I followed Sovereign from when it was first annouced then lost interest as the years kept ticking by.
It started off as an incredibly cool concept, a modern day world with modern units. You inhabited a single planet, scalable to support to 500 "countries".. so each world would be server. Then had some awesome looking models functioning in the alpha.. aircraft carriers, fighters, nuclear subs. Battle tanks etc. It look like things were progressing smoothly, they had a nice look UI finished, you could zoom into a single infantry man all the way out to the whole planet.. this was supposed to be scaled to what your Satelite technology was. Resource system was in.. you had a character.. which effected how you ruled your empire/citizens.. such as Diplomat, Theocrat, Warmonger etc...
THEN... they completely ditched the concept and basically started from scratch. So it was 4.5 years for the name "Sovereign" but them dumped the first game after about 2 years and started all over again. The new concept was retarded and thats when I stopped following it. They moved it from modern times to into the future.. where you controlled an entire planet with space ships and other junk. All the cool modern-era tech was replaced with goofy space-shit and all the gorgeous models were replaced with cartoony crap.
The original concept was ambitious and amazing, too bad they didn't have the balls to make it work. Instead they opted for Trade Wars 2002 MMORPG and it tanked. Glad it happened too.
This is the same as the premise of the science fiction book by Greg Bear Blood Music.
In which a researcher inadvertently creates sentient cells. But more importantly, the book describes a near future in which biological research outpaces computer research and that it spawns an entire "Gene Valley" type area as opposed to a "Silicon Valley". With organisms being manufactured to do just what the article describes -- Create hydrogen, purify air etc. Except the researcher decides to inject himself with his cells to "save them" and standard Sci-Fi goodness ensues.
Thirty years from now, the greatest challenge to our armed forces will be how to deal with the POWs. No power on Earth will be able to oppose us when we decide to bend other nations to our will.
This could be very cool for various video games. More than joystick force-feedback you could get whole body shots when playing games like Quake et al.
Especially cool if I could spawn-kill that punk kid who cheats and every time he dies he gets a thundering pounding in the chest, imitating what I want to do in real-life.
You can get a job with a foreign company quite easily, the IT job market here is very good. In all sectors. It does depend on your skills though and what are you want to work in. But there are plenty of programmers and other professionals that don't speak a lick of Korean.
It usually just needs to be a foreign company though, or a Korean company that deals in foreign business. Domestic trade and you'll need korean.
By the way, farang is thai for foreigner, in Korea you're a waygook.
I live and work in Seoul and while its true that most people seem to have broadband at home it doesn't seem like they use it all that much. Its also incredibly affordable, very fast and extremely reliable.
With that said, Internet Cafes (PC Bangs) are a huge business here. They are literally everywhere. Its very difficult not to walk in a busy area and not see multiple PC bangs. So while all these people have internet at home, they still go out to the Internet Cafe to play games and spend extra money when they could easily do so at home.
I'm sitting in a PC Bang now, it has about 40 stations and half of them are in use. Mostly men in their early to late twenties. Most of them are playing Starcraft: Broodwar or one of numerous Diablo II clones. The handful of women in here are playing cards or using chat software. I will play Warcraft myself shortly.
Anyhow, my point is that all these homes are wired yet people still flock to these cafes unnecessarily. I mean, in the afternoons these places are filled with middle and high-school kids and then with adults all through the night. Most are open 24 hours.
So 67% of Korean homes may be wired, but I'd say an even greater percentage of the population are internet users, I don't know a single korean who doesn't have an e-mail address or an IM id.
If you want to see the world and don't care about doing a geek job.
And since you have a University Degree you can pretty much teach English in any country you want in Asia.
The ESL Market is really large and you have the ability to save a decent amount of money too if you decide to work in Korea, Taiwan or Japan. If more exotic locations are to your liking, you can teach in China, Indonesia, Phillipines, Thailand, Vietnam etc but the pay in those locations is abyssmal by North American or European standards, however you usually get paid about 10x what local residents do. For instance, in China an english teacher gets paid 6000 yuan a month where most locals earn about 600.
Most schools will pay for your airfare and your housing so you have very little upkeep.
In addition, if you have a Masters degree, regardless of field, you can get a job teaching English in an Asian university as a visiting Professor.
Best way to see the world.
I know because I'm a geek with craploads of qualifications but decided to teach English in Seoul, Korea and its quite the experience.
For more info you can check out www.eslcafe.com it can get you started for whatever you need.
I'm a Canadian guy who lives and works in Seoul, Korea. I don't have a computer at home so I go to these Internet Cafes called "PC Bangs" here to do the bulk of my gaming.
Gaming culture here is quite bizarre really, because there is no reason why these PC Bangs should be in business, but they are EVERYWHERE and they flourish.. despite the fact that home DSL is inexpensive (about $25 US/month) and computers relatively affordable. Yet, everynight people of all ages pack these PC Bangs. It has to do with collective Korean culture but... PC bangs are cheaper than their North American cousins.. where 6 hours will only cost you about $3 US.
But still, this "unemployed" guy spent 86 hours in a PC Bang? That ain't cheap for someone with no-income...
The most popular game in Korean PC Bangs? Starcraft: Broodwar. Still. Its semi-religious. A close second is Diablo II and a number of Diablo-esque clones.. there are alot of Korean-made diablo clones.
There is a large number of female gamers in PC Bangs too, they range from high-school girls to middle-aged women. The younger girls come to these places to use IM Software the most popular being "Buddy-Buddy" in Korea.. the older women enjoy playing korean cards "Go-Stop" or a junvenile game called "Crazy Arcade", its a kids game but older women like to play it for some reason.
Anyhow, back on topic, my guess is this guy was playing one of the many Everquest-esque games here.. none of them are anywhere near as good.. but they follow the same addictive pattern.. kill shit, gain levels, I see alot of guys mindlessly plugging away at such games.. they have a variety of names.. "Ragnarok", "Priston Tale", you may have heard of "Lineage: The Bloodpledge" which once boasted better numbers than Everquest... I've seen it in action and it sucks bigtime and its nowhere near as popular as reported in the medium, I hardly ever see anyone playing it anymore.
I read Slashdot at work then go to the PC bangs to play Warcraft III.
This is not censorship at all. This is a company (Clean Flicks) providing a service that is obviously In Demand. They wouldn't survive as a company or rental chain if people did not want these edited movies.
I mean c'mon, they're based in Utah, obviously their customers are God Fearing Mormons and Latter Day Saints. These Mormons want their movies sterile and devoid of anything offensive. They are making a concious decision.
I am sure there is at least one Blockbuster in all of Utah where Mormons who don't want this service can rent unedited videos.
But don't call it censorship, a company is simply meeting the demands of its customers.
Business Plan:
1. Cater to Mormons/Move to Utah 2. Edit movies to the point of Sterility 3. ???? 4. Profit!!
Dude, British Law Enforcement guys get the best lines to say to criminals. Maybe you're just jaded because you are a Brit, but to outsiders they sound damn cool..
Catchy phrases like, "Guess what Punter, you're nicked."
Or to hear a criminal say, "Fuck, its the Knock!"
Or to hear a criminal say, "Its the fucking Bill!"
Knock Knock.
Plus.. Royal Flying Squad might not be cool.. but "Thieftakers" is pretty fucking boss.
I don't live there.. but when I was touring around Austria, Germany, Switzerland I saw these things all over the place. Ketchup, Tampons, Beer, Cereal.. they had everything.
Someone mentioned "beer vending machines".. well in most of the above countries, Beer is an option just below Coca-Cola and Sprite on most vending machines anyway.
Please.. it should be obvious that the future of the Internet, nay, the future of COMMUNICATION lies in the hands of one very simple technology.. it is called SYNAPSE!
Now, if only I could figure out the problem with the damn data bottlenecks...
Mark my words, you feeble geeks.. SYNAPSE IS THE FUTURE!!
The Merril Collection of Science Fiction, Speculation and Fantasy is located at the Lillian H. Smith branch, which although belonging to the Toronto Public Library is not in the same building.
Merril Collection
Lillian H. Smith branch
239 College Street
Toronto, Ontario
M5T 1R5
416-393-7746.
I have actually been to visit the collection and its quite impressive with alot of first run prints etc.
Slashdot Mirror
I followed Sovereign from when it was first annouced then lost interest as the years kept ticking by.
It started off as an incredibly cool concept, a modern day world with modern units. You inhabited a single planet, scalable to support to 500 "countries".. so each world would be server. Then had some awesome looking models functioning in the alpha.. aircraft carriers, fighters, nuclear subs. Battle tanks etc. It look like things were progressing smoothly, they had a nice look UI finished, you could zoom into a single infantry man all the way out to the whole planet.. this was supposed to be scaled to what your Satelite technology was. Resource system was in.. you had a character.. which effected how you ruled your empire/citizens.. such as Diplomat, Theocrat, Warmonger etc...
THEN... they completely ditched the concept and basically started from scratch. So it was 4.5 years for the name "Sovereign" but them dumped the first game after about 2 years and started all over again. The new concept was retarded and thats when I stopped following it. They moved it from modern times to into the future.. where you controlled an entire planet with space ships and other junk. All the cool modern-era tech was replaced with goofy space-shit and all the gorgeous models were replaced with cartoony crap.
The original concept was ambitious and amazing, too bad they didn't have the balls to make it work. Instead they opted for Trade Wars 2002 MMORPG and it tanked. Glad it happened too.
Mephisto: Look at my lastest creation.. a 5-assed Mouse!
Kids: So?
Mephisto: Those are HUMAN asses!
Kids: Ooooh!
I'm pretty sure that he was back in the movie, but didn't have any dialogue. Something like that.
It would be cool if he and the traveller could jump in and... oh nevermind.
This is the same as the premise of the science fiction book by Greg Bear Blood Music .
In which a researcher inadvertently creates sentient cells. But more importantly, the book describes a near future in which biological research outpaces computer research and that it spawns an entire "Gene Valley" type area as opposed to a "Silicon Valley". With organisms being manufactured to do just what the article describes -- Create hydrogen, purify air etc. Except the researcher decides to inject himself with his cells to "save them" and standard Sci-Fi goodness ensues.
This could be very cool for various video games. More than joystick force-feedback you could get whole body shots when playing games like Quake et al.
Especially cool if I could spawn-kill that punk kid who cheats and every time he dies he gets a thundering pounding in the chest, imitating what I want to do in real-life.
Sigh.
You can get a job with a foreign company quite easily, the IT job market here is very good. In all sectors. It does depend on your skills though and what are you want to work in. But there are plenty of programmers and other professionals that don't speak a lick of Korean.
It usually just needs to be a foreign company though, or a Korean company that deals in foreign business. Domestic trade and you'll need korean.
By the way, farang is thai for foreigner, in Korea you're a waygook.
I live and work in Seoul and while its true that most people seem to have broadband at home it doesn't seem like they use it all that much. Its also incredibly affordable, very fast and extremely reliable.
With that said, Internet Cafes (PC Bangs) are a huge business here. They are literally everywhere. Its very difficult not to walk in a busy area and not see multiple PC bangs. So while all these people have internet at home, they still go out to the Internet Cafe to play games and spend extra money when they could easily do so at home.
I'm sitting in a PC Bang now, it has about 40 stations and half of them are in use. Mostly men in their early to late twenties. Most of them are playing Starcraft: Broodwar or one of numerous Diablo II clones. The handful of women in here are playing cards or using chat software. I will play Warcraft myself shortly.
Anyhow, my point is that all these homes are wired yet people still flock to these cafes unnecessarily. I mean, in the afternoons these places are filled with middle and high-school kids and then with adults all through the night. Most are open 24 hours.
So 67% of Korean homes may be wired, but I'd say an even greater percentage of the population are internet users, I don't know a single korean who doesn't have an e-mail address or an IM id.
Thats bad.
But they also come with a free Frogurt.
If you want to see the world and don't care about doing a geek job.
And since you have a University Degree you can pretty much teach English in any country you want in Asia.
The ESL Market is really large and you have the ability to save a decent amount of money too if you decide to work in Korea, Taiwan or Japan. If more exotic locations are to your liking, you can teach in China, Indonesia, Phillipines, Thailand, Vietnam etc but the pay in those locations is abyssmal by North American or European standards, however you usually get paid about 10x what local residents do. For instance, in China an english teacher gets paid 6000 yuan a month where most locals earn about 600.
Most schools will pay for your airfare and your housing so you have very little upkeep.
In addition, if you have a Masters degree, regardless of field, you can get a job teaching English in an Asian university as a visiting Professor.
Best way to see the world.
I know because I'm a geek with craploads of qualifications but decided to teach English in Seoul, Korea and its quite the experience.
For more info you can check out www.eslcafe.com it can get you started for whatever you need.
I'm a Canadian guy who lives and works in Seoul, Korea. I don't have a computer at home so I go to these Internet Cafes called "PC Bangs" here to do the bulk of my gaming.
Gaming culture here is quite bizarre really, because there is no reason why these PC Bangs should be in business, but they are EVERYWHERE and they flourish.. despite the fact that home DSL is inexpensive (about $25 US/month) and computers relatively affordable. Yet, everynight people of all ages pack these PC Bangs. It has to do with collective Korean culture but... PC bangs are cheaper than their North American cousins.. where 6 hours will only cost you about $3 US.
But still, this "unemployed" guy spent 86 hours in a PC Bang? That ain't cheap for someone with no-income...
The most popular game in Korean PC Bangs? Starcraft: Broodwar. Still. Its semi-religious. A close second is Diablo II and a number of Diablo-esque clones.. there are alot of Korean-made diablo clones.
There is a large number of female gamers in PC Bangs too, they range from high-school girls to middle-aged women. The younger girls come to these places to use IM Software the most popular being "Buddy-Buddy" in Korea.. the older women enjoy playing korean cards "Go-Stop" or a junvenile game called "Crazy Arcade", its a kids game but older women like to play it for some reason.
Anyhow, back on topic, my guess is this guy was playing one of the many Everquest-esque games here.. none of them are anywhere near as good.. but they follow the same addictive pattern.. kill shit, gain levels, I see alot of guys mindlessly plugging away at such games.. they have a variety of names.. "Ragnarok", "Priston Tale", you may have heard of "Lineage: The Bloodpledge" which once boasted better numbers than Everquest... I've seen it in action and it sucks bigtime and its nowhere near as popular as reported in the medium, I hardly ever see anyone playing it anymore.
I read Slashdot at work then go to the PC bangs to play Warcraft III.
And when you get lonely "MANRON" has a special third-input just for you.
This is not censorship at all. This is a company (Clean Flicks) providing a service that is obviously In Demand. They wouldn't survive as a company or rental chain if people did not want these edited movies.
I mean c'mon, they're based in Utah, obviously their customers are God Fearing Mormons and Latter Day Saints. These Mormons want their movies sterile and devoid of anything offensive. They are making a concious decision.
I am sure there is at least one Blockbuster in all of Utah where Mormons who don't want this service can rent unedited videos.
But don't call it censorship, a company is simply meeting the demands of its customers.
Business Plan:
1. Cater to Mormons/Move to Utah
2. Edit movies to the point of Sterility
3. ????
4. Profit!!
Dude, British Law Enforcement guys get the best lines to say to criminals. Maybe you're just jaded because you are a Brit, but to outsiders they sound damn cool..
Catchy phrases like, "Guess what Punter, you're nicked."
Or to hear a criminal say, "Fuck, its the Knock!"
Or to hear a criminal say, "Its the fucking Bill!"
Knock Knock.
Plus.. Royal Flying Squad might not be cool.. but "Thieftakers" is pretty fucking boss.
I don't live there.. but when I was touring around Austria, Germany, Switzerland I saw these things all over the place. Ketchup, Tampons, Beer, Cereal.. they had everything.
Someone mentioned "beer vending machines".. well in most of the above countries, Beer is an option just below Coca-Cola and Sprite on most vending machines anyway.
Please.. it should be obvious that the future of the Internet, nay, the future of COMMUNICATION lies in the hands of one very simple technology.. it is called SYNAPSE!
Now, if only I could figure out the problem with the damn data bottlenecks...
Mark my words, you feeble geeks.. SYNAPSE IS THE FUTURE!!
Lillian H. Smith branch 239 College Street Toronto, Ontario M5T 1R5 416-393-7746.
I have actually been to visit the collection and its quite impressive with alot of first run prints etc.A C3PO droid with all three inputs.
C3PO: "I don't know why I ever put up with you."
Me: "Cuz you love it, baby!!"
I have a cunning plan, Lord Blackadder.
You need high-tech gadgets to fight off rampaging Gojira.
GOOOOOJIIIIRRRAAAAAAAHHHH is COOOMING!
Hand Phone Laser Cannon.. ACTIVATE!
Search. Locate. Exterminate. Bip. Bip. Search Locate. Exterminate.