The point is that it's not just "a few words". They're trying to include as many words as possible so that when you play the game you don't have to worry about what words it will recognize and you can just write anything you want.
Saying that Star Wars (and other stories) shouldn't be called Science Fiction since they could be told in other settings, seems like unnecessary purism.
I do think that Star Wars shouldn't be categorized in the same genre as classic science fiction but "can't be told in other settings" was a poor attempt at a definition. See my comment below.
I guess that depends which of the common definitions you subscribe to
I don't really subscribe to any one line definitions even though I tried to give one in my last post. To really understand the genre you would have to go to the book store and buy an anthology or two of classic science fiction stories (most are short stories) and just sit down and read. To try and distill a definition of the genre down to one or two lines is something that dictionary writers need to do but that doesn't mean they're accurate. I would say that's actually true for all literary genres. You can't understand what any genre, be it sci-fi, drama, western, horror, or anything really is unless you read it.
p.s. I don't mean to imply that I don't like Star Wars. It's actually one of my favorite movies.
For me Science Fiction means any narrative or story set in a world at a higher technological stage than us.
It's disappointing that the common definition of science fiction has degenerated so much. In classic science fiction the technology or science plays a central role in the story; it's not just part of the backdrop. If you can take the story and, without losing the central theme, re-write it in an alternate setting without the science and tech aspects then it's not real science fiction.
Philip K. Dick's 'Minorty Report' and Issac Asimov's 'I Robot' are good examples of classic science fiction. The story requires the technology. OTOH, Star Wars and most episodes of Star Trek (varies by series) are, imo, examples of stories which should not rightly be called science fiction since they could easily be rewritten in another setting and still retain the core themes and plot points.
Cell phones will drive IPv6. Large service providers like Sprint are already dedicating significant resources to IPv6 because they know they will need it for 4G. NATing won't work because there are just too many phones. So those 4G phones will have to be IPv6. And then they can only access the IPv6 internet. So that will drive everything to switch.
I don't know anything about ruby but Javascript has both closures and direct object inheritance. And 'encapsulation' just means the ability to separate an interface from an implementation and you can do that easily in Javascript as well. And saying Javascript doesn't have 'explicit class declaration' doesn't make any sense because Javascript doesn't have classes.
And where do you think the pirates would get the password currently in use for that key?
The same place they got the key. From the person who bought the game, registered it and then distributed his key and password. I think you're forgetting a few posts ago where I stated this.
You're still thinking along the lines of pirates stealing keys or generating duplicates; which I've admitted your scheme defends against however I don't believe that is nearly as common as pirates who simply distribute their purchased keys.
is it really worth the extra trouble to capture whatever potential Mac and Linux customers are left over after all of the Windows sales have been tallied up?
Generally not, but it's irrelevant. I'm not debating you on that point. We're talking about the fact is that using openGL does not limit the number of potential customers. You made a mistake on that point and I'm just trying to see if you will admit it.
it is a moot point
No it's is the entire point. I don't care about the question of whether or not openGL is a better platform for game developers.
I found your post confusing. I don't know what you're trying to say.
If people are activating the software once, then fixing it so it can be copied limitlessly without contacting the server, how is this different than a cracked copy?
It's obviously not. But what is your point? How do you then conclude that your password system removes the need to phone home after activation?
A copied key will not work without the customer's password.
The pirates would obviously be distributing key/password combinations, not keys alone.
They don't have a larger share. They have a larger base of potential customers. That's what he meant. Since openGL runs on all platforms (including Windows) an openGL game has a larger base of potential customers. The original poster had tried to claim the opposite which is clearly wrong.
Regardless of how often people's keys are compromised (which, as you say, may be more often than I suggested) my point is that's not what they're trying to defend against. They're trying to defend against people who intentionally give out their keys. I agree that your password system would protect people whose keys are compromised without their consent, but it wouldn't remove the need to phone home every 10 days to verify that the key/password combination isn't banned.
let me suggest a way to ensure that my legitimate key will not be used by someone else inadvertently or through piracy
That's not what they're protecting against. That rarely happens. They're protecting against people giving out their keys intentionally, which is what usually happens. Those people, and those they gave the key too, will find their copy is disabled after the 10 day check determines that their key is on the banned list.
(p.s. Just giving your key to a friend is not enough to get it banned, btw. That's allowed, though it may not activate anymore. To get banned you would have to post it on a forum or something like that.)
(p.p.s. They're not trying to defend against key generators either. Those are impossible to defend against if they get loose. They just try their best to keep the algorithm under tight guard.)
The 'warmth' is just noise introduced by the crappy medium. If the artist needs this effect to make his music sound better then that's a sad comment on his music. I'd rather hear exactly what the artist recorded. If he actually wants that effect then he can create it intentionally and a digital recording will have no trouble capturing it.
Then factor in that it is much, much, cheaper to air infotainment over hard news
Where'd you come up with that? That doesn't make sense. It's definitely harder and more expensive to produce good 'infotainment' than it would be to just simply report the news accurately.
It's been a while since I played so my memory isn't prefect but I'm pretty sure I did go down to the lobby with him and fought some more guys there. I just didn't mention it because it wasn't important to my point and I couldn't remember exactly.
That's an absurd comment. He's not suggesting that language doesn't evolve. He didn't say that 'proper, true English' is some sort of platonic truth. By 'proper and true' he was simply referring to modern English in it's current state. His position is that 'stupider' is (in your words) bastardized slang and a very deformed lowly variant of modern English.
Your post really deserves a flamebait mod but I don't have any mod points.
He is correct. "Stupider" is incorrect in large parts of the English speaking world. You need to accept that English is not the same everywhere and that you're experience is not definitive. Nobody that I know, or have ever known, considers it a real word. Around here it's one of the grammar mistakes that parents and teachers always correct when kids use it.
I agree. But as well as that, for me, this was the only game where there were moments when I felt I was really, truly, role-playing - pen & paper style.
-spoilers here-
My favorite example was the scene where you're in your brother's apartment and the bad guys are on the way. You brother tells you jump out the bathroom window and get away. He can't follow for some reason I don't remember (he was wounded maybe). He tells you repeatedly to get out. The first time I played it I felt compelled to obey based on my experience with purely linear games. So I jump out, run away, and the scene ends. I immediately regretted it and reloaded. I decided to RP the scene and see what happens (despite the voice in my head saying that never works). All the furniture in the game is movable so I pushed the couch over in front of the door to block it a bit. Then I pushed the two chairs over by the wall opposite the door to provide cover. Then I crouched behind one of the chairs and waited for a while. I actually had to wait longer than I expected with my brother repeatedly telling me to leave. Eventually though the bad guys busted in and the fire fight started. It was sweet. They were blocked in behind the couch as I intended and I had great cover behind the chairs. Eventually, after you kill enough of them, your brother says something like "Ok, I can handle it from here, you get going".
Along with a good story, that's the sort of thing that makes a great RPG in my mind - it's not about the number of choices, it's about having a situation that forces you to actually role play in order to even *identify* the choices.
I'm very surprised by the number of people here who apparently only liked the first 3 books. I thought the series was amazing through book 6 and only started downhill at 7. I have a hard time even picking my favorite of the first 6, though the climax of the 6th is definitely my favorite chapter of the entire series.
Losing isn't necessarily bad publicity for them. It still scares some people away from downloading if there's a chance you could be sued and forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in laywers fees to defend yourself without any gurantee of getting it all paid back even if you win.
It's about brand awareness. For markets in which there are few differences between competing products (as far as the customer is aware) then the more exposure consumers have to a brand the more likely they will be to choose it when facing a decision between a bunch of options that they have no way to otherwise evaluate. Like what brand of hard drive or memory to choose (unless you've had experience with different brands there's lots of conflicting opinions out there about which is best). Doesn't have to be tech related either; universal products like what type of dishwashing soap to buy are good candidates for game ads.
You might say that you always do proper research before buying anything, but for a lot of products does it really matter? Do you care which soap gives you be best streak free shine on your dishes? And for less tech savy people do they really care about the difference between samsung and western digital? Most don't. That's why ads are effective. You say game ads annoy you and turn you off the brand but you are in the minority there. Most people are not annoyed by well placed ads. Well placed being the key.
Slashdot Mirror
The point is that it's not just "a few words". They're trying to include as many words as possible so that when you play the game you don't have to worry about what words it will recognize and you can just write anything you want.
Saying that Star Wars (and other stories) shouldn't be called Science Fiction since they could be told in other settings, seems like unnecessary purism.
I do think that Star Wars shouldn't be categorized in the same genre as classic science fiction but "can't be told in other settings" was a poor attempt at a definition. See my comment below.
I guess that depends which of the common definitions you subscribe to
I don't really subscribe to any one line definitions even though I tried to give one in my last post. To really understand the genre you would have to go to the book store and buy an anthology or two of classic science fiction stories (most are short stories) and just sit down and read. To try and distill a definition of the genre down to one or two lines is something that dictionary writers need to do but that doesn't mean they're accurate. I would say that's actually true for all literary genres. You can't understand what any genre, be it sci-fi, drama, western, horror, or anything really is unless you read it.
p.s. I don't mean to imply that I don't like Star Wars. It's actually one of my favorite movies.
For me Science Fiction means any narrative or story set in a world at a higher technological stage than us.
It's disappointing that the common definition of science fiction has degenerated so much. In classic science fiction the technology or science plays a central role in the story; it's not just part of the backdrop. If you can take the story and, without losing the central theme, re-write it in an alternate setting without the science and tech aspects then it's not real science fiction.
Philip K. Dick's 'Minorty Report' and Issac Asimov's 'I Robot' are good examples of classic science fiction. The story requires the technology. OTOH, Star Wars and most episodes of Star Trek (varies by series) are, imo, examples of stories which should not rightly be called science fiction since they could easily be rewritten in another setting and still retain the core themes and plot points.
that was the first thing that came to my mind.
ROTFL! I wish I had mod points for you. Check it out! :)
Cell phones will drive IPv6. Large service providers like Sprint are already dedicating significant resources to IPv6 because they know they will need it for 4G. NATing won't work because there are just too many phones. So those 4G phones will have to be IPv6. And then they can only access the IPv6 internet. So that will drive everything to switch.
I admit the ads do instill in me a desire to watch old episodes of Seinfeld. They don't, however, make me want to use Vista.
I recommend buying the book. Closures are implemented with the expected scoping. They allow you do to things like this:
function createCounter()
{
var i = 0;
return {
incr: function() { ++i; },
decr: function() { --i; },
getValue: function() { return i; }
}
}
I don't know anything about ruby but Javascript has both closures and direct object inheritance. And 'encapsulation' just means the ability to separate an interface from an implementation and you can do that easily in Javascript as well. And saying Javascript doesn't have 'explicit class declaration' doesn't make any sense because Javascript doesn't have classes.
And where do you think the pirates would get the password currently in use for that key?
The same place they got the key. From the person who bought the game, registered it and then distributed his key and password. I think you're forgetting a few posts ago where I stated this.
You're still thinking along the lines of pirates stealing keys or generating duplicates; which I've admitted your scheme defends against however I don't believe that is nearly as common as pirates who simply distribute their purchased keys.
That may be true in theory
No, it's true in fact.
is it really worth the extra trouble to capture whatever potential Mac and Linux customers are left over after all of the Windows sales have been tallied up?
Generally not, but it's irrelevant. I'm not debating you on that point. We're talking about the fact is that using openGL does not limit the number of potential customers. You made a mistake on that point and I'm just trying to see if you will admit it.
it is a moot point
No it's is the entire point. I don't care about the question of whether or not openGL is a better platform for game developers.
I found your post confusing. I don't know what you're trying to say.
If people are activating the software once, then fixing it so it can be copied limitlessly without contacting the server, how is this different than a cracked copy?
It's obviously not. But what is your point? How do you then conclude that your password system removes the need to phone home after activation?
A copied key will not work without the customer's password.
The pirates would obviously be distributing key/password combinations, not keys alone.
They don't have a larger share. They have a larger base of potential customers. That's what he meant. Since openGL runs on all platforms (including Windows) an openGL game has a larger base of potential customers. The original poster had tried to claim the opposite which is clearly wrong.
Regardless of how often people's keys are compromised (which, as you say, may be more often than I suggested) my point is that's not what they're trying to defend against. They're trying to defend against people who intentionally give out their keys. I agree that your password system would protect people whose keys are compromised without their consent, but it wouldn't remove the need to phone home every 10 days to verify that the key/password combination isn't banned.
let me suggest a way to ensure that my legitimate key will not be used by someone else inadvertently or through piracy
That's not what they're protecting against. That rarely happens. They're protecting against people giving out their keys intentionally, which is what usually happens. Those people, and those they gave the key too, will find their copy is disabled after the 10 day check determines that their key is on the banned list.
(p.s. Just giving your key to a friend is not enough to get it banned, btw. That's allowed, though it may not activate anymore. To get banned you would have to post it on a forum or something like that.)
(p.p.s. They're not trying to defend against key generators either. Those are impossible to defend against if they get loose. They just try their best to keep the algorithm under tight guard.)
The 'warmth' is just noise introduced by the crappy medium. If the artist needs this effect to make his music sound better then that's a sad comment on his music. I'd rather hear exactly what the artist recorded. If he actually wants that effect then he can create it intentionally and a digital recording will have no trouble capturing it.
Then factor in that it is much, much, cheaper to air infotainment over hard news
Where'd you come up with that? That doesn't make sense. It's definitely harder and more expensive to produce good 'infotainment' than it would be to just simply report the news accurately.
It's been a while since I played so my memory isn't prefect but I'm pretty sure I did go down to the lobby with him and fought some more guys there. I just didn't mention it because it wasn't important to my point and I couldn't remember exactly.
That's an absurd comment. He's not suggesting that language doesn't evolve. He didn't say that 'proper, true English' is some sort of platonic truth. By 'proper and true' he was simply referring to modern English in it's current state. His position is that 'stupider' is (in your words) bastardized slang and a very deformed lowly variant of modern English.
Your post really deserves a flamebait mod but I don't have any mod points. He is correct. "Stupider" is incorrect in large parts of the English speaking world. You need to accept that English is not the same everywhere and that you're experience is not definitive. Nobody that I know, or have ever known, considers it a real word. Around here it's one of the grammar mistakes that parents and teachers always correct when kids use it.
I agree. But as well as that, for me, this was the only game where there were moments when I felt I was really, truly, role-playing - pen & paper style.
-spoilers here-
My favorite example was the scene where you're in your brother's apartment and the bad guys are on the way. You brother tells you jump out the bathroom window and get away. He can't follow for some reason I don't remember (he was wounded maybe). He tells you repeatedly to get out. The first time I played it I felt compelled to obey based on my experience with purely linear games. So I jump out, run away, and the scene ends. I immediately regretted it and reloaded. I decided to RP the scene and see what happens (despite the voice in my head saying that never works). All the furniture in the game is movable so I pushed the couch over in front of the door to block it a bit. Then I pushed the two chairs over by the wall opposite the door to provide cover. Then I crouched behind one of the chairs and waited for a while. I actually had to wait longer than I expected with my brother repeatedly telling me to leave. Eventually though the bad guys busted in and the fire fight started. It was sweet. They were blocked in behind the couch as I intended and I had great cover behind the chairs. Eventually, after you kill enough of them, your brother says something like "Ok, I can handle it from here, you get going".
Along with a good story, that's the sort of thing that makes a great RPG in my mind - it's not about the number of choices, it's about having a situation that forces you to actually role play in order to even *identify* the choices.
'you' (assumed to exist separate from this universe)
You can come to any conclusion that you want if you start with the necessary assumptions. This one is way out there.
I'm very surprised by the number of people here who apparently only liked the first 3 books. I thought the series was amazing through book 6 and only started downhill at 7. I have a hard time even picking my favorite of the first 6, though the climax of the 6th is definitely my favorite chapter of the entire series.
Losing isn't necessarily bad publicity for them. It still scares some people away from downloading if there's a chance you could be sued and forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in laywers fees to defend yourself without any gurantee of getting it all paid back even if you win.
It's about brand awareness. For markets in which there are few differences between competing products (as far as the customer is aware) then the more exposure consumers have to a brand the more likely they will be to choose it when facing a decision between a bunch of options that they have no way to otherwise evaluate. Like what brand of hard drive or memory to choose (unless you've had experience with different brands there's lots of conflicting opinions out there about which is best). Doesn't have to be tech related either; universal products like what type of dishwashing soap to buy are good candidates for game ads.
You might say that you always do proper research before buying anything, but for a lot of products does it really matter? Do you care which soap gives you be best streak free shine on your dishes? And for less tech savy people do they really care about the difference between samsung and western digital? Most don't. That's why ads are effective. You say game ads annoy you and turn you off the brand but you are in the minority there. Most people are not annoyed by well placed ads. Well placed being the key.