If your employees are looking for a way to screw you, that's most likely because you've been screwing them in the past. Then again, if you're so afraid of your employees, then maybe you're right in not hiring people who aren't willing to take your shit.
I had one boss who was a chronic drunk, racist asshole, and I tell you, every chance we got, all the workers would take a longer lunch break, slack off, whatever. Another job, for example, where I was treated with dignity and respect, even though the pay wasn't as good, I'd gladly work off the clock just to get something done that needed to get done.
This project is looking way too awesome to let the whole thing just roll over and die. Leak all the source code, let someone set up an anonymous CVS in Russia, and let the development continue as a kind of black market thing. I'd totally contribute code to it. Square trying to prevent us from continuing development in the most legitimate way is absolutely no excuse for not driving the whole project underground.
Stage a hack or something, and get that code out there!
Wouldn't it be great to buy a blackmarket device and walk down the street, pointing it at people? Oooh, this guy's got 400$ on him in RFID' money, let's mug him!
OK, your post establishes that the publishers are screwing the artists. Why's that our problem? The argument against P2P and such is that it harms sales...if this isn't happening, then leave the fucking geeks alone. If you can't get paid fairly for your work, that's unfortunate and all, but really no fault of ours.
All we're saying is that if the labels are making money, they have no right to bitch at us for pirating their stuff.
Most of the items on the list seem to be the inevitable result of our current progress with respect to graphics technology...we are advanced enough for moderately complex real-time physics, but not so advanced that we can swing real-time ray-tracing, etc.
I'd say the real trends are things like episodic gaming, MMORPG's, the leveling treadmill, the limits of player interaction, etc. In short, the things that we actively choose, not those that are dictated to us by the limits of our technology.
Once again, we find that how a company actually treats its users is more important than general principles. Apple makes a quality product that people really want. Real's software, on the other hand, is so bloated and ad-filled, that most people only use it because they have to. The simple fact of the matter is that Apple has been nice to us whereas Real has not, therefore our sympathies are with Apple here.
"President Bush created the USA Freedom Corps in an effort to capture those opportunities and foster an American culture of service, citizenship and responsibility."
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=63&co nt ent=233
So by your interpretation, the Dems can claim that George Bush actually created these people in some kind of laboratory?
Of course not. So why does everyone try to imply that Al Gore was taking credit for inventing the underlying technology that runs the web?
A lot of people joke around about this, but the truth of the matter is that he never claimed that he "invented it," only that he secured funding for it. This funding was instrumental in its creation. Really, this whole joke is just another example of a witty Republican smear that has no basis in fact.
http://dir.salon.com/tech/col/rose/2000/10/05/go re _internet/index.html
Someone once said "unix is very simple, but you have to be a genius to appreciate its simplicity." The point is, sometimes interfaces that are "easy to use" become less functional as you become more and more proficient in using the device that the interface allows access to. I think the entire linux console UI is one of the greatest interfaces ever made. I can quickly configure everything, recompile my kernel, browse the web, and so on using one consistent interface. A truly well-designed interface, no matter how complex it is, is always easy to use if you have the sufficient skills to use it. This is why that dude who designed Metacity is dead wrong in saying that preferences are the root of all evil: interface usefulness is dependent on the user's experience.
Think of it this way. If I don't know what the/etc folder is, and an interface hides that, it's made my life easier. If I do know what it is, it has made it harder. There is no absolute "easiness" in any interface because it's all dependent on the user's skill.
Really, it's really confusing to lump so many things under "ease of use." There are three distinct levels of UI, really:
1) The wizard. This means a user wants to have the computer hold his hand through the whole thing....e.g. he won't know what he's looking for even if he's right on top of it. There should be a wizard for every aspect of configuring a computer that a newbie would need to do. Windows knows this, and that's why newbies consider it easier than linux in some situations. Wizards are frustrating to the user that knows what he's doing because this represents a tradeoff...it's easier to accomplish a certain task as the designer conceived it, but it's more time-consuming to tweak things down to the letter. Windows abuses the wizard, forcing me to use them when I'd rather just tweak a text file.
2) The GUI. If you've moved off the wizard, you've progressed to the point where you know what you're looking for when you see it. The problem with the GUI is that most of the time it gets abused, turning into a "go find it yourself" mentality. A good GUI should
3) The Command-line. At this point, you know what you want, and you just need a simple, fast way to tell the computer that. If this is the case, nothing beats a command line. Can you imagine how insanely fast you could get using microsoft word if you could print at different qualities, load files off the web, etc without ever resorting to any kind of gui?
Really, in order to be truly "easy to use" a program has to allow all of these different modes of input. Furthermore, the wizards have to be bulletproof and co-incide exactly with what the user needs to do. GUI's have to be reasonably helpful, but try to avoid the complexities associated with the command line. Command lines need to have good documentation so the user can start to figure out the commands if they want to.
IMO, there's no way to create a successful interface that suits everyone. If you don't give your varying users all of the interfaces, they're going to just look somewhere else.
"The problem with compiling your own binaries is that you are effectively forking code from the original distribution at the low level."
Wow. That is blatantly false and misleading. "Forking code" refers to one piece of code diverging into two separate projects, ala X.org and Xfree86. All binaries have to be compiled somewhere...when the guys at Red Hat or Suse do it for you, they generally do it in a very generic, compatible way, and when you do it yourself, you can take some more risk or tailor it to your own needs.
Furthermore, unless you use a different version / environment settings, the result is exactly the same as if someone else did it. There's nothing inherently dangerous or "fork-inducing" about compiling your own source code...only if you use an unstable version of the compiler or pass dangerous optimization flags.
"Just look at the Linux Kernel Mailing List and how many errors can be traced to a GCC specific version."
OK, there are glitches in some versions of GCC, so what? You seem to have a problem with people compiling their own source and distcc, but none of this has anything to do with GCC. The point is, whatever you're compiling, distcc is going to get it done faster. Sure, there may be reasons why people who don't really have a firm grasp on linux may need to avoid using unstable versions of GCC or aggressive compiler options, but that is really unrelated to the idea of a distributed compiling architecture.
It really looks like a rather fun, albeit mega-geeky time, but my experiences with Jake Kaufman (aka Virt) have made me wary of ANYTHING he's involved with in any kind of administrative capacity. I'm not trying to troll, seriously...I'm just saying, if you're considering going to this thing, ask around and hear some of the horror stories going around about this guy. If you go to magfest looking to indulge yourself in a geeky good time, don't be surprised if you have a run-in with Virt's ego instead.
Tolkien explicitly stated in the introduction to LOTR that his story was NOT allegory in any sense of the word; in fact he claims to despise allegory in all of its manifestations.
CS Lewis, on the other hand, made no secret that his Narnia books were a Christian allegory. To the uninformed reader, because you attributed that quote to "CS Lewis regarding one of the many conversations he and JRR Tolkien," it might seem that Tolkien shared this viewpoint, which he absolutely did not.
Jeez, just because some group of religious fundamentalists isn't trying to oppress us, we should be happy? The fact that these people are leaving our freedoms alone is definitely not enough to make me want to be beaten over the head with the jesus stick while I'm trying to play a video game.
I agree with your basic point, that if people don't like the way video games are they should make their own, but the prospect of having to watch out for evangelist games doesn't exactly appeal to me either.
I can build a Gentoo box from stage 1, install / configure apache, php, perl, etc, make firewalls, use nmap, and even write network apps if necessary (I've written a linux AIM client). I run Gentoo on my desktop and my web server, and I've never had my server go down since I installed it except for power failures.
I consider myself to know linux pretty well. Is that what you mean, or are you talking about a friggin kernel hacker or something?
Slashdot Mirror
If your employees are looking for a way to screw you, that's most likely because you've been screwing them in the past. Then again, if you're so afraid of your employees, then maybe you're right in not hiring people who aren't willing to take your shit.
I had one boss who was a chronic drunk, racist asshole, and I tell you, every chance we got, all the workers would take a longer lunch break, slack off, whatever. Another job, for example, where I was treated with dignity and respect, even though the pay wasn't as good, I'd gladly work off the clock just to get something done that needed to get done.
This project is looking way too awesome to let the whole thing just roll over and die. Leak all the source code, let someone set up an anonymous CVS in Russia, and let the development continue as a kind of black market thing. I'd totally contribute code to it. Square trying to prevent us from continuing development in the most legitimate way is absolutely no excuse for not driving the whole project underground.
Stage a hack or something, and get that code out there!
Wouldn't it be great to buy a blackmarket device and walk down the street, pointing it at people? Oooh, this guy's got 400$ on him in RFID' money, let's mug him!
OK, your post establishes that the publishers are screwing the artists. Why's that our problem? The argument against P2P and such is that it harms sales...if this isn't happening, then leave the fucking geeks alone. If you can't get paid fairly for your work, that's unfortunate and all, but really no fault of ours.
All we're saying is that if the labels are making money, they have no right to bitch at us for pirating their stuff.
Purple!
Most of the items on the list seem to be the inevitable result of our current progress with respect to graphics technology...we are advanced enough for moderately complex real-time physics, but not so advanced that we can swing real-time ray-tracing, etc.
I'd say the real trends are things like episodic gaming, MMORPG's, the leveling treadmill, the limits of player interaction, etc. In short, the things that we actively choose, not those that are dictated to us by the limits of our technology.
Once again, we find that how a company actually treats its users is more important than general principles. Apple makes a quality product that people really want. Real's software, on the other hand, is so bloated and ad-filled, that most people only use it because they have to. The simple fact of the matter is that Apple has been nice to us whereas Real has not, therefore our sympathies are with Apple here.
From the DHS web site:
o nt ent=233
"President Bush created the USA Freedom Corps in an effort to capture those opportunities and foster an American culture of service, citizenship and responsibility."
http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=63&c
So by your interpretation, the Dems can claim that George Bush actually created these people in some kind of laboratory?
Of course not. So why does everyone try to imply that Al Gore was taking credit for inventing the underlying technology that runs the web?
A lot of people joke around about this, but the truth of the matter is that he never claimed that he "invented it," only that he secured funding for it. This funding was instrumental in its creation. Really, this whole joke is just another example of a witty Republican smear that has no basis in fact.
o re _internet/index.html
http://dir.salon.com/tech/col/rose/2000/10/05/g
YEAH YOU!
YOUR MOTHER WEARS ARMY BOOTS!
(Reason: Don't use so many caps. It's like yelling)
but isn't a situation where RFID is as ubiquitous as apache one of the things we slashdotters truly fear and hate?
Why would we want to contribute to such a project?
emerge -C package
Boom.
SIMPLE?
He's trying to uninstall a game on a business-oriented operating system. That should be one command, tops.
With a shotgun.
Someone once said "unix is very simple, but you have to be a genius to appreciate its simplicity." The point is, sometimes interfaces that are "easy to use" become less functional as you become more and more proficient in using the device that the interface allows access to. I think the entire linux console UI is one of the greatest interfaces ever made. I can quickly configure everything, recompile my kernel, browse the web, and so on using one consistent interface. A truly well-designed interface, no matter how complex it is, is always easy to use if you have the sufficient skills to use it. This is why that dude who designed Metacity is dead wrong in saying that preferences are the root of all evil: interface usefulness is dependent on the user's experience.
/etc folder is, and an interface hides that, it's made my life easier. If I do know what it is, it has made it harder. There is no absolute "easiness" in any interface because it's all dependent on the user's skill.
...e.g. he won't know what he's looking for even if he's right on top of it. There should be a wizard for every aspect of configuring a computer that a newbie would need to do. Windows knows this, and that's why newbies consider it easier than linux in some situations. Wizards are frustrating to the user that knows what he's doing because this represents a tradeoff...it's easier to accomplish a certain task as the designer conceived it, but it's more time-consuming to tweak things down to the letter. Windows abuses the wizard, forcing me to use them when I'd rather just tweak a text file.
Think of it this way. If I don't know what the
Really, it's really confusing to lump so many things under "ease of use." There are three distinct levels of UI, really:
1) The wizard. This means a user wants to have the computer hold his hand through the whole thing.
2) The GUI. If you've moved off the wizard, you've progressed to the point where you know what you're looking for when you see it. The problem with the GUI is that most of the time it gets abused, turning into a "go find it yourself" mentality. A good GUI should
3) The Command-line. At this point, you know what you want, and you just need a simple, fast way to tell the computer that. If this is the case, nothing beats a command line. Can you imagine how insanely fast you could get using microsoft word if you could print at different qualities, load files off the web, etc without ever resorting to any kind of gui?
Really, in order to be truly "easy to use" a program has to allow all of these different modes of input. Furthermore, the wizards have to be bulletproof and co-incide exactly with what the user needs to do. GUI's have to be reasonably helpful, but try to avoid the complexities associated with the command line. Command lines need to have good documentation so the user can start to figure out the commands if they want to.
IMO, there's no way to create a successful interface that suits everyone. If you don't give your varying users all of the interfaces, they're going to just look somewhere else.
> or open ports to let something really nasty in
Yeah, like an exploit that lets you run arbitrary code with nearly unlimited user priviliges, you could do a lot of damage with that...
oh wait....
Kerry's going to do a helluva lot more for this country if he wins the presidency than he ever could attending every vote in the senate.
about an organization of independent game developers?
"The problem with compiling your own binaries is that you are effectively forking code from the original distribution at the low level."
Wow. That is blatantly false and misleading. "Forking code" refers to one piece of code diverging into two separate projects, ala X.org and Xfree86. All binaries have to be compiled somewhere...when the guys at Red Hat or Suse do it for you, they generally do it in a very generic, compatible way, and when you do it yourself, you can take some more risk or tailor it to your own needs.
Furthermore, unless you use a different version / environment settings, the result is exactly the same as if someone else did it. There's nothing inherently dangerous or "fork-inducing" about compiling your own source code...only if you use an unstable version of the compiler or pass dangerous optimization flags.
"Just look at the Linux Kernel Mailing List and how many errors can be traced to a GCC specific version."
OK, there are glitches in some versions of GCC, so what? You seem to have a problem with people compiling their own source and distcc, but none of this has anything to do with GCC. The point is, whatever you're compiling, distcc is going to get it done faster. Sure, there may be reasons why people who don't really have a firm grasp on linux may need to avoid using unstable versions of GCC or aggressive compiler options, but that is really unrelated to the idea of a distributed compiling architecture.
Wow, that's priceless. Here you are complaining about how retarded developers are, and you spelled retarded wrong. "retraded" my ass.
It really looks like a rather fun, albeit mega-geeky time, but my experiences with Jake Kaufman (aka Virt) have made me wary of ANYTHING he's involved with in any kind of administrative capacity. I'm not trying to troll, seriously...I'm just saying, if you're considering going to this thing, ask around and hear some of the horror stories going around about this guy. If you go to magfest looking to indulge yourself in a geeky good time, don't be surprised if you have a run-in with Virt's ego instead.
Tolkien explicitly stated in the introduction to LOTR that his story was NOT allegory in any sense of the word; in fact he claims to despise allegory in all of its manifestations.
CS Lewis, on the other hand, made no secret that his Narnia books were a Christian allegory. To the uninformed reader, because you attributed that quote to "CS Lewis regarding one of the many conversations he and JRR Tolkien," it might seem that Tolkien shared this viewpoint, which he absolutely did not.
Jeez, just because some group of religious fundamentalists isn't trying to oppress us, we should be happy? The fact that these people are leaving our freedoms alone is definitely not enough to make me want to be beaten over the head with the jesus stick while I'm trying to play a video game.
I agree with your basic point, that if people don't like the way video games are they should make their own, but the prospect of having to watch out for evangelist games doesn't exactly appeal to me either.
...as knowing linux well?
I can build a Gentoo box from stage 1, install / configure apache, php, perl, etc, make firewalls, use nmap, and even write network apps if necessary (I've written a linux AIM client). I run Gentoo on my desktop and my web server, and I've never had my server go down since I installed it except for power failures.
I consider myself to know linux pretty well. Is that what you mean, or are you talking about a friggin kernel hacker or something?
Funny, I can walk down to the gas station and buy a lot more fuel than that using only some cash and a plastic gas container.