Hmm. Well, was in the counseling biz for a fair while, and I can tell you it's a seriously-taken responsibility among those in psychology to determine whether a client might have a chemical/physical disorder, because you can't treat that with counseling. Likewise, we'd like to think of our psychiatric/medical partners as educated and watchful of problems that are not physical in nature, and that they wouldn't try to treat them with drugs. Sadly, I know this is not always the case (perhaps not even often).
Do remember, also, that clinical depression is not what you get when you get an "F" on that midterm, no matter how trendy depression gets or how many psych terms get appropriated into pop culture. Of course, did negative experiences/conditioning lead to a chemical imbalance, or did the chemical imbalance cause the negative experience -- it may be impossible to determine. A separate issue with regard to chemical imbalances is exactly what lies outside the "normal" range. Well, the answer is usually "who cares!" -- what's normal is what is functional for the individual. If they stop being able to function, there's a problem. (something to think about for those people who wonder if they might be manic/depressive. Maybe the lithium will get rid of the highs and lows, but then again maybe that's just part of who you are. Our brain chemistry's are not alike. Still, if you suffer, who am I to say you should respect your "natural" chemistry?)
No easy answers, and I do think that the widespread use of drugs to achieve "normality" has a great deal to say about the kinds of lives we choose to lead. If I subject myself to inhuman stresses (job, living space, etc) it's no wonder I may need a drug to feel human again.
That's for the masses, though, not any one particular case. I have no business telling anyone else how to handle their pain. I get the occasional headache, and probably so do you. When it's bad, I take a tylenol, because I know it works. Did my headache have a physical cause? (a bump on the head, dehydration, etc) Did it have some other cause? (stress or worry) Who cares? I've got a frickin headache, man!
Oh come now, let's not play dumb. When people say "natural" in this context they're talking about "the world as it would be without humans" whether or not that is something we could ever accurately gauge. You and I know this. I agree, humans are a part of nature, and it's silly if not dangerous to think otherwise (much easier to destroy that from which we feel disconnected).
However, it didn't take the decades of research and legal battles to finally prove in court that tobacco was addictive for me (and everyone else) to realize it. There's the world of courtrooms and then there's the real world, and if my getting lung cancer is hanging in the balance, I'll just go ahead and quit now and not wait, thank you very much.
Of course we're talking the work of scientists here, not lawyers, but are you telling me that you really need that "natural" extinction rate to prove to you that we're destroying the planet, one forest, many species at a time? If the world as we know, love, and depend on is hanging in the balance...
Um. Ok, you're right. It still happens, and is a huge problem, especially in Southeast Asia. Crew and passengers are usually executed. It's a nasty business.
But why does this bother you? Because the word "piracy" still retains its original meaning and use at the same time as it has been re-used for a modern phenomenon? We still have biological "viruses" don't we? Is the appropriateness of the term what bothers you? Someone else's property that is hijacked (on the high seas of data exchange, perhaps). That doesn't sound so bad to me. (unless you want to get hung up about traditional concepts of "theft" where an owner is deprived of something physical. But let's not get silly)
But the quantity of pirating may be related to the average quality of available merchandise.
Let's say this friend I used to know (ahem) got his Playstation I modded and purchased a bunch of copied games for very little. One tends to be a little less choosy when the price is low, no? Go for long-shots, a few of which turn out to be great finds, most of which turn out to be complete duds. Well, when you've got 20, 30, 50 games sitting there in a pile (the mistake of parents at Christmas, even giving more than 1, and of youths with too much money), you don't spend a whole lot of time on the duds. I'm talking mere minutes, per.
But it sure makes you think about the number of titles that seemed promising and turned out to be abolute crap, and how you're glad you didn't blow your only $50/$75/$100 (Ok, my friend is Canadian) on one game to find out it was one of the 95% of the crappy ones out there. In fact, through this method, one might decide that the only way to find quality games is to sift through a bunch of crud, which is only possible if you're rich or you're pirating.
Having purchased some PC games at full (well, discounted price) I can tell you that my friend is now thinking about burning PC stuff, too. Directly as a result of the proportion of crap that's on the shelves.
Now, did I go and buy the genuine article of any of the gems I found through pirating? Actually, I did, twice, but I think that's unusual (I was separated from my software for a while). Normally, I would agree. Peeps just don't pay for what they can get for free, quality or no. And that is a major problem. Damn. I meant, my friend.
Had do dl "moslo" and fiddle quite a bit, but got SF2 to work. Yonder slashdotter talks about the batch file solution. I've never run across the fail-to-save problem, but many times had problems loading old games, so I'd end up keeping multiple copies just in case (when you save you alter the base file, so you need seperate copies of everything, and if you crash, the file becomes ruined). Anyway, can be done.
Now, before I discovered SF2 I was still trying to get the original SF to work on anything. It wasn't even IBM compatible. Totally different format. I think it's too bad, because I really liked it, but then, now that I'm used to SF2, I'd probably think the original sucks a little. Much better trading in the second. I just miss blowing up weak Spemin.
If you haven't run across it, there's a sizable SF web presence, including a project to build SF3 that may or may not happen, and an intermittent lobby to get a third one made by EA Games, which will likely never work. It's too bad. I never got onto Star Control -- I can't fathom that comparison, actually. Seriously, does anyone know a good space exploration game that doesn't tie you down to one (or, ok, half a dozen) linear plot?
Oh man, don't like the show, but even if I did? I could never watch Babylon 5. Because every time one of those damn ship's doors opens, it IS the sound of your ship refueling in "River Raid". I'm talking directly sampled here. Drives me batty!
Re:Pacman was da bomb! Swordquest Earthworld sucke
on
Top Ten Shameful Games
·
· Score: 3, Funny
I actually finished Swordquest Earthworld, through painstakingly walking around and charting every item I carried anywhere. What an incredible waste of time. I gave it to my sister as a birthday present (so I could play it -- smart, right?). Oh, but karma works in mysterious and horrifically tortuous ways.
Ok, this may seem tangential, but is guaranteed to make you laugh. Atari 2600 Pacman only makes up a part of the review for the Star Wars Holiday Christmas Special, but anyone old enough to know these games will enjoy the review in its entirety.
Incidentally, what about "Adventure"? Better hope one of the three dragons is on the right (not left) side of the room when you enter, cause your sword sticks out that way and you can't turn around. Aaaah, run!
Re:Hunt the Wumpus for the TI-99/4 and TI-99/4A
on
Top Ten Shameful Games
·
· Score: 5, Funny
Omg. OMG. Hunt the Wumpus.
My mind is actually reeling. HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME??! You know how long it's taken me to forget that? And -- uhhh -- the sound it makes when you incorrectly guess the direction of the fat little fucker? I think I'm going to be sick.
It's ok. It's ok. (rocking back and forth) Think pleasant thoughts. The new agey music and colours underwater in DK Country. Ok, your sanity is slipping just a little, like that marble in Marble Madness. You're having trouble grasping the controls, like that little fuck Q*bert. But it's ok. I'm almost back to my Prague sanctuary in Vampire, Masquerade Redemption. See how I keep my faith objects though they're useless to me? Think weird, alternate universe, in Super Mario II. Happy little running mushrooms. I'm selling Tandelovian Happy Juice to the Teeelveee in Starflight 2, Trade Routes of the Cloud Nebula (system 125, 95). And I'm getting a REALLY GOOD price. Nice Teeelveee. See, everything is JUST FINE.:D:D:D:D:D
Not to suggest that throwing money at poverty will necessarily eliminate it, but I thought I'd point out that you and I are both likely from the world's elite in terms of wealth. To go on about not having the internet, well... if you were spending what short life you and your family had in starvation, I wonder how much money you'd think the space program/internet/microcomputer revolution was really worth. We may never totally eliminate poverty, but considering that vast majority of the world's population lives in that state, let's keep an eye on where we fit into the global scheme of things while we mentally evaluate our dollar's worth.
Thank you for using the M-word!
on
Taken?
·
· Score: 2
I was wondering how many posts it would take for someone to say it. Yes, not all Spielberg films are happy tales. He's simply a master of melodrama. What offends isn't how sugary things can get, or how sad, but how overtly MANIPULATIVE his touch can be.
If you're even a little sensitive to blatant emotional manipulation, you won't think Saving Private Ryan is all that brilliant. What happened to subtlety? "Oh, but war isn't subtle." Mmm, thanks for the info. Some directors might think tugging on those heartstrings is more effective when it's not done with heavy-gauge cable. *That* is why E.T. disappeared from the public consciousness so soon after it was the incredibly big hit it was (no, not now when it's trendy to trot it out, as an example however not as good viewing fare) -- because it was so sentimental and overtly manipulative, no one wanted to admit they had been successful victims.
Lots of people saying "That's what makes a blockbuster -- make people feel good." Well, maybe. In fact, probably. But **good** films, IMHO -- the ones you don't want to forget -- are the ones that don't give you easy answers, in S-man's case try to push them down your throat. What if Mookie had "done the right thing"? We'd all feel fine as we walked out of the theatre (all is right with the world -- good people do good things and the wicked are punished), and wholly unchallenged. Spike made us sort out some complicated issues for ourselves. (I won't talk about his later stuff)
When has Spielberg ever done more than spoon-feed us his own answers to his questions?
"Temple University psychiatrist Dr. Edward Volkman said Michael is not nuts. Volkman says we all care about our appearance, but Michael's behavior is an extreme version of normal."
An extreme version of normal!! Is that as funny on its own as I think it is, or do I need to add something?
Round doors in hills? Don't know if they were Tolkien-inspired but take a drive through Saskatchewan some time. There have been homes like this for some time.
Wow, that was pretty uptight. People might just want to know his thoughts on the subject (just like I find it interesting that D. Duchovny is a skeptic in real life, while G. Anderson is a bit of a "believer".)
All you're really saying is he may not have real insight to **the answer** -- well, duh. We do?
I take your point about human compliance, especially from, ah, "authority figures" (bow down to yonder store master). But shoudn't we be encouraging people to think for themselves?
I know what you mean by automated behaviour, though. Reminds me of having dinner at this little open-air restaurant. Two mouthfulls and I was out and violently throwing up in the field outside. Then, shakily coming back in, wiping reddened face, the woman running the place stops by to ask how I was enjoying the meal. "Terrible! I just threw up in the field!" Her smile barely registered. "Oh, good!":)
I remember reading a story about families living in PCB contaminated waste in the Phillipines. They were coming down with cancers at an alarming rate. I mean, no hiding it. Obvious tumors on most of them. These people were happy to find the building materials "disposed of" in the woods.
The only thing sadder than people raging against something they can't change is people failing to realize they should be raging against something they can. It isn't what I think I need, it's what I think they deserve. You think every slave was unhappy with their lot? You couldn't answer a critic by saying -- "Look he's happy. You're just being paternalistic."
The only dandelion wine I've ever tried was made by a neighbour. Never seen it in a store.
Wow. This is a one-sided argument if I've ever seen one. Personally, I draw the line at pop-ups. That seems a blatant abuse of power. But for those people who extend the reasoning to banner adverts, I must disagree. Yes, I've been on a slow connection and been severely annoyed waiting for my content to load last while every last advert loads up, or it gets stuck at that stage and I have to reload and watch it all over again. But know you what? I'm not paying a penny to see that page. Yeah, I'm paying for bandwidth, and the computer, also the food it's taking to power my body and rent to shelter me meanwhile. Blah blah blah. The page is free. Someone has put content there that I think I'll benefit from (info, entertainment, whatever). Obviously I want the content or I wouldn't be there. I'm free to not load it if I don't want it. MS isn't forcing me to view the page. Come on!!! I'm taking something from them. Period. If I think loading a few ads is too big a price to pay, I can bloody well skip the content, can't I?
Yes, their economic model is broken. Yes, their tech solution is simple and backward. The only reason I'm playing devil's advocate is because I thought the article was a bit thought provoking -- but maybe I'm the only one without the knee-jerk reaction here. What got me was their use of the term "leech" -- which as many of you probably know is used in P2P as a person who doesn't share files but sits there downloading em. ie: someone who expects something for nothing -- uses the system without contributing a thing. Yes, I know it's ironic since the files have been pirated in the first place. Thanks for the info. What I'm saying is, I pay for my computer and bandwidth, and I contribute my time, so why should I have to share files? Because that's how that system gets paid for, just like our current economic system is partly paid for by advertising. You can't rape the system and then complain: "See? It doesn't work! Haha!" That's a self-fulfilling prophecy, not to mention staggering wilfull ignorance.
I read part of a recent study that conluded that people don't watch ads on tv anymore. Is anyone surprised by this? Are the advertisers? No. I mean, really, when they get home, do they watch the ads? Probably not. They're hiding. The whole ratings system is based on variable worth of ad time. They don't know what to do next. It's not like the system needs to evolve a bit. It needs to get tossed out the window and start over from scratch. A lot easier said than done. In the meantime, we pay next to nothing for what they have to offer -- tv shows, web content, and on and on. I say next to nothing, because right now we're ignoring their ads and they know we are, but they can't come up with anything better yet. (except British-style license systems which North Americans would probably hate (how many threads of "so they're going to assume I watch tv?! ok, I do, but they don't know that!") and PBS style systems which people also hate and stay away from in droves)
Like I said, I do draw the line at pop-ups, and was rather appalled when I first saw them. It's a blatant subversion of my right, yes right, to simply navigate the web! Like a car that's designed to make you stop at corner shops. But if I choose to stop at the shop, I can hardly rail at the store owner, can I?
What's telling is your use of the word "country" to describe who's happy about it. The country is... The government is... please. There are people making money off this and it's not the people knee-deep in toxic waste trying to feed themselves so they can live today only to die tomorrow.
WTF?! Just because a person has few options and takes what they can get doesn't mean they're HAPPY about it.
Dark Age of Camelot, huh? Have to check that out. Bug riddin, I hear ya. I can't tell you how much time I spent trying to get Morrowind just to run on my PC, and that's after trading it in for a game that required 3d accel which I don't have.
I pick up my Playstation and play Silent Hill if I want intensity, or a little Twisted Metal 4 if I want some quick fun. If I want depth, I can play other stuff off my laptop cause that stuff isn't as intense graphically anyway.
That being said, I wish they'd release Silent Hill for the PC. I don't have a tv here, and I'd at least try to run it!;)
Man, lemme tell you about this game. A little game called Starflight . Space exploration game. Do some mining to earn some credits, but some better engines to get you out of the system, then start logging worlds for possible colonization and trading/fighting/negotaiting with alien races, if your com officer has the skills to make them understandable. It was a HUGE universe and had cute graphics and great playability, and fit on one 3.5 low density floppy. The original wasn't even IBM compatible. Years later I tried to get one to play. Then came Starflight 2: Trade Routes of the Cloud Nebula. I actually own a new copy. Still huge universe, better playability, more sensible trading, more suspense, always a great plot. And always, always, the ability to choose your own style of play and not follow any kind of one-track story. Never seen anything like it. Again, all on one floppy. Amazing. Course, you couldn't have that big a universe with amazing graphics, but as a result you don't get these great open-ended stories. The best we get are plots with "multiple endings" -- what the heck is that??
The only thing I've seen recently that gave me anywhere near that feeling was Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption by Nihilistic. Some bugs, but beautiful and a lot of freedom. My laptop runs that, so I'm happy.
You start the movement, tell me about it. I'll be there.
I still haven't found console games that compare for the kind of stuff I like (I don't favour the high grahic shooters, though once in a while...). So I'm still a PC gamer. It's just the fact that a high-end video card costs more than the whole gaming console that gets me.
Used to be, people justified the wad of cash they spent on their computer because they could do "work" on it, even though the pricey bits had nothing to do with work. It just didn't sound as reasonable to go spending it on strictly a "game machine". Now, attitudes have changed a bit, and people end up getting a console and a high-end computer.
You may be right about the cost of console gaming given its lack of upgradeablity, particularly given the cost of a collection of games rather than the console itself. But, it has to be said, I still know a lot of people who pick up the console because they know they'll be paying blank CD prices for those games. Hmm. (scratches head) Ok, same for PC's. We have a tie.
Slashdot Mirror
Hmm. Well, was in the counseling biz for a fair while, and I can tell you it's a seriously-taken responsibility among those in psychology to determine whether a client might have a chemical/physical disorder, because you can't treat that with counseling. Likewise, we'd like to think of our psychiatric/medical partners as educated and watchful of problems that are not physical in nature, and that they wouldn't try to treat them with drugs. Sadly, I know this is not always the case (perhaps not even often).
Do remember, also, that clinical depression is not what you get when you get an "F" on that midterm, no matter how trendy depression gets or how many psych terms get appropriated into pop culture. Of course, did negative experiences/conditioning lead to a chemical imbalance, or did the chemical imbalance cause the negative experience -- it may be impossible to determine. A separate issue with regard to chemical imbalances is exactly what lies outside the "normal" range. Well, the answer is usually "who cares!" -- what's normal is what is functional for the individual. If they stop being able to function, there's a problem. (something to think about for those people who wonder if they might be manic/depressive. Maybe the lithium will get rid of the highs and lows, but then again maybe that's just part of who you are. Our brain chemistry's are not alike. Still, if you suffer, who am I to say you should respect your "natural" chemistry?)
No easy answers, and I do think that the widespread use of drugs to achieve "normality" has a great deal to say about the kinds of lives we choose to lead. If I subject myself to inhuman stresses (job, living space, etc) it's no wonder I may need a drug to feel human again.
That's for the masses, though, not any one particular case. I have no business telling anyone else how to handle their pain. I get the occasional headache, and probably so do you. When it's bad, I take a tylenol, because I know it works. Did my headache have a physical cause? (a bump on the head, dehydration, etc) Did it have some other cause? (stress or worry) Who cares? I've got a frickin headache, man!
Oh come now, let's not play dumb. When people say "natural" in this context they're talking about "the world as it would be without humans" whether or not that is something we could ever accurately gauge. You and I know this. I agree, humans are a part of nature, and it's silly if not dangerous to think otherwise (much easier to destroy that from which we feel disconnected).
However, it didn't take the decades of research and legal battles to finally prove in court that tobacco was addictive for me (and everyone else) to realize it. There's the world of courtrooms and then there's the real world, and if my getting lung cancer is hanging in the balance, I'll just go ahead and quit now and not wait, thank you very much.
Of course we're talking the work of scientists here, not lawyers, but are you telling me that you really need that "natural" extinction rate to prove to you that we're destroying the planet, one forest, many species at a time? If the world as we know, love, and depend on is hanging in the balance...
Um. Ok, you're right. It still happens, and is a huge problem, especially in Southeast Asia. Crew and passengers are usually executed. It's a nasty business.
But why does this bother you? Because the word "piracy" still retains its original meaning and use at the same time as it has been re-used for a modern phenomenon? We still have biological "viruses" don't we? Is the appropriateness of the term what bothers you? Someone else's property that is hijacked (on the high seas of data exchange, perhaps). That doesn't sound so bad to me. (unless you want to get hung up about traditional concepts of "theft" where an owner is deprived of something physical. But let's not get silly)
Agreed.
But the quantity of pirating may be related to the average quality of available merchandise.
Let's say this friend I used to know (ahem) got his Playstation I modded and purchased a bunch of copied games for very little. One tends to be a little less choosy when the price is low, no? Go for long-shots, a few of which turn out to be great finds, most of which turn out to be complete duds. Well, when you've got 20, 30, 50 games sitting there in a pile (the mistake of parents at Christmas, even giving more than 1, and of youths with too much money), you don't spend a whole lot of time on the duds. I'm talking mere minutes, per.
But it sure makes you think about the number of titles that seemed promising and turned out to be abolute crap, and how you're glad you didn't blow your only $50/$75/$100 (Ok, my friend is Canadian) on one game to find out it was one of the 95% of the crappy ones out there. In fact, through this method, one might decide that the only way to find quality games is to sift through a bunch of crud, which is only possible if you're rich or you're pirating.
Having purchased some PC games at full (well, discounted price) I can tell you that my friend is now thinking about burning PC stuff, too. Directly as a result of the proportion of crap that's on the shelves.
Now, did I go and buy the genuine article of any of the gems I found through pirating? Actually, I did, twice, but I think that's unusual (I was separated from my software for a while). Normally, I would agree. Peeps just don't pay for what they can get for free, quality or no. And that is a major problem. Damn. I meant, my friend.
Had do dl "moslo" and fiddle quite a bit, but got SF2 to work. Yonder slashdotter talks about the batch file solution. I've never run across the fail-to-save problem, but many times had problems loading old games, so I'd end up keeping multiple copies just in case (when you save you alter the base file, so you need seperate copies of everything, and if you crash, the file becomes ruined). Anyway, can be done.
Now, before I discovered SF2 I was still trying to get the original SF to work on anything. It wasn't even IBM compatible. Totally different format. I think it's too bad, because I really liked it, but then, now that I'm used to SF2, I'd probably think the original sucks a little. Much better trading in the second. I just miss blowing up weak Spemin.
If you haven't run across it, there's a sizable SF web presence, including a project to build SF3 that may or may not happen, and an intermittent lobby to get a third one made by EA Games, which will likely never work. It's too bad. I never got onto Star Control -- I can't fathom that comparison, actually. Seriously, does anyone know a good space exploration game that doesn't tie you down to one (or, ok, half a dozen) linear plot?
Oh man, don't like the show, but even if I did? I could never watch Babylon 5. Because every time one of those damn ship's doors opens, it IS the sound of your ship refueling in "River Raid". I'm talking directly sampled here. Drives me batty!
I actually finished Swordquest Earthworld, through painstakingly walking around and charting every item I carried anywhere. What an incredible waste of time. I gave it to my sister as a birthday present (so I could play it -- smart, right?). Oh, but karma works in mysterious and horrifically tortuous ways.
Ok, this may seem tangential, but is guaranteed to make you laugh. Atari 2600 Pacman only makes up a part of the review for the Star Wars Holiday Christmas Special, but anyone old enough to know these games will enjoy the review in its entirety.
a rr o/starwars.html
http://www.teleport-city.com/movies/reviews/biz
Enjoy!
Incidentally, what about "Adventure"? Better hope one of the three dragons is on the right (not left) side of the room when you enter, cause your sword sticks out that way and you can't turn around. Aaaah, run!
Omg. OMG. Hunt the Wumpus.
:D :D :D :D :D
My mind is actually reeling. HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME??! You know how long it's taken me to forget that? And -- uhhh -- the sound it makes when you incorrectly guess the direction of the fat little fucker? I think I'm going to be sick.
It's ok. It's ok. (rocking back and forth) Think pleasant thoughts. The new agey music and colours underwater in DK Country. Ok, your sanity is slipping just a little, like that marble in Marble Madness. You're having trouble grasping the controls, like that little fuck Q*bert. But it's ok. I'm almost back to my Prague sanctuary in Vampire, Masquerade Redemption. See how I keep my faith objects though they're useless to me? Think weird, alternate universe, in Super Mario II. Happy little running mushrooms. I'm selling Tandelovian Happy Juice to the Teeelveee in Starflight 2, Trade Routes of the Cloud Nebula (system 125, 95). And I'm getting a REALLY GOOD price. Nice Teeelveee. See, everything is JUST FINE.
Not to suggest that throwing money at poverty will necessarily eliminate it, but I thought I'd point out that you and I are both likely from the world's elite in terms of wealth. To go on about not having the internet, well... if you were spending what short life you and your family had in starvation, I wonder how much money you'd think the space program/internet/microcomputer revolution was really worth. We may never totally eliminate poverty, but considering that vast majority of the world's population lives in that state, let's keep an eye on where we fit into the global scheme of things while we mentally evaluate our dollar's worth.
I was wondering how many posts it would take for someone to say it. Yes, not all Spielberg films are happy tales. He's simply a master of melodrama. What offends isn't how sugary things can get, or how sad, but how overtly MANIPULATIVE his touch can be.
If you're even a little sensitive to blatant emotional manipulation, you won't think Saving Private Ryan is all that brilliant. What happened to subtlety? "Oh, but war isn't subtle." Mmm, thanks for the info. Some directors might think tugging on those heartstrings is more effective when it's not done with heavy-gauge cable. *That* is why E.T. disappeared from the public consciousness so soon after it was the incredibly big hit it was (no, not now when it's trendy to trot it out, as an example however not as good viewing fare) -- because it was so sentimental and overtly manipulative, no one wanted to admit they had been successful victims.
Lots of people saying "That's what makes a blockbuster -- make people feel good." Well, maybe. In fact, probably. But **good** films, IMHO -- the ones you don't want to forget -- are the ones that don't give you easy answers, in S-man's case try to push them down your throat. What if Mookie had "done the right thing"? We'd all feel fine as we walked out of the theatre (all is right with the world -- good people do good things and the wicked are punished), and wholly unchallenged. Spike made us sort out some complicated issues for ourselves. (I won't talk about his later stuff)
When has Spielberg ever done more than spoon-feed us his own answers to his questions?
"Temple University psychiatrist Dr. Edward Volkman said Michael is not nuts. Volkman says we all care about our appearance, but Michael's behavior is an extreme version of normal." An extreme version of normal!! Is that as funny on its own as I think it is, or do I need to add something?
Round doors in hills? Don't know if they were Tolkien-inspired but take a drive through Saskatchewan some time. There have been homes like this for some time.
Wow, that was pretty uptight. People might just want to know his thoughts on the subject (just like I find it interesting that D. Duchovny is a skeptic in real life, while G. Anderson is a bit of a "believer".) All you're really saying is he may not have real insight to **the answer** -- well, duh. We do?
Hey, MY name is Luca. I live on the second floor. You got some kinda friggin problem?!
"You start to see patterns you don't when you're living. It takes all the messy grayness of real life and makes it bright and shiny."
Soma! Get your Soma, here!
I take your point about human compliance, especially from, ah, "authority figures" (bow down to yonder store master). But shoudn't we be encouraging people to think for themselves?
:)
I know what you mean by automated behaviour, though. Reminds me of having dinner at this little open-air restaurant. Two mouthfulls and I was out and violently throwing up in the field outside. Then, shakily coming back in, wiping reddened face, the woman running the place stops by to ask how I was enjoying the meal. "Terrible! I just threw up in the field!" Her smile barely registered. "Oh, good!"
I remember reading a story about families living in PCB contaminated waste in the Phillipines. They were coming down with cancers at an alarming rate. I mean, no hiding it. Obvious tumors on most of them. These people were happy to find the building materials "disposed of" in the woods.
The only thing sadder than people raging against something they can't change is people failing to realize they should be raging against something they can. It isn't what I think I need, it's what I think they deserve. You think every slave was unhappy with their lot? You couldn't answer a critic by saying -- "Look he's happy. You're just being paternalistic."
The only dandelion wine I've ever tried was made by a neighbour. Never seen it in a store.
I put a log in my fireplace and haven't actually needed to burn it to heat my home. I also have a healthy glow
Wow. This is a one-sided argument if I've ever seen one. Personally, I draw the line at pop-ups. That seems a blatant abuse of power. But for those people who extend the reasoning to banner adverts, I must disagree. Yes, I've been on a slow connection and been severely annoyed waiting for my content to load last while every last advert loads up, or it gets stuck at that stage and I have to reload and watch it all over again. But know you what? I'm not paying a penny to see that page. Yeah, I'm paying for bandwidth, and the computer, also the food it's taking to power my body and rent to shelter me meanwhile. Blah blah blah. The page is free. Someone has put content there that I think I'll benefit from (info, entertainment, whatever). Obviously I want the content or I wouldn't be there. I'm free to not load it if I don't want it. MS isn't forcing me to view the page. Come on!!! I'm taking something from them. Period. If I think loading a few ads is too big a price to pay, I can bloody well skip the content, can't I?
Yes, their economic model is broken. Yes, their tech solution is simple and backward. The only reason I'm playing devil's advocate is because I thought the article was a bit thought provoking -- but maybe I'm the only one without the knee-jerk reaction here. What got me was their use of the term "leech" -- which as many of you probably know is used in P2P as a person who doesn't share files but sits there downloading em. ie: someone who expects something for nothing -- uses the system without contributing a thing. Yes, I know it's ironic since the files have been pirated in the first place. Thanks for the info. What I'm saying is, I pay for my computer and bandwidth, and I contribute my time, so why should I have to share files? Because that's how that system gets paid for, just like our current economic system is partly paid for by advertising. You can't rape the system and then complain: "See? It doesn't work! Haha!" That's a self-fulfilling prophecy, not to mention staggering wilfull ignorance.
I read part of a recent study that conluded that people don't watch ads on tv anymore. Is anyone surprised by this? Are the advertisers? No. I mean, really, when they get home, do they watch the ads? Probably not. They're hiding. The whole ratings system is based on variable worth of ad time. They don't know what to do next. It's not like the system needs to evolve a bit. It needs to get tossed out the window and start over from scratch. A lot easier said than done. In the meantime, we pay next to nothing for what they have to offer -- tv shows, web content, and on and on. I say next to nothing, because right now we're ignoring their ads and they know we are, but they can't come up with anything better yet. (except British-style license systems which North Americans would probably hate (how many threads of "so they're going to assume I watch tv?! ok, I do, but they don't know that!") and PBS style systems which people also hate and stay away from in droves)
Like I said, I do draw the line at pop-ups, and was rather appalled when I first saw them. It's a blatant subversion of my right, yes right, to simply navigate the web! Like a car that's designed to make you stop at corner shops. But if I choose to stop at the shop, I can hardly rail at the store owner, can I?
What's telling is your use of the word "country" to describe who's happy about it. The country is... The government is... please. There are people making money off this and it's not the people knee-deep in toxic waste trying to feed themselves so they can live today only to die tomorrow.
WTF?! Just because a person has few options and takes what they can get doesn't mean they're HAPPY about it.
Dark Age of Camelot, huh? Have to check that out. Bug riddin, I hear ya. I can't tell you how much time I spent trying to get Morrowind just to run on my PC, and that's after trading it in for a game that required 3d accel which I don't have.
;)
I pick up my Playstation and play Silent Hill if I want intensity, or a little Twisted Metal 4 if I want some quick fun. If I want depth, I can play other stuff off my laptop cause that stuff isn't as intense graphically anyway.
That being said, I wish they'd release Silent Hill for the PC. I don't have a tv here, and I'd at least try to run it!
Man, lemme tell you about this game. A little game called Starflight . Space exploration game. Do some mining to earn some credits, but some better engines to get you out of the system, then start logging worlds for possible colonization and trading/fighting/negotaiting with alien races, if your com officer has the skills to make them understandable. It was a HUGE universe and had cute graphics and great playability, and fit on one 3.5 low density floppy. The original wasn't even IBM compatible. Years later I tried to get one to play. Then came Starflight 2: Trade Routes of the Cloud Nebula. I actually own a new copy. Still huge universe, better playability, more sensible trading, more suspense, always a great plot. And always, always, the ability to choose your own style of play and not follow any kind of one-track story. Never seen anything like it. Again, all on one floppy. Amazing. Course, you couldn't have that big a universe with amazing graphics, but as a result you don't get these great open-ended stories. The best we get are plots with "multiple endings" -- what the heck is that??
The only thing I've seen recently that gave me anywhere near that feeling was Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption by Nihilistic. Some bugs, but beautiful and a lot of freedom. My laptop runs that, so I'm happy.
You start the movement, tell me about it. I'll be there.
I still haven't found console games that compare for the kind of stuff I like (I don't favour the high grahic shooters, though once in a while...). So I'm still a PC gamer. It's just the fact that a high-end video card costs more than the whole gaming console that gets me.
Used to be, people justified the wad of cash they spent on their computer because they could do "work" on it, even though the pricey bits had nothing to do with work. It just didn't sound as reasonable to go spending it on strictly a "game machine". Now, attitudes have changed a bit, and people end up getting a console and a high-end computer.
You may be right about the cost of console gaming given its lack of upgradeablity, particularly given the cost of a collection of games rather than the console itself. But, it has to be said, I still know a lot of people who pick up the console because they know they'll be paying blank CD prices for those games. Hmm. (scratches head) Ok, same for PC's. We have a tie.
How about a new line of MS ads devoted to our favorite tool of social change: peer pressure?
**a gang of good-looking high school kids hanging out in front of the school, along with one slightly dopey looking "outsider"**
Bobby: hey, did you hear? The P-IV it out. And it's blazin fast!
Sue: yeah, we've got one, and suddenly, like, the internet actually makes sense.
Jamie: what about you, Myron? What did you say your dad had?
Myron: Uh. (pushes glasses up on nose) We've got an old Celeron 333, but that's all we need to run Linux.
**everyone laughs**