What incentive does Rockstar have to do anything other than just ignore the protesters? I didn't even know such a title was in the works, but, thanks to the protesting, now I'm aware of the game. I have to admit, it doesn't seem like the kind of game that really sparks my interest, but I gave Rockstar kudos for originality; I've never heard of a game like this before.
So, what to do? Ignore the protesters, let them advertise for you, and if CERTAIN countries ban the release/sale of the game (the United States certainly won't, and it's really hard to care about the UK), EVEN BETTER. When a game is designed to be controversial, isn't it a marketing golden opportunity to be bale to say "so [blank] that it's banned in some countries."
It may prevent the game from being very widely sold, but I do not believe that this game is really going to be top on anyone's list, so perhaps the controversy is good in helping it establish its niche.
My girlfriend and I play Rangarok Online, a Korean-made game that I assume is/was popular there (as well as Japan and the United States, where they run commercial servers). Soon after the game came out of beta, they implemented a Cute Pet system.
I kept pet rats for years, and they're very adorable and shockingly intelligent animals. They enjoy interaction a lot and make excellent pets. On the flip site, I've heard that rat meat is very tasty, and I'd like to try it some day.
I'm not entirely thrilled about this start page. After playing with google's for a few minutes and setting it up just the way I like it, I realized that everything it does for me is functionality that comes with other software I've got.
For example, GNOME has applets that show the weather for me, and there are lots of other programs that will do that for you, I'm sure. Quote of the day? That's what fortune is for (or "quote of the login session"--even better!). RSS feeds? I've got Firefox/Thunderbird for that, and for googling there's...well...google (searchable through Firefox UI anyway).
Granted, this page is more useful when I'm using Windows, but in linux it's just redundant.
The game that made me consider the XBox 360 is Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Usually it's single games that affect my decision. I bought an N64 back in the day just to play Zelda64. It was perhaps the only likable game I had for the system, but it was well worth what I paid for it, even if I only used the console for that one game. Next I got a PS2 in order to play the Final Fantasy games, which was mostly what I did with my SNES. I own other PS2 games, but I haven't played them as much or gotten as much enjoyment out of them.
If I can ever afford a new console, XBox 360 is fast becoming the most attractive option, but I will of course be playing the waiting game. That's what I did with my PS2, and it certainly paid off. I'm eager to see the offerings from every company.
The console that has captured most of my interest, however, is the new Gamepark handheld coming out. I haven't even finished lusting after the GP32, and already they're throwing another in my face!
(c) Why do people in the USA with broadband and easy access to BitTorrent use Linux when they could just as easily download pirated MS products? Because they prefer Linux.
Well, how about if you ran a store and you wanted to bundle your cheese with this bread. You have decided that everyone who buys cheese must also purchase a loaf of your bread, and because the bread manufacturer has forced you to sign an agreement that if you want to carry their bread (apparently the only bread that people want), you MUST agree to this bundling practice whether you like it or not.
It's not about the right not to stock something, it's about the right not to buy something. Product bundling is convenient for SOME, but to force it on even those that don't want it is as ridiculous as the riders that congress puts on our bills.
If everyone who had a pc could dump windows and run mac os the world would be a better place overnight. LESS STUPID PEOPLE.
I'm not quite sure it works this way. I've met a lot of people in the Mac community that are very, very, very stupid when it comes to computer concepts. The same goes to Windows users, or any operating system for that matter.
The chief concern here is being free to control how your computer is run.
Managers everywhere are going to read this and drool because they think they can push their programming teams to meet the outrageous release dates set by people who have most likely never written a line of code in their life.
I agree with you about that home icon. I imagine that there are many distros that DO change the GNOME default icon theme. As a Fedora Core user of late, I'm quite pleased with their default GNOME theme in FC4. I believe the icons are the same from bluecurve, but the window decorations are now less blinding.
GNOME's default look and feel have been graciously taken care of for me by Red Hat, of which I am very thankful, but as a BSD user I'm still left to deal with GNOME as it is.
I have heard this from my father, who was an active PC user at the time. In fact, the clock chip, which he told me was no longer being manufactured by the time Lisa was released, was one of the reasons why the platform failed.
The Chinese are their own country. It's their prerogative to make their own rules and manage their own country, and I oppose self-righteous attempts of foreign capitalist entities of exerting control through economis.
Cencorship constitutes a gray area in politics. Can you prove to me that their censorship violates human rights? If it's gone too far, can you show me how far is too far and prove to me that the lives of the people are worse because of this? I don't want theories or political arguments--I want data. We have cencorship in the United States, you know, but you don't see Cisco turning on our government, do you?
I believe what is important is the engine. To you, perhaps the game data is the most important thing, but I tend to view it as the opposite; the data is the least important. Some games are old, and the data of the full game can be had very easitly. If you're really dedicated to getting that data, you can lay your hands on it in any number of ways, not excluding purchasing a copy.
Why the source is important is because even if you did download the game without paying anyone, how are you going to play it? Wouldn't it be great if it ran natively on your operating system? Or maybe you are bugged by some feature or the lack thereof in the game. Source access opens up every door imaginable; the *whole* game is suddenly at your complete disposal, and from there you can take the engine and leave the original game data far behind.
I do believe you are getting the whole game. It's like getting a free copy of the AD&D players handbook and complaining you don't have the whole game because it didn't come with a campaign. Since many players created their own, what more than the handbook is actually necessary?
My favorite online RPG is Daimonin. It's a good project; very stable. It's multi-platform, and a new beta will be released soon that fixes all the things I dislike about it. Give it a look; it's bassed on crossfire code, and it's isometric (whatever that means)!:-)
-Microsoft will strengthen Red Hat's source offerings to emphasize "interoperability", which means that it will be possible to administer a RH install from Windows.
Putty, yo.
It sounds like just the sort of thing that Microsoft would do, though. They could make a nice GUI application to administer multiple machines at once with the click of a mouse, maybe have it manage a mix of Windows and linux. That might be cool. Dirty, but cool.
Microsoft may want to distribute linux someday in order to have a greater influence over consumer opionin.
For example, linux is getting so much press and fanfare that it can no longer be ignored. People are seeing it as a great anti-MS system, and many companies like Novell, IBM, and Red Hat are showcasing it as a premium product.
Along comes Microsoft. Let's say they package their own linux distro and then ship it as a low-cost, cheapo OS. When they market it as being lesser quality as Windows, a lot of people will be sucked in by the economic famework, "Windows costs a lot more, so it must be better, right?" Also, Microsoft can make sure the consumers know that, "...if you want this fancy function, you'll have to upgrade to Windows."
Sure, it will increase the market share of linux, and it might be a risky move for MS, but it might enable them to keep the system down in its niche like Mac OS and others.
Americans and most capitalists believe that you get what you pay for. This kind of fallacy works against linux. It's true that you can't compete with free, but "low cost solution" rubs consumers the wrong way because they've had too many runins in the past with poor production quality (as we know, software is not like hardware). Microsoft is just the corporation to pander to that fallacy and hang a light on some imagined inferiority.
We'll get our airwaves back as soon as the government stops telling us what to do with it, and not a moment before.
The airwaves need to be regulated, and only the power of the state can back such regulation. People have to agree only to use certain frequencies within certain ranges for radio to be effective and useful for the most people. Do you have a better solution?
I support localized technology. Where is everyone's capitalist spirit of competition, anyway? I'm eager to see what more China has to offer to the future.
It's an interesting idea, but something I care greatly about. The human brain is good at filtering out white noise, and computer fans and other noise simly get relegated beyond the edge of hearing. The only thing I absolutely can't stand is the sound of a broken feedback transformer on a CRT display (they start to squeel at a high frequency sometimes beyond some peoples' hearing range. When the transformer starts to go it gets much, much louder, but it can be heard normally if you listen carefully, especially on older, functional displays).
I bought a Compaq SR1012NX last year (cheapest PC I could find at the time), and I was astonished by how quiet it was. I grew up with computers and never noticed the noise until I started reading about it, but this guy is amazing; I can't tell if it's on or not just by listening. The fans run below hearing most of the time, but when the box heats up from a high load the fans kick in very loudly until it's cool again. This typically only happens when I'm switching between heavy processes like games.
It's kind of sweet to have a quiet computer, but I also work in a computer lab all day with 30 really old Gateway desktops, and they're noisy. Doesn't bother me one bit.
For clarification of the discussion, it's worth pointing out that different traits within one species doesn't necessarily mean that speciation is occurring, though you might say it opens up a possibility.
Different genetic traits is sort of the point of genetics and sexual reproduction, and human beings are a very diverse group indeed. The cool thing is that in spite of our diveristy is that our DNA is still compatible in a sexual way. Specation doesn't occur until two groups are no long able to reproduce together, but as long as the traits can be passed back and forth between us, we're all still homo sapiens.
The liberal/conservative thing is interesting, but it's hard to pin down cause and effect here. My original theory was working class/bourgeois. Is a person poor because they are liberal, or are they liberal because they are poor? What about the rich liberals? I don't even think Yoda can see clearly through this one.
Having been a biotechnology student for many a year, I can't honestly say that I believe speciation occurs within the human race.
I believe this because of the size of our population, the structure of our society, and the fact that there seem to be no more completely isolated groups of human beings.
Human beings have really made things their own way. We have a system that sort of throws nature out the window, and it messes up a lot of natural processes. Do you even see a need for biological change? Our population is growing at an alarming rate, and it doesn't follow normal mammal cycles or anything. I'm pretty sure whatever conditions that tend towards the evolutionary process we've broken out of a long time ago.
That's just my opinion, though. For all we know speciation is occurring as we speak. It takes a VERY long time, though. But, honestly, what two groups can it arise between? I think HG Wells offers the only plausible theory when he takes into account social class. It's a good bone for both marxists and non-marxists alike: the social class. Will it become a biological divider too? Unlikely, I say, but a fascinating concept.
Slashdot Mirror
So, what to do? Ignore the protesters, let them advertise for you, and if CERTAIN countries ban the release/sale of the game (the United States certainly won't, and it's really hard to care about the UK), EVEN BETTER. When a game is designed to be controversial, isn't it a marketing golden opportunity to be bale to say "so [blank] that it's banned in some countries."
It may prevent the game from being very widely sold, but I do not believe that this game is really going to be top on anyone's list, so perhaps the controversy is good in helping it establish its niche.
My girlfriend and I play Rangarok Online, a Korean-made game that I assume is/was popular there (as well as Japan and the United States, where they run commercial servers). Soon after the game came out of beta, they implemented a Cute Pet system.
I kept pet rats for years, and they're very adorable and shockingly intelligent animals. They enjoy interaction a lot and make excellent pets. On the flip site, I've heard that rat meat is very tasty, and I'd like to try it some day.
For example, GNOME has applets that show the weather for me, and there are lots of other programs that will do that for you, I'm sure. Quote of the day? That's what fortune is for (or "quote of the login session"--even better!). RSS feeds? I've got Firefox/Thunderbird for that, and for googling there's...well...google (searchable through Firefox UI anyway).
Granted, this page is more useful when I'm using Windows, but in linux it's just redundant.
Usually it's single games that affect my decision. I bought an N64 back in the day just to play Zelda64. It was perhaps the only likable game I had for the system, but it was well worth what I paid for it, even if I only used the console for that one game. Next I got a PS2 in order to play the Final Fantasy games, which was mostly what I did with my SNES. I own other PS2 games, but I haven't played them as much or gotten as much enjoyment out of them.
If I can ever afford a new console, XBox 360 is fast becoming the most attractive option, but I will of course be playing the waiting game. That's what I did with my PS2, and it certainly paid off. I'm eager to see the offerings from every company.
The console that has captured most of my interest, however, is the new Gamepark handheld coming out. I haven't even finished lusting after the GP32, and already they're throwing another in my face!
Word, brother.
It's not about the right not to stock something, it's about the right not to buy something. Product bundling is convenient for SOME, but to force it on even those that don't want it is as ridiculous as the riders that congress puts on our bills.
We are one step closer to giant military robot mechs!
The chief concern here is being free to control how your computer is run.
Managers everywhere are going to read this and drool because they think they can push their programming teams to meet the outrageous release dates set by people who have most likely never written a line of code in their life.
FYI, programmers/engineers are NOT soldiers.
GNOME's default look and feel have been graciously taken care of for me by Red Hat, of which I am very thankful, but as a BSD user I'm still left to deal with GNOME as it is.
I have heard this from my father, who was an active PC user at the time. In fact, the clock chip, which he told me was no longer being manufactured by the time Lisa was released, was one of the reasons why the platform failed.
Yes.
Cencorship constitutes a gray area in politics. Can you prove to me that their censorship violates human rights? If it's gone too far, can you show me how far is too far and prove to me that the lives of the people are worse because of this? I don't want theories or political arguments--I want data. We have cencorship in the United States, you know, but you don't see Cisco turning on our government, do you?
Why the source is important is because even if you did download the game without paying anyone, how are you going to play it? Wouldn't it be great if it ran natively on your operating system? Or maybe you are bugged by some feature or the lack thereof in the game. Source access opens up every door imaginable; the *whole* game is suddenly at your complete disposal, and from there you can take the engine and leave the original game data far behind.
I do believe you are getting the whole game. It's like getting a free copy of the AD&D players handbook and complaining you don't have the whole game because it didn't come with a campaign. Since many players created their own, what more than the handbook is actually necessary?
My favorite online RPG is Daimonin. It's a good project; very stable. It's multi-platform, and a new beta will be released soon that fixes all the things I dislike about it. Give it a look; it's bassed on crossfire code, and it's isometric (whatever that means)! :-)
Putty, yo.
It sounds like just the sort of thing that Microsoft would do, though. They could make a nice GUI application to administer multiple machines at once with the click of a mouse, maybe have it manage a mix of Windows and linux. That might be cool. Dirty, but cool.
For example, linux is getting so much press and fanfare that it can no longer be ignored. People are seeing it as a great anti-MS system, and many companies like Novell, IBM, and Red Hat are showcasing it as a premium product.
Along comes Microsoft. Let's say they package their own linux distro and then ship it as a low-cost, cheapo OS. When they market it as being lesser quality as Windows, a lot of people will be sucked in by the economic famework, "Windows costs a lot more, so it must be better, right?" Also, Microsoft can make sure the consumers know that, "...if you want this fancy function, you'll have to upgrade to Windows."
Sure, it will increase the market share of linux, and it might be a risky move for MS, but it might enable them to keep the system down in its niche like Mac OS and others.
Americans and most capitalists believe that you get what you pay for. This kind of fallacy works against linux. It's true that you can't compete with free, but "low cost solution" rubs consumers the wrong way because they've had too many runins in the past with poor production quality (as we know, software is not like hardware). Microsoft is just the corporation to pander to that fallacy and hang a light on some imagined inferiority.
The airwaves need to be regulated, and only the power of the state can back such regulation. People have to agree only to use certain frequencies within certain ranges for radio to be effective and useful for the most people. Do you have a better solution?
I support localized technology. Where is everyone's capitalist spirit of competition, anyway? I'm eager to see what more China has to offer to the future.
Besides, it would make a great reality TV show...wouldn't you want to watch a liberal woman from New York paired with a conservative southern baptist?
I bought a Compaq SR1012NX last year (cheapest PC I could find at the time), and I was astonished by how quiet it was. I grew up with computers and never noticed the noise until I started reading about it, but this guy is amazing; I can't tell if it's on or not just by listening. The fans run below hearing most of the time, but when the box heats up from a high load the fans kick in very loudly until it's cool again. This typically only happens when I'm switching between heavy processes like games.
It's kind of sweet to have a quiet computer, but I also work in a computer lab all day with 30 really old Gateway desktops, and they're noisy. Doesn't bother me one bit.
Different genetic traits is sort of the point of genetics and sexual reproduction, and human beings are a very diverse group indeed. The cool thing is that in spite of our diveristy is that our DNA is still compatible in a sexual way. Specation doesn't occur until two groups are no long able to reproduce together, but as long as the traits can be passed back and forth between us, we're all still homo sapiens.
The liberal/conservative thing is interesting, but it's hard to pin down cause and effect here. My original theory was working class/bourgeois. Is a person poor because they are liberal, or are they liberal because they are poor? What about the rich liberals? I don't even think Yoda can see clearly through this one.
Maybe Mac in this case simply means not Window, which could imply linux is included?
Having been a biotechnology student for many a year, I can't honestly say that I believe speciation occurs within the human race.
I believe this because of the size of our population, the structure of our society, and the fact that there seem to be no more completely isolated groups of human beings.
Human beings have really made things their own way. We have a system that sort of throws nature out the window, and it messes up a lot of natural processes. Do you even see a need for biological change? Our population is growing at an alarming rate, and it doesn't follow normal mammal cycles or anything. I'm pretty sure whatever conditions that tend towards the evolutionary process we've broken out of a long time ago.
That's just my opinion, though. For all we know speciation is occurring as we speak. It takes a VERY long time, though. But, honestly, what two groups can it arise between? I think HG Wells offers the only plausible theory when he takes into account social class. It's a good bone for both marxists and non-marxists alike: the social class. Will it become a biological divider too? Unlikely, I say, but a fascinating concept.