So we should all feel sorry for some person none of us know, who's an idiot for staying that long without getting foor or water? Thousands of people die every day. In africa from aids, starvation and war. From heart attacks, accidents, cancer, murders and suicides all over the world. Are you saying that should stop and feel sorry about some idiot korean, when you haven't expressed your sympathy for african children starving to death?
I don't know if you know this or not, but Nobody makes it through life with a little bit of help. Help from friends and help from strangers. And, While I'll admit that I might have chuckled a few times at the comments above, I feel sorry for the poor guy. He spent 86 hours in a coffee shop playing games. Nobody cared enough, not his friends, family, other customers, or even the shop owner, to tell him to stop long enough to get something to eat or to take a nap.
If you can't see feel bad about that, then I feel sorry for you.
Why doesn't Microsoft get a clue and think for a second. People are buying the Xbox. Why? Some for games. Some for a cheap Linux box.
But the real important issue is this: They are selling Xboxes.
Why doesn't MS just go with the flow and allow the hack? They could bump the price up to a profitable level and sell a few more Boxes.
It doesn't take a Genius to know 2 things.
1)When the hardware is available, a hack is inevitable.
2)With all the people putting time and effort into this, you know you'll have buyers!
I'd like to thank Slashdot for not deleting posts except on the most extreme circumstances.
While their are many things that probably should have been deleted (goats.cx posts comes to mind), It's nice to know that slashdot.org supports the freedom to speak one's mind.
no one could give a single reason other than "everyone else uses Windows
Is it fear of the unknown? Is microsoft like the reassuring parent after they've been told a scary ghost story? I'm still trying to figure that out.
When I look at a computer, I see a box of metal, plastic and electrons. I see mathematic equations and for/next loops. I see something engineered and well planned.
As well, I should. I have a degree in Computer Science. I make my bread and butter off of it.
When the average person sees one, they see something totally different. They see something mysterious and powerful. They see a creature capable of causing havoc and dismay. In most people minds, the only thing keeping this creature from devouring their latest report is the few things they know about it.
Microsoft has nurtured this perception.
That is why business men don't/won't change their OS. They know this demon, and they know how to appease it. Why switch to another when it could be much worse? Harder to appease? More complicated to work with?
IMHO, that is the perception of value.
I don't know what advice to give you. But, I've found that education is usually the best alternative. If that doesn't work, prove them wrong by making at least one box Linux and actually use it then demo it.
I yearn for the days when computers are about as mysterious as cars.
Quite Frankly, I don't see this as a problem. The timing between releases is fine with me. I got a good, long play out of Starcraft from the time it was developed to the time Warcraft 3 came out.
And in all that period of time, it was popular and very well played. You could, at most any time, find bnet loaded with people ready to play. It was relaxing to have a favorite that wasn't just immediately discarded for the "Next Best Thing" like so many other games.
Aside from the idiots in the world that can't/won't read instructions when they need to. You gotta realize that instructions are generally poorly written.
A college professor once told me that most instructions are written by convicts. As odd as that sounds, this person was pretty credible. And believable too. Have you ever read the instructions that come with some of these things? They are aweful!
Why don't they spend less money trying to _dummy proof_ it and more money paying somebody with a little bit of intelligence to write some decent instructions.
IMHO, I believe you are right. I think this is the way that file sharing will end up going. Exclusive groups doing P2P among a "small" and trusted group.
You can kind of compare it to the way people associate. People who have nothing to contribute are ignored. People who sell lies and false promises are isolated or blackballed. If we don't want to put up with somebody's crap. We stay away from them. Why wouldn't this work with a digital network?
I can count the number of times I've gotten a bad file on one hand because I've chosen to only share files with people I know and trust.
The military have something they call swamp juice. It's made as such:
1. Make strong coffee.
2. Drink.
3. Enjoy.
4. Don't clean out the coffee grinds.
5. Repeat over a number of days.
The resulting liquid is swamp juice. While the taste is questionable, the effect is certainly not.
I think it's the capitalist mentality that more is better.
I once heard of a company that submitted a written proposal to a major restraunt chain. They were competing with a few other companies for the job and had spent some time working on it. Anyways, when they finally met with the restraunt chain about the proposal, the restraunt chain promptly told them to make the proposal thicker. When asked why, they replied because the other proposals were thicker. There was no feedback as to whether the proposal was going to meet their needs or anything like that.
IMHO, We are told that more is better through advertising. And somewhere along the line we believe it.
MS has done this with companies in the United States as well. I work at a non-profit. We have very little funds. And, MS donates a lot of software to our organization. Because, I believe if they didn't we'd look more for open source solutions.
Now, they aren't making a dime off of it in the short run. But, they are keeping employees here well trained in the MS apps.
They do this in the south too on some of the back roads.
Except, they don't usually meantion specific time either. It's usually "a ways" down the road or if you are lucky enough to get a distance indicator "down yander."
Well, the information is the food. Like in the real world, food is abundant and replenishable. You could say that information is the same. Creative people (artist, musicians, etc.) grow the information in much the same way as a farmer.
The thing you have to remember here is that information is only needed once. For example: You only need to download your favorite song once. What good is two copies of the same thing? This works for software too. Why have multiple software that does exactly the same thing? Plus, if information is something that is learnable then once you have learned it, it becauses useless to you. You can't learn it again (barring any mental disorders).
Let's consider the overhunting issue. With so many users sharing information, you won't have to look far to find what you want. Meaning, you will be able to dl everything you want. With such access, you would have a pretty big store of information yourself, just by dl'ing what you look for. So, The more you have the less you will need.
Sure there will always be more stuff to download. But, you would need to download much less once you reach that saturation point.
My Curiousity is this: What's the big news? Other gaming systems have been doing this for years. So, now that D&D gets the publicity, it's a big deal?
I certainly agree with the strategy. GM's/DM's/Storyteller's and PC's should all have a choice in the material that they play and the world they play in. That is part of the allure of Roleplaying. Plus, there are a lot of creative people out there that can really contribute that otherwise would never be able to.
Seeing Wizards of the Coast suddenly opening up to players is very refreshing. I really hope this attitude continues.
Hotmail has a few features that can be used to eliminate spam. Namely the Junk Mail and the Filtering options.
Now, they work. (Not always effectively, but they work)
The Junk Mail folder in particularly will grab obvious junk mail and automatically send it to a recycling bin of sorts. So, about 70% of spam you don't even see. Also, if your account gets too large, you just clear that folder out.
Why would Microsoft go through all the trouble of hitting you with more spam that will, in all likelihood never get seen?
It seems to me that M$ is either playing the companies that collect this sort of information, or they are using the profile information for their own twisted means.
Slashdot Mirror
So we should all feel sorry for some person none of us know, who's an idiot for staying that long without getting foor or water? Thousands of people die every day. In africa from aids, starvation and war. From heart attacks, accidents, cancer, murders and suicides all over the world. Are you saying that should stop and feel sorry about some idiot korean, when you haven't expressed your sympathy for african children starving to death?
I don't know if you know this or not, but Nobody makes it through life with a little bit of help. Help from friends and help from strangers. And, While I'll admit that I might have chuckled a few times at the comments above, I feel sorry for the poor guy. He spent 86 hours in a coffee shop playing games. Nobody cared enough, not his friends, family, other customers, or even the shop owner, to tell him to stop long enough to get something to eat or to take a nap.
If you can't see feel bad about that, then I feel sorry for you.
I often wonder the same thing about my e-mail account.
Isn't Vulcan the same god as Mars?
Besides which, that would just be plain silly. Of course, the star trek fans might not think so...
Why doesn't Microsoft get a clue and think for a second. People are buying the Xbox. Why? Some for games. Some for a cheap Linux box.
But the real important issue is this: They are selling Xboxes.
Why doesn't MS just go with the flow and allow the hack? They could bump the price up to a profitable level and sell a few more Boxes.
It doesn't take a Genius to know 2 things.
1)When the hardware is available, a hack is inevitable.
2)With all the people putting time and effort into this, you know you'll have buyers!
I'd like to thank Slashdot for not deleting posts except on the most extreme circumstances.
While their are many things that probably should have been deleted (goats.cx posts comes to mind), It's nice to know that slashdot.org supports the freedom to speak one's mind.
Only 5 eh? .... Does that mean there won't be any beer at the party?
no one could give a single reason other than "everyone else uses Windows
Is it fear of the unknown? Is microsoft like the reassuring parent after they've been told a scary ghost story? I'm still trying to figure that out.
When I look at a computer, I see a box of metal, plastic and electrons. I see mathematic equations and for/next loops. I see something engineered and well planned.
As well, I should. I have a degree in Computer Science. I make my bread and butter off of it.
When the average person sees one, they see something totally different. They see something mysterious and powerful. They see a creature capable of causing havoc and dismay. In most people minds, the only thing keeping this creature from devouring their latest report is the few things they know about it.
Microsoft has nurtured this perception.
That is why business men don't/won't change their OS. They know this demon, and they know how to appease it. Why switch to another when it could be much worse? Harder to appease? More complicated to work with?
IMHO, that is the perception of value.
I don't know what advice to give you. But, I've found that education is usually the best alternative. If that doesn't work, prove them wrong by making at least one box Linux and actually use it then demo it.
I yearn for the days when computers are about as mysterious as cars.
Quite Frankly, I don't see this as a problem. The timing between releases is fine with me. I got a good, long play out of Starcraft from the time it was developed to the time Warcraft 3 came out.
And in all that period of time, it was popular and very well played. You could, at most any time, find bnet loaded with people ready to play. It was relaxing to have a favorite that wasn't just immediately discarded for the "Next Best Thing" like so many other games.
Better get some air brakes installed then.
A college professor once told me that most instructions are written by convicts. As odd as that sounds, this person was pretty credible. And believable too. Have you ever read the instructions that come with some of these things? They are aweful!
Why don't they spend less money trying to _dummy proof_ it and more money paying somebody with a little bit of intelligence to write some decent instructions.
IMHO, I believe you are right. I think this is the way that file sharing will end up going. Exclusive groups doing P2P among a "small" and trusted group.
You can kind of compare it to the way people associate. People who have nothing to contribute are ignored. People who sell lies and false promises are isolated or blackballed. If we don't want to put up with somebody's crap. We stay away from them. Why wouldn't this work with a digital network?
I can count the number of times I've gotten a bad file on one hand because I've chosen to only share files with people I know and trust.
The military have something they call swamp juice. It's made as such:
1. Make strong coffee.
2. Drink.
3. Enjoy.
4. Don't clean out the coffee grinds.
5. Repeat over a number of days.
The resulting liquid is swamp juice. While the taste is questionable, the effect is certainly not.
I once heard of a company that submitted a written proposal to a major restraunt chain. They were competing with a few other companies for the job and had spent some time working on it. Anyways, when they finally met with the restraunt chain about the proposal, the restraunt chain promptly told them to make the proposal thicker. When asked why, they replied because the other proposals were thicker. There was no feedback as to whether the proposal was going to meet their needs or anything like that.
IMHO, We are told that more is better through advertising. And somewhere along the line we believe it.
Sometimes, more is just more.
MS has done this with companies in the United States as well. I work at a non-profit. We have very little funds. And, MS donates a lot of software to our organization. Because, I believe if they didn't we'd look more for open source solutions.
Now, they aren't making a dime off of it in the short run. But, they are keeping employees here well trained in the MS apps.
Either one of the senators flipped out and started beating the others with his mouse.
--OR--
Mix a good little ol' fashioned FUD with some terriorist paranoia, and top with a good healthy portion of stupidity.
This law is clearly unnecessary!
Except, they don't usually meantion specific time either. It's usually "a ways" down the road or if you are lucky enough to get a distance indicator "down yander."
so you spammed a spam map? ;)
Well, the information is the food. Like in the real world, food is abundant and replenishable. You could say that information is the same. Creative people (artist, musicians, etc.) grow the information in much the same way as a farmer.
The thing you have to remember here is that information is only needed once. For example: You only need to download your favorite song once. What good is two copies of the same thing? This works for software too. Why have multiple software that does exactly the same thing? Plus, if information is something that is learnable then once you have learned it, it becauses useless to you. You can't learn it again (barring any mental disorders).
Let's consider the overhunting issue. With so many users sharing information, you won't have to look far to find what you want. Meaning, you will be able to dl everything you want. With such access, you would have a pretty big store of information yourself, just by dl'ing what you look for. So, The more you have the less you will need.
Sure there will always be more stuff to download. But, you would need to download much less once you reach that saturation point.
I think the real point was "Hey, Can I do this? I have the PDA's the math equations and a whole lot willing participants."
Besides, with cell phones, you have to go through all the trouble of calling them. And then you have to talk to them.
This way, you could find that cute chick that won't talk to you, much less give you her number and "accidently" bump into her.
My Curiousity is this: What's the big news? Other gaming systems have been doing this for years. So, now that D&D gets the publicity, it's a big deal?
I certainly agree with the strategy. GM's/DM's/Storyteller's and PC's should all have a choice in the material that they play and the world they play in. That is part of the allure of Roleplaying. Plus, there are a lot of creative people out there that can really contribute that otherwise would never be able to.
Seeing Wizards of the Coast suddenly opening up to players is very refreshing. I really hope this attitude continues.
Agreed, but who's going to train all the Joe Smith's in the world to use all the different platforms?
Hotmail has a few features that can be used to eliminate spam. Namely the Junk Mail and the Filtering options.
Now, they work. (Not always effectively, but they work)
The Junk Mail folder in particularly will grab obvious junk mail and automatically send it to a recycling bin of sorts. So, about 70% of spam you don't even see. Also, if your account gets too large, you just clear that folder out.
Why would Microsoft go through all the trouble of hitting you with more spam that will, in all likelihood never get seen?
It seems to me that M$ is either playing the companies that collect this sort of information, or they are using the profile information for their own twisted means.
FYI, that's not just raliegh either.... Charlotte is one big cluster fuck too.
RealPlayer is like a cockroach. You don't want it on your system and it is a pain to get it out. To say that M$ crippled it is pretty spooky