Personally, I think that MMO's are draining way too much focus from the other gaming genre's. Right now they're a big cash-cow, which unfortunately makes them more attractive Vs other games.
You hit the nail on the head. Virtually the entire industry is salivating at the prospect of releasing a successful MMORPG, and the execs are loving the idea of continuous revenue. Supreme Commander looks to be one of the few true next generation RTS games to be released in the last few years. Look at the Command & Conquer franchise. They're finally gearing up to produce a sequel that matches the capabilities of current computers, after years of obscurity. Where are the space combat games anymore, like the Wing Commander series? True spaceflight simulators? It seems like everywhere you look, the industry has stalled out.
Parent is full of bullshit. I'd like to see some actual evidence for his claim that being shot in the head is less likely to be fatal than being shot in the torso, given the same projectile and velocity. I'm surprised no one else has called him on this yet, because it's so obviously junk science. What are his reasons for this theory? Where is the evidence?
I have to take fault with your statistics. I'm not going to argue your actual numbers, because I don't think either of us really know for sure what they are. But let's assume that 400,000 and 36,000 are accurate. What I'd like to know is what the distribution of those 400,000 is. How many were being killed on average per year from, say, 1995 to 2000? Then tell me how long Saddam most likely had left to live, and how many would have died in that time period. That's a more equal representation of the numbers.
To summarize every major point made in this thread so far, as to why the article's concerns are stupid:
First off, for all we know we're going to be wanting that "waste" back a century from now, for use elsewhere. Assuming that doesn't happen, then burying it hundreds of feet underground is going to put it out of the reach of all but the most technologically advanced, to whom it won't present a threat anyhow.
And even if somehow a bunch of degenerate savages get into the waste, a thousand years from now, why the fuck should we care? Absolute worst-case scenario, a number of people in the region die. We're talking radiation here, not a bacteria or a virus. If some idiots lug it up to the surface and start snorting it for joint pain, the ones who live will rapidly figure out something is wrong, and even if they don't understand what the mechanism is, they'll certainly be able to put it back and stay away. There's just no real way I can see it ever presenting a real "threat" to more than a tiny group of people.
Seriously, it seems as though they're worried to death about litigious action by barbarians from the year 11999. Why the fuck should we care? If ten thousand years from now we've regressed so far that people don't understand the concept of radioactivity, then perhaps it's for the best.
Note: parent is a troll, and attempting to do the above will not possibly work. Furthermore, if MA learned what you were up to, they'd probably ban your account. Mod parent down.
Actually, Project: Entropia already had an attempt at a call girl/escort service, way back around 2001 or so. It never got off of the ground because the parent company running the game, MindArk, refused to allow them to implement their idea. For what it's worth, the name of their group was the L.O.V.E. Society.
There's probably only a handful of people left in the world who know about that particular bit of history from Project: Entropia.
It was disgusting to me how much people were trading movies, games, and music which didn't belong.
You don't get it. The whole damned point is that it shouldn't be illegal. That the law itself is immoral. Your reactions are themselves disturbing to me.
A few weeks of generic military rifle training will teach anyone all they need to know to use a rifle effectively. The US Army does a pretty effective job teaching rifle skills in basic training
The mere fact that you would say that shows that you have absolutely, positively, no idea what you're talking about. Basic is going to (hopefully) teach you how to NOT shoot yourself when handed a gun. Anything more than that is going to come later in training, and only if you wind up in a specialization that requires that ability.
Could I hit a target every time at 1000 yards? Probably not. You solve that problem by making sure you have more than one round at your disposal. You don't need to hit a target with every shot as long as you have a full clip. Three-round groups don't hurt too much either.
Well, if the target were twenty feet wide, and conditions were right, you might be able to pull it off. Maybe. But a thousand yards is an awfully long ways out there. Most civilian ranges don't go out that far. Also, the M-16 rifle is loaded using "magazines" not "clips". Oh, and if you'd ever had any real training you'd know WHY a three-round burst would be virtually useless against a target at a thousand. Hint: it's called muzzle rise.
Honestly, grandparent said everything that needs to be said about long-distance marksmanship. Parent is a cocky grunt that never had any real training with a precision rifle. Anyone who would brag about making Expert with an M-16 in the Army, in regards to long distance shooting, is proclaiming to the world they have no idea what they're talking about.
A driver's license is only being issued and controlled by the state it was issued in. Which means the power contained therein is spread out, over all of the states. On the other hand, a national ID would put all of that information and power in the hands of a single entity: the federal government.
I agree with the general sentiment here this is shitty and that the RIAA is utterly unsympathetic and over the top, but at the root of all of this are individual people who made the decision to engage in illegal activity. They got caught and now they have to pay the piper.
You're still not getting it. Yes, we're angry about the **AA's actions. But the real heart of this issue isn't the fact that the **AA's extortion tactics are immoral (although they are). It's the fact that the law itself is immoral as it stands, if a person can stand to be ordered by the government to pay a fine of millions of dollars for a product worth $20. It's the fact that the law itself is broken, and the people responsible for it's immoral state are using it for their own profit.
The debate over whether copying music should be a crime or not will undoubtedly continue. But what shouldn't be up for debate are the consequences of such actions. The whole concept of justice is that the punishment fits the crime, and it's wildly clear in this case that the law as it stands is as far removed from that ideal as possible. And the only ones offering an alternate route are using their position to commit extortion.
What you're missing is the fact that no matter how guilty or not guilty the defendants may be, their punishment cannot possibly be considered, by a reasonable person, to be appropriate.
I don't buy that. It makes for nice Star Trek technobabble, but the idea of having an aircraft transmit an electronic signal to "hack" enemy SAM launchers is ludicrous. It's not like they come standard with a wireless modem and an unsecured firewall, running Windows XP. Maybe if their very hardware and software were designed from the ground-up to fail at a crucial time (say, upon recieving the command to fire upon an aircraft identified as American), but somehow I doubt that very, very much. I'm categorizing such statements in the same group as those from the other idiots who make outlandish statements about weaponry developement that have no basis in reality.
Seriously, I'm beginning to think Blizzard specifically hates my particular demographic. I knew this would be an April Fool's joke, but remembering prior jokes that turned out later to be true (Gmail anyone?) one always hopes. And it had me going, too, until they reached the BurgerCraft part.
Damnit, Blizzard made a great game in Starcraft and then totally shut down that whole franchise. Millions of people would gnaw off their hands for an opportunity to play Starcraft 2, and yet Blizzard dumps it in the corner and walks away. So you sign up for World of Warcraft, roll an Alliance rogue, and just for fun, decide to become an engineer. Blizzard has decreed that all rogues are to be disowned. Might as well delete the character, because a level 60 rogue ain't gettin' any love from Blizz. On my server, at least, the Horde seems much more organized and intelligent than the Alliance. And just for kicks, the engineering profession is basically useless.
So why is it again that Blizzard seems determined to drive me away?
Maybe I'm stupid here, but if both parties have to be looking at the quasar at the same time, what happens if Party A is located in North America while Party B is located in India, and they attempt to communicate at 12PM? Only one party is going to have the quasar in their sky at a time!
"It is with great reluctance that I have agreed to this calling. I love democracy. I love the Republic. Once this crisis has abated, I will lay down the powers you have given me!"
You and your countrymen allowed those dangerous fools into power, and you continue to allow them to stay in power. You give the example of driving the drunken friend home, here's my response: If you were truly responsible, you wouldn't let them drink themselves into a stupor in the first place. You Aussies threw away your gun rights, and seem to be trying hard to get rid of that pesky free speech thing. Perhaps it's time you stopped choosing the lesser of two evils, and elect some true leaders.
So obviously, every example of insurgent warfare in history is rendered invalid, because governments naturally have better technology and ergo are bound to win?
Seriously, haven't you looked at the news from Iraq? All they have are some full-auto AKs, a bunch of RPG-7s, and some unexploded ordnance they snagged off the ground. And yet it's effective enough when applied properly.
By the way, the Australian armed forces are not using the Metal Storm weaponry. That stuff is still extremely experimental, and I strongly suspect will never be adopted in a small arms format. No, they're using rifles of essentially the same design and capabilities of those of insurgents worldwide. What any modern military has going for it is size, communication/coordination, training, and the capacity to drop very large bombs most anywhere they want.
Slashdot Mirror
I think I want to drive to Louisiana and kick this guy in the nuts.
Stand in line please, no skipping.
Personally, I think that MMO's are draining way too much focus from the other gaming genre's. Right now they're a big cash-cow, which unfortunately makes them more attractive Vs other games.
You hit the nail on the head. Virtually the entire industry is salivating at the prospect of releasing a successful MMORPG, and the execs are loving the idea of continuous revenue. Supreme Commander looks to be one of the few true next generation RTS games to be released in the last few years. Look at the Command & Conquer franchise. They're finally gearing up to produce a sequel that matches the capabilities of current computers, after years of obscurity. Where are the space combat games anymore, like the Wing Commander series? True spaceflight simulators? It seems like everywhere you look, the industry has stalled out.
The astroturfing sure is green this time of summer.
Hey, RIAA: Go to hell.
Et tu, Cheney?
Parent is full of bullshit. I'd like to see some actual evidence for his claim that being shot in the head is less likely to be fatal than being shot in the torso, given the same projectile and velocity. I'm surprised no one else has called him on this yet, because it's so obviously junk science. What are his reasons for this theory? Where is the evidence?
Post that to Bash, because that's the best shit I've seen on slashdot in years. Bravo
The amusing thing is, you're probably going to get modded down out of spite for ruining the dreams of all the Trekkies here.
I have to take fault with your statistics. I'm not going to argue your actual numbers, because I don't think either of us really know for sure what they are. But let's assume that 400,000 and 36,000 are accurate. What I'd like to know is what the distribution of those 400,000 is. How many were being killed on average per year from, say, 1995 to 2000? Then tell me how long Saddam most likely had left to live, and how many would have died in that time period. That's a more equal representation of the numbers.
To summarize every major point made in this thread so far, as to why the article's concerns are stupid:
First off, for all we know we're going to be wanting that "waste" back a century from now, for use elsewhere. Assuming that doesn't happen, then burying it hundreds of feet underground is going to put it out of the reach of all but the most technologically advanced, to whom it won't present a threat anyhow.
And even if somehow a bunch of degenerate savages get into the waste, a thousand years from now, why the fuck should we care? Absolute worst-case scenario, a number of people in the region die. We're talking radiation here, not a bacteria or a virus. If some idiots lug it up to the surface and start snorting it for joint pain, the ones who live will rapidly figure out something is wrong, and even if they don't understand what the mechanism is, they'll certainly be able to put it back and stay away. There's just no real way I can see it ever presenting a real "threat" to more than a tiny group of people.
Seriously, it seems as though they're worried to death about litigious action by barbarians from the year 11999. Why the fuck should we care? If ten thousand years from now we've regressed so far that people don't understand the concept of radioactivity, then perhaps it's for the best.
Note: parent is a troll, and attempting to do the above will not possibly work. Furthermore, if MA learned what you were up to, they'd probably ban your account. Mod parent down.
Actually, Project: Entropia already had an attempt at a call girl/escort service, way back around 2001 or so. It never got off of the ground because the parent company running the game, MindArk, refused to allow them to implement their idea. For what it's worth, the name of their group was the L.O.V.E. Society.
There's probably only a handful of people left in the world who know about that particular bit of history from Project: Entropia.
It was disgusting to me how much people were trading movies, games, and music which didn't belong.
You don't get it. The whole damned point is that it shouldn't be illegal. That the law itself is immoral. Your reactions are themselves disturbing to me.
A few weeks of generic military rifle training will teach anyone all they need to know to use a rifle effectively. The US Army does a pretty effective job teaching rifle skills in basic training
The mere fact that you would say that shows that you have absolutely, positively, no idea what you're talking about. Basic is going to (hopefully) teach you how to NOT shoot yourself when handed a gun. Anything more than that is going to come later in training, and only if you wind up in a specialization that requires that ability.
Could I hit a target every time at 1000 yards? Probably not. You solve that problem by making sure you have more than one round at your disposal. You don't need to hit a target with every shot as long as you have a full clip. Three-round groups don't hurt too much either.
Well, if the target were twenty feet wide, and conditions were right, you might be able to pull it off. Maybe. But a thousand yards is an awfully long ways out there. Most civilian ranges don't go out that far. Also, the M-16 rifle is loaded using "magazines" not "clips". Oh, and if you'd ever had any real training you'd know WHY a three-round burst would be virtually useless against a target at a thousand. Hint: it's called muzzle rise.
Honestly, grandparent said everything that needs to be said about long-distance marksmanship. Parent is a cocky grunt that never had any real training with a precision rifle. Anyone who would brag about making Expert with an M-16 in the Army, in regards to long distance shooting, is proclaiming to the world they have no idea what they're talking about.
A driver's license is only being issued and controlled by the state it was issued in. Which means the power contained therein is spread out, over all of the states. On the other hand, a national ID would put all of that information and power in the hands of a single entity: the federal government.
You are one of the fatest states in America - your state is not OK, it's fucking fat and it disgusts me.
Uhhh, actually, their state *is* OK. That's the Postal Service abbreviation for Oklahoma. Nice try though.
We the people (mostly) elect our government.
We the people (mostly) choose to shop at Wal-Mart.
I don't see any real difference there between the two, in terms of why they exist as they do today.
If you truly believe that's the reason for the Republican decisions on this matter, then you're a naive fool. Seriously.
Saving up for a digital whiteboard company. Right.
:p
This is Bill Gates we're talking about. Obviously you mean the digital whiteboard industry.
I agree with the general sentiment here this is shitty and that the RIAA is utterly unsympathetic and over the top, but at the root of all of this are individual people who made the decision to engage in illegal activity. They got caught and now they have to pay the piper.
You're still not getting it. Yes, we're angry about the **AA's actions. But the real heart of this issue isn't the fact that the **AA's extortion tactics are immoral (although they are). It's the fact that the law itself is immoral as it stands, if a person can stand to be ordered by the government to pay a fine of millions of dollars for a product worth $20. It's the fact that the law itself is broken, and the people responsible for it's immoral state are using it for their own profit.
The debate over whether copying music should be a crime or not will undoubtedly continue. But what shouldn't be up for debate are the consequences of such actions. The whole concept of justice is that the punishment fits the crime, and it's wildly clear in this case that the law as it stands is as far removed from that ideal as possible. And the only ones offering an alternate route are using their position to commit extortion.
What you're missing is the fact that no matter how guilty or not guilty the defendants may be, their punishment cannot possibly be considered, by a reasonable person, to be appropriate.
I don't buy that. It makes for nice Star Trek technobabble, but the idea of having an aircraft transmit an electronic signal to "hack" enemy SAM launchers is ludicrous. It's not like they come standard with a wireless modem and an unsecured firewall, running Windows XP. Maybe if their very hardware and software were designed from the ground-up to fail at a crucial time (say, upon recieving the command to fire upon an aircraft identified as American), but somehow I doubt that very, very much. I'm categorizing such statements in the same group as those from the other idiots who make outlandish statements about weaponry developement that have no basis in reality.
Seriously, I'm beginning to think Blizzard specifically hates my particular demographic. I knew this would be an April Fool's joke, but remembering prior jokes that turned out later to be true (Gmail anyone?) one always hopes. And it had me going, too, until they reached the BurgerCraft part.
Damnit, Blizzard made a great game in Starcraft and then totally shut down that whole franchise. Millions of people would gnaw off their hands for an opportunity to play Starcraft 2, and yet Blizzard dumps it in the corner and walks away. So you sign up for World of Warcraft, roll an Alliance rogue, and just for fun, decide to become an engineer. Blizzard has decreed that all rogues are to be disowned. Might as well delete the character, because a level 60 rogue ain't gettin' any love from Blizz. On my server, at least, the Horde seems much more organized and intelligent than the Alliance. And just for kicks, the engineering profession is basically useless.
So why is it again that Blizzard seems determined to drive me away?
Maybe I'm stupid here, but if both parties have to be looking at the quasar at the same time, what happens if Party A is located in North America while Party B is located in India, and they attempt to communicate at 12PM? Only one party is going to have the quasar in their sky at a time!
"It is with great reluctance that I have agreed to this calling. I love democracy. I love the Republic. Once this crisis has abated, I will lay down the powers you have given me!"
Oh, and mod parent up.
You and your countrymen allowed those dangerous fools into power, and you continue to allow them to stay in power. You give the example of driving the drunken friend home, here's my response: If you were truly responsible, you wouldn't let them drink themselves into a stupor in the first place. You Aussies threw away your gun rights, and seem to be trying hard to get rid of that pesky free speech thing. Perhaps it's time you stopped choosing the lesser of two evils, and elect some true leaders.
So obviously, every example of insurgent warfare in history is rendered invalid, because governments naturally have better technology and ergo are bound to win?
Seriously, haven't you looked at the news from Iraq? All they have are some full-auto AKs, a bunch of RPG-7s, and some unexploded ordnance they snagged off the ground. And yet it's effective enough when applied properly.
By the way, the Australian armed forces are not using the Metal Storm weaponry. That stuff is still extremely experimental, and I strongly suspect will never be adopted in a small arms format. No, they're using rifles of essentially the same design and capabilities of those of insurgents worldwide. What any modern military has going for it is size, communication/coordination, training, and the capacity to drop very large bombs most anywhere they want.