No, really, once you get over that fact that calcite has been known for its double refraction property for literally hundreds of years, and every child ever to get its hands on a lump of it trying to make it show weird shit, you'll realize that these people have figured out how to make stuff disappear when you look at it from exactly the right angle... Yawn. The calcite remains visible, obviously, BTW.
would be a scientist (auto-didact, if that excludes him for you) and is among the youngest people I can think of given your restrictions (31). He has written a few very interesting pieces on AI (Warning: Transhumanist/Singularitan), as well as the best Harry Potter fanfiction I've ever read: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality
May I suggest though not to restrict yourself to actual people? "Hero" is a word I use extremely rarely, since I consider that to be a "larger than life, thus fictional" label...
Might I suggest trying some no-twitch-games first then? Most adventures don't require trained reflexed for example (I personally would recommend the Myst Series (It is marketed as "A games for adults, where 'mature' doesn't mean blood and gore, it means 'sophisticated'"), which has also got its own MMO, "Myst Online: Uru Live" http://www.mystonline.com/ starting)
Finally someone who's not calling me a dumb-ass first thing in the morning over this issue:-) I agree, it's a step in the right direction, though not a very big one (the drivers are what's most important to a cellphone, so that's why I find it a joke in this case). And when the words "completely open" are involved I naturally argue semantics, because that's all it is:-)
That's another assumption: "If I didn't own I cellphone, I couldn't be interested in one". I suggest you stop assuming things when discussing ethical decisions and dilemmas, it usually backfires...
How can you blame FIC for all this? This is an article over somewhere, trying to get people excited. FIC doesn't even have a web page for it yet.
How can't I? They want to produce this, so they're responsible. Period.
And even so, this is as good as it'll get until the FCC let's you do more.
I'm not subject to US laws and regulations, so the FCC is of no concern to me. Maybe if FIC tried to change the FCCs stance I would change my opinion of them...
So yeah, this phone, right now, is the holy grail.
So yeah, this phone, right now, is a step in approximately the right direction, but unless there is no piece of proprietary software on it I don't specifically care.
From that blog "Yes, it's not the perfect phone. It runs a proprietary GSM stack on a separate processor. There are some minor, self-contained proprietary bits on the back end side in userspace."
I might have a different threshold than he does before calling something "open"...
I think the grandparent's point is that no matter whose hardware you own, the manufacturer will recommend Windows XP, regardless of how well they support Linux.
Well, AMD isn't (neither on their frontpage, nor does their search turn up anything. Maybe they still do, but not as blatantly as a company trying to sell a Linux phone, don't you agree?), same goes for ASUS, etc.
It's the radio and the GPS which are closed, but that's for Federal reasons; you can't have people broadcasting willy-nilly these days, and I know that there are some GPS restrictions. The interfaces to the drivers are perfectly usable. RTFA, and do some research.
I RTFA and I did "some research" before posting, thank you. That doesn't change the fact that the "completely open" system isn't "completely open". If it's not possible to provide free software solutions for your hardware then don't include said hardware (or don't produce in the US).
Yeah.. Screw that! I'm only using a phone that is 100% open source. Let's see, where is that list of all the completely open options? Hmm, I can't find one, that's strange.
Perhaps the original poster can enlighten us with what would be the better course of action. What phone would be a better choice?
No, I can't, but that's besides the point, which was "It's quite certainly not open".
How dare they?!? Endorsing something that accounts for 90%+ of their sales? Scandalous! The infidels put their profit ahead of the one true license. They don't deserve your business.
Indeed, they don't. Want some cheese with your whine?
Good luck with your Stallmanian jihad. Keep cutting down those open source efforts that are not 100% pure in your eyes. Only morons believe that there is value in getting a foothold against the completely closed/proprietary solutions. You wise few have seen that it is better to reject that 99.8% open solution, and instead use the 100% closed one.
If this were a jihad, I'd probably call everybody to kill you, but it isn't. I just think you're a jerk. That said, I don't give a fuck about your choices, my choice is not to buy this product, because it doesn't provide what is of interest to me as advertised, namely, being "completely open".
HP recommends Win XP, DELL recommends Win XP and even IBM recommends Win XP, so, what is your point?
What makes you think I own any hardware produced by any of them?
From TFA: Everything barring a few small drivers is GPL'ed.
This is a joke, right? The drivers are probably the most important part of any piece of hardware, so calling this thing "open" but keeping drivers proprietary is ridiculous.
From the site: FIC recommends Windows(r) XP
Yeah, and I am to buy a Linux product from you? Dream on...
Will there be one? I'm expecting one (though that'll probably be the point I abandon FF) and am a little disturbed that I can't find anything better than "you will receive an offer to upgrade [...] over the next several weeks" (That is under "dev news" only!) on this (Jeez, I'd expect a notice on the getfirefox.com frontpage, to be honest, but then, the team is too stupid to mask a directory on public mirrors as well...) From this thread I gather that the auto-updater can't handle a major upgrade at the moment, which seems not-so-well-thought-through as well...
I fully agree that a "Required Gaming" list should accompany the "Reading" and "Watching" ones, so I decided to try and come up with one. I have separated the list into categories (I wouldn't call them genre) and within each category I suggest playing the games in order. And, yes, there are exactly 50 in this list.
Required Gaming
Arcade
This category in a way even more dead than the platformer below, but some classics have to be played nonetheless.
Space Invaders
Pacman
First person Shooters
Naturally this is what many people think about first, when they hear the term "Computer Game", basically because it's the category most closely associated with 3D-Engines, which get most of the press for years now.
Doom II - If you even have to ask why you should play this one, get the biz out of your head
Die by the sword - A good look at "mature" in the early days, with detachable limbs and a swear voice pack
Half-Life - A nice introduction to story in FPSs
Manhunt - How to make even bloodthirsty players cringe
Unreal Tournament
Doom 3 - How to make one big engine show-off that gets really old really fast
Platformers
While this category is practically dead now, it was of great influence in the gaming middle-ages and could offer opportunities for those with a creative idea.
Prince of Persia - the original, please, not the 3D versions
Duke Nukem 2 - so you understand where that character came from
Commander Keen, Keen Dreams
Jazz Jackrabbit 2 - How to clone Sonic and make a cooler game at the same time
Beat'em Ups
Well, they're brainless fun, nothing more to say, playing just a couple should suffice IMHO.
Mortal Kombat
Tekken 3
Soul Calibur
Simulations
This is a difficult category, as many games in it could be listed elsewhere or not be considered "games" per se.
Sim City
Sim City 4 - To get an idea about progress in the series
The Sims - The best-selling video game ever, like it or not
Microsoft Flight Simulator (any newer version)
Strategy Games
I have to admit not knowing much about these, a the category doesn't appeal to me.
Dune 2000
Command & Conquer
Age of Empires
Darwinia - I don't understand what the fuzz is about, I find this game terrible, but people seem to enjoy it, and be it for its perceived independence
Master of Orion 2
Adventures
Now this category might be a bit overrepresented due to my love for it, but claims of its death are greatly exaggerated.
Zak McKracken - Nothing beats using your CashCard with the sign on the yak to reach the airport in Katmandu
Monkey Island
Monkey Island 2
Monkey Island 3 - You really need to get the progression to this point
Monkey Island 4 - How to alienate all your fans by going 3D
Sam & Max
Star Trek Judgement Rites - On logical puzzles instead of funny ones
The dig - On serious adventures
Kana little sister - Technically a japanese dating simulation, this is a great example of how to evoke emotion (Hey, I cried at the end, something no other game ever managed to do)
Myst - Before the sims, this was the best-selling video game, like it or not as well
Riven - The sequel to Myst and probably the reference in logical puzzle design, immersion, both graphically and sound related and compelling, though difficult for impatient or reading-/listening-challenged gamers to discover, story
Daemonica - A budget title, but with great mood, evocative narration, etc.
Roleplaying Games
While I love Pen & Paper gaming, computers always pose a problem, because they can't react like a human could. I feel thus compelled to include few titles that don't deserve the categorization, but would commonly be given it by game
And that help isn't to be frowned upon, it makes surviving the best-case-scenario (just fallout) a lot easier, because you don't get so much radioactive stuff sitting inside your body, slowly poisoning it, when the place is already taken by something more or less harmless. In any worse case, I fondly think of the instructions a friend of mine got about the ABC-foil (designed for duck&cover-excercises) during military training: "When you see the flash, hold the sheet in front of yourself. It'll make sure the clean-up crews find you nicely shrink-wrapped afterwards."
REFERER [sic] is a more intersting case, as is the fact that any connection over TCP/IP can be traced at a later time, allowing the ISP to identify the user, etc.
I simply prefer my software safe-by-design (and I do not trust the authors of the blacklist, a simple fact), you may disagree, but that that doesn't invalidate my preference (and nothing more it is).
"privacy and standards", of course, though the typo had some kind of poetic justice to it... That's what I get for making last minute additions after previewing a post, I guess:-P
Slashdot Mirror
...that my first thought was "Ah, someone has finally understood why Gödel numbering is clever..."?
No, really, once you get over that fact that calcite has been known for its double refraction property for literally hundreds of years, and every child ever to get its hands on a lump of it trying to make it show weird shit, you'll realize that these people have figured out how to make stuff disappear when you look at it from exactly the right angle... Yawn. The calcite remains visible, obviously, BTW.
Have you considered adding more life to your fiction?
would be a scientist (auto-didact, if that excludes him for you) and is among the youngest people I can think of given your restrictions (31). He has written a few very interesting pieces on AI (Warning: Transhumanist/Singularitan), as well as the best Harry Potter fanfiction I've ever read: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality
For more information see: http://yudkowsky.net/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliezer_Yudkowsky
May I suggest though not to restrict yourself to actual people? "Hero" is a word I use extremely rarely, since I consider that to be a "larger than life, thus fictional" label...
Might I suggest trying some no-twitch-games first then? Most adventures don't require trained reflexed for example (I personally would recommend the Myst Series (It is marketed as "A games for adults, where 'mature' doesn't mean blood and gore, it means 'sophisticated'"), which has also got its own MMO, "Myst Online: Uru Live" http://www.mystonline.com/ starting)
Finally someone who's not calling me a dumb-ass first thing in the morning over this issue :-) I agree, it's a step in the right direction, though not a very big one (the drivers are what's most important to a cellphone, so that's why I find it a joke in this case). And when the words "completely open" are involved I naturally argue semantics, because that's all it is :-)
That's another assumption: "If I didn't own I cellphone, I couldn't be interested in one". I suggest you stop assuming things when discussing ethical decisions and dilemmas, it usually backfires...
You infer that I am using a cellphone now.
How can you blame FIC for all this? This is an article over somewhere, trying to get people excited. FIC doesn't even have a web page for it yet.
How can't I? They want to produce this, so they're responsible. Period.
And even so, this is as good as it'll get until the FCC let's you do more.
I'm not subject to US laws and regulations, so the FCC is of no concern to me. Maybe if FIC tried to change the FCCs stance I would change my opinion of them...
So yeah, this phone, right now, is the holy grail.
So yeah, this phone, right now, is a step in approximately the right direction, but unless there is no piece of proprietary software on it I don't specifically care.
From that blog "Yes, it's not the perfect phone. It runs a proprietary GSM stack on a separate processor. There are some minor, self-contained proprietary bits on the back end side in userspace."
I might have a different threshold than he does before calling something "open"...
Thanks for calling me crazy. I do in fact think binary drivers are a bad idea (though I never said they couldn't be used!).
I think the grandparent's point is that no matter whose hardware you own, the manufacturer will recommend Windows XP, regardless of how well they support Linux.
Well, AMD isn't (neither on their frontpage, nor does their search turn up anything. Maybe they still do, but not as blatantly as a company trying to sell a Linux phone, don't you agree?), same goes for ASUS, etc.
It's the radio and the GPS which are closed, but that's for Federal reasons; you can't have people broadcasting willy-nilly these days, and I know that there are some GPS restrictions. The interfaces to the drivers are perfectly usable. RTFA, and do some research.
I RTFA and I did "some research" before posting, thank you. That doesn't change the fact that the "completely open" system isn't "completely open". If it's not possible to provide free software solutions for your hardware then don't include said hardware (or don't produce in the US).
Yeah.. Screw that! I'm only using a phone that is 100% open source. Let's see, where is that list of all the completely open options? Hmm, I can't find one, that's strange.
Perhaps the original poster can enlighten us with what would be the better course of action. What phone would be a better choice?
No, I can't, but that's besides the point, which was "It's quite certainly not open".
How dare they?!? Endorsing something that accounts for 90%+ of their sales? Scandalous! The infidels put their profit ahead of the one true license. They don't deserve your business.
Indeed, they don't. Want some cheese with your whine?
Good luck with your Stallmanian jihad. Keep cutting down those open source efforts that are not 100% pure in your eyes. Only morons believe that there is value in getting a foothold against the completely closed/proprietary solutions. You wise few have seen that it is better to reject that 99.8% open solution, and instead use the 100% closed one.
If this were a jihad, I'd probably call everybody to kill you, but it isn't. I just think you're a jerk. That said, I don't give a fuck about your choices, my choice is not to buy this product, because it doesn't provide what is of interest to me as advertised, namely, being "completely open".
HP recommends Win XP, DELL recommends Win XP and even IBM recommends Win XP, so, what is your point?
What makes you think I own any hardware produced by any of them?
This is a joke, right? The drivers are probably the most important part of any piece of hardware, so calling this thing "open" but keeping drivers proprietary is ridiculous.
Yeah, and I am to buy a Linux product from you? Dream on...
Will there be one?
I'm expecting one (though that'll probably be the point I abandon FF) and am a little disturbed that I can't find anything better than "you will receive an offer to upgrade [...] over the next several weeks" (That is under "dev news" only!) on this (Jeez, I'd expect a notice on the getfirefox.com frontpage, to be honest, but then, the team is too stupid to mask a directory on public mirrors as well...) From this thread I gather that the auto-updater can't handle a major upgrade at the moment, which seems not-so-well-thought-through as well...
I fully agree that a "Required Gaming" list should accompany the "Reading" and "Watching" ones, so I decided to try and come up with one. I have separated the list into categories (I wouldn't call them genre) and within each category I suggest playing the games in order. And, yes, there are exactly 50 in this list.
Required Gaming
Arcade
This category in a way even more dead than the platformer below, but some classics have to be played nonetheless.
First person Shooters
Naturally this is what many people think about first, when they hear the term "Computer Game", basically because it's the category most closely associated with 3D-Engines, which get most of the press for years now.
Platformers
While this category is practically dead now, it was of great influence in the gaming middle-ages and could offer opportunities for those with a creative idea.
Beat'em Ups
Well, they're brainless fun, nothing more to say, playing just a couple should suffice IMHO.
Simulations
This is a difficult category, as many games in it could be listed elsewhere or not be considered "games" per se.
Strategy Games
I have to admit not knowing much about these, a the category doesn't appeal to me.
Adventures
Now this category might be a bit overrepresented due to my love for it, but claims of its death are greatly exaggerated.
Roleplaying Games
While I love Pen & Paper gaming, computers always pose a problem, because they can't react like a human could. I feel thus compelled to include few titles that don't deserve the categorization, but would commonly be given it by game
Man, I'd really like http://mik.unpackable.org/humping_iceweasel.gif on my browser (maybe as the "I'm working"-Icon?) :-D
Well, continuing this joke is kinda lame, but then the Germanium in these basement walls is known as a laughing-inhibitor...
And that help isn't to be frowned upon, it makes surviving the best-case-scenario (just fallout) a lot easier, because you don't get so much radioactive stuff sitting inside your body, slowly poisoning it, when the place is already taken by something more or less harmless. In any worse case, I fondly think of the instructions a friend of mine got about the ABC-foil (designed for duck&cover-excercises) during military training: "When you see the flash, hold the sheet in front of yourself. It'll make sure the clean-up crews find you nicely shrink-wrapped afterwards."
REFERER [sic] is a more intersting case, as is the fact that any connection over TCP/IP can be traced at a later time, allowing the ISP to identify the user, etc.
Just in case you aren't familiar with fallacies: Appeal to Common Practice
Appeal to Common Practice
I simply prefer my software safe-by-design (and I do not trust the authors of the blacklist, a simple fact), you may disagree, but that that doesn't invalidate my preference (and nothing more it is).
"privacy and standards", of course, though the typo had some kind of poetic justice to it... That's what I get for making last minute additions after previewing a post, I guess :-P