See, Americans DO care about other people's problems, they just don't care to help FIX them. Take a look at (gag me) all of the "reality" tv shows out there. Filled with other people's problems and it keeps Americans enthralled, but on the same page, the don't give a flying $*%@ about helping out their neighbors. That's what's driven me nuts since 9/11...all those people out there driving their gas-guzzling SUV covered in flags and "United we stand" stickers, yet they cut you off in traffic and then give you the finger. Most Americans are sheep, walking around in a hazy bubble, not caring or noticing anything around them, and especially not aware that they are being lead to slaughter.
I'm sorry, but case modding is far from Consumerican (unless you count those pre-modded cases, which should hardly be counted as "modded"). Normally case mods come with a lot of hard work. Have you ever spent 3 hours with a dremel cutting a window in the side of your case so that it looks perfect. Or how about sanding a coat of paint for 9 hours total so that you can fix your hair in it. There's far more involved in case modding than "oooooh...shinies." It's something you make with your own hard labor. Most American consumers wouldn't touch something that would involve so much work unless it paid well, and definatelly NOT for the "enjoyment" of it.
I agree. I tend to think that, in the case of many hack attacks, the convicted are treated too harshly. Things like web-site vandalization are frequently done by bored teenagers, just like breaking into a building and vandalizing, but get treated much more harsly because they never had to leave their computer to do it. The amount of damage done to the victim should be taken into consideration as should the perpetrator's intent.
I can't tell if you are serious or joking, but I'll assume the first. You obviously have done nothing but listen to music. It takes a whole lot of talent to produce quality music (and I will concur that a lot of what comes out of the recording companies is total crap). First you have to be able to play good music, that's an art in and of itself. Then you have to make good music (requiring creativity, especially in regards to things like effects, timings, and such). There is the recording phase, also requiring a delicate knowledge of sound and creativity. There's the mixing (ask any sound engineer if mixing is an art) to pull out parts to make it sound the best for achieving a certain effect. You can hardly say it takes no talent to produce music.
And how about the case of minor drug use, or even people who are wrongly convicted?? According to the white house drug policy factsheet, the average sentence recieved by marijuana offenders was 38 months. Granted child-molesters deserve punishment, as do marijuana offenders, is it correct to put people who have a relatively minor offence (such as smoking marijuana in one's own home i.e. not driving while affected, not committing any other crime) in with violent offenders and possibly subsequentially prison-raped?? I don't know about you, but I think that's not right. Maybe I have a little more compassion than you for my fellow man (even if they are criminals).
Such and insightful and well thought out post from an AC.
The problem doesn't come from lack of innovation, but rather lower end tech-related jobs like tech-support and code monkeys. If you take a look, design jobs are much less likely to be outsourced. I'd like to know how in the world you think that the US is on it's way to third-world status and how WE MADE IT THAT WAY?
Exactly!! It boils down to the animators ability to actively notice miniscule muscle movement. I don't really believe that technology is the limiting factor, but the limited amount of concious human perception of motion. I strongly believe that if we knew everything about something as simple as a smile, we could totally and completely create it with today's technology.
That is the most realistic image modeled image I have ever seen. I think the skin and the eyes give it away for me, but I could easily mistake this for a photoshopped photo.
That raises a good question. Yeah, it'd be illegal (via DMCA-like laws...I'm not sure of the legality in the UK), but what if somebody produced a spoofer that steals the RFID info of the cars surrounding it (like the cop they are passing by)?? Of course it's impossible to create a fraud-free system, so maybe this is a small enough concern. Just a thought.
Why should Sun push this functionality into Linux?? Open sourcing Solaris doesn't mean that Sun is going to put cool Solaris features into Linux, but rather that...they are going to open the source. They don't have to touch Linux with a ten foot clown pole if they don't want to, and probably won't. They have their own OS already, why press for another. That said, if you personally want to take the source (that they opened) for Solaris and port all of Solaris's cool features into Linux, you can do that, but Sun has no obligation to do so.
Meh, doesn't have to be a Yugo to be that cheap. Just don't buy new...especially if you're looking at an American car, let some other sucker pay for the depreciation it will experience the first couple of years of ownership. I bought my car (99' Chevy Cavalier) 2 years ago and my payments are 1/3 of the cost of that computer (but then again, trade-ins and a whole wad of saved up cash tend to help reduce payments too).
Hate to be a jerk, but just because you don't like their musical selection doesn't mean they should have to give up their frequency. I'm not arguing either side of the fence in this discussion, but by no means should personal preference in musical choice be used as a consideration of whether this station should give up it's piece of the spectrum. Also, regardless of where the station is, they should have a fair chance in the system.
That would be an awesome plan, but I don't think it would be feasible in practice just because of the time required. The amount of time it takes to keep making new laws plus the amount of time it would take to revote on the old would be just too much time involved. Course it might force the law to become much smaller and condensed (we can only hope), but I'm not that optimistic.
I guess I'm not following your thought on how a game couldn't help aid in a discussion about facts and their effects. I agree that the study of history revolves around discussion of facts and effects, but in my experience, textbooks that teachers are required to teach from normally don't discuss how these facts are important (and more often than not this leads the teachers to neglect discussion), but rather state "this is how it is". I'm also not suggesting replacing multiple-choice with games. I think that, if the game were decently created, it would allow the student to simulate different events and find out WHY those events lead to certain outcomes. This all of course would rely on how well the game can simulate events (which, since I'm no game designer, I have no idea the difficulty of that task). Perhaps you can give me a little more insight??
Enter the Matrix was a really cool concept, but I think it flopped on it's execution. I almost feel the timeframe made most of it's problems (and some massive oversights on their part in the design). The idea of making the movie-based game tie into the story, but not replicate any portion of the movie-universe, was a super idea and gave it an originality to it. The problems with Enter the Matrix came from it's lack-luster graphics for the time (though they didn't bother me, but then I'm used to pretty crappy graphics games), quick switching between game types, and general unpolished portions of the game. I felt that they shouldn't have switched from a 3rd person shooter style to a 1st person driver sim in the way they did. It made the driving parts seem like extra fluff (and not good fluff, but stinky, rotten, slimy fluff). There were also some inconsistancies in the design itself. One example in particular was the area where you were running from the Smiths and had to run through areas covered in doors. Some of these doors would be locked (and notify you as such)...others openable (again, notifiable)...and then there were "texture doors" that could be ran up to, but no indication as to if the door could be opened. Meanwhile Smith and his pistol were right on your back and a delay such as trying to figure if the darned thing opens or not could spell disaster.
Wow...I'm not sure how this turned into a rant about why Enter the Matrix failed...but the ultimate point is that this is a me too post.
I don't know why, but I found the Home Alone game extremely fun (and aggrevating sp??). It really was a stupid game, but running from the burglars for 15 minutes was so fun. But then again I'm crazy so....
My trig class in high school had a game for DOS that basically gave you a 10x10 X-Y axis with different balloons at certain coordinates. The goal was to generate a formula, that when graphed, hit the most balloons possible. It taught me a whole lot about which graphs correspond to which equations, and how different portions of those equations could be modified to make the graph look a different way.
And this is different from multiple choice tests based off of biased textbooks that oversimplify most everything how?? At least this method is remotely interesting enough to maybe keep the child's attention and is also a medium that children associate with fun (something that's often forgotten in education).
I seem to remember a Discovery channel program on Area 51 and that they had moved its operations elsewhere something like 5 years ago. I'd post a link to something, but I have to go to work now...so I'll let somebody else do it.
I always heard it called folf...not frolf (course I'm from Montana, and people have a way of destroying pronounciations, case and point "warsh" vs "wash").
Friendly fire does affect a few games out there. Specifically I seem to remember loosing many many kbots to friendly fire in total annihilation. Of course this really isn't a good way to make it so that you can't identify your own troops as your own.
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See, Americans DO care about other people's problems, they just don't care to help FIX them. Take a look at (gag me) all of the "reality" tv shows out there. Filled with other people's problems and it keeps Americans enthralled, but on the same page, the don't give a flying $*%@ about helping out their neighbors. That's what's driven me nuts since 9/11...all those people out there driving their gas-guzzling SUV covered in flags and "United we stand" stickers, yet they cut you off in traffic and then give you the finger. Most Americans are sheep, walking around in a hazy bubble, not caring or noticing anything around them, and especially not aware that they are being lead to slaughter.
I'm sorry, but case modding is far from Consumerican (unless you count those pre-modded cases, which should hardly be counted as "modded"). Normally case mods come with a lot of hard work. Have you ever spent 3 hours with a dremel cutting a window in the side of your case so that it looks perfect. Or how about sanding a coat of paint for 9 hours total so that you can fix your hair in it. There's far more involved in case modding than "oooooh...shinies." It's something you make with your own hard labor. Most American consumers wouldn't touch something that would involve so much work unless it paid well, and definatelly NOT for the "enjoyment" of it.
I agree. I tend to think that, in the case of many hack attacks, the convicted are treated too harshly. Things like web-site vandalization are frequently done by bored teenagers, just like breaking into a building and vandalizing, but get treated much more harsly because they never had to leave their computer to do it. The amount of damage done to the victim should be taken into consideration as should the perpetrator's intent.
I can't tell if you are serious or joking, but I'll assume the first. You obviously have done nothing but listen to music. It takes a whole lot of talent to produce quality music (and I will concur that a lot of what comes out of the recording companies is total crap). First you have to be able to play good music, that's an art in and of itself. Then you have to make good music (requiring creativity, especially in regards to things like effects, timings, and such). There is the recording phase, also requiring a delicate knowledge of sound and creativity. There's the mixing (ask any sound engineer if mixing is an art) to pull out parts to make it sound the best for achieving a certain effect. You can hardly say it takes no talent to produce music.
And how about the case of minor drug use, or even people who are wrongly convicted?? According to the white house drug policy factsheet, the average sentence recieved by marijuana offenders was 38 months. Granted child-molesters deserve punishment, as do marijuana offenders, is it correct to put people who have a relatively minor offence (such as smoking marijuana in one's own home i.e. not driving while affected, not committing any other crime) in with violent offenders and possibly subsequentially prison-raped?? I don't know about you, but I think that's not right. Maybe I have a little more compassion than you for my fellow man (even if they are criminals).
Such and insightful and well thought out post from an AC.
The problem doesn't come from lack of innovation, but rather lower end tech-related jobs like tech-support and code monkeys. If you take a look, design jobs are much less likely to be outsourced. I'd like to know how in the world you think that the US is on it's way to third-world status and how WE MADE IT THAT WAY?
Exactly!! It boils down to the animators ability to actively notice miniscule muscle movement. I don't really believe that technology is the limiting factor, but the limited amount of concious human perception of motion. I strongly believe that if we knew everything about something as simple as a smile, we could totally and completely create it with today's technology.
That is the most realistic image modeled image I have ever seen. I think the skin and the eyes give it away for me, but I could easily mistake this for a photoshopped photo.
That raises a good question. Yeah, it'd be illegal (via DMCA-like laws...I'm not sure of the legality in the UK), but what if somebody produced a spoofer that steals the RFID info of the cars surrounding it (like the cop they are passing by)?? Of course it's impossible to create a fraud-free system, so maybe this is a small enough concern. Just a thought.
Why should Sun push this functionality into Linux?? Open sourcing Solaris doesn't mean that Sun is going to put cool Solaris features into Linux, but rather that...they are going to open the source. They don't have to touch Linux with a ten foot clown pole if they don't want to, and probably won't. They have their own OS already, why press for another. That said, if you personally want to take the source (that they opened) for Solaris and port all of Solaris's cool features into Linux, you can do that, but Sun has no obligation to do so.
On a completely off-topic tangent, I have no idea how they screwed up such a good book when making it into a movie.
Meh, doesn't have to be a Yugo to be that cheap. Just don't buy new...especially if you're looking at an American car, let some other sucker pay for the depreciation it will experience the first couple of years of ownership. I bought my car (99' Chevy Cavalier) 2 years ago and my payments are 1/3 of the cost of that computer (but then again, trade-ins and a whole wad of saved up cash tend to help reduce payments too).
Thank you for making me spit water all over my keyboard.
There castle!! I love that movie!
Hate to be a jerk, but just because you don't like their musical selection doesn't mean they should have to give up their frequency. I'm not arguing either side of the fence in this discussion, but by no means should personal preference in musical choice be used as a consideration of whether this station should give up it's piece of the spectrum. Also, regardless of where the station is, they should have a fair chance in the system.
That would be an awesome plan, but I don't think it would be feasible in practice just because of the time required. The amount of time it takes to keep making new laws plus the amount of time it would take to revote on the old would be just too much time involved. Course it might force the law to become much smaller and condensed (we can only hope), but I'm not that optimistic.
I guess I'm not following your thought on how a game couldn't help aid in a discussion about facts and their effects. I agree that the study of history revolves around discussion of facts and effects, but in my experience, textbooks that teachers are required to teach from normally don't discuss how these facts are important (and more often than not this leads the teachers to neglect discussion), but rather state "this is how it is". I'm also not suggesting replacing multiple-choice with games. I think that, if the game were decently created, it would allow the student to simulate different events and find out WHY those events lead to certain outcomes. This all of course would rely on how well the game can simulate events (which, since I'm no game designer, I have no idea the difficulty of that task). Perhaps you can give me a little more insight??
Enter the Matrix was a really cool concept, but I think it flopped on it's execution. I almost feel the timeframe made most of it's problems (and some massive oversights on their part in the design). The idea of making the movie-based game tie into the story, but not replicate any portion of the movie-universe, was a super idea and gave it an originality to it. The problems with Enter the Matrix came from it's lack-luster graphics for the time (though they didn't bother me, but then I'm used to pretty crappy graphics games), quick switching between game types, and general unpolished portions of the game. I felt that they shouldn't have switched from a 3rd person shooter style to a 1st person driver sim in the way they did. It made the driving parts seem like extra fluff (and not good fluff, but stinky, rotten, slimy fluff). There were also some inconsistancies in the design itself. One example in particular was the area where you were running from the Smiths and had to run through areas covered in doors. Some of these doors would be locked (and notify you as such)...others openable (again, notifiable)...and then there were "texture doors" that could be ran up to, but no indication as to if the door could be opened. Meanwhile Smith and his pistol were right on your back and a delay such as trying to figure if the darned thing opens or not could spell disaster.
Wow...I'm not sure how this turned into a rant about why Enter the Matrix failed...but the ultimate point is that this is a me too post.
I don't know why, but I found the Home Alone game extremely fun (and aggrevating sp??). It really was a stupid game, but running from the burglars for 15 minutes was so fun. But then again I'm crazy so....
My trig class in high school had a game for DOS that basically gave you a 10x10 X-Y axis with different balloons at certain coordinates. The goal was to generate a formula, that when graphed, hit the most balloons possible. It taught me a whole lot about which graphs correspond to which equations, and how different portions of those equations could be modified to make the graph look a different way.
And this is different from multiple choice tests based off of biased textbooks that oversimplify most everything how?? At least this method is remotely interesting enough to maybe keep the child's attention and is also a medium that children associate with fun (something that's often forgotten in education).
I seem to remember a Discovery channel program on Area 51 and that they had moved its operations elsewhere something like 5 years ago. I'd post a link to something, but I have to go to work now...so I'll let somebody else do it.
I always heard it called folf...not frolf (course I'm from Montana, and people have a way of destroying pronounciations, case and point "warsh" vs "wash").
Friendly fire does affect a few games out there. Specifically I seem to remember loosing many many kbots to friendly fire in total annihilation. Of course this really isn't a good way to make it so that you can't identify your own troops as your own.
Disproof by counter-example: see my apartment.