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User: MrChom

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Comments · 38

  1. Re:complete and working windows solution? on Windows Drivers for Mac Rolling Out · · Score: -1, Troll

    That first sentence sums up my thoughts exactly. The point of buying a Mac is that you are getting a hardware and software package that is tailored so as to increase stability, and also crafted to be aesthetically pleasing.

    Installing Windows on a Mac, no matter how Intel based it might be is like ripping out the all leather seats in your brand new Porsche and replacing them with $2 seatcovers and some of those beaded back massagers you find in stores that sell nothing but crap.

    All you need to do then is start installing some spyware filled apps and you just added the furry dice and magnetic flame decorations.

  2. Re:Does it matter? on OpenBSD Project in Financial Danger · · Score: 1

    Surely, though, that self same credibility problem afflicted Xorg, or the Ubuntu foudation, or in fact any new piece of software that hits the wild. If OpenBSD went down then it is doubtless that at least one of the previous maintainers would contribute to, or control a new OpenSSH project under that name, or a new one; even if they didn't then the chances are that someone with a certain degree of trust within the Open Source community will jump on the new bandwagon is high.

    All in all OpenSSH would continue, probably under the wing of some high profile developers, and probably under the same, or a similar name. Saying it wouldn't is like saying that no one would trust new Linux kernels if Linus Torvalds hung up his coding keyboard in the next week.

  3. Linearity... on Will Wright's Dream Machines · · Score: 1

    The fact remains though that gaming is a medium, much like TV, movies, or radio, whether something is linear or free roaming does not necessarilly make it a good game. Morrowind is considered by many to be a fine piece of gaming history, and I admire its ambition...at the same time I don't enjoy playing it simply because of its lack of focus...there's too much to take in, too much to do, too much to see...thusly I often end up wandering lost and alone, cursing the lack of guidance.

    Similarly you have stuff like Final Fantasy which arguably has too much focus, there's no fun in an RPG if you simply hold a direction button for 45 minutes with some random battles chucked in (if they were at least fun then I wouldn't mind so much), if I wanted fancy CGI with no gameplay I'd go watch Advent Children.

    In the end there's scope for all points along the spectrum and all of them are probably equally valid because games can be art and should therefore be judged subjectively as well as objectively. In that way I can respect Morrowind for its vision and creativity, whilst at the same time being allowed to dislike it because it doesn't suit my taste.

    This whole aspect of linearity vs freedom is one that is often lost in the mix, and increasingly it seems to be assumed that freedom = good game, remember that all good books are entirely linear and only have one set ending, same with movies, some leave little to the imagination, others let you do the work instead, surely the same should be true of games?

  4. Re:O RLY on Stardust Part II, Deep Impact Revisited? · · Score: 1

    Well the business about crater size is based on logical assumptions...and frankly that's something the world seems to be missing these days in spades, believe me.

  5. Does it matter? on OpenBSD Project in Financial Danger · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The SSH project will stay in development with or without BSD, there's no issue here of what would happen if OpenBSD ceased to exist. It's kinda like when most apps on Linux die, or simply cease development...if it's important then someone is there to pick up the pieces.

  6. While in Final Fantasy... on What Are Some of Your Favorite RPG Quests? · · Score: 4, Funny

    ..I loved the "Scream every time you hit a random battle" quest. I used to go back over and over just to play that!

  7. Re:Am I the only one... on U.S. Army Robots Break Asimov's First Law · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The nation has the biggest gun, because it should have weapons that no one else has access to. In a world where the democratic ideal of a politico/military separation is followed as well as a separation of powers no one person has the authority to become a tyrant, and this is true in most nations (America, Britain, France, Germany etc.). Saying that a weapon like this encourages tyranny is ignorant of the chain of command and the likelihood of an educated soldier to follow commands to fire on his own countrymen. As for deployment in other nations...well...you're looking at an expensive piece of kit that requires a lot of training to use and probably wouldn't be sold to other nations on any scale, or at least not to recognised dictatorships. Personally I don't even believe the police force should be regularly armed (heck, we Brits polled the police force and even THEY said they didn't want guns), as for a right to bear arms...well...I can honestly say that the levels of gun crime in the US vs other nations is one very good example of why it is a bad idea to have private gun ownership. Having spent three years working with the British Number 8, Cadet GP, and LSW weapons I'm well versed in the use of various rifles, and have a British Army qualification in safety, training capability, and marksmanship. I'm not anti-gun because I'm scared of them, I realise they can be used safely and responsibly, but not by the general populous.

  8. Re:Slight typographical error. on American Anime Localization Company Tries Torrents · · Score: 1
    The truth is that dubs are often closer translations of the original script, because subtitles have to be brief enough for people to read them.

    That's some advice fansubbers could take to heart. I've seen 5 line cultural notes appear and disappear before anyone in my anime society could read them, leading to speculation that "sub" might stand for "subliminal" and not "subtitle".

    As for your reasoning behind liking subs I can see where you're coming from. Personally I don't stick to the mindset you describe but it is perfectly valid nonetheless.

    I'd have to state though that some US voice talent is equally great, whether it be the bigger Disney people (Patrick Stewart...anyone who doubts his credentials needs shooting) or some of the people doing normal series such as Monica Rial (I met her once and she is so unlike her ADV casting it is unreal).

  9. Re:Slight typographical error. on American Anime Localization Company Tries Torrents · · Score: 1

    Now I could have sworn blind that ISM was at least semi independent having done a dub for SoftCel and at least some of the work for X-Men Legends in recent memory.

    However that said I'm none too informed about the internal structure of ADV except in the UK (Met the head bloke once, really nice guy).

    And subs vs dubs is outmoded, I agree, you're essentially not even paying for the dub any more, places like Cartoon Network, Jetix, Toonami (At least that's what they're called in the UK) are paying for those. And you get a cheaper DVD than Japan...with more features...and more episodes.

    The DVD is blessing. Subs for when you get some real purists in, and dubs for if you want something over dinner (Though for Hellsing, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star and a couple more I'll take dub over sub because the dubs just are that good).

  10. Re:Stick to standards on The Future of Firefox · · Score: 1

    The problem with sticking to standards is that nothing ever really changes once you go down that route.

    If people had stuck with the original version of HTML and nothing else then would we have seen the rise of asp/jsp/php etc?

    That said, some standards should never have been broken. I can remember when Flash really was optional and when I could go on any computer and not worry about the Internet because popups, viruses etc. were rare.

    People to this day wonder why I migrated to Linux with Firefox...most of them stop when I tell them about the "virus protection" Linux has, and the benefits of Firefox.

  11. Re:Slight typographical error. on American Anime Localization Company Tries Torrents · · Score: 1
    Technically Abeno was outsourced, it just happens that ADV had at the time a limited number of "separate" companies it worked with for dubs.

    As far as I am aware the dub was done by Industrial Smoke and Mirrors one of the...three...four...whatever dub units ADV is noted for using. The fact that all the units hire the same staff anyway is nigh on irrelevant.

    Oh, and for the cultural notes I am a HUGE fan of "ADVidnotes" on DVDs. I can watch Excel Saga or Abenobashi either raw, subbed, dubbed and any combination thereof with a series of cultural notes appearing in a "Popup Video" stylee. It's a great feature that made me watch all three titles through three times because ADV is fantastic at comedy dubs, and the Vidnotes were well thought and pointed out things I hadn't noticed before.

  12. Re:Slight typographical error. on American Anime Localization Company Tries Torrents · · Score: 1
    I've got to say that I really disagree with you on the dropping of suffixes. It makes me cringe whenever I hear them because it shows me that the company doing the script for the English version hasn't bothered to try and give us a version where that relationship is implied.

    In English we imply relationships with tone and less formalised versions of the "suffixes" e.g. bro' for anniki. As far as I am concerned you shouldn't even sub them, all it does is exclude people from fandom because they don't know what implications a suffix has, if you can imply that same thing in English then more people understand it without taking the source material and ripping it up into shreds.

    Oh, and Abenobashi was oursourced as all ADV projects supposedly were (I don't think it's the case now as some of the "studios" have merged), matter fact it was almost all the same people in the same studio, but never mind that. If you're going to pick on one real bone in the whole dub world it is the fact that almost no US distributor dubs "Ensemble", they record each actor's track separately which can create a horrible stilted feeling to some dubs.

  13. Re:Slight typographical error. on American Anime Localization Company Tries Torrents · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Now I help to run an anime society, and we schedule subs there, and I mainly watch subs, but I see nothing wrong at alll with dubs. It's all about accessibility. Most dubs these days (Initial D aside) stay close to the source material and include casting on the good side of the scale. If it continues to be done with that in mind then anime will reach more people which is exactly what I try to promote on a daily basis (Albeit within a small Welsh university...which has the 4th largest anime society in Britain, go figure, we must get a bunch of weirdos at Aberystwyth). I take the opinion that if I want to watch an anime I pick the sub first, but if I want to watch it while eating, or when tired I put the dub on at home because dubs have been getting better and better for quite some time. The only people I know who still cling to the "All dubbing is bad" idea are the last remnants of the community who believe that anime needs to stay niche, and that a good old flamewar about it on a forum will help any anime community.