Ah, fuck it. Why wait for a revolution? Everybody get your guns and we'll meet down at the bar to plan our attack on these useless leeches.
I believe you mean "Everybody get your guns and we'll meet down at the bar, get drunk, shoot ourselves in the foot, then decide this was a stupid idea and go home to watch TV like the placid Americans/Canadians we are."
As much as games evolve (both upwards and outwards), I have yet to see anything that approaches the fun and openness of building with Legos. I guess the various Sim games might come close, but those still stifle you with specific options and outcomes.
With Legos, however, there's no such limitation excepting when you run out of pieces. (I don't consider the various Lego building programs to be "games".)
(And yes, I know it is supposed to be "Lego Blocks". I frankly don't care.)
With the introduction of the Wiimote, Wii can bring back point-and-click interface gaming.
Games like Myst were appealing to a wide range of players; the beautiful graphics, interesting puzzles, and simple play style (no spells to memorize, just use your brain) made it a hit seller.
I think that could happen over again on the Wii. While it doesn't have the best graphics of this generation, I don't think it will be a stretch to move the graphics of the various Myst games to the system, since much of it, to my knowledge, is pre-rendered.
It would also be another way for Nintendo to reach out to the "non-gamer" audience. Myst doesn't involve frantic violence, movements, sexuality, or most of those other things games are usually chided for. It's simple point-and-click, point-and-click, point-and-click. A great game for parents or grandparents, aside from those nostalgic for days of yure.
Speaking as a sad sack of crap, I find most exercise rather boring, hence why I haven't really done it before. For various reasons I can't own a bike right now, and walking/running, even with my favorite music to accompany me, just gets 'blah'. I had a walking machine for a bit, but even doing that while watching TV became mundane. If I had a buddy to exercise with, like playing basketball or tennis or something, it would be a lot easier for me to get out there.
The Wii, on the other hand, provides me with loads of fun, because along with the exercise component, it's also challenging. Sure, running can be challenging, in that you try to improve your time, but that's repetitive. On the other hand, Wii games change up. I can bowl, I can box, I can play tennis, etc.
It doesn't stop with the Wii, though. There are other fun ways to exercise, even within the video game realms. As the GP kiddingly mentioned, DDR. I have a RedOctane pad at home, and StepMania (a DDR clone) on my PC with about 800 songs. I've recently become more interested in my own well being, so I've devised a workout routine: walk during my breaks (roughly 30 mins/day total, between one and two miles), and do 10 songs on StepMania at home (about a half hour). I want to incorporate Wii Sports' Fitness thing in the morning, but I'm still having trouble waking up.
I've only been doing this for a few weeks, so so far the results are negligible, but I do find myself having more energy and general.
Windmill farms: Even the Greenies are confused on this one. Build'em but can't run them at full capacity because they chop up birds. (Maybe the birds will figure out that the windmill farm isn't such a great place to hang out.) Ted Kennedy opposed a windmill farm off of Martha's Vineyard as it would've obstructed their view.
This is something I've wondered about for a while, so I'll just ask while the topic is current: What's to stop a mesh case from being put over the fan itself? Any fan you buy for your home has some sort of mesh or grate that ensures you can't stick your fingers inside and get them chopped off.
Obviously, the size difference between these two items is vast, and I imagine there must be some reason no one has done it- would the mesh interfere too much with the wind? Would it cause a large decrease in power output? Is the size requirement for the mesh cage unfeasible for desired output/cost?
Also, I agree that we should look into nuclear power more. I've read some stuff about the pebble bed reactor, and while I'm no scientist, it sounds damn interesting and much safer.
Are used games the only way to make videogame sales profitable?
No, but unfortunately the console developers have decided to stick to the "razors and razor blade" way of business. So companies like Microsoft and Sony sell their product at a loss, and Nintendo makes only a small profit on each console. All three rely on the sales of the games to offset their costs. It makes sense that they'd want to prices to be "reasonable" (which varies between companies) at outlets.
However, if DVD Empire was disallowed from having a higher price, I would be rather surprised. After all, the R in MSRP stands for recommended. I know that GameStop/EBGames routinely have prices a few dollars over the MSRP. Part of DVD Empire's problem, though, was that if they did go over MSRP people would turn to brick-and-mortar stores, since you can get it there, not pay shipping, and have a place to return the product easily should something go wrong.
Used sales aren't the only way for outlet stores to turn a profit; however, a lot of places rely on those sales to keep up profit margins. There's something wrong with this, and companies need to re-think how they go about such a thing. (The only other option I can think of is for outlets to rent out games- the selection at movie rental places is usually slim. Rent out the used games for X amount of times, and then set them for sale used- make more profit off of one copy. Laws dealing with rentals might block this, though.)
You are quite correct; one person would not download the CD three times.
However, that's not how they're collecting the data:
the team decided to track the number of users with unique IP addresses who connected to yum in search of updates
While you need only one CD to do multiple installs, it is my understanding that each machine has to run YUM itself. They've also thought of what you mentioned.
According to Spevack, it's not enough to simply count how many times the distribution has been downloaded
Now, the article does go on to say
Cacti tracks the number of unique IP addresses that connect to yum with a new installation of FC6
So, if YUM/the tracking software can differentiate between a fresh install and a regular update, then the number of connections better correlates to new users.
Well, if you can go to them and say, "Hey, there's millions of people using this,"
Actually, it's a million computers using this (that's actually at least a million computers, as multiple PCs may be behind one public IP). Especially amongst the more computer-oriented people (of which the Linux community has many), it's not uncommon to have more than one computer running the same OS. I myself have three computers, two of which run Windows (the third is being put together). While these are tied to one DSL line, one of them, a laptop, may travel to other wireless networks and thus change IPs, so I could be recorded under two unique IPs but be only one person.
Not saying there isn't a vast number of Linux users (I'm sure there are well over a million individual Linux users - that's a third of 1% of just the American population), just that numbers from data like this can be skewed.
While I can't speak much about the registry part of a.xxx name, I believe that it would be useful in the long run.
While porn ad sites don't care about age, regular pay-for-porn sites would probably prefer those with access to a credit card, meaning those who can likely be there legally. Basically, market the.xxx name for sites that are looking for a purely adult audience. Not just porn, but maybe places like adultfriendfinder, discussions involving less pleasent ideas, and so forth.
The government could work off this, too. They allow it to pass, and encourage its adoption by the "less scrupulous businesses", and in return for them moving to a.xxx and helping the government look better at "protecting children", the FBI and what not leans off them a little. Yes, there are filters in place for porn, but they aren't always the best- it can be hard to teach a basic filter the difference between HOT NAKED BOOBIES and a page about breast cancer. Along with blocking out content that shouldn't be, it means that content that shouldn't get through does. A.xxx domain would ensure that the filter knows what to and not to pick out. (Hell, some crappy ones might now mark this page as pornographic since I mentioned "boobies".)
I can understand the fear of governments forcing porn sites to move to.xxx, and thus bringing us into the realm of "what exactly defines porn", but if it can stay as optional as choosing a.com or.net domain, then I don't see a large downfall. I'm sure others will disagree with me, though, and reply as such. (I welcome this, as someone may talk about a point I haven't thought of.)
When I talked about fighting, I meant general scuffles that can happen in high school, like some gang thing, over a girlfriend, etc. Bullying can include fighting, but fighting is not necessarily bullying.
If a bully physical hurts a kid, I'm all for the kid punching the bully in the nuts to make it stop.
I'm talking about psychological bullying, which is the main focus of the article. I consider this worse than physical bullying, because with physical bullying you can at least punch back and have an excuse for it. Psychological bullying has longer-lasting consequences.
And it's like looking in a freaking mirror. I only had seven or eight years of actual bullying, and then it only got physical once, but I still wear the mental scars on the inside. I'm also very shy, as you are, to the point that I'm somewhat scared of going new places or meeting new people without a friend in tow. I've never been able to approach women, and have basically given up on trying to get a girlfriend until after I graduate college. Hell, forget girlfriends, I can't even make regular friends. I have a few long-term close friends I can open up to, but unless someone opens themselves up to me, I keep everything close to my chest.
Whenever a relationship of any kind that does get created, I do my best to make them thin relationships, so that if they do break I won't hurt so much. I even distance myself from my own family. I stay at home on the weekends watching TV or on the internet because that means I won't have to go out and face people, nor have to worry about what they might think of me (people on the internet are anonymous, so I don't care what they think). I spent my last two years of high school (a different high school) making an ass out of myself so that people would think I was funny-weird and generally leave me alone. Yet I'm always so lonely. Ironic, since I keep it that way.
You're right on the stigma, too. I never talk about my bullying unless someone brings up the subject first. I usually start a frothing rant at that point, too, especially in discussions like this (check my profile and you'll see this is something like my seventh reply to this story).
A support group for "bully survivors" might actually be helpful, but I think it would be admonished by society, since in general "being tormented" isn't seen as nearly as much of a problem as drug abuse or alcohol. I think it's as bad, though they work on different frequencies, especially because it's far less out of your hands than the latter two are.
I don't disagree with self-defense or violence versus violence, but not all bullying is physical.
I was bullied for six years, but it was all psychological. Kids laughing, being called names, others making fun of me for the stupidest reasons. You can't throw a punch against that. And trying to reply with my own taunts usually failed, and in fact tended to draw more agrivation my way. In fact, the only time I was ever physically hurt was one punch to the gut, and I deserved that for being an ass at the time.
So if someone is a target of physical bullying, by all means they should fight back, and the problem will eventually subside. But with mental bullying, it isn't so easy.
Some might say I'm lucky I didn't get any bruises- I'm not so sure. If I had been able to kick some butt with self-defense an excuse, things might have turned out better.
This man, you should listen to him. He knows that of which he speaks.
I did a similar thing, but after Thanksgiving. I waited in line to pre-order one, so I was able to walk into the store and get it. I took it home for Thanksgiving, and my parents were absolutely enthralled with it, so my mom asked me to help her get one for Christmas. Doing some research, I found out when Target would be selling more, and went to stand in line. This was in 30 or 40F weather, but it was also raining. I went to a 24 hour store (that wasn't selling it), bought a fold-out chair, and wound up being number 11 in line. They had 12 systems. (Lucky loser 13 took one of the two PS3s they got, which no one else wanted.)
On the note of accessories, if you think you'll need ANYTHING for the Wii, buy it when you get the system. It is far easier to buy four Wiimotes then, decide you only need two, and return the others, than it is to go hunting for them later. This includes Nunchucks and Classic Controllers, as well.
DVD players needed over a decade to supersede the VCR in the living rooms of the United States and there is little reason to believe that HD DVD and Blu-ray player adoption will outpace that of the DVD
Not only will HD/BR adoption not outpace DVD adoption, but it will lag tremendously behind it.
I'm not certain why this is hard for a lot of tech sites, as well as the companies that pushed these technologies, to figure out. The reason the DVD is widely accepted now is because it offered a multitude of benefits over VHS: 1) Larger storage capacity 2) Instant skipping 3) Smaller 4) More durable 5) Cheaper to produce 6) Higher quality 7) Longer lasting
The only thing that HD/BR have over DVD is an even larger storage capacity and higher quality, the latter of which most consumers can't even make use of right now. They keep all the problems that DVD had, such as possibility of scratching and moving parts. The only reason they were pushed out was to sell more HDTVs, as well as to give movie companies better DRM.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: HD/BR are just bumps in the road. The next turning point in terms of mass media storage will be flash memory.
Something the size of a mini-DVD (think Gamecube games), but likely squarish (like a floppy). It will have the internal flash memory inside a thin-but-durable plastic shell. Small pins slightly inset on one side are what transfers the data.
A storage system like this will be cheap, modular (only need a certain capacity? Save money and just buy that capacity), and durable. From there, it's just a matter of choosing a compression format for films to make standard. The lack of moving parts (aside from what is used to eject it/hold it in place) will make for less failures.
All that's needed for this to happen is for the companies to toss BR/HD to the wayside, come up with a good format standard across ALL studios, and then wait for the price of flash memory to drop more.
Sorry about that, I meant higher than in most places within the U.S.. Sales tax ranges from state to state, and even then from county to county and city to city, with local governments taking on a percent here or there to cover local expenses.
Don't worry, I know that the poor Europeans have a much higher tax bracket than anyone in the states.:)
I also like the idea of including taxes in posted prices; it makes calculating things much easier, especially across state lines and even cities where taxes can vary.
Even so, the PS3 is still more expensive in the EU. Assuming a 10% tax rate in the U.S (which is higher than most places), you're looking at $660 total for a PS3, still far less than what it is in the EU after exchange.
I dealt with a ton of taunting when I was in school. It took a toll on me but in the end I ended up being a much stronger and thick skinned individual for it.
So did I, and, same as you, I have thicker skin and can repluse most directed verbal attacks with no affect, taking it in stride.
A helpful result, but there was another consequence: I can't instigate human contact. I can't go to a bar or a club or some other social venue where I might interact with lots of unknown people alone. (Having a buddy with me gives me a net to fall into, so I feel more confident.) While I can brush off the insults, rejection still gets to me, and I fear feeling the same way I did when I was bullied. So, while I could go out and might have fun or feel happy, I don't because the other possibility exists, and the potential consequences far outweigh the potential rewards in my mind.
It's gotten better. Each year I'm more confident in meeting new people. I've started to take a better interest in how I look. I've taken up excersize and tried to clean up my diet to help boost my confidence. But I still worry, and that's because of the bullying.
Wounds can fade, but bad memories never do.
Physical bullying is a somewhat bigger problem than mental bullying, though, as the results are far more visible to everyone, so it gets more attention from the faculty.
What amazes me about the quote above is that a victim would remain online for hours, getting bullied, while shutting down the bully is a simple matter of turning off IMs (or whatever channel the bully is using to reach the victim) and going on about ones business.
You're working under the assumption that all bullying is done on a direct relationship, and that's just not true.
With real-life bullying, males do tend to confront their targets directly. Females, on the other hand, are non-confrontational. When they bully, they tend to do so by spreading rumors or trying to get people into group-think. So word of something gets around, and the target retreats in shame, even if the rumor is 100% false.
Online, it's similar. Even if you block the bully on IM, they can get a new name. If you turn on checking to see who can IM you, they go after your myspace or facebook page, posting all sorts of comments. If you block them from that, they retreat to their own myspace/facebook page to post things and start just making images, and try to get others to hound you as well.
Cyberbullying can have real results, but it takes a lot more cyberbullying to achieve the same results as regular bullying, because you have those extra layers of protection to fall back on.
I understand that people are going to say mean things from time to time. It's inevitable. I do it myself.
However, when someone makes it their personal mission to hound another person verbally (or even physically), then it goes beyond "protected speech". Now I am able to just shrug it off, but it was a different story for myself and others in high school and middle school. Perhaps you missed those years (consider yourself lucky if you did), but popularity was the name of the game, whether you wanted to admit it or not. Those who weren't popular could get distraught as it was, but then you add in continual psychological punishment and it can become unbareable.
Adults can deal with it better because we're able to move around. We can change jobs or file a harassment suit or just work to not be around the bully anymore. We have options. The kids in schools don't have options. They have to see the same people every day, go to the same classes, so they'll keep running into the same bullies, who will take the same opportunities to run the student down in order to lift themselves up.
If you want to talk about freedoms, let's talk about being free of harassment, free of pain, free of torture. Swing fist, hit nose, etc. Besides, if you want to split hairs, I believe a Supreme Court ruling a few years ago stated that students in schools do not have the same freedoms as outside schoools/adults.
As for the next fiscal year, Nintendo expect to sell around 23 million DS Lites
I predict that most of those will be sold before June.
If you think the DS is hard to find now (apparently, it's hard to keep in stock, just like the Wii), just wait until April. April sees the release of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl. The Pokemon series has always been a huge seller for both the games and the Game Boy, but these DS games also include the functionality to use WiFi to battle and trade online. Battling and trading with friends has always been a staple of the game, but you'd have to physically find someone to battle/trade with first. Now you have the entire world to choose from.
I know that's when I'll be buying my DS. (Well, a bit earlier, to beat the rush.)
Slashdot Mirror
As much as games evolve (both upwards and outwards), I have yet to see anything that approaches the fun and openness of building with Legos. I guess the various Sim games might come close, but those still stifle you with specific options and outcomes.
With Legos, however, there's no such limitation excepting when you run out of pieces. (I don't consider the various Lego building programs to be "games".)
(And yes, I know it is supposed to be "Lego Blocks". I frankly don't care.)
Someone must have invented a way to punch people in the face over the internet.
With the introduction of the Wiimote, Wii can bring back point-and-click interface gaming.
Games like Myst were appealing to a wide range of players; the beautiful graphics, interesting puzzles, and simple play style (no spells to memorize, just use your brain) made it a hit seller.
I think that could happen over again on the Wii. While it doesn't have the best graphics of this generation, I don't think it will be a stretch to move the graphics of the various Myst games to the system, since much of it, to my knowledge, is pre-rendered.
It would also be another way for Nintendo to reach out to the "non-gamer" audience. Myst doesn't involve frantic violence, movements, sexuality, or most of those other things games are usually chided for. It's simple point-and-click, point-and-click, point-and-click. A great game for parents or grandparents, aside from those nostalgic for days of yure.
Speaking as a sad sack of crap, I find most exercise rather boring, hence why I haven't really done it before. For various reasons I can't own a bike right now, and walking/running, even with my favorite music to accompany me, just gets 'blah'. I had a walking machine for a bit, but even doing that while watching TV became mundane. If I had a buddy to exercise with, like playing basketball or tennis or something, it would be a lot easier for me to get out there.
The Wii, on the other hand, provides me with loads of fun, because along with the exercise component, it's also challenging. Sure, running can be challenging, in that you try to improve your time, but that's repetitive. On the other hand, Wii games change up. I can bowl, I can box, I can play tennis, etc.
It doesn't stop with the Wii, though. There are other fun ways to exercise, even within the video game realms. As the GP kiddingly mentioned, DDR. I have a RedOctane pad at home, and StepMania (a DDR clone) on my PC with about 800 songs. I've recently become more interested in my own well being, so I've devised a workout routine: walk during my breaks (roughly 30 mins/day total, between one and two miles), and do 10 songs on StepMania at home (about a half hour). I want to incorporate Wii Sports' Fitness thing in the morning, but I'm still having trouble waking up.
I've only been doing this for a few weeks, so so far the results are negligible, but I do find myself having more energy and general.
Er, thank you for that. I was trying to figure out what the other letters stood for as I typed, but got too lazy to look it up.
Oh well, this is Slashdot- as long as I'm close to the truth, that's good enough, right?
Obviously, the size difference between these two items is vast, and I imagine there must be some reason no one has done it- would the mesh interfere too much with the wind? Would it cause a large decrease in power output? Is the size requirement for the mesh cage unfeasible for desired output/cost?
Also, I agree that we should look into nuclear power more. I've read some stuff about the pebble bed reactor, and while I'm no scientist, it sounds damn interesting and much safer.
However, if DVD Empire was disallowed from having a higher price, I would be rather surprised. After all, the R in MSRP stands for recommended. I know that GameStop/EBGames routinely have prices a few dollars over the MSRP. Part of DVD Empire's problem, though, was that if they did go over MSRP people would turn to brick-and-mortar stores, since you can get it there, not pay shipping, and have a place to return the product easily should something go wrong.
Used sales aren't the only way for outlet stores to turn a profit; however, a lot of places rely on those sales to keep up profit margins. There's something wrong with this, and companies need to re-think how they go about such a thing. (The only other option I can think of is for outlets to rent out games- the selection at movie rental places is usually slim. Rent out the used games for X amount of times, and then set them for sale used- make more profit off of one copy. Laws dealing with rentals might block this, though.)
However, that's not how they're collecting the data: While you need only one CD to do multiple installs, it is my understanding that each machine has to run YUM itself. They've also thought of what you mentioned. Now, the article does go on to say So, if YUM/the tracking software can differentiate between a fresh install and a regular update, then the number of connections better correlates to new users.
Not saying there isn't a vast number of Linux users (I'm sure there are well over a million individual Linux users - that's a third of 1% of just the American population), just that numbers from data like this can be skewed.
While I can't speak much about the registry part of a .xxx name, I believe that it would be useful in the long run.
.xxx name for sites that are looking for a purely adult audience. Not just porn, but maybe places like adultfriendfinder, discussions involving less pleasent ideas, and so forth.
.xxx and helping the government look better at "protecting children", the FBI and what not leans off them a little. Yes, there are filters in place for porn, but they aren't always the best- it can be hard to teach a basic filter the difference between HOT NAKED BOOBIES and a page about breast cancer. Along with blocking out content that shouldn't be, it means that content that shouldn't get through does. A .xxx domain would ensure that the filter knows what to and not to pick out. (Hell, some crappy ones might now mark this page as pornographic since I mentioned "boobies".)
.xxx, and thus bringing us into the realm of "what exactly defines porn", but if it can stay as optional as choosing a .com or .net domain, then I don't see a large downfall. I'm sure others will disagree with me, though, and reply as such. (I welcome this, as someone may talk about a point I haven't thought of.)
While porn ad sites don't care about age, regular pay-for-porn sites would probably prefer those with access to a credit card, meaning those who can likely be there legally. Basically, market the
The government could work off this, too. They allow it to pass, and encourage its adoption by the "less scrupulous businesses", and in return for them moving to a
I can understand the fear of governments forcing porn sites to move to
- Find a competiting business's website that is hosted by (or has their domain registered with) GoDaddy
- Search for some location where user-submitted content my be posted (perhaps forums, or a shoutout box)
- Post something that seems to be potentially "harmful" for their site security
- Contact GoDaddy to take down the entire site
- ??? (Case-by-case basis!)
- PROFIT!
You know, GoDaddy keeps doing things that make me question whether I should keep my domains registered with them or not.I'm glad they took care of this horrible issue. You have no idea how hard it was for me to search for waffles before this!
You fool, what have you done!
It's "If iTunes is outlawed, only outlaws will have iTunes."
When I talked about fighting, I meant general scuffles that can happen in high school, like some gang thing, over a girlfriend, etc. Bullying can include fighting, but fighting is not necessarily bullying.
If a bully physical hurts a kid, I'm all for the kid punching the bully in the nuts to make it stop.
I'm talking about psychological bullying, which is the main focus of the article. I consider this worse than physical bullying, because with physical bullying you can at least punch back and have an excuse for it. Psychological bullying has longer-lasting consequences.
Here here. Well said.
And it's like looking in a freaking mirror. I only had seven or eight years of actual bullying, and then it only got physical once, but I still wear the mental scars on the inside. I'm also very shy, as you are, to the point that I'm somewhat scared of going new places or meeting new people without a friend in tow. I've never been able to approach women, and have basically given up on trying to get a girlfriend until after I graduate college. Hell, forget girlfriends, I can't even make regular friends. I have a few long-term close friends I can open up to, but unless someone opens themselves up to me, I keep everything close to my chest.
Whenever a relationship of any kind that does get created, I do my best to make them thin relationships, so that if they do break I won't hurt so much. I even distance myself from my own family. I stay at home on the weekends watching TV or on the internet because that means I won't have to go out and face people, nor have to worry about what they might think of me (people on the internet are anonymous, so I don't care what they think). I spent my last two years of high school (a different high school) making an ass out of myself so that people would think I was funny-weird and generally leave me alone. Yet I'm always so lonely. Ironic, since I keep it that way.
You're right on the stigma, too. I never talk about my bullying unless someone brings up the subject first. I usually start a frothing rant at that point, too, especially in discussions like this (check my profile and you'll see this is something like my seventh reply to this story).
A support group for "bully survivors" might actually be helpful, but I think it would be admonished by society, since in general "being tormented" isn't seen as nearly as much of a problem as drug abuse or alcohol. I think it's as bad, though they work on different frequencies, especially because it's far less out of your hands than the latter two are.
I don't disagree with self-defense or violence versus violence, but not all bullying is physical.
I was bullied for six years, but it was all psychological. Kids laughing, being called names, others making fun of me for the stupidest reasons. You can't throw a punch against that. And trying to reply with my own taunts usually failed, and in fact tended to draw more agrivation my way. In fact, the only time I was ever physically hurt was one punch to the gut, and I deserved that for being an ass at the time.
So if someone is a target of physical bullying, by all means they should fight back, and the problem will eventually subside. But with mental bullying, it isn't so easy.
Some might say I'm lucky I didn't get any bruises- I'm not so sure. If I had been able to kick some butt with self-defense an excuse, things might have turned out better.
This man, you should listen to him. He knows that of which he speaks.
I did a similar thing, but after Thanksgiving. I waited in line to pre-order one, so I was able to walk into the store and get it. I took it home for Thanksgiving, and my parents were absolutely enthralled with it, so my mom asked me to help her get one for Christmas. Doing some research, I found out when Target would be selling more, and went to stand in line. This was in 30 or 40F weather, but it was also raining. I went to a 24 hour store (that wasn't selling it), bought a fold-out chair, and wound up being number 11 in line. They had 12 systems. (Lucky loser 13 took one of the two PS3s they got, which no one else wanted.)
On the note of accessories, if you think you'll need ANYTHING for the Wii, buy it when you get the system. It is far easier to buy four Wiimotes then, decide you only need two, and return the others, than it is to go hunting for them later. This includes Nunchucks and Classic Controllers, as well.
I'm not certain why this is hard for a lot of tech sites, as well as the companies that pushed these technologies, to figure out. The reason the DVD is widely accepted now is because it offered a multitude of benefits over VHS:
1) Larger storage capacity
2) Instant skipping
3) Smaller
4) More durable
5) Cheaper to produce
6) Higher quality
7) Longer lasting
The only thing that HD/BR have over DVD is an even larger storage capacity and higher quality, the latter of which most consumers can't even make use of right now. They keep all the problems that DVD had, such as possibility of scratching and moving parts. The only reason they were pushed out was to sell more HDTVs, as well as to give movie companies better DRM.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: HD/BR are just bumps in the road. The next turning point in terms of mass media storage will be flash memory.
Something the size of a mini-DVD (think Gamecube games), but likely squarish (like a floppy). It will have the internal flash memory inside a thin-but-durable plastic shell. Small pins slightly inset on one side are what transfers the data.
A storage system like this will be cheap, modular (only need a certain capacity? Save money and just buy that capacity), and durable. From there, it's just a matter of choosing a compression format for films to make standard. The lack of moving parts (aside from what is used to eject it/hold it in place) will make for less failures.
All that's needed for this to happen is for the companies to toss BR/HD to the wayside, come up with a good format standard across ALL studios, and then wait for the price of flash memory to drop more.
Sorry about that, I meant higher than in most places within the U.S.. Sales tax ranges from state to state, and even then from county to county and city to city, with local governments taking on a percent here or there to cover local expenses.
:)
Don't worry, I know that the poor Europeans have a much higher tax bracket than anyone in the states.
I also like the idea of including taxes in posted prices; it makes calculating things much easier, especially across state lines and even cities where taxes can vary.
Even so, the PS3 is still more expensive in the EU. Assuming a 10% tax rate in the U.S (which is higher than most places), you're looking at $660 total for a PS3, still far less than what it is in the EU after exchange.
A helpful result, but there was another consequence: I can't instigate human contact. I can't go to a bar or a club or some other social venue where I might interact with lots of unknown people alone. (Having a buddy with me gives me a net to fall into, so I feel more confident.) While I can brush off the insults, rejection still gets to me, and I fear feeling the same way I did when I was bullied. So, while I could go out and might have fun or feel happy, I don't because the other possibility exists, and the potential consequences far outweigh the potential rewards in my mind.
It's gotten better. Each year I'm more confident in meeting new people. I've started to take a better interest in how I look. I've taken up excersize and tried to clean up my diet to help boost my confidence. But I still worry, and that's because of the bullying.
Wounds can fade, but bad memories never do.
Physical bullying is a somewhat bigger problem than mental bullying, though, as the results are far more visible to everyone, so it gets more attention from the faculty.
With real-life bullying, males do tend to confront their targets directly. Females, on the other hand, are non-confrontational. When they bully, they tend to do so by spreading rumors or trying to get people into group-think. So word of something gets around, and the target retreats in shame, even if the rumor is 100% false.
Online, it's similar. Even if you block the bully on IM, they can get a new name. If you turn on checking to see who can IM you, they go after your myspace or facebook page, posting all sorts of comments. If you block them from that, they retreat to their own myspace/facebook page to post things and start just making images, and try to get others to hound you as well.
Cyberbullying can have real results, but it takes a lot more cyberbullying to achieve the same results as regular bullying, because you have those extra layers of protection to fall back on.
I understand that people are going to say mean things from time to time. It's inevitable. I do it myself.
However, when someone makes it their personal mission to hound another person verbally (or even physically), then it goes beyond "protected speech". Now I am able to just shrug it off, but it was a different story for myself and others in high school and middle school. Perhaps you missed those years (consider yourself lucky if you did), but popularity was the name of the game, whether you wanted to admit it or not. Those who weren't popular could get distraught as it was, but then you add in continual psychological punishment and it can become unbareable.
Adults can deal with it better because we're able to move around. We can change jobs or file a harassment suit or just work to not be around the bully anymore. We have options. The kids in schools don't have options. They have to see the same people every day, go to the same classes, so they'll keep running into the same bullies, who will take the same opportunities to run the student down in order to lift themselves up.
If you want to talk about freedoms, let's talk about being free of harassment, free of pain, free of torture. Swing fist, hit nose, etc. Besides, if you want to split hairs, I believe a Supreme Court ruling a few years ago stated that students in schools do not have the same freedoms as outside schoools/adults.
If you think the DS is hard to find now (apparently, it's hard to keep in stock, just like the Wii), just wait until April. April sees the release of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl. The Pokemon series has always been a huge seller for both the games and the Game Boy, but these DS games also include the functionality to use WiFi to battle and trade online. Battling and trading with friends has always been a staple of the game, but you'd have to physically find someone to battle/trade with first. Now you have the entire world to choose from.
I know that's when I'll be buying my DS. (Well, a bit earlier, to beat the rush.)