The D&D books are reference guides. Their value can not be figured out using the same methods as normal reading material.
Put it this way: if you buy Wil's book how many hours will you read and reread it for? On the other hand how many hours will you spend playing D&D off a set of books?
It's like a Tangram set I bought at Barnes and Nobles a couple years ago... it was just a couple tiles of plastic and a 120 page book that I forked the money over for, it was the hours and hours of activity that I was paying for.
While I appreciate the advice since it seems solid I did run into one thing in my early reading into this that makes me wonder; it seems that pastas are actually recommended here. Can you lend any insight into this?
I didn't bother with a health club membership or anything like that. My sole expense was an MP3 player.
That makes a lot of sense. I think the idea that joining a club or gym being a motivation for exercise is pretty flawed. If you can't get up and do the exercise that is free how serious can you be about sticking to a program?
No problem. I can guess that the mining situation has changed in the UK. A lot of the better paying mining jobs in the US has swung from coal to mineral and ore mining. It's a great industry with a lot of need to engineers but I'm a bit late in life to go back to school to get a mining degree and move to where the jobs are plentiful. In the Pittsburgh, PA area there is still some good coal mining jobs but most of the ore and mineral mining is out in the south west US. Still, it's an interesting field.
Coal miners rarely gave a damn about their diet, exercised a lot and tended not to be paid enough to over-eat.
My father was a coal miner and while you're correct in you assumption about his physical condition don't be too sure about what they get paid. Sure, early on last century it was scrub work but in the last few decades it's turned into a good paying job with benefits that most others only dream of. Hell, his retiree benefits are better than my paid-for benefits through work. I work in the health care industry.
The mining industry is becoming more and more of a specialized industry and isn't a place for strongbacks with the intelligence of a mule anymore. It actually hasn't been for a while. At times I wished I had gone into mining when it comes down to the pay and future of the industry.
Our evil plan is becoming known to the outsiders as we speak! Quickly brothers, we must put everything in motion. We have no more time to prepare. The stars are right. Our destiny awaits.
As a dedicated user of Open Source software I consistently advocate it to my clients as a solution for many of their needs.
Ummm... Why? What about the open source aspect of these applications makes them better than anything else?
The attitude that I run into time and time again that if you are not paying out the wazoo for software then it can't be any good. Many won't even try a piece of software unless they pay for it.
That's unfortunate for them. Free software can be and is effective. Hell, a lot of really great applications were free before the home PC base rose about the 10% mark. Maybe not bringing the idea that it's a free software into the advocacy of an application too early in the game will build some confidence with the end user.
No lie, that's what they told me to do. A real shame, because I really like the MP3 player. In fact, I'm still considering getting the "Sansa Shakers" for my kids.
I expected a better punchline from a comedian.
Seriously, I think it's refreshing that they basically came out and said "Our unit can not suit your needs, you should look elsewhere" instead of giving you the common businessman runaround.
The guys at tech support doubtlessly have no control over what platforms are supported in conjunction with whatever hardware they manufacture. I don't know what you do for a living but it really sucks to have people who are not in the position to help you with your support problems try to give you some song and dance about something that they have no real control over. Keeping an end user (or customer in this case) in the lurch thinking that they're going to get gratification someday is a really bad thing to do. It creates ill will between both parties and the problem still exists at the end of the day. Maybe their being honest about their inability to support Linux should be a sign that they're wanting to do business honestly but simple don't support Linux for whatever number of reasons.
So recycling something is better than letting it serve it's original purpose? You're like one of those people who think that buying a more full efficient car and junking the old one is better than getting the utility out of the old one. It's about energy savings, not making sure that something doesn't end up in a landfill.
what is the best way to recycle old tech in the US?
EBay.
Seriously, what better way to not trash something by getting what life (or parts) are left in it?
People get some good money for hardly working/not working tech on EBay just for parts alone. And hell, you may have no use for that old P350 but someone else on there just might. Why not let them have it for a few bucks+shipping?
You're drinking his kool-aid. You're making the same mistake I've seen in tons of other posts on this matter: Thinking that the RIAA is just some autonomous organization. They fact is that they're the customers of the labels too. Maybe early on the RIAA could have sold them a false bill of goods but to act like they're [the record labels] unwitting gimps this late in the game is an insult to those who know what the true relationship between these entities is.
Maybe if they can keep you pointing the fingers at the RIAA they think they're going to buy time and customer loyalty.
Uh, what did they change in the 60s and 70s? The same stooges who were running around talking about changing the world in the 60s and 70s are those in command today and still the changes haven't happened. In fact, since they've taken control things have had a downturn in several areas.
People keep talking up this hippie revolution ala Dennis Hopper but the fact is that kids are still spending time in jail for a couple of joints and the only revolution that Hopper is pushing today is with retirement funds.
You people buying into the Freedom Rock generation's dream are simply consumers. Society hasn't changed that much.
So you're asking me to ignore religions whose religious texts glorify violence. That's like asking me to judge a barrel full of apples based on a small piece of crab apple wedged down at the bottom somewhere.
In turn, you're asking me to judge all religions based on a handful of followers of certain religions. How is this different from me judging the morals of the atheists based on a handful of extremists? Do you honestly think that all followers of religion hold the same values? Even stating this examining on one religion at a time would be foolish.
And you're still skirting the original point of this all: The same kinds of evil that exist within religious dogma also exist outside of it. That is the only real point to this. You're trying to twist it into something else.
I don't think so. Every watched the news?
Oh, so you're proclaiming that every follower of every religion is intolerance and violent. I see.
This is fine. You like what you want but also note that EQ2 has changed since you've played it and some of the things that you have as points about gameplay in WoW are also in EQ2.
But again, it comes down to personal desires from what you want from a MMORPG. I will admit that there are things that have changed for the worse in EQ2 and seem to have dumbed the game down a bit. I was happier with the game when it was a bit more of a struggle because I felt that it kept the economy fresh and made it a bit more solo friendly, especially outside of the scope of a guild.
they got a heck of a lot more per album for themselves doing it that way than you get with your rip-off recording contract...
You have any numbers to back that up? Does Trend Reznor doesn't even have his goods out yet?
There is a lot of this "artists don't even make XXX per album" posts but every single time I call someone out on this I never get a source for this number that they come up with (also, note that it's odd that this number changes all the time too. Hmmmm....).
But Kiss is a well established band and, beyond the fact that their time has come and gone also contributing to their diminished sales, you can not deny that piracy has also hurt their cause. I'm sure the amount that Gene and his fellow classic rock counterparts makes per album is pretty decent. This isn't exactly his first time around the block.
/me thinks he's just jealous he didn't come up with the idea himself... cos if he tries it now, he'll just look like a me-too wannabee...
Actually, I think you're being short sighted. In a way I'm hoping that it's on purpose but I'm really not sure at this point. Gene understands the downfall of the Radiohead model: Once the media stops touting this up as an outrageous stunt and all that free publicity that Radiohead fed off of goes away the artists running the same model are going to have a much harder time making a sale.
We had people here who claimed that they didn't know Radiohead and had no real interest in the music but were going to "buy" their album just in support. How does that work for artist #238 who does the same thing? Are all of these people willing to donate to the cause of thumbing their noses at the RIAA still going to support artists once the "point" is proven? What's going to happen when the Radiohead model turns from a novelty into the routine of any other purchase? Are people still going to ante up? I think this is a legitimate concern for the artist who considers this route for a release.
It's far too easy to dismiss him as a simple naysayer without putting yourself in his place for a minute. The artists who choose to get into the Radiohead model are going to be taking a gamble with their own money. I'll be frank about it, if I were an artist today I don't know how much I would be willing to risk on the public's goodwill either. Think about it.
But there's nothing anywhere in the definition of 'atheist' that says 'thou shalt punish people who believe differently'.
There's a lot of religions that also do not have that doctrine. If you're going to lump all religions into the same bin because of a couple of bad apples I guess we can just include all atheists in the same group since we do have examples out there.
Meanwhile the Old Testament celebrates the Hebrews who went around kicking the living daylights out of any neighboring tribe and this book still has billions of people who think that the deity in the central role is the nice guy.
We also have billions of people who follow that particular deity that dismiss intolerance based on religion. So what's your point?
If anything it seems that the atheists and the theists are pretty much the same.
But trying to argue that more people should like EQ2 despite clear evidence to the contrary is ridiculous.
Not to string this on because I really find your "point" not only to be pointless but also incorrect...
If you wanted something valid when making a real comparison of MMORPGs you'd have to find players that played each game for a significant period of time and at that point find out who's still playing what or who prefer what game if they're not playing either anymore.
Do you know how many people play Game A over Game B simply because their friends play it? Sure, they'll read about Game B and when asked why they don't like Game B some will be honest and say that they've never played Game B but others are just as likely to just rattle off some crap about Game B that they read in PC Gamer.
My nephew is a WoW'er. He's never played another MMORPG aside from RuneScape. Do you really want to take his opinion of what game (WoW vs. EQ2) is best? Hell, he's never even demoed EQ2 let alone played it long enough to get a real handle on the game. My guess is that's true of most other WoW'ers.
It's simply the way I see it. I think that judging the popularity of a product to equal it's value is extremely short sighted. And don't get me wrong, if I were a MMORPG n00b (like most WoW players probably were) I'd likely try WoW first but that doesn't mean it's the best.
Slashdot Mirror
The D&D books are reference guides. Their value can not be figured out using the same methods as normal reading material.
Put it this way: if you buy Wil's book how many hours will you read and reread it for? On the other hand how many hours will you spend playing D&D off a set of books?
It's like a Tangram set I bought at Barnes and Nobles a couple years ago... it was just a couple tiles of plastic and a 120 page book that I forked the money over for, it was the hours and hours of activity that I was paying for.
While I appreciate the advice since it seems solid I did run into one thing in my early reading into this that makes me wonder; it seems that pastas are actually recommended here. Can you lend any insight into this?
I didn't bother with a health club membership or anything like that. My sole expense was an MP3 player.
That makes a lot of sense. I think the idea that joining a club or gym being a motivation for exercise is pretty flawed. If you can't get up and do the exercise that is free how serious can you be about sticking to a program?
No problem. I can guess that the mining situation has changed in the UK. A lot of the better paying mining jobs in the US has swung from coal to mineral and ore mining. It's a great industry with a lot of need to engineers but I'm a bit late in life to go back to school to get a mining degree and move to where the jobs are plentiful. In the Pittsburgh, PA area there is still some good coal mining jobs but most of the ore and mineral mining is out in the south west US. Still, it's an interesting field.
Coal miners rarely gave a damn about their diet, exercised a lot and tended not to be paid enough to over-eat.
My father was a coal miner and while you're correct in you assumption about his physical condition don't be too sure about what they get paid. Sure, early on last century it was scrub work but in the last few decades it's turned into a good paying job with benefits that most others only dream of. Hell, his retiree benefits are better than my paid-for benefits through work. I work in the health care industry.
The mining industry is becoming more and more of a specialized industry and isn't a place for strongbacks with the intelligence of a mule anymore. It actually hasn't been for a while. At times I wished I had gone into mining when it comes down to the pay and future of the industry.
Our evil plan is becoming known to the outsiders as we speak! Quickly brothers, we must put everything in motion. We have no more time to prepare. The stars are right. Our destiny awaits.
I'a I'a Cthulhu Fhtagn!
As a dedicated user of Open Source software I consistently advocate it to my clients as a solution for many of their needs.
Ummm... Why? What about the open source aspect of these applications makes them better than anything else?
The attitude that I run into time and time again that if you are not paying out the wazoo for software then it can't be any good. Many won't even try a piece of software unless they pay for it.
That's unfortunate for them. Free software can be and is effective. Hell, a lot of really great applications were free before the home PC base rose about the 10% mark. Maybe not bringing the idea that it's a free software into the advocacy of an application too early in the game will build some confidence with the end user.
Comedians, do actually have the ability to speak seriously on a subject. I'm not busting on you, it's just an observation.
Observe also that my next sentence started off with "Seriously"... (ie. It was a joke, don't get too uptight about it)
No lie, that's what they told me to do. A real shame, because I really like the MP3 player. In fact, I'm still considering getting the "Sansa Shakers" for my kids.
I expected a better punchline from a comedian.
Seriously, I think it's refreshing that they basically came out and said "Our unit can not suit your needs, you should look elsewhere" instead of giving you the common businessman runaround.
The guys at tech support doubtlessly have no control over what platforms are supported in conjunction with whatever hardware they manufacture. I don't know what you do for a living but it really sucks to have people who are not in the position to help you with your support problems try to give you some song and dance about something that they have no real control over. Keeping an end user (or customer in this case) in the lurch thinking that they're going to get gratification someday is a really bad thing to do. It creates ill will between both parties and the problem still exists at the end of the day. Maybe their being honest about their inability to support Linux should be a sign that they're wanting to do business honestly but simple don't support Linux for whatever number of reasons.
I thought acid works too. That's one of the reason that Melf's acid arrow is such a rocking spell for the lower levels.
why do they need humanoid sized enemys anyway when they can destroy everything with a big monster?
Excellent point! Why do we need foot soldiers and tanks when we have nukes and bombers?
Yes, I'm being sarcastic but if you put it into the frame of your question it makes sense.
You mean Alex Chiu?
So recycling something is better than letting it serve it's original purpose? You're like one of those people who think that buying a more full efficient car and junking the old one is better than getting the utility out of the old one. It's about energy savings, not making sure that something doesn't end up in a landfill.
even the really old 1 Gb SCSI drives
:(
1Gb is really old? My first hard drive was a 20 meg Seagate. Damn. I'm old.
Ü - Alt 154 is your friend.
Ö (so is Alt 153, BTW...)
what is the best way to recycle old tech in the US?
EBay.
Seriously, what better way to not trash something by getting what life (or parts) are left in it?
People get some good money for hardly working/not working tech on EBay just for parts alone. And hell, you may have no use for that old P350 but someone else on there just might. Why not let them have it for a few bucks+shipping?
Über. Are umlauts such a hard problem? :)
Seriously, I've never seen about doing umlaut replacements. But then again I've never had a situation where I needed to replace an umlaut.
You're drinking his kool-aid. You're making the same mistake I've seen in tons of other posts on this matter: Thinking that the RIAA is just some autonomous organization. They fact is that they're the customers of the labels too. Maybe early on the RIAA could have sold them a false bill of goods but to act like they're [the record labels] unwitting gimps this late in the game is an insult to those who know what the true relationship between these entities is.
Maybe if they can keep you pointing the fingers at the RIAA they think they're going to buy time and customer loyalty.
In the 60s and 70s yes.
Uh, what did they change in the 60s and 70s? The same stooges who were running around talking about changing the world in the 60s and 70s are those in command today and still the changes haven't happened. In fact, since they've taken control things have had a downturn in several areas.
People keep talking up this hippie revolution ala Dennis Hopper but the fact is that kids are still spending time in jail for a couple of joints and the only revolution that Hopper is pushing today is with retirement funds.
You people buying into the Freedom Rock generation's dream are simply consumers. Society hasn't changed that much.
So you're asking me to ignore religions whose religious texts glorify violence. That's like asking me to judge a barrel full of apples based on a small piece of crab apple wedged down at the bottom somewhere.
In turn, you're asking me to judge all religions based on a handful of followers of certain religions. How is this different from me judging the morals of the atheists based on a handful of extremists? Do you honestly think that all followers of religion hold the same values? Even stating this examining on one religion at a time would be foolish.
And you're still skirting the original point of this all: The same kinds of evil that exist within religious dogma also exist outside of it. That is the only real point to this. You're trying to twist it into something else.
I don't think so. Every watched the news?
Oh, so you're proclaiming that every follower of every religion is intolerance and violent. I see.
This is fine. You like what you want but also note that EQ2 has changed since you've played it and some of the things that you have as points about gameplay in WoW are also in EQ2.
But again, it comes down to personal desires from what you want from a MMORPG. I will admit that there are things that have changed for the worse in EQ2 and seem to have dumbed the game down a bit. I was happier with the game when it was a bit more of a struggle because I felt that it kept the economy fresh and made it a bit more solo friendly, especially outside of the scope of a guild.
they got a heck of a lot more per album for themselves doing it that way than you get with your rip-off recording contract...
/me thinks he's just jealous he didn't come up with the idea himself... cos if he tries it now, he'll just look like a me-too wannabee...
You have any numbers to back that up? Does Trend Reznor doesn't even have his goods out yet?
There is a lot of this "artists don't even make XXX per album" posts but every single time I call someone out on this I never get a source for this number that they come up with (also, note that it's odd that this number changes all the time too. Hmmmm....).
But Kiss is a well established band and, beyond the fact that their time has come and gone also contributing to their diminished sales, you can not deny that piracy has also hurt their cause. I'm sure the amount that Gene and his fellow classic rock counterparts makes per album is pretty decent. This isn't exactly his first time around the block.
Actually, I think you're being short sighted. In a way I'm hoping that it's on purpose but I'm really not sure at this point. Gene understands the downfall of the Radiohead model: Once the media stops touting this up as an outrageous stunt and all that free publicity that Radiohead fed off of goes away the artists running the same model are going to have a much harder time making a sale.
We had people here who claimed that they didn't know Radiohead and had no real interest in the music but were going to "buy" their album just in support. How does that work for artist #238 who does the same thing? Are all of these people willing to donate to the cause of thumbing their noses at the RIAA still going to support artists once the "point" is proven? What's going to happen when the Radiohead model turns from a novelty into the routine of any other purchase? Are people still going to ante up? I think this is a legitimate concern for the artist who considers this route for a release.
It's far too easy to dismiss him as a simple naysayer without putting yourself in his place for a minute. The artists who choose to get into the Radiohead model are going to be taking a gamble with their own money. I'll be frank about it, if I were an artist today I don't know how much I would be willing to risk on the public's goodwill either. Think about it.
Not a very good grammar Nazi. It's "uber" not "ueber".
But there's nothing anywhere in the definition of 'atheist' that says 'thou shalt punish people who believe differently'.
There's a lot of religions that also do not have that doctrine. If you're going to lump all religions into the same bin because of a couple of bad apples I guess we can just include all atheists in the same group since we do have examples out there.
Meanwhile the Old Testament celebrates the Hebrews who went around kicking the living daylights out of any neighboring tribe and this book still has billions of people who think that the deity in the central role is the nice guy.
We also have billions of people who follow that particular deity that dismiss intolerance based on religion. So what's your point?
If anything it seems that the atheists and the theists are pretty much the same.
But trying to argue that more people should like EQ2 despite clear evidence to the contrary is ridiculous.
Not to string this on because I really find your "point" not only to be pointless but also incorrect...
If you wanted something valid when making a real comparison of MMORPGs you'd have to find players that played each game for a significant period of time and at that point find out who's still playing what or who prefer what game if they're not playing either anymore.
Do you know how many people play Game A over Game B simply because their friends play it? Sure, they'll read about Game B and when asked why they don't like Game B some will be honest and say that they've never played Game B but others are just as likely to just rattle off some crap about Game B that they read in PC Gamer.
My nephew is a WoW'er. He's never played another MMORPG aside from RuneScape. Do you really want to take his opinion of what game (WoW vs. EQ2) is best? Hell, he's never even demoed EQ2 let alone played it long enough to get a real handle on the game. My guess is that's true of most other WoW'ers.
It's simply the way I see it. I think that judging the popularity of a product to equal it's value is extremely short sighted. And don't get me wrong, if I were a MMORPG n00b (like most WoW players probably were) I'd likely try WoW first but that doesn't mean it's the best.