ROFL. So you're the expert on all things academic? Oh please. The fact you had to resort to a trite little cheap shot, instead of a constructing a reasoned response, speaks volumes about your so-called academic expertise.
Do you even know what the acronym PhD stands for? Philosophiae Doctor (doctor of philosophy). Yeah, philosophy has nothing to do with academics. LOL.
"Philosophy isn't something you write about, its something you experience. If you need to read philosophy, you're missing the whole point."
Utter nonsense. Actually you're missing the whole point as you're obviously of the philosophy as "touchy-feely goobley gook" mindset, and I doubt ever took a single real course in the discipline. Have your read "Being and Time" by Heidegger, "Genealogy of Morals" by Nietzche, or say "Critique of Pure Reason" by Kant? Obviously not.
"If you need to write about philosophy, you just like to stroke your own ego."
More nonsense. Would you say this about someone publishing a math theorem, an archaeological discovery, or say some new genetic sequence? I doubt it. Why is writing about philosophy (as academic field, like epistemology and phenomenology, not the meditative pop culture bullsh*t you're talking about) any different? And don't forget most early philosophers like the Greeks were also scientists, mathematicians, political theorists, and they even took the first shot at what we would call psychology. But I guess their work was just stroking their egos too? Whatever.
Actually I've been a successful developer (mainly in the financial & civil engineering industries, not gaming) for 12+ years and have a Liberal Arts background; a BS in philosophy/psychology. And yes, I also enjoy the hard sciences and math, not all L.A. majors disdain the sciences as many people assume.
I taught myself enough coding and sql to get an entry level job years ago, worked my butt off, and have done just fine. I actually consider -- as have many of my managers -- my degree an asset. I have solid logical and analytical skills, much of which I attribute to my college studies. I also communicate significantly better than many of my counterparts -- that can be rather valuable when trying to confer ideas in a meeting or writing technical specs or a design doc.
A lot of people mistake philosophy for 'comtemplating you navel', but a lot of branches of the field required some heady thinking -- try really getting your mind around people like Kant, Heidegger & Nietzche and you'll understand my point. There are a lot of abstract, multi-faceted, complex ideas in their work. Believe it or not, a lot of that kind of thinking can translate nicely into the IT industry.
You forgot a major player, Sony -- you know, as in EverQuest I & II:) And also Mythic, who make Dark Age of Camelot.
Check out the listings on mmorpg.com, there's still a lot of competing publishers out there; some larger than others, but it's not as narrow a field (yet) as you may think.
"'It makes people feel more comfortable to think that obesity stems from lack of control'"
Huh? Since when?
If anything, it makes people more comfortable to think obsesity is NOT about self-control, but instead it's bad genes, some defect in their metabolism, they're "big boned" , and now there's a virus to blame.
Like others have posted, it's simple, if calories burned < calories taken in then you put on weight, duh. Even if your metabolism is slower than most people -- then guess what, you need to eat less than most people. Life didn't give us all the metabolism of a humming bird, so deal with it. I put on weight after my 20s because I starting sitting around more, exercising a bit less, and probably eating out more. Guess what, that's my fault, period.
People want to eat like crap, and piles of it to boot, sit on their duffs all week, and then expect look like some guy/girl from a Calvin Klein ad? Please...
"This demonstrates so clearly that Gates' supposedly charitable work is nothing but a PR exercise."
Really? Guess the $900 million he pledged just today to help fight TB was just play money? Look -- you can love or hate Bill, I really don't care, but maybe if you bothered to realize people are complex -- not all good, not all bad -- you MIGHT avoid such a ignorant, unsupported, knee-jerk remarks.
The guy has done some serious good in the world with his money, regardless of your hate for Microsoft or his approach to business;
$5 Billion to World Health Org
$100 million to help fight AIDS
$750 million to the Vaccine Fund
Though are REAL dollars, it's one helluva PR bill if that's all you think it is. According to Wikipedia, the Gates Foundation is the largest charitable organization in the world today -- with a trust set up to donate $1 BILLION anually. I'm guessing you probably haven't even given $50 to a single charity lately...
Criticize him for his monopolistic tendencies or business practices, but give credit where it's due.
The short answer is yes; though it wasn't so much pain as it seemed to annoy them.
They tried to do it with some animatronics at first (kind of a rockem sockem robot), but it was a bit bulky, slow and awkward.
Ultimately (Jamie?) went down in a chainmail suit with another guy experienced diving with sharks. They had bait with them, and when the sharks got close enough he'd bop it in the head/nose. The response wasn't dramatic, but it did seem to discourage them at least somewhat.
So I think their conclusion was that it's "plausible", and if a shark were to bite you, it's certainly not a bad idea to hit it hard in the nose if you're able.
"Schools should teach what the majority of people in the district want taught"
Great, another "majority rules, period!" type. You need to read the Constitution closely and pay attention to the provisions in there to protect rights of people from tyranny of the majority, esp. when the majority are wrong. If we only went with majority rules, blacks and women wouldn't have ever gotten to vote, every group that's in or been in the minority would be persecuted, etc. Man... I don't even have the time to explain how basic a concept this is.
"There should be freedom to discuss anything in the classroom"
Um, if you're teaching SCIENCE, then things need to pass the mustard when it comes to scientific method, again -- I hope you understand at least understand what that is. Creationism is not a scientific concept; it defies the laws of physics, chemistry, biology, even plain ol' common sense.
"Prove to me there is no God"
You can't prove a negative. How about you prove there IS a god -- show me a quantified, repeatable test, b/c there isn't one. What you have is the personal, subjective interpretation of phenomena that you label 'god'. Period.
Prove to me there isn't a little red dragon sitting on my shoulder talking to me and telling me what to do. Oh, by the way, he's invisible and only I can see him, he has no mass, no weight, and only talks to me. You can't disprove that, so I guess my dragon-god must exist then? Woot!
"People have believed in God since the start of time"
SOME people have believed in gods for some time, but there's been a lot of gods -- can you tell me for sure Odin isn't the THE god, or Osiris, or Vishnu, of course you can't. People also believed the earth was flat, or only a few thousand years old, they thought the sun resolved around us, etc -- science has showed that to be incorrect. As people continue to evolve and learn, more and more people are giving up theistic illusions.
I couldn't help but reply to this post, I'm kind of hoping it's just a troll -- because if this is real post then I'm seriously embarrassed for you.
Re:Stats Don't Lie! Java OWNS the current market!
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Java Is So 90s
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Well I'm in San Diego, and what I've seen is an absolute ton of.NET/C# jobs. During my last job hunt this September, I landed a gig in less than a week as a C#/.NET guy having had 2-3 interviews a day -- talk about tiring:) Could've been even quicker but I needed to check out my options.
This isn't bragging -- it's the market here -- but frequently I would literally get an offer on my cell as I was driving home from a just-finished interview. So I was fortunately able to be fairly picky. Even though I de-activated all my search bots/resumes, I still get about 5-6 emails a week.
Stats are easily misconstrued, so perhaps Java is doing well in SoCal - and I hope it is, but.NET work is definitely more than plentiful here, but I think your "OWNS" statement is more fanboi-ism than factual.
Honestly, I won't miss it. The Star Wars of 1977 I remember, (but hell -- it isn't even available for viewing anymore), was worthy of fond memories. Empire rocks, and Jedi well... the ewoks foreshadowed the horrors to come, can you say Jar-Jar?
But imo, Lucas' greed killed it and for me turned it into a joke. He has to be the biggest marketing whore of the past few decades.
How many frickin re-releases and rebrandings can make, repackage and resell. And it was clear he was more and more writing soley so he can market more pointless, useless crap off on kids, and adults apparently.
I think it could have been a a true classic 6-pack if he didn't cheapen it down so much -- like the last movie, the Burger King dude and Darth Vader, Vader selling M&Ms, ad naseum, I mean c'mon.
I didn't even see the last film. Sure, I heard the effects were great etc etc -- but between the franchise become a joke, the marketing, and his horrific writing that I could no longer overlook, I really didn't have the heart to see it sadly. Sigh...
Among tech/geek crowds, MAYBE that's true, but you should probably find some data to back up your statement -- don't pass off opinion as fact.
I am a gamer, and will vote with my wallet, no way in hell will I pay for a game to be spammed with RL ads; fake ads where it fits, fine, but that's all.
" level 60's killing the same stuff over and over for hours."
Duh... it's a mmorpg, it's what you do -- ever played one?
People farm to make money for alts (alternative non-main characters), to try to get some even better items, crafting materials to make items to sell in the games auction house, etc. There's a ton of reasons, but people make whatever assumptions they choose.
I play WoW and I think the whole Chinese farmer thing is a load of bullsh*t (racist, nationalistic who knows, but it's crap). There's probably some as there is in ANY mmorpg -- though I doubt they're all Chinese, but I just love how people say it's "well known" or "common knowledge" that there's some huge Chinese farmer movement:)
How are people supporting these claims, are they able to track where they're playing from, do they have a webcam on them, and they being WoW nannies and following them around to monitor how they play? Gimme a break.
Exactly iONiUM, I'm dumbfounded the anon poster thought me telling someone to get a life, is a bad thing... sounds like he's a slacker too, and clearly defensive about it.
Sad thing is, his mom's a widow, working her butt off in a restaurant, and is near retirement age -- while he's being a loser, a slacker. At a minimum he should pay her rent and help her out, but does none of that.
She's done too much for him already, he needs to say hello to the real world, be a man, act like an adult, get a job or degree, and take some friggin responsibility for himself
"MMORPGs are so different from other games, infact, we can hardly call them games."
Nope, the 'G' in MMORPG stands for Game, it's still a game, it's one genre like RTS, FPSs, etc, but a game nontheless.
"to play an MMORPG properly a person has to DEDICATE a LOT more time. He is not ADDICTED to the game, he is simply PLAYING a LOT of the game... because thats how they are designed."
'has to DEDICATE? It's a choice, you don't HAVE to do diddly. Like I said, I've played plenty of mmorpgs, and I utterly disagree. If feel you feel like you have to, then it's a compulsion, hence, addiction.
"On the other hand, a guy who is playing CountStrike 10+ hours is ADDICTED because a CS match lasts 5-15 mins max... in other words, the game has the OPTION to quit."
The distance to the carrot that's dangling in front of you is irrelevant, be it 15 min or 3 hours. You have the option to quit ANY game from any genre, if you think quitting isn't an option, that right there IS addiction my friend. You can quit you mmorpg session any time you please.
"Once you reach high level in an MMORPG, and start facing epic monsters, PvP, etc... even a single raid can EASILY take 4+hours... so, you are REQUIRED to spend that much time. Its part of the game."
Again you say "REQUIRED" -- by what, your own compulsion? You aren't required to do do a raid or play for 4 hours, I've done raids, it was my choice, generally I don't bother b/c they do take too much time to complete - it's a game design flaw imo, one I choose to ignore, 'required 'doesn't fit into the equation, unless you choose to put it there.
"A person who plays Counterstrike 10 hours a day is ADDICTED to the game. A person who plays MMORPG 10 hours a day, is simply leading a different lifestyle. As bizarre as it may sound... it is true."
If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...
I have no idea how you can say playing CS 10 hrs/day is addiction, but playing a mmorpg for the same is a lifestyle. Semantic nonsense, I'm sorry. 50 hrs/week of gaming period (FPS, RTS, MMORPG) sounds like addiction to me, that's a freakin f/t job with overtime for pete's sake.
I'm a mmorpg player as well, but I would NEVER call it a lifestyle, it's entertainment, that's it. If it's a lifestyle, then it's a sad one.
Reminds me of Dan from the show Night Court who during a fit of self-loathing said "I don't have a life... I have a lifestyle."
... when they hear the word 'addict'. Instead they like to use the terms 'harcore' (no, not pr0n) or 'serious' in a positive way, like it's a some kind of badge of honor.
Go read any of the BBs out there for mmorpgs, some people call 30 hours/wk 'casual' -- that's pretty much a job. They will adamantly talk about how I'm not an addict, I have a life, a job, etc. Well, so do lots of gambling addicts and alchoholic, doesn't mean a thing. Plus they are often posting to the boards that are filled with fellow junkies, looking for reinforcement of their behavior. And there's a lot of the 'well I only play 30 hrs, so and so plays 40, he/she is clearly out of control, but I'm fine'
I am a mmorpg player. I've played a ton of the d*mn things (EQ, AO, DAoC, CoH, WoW) they can suck up all your time, cut into sleep, etc etc. Luckily, with each new one I've played I found I quit them sooner and sooner and get bored more easily. Nonetheless, I still play them WAY more than I should, they are clearly unproductive timesinks, nothing more. Yes, I've had fun and met some cool people - but mmorpgs can get in the way of more important things for sure.
Some people though, live in these things. Sad but true story - there's a friend's friend who has been playing EverCrack ever since it came out like 5(?) years ago. He's late 30s lives with his mom, has no job, and plays EQ like 8-10 hours a day. He threatens to go back to get his college degree every now and again, takes one or two classes here or there - but usually has some excuse on why he can't finish, goes back to playing f/t and just lives off his mom (who should clearly kiss his a*s out, but that's another story...)
While his story might be a bit more extreme than most, I don't think his is unique.
I don't know if it's the people managing the projects (I'm a developer, most of my experience is in the financial & mutual fund industry) -- but in the two places I've worked that were into XP, things always went late, over budget and the apps tended to have a lot of bugs or needed reworking.
My biggest issue was not having well-defined user specs and documentation to work from. As much as I consider myself a generally bright person, and a decent listener - I felt like I was often having to interpret and 'guess-timate' a lot. And it's frustrating for a team to be in the hotseat when there's no document saying 'it says right here, you promised X by date Y.' It seems too loosey-goosey imo.
Now granted, I'm not 'up' on XP, I'm only commenting on my experience with orgs that claimed to be implementing it -- perhaps their way of doing XP was flawed. But for all the talk about rapid development and the sort of hip mystique around it, I didn't find it be a time or money saver.
I think traditional 4 stage life cycle development tends to work in my exp. Perhaps it's because I've been involved in larger financial apps w/ lots of business rules/reqs, where you just can't afford f-ups, people get understandably upset if you screw with their money.
I'm curious is XP 'sold' as working on large apps, or is it really most suited to smaller projects, and/or minor enhancements to existing applications ?
"Leave the morality lessons to the... priests". ?!?!?!
Buwahahah! Scuse me while I wipe the coffee off my keyboard and monitor...
Did the person saying that bother reading the paper, current events, or oh - follow history, even a little bit? You know, pesky things like the Crusades, the Inquisition, Salem, ad naseum...
Sure there's priests with good intentions, but to leave morality in hands of people who ignore science, the fossil record, the laws of physics, and believe in magic (virgin births, coming back from the dead, walking on water?), and are highly vested in their own organization's power, is folly.
As for people who think morality only stems from religion, esp Christianity -- you need to go back and read the pre-Socratics for starters.
This is not flamebait, I'm being completely serious. I am utterly annoyed with the notion that morality is somehow owned by priests and organized religion, or that it didn't exist before the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity & Islam)
This is not flamebait - seriously Lucas won't get anymore money from me. After the recent last two films, I'm done with him, he takes solid actors and gets the absolute worst from them.
He writes horrible, truly horrible dialog, and I don't even find the plot/storylines that interesting anymore. Rehashed, recycled.
His characters are paper thin cutouts, the recent ones especially. I mean h*ll, I don't rememeber their names, let alone care if they die in the film(s).
Peter Jackson redention of Tolkein on the other hand... now he understands characters - passion, heroism, comraderie, fear, self-doubt, you name it. While his film was a grand epic, visual feast, some of the most memorable moments to me where moments between characters not just the wonderful special effects and battles.
When a dying Boromir calls Aragorn "my brother... my king."
A despairing King Theodan at his only son's burial. And later his dying words to Eowyn about his pride and love for her.
When an exhausted Sam picks up Frodo to carry him the last hundred yards up Mt. Doom
With everyone bowing to him - King Aragorn at his own coronation, bows to the Hobbits, tells them to stand and says "you bow to no one"
Now THOSE are great moments... Lucas is fluff an eye candy, nothing more. I loved Star Wars once, he's since turned into a empty film making, and a marketing tool to sell cheap toys.
I think one issue with people saying I'm a 'good' gamer, is that it can mean vastly different things to different people.
To some, it's being "uber l33t killah doodz", gankers, griefers, pk'ers; which may or may not be a good thing depending on the game. Being good a twitch games (FPS) is just one kind of good.
To others it might be finding and completing every quest/task/mission, or exploring every map/structure, and finding every drop/treasure; regardles of how many monsters/players you kill.
In an RTS, 'good' might be resource management and strategy. To a pure RPG'er it could be great role-playing skills and character development, having a respected guild, etc.
I think it goes back to the socializer-achiever-explorer-killer categories. How you define 'good' will largely be based on how you fit into that.
But even if you say you're 'good' in all the above examples -- one person's 'good' is another person's 'annoying jack a*s' (I'm talking mainly in a multiplayer context). People have different playstyles and goals when they game, so 'good' is highly subjective and relative imo.
I see some huge differences between most of today's games and reading a decent novel or non-fiction work.
Depth. Seriously now, most game plots can be summarized in one paragraph, try doing that with Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum", or from what I've heard "The DaVinci Code" (which sounds to me like a new version of Eco's novel)
Vocabulary. Rarely, if ever, have I seen a game with any words I don't know. I can't honestly say games haven't done a thing to increase my own vocab. Books on the other hand, at least the ones I read, will usually require me to grab my Shorter Oxford or go online to look a word up.
Grammar/Spelling. Go look at your typical bulletin board (I don't count/. as such). People's grammar, punctuation & spelling has gone to hell. My own has certainly declined over the years since leaving college, but some of the spelling I've seen and sentences -- or should I say non-sentences -- are just horrible. I don't think it's just net shorthand, I think people's communications skills really are declining. I think reading less and gaming more could be partly responsible. And yes, I am a huge gamer (FPS, RTS, MMORPGS), but I can admit my mind and communication skills would probably be better served by more reading.
Visualization/Imagination. When the images are spoon fed to you in a game, there's no room for your own mind to construct the image like it does from words on a page. To process words into an image takes a certain amount of brain power, that 'here you go - here's your picture' never will. On the flipside, being able to thoroughly describe something you see in written form can be difficult - I think people write less to, not just read less.
The exception I might make to the above remarks would be module making. I've done some Neverwinter Nights modules - a good one requires the ability to understand basic coding, write good dialog, create a cohesive plot, and learn to tie in various elements (both story and programming objects). Even FPS design requires some thought & planning, map design, etc. I think from that angle, you can learn a lot, but in general I think the quality/depth of most games doesn't match a solid book.
You might be able to say many games ENTERTAIN more than books, but that's not synonymous with EDUCATE.
I'm of the 'work to live' mentality. I like my free time and friends, so I avoid places that are going to ask those kind of hours from me, without seriously offering something in return.
I'll take a f/t perm job if I know the standard week is in the 40-45/hr range, with the occassional crunch. If they are in constant panic mode, and expect a lot of hours all the time, I go contract - that way the extra 20 hours a week ends up in my bank account.
There's pros and cons to contracting, but I often like doing it since companies love to take advantage of the salaried exemption when it comes to hours. At least when contracting, if they need me to work 60 hours, I'm not bitter about it since I'm paid for my time. It's fair to both of us that way.
Like many other geeks, I've dreamt of being a game programmer instead of working more 'boring' companies, in my case, often financial ones. But the reality is, I usually go home at a normal time, my stress is managable -- and if I have to work extra, there's something in it for me.
It's a shame too, I imagine there's a ton of great developers, such as the/. crowd who would make terrific game programmers - but we know better, have lives (and maybe spouses & kids), and just can't tolerate or conceive of endless 80+ hr weeks with little to show for it.
"But the purpose of the criminal justice system is to try and make people comply with the law, not just to punish them for breaking it."
I would contend that's only one purpose, not the ONLY purpose. It's also to project citizens from criminals by keeping them away from the 'law abiding' (I use the term loosely) population. So do we really need and want to clutter jails for 9 years with people like this?
Spamming is bad, we all agree. However, I'm much more concerned about violent criminals (assault, rape, murder) than I am spammers in terms on safety. I mean, even having my car broken into is way more of a pain than deleting a spam, and spamming is in no way, shape or form on par with rape - some rapists get out in 5 years. Please don't tell me any of us suffered the kind of lifelong trauma from some pesky spam than what a women who's been attacked has suffered. [I'm not saying the poster implied this, but some people seem to be loosing perspective]
Yes, I hate spam, I hate spammers, the law was broked - I don't deny that. But from a truly practical standpoint, really, how much of a threat is it compared to more harsh and violent offenders who get the same jail time? Some people already posted some creative punishments for people like this that will leave more room for the more dangerous people out there, while also making this person's life pretty uncomfortable for a while.
I don't think I'm too old (I'm a 30-something) to be interested in new sounds and genres, but man - the stuff out today does nothing for me. I'd say 90%+ of hip-hop/rap is utter garbage, and the alternative stuff isn't all that alternative.
H-H is horrid imo - endless, short, electronic loops of intensely annoying sounds, weak and/or stupid lyrics, bad singing (if they even sing at all), it's overly produced, etc. etc.
Any new CDs I buy now are established artists who've been around for a while and have a new CD out; or I'll just buy some 'classic' stuff.
Once uninventive, regurgitated hip-hop took over, the industry pretty much lost me.
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Do you even know what the acronym PhD stands for? Philosophiae Doctor (doctor of philosophy). Yeah, philosophy has nothing to do with academics. LOL.
Utter nonsense. Actually you're missing the whole point as you're obviously of the philosophy as "touchy-feely goobley gook" mindset, and I doubt ever took a single real course in the discipline. Have your read "Being and Time" by Heidegger, "Genealogy of Morals" by Nietzche, or say "Critique of Pure Reason" by Kant? Obviously not.
"If you need to write about philosophy, you just like to stroke your own ego."
More nonsense. Would you say this about someone publishing a math theorem, an archaeological discovery, or say some new genetic sequence? I doubt it. Why is writing about philosophy (as academic field, like epistemology and phenomenology, not the meditative pop culture bullsh*t you're talking about) any different? And don't forget most early philosophers like the Greeks were also scientists, mathematicians, political theorists, and they even took the first shot at what we would call psychology. But I guess their work was just stroking their egos too? Whatever.
I taught myself enough coding and sql to get an entry level job years ago, worked my butt off, and have done just fine. I actually consider -- as have many of my managers -- my degree an asset. I have solid logical and analytical skills, much of which I attribute to my college studies. I also communicate significantly better than many of my counterparts -- that can be rather valuable when trying to confer ideas in a meeting or writing technical specs or a design doc.
A lot of people mistake philosophy for 'comtemplating you navel', but a lot of branches of the field required some heady thinking -- try really getting your mind around people like Kant, Heidegger & Nietzche and you'll understand my point. There are a lot of abstract, multi-faceted, complex ideas in their work. Believe it or not, a lot of that kind of thinking can translate nicely into the IT industry.
My 2 cents anyway...
Check out the listings on mmorpg.com, there's still a lot of competing publishers out there; some larger than others, but it's not as narrow a field (yet) as you may think.
Huh? Since when?
If anything, it makes people more comfortable to think obsesity is NOT about self-control, but instead it's bad genes, some defect in their metabolism, they're "big boned" , and now there's a virus to blame.
Like others have posted, it's simple, if calories burned < calories taken in then you put on weight, duh. Even if your metabolism is slower than most people -- then guess what, you need to eat less than most people. Life didn't give us all the metabolism of a humming bird, so deal with it. I put on weight after my 20s because I starting sitting around more, exercising a bit less, and probably eating out more. Guess what, that's my fault, period.
People want to eat like crap, and piles of it to boot, sit on their duffs all week, and then expect look like some guy/girl from a Calvin Klein ad? Please...
Does the "it's not my fault" ever friggin' end?
Really? Guess the $900 million he pledged just today to help fight TB was just play money? Look -- you can love or hate Bill, I really don't care, but maybe if you bothered to realize people are complex -- not all good, not all bad -- you MIGHT avoid such a ignorant, unsupported, knee-jerk remarks.
The guy has done some serious good in the world with his money, regardless of your hate for Microsoft or his approach to business;
$5 Billion to World Health Org
$100 million to help fight AIDS
$750 million to the Vaccine Fund
Though are REAL dollars, it's one helluva PR bill if that's all you think it is. According to Wikipedia, the Gates Foundation is the largest charitable organization in the world today -- with a trust set up to donate $1 BILLION anually. I'm guessing you probably haven't even given $50 to a single charity lately...
Criticize him for his monopolistic tendencies or business practices, but give credit where it's due.
They tried to do it with some animatronics at first (kind of a rockem sockem robot), but it was a bit bulky, slow and awkward.
Ultimately (Jamie?) went down in a chainmail suit with another guy experienced diving with sharks. They had bait with them, and when the sharks got close enough he'd bop it in the head/nose. The response wasn't dramatic, but it did seem to discourage them at least somewhat.
So I think their conclusion was that it's "plausible", and if a shark were to bite you, it's certainly not a bad idea to hit it hard in the nose if you're able.
Great, another "majority rules, period!" type. You need to read the Constitution closely and pay attention to the provisions in there to protect rights of people from tyranny of the majority, esp. when the majority are wrong. If we only went with majority rules, blacks and women wouldn't have ever gotten to vote, every group that's in or been in the minority would be persecuted, etc. Man... I don't even have the time to explain how basic a concept this is.
"There should be freedom to discuss anything in the classroom"
Um, if you're teaching SCIENCE, then things need to pass the mustard when it comes to scientific method, again -- I hope you understand at least understand what that is. Creationism is not a scientific concept; it defies the laws of physics, chemistry, biology, even plain ol' common sense.
"Prove to me there is no God"
You can't prove a negative. How about you prove there IS a god -- show me a quantified, repeatable test, b/c there isn't one. What you have is the personal, subjective interpretation of phenomena that you label 'god'. Period.
Prove to me there isn't a little red dragon sitting on my shoulder talking to me and telling me what to do. Oh, by the way, he's invisible and only I can see him, he has no mass, no weight, and only talks to me. You can't disprove that, so I guess my dragon-god must exist then? Woot!
"People have believed in God since the start of time"
SOME people have believed in gods for some time, but there's been a lot of gods -- can you tell me for sure Odin isn't the THE god, or Osiris, or Vishnu, of course you can't. People also believed the earth was flat, or only a few thousand years old, they thought the sun resolved around us, etc -- science has showed that to be incorrect. As people continue to evolve and learn, more and more people are giving up theistic illusions.
I couldn't help but reply to this post, I'm kind of hoping it's just a troll -- because if this is real post then I'm seriously embarrassed for you.
This isn't bragging -- it's the market here -- but frequently I would literally get an offer on my cell as I was driving home from a just-finished interview. So I was fortunately able to be fairly picky. Even though I de-activated all my search bots/resumes, I still get about 5-6 emails a week.
Stats are easily misconstrued, so perhaps Java is doing well in SoCal - and I hope it is, but .NET work is definitely more than plentiful here, but I think your "OWNS" statement is more fanboi-ism than factual.
Honestly, I won't miss it. The Star Wars of 1977 I remember, (but hell -- it isn't even available for viewing anymore), was worthy of fond memories. Empire rocks, and Jedi well... the ewoks foreshadowed the horrors to come, can you say Jar-Jar?
But imo, Lucas' greed killed it and for me turned it into a joke. He has to be the biggest marketing whore of the past few decades.
How many frickin re-releases and rebrandings can make, repackage and resell. And it was clear he was more and more writing soley so he can market more pointless, useless crap off on kids, and adults apparently.
I think it could have been a a true classic 6-pack if he didn't cheapen it down so much -- like the last movie, the Burger King dude and Darth Vader, Vader selling M&Ms, ad naseum, I mean c'mon.
I didn't even see the last film. Sure, I heard the effects were great etc etc -- but between the franchise become a joke, the marketing, and his horrific writing that I could no longer overlook, I really didn't have the heart to see it sadly. Sigh...
I mean seriously, you're so wrong:a tegory=1401&slug=Nielsens%20List
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/tv/aptv_story.asp?c
Among tech/geek crowds, MAYBE that's true, but you should probably find some data to back up your statement -- don't pass off opinion as fact.
I am a gamer, and will vote with my wallet, no way in hell will I pay for a game to be spammed with RL ads; fake ads where it fits, fine, but that's all.
Duh... it's a mmorpg, it's what you do -- ever played one?
People farm to make money for alts (alternative non-main characters), to try to get some even better items, crafting materials to make items to sell in the games auction house, etc. There's a ton of reasons, but people make whatever assumptions they choose.
I play WoW and I think the whole Chinese farmer thing is a load of bullsh*t (racist, nationalistic who knows, but it's crap). There's probably some as there is in ANY mmorpg -- though I doubt they're all Chinese, but I just love how people say it's "well known" or "common knowledge" that there's some huge Chinese farmer movement :)
How are people supporting these claims, are they able to track where they're playing from, do they have a webcam on them, and they being WoW nannies and following them around to monitor how they play? Gimme a break.
Sad thing is, his mom's a widow, working her butt off in a restaurant, and is near retirement age -- while he's being a loser, a slacker. At a minimum he should pay her rent and help her out, but does none of that.
She's done too much for him already, he needs to say hello to the real world, be a man, act like an adult, get a job or degree, and take some friggin responsibility for himself
hehehe... nice catch. I meant to say kick obviously, not kiss. If anything he should kiss her a*s for putting up with his mooching ;-P
Nope, the 'G' in MMORPG stands for Game, it's still a game, it's one genre like RTS, FPSs, etc, but a game nontheless.
"to play an MMORPG properly a person has to DEDICATE a LOT more time. He is not ADDICTED to the game, he is simply PLAYING a LOT of the game... because thats how they are designed."
'has to DEDICATE? It's a choice, you don't HAVE to do diddly. Like I said, I've played plenty of mmorpgs, and I utterly disagree. If feel you feel like you have to, then it's a compulsion, hence, addiction.
"On the other hand, a guy who is playing CountStrike 10+ hours is ADDICTED because a CS match lasts 5-15 mins max... in other words, the game has the OPTION to quit."
The distance to the carrot that's dangling in front of you is irrelevant, be it 15 min or 3 hours. You have the option to quit ANY game from any genre, if you think quitting isn't an option, that right there IS addiction my friend. You can quit you mmorpg session any time you please.
"Once you reach high level in an MMORPG, and start facing epic monsters, PvP, etc... even a single raid can EASILY take 4+hours... so, you are REQUIRED to spend that much time. Its part of the game."
Again you say "REQUIRED" -- by what, your own compulsion? You aren't required to do do a raid or play for 4 hours, I've done raids, it was my choice, generally I don't bother b/c they do take too much time to complete - it's a game design flaw imo, one I choose to ignore, 'required 'doesn't fit into the equation, unless you choose to put it there.
If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...
I have no idea how you can say playing CS 10 hrs/day is addiction, but playing a mmorpg for the same is a lifestyle. Semantic nonsense, I'm sorry. 50 hrs/week of gaming period (FPS, RTS, MMORPG) sounds like addiction to me, that's a freakin f/t job with overtime for pete's sake.
I'm a mmorpg player as well, but I would NEVER call it a lifestyle, it's entertainment, that's it. If it's a lifestyle, then it's a sad one.
Reminds me of Dan from the show Night Court who during a fit of self-loathing said "I don't have a life... I have a lifestyle."
Go read any of the BBs out there for mmorpgs, some people call 30 hours/wk 'casual' -- that's pretty much a job. They will adamantly talk about how I'm not an addict, I have a life, a job, etc. Well, so do lots of gambling addicts and alchoholic, doesn't mean a thing. Plus they are often posting to the boards that are filled with fellow junkies, looking for reinforcement of their behavior. And there's a lot of the 'well I only play 30 hrs, so and so plays 40, he/she is clearly out of control, but I'm fine'
I am a mmorpg player. I've played a ton of the d*mn things (EQ, AO, DAoC, CoH, WoW) they can suck up all your time, cut into sleep, etc etc. Luckily, with each new one I've played I found I quit them sooner and sooner and get bored more easily. Nonetheless, I still play them WAY more than I should, they are clearly unproductive timesinks, nothing more. Yes, I've had fun and met some cool people - but mmorpgs can get in the way of more important things for sure.
Some people though, live in these things. Sad but true story - there's a friend's friend who has been playing EverCrack ever since it came out like 5(?) years ago. He's late 30s lives with his mom, has no job, and plays EQ like 8-10 hours a day. He threatens to go back to get his college degree every now and again, takes one or two classes here or there - but usually has some excuse on why he can't finish, goes back to playing f/t and just lives off his mom (who should clearly kiss his a*s out, but that's another story...)
While his story might be a bit more extreme than most, I don't think his is unique.
My biggest issue was not having well-defined user specs and documentation to work from. As much as I consider myself a generally bright person, and a decent listener - I felt like I was often having to interpret and 'guess-timate' a lot. And it's frustrating for a team to be in the hotseat when there's no document saying 'it says right here, you promised X by date Y.' It seems too loosey-goosey imo.
Now granted, I'm not 'up' on XP, I'm only commenting on my experience with orgs that claimed to be implementing it -- perhaps their way of doing XP was flawed. But for all the talk about rapid development and the sort of hip mystique around it, I didn't find it be a time or money saver.
I think traditional 4 stage life cycle development tends to work in my exp. Perhaps it's because I've been involved in larger financial apps w/ lots of business rules/reqs, where you just can't afford f-ups, people get understandably upset if you screw with their money.
I'm curious is XP 'sold' as working on large apps, or is it really most suited to smaller projects, and/or minor enhancements to existing applications ?
Buwahahah! Scuse me while I wipe the coffee off my keyboard and monitor... Did the person saying that bother reading the paper, current events, or oh - follow history, even a little bit? You know, pesky things like the Crusades, the Inquisition, Salem, ad naseum... Sure there's priests with good intentions, but to leave morality in hands of people who ignore science, the fossil record, the laws of physics, and believe in magic (virgin births, coming back from the dead, walking on water?), and are highly vested in their own organization's power, is folly.
As for people who think morality only stems from religion, esp Christianity -- you need to go back and read the pre-Socratics for starters.
This is not flamebait, I'm being completely serious. I am utterly annoyed with the notion that morality is somehow owned by priests and organized religion, or that it didn't exist before the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity & Islam)
He writes horrible, truly horrible dialog, and I don't even find the plot/storylines that interesting anymore. Rehashed, recycled.
His characters are paper thin cutouts, the recent ones especially. I mean h*ll, I don't rememeber their names, let alone care if they die in the film(s).
Peter Jackson redention of Tolkein on the other hand... now he understands characters - passion, heroism, comraderie, fear, self-doubt, you name it. While his film was a grand epic, visual feast, some of the most memorable moments to me where moments between characters not just the wonderful special effects and battles.
Now THOSE are great moments... Lucas is fluff an eye candy, nothing more. I loved Star Wars once, he's since turned into a empty film making, and a marketing tool to sell cheap toys.
To some, it's being "uber l33t killah doodz", gankers, griefers, pk'ers; which may or may not be a good thing depending on the game. Being good a twitch games (FPS) is just one kind of good.
To others it might be finding and completing every quest/task/mission, or exploring every map/structure, and finding every drop/treasure; regardles of how many monsters/players you kill.
In an RTS, 'good' might be resource management and strategy. To a pure RPG'er it could be great role-playing skills and character development, having a respected guild, etc.
I think it goes back to the socializer-achiever-explorer-killer categories. How you define 'good' will largely be based on how you fit into that.
But even if you say you're 'good' in all the above examples -- one person's 'good' is another person's 'annoying jack a*s' (I'm talking mainly in a multiplayer context). People have different playstyles and goals when they game, so 'good' is highly subjective and relative imo.
Depth. Seriously now, most game plots can be summarized in one paragraph, try doing that with Umberto Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum", or from what I've heard "The DaVinci Code" (which sounds to me like a new version of Eco's novel)
Vocabulary. Rarely, if ever, have I seen a game with any words I don't know. I can't honestly say games haven't done a thing to increase my own vocab. Books on the other hand, at least the ones I read, will usually require me to grab my Shorter Oxford or go online to look a word up.
Grammar/Spelling. Go look at your typical bulletin board (I don't count /. as such). People's grammar, punctuation & spelling has gone to hell. My own has certainly declined over the years since leaving college, but some of the spelling I've seen and sentences -- or should I say non-sentences -- are just horrible. I don't think it's just net shorthand, I think people's communications skills really are declining. I think reading less and gaming more could be partly responsible. And yes, I am a huge gamer (FPS, RTS, MMORPGS), but I can admit my mind and communication skills would probably be better served by more reading.
Visualization/Imagination. When the images are spoon fed to you in a game, there's no room for your own mind to construct the image like it does from words on a page. To process words into an image takes a certain amount of brain power, that 'here you go - here's your picture' never will. On the flipside, being able to thoroughly describe something you see in written form can be difficult - I think people write less to, not just read less.
The exception I might make to the above remarks would be module making. I've done some Neverwinter Nights modules - a good one requires the ability to understand basic coding, write good dialog, create a cohesive plot, and learn to tie in various elements (both story and programming objects). Even FPS design requires some thought & planning, map design, etc. I think from that angle, you can learn a lot, but in general I think the quality/depth of most games doesn't match a solid book.
You might be able to say many games ENTERTAIN more than books, but that's not synonymous with EDUCATE.
I'll take a f/t perm job if I know the standard week is in the 40-45 /hr range, with the occassional crunch. If they are in constant panic mode, and expect a lot of hours all the time, I go contract - that way the extra 20 hours a week ends up in my bank account.
There's pros and cons to contracting, but I often like doing it since companies love to take advantage of the salaried exemption when it comes to hours. At least when contracting, if they need me to work 60 hours, I'm not bitter about it since I'm paid for my time. It's fair to both of us that way.
Like many other geeks, I've dreamt of being a game programmer instead of working more 'boring' companies, in my case, often financial ones. But the reality is, I usually go home at a normal time, my stress is managable -- and if I have to work extra, there's something in it for me.
It's a shame too, I imagine there's a ton of great developers, such as the /. crowd who would make terrific game programmers - but we know better, have lives (and maybe spouses & kids), and just can't tolerate or conceive of endless 80+ hr weeks with little to show for it.
Spamming is bad, we all agree. However, I'm much more concerned about violent criminals (assault, rape, murder) than I am spammers in terms on safety. I mean, even having my car broken into is way more of a pain than deleting a spam, and spamming is in no way, shape or form on par with rape - some rapists get out in 5 years. Please don't tell me any of us suffered the kind of lifelong trauma from some pesky spam than what a women who's been attacked has suffered. [I'm not saying the poster implied this, but some people seem to be loosing perspective]
Yes, I hate spam, I hate spammers, the law was broked - I don't deny that. But from a truly practical standpoint, really, how much of a threat is it compared to more harsh and violent offenders who get the same jail time? Some people already posted some creative punishments for people like this that will leave more room for the more dangerous people out there, while also making this person's life pretty uncomfortable for a while.
H-H is horrid imo - endless, short, electronic loops of intensely annoying sounds, weak and/or stupid lyrics, bad singing (if they even sing at all), it's overly produced, etc. etc.
Any new CDs I buy now are established artists who've been around for a while and have a new CD out; or I'll just buy some 'classic' stuff.
Once uninventive, regurgitated hip-hop took over, the industry pretty much lost me.