Only a matter of time before mandatory radiation exposure and/or hand rape. What's the next step? Body cavity searches? TSA needs to change or go away. It's absolutely unconscionable that TSA can impose ANY method of search, regardless of how obtrusive, in the name of security. Adding insult to injury, anyone who complains is immediately flagged as a terrorist sympathizer, dragged off and given the third degree with a bonus of no refund on missed flights.
The original Capcom Street Fighter standup arcade game, which came out late 1987/early 1988 I believe, had analog kick and punch buttons that gauged the force of blow and would animate the game protagonist accordingly.
At first, I thought nothing but good thoughts about ADV. They came onto the anime fan scene with promises of more translated anime at better prices and I believed them. They translated and resold some really good titles and all was well with the world.. Except....
The fly in the ointment was the incomprehensible fact that subtitled tapes where consistently 33% more expensive than the dubbed alternatives. This, coming from a group that introduced themselves as the "anime by fans for fans" company, caused quite a few fans to question ADV's true motives. Requests, demands, and even (or especially) screaming demands for an explanation were often ignored completely. I sat in on several convention panels where, when asked point blank, ADV representatives would either carefully sidestep the issue completely, get angry and ignore it, or provide a ridiculous justification. The fact is there is simply NO WAY producing a subtitled translation cost more than a dubbed translation but ADV felt justified in gouging their "fans" because they knew they could get away with it.
After being snubbed by ADV reps on the dealer room floor several times I decided to boycott ADV. Years passed, and the question became moot once DVDs became the media of choice. This coupled with ADV's penchant for snatching up every good title the moment they can and at the same time their search-and-destroy policy against fansubbers left me little choice but to try them out again. I was disappointed. Their subtitles left a lot to be desired, and their dubs where, with some exceptions, simply insipid. Paying $.50 to $1 a minute for anime that in many cases had been been partially fansubbed FOR FREE at a superior level of quality really rubbed me the wrong way. I watched series after series get snatched up by ADV, fansubs shut down left and right before completion, and then episodes parceled out at a rate often slower than that of its domestic release. The only conciliation in the entire mess was, if you were patient enough and willing to wait the literal years it took, ADV would eventually come around and release a box set of all the episodes, usually at a price per minute that made the purchase worthwhile. Until...
ADV, in their marketing magnificence, introduced these collectors' kits. Wow, what a concept. Combine box sets with the necessity of purchasing individual episodes one disc at a time and bam, the best of both worlds. We keep the box set guys happy, AND, we rake in even more cash. Goodbye the old series collections, wherein, if the consumer is patient enough, the entire series is sold at a discounted rate per episode. Hello brand shiny sparkly NEW collections, and hey, we'll even throw in a $5 t-shirt for $20. Now, if you want the entire thing from ADV, you're forced to buy them one disc at a time for the full retail price, no breaks, no deals, daddie's gotta buy a brand new car and pay for that heated driveway.
So I'm back to boycotting ADV, secure in the knowledge that if all else fails I can fall back on US Mangle or one of the other smaller commercial subbers now scurrying for scraps from ADV's table. Except, damn if they don't catch on and start doing the exact same damn thing that ADV started. The shelves are now riddled with "collector sets" that consist of large flimsy cardboard boxes filled to the brim with one disc and, if you're lucky, a shirt or some manga, or, if you're not, a neat and completely useless block of styrofoam.
So I say, hats off to ADV, you guys are working your way into bankruptcy one marketing idea at a time. The entire industry is so bent on paying for those driveways that the ONLY source for quality subtitled anime is from the fans, where it's always been. With the exception of Pioneer who've been top notch with the few titles they've managed to wrest from ADV's clawing grasp.
Your job is to rove the streets looking for industrial accidents upon which once found you set up your portable funnel cake and popcorn stand.
Does it give you pleasure to be an insufferable horse's ass? At least you're happy in your vocation.
In an employeers' market, when there is not only a local glut of unemployeed labor but also a foreign sink of even cheaper labor, a man with a family to support must be extremely careful when choosing to quit. It's quite possible he'll have to make a complete career change in order to find another job. Going from a software programmer to a fry cook is probably one of the reasons this guy hesitates. Unlike yourself, his obligations extend beyond his own well being. Not to mention it's extremely unlikely a company like EA games would allow ANYONE to work for them as a software engineer without first getting their signature on a non-compete contract. One that most likely has a long post-terminated term that explicitly prevents their former employees from working in any related field under the pretext that they don't want their IP being stolen and used by a competitor. Duh.
I would not be surprised if you chase firetrucks with packages of marshmallows.
Since when was genetic diversity a bad thing?
If a genetically altered organism gets into the environment, the environment will adjust, one way or the other. If someone breeds the super fish, and puts humanity at risk, I doubt Darwin will be turning in his grave. Those concerned about the environment should be more concerned about the single most harmful organism on the planet, US, before they go off on a rant about flourescent fish.
Take this paranoia to an extreme and we would find the governments of the world deciding who could have children based upon their genes (Gattaca but worse). Every time we procreate we're rolling the genetic dice and heaven forbid they come up snake eyes.
It's not about new customers, it's about keeping the ones they're hemoraging to the $10 a month isps. When you've got 2 million customers and lose a small percentage a month, that small percentage is still $4 million in lost profits. They'd rather lose $2 million. Chances are, if they skin the cat right, they'll even profit off the venture.
"When you make choices, it reveals something about yourself. People reveal who they really are when they can try things in a safe environment."
If this is true, what do MMPRGs say about humanity? What scares me is remembering the days of logging into UO only to get gang banged by a series of roving PK bands, or even better, having my pockets picked clean of even the most trivial of items while waiting in line at the shop (bear in mind I haven't played UO since the first few months it went live but that doesn't change the point). Not to mention the rampant cheating that goes on in other multiplayer games such as Tribes 2, Counterstrike and etc. Is this a sign of the way humanity really is on the inside? If people reveal their true selves when the restrictions of society are removed, and those selves are, more often than not, thieves, cheats and liars, then I'm glad we don't currently live in anarchy. Has anyone else noticed this tendency or have I all to often been in the wrong place at the wrong time?
Slashdot Mirror
Only a matter of time before mandatory radiation exposure and/or hand rape. What's the next step? Body cavity searches? TSA needs to change or go away. It's absolutely unconscionable that TSA can impose ANY method of search, regardless of how obtrusive, in the name of security. Adding insult to injury, anyone who complains is immediately flagged as a terrorist sympathizer, dragged off and given the third degree with a bonus of no refund on missed flights.
The original Capcom Street Fighter standup arcade game, which came out late 1987/early 1988 I believe, had analog kick and punch buttons that gauged the force of blow and would animate the game protagonist accordingly.
At first, I thought nothing but good thoughts about ADV. They came onto the anime fan scene with promises of more translated anime at better prices and I believed them. They translated and resold some really good titles and all was well with the world.. Except....
The fly in the ointment was the incomprehensible fact that subtitled tapes where consistently 33% more expensive than the dubbed alternatives. This, coming from a group that introduced themselves as the "anime by fans for fans" company, caused quite a few fans to question ADV's true motives. Requests, demands, and even (or especially) screaming demands for an explanation were often ignored completely. I sat in on several convention panels where, when asked point blank, ADV representatives would either carefully sidestep the issue completely, get angry and ignore it, or provide a ridiculous justification. The fact is there is simply NO WAY producing a subtitled translation cost more than a dubbed translation but ADV felt justified in gouging their "fans" because they knew they could get away with it.
After being snubbed by ADV reps on the dealer room floor several times I decided to boycott ADV. Years passed, and the question became moot once DVDs became the media of choice. This coupled with ADV's penchant for snatching up every good title the moment they can and at the same time their search-and-destroy policy against fansubbers left me little choice but to try them out again. I was disappointed. Their subtitles left a lot to be desired, and their dubs where, with some exceptions, simply insipid. Paying $.50 to $1 a minute for anime that in many cases had been been partially fansubbed FOR FREE at a superior level of quality really rubbed me the wrong way. I watched series after series get snatched up by ADV, fansubs shut down left and right before completion, and then episodes parceled out at a rate often slower than that of its domestic release. The only conciliation in the entire mess was, if you were patient enough and willing to wait the literal years it took, ADV would eventually come around and release a box set of all the episodes, usually at a price per minute that made the purchase worthwhile. Until...
ADV, in their marketing magnificence, introduced these collectors' kits. Wow, what a concept. Combine box sets with the necessity of purchasing individual episodes one disc at a time and bam, the best of both worlds. We keep the box set guys happy, AND, we rake in even more cash. Goodbye the old series collections, wherein, if the consumer is patient enough, the entire series is sold at a discounted rate per episode. Hello brand shiny sparkly NEW collections, and hey, we'll even throw in a $5 t-shirt for $20. Now, if you want the entire thing from ADV, you're forced to buy them one disc at a time for the full retail price, no breaks, no deals, daddie's gotta buy a brand new car and pay for that heated driveway.
So I'm back to boycotting ADV, secure in the knowledge that if all else fails I can fall back on US Mangle or one of the other smaller commercial subbers now scurrying for scraps from ADV's table. Except, damn if they don't catch on and start doing the exact same damn thing that ADV started. The shelves are now riddled with "collector sets" that consist of large flimsy cardboard boxes filled to the brim with one disc and, if you're lucky, a shirt or some manga, or, if you're not, a neat and completely useless block of styrofoam.
So I say, hats off to ADV, you guys are working your way into bankruptcy one marketing idea at a time. The entire industry is so bent on paying for those driveways that the ONLY source for quality subtitled anime is from the fans, where it's always been. With the exception of Pioneer who've been top notch with the few titles they've managed to wrest from ADV's clawing grasp.
Aha, I figured it out.
Your job is to rove the streets looking for industrial accidents upon which once found you set up your portable funnel cake and popcorn stand.
Does it give you pleasure to be an insufferable horse's ass? At least you're happy in your vocation.
In an employeers' market, when there is not only a local glut of unemployeed labor but also a foreign sink of even cheaper labor, a man with a family to support must be extremely careful when choosing to quit. It's quite possible he'll have to make a complete career change in order to find another job. Going from a software programmer to a fry cook is probably one of the reasons this guy hesitates. Unlike yourself, his obligations extend beyond his own well being. Not to mention it's extremely unlikely a company like EA games would allow ANYONE to work for them as a software engineer without first getting their signature on a non-compete contract. One that most likely has a long post-terminated term that explicitly prevents their former employees from working in any related field under the pretext that they don't want their IP being stolen and used by a competitor. Duh.
I would not be surprised if you chase firetrucks with packages of marshmallows.
Since when was genetic diversity a bad thing? If a genetically altered organism gets into the environment, the environment will adjust, one way or the other. If someone breeds the super fish, and puts humanity at risk, I doubt Darwin will be turning in his grave. Those concerned about the environment should be more concerned about the single most harmful organism on the planet, US, before they go off on a rant about flourescent fish. Take this paranoia to an extreme and we would find the governments of the world deciding who could have children based upon their genes (Gattaca but worse). Every time we procreate we're rolling the genetic dice and heaven forbid they come up snake eyes.
It's not about new customers, it's about keeping the ones they're hemoraging to the $10 a month isps. When you've got 2 million customers and lose a small percentage a month, that small percentage is still $4 million in lost profits. They'd rather lose $2 million. Chances are, if they skin the cat right, they'll even profit off the venture.