I'm trying to think of a scenario and -- like you're playing Madden 10 or something and you pop out of it and say "Shit yeah, TD Eagles." Wouldn't it just be easier to use your cell?
I don't Twitter, so I can't be sure, but it may very well be that games will come with the ability to tweet for you when things happen in them (the TD situation you mentioned, gaining a level in an RPG, even getting an achievement).
Would it not be feasible to return a string of text along the lines of "This competition has been closed, and results are no longer available. Please visit our current RSS link to the current competition at ?"
I know that it will still be a hit, but a lightweight one, and more polite than a 404.
Hmm, seems I have to partially retract that:
http://forums.gametrailers.com/showthread.php?t=534717
Obviously there are VGA cables from third parties in the market. But everything I find on short notice says digital is encrypted.
Strange. What I was able to find indicated that at worst it was a framerate selection issue.
A quick Google search shows that the PS3, for instance, won't work with the Samsung at all (encrypted HDMI output).
Perhaps my Google-fu is weak here, but I tried several combinations of Playstation 3, PS3, Samsung television, HDMI, and encrypted, and could find nothing on what you've mentioned. I'm planning on finally breaking down and buying a PS3, and will be hooking it up to a Samsung HD tv. This is concerning information, can you cite your source?
I'm usually fairly Google-riffic, but can't seem to find anything.
Interestingly enough, this is not the first I've heard of this. I work with several Large Government Agencies(tm), and there has been quite a bit of conversation in our sponsor Agency about how we would handle a pandemic with our hosted systems.
Oddly, they don't want to shell out $$ to have people work at home, but they feel that letting them take training (online courses in the Agency LMS) is the right way to go.
I'm not sure how I feel about that. "We won't pay you people to sit home and work, but we WILL pay you to sit at home and take our Ethics course."
I was a paying user of Smoothwall, and the founder was still a total douchebag to me. I was reselling the product to some clients, having had such a good experience with the product in house (my small company of 6 people). There was quite a bit of angst trying to get him to take care of some relatively simple things in the ordering chain...like provide an actual physical product to the client.
Yes, I know it was downloadable. Yes, I know the point of open source/pseudo open source software. But if you're selling a *product*, at least *try* to act like you're an actual fulfillment channel.
I think what he was referring to here about HLL, OO, and the other technologies you cite is that, at their time of inception, they were considered THE "silver bullet".
Think back to when all your examples were first introduced. They were touted as the fix-all. After the market hype died down, technical folks were able to sort the wheat from the chaff and figure out just WHERE in their processes these new technologies could fit (if at all!).
It was only after this point in the "solution lifecycle" that the tech became indispensible, because it FINALLY was just used to do what it was good for, not everything management and vendors billed it as.
Actually, there are S-video switchboxes. You can get them from Best Buy definately (as that's where I got mine).
This one is 90 bucks, but I got a cheaper one for about 30 bucks or so, and mine works very well sharing the S-video between my PS2, 'Cube, and DVD player.
I do quite a bit of business travelling. When I fly, if I show our TSA overlords a GameBoy SP, they understand. If I pull a PS2/GCN out of my bag, they aren't so happy. And I can't check them, because:
A) Hamfisted baggage handlers
B) I don't check baggage in the first place
If I'm driving to my destination, and only staying for 2-3 days, it's also not worth lugging my console only to have to hook it up with the craptacular UHF box, since hotel TVs won't let me use composite inputs.
Unfortunately, that's not going to give you the ability to appreciate the show. The first season, the entire cast was getting their legs and learning to work together. Ergo, the show was craptacular.
The big draw of the show after season 2 was that the quirky humor started to gel, and the actors really got more into their roles. We actually started to care about them.
Really, the first three eps are not the best way to get into Farscape. You'd be better downloading the "Best of" season n material.
I've had much the same experience with Tek here in Maryland. They hired me fresh out of school when they were still the Maxim Group, and then again after I closed my own company's doors a year ago when they bacame Tek again. Good folks. REALLY take care of the consultants.
So why can't an employee's interaction with the U.S. treasury's Internal Revenue Service end with the withholding from the paycheck? Why do people who earn money in the United States have to file a tax return?
Because if you have other sources of income, or would like to write off a certain portion of expenses not covered in the W-4 form, you have to fill out the tax forms. If not, that's why the IR invented the one page 1040EZ.
I play games on both my PC and PS2. That being said...
But they are often only attracted by the entry-level price of consoles
No, I'm attracted to games I can get only on one or the other. Square doesn't release the FFs on PC (reliably, witness the craptastic FF VII port). Same thing as to Kingdom Hearts, Dark Cloud 2,.hack, etc. (Yes, I'm generally an RPGer. I'm not twitchy enough for FPSs most of the time, but I do enjoy RTSs. On my PC.)
and don't have the dedication that a real PC gamer has
Right. And by dedication, you mean the desire to find exactly the right patch for DirectX, the video mode tweaks that have to be made for each and every game, the patches that need to be downloaded because "Hey, we're releasing on the PC! Damn Q/A for the first round, we have to release NOW! Let the players be our beta testers!"? Just to be able to reliably fire up my copy of a game because I have a few hours during which I'd like to unwind?
Right. That's not my idea of relaxing.
Of course, the counter argument is that certain game genres are made for a mouse/keyboard type unit. Imagine Starcraft without a mouse, hot keys, or anything else that even hopes to allow you to manage your units.
And tell that to the professors teaching classes that require use of Microsoft programs (Visual Studio, Access, Excel, etc) that they have to rewrite their curriculum and learn to use and teach new software on a new OS.
Most professors not in CS are technophobes, or at least, not as comfortable with the machines they use to teach to renovate their entire set of courseware.
It does, however, have some interesting corrolaries. If you plan to sue (or have someone sue, or some such) Google for caching your site, what do you plan to do about every single person who ever visited your site having a copy of what they viewed in their cache?
In Japan you can take classes on smiling. The theory is: if you force yourself to smile even when you aren't happy, the positive emotions will kick in later.
I worry about playing negative characters for the same reason. When truly embracing the character of a game (and play it for hours!), why wouldn't we expect it to carve neural pathways. It might guide our actions only subtlely in day-to-day life, but isn't that a bit disturbing, regardless?
Actually, this is because of a physiological phenomenon. The feeling in your face you get from your "smile muscles" is associated subconsciously with being happy. When you force your muscles into this configuration without that emotion, you subconsciously recall this feeling of happiness and it effects your present mood. Nothing too sinister about that.
Which is why sites like metacritic.com come in handy. It aggregates the scores of all reviews found for the game. It's interesting to see a game that garners a perfect 100 from a place like IGN that also gets a 60 from some indie mag.
When this happens, we can assume that the attacking armies are not always successful, and that the remaining armies the attacker possesses are not sufficient to take ALL the opposing player's land.
At this point, any reinforcements the defending player (a minimum of 5, IIRC, but don't quote me) can be piled into one of the second player's countries to spread mass destruction against the (now) lightly defended first player's territories.
Because the defacto IP rights are the contractor's, unless specifically stated in the contract. If he did "work-for-hire" (IC work, as stated), it's his IP unless they contract states otherwise.
Of course, this is the de facto rule. Every place I've read that also says something to the effect of "Don't chance this on the courts. Even though it's yours, SPECIFY it's yours in the contract."
And I think far too many people are unwilling to do this because they are under the mistaken belief that whatever they studied in college is a ticket to employment success.
The technical name for this is cognitive dissonance. It's when you make a decision on something based on how you want it to be, because the truth would make other choices you made seem foolish.
Slashdot Mirror
I'm trying to think of a scenario and -- like you're playing Madden 10 or something and you pop out of it and say "Shit yeah, TD Eagles." Wouldn't it just be easier to use your cell?
I don't Twitter, so I can't be sure, but it may very well be that games will come with the ability to tweet for you when things happen in them (the TD situation you mentioned, gaining a level in an RPG, even getting an achievement).
It's an RPG trope: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GameplayAndStorySegregation
Would it not be feasible to return a string of text along the lines of "This competition has been closed, and results are no longer available. Please visit our current RSS link to the current competition at ?"
I know that it will still be a hit, but a lightweight one, and more polite than a 404.
Hmm, seems I have to partially retract that: http://forums.gametrailers.com/showthread.php?t=534717 Obviously there are VGA cables from third parties in the market. But everything I find on short notice says digital is encrypted.
Strange. What I was able to find indicated that at worst it was a framerate selection issue.
http://www.fixya.com/support/t242728-samsung_lcd_tv_ps3
This guy said he had no problem other than a dodgy cable.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=719259
Not trying to break your stones, just looking into it since my purchase is pending soonest.
A quick Google search shows that the PS3, for instance, won't work with the Samsung at all (encrypted HDMI output).
Perhaps my Google-fu is weak here, but I tried several combinations of Playstation 3, PS3, Samsung television, HDMI, and encrypted, and could find nothing on what you've mentioned. I'm planning on finally breaking down and buying a PS3, and will be hooking it up to a Samsung HD tv. This is concerning information, can you cite your source?
I'm usually fairly Google-riffic, but can't seem to find anything.
Interestingly enough, this is not the first I've heard of this. I work with several Large Government Agencies(tm), and there has been quite a bit of conversation in our sponsor Agency about how we would handle a pandemic with our hosted systems.
Oddly, they don't want to shell out $$ to have people work at home, but they feel that letting them take training (online courses in the Agency LMS) is the right way to go.
I'm not sure how I feel about that. "We won't pay you people to sit home and work, but we WILL pay you to sit at home and take our Ethics course."
I'll second that.
I was a paying user of Smoothwall, and the founder was still a total douchebag to me. I was reselling the product to some clients, having had such a good experience with the product in house (my small company of 6 people). There was quite a bit of angst trying to get him to take care of some relatively simple things in the ordering chain...like provide an actual physical product to the client.
Yes, I know it was downloadable. Yes, I know the point of open source/pseudo open source software. But if you're selling a *product*, at least *try* to act like you're an actual fulfillment channel.
Nice product, utter a-hole of a founder.
I think what he was referring to here about HLL, OO, and the other technologies you cite is that, at their time of inception, they were considered THE "silver bullet".
Think back to when all your examples were first introduced. They were touted as the fix-all. After the market hype died down, technical folks were able to sort the wheat from the chaff and figure out just WHERE in their processes these new technologies could fit (if at all!).
It was only after this point in the "solution lifecycle" that the tech became indispensible, because it FINALLY was just used to do what it was good for, not everything management and vendors billed it as.
However, part of the deal was that Universal couldn't create a TV series from the movie within X number of years (where X is undisclosed).
Actually, X=10, according to a Q&A session with Jewel Staite (who playes the engineer, Kaylee, on the show).
Actually, there are S-video switchboxes. You can get them from Best Buy definately (as that's where I got mine).
This one is 90 bucks, but I got a cheaper one for about 30 bucks or so, and mine works very well sharing the S-video between my PS2, 'Cube, and DVD player.
I'll have to disagree as well.
I do quite a bit of business travelling. When I fly, if I show our TSA overlords a GameBoy SP, they understand. If I pull a PS2/GCN out of my bag, they aren't so happy. And I can't check them, because:
A) Hamfisted baggage handlers
B) I don't check baggage in the first place
If I'm driving to my destination, and only staying for 2-3 days, it's also not worth lugging my console only to have to hook it up with the craptacular UHF box, since hotel TVs won't let me use composite inputs.
Unfortunately, that's not going to give you the ability to appreciate the show. The first season, the entire cast was getting their legs and learning to work together. Ergo, the show was craptacular. The big draw of the show after season 2 was that the quirky humor started to gel, and the actors really got more into their roles. We actually started to care about them. Really, the first three eps are not the best way to get into Farscape. You'd be better downloading the "Best of" season n material.
moral of the story: DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES INSTALL A MS BETA PRODUCT ON A LIVE MACHINE! ;)
Er, perhaps one should question the wisdom of installing ANY beta operating system on a live machine.
That is why they call them betas.
I've had much the same experience with Tek here in Maryland. They hired me fresh out of school when they were still the Maxim Group, and then again after I closed my own company's doors a year ago when they bacame Tek again. Good folks. REALLY take care of the consultants.
So why can't an employee's interaction with the U.S. treasury's Internal Revenue Service end with the withholding from the paycheck? Why do people who earn money in the United States have to file a tax return?
Because if you have other sources of income, or would like to write off a certain portion of expenses not covered in the W-4 form, you have to fill out the tax forms. If not, that's why the IR invented the one page 1040EZ.
I play games on both my PC and PS2. That being said...
.hack, etc. (Yes, I'm generally an RPGer. I'm not twitchy enough for FPSs most of the time, but I do enjoy RTSs. On my PC.)
But they are often only attracted by the entry-level price of consoles
No, I'm attracted to games I can get only on one or the other. Square doesn't release the FFs on PC (reliably, witness the craptastic FF VII port). Same thing as to Kingdom Hearts, Dark Cloud 2,
and don't have the dedication that a real PC gamer has
Right. And by dedication, you mean the desire to find exactly the right patch for DirectX, the video mode tweaks that have to be made for each and every game, the patches that need to be downloaded because "Hey, we're releasing on the PC! Damn Q/A for the first round, we have to release NOW! Let the players be our beta testers!"? Just to be able to reliably fire up my copy of a game because I have a few hours during which I'd like to unwind?
Right. That's not my idea of relaxing.
Of course, the counter argument is that certain game genres are made for a mouse/keyboard type unit. Imagine Starcraft without a mouse, hot keys, or anything else that even hopes to allow you to manage your units.
Right.
And tell that to the professors teaching classes that require use of Microsoft programs (Visual Studio, Access, Excel, etc) that they have to rewrite their curriculum and learn to use and teach new software on a new OS.
Most professors not in CS are technophobes, or at least, not as comfortable with the machines they use to teach to renovate their entire set of courseware.
jack-off-all-tech-trades
I'm obviously in the wrong industry.
Interesting point.
It does, however, have some interesting corrolaries. If you plan to sue (or have someone sue, or some such) Google for caching your site, what do you plan to do about every single person who ever visited your site having a copy of what they viewed in their cache?
That's a lot of lawsuits.
In Japan you can take classes on smiling. The theory is: if you force yourself to smile even when you aren't happy, the positive emotions will kick in later.
I worry about playing negative characters for the same reason. When truly embracing the character of a game (and play it for hours!), why wouldn't we expect it to carve neural pathways. It might guide our actions only subtlely in day-to-day life, but isn't that a bit disturbing, regardless?
Actually, this is because of a physiological phenomenon. The feeling in your face you get from your "smile muscles" is associated subconsciously with being happy. When you force your muscles into this configuration without that emotion, you subconsciously recall this feeling of happiness and it effects your present mood. Nothing too sinister about that.
Which is why sites like metacritic.com come in handy. It aggregates the scores of all reviews found for the game. It's interesting to see a game that garners a perfect 100 from a place like IGN that also gets a 60 from some indie mag.
Interesting, but not necessarily correct.
When this happens, we can assume that the attacking armies are not always successful, and that the remaining armies the attacker possesses are not sufficient to take ALL the opposing player's land.
At this point, any reinforcements the defending player (a minimum of 5, IIRC, but don't quote me) can be piled into one of the second player's countries to spread mass destruction against the (now) lightly defended first player's territories.
Spamgourmet.com is also an excellent approach. Automatically thrown away forwarded emails, refillable quotas, rewritten reply headers.
Because the defacto IP rights are the contractor's, unless specifically stated in the contract. If he did "work-for-hire" (IC work, as stated), it's his IP unless they contract states otherwise.
Of course, this is the de facto rule. Every place I've read that also says something to the effect of "Don't chance this on the courts. Even though it's yours, SPECIFY it's yours in the contract."
But he has at least SOME leg to stand on.
And I think far too many people are unwilling to do this because they are under the mistaken belief that whatever they studied in college is a ticket to employment success.
The technical name for this is cognitive dissonance. It's when you make a decision on something based on how you want it to be, because the truth would make other choices you made seem foolish.