I was given a copy of Pirates! for my birthday. I put the cd into my computer to install it, and the machine crashed. I tried again, it crashed again. Returning the game got me another copy, which also crashed my computer. In the end I took an older CDROM drive I had laying around and crammed it into my computer to give it a try. Magically, the game worked using this drive.
Now, if I were a typical computer user, I wouldn't have had that drive laying around. I'd have had to spend another $40 or so on a new drive just to get the program to work (which, according to the listed requirements, should have worked with my existing hardware). That, or the game my friend bought for me would have actually been a couple of $20 coasters.
According to store policy, this broken product was not returnable for a refund. This sort of thing is the reason most people want to be able to return games to the store, and the reason why so much software gets pirated nowadays: why should consumers risk their money on a product that the producers aren't willing to guarantee will even function properly, let alone provide an enjoyable play experience?
Religion doesn't cause erratic or neurotic behavior. In the first case, that person had something wrong with him in the first place. He let his emotions of sympathy get the best of his rationality.
Of course. But, the point is, D&D doesn't cause erratic or neurotic behavior either. And, the same non-causal arguments that are used to implicate D&D, video games, whatever can also be used to implicate religion.
You're not paying for an education. You're paying for the opportunity to be educated. A part of that is the understanding that assessments of your progress (grades) are done fairly. Another part of that is the necessity that the professor actually show up to teach.
I've come across plenty of sites that either don't work at all or are broken unless you use IE. Generally, it's because the site looks at the browser's identification tag and sends crippled pages to non-IE browsers. I can only think of one site I use regularly (a web app at work) that actually doesn't work in Opera if I set it to report itself as IE.
You might make sure that the sites you're having trouble with in Firefox are actually providing the same data they're giving IE before you assume it's a problem with the browser.
Rubies of Eventide has done a similar thing. Currently they're running under a free server/donation for priviliged access model, and seem to be doing very well for themselves.
How about something similar that doesn't even require a logout? Use RFID or other proximity-based id, and the system will only accept data if it's accompanied with an appropriate id from that terminal's scanner. Combine with a short pin or password in the data entry form in case someone manages to lift an id from an authorized user and you should have a secure enough system.
Don't require a session login, require an id and associated pin number with each data transaction.
Forget 3d, it would be too difficult to make and most people wouldn't be able to wrap their tiny little brains around how it works.
Make a hexagon-based crossword instead. This gives you 3 directions (vertical, down/left, and up/left), gives you the added complication of 3 possible clues per intersection, and will easily fit on a single page of paper. You'll have to come up with a hexagonal grid, but that's not too difficult. There should be plenty of vector-based hex grids on the web.
A simpler method if you're using IRC is to simply have the GM running a dice bot. Lots of them out there. Someone says "1d20" in the channel, and the dice bot automatically generates a number from 1-20.
There are plenty of people out there doing fine selling their own copyrighted works. Including the MPAA and RIAA members. But legislating an entire internet industry out of existance because a few people abuse it is ridiculous. By the same argument, the anti-p2p groups should be trying to restrict scanners, photocopiers, tape recorders, even pencil and paper because they can be used to make unauthorized copies of copyrighted work.
This isn't an argument about "freedom" vs. Great Satan. It's not even an argument about sharing music. This is about destroying an industry whose potential hasn't come close to being realized yet in order to increase the bottom line for a few. Think where we would be now if the copy machine or the VCR were deemed illegal and never came into common use.
More likely, the problem here is that these can be taken to be bribes. There are very strict rules in place for US federal and state employees of all types regarding accepting gifts in an official capacity.
I agree. The biggest thing here is that you won't find a nifty new software bit that will magically make all your ideas come together. You'll have to organize yourself before any solutions people mention here will do any good. The greatest software in the world won't help you if you're still making notes in book margins and on scraps of paper.
Get a notebook and pen that you can carry in a briefcase, jacket pocket, or pants pocket. Keep them with you as much as possible, and force yourself to pull them out rather than grabbing a random piece of paper. Once you're used to using the notebook, the further restriction of finding a computer to take notes on will be easier. (Or, periodically copy the notes from your notebook to the computer. Then you get to review the notes you've made, and refresh the ones you want to follow up.)
I seem to remember reading that a lot of states are working together to set up what amounts to a common sales tax. All the states would end up having the same sales tax rate, and restrict the ability of local governments (cities, etc) to add their own on top. The intent of this was to make it much easier for online stores to calculate the sales tax, since there would be a rate rather than several hundred different rates within a single state. My understanding was that the states involved intended to get this pushed through before making a big deal about taxing internet purchaces.
Kansas was one of these states, too, so I'm not sure what happened with this plan. This looks voluntary on Amazon's part, perhaps these states are still working on it.
actually, every person on that jet could get a false positive. One person getting a false positive doesn't exempt any of the others from getting one as well.
This is basic dice probability statistics, with a 1000-sided die.
Umm, perhaps you should go study statistics. 0.1% chance for a false positive means 99.9% chance that a test _won't_ be a false positive. 440 passengers on a 747-200. 0.999^440 is about a 64% chance that no one on a fully loaded 747-200 will get a false positive, meaning a 46% chance that someone will. Rounding that to 50% is probably as accurate as the original 0.1% number is, given it's in a news article.
Or, you could RTFA and see "Officials have said false hits on the system have been less than 0.1 percent in trial runs." Or, about a 50% chance for a false positive on each 747 coming in.
Of course, there are other options. Rubies of Eventide is a MMORPG that distributes the game software for free. You pay $15/month (or $120 yearly, if you want) to play and get all updates, expansions, etc for free. Basically, they've applied the cable-tv business model to their game, and it works.
I refused to play Evercrack and the like for exactly the reasons in the article (buying the game then paying $whatever a month for the priviledge of playing it). With Rubies, you're simply paying the monthly fee for server time. Heck, they even throw in a 10 day free trial.
The gameplay and community are really good, too. It feels a lot like a MUD with a pretty graphics frontend. GM support is on-server 24/7 for the primary, and pretty much any player will pipe up with help if they know the answer.
(Disclaimer: Yeah, this sounds like an ad. I'm just a player that's happy he's found a game that cares. But, if you decide to play, please put "Seeker" in the referral entry on the signup form.:)
Something I thought of doing to a roommate ("I love fixing stuff like this; it's fun" he says after pranking a friend's computer) is to take the desktop image and make a 8 or 10 frame animated gif of that image. Should slow the computer to a crawl.
Something I did do was to intermittently browse over to his computer and edit the executable of his current favorite game with a hex editor, rewriting a chunk of it with random keystrokes. He never did figure out what virus was hosing his game until I mentioned it much later. He closed up the network access right afterward.:)
I don't think the problem here is lack of energy, but rather procrastination.
Yep, that's my problem. Of course, every time I try to unlearn my procrastination, it just gets reinforced. The many times I've put off homework only to have the instructor cancel, change, or work through it just before it is due are some examples. The time I totaled my car 3 months after paying it off, but never got around to reducing the insurance from full coverage to liability is a major one.
The trick is to find a happy medium between the procrastination and getting things done quickly.
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Wow, that's an amazing interpretation of what he said. I read "We" as "My household", not "Everybody in the freaking world".
I was given a copy of Pirates! for my birthday. I put the cd into my computer to install it, and the machine crashed. I tried again, it crashed again. Returning the game got me another copy, which also crashed my computer. In the end I took an older CDROM drive I had laying around and crammed it into my computer to give it a try. Magically, the game worked using this drive. Now, if I were a typical computer user, I wouldn't have had that drive laying around. I'd have had to spend another $40 or so on a new drive just to get the program to work (which, according to the listed requirements, should have worked with my existing hardware). That, or the game my friend bought for me would have actually been a couple of $20 coasters. According to store policy, this broken product was not returnable for a refund. This sort of thing is the reason most people want to be able to return games to the store, and the reason why so much software gets pirated nowadays: why should consumers risk their money on a product that the producers aren't willing to guarantee will even function properly, let alone provide an enjoyable play experience?
Of course. But, the point is, D&D doesn't cause erratic or neurotic behavior either. And, the same non-causal arguments that are used to implicate D&D, video games, whatever can also be used to implicate religion.
Bah. Charge the department for services rendered when you have to fix things due to the professor willfully ignoring the stated rules.
Actually, you're both right.
You're not paying for an education. You're paying for the opportunity to be educated. A part of that is the understanding that assessments of your progress (grades) are done fairly. Another part of that is the necessity that the professor actually show up to teach.
You might make sure that the sites you're having trouble with in Firefox are actually providing the same data they're giving IE before you assume it's a problem with the browser.
Rubies of Eventide has done a similar thing. Currently they're running under a free server/donation for priviliged access model, and seem to be doing very well for themselves.
Don't require a session login, require an id and associated pin number with each data transaction.
Forget 3d, it would be too difficult to make and most people wouldn't be able to wrap their tiny little brains around how it works. Make a hexagon-based crossword instead. This gives you 3 directions (vertical, down/left, and up/left), gives you the added complication of 3 possible clues per intersection, and will easily fit on a single page of paper. You'll have to come up with a hexagonal grid, but that's not too difficult. There should be plenty of vector-based hex grids on the web.
A simpler method if you're using IRC is to simply have the GM running a dice bot. Lots of them out there. Someone says "1d20" in the channel, and the dice bot automatically generates a number from 1-20.
This isn't an argument about "freedom" vs. Great Satan. It's not even an argument about sharing music. This is about destroying an industry whose potential hasn't come close to being realized yet in order to increase the bottom line for a few. Think where we would be now if the copy machine or the VCR were deemed illegal and never came into common use.
More likely, the problem here is that these can be taken to be bribes. There are very strict rules in place for US federal and state employees of all types regarding accepting gifts in an official capacity.
I agree. The biggest thing here is that you won't find a nifty new software bit that will magically make all your ideas come together. You'll have to organize yourself before any solutions people mention here will do any good. The greatest software in the world won't help you if you're still making notes in book margins and on scraps of paper.
Get a notebook and pen that you can carry in a briefcase, jacket pocket, or pants pocket. Keep them with you as much as possible, and force yourself to pull them out rather than grabbing a random piece of paper. Once you're used to using the notebook, the further restriction of finding a computer to take notes on will be easier. (Or, periodically copy the notes from your notebook to the computer. Then you get to review the notes you've made, and refresh the ones you want to follow up.)
Kansas was one of these states, too, so I'm not sure what happened with this plan. This looks voluntary on Amazon's part, perhaps these states are still working on it.
Still feel good about voting the republicans in ?
I still haven't gotten around to making a bumper sticker that says "Don't blame me, I don't live in a swing state."
actually, every person on that jet could get a false positive. One person getting a false positive doesn't exempt any of the others from getting one as well. This is basic dice probability statistics, with a 1000-sided die.
whoops, that's what I get for trying to do simple math in my head. Should be 36%.
Umm, perhaps you should go study statistics. 0.1% chance for a false positive means 99.9% chance that a test _won't_ be a false positive. 440 passengers on a 747-200. 0.999^440 is about a 64% chance that no one on a fully loaded 747-200 will get a false positive, meaning a 46% chance that someone will. Rounding that to 50% is probably as accurate as the original 0.1% number is, given it's in a news article.
Or, you could RTFA and see "Officials have said false hits on the system have been less than 0.1 percent in trial runs." Or, about a 50% chance for a false positive on each 747 coming in.
Actually, that's assuming someone who plays EQ isn't a munchkin.
I refused to play Evercrack and the like for exactly the reasons in the article (buying the game then paying $whatever a month for the priviledge of playing it). With Rubies, you're simply paying the monthly fee for server time. Heck, they even throw in a 10 day free trial.
The gameplay and community are really good, too. It feels a lot like a MUD with a pretty graphics frontend. GM support is on-server 24/7 for the primary, and pretty much any player will pipe up with help if they know the answer.
(Disclaimer: Yeah, this sounds like an ad. I'm just a player that's happy he's found a game that cares. But, if you decide to play, please put "Seeker" in the referral entry on the signup form. :)
Something I thought of doing to a roommate ("I love fixing stuff like this; it's fun" he says after pranking a friend's computer) is to take the desktop image and make a 8 or 10 frame animated gif of that image. Should slow the computer to a crawl. Something I did do was to intermittently browse over to his computer and edit the executable of his current favorite game with a hex editor, rewriting a chunk of it with random keystrokes. He never did figure out what virus was hosing his game until I mentioned it much later. He closed up the network access right afterward. :)
Yep, that's my problem. Of course, every time I try to unlearn my procrastination, it just gets reinforced. The many times I've put off homework only to have the instructor cancel, change, or work through it just before it is due are some examples. The time I totaled my car 3 months after paying it off, but never got around to reducing the insurance from full coverage to liability is a major one.
The trick is to find a happy medium between the procrastination and getting things done quickly.
Umm, they injected 3.2 grams of caffeine into someone, and that person died?
Seems rather obvious to me.
They say, one voter can make a difference.