The US military has just decided it doesn't like 802.11a as it will interefere with their systems. Apparently.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/59/28639.html
Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing. A way to send many wavelengths down an optical fibre. Can be used with fibre already in the ground to increase its capacity manyfold as the upgrade is in the transmitter and the receiver and basically involves better filtering.
Problem with European mobile networks is that they spent far far too much money on 3G network licenses and the technology. Now it seems they still haven't a killer app for it nor a delivery system outside of a lab. Even the almighty Ericsson and Nokia are struggling to get a transmitter out at a reasonable price. Across Europe, networks continually pull out of 3G network agreements (read up on the decline of BT to see a company have to pay a default twice on a 50% stake in 2 weeks - ouch).
The reason Vodafone still has its triple-A credit rating, for those interested, is that it generally offers stocks in payment (or it has for the last couple of years)- thereby incurring no actual cash loss on its balance sheet. Since it continues to post a profit, banks will be happy to accept them for quite some time to come, I suspect. Neato, huh?
BT ofc has now pulled back into Britain only- quite ironic when you consider its strategy in the 80s of becoming the world's dominant telco! Major losses in mobile comms and its loss of position as the only telco in the UK have contributed too but even so BT is really something of an embarassment to me (as a UK resident)- a lot of poor decisions and some bad luck were looking to cripple it and almost succeeded.
The graphics of your average RPG are worse than, say, FPS titles by and large, but we differ because we prefer freedom. Not freedom to take a lock out of a door or whatever, but freedom to do whatever you want whenever you want.
Here's some examples of good, bad and ugly:
Wing Commander II: Wow, going back some here. Random missions of the "go here, kill stuff" variety, or "go here with this" type. Honestly, 4-12 of these per space station, depending on guilds present and membership. Plus big quest-type overarching mission. Expansion pack present and correct. Stupendously linear and samey. Dull.
Baldur's Gate series: Mmmm... tasty fresh... Scope is the winner here. It took me over a year of my life to wade through BGI, BGII and expansions but at the end I felt I had accomplished something. Size matters. Impression of diversity but you fight same stuff all the time and challenge is in combat, not dialogue. Roleplaying largely irrelevant, go fighting skills! Till Starship Titanic we had no dialogue recognition but man, would I love that with Neverwinter 2!
Hitman: Engine issues aside, wow. So many ways to do stuff! 2-4 meaningfully different ways to do levels- pure frosting!
Neverwinter Nights: Still can't make mind up on it. Can see wonderful RPG mechanics, great dialogue options, oh so pretty, editor included etc. BUT single-player campaign disappointing, still can't ride a horse, ooh look another wall I can't climb, height transitions ugly as sin- ooh, and I can't play it for less than 8 hours at a time despite it all.
What'd be in my favourite RPG? Infinite linked meaningful quests with utterly accurate RPG mechanics behind- and here i mean all the proper skill structures. Basically, I'd love to bring my own roleplaying experiences to the PC properly, but it's a totally different environment. You don't have a DM who can improvise on the spot in realtime (least not that I've seen) and whose plans you can throw awry, and until my PC can handle me thinking outside the box it won't happen. What we really need IMO is a program with a DM client as easy to use as your very own IRL DM talking to you- or a computer capable of restructuring its game to keep it interesting if you make choices that do not match the "prescribed" path.
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So when the ISP comes knocking, all I have to do is wave around a copy of the CD and Bob's my uncle, right?
Turn it off then. Why do you think I can delete a voicemail before I finish listening to it?
The US military has just decided it doesn't like 802.11a as it will interefere with their systems. Apparently. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/59/28639.html
Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing. A way to send many wavelengths down an optical fibre. Can be used with fibre already in the ground to increase its capacity manyfold as the upgrade is in the transmitter and the receiver and basically involves better filtering.
Problem with European mobile networks is that they spent far far too much money on 3G network licenses and the technology. Now it seems they still haven't a killer app for it nor a delivery system outside of a lab. Even the almighty Ericsson and Nokia are struggling to get a transmitter out at a reasonable price. Across Europe, networks continually pull out of 3G network agreements (read up on the decline of BT to see a company have to pay a default twice on a 50% stake in 2 weeks - ouch).
The reason Vodafone still has its triple-A credit rating, for those interested, is that it generally offers stocks in payment (or it has for the last couple of years)- thereby incurring no actual cash loss on its balance sheet. Since it continues to post a profit, banks will be happy to accept them for quite some time to come, I suspect. Neato, huh?
BT ofc has now pulled back into Britain only- quite ironic when you consider its strategy in the 80s of becoming the world's dominant telco! Major losses in mobile comms and its loss of position as the only telco in the UK have contributed too but even so BT is really something of an embarassment to me (as a UK resident)- a lot of poor decisions and some bad luck were looking to cripple it and almost succeeded.
Ah well, 4G will save us. Right, guys?
Disprove me. That is a challenge.
The graphics of your average RPG are worse than, say, FPS titles by and large, but we differ because we prefer freedom. Not freedom to take a lock out of a door or whatever, but freedom to do whatever you want whenever you want.
Here's some examples of good, bad and ugly:
Wing Commander II: Wow, going back some here. Random missions of the "go here, kill stuff" variety, or "go here with this" type. Honestly, 4-12 of these per space station, depending on guilds present and membership. Plus big quest-type overarching mission. Expansion pack present and correct. Stupendously linear and samey. Dull.
Baldur's Gate series: Mmmm... tasty fresh... Scope is the winner here. It took me over a year of my life to wade through BGI, BGII and expansions but at the end I felt I had accomplished something. Size matters. Impression of diversity but you fight same stuff all the time and challenge is in combat, not dialogue. Roleplaying largely irrelevant, go fighting skills! Till Starship Titanic we had no dialogue recognition but man, would I love that with Neverwinter 2!
Hitman: Engine issues aside, wow. So many ways to do stuff! 2-4 meaningfully different ways to do levels- pure frosting!
Neverwinter Nights: Still can't make mind up on it. Can see wonderful RPG mechanics, great dialogue options, oh so pretty, editor included etc. BUT single-player campaign disappointing, still can't ride a horse, ooh look another wall I can't climb, height transitions ugly as sin- ooh, and I can't play it for less than 8 hours at a time despite it all.
What'd be in my favourite RPG? Infinite linked meaningful quests with utterly accurate RPG mechanics behind- and here i mean all the proper skill structures. Basically, I'd love to bring my own roleplaying experiences to the PC properly, but it's a totally different environment. You don't have a DM who can improvise on the spot in realtime (least not that I've seen) and whose plans you can throw awry, and until my PC can handle me thinking outside the box it won't happen. What we really need IMO is a program with a DM client as easy to use as your very own IRL DM talking to you- or a computer capable of restructuring its game to keep it interesting if you make choices that do not match the "prescribed" path.