iron to pull out the notch next to the connector in the console (or modify the case of the game itself if you really wanted to).
I know it only took me about 5 minutes and I was playing my import copy of Goemon 64:)
I guess now by doing this he can have a parody in the hands of his fans while the original version of the song is still popular. If you're trying to lampoon popular culture, releasing an album at a time means that you will always be a good deal behind the times.
That's not as good an idea as you might imagine. I do the same thing -- parody songs. Popular != well known. Older means more people have become familiar with it, particularly those who don't keep current on the genre the song is from. If fewer people recognize it, the act falls flat. I'll bet Weird Al is aware of this since he typically runs years behind a "hit" despite producing things in the interim. Plus, if he seeks permission (he used to sometimes) it'd be easier to get when something's no longer hot. Very new, and they won't want it made fun of. Older, and the parody can bring the original back up the chart.
And, obviously, this is why DynaSoar is now a household name.:p
In all seriousness though, look at South Park. Sometimes they parody pop culture and the news the week after something becomes huge/mainstreamed. Part of its current success is that people can watch a new episode and see what's currently going on in popular society lampooned.
Of course, certain things need longer to sink in than others, but, lets take MIA's song Airplanes for example. It's still relevant and it's been around long enough for most people to have heard it at this point. This would be a great time for a parody. Next year a parody would come off as stale. This is great for Al, because he won't have to worry about putting out an album. He can work on a song at the Apex of its popularity and still put it out while it's relevant. I have to admit, I like jabs at older songs too, but this will really open the doors to what he can do. If anything, it might make HIM relevant again.
Just think, in the near future we may have an artist put out a song, a weird 'al' parody shortly thereafter, and possibly an artist rebuttle all while the original song is still in the publics mind. Now that could be entertainment!
Any specialized position gets tests like this. It's nothing new really. People have mentioned law offices not testing lawyers. Guess what, that's what the bar exam is for. They're mainly interviewing on personality and verbal skills half the time. Doctors have their own exams. IT people really don't. Most of the certifications out there are a joke and a trained monkey could pass them.
Basically, it's the same as a job asking you for a portfolio. The hiring agents for IT professionals generally have no idea what an IT person does. You could easily BS your way into that job without some kind of test. Be glad you're not a technical writer. I'm asked for a portfolio and usually asked to take a skills test. Besides, if you can do the job, what's to fear? I think IT people, in general, got lazy from years of talking technojargon to get in the door. I used to work in IT, I know the kind of people who'd get hired...and it was painful.
No, but you could put 50+ hours on the game trying to get all the drops. Not only that, but many of the weapons had hidden abilities...and then there were combinations of items that gave certain abilities. The number of items were staggering as well. Then you could challenge yourself to beat the game with certain items. Also, you could play back through the game with alternate characters that were unlockable.
SotN did it in a more addicting manner, imo. Too Human was like a "not as good" Diablo II in that sense, at least to me.
What will a new format bring us? A better distribution format. Optical discs are too fragile and have a limited lifespan. A smaller and/or more sturdy solid state solution would solve a lot of problems for a lot of people. It would also cut down on packaging waste.
Yes and no. As far as programming apps, such as a Scumm emulator, it's basically the same as programming aps for the GameCube. Homebrew GC has been going on nearly as long as homebrew Xbox so, while it's true that this is an early release and it explains the poor quality, it's not because of the infancy of programming a graphics engine for the gc/wii.
While, from a logic standpoint, I agree with you, from a usability standpoint I do not. Anything that requires the user to make more mouse movement is bad design, IMO. I use my tabs much more often than I use the address bar (I typically have no fewer than 5 and usually quite a few more that I cycle through and F5 throughout the day). I suppose it depends on the type of user. This may be helpful for the non-power user who might not use tabs as much. Either way, I hope it's customizable because I don't care for it.
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You should try driving in South Florida. That's where all you northerners send your old, bad drivers to die (sometimes in the process of driving). It ain't pretty...
I agree, I don't see too many people outside of the nerd conglomeration (who already know about Hackentosh installations...shh) who are fervent about wanting a computer with OSX without the Apple branding. I think people on a budget are fairly happy buying Mac Mini's. Just like so many things, owning an Apple is about the status symbol more than the utility (like Bose, etc). I don't see anyone saying "I'd buy that Zune if only it had that iPod software on it!"
I don't see it doing anything but helping Apple in the long run. The additional software sales will more than make up for any loss of hardware sales. Apple's afraid of loosing it's status symbol more than sales. I think it's more a matter of trying to not lessen the Apple name buy having less than perfect clones on the market rather than saving sales.
They may (in part) be right if they were surveying those with Vista Home Basic. Everyone I know who has Vista has opted for Home Premium if, for nothing else, media center (the xbox 360 is kinda slick like that). I would imagine that most people using Home Basic would maybe have IE, solitaire, and windows media player/iTunes open at once. We're looking at the bottom rung users here and they're probably right with their figures.
That being said, I think this is pretty stupid of MS to do. I don't think this was a problem to begin with seeing that no one in their right mind would want Vista Basic (okay, hold back the Vista jokes buddy) to begin with. Netbook users maybe use a few more than 3 aps at once, but they're surely not using media center and other features of Premium, so it kinda balances.
Yup, this fine is just a speed bump. The fact that the Do Not Call registry made the law abiding companies change their business tactics or drop out of the race gives these companies that would rather take the hit less compitition. Less compitition = more money for them.
Of course I don't have numbers to back this up...I'm not sure that numbers exist for such things...but I'd wager to say that the major offending companies are probably making more now, even taking into account the spanking they're getting by the FCC, than they were before.
Here's something else to think about. Provided these are American owned companies, employing Americans, would it be better to just look the other way unless we're out of financial dire straights? As shady as telemarketing is, it's supporting and employing thousands of Americans every year. Granted, I've been telemarketed by my fair share from across the globe, but as far as domestic telemarking goes, it's not THE worst thing that could be going on with the strength of the dollar and the unemployment rate like it is.
"Our touch is special, it goes beyond the screen"
About time. Something to "tickle your fancy," if you will.
What the heck are you talking about? There is no DRM on the zune. I upload my plain MP3's everday. The only thing close to DRM is the new Zune service where you can download unlimited DRMed MP3's to your player for $15 a month...which is similar to what other services already offer.
Yes and no. If you're not taking into consideration all of the possible different cases for needing different formatting, you're going to be in a world of hurt once your document is all tagged up, you define formatting for your tags, and you're like "oh crap, that's not what I wanted." If you're sitting there thinking about what it's going to look like on the page when the whole thing is over and done, yes, you're doing something very wrong.
As a technical writer, I can't speak enough about the importance of planning for every given scenario.
I don't have any problem with Frank Miller's writing...he did some of my favorite comic book writing of all time when he worked on the Daredevil...I just have issues with the crappy movies. It reminds me of how MTV ruined The Maxx when they decided to animate it.
Of course it will be terrible. Have you seen the other Frank Miller films? And the thing is, this one doesn't even look like it might have promise.
Okay, seriously, is this what /. thinks is funny now? I might as well just start visiting digg.
I think men around the world are already lining up for the chance to pee on this stuff....
On a somewhat serious note, though, this stuff sounds like the perfect lining for urinals!
We've gone from 5 tabs to 50+ screens. It's crap.
Not true. There still are 5 (maybe 6, I'm at work) tabs. They're what you get when you go up and down. Each tab presents you with screens which make it simple to get where you want to go. In UI design theory, we have the rule of 3's (or 5's depending on who you prescribe to). You should never have to go through more than 3 menus to get to something and, with the old dash, I found myself having to go over 5 layers deep at times and, even then, I wasn't sure I was doing it the right way. There were multiple ways to get to everything which was unnecessary.
-The menu defaults to the "showcase" channel, which advertises Microsoft's newest games. This means that Microsoft, not content with getting us to pay $300+ for a console and $50 / year for Live, feels the need to advertise to us every time we go to the dashboard.
Welcome to 2008.
The ui is completely cluttered now, but the defaulting to advertisements behavior and the up-front sells for premium content are a dealbreaker.
How so? For the first time, it's actually logical how to find things and you don't have a thousand different options, some taking you to the same place, on the screen at the same time. It's understandable that you don't like it and aren't used to it, but calling it cluttered (especially put up to the old blade system which was the epitome of clutter, IMO) is a little harsh.
I'm changing my 360's default behavior to "boot what's in the drive" from "default to dashboard" and I'm never looking back.
Why didn't you have it set to that to begin with?
I would also like to say that you can pull up a screen that works like the old blade system. I forget the button combination, but you can still browse your xbox the old style way. They haven't cut off the oxygen yet.
It runs deeper than that. Many large corporations have agreements with health insurance providers that state that no one is allowed to smoke on their premises, forcing workers to leave work to smoke. This might not sound like a big deal to most of us, but many of the large corporations that have bought into this (Lockheed Martin, for instance) have property that dwarfs large college campuses. Basically, you have to drive off property just to sneak a smoke and means you'll probably be away from your desk for 20-30 minutes instead of the normal 5-10 "quick shtang" that people take on fire escapes, outside the front door, etc. It helps the corporation cut costs and it's seen as a positive to everyone besides the smokers themselves.
Well, if it's any consolation, I haven't found anyone who has given me any reason for voting for McCain except for "Obama's going to outlaw assault riffles," "McCain is pro-life," "Obama is going to take all of my money," or "my family votes republican."
Face it, the masses vote for stupid reasons. If you threw out the sector that is uneducated on issues and threw out the radical extremists, we might be able to have intelligent conversation and get somewhere with the real issues. The problem is, all someone has to do is mention abortion, gun control, or global warming and it instantly pulls 80% of the country one way or the other. The real issues become moot because of the overwhelming feelings about a few core differences in values.
This is why, in large, there should be a total separation of church and state. We've never going to agree on abortion, stem cell research, etc. Guess what, you're not going to eliminate it from the world. Have a feeling of national pride but realize, in a country such as America with people from all over the world, that not everyone is going to feel as you and you shouldn't try to force your values on others. You're definitely living in the wrong place if you're a xenaphobe. We're all from different places and the "I was here first" deal doesn't cut it. It sure didn't for the Native Americans.
I can't even get those chumps at home depot to give me a copy that works when they're using the original, much less a photograph.
Does the filter remove bacteria from the water? I would think that the filter would become a haven for bacteria to breed propagate, especially when not in use. The main concern in countries where this would be useful are contaminants in the water and bacteria and I don't know of any filter that would effectively eliminate both without costing a fortune to replace every week.
This is more of a question than a criticism, seeing that I don't know if the filter technology exists or not...but a Brita filter isn't going to help the third world very much.
And even the N64 wasn't much of a region lock. You could either:
a) Buy the adapter for $10
b) Be cheap and get a needlenose pliers and/or a soldering iron to pull out the notch next to the connector in the console (or modify the case of the game itself if you really wanted to).
I know it only took me about 5 minutes and I was playing my import copy of Goemon 64 :)
I guess now by doing this he can have a parody in the hands of his fans while the original version of the song is still popular. If you're trying to lampoon popular culture, releasing an album at a time means that you will always be a good deal behind the times.
That's not as good an idea as you might imagine. I do the same thing -- parody songs. Popular != well known. Older means more people have become familiar with it, particularly those who don't keep current on the genre the song is from. If fewer people recognize it, the act falls flat. I'll bet Weird Al is aware of this since he typically runs years behind a "hit" despite producing things in the interim. Plus, if he seeks permission (he used to sometimes) it'd be easier to get when something's no longer hot. Very new, and they won't want it made fun of. Older, and the parody can bring the original back up the chart.
And, obviously, this is why DynaSoar is now a household name. :p
In all seriousness though, look at South Park. Sometimes they parody pop culture and the news the week after something becomes huge/mainstreamed. Part of its current success is that people can watch a new episode and see what's currently going on in popular society lampooned.
Of course, certain things need longer to sink in than others, but, lets take MIA's song Airplanes for example. It's still relevant and it's been around long enough for most people to have heard it at this point. This would be a great time for a parody. Next year a parody would come off as stale. This is great for Al, because he won't have to worry about putting out an album. He can work on a song at the Apex of its popularity and still put it out while it's relevant. I have to admit, I like jabs at older songs too, but this will really open the doors to what he can do. If anything, it might make HIM relevant again.
Just think, in the near future we may have an artist put out a song, a weird 'al' parody shortly thereafter, and possibly an artist rebuttle all while the original song is still in the publics mind. Now that could be entertainment!
::checks case::
Ooh, awesome! I have one more PCI-E slot left, right next to my PhysX accelerator! Where do I pre-order?
Any specialized position gets tests like this. It's nothing new really. People have mentioned law offices not testing lawyers. Guess what, that's what the bar exam is for. They're mainly interviewing on personality and verbal skills half the time. Doctors have their own exams. IT people really don't. Most of the certifications out there are a joke and a trained monkey could pass them.
Basically, it's the same as a job asking you for a portfolio. The hiring agents for IT professionals generally have no idea what an IT person does. You could easily BS your way into that job without some kind of test. Be glad you're not a technical writer. I'm asked for a portfolio and usually asked to take a skills test. Besides, if you can do the job, what's to fear? I think IT people, in general, got lazy from years of talking technojargon to get in the door. I used to work in IT, I know the kind of people who'd get hired...and it was painful.
No, but you could put 50+ hours on the game trying to get all the drops. Not only that, but many of the weapons had hidden abilities...and then there were combinations of items that gave certain abilities. The number of items were staggering as well. Then you could challenge yourself to beat the game with certain items. Also, you could play back through the game with alternate characters that were unlockable.
SotN did it in a more addicting manner, imo. Too Human was like a "not as good" Diablo II in that sense, at least to me.
What will a new format bring us? A better distribution format. Optical discs are too fragile and have a limited lifespan. A smaller and/or more sturdy solid state solution would solve a lot of problems for a lot of people. It would also cut down on packaging waste.
Yes and no. As far as programming apps, such as a Scumm emulator, it's basically the same as programming aps for the GameCube. Homebrew GC has been going on nearly as long as homebrew Xbox so, while it's true that this is an early release and it explains the poor quality, it's not because of the infancy of programming a graphics engine for the gc/wii.
While, from a logic standpoint, I agree with you, from a usability standpoint I do not. Anything that requires the user to make more mouse movement is bad design, IMO. I use my tabs much more often than I use the address bar (I typically have no fewer than 5 and usually quite a few more that I cycle through and F5 throughout the day). I suppose it depends on the type of user. This may be helpful for the non-power user who might not use tabs as much. Either way, I hope it's customizable because I don't care for it.
On the flip side of things, at least you'll finally be able to answer the question "who the hell is buying the PS3 anyway?"