Actually, I think the first "3d decelerator" was that funky 3d function on some of the old Matrox Millenium/Millenium II cards. As I recall, Descent II supported it, er, I think anyway. It was rather pointless.
Backwards compatibility has always been a selling point for consoles in the US since the early 80s. Take a look at all the flak Atari got over the Atari 5200 not being able to play 2600 games natively. I'm sure there were some folks who were miffed over not being able to play NES games on the SNES at release either(as I recall, an adapter was introduced later, though I can't remember for sure).
Also, sometimes, old games are good, and it's nice to be able to play them without having multiple machines all hooked up to the same television/monitor/whatever. PS1 compatibility should be easy for Sony to include in any number of future consoles, as long as they stick to some kind of optical media so the drives can read old CDs.
Wouldn't it be nice to see a PS10 that can play games from PS1 on up to PS9? Well . . . maybe not. Having an optical drive by that point may not be desirable.
Purple grape juice is teh pwn. Hell, even the store-brand grape juices are good(just as long as you don't get the cocktails. Those have corn syrup and water added usually).
I subsist on purple grape juice, lemonade from concentrate(only Minute Maid), apple juice, and the calcium-added orange juice.
You know, that actually is sound advice, if the person in question can tolerate that much withdrawl at once(you really can if you, uh, paradoxically, DON'T put your mind to it). I hardly consume any caffeine at all. I've never liked it. I attribute part of my success in avoiding chemical addiction of any kind(er, well, I am addicted to oxygen and glucose) to my many childhood experiences in which I went hungry for extended periods of time(sometimes up to 1-2 days, nothing severe) because I hated all the available food. I wouldn't eat breakfast, school lunch stunk(and my parents forced me to eat a minimum # of school lunches per week to try to get me to eat a greater variety of foods), dinner stunk(potroast? yech), and I'd be banned from snacks for not eating dinner. Next morning, still won't eat breakfast, inedible school lunch . . . well, you get the idea.
If you can learn to go without food even while hungry, you can go without just about anything. Except air, maybe.
So, uh, try fasting while giving up caffeine. Your hunger for food should help distract you from wanting caffeine.
Also, if you are a true geek, you should be able to get absorbed in a good book or video game to the point that all physical cravings will go unnoticed for hours on end.
There's already a local used car firm that does this, in a way. They install some sort of a switch in the ignition that prevents the car from turning over if they decide to deactivate the ignition remotely. They do this when you're late on your payments. I think it's Friendly Motors or something? Their motto is "Good cars for good people" and they feature the Jesus Fish(tm) all over their dealership signs.
Actually, I find the entire GNAA phenomenon to be somewhat amusing, albeit incredibly stupid. They would have done a better job basing their fictitious group off lesbian women than gay men, though. They'd cover more minorities that way. Well, sort of. Women, the 51% minority!
As far as the rest of it goes, I think you're missing the point of a lot of the more repetative, inane, or offensive trolls(greased Yoda doll, for example). The actual content of said trolling is usually boring. That which is amusing is the reason behind posting it in the first place. The mere fact that someone, ANYONE, could be offended or put off by the thought of a Yoda doll being inserted into a person's rectum is actually pretty funny. The actual process described involving said doll is rather dull on its own.
In fact, it's really quite amusing that anyone would be upset by goatse links, constant repetition of IN SOVIET RUSSIA jokes, page widening, Taco Snotting FAQs, and all the rest of the garbage slung around here to get a rise out of overly-sensitive Slashdotters.
Also, I miss Foreign Language Troll. He/she/it was hilarious.
By the way . . . just how gay IS the YMCA? I've never noticed any homosexual people there before.
. . . . . .
The following is off-topic, but needs to be said. Please mod this up if you actually have some courage.
Slashdot is suffering from a malaise brought on by a lack of trolls and troll exposure. Those precious trolls whom we do have are shunned by the majority and damned to live an existance with posts automatically modded -1 upon posting. Silencing trolls, however vile you may find them to be, is a travesty. We must all enjoy their unique perspectives on the issues of the day(the same goes for off-topic and flamebait posters as well).
You may wish to turn your view away from the vitriol they routinely spew forth like so much bile, but you can not have an enjoyable and enlightening experience here on Slashdot until you dare to view at -1. Most trolls are not the slobbering idiots you imagine them to be. They are cutting-edge, witty, and even charming posters that threaten to expose the weakness of your own arguments, opinions, and philosophies. They test our notions of ettiquette and challenge our prejudices on a regular basis. By shocking us, they awaken and enlighten us, IF we dare to pay heed to their words. They are gadflies, much like Socrates.
Sadly, their words often fall on deaf ears, or no ears at all(er, eyes?). They are deliberately hidden from view. This is a terrible crime against the entire Slashdot community.
So, until this injustice is somehow remedied, I recommend to you all that you browse at -1. The posts you will find are wonderful, and often quite amusing. In some cases, they can even be educational. I know that I always want to find out who got the first post! Usually it's some AC though. Blah.
Not everyone liked the first movie. I found it to be rather average. I didn't like the majority of the action sequences. Woo's style annoys me, and The Matrix's emulation of his style annoyed me even more. The martial arts sequences were over-choreographed. The use of bullet-time for more than a few seconds at a time annoyed me. It starred Keanu Reeves.
In light of the overall mediocrity of the first film, it's no surprise to me that the sequels were lacking in lustre. It just took 3 doses of The Matrix before people could see it for what it was in the beginning.
The only three "true" Black Isle titles were Fallout, Fallout 2, and Planescape: Torment. All were great, of course, but the Baldur's Gate series and NWN were more Bioware titles really. And uh, they weren't of the same calibre either. Don't get me started on Lionheart. That sucked *)
Nahhh, we have enough doctors(for now), but too many of them have been chased our of emergency and primary care fields. Too much paperwork and crap to deal with now. Taking Medicare and Tenncare patients(yes Tenncare is that bad!) and the like just makes your practice lose money. Why not go become a plastic surgeon instead? Many have.
There might not be enough hospitals, but again, it all plays into personal behavior, in my opinion. A lot of emergency wards are full of people who just don't need to be there, and wouldn't be if they knew how to take care of themselves or would go sit in a private doctor's waiting room instead of the emergency room. An ear ache in the emergency room at 2 am? Yeah, I've been there. At 1 pm? No.
The bloated cost of health care, at least within the US, is partially due to socialized medical "insurance" for the destitute, such as Medicaid, along with a slew of state-based programs(Tenncare comes to mind). These programs ROUTINELY do not pay full compensation to healthcare providers that accept these forms of medical "insurance". This forces providers to pass higher costs on to out-of-pocket patients and patients using REAL insurance that does pay out in full for its customers, thereby increasing overall cost of care.
The bloated cost of healthcare in the US is also due to the enormous amount of free care, both emergency and otherwise, provided to the reckless and/or destitute(yet uncovered by existing programs such as Medicaid either out of inelligability, ignorance, or paranoia) by hospitals, the costs of which must also be passed on to those who actually pay for their own bills.
AND the truly absurd lack of self-discipline when it comes to health, diet, and exercise our citizens displays exacerbates our healthcare costs considerably. Our conduct on public roads is appalling, to say the least, and the food we eat . . . oy!
Add to this the cost that all medical agencies must incur just dealing with the paperwork necessary to deal with the many insurance providers, underwriters, etc upon whom patients rely for care(often needlessly) . ..
And you have a medical system that would not cost so damn much to use if people just paid out of pocket and didn't rely upon overreaching governmental beaurocracies, didn't screw themselves over with crappy lifestyle choices, and took at least SOME financial responsibility for themselves instead of relying upon others(and yes, I mean even a great many of those stupid-ass private insurance companies). Do you have ANY idea how much healthcare your average schlub can buy each year if they pass on the beer, cigarettes, and cola each week? And, do you have any idea how absurd it is to see some upper-middle class family on a six figure salary using medical insurance from work to pay for doctor visits? Why in the hell does their employer even offer that kind of insurance? Can't rich bastards like that pay out of pocket? For crying out loud. I'm in the lowest income tax bracket and I pay out of pocket. I loath health insurance and the filthy providers that sling it around like bad hash. That goes doubly for HMOs.
Also, in case you hadn't noticed, an enormous number of charities out there that exist either as institutions(Salvation Army, for example) or as temporary assistance for a single individual(tell me you haven't seen those cancer-drive collections at local retailers for the destitue cancer victim serving your community). "Society" is already bending over backwards to help people out in need, voluntarily, without a menacing tax collector ripping people off selectively because they have been deemed to "have plenty to give". The problem is the strong-backed stiffs from all income groups who wail and moan about needing medical insurance for some arse-fargled reason. They can damn well buy it themselves, and they know it. They can damn well pay out of pocket, and could do so more easily if it weren't for all the insurance programs that exist now and drive medical care costs through the roof. They can damn well reduce their need for medical care by having some knowledge of human biology and nutrition, and by not behaving like idiots on the roads. They can stop spending money on useless vice and frivolous crap(thereby crushing huge segments of the consumer economy, HA HA eat it Wal-Mart) and save it for their own benefit down the road. Or they can band together and set up healthcare funds, either through work or at a friendly investing firm(that is, if there are any left that are not corrupt).
Involving government in the care of the citizens gives politicians a chance to buy votes and introduces waste and fraud into a medical system already filled with waste and fraud on account of stupid or cro
It should be noted that the responsibility of any government is dictated by its founding principles(its charter, constitution, or whatever it uses as a foundation of law, if anything). The government of the United States does, techincally, only have a responsibility to provide for the public defense, along with a few other things enumerated within the Constitution(and this does not explicitly include medical care). However, other nations may not have such spartan requirements of their government.
Therefore, while your statement regarding the responsibility of government may be sound philosophically, it may not technically be true, depending on the nation.
1). choose the HMO given to you by your employer or
2). choose the insuror(s) you wish to pay on your own dime or
3). choose the doctor you want to visit and pay out of pocket as the need arises OR
4). refuse medical care or self-medicate at your own risk(mind, if you take this too far, and involve children, authorities may step in to. . . "suggest" other solutions).
THAT is choice. Can't afford options other than the first? Stop spending all your hard-earned dollars on Skittlebrau and maybe start your own healthcare fund. Why wait for the government to do it for you?
Slashdot Mirror
Well, not by humans anyway . . .
I recommend the Count Dooku Lightsabre.
ha ha
AYB never dies. Gotta love it.
That sounds less like an activity to be pursued by a geek and more like a crafting recipe from FFXI.
Requires alchemy(2) and goldsmithing(10), fire crystal + silver ingot + beeswax = thermal paste
He's prepping for the impending Zerg rush. Wouldn't you?
Really? I heard the opposite but . . . not worth starting an argument over it. Maybe it was due to poor implementation of support for it in Descent 2.
Actually, I think the first "3d decelerator" was that funky 3d function on some of the old Matrox Millenium/Millenium II cards. As I recall, Descent II supported it, er, I think anyway. It was rather pointless.
Backwards compatibility has always been a selling point for consoles in the US since the early 80s. Take a look at all the flak Atari got over the Atari 5200 not being able to play 2600 games natively. I'm sure there were some folks who were miffed over not being able to play NES games on the SNES at release either(as I recall, an adapter was introduced later, though I can't remember for sure).
Also, sometimes, old games are good, and it's nice to be able to play them without having multiple machines all hooked up to the same television/monitor/whatever. PS1 compatibility should be easy for Sony to include in any number of future consoles, as long as they stick to some kind of optical media so the drives can read old CDs.
Wouldn't it be nice to see a PS10 that can play games from PS1 on up to PS9? Well . . . maybe not. Having an optical drive by that point may not be desirable.
Well, I'm not quite undead yet, you see. I'm still working on that part.
Purple grape juice is teh pwn. Hell, even the store-brand grape juices are good(just as long as you don't get the cocktails. Those have corn syrup and water added usually).
I subsist on purple grape juice, lemonade from concentrate(only Minute Maid), apple juice, and the calcium-added orange juice.
Coffee? No way.
You know, that actually is sound advice, if the person in question can tolerate that much withdrawl at once(you really can if you, uh, paradoxically, DON'T put your mind to it). I hardly consume any caffeine at all. I've never liked it. I attribute part of my success in avoiding chemical addiction of any kind(er, well, I am addicted to oxygen and glucose) to my many childhood experiences in which I went hungry for extended periods of time(sometimes up to 1-2 days, nothing severe) because I hated all the available food. I wouldn't eat breakfast, school lunch stunk(and my parents forced me to eat a minimum # of school lunches per week to try to get me to eat a greater variety of foods), dinner stunk(potroast? yech), and I'd be banned from snacks for not eating dinner. Next morning, still won't eat breakfast, inedible school lunch . . . well, you get the idea.
If you can learn to go without food even while hungry, you can go without just about anything. Except air, maybe.
So, uh, try fasting while giving up caffeine. Your hunger for food should help distract you from wanting caffeine.
Also, if you are a true geek, you should be able to get absorbed in a good book or video game to the point that all physical cravings will go unnoticed for hours on end.
There's already a local used car firm that does this, in a way. They install some sort of a switch in the ignition that prevents the car from turning over if they decide to deactivate the ignition remotely. They do this when you're late on your payments. I think it's Friendly Motors or something? Their motto is "Good cars for good people" and they feature the Jesus Fish(tm) all over their dealership signs.
Actually, I find the entire GNAA phenomenon to be somewhat amusing, albeit incredibly stupid. They would have done a better job basing their fictitious group off lesbian women than gay men, though. They'd cover more minorities that way. Well, sort of. Women, the 51% minority!
As far as the rest of it goes, I think you're missing the point of a lot of the more repetative, inane, or offensive trolls(greased Yoda doll, for example). The actual content of said trolling is usually boring. That which is amusing is the reason behind posting it in the first place. The mere fact that someone, ANYONE, could be offended or put off by the thought of a Yoda doll being inserted into a person's rectum is actually pretty funny. The actual process described involving said doll is rather dull on its own.
In fact, it's really quite amusing that anyone would be upset by goatse links, constant repetition of IN SOVIET RUSSIA jokes, page widening, Taco Snotting FAQs, and all the rest of the garbage slung around here to get a rise out of overly-sensitive Slashdotters.
Also, I miss Foreign Language Troll. He/she/it was hilarious.
Well, obviously we should ban all sharpies then.
By the way . . . just how gay IS the YMCA? I've never noticed any homosexual people there before.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The following is off-topic, but needs to be said. Please mod this up if you actually have some courage.
Slashdot is suffering from a malaise brought on by a lack of trolls and troll exposure. Those precious trolls whom we do have are shunned by the majority and damned to live an existance with posts automatically modded -1 upon posting. Silencing trolls, however vile you may find them to be, is a travesty. We must all enjoy their unique perspectives on the issues of the day(the same goes for off-topic and flamebait posters as well).
You may wish to turn your view away from the vitriol they routinely spew forth like so much bile, but you can not have an enjoyable and enlightening experience here on Slashdot until you dare to view at -1. Most trolls are not the slobbering idiots you imagine them to be. They are cutting-edge, witty, and even charming posters that threaten to expose the weakness of your own arguments, opinions, and philosophies. They test our notions of ettiquette and challenge our prejudices on a regular basis. By shocking us, they awaken and enlighten us, IF we dare to pay heed to their words. They are gadflies, much like Socrates.
Sadly, their words often fall on deaf ears, or no ears at all(er, eyes?). They are deliberately hidden from view. This is a terrible crime against the entire Slashdot community.
So, until this injustice is somehow remedied, I recommend to you all that you browse at -1. The posts you will find are wonderful, and often quite amusing. In some cases, they can even be educational. I know that I always want to find out who got the first post! Usually it's some AC though. Blah.
Not everyone liked the first movie. I found it to be rather average. I didn't like the majority of the action sequences. Woo's style annoys me, and The Matrix's emulation of his style annoyed me even more. The martial arts sequences were over-choreographed. The use of bullet-time for more than a few seconds at a time annoyed me. It starred Keanu Reeves.
In light of the overall mediocrity of the first film, it's no surprise to me that the sequels were lacking in lustre. It just took 3 doses of The Matrix before people could see it for what it was in the beginning.
I don't think using carrier pigeons is a good idea when Dick Cheney is after you:
http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/30155
I' m glad I'm not a pheasant.
Well, there is this . . .
http://www.siia.net/
Do they count?
The only three "true" Black Isle titles were Fallout, Fallout 2, and Planescape: Torment. All were great, of course, but the Baldur's Gate series and NWN were more Bioware titles really. And uh, they weren't of the same calibre either. Don't get me started on Lionheart. That sucked *)
Arcanum was not brilliant. It felt like a demo, the interface was bad . . . enh.
Many of the problems inherant to Arcaum cropped up on Lionheart somehow, even though it's not an official Troika game(I don't think?).
Nahhh, we have enough doctors(for now), but too many of them have been chased our of emergency and primary care fields. Too much paperwork and crap to deal with now. Taking Medicare and Tenncare patients(yes Tenncare is that bad!) and the like just makes your practice lose money. Why not go become a plastic surgeon instead? Many have.
There might not be enough hospitals, but again, it all plays into personal behavior, in my opinion. A lot of emergency wards are full of people who just don't need to be there, and wouldn't be if they knew how to take care of themselves or would go sit in a private doctor's waiting room instead of the emergency room. An ear ache in the emergency room at 2 am? Yeah, I've been there. At 1 pm? No.
Please mod parent up. This is a good summation of just how bad socialized medicine can get.
+5 informative all the way.
Wrong.
.
The bloated cost of health care, at least within the US, is partially due to socialized medical "insurance" for the destitute, such as Medicaid, along with a slew of state-based programs(Tenncare comes to mind). These programs ROUTINELY do not pay full compensation to healthcare providers that accept these forms of medical "insurance". This forces providers to pass higher costs on to out-of-pocket patients and patients using REAL insurance that does pay out in full for its customers, thereby increasing overall cost of care.
The bloated cost of healthcare in the US is also due to the enormous amount of free care, both emergency and otherwise, provided to the reckless and/or destitute(yet uncovered by existing programs such as Medicaid either out of inelligability, ignorance, or paranoia) by hospitals, the costs of which must also be passed on to those who actually pay for their own bills.
AND the truly absurd lack of self-discipline when it comes to health, diet, and exercise our citizens displays exacerbates our healthcare costs considerably. Our conduct on public roads is appalling, to say the least, and the food we eat . . . oy!
Add to this the cost that all medical agencies must incur just dealing with the paperwork necessary to deal with the many insurance providers, underwriters, etc upon whom patients rely for care(often needlessly) . .
And you have a medical system that would not cost so damn much to use if people just paid out of pocket and didn't rely upon overreaching governmental beaurocracies, didn't screw themselves over with crappy lifestyle choices, and took at least SOME financial responsibility for themselves instead of relying upon others(and yes, I mean even a great many of those stupid-ass private insurance companies). Do you have ANY idea how much healthcare your average schlub can buy each year if they pass on the beer, cigarettes, and cola each week? And, do you have any idea how absurd it is to see some upper-middle class family on a six figure salary using medical insurance from work to pay for doctor visits? Why in the hell does their employer even offer that kind of insurance? Can't rich bastards like that pay out of pocket? For crying out loud. I'm in the lowest income tax bracket and I pay out of pocket. I loath health insurance and the filthy providers that sling it around like bad hash. That goes doubly for HMOs.
Also, in case you hadn't noticed, an enormous number of charities out there that exist either as institutions(Salvation Army, for example) or as temporary assistance for a single individual(tell me you haven't seen those cancer-drive collections at local retailers for the destitue cancer victim serving your community). "Society" is already bending over backwards to help people out in need, voluntarily, without a menacing tax collector ripping people off selectively because they have been deemed to "have plenty to give". The problem is the strong-backed stiffs from all income groups who wail and moan about needing medical insurance for some arse-fargled reason. They can damn well buy it themselves, and they know it. They can damn well pay out of pocket, and could do so more easily if it weren't for all the insurance programs that exist now and drive medical care costs through the roof. They can damn well reduce their need for medical care by having some knowledge of human biology and nutrition, and by not behaving like idiots on the roads. They can stop spending money on useless vice and frivolous crap(thereby crushing huge segments of the consumer economy, HA HA eat it Wal-Mart) and save it for their own benefit down the road. Or they can band together and set up healthcare funds, either through work or at a friendly investing firm(that is, if there are any left that are not corrupt).
Involving government in the care of the citizens gives politicians a chance to buy votes and introduces waste and fraud into a medical system already filled with waste and fraud on account of stupid or cro
It should be noted that the responsibility of any government is dictated by its founding principles(its charter, constitution, or whatever it uses as a foundation of law, if anything). The government of the United States does, techincally, only have a responsibility to provide for the public defense, along with a few other things enumerated within the Constitution(and this does not explicitly include medical care). However, other nations may not have such spartan requirements of their government.
Therefore, while your statement regarding the responsibility of government may be sound philosophically, it may not technically be true, depending on the nation.
No, the capitalist system is to:
1). choose the HMO given to you by your employer or
2). choose the insuror(s) you wish to pay on your own dime or
3). choose the doctor you want to visit and pay out of pocket as the need arises OR
4). refuse medical care or self-medicate at your own risk(mind, if you take this too far, and involve children, authorities may step in to. . . "suggest" other solutions).
THAT is choice. Can't afford options other than the first? Stop spending all your hard-earned dollars on Skittlebrau and maybe start your own healthcare fund. Why wait for the government to do it for you?
on a side note:
5). ???
6). PROFIT!
DSO was turn-based. Don't you remember it?