There are gadgets out there that already do what these features, and do them better than the cell phones could ever hope to achieve at a reasonable price.
You are partially right. However, when I bought a new cell phone, I bought one with a built-in MP3 player, FM radio and decent storage. It saved me the trouble of having to buy a portable MP3-player (which I had wanted to do for some time).
There are tons of features on my current phone that I will not use (often), but there are also some that I would not have thought I would ever use and which happen to be very handy indeed.
Here's some suggestions I have not yet encountered in this thread:
- Go out during lunchtime. You will get some fresh air.
- Even better: if your office has a shower (in the Netherlands, this is required for large companies), you can do some sports during lunch breaks. I used to run 5 miles twice a week in the afternoon. It kept me awake during long, boring work days. Afterwards, you *do* need the shower. Otherwise your colleagues will complain.:-)
- If possible, ask your boss for something else to do. Help your colleague with *his* project for an hour or so. It will shift your attention for a while. Less boredom. Works for me.
Have you played BF1942/Vietnam lately? Although the games were specifically created for teamplay, most online games are just a bunch of loners trying to shoot as many as possible without any sort of cooperation.
The Battlefield series never even pretended to *have* a story, other than the fact that the levels were based on real-life battlefields. So BF:V is not really a sequel.
By running, I do not mean run from your employer, but running as a sport.:-)
I have an IT job with 8 hour work days and three hours travel time, so I have long days. Running is a good way to relieve you of all the stress. Furthermore, youl be able to sleep better. Many fellow runners will claim that during a 10 mile run, they have all the time to rearrange their thoughts on a lot of subjects, including work.
Here in the Netherlands, there is a special series "$FOO$ for senior citizens". There are books on every major home application, like Windows, web browsing and Office. If you can find such books in your bookstore, you mat give these a try.
Although many, many games had wacky plots back then, the most absurd example was Arkanoid. For the people not in the know: it's pong with bricks. IIRC, the story behind it is to avenge the destruction of your mothership. It had a sequel as well.
A more smelly alternative is the stuff you get from old coffee filters. Cats absolutely hate the smell. It kept the cats out of our garden and who does not want a computer that smells like coffee?:-)
I am 27 yrs old, and have a full time job with long transit times. I am often too tired to do something useful (besides eating, that is), and the crap on TV is boring and repetitive. So I boot up my computer and play a quick game instead.
Two big barriers are games and software installation, according to some posters. I agree with them, but it is getting better. A few days ago, I downloaded the Linux version of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. Installation was simple: download, su to root, run the.run file, follow the on-screen instructions, and play the game. It worked out of the virtual box.
Okay, now I'll have to tweak my X server a bit, but hey! A free mainstream game for Linux! We're getting there.
(spoiler alert:) The Nameless One faces three "end bosses", a purely good one (an angel), a purely evil one (a hag) and a purely neutral one (a previous incarnation of the Nameless One himself IIRC). Just like the alignment system of 2nd ed AD&D. However, every one of them behaves in a manner atypical of "their" alignment. The hag played around with Nameless because she loves him and the angel has been corrupted into imprisoning an entire plane of existence.
Other incarnations of the Nameless One were either very good or very evil (one of them taught Ignus to burn haha).
Of course, finding out about the Nameless One's history was the point behins the whole game, and it is still the single best game I've ever played.
* 3.5" floppies have locking tabs. This is a pretty simple, physical way to ensure that you don't accidently erase something important. It would be easy to put this on USB drives (a switch might cost 5 cents more), but it isn't done. For CDs, this is already in place.
My USB stick has one. It works. Moot point.
* Floppies are rewriteable. CDRs are not, and -RWs are still not in a particularly nice way. It's easy to just dump a file on a floppy. For USB drives, this is already in place.
USB2 is fast. In a matter of minutes you fill a 256Meg stick.
* Floppies are truly universal. Unless you're dealing with a Mac, a machine *will* have a floppy drive. Network connectivity could be down, the thing might not have USB support (getting quite rare), but machines dating back *ages* have floppies.
Floppy drives break easily. It is the first thing to die on old computers. Floppies die just as easily. Every post-1996 computer has either a CDROM drive and/or a USB port.
* Floppies don't push media constraints much. If machine A can read a floppy, machine B probably can as well. I find that a CD burned by one drive may well not be readable by another.
Buy a better burner. Or get a USB drive. I have a Philips burner which has never let me down.
* Floppies are cheap. CDs are cheap, but USB drives are not. I can just give someone a floppy with a document on it and not worry about it. The same is not true of USB drives.
USB drives are NOT YET cheap. When the 3.5" floppy came out, it was very expensive. So was the CDROM.
* For troubleshooting, I may want to boot into some kind of emergency environment (say, Knoppix or Superrescue) on a CD. Many machines have only one CD drive, and using the emergency CD ties this drive up. If I also want somewhere to write data (IP address/network information etc), I need another device. Floppies work well, CDs don't (unless you have multiple CD drives). USB drives probably work.
They do. You can even boot from USB on newer machines.
* There are some devices with floppy output still in use -- older digital cameras being the biggie.
Which was an utterly stupid plan to begin with.
Even although the floppy has survived many technologies (ZIP/JAZ drive, 10 years of CDROM), it will die and hopefully soon. Floppies have a very limited capacity, the devices are slow and they break easily. I have had countless floppy disks, which were crammed with important data and suddenly died. Of course I kept back-ups, but that does NOT make it better.
Okay, I'll bite. You can easily ignore slashdot trolls, crap flooders or karma whores. They are merely irritating. Some trolls are even quite funny.:) People who cheat, basecamp, teamkill, greif/grief (sp?) and such, utterly ruin the fun for the real players.
Just curious, who uses the suite instead of Firebird/Thunderbird... and why?
I do, actually. At work, I use a P2-400. Firebird is not noticably faster than Moz, and I use the Moz mail client, the debugger and the Javascript Console. Oh yeah, and I am a lazy bastard, I want to install one suite instead of lots of smaller apps.:-)
I totally agree with you, but there is more. Generally, pornographic material and other stuff not intended for children is usually stored on high shelves, in order to keep the kids away. Last time I looked, GTA and some more violent video games were on a more children-friendly shelf. It is not only the parents who should take some responsibility, but the salespeople too.
I second that. I downloaded and installed IFH yesterday, and was very impressed. The graphics are good, and run bloody fast on my old, slow GF2 (damn, double-post alert). The sound is good, and at least some of the music is by Chris Franke (which is good too). Although I do not have a joystick, the game is well playable by mouse. It is waaaaay better than some games I actually paid for in recent years...
In Europe (or at least, in the Netherlands), most DVD players are sold with a region coding. Usually, it is not too difficult to remove it, but then the warranty is void. Furthermore, you have to pay a fee for having it removed. If you want to buy a region free player, you really have to search. Some el-cheapo players are region free, and some really expensive ones too.
Or all the people who put down the GameCube just because it looks like its for kids.
Um, I do not know how it is in the US of A, but here in the Netherlands, the only games for Nintendo that do get some ad time, are Mario, Zelda and the occasional sports game. The cool games get the attention in the specialized game magazines, you never see them in any mass media. So Average Joe thinks that the GameCube is a kiddie console.
I play computer games instead of watching TV. There are a few good shows and programs, but most is crap. So why watch? Sometimes I buy, borrow or rent a DVD and I watch the news, but that's basically it.
Often, when I come home from work, I feel mentally exhausted. A good way to empty my mind is to play a computer game. But i do not want to use the grey fluff between my ears, so it's mostly FPS for me then.
When I was still at high school and later at University, I used to prefer games which had long storylines or were otherwise time-consuming. Now I prefer games that I can play 'in-beteween', no bothering with stories, quests, finding the exit of the level, et cetera. I ocasionally play some Morrowind, but I really prefer short and brutish games.
The only reason is because of the artwork and graphics. (...)Art and graphics and such take a lot of time, effort, work, etc. Nobody who has the ability to do that stuff well is going to do it for free and release the rights to it in a GPL style license.
Have you ever seen the Desert Combat and Eve of Destruction mods for BF1942? They look waaaaaayyy better than the BF1942 game itself, and they are free. OK. I know, BF1942 is not GPL-ed. And there is already an existing graphics engine. But many skilled people have worked hard to create an immersive graphic environment.
Slashdot Mirror
There are gadgets out there that already do what these features, and do them better than the cell phones could ever hope to achieve at a reasonable price.
You are partially right. However, when I bought a new cell phone, I bought one with a built-in MP3 player, FM radio and decent storage. It saved me the trouble of having to buy a portable MP3-player (which I had wanted to do for some time).
There are tons of features on my current phone that I will not use (often), but there are also some that I would not have thought I would ever use and which happen to be very handy indeed.
der Joachim
Here's some suggestions I have not yet encountered in this thread:
:-)
- Go out during lunchtime. You will get some fresh air.
- Even better: if your office has a shower (in the Netherlands, this is required for large companies), you can do some sports during lunch breaks. I used to run 5 miles twice a week in the afternoon. It kept me awake during long, boring work days. Afterwards, you *do* need the shower. Otherwise your colleagues will complain.
- If possible, ask your boss for something else to do. Help your colleague with *his* project for an hour or so. It will shift your attention for a while. Less boredom. Works for me.
der Joachim
Have you played BF1942/Vietnam lately? Although the games were specifically created for teamplay, most online games are just a bunch of loners trying to shoot as many as possible without any sort of cooperation.
der Joachim
Does IE have tabbed browsing? Does it have a good interface for blocking cookies? Does it have a transparent extension interface? No.
When the author says that either Mozilla or Firefox are slim and/or lacking features, he is clearly talking out of his arse.
der Joachim
IIRC, the computer game Civilization was based on the board game. Please correct me if I am wrong.
The Battlefield series never even pretended to *have* a story, other than the fact that the levels were based on real-life battlefields. So BF:V is not really a sequel.
der Joachim
By running, I do not mean run from your employer, but running as a sport.:-)
I have an IT job with 8 hour work days and three hours travel time, so I have long days. Running is a good way to relieve you of all the stress. Furthermore, youl be able to sleep better. Many fellow runners will claim that during a 10 mile run, they have all the time to rearrange their thoughts on a lot of subjects, including work.
der Joachim
Here in the Netherlands, there is a special series "$FOO$ for senior citizens". There are books on every major home application, like Windows, web browsing and Office. If you can find such books in your bookstore, you mat give these a try.
der Joachim
Although many, many games had wacky plots back then, the most absurd example was Arkanoid. For the people not in the know: it's pong with bricks. IIRC, the story behind it is to avenge the destruction of your mothership. It had a sequel as well.
A more smelly alternative is the stuff you get from old coffee filters. Cats absolutely hate the smell. It kept the cats out of our garden and who does not want a computer that smells like coffee? :-)
der Joachim
And don't forget the UT2004 linux demo. Finally a decent game for which I will not have to boot Windows.
der Joachim
I am 27 yrs old, and have a full time job with long transit times. I am often too tired to do something useful (besides eating, that is), and the crap on TV is boring and repetitive. So I boot up my computer and play a quick game instead.
Two big barriers are games and software installation, according to some posters. I agree with them, but it is getting better. A few days ago, I downloaded the Linux version of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. Installation was simple: download, su to root, run the .run file, follow the on-screen instructions, and play the game. It worked out of the virtual box.
Okay, now I'll have to tweak my X server a bit, but hey! A free mainstream game for Linux! We're getting there.
(spoiler alert:) The Nameless One faces three "end bosses", a purely good one (an angel), a purely evil one (a hag) and a purely neutral one (a previous incarnation of the Nameless One himself IIRC). Just like the alignment system of 2nd ed AD&D. However, every one of them behaves in a manner atypical of "their" alignment. The hag played around with Nameless because she loves him and the angel has been corrupted into imprisoning an entire plane of existence.
Other incarnations of the Nameless One were either very good or very evil (one of them taught Ignus to burn haha).
Of course, finding out about the Nameless One's history was the point behins the whole game, and it is still the single best game I've ever played.
* 3.5" floppies have locking tabs. This is a pretty simple, physical way to ensure that you don't accidently erase something important. It would be easy to put this on USB drives (a switch might cost 5 cents more), but it isn't done. For CDs, this is already in place.
My USB stick has one. It works. Moot point.
* Floppies are rewriteable. CDRs are not, and -RWs are still not in a particularly nice way. It's easy to just dump a file on a floppy. For USB drives, this is already in place.
USB2 is fast. In a matter of minutes you fill a 256Meg stick.
* Floppies are truly universal. Unless you're dealing with a Mac, a machine *will* have a floppy drive. Network connectivity could be down, the thing might not have USB support (getting quite rare), but machines dating back *ages* have floppies.
Floppy drives break easily. It is the first thing to die on old computers. Floppies die just as easily. Every post-1996 computer has either a CDROM drive and/or a USB port.
* Floppies don't push media constraints much. If machine A can read a floppy, machine B probably can as well. I find that a CD burned by one drive may well not be readable by another.
Buy a better burner. Or get a USB drive. I have a Philips burner which has never let me down.
* Floppies are cheap. CDs are cheap, but USB drives are not. I can just give someone a floppy with a document on it and not worry about it. The same is not true of USB drives.
USB drives are NOT YET cheap. When the 3.5" floppy came out, it was very expensive. So was the CDROM.
* For troubleshooting, I may want to boot into some kind of emergency environment (say, Knoppix or Superrescue) on a CD. Many machines have only one CD drive, and using the emergency CD ties this drive up. If I also want somewhere to write data (IP address/network information etc), I need another device. Floppies work well, CDs don't (unless you have multiple CD drives). USB drives probably work.
They do. You can even boot from USB on newer machines.
* There are some devices with floppy output still in use -- older digital cameras being the biggie.
Which was an utterly stupid plan to begin with.
Even although the floppy has survived many technologies (ZIP/JAZ drive, 10 years of CDROM), it will die and hopefully soon. Floppies have a very limited capacity, the devices are slow and they break easily. I have had countless floppy disks, which were crammed with important data and suddenly died. Of course I kept back-ups, but that does NOT make it better.
This is by far the most insightful thing I have ever read on /. :-) I salute you, sir.
Okay, I'll bite. You can easily ignore slashdot trolls, crap flooders or karma whores. They are merely irritating. Some trolls are even quite funny. :) People who cheat, basecamp, teamkill, greif/grief (sp?) and such, utterly ruin the fun for the real players.
Heh. I used to know somebody called Dik Kok. Just a very normal Dutch name, but the officials at UK customs were very rude about his name. :-)
Just curious, who uses the suite instead of Firebird/Thunderbird... and why?
:-)
I do, actually. At work, I use a P2-400. Firebird is not noticably faster than Moz, and I use the Moz mail client, the debugger and the Javascript Console. Oh yeah, and I am a lazy bastard, I want to install one suite instead of lots of smaller apps.
der Joachim
I totally agree with you, but there is more. Generally, pornographic material and other stuff not intended for children is usually stored on high shelves, in order to keep the kids away. Last time I looked, GTA and some more violent video games were on a more children-friendly shelf. It is not only the parents who should take some responsibility, but the salespeople too.
I second that. I downloaded and installed IFH yesterday, and was very impressed. The graphics are good, and run bloody fast on my old, slow GF2 (damn, double-post alert). The sound is good, and at least some of the music is by Chris Franke (which is good too). Although I do not have a joystick, the game is well playable by mouse. It is waaaaay better than some games I actually paid for in recent years...
der Joachim
In Europe (or at least, in the Netherlands), most DVD players are sold with a region coding. Usually, it is not too difficult to remove it, but then the warranty is void. Furthermore, you have to pay a fee for having it removed. If you want to buy a region free player, you really have to search. Some el-cheapo players are region free, and some really expensive ones too.
der Joachim
Um, I do not know how it is in the US of A, but here in the Netherlands, the only games for Nintendo that do get some ad time, are Mario, Zelda and the occasional sports game. The cool games get the attention in the specialized game magazines, you never see them in any mass media. So Average Joe thinks that the GameCube is a kiddie console.
der Joachim
I play computer games instead of watching TV. There are a few good shows and programs, but most is crap. So why watch? Sometimes I buy, borrow or rent a DVD and I watch the news, but that's basically it.
Often, when I come home from work, I feel mentally exhausted. A good way to empty my mind is to play a computer game. But i do not want to use the grey fluff between my ears, so it's mostly FPS for me then.
When I was still at high school and later at University, I used to prefer games which had long storylines or were otherwise time-consuming. Now I prefer games that I can play 'in-beteween', no bothering with stories, quests, finding the exit of the level, et cetera. I ocasionally play some Morrowind, but I really prefer short and brutish games.
The only reason is because of the artwork and graphics. (...)Art and graphics and such take a lot of time, effort, work, etc. Nobody who has the ability to do that stuff well is going to do it for free and release the rights to it in a GPL style license.
Have you ever seen the Desert Combat and Eve of Destruction mods for BF1942? They look waaaaaayyy better than the BF1942 game itself, and they are free. OK. I know, BF1942 is not GPL-ed. And there is already an existing graphics engine. But many skilled people have worked hard to create an immersive graphic environment.
der Joachim