What's the contrast ratio with the dynamic contrast turned off? It's not just that I see it as a cheap gimmick to boost the specs, it bugs the heck out of me to have the contrast change drastically when what's on the screen changes. I always turn it off.
Well, duh, it's a ~3-hour game. Portal isn't going to quantitatively equal that of a 60-hour RPG, or even a ~10-hour modern FPS, especially since it doesn't have cutscenes for outright exposition. But the devil is in the details: have you paid attention to the AI's dialog, or found all the graffiti scrawled in the non-test chamber areas? If you pay close attention to what the AI says, [SPOILER] it's implicated that your player character is a clone, that all the graffiti was left behind from your earlier attempts at escape, and was the product of your ensuing madness as a result of failing to escape and/or was left behind so that future versions of yourself would have enough clues to maybe escape the next time around. [/SPOILER] That the game does so much with so little (there aren't any real characters per se, only a voice over the intercom, turrets, and the graffiti) is what's so remarkable.
The areas are all virtually identical.
Again: It's a 3-hour game. It has two "areas," each of which are fairly typical for the length of an average FPS "area." The art direction is very detailed and consistent, and the type of challenge varies a great deal from one room to the next in each area, not to mention the variety of ways that many of the more complicated puzzles can be solved.
There is only 1 way to interact with the environment.
This is an extremely shortsighted way of looking at it. Why not go a step further, and level this criticism at all computer games: "All you do is click mouse buttons, it's exactly the same as every other game."?
The fact of the matter is that Portal requires the player to rather radically alter their perception of FPS gameplay. Sure, there's the Euclidean 3D-geometry-based part, but add to that the fact that the player can't use any weapons at all, and it's already a long way from your "typical FPS environment." Portal crafts an immersive, compelling, and even deep experience; in games, that is "art."
P.S. Having typed all that out, and re-reading your mostly-clueless original post, I feel like IHBT. GG.
Since the article says that most of the machines will actually be sent to a scrap heap, yes, it is quite literal. (Merely doing away with touch-screen voting and keeping the machines to use for other purposes would be a figurative scrapping.)
I can't speak of other consoles, but I like the Wii browser because it's easy to use from the couch. The Wii is already hooked up to my TV, so I don't have to fumble about with cables to hook up my laptop, change the display settings to put the image on the TV, and then have to sit right next to the TV while I use it. I could get an older computer to leave permanently hooked up to the TV, and a wireless keyboard and mouse for it, but that'd be a whole lot of hassle, and would still have input devices that are less ideal to use from the couch... and for what, to have a more PC-like interface to pull up Wikipedia when people are over? The Wii isn't going to replace my PC and monitor for most of my web usage, but it's ideal for using the web for casual entertainment.
Unless you have an absolute need to blaze the trails, buy a station wagon or some other lower-tonnage-yet-equal-capacity vehicle. There are a wide variety of vehicles out there; it's not an either-or choice between a monster truck and a wind-up toy. There are legitimate uses for SUVs, to be sure, and yours may be one of them; however, you can't make the claim that everyone who has one needs one. I'm certain that the vast majority of SUV owners bought their vehicles as an ego booster / show of social position.
Then you ask the fallacious question, "Why should my vehicle be "taken off the road," but some college kid that drives 100 miles in his hybrid in one weekend bouncing between parties while I drive nowhere, gets to use his?." Again, you're putting forth an either-or scenario, assuming that 100% of SUV drivers will be safe (and thus it's such a terrible thing to take SUVs off the road), while hybrid drivers will be reckless and wasteful in their driving. Your stereotypical "college kid" will probably be reckless in whatever car he's driving, and I would much rather have that kid driving two fewer tons of metal.
Assuming that the population's driving skills remain constant, and would therefore result in the same number of accidents regardless of vehicle type, who wouldn't want many millions fewer tons of metal speeding down the road? I'm not for a ban, but a tax that gets people out of vehicles which are too large for them to competently drive can only be a good thing.
The quote is still demeaning to people who liked the game. Not because it stereotypes them as female (which doesn't matter - at least not to me), but because of the maturity level in which Gates groups such people. If it was geared toward "women" or "females", whatever; but "girl" has connotations of being for a less mature group with unrefined tastes (think "Barbie Horse Adventures"). Part of being a mature, discerning gamer is appreciating games that fall outside the boundaries of the typical "things that explode" genre. But yet if I am discerning and mature, and enjoy playing Viva Piñata, Gates thinks I'm immature. He still doesn't get it.
I use a large ext3 partition to store video files, as I'm experimenting with video editing in both Linux and Windows. No hiccups so far using the ext3 filesystem for big video files in Windows. One thing to be aware of, though, is that Windows sees it as ext2, so you lose the benefits of the journalling filesystem there. I haven't lost any data yet, but it is something keep in mind.
Intel has by far the largest fabrication capacity of any chipmaker in the world. Both IBM's and AMD's fab capacities are much lower (AMD has used IBM's fab to help meet demand). IBM's inability to produce high numbers and high yields led to the Intel switch. Remember the delay in introducing the iMac G5? Apple had the design ready, IBM couldn't produce the chips. Result: months go by without any iMacs to sell. More than anything technical reason, IBM was bad for Apple's bottom line.
There is no moderation option for "contains a serious factual error," so I'll reply. EA had absolutely nothing to do with Duck Hunt; Duck Hunt was made by Nintendo for the NES and came as a pack-in title for systems with the light gun. And you may very well get your wish, since Nintendo was demonstrating a new Duck Hunt title at E3, along with gun-grip attachment to the Wii remote: http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/fir st-look-duck-hunt-wii
Even still, at 3.6GHz the Pentium D system uses 204W at idle, which is more than an Athlon 64 X2 4800+ system uses under full load (check out the charts on p. 15).
...they presume to perform with superior judgement to the common sense, which is the antithesis of democracy.
You are correct, it is the antithesis of democracy. Too bad (for your argument) that the US government is not a democracy, but a republic, in which we elect a small number of people who we hope will govern with superior judgement to the common sense.
Sometimes when my einde is oplossing, I hoor voor een naar with my goede van speurtocht and it works itself right out.
When your end is solution, you hear for an unpleasant with your good of search? While I sometimes hear unpleasant things coming from my end, that doesn't really help me solve the problem...
Slashdot Mirror
Directed by M. Night Shyamalan
We're just starting to look into e-commerce, with an eye towards using something that's open source. Do you have a recommendation over Magento?
What's the contrast ratio with the dynamic contrast turned off? It's not just that I see it as a cheap gimmick to boost the specs, it bugs the heck out of me to have the contrast change drastically when what's on the screen changes. I always turn it off.
Man, I really hope they call it that.
The fact of the matter is that Portal requires the player to rather radically alter their perception of FPS gameplay. Sure, there's the Euclidean 3D-geometry-based part, but add to that the fact that the player can't use any weapons at all, and it's already a long way from your "typical FPS environment." Portal crafts an immersive, compelling, and even deep experience; in games, that is "art."
P.S. Having typed all that out, and re-reading your mostly-clueless original post, I feel like IHBT. GG.
Since the article says that most of the machines will actually be sent to a scrap heap, yes, it is quite literal. (Merely doing away with touch-screen voting and keeping the machines to use for other purposes would be a figurative scrapping.)
I can't speak of other consoles, but I like the Wii browser because it's easy to use from the couch. The Wii is already hooked up to my TV, so I don't have to fumble about with cables to hook up my laptop, change the display settings to put the image on the TV, and then have to sit right next to the TV while I use it. I could get an older computer to leave permanently hooked up to the TV, and a wireless keyboard and mouse for it, but that'd be a whole lot of hassle, and would still have input devices that are less ideal to use from the couch... and for what, to have a more PC-like interface to pull up Wikipedia when people are over? The Wii isn't going to replace my PC and monitor for most of my web usage, but it's ideal for using the web for casual entertainment.
Me too, please?
Unless you have an absolute need to blaze the trails, buy a station wagon or some other lower-tonnage-yet-equal-capacity vehicle. There are a wide variety of vehicles out there; it's not an either-or choice between a monster truck and a wind-up toy. There are legitimate uses for SUVs, to be sure, and yours may be one of them; however, you can't make the claim that everyone who has one needs one. I'm certain that the vast majority of SUV owners bought their vehicles as an ego booster / show of social position.
Then you ask the fallacious question, "Why should my vehicle be "taken off the road," but some college kid that drives 100 miles in his hybrid in one weekend bouncing between parties while I drive nowhere, gets to use his?." Again, you're putting forth an either-or scenario, assuming that 100% of SUV drivers will be safe (and thus it's such a terrible thing to take SUVs off the road), while hybrid drivers will be reckless and wasteful in their driving. Your stereotypical "college kid" will probably be reckless in whatever car he's driving, and I would much rather have that kid driving two fewer tons of metal.
Assuming that the population's driving skills remain constant, and would therefore result in the same number of accidents regardless of vehicle type, who wouldn't want many millions fewer tons of metal speeding down the road? I'm not for a ban, but a tax that gets people out of vehicles which are too large for them to competently drive can only be a good thing.
The quote is still demeaning to people who liked the game. Not because it stereotypes them as female (which doesn't matter - at least not to me), but because of the maturity level in which Gates groups such people. If it was geared toward "women" or "females", whatever; but "girl" has connotations of being for a less mature group with unrefined tastes (think "Barbie Horse Adventures"). Part of being a mature, discerning gamer is appreciating games that fall outside the boundaries of the typical "things that explode" genre. But yet if I am discerning and mature, and enjoy playing Viva Piñata, Gates thinks I'm immature. He still doesn't get it.
Thanks!
Hmm, I'm in need of a new wallet... where can I get one of these $15 anti-RFID models?
What will become of my free subscription? :(
I use a large ext3 partition to store video files, as I'm experimenting with video editing in both Linux and Windows. No hiccups so far using the ext3 filesystem for big video files in Windows. One thing to be aware of, though, is that Windows sees it as ext2, so you lose the benefits of the journalling filesystem there. I haven't lost any data yet, but it is something keep in mind.
Seriously, you don't need amazing graphics powers to have disturbing subject matter.
You should keep in mind that it will be a mission to the moon, not a mission to and from it.
Who the heck is David Strom, and what does his corporation have to do with this topic?
Intel has by far the largest fabrication capacity of any chipmaker in the world. Both IBM's and AMD's fab capacities are much lower (AMD has used IBM's fab to help meet demand). IBM's inability to produce high numbers and high yields led to the Intel switch. Remember the delay in introducing the iMac G5? Apple had the design ready, IBM couldn't produce the chips. Result: months go by without any iMacs to sell. More than anything technical reason, IBM was bad for Apple's bottom line.
Probably not; I really doubt that in this day and age game speed is tied to clock speed. Pretty much all games have their own timing routines.
There is no moderation option for "contains a serious factual error," so I'll reply. EA had absolutely nothing to do with Duck Hunt; Duck Hunt was made by Nintendo for the NES and came as a pack-in title for systems with the light gun. And you may very well get your wish, since Nintendo was demonstrating a new Duck Hunt title at E3, along with gun-grip attachment to the Wii remote: http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/fir st-look-duck-hunt-wii
Even still, at 3.6GHz the Pentium D system uses 204W at idle, which is more than an Athlon 64 X2 4800+ system uses under full load (check out the charts on p. 15).
Too bad that "free" 1.5GHz comes with a 216W increase in power consumption, totalling nearly 500W for the system.
Like virtually everything he does, he's released it under a Creative Commons license / go forth, download, and share the goodness!
That doesn't rhyme at all.