If your shower curtain rings cost a bomb, then your shower curtain must've been made by Aperture Science, cos all that technology and buying the salt mine to develop in doesn't come cheap:-D
I have a feeling that this will be a really good thing for Linux, gaming and the community. Valve are at least focusing on an Ubuntu LTS release and they might have a few bugs/issues to start with, but the biggest thing that will drive this forward is that the community itself will rally round and help too and the possible standardising that Valve can bring to the table, as well as the games themselves. Other Linux distros will jump on board as it gets more popular and the big question of "does it run Steam?" will hopefully be another incentive to drive Linux forward.
I searched the comments here and noted that no-one has mentioned that Ars are owned by Condé Nast, a company with an estimated $4-5Billion+ annual revenue. They also own Wired and Reddit, let alone Vogue, GQ and numerous other publications.
Why do I mention this? Context. If Ars was still an independent operator then I'd have more sympathy for their argument, and yes they still have numbers to maintain... but have you considered their sister magazines, take Vogue/GQ for example and think of page content vs pages of advertising. I watched "The September Issue" a few weeks ago and the thing that stuck in my mind was that that issue of Vogue had about 800 pages and only over a 100 pages were actual content, the rest were adverts. Fucking nuts! So yes, the argument of advertising driven content isn't going away and we'll see what happens should Mr Murdoch (who seems to want to own every content producer on the planet) try his pay-wall experiment.
As for ad-blocking... I continue using it and am glad since I've seen the latest shit that people have to deal with, auto-loading videos, sound, fly-outs you can't shut, flash ads that grind your page to a halt, as well as the malware that floats around and even hits high profile sites... I want control of what opens up in my browser and the only ads I'd ever consider are Google textual ads... why? cos they don't piss me off. Advertising should be an enticement of a good deal, done in a thoughtful and pleasant manner.. Unfortunately the Advertising 'industry' (I also include SEO bastards too here) battles everyone to promise customers the Earth while pissing off the very people they're meant to attract, they go through periods of continual fads in order to push shit and pretend to everyone they are 'unique' in their services, yet do the same as everyone else. The arguments from most advertisers that people who use ad-blocking software need burning at the stake tells me a lot, in that they just don't 'get-it', a good advertiser/marketer will have spent time arguing both camps and understand the issues at hand (as well as the people they're meant to be advertising to) whereas the rest fail at being the clever people they advertise themselves to be.
My suggestion to Ars, if it is that much of an issue then block your content from being shown 'full-stop' to anyone using ad-blocking software as you did in your experiment... then you only have to serve a minimal bandwidth using text page explaining why, fucking deal with it instead of whining like everyone else (i.e. News Corp, et al). The advertising industry won't die, but it will contract, change and evolve. But as a web browser I will not be dictated to that I have to have certain content forced down my throat, and I will control what I choose to see. There are multiple revenue streams possible, and I view Ars as producing higher quality content than a lot of other sites out there that I would be willing to pay for if I visited it enough (El Reg, BBC News, Slashdot and Fark tend to be my usual reads, and as a TV license holder I already pay for BBC News). Going back to context again, it would also be handy if Ars was to tell us their average percentage of userbase are that employ ad-blocking, which as a tech site I'd guess would be higher than a regular new site.
A green liqueur called Midori® and is a noted brand, it would be very interesting if MS did ever release an OS under that name but I think their legal team would do their homework on that one.
He probably realised that shaving tools can be considered 'weapons' and after visualising a game called "Barbers 101 - Virtual Tutorials" his mind nearly asploded.
He is that batshit crazy he probably even thinks people can kill other people using an electric shaver!
Isn't that one of the tech descriptions for Gal Civ 2?
/me goes to look in the xml files
Yup.... it's the tech description for Soil Enhancement:
<Details>The other civilization leaders said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show 'em. It sank into the swamp. So, I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So, I built a third one. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp, but the fourth one...stayed up! So now you can do the same! Good luck to ye!</Details>
P.S. To SlashDot: if I want to Idle my time away I'll browse Fark thankyouverymuch, please for the love of his noodly appendage, keep the idle.slashdot posts off the front page.
Isn't Battlestar Galactica one of the biggest traded shows on P2P? In that case he is probably getting the subject and Mediasentry-like buddies up and going for the new series premiere next month.
What with BSG finishing on SCI-FI, the rumour is that they might be giving the prequel series 'Caprica' a look... so that will show the creation of the Cylons and their eventual rebellion.
Just tried that search (my subject line) on the Network Solutions site and all domains for it were available, yet I searched using Easily.co.uk immediately after and f***younetworksolutions.com was registered by them immediately:
Record expires on 08-Jan-2009. Record created on 08-Jan-2008. Database last updated on 8-Jan-2008 14:38:53 EST.
Yup, I did that 4 mins ago.
I wonder how much it is costing them per domain:-D
Although I don't know at hand if there are any patent trolls or music companies claiming this idea as IP. But wouldn't it being written down in that book count as prior art?
Resisting 'the many'... why that almost sounds like Electronic Arts,.. erm, EA(tm). I mean they gobble up coders and studios like resources, only for them to be destroyed and absorbed into the 'greater biological mechanism'.
Back to SS3 though, I just wonder how well EA Redwood Shores will do with it! I mean, Irrational and Warren Spector are known for their depth in immersion and storytelling, and I'd rather have them be able to do it. But anyway, I'll just have to wait until Bioshock comes out in the mean time.
Now if you were called 'Ray', then maybe you'd be OK... but a pr0n site called 'Blue Ray' kind of conjures up a more male orientated kinda site, at least in my mind!:-P
The only game I've shed a tear to is Homeworld, and the moment when you get back to Kharak and it is being obliterated...
...having said that, I think it was more due to the music and the perfect choice of them using "Adagio for Strings" to convey a such a sense of loss. So every time I hear the track, I start welling up and always think back to that moment!
OT, I know, but everything I saw in the latest CGW on it gives me great hope.
:-)
...continuing on the OT subject of BioShock (which I do think will do well with the team that are creating it)... is it me or do the screenshots of BioShock remind you of Beneath a Steel Sky? (another great game btw).
Wish I had the link to the original article/interview where this was mentioned... (Again, I'm only recounting this from memory, I've been looking on the Through the Looking Glass forums and the SS2 fan sites to find the quote, but with no luck).
I think it boils down to when Looking Glass Studios went under.... the company portfolio was sold piecemeal to the highest bidder. It was inferred that in order to create System Shock 3, then someone would have to find out who owns each bit of the System Shock rights and relicense or buy those pieces back in order to legitamately create and release the game. EA owns the trademarks to SS3, I don't know what SS portfolio pieces EA owns and/or whether they would be willing and able to make a proper version of SS3 (In getting Irrational/Take Two to develop it rather than internally themselves, but then again this is EA we're talking about:-( ).
Well, EA recently renewed the trademarks on System Shock 3.... although they have probably done this just to sit on it (and stop fan made successors?). AFAIK the IP relating to the SS series is owned by different companies (this was in an interview on one of the SS fan sites).
Bioshock the spiritual successor to the SS series, so we'll just have to see how that lives up to expectations when it comes out.
It's suck a pity that the IP rights got swallowed and divided up when Looking Glass went titsup limiting any feasible official remake (I don't have a link to this info, but AFAIK it was in an interview with Warren Spector somewhere).
Oh, and add in a Sam and Max sequel... but it is nice to see Grim Fandango in that list though.
Mandy (Mr Mandelsons nickname iirc) was one of the main spin doctors along with Alastair Campbell and Charlie Wheelan who made the Labour party what it is today (i.e. got Blair into power). So he was a pretty powerful politician for a while, although the double resignations made it too difficult for Blair to let him have a cabinet position again.
Note, this is AFAIK and I may have missed out some salient points... but will answer your question to some degree.
Slashdot Mirror
If your shower curtain rings cost a bomb, then your shower curtain must've been made by Aperture Science, cos all that technology and buying the salt mine to develop in doesn't come cheap :-D
This actually makes me just wish they'd stick with OMG! Ponies!!! for the day.
I have a feeling that this will be a really good thing for Linux, gaming and the community. Valve are at least focusing on an Ubuntu LTS release and they might have a few bugs/issues to start with, but the biggest thing that will drive this forward is that the community itself will rally round and help too and the possible standardising that Valve can bring to the table, as well as the games themselves. Other Linux distros will jump on board as it gets more popular and the big question of "does it run Steam?" will hopefully be another incentive to drive Linux forward.
I searched the comments here and noted that no-one has mentioned that Ars are owned by Condé Nast, a company with an estimated $4-5Billion+ annual revenue. They also own Wired and Reddit, let alone Vogue, GQ and numerous other publications.
Why do I mention this? Context. If Ars was still an independent operator then I'd have more sympathy for their argument, and yes they still have numbers to maintain... but have you considered their sister magazines, take Vogue/GQ for example and think of page content vs pages of advertising. I watched "The September Issue" a few weeks ago and the thing that stuck in my mind was that that issue of Vogue had about 800 pages and only over a 100 pages were actual content, the rest were adverts. Fucking nuts! So yes, the argument of advertising driven content isn't going away and we'll see what happens should Mr Murdoch (who seems to want to own every content producer on the planet) try his pay-wall experiment.
As for ad-blocking... I continue using it and am glad since I've seen the latest shit that people have to deal with, auto-loading videos, sound, fly-outs you can't shut, flash ads that grind your page to a halt, as well as the malware that floats around and even hits high profile sites... I want control of what opens up in my browser and the only ads I'd ever consider are Google textual ads... why? cos they don't piss me off. Advertising should be an enticement of a good deal, done in a thoughtful and pleasant manner.. Unfortunately the Advertising 'industry' (I also include SEO bastards too here) battles everyone to promise customers the Earth while pissing off the very people they're meant to attract, they go through periods of continual fads in order to push shit and pretend to everyone they are 'unique' in their services, yet do the same as everyone else. The arguments from most advertisers that people who use ad-blocking software need burning at the stake tells me a lot, in that they just don't 'get-it', a good advertiser/marketer will have spent time arguing both camps and understand the issues at hand (as well as the people they're meant to be advertising to) whereas the rest fail at being the clever people they advertise themselves to be.
My suggestion to Ars, if it is that much of an issue then block your content from being shown 'full-stop' to anyone using ad-blocking software as you did in your experiment... then you only have to serve a minimal bandwidth using text page explaining why, fucking deal with it instead of whining like everyone else (i.e. News Corp, et al). The advertising industry won't die, but it will contract, change and evolve. But as a web browser I will not be dictated to that I have to have certain content forced down my throat, and I will control what I choose to see. There are multiple revenue streams possible, and I view Ars as producing higher quality content than a lot of other sites out there that I would be willing to pay for if I visited it enough (El Reg, BBC News, Slashdot and Fark tend to be my usual reads, and as a TV license holder I already pay for BBC News). Going back to context again, it would also be handy if Ars was to tell us their average percentage of userbase are that employ ad-blocking, which as a tech site I'd guess would be higher than a regular new site.
Sounds like you got the skinny on the whole situation.
A green liqueur called Midori® and is a noted brand, it would be very interesting if MS did ever release an OS under that name but I think their legal team would do their homework on that one.
He probably realised that shaving tools can be considered 'weapons' and after visualising a game called "Barbers 101 - Virtual Tutorials" his mind nearly asploded.
He is that batshit crazy he probably even thinks people can kill other people using an electric shaver!
Isn't that one of the tech descriptions for Gal Civ 2?
/me goes to look in the xml files
Yup.... it's the tech description for Soil Enhancement:
<Details>The other civilization leaders said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show 'em. It sank into the swamp. So, I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So, I built a third one. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp, but the fourth one...stayed up! So now you can do the same! Good luck to ye!</Details>
even for those who aren't going gay.
Fixed that for you :-)
P.S. To SlashDot: if I want to Idle my time away I'll browse Fark thankyouverymuch, please for the love of his noodly appendage, keep the idle.slashdot posts off the front page.
Maybe they put the Telencephalic inhibitors back in?
Isn't Battlestar Galactica one of the biggest traded shows on P2P? In that case he is probably getting the subject and Mediasentry-like buddies up and going for the new series premiere next month.
Just my first thought and £0.02
What with BSG finishing on SCI-FI, the rumour is that they might be giving the prequel series 'Caprica' a look... so that will show the creation of the Cylons and their eventual rebellion.
Just tried that search (my subject line) on the Network Solutions site and all domains for it were available, yet I searched using Easily.co.uk immediately after and f***younetworksolutions.com was registered by them immediately:
:-D
Record expires on 08-Jan-2009.
Record created on 08-Jan-2008.
Database last updated on 8-Jan-2008 14:38:53 EST.
Yup, I did that 4 mins ago.
I wonder how much it is costing them per domain
Although I don't know at hand if there are any patent trolls or music companies claiming this idea as IP. But wouldn't it being written down in that book count as prior art?
Just food for thought people.
Resisting 'the many'... why that almost sounds like Electronic Arts,.. erm, EA(tm). I mean they gobble up coders and studios like resources, only for them to be destroyed and absorbed into the 'greater biological mechanism'.
Back to SS3 though, I just wonder how well EA Redwood Shores will do with it! I mean, Irrational and Warren Spector are known for their depth in immersion and storytelling, and I'd rather have them be able to do it. But anyway, I'll just have to wait until Bioshock comes out in the mean time.
Now if you were called 'Ray', then maybe you'd be OK... but a pr0n site called 'Blue Ray' kind of conjures up a more male orientated kinda site, at least in my mind! :-P
The only game I've shed a tear to is Homeworld, and the moment when you get back to Kharak and it is being obliterated...
...having said that, I think it was more due to the music and the perfect choice of them using "Adagio for Strings" to convey a such a sense of loss. So every time I hear the track, I start welling up and always think back to that moment!
Coliseo Font (direct download)... from here in case they don't link the hotlinking to the zip file.
Good luck everyone!
OT, I know, but everything I saw in the latest CGW on it gives me great hope.
:-)
...continuing on the OT subject of BioShock (which I do think will do well with the team that are creating it)... is it me or do the screenshots of BioShock remind you of Beneath a Steel Sky? (another great game btw).
Wish I had the link to the original article/interview where this was mentioned... (Again, I'm only recounting this from memory, I've been looking on the Through the Looking Glass forums and the SS2 fan sites to find the quote, but with no luck).
I think it boils down to when Looking Glass Studios went under.... the company portfolio was sold piecemeal to the highest bidder. It was inferred that in order to create System Shock 3, then someone would have to find out who owns each bit of the System Shock rights and relicense or buy those pieces back in order to legitamately create and release the game. EA owns the trademarks to SS3, I don't know what SS portfolio pieces EA owns and/or whether they would be willing and able to make a proper version of SS3 (In getting Irrational/Take Two to develop it rather than internally themselves, but then again this is EA we're talking about :-( ).
if not, why not?
Here's your answer to that question!
Well, EA recently renewed the trademarks on System Shock 3.... although they have probably done this just to sit on it (and stop fan made successors?). AFAIK the IP relating to the SS series is owned by different companies (this was in an interview on one of the SS fan sites).
Bioshock the spiritual successor to the SS series, so we'll just have to see how that lives up to expectations when it comes out.
Vulcan Love Slave.... thats all I have to say on this matter :-P
It's suck a pity that the IP rights got swallowed and divided up when Looking Glass went titsup limiting any feasible official remake (I don't have a link to this info, but AFAIK it was in an interview with Warren Spector somewhere).
Oh, and add in a Sam and Max sequel... but it is nice to see Grim Fandango in that list though.
A List Apart and StopDesign are sites that have great resources and tutorials, well worth a look.
Mandy (Mr Mandelsons nickname iirc) was one of the main spin doctors along with Alastair Campbell and Charlie Wheelan who made the Labour party what it is today (i.e. got Blair into power). So he was a pretty powerful politician for a while, although the double resignations made it too difficult for Blair to let him have a cabinet position again.
Note, this is AFAIK and I may have missed out some salient points... but will answer your question to some degree.