I haven't bought a console since the N64, and I'm seriously considering buying a Wii. The "novelty" is what makes it unique. There's not much you can do on a normal console that you can't get on a PC (I don't give a crap about fighting/racing/sports games), but there's so much that can be done with a Wii controller. So for the first time in ten years, I want a game console.
Liebeck sought to settle with McDonald's for US$20,000 to cover her medical costs, which were $11,000, but the company offered only $800. When McDonald's refused to raise its offer, Liebeck obtained Texas attorney Reed Morgan. Morgan filed suit in a New Mexico District Court accusing McDonald's of "gross negligence" for selling coffee that was "unreasonably dangerous" and "defectively manufactured." McDonald's refused Morgan's offer to settle for $90,000.
The coffee is served hot, because people LIKE hot coffee. Tepid coffee, while being more idiot proof, is not something that people who drink coffee like.
Yes, because the only two choices are hot or tepid. There's nothing in between. Intelligent people call this kind of fallacious argument "false dichotomy".
Oh, and:
[McDonald's quality control manager, Christopher] Appleton also conceded that McDonald's coffee would burn the mouth and throat if consumed when served.
I think there's a reasonable expectation that spilled coffee won't cause third-degree burns, requiring third-degree burneight days of hospitalization and two years of treatment. Oh, but she was wearing cotton sweatpants, so obviously it's all her fault. I always wear rubber underwear anywhere near hot liquids. Oh, and she opened it wrong. Clearly, she should have gotten out of the parked car, walked into the McDonald's, and opened it there.
Third-degree burns, to be specific. It annoys me that this case, in which the woman sued McDonalds only for medical expenses after getting THIRD DEGREES BURNS from a CUP OF COFFEE, is somehow held up as the quintessential frivolous lawsuit. It's not. Stop mentioning it.
And if Microsoft found a way to port DirectX 10 to Windows Xp
"Found a way"...give me a fucking break. Microsoft has full access to the source code of the Windows XP kernel and DirectX 10. There is absolutely nothing preventing them from -- worst case scenario -- updating XP so that Vista-compatible video drivers can run on the XP kernel. They don't do it because they want you to buy Vista.
Fact is, many games will auto-detect your hardware and give recommended settings. The problem is that the settings either can't be adjusted low enough to achieve decent performance, or if they can, it ends up looking WORSE than the previous generation. See Oblivion vs. Morrowind on a GeForce FX card. Morrowind looks beautiful and runs smoothly. Oblivion needs to use the very lowest settings to run faster than a slideshow, at which point it looks more like Daggerfall than Morrowind. And it still doesn't run very well. So while your idea is valid, it requires game developers to create engines that can be adjusted downwards while still retaining acceptable visual quality. I don't think this is too much to ask. I know OGRE provides a number of features to make removing effects or detail quite easy.
I really don't think businesses care about #2, and #1 can almost always be controlled by avoiding certain hardware. The real problem is sheer momentum. There's a ton of software that's only written for Windows, because the relevant businesses only run Windows. And they only run Windows because that's what the software requires. If you break that circle, *then* Windows's dominance might end. Games don't really factor into it.
How do you not realize that the Xbox 360 uses DVD media? They could theoretically sell a PCI board that contained the CPU and a software package that would run the game on any GPU, but why? That's a lot of development cost for something that's only usable by geeks. Just spend the $300-400 on the damn console, and get the benefits of being able to hook it up to your TV and use it as a DVD player.
Absolutely. What would be interesting if there was a certain minimum performance (say, 40fps average, never dropping below 30fps for more than a second) required for a minimum hardware spec. So if your hardware is GFW-certified and the game is GFW-certified, you know it won't run/look like crap. That would be worth doing.
I'm all for sarcastic humor and everything, but what the heck? Tor now even provides a pretty Windows installer complete with tray icon and no unsightly DOS window. It's just a matter of setting your favorite SOCKS-compatible P2P app (eg, eMule) to use the proxy. It's damn slow, but it works just fine.
I'm impressed, this is really good stuff. The article describes a general technique that can be used to trick most firewalls into believing that a UDP connection has already been established. Is this technique being used or considered by any P2P apps? I've run into the situation several times where I'm firewalled, and the only seeder of a torrent is too.
Normally I'd agree with this, but I've been using Sonar 6.0.1 lately, and it's a disaster. Sonar 5, which still has various outstanding bugs even after multiple upgrades, has probably been abandoned. So clearly some companies have no problem releasing craptastic software for professionals, just like MS. Fortunately, there are serious competitors like Cubase and ProTools.
The Futurama DVD commentaries are seriously funnier than the shows sometimes, which is saying something. David X. Cohen and Ken Keeler are huge nerds, and John DiMaggio and Billy West are just plain hilarious.
You're pretty much correct. So-called commercial speech is just barely above obscenity in terms of categories of protected speech. The First Amendment doesn't give you the right to deceptively advertise your product...or bribe politicians, or buy up all the media outlets in the country, etc. That's what makes the "money is speech" assertion so absurd.
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I haven't bought a console since the N64, and I'm seriously considering buying a Wii. The "novelty" is what makes it unique. There's not much you can do on a normal console that you can't get on a PC (I don't give a crap about fighting/racing/sports games), but there's so much that can be done with a Wii controller. So for the first time in ten years, I want a game console.
Oops. If McDonald's hadn't been so incredibly stupid, they could have paid $20,000 instead of somewhere around $600,000.
Oh, and: -- WP
I think there's a reasonable expectation that spilled coffee won't cause third-degree burns, requiring third-degree burneight days of hospitalization and two years of treatment. Oh, but she was wearing cotton sweatpants, so obviously it's all her fault. I always wear rubber underwear anywhere near hot liquids. Oh, and she opened it wrong. Clearly, she should have gotten out of the parked car, walked into the McDonald's, and opened it there.
Why don't you at least check the basic facts before spouting off? Her grandson was driving.
Third-degree burns, to be specific. It annoys me that this case, in which the woman sued McDonalds only for medical expenses after getting THIRD DEGREES BURNS from a CUP OF COFFEE, is somehow held up as the quintessential frivolous lawsuit. It's not. Stop mentioning it.
Fact is, many games will auto-detect your hardware and give recommended settings. The problem is that the settings either can't be adjusted low enough to achieve decent performance, or if they can, it ends up looking WORSE than the previous generation. See Oblivion vs. Morrowind on a GeForce FX card. Morrowind looks beautiful and runs smoothly. Oblivion needs to use the very lowest settings to run faster than a slideshow, at which point it looks more like Daggerfall than Morrowind. And it still doesn't run very well. So while your idea is valid, it requires game developers to create engines that can be adjusted downwards while still retaining acceptable visual quality. I don't think this is too much to ask. I know OGRE provides a number of features to make removing effects or detail quite easy.
I really don't think businesses care about #2, and #1 can almost always be controlled by avoiding certain hardware. The real problem is sheer momentum. There's a ton of software that's only written for Windows, because the relevant businesses only run Windows. And they only run Windows because that's what the software requires. If you break that circle, *then* Windows's dominance might end. Games don't really factor into it.
How do you not realize that the Xbox 360 uses DVD media? They could theoretically sell a PCI board that contained the CPU and a software package that would run the game on any GPU, but why? That's a lot of development cost for something that's only usable by geeks. Just spend the $300-400 on the damn console, and get the benefits of being able to hook it up to your TV and use it as a DVD player.
Absolutely. What would be interesting if there was a certain minimum performance (say, 40fps average, never dropping below 30fps for more than a second) required for a minimum hardware spec. So if your hardware is GFW-certified and the game is GFW-certified, you know it won't run/look like crap. That would be worth doing.
Or you're one local root exploit away from having your hard drive wiped.
I'm all for sarcastic humor and everything, but what the heck? Tor now even provides a pretty Windows installer complete with tray icon and no unsightly DOS window. It's just a matter of setting your favorite SOCKS-compatible P2P app (eg, eMule) to use the proxy. It's damn slow, but it works just fine.
Yep, sounds just like the Sims Online. Raph Koster has done one great MMOG (early UO) and one disaster (SWG), so it could go either way.
I'm impressed, this is really good stuff. The article describes a general technique that can be used to trick most firewalls into believing that a UDP connection has already been established. Is this technique being used or considered by any P2P apps? I've run into the situation several times where I'm firewalled, and the only seeder of a torrent is too.
Normally I'd agree with this, but I've been using Sonar 6.0.1 lately, and it's a disaster. Sonar 5, which still has various outstanding bugs even after multiple upgrades, has probably been abandoned. So clearly some companies have no problem releasing craptastic software for professionals, just like MS. Fortunately, there are serious competitors like Cubase and ProTools.
The Futurama DVD commentaries are seriously funnier than the shows sometimes, which is saying something. David X. Cohen and Ken Keeler are huge nerds, and John DiMaggio and Billy West are just plain hilarious.
That's /dev/violin, you noob.
Uh, no.
You're pretty much correct. So-called commercial speech is just barely above obscenity in terms of categories of protected speech. The First Amendment doesn't give you the right to deceptively advertise your product...or bribe politicians, or buy up all the media outlets in the country, etc. That's what makes the "money is speech" assertion so absurd.
3. Get removed from Google once they realize you're trying to game the system.
This seems *very* suspicious. Parent quotes from this post.
Funny and true. Great reply.