"Better yet though, I'd like to see some company spearhead the development of a gaming specific environment that takes care of 75% percent of the coding needed for a given game style. Make it cross platform and sell smaller, cheaper "content" packages for it."
Been done with what is called "engines". Many games are based on the physics/graphics engines of, say, Unreal, or Half-Life. What else could you include except for the graphis and the "feel" of a game to not just produce games that all are alike?
I would be most concerned in the data that actually lies in my DNA - I certainly do not want ANYBODY to have access to my genetic material, not matter what. A database of fingerprints cannot tell you much on which ethnicity the person is or exactly who he is related to. The problem is that somehow this can be sold as a great way to stop the terrorists (or whoever we are afraid of at that point)
A possible solution would be to not keep a database of DNA-samples, but rather of generated hash-values, based on the DNA of a person. (But then again, who can guarantee that the don't just store the actual DNA - you can't even question that anymore with the Patriot Act, can you?)
Some professions even have programs set up to allow for this and I can only imagine that for the more esoteric ones you could simply ask someone in such a business to shadow him/her for a day. Offer to take the person out to a nice restaurant in return and you can just hang around their store/workplace with them telling you what they do. I'm sure a lot of people would just love the attention!
A "sad" tag would be more appropriate here - For any European it is just terrible to see how little vacation the average U.S. American has. But I guess that's the trade-off for being incredibly demanding customers/users. (come on, you really need someone bagging your groceries when you decide to shop for milk at 3am?)
Don't act like you know what you are talking. There is a split in opinions, mainly between the IAEA and many scientists over the number of deaths caused by the catastrophe. The IAEA estimates about 60-something deaths total, while most actual estimates list 50,000+ deaths (short and long-term). Please search for pictures of deformed children that are still born today and the terrible effects the radiation had in the long term. Please dont falsely publish what your opinion as facts.
Ignore and let them co-exist. They are no rivals and have completely different models of providing news. Most people come to/. for the comments whereas you can find fun and interesting stuff that gives you a minute of fun on digg. Let's not follow into the thinking many digg-users seem to have that "a war is going on".
Please tell that to the family of somebody who has been killed in a cellphone-use related accident. It's a small inconvenience for many, but if it only saves ONE life, it succeeded. People just have that idiotic idea of "that won't ever happen to me or anyone I care for".
Look behind the numbers of accidents and you will see people suffering and dying for nothing.
They can sell if for such a price not because of the "technology" underlying it (which is not too complicated) but because of its user base! Private data on almost every college/high-school student in the country + being able to generate specific ads, catered to the interests of people! Do you really think that the myspace technology is that advanced that you'd shell out that much money for it? Again, its all about getting the hip new project that people love and use!
Important questions: 1) How long does it last without repairs 2) Can it withstand harsh weather (snow, ice, rain, SAND) 3) How long do the batteries last and how will it re-power? A solar panel would be great for this thing!
Until these questions are resolved there are fairly limited military options for this freakishly human thing.
You are serverly undererestimating the Chinese economy and its growth over the last few years. The times when China was only an exporter of cheaply made consumer products are fading away and China has set its mind on controlling the high-tech industry. And its on the best way of achieving that - at least according to every major op-ed writer and analyst I've read so far.
While I agree with most of your post, I did notice one problem in your logic. New standards dont have to BE adopted, they can MAKE us adopt them. Just by selling media content in one format only (no DVDs anymore), they basically force the consumers to switch technologies or be stuck with your 2003 DVD of Gigli...
As a matter of fact the "fast-track" in the FDA is not a rushed process at all, just the same process, only faster and with higher pressure. More people get appointed to it, the paperwork gets done and the movement between the stages of approval is faster. The clinical trials will still be equally rigorous. (It basically gives work on this complex/drug priority)
Well, I agree that it would sure be something unusual to meet someone, but I sure wouldnt go and post a slashdot article about it, saying it was such a great time. Its all about believing in what you say, and I do believe that stars are just the same as other people...
I am sorry, but defining a few minutes with a celebrity as one of the best times in your life is just pathetic. Stop living off other peoples' lives. The tech support probably required more brains and talent than most celebrities have... Some celebrities do good things, but most "ordinary" people do way more useful things. When is the last time you described spending time with someone like a doctor or nurse as an amazing time? To me, they are way more important people than any celebrity.
A while ago I read a newspaper article that included an interview with a sports commentator.
The commentator was known for his way of putting all his heart into the soccer-games he commented and it was not uncommon for him to refer to a loss of his team as a "horrible tragedy".
However, one day one of the players collapsed on the field and died, leaving behind his family and friends. This, the commentator said, made him realize the true meaning of the word "tragedy" and helped him put things into proportions. From this day on, he never used the word "tragedy" again in connection to sports.
While losing a game might not be a happy thing, way worse things could happen to you.
Similarily, the deaths of seven volunteers on a risky mission decades ago is a horrible thing, but let's not forget to put things into perspective and look what things are going wrong right now and how catastrophic the situation is for so many people all around the globe.
I am sorry but I fail to see the big relevance of this accident. Everybody will agree that it was a sad thing to happen, but these people took the risk willingly and knew they could die. Every day people die in, for example, car-crashes. Where is the outcry from the public every time seven people die in the U.S.? To me this just seems like a case of totally misdirected nationalistic pride that makes people focus on events like these and forget that hundreds of americans die every day because they could not afford the healthcare they would have needed. Every country has events like these happen, followed by the usual period of national sorrow, but this one just makes me realize how skewed our perspectives are: we mourn the death of 7 volunteer astronauts but refuse to think of all the other deaths that could have easily been prevented... Why? My bet is both on human nature and the way these cases are presented (by the media). They give us a sense of companionship in sorrow, but are a great distraction of all the other shortcomings of our society today.
Its different if you do business with some dictatorship and sell them goods that will benefit their citizens, but what google is doing is equivalent to, for example, taking over the task of rewriting newspapers so they say what the regime wants them to say. The important difference is that google is ACTIVELY filtering out search results, there are people who actually go through the results and write code that blocks certain phrases/images. Actively helping china to brainwash their citizens is certainly a bad thing and should be clear if you have any sense of ethics. They provice the technology of keeping the citizens without information. To alll the people who still believe in google: learn to let go, google has become yet another mega-corporation that needs to adhere to the wishes of its stockholders... It was good while it lasted...
Offtopic, but in response to parent: In regards to your statement that "dialing a local number by landline still costs per call": My guess is that they are just using a different payment system, as most European countries do. You do pay for local calls as well, but in every case, only the calling party is charged. (In the case of western Europe, not too much) Coming to the US, I was surprised by the fact that they force two people to pay for each call and can get away with it. To me, using the phone in the US seems to be quite costly, compared to other systems, so I would not say that they are "still" charging this fee. (I have to admit I dont know how the billing works in Australia)
Slashdot Mirror
"Better yet though, I'd like to see some company spearhead the development of a gaming specific environment that takes care of 75% percent of the coding needed for a given game style. Make it cross platform and sell smaller, cheaper "content" packages for it."
Been done with what is called "engines". Many games are based on the physics/graphics engines of, say, Unreal, or Half-Life.
What else could you include except for the graphis and the "feel" of a game to not just produce games that all are alike?
For those who havent heard of it -
"Monkey punch", flash version:
http://www.robrob8.com/games/slap_the_monkey.htm
I would be most concerned in the data that actually lies in my DNA - I certainly do not want ANYBODY to have access to my genetic material, not matter what.
A database of fingerprints cannot tell you much on which ethnicity the person is or exactly who he is related to. The problem is that somehow this can be sold as a great way to stop the terrorists (or whoever we are afraid of at that point)
A possible solution would be to not keep a database of DNA-samples, but rather of generated hash-values, based on the DNA of a person. (But then again, who can guarantee that the don't just store the actual DNA - you can't even question that anymore with the Patriot Act, can you?)
Bad times...
It's the intent that distinguishes these actions.
Some professions even have programs set up to allow for this and I can only imagine that for the more esoteric ones you could simply ask someone in such a business to shadow him/her for a day. Offer to take the person out to a nice restaurant in return and you can just hang around their store/workplace with them telling you what they do.
I'm sure a lot of people would just love the attention!
A "sad" tag would be more appropriate here - For any European it is just terrible to see how little vacation the average U.S. American has. But I guess that's the trade-off for being incredibly demanding customers/users. (come on, you really need someone bagging your groceries when you decide to shop for milk at 3am?)
Don't act like you know what you are talking. There is a split in opinions, mainly between the IAEA and many scientists over the number of deaths caused by the catastrophe. The IAEA estimates about 60-something deaths total, while most actual estimates list 50,000+ deaths (short and long-term). Please search for pictures of deformed children that are still born today and the terrible effects the radiation had in the long term.
Please dont falsely publish what your opinion as facts.
Ignore and let them co-exist. /. for the comments whereas you can find fun and interesting stuff that gives you a minute of fun on digg.
They are no rivals and have completely different models of providing news.
Most people come to
Let's not follow into the thinking many digg-users seem to have that "a war is going on".
Please tell that to the family of somebody who has been killed in a cellphone-use related accident.
It's a small inconvenience for many, but if it only saves ONE life, it succeeded.
People just have that idiotic idea of "that won't ever happen to me or anyone I care for".
Look behind the numbers of accidents and you will see people suffering and dying for nothing.
They can sell if for such a price not because of the "technology" underlying it (which is not too complicated) but because of its user base! Private data on almost every college/high-school student in the country + being able to generate specific ads, catered to the interests of people!
Do you really think that the myspace technology is that advanced that you'd shell out that much money for it?
Again, its all about getting the hip new project that people love and use!
Important questions:
1) How long does it last without repairs
2) Can it withstand harsh weather (snow, ice, rain, SAND)
3) How long do the batteries last and how will it re-power? A solar panel would be great for this thing!
Until these questions are resolved there are fairly limited military options for this freakishly human thing.
You are serverly undererestimating the Chinese economy and its growth over the last few years.
The times when China was only an exporter of cheaply made consumer products are fading away and China has set its mind on controlling the high-tech industry. And its on the best way of achieving that - at least according to every major op-ed writer and analyst I've read so far.
While I agree with most of your post, I did notice one problem in your logic.
New standards dont have to BE adopted, they can MAKE us adopt them. Just by selling media content in one format only (no DVDs anymore), they basically force the consumers to switch technologies or be stuck with your 2003 DVD of Gigli...
Sounds certainly convincing and interesting.
Im just curious if you have any sources as they'd be interesting to read, thanks!
A "hot chick"? ;)
I sure hope for you she doesnt read slashdot
As a matter of fact the "fast-track" in the FDA is not a rushed process at all, just the same process, only faster and with higher pressure. More people get appointed to it, the paperwork gets done and the movement between the stages of approval is faster. The clinical trials will still be equally rigorous. (It basically gives work on this complex/drug priority)
Well, I agree that it would sure be something unusual to meet someone, but I sure wouldnt go and post a slashdot article about it, saying it was such a great time.
Its all about believing in what you say, and I do believe that stars are just the same as other people...
I am sorry, but defining a few minutes with a celebrity as one of the best times in your life is just pathetic. Stop living off other peoples' lives. The tech support probably required more brains and talent than most celebrities have...
Some celebrities do good things, but most "ordinary" people do way more useful things. When is the last time you described spending time with someone like a doctor or nurse as an amazing time? To me, they are way more important people than any celebrity.
Well done cut-scenes using the in-game engine.
Advanced the plot, great cinematics, fun to watch, easily skippable.
That's how they should always be!
A while ago I read a newspaper article that included an interview with a sports commentator. The commentator was known for his way of putting all his heart into the soccer-games he commented and it was not uncommon for him to refer to a loss of his team as a "horrible tragedy". However, one day one of the players collapsed on the field and died, leaving behind his family and friends. This, the commentator said, made him realize the true meaning of the word "tragedy" and helped him put things into proportions. From this day on, he never used the word "tragedy" again in connection to sports. While losing a game might not be a happy thing, way worse things could happen to you. Similarily, the deaths of seven volunteers on a risky mission decades ago is a horrible thing, but let's not forget to put things into perspective and look what things are going wrong right now and how catastrophic the situation is for so many people all around the globe.
I am sorry but I fail to see the big relevance of this accident. Everybody will agree that it was a sad thing to happen, but these people took the risk willingly and knew they could die.
Every day people die in, for example, car-crashes. Where is the outcry from the public every time seven people die in the U.S.?
To me this just seems like a case of totally misdirected nationalistic pride that makes people focus on events like these and forget that hundreds of americans die every day because they could not afford the healthcare they would have needed.
Every country has events like these happen, followed by the usual period of national sorrow, but this one just makes me realize how skewed our perspectives are: we mourn the death of 7 volunteer astronauts but refuse to think of all the other deaths that could have easily been prevented...
Why? My bet is both on human nature and the way these cases are presented (by the media). They give us a sense of companionship in sorrow, but are a great distraction of all the other shortcomings of our society today.
Its different if you do business with some dictatorship and sell them goods that will benefit their citizens, but what google is doing is equivalent to, for example, taking over the task of rewriting newspapers so they say what the regime wants them to say.
The important difference is that google is ACTIVELY filtering out search results, there are people who actually go through the results and write code that blocks certain phrases/images.
Actively helping china to brainwash their citizens is certainly a bad thing and should be clear if you have any sense of ethics.
They provice the technology of keeping the citizens without information.
To alll the people who still believe in google: learn to let go, google has become yet another mega-corporation that needs to adhere to the wishes of its stockholders... It was good while it lasted...
Offtopic, but in response to parent:
In regards to your statement that "dialing a local number by landline still costs per call":
My guess is that they are just using a different payment system, as most European countries do.
You do pay for local calls as well, but in every case, only the calling party is charged. (In the case of western Europe, not too much)
Coming to the US, I was surprised by the fact that they force two people to pay for each call and can get away with it.
To me, using the phone in the US seems to be quite costly, compared to other systems, so I would not say that they are "still" charging this fee. (I have to admit I dont know how the billing works in Australia)
Some interesting experiment done on actual monkeys and a typewriter:
. html
i on/NOTES_EN.pdf
http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,58790,00
and their publication:
http://www.vivaria.net/experiments/notes/publicat
Related idea, analyzes your taste in music and plays a radio station that is catered to your style.
www.pandora.com
Enjoy!