> I'm very sorry* if you feel marginalised by those who have an interest in all things undead and shambling, but no-one's actually forcing to watch The Walking Dead or Jersey Shore.
I think you nailed it. Jersey Shore is The Walking Dead with better make-up.
But seriously, the existence of these shows (Walking Dead: soap opera with zombies. Game of Thrones: soap opera with swords. Battlestar: Soap opera with spaceships. Revolution: Soap opera with flintlocks) makes me sad, but I don't begrudge their existence. It's more reason for me to turn off the TV and do something productive. It's all good, really.
I do think the OP has a point, though. It's challenging to get away from zombie discussions, even on purported technical forums.
> Same thing happened at the Fukushima nuclear plant. They had something like a dozen diesel generators under the theory that even if a few failed to start, it was highly unlikely that all would fail to start. They completely missed the possibility that a single common event could cause all the generators to fail the same way.
It may not have been that simple. In that area tsunamis are fairly common. There are (according to articles, I've never been there) stones hundreds of years old along the shore line on which there are carved the Japanese characters for tsunami danger.
And so, according to one account, the designers of the nuclear plant had originally designed the generators (or at least some of them) to be elevated on towers above what was thought to be the maximum height a tsunami could reach.
And then there was a lawsuit claiming that a bunch of diesel generators on stilts would spoil the view of the ocean. So the idea was scrapped and the generators were built out at ground level.
Not to take food from other people and become a warlord, but to off myself if civilization falls apart. No desire to star in a real life version of "The Road", thank you very much!
Honestly, "Tie Fighter" was vastly superior to the older "X-Wing" game.
Better graphics, a decent story (in comparison), better targeting, more controls (match speed), etc.
While I look at "X-Wing" somewhat fondly, it's "Tie Fighter" that really steals my heart. That game is literally in my top 3 favorites video games of all time.
"X-Wing Alliance" was alright, but it still wasn't as fun as "Tie Fighter"
Good to know. If I find one in the cutout bin I might pick it up if it's cheap enough.
I bought x-wing when it first came out, but ended up abandoning it due to the poor targeting graphics. The target would turn a dark red, and like many males I have red/green colorblindness, which caused the targeted object to pretty much disappear.
To be fair, you would also have a hard time with being an actual pilot. That said, it would be nice if more companies gave some thought to the colorblindness issue: I remember Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri had problems as well.
Agreed. But I didn't want to be a pilot necessarily, just wanted to play the game. And interestingly enough, I didn't have the same problem with Falcon 4.0 or Strike Commander.
You're absolutely right. There's cool looking, and then there's playability. and the second is more important.
Understood, (we use it here too) but the number of general purpose laptops available that are using WinCE is zero. And I suspect by the end of 2013, the same will be true of WinRT. It was a stopgap until they could figure out how to wedge a Win8tel computer into the Surface form factor. (I suspect that WinRT will become a better choice than WinCE for embedded systems, but I suspect we will continue with WinCE rather than do the migration.)
I bought x-wing when it first came out, but ended up abandoning it due to the poor targeting graphics. The target would turn a dark red, and like many males I have red/green colorblindness, which caused the targeted object to pretty much disappear. Had they left the object brightly lit and put a bracket around it, like Wing Commander or Comanche, I would have been more interested. I liked the degree of control of your ship's resources (something nobody else had at the time) and really wanted to like the game, but my wife got tired of standing behind me saying "Left. A little more. Too far. Go down. Down to the right. No, up." (Helping me play the game, you juveniles.) The experience was frustrating enough that I didn't bother with the rest of the series. And so, my feeling of loss at LucasArts going away is at best abstract.
Pretty much true. This tends to empty out the levels between government official (which, since they make the rules, are immune from them) and the proles. The rich who cooperate with government may last a little longer.
If Deep Space 9 taught me anything it's that capitalists love a good beetle-steak, or fresh tube-grubs.
I think the point that deep space 9 was making is that the rich gauge food by its rarity, not by its flavor. So you'd aspire to be rich enough to afford beetle-steak, only because nobody else could, not because it was, you know, good. I'm sure you could think of real expensive foods that may fall into that category.
There was an article a few years back about an Al Gore fundraising dinner where the entree was some weird deep sea bass that (it turns out) was endangered. Once word got out, they took it off the menu and went with something else. (I always wondered, what did they do with the fish? Throw it out? Give it to the homeless?) I suspect that you don't pick an endangered entree by accident; you do it because it adds appeal to filthy rich benefactors.
I foresee a time when government officials and executives eat steak, and the rest of us are eating freeze dried cicadas out of a cellophane bag. "I've tried to rehydrate them, but the smell is revolting. It's easier to eat them dry."
Um, so am I. An EE who migrated to programming when I got burned out on engineering. I'm assuming it's possible to go back the other way, but have to confess that I personally haven't tried it.
Even forgoing "backwards compatibility" with x86 apps, maybe, maybe if you could actually compile desktop applications for it it would be a slightly more attractive platform, but being stuck with nothing but Office and what's available in Metro? It just isn't going to live up to many buyers desires or expectations.
Oh, I don't know. I figure everyone who were talked into buying a Windows CE laptop back in the day is probably a candidate for Windows RT.
Slashdot Mirror
> I'm very sorry* if you feel marginalised by those who have an interest in all things undead and shambling, but no-one's actually forcing to watch The Walking Dead or Jersey Shore.
I think you nailed it. Jersey Shore is The Walking Dead with better make-up.
But seriously, the existence of these shows (Walking Dead: soap opera with zombies. Game of Thrones: soap opera with swords. Battlestar: Soap opera with spaceships. Revolution: Soap opera with flintlocks) makes me sad, but I don't begrudge their existence. It's more reason for me to turn off the TV and do something productive. It's all good, really.
I do think the OP has a point, though. It's challenging to get away from zombie discussions, even on purported technical forums.
(Insightful content snipped.)
> Same thing happened at the Fukushima nuclear plant. They had something like a dozen diesel generators under the theory that even if a few failed to start, it was highly unlikely that all would fail to start. They completely missed the possibility that a single common event could cause all the generators to fail the same way.
It may not have been that simple. In that area tsunamis are fairly common. There are (according to articles, I've never been there) stones hundreds of years old along the shore line on which there are carved the Japanese characters for tsunami danger.
And so, according to one account, the designers of the nuclear plant had originally designed the generators (or at least some of them) to be elevated on towers above what was thought to be the maximum height a tsunami could reach.
And then there was a lawsuit claiming that a bunch of diesel generators on stilts would spoil the view of the ocean. So the idea was scrapped and the generators were built out at ground level.
The rest of the story you already know.
We may all be survivalists someday.
Fuck that. That's the reason I have a gun.
Not to take food from other people and become a warlord, but to off myself if civilization falls apart. No desire to star in a real life version of "The Road", thank you very much!
Hm. Ok, well, more for us, then.
Honestly, "Tie Fighter" was vastly superior to the older "X-Wing" game.
Better graphics, a decent story (in comparison), better targeting, more controls (match speed), etc.
While I look at "X-Wing" somewhat fondly, it's "Tie Fighter" that really steals my heart. That game is literally in my top 3 favorites video games of all time.
"X-Wing Alliance" was alright, but it still wasn't as fun as "Tie Fighter"
Good to know. If I find one in the cutout bin I might pick it up if it's cheap enough.
I bought x-wing when it first came out, but ended up abandoning it due to the poor targeting graphics. The target would turn a dark red, and like many males I have red/green colorblindness, which caused the targeted object to pretty much disappear.
To be fair, you would also have a hard time with being an actual pilot. That said, it would be nice if more companies gave some thought to the colorblindness issue: I remember Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri had problems as well.
Agreed. But I didn't want to be a pilot necessarily, just wanted to play the game. And interestingly enough, I didn't have the same problem with Falcon 4.0 or Strike Commander.
You're absolutely right. There's cool looking, and then there's playability. and the second is more important.
Understood, (we use it here too) but the number of general purpose laptops available that are using WinCE is zero. And I suspect by the end of 2013, the same will be true of WinRT. It was a stopgap until they could figure out how to wedge a Win8tel computer into the Surface form factor. (I suspect that WinRT will become a better choice than WinCE for embedded systems, but I suspect we will continue with WinCE rather than do the migration.)
I bought x-wing when it first came out, but ended up abandoning it due to the poor targeting graphics. The target would turn a dark red, and like many males I have red/green colorblindness, which caused the targeted object to pretty much disappear. Had they left the object brightly lit and put a bracket around it, like Wing Commander or Comanche, I would have been more interested. I liked the degree of control of your ship's resources (something nobody else had at the time) and really wanted to like the game, but my wife got tired of standing behind me saying "Left. A little more. Too far. Go down. Down to the right. No, up." (Helping me play the game, you juveniles.) The experience was frustrating enough that I didn't bother with the rest of the series. And so, my feeling of loss at LucasArts going away is at best abstract.
With the tang of multiple recreational substances and large amounts of antibiotics.
Pretty much true. This tends to empty out the levels between government official (which, since they make the rules, are immune from them) and the proles. The rich who cooperate with government may last a little longer.
Ok, understood. You first.
If Deep Space 9 taught me anything it's that capitalists love a good beetle-steak, or fresh tube-grubs.
I think the point that deep space 9 was making is that the rich gauge food by its rarity, not by its flavor. So you'd aspire to be rich enough to afford beetle-steak, only because nobody else could, not because it was, you know, good. I'm sure you could think of real expensive foods that may fall into that category.
There was an article a few years back about an Al Gore fundraising dinner where the entree was some weird deep sea bass that (it turns out) was endangered. Once word got out, they took it off the menu and went with something else. (I always wondered, what did they do with the fish? Throw it out? Give it to the homeless?) I suspect that you don't pick an endangered entree by accident; you do it because it adds appeal to filthy rich benefactors.
You should check the numbers -- eating the rich won't keep us full for long.
Like, is this to get us used to eating bugs?
I foresee a time when government officials and executives eat steak, and the rest of us are eating freeze dried cicadas out of a cellophane bag. "I've tried to rehydrate them, but the smell is revolting. It's easier to eat them dry."
Hey, it's protein.
You've just eaten a handful of bugs. Seems to me what your pee smells like is the least of your worries.
> we humans evolved to eat pretty much anything that moves.
Just because we can, doesn't mean we should.
> What is this, the new Slashdot, news for survivalists?
We may all be survivalists someday.
So, you're eating a bug, and it tastes like asparagus?? Bonus!
Lease it out, and go to college.
Um, so am I. An EE who migrated to programming when I got burned out on engineering. I'm assuming it's possible to go back the other way, but have to confess that I personally haven't tried it.
Even forgoing "backwards compatibility" with x86 apps, maybe, maybe if you could actually compile desktop applications for it it would be a slightly more attractive platform, but being stuck with nothing but Office and what's available in Metro? It just isn't going to live up to many buyers desires or expectations.
Oh, I don't know. I figure everyone who were talked into buying a Windows CE laptop back in the day is probably a candidate for Windows RT.
Check into embedded systems. A lot of your skill set will transfer, and it's another expanding field.
Yes, exactly like that.
Nyfb, V pna xvyy lbh jvgu zl oenva.
Where it would be quicker to write a perl script to do ROT13 translation, than to read the editors' description of what the site did with it.
Assuming it's not an April 1 joke, and it might be (an unusually ponderous one at that).
You have a problem: Rot13 translation. You write a perl script. Now you have two problems.
...someone at slashdot has lost their mind.
-1 redundant