"...the eventual plan is to use space based lasers."
The operative word is eventual. For the current anti-missle missle, a "near miss" is a couple hundred miles.
Not really to nit-pick, but the current plan for SDI does not involve "lasers." The curren plan is to fire a missle at the incoming nuclear delivery system. So instead of a laser frying your house, you have to worry about a missle. Basically, the anti-missle missle will level your house and then the nuke will level the rubble that was your house.
True dat. Ghost Bear's Legacy was hella fun. In part because of the story behind it.
Mercenaries was cool because of the "choose your own story" feel. Of course it had the multi-player feature which kicked ass.
The game that has affected me the most has to be MechWarrior II. I had just gotten my first realy computer (the old Apple IIe does not count) and Mech 2 just came out. I played that game on instant action so many times, well,... I played it an awful lot. (I was able to use a 20-ton Firefly and beat 3 100-tonners. sick) That single game basically made me a computer gamer.
Half-Life I've played a lot of, but mainly in the form of Counter-Strike.
Of course a game that total has sucked me in (where I loose all track of time) has to be Europa Universalis. (I always say just one more year, and then the damn English or Spanish end up attacking me. Grr.)
The swift and witty will still be swift and witty. Coming up with a good taunt or witty banter is, in my mind, the hard part. I see this as a transition much like when motion pictures moved from silent movies to "talkies."
Your impression that Battletech/Robotech is right. Actually, Robotech sued FASA for copyright violation. (In Battletech 2nd ed. the Warhammer on the box still had Robotech markings.) Let me clarify what I meant (because I dig mech(a) combat). If this new group is going to make a name for itself, it should do something new and original. (But that is way easier typed than done.) With MS seeing this as competition and their natural tendency to destroy all competition, the group should shy away from anything that looks like an MS copyright. This should also help in preventing strike suits by MS copyright lawyers.
A nice Mech game would be nice. However, since MS bought out FASA Interactive, the team might be seen to copy Battletech/Mechwarrior games. Probably not a good idea for a first go.
I'm not saying that nukes are evil. I merely stated that tools are not inherently good or bad. I did give nukes as an example that "stretched" this line of thinking. MAD worked. But, the primary purpose of nuclear weapons was to destroy, that is why they stetched the line of thinking. Also, you state that the creation of the EU was a good thing. This is debatable. Nation-States giving up parts of their soverignty so Chirac can belittle/bully them later, in my eyes, not completely a good thing.
That is true that tools have no moralality to them; it's all in the hands of the user. However, there are some tools (nukes, Echelon?) that stretch this limit. Also, remember, the ends do NOT always justify the means.
I bet NASA is (should be) looking into this for the International Space Station. With this idea being pretty efficient and with little waste, it makes sense. Of course, there is the tricky part of launching a herd of cows in space and floating around in 0 Gs. Although it is highly amusing to think about.
You might want to hold onto that telezapper. The States have been expermenting with these "no call" lists for a couple years now. While the State "no call lists have been succesfull (save for the loopholes for non-profit orginzations and re-election campaigns) the constitutionality of these laws have NOT been tested. The telemarketers could claim that such laws are an unconstitutional abridgement of the freedom of speech (commerical speech is protected speech, just on an intermediate scrutiny test level). If Congress does pass this law, look for it to get challenged in the Federal district courts as soon as it goes into effect.
True this is hardly new. The Potato(e) gun was kinda a techy/nerd fad in the late 1980's and early 1990's in the midwest. I remember seeing a demonstration on the "Dangerousness of Potato Guns." What they did was shoot a potato through a car door. Obviously, it had the reverse effect; everyone wanted one after that.
It seems to me that what Golias is advocating is not a sales tax, but a use tax. Most states, I don't have the number, have a use tax already in place. A use tax is a tax when one buys something out of state, brings it into a state and uses it. (This is usually done for large machinery in industry.) The use tax would be easier to police than an internet sales tax, and more fair for those states that have little to no internet sales. Of course, the existing statute(s) and tax(es) would have to be modified, but the same is true for an internet sales tax.
That statement isn't entirly accurate. The Federal Constitution and common law has created State enclaves in which the States almost exclusively govern (subject to Federal preemption). Examples of traditional State enclaves are Family Law, Criminal Law (to a lesser extent in the modern day), and Commerical Law.
In the realm of Family and Commercial law, the States have developed a model set of law called the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act and the Uniform Commercial Code ("UCC"). The States individually enact these laws, usually with minor revisions.
The purpose of doing this is to create uniformity throughout the nation, but without having the Federal government intervene. Take the UCC for example. 49 of the States have enacted it to a lesser or greater extent. Louisiana has not enacted any of it, because of their Civil Law tradition. For the Feds to come in and preempt, it would destroy Louisiana's Civil Code.
Historically, Congress has been loathe to entervene in traditional State enclaves. The U.S. Supreme Court has attempted to preserve State enclaves to preserve Federalism.
Slashdot Mirror
Anyone notice that it was all flash (pun intended) and no substance? Does anyone know the system requirements?
What they failed to say was the information they sent was a "great deal" for penis enhancements.
"...the eventual plan is to use space based lasers." The operative word is eventual. For the current anti-missle missle, a "near miss" is a couple hundred miles.
Not really to nit-pick, but the current plan for SDI does not involve "lasers." The curren plan is to fire a missle at the incoming nuclear delivery system. So instead of a laser frying your house, you have to worry about a missle. Basically, the anti-missle missle will level your house and then the nuke will level the rubble that was your house.
True dat. Ghost Bear's Legacy was hella fun. In part because of the story behind it. Mercenaries was cool because of the "choose your own story" feel. Of course it had the multi-player feature which kicked ass.
The game that has affected me the most has to be MechWarrior II. I had just gotten my first realy computer (the old Apple IIe does not count) and Mech 2 just came out. I played that game on instant action so many times, well, ... I played it an awful lot. (I was able to use a 20-ton Firefly and beat 3 100-tonners. sick) That single game basically made me a computer gamer.
Half-Life I've played a lot of, but mainly in the form of Counter-Strike.
Of course a game that total has sucked me in (where I loose all track of time) has to be Europa Universalis. (I always say just one more year, and then the damn English or Spanish end up attacking me. Grr.)
You make a "company populated by lawyers" sound like a bad thing.
How about: Library of Congress http://www.loc.gov/ History (Hitler) Channell: http://www.historychannel.com/
The swift and witty will still be swift and witty. Coming up with a good taunt or witty banter is, in my mind, the hard part. I see this as a transition much like when motion pictures moved from silent movies to "talkies."
Your impression that Battletech/Robotech is right. Actually, Robotech sued FASA for copyright violation. (In Battletech 2nd ed. the Warhammer on the box still had Robotech markings.) Let me clarify what I meant (because I dig mech(a) combat). If this new group is going to make a name for itself, it should do something new and original. (But that is way easier typed than done.) With MS seeing this as competition and their natural tendency to destroy all competition, the group should shy away from anything that looks like an MS copyright. This should also help in preventing strike suits by MS copyright lawyers.
Homer: How about a prequel to something. Everybody loves a prequel.
A nice Mech game would be nice. However, since MS bought out FASA Interactive, the team might be seen to copy Battletech/Mechwarrior games. Probably not a good idea for a first go.
So, you use a non-motorized bike so you can listen to cars and trucks rumbling down the street?
I'm not saying that nukes are evil. I merely stated that tools are not inherently good or bad. I did give nukes as an example that "stretched" this line of thinking. MAD worked. But, the primary purpose of nuclear weapons was to destroy, that is why they stetched the line of thinking. Also, you state that the creation of the EU was a good thing. This is debatable. Nation-States giving up parts of their soverignty so Chirac can belittle/bully them later, in my eyes, not completely a good thing.
That is true that tools have no moralality to them; it's all in the hands of the user. However, there are some tools (nukes, Echelon?) that stretch this limit. Also, remember, the ends do NOT always justify the means.
I bet NASA is (should be) looking into this for the International Space Station. With this idea being pretty efficient and with little waste, it makes sense. Of course, there is the tricky part of launching a herd of cows in space and floating around in 0 Gs. Although it is highly amusing to think about.
You might want to hold onto that telezapper. The States have been expermenting with these "no call" lists for a couple years now. While the State "no call lists have been succesfull (save for the loopholes for non-profit orginzations and re-election campaigns) the constitutionality of these laws have NOT been tested. The telemarketers could claim that such laws are an unconstitutional abridgement of the freedom of speech (commerical speech is protected speech, just on an intermediate scrutiny test level). If Congress does pass this law, look for it to get challenged in the Federal district courts as soon as it goes into effect.
True this is hardly new. The Potato(e) gun was kinda a techy/nerd fad in the late 1980's and early 1990's in the midwest. I remember seeing a demonstration on the "Dangerousness of Potato Guns." What they did was shoot a potato through a car door. Obviously, it had the reverse effect; everyone wanted one after that.
Wait, are you saying this is new technology? I thought the RIAA have been using this for years to churn out new "boy-bands" every 6 months.
It seems to me that what Golias is advocating is not a sales tax, but a use tax. Most states, I don't have the number, have a use tax already in place. A use tax is a tax when one buys something out of state, brings it into a state and uses it. (This is usually done for large machinery in industry.) The use tax would be easier to police than an internet sales tax, and more fair for those states that have little to no internet sales. Of course, the existing statute(s) and tax(es) would have to be modified, but the same is true for an internet sales tax.
Linux. It's drinking.
Hmmm... I wonder if they'll make the parody version of Myst (Pyst) into a MMOG. Now THAT would be entertaining.
My thoughts exactly. I wonder if we'll have a modern day Mark Twain write about life as a fan-plane captain.
That statement isn't entirly accurate. The Federal Constitution and common law has created State enclaves in which the States almost exclusively govern (subject to Federal preemption). Examples of traditional State enclaves are Family Law, Criminal Law (to a lesser extent in the modern day), and Commerical Law. In the realm of Family and Commercial law, the States have developed a model set of law called the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act and the Uniform Commercial Code ("UCC"). The States individually enact these laws, usually with minor revisions. The purpose of doing this is to create uniformity throughout the nation, but without having the Federal government intervene. Take the UCC for example. 49 of the States have enacted it to a lesser or greater extent. Louisiana has not enacted any of it, because of their Civil Law tradition. For the Feds to come in and preempt, it would destroy Louisiana's Civil Code. Historically, Congress has been loathe to entervene in traditional State enclaves. The U.S. Supreme Court has attempted to preserve State enclaves to preserve Federalism.
The sky is falling! This argument was put forth when the VCR first came out, and theaters have been going strong since then.