I, regrettfully, have to agree with this because we, the US, can no longer worry about who we offend because we're damned if we do, damned if we don't. Also it's too the point where we go out of our way to not offend and people end up getting killed over it.
I'm not sure how this will prevent anything but hopefully it can. It seems to be more of a future hindsight, tracing of the act, etc. for all I know. I'm not trying to contradict myself by saying I support it then saying I'm not sure it will work. I know doing this to our allies is also circumspect but there are people of all origins with this twisted ideaology so no one is immune. I can also say if other countries, who are targets, want to do the same to me then I wouldn't bitch about it.
We live in a world that changed a few years back and one that will never be the same. I'm not some right wing extremeist-isolationist nor am I some left winger who's so overly concerned about other's feelings that they don't see how some of the people they want to help would rather see them dead. I am an independent/idealist who operates on common sense. The two main political parties of my country are so caught up in politics so all they care about is one-upping the other party or making themselves look better, all the while, not caring about the average person's rights and what's going on around us.
We, as people in the US, are walking around daily as the biggest targets in the world. I wish we could go back to post 911 when the world rallied around us and cried for out losses but Iraq fucked all of that up. I don't believe we had a purpose to be there but now that we are we can't just leave as the entire game has changed. We are doing good thing in Iraq and if we left now it'd be total chaos and the world view of us would drop to all time lows. No we shouldn't be there but we are so we have to make sure things are right before we leave.
I love my country and I love my life. I value other's lives no matter the ethnicity, no matter their skin color, origin, or ideology. In saying all of that I am all for wiping the planet of those who don't give a fuck about innocent people's lives, kill for twisted beliefs, and/or anything else that is about terrorism. If I could sacrifice myself just to right the ship I would but I can't. All murderers of innocent people need to pay the ultimate price bar none.
I see things getting worse and Spain is a perfect example. They helped in Iraq and they became a target. They were bombed, the innocent died, and they came together as a nation. The sad thing is instead of remaining dilligent and going all out to rid the world of terrorism they voted in the leftist candidates and are going to pull out of Iraq. My point is the did exactly what the terrorists wanted and they, infact, rewarded the terrorists for the murders. The people of Spain actually made gave the terrorists a political place as the terrorist's act enabled a complete change in government ideology.
Spain empowered the extremists and they are still a target-read today's news.
The point I'm making is on-topic because what I am saying is we no longer live in pre-911 days. It's never going to be the same and we need to do anything and everything to protect ourselves and head-off future terrorist attacks.
I hope people can understand and Turn-about is fair play if they want to mug/print me.
Extremism is a world wide infection that if we don't squash it then we are all doomed as are our freedoms...
I just love how these stories are skewed in a way to make us all seemm dishonest and guilty of piracy. The word piracy is so mis-used these days and holds as much credence as the boy who cried wolf. The absolute fact is that those who pirate are the minority and, I do stress minor, not the majority.
I know we have these companies claiming to lose so and so dollars to piracy but a lot of these "missed sales" are sales that wouldn't have been made in the first place but they don't take into account all the rentals and such.
I really think there's a growing trend of civil disobedience and user backlash because of all the accusations about piracy. It's kind of like "if you think I'm a pirate I'll show you what a pirate is" mentality. I mean prices are outrageous, products are released in alpha/beta states, and very few offer the quality we pay for.
My message to these whiners is get your shit together, quit accusing your customers of stealing, and put out a respectable, quality product and you're going to make money.
Until then all of them can STFU.
Back to my modded XBOX...hmmmm....what will I play today???? SOme MAME? atari26000 emu? colecovision emu? Apple II emu? Intellevision emu? Sega emu? Nah I think I'll play the WoW alpha.....
Use the headphones but plug them into an old, big-ass, tape deck that's playing "Wham" (George Michael) on it. Realizing what's going on the mugger should shit his/her pants and run for his/her life...
You know these topics are beaten to death and nothing ever becomes of them nor is there any attempt to create a change. I say STFU and fucking do something about it or don't bitch. I personally don't buy shit anymore. I can go without and indy labels don't really appeal to me so I have enough stuff built up to make it through these times.
You know if people would just stop buying, and I mean an enormous amount of people, then we could finally reap somekind of reward for our actions like freedom to do what we want, when we want with different forms of media. Everyone should be getting together to protest in certain types of civil disobedience and they like because money talks, bullshit walks.
Hit them where it hurts - pocket books - and we'll see a HUGE difference because no one is listening now. They see people continuing to buy so where's the incentive to back off? There isn't. The people to go after first are the paid-for politicians who are selling our rights as consumers for personal gain and no one does shit except call them names. That really hurts a politician!
We really need people in the loop, in government agencies, in all forms of life to help make this change or the days of "big brother" will be something we wished we had instead of where we'll end up. This issue goes so much deeper than freedom with music, movies, etc. This is about the selling of our rights on a day to say basis for personal gain and to further enslave us, or better yet, indoctrinate us into a system of conplete and utter control.
I think this does have it's place although it needs a better price point. I sometimes will go grab a bite to eat because I'm busy and eat in my vehicle and I could see watching something on the device while I'm eating.
How many people read in the bathroom? How about watching something instead of reading and, this has to be mentioned, a portable pr0n device. I am serious this would be a great selling point but I know they'll stay away from it.
I can also see using the pvr function if you want to catch up on news/tv shows on the go if you are traveling or whatever. Seems to have plenty of legs for me but as far as a PDA it's too big.
Personally I don't think everything has to be combined on one device. For one it's overkill and tends to become bloatware. Companies just try to add functionality for the sake of saying it can do this and that without adding quality into the equation.
I say keep this a multimedia device and can the pda crap. The Ipod pda would be a good example of this argument because it's beyond basic and really serves no purpose other than to say it has the functionality.
I just might buy one of these things if the price becomes less prohibitive and reasonable.
Ok since I'm appealing to the lowest commmon denominator I have to add one more hilarious dung related item....
Watch the movie Trainspotting with subtitles on and particularly the scene "The Worst Toilet in Scotland". When Mark Renton is on the toilet pay special attention to the words being subtitled and hilarity insues. One of the funniest things I've ever seen!
That entire article is onlt one man's opinion and not the absolute truth. Everyone is different hence you cannot predict what people want and/or will want in the future. Trust me many have tried on numerous topics and failed miserably.
Gaming has a long past and even brighter future regardless if gameplay isn't massively different in the future. A game is about passing time, escaping, a hobby, and plain ole fun.
There are millions of games out there for all types of preferences and all types of attention spans. There is something for everyone. Even though there seems to be a lack of original content in the last few years there has been an advancement in gameplay. More interactivity (HL2 environments), a move towards team based play and operating vehicles (CoD, BF 1942, UT2k4), and this is just in FPS's. MM's are also evolving into more of a FP view with much more depth not including SW Galaxies.
Things don't evolve overnight and some people just like to whine about the current state of affairs but I see it simply evolving at a slower pace because there's a lot more companies making games these days and orginality is harder to come by.
FYI- the author stated that people these days don't play the recent older games and I disagree. There's plenty of Q1, Q2, HL players out there. They are still creating new content (maps, models, etc.) so those scenes are still alive although not as large as they used to be.
The last thing I'll say is I totally disagree about once you're over 35 you can't game because you're a loser or manchild or somthing along those lines. I was on a blizzard board a while back and some guy stated that he thought most gamers are in the 15-20 year old range. Gamers came out of the woodwork to tell their age and why they game. The average gamer was over 40 and the oldest was 72! Don't let people who do no research and simply speculate convince you of something that is completely untrue.
Gaming is here to stay even if games stopped evolving from this day on.
Our big boss is totally computer/technology illiterate. Let me show you the depths of his abyssmal knowledge of the most simple of tasks...
These are things he says to me...
My son just sent me this digital clock can you set it up for me?
This fucking printer never works! My response-Do you see the toner light flashing? That means it's out.
The reason he gets so pissed is because he prints every email everyday and then goes in the woman's bathroom to drop a stinky load while reading through them. No joke!
He keeps a minimum of 5000 emails in his inbox and around 5000 in sent and another 10000 in deleted. Yes it's a lovely thing along with his constant crashing of outlook (it doesn't need much help)!
Our top MCSE (oxymoron) will take down the network mid-day while warning no one and usually has problems getting it back up yet our big boss refers to him as the "GENIUS".
I never understood how pop-ups tricked people until I saw our big box click on one that said "YOU HAVE WON!". I was enlightened to say the least.
The rest of the users I support, around 80, are unbelievably computer illiterate...to the point of myself just letting them talk about what they think they know so they will just stfu!
For example one guy was trying to convince me how DVDXcopy rips dvd in mp3 format and he finds the quality superior to DVD.
WTF?
As usual I just listened till he left since it's pointless to respond because these fucking idiots know they are right.
One of the funniest things that happened was when our top MCSE (Oxy Moron x 2) opened an infected attachment and set in motion a massive virus outbreak. File servers, mail servers, beepersystem, phone systems, etc. all dead in a matter of minutes as we run M$ shiite and it was unpatched.
Yet another fucking no brainer!
Does anyone here just throw out big tech terms just to see the user you're talking to implode from their lack of trying to comprehend something well beyond their comprehension?
Here are my favorite questions to ask even before getting started on solving an issue.
Is it plugged in?
Are you logged in as yourself?
Do you know your name?
Do you know what printer you printed to?
Did your parents have any kids that lived?
How can you be so fucking stoopid?
One last thing....
Our big boss is an unbelievable, accidental bug finder no matter what he uses. He can break any and all software/hardware you throw at him and have no idea how it happened but the funniest thing ever involving him wasn't really him but to me personified his luck with pc's, etc.
This is short and sweet... I was going through my email and received and email from him. I clicked on the email and in that instant the power blinked in the building and went out for hours. I know this has nothing to do with him but can anyone actually prove it?
I doubt the move towards not having a hardrive is related to making it cheaper to produce...Maybe partly but IMO it's geared towards the mod chips, evox bios's and such which make it all too easy to copy games. Without having the hardrive it's kind of hard to copy the games but there's always ftp via lan connection. Of course I have no direct knowledge of this but I did read about it on the internet once...
Cost is definitely an incentive but I would also pay for Gimp. Hopefully OSS will take off and the average user will start to love it. If and when that happens we will see prices drop across the board.
We will also see less people "pirating"/"warezing" software because it will be affordable and the big companies can no longer use that excuse to jack up the prices.
So you lower the price, pirating drops, and you sell more units. To me that cancels out the loss in profit from the price drop but I'm sure the big companies will spin it into a megative instead of being a positive for all parties involved and most importantly consumers.
Maybe if the previously mentioned does happen then the RIAA could learn from it and drop their prices....nah...I'm fucking dreaming now....
I've been using PS for many years and as new features are implemented I recommend PS to people but the price is prohibitive to say the least. This is where Gimp owns the competition and particularly PS. Although Gimp isn't a dupe of PS it is very, very powerful and intuitive and with the price how can it lose?
Personally I am moving into Gimp from Photoshop as well as Openoffice from MS Office because I'm just tired of the ridiculous upgrades to keep compatibility issues in check.
Open source is the single greatest thing to happen in a very long time. It has opened up a new horizon for me and the people I recommend software to. I am our company's "IT Guy" for our state and my top recommendations of late are Firefox, Openoffice, Gimp, and SuSe for those looking for a change. This is coming from a strictly Adobe/M$ house. I figured I could use the "$" now since I'm an open source fanboy now!
It's pretty cool when I can move 100's of people in the direction of open source and this filters down to their families too so I am doing my part.
I guess I am one of the freaks you speak of since I have a crazy rig full of lights, mods, etc. I just built my new box last night and I really want to see what it'll do so I'm going to try UT2k4 when I get home.
Thusfar my new box is insane in terms of speed and that includes non-gaming activities.
Specs- Athlon 3200+ 64bit gingerly oc'd to 3600 and stable Gigabyte K8N Pro w/Dual Bios/F9-Build 1 gig Corsair XMS 3200cs2 GeforceFX 5950 120 Gig Maxtor w/8meg cache 160 Gig Maxtor w/8meg cache Soundblaster Audigy WinXP Pro SP1 and if it matters 2.4 mb connection and case mods including the typical big ass clear window, 6 80mm red lit case fans, 2 attached dual hd cooling fans, 2 cold cathode uv lights, modded ps, uv reflective drive cables, etc., etc., etc.
I just moved from a P4 2ghz and the difference is ridiculous. I have never experienced such an extreme difference in speed. My new box NEVER skips a beat, doesn't get tied up, and multi-tasks unlike any box I've ever used.
Yes this box was built for gaming but I also do video editing, graphic design, etc. so it performs there as well.
I will be going SATA/raid in the future to further enhance the performance but considering I just dropped $1200 at newegg among others...that'll have to wait a bit. If I would have bought this as a retail OEM box I would have paid over 2k easy.
I get so sick of reading and hearing crap like this...about how the teachers are the real heros and should make a lot more money. Where I live they start at 40k and they get a week or two off at christmas, spring break, and 3 months off in the summer. I'd take a paycut to get those hours at that rate any day. Teaching is a job just like any other and just because you're dealing with kids doesn't entitle you to more money than a comparative position.
Teachers are not heros, teachers have a job like everyone else and shouldn't expect entitlements especially when they get a quarter of the year off and continue to get paid.
Maybe babysitters and child car workers should make 40k a year starting since they work with kids and also teach them on different levels too?
Bullshit
If you think you deserve more money quit complaining and begging for entitlements and switch careers or are you too lazy to do that? I guess bitching is easier...
You're another long line of mac sycophants. You people are so in love with macs that your denial is never ceases to amaze me. You spew the same baseless, backwards rhetoric about macs and expect the non-mac zealots to buy into it.
Fuck you!
Your quality over quantity has to be the most utterly ridiculous comment I've read in some time.
Let me break down your comment you fucktard since you contradict yourself in 3 short sentences...
Sure there aren't as many games, but one thing you will notice is that the games that do get ported are usually the most popular and/or best games available. These are the kind of people who accept quantity over quality. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that applies to all Windows/PC users: they all prefer quantity over quality.
So the best games get ported to mac for the people who support quality over quantity yet winOS users prefer quantity over quality? So the best, most popular games being ported from WINDOWS are quality yet the same games on Windows are crap and about quantity?
GO FUCK YOURSELF YOU FUCKING IDIOT:P
As always I love to flame MS's (mac sycophants)
P.S. Like I give a shit about karma even though mine is excellent:)
How the fuck is this ridiculously, pro-mac, spun drivel flagged as insightful?
The great thing about using a mac is the cool shareware stuff. We've got some of the best developers (Ambrosia, Pangaeasoft, they're everywhere) and we get some great games.
Are you fucking kidding me? I'm neither pro-mac or pc but the blind flock of mac sheep have to be the most unrealistic bunch of fucking idiots I run across. How can the parent to my relpy be flagged as insightful? Saying the mac has some of the best (game)developers is like saying Howard Dean will win the presidency. I'm sure Jobs can sell it to you idiots like the media sold you on Howard Dean's destiny but look where Dean is now!
Plain and simple the pc is the best gaming platform and that's a fact. Consoles are cool too but they have their limits but give me a mother-fucking-break on the mac having some of the best developers and also even mentioning in the same sentence as gaming.
It's the so-called artists platform and that's it even though the web dev you previously couldn't do on a pc and only on a mac is second nature on a pc these days.
I really hate mac addicts, fanboys, bitches, sheep, etc., etc., to ad nauseam. Normal users are cool on any level but the fanbuys need to die slow.
Let me be clear on this... I FUCKING HATE MAC FANBOYS!!
Please flame me to death on how I'm a pc fanboy, BSOD, os stability, paying more becasue the case is cool, macs are groovy, I don't have a life, never get laid, I'm ghey, I'm a n00b, I have no idea, check out this great mac article, have a small dick, was raped by MJ, smell like shit, my mom's a whore, my dad was a goat, goatse is my priest, eat shit, die mother fucker die, suck dick, shun ass, job's rules, job's is a maverick, apple is the fastest, apple is the prettiest, apple is original, apple raises the bar, you're cool I'm not, I pork animals, pong rules on OSX, I missed the point, I'm a child, I'm an idiot etc., etc., etc.
At least I can post this under my real name and not as anon proving I don't give a fuck what any of you think.
AM I angry? No but this is fun. Hopefully the pro-mac mods will score me lower than humanly possible as I'm sick of my 4's and 5's:D
In closing....Mac Fanboys...
F U C K Y O U!!!
P.S. I will never forget you! P.P.S. Do you really think I'd go for the intellectual angle when that's been done so many times before? The bottom of the barrel is what I'm shooting for....kinda of like gaming on a mac...mac? Sounds like a shitty burger from McDonalds but the burgers don't give you the shits as bad as a mac.
That's all it is but with the news of lawsuits and things of that nature common sense dictates that people haven't stopped...they have all just moved to the 3rd tier of underground.
Mainstream Tier (Leaves out user friendly gui's, freenet, gnutella, and others I won't list as I'm not helping the enema...errr...I mean enemy)
1st Tier - Store Bought Cd's 2nd Tier - Napster 3rd Tier - Kazaa 4th Tier - Too many to list plus I'm not helping those pussies out.
Pretty simple. RIAA (TRIES) to raise the bar The public goes further underground and averts being caught. The majority of people are a step a head and the RIAA is a step behind. The RIAA thinks they are being pro-active when in fact they are re-active.
You can't beat what you do not understand and you can't stop the future. Period. RIAA = Pathetic existense and they only get through to the people who use those AOL cd's they get in magazines.
It's common knowlegde apple users cannot admit or accept the truth when it concerns apple products. They base a substantial part of their argument on the "coolness" factor and that's a fucking joke. Apple annoced the G5 when? How many months ago? How many months did it take before it came out? How long did it take for Intel/AMD to match and pass it? How long until Apple releases their next generation and how long after that will it reach the market?
When I feel like paying double for a pretty case, proprietary hardware, lack of customization, one button mice, lack of software choices, gaming, and riding Steven Jobs jock and taking offense to any comment that isn't raving about Apple then maybe I'll buy one....until then I'll spend my money on something that doesn't turn me into a egocentric, artsy, elitist, douchebag.
Yes Apple users I'm aiming that right between your cutting edge eyes.
P.S. Take your Ipods and shove 'em up your rose smelling asses:D
Fuckin' A right. Although the game might be a wee bit immature it's a parody of itself. No one takes it seriously and what other games uses piss as a weapon? Personally I love to pee on someone in-game and then shovel them in the throat. Would I do this IRL? No but why not on the net?
There's hookers out there for guys/women who can't get any so why not murder for those who don't want to really do it because it can be a mess to clean up?
Can you imagine if you pissed on someone till they puked and then gave 'em the shovel IRL? I bet you would get in trouble not to mention the embarassment of the crime so personally I'd have to get rid of the body so I wouldn't get caught. It's a good thing I like fava beans and chianti and my toilet is very powerful or I'd have to pull a "Peterson" and we all know how well that works.
Seriously if you don't think running around pissing on people in a multi-player environment isn't nirvana then something is wrong with you. I will also second the "cunt" comment. Get a sense of humor or stfu:D
Spoken like a true apple sycophant. They do no evil in your eyes no matter what proof is sitting in front of your face. So it's ok to pay excessive amounts and pay even more when your pretty device no longer works because it's pretty? You must get ripped off a lot and it's thinking like that that keeps making things like this happen.
So if I buy a car that looks great but has an "expiration" date I should pick it over a normal looking car that has a normal shelf life? Ho sure I can pay an excessive amount to get the pretty car running again after all it's only money and I am paying for superior design and quality in hardware. It's just to bad my superior designed car's hardware has to be defibrillated to work again at at premium price
Now if we can keep the entertainment industry(s) from now trying to rewrite the laws and make it legal to supoena without judicial oversight well be set. Yes it would mean they'd move to more overtly sinister means but if so they'd be screwing themselves.
Let us rejoice in this one small/big victory for regular people. You know as big as these lawsuits were supposed to be there's been little if any in the news about them. I think it's more of a campaign of disinformation than anything and some people are weak enough to buy it but most aren't ignorant to what's going on.
Ponder this...how long until we get pulled over by the police for speeding or something else along those lines and they search our vehicles for mps's burned on cdr's? I can just see being in the "bighouse" with a bunch of murderers and rapists and then they ask me what I did. Oh I just burned some Britney Spears song to a cd. What's that Bubba? Do I have to drop 'em and grab my ankles?
Tyler once said "The things you own end up owning you" and was totally and completely against consumerism. To me this would mean Tyler Durden would not sponsor any consumer product what-so-ever.
If this game was true to F.C. then once you popped in the game you'd get the spliced porn and it would fry your pc/console.
P.S. A good game would be to dumpster dive for bags of womens cellulite and cooking it up to make soap in a lab.
I agree with all the previous posts saying how this is just another control mechanism. How in the hell can any human being accept a standard that automatically charges your bank account or credit card? I can see it now...you accidentally click on something and you end up buying it even thought you never agreed to or wanted said product.
So what is your response to this Mega-Corporation virtual theft? You call up their 1-800 number based in some 3rd world country and sit on hold for a day or so. When you finally get someone online they know nothing plus you can't understand a word they say.
God this sounds fucking great! I can't wait! Where do I sign up?
Seriously these mega-corps can institute this standard or whatever they want to call it and sell it to the masses but we DO have a say so. I hope it goes the way of the 1st incarnation of DivX from Circuit City and burns out oh so quickly.
We as consumers can reject this outright and not buy into it. Money talks and bullshit walks. Money is the only thing these companies understand and that's the genesis of the entire drm/dmca argument although they would like to convince us it's just the ability to innovate.
With groups wanting to tie a drm to hardware and now this I really think the day is coming where we will actually want to stick with yesterday's hardware (today's) and forgo the next gen with all of the mega-media money protections built in.
I will stick with the hardware that I can control and not let it control me.
You would think with all of the bad press about suing children and grandparents no matter if it's true or not that the RIAA would be going the other way in terms of making things right.
Instead of hiring a good pr firm, coming up with a new, more tech-centric business model, and working all of their pricing angles for optimum profit they hire a big wig from a major govement organization relating to alcohol, tobaco, and firearms.
WTF?
I guess the RIAA is positioning itself as a late to the party ATF wanna be. To be renamed at some point to the ATFRIAA.
Seriously the RIAA has been buying laws, lawmakers, and shaping the unknowing, non-technolgy-knowing, public opinion to mirror their b.s. argument in hope of gaining more power and more allies. They are becoming a power to reckon with and will only gain more power in the years to come unless the masses are educated into what's at stake.
We're talking personal freedoms and the like. It's not about music it's about choice and being innocent until proven guilty. Under the RIAA's system you need not consult a judge before they violate your rights and you are guilty no matter what you say or haven't done.
Only when the masses send the message with their wallets will these power mongers get the message.
I really hop we are headed in the right direction but when Britney Spears sells 600,000+ cd's a week of her new release something isn't right or someone isn't in the loop as to what's happening because of a few bits as sent through their cat5 of whatever else they use to receive and tranfer information.
I enlighten as many people as I can to what's happening and even have the anti riaa stickers on my vehicle that I bought from thinkgeek.com. I'll probably get the t-shirt there as well as the better one on jinxhackwear.com and yet another good one on tshirthell.com.
Eff is yet another organization we should support because they fight for issues directly related to technology and especially RIAA related issues.
Get involved or get F*****!!! That's the way I see it! I keep it clean when I can:D
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I, regrettfully, have to agree with this because we, the US, can no longer worry about who we offend because we're damned if we do, damned if we don't. Also it's too the point where we go out of our way to not offend and people end up getting killed over it.
I'm not sure how this will prevent anything but hopefully it can. It seems to be more of a future hindsight, tracing of the act, etc. for all I know. I'm not trying to contradict myself by saying I support it then saying I'm not sure it will work. I know doing this to our allies is also circumspect but there are people of all origins with this twisted ideaology so no one is immune.
I can also say if other countries, who are targets, want to do the same to me then I wouldn't bitch about it.
We live in a world that changed a few years back and one that will never be the same. I'm not some right wing extremeist-isolationist nor am I some left winger who's so overly concerned about other's feelings that they don't see how some of the people they want to help would rather see them dead. I am an independent/idealist who operates on common sense. The two main political parties of my country are so caught up in politics so all they care about is one-upping the other party or making themselves look better, all the while, not caring about the average person's rights and what's going on around us.
We, as people in the US, are walking around daily as the biggest targets in the world. I wish we could go back to post 911 when the world rallied around us and cried for out losses but Iraq fucked all of that up. I don't believe we had a purpose to be there but now that we are we can't just leave as the entire game has changed. We are doing good thing in Iraq and if we left now it'd be total chaos and the world view of us would drop to all time lows. No we shouldn't be there but we are so we have to make sure things are right before we leave.
I love my country and I love my life. I value other's lives no matter the ethnicity, no matter their skin color, origin, or ideology. In saying all of that I am all for wiping the planet of those who don't give a fuck about innocent people's lives, kill for twisted beliefs, and/or anything else that is about terrorism. If I could sacrifice myself just to right the ship I would but I can't. All murderers of innocent people need to pay the ultimate price bar none.
I see things getting worse and Spain is a perfect example. They helped in Iraq and they became a target. They were bombed, the innocent died, and they came together as a nation. The sad thing is instead of remaining dilligent and going all out to rid the world of terrorism they voted in the leftist candidates and are going to pull out of Iraq. My point is the did exactly what the terrorists wanted and they, infact, rewarded the terrorists for the murders. The people of Spain actually made gave the terrorists a political place as the terrorist's act enabled a complete change in government ideology.
Spain empowered the extremists and they are still a target-read today's news.
The point I'm making is on-topic because what I am saying is we no longer live in pre-911 days. It's never going to be the same and we need to do anything and everything to protect ourselves and head-off future terrorist attacks.
I hope people can understand and Turn-about is fair play if they want to mug/print me.
Extremism is a world wide infection that if we don't squash it then we are all doomed as are our freedoms...
I just love how these stories are skewed in a way to make us all seemm dishonest and guilty of piracy. The word piracy is so mis-used these days and holds as much credence as the boy who cried wolf. The absolute fact is that those who pirate are the minority and, I do stress minor, not the majority.
I know we have these companies claiming to lose so and so dollars to piracy but a lot of these "missed sales" are sales that wouldn't have been made in the first place but they don't take into account all the rentals and such.
I really think there's a growing trend of civil disobedience and user backlash because of all the accusations about piracy. It's kind of like "if you think I'm a pirate I'll show you what a pirate is" mentality. I mean prices are outrageous, products are released in alpha/beta states, and very few offer the quality we pay for.
My message to these whiners is get your shit together, quit accusing your customers of stealing, and put out a respectable, quality product and you're going to make money.
Until then all of them can STFU.
Back to my modded XBOX...hmmmm....what will I play today???? SOme MAME? atari26000 emu? colecovision emu? Apple II emu? Intellevision emu? Sega emu? Nah I think I'll play the WoW alpha.....
Use the headphones but plug them into an old, big-ass, tape deck that's playing "Wham" (George Michael) on it. Realizing what's going on the mugger should shit his/her pants and run for his/her life...
You know these topics are beaten to death and nothing ever becomes of them nor is there any attempt to create a change. I say STFU and fucking do something about it or don't bitch. I personally don't buy shit anymore. I can go without and indy labels don't really appeal to me so I have enough stuff built up to make it through these times.
You know if people would just stop buying, and I mean an enormous amount of people, then we could finally reap somekind of reward for our actions like freedom to do what we want, when we want with different forms of media. Everyone should be getting together to protest in certain types of civil disobedience and they like because money talks, bullshit walks.
Hit them where it hurts - pocket books - and we'll see a HUGE difference because no one is listening now. They see people continuing to buy so where's the incentive to back off? There isn't. The people to go after first are the paid-for politicians who are selling our rights as consumers for personal gain and no one does shit except call them names. That really hurts a politician!
We really need people in the loop, in government agencies, in all forms of life to help make this change or the days of "big brother" will be something we wished we had instead of where we'll end up. This issue goes so much deeper than freedom with music, movies, etc. This is about the selling of our rights on a day to say basis for personal gain and to further enslave us, or better yet, indoctrinate us into a system of conplete and utter control.
Seriously....DO FUCKING SOMETHING!!! ANYTHING!!!
I think this does have it's place although it needs a better price point. I sometimes will go grab a bite to eat because I'm busy and eat in my vehicle and I could see watching something on the device while I'm eating.
How many people read in the bathroom?
How about watching something instead of reading and, this has to be mentioned, a portable pr0n device. I am serious this would be a great selling point but I know they'll stay away from it.
I can also see using the pvr function if you want to catch up on news/tv shows on the go if you are traveling or whatever. Seems to have plenty of legs for me but as far as a PDA it's too big.
Personally I don't think everything has to be combined on one device. For one it's overkill and tends to become bloatware. Companies just try to add functionality for the sake of saying it can do this and that without adding quality into the equation.
I say keep this a multimedia device and can the pda crap. The Ipod pda would be a good example of this argument because it's beyond basic and really serves no purpose other than to say it has the functionality.
I just might buy one of these things if the price becomes less prohibitive and reasonable.
Homeless - Will release methane for food
When you shit you save lives.
Give shit a chance
Beans power the world
Where do you want to shit today?
We bring your shit to life
We've Got the Time, You've Got the Shit.
Where's The Shit?
Do the shit
Smart. Beautiful. Shit.
Ok since I'm appealing to the lowest commmon denominator I have to add one more hilarious dung related item....
Watch the movie Trainspotting with subtitles on and particularly the scene "The Worst Toilet in Scotland". When Mark Renton is on the toilet pay special attention to the words being subtitled and hilarity insues. One of the funniest things I've ever seen!
That entire article is onlt one man's opinion and not the absolute truth. Everyone is different hence you cannot predict what people want and/or will want in the future. Trust me many have tried on numerous topics and failed miserably.
Gaming has a long past and even brighter future regardless if gameplay isn't massively different in the future. A game is about passing time, escaping, a hobby, and plain ole fun.
There are millions of games out there for all types of preferences and all types of attention spans. There is something for everyone. Even though there seems to be a lack of original content in the last few years there has been an advancement in gameplay. More interactivity (HL2 environments), a move towards team based play and operating vehicles (CoD, BF 1942, UT2k4), and this is just in FPS's. MM's are also evolving into more of a FP view with much more depth not including SW Galaxies.
Things don't evolve overnight and some people just like to whine about the current state of affairs but I see it simply evolving at a slower pace because there's a lot more companies making games these days and orginality is harder to come by.
FYI- the author stated that people these days don't play the recent older games and I disagree. There's plenty of Q1, Q2, HL players out there. They are still creating new content (maps, models, etc.) so those scenes are still alive although not as large as they used to be.
The last thing I'll say is I totally disagree about once you're over 35 you can't game because you're a loser or manchild or somthing along those lines. I was on a blizzard board a while back and some guy stated that he thought most gamers are in the 15-20 year old range. Gamers came out of the woodwork to tell their age and why they game. The average gamer was over 40 and the oldest was 72!
Don't let people who do no research and simply speculate convince you of something that is completely untrue.
Gaming is here to stay even if games stopped evolving from this day on.
It's simply a part of our lives...
Our big boss is totally computer/technology illiterate. Let me show you the depths of his abyssmal knowledge of the most simple of tasks...
These are things he says to me...
My son just sent me this digital clock can you set it up for me?
This fucking printer never works! My response-Do you see the toner light flashing? That means it's out.
The reason he gets so pissed is because he prints every email everyday and then goes in the woman's bathroom to drop a stinky load while reading through them. No joke!
He keeps a minimum of 5000 emails in his inbox and around 5000 in sent and another 10000 in deleted. Yes it's a lovely thing along with his constant crashing of outlook (it doesn't need much help)!
Our top MCSE (oxymoron) will take down the network mid-day while warning no one and usually has problems getting it back up yet our big boss refers to him as the "GENIUS".
I never understood how pop-ups tricked people until I saw our big box click on one that said "YOU HAVE WON!". I was enlightened to say the least.
The rest of the users I support, around 80, are unbelievably computer illiterate...to the point of myself just letting them talk about what they think they know so they will just stfu!
For example one guy was trying to convince me how DVDXcopy rips dvd in mp3 format and he finds the quality superior to DVD.
WTF?
As usual I just listened till he left since it's pointless to respond because these fucking idiots know they are right.
One of the funniest things that happened was when our top MCSE (Oxy Moron x 2) opened an infected attachment and set in motion a massive virus outbreak. File servers, mail servers, beepersystem, phone systems, etc. all dead in a matter of minutes as we run M$ shiite and it was unpatched.
Yet another fucking no brainer!
Does anyone here just throw out big tech terms just to see the user you're talking to implode from their lack of trying to comprehend something well beyond their comprehension?
Here are my favorite questions to ask even before getting started on solving an issue.
Is it plugged in?
Are you logged in as yourself?
Do you know your name?
Do you know what printer you printed to?
Did your parents have any kids that lived?
How can you be so fucking stoopid?
One last thing....
Our big boss is an unbelievable, accidental bug finder no matter what he uses. He can break any and all software/hardware you throw at him and have no idea how it happened but the funniest thing ever involving him wasn't really him but to me personified his luck with pc's, etc.
This is short and sweet...
I was going through my email and received and email from him. I clicked on the email and in that instant the power blinked in the building and went out for hours. I know this has nothing to do with him but can anyone actually prove it?
I doubt the move towards not having a hardrive is related to making it cheaper to produce...Maybe partly but IMO it's geared towards the mod chips, evox bios's and such which make it all too easy to copy games. Without having the hardrive it's kind of hard to copy the games but there's always ftp via lan connection. Of course I have no direct knowledge of this but I did read about it on the internet once...
Cost is definitely an incentive but I would also pay for Gimp. Hopefully OSS will take off and the average user will start to love it. If and when that happens we will see prices drop across the board.
We will also see less people "pirating"/"warezing" software because it will be affordable and the big companies can no longer use that excuse to jack up the prices.
So you lower the price, pirating drops, and you sell more units. To me that cancels out the loss in profit from the price drop but I'm sure the big companies will spin it into a megative instead of being a positive for all parties involved and most importantly consumers.
Maybe if the previously mentioned does happen then the RIAA could learn from it and drop their prices....nah...I'm fucking dreaming now....
This is just what the N-Gage needs to....
a) Gain an even bigger market share
b) Fail on a much higher level
c) Who cares? N-Gage SUCKS!!!
d) Al Gore invented the N-Gage so it is doomed from the start
I've been using PS for many years and as new features are implemented I recommend PS to people but the price is prohibitive to say the least. This is where Gimp owns the competition and particularly PS. Although Gimp isn't a dupe of PS it is very, very powerful and intuitive and with the price how can it lose?
Personally I am moving into Gimp from Photoshop as well as Openoffice from MS Office because I'm just tired of the ridiculous upgrades to keep compatibility issues in check.
Open source is the single greatest thing to happen in a very long time. It has opened up a new horizon for me and the people I recommend software to. I am our company's "IT Guy" for our state and my top recommendations of late are Firefox, Openoffice, Gimp, and SuSe for those looking for a change. This is coming from a strictly Adobe/M$ house. I figured I could use the "$" now since I'm an open source fanboy now!
It's pretty cool when I can move 100's of people in the direction of open source and this filters down to their families too so I am doing my part.
C3 Pinot Grigio
Chewbaca Sauvignon
CharddoR2D2
Darth Shiraz
Boba Zinfandel
Jar Jar Blanc De Blanc
and their motto...
I will drink no wine until the force is with me
I guess I am one of the freaks you speak of since I have a crazy rig full of lights, mods, etc. I just built my new box last night and I really want to see what it'll do so I'm going to try UT2k4 when I get home.
Thusfar my new box is insane in terms of speed and that includes non-gaming activities.
Specs-
Athlon 3200+ 64bit gingerly oc'd to 3600 and stable
Gigabyte K8N Pro w/Dual Bios/F9-Build
1 gig Corsair XMS 3200cs2
GeforceFX 5950
120 Gig Maxtor w/8meg cache
160 Gig Maxtor w/8meg cache
Soundblaster Audigy
WinXP Pro SP1
and if it matters 2.4 mb connection and case mods including the typical big ass clear window, 6 80mm red lit case fans, 2 attached dual hd cooling fans, 2 cold cathode uv lights, modded ps, uv reflective drive cables, etc., etc., etc.
I just moved from a P4 2ghz and the difference is ridiculous. I have never experienced such an extreme difference in speed. My new box NEVER skips a beat, doesn't get tied up, and multi-tasks unlike any box I've ever used.
Yes this box was built for gaming but I also do video editing, graphic design, etc. so it performs there as well.
I will be going SATA/raid in the future to further enhance the performance but considering I just dropped $1200 at newegg among others...that'll have to wait a bit. If I would have bought this as a retail OEM box I would have paid over 2k easy.
I get so sick of reading and hearing crap like this...about how the teachers are the real heros and should make a lot more money. Where I live they start at 40k and they get a week or two off at christmas, spring break, and 3 months off in the summer. I'd take a paycut to get those hours at that rate any day. Teaching is a job just like any other and just because you're dealing with kids doesn't entitle you to more money than a comparative position.
Teachers are not heros, teachers have a job like everyone else and shouldn't expect entitlements especially when they get a quarter of the year off and continue to get paid.
Maybe babysitters and child car workers should make 40k a year starting since they work with kids and also teach them on different levels too?
Bullshit
If you think you deserve more money quit complaining and begging for entitlements and switch careers or are you too lazy to do that?
I guess bitching is easier...
You're another long line of mac sycophants. You people are so in love with macs that your denial is never ceases to amaze me. You spew the same baseless, backwards rhetoric about macs and expect the non-mac zealots to buy into it.
Fuck you!
Your quality over quantity has to be the most utterly ridiculous comment I've read in some time.
Let me break down your comment you fucktard since you contradict yourself in 3 short sentences...
Sure there aren't as many games, but one thing you will notice is that the games that do get ported are usually the most popular and/or best games available. These are the kind of people who accept quantity over quality. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that applies to all Windows/PC users: they all prefer quantity over quality.
So the best games get ported to mac for the people who support quality over quantity yet winOS users prefer quantity over quality? So the best, most popular games being ported from WINDOWS are quality yet the same games on Windows are crap and about quantity?
GO FUCK YOURSELF YOU FUCKING IDIOT:P
As always I love to flame MS's (mac sycophants)
P.S. Like I give a shit about karma even though mine is excellent:)
How the fuck is this ridiculously, pro-mac, spun drivel flagged as insightful?
The great thing about using a mac is the cool shareware stuff. We've got some of the best developers (Ambrosia, Pangaeasoft, they're everywhere) and we get some great games.
Are you fucking kidding me?
I'm neither pro-mac or pc but the blind flock of mac sheep have to be the most unrealistic bunch of fucking idiots I run across.
How can the parent to my relpy be flagged as insightful?
Saying the mac has some of the best (game)developers is like saying Howard Dean will win the presidency. I'm sure Jobs can sell it to you idiots like the media sold you on Howard Dean's destiny but look where Dean is now!
Plain and simple the pc is the best gaming platform and that's a fact. Consoles are cool too but they have their limits but give me a mother-fucking-break on the mac having some of the best developers and also even mentioning in the same sentence as gaming.
It's the so-called artists platform and that's it even though the web dev you previously couldn't do on a pc and only on a mac is second nature on a pc these days.
I really hate mac addicts, fanboys, bitches, sheep, etc., etc., to ad nauseam. Normal users are cool on any level but the fanbuys need to die slow.
Let me be clear on this...
I FUCKING HATE MAC FANBOYS!!
Please flame me to death on how I'm a pc fanboy, BSOD, os stability, paying more becasue the case is cool, macs are groovy, I don't have a life, never get laid, I'm ghey, I'm a n00b, I have no idea, check out this great mac article, have a small dick, was raped by MJ, smell like shit, my mom's a whore, my dad was a goat, goatse is my priest, eat shit, die mother fucker die, suck dick, shun ass, job's rules, job's is a maverick, apple is the fastest, apple is the prettiest, apple is original, apple raises the bar, you're cool I'm not, I pork animals, pong rules on OSX, I missed the point, I'm a child, I'm an idiot etc., etc., etc.
At least I can post this under my real name and not as anon proving I don't give a fuck what any of you think.
AM I angry? No but this is fun. Hopefully the pro-mac mods will score me lower than humanly possible as I'm sick of my 4's and 5's:D
In closing....Mac Fanboys...
F U C K Y O U!!!
P.S. I will never forget you!
P.P.S. Do you really think I'd go for the intellectual angle when that's been done so many times before? The bottom of the barrel is what I'm shooting for....kinda of like gaming on a mac...mac? Sounds like a shitty burger from McDonalds but the burgers don't give you the shits as bad as a mac.
That's all it is but with the news of lawsuits and things of that nature common sense dictates that people haven't stopped...they have all just moved to the 3rd tier of underground.
Mainstream Tier (Leaves out user friendly gui's, freenet, gnutella, and others I won't list as I'm not helping the enema...errr...I mean enemy)
1st Tier - Store Bought Cd's
2nd Tier - Napster
3rd Tier - Kazaa
4th Tier - Too many to list plus I'm not helping those pussies out.
Pretty simple.
RIAA (TRIES) to raise the bar
The public goes further underground and averts being caught.
The majority of people are a step a head and the RIAA is a step behind.
The RIAA thinks they are being pro-active when in fact they are re-active.
You can't beat what you do not understand and you can't stop the future.
Period.
RIAA = Pathetic existense and they only get through to the people who use those AOL cd's they get in magazines.
It's common knowlegde apple users cannot admit or accept the truth when it concerns apple products. They base a substantial part of their argument on the "coolness" factor and that's a fucking joke. Apple annoced the G5 when?
How many months ago?
How many months did it take before it came out?
How long did it take for Intel/AMD to match and pass it?
How long until Apple releases their next generation and how long after that will it reach the market?
When I feel like paying double for a pretty case, proprietary hardware, lack of customization, one button mice, lack of software choices, gaming, and riding Steven Jobs jock and taking offense to any comment that isn't raving about Apple then maybe I'll buy one....until then I'll spend my money on something that doesn't turn me into a egocentric, artsy, elitist, douchebag.
Yes Apple users I'm aiming that right between your cutting edge eyes.
P.S. Take your Ipods and shove 'em up your rose smelling asses:D
Fuckin' A right. Although the game might be a wee bit immature it's a parody of itself. No one takes it seriously and what other games uses piss as a weapon? Personally I love to pee on someone in-game and then shovel them in the throat. Would I do this IRL? No but why not on the net?
There's hookers out there for guys/women who can't get any so why not murder for those who don't want to really do it because it can be a mess to clean up?
Can you imagine if you pissed on someone till they puked and then gave 'em the shovel IRL? I bet you would get in trouble not to mention the embarassment of the crime so personally I'd have to get rid of the body so I wouldn't get caught. It's a good thing I like fava beans and chianti and my toilet is very powerful or I'd have to pull a "Peterson" and we all know how well that works.
Seriously if you don't think running around pissing on people in a multi-player environment isn't nirvana then something is wrong with you. I will also second the "cunt" comment. Get a sense of humor or stfu:D
Spoken like a true apple sycophant. They do no evil in your eyes no matter what proof is sitting in front of your face. So it's ok to pay excessive amounts and pay even more when your pretty device no longer works because it's pretty? You must get ripped off a lot and it's thinking like that that keeps making things like this happen.
So if I buy a car that looks great but has an "expiration" date I should pick it over a normal looking car that has a normal shelf life? Ho sure I can pay an excessive amount to get the pretty car running again after all it's only money and I am paying for superior design and quality in hardware. It's just to bad my superior designed car's hardware has to be defibrillated to work again at at premium price
Completely idiotic thinking.
Now if we can keep the entertainment industry(s) from now trying to rewrite the laws and make it legal to supoena without judicial oversight well be set. Yes it would mean they'd move to more overtly sinister means but if so they'd be screwing themselves.
Let us rejoice in this one small/big victory for regular people. You know as big as these lawsuits were supposed to be there's been little if any in the news about them. I think it's more of a campaign of disinformation than anything and some people are weak enough to buy it but most aren't ignorant to what's going on.
Ponder this...how long until we get pulled over by the police for speeding or something else along those lines and they search our vehicles for mps's burned on cdr's? I can just see being in the "bighouse" with a bunch of murderers and rapists and then they ask me what I did. Oh I just burned some Britney Spears song to a cd. What's that Bubba? Do I have to drop 'em and grab my ankles?
Our future police state sounds so much fun!
Tyler once said "The things you own end up owning you" and was totally and completely against consumerism. To me this would mean Tyler Durden would not sponsor any consumer product what-so-ever.
If this game was true to F.C. then once you popped in the game you'd get the spliced porn and it would fry your pc/console.
P.S. A good game would be to dumpster dive for bags of womens cellulite and cooking it up to make soap in a lab.
I agree with all the previous posts saying how this is just another control mechanism. How in the hell can any human being accept a standard that automatically charges your bank account or credit card? I can see it now...you accidentally click on something and you end up buying it even thought you never agreed to or wanted said product.
So what is your response to this Mega-Corporation virtual theft? You call up their 1-800 number based in some 3rd world country and sit on hold for a day or so. When you finally get someone online they know nothing plus you can't understand a word they say.
God this sounds fucking great!
I can't wait! Where do I sign up?
Seriously these mega-corps can institute this standard or whatever they want to call it and sell it to the masses but we DO have a say so. I hope it goes the way of the 1st incarnation of DivX from Circuit City and burns out oh so quickly.
We as consumers can reject this outright and not buy into it. Money talks and bullshit walks. Money is the only thing these companies understand and that's the genesis of the entire drm/dmca argument although they would like to convince us it's just the ability to innovate.
With groups wanting to tie a drm to hardware and now this I really think the day is coming where we will actually want to stick with yesterday's hardware (today's) and forgo the next gen with all of the mega-media money protections built in.
I will stick with the hardware that I can control and not let it control me.
You would think with all of the bad press about suing children and grandparents no matter if it's true or not that the RIAA would be going the other way in terms of making things right.
Instead of hiring a good pr firm, coming up with a new, more tech-centric business model, and working all of their pricing angles for optimum profit they hire a big wig from a major govement organization relating to alcohol, tobaco, and firearms.
WTF?
I guess the RIAA is positioning itself as a late to the party ATF wanna be. To be renamed at some point to the ATFRIAA.
Seriously the RIAA has been buying laws, lawmakers, and shaping the unknowing, non-technolgy-knowing, public opinion to mirror their b.s. argument in hope of gaining more power and more allies. They are becoming a power to reckon with and will only gain more power in the years to come unless the masses are educated into what's at stake.
We're talking personal freedoms and the like. It's not about music it's about choice and being innocent until proven guilty.
Under the RIAA's system you need not consult a judge before they violate your rights and you are guilty no matter what you say or haven't done.
Only when the masses send the message with their wallets will these power mongers get the message.
I really hop we are headed in the right direction but when Britney Spears sells 600,000+ cd's a week of her new release something isn't right or someone isn't in the loop as to what's happening because of a few bits as sent through their cat5 of whatever else they use to receive and tranfer information.
I enlighten as many people as I can to what's happening and even have the anti riaa stickers on my vehicle that I bought from thinkgeek.com. I'll probably get the t-shirt there as well as the better one on jinxhackwear.com and yet another good one on tshirthell.com.
Eff is yet another organization we should support because they fight for issues directly related to technology and especially RIAA related issues.
Get involved or get F*****!!! That's the way I see it! I keep it clean when I can:D