Majesty is a great game, and well worth 40 bucks. It's a little on the short side, but has a really interesting multiplayer component (nothing like placing a huge reward on your opponent's buildings and watching his own heroes destroy them). I'd advice anyone who hasn't played it to do it.
You know, I heard a story about a guy being interviewed at MS and asked "Why are manhole covers round?". His answer: "They're not", followed by a gesture out the window. It seem's manholes at Microsoft's campus are square. Can't for the life of me remember where I read that, but I can testify that Microsoft's manhole covers are square...:)
I like that I'm being protected from tea. It makes me feel safe.
Read the article. They stopped an airplane passenger because he was carrying a box of gunpowder tea. After some investigating and discussing, they decided he could, in fact, carry the tea, but they had to impound the box with the evil word "gunpowder". So, they transferred the tea to a plastic bag, after which the passenger proceded to the plane. So, no, they're not protecting you. They let the gunpowder tea onboard, those incompetent fools! What next? Bazooka Joe gum? I'm telling you, what we need is more restrictions. I'm glad these gentlemen got the recognition they so richly deserve.
... when programs have Shroedinger's bugs. Imagine debugging those. Are they squashed? Or are they squashed/unsquashed at the same time? (Apologies to real physicists. I'm just being silly. In case you can't tell)
You know, Celery and Itanic sound a lot less stupid than Moron. I guess AMD didn't think so much about that name. And the Nove thing is an urban legend. "Nova" and "No va" are pronounce quite differently, and "No va" is a very awkward grammatical construction in Spanish, one you would very rarely use. Plus, the Chevy Nova actually sold very well here in Mexico for a number of years. You can still see a few of them on the streets. Finding the link to snopes is left as an exercise to the reader.
Ian McKellen probably would, as he is cited as the one plating the idea in Peter Jackson's head. Ian Holm, alas, will probably be too old to play a young Bilbo, prostetics and computer help nonwhitstanding. They'd probably get a younger actor who looks like a young Holm, which probably would not be too bad (after the LOTR movies, Jackson's cating people have my full trust).
If they had nuclear weapons, they'd have to let the world know; otherwise, they're useless (unless you are of an unusually revengful nature). In the words of the immortal Dr. Strangelove: "Yes, but the whole point of the doomsday machine is lost if you keep it a secret! Why didn't you tell the world?".
This is just another example of how science is thwarted by evil warmongering men. All this will do is encourage governments to go to war, in the belief that there will be less casualties. Of course, bandages will only be available for soldiers. Will somebody think of the (children) collateral damage?
By the way, In Soviet Russia, hemorrages bandage YOU!
Of course, 1.Create clotting bandages. 2. ??? 3. Profit! (Where 2==sell to the US military at outrageously inflated prices).
And, oh, yeah, the bandages arrived too late for BSD. Because it is already, well, you know...
In an ideal world, yes. In the real world, art takes a heck of a lot more time than people thinks, and it's also a lot more work than you'd think. I've written two novels and several score short stories (two of them published, which brings my artistic income to around 400 bucks. And I'm 32. So I guess I qualify as an amateur artist). The thing is, I write because I love it, and because it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling when my wife/friends like something I wrote (not to mention the nice feeling of seeing your work in print). But it's hard to be productive when all I have is one or two hours a day to write. Specially since a lot of that time is spent writing garbage (ask any serious writer what percentage of his work is any good). And a lot of daysyou just can't bring yourself to write --you're too tired, mad, sad, whatever. I could write a lot more if it was my full time job. Alas, it hasn't happened yet. It's no coincidence that most of the great classics have been written in jail. Or by professional writers. The same goes for music, painting, whatever.
If you do a Google search for news on this device, you'll find out that the movie studios have nothing against it. In fact, they'd like to sell movies to parents that wouldn't buy before because of mature content. The suit is being pursued by several directors who insist they have "moral rights" on their films. Now, from their perspective, the device is akin to someone covering the Venus of Milo's breast, or putting duct tape over Goya's Naked Maja. They claim the movie is art. So, save the kneejerk reactions and start posting nice. For the record, I disagree with the suit, and I think all the device does is automate what I can do myself anyway. I can fast forward boring/sexual/violent parts anyway and they can't do a damn thing about it, so I can't see the problem in making the process more efficient.
Freedom of Information, explained
on
Using the FOIA
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
From replies, I can see that almost nobody understands the concept of freedom of information. It's actually quite simple, altough mind-boggling for some. What it means, in short, is that all information generates or kept by the government is public, to be supplied to anyone who asks. No ifs or ands, (altough a single but). The "but" is: The governmente can refuse to supply some information on several grounds, all of which are clearly stated in the law. In other words, the burden of proof is on them to show that they can't give you the information because it's forbidden by law. Not the other way around. You are entitled to the information, and you don't even have to say why you want it. Of course, the basic flaw is that the law presumes that the governmente should be willing to give the info. In an ideal world, that would be the case. Alas, this will never be an ideal case.
By the way, to all you jingoist idiots talking about the "war on Al-Qaeda", a few basic facts: - You cannot be at "war with Al-Qaeda" anymore that you can be at war with the Red Cross. Al-Qaeda is not a country. Now, go read the Constitution (or at least a dictionary). - Two buildings destroyed and a few thousand dead. And you want to give a blank check to your president to bypass Congress and violate your basic right. You are not only stupid, you are pathetic. - I am not flaming. I'm describing as objectively as possible.
This guy argues that VHS should have been superior because it won. Has Beta won, it would have been the better product. I can't see why these people get paid to write. Imagine the thought processes: "Windows is way better that Linux, otherwise it wouldn't dominate". "But Linux has so much better ". "Why, yes, but as a WHOLE product, Windows is berre, otherwise it wouldn't dominate".
Can we check if this is a jonKatz troll in disguise? He's been awfully quiet, and this article has his style all over it... >:)
Yes it will. We get to watch them play Dungeons & Dragons while monitoring Slashdot and watching an all night marathon od Dr. Who. Yo DO know that's how geeks orgasm, don't you?;)
I'm glad to see that we are not in such a large disagreement, but only on fine points. Two, in fact, for which I can explain my position quite rapidly. One, I strongly object to the use of the word "stealing" to refer to illegal copying. It's a loaded word, and its use helps to spread propaganda from the studios. Stealing is taking something and depriving the rightful owner of its use. In fact, I am legally right; if you get arrested for selling illegal copies of movies, you are not charged with robbery, you are charged with copyright infringment. On the second point, yes, I have access to P2P... on a 56K modem. Ever tried to download a movie that way? Fun it is not. Plus, I don't pay quite a lot of money; 10 bucks will get you a Miyazaki VCD. I kinda agree that "pirates" are leeches, but not a lot more than movie studios execs. Plus, remember, I can give 10 bucks to a so-called "pirate", of which nothing will go to Miyazaki, or I can give 40 to Disney, of which 1-2 will go to Miyazaki (my guess, I can't really tell) and 38-39 to Disney execs. Guess which one I consider the lesser of two evils. Still, I intend to buy the original as soon as it becomes available. But I absolutely refuse to subject my kid to the whims of a corporation regarding when he can see Totoro. For a movie that has been around for over 10 years not to be available in DVD (particularly such a masterpiece) is a crime. Again, thanks for your articulate response, and rest assured I meant no ad hominen arguments; I was trying to equate my behavior to others that I consider similar and acceptable. Admitedly, in a somewhat inflamatory manner (this is Slashdot, right?);)
I have a little kid, who I know would love Totoro. I have no way to buy Totoro legally, because Disney, in their infinite wisdom, has seen fit not to release a DVD of it. So, I buy a bootleg of it. Have I hurted Disney or Miyazaki? No. I can't give them my money, even tough I want to, but they won't offer their merchandise. When (and if) Disney releases a Totoro DVD, I will certainly buy it (if nothing else, for the better quality). End result to Disney: The same. End result to me: Access to a masterpiece. Everyone wins (particularly my son, who otherwise would have had no access to one of cinema's great movies until Disney had seen it fit, probably well past the age when it is most magical). Oh, and just so you can have a full hissy fit, I intend to furter break Disney's copyright by "altering their work without written permission". Explicitally, I intend to sub it to Spanish, so my wife can enjoy it too. Why? Because I have searched high and low for a Spanish sub and nobody sells it, not in America, not in Europe and not in Japan. So, I'm doing it myself. I guess that is also "morally wrong".
This discourages creativity and greatly encourages stealing.
Please, refrain from FUD. It's not called stealing, it's called copyright infringemente, both legally and morally; using loaded words you are only doing the MPAA's dirty work. And, yeah, it's not piracy either. Go check a dictionary.
If your system is 0wn3d and used to launch a DDoS attack on AOL (or Slashdot, Kuro5hin, whoever), then AOL should have the right to sue you for damages. Your incompetence caused their loss.
Slashdot wouldn't be attacked, it would be among the attackers (and, in your scenario, defendants). Really, a slashdotting should get them in hot water (at the very least, aiding and abetting) right);)
Slashdot Mirror
Majesty is a great game, and well worth 40 bucks. It's a little on the short side, but has a really interesting multiplayer component (nothing like placing a huge reward on your opponent's buildings and watching his own heroes destroy them). I'd advice anyone who hasn't played it to do it.
You know, I heard a story about a guy being interviewed at MS and asked "Why are manhole covers round?". His answer: "They're not", followed by a gesture out the window. It seem's manholes at Microsoft's campus are square. :)
Can't for the life of me remember where I read that, but I can testify that Microsoft's manhole covers are square...
I kill me.
;)
Please. Oh, please.
I like that I'm being protected from tea. It makes me feel safe.
Read the article. They stopped an airplane passenger because he was carrying a box of gunpowder tea. After some investigating and discussing, they decided he could, in fact, carry the tea, but they had to impound the box with the evil word "gunpowder". So, they transferred the tea to a plastic bag, after which the passenger proceded to the plane.
So, no, they're not protecting you. They let the gunpowder tea onboard, those incompetent fools! What next? Bazooka Joe gum?
I'm telling you, what we need is more restrictions. I'm glad these gentlemen got the recognition they so richly deserve.
Seriously, I misread the headline as "Microsoft's Castle System". I thought they had put a spin on the "Cathedral and Bazaar" thing...
CowboyNeal sorta looks like a wheel ;)
**ducks**
Never underestimate the bandwith of a college student walking across the dorm loaded with CD-Rs.
... when programs have Shroedinger's bugs.
Imagine debugging those. Are they squashed? Or are they squashed/unsquashed at the same time?
(Apologies to real physicists. I'm just being silly. In case you can't tell)
You know, Celery and Itanic sound a lot less stupid than Moron. I guess AMD didn't think so much about that name.
And the Nove thing is an urban legend. "Nova" and "No va" are pronounce quite differently, and "No va" is a very awkward grammatical construction in Spanish, one you would very rarely use. Plus, the Chevy Nova actually sold very well here in Mexico for a number of years. You can still see a few of them on the streets.
Finding the link to snopes is left as an exercise to the reader.
Ian McKellen probably would, as he is cited as the one plating the idea in Peter Jackson's head.
Ian Holm, alas, will probably be too old to play a young Bilbo, prostetics and computer help nonwhitstanding. They'd probably get a younger actor who looks like a young Holm, which probably would not be too bad (after the LOTR movies, Jackson's cating people have my full trust).
Check the article. That's 11M POUNDS. Around 17-18M dollars.
So, I guess it sucks about 50% more to be him...
In Soviet Russia... Rifles Shoot YOU!
Wow... that sorta made sense... weird.
Could be worse.
He could have written "A fan like ME".
If they had nuclear weapons, they'd have to let the world know; otherwise, they're useless (unless you are of an unusually revengful nature).
In the words of the immortal Dr. Strangelove: "Yes, but the whole point of the doomsday machine is lost if you keep it a secret! Why didn't you tell the world?".
This is just another example of how science is thwarted by evil warmongering men. All this will do is encourage governments to go to war, in the belief that there will be less casualties.
Of course, bandages will only be available for soldiers. Will somebody think of the (children) collateral damage?
By the way, In Soviet Russia, hemorrages bandage YOU!
Of course, 1.Create clotting bandages. 2. ??? 3. Profit! (Where 2==sell to the US military at outrageously inflated prices).
And, oh, yeah, the bandages arrived too late for BSD. Because it is already, well, you know...
Bait.
Obviously.
In an ideal world, yes.
In the real world, art takes a heck of a lot more time than people thinks, and it's also a lot more work than you'd think.
I've written two novels and several score short stories (two of them published, which brings my artistic income to around 400 bucks. And I'm 32. So I guess I qualify as an amateur artist).
The thing is, I write because I love it, and because it gives me a warm fuzzy feeling when my wife/friends like something I wrote (not to mention the nice feeling of seeing your work in print). But it's hard to be productive when all I have is one or two hours a day to write. Specially since a lot of that time is spent writing garbage (ask any serious writer what percentage of his work is any good). And a lot of daysyou just can't bring yourself to write --you're too tired, mad, sad, whatever.
I could write a lot more if it was my full time job. Alas, it hasn't happened yet.
It's no coincidence that most of the great classics have been written in jail. Or by professional writers. The same goes for music, painting, whatever.
If you do a Google search for news on this device, you'll find out that the movie studios have nothing against it. In fact, they'd like to sell movies to parents that wouldn't buy before because of mature content.
The suit is being pursued by several directors who insist they have "moral rights" on their films. Now, from their perspective, the device is akin to someone covering the Venus of Milo's breast, or putting duct tape over Goya's Naked Maja. They claim the movie is art.
So, save the kneejerk reactions and start posting nice.
For the record, I disagree with the suit, and I think all the device does is automate what I can do myself anyway. I can fast forward boring/sexual/violent parts anyway and they can't do a damn thing about it, so I can't see the problem in making the process more efficient.
From replies, I can see that almost nobody understands the concept of freedom of information. It's actually quite simple, altough mind-boggling for some.
What it means, in short, is that all information generates or kept by the government is public, to be supplied to anyone who asks. No ifs or ands, (altough a single but).
The "but" is: The governmente can refuse to supply some information on several grounds, all of which are clearly stated in the law.
In other words, the burden of proof is on them to show that they can't give you the information because it's forbidden by law. Not the other way around. You are entitled to the information, and you don't even have to say why you want it.
Of course, the basic flaw is that the law presumes that the governmente should be willing to give the info. In an ideal world, that would be the case. Alas, this will never be an ideal case.
By the way, to all you jingoist idiots talking about the "war on Al-Qaeda", a few basic facts:
- You cannot be at "war with Al-Qaeda" anymore that you can be at war with the Red Cross. Al-Qaeda is not a country. Now, go read the Constitution (or at least a dictionary).
- Two buildings destroyed and a few thousand dead. And you want to give a blank check to your president to bypass Congress and violate your basic right. You are not only stupid, you are pathetic.
- I am not flaming. I'm describing as objectively as possible.
This guy argues that VHS should have been superior because it won. Has Beta won, it would have been the better product.
I can't see why these people get paid to write.
Imagine the thought processes:
"Windows is way better that Linux, otherwise it wouldn't dominate".
"But Linux has so much better ".
"Why, yes, but as a WHOLE product, Windows is berre, otherwise it wouldn't dominate".
Can we check if this is a jonKatz troll in disguise? He's been awfully quiet, and this article has his style all over it... >:)
This is all from the recollection of a football afficionado (I hate the term 'fan')
You hate the term "fan" but you like "afficionado?". Dude, that's gotta be an 8 on my weird-shit-o-meter (TM).
Yes it will. We get to watch them play Dungeons & Dragons while monitoring Slashdot and watching an all night marathon od Dr. Who. ;)
Yo DO know that's how geeks orgasm, don't you?
I'm glad to see that we are not in such a large disagreement, but only on fine points. Two, in fact, for which I can explain my position quite rapidly. ;)
One, I strongly object to the use of the word "stealing" to refer to illegal copying. It's a loaded word, and its use helps to spread propaganda from the studios. Stealing is taking something and depriving the rightful owner of its use. In fact, I am legally right; if you get arrested for selling illegal copies of movies, you are not charged with robbery, you are charged with copyright infringment.
On the second point, yes, I have access to P2P... on a 56K modem. Ever tried to download a movie that way? Fun it is not. Plus, I don't pay quite a lot of money; 10 bucks will get you a Miyazaki VCD. I kinda agree that "pirates" are leeches, but not a lot more than movie studios execs. Plus, remember, I can give 10 bucks to a so-called "pirate", of which nothing will go to Miyazaki, or I can give 40 to Disney, of which 1-2 will go to Miyazaki (my guess, I can't really tell) and 38-39 to Disney execs. Guess which one I consider the lesser of two evils.
Still, I intend to buy the original as soon as it becomes available. But I absolutely refuse to subject my kid to the whims of a corporation regarding when he can see Totoro. For a movie that has been around for over 10 years not to be available in DVD (particularly such a masterpiece) is a crime.
Again, thanks for your articulate response, and rest assured I meant no ad hominen arguments; I was trying to equate my behavior to others that I consider similar and acceptable. Admitedly, in a somewhat inflamatory manner (this is Slashdot, right?)
I have a little kid, who I know would love Totoro. I have no way to buy Totoro legally, because Disney, in their infinite wisdom, has seen fit not to release a DVD of it. So, I buy a bootleg of it.
Have I hurted Disney or Miyazaki? No. I can't give them my money, even tough I want to, but they won't offer their merchandise. When (and if) Disney releases a Totoro DVD, I will certainly buy it (if nothing else, for the better quality). End result to Disney: The same. End result to me: Access to a masterpiece. Everyone wins (particularly my son, who otherwise would have had no access to one of cinema's great movies until Disney had seen it fit, probably well past the age when it is most magical).
Oh, and just so you can have a full hissy fit, I intend to furter break Disney's copyright by "altering their work without written permission". Explicitally, I intend to sub it to Spanish, so my wife can enjoy it too. Why? Because I have searched high and low for a Spanish sub and nobody sells it, not in America, not in Europe and not in Japan. So, I'm doing it myself. I guess that is also "morally wrong".
This discourages creativity and greatly encourages stealing.
Please, refrain from FUD. It's not called stealing, it's called copyright infringemente, both legally and morally; using loaded words you are only doing the MPAA's dirty work.
And, yeah, it's not piracy either. Go check a dictionary.
If your system is 0wn3d and used to launch a DDoS attack on AOL (or Slashdot, Kuro5hin, whoever), then AOL should have the right to sue you for damages. Your incompetence caused their loss.
;)
Slashdot wouldn't be attacked, it would be among the attackers (and, in your scenario, defendants).
Really, a slashdotting should get them in hot water (at the very least, aiding and abetting) right)