I don't even get why the Recording Industry is trying to sue us Canucks.
Did everyone just forget about the Hub-Bub where all blank media got a special tax added on to the price because naughty people were using it to pirate music?
I've been paying this god-damn "pirate" tax for YEARS now. Doesn't *PAYING*FOR*IT* make these claims of IP Theft kind of moot?
I was in the same boat - just one day I realized how my Whiteboard writing at work looked like the scrawlings of a retarded chicken. So I resolved to change.
I picked up a notebook (as in paper, not laptop computer) and a nice pen, and just started writing down spoken sentences as I watched TV/Movies.
First you need to accept the fact that you're going to have to work to get it up to snuff. Even if it takes you a couple minutes for one single sentence - TAKE THE TIME TO DO IT RIGHT.
Think back to grade-school when you first learned to do it - that took a long time, right? Sucks to be you because you didn't keep the skill up - so work to get it back.
A few months ago I pulled out my old TRS-80 and the classic "Dungeons of Daggorath" (you pups have no idea what you're missing).
It certainly struck me hard that in the instruction manual it specifically states that your system must have AT LEAST 5K of memory to play the game.
Mad respect to all the trailblazers who managed to write kick-ass games under those restrictions.
Go to any GameFAQs message board, and half of them will be about codes and GameShark codes and whatever.
Most games have selectable difficulty levels - and for whatever stupid reason idiots like to pick the easiest one, cheat their way through it, and then cry about how much the game sucked because it was too easy.
As with most things in life, the problem is people are idiots.
If someone readily admits they know squat about computers (and, at the same time, doesn't want to know quat), then they're going to run Windows.
If someone genuinely is a h4X0r g0d, they'll probably pick Linux or BSD.
If someone THINKS they're a h4X0r g0d they will also choose Linux or BSD.
Even if we grant the assumption that 90% of the truly talented computer people run Linux - I'll bet that there are ten times more wanna-be High School kids who have no real clue what they're doing who just run Linux because they're wanna-bes.
Which is not to say that this is a bad thing - everyone has to start somewhere - but an incompetent sysadmin who doesn't recognize that he's incompetent will have the most insecure system - regardless of the OS. I strongly suspect this accounts for most, if not all, of the BSD and Linux hacks.
Oddly enough, Frozen Bubble is the only temptation for me to switch to Linux right now.
I've been a Win2k user forever (and I did use Unix through University - I "know what I'm missing"). Based on the recent Live-CD review posted here, I was intrigued enough to try out a couple of them - Slax and Knoppix.
A bunch of posts in that thread mentioned how great it ran on old hardware - Great I thought, because Win2k crawls on my old Laptop (P2-450).
I gave slax 45 minutes to boot - still did not get there.
I gave Knoppix a full half hour until it finished coming up. But after trying to load a couple apps - I shut it off. WAY too slow.
Alright, I figured why not try it on my main machine while I've got the disks? So I dropped in Knoppix. I even resolved to really use it and try it if it could satisfy my usual at home computer needs:
1) Email / Web
2) Play DVDs
3) Access my NTFS Hard Disk
... And that's it. Satisfy these two requiremsnts out-of-the-box, and I'll happily switch over.
Slax immediately failed at both (3) and (1). Yeah yeah yeah, I know all I'd have to do is mount something or read some stupid man page - but I don't want to. I've already got a Win2k machine that works right now - why should I bother doing work / research to get some new system to the point where my old already is?
Knoppix on the other hand, was very nice to me. Saw my Hard Drives, Saw my USB Drive, Recognized my DVD Drive, and lo-and-behold even recognized my TV Card!
Very happily I perused the games, and quickly got addicted to Frozen Bubble - I was content with my pensive switch - until I tried playing a DVD.
Hell if I care enough to figure out why, but the thing saw my drive, it saw my DVD, but wouldn't play.
That's alright, though - it saw my TV Card! I'll just use that for a while. No dice, though. Even though it recognized it, and I even selected it specifically in the big unsorted list of TV cards, I couldn't get it to come up.
So in the end I was left feeling good about Knoppix, but I won't be switching any time soon. No matter hwo much fun Frozen Bubble is. I'll certainly watch for Knoppix updates, though - and when it can Play DVDs and use my TV Card right out of the box, I will HAPPILY switch.
(And just to eschew the inevitable "Why don't you contribute and make it work!?" - I'll tell you why. Because I don't care enough to have to WORK to switch over to Linux when I've got a perfectly configured Win2K box RIGHT NOW with ZERO work.)
My point is not that "it's boring so it won't survive".
My point is that if the current science channels need to resort to "pandering" to make ratings, what makes anyone think that they can get enough ratings to live without "pandering"?
The article complains that most current science channels "pander" to grab ratings by airing UFO specials and whatnot.
Well jebus people, what does that tell you? It should tell you that the "real" science shows DON'T GET THE RATINGS.
I agree that it'd be nice to have a "real" science channel, but it will die a horrible horrible death when people realize just how boring it is (to the masses).
And not something you get by default and then have to opt-out of - something you get offered and must opt-into.
I don't care if port X of all the clueless people's machines get abused, if I want to use port X, I'm going to.
I have absolutely no doubt that gaming on a "professional" scale is incredibly difficult, takes hours on days on weeks on months on years of practice... Is far beyond %99.999 of the populace's capabilities... But COME ON...
Anyone who honestly believes that they "should" be able to earn a full living playing video games is completely fooling themselves. There are two parts to any business transaction - there has to be someone receiving the money, and there has to be someone willing to PROVIDE the money.
Exactly who are they expecting to provide the money?
Spectators? As people have already pointed out, nobody wants to buy a ticket to watch people play Quake.
Game companies? Why should they? The company made the game to sell it to you, not to give you thousands of dollars to play it for a living.
And no, it's not good "advertising" or "promotion" or whatever. The only people who really care to watch "professional" gamers playing game XYZ is people who already own game XYZ and are already really into it.
Maybe it's a harsh realization for some, but yes, if you want to earn a living, you have to work for it. Meaning an actual job that someone is willing to pay you to do.
Stop acting so surprised that you "professional gaming" isn't making you rich or famous, no matter how good you are.
Assuming for a moment that this isn't the game-makers being cheeky, and is indeed an example of some clever user, I wonder how long it will take for someone to take this too far?
Whoever is doing this is (seemingly) just having some fun, letting people go right away. But if "they" can "alien abduct" people and let them go, what's stopping you or me from doing the same thing but just keeping them forever? Anything?
...People insist on smashing the thing every time. All the people I know play like that and I just don't get it.
For fuck sake's people, just use one higher club and give it nice solid but relaxed hit - you'll go just as far as the lower club and a smasher.... Of course knowing the people I play with, I suspect that half of it is just to prove they can get x distance out of y club, but come on... Other than driving on a really far hole there's no reason to kill it.
If you'd care to read the article, or for that matter the summary, you'd see that he had to kill off 79 extra lives to end his game after breaking the record.
In other words - he 0wnz3rz this game. Whether he beat the old record by a thousand or ten million is irrelevant. The fact is that he could've beat the record by whatever number you'd care to mention - he just didn't see the need to bother.
I can't believe I'm old enough to say this, but...
I think kids today are missing out. All the video games are flashy and awesome etc... But there's something to be said for the dead-simple games like Frogger, Pac-Man, or Tapper. Cross the road, Eat all the dots, Serve drinks, repeat forever.
I'm willing to bet that 90% of the kiddies who read slashdot have never tried Tapper, or at least not seriously. You probably downloaded MAME, maybe tried it out, figured "This is stupid / boring!" then just quit... Of course this is understandable because the first few levels actually are stupid and boring.
But that's missing the point! Video Games used to be all about the levels / score! There was no story, there was no "ending", you just played until you died. The point? To get to the higher level. Yes, we all realized it was just the same thing over and over again, it was the LEVEL that mattered.
I beg you, for the good of your souls - grab MAME and the Tapper ROM and try to get to level 10. Go on, Try... Betcha can't. Any fool can pass the first 2, and with the reflexes you kids have today from Quake and shit I'm sure levels 3 and 4 are cake! But just bear with me and keep going.
Have you tried getting to level 10?... Have you failed miserably?... Good.
Now go re-read the article, it seems a little more impressive now, doesn't it?
... Should go down in the hall of fame right next to the guy who figured out Whippits (sp?).
To misquote Dennis Leary, these kids should be working for the Space Program!
Maybe you've forgotten that the Xbox can be made to run (almost) standard linux distros. For me, that set it apart from the other consoles more than being from microsoft.
PS2 runs linux right out of the box - Sony itself sells the kits. No futzing with mod-chips.
... does "no clipping mode" mean see through walls? Every game I can recall that has a no clipping mode used it to enable the player to WALK through the walls.
It's odd that you chose to mention Plato's Cave in your rant, rather than the "Mad Scientist" / "Evil Demon" / or "Brain in a Jar" problem, each of which being essentially the actual premise of the movie.
A very very very quick summary for those who didn't waste time in Philosophy classes (like me:):
- Plato's Cave poses the idea of some people being bound in a cave in such a way that the only things they can see are shadows on the back of the wall. These people are in this situation for their whole lives, and so to them, the entire world consists of shadows on a wall. Anyone who tried to tell them that the shadows are being created by 3D beings in a whole big bright world out there would be immediately dismissed by them as a lunatic.
- The "Mad Scientist" / "Evil Demon" / "Brain in a Jar" problem are all the same question - how do you know "reality" as you know it really exists? How do you know you're not imagining everything? The "Mad Scientist" and "Brain in a Jar" are two names for the same variant - what if you're nothing but a brain in a jar being poked/prodded by a Mad Scientist such that he's making you THINK that your reality exists. The "Evil Demon" is the exact same idea, but posed way back in Plato's time - what if the entire world the way you know it is nothing but a trick being played on you by an Evil Demon?
Slashdot Mirror
I don't even get why the Recording Industry is trying to sue us Canucks.
Did everyone just forget about the Hub-Bub where all blank media got a special tax added on to the price because naughty people were using it to pirate music?
I've been paying this god-damn "pirate" tax for YEARS now. Doesn't *PAYING*FOR*IT* make these claims of IP Theft kind of moot?
I agree, just Practice.
I was in the same boat - just one day I realized how my Whiteboard writing at work looked like the scrawlings of a retarded chicken. So I resolved to change.
I picked up a notebook (as in paper, not laptop computer) and a nice pen, and just started writing down spoken sentences as I watched TV/Movies.
First you need to accept the fact that you're going to have to work to get it up to snuff. Even if it takes you a couple minutes for one single sentence - TAKE THE TIME TO DO IT RIGHT.
Think back to grade-school when you first learned to do it - that took a long time, right? Sucks to be you because you didn't keep the skill up - so work to get it back.
You don't need a class, just shut up and do it.
A few months ago I pulled out my old TRS-80 and the classic "Dungeons of Daggorath" (you pups have no idea what you're missing). It certainly struck me hard that in the instruction manual it specifically states that your system must have AT LEAST 5K of memory to play the game. Mad respect to all the trailblazers who managed to write kick-ass games under those restrictions.
Go to any GameFAQs message board, and half of them will be about codes and GameShark codes and whatever.
Most games have selectable difficulty levels - and for whatever stupid reason idiots like to pick the easiest one, cheat their way through it, and then cry about how much the game sucked because it was too easy.
As with most things in life, the problem is people are idiots.
I look at it like this.
If someone readily admits they know squat about computers (and, at the same time, doesn't want to know quat), then they're going to run Windows.
If someone genuinely is a h4X0r g0d, they'll probably pick Linux or BSD.
If someone THINKS they're a h4X0r g0d they will also choose Linux or BSD.
Even if we grant the assumption that 90% of the truly talented computer people run Linux - I'll bet that there are ten times more wanna-be High School kids who have no real clue what they're doing who just run Linux because they're wanna-bes.
Which is not to say that this is a bad thing - everyone has to start somewhere - but an incompetent sysadmin who doesn't recognize that he's incompetent will have the most insecure system - regardless of the OS. I strongly suspect this accounts for most, if not all, of the BSD and Linux hacks.
Oddly enough, Frozen Bubble is the only temptation for me to switch to Linux right now.
:
... And that's it. Satisfy these two requiremsnts out-of-the-box, and I'll happily switch over.
I've been a Win2k user forever (and I did use Unix through University - I "know what I'm missing"). Based on the recent Live-CD review posted here, I was intrigued enough to try out a couple of them - Slax and Knoppix.
A bunch of posts in that thread mentioned how great it ran on old hardware - Great I thought, because Win2k crawls on my old Laptop (P2-450).
I gave slax 45 minutes to boot - still did not get there.
I gave Knoppix a full half hour until it finished coming up. But after trying to load a couple apps - I shut it off. WAY too slow.
Alright, I figured why not try it on my main machine while I've got the disks? So I dropped in Knoppix. I even resolved to really use it and try it if it could satisfy my usual at home computer needs
1) Email / Web
2) Play DVDs
3) Access my NTFS Hard Disk
Slax immediately failed at both (3) and (1). Yeah yeah yeah, I know all I'd have to do is mount something or read some stupid man page - but I don't want to. I've already got a Win2k machine that works right now - why should I bother doing work / research to get some new system to the point where my old already is?
Knoppix on the other hand, was very nice to me. Saw my Hard Drives, Saw my USB Drive, Recognized my DVD Drive, and lo-and-behold even recognized my TV Card!
Very happily I perused the games, and quickly got addicted to Frozen Bubble - I was content with my pensive switch - until I tried playing a DVD.
Hell if I care enough to figure out why, but the thing saw my drive, it saw my DVD, but wouldn't play.
That's alright, though - it saw my TV Card! I'll just use that for a while. No dice, though. Even though it recognized it, and I even selected it specifically in the big unsorted list of TV cards, I couldn't get it to come up.
So in the end I was left feeling good about Knoppix, but I won't be switching any time soon. No matter hwo much fun Frozen Bubble is. I'll certainly watch for Knoppix updates, though - and when it can Play DVDs and use my TV Card right out of the box, I will HAPPILY switch.
(And just to eschew the inevitable "Why don't you contribute and make it work!?" - I'll tell you why. Because I don't care enough to have to WORK to switch over to Linux when I've got a perfectly configured Win2K box RIGHT NOW with ZERO work.)
If you look, one of the sample movies he encoded as an example was the MTV clip of Modanna and Brittney kissing.
Kinda shows what this is actually going to be used for in the real world.
My point is not that "it's boring so it won't survive".
My point is that if the current science channels need to resort to "pandering" to make ratings, what makes anyone think that they can get enough ratings to live without "pandering"?
The article complains that most current science channels "pander" to grab ratings by airing UFO specials and whatnot. Well jebus people, what does that tell you? It should tell you that the "real" science shows DON'T GET THE RATINGS. I agree that it'd be nice to have a "real" science channel, but it will die a horrible horrible death when people realize just how boring it is (to the masses).
And not something you get by default and then have to opt-out of - something you get offered and must opt-into. I don't care if port X of all the clueless people's machines get abused, if I want to use port X, I'm going to.
[... ]didn pay they can't cutr me out cause i didn't pay i did pay snf i vsn dyill hold my own o [sof ;i piad i padi i paid the day they cam oute[...]
... Well said.
I have absolutely no doubt that gaming on a "professional" scale is incredibly difficult, takes hours on days on weeks on months on years of practice... Is far beyond %99.999 of the populace's capabilities... But COME ON... Anyone who honestly believes that they "should" be able to earn a full living playing video games is completely fooling themselves. There are two parts to any business transaction - there has to be someone receiving the money, and there has to be someone willing to PROVIDE the money. Exactly who are they expecting to provide the money? Spectators? As people have already pointed out, nobody wants to buy a ticket to watch people play Quake. Game companies? Why should they? The company made the game to sell it to you, not to give you thousands of dollars to play it for a living. And no, it's not good "advertising" or "promotion" or whatever. The only people who really care to watch "professional" gamers playing game XYZ is people who already own game XYZ and are already really into it. Maybe it's a harsh realization for some, but yes, if you want to earn a living, you have to work for it. Meaning an actual job that someone is willing to pay you to do. Stop acting so surprised that you "professional gaming" isn't making you rich or famous, no matter how good you are.
You're hoping for consistancy in what "slashdotters" do? ROFLMFAO....
Assuming for a moment that this isn't the game-makers being cheeky, and is indeed an example of some clever user, I wonder how long it will take for someone to take this too far?
Whoever is doing this is (seemingly) just having some fun, letting people go right away. But if "they" can "alien abduct" people and let them go, what's stopping you or me from doing the same thing but just keeping them forever? Anything?
...People insist on smashing the thing every time. All the people I know play like that and I just don't get it. For fuck sake's people, just use one higher club and give it nice solid but relaxed hit - you'll go just as far as the lower club and a smasher. ... Of course knowing the people I play with, I suspect that half of it is just to prove they can get x distance out of y club, but come on... Other than driving on a really far hole there's no reason to kill it.
Yes, it is indeed "crushed".
If you'd care to read the article, or for that matter the summary, you'd see that he had to kill off 79 extra lives to end his game after breaking the record.
In other words - he 0wnz3rz this game. Whether he beat the old record by a thousand or ten million is irrelevant. The fact is that he could've beat the record by whatever number you'd care to mention - he just didn't see the need to bother.
I can't believe I'm old enough to say this, but... I think kids today are missing out. All the video games are flashy and awesome etc... But there's something to be said for the dead-simple games like Frogger, Pac-Man, or Tapper. Cross the road, Eat all the dots, Serve drinks, repeat forever. I'm willing to bet that 90% of the kiddies who read slashdot have never tried Tapper, or at least not seriously. You probably downloaded MAME, maybe tried it out, figured "This is stupid / boring!" then just quit... Of course this is understandable because the first few levels actually are stupid and boring. But that's missing the point! Video Games used to be all about the levels / score! There was no story, there was no "ending", you just played until you died. The point? To get to the higher level. Yes, we all realized it was just the same thing over and over again, it was the LEVEL that mattered. I beg you, for the good of your souls - grab MAME and the Tapper ROM and try to get to level 10. Go on, Try... Betcha can't. Any fool can pass the first 2, and with the reflexes you kids have today from Quake and shit I'm sure levels 3 and 4 are cake! But just bear with me and keep going. Have you tried getting to level 10? ... Have you failed miserably? ... Good.
Now go re-read the article, it seems a little more impressive now, doesn't it?
... Should go down in the hall of fame right next to the guy who figured out Whippits (sp?). To misquote Dennis Leary, these kids should be working for the Space Program!
This ranks right up there with the moon landing thing as one of the greatest videos of all time.
Maybe you've forgotten that the Xbox can be made to run (almost) standard linux distros. For me, that set it apart from the other consoles more than being from microsoft.
PS2 runs linux right out of the box - Sony itself sells the kits. No futzing with mod-chips.
... does "no clipping mode" mean see through walls? Every game I can recall that has a no clipping mode used it to enable the player to WALK through the walls.
It's odd that you chose to mention Plato's Cave in your rant, rather than the "Mad Scientist" / "Evil Demon" / or "Brain in a Jar" problem, each of which being essentially the actual premise of the movie.
:) :
A very very very quick summary for those who didn't waste time in Philosophy classes (like me
- Plato's Cave poses the idea of some people being bound in a cave in such a way that the only things they can see are shadows on the back of the wall. These people are in this situation for their whole lives, and so to them, the entire world consists of shadows on a wall. Anyone who tried to tell them that the shadows are being created by 3D beings in a whole big bright world out there would be immediately dismissed by them as a lunatic.
- The "Mad Scientist" / "Evil Demon" / "Brain in a Jar" problem are all the same question - how do you know "reality" as you know it really exists? How do you know you're not imagining everything? The "Mad Scientist" and "Brain in a Jar" are two names for the same variant - what if you're nothing but a brain in a jar being poked/prodded by a Mad Scientist such that he's making you THINK that your reality exists. The "Evil Demon" is the exact same idea, but posed way back in Plato's time - what if the entire world the way you know it is nothing but a trick being played on you by an Evil Demon?
"Should be an interesting read for anyone who ever wondered if human interactions could be mathematically modeled."
Finally, an answer to the question that has kept me awake at night tossing and turning for the past 17 years!
I only skimmed your post before replying, didn't notice the qualifier you had. Sorry!
The number 2 is prime, and is indeed even. Don't quit your day job.