This is slightly offtopic, but the episode you quoted as sending up Run Lola Run (Lola Run Lola...) might have had a scene or two for that movie, but you might want to also think about Go or Rashomon
Speak what praise you will of the Xbox you want, but I'll avoid introducing my own opinions. All I want to state is that market forces definately seem to be openly demonstrating the demise of the original oversize Xbox controller. Go into any SoftwareEtc/Babbages/Funcoland or a EB and ask them just how many of the original Xbox controllers they get in nowadays. You'll find that they're not getting any new original XL controllers in anymore. Wait, and a year from now the Controller S will have even slipped quietly in with new Xboxes
I really can't understand why so many Mac users object to multi-button mice and the mousewheel, outside of dogmatism. I will concur that there is a limit past which increasing the # of buttons on a mouse generates convenience, but on the other hand, there are several perfectly valid logical flow for adding at least one extra button to the mouse.
The minimum size of a mouse is decided by how much space you need to house the internal mechanisms. Yeah, lasers and balls need different amounts of space, and then there's a clicker on top of that.
As an object of prelonged usage, a mouse must be ergonomically sensible. This means that the mouse must be able to support the weight that a person needs to exert on it in order to maintain comfortable position.
This size device is going to fill up space under the fingers other than the index
As proven by stimulation by SUV drivers, the middle finger is easily capable of comfortable independant movement.
Putting another mouse button there would effectively double the number of commands possibly generated by that hand.
So enough blowing smoke... just grow up and package a 2 button mouse with the Mac if you're interested in increasing effective usability... and throw in a mouse wheel, I'm addicted to mine
Why not make sure that the right hacker wins?
And if you cease the operation of the crusher, immediately have the server's connection to the internet cut, so the last hacker in could leave his name at the door on his way out.
Put a webcam on another computer sitting beside it for alarmed and curious types to find out whether the box lived or not.
And then, to get really good ratings, have some pr0n going in the webcam's POV
"It's going to take an enormous amount of software development...to really make it get up and dance."
*groans* Here we go again. One of the primary mistakes that these guys keep making is that every time they reinvent the wheel, we have to remake the cars, the highways, driver's training, etc! Having to relearn coding for the umpteenth time is going to actually shoot the PS3 in the foot severely.
Non-ADD suffers should remember that when the PS2 originally debuted, there were significant problems with it's anti-aliasing abilities. Every two-bit flamebaiter was crowing the latest 'clever' pun like "Tekken Jag Tournament." These problems eventually diminished when software companies discovered a poorly-documented workaround in the PS2 phonebook of "Programming 101 (again!)" The second generation of PS2 games that hit just before this last Xmas was friggin incredible (Devil May Cry, FF10, GTA!). This was because programmers had finally wangled out of the system the ability to make it do what they want. This allowed them to concentrate resources on that crucial element: Gameplay.
Moral of the story? Buy your PS3 a year after it comes out. That'll be when the games finally start getting good.
So if the Lord of the Rings is making a metric ass-load of money (metric assloads are bigger), when are we getting a Hobbit movie? Ian "I'm the gay Gandalf, hehe!" McKellan certainly wouldn't mind reprising his role. And back to topic weakly, what would we put in the trailer?
When it comes to your expensive MS Office install, how hard is it to find help? Not only is there Microsoft's own support system, but on the internet and in published print there's a friggin world of support for *groans* "Dummies"...
On the other hand, what about OpenOffice or StarOffice? It's a whole different deal.
To put this in simple terms, just think about secretaries. They're usually unskilled and uneducated, but the average competent secretary knows a few more tricks about MS suites than you or I do. Slap a beautifully free copy of something else in front of her, and you've just made an enemy of the last person you ever want to piss off in your McCompany.
actually Sony is losing a little bit of dough on the PS2. I read a recent article that pegged the cost of producing a PS2 at about ~$180. Now the system does sell for $199, which technically is $19 more, but on the other hand there are other costs than the manufacturing. There are the shipping, sales promotion, and defect replacement costs on top of this.
Furthermore, Sony HAS to sell it at lower than $180 to the resellers, because the retailer wants to make more than a couple bucks on the console to cover costs like advertising, salaries, stocking, and paying for ex-employees like me who take their name tags with them when they quit.
Hehe, too bad nobody ever really got the joke of the "Coming Soon!" sticker on my ID badge;)
I'll chime in on this comment with a hearty agreement.
And what's more, going bleeding edge doesn't pay off the way that it used to. Nowadays hardware is developing so quickly is that the market isn't keeping up. Our high-end systems are getting more and more outrageous, but the average user in any given category (economy/business/gamer) isn't changing at all. What this means is that companies wanting to make the most profit are unable to push through as much high-demand software as they would like to. Software scalability helps sell stuff to more users, but it also lessens the pressure to upgrade. This softens the pressure to move.
And then there's the fact that as things develop so quickly, developers themselves can't take full advantage of the bleeding-edge, as it so often bleeds out instantaneously.
So where's the payoff in going high-end? I dunno.
So my advice is not only to not bother trying to build your own, but to get yourself a laptop. They're amped anymore.
Slashdot Mirror
This is slightly offtopic, but the episode you quoted as sending up Run Lola Run (Lola Run Lola...) might have had a scene or two for that movie, but you might want to also think about Go or Rashomon
Ooh, let's make it an ongoing series. Where was the first usage of "pr0n"?
Speak what praise you will of the Xbox you want, but I'll avoid introducing my own opinions. All I want to state is that market forces definately seem to be openly demonstrating the demise of the original oversize Xbox controller. Go into any SoftwareEtc/Babbages/Funcoland or a EB and ask them just how many of the original Xbox controllers they get in nowadays. You'll find that they're not getting any new original XL controllers in anymore. Wait, and a year from now the Controller S will have even slipped quietly in with new Xboxes
Or even the mousewheel at that?
I really can't understand why so many Mac users object to multi-button mice and the mousewheel, outside of dogmatism. I will concur that there is a limit past which increasing the # of buttons on a mouse generates convenience, but on the other hand, there are several perfectly valid logical flow for adding at least one extra button to the mouse.
So enough blowing smoke... just grow up and package a 2 button mouse with the Mac if you're interested in increasing effective usability... and throw in a mouse wheel, I'm addicted to mine
Why not make sure that the right hacker wins? And if you cease the operation of the crusher, immediately have the server's connection to the internet cut, so the last hacker in could leave his name at the door on his way out. Put a webcam on another computer sitting beside it for alarmed and curious types to find out whether the box lived or not. And then, to get really good ratings, have some pr0n going in the webcam's POV
"It's going to take an enormous amount of software development...to really make it get up and dance."
*groans* Here we go again. One of the primary mistakes that these guys keep making is that every time they reinvent the wheel, we have to remake the cars, the highways, driver's training, etc! Having to relearn coding for the umpteenth time is going to actually shoot the PS3 in the foot severely.
Non-ADD suffers should remember that when the PS2 originally debuted, there were significant problems with it's anti-aliasing abilities. Every two-bit flamebaiter was crowing the latest 'clever' pun like "Tekken Jag Tournament." These problems eventually diminished when software companies discovered a poorly-documented workaround in the PS2 phonebook of "Programming 101 (again!)" The second generation of PS2 games that hit just before this last Xmas was friggin incredible (Devil May Cry, FF10, GTA!). This was because programmers had finally wangled out of the system the ability to make it do what they want. This allowed them to concentrate resources on that crucial element: Gameplay.
Moral of the story? Buy your PS3 a year after it comes out. That'll be when the games finally start getting good.
'Contest officials were later dismayed to discover that the winning robot was nothing other than Burt Reynolds wearing a tin-foil hat.'
So if the Lord of the Rings is making a metric ass-load of money (metric assloads are bigger), when are we getting a Hobbit movie? Ian "I'm the gay Gandalf, hehe!" McKellan certainly wouldn't mind reprising his role. And back to topic weakly, what would we put in the trailer?
When it comes to your expensive MS Office install, how hard is it to find help? Not only is there Microsoft's own support system, but on the internet and in published print there's a friggin world of support for *groans* "Dummies"...
On the other hand, what about OpenOffice or StarOffice? It's a whole different deal.
To put this in simple terms, just think about secretaries. They're usually unskilled and uneducated, but the average competent secretary knows a few more tricks about MS suites than you or I do. Slap a beautifully free copy of something else in front of her, and you've just made an enemy of the last person you ever want to piss off in your McCompany.
Oh, go eat your Nintendo-brand cereal, grampa...
actually Sony is losing a little bit of dough on the PS2. I read a recent article that pegged the cost of producing a PS2 at about ~$180. Now the system does sell for $199, which technically is $19 more, but on the other hand there are other costs than the manufacturing. There are the shipping, sales promotion, and defect replacement costs on top of this.
Furthermore, Sony HAS to sell it at lower than $180 to the resellers, because the retailer wants to make more than a couple bucks on the console to cover costs like advertising, salaries, stocking, and paying for ex-employees like me who take their name tags with them when they quit.
Hehe, too bad nobody ever really got the joke of the "Coming Soon!" sticker on my ID badge ;)
I'll chime in on this comment with a hearty agreement. And what's more, going bleeding edge doesn't pay off the way that it used to. Nowadays hardware is developing so quickly is that the market isn't keeping up. Our high-end systems are getting more and more outrageous, but the average user in any given category (economy/business/gamer) isn't changing at all. What this means is that companies wanting to make the most profit are unable to push through as much high-demand software as they would like to. Software scalability helps sell stuff to more users, but it also lessens the pressure to upgrade. This softens the pressure to move. And then there's the fact that as things develop so quickly, developers themselves can't take full advantage of the bleeding-edge, as it so often bleeds out instantaneously. So where's the payoff in going high-end? I dunno. So my advice is not only to not bother trying to build your own, but to get yourself a laptop. They're amped anymore.