I love the Adult Swim concept at CN and I look forward to it each Saturday. But I'm really getting pissed off by their mid-stream programming changes. They got to episode 24+/- of Outlaw Star and dropped it. (It only had 2 more episodes to go to finish the story.) The same thing happened with Tenchi Muyo OAV, Tenchi in Tokyo, and Pilot Candidate. ARRGGHHH!! YOU ASSHOLES!!!!
I tried to find some contact information on their website in order to scream at their programming director, but they seem to have strategically omitted it (or maybe I was just too pissed to see it).
But I think a network that featured the more adult anime on a regular basis (and would actually finish a series) would be great.
FYI: The best of Cowboy Bebop is supposed to be on CN next saturday (6 episodes).
** I'm not going there to die, I'm going there to see if I am still alive. **
One thing that the article didn't mention was Valve's continuing move to the new STEAM program - a subscription service which allows the gamer to receive automatic updates of game patches whenever he connects. Technically, it's a form of distributed file system with DRM.
The slide presentation to STEAM strongly hints that Valve (part of the Vivendi juggernaut) is planning a move to pay-to-play model for online gaming similar to Everquest. I wasn't able to find the exact page again where I read this, but IIRC CS was expected to go all STEAM around the release of v1.6 or v1.7. There was also mention that suggested mod authors were going to have to pay money to Valve to write a mod. (I think it was around $1000. I really wish I could find the page again.) This would be truly discouraging turn of events for mod authors.
The reason I even noticed about this potential policy change was that I have spent the couple of years writing mods for HL myself and now am wondering if it's time to change engines. (The Ogre engine looks pretty darn good, but I don't think it has a networking support yet.)
There is one other reason to take note of STEAM is that it requires a broadband connection (Dialup and 128K ISDN need not apply. 384Kb/sec throughput is the minimum.) This means that if you don't use cable, you're screwed. This is quite a change from when you could play Q1/Q2 on a 28Kb modem. The interesting thing is that it's not the game itself that requires this bandwidth, but rather it's distributed file system of the steam DRM. Is this the wave of the future? Will gamers cry foul? Time will tell.
We're also working with others throughout the industry to improve Internet protocols to stop email that could propagate misleading information or malicious code that falsely appears to be from trusted senders.
Improve as in 'embrace and extend'? What's wrong with TCP/IP, SMTP, or POP3? The problem was never with the transport protocols. They work perfectly. The real problem was with microsloth's crappy Outlook Express gleefully surrendering a user's mailing lists and blindly running every virus script that came along, no questions asked. The problem was further compounded by their reluctance to fix it, despite getting pounded by one virus after another over the course of several years. Even with the recent Apache and SSH exploits, I'd still trust a linux system over M$ any day.
I'm seriously thinking about dropping my Republican leanings as well. Dubya has made a mockery out of civil rights. Hell, I'd even vote for Hillary for president at this point just to get rid of Dubya and his agenda.
You don't know much about the USA do you. It would take an Amendment to the Constitution to keep a sitting President in office longer than 8 years. To pass, such an Amendment would have to be ratified by 3/4 of the States.
We do not condone the the use of Monarchies here in America.
Dubya thinks he's King. Don't be surprised if he declares some sort of contrived state of emergency
and suspends elections until the 'crisis' is resolved (like never). Dubya is a tyrrant in the making. He has no respect for the constitution, the bill of rights, open government, or your freedom and liberties. Dubya serves his own agendy and those of his billionaire cronies.
I do. The CD makes an exellent coaster to keep those nasty water marks off my desk. AOL disks also work. just be sure to scuff the shiny side to prevent anyone from accidently loading that shit onto a computer.
I reached my tolerance limit of TV a long time ago. There is so much damn advertisement now that it's become impossible to watch anything on TV. Some of you may recall the Star Trek NG show in which a group of people from the 20th century are frozen and launched into space until a cure could be found for their various diseases. (Ummm, wouldn't keeping them at a medical facility make it easier to find them when the cure arrived? Doh!) Anyhow, they asked Mr. Data where the TV was in the break room. He replied that TV was a fad that died out around the year 2040. I don't think it's going to last that long.
The sad thing is that subscription TV is no better than broadcast. With the few exceptions of the high-priced premium channels, there's as much, if not more advertisement on cable as there is on the broadcast channels.
Even worse is that with the coming of the new HDTV format, we're supposed to shell out $2,000+ for a new digital television which, if the broadcasters get their way, will prevent you from skipping the ads with your VCR. (There is no way in hell I'm going to spend that kind of money on a TV infested with video spam.)
The article mentions that ad time has gone from 9.5 minutes (in 1983) to approx 15 minutes per hour. That's giving the networks too much credit. In a recent survey, the ad time was closer to 20 minutes with NBC the ad champ at a whopping 22 minutes per hour during prime time.
The only cure is to bitch loudly and bitch often. Both to the networks and to the corporate sleaze bags that think we would be the least bit interested in seeing their cheesy product shoved down our throats. If they're going to make a career out of annoying the viewing public, then we should return the favor.
I tried to find some contact information on their website in order to scream at their programming director, but they seem to have strategically omitted it (or maybe I was just too pissed to see it).
But I think a network that featured the more adult anime on a regular basis (and would actually finish a series) would be great.
FYI: The best of Cowboy Bebop is supposed to be on CN next saturday (6 episodes).
** I'm not going there to die, I'm going there to see if I am still alive. **
The slide presentation to STEAM strongly hints that Valve (part of the Vivendi juggernaut) is planning a move to pay-to-play model for online gaming similar to Everquest. I wasn't able to find the exact page again where I read this, but IIRC CS was expected to go all STEAM around the release of v1.6 or v1.7. There was also mention that suggested mod authors were going to have to pay money to Valve to write a mod. (I think it was around $1000. I really wish I could find the page again.) This would be truly discouraging turn of events for mod authors.
The reason I even noticed about this potential policy change was that I have spent the couple of years writing mods for HL myself and now am wondering if it's time to change engines. (The Ogre engine looks pretty darn good, but I don't think it has a networking support yet.)
There is one other reason to take note of STEAM is that it requires a broadband connection (Dialup and 128K ISDN need not apply. 384Kb/sec throughput is the minimum.) This means that if you don't use cable, you're screwed. This is quite a change from when you could play Q1/Q2 on a 28Kb modem. The interesting thing is that it's not the game itself that requires this bandwidth, but rather it's distributed file system of the steam DRM. Is this the wave of the future? Will gamers cry foul? Time will tell.
Improve as in 'embrace and extend'? What's wrong with TCP/IP, SMTP, or POP3? The problem was never with the transport protocols. They work perfectly. The real problem was with microsloth's crappy Outlook Express gleefully surrendering a user's mailing lists and blindly running every virus script that came along, no questions asked. The problem was further compounded by their reluctance to fix it, despite getting pounded by one virus after another over the course of several years. Even with the recent Apache and SSH exploits, I'd still trust a linux system over M$ any day.
I'm seriously thinking about dropping my Republican leanings as well. Dubya has made a mockery out of civil rights. Hell, I'd even vote for Hillary for president at this point just to get rid of Dubya and his agenda.
Dubya thinks he's King. Don't be surprised if he declares some sort of contrived state of emergency and suspends elections until the 'crisis' is resolved (like never). Dubya is a tyrrant in the making. He has no respect for the constitution, the bill of rights, open government, or your freedom and liberties. Dubya serves his own agendy and those of his billionaire cronies.
(does anyone actually use Windows Me?)
I do. The CD makes an exellent coaster to keep those nasty water marks off my desk. AOL disks also work. just be sure to scuff the shiny side to prevent anyone from accidently loading that shit onto a computer.
The sad thing is that subscription TV is no better than broadcast. With the few exceptions of the high-priced premium channels, there's as much, if not more advertisement on cable as there is on the broadcast channels.
Even worse is that with the coming of the new HDTV format, we're supposed to shell out $2,000+ for a new digital television which, if the broadcasters get their way, will prevent you from skipping the ads with your VCR. (There is no way in hell I'm going to spend that kind of money on a TV infested with video spam.)
The article mentions that ad time has gone from 9.5 minutes (in 1983) to approx 15 minutes per hour. That's giving the networks too much credit. In a recent survey, the ad time was closer to 20 minutes with NBC the ad champ at a whopping 22 minutes per hour during prime time.
The only cure is to bitch loudly and bitch often. Both to the networks and to the corporate sleaze bags that think we would be the least bit interested in seeing their cheesy product shoved down our throats. If they're going to make a career out of annoying the viewing public, then we should return the favor.