My work got all of the 50ish developers and 50ish other staff dual LCD screens (replacing the CRT or adding to the already present LCD). While I can only offer anecdotal evidence, it does come in the form of 100ish people having nothing but positive things to say about the change. It just feels more natural... it lets you free up some of your internal buffer and brain power from 'remembering'. It lets us have the IDE on one screen and the Database on the other (no more switching back and forth to check the spelling)... or the help documents open and accessible... or the debugger and the system.
Two of the more definitive benefits: First in the fact that we can work in any resolution we want, but have to develop for a 1024x768 target system. This means we can set the second monitor up with that hideous resolution to make sure the GUIs/websites/whatever look good without having to constantly readjust the resolution (very good if you are doing web work and can refresh with a click of one button). Second in the fact that we use Remote Desktop to connect to other systems (App/DB servers), so being able to put the app system on one screen of the workstation, we can install and test the system without ever having to touch the Alt key. It also speeds up debugging to have the workstation and DB next to each other so that you can watch changes as they happen. Lastly, and again this is purely anecdotal, I feel more integrated with the work now. I don't have to context switch nearly as often, thus taking my mind off of what I'm doing in order to alt-tab to the right program (possibly taking a dozen seconds if I have too many things open and have to search for the damned thing I need). It just feels more natural... it lets you free up some of your internal buffer and brain power from 'remembering'.
I mean, Penny Arcade covered this kind of "shill-age" being performed by major companies days ago. They even made a comic about it.
Really though, anyone surprised by this news story is woefully naive... speaking of which, anyone want to buy this golden bridge in San Fransico? Real cheap.
I'd just shrug and make a phone call. Who in there right minds would really believe that they owe anyone $8 million? It is like this woman in England that got a utility bill for some $240 million. There is no way any person even mildly associated with reality would believe these to be legitimate and correct bills.
Who was held accountable?
on
Bad Day To Be Sony
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· Score: 2, Insightful
I wonder how many people, and their positions in the company, were shipped off to Sony's Siberian department for this debacle. I also wonder if anyone Even though the programmers were told to do this by management, I'm sure they are getting in trouble for not being sneaky enough with the code.
Actually, there are quite a number of gamers who have girlfriends. And just as many female gamers with boyfriends. (My fiance and I both play games, and in fact, I've been doing so far longer than he has. So yes, it can and does happen.) It certainly helps when both people in the relationship enjoy gaming, even if they don't game together. But really, this whole hullabaloo about "games destroying relationships" is the exact same problem people have been having for millenia. Many, many people are "addicted" or committed to an activity, whether it be watching TV, watching or participating in a sport, playing in a band, programming (whether for money or fun), drinking alcohol, gaming, whatever. And people that don't have the willpower or know-how to limit themselves in partaking of those activites are going to have a hard time with their relationships, even if their significant other is interested or involved with that activity. It's not an issue of games being any more addictive that any other activity (I'm especially thinking of TV watching here...) - it's an issue of many people not knowing when to stop.
I'm a big Miyazaki fan, but I have to point out that this movie won't be entirely his; I assume it will be based on the book, of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones. Granted, I'm sure the movie will be as good as (probably better) than the book, but...
I can play RPGs with the best of them, I even program for a MUD called Unwritten Legends after being a player for a few years. I've played at least a month or two in all the big name MMORPGs out there.
In addition, I love FPS games as well. Max Payne 2 took, uhm, 10-15 hours for me to beat. I've been playing UT2k4 online near nightly and can frag with the best of them.
Oh, and incase you have some odd idea about game genres being seperated even further, I enjoy myself Civ3 and Warcraft3 and other RTS games.
I would be a proof by example that there is no set division between genres and skills. RPGs exist because people get bored with fragging others in the same level with the same weapons over and over again. No, the current genre is not really Role Playing, it's more an interactive storyline. MUDs allow more RPing, but either way... they appeal to people who want to gain something for their time and skill.
If I play UT2k4 for 5 hours, I get nothing tangible, and only maybe a little bit better at it. If I play City of Heroes for 5 hours, I get tangible proof of my play, as well as have a good time. If I go with NWN, I get to experience a story with my accomplishments.
Of course, if you just want to frag, thats cool... I get that way too, but don't think that it's mutually exclusive to other genres.
The online collectible cardgame + space civilization sim Star Chamber is a good similar idea. Free download, free trial play with sample decks. You pay money for booster packs at a low cost of $20 for 16 (240 cards total, more than enough for a good deck). It plays better and is more fun than games twice as costly. You go into a chatroom and play against other people and trade. There is an entire section of the system that even allows phantom sealed deck tournamnets.
Episodic gaming is hard to get off the ground, I my opinion, because the first episode has to deliever a lot of promise, and the next part(s) have to maintain that promise without disrupting the cost vs. content and length balance. Myst: Uru will hopefully open the way for more installment type games, with free downloadable extra content.
Getting yourself an old pc or laptop with a fair sized monitor, modifying (or buying) a keyboard to have large keys, and having the laptop load up a text editor on startup. Doesn't have to run any paticular OS (probably something more stable than Windows though) and just a simple text editor of your choice.
Murphy's Paradox... The more you plan, the more can go wrong, thus the higher chance for failure
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Honestly, the 11th book was a whole lot better than 10; there were actual plot resolutions.
My work got all of the 50ish developers and 50ish other staff dual LCD screens (replacing the CRT or adding to the already present LCD). While I can only offer anecdotal evidence, it does come in the form of 100ish people having nothing but positive things to say about the change. It just feels more natural... it lets you free up some of your internal buffer and brain power from 'remembering'. It lets us have the IDE on one screen and the Database on the other (no more switching back and forth to check the spelling)... or the help documents open and accessible... or the debugger and the system.
Two of the more definitive benefits: First in the fact that we can work in any resolution we want, but have to develop for a 1024x768 target system. This means we can set the second monitor up with that hideous resolution to make sure the GUIs/websites/whatever look good without having to constantly readjust the resolution (very good if you are doing web work and can refresh with a click of one button). Second in the fact that we use Remote Desktop to connect to other systems (App/DB servers), so being able to put the app system on one screen of the workstation, we can install and test the system without ever having to touch the Alt key. It also speeds up debugging to have the workstation and DB next to each other so that you can watch changes as they happen. Lastly, and again this is purely anecdotal, I feel more integrated with the work now. I don't have to context switch nearly as often, thus taking my mind off of what I'm doing in order to alt-tab to the right program (possibly taking a dozen seconds if I have too many things open and have to search for the damned thing I need). It just feels more natural... it lets you free up some of your internal buffer and brain power from 'remembering'.
I mean, Penny Arcade covered this kind of "shill-age" being performed by major companies days ago. They even made a comic about it. Really though, anyone surprised by this news story is woefully naive... speaking of which, anyone want to buy this golden bridge in San Fransico? Real cheap.
I'd just shrug and make a phone call. Who in there right minds would really believe that they owe anyone $8 million? It is like this woman in England that got a utility bill for some $240 million. There is no way any person even mildly associated with reality would believe these to be legitimate and correct bills.
I wonder how many people, and their positions in the company, were shipped off to Sony's Siberian department for this debacle. I also wonder if anyone Even though the programmers were told to do this by management, I'm sure they are getting in trouble for not being sneaky enough with the code.
Actually, there are quite a number of gamers who have girlfriends. And just as many female gamers with boyfriends. (My fiance and I both play games, and in fact, I've been doing so far longer than he has. So yes, it can and does happen.) It certainly helps when both people in the relationship enjoy gaming, even if they don't game together. But really, this whole hullabaloo about "games destroying relationships" is the exact same problem people have been having for millenia. Many, many people are "addicted" or committed to an activity, whether it be watching TV, watching or participating in a sport, playing in a band, programming (whether for money or fun), drinking alcohol, gaming, whatever. And people that don't have the willpower or know-how to limit themselves in partaking of those activites are going to have a hard time with their relationships, even if their significant other is interested or involved with that activity. It's not an issue of games being any more addictive that any other activity (I'm especially thinking of TV watching here...) - it's an issue of many people not knowing when to stop.
I'm a big Miyazaki fan, but I have to point out that this movie won't be entirely his; I assume it will be based on the book, of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones. Granted, I'm sure the movie will be as good as (probably better) than the book, but...
I can play RPGs with the best of them, I even program for a MUD called Unwritten Legends after being a player for a few years. I've played at least a month or two in all the big name MMORPGs out there.
In addition, I love FPS games as well. Max Payne 2 took, uhm, 10-15 hours for me to beat. I've been playing UT2k4 online near nightly and can frag with the best of them.
Oh, and incase you have some odd idea about game genres being seperated even further, I enjoy myself Civ3 and Warcraft3 and other RTS games.
I would be a proof by example that there is no set division between genres and skills. RPGs exist because people get bored with fragging others in the same level with the same weapons over and over again. No, the current genre is not really Role Playing, it's more an interactive storyline. MUDs allow more RPing, but either way... they appeal to people who want to gain something for their time and skill.
If I play UT2k4 for 5 hours, I get nothing tangible, and only maybe a little bit better at it. If I play City of Heroes for 5 hours, I get tangible proof of my play, as well as have a good time. If I go with NWN, I get to experience a story with my accomplishments.
Of course, if you just want to frag, thats cool... I get that way too, but don't think that it's mutually exclusive to other genres.
The online collectible cardgame + space civilization sim Star Chamber is a good similar idea. Free download, free trial play with sample decks. You pay money for booster packs at a low cost of $20 for 16 (240 cards total, more than enough for a good deck). It plays better and is more fun than games twice as costly. You go into a chatroom and play against other people and trade. There is an entire section of the system that even allows phantom sealed deck tournamnets.
Episodic gaming is hard to get off the ground, I my opinion, because the first episode has to deliever a lot of promise, and the next part(s) have to maintain that promise without disrupting the cost vs. content and length balance. Myst: Uru will hopefully open the way for more installment type games, with free downloadable extra content.
Getting yourself an old pc or laptop with a fair sized monitor, modifying (or buying) a keyboard to have large keys, and having the laptop load up a text editor on startup. Doesn't have to run any paticular OS (probably something more stable than Windows though) and just a simple text editor of your choice. Murphy's Paradox... The more you plan, the more can go wrong, thus the higher chance for failure